The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 18.0074 Thursday, 1 February 2007
From: Al Magary <
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Date: Tuesday, 30 Jan 2007 17:11:44 -0800
Subject: Middle English Dictionary Online
News from the University of Michigan that should interest many on this list:
Say what? U-M Library puts English language history online
http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=3125
ANN ARBOR, Mich.-This book was 75 years in the making at the University
of Michigan, has more than 15,000 pages and takes up nearly four feet of
shelf space.
And now what has been called the greatest achievement in medieval
scholarship in America and the most important single project in current
English historical lexicography is off the bookshelf and freely
available in an online version. <http://ets.umdl.umich.edu/m/med/>
The task for editors compiling the Middle English Dictionary was to
document the English language from just after the Norman Conquest up to
the introduction of the printing press at the end of the 1400s. With
that innovation the language became more or less standardized, but
during the Middle Ages, the language evolved under the stress of events
and social change, particularly as French culture was absorbed into the
language. These were truly the formative years of the English language,
presenting major challenges to lexicographers.
By converting the contents of the Middle English Dictionary into an
enormous database, the dictionary has been made searchable in ways
impossible in a printed document of its size. Medievalists, English
language scholars and the curious can now access the dictionary free of
charge.
The database includes information on the origins of technical writing,
popular culture, notable literary works, medicine, law, science,
ship-building, encyclopedias, translations of the Bible, maps, letters,
wills, acts of State, recipes, philosophy, mathematics and numerous
other subjects, providing a distant mirror of Medieval culture and
society. In addition to the linked information, the dictionary also
provides the full, searchable text of more than 100 important Medieval
documents in their entirety. "We've always wanted to see an interlinked
web of dictionaries that together cover the very multilingual world of
medieval Britain along with antecedent and successor languages," said
Paul Schaffner of U-M's Digital Library Production Service. "The
division between dictionaries has always been rather artificial in a
multilingual society where words tend to slip back and forth between
languages. There are many words, especially commercial and legal words
that cannot be easily assigned to one language or another."
The need for free access to this resource was made apparent by inquiries
from around the world. Now the English teacher in Uganda can finish a
translation of a Middle English mystery play for his students, the
English gentleman attempting to determine the origin of his surname on
behalf of a society of those with the same name will find an easier path
to success and independent scholars and emeritus faculty will have full
access for their research. Students at various colleges and universities
who use the Middle English Dictionary for class assignments will be able
to complete their assignments from home computers.
"Support from the National Endowment for the Humanities was crucial in
bringing this project to completion," said John Wilkin, who led the
digitization project and is the architect of U-M's digital library
effort. "Now, with support from the U-M Library, this invaluable
historical and linguistic resource will open the path to our shared past
to more people than ever before."
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S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook,
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The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>
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