Matheson Collection > Lebor na huidre

xxiv INTRODUCTION
zoomorphic terminals, occur at the beginning of tracts and
elsewhere, enlivened with patches of colour, red, yellow, and
purple ; large capitals are frequent, and dabs of colour are
liberally applied throughout the volume. Those of H appear
to have been modelled on A and M. They are somewhat
similar to those in Rawl. B. 502.
Punctuation. — The only punctuation used is the point
which marks off a clause or sentence; it is often unnecessary,
marring the sense, and it is often wanting, The close of a
paragraph or tract is frequently indicated by a single point
followed by a virgule, repeated several times :.,.,; or instead
.<-, or .v repeated in the same way. The full point is also placed
before and after certain abbreviations and symbols, e.g. .i. id
est = ed ón, never written out; .7 et = ocus ; the Roman
numerals .ui. ; .rh., .mc., ' mac? This is the regular practice in
Irish manuscripts.
The division of words at the end of a line follows no system,
nor is it marked by a stroke or hyphen. The space left over at
the end of a clause is most often filled by the overflow from the
following line, preceded by .//. as the custom is in Irish
manuscripts ; occasionally it is filled up by a few spirals.
The separation of two words wrongly joined is occasionally
marked by subscript oc, which may be of later date.
Abbreviations. — The abbreviation symbols are those com-
monly found in medieval manuscripts, persisting in Irish down
to recent times, e.g. : —
The straight or sinuous horizontal stroke directly over a
letter, or attached to the shaft of b, /, h, marking the omission
of the letter ?i when over a vowel, n, r, or s; over two vowels
or a final letter, when it serves as a suspension mark, almost
any syllable, e.g. : — slua = sluaga, blia = bWadna, bli = bliadain,
cá = each, ná = nach, us = usee, am = amail, ami//, sam = samaitte,
math = mathair, dá = dano, di = d'xdiu, didu, im = immurgu, etc.,
similarly in constantly recurring proper names such as :
Ait = Ail///, A'úello, Hér = Héretid, Hérind, Ech = Echaid,
Ecbdack, etc., or phrases such as those in ' Togail Bruidne Dá
Derga.' In such instances italics mark the expansion. As a
syllable symbol b = ben, ber, bir ; c = cer ; d = der ; f = for, iur,