|
A chronogram is a sentence or inscription in which specific letters, interpreted as numerals, stand for a particular date when rearranged. The word, meaning "time writing", derives from the Greek words ''chronos'' ("time") and ''gramma'' ("letter"). In the ''pure chronogram'' each word contains a numeral, the ''natural chronogram'' shows all numerals in the correct numerical order, e.g. AMORE MATVRITAS = MMVI = 2006. Chronograms in versification are referred to as ''chronosticha'' if they are written in hexameter and ''chronodisticha'' if they are written in distich. In the ancient Indonesian Hindu-Buddhist tradition, especially in ancient Java, chronograms were called ''chandrasengkala'' and usually used in inscriptions to signify a given year in the Saka Calendar. Certain words were assigned their specific number, and poetic phrases were formed from these selected words to describe particular events that have their own numerical meanings. For example, the ''candrasengkala'' "''sirna ilang kertaning bumi''" ("the wealth of earth disappeared and diminished") (''sirna'' = 0, ''ilang'' = 0, ''kerta'' = 4, ''bumi'' = 1) corresponds to the year 1400 in the Saka Calendar (1478 CE), the date of the fall of the Majapahit Empire.〔(Jakarta Post, March 30, 2003: ''Sengkalan: Mystery of words and forms '' )〕 ==Roman numerals== Chronograms from the Roman Empire are reported but not confirmed. The earliest confirmed chronograms using Roman numerals were devised in the mid 14th century but retrospective chronograms which express earlier dates are known.〔Chronograms, 5000 and More in Number, James Hilton, google books, page vi.〕 Chronograms were particularly popular during the Renaissance, when chronograms were often used on tombstones and foundation stones to mark the date of the event being commemorated. They were popular during the Baroque as well. In 1711, Joseph Addison compared chronograms to “anagrams and acrostics.”〔Chronograms, 5000 and More in Number, James Hilton, google books, page xi.〕 Examples include: *''My Day Closed Is In Immortality'' is a chronogram commemorating the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England. The capitals read MDCIII, which corresponds to 1603, the year of Elizabeth's death. *''ChrIstVs DuX ergo trIVMphVs'' ("Christ the Leader, therefore triumphant"), on a coin struck by Gustavus Adolphus in 1627, gives MDCXVVVII or 1627.〔The History of Mathematics, Anne Rooney, page 21.〕 Although chronograms are relatively scarce on coins, many inscriptions on medals incorporate chronograms.〔Chronograms, 5000 and More in Number, James Hilton, google books, page vii.〕 *In a work entitled ''Hugo Grotius his Sophompaneas'', published in 1652, the date is indicated by the author's name: ''FranCIs GoLDsMIth''. This gives MDCLII or 1652. *An example of a short chronogram is on the monument commemorating the 1764 Massacre at Madéfalva in Transsylvania. The script Siculicidium(in Latin, meaning "murder of Székelys") written SICVLICIDIVM, gives exactly 1764. Only the beginning letter "S" is not used from the one-word chronogram. Many lengthy examples of chronograms can be found in Germany, notably in and around the town of Bad Salzuflen. These commemorate the building of houses in the form of prayers or quotations from the Bible. For instance, ''SVRGE O IEHOVA ATQVE DISPERGE INIMICOS TVOS'' ("Rise, oh Jehovah, and destroy your enemies", a slightly altered version of Psalm 68:2) gives 1625 as the year of building. One double chronogram, in Latin and English, on the year 1642, reads, "'TV DeVs IaM propItIVs sIs regI regnoqVe hVIC VnIVerso." – "O goD noVV sheVV faVoVr to the kIng anD thIs VVhoLe LanD." The English sentence demonstrates that the origin of the letter w as a double v or u was recognised historically. In Hildesheim in the North of Germany, the inscription "CVra BonIfaCII, PrIMo, QVo PraefVIt Anno Abbas SpeCtatos CoLLoCat Hos CeLares " showing the year 1770 can be read above the entrance of the Hospital of Five Wounds which was built in the year indicated. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chronogram」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|