Ligatures: History of Modernizing Our Writing
The difference between writing of the past and writing today
If you read literature from our past, you may notice particular differences with the language of the past and the language of today. Where do those differences come from? And when did our written language change?
＆(the ampersand) comes from the Latin word “et” meaning “and”. “&c” can also represent et cetera for the same reason. “cetera” meaning “the rest”.
How did “et” become “＆” anyway?
It‘s known as a ligature.
What is a ligature?
A ligature is a character that combines two or more characters into a single character. Generally there are two types of ligatures: Typographic, and Orthographic.
Typographic
Typographic ligatures are usually a stylistic choice, and don’t represent a new symbol or letter. Typographic ligatures are often used in the creation of fonts or for cursive writing as a visual, or stylistic option.
