Inorthography, aplene scriptum (Latin for 'fully written') 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 tosacred scripture.
Examples ofplene 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 expressionplene scriptum (יתר,yater, 'excess'), sometimes simply described inHebrew asמלא (malé, 'full'), is often used in contrast withdefective scriptum (חסר,ḥaser, 'deficient'), the latter implying a word in which a letter that is normally present has been omitted. Together,plene anddefective scripta are sometimes described using the Hebrew phraseיתר וחסר,yater we-ḥaser.
Theoriginal use of the phraseplene scriptum seems to meanLatin characters written without using abbreviations.
In theHebrew Bible, inDevarimDeut. 3:21, the name "Joshua" is written in Hebrew inplene scriptum (יהושוע,yhwšw’), as it possesses a superfluousvav, and which word is normally written with only one vav, as inיהושע (yhwš’). Other examples abound of this anomaly, such as the name "Jacob" (יעקוב,y’qwb) inLeviticus 26:42.[1] The Hebrew name "Issachar" (יִשָּׂשכָר), where there is a second lettersin (ש) having no sound, is a classic example ofplene scriptum. The wordצידה (tsāyiḏ) inGenesis 27:3, where thehe at the end of the word has no function, is another example ofplene scriptum[2] or else a case ofqere and ketiv.
TheBabylonian Talmud discusses why the Hebrew Bible inLeviticus 23:42–43 writes for the plural word 'booths' the Hebrew wordסֻּכֹּת (indefective scriptum), but in the verse that immediately follows makes use of the plural word in its usual form,סֻּכּוֹת.[3] A biblical word'splene or defective characteristic has often been used in rabbinichermeneutics to decideHalachic norms.[a]TheTalmud and the rabbis explain the variations inplene anddefective scriptum found in theTorah as being merely aHalacha le-Moshe mi-Sinai (a Law given to Moses at Sinai).[4]
In some Semitic languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic), paleographers often describe the addition of aplene consonantal letter, such asvav andyud (used in place of the vowels 'o', 'u', 'i', and 'ei'), as employingmatres lectionis in its reading, although not allplene letters used in Hebrew words are indeed amater lectionis.[5]
The ethnographer,Jacob Saphir (1822–1886), in his 19th century workIben Safir, mentions the tradition of orthography found in theHalleli Codex of the Pentateuch, in which he laid down the most outstanding examples ofplene anddefective scriptum copied generation after generation by thescribes.[6] The Catalan rabbi and Talmudist,Menachem Meiri (1249 –c. 1310), also brings down an exhaustive list of words in hisKiryat Sefer, showing which words are to be written by scribes inplene scriptum and which words are to be written indefective scriptum, based on theMasoretic Text. RabbiJedidiah Norzi (1560–1626) wrote a popular work on Hebrew orthography contained in theFive Books of Moses, and in the fiveMegillot, with examples ofplene and defective writings, which was later namedMinḥat Shai.
In theTikkun Soferim (the model text for copying Torah scrolls by scribes), the wordplene is always used in relation to other words written indefective 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,[7] where one word in a text must be written as though it were lacking inmatres 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 theTorah, theSephardic tradition calls for the wordויהיו (wyhyw) in the verseויהיו כל ימי נח (Genesis 9:29) to be written indefective scriptum (i.e.ויהי,wyhy), but theYemenite Jewish community requiring it to be written inplene scriptum (i.e.ויהיו).[8] The wordmineso inגדול עוני מנשוא (Genesis 4:13) is written in Sephardic Torah scrolls inplene scriptum, with an additional 'waw', but inYemenite Torah scrolls, the same wordmineso is written in defective scriptum, without a 'waw' (i.e.מנשא,mnsʾ).
Theancient Roman meaning of the phraseplene scriptum may have simply meantLatin characters written without using abbreviations.
The wordplene has also come to denote the horizontal bar or line written above the six double-sounding consonants in ancient Hebrewcodices, whenever their assigned reading is to be read without adagesh, or as a non-accentuated Hebrew character. These letters are thebet (ב),gimel (ג),dalet (ד),kaph (כ),pe (פ), andtau (ת). When theaccentuation dot appears in the middle of these Hebrew characters, there is noplene bar written above them.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Studies in the early history of Jewish scribal customs, with special reference to the Qumran biblical scrolls and to the Tannaitic traditions of 'Massekheth Soferim'
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