Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aim of the project was to compile a representative computerized corpus of German for the period 1650-1800. This is the first such corpus of early modern German and it is intended as a primary research resource in a number of disciplines. Its structure deliberately parallels that of extant historical corpora of English in order to facilitate systematic comparative studies. The regional dimension which was an essential feature of the projects also provides information about the link between language and changes in the relative cultural and political areas within Germany.

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The corpus consists of a collection of 336 text samples of around 2000 words each from seven main text types attested at this time (drama, legal texts, newspapers, narrative prose, sermons, scholarly writing in the humanities and scientific/medical texts) taken equally from the three sub periods of fifty years into which the period 1650-1800 was divided and from the five major regions of the German-speaking lands (North, West Central, East Central, South-West, South-East). These parameters were established during the compilation of the pilot project and shown to achieve the desired objectives. The finished corpus contains roughly 800000 words and is intended as a research resource for a number of language-based disciplines, including the growing discipline of historical sociolinguistics.

Quota sample

Transcription of existing materials

Compilation or synthesis of existing material