At 09:55 AM 11/5/2003, John Cowan wrote:

> I think this is a typographical decision, so perhaps a glyph issue.

Absolutely.

> Personally, there is no way I'd let a rounded box with oblique hatches
> anywhere near any scholarly work that I was typesetting. :)

What glyph would you use for "indecipherable character"? I'm curious.

It depends to what degree it is indecipherable, and generally this is something I would discuss with the author/editor. I was thinking earlier in terms of signs that are not merely indecipherable but actually obliterated. I think it is best to signify as far as possible the reason for the missing text; for example, if text is missing because of a hole in a papyrus I would pro[ ]ly indicate it thus, but if it is missing because an inscription has been defaced then pe//aps I would indicate it thus.


Obviously this is, as Phillipe suggested, somewhat different from the qere/ketiv issue.

John Hudson

Tiro Typeworks          www.tiro.com
Vancouver, BC           [EMAIL PROTECTED]

I sometimes think that good readers are as singular,
and as awesome, as great authors themselves.
                                      - JL Borges




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