THE JEWISH EXCYCLOPEDLV
Abbreviations
nxns nan i'5f ^r"? cmilractions and frajimonts. being in Ablircviatiims ami initials, in till' words tin- niannir of suggestions and contractions (as a broken word). Joseph Kalnian (n-ii:-i Nia:, iii.) ?. Compare the Arabic the calialists a certain kind of abbreviation or combination of letters is called I"!* The verb *T^>' is already found in or •"'••"'x 1'"'?.. tlie Talmud iBer. 5.j<() and in the n-cx' isD (ii. 3 ei
calls
them
h'irf
iiiiiktiiih.
jHissim).
'='
'"'^'M^
•'^'"'M
Amone:
Later writers use for T'T* the term
'^"'T?
Donnolo) or ^'^.i (A. Abulatia). For the verbs 1""? or ^^^ one finds also ^V. (Nahmanides' commentary to n-<s' D, ill.) and ""JH (J. S. del Medigo. nns 2r^-:). and the nouns >".' and "^n also occur. The terms mrc/iiKdv = notnricuiit, and tn/uim' originally denoted sliortband signs, but among the Jews they received the meaning "Abbreviations." For the doubtful expressions ^^:i'3 or p-ui-J and -iiaVj, see Krauss, " Lehnwi'irter," and Jastrow. "nict." Alibreviatinns really begin with the development (S.
of the
Hebrew alphabet nut
Origin.
of ideographic pictures. Hence, they must <late from the earliest limes.
The modern
letters
originally signs or symbols.
were
After the
symbols had become ietlere. representing not only concepts, but sounds, the names were, nevcrlheless, retaine<l and transfcrre<l to the corresponding sounds.
The time when
that transfer took place is unknown; but it may be assumed that even for .some time later ideograms for well-known words were still used. By analogy with those ideograms the use of conventional signs for frequently- recurring words probably came into vogue, and this was the beginning of Ab-
breviations (compare Perles. '" Analekten. p. 10). Abbreviations are found in Punic, Assyrian, and Jlinean inscriptions, and also in an Aramaic inscription of the year 'y-iif u.c. (compare Perles, op. a't.). At lirst but few in number, lack of space, economy of writing material, a desire for secrecy, religious scruiiles, and the convenience of the writer multiplie(l their number to the e.tent found to-day. Thus, on th<> Maccabean coins are found the Abbreviations n for " first year " a:-, jr, n::- for 3 rjr, J r:-: i :^y2' "second, third, fourth year"; vi for
C'-on<n " the Jews " u" or --i" for N-:" " Israel " in*^ for rnn "of freedom," produced for lack of sjiacc
(Theodore Ueinaeh, "Monnaies Juives." p. -111. The abbreviation i' for '3i or p-i, conunon in the Mishnah. is due to the convenience of the writer. The abbreviation " or 'n for nin' is due to religious scruples. The numerous Abbreviations found in the Masora are due to lack of siiace, scarcity of writing material, and the convenience of the scribe. Some scholars, being unused to writing, signed sigla for their names (Git. Slvi). In times of religious persecution certain sacred objects were marked with sigla (Ma'as. .Sh. iv. 11). On the Maccabean coins there is no sign to denote abbreviation. This may be due to lack of space. However, such a practise is met with
Graphic much Represen- ments tation.
compare the Bilile fraglater jiublislied by Xeubauer ("Jew.
Quart. Kev,"
40
Schechter and Singer (Cand)ridge. 1896), one and three dots are f(mud: ni>,i = nv-i inj cn^.n (P- 2S, 1. IT), "" = nin- (p. 27, 11. 23, 24), ^ns " ij'nSn " = 28, 1. 17), a'<iyS ibp'p ^ n = • tt nin- ij N nn- (P4S83 ..M. (p. 26, 1. 24). In the Talmudical fragment published by Lowe (Cambridge, 187!() are seen the single dot, the double dot, and the single line slanting in two directions, while the double slant ing line is used for a f idl stop <n> b"pi -nn;- = Mi-'jni US-pi iJ"nn;' (fol. In, col. 2. 1. 8) jiipN -ix ;
'
vrisca
i]U"i|-> -i-j'N
col. 1,
1.
inS
It):
(1.
i-;n
=
'o '-;
(M-
'tt
!
