Editing Uncial script (section)

==Half-uncial==
[[File:Latin semi-uncial in the Codex Basilicanus St. Petri.jpg|thumb|450px|An exemplary early 6th-century semi-uncial, Codex Basilicanus S. Petri D 182]]
[[File:Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 668 - British Library 1532r - Epitome of Livy - magnitudinem, Lusitani vastat.jpg|thumb|left|A 3rd-century script that can either be considered a rustic predecessor of semi-uncial or the earliest semi-uncial, [[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus]] 668]]
The term ''half-uncial'' or ''semi-uncial'' was first deployed by [[Scipione Maffei]], ''{{lang|it|Istoria diplomatica}}'' (Mantua, 1727);<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maffei |first=Scipione |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000600717 |title=Istoria diplomatica che serve d'introduzione all'arte critica in tal materia |date=1727 |publisher=A. Tumermani |location=Mantova |language=it}}</ref> he used it to distinguish what seemed like a cut-down version of uncial in the famous ''{{lang|la|Codex Basilicanus}}'' of [[Saint Hilarius|Hilary]], which contains sections in each of the two types of script. The terminology was continued in the mid-18th century by [[René-Prosper Tassin]] and [[Charles-François Toustain]].

Despite the common and well-fixed usage, half-uncial is a poor name to the extent that it suggests some organic debt to regular uncial, though both types share features inherited from their ancient source, {{lang|la|[[capitalis rustica]]}}.<ref>L. E. Boyle, "'Basilicanus' of Hilary Revisited," in ''Integral Palaeography'', with an introduction by F. Troncarelli (Turnhout, 2001), 105–17.</ref>

It was first used around the 3rd century (if its earliest example isn't considered a transitional variant of the rustic script, as [[Leonard Boyle]] did) and remained in use until the end of the 8th century. The early forms of half-uncial were used for pagan authors and Roman legal writing, while in the 6th century the script came to be used in Africa and Europe (but not as often in insular centres) to transcribe Christian texts.

===Half-uncial forms===
Some general forms of half-uncial letters are:
* {{angbr|a}} is usually round {{angbr|ɑ}}, sometimes with a slightly open top
* {{angbr|b}} and {{angbr|d}} have vertical stems, identical to the modern letters
* {{angbr|g}} has a flat top, no bow, and a curved descender {{angbr|ᵹ}} (somewhat resembling the digit 5)
* {{angbr|t}} has a curved shaft {{angbr|ꞇ}}
* {{angbr|n}}, {{angbr|r}}, and {{angbr|s}} are similar to their uncial counterparts (with the same differences compared to modern letters)

Half-uncial was brought to Ireland in the 5th century, and from there to [[Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England|England in the 7th century]]. In England, it was used to create the [[Old English Latin alphabet]] in the 8th century.