Sicilicus

Sicilicus

In Old Latin a sicilicus is a diacritical mark like a laterally inverted C (namely Ɔ) [Cf. John Edwin Sandys, "A Companion to Latin Studies", Cambridge University Press 1910, §1099, p. 743, where specific instances are provided: "C.I.L." v 1361, x 3743, xii 414.] placed above a letter and evidently deriving its name from its shape like a little sickle (which is "sicilis" in Latin). The ancient sources say [Cf. Isidore "Etymologiae" 1.27.29 ("ubi litterae consonantes geminabantur, sicilicum superponebant, ut 'cella', 'serra', 'asseres': ueteres enim non duplicabant litteras, sed supra sicilicos adponebant; qua nota admonebatur lector geminandam esse litteram"); Nisus fr. 5 Mazzarino in Velius Longus "de Orthographia" Keil 7.80; Gaius Marius Victorinus "Ars Grammatica" 4.2 Mariotti.] that during the time of the Republic it was placed above a geminate consonant to indicate that the consonant counted twice, although there is hardly any epigraphic and palæographic evidence available from such an early time. When such geminate consonants began to be represented during classical times by writing the letter twice, the sicilicus naturally fell into disuse. Plautus appears to allude to the sicilicus in the prologue to Menaechmi. [ [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/mne/2006/00000059/00000001/art00005 "Sicilicissitat" (Plautus, "Menaechmi" 12) and Early Geminate Writing in Latin (with an Appendix on "Men". 13)] ]

ee also

* Open O, although this is a full letter, and not a diacritic placed above a letter
* Antisigma, although this is a full letter, and not a diacritic placed above a letter
* Apex (diacritic), used for long vowels instead of long consonants
* Apostrophe, whose shape is derived from it
* Comma (punctuation), whose shape is similar
* Caron, an unrelated diacritic
* Latin spelling and pronunciation

References

* [http://archimedes.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/toc/dict?step=entry;head=si_ci_li%5Ecus;dict=d003;inword=sicilicum;;back=http%3A%2F%2Farchimedes.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de%2Fcgi-bin%2Ftoc%2Fdict%3Fstep%3Dtable%3Bword%3D%2526longs%253Bicilicum%3Blang%3Dla Lewis and Short Latin Lexicon]

Notes


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sicilĭcus — Sicilĭcus, 1) (Siciliquus, lat.), eigentlich 1/48 eines Ganzen, z.B. einer Stunde, eines Morgen Land etc.; 2 römische Silbermünze, welche zur Zeit Constantins d. Gr. aufkam, etwa 1 Gr. 6 Pf.; 3) römisches Gewicht, 1/4 der Uncia, s.u. As 2) …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Sicilĭcus — Sicilĭcus, altröm. Gewichts und Maßteil, = 1/4 Unze = 1/48 As = 6,822 g; auch Längenmaß, = 1/48 röm. Fuß = 6,2 mm, überhaupt der 48. Teil. Das Zeichen des S., dem Komma ähnlich, wurde auch zur Konsonantenverdoppelung benutzt …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • sicilicus — noun /sɪˈsɪlɪkəs/ a) A unit of weight equal to one quarter of an uncia. Both the pounds were therefore divided alike into 15 ores, that is, ounces; the ores into 4 skyllings, the sicilici of the Romans, and the skyllings into 4 pence by the… …   Wiktionary

  • Apex (diacritic) — The apex (plural apices ) is a mark roughly with the shape of an acute accent ( ´ ) which is placed over vowels to indicate that they are long.Although hardly known by most contemporary Latinists, the use of the sign was actually quite widespread …   Wikipedia

  • Roman abacus — The Romans developed the Roman hand abacus, a portable, but less capable, base 10 version of the previous Babylonian abacus. It was the first portable calculating device for engineers, merchants and presumably tax collectors. It greatly reduced… …   Wikipedia

  • Diacritic — For the academic journal, see Diacritics (journal). The letter a with acute Diacritical marks …   Wikipedia

  • Latin spelling and pronunciation — The Roman alphabet, or Latin alphabet, was adapted from the Old Italic alphabet, to represent the phonemes of the Latin language, which had in turn been borrowed from the Greek alphabet, adapted from the Phoenician alphabet. This article deals… …   Wikipedia

  • Roman numerals — are a numeral system originating in ancient Rome, adapted from Etruscan numerals. The system used in classical antiquity was slightly modified in the Middle Ages to produce a system used today. It is based on certain letters which are given… …   Wikipedia

  • Caron — Hacek redirects here. For the group of bacteria, see HACEK endocarditis. For other uses, see Caron (disambiguation). ̌ Caron Diacritics accent …   Wikipedia

  • Typographic ligature — long s i ligature type, size 12pt Garamond. In writing and typography, a ligature occurs where two or more graphemes are joined as a single glyph. Ligatures usually replace consecutive characters sharing common components and are part of a more… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”