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What looks like y^2 (or superscript 2) is an abbreviation for "the".
by josh_fyi 6y ago
What looks like y^2 (or superscript 2) is an abbreviation for "the".
- alister 6y agoThank you, I've corrected it. It raises the question of why anyone bothered with a 2 symbol abbreviation for just 3 letters.
- MLR 6y agoOld English had a letter called thorn that would eventually be replaced with the modern th or a y (ye olde is just said the old). The y^e form was apparently used for the King James Bible in 1611 so it's plausible it might still have been a normal way of writing "the" as late as 1650, rather than as an affectation or abbreviation. Edit: He also uses y^t for that which I hadn't noticed at first glance.
- jabirali 6y agoYou could raise the same question about many historic ligatures, like abbreviating "et" to "&" in Latin?
- LadyCailin 6y agoIt's such a long word, makes sense to abbreviate it.