Manuscript Siglum
A short letter code standing for a specific manuscript witness in a critical edition.
A siglum (plural sigla) is an abbreviation assigned to a manuscript so that an editor can record variant readings compactly. In a critical apparatus, "A" or "P" may each stand for a particular codex, defined once in the edition's front matter.
The system exists because textual notes would otherwise be unreadable. Recording that three manuscripts read one word and two read another takes a line with sigla and a paragraph without them.
For anyone quoting from a critical edition, sigla are a warning label: where the apparatus shows disagreement, the printed text is an editor's judgement about which witness to follow, not a settled reading.
Common mistake: carrying sigla into a general-audience quotation. Outside the edition that defines them the letters mean nothing, so quote the established text and explain any significant variant in plain words.
“12 verbum] verba A P: verbum cett.”
Keep reading the glossary
A scholarly edition of a work that gathers the variant readings of earlier editions and the notes of previous editors.
The citation form for unpublished material held in a collection: item, folder, box, collection, repository.
Word-for-word — quoting exactly as the original was spoken or written.
How faithfully a translated quote preserves the meaning and music of the original.