Medieval scribes used the symbols extensively for critical markings of manuscripts. The obelus accompanied by points is used when we do not know whether a passage should be suppressed or not." 560–636) described the use of the symbol as follows: "The obelus is appended to words or phrases uselessly repeated, or else where the passage involves a false reading, so that, like the arrow, it lays low the superfluous and makes the errors disappear . He describes the use of the asterisk and the dagger as: "an asterisk makes a light shine, the obelisk cuts and pierces". 347–420) used a simple horizontal slash for an obelus, but only for passages in the Old Testament. 310–320 – 403) used both a horizontal slash or hook (with or without dots) and an upright and slightly slanting dagger to represent an obelus. 184–253 AD) used it to indicate differences between different versions of the Old Testament in his Hexapla. The early Christian Alexandrian scholar Origen (c. It was used much in the same way by later scholars to mark differences between various translations or versions of the Bible and other manuscripts. They indicated the end of a marked passage. Some scholars used the obelus and various other critical symbols, in conjunction with a second symbol known as the metobelos ("end of obelus"), variously represented as two vertically arranged dots, a γ-like symbol, a mallet-like symbol, or a diagonal slash (with or without one or two dots). It was used when non-attested words are reconstructed for the sake of argument only, implying that the author did not believe such a word or word form had ever existed. While the asterisk ( asteriscus) was used for corrective additions, the obelus was used for corrective deletions of invalid reconstructions. The system was further refined by his student Aristophanes of Byzantium, who first introduced the asterisk and used a symbol resembling a ⊤ for an obelus and finally by Aristophanes' student, in turn, Aristarchus, from whom they earned the name of " Aristarchian symbols". They marked questionable or corrupt words or passages in manuscripts of the Homeric epics. The obelus is believed to have been invented by the Homeric scholar Zenodotus as one of a system of editorial symbols. It represented an iron roasting spit, a dart, or the sharp end of a javelin, symbolizing the skewering or cutting out of dubious matter. The dagger symbol originated from a variant of the obelus, originally depicted by a plain line − or a line with one or two dots ÷. The triple dagger ⹋ is a variant with three handles and is used by medievalists to indicate another level of notation. Ī double dagger or diesis ‡ is a variant with two handles that usually marks a third footnote after the asterisk and dagger. (The term obelisk derives from the Greek: ὀβελίσκος ( obeliskos), which means "little obelus" from ὀβελός ( obelos) meaning ' roasting spit'). It is one of the modern descendants of the obelus, a mark used historically by scholars as a critical or highlighting indicator in manuscripts. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species). U+2021 ‡ DOUBLE DAGGER ( ‡, &ddagger )Ī dagger, obelisk, or obelus † is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used.
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