orthography An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis. Most national ...

, a is a word containing an additional letter, usually one which is superfluous – not normally written in that word – nor needed for the proper comprehension of the word. Today, the term applies mostly to sacred scripture. Examples of ''plene scripta'' appear frequently in classical Hebrew texts, and copyists are obliged to copy them unchanged, to ensure that biblical or other sacred texts are written with universal conformity. The expression ''plene scriptum'' (), sometimes simply described in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

as (''malé'', 'full'), is often used in contrast with ''defective scriptum'' (), the latter implying a word in which a letter that is normally present has been omitted. Together, ''plene'' and ''defective scripta'' are sometimes described using the Hebrew phrase . The original use of the phrase seems to mean

Latin character The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gre ...

s written without using abbreviations.

Implications

In the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Devarim'' , the name "Joshua" is written in Hebrew in '' plene scriptum'' (), as it possesses a superfluous vav, and which word is normally written with only one vav, as in (''yhwš’''). Other examples abound of this anomaly, such as the name "Jacob" () in . The Hebrew name "Issachar" (), where there is a second letter ''sin'' () having no sound, is a classic example of ''plene scriptum''. The word (''tsāyiḏ'') in , where the ''he'' at the end of the word has no function, is another example of ''plene scriptum'' or else a case of qere and ketiv. The

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

discusses why the Hebrew Bible in writes for the plural word 'booths' the Hebrew word (in ''defective scriptum''), but in the verse that immediately follows makes use of the plural word in its usual form, . A biblical word's ''plene'' or defective characteristic has often been used in rabbinic

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...

to decide Halachic norms. The

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

and the rabbis explain the variations in ''plene'' and ''defective scriptum'' found in the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

as being merely a '' Halacha le-Moshe mi-Sinai'' (a Law given to Moses at Sinai). In some Semitic languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic), paleographers often describe the addition of a ' consonantal letter, such as '' vav'' and '' yud'' (used in place of the vowels 'o', 'u', 'i', and 'ei'), as employing '' matres lectionis'' in its reading, although not all ' letters used in Hebrew words are indeed a '.

Variant readings

The ethnographer, Jacob Saphir (1822–1886), in his 19th century work ''Iben Safir'', mentions the tradition of orthography found in the ''Halleli Codex'' of the Pentateuch, in which he laid down the most outstanding examples of ''plene'' and ''defective scriptum'' copied generation after generation by the scribes. The Catalan rabbi and Talmudist, Menachem Meiri (1249 – ), also brings down an exhaustive list of words in his ''Kiryat Sefer'', showing which words are to be written by scribes in ''plene scriptum'' and which words are to be written in '' defective scriptum'', based on the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

. Rabbi Jedidiah Norzi (1560–1626) wrote a popular work on Hebrew orthography contained in the

Five Books of Moses The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Book of Genesis, Genesis, Book of Exodus, Exodus, Leviticus, Book of Numbers, Numbers and Deuteronomy. ...

, and in the five '' Megillot'', with examples of ''plene'' and defective writings, which was later named ''Minḥat Shai''. In the '' Tikkun Soferim'' (the model text for copying Torah scrolls by scribes), the word ''plene'' is always used in relation to other words written in ''defective scriptum'', not because there is necessarily anything unusual or abnormal about the word being written in such a way, but to ensure a universal layout (conformity) in scribal practices, where one word in a text must be written as though it were lacking in '' matres lectionis'', and another word in a different text (sometimes even the same word) appearing as though it was not. Among Israel's diverse ethnic groups, variant readings have developed over certain words in the

, the

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

tradition calls for the word (''wyhyw'') in the verse () to be written in ''defective scriptum'' (i.e. ), but the Yemenite Jewish community requiring it to be written in ''plene scriptum'' (i.e. ). The word ''mineso'' in () is written in Sephardic Torah scrolls in ''plene scriptum'', with an additional 'waw', but in Yemenite Torah scrolls, the same word ''mineso'' is written in defective scriptum, without a 'waw' (i.e. ).

Other uses

The

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

meaning of the phrase ' may have simply meant

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

characters written without using abbreviations. The word ''plene'' has also come to denote the horizontal bar or line written above the six double-sounding consonants in ancient Hebrew

codices The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

, whenever their assigned reading is to be read without a '' dagesh'', or as a non-accentuated Hebrew character. These letters are the ''bet'' (), ''gimel'' (), ''dalet'' (), ''kaph'' (), ''pe'' (), and ''tau'' (). When the accentuation dot appears in the middle of these Hebrew characters, there is no ''plene'' bar written above them.

Footnotes

References

External links

* — 11th–12th century