Sacred language ideology for Nomina Sacra between the second and fifth centuries CE

Abstract This study investigates the sacred language ideology behind Nomina Sacra, which are contractions of certain words in religious texts used to express awe towards the referent. This study analyzes 170 New Testament Manuscripts written from the second century to the fifth century CE. The macro analysis finds no evidence of a language policy even after the Edict of Milan (313 CE), when Christianity became a dominant religion within the Roman Empire. However, the meso and micro analyses unveil two factors that potentially contribute to variations in the employment of Nomina Sacra: (1) the meso context, linguistic ideologies cultivated and propagated by local churches, and (2) the micro context, individual scribes’ personal preferences for using Nomina Sacra. The research findings of the meso contexts demonstrate the indexical fields of Nomina Sacra – namely, a degree of strong and weak linguistic ideologies for their contractions’ referents – between the second to fifth century CE. In addition, a micro analysis shows individual scribes’ styles of applying Nomina Sacra, which were based on their perspectives on the sacred language ideologies.