Language desk
< March 9	<< Feb \| March \| Apr >>	March 11 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

March 10

Latin abbreviation

I came across this in a Latin bilingual of the Eddas. There was the line "Mundilföri heitir" with a footnote which read,

Mundilföri Cod. Er.  Mundilfari. C. S.

I don't know the abbreviations. Does this mean 'Mundilföri' is a scribal error for 'Mundilfari'? Or that it's 'Mundilföri' in one source and 'Mundilfari' in another? — kwami (talk) 06:35, 10 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Almost certainly the latter. "Cod. Er." is certainly an abbreviation for some "Codex"; "C.S." is likely the same. The footnotes in that edition (I suppose you are referring to this: [1]) are all of this format. There is a prose description of the sources somewhere in the preface (unfortunately not a systematic table matching them to the abbreviations), but "Cod. Er." could be referring to what the preface describes as "... Codici Chartaceo optimo, scripto manu illustr. Dni I. Erici. evergetæ ætatem devote colendi." Fut.Perf. ☼ 07:23, 10 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Next to the quote from the preface mentioned by Fut.Perf., there is a footnote on p. 6 of the book referring to a "Cod. Ericius". "I. Erici" can be the genitive of "I[ohannes] Ericius". I think that "C. S." stands for "Codex Svecicus"; Svecicus is also mentioned in the preface as one of three codices, the third being Langebechius. The abbreviations are very unsystematic, but in a footnote on p. 5 we see a reference to the "Cod. Svecici". A footnote on p. 6 refers to the "Cod. Langeb.". --Lambiam 09:23, 10 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

On second thought, it is more likely that "I. Erici" is the genitive of "I[ohannes] Ericus". and that "Ericius" is an adjective formed from "Eric-" + "-ius". --Lambiam 16:22, 12 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. That help a lot. — kwami (talk) 09:44, 10 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]