Punctator

In the Hebrew notation the one dot for [i] and the two dots for [e] go back to the Nestorian punctators; but in Hebrew they are used exclusively to stand for these vowel

The punctator calls their names and keeps an account of the absent.

The punctator must note as absent those who come to mass after the last Kyrie, those who do not chant, those who talk or who wander about in the choir, who leave beforre the end of mass, and those who do not wear the choral dress.

In collegiate churches it was often one of the singers who performed the role of punctator, and he sent his report to the maître de chapelle or the chapter as a whole.

Their "punctator," or secretary, was a Spaniard, Cristofano de Hoyeda, whose recording of a protest against Palestrina's admission to the choir has already been mentioned.

Choirbooks were placed around the facistol or big podium, allowing the singers to be grouped around them. A punctator – who also doubled as music copyist and choirbook archivist – would point to the notes to be sung with a long stick.

Transcription of the Sistine diary entries made for the year 1594 by the punctator Ippolito Gambocci. Particularly notable here for their notices of Palestrina's death, funeral, and memorial services, they are also a valuable record of the lives of the singers, the daily services and activities of the choir, and the events associated with the appointment of new members and, in this case, a maestro di cappella.

But the statement of another inquirer, equally learned, "that the punctators borrowed their punctuation from the Arabic," shows how little force this proposition has.