Does anyone know what "sc." stands for n Cnósach Focal ó Bhaile Bhúirne? It occurs frequently, eg. in the entry for "á": "á (sc. leabhar) chuir chúm". It seems to mean "for example", but what Irish words starting with s and c mean that?

The only thing that's coming to mind is this: sc with suspension stroke

If I can think of anything else it could be I'll get back to you.

Thank you, yes. That stands for a word starting with sc-. It's a shame these manuscript abbreviations are no longer in use.

I think this one specifically means scél or scéal in modern orthography, at least in most cases.

It is a shame they fell out of use, but they came to be a bit self-indulgent towards the period of Early Modern Irish manuscripts. Plus, with paper being more readily available than vellum, and a lot cheaper to produce, space on the page wasn't at a premium anymore, so I suppose that using an increasingly niche set of abbreviations became more of a curiosity for literate hobbyists rather than a necessity for professional scribes.

Well, I've got a copy of Bedell's Bible in seana-chlódh, which cost me $300 on Abebooks. And there are manuscript abbreviations throughout in every sentence. It is an extremely beautiful book.

I imagine it is.

I remember reading that manuscript abbreviations were still in common use even at the invention of the printing press. The Gutenberg Bible apparently made heavy use of them. Perhaps their demise, like Þ and ð, can be tied more to the need for common character sets across Europe in the days of the mass produced printing press rather than the change of writing material itself, then. In a way it's a wonder the chló Gaelach lasted as long as it did in print. Or that it came to be available in print at all given the diminishing status of Irish during the timeframe that the printing press was becoming popular.

As you undoubtedly already know, some books have a table of abbreviations in the front right near the table of contents. I wonder if you could refer to one or more of those to see what they have to offer.