Abstract
The aim of the present article is to explore the scribal punctuation practice in one of Richard Rolle’s epistles, Ego dormio , in manuscript Paris Sainte Genevieve 3390. Analyses of samples seek to reveal regular patterns of use concerning punctuation symbols. Special uses of punctuation may indicate either rhetorical or grammatical functions of these symbols. The method of analysis considers contextual information in the description of each punctuation symbol to identify their functions. In addition, we have used earlier works on medieval punctuation in the identification and categorization of symbols along with their already attested functions (mainly Lucas, 1971, Parkes, 1992 and Zeeman, 1956). The results of the study will be compared with these functions in order to contextualize scribal use of punctuation symbols within the tradition in Middle English manuscripts.
Highlights
Despite concerted efforts to offer a general account on Middle English punctuation, the field still wants a more conclusive analysis other than Parkes’s (1992)
English medievalists have contributed some studies to the field, the number of these turned out to be insufficient for this general account considering the high number of manuscripts housed in collections all over the world
From the analysis of the data it can be concluded that there is a need to carry out proper analyses of scribal punctuation systems, since, as stated by Parkes (1992: xi), ‘punctuation should be studied according to the ways it has been used rather than the ways some have thought it ought to have been used’
Summary
Despite concerted efforts to offer a general account on Middle English punctuation, the field still wants a more conclusive analysis other than Parkes’s (1992). Parkes’s study of medieval punctuation is an impressive report on the shapes and functions of medieval punctuation especially in Latin manuscripts, which, remains descriptively inadequate for the case of medieval English. English medievalists have contributed some studies to the field, the number of these turned out to be insufficient for this general account considering the high number of manuscripts housed in collections all over the world. Jenkinson (1926: 15), Lennard (1992: 65) and Buzzoni (2008: 442), among other scholars, give a number of reasons to explain this paucity of individual punctuation studies leading to a grammar of punctuation in Middle English:. “Punctuation Practice in Manuscript Sainte Geneviève 3390.” Nordic Journal of English Studies 13(3):139159
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