A database of Middle English spelling

This paper describes a new initiative in the field of Middle English linguistic studies, in which the creation of a machine-readable database has a central role in addressing numerous research questions. This paper, one of a planned series of working papers addressing theoretical and practical issues involved in the setting up of the project, falls into the following sections: (1) research context; (2) institutional context; (3) theoretical orientation; (4) creating the corpus; (5) the classification of spelling; (6) the database; (7) sample searches; and (8) the next stage. We are keen to receive feedback, not least on database design; by publishing this article in this forum, we hope to interest the wider scholarly community in the kinds of research question in the humanities which can now be addressed using new technology'