Megan A. Garedakis - the majuscule lunate sigma replaced all others in biblical literature - evyenia (E. J. Pond)

Steven Avery

Administrator
"From Homer to the Codex Sinaiticus: Evolution and Morphology of the Sigma in Greek Textuality"
Megan A. Garedakis
https://www.academia.edu/2061992/_F..._Morphology_of_the_Sigma_in_Greek_Textuality_

Abstract/Proposal "From Homer to the Codex Sinaiticus: Evolution and Morphology of the Sigma in Greek Textuality" Perhaps the most heavily adapted letter of the Greek alphabet, the sigma has had a multifaceted and complex textual history involving its many variations. In ancient epigraphy, the disigma – denoting the number nine hundred – was utilized throughout the classical world. When cataloging Homeric poetry at the library of Alexandria, grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace utilized several variations of lunate and dotted sigmas as editorial signs in copying works. Heavily used in Byzantine texts, the majuscule lunate sigma replaced all others in biblical literature, becoming prominent in the fourth century Codex Sinaiticus. By the late middle ages, however, the sigma was simplified and eventually lost its significant variations, variations that nonetheless remained in the periphery of Greek scholarship and religious works in the Byzantine East. This paper surveys the transformation, various manifestations, and application of the sigma in Greek paleographical scholarship, critically examining the motivations for its simplification in late medieval codices. Manuscripts from the late antique and early medieval periods - including biblical and literary works - are examined, surveying the usage of the sigma both as an editorial symbol and as a style of letter. Megan Andréa Garedakis Graduate Student, Late Antique and Medieval History San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA,
 
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Steven Avery

Administrator
evyenia - E. J. Pond - three spots in PBF
https://www.purebibleforum.com/index.php?threads/accents-overview.1564/#post-6246
https://www.purebibleforum.com/inde...thers-in-biblical-literature.4963/#post-21138
https://www.purebibleforum.com/inde...nd-books-and-journal-articles.1565/#post-6219

Actually a late feature?

Another Sinaiticus anachronism?

A Workbook of New Testament Greek
The Lunate Sigma
https://koineworkbook.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/the-lunate-sigma-2/

As we learn in beginning Greek, sigma is the only letter – in a standard Greek typeface – that has three versions: Σ for the capital in any position, σ for a lowercase sigma at the beginning or in the middle of a word, and ς for a lowercase sigma at the end of a word.

The lunate sigma is a fourth form – or fourth and fifth, if you assume upper and lowercase versions. It looks like a Roman ‘c’, i.e.,

....

But when we get to the oldest New Testament manuscripts, the lunate sigma has already appeared. I don’t claim that it is used exclusively – I don’t know – but it is certainly very common. The lunate sigma is used, for example, in the great uncial manuscripts – the Codex Vaticanus, the Codex Siniaticus, and the Codex Alexandrinus. Here we have the beginning of John 1 from the Codex Siniaticus (ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος):
 
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