Conventions Used in the Transcriptions

The following conventions are used in the transcriptions:

Angled brackets 〈 〉

used to enclose a correction to replace what actually appears on the stone. Where this used, an editor should explain what the actual reading on the stone is and why s/he is making the correction. I have used this on Praisos #1.

Dot .

Any imperfect letter should be shown with a dot beneath it, even if its identity can be regarded as certain. In my notes I have commented on whether damaged letters are certain or not.

Dots on the line are used to show where letters are presumed to have stood where no restoration can be suggested. Each dot represents a single missing letter. Dots, therefore, are used only where the extent of the lacuna can be accurately judged.

Dashes --

Where it is uncertain how many letters are missing, a lacuna is indicated by dashes; the number of dashes has no reference to the likely number of letters missing.

vacat

If a blank space has been left where, in a continuous text, a letter would have been expected, this is indicated in transcription by an italic v. Each v should equal one space, thus e.g. vvvv would indicate four blank spaces. Where a space is clearly "white space" between words, the space is shown without any v.

To indicate that the rest of line is devoid of text, or that a line is completely devoid of lettering, vacat or its abbreviation vac. is written in italics.

The above follows the Leiden system. This uses other symbols also, e.g. [ ], { }. But there has been no occasion to use these in the transcriptions.