Greek minuscule

The minuscule script was a Greek writing style which was developed as a
book hand in Byzantine manuscripts during the 9th and 10th centuries.[1] It
replaced the earlier style of uncial writing, from which it differed in using
smaller, more rounded and more connected letter forms, and in using many
ligatures. Many of these forms had previously developed as parts of more
informal cursive writing. The basic letter shapes used in the minuscule
script are the ancestors of modern lower case Greek letters.

From the 10th century onwards, most Byzantine manuscripts of classical

and early Christian Greek works were gradually rewritten in the new Earliest type of minuscule writing, from a
minuscule style, and few of the older uncial manuscripts were preserved. 10th-century manuscript of Thucydides.
For this reason, uncial manuscripts are today extremely rare, while early
minuscule manuscripts are often the oldest preserved sources attesting an
ancient work and may therefore be of central importance for its
philological study. Manuscripts from the oldest phase of minuscule writing
(mid-9th to mid-10th century) are known in scholarship today as codices
vetustissimi ("oldest codices"). Those from the mid-10th to the mid-12th
centuries are known as codices vetusti ("old codices"), and later ones as
codices recentiores ("newer codices").[2]

Minuscule writing remained in use for handwriting throughout the

Byzantine and into the post-Byzantine era. In the modern era, western
printers used minuscule book hands as a model for developing early Greek
print fonts. Like with Latin, it became common to mix minuscule writing Later minuscule, 15th-century manuscript
with some uncial or capital letters, with the latter used for emphasis, in of Aristotle.
titles and initials. From this practice, the modern orthographic system of
letter case for Greek arose. In modern Greek writing, the upper case letters
are generally modeled on the letter shapes of ancient inscriptions, while the lower case letters are based on the tradition of
minuscule handwriting.
Majuscule Uncial Cursive Minuscule Minuscule with ligatures Modern lower case

Α α

Β β

Γ γ

Δ δ

Ε ε

Ζ ζ

Η η

Θ θ

Ι ι

Κ κ

Λ λ

Μ μ

Ν ν

Ξ ξ

Ο ο

Π π

Ρ ρ

Σ σ

Τ τ
 Υ υ

Φ φ

Χ χ

Ψ ψ

Ω ω

See also
Greek ligatures
Stigma (letter) a ligature of sigma and tau
Kai (conjunction) a ligature compared to & in Latin
Grecs du roi a Greek typeface that contains large number of ligatures

References
1. Thompson, Edward M. (1911). An introduction to Greek and Latin palaeography. Oxford: Clarendon. pp. 191–
194.
2. Thompson, Introduction, p.159.

External links
How to read a Greek Minuscule Text (https://charlesasullivan.com/3517/how-to-read-a-greek-minuscule-text/)
Renaissance Greek Font with Ligatures (http://schmidhauser.us/tools/rgl/)
Handbook Of Greek And Latin Palaeography (https://archive.org/details/handbookofgreeka002967mbp)

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This page was last edited on 25 September 2019, at 16:45 (UTC).

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