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Two competing vowel systems.
Also known as: Syriac vocalisation
The Syriac marks writing vowels, in two systems developed by the eastern and western traditions.
Write the vowels of Syriac, which the consonantal letters do not record.
Contexts: Language and transcription, History
The eastern church used dots and the western church adapted small Greek vowel letters, so a manuscript's vowel system identifies which tradition produced it before its content is read.
Contexts: Language and transcription, History
A schism in a church produced a divergence in a notation, which is one of the clearest cases anywhere of a doctrinal split leaving a typographic trace.
Contexts: Language and transcription, History
Dots arranged above and below the letters in the eastern system, and small Greek-derived letter shapes above and below in the western one.