silent signs / differx. 2015

from: 

Teresa Alfieri Tonini, “Iscrizioni esposte ed iscrizioni nascoste nel mondo greco”

[Exposed and hidden inscriptions in the Greek world ]

in: 

ACME – Annali della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell’Università degli Studi di Milano, (vol. LX, fasc. III, Sept.-Dec. 2007, page 31)

source: 

http://www.ledonline.it/acme/allegati/Acme-07-III-05-Tonini.pdf

Translation (by differx):

[…] etc) we sometimes find, instead of the usual inscriptions (signatures or invites to have joy or to drink, or to buy the pot), a simple series of tiny letters on the pot, usually in a single horizontal row, the same on both sides, just like the figures, but with no meaning (υιλκυλιαιλιυ, see image 5); in this case the letters are silent signs, they only contribute to the making of a better structured line of black paint, whose purpose is merely ornamental, where ––incidentally–– some letters are chosen only for their shape. So the graphic sign is absolutely unrelated to its phonetic value.