Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1979, Page 131

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The negative eigi is abbreviated by the replacement of the final i with a
superscript dash (e.g. Ir5 and 2v25).
The preterite mælti is written mite once in XB (2vl4), but appears as m
with a superscript dash in XXXIII (2r22, 2v 17).
gups is written g|)s lr3.
A superscript line is used to indicate contraction in konunge 1 r3 etc. and
in dom/nwm nostrum lr5.
2. Original short p from u-umlaut of a (and in the diphthong io from u-
breaking) is usually written o: hofjaingiom 1 r2, giolldom 1 r4 etc. w occurs 4
times, which is to say about half as often as o; in three of these occurrences
the ligature is marked by an accent and a subscript hook: få/tno^ 2vl0,
fa/rom 2vl5, ha/ggva lr22, but fa/roneyte 2v22. The digraph au appears in
one word which cannot with certainty be ascribed to hånd B: aull 2vl0. In
XXXIII, the proportion of o to cu for o is rather different at about 9:1. Of
the two instances of the ligature in this latter MS., a/llom 2v28 clearly has
the accent and subscript hook, va/gnonom lv7-8 seems not to have them.
In XB, original short ø occurs only twice and is written o and o: gor^o
2vl6, orvente 2v28. In XXXIII, o is written e after the velar occlusive, with
and without the accent and subscript hook, and may be thought to have
merged with e in this context: gérir 2r 15, géra 2v26, gerjrv lv8, kemr 2r25;
but note also ongvm 2r 18. Again the sample-is too small to establish
definitely whether the scribe distinguished between o and o.
Original long 6 is written a/, marked and unmarked (e.g. va/p<n> 1 r 17,
åma 2v30, a/Na XXXIII 2v7 etc., and sva/fo XXXIII 1 r 11) and also ad
(2v25), a, marked and unmarked (åna 2v27, iatom lr20), and in XXXIII
additionally as o (ambott 2v20). Original long å is also written a, marked
and unmarked, e.g. iarN lrl9, vårt lr4. There are traces of a distinction
here, then, in the use of certain graphs for p.
On the evidence of XB alone it is impossible to determine whether the
scribe distinguished between æ and æ since XB includes no words with an
original æ. æ is written æ tørælar lr3), e (nesto 2vl6, orvente 2v28), and é
(sévar 2vl7, lék/r 1 r25). In XXXIII, the same graphs are used for æ but also
the marked form æ ({rær lvl 1). In this latter MS. æ is written p (bønir lr2,
bøkr 2r7, and ØriN 2v25), e (demi sogo 2r9, benvm 2rl4, brejrrvm 2r23), é
(fétr lr7, békr [?] 2r 10), and once, perhaps, æ (græ]aar[a] 2v20. The letter is
obscure). Once more one seems to be justified in finding traces of a
distinction here.