Word Variant Identification in Old French
Increasing numbers of historical texts are available in machine-readable form, which retain the original spelling, which can be very different from the modern-day equivalents due to the natural evolution of a language, and because the concept of standardisation in spelling is comparatively modern. A...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Borås
1997-01-01
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| Series: | Information Research: An International Electronic Journal |
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| Online Access: | http://informationr.net/ir/2-4/paper22.html |
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| author | Peter Willett |
| author_facet | Peter Willett |
| author_sort | Peter Willett |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Increasing numbers of historical texts are available in machine-readable form, which retain the original spelling, which can be very different from the modern-day equivalents due to the natural evolution of a language, and because the concept of standardisation in spelling is comparatively modern. Among medieval vernacular writers, the same word could be spelled in different ways and the same author (or scribe) might even use several alternative spellings in the same passage. Thus, we do not know,a priori, how many variant forms of a particular word there are in such texts, let alone what these variants might be. Searching on the modern equivalent, or even the commonest historical variant, of a particular word may thus fail to retrieve an appreciable number of occurrences unless the searcher already has an extensive knowledge of the language of the documents. Moreover, even specialist scholars may be unaware of some idiosyncratic variants. Here, we consider the use of computer methods to retrieve variant historical spellings. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1ba38464c99943068a7a36208f8d6c8d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1368-1613 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 1997-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Borås |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Information Research: An International Electronic Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-1ba38464c99943068a7a36208f8d6c8d2025-02-02T19:46:13ZengUniversity of BoråsInformation Research: An International Electronic Journal1368-16131997-01-012422Word Variant Identification in Old FrenchPeter WillettIncreasing numbers of historical texts are available in machine-readable form, which retain the original spelling, which can be very different from the modern-day equivalents due to the natural evolution of a language, and because the concept of standardisation in spelling is comparatively modern. Among medieval vernacular writers, the same word could be spelled in different ways and the same author (or scribe) might even use several alternative spellings in the same passage. Thus, we do not know,a priori, how many variant forms of a particular word there are in such texts, let alone what these variants might be. Searching on the modern equivalent, or even the commonest historical variant, of a particular word may thus fail to retrieve an appreciable number of occurrences unless the searcher already has an extensive knowledge of the language of the documents. Moreover, even specialist scholars may be unaware of some idiosyncratic variants. Here, we consider the use of computer methods to retrieve variant historical spellings.http://informationr.net/ir/2-4/paper22.htmlhistorical textsmachine-readablespellinglanguagestandardisationmedievalvernacularwritersalternative spellingsvariant formssearchingcomputer methodsvariant historical spellings |
| spellingShingle | Peter Willett Word Variant Identification in Old French Information Research: An International Electronic Journal historical texts machine-readable spelling language standardisation medieval vernacular writers alternative spellings variant forms searching computer methods variant historical spellings |
| title | Word Variant Identification in Old French |
| title_full | Word Variant Identification in Old French |
| title_fullStr | Word Variant Identification in Old French |
| title_full_unstemmed | Word Variant Identification in Old French |
| title_short | Word Variant Identification in Old French |
| title_sort | word variant identification in old french |
| topic | historical texts machine-readable spelling language standardisation medieval vernacular writers alternative spellings variant forms searching computer methods variant historical spellings |
| url | http://informationr.net/ir/2-4/paper22.html |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT peterwillett wordvariantidentificationinoldfrench |