Frequently Asked Questions Browsing the Library Searching the Library Common Abbreviations Home Using The Library Common Abbreviations Common Abbreviations A Guide to Editorial Sigla All Latin and Greek texts, even those inscribed on stone, began as handwritten copies (often damaged) of lost authorial originals and so contain errors, interpolations, and omissions. Editors use the surviving copies to recreate the original by choosing the variant readings likeliest to be correct and emending doubtful readings by conjecture. Loeb editors use sigla within the text and in notes beneath the text (usually in Latin, by convention) to flag variants and conjectures that significantly affect its translation or interpretation. The following list explains the sigla most frequently encountered; readers interested in more detail should consult the particular editor’s review of the history of the text in the work's introduction. In continuous text [ ] or { } words that the editor considers spurious. If the latter is used, the former encloses additional information such as references to other texts *** missing or indecipherable letters or text < > words added by the editor [[ ]] words that the ancient or medieval copyist deleted ( ) parenthetical words / phrases or expanded abbreviations, e.g. M(arcus) Cicero s(alutem) d(ixit) † † a †word or †words† that the editor considers corrupt but never satisfactorily emended | or || section or page breaks in texts keyed to reference editions, e.g. Aristotle and Plato In papyri [β] or [β or β] mark off parts of the text lost through physical damage ⌊ ⌋ mark off parts of the text lost through physical damage but supplied from another source (thus not conjectural) ` ΄ enclose insertions made by a scribe after he wrote the original line . . . a dot beneath a letter indicates that the letter is uncertainly deciphered, beneath a blank space that a letter is indecipherable In textual notes a.c. before correction ad at or on, of someone citing a text add. added al. or alii or alia others ante before or preceding ap(ud) at or within cett. other manuscripts cf. or cp. compare ci. or cj. or conj. conjectured cod(d). manuscript(s) corr. corrected damn. considered corrupt deest or desunt is / are missing def. defended del(evit) deleted dub. doubtful / doubted e(x) from or on the basis of edd. editors em. emended exp. deleted fere in general, virtually fort. or fors. perhaps gl. gloss (often a marginal or interlinear explanation that a scribe mistakenly inserted into the text) γρ. identified as a variant by the scribe himself h.v. this verse iam already marg. or mg. in the margin ins. inserted interl. or lin. interlinear lac(una) a gap in the transmitted text lect(io) a transmitted reading ll. or litt. letters loc. place ms(s). manuscript(s) nonnulli some editors nota notation, e.g. of a speaker in drama om(m). omit(s) P(ap). or Π papyrus p.c. after correction (in) ras. on top of an erasure recc. younger manuscripts rell. the remaining manuscripts Σ or Schol. scholium (marginal commentary) ΣA scholium in manuscript A scripsi(t) I have (he has) written secl. has considered misplaced sim. similar(ly) s.l. above the line sq(q). following word(s) suppl. supplied susp. suspect(ed) to be corrupt s.v. under the word (in a lexicon) or heading tent. conjectured tentatively trai. transferred from one place in the text to another transp. changed the word or line order trib. attributed v(v). verse(s) vel sim. or something similar vett. the older manuscripts vide see or consult v.l(l). variant reading(s) vulg(o) commonly, in the ordinary manuscript tradition : or | separate the variants or conjectures reported ] follows the word(s) printed in the text and separates them from variants and conjectures Harvard University Press © 2021 President and Fellows of Harvard College Terms Privacy Policy Log out Access brought to you by: KU Leuven University