19); A = .3-, (fol. 81). col. 2, 11. 19, 21, 29); in8 -I2N (fol. 2«, col. 2, 1. 19); '.jpo 'nr^'-ij
DS =
•i-iN ribi
-:iN
= am>N-<n
r-31
N--:rT: :np<- (fol. 2h. col. 2,
In the manuscnpt fragment pul)lished by C. Levias in the "Am. Jour. Semit. Lang." xv. there are, besides the dot. the horizontal line and the semicircle: >n.s-, :>,s = •n'-N. s-n'-N P- 162). In the Anibic period is found the Arabic sign ~ (Steinselmeider, " Gab es Line lebrilisehe Kurzsehrift " p. 0). With the abbreviated name of God sometimes there occurs a broken line z or " (Perles, "Analekten," p, 26, note 1.
6).
(
'!
I
Greenburg, "The Haggadah According to the Yemen," p, 1; Kohut, " Aboo Manzfir al Dhamari," p. 15). In addition to the sign above the abbreviated word, the last remaining letter is at times not written out in full; for example, vijps = xi2PN(Lowe, "A Frairment of the Talmud," fol. I:
Rite of
U. col. 1. 1. 21), N., = N-, (fol. 7A, col. 1, 1. 1). In modern times two signs oidy arc used the single and the double slanting lines. The single line is used at the end of an abbreviated single word; for = '?? or '2"i = i?iJi. The dmilde line example, is used between the letters of an abbreviation of two or more words: for example, i'P = "^5fV S"! or •I'^r
—
'"'
Words
are abbreviated in various ways. Distincchiefly between the abbreviation of a single word and that of more than IVEethods. one. Single words may be abbreviated in the following ways; When a single word consists of (1) '^'?'? f^^'"! only two letters it is very rarely abbreviated for extion
must be made
ample, '** = ?, '3 = 13. When it consists of more than two letters, one or more of the final letters arc dropped; for example, '"'or -"1= "'"iJi; ra = Tspp; '3 „r ;."•: = .sr':-p. 's = rv";? or P??: 'i•".Th" or 'P'i. Words beginning with a preposition or conjunction or verbs in the imperfect can not be abbreviated to one letter: for example, '33 = 3i'"ir'731
=
3'rD">
':^
=
i?!<:r
Compound names words, and
.so
'rf
are treated
abbreviated:
=
l!>3n';
'yn<
=
nSj;.n<^
sometimes as two for example, ^'^
i-iarj The middle of a word is omitted, (2) both ends remaining; for example, """< = "!?-!< ("Am, ri3.-!:
Lang." xv. 162); ="* 5 a-H'^, (in the same place) 'J'>< = 'J'!?^?, (".Jew. Quart. Rev." xi. 646) NN = Ni!< (in the .same place). This mode of abbreJour. Semit.
viation is verv rare. (3) "'^v >?>?••:
A middle letter stands for the whole word. Of this kind only one example is = "^' (compare Perles, op. cit. known, namely, '•"'
vii. ;?()3)
and
-"D i.-y-i
sp'^D
(Lowe, "A Fragment of the Talmud Bab. Pesahim." fol. Sa. col. l.^'l. 5). The Punic inscription ("Corpus Inscrip. Semit."i. No. 170) omits after the abbreviated word the dot otherwise found at the end of every word written out in full. A similar mode of marking Abbreviations might have existed al.so among the .Jews. In medieval writings Abbreviations marked by various signs are found. Thus, in the "Talmudical Fragments." published by
p. 16). (4) "'^^^ 'S'^:
The
omitted; for example.
beginning O'
of
the
= o"r^!?("Am.
word
is
.Jour. Siniit.
Lang." XV. 162),'! = I^'"* or P before familj- names especially common in the Arabic periofl, but affected also Ijy some modern writers. '": (•5) The name of God is now usually written but in anti<piity it was written in a great many ways, too many to record here (see Tetk.gk.m.maton).
