THE PEOPLE OF THE CODEX. Vocalization and cantillation marks, as well as marginal grammatical notes, were written in books but never into the texts of scrolls. The Latin word for such a book is codex (plural, codices). Shorthand notes written to the right or left of the text are called the Masora Qetana, or small masora; longer comments, placed above and below the text, are known as the Masora Gedola, the large masora.