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¶Scribal Abbreviations for Modern Cursive
A working set of medieval abbreviation marks, ordered by how easily each folds into an existing cursive hand. Every sign here is attested in manuscript practice — these are conventions that survived centuries of daily use, not inventions.
In each diagram, the red dot is where the pen lands (the entry stroke, joining from the previous letter) and the red arrow is the exit stroke, joining onward. Red numerals mark strokes added after lifting the pen, in order.
Tier I — Marks on letters you already write
No new letterforms at all: write the word as usual minus a few letters, then add one small mark on the second pass, like dotting an i. Start here.
The nasal bar
ā ē ī ō ū → an · en · in · on · un
Write the vowel with its normal joins; on the second pass, draw a short straight bar above it, just over x-height. The bar means “+ n.”
cā = can·mē = men·wāt = want·ō = on
The single most common abbreviation in medieval Latin manuscripts.
The tilde
ã ẽ õ ũ → am · em · om · um
Same idea as the nasal bar, but wavy: straight bar = n, wavy bar = m. (Spanish ñ is this very mark, fossilized.)
cõe = come·frõ = from·sũer = summer
Both bar shapes were used interchangeably in MSS; the n/m split is a useful modern refinement.
The er-hook
ʼ → er · re
One continuous motion: instead of the word’s normal finishing stroke, let the exit fly up past x-height and curl back on itself — an apostrophe grown out of the last letter.
lettʼ = letter·ovʼ = over·hʼ = her·pʼfect = perfect
The standard medieval -er/-re sign, used mid-word and word-final.
Crossed p
→ per · par
Write a normal cursive p; on the second pass, cross the descender with a short bar (like crossing a t, but low).
haps = perhaps·t = part·pa = paper
Attested as ꝑ; one of the workhorse signs of Latin bookhands.
Looped p
→ pro
A p whose descender curls into a small closed loop before rejoining the stem — one motion, no pen lift.
blem = problem·ject = project·cess = process
Attested as ꝓ, the constant companion of crossed p in the manuscripts.
Tier II — New letters that behave like old ones
Three genuinely new letterforms — but each is built from strokes your hand already knows, and each joins normally on both sides.
Thorn
þ → th
Start like a cursive b or l — loop up to the ascender — but drive the stem straight down through the baseline to the descender line, then add the bowl at x-height and exit from it. A b and a p fused.
þink = think·boþ = both·þree = three·raþʼ = rather
The Old and Middle English letter for th; still alive in Icelandic.
Crossed thorn
þ̄ → the
A thorn with its ascender crossed, exactly as you cross a t. One letter for the most common word in the language.
þ̄ = the·þ̄se = these·þ̄re = there
Middle English scribes wrote “the” this way constantly; the “ye” of “ye olde” is a misreading of this very glyph.
Eng
ŋ → ng · iŋ → ing
Write a cursive n, but let the second minim plunge below the baseline into a g-style tail. Word-final it can simply hang; mid-word, swing the tail up to rejoin.
soŋ = song·goiŋ = going·writiŋ = writing·þinkiŋ = thinking
Used for ng since Old English scribal practice; standard in the IPA today.
Esh (long s)
ʃ → sh · ʃn → tion
A cursive f with no crossbar: loop to the ascender, plunge to the descender, curl left. Bonus rule: since “-tion” is pronounced “shun,” ʃn spells it phonetically.
ʃe = she·wiʃ = wish·staʃn = station·acʃn = action
The long s of every hand before 1800; the tion trick is a modern phonetic extension.
Tier III — Word-signs and superscripts
Whole words compressed to a single sign. These are the biggest savings, but they read as symbols rather than spellings, so add them once the tiers above feel automatic.
Tironian et
→ and · c → etc.
A 7 with a soft tail: bar at x-height, then a diagonal that curves down and left through the baseline. Faster than an ampersand and far faster than “and.”
bread butter·pens, ink, c.
From Tiro’s shorthand (1st c. BC); still on Irish street signs today.
The con-sign
→ con · com (word-initial)
A small 9 at x-height, starting at the top right, circling left, then dropping the stem to the baseline and exiting into the next letter.
sider = consider·plete = complete·puter = computer
Attested as ꝯ; universal in Latin bookhands for con-/com-.
Superscript endings
wᵗ → with · wᶜʰ → which · þᵗ → that
Write the first letter at normal size, then float the last letter (or two) small, above x-height. The raised position itself means “letters omitted between.”
wᵗ = with·wᶜʰ = which·þᵗ = that·wᵗout = without
Exactly how Middle English and early-modern writers abbreviated these words in letters and drafts.
Specimen
longhand I think the singing went on and on, but I want to consider the problem rather than complete it.
abbreviated I þink þ̄ siŋiŋ wēt ō ō, but I wāt to sidʼ þ̄ blem raþʼ þā plete it.
Signs drawn from the common abbreviation system of medieval Latin and Middle English scribal practice (the tradition catalogued in Cappelli’s Lexicon Abbreviaturarum) and from Tironian shorthand. Suggested order of adoption: nasal bar → er-hook → thorn → eng, one at a time, each for a week of daily notes before adding the next.