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Sentence-punctuation in manuscripts of the Syriac Peshitta Bible is not well understood. One punctuation mark, however, a vertical pair of points above a letter, known as zawga 'elãyd, can be made out with some confidence: it marks yes-or-no questions. This conclusion is demonstrated from a sampling of early New Testament manuscripts in the British Library. The evidence of these manuscripts is all the more valuable because native Syriac grammarians generally lost the key to the meaning of this and other punctuation marks. It is conjectured that Syriac was the first language to use a reading sign as a question mark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way in which library catalogues, and specifically on-line catalogues, treat Syriac materials is not always quite transparent. This article considers some aspects of cataloging that users may find it helpful to know more about: romanization of the Syriac script, access points in catalogue records for names and subjects, inclusion of manuscripts, and language-coding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]