Punctuation in P. Thessaloniki (Derveni)

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jkmiller
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Punctuation in P. Thessaloniki (Derveni)

Post by jkmiller »

A basic understanding of early Greek manuscripts is that they do not contain punctuation. However, while it is true they do not contain as much punctuation as we are used to today, they do contain some punctuation. This is in the form of paragraphoi, which are small lines underneath the first couple of letters of a line of text where there is a change of speaker, section, lemma, etc. There is also occasionally punctuation within the line to show exactly where transition occurs, which can be in the form of a space, a dash, a dot, or a dicolon.

P. Thessaloniki, one of the oldest surviving Greek manuscripts, includes many examples of paragraphoi. However, according to Betegh 2004, it also occasionally includes dashes within the line to accompany the paragraphus. I have been desperately trying to find images of the papyrus online that show these dashes, but I've found it difficult to find any images of the papyrus at all. There are apparently 26 extant columns of text, and I've only been able to find images of about 12.

If anyone can direct me to a website or paper that either shows an instance of the in-line dash or shows all 26 remaining columns of the manuscript, I would greatly appreciate it.

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jeidsath
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Re: Punctuation in P. Thessaloniki (Derveni)

Post by jeidsath »

There are plates in the back of Kouremenos, Parassoglou, etc, The Derveni Papyrus. Definitely visible dashes there.
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jkmiller
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Re: Punctuation in P. Thessaloniki (Derveni)

Post by jkmiller »

Thanks! I saw at least 2 dashes within a line, and they seem to be the same length as the paragraphoi, which run the length of about 3 letters. I didn't know if they were short dashes or extremely long dashes, since most of what I've read just describes them as dashes with no additional information about them.

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