Greek minuscule

{{short description|Handwritten script of medieval and early modern Greek}}

File:Thucydides Manuscript.jpg.]]

File:Greek manuscript minuscule Aristotle.png.]]

Greek minuscule was a Greek writing style which was developed as a book hand in Byzantine manuscripts during the 9th and 10th centuries. It replaced the earlier style of uncial writing, from which it differed in using smaller, more rounded and more connected letter forms, and in using many ligatures. Many of these forms had previously developed as parts of more informal cursive writing. The basic letter shapes used in the minuscule script are the ancestors of modern lower case Greek letters.

From the 10th century onwards, most Byzantine manuscripts of classical and early Christian Greek works were gradually rewritten in the new minuscule style, and few of the older uncial manuscripts were preserved. For this reason, uncial manuscripts are today extremely rare, while early minuscule manuscripts are often the oldest preserved sources attesting an ancient work and may therefore be of central importance for its philological study. Manuscripts from the oldest phase of minuscule writing (mid-9th to mid-10th century) are known in scholarship today as codices vetustissimi ("oldest codices"). Those from the mid-10th to the mid-12th centuries are known as codices vetusti ("old codices"), and later ones as codices recentiores ("newer codices").

Minuscule writing remained in use for handwriting throughout the Byzantine and into the post-Byzantine era. In the modern era, western printers used minuscule book hands as a model for developing early Greek print fonts. Like with Latin, it became common to mix minuscule writing with some uncial or capital letters, with the latter used for emphasis, in titles and initials. From this practice, the modern orthographic system of letter case for Greek arose. In modern Greek writing, the upper case letters are generally modeled on the letter shapes of ancient inscriptions, while the lower case letters are based on the tradition of minuscule handwriting.

class="wikitable" !Majuscule !Uncial !Cursive !Minuscule !Minuscule with ligatures !Modern lower case
Α |File:Greek uncial Alpha.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Alpha.svg |File:Greek minuscule Alpha.svg |File:Greek minuscule Alpha with ligatures.svg |α
Β |File:Greek uncial Beta.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Beta.svg |File:Greek minuscule Beta.svg |  |β
Γ |File:Greek uncial Gamma.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Gamma.svg |File:Greek minuscule Gamma.svg |File:Greek minuscule Gamma with ligatures.svg |γ
Δ |File:Greek uncial Delta.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Delta.svg |File:Greek minuscule Delta.svg |File:Greek minuscule Delta with ligatures.svg |δ
Ε |File:Greek uncial Epsilon.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Epsilon.svg |File:Greek minuscule Epsilon.svg |File:Greek minuscule Epsilon with ligatures.svg |ε
Ζ |File:Greek uncial Zeta.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Zeta.svg |File:Greek minuscule Zeta.svg |  |ζ
Η |File:Greek uncial Eta.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Eta.svg |File:Greek minuscule Eta.svg |File:Greek minuscule Eta with ligatures.svg |η
Θ |File:Greek uncial Theta.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Theta.svg |File:Greek minuscule Theta.svg |File:Greek minuscule Theta with ligatures.svg |θ
Ι |File:Greek uncial Iota.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Iota.svg |File:Greek minuscule Iota.svg |  |ι
Κ |File:Greek uncial Kappa.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Kappa.svg |File:Greek minuscule Kappa.svg |File:Greek minuscule Kappa with ligatures.svg |κ
Λ |File:Greek uncial Lambda.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Lambda.svg |File:Greek minuscule Lambda.svg |File:Greek minuscule Lambda with ligatures.svg |λ
Μ |File:Greek uncial Mu.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Mu.svg |File:Greek minuscule Mu.svg |File:Greek minuscule Mu with ligatures.svg |μ
Ν |File:Greek uncial Nu.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Nu.svg |File:Greek minuscule Nu.svg |File:Greek minuscule Nu with ligatures.svg |ν
Ξ |File:Greek uncial Xi.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Xi.svg |File:Greek minuscule Xi.svg |  |ξ
Ο |File:Greek uncial Omicron.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Omicron.svg |File:Greek minuscule Omicron.svg |File:Greek minuscule Omikron with ligatures.svg |ο
Π |File:Greek uncial Pi.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Pi.svg |File:Greek minuscule Pi.svg |File:Greek minuscule Pi with ligatures.svg |π
Ρ |File:Greek uncial Rho.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Rho.svg |File:Greek minuscule Rho.svg |File:Greek minuscule Rho with ligatures.svg |ρ
Σ |File:Greek uncial Sigma.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Sigma.svg |File:Greek minuscule Sigma.svg |File:Greek minuscule Sigma with ligatures.svg |σ
Τ |File:Greek uncial Tau.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Tau.svg |File:Greek minuscule Tau.svg |File:Greek minuscule Tau with ligatures.svg |τ
Υ |File:Greek uncial Upsilon.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Upsilon.svg |File:Greek minuscule Upsilon.svg |File:Greek minuscule Upsilon with ligatures.svg |υ
Φ |File:Greek uncial Phi.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Phi.svg |File:Greek minuscule Phi.svg |File:Greek minuscule Phi with ligatures.svg |φ
Χ |File:Greek uncial Chi.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Chi.svg |File:Greek minuscule Chi.svg |  |χ
Ψ |File:Greek uncial Psi.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Psi.svg |File:Greek minuscule Psi.svg |  |ψ
Ω |File:Greek uncial Omega.svg |File:Greek cursive variants Omega.svg |File:Greek minuscule Omega.svg |File:Greek minuscule Omega with ligatures.svg |ω