4. Abbreviations

In response to some reviews suggesting an overuse of abbreviations, the following modifications have been made to the section on abbreviations in Manual3 and the mini-Manual.

As a general rule, words are to be written in full in discursive sections (Introductions, skald biographies, Context), but abbreviations used in Notes and bracketed information (i.e. giving regnal/death dates, ‘lit.’ etc. (e.g. ‘(d. 1066)’). Parentheses should be avoided where possible in discursive sections, but if used, discursive statements within parentheses should use expanded forms, unless in Notes.

The following minor exceptions are allowed anywhere, including discursive sections:

• ms. and mss
• st., sts, ch., chs, l., ll., p. and pp. WHEN PRECEDING A NUMERAL
• Abbreviations should not be used as the first word in a sentence, though Hap. leg., Lit., Cf., I.e. and E.g. are allowed as the first word after the lemma in the Notes.

Allowed in Notes but not discursive sections (Introduction, Context):

Please note that this is not a comprehensive list - most abbreviations are allowed to stet in the Notes. See mini-Manual for further details. However, the following are common and sometimes cause confusion/ hypercorrection:

• C10th etc.
• Ed., eds and edn
• p. n. and pers. n. (both parts should be written out in full, without hyphen, for plurals.)
• cpd
• lit. (may be used even in the middle of sentences, though this should be avoided where at all possible.)
• grammatical abbreviations
• Linguistic abbreviations should never be used for ethnicity, but may be used in any linguistic context.

Disallowed completely:

• cl.
• sp.
• w. o.
• ÁM
• st., sts, ch., chs, l., ll. WHEN NOT PRECEDING A NUMERAL
• v. and vv. should be avoided (as should the word ‘verse’, except in clearly unambiguous cases such as ‘skaldic verse’, ‘verse and prose’ etc.)
• Use of linguistic abbreviations for ethnicity

References