Abecedarium
An abecedarium (also known as an abecedary or ABCs or simply an ABC) is an
Non-Latin alphabets
Some abecedaria include obsolete letters which are not otherwise attested in inscriptions. For example, abecedaria in the
Some abecedaria found in the
Latin alphabet
Near the beginning of the Christian era, the
AXBVCTESDR . . . . . .BCCEECHI EQGPH. . . .M MNOPQ RSTVXYZ
This can be compared with a denarius of L. Cassius Caecinianus, which has the following inscription:
AX, BV, CT, DS, ER, FQ, GP, HO, IN, LM
Jerome explained this similarity. Children were made to learn the alphabet in pairs of letters, joining the first letter of the alphabet with the last letter (AX), the second letter with the second to last (BV), and so on. A stone found at Rome in 1877, and dating from the 6th or 7th century, seems to have been used in a school, as a model for learning the alphabet, and points to the continuance of old methods of teaching.
Ecclesiastical use
An Abecedary, a full alphabet carved in stone or written in book form, was historically found in
An example, the first seven letters or so of which were found in 1967, is from the long demolished Church of St Mary of the Grey Friars in Dumfries, Scotland. In this case the letters are inscribed in the Lombardic script of the 1260s and the complete structure would probably have stood near the high altar[citation needed].
One of the oldest examples is now in use as a gravestone in Kilmalkedar, near Dingle, Ireland. It has the appearance of a standing stone and is known as the Alphabet stone, displaying as it does an alphabet dating from early Christian times.[3]
Abecedarian psalms and hymns exist, these are compositions like Psalm 119 in Hebrew, and the Akathist hymn in Greek, in which distinct stanzas or verses commence with successive letters of the alphabet.[4]
- In Adam’s fall,
- We sinned all.
- Thy life to mend,
- This Book attend.
- The Cat doth play,
- And after slay.
See also
References
- ISBN 0-87661-221-4.
- S2CID 191438253.
- ISBN 0-85511-180-1. P. 47.
- ^ Definitions
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Abecedaria". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.