Ancrene riwle is a manual of instruction for

#ANCRENE RIWLE IS A MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION FOR HOW TO#

For example, in the case of manuscript dates, sometimes an inscription or a date or reference in the text makes it very clear that a manuscript (or part of a manuscript) was written on or very near to a particular date, or before a certain date, or after a certain date, while in other cases we are reliant on the careful comparison by palaeographers with the hands of other, datable, manuscripts in order to arrive at a probable date. The certainty of both types of dates can vary considerably. A composition date is the date when a particular text is thought to have been (originally) written. A manuscript (or document) date is the date when the manuscript or document from which the dictionary quotation comes is thought to have been produced. Two different kinds of dates are used for Middle English sources, manuscript (or document) dates, and composition dates.

#ANCRENE RIWLE IS A MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION FOR HOW TO#

The following notes explain some of the principles and procedures involved, and give some hints on how to interpret the dating information given for sources cited in the dictionary. In the new edition of OED, the dating of Middle English sources mostly follows that adopted in the Middle English Dictionary. See further вЂњ Middle English вЂ“ an overview: Our surviving documentsвЂќ for a discussion of some of the issues involved.

It is normally even more difficult to ascertain whether the spelling form in a particular manuscript reflects what the original author may have used it may differ in relatively trivial ways, or it may differ in ways which reflect a quite different pronunciation of the underlying word. Normally it is extremely difficult to be certain that a word appearing in a particular manuscript was definitely used (or conversely, was definitely not used) by the original author. It is often likely that one or more stages of copying have intervened between the original author and a particular surviving manuscript. Very few literary texts survive in manuscripts written by the author: most survive in one or more manuscripts written in other hands, usually copied rather later than the date of composition of the text, sometimes very much later. It mostly survives in hand-written manuscripts. Middle English lexicographical evidence is particularly difficult to date.

Dobson of the copy of the text found in London, British Library MS Cotton Cleopatra C.vi: While the following is for quotations taken from the 1972 Early English Text Society edition by E. Ker of the copy of the text found in MS Corpus Christi College Cambridge 402: Thus, to return to the Ancrene Riwle examples given above, the following citation style is for quotations taken from the 1962 Early English Text Society edition by J. Where a further bracketed date appears at the end of the citation, this is the date of the scholarly edition from which the OED quotation is taken. (The symbol в–¶ preceding the main date indicates that this is a date of composition, not a manuscript date.) a quotation from a text composed a1393.a quotation from a manuscript dated c1325.a quotation from a different manuscript, in this case dated ? c1225, preserving the same text composed ? a1200Д¬1325 in G.a quotation from a manuscript of around 1230 preserving a text probably composed before (= ante) 1200.(The symbol в–¶ preceding a date indicates that this is a date of composition, not a manuscript date.)Д¬1230 (в–¶? a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) a quotation from a manuscript of around (= circa) 1400 preserving a text probably composed around 1380.For more detailed explanation of the background, see below.

The following examples give a quick summary of the different dating styles found for Middle English evidence in OED3, for ready reference. Dating Middle English evidence in the OED Examples of dating styles found for Middle English evidence in OED3

Ancrene riwle is a manual of instruction for