The Role of Graphemics and its Metalanguage: The Case of Ductus

The term ductus occupies a central yet conceptually unstable place in paleography and in the analysis of ancient writing systems. Although etymologically transparent, its usage varies widely across disciplines—from Hittitology and Assyriology to Mycenaean studies and Latin paleography—shifting between a general meaning (“handwriting,” “script”) and a technical notion referring to the execution and rhythm of writing. Such overlapping uses have generated ambiguity and hindered precise analytical distinctions. This paper surveys the principal definitions of ductus and highlights the inconsistencies that arise when mechanical parameters, spatial arrangement, and sign morphology are conflated under a single label. Building on Cammarosano’s proposal to distinguish sign form from equilibrium, it argues that separating micro-level sign construction from macro-level spatial and kinetic properties yields a more coherent descriptive framework. By situating these concepts within the broader intellectual lineage of figura and its accidentia, the paper shows how inherited categories continue to shape modern interpretations. A refined terminology, integrating scribal practice, tradition, and localization, offers a clearer basis for diachronic and comparative analyses.