dittography

The name given to a clerical error frequently found in MSS. It consists in writing twice what should properly be written only once. Thus in the best MS. (Σ) of the Fals. Leg. of Demosthenes, we find Ἀριστοφῶν καὶ ὁ Ἀριστόδημος for Κτήσιφων καὶ ὁ Ἀριστόδημος. One of the scholiasts on Horace Carm. i. 27, 19 doubles two syllables, writing laboraborabas for laborabas. A very extraordinary instance is found in the Codex Puteolanus of Livy , which in xxvii. 11Livy, 11, has dedissent et ius liberum eosdem dedissent et ius liberum eosdem dedissent et ius liberum eosdem dedissent—a proof of how mechanically the scribes performed their work. See textual criticism.