For those who might like to practice “paleography,” or the making of a typed transcription of a manuscript page, we provide here some elements that might be helpful. We draw from the first page of the Codex Mendoza, a page in Spanish, highlighting how the letters can be written. We also share a key to the abbreviations and some of the more challenging words, owing to the way they are written or spelled (orthography). At the end, one can pull up the page and give transcription-making a try.
Codex Mendoza (Matrícula de Tributos, 1553), folio 1 recto
This is the top part of the first page of text (f. 1r.), from which are drawn the details below.
Abbreviations
“xpo” with a wavy line over it denoting an abbreviation, i.e. Cristo (Christ)
“nro” with a line over it, i.e. nuestro (our)
“q” with a swirl (two examples), i.e. que (that)
Especially Challenging Words
año (year)
E (often used where we might expect “y,” meaning “and”)
çibdad (i.e. ciudad, city); the swirl on the far left may be meant to serve
as the bottom part of the c for the ç; then we have c and i run together;
the b serves where we would expect the u today
era (it was); the e is much larger and more stylized than the r and a
haze (i.e. hace, it makes, it does); the h is the main challenge here
Riñón (or riñón, usually kidney, but here referring to a measurement;
some will see the R as rr, instead, representing a trilling of the r;
note how the tilde over the middle n is encompassed in the curving mark that goes around to the right)
Letters from the Alphabet (with Context)
Above, we have a lower case “a,” and it comes at the end of the word provided as context,
“Comiença” (i.e. Comienza, it begins), shown below.
Above, we have a lower case “a,” and it comes at the end of the word provided as context, “la,”
shown below. The a could almost be mistaken for “or.”
This is a lower case “b,” and it comes in the middle of the word provided as context,
“cibdad” (i.e. ciudad, city).
This is a lower case “b,” and it comes at the beginning of the word provided as context,
“breve” (brief).
This is a lower case “b,” and it comes in the middle of the word provided as context,
“nobrauan” (i.e. nombraban, they were naming).
(to be continued)