0H. Forms of diacritical marks and letters (including capitalization)
In general do not add accents and other diacritical marks that are not present in the source.
In general transcribe letters as they appear. Convert earlier forms of letters and diacritical marks, however, to their modern form (cf. Appendix B ). In most languages, including Latin, transcribe a ligature by giving its component letters separately. Do not, however, separate the component letters of ae in Anglo-Saxon; oe in French; or ae and oe in ancient or modern Scandinavian languages. (For the transcription of i/j and u/v, see below.) When there is any doubt as to the correct conversion of elements to modern form, transcribe them from the source as exactly as possible.
Convert to uppercase or lowercase according to the rules for capitalization in AACR2, appendix A. (For roman numerals, see the specific rules and AACR 2, appendix C.) When the rules for capitalization require converting i/j or u/v to uppercase or lowercase, adhere to the pattern of uppercase/lowercase employed by the particular printer(4) Only when a pattern cannot be determined should the following table for conversion be applied, for it represents a solution of last resort.
Transcribe into lowercase:
I or J as i | II as ii |
IJ as ij | U or V as u (but U or V in initial position as v) |
VV as uu (or vv in initial position) | Transcribe into uppercase: |
i as I | j as J |
u or v as V | uu or vv as VV (i.e., two capital V’s) |
Do not convert to lowercase a final capital I when the preceding letters of the word are printed either in lowercase or in smaller capitals. Example 2
Treat gothic capitals in the forms J and U as I and V. (In "modern" gothic where lowercase i and j are distinguished, transcribe the gothic capitals according to the lowercase usage.)
Capital letters occurring apparently at random or in a particular sequence on a title page or in a colophon may represent a chronogram. Where there is good reason to assume that a chronogram is being used, do not convert letters considered part of the chronogram from uppercase to lowercase, or from lowercase to uppercase. See also 4D2.
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