| Abstract: |
This essay discusses current possibilities and future prospects of the computer aided composition of a historical citation dictionary (Belegwörterbuch), as they present themselves to the authors after five years of preliminary work towards a new Middle High German dictionary. The phase of elaboration of the dictionary, that is to say, the writing of entries, will in all probability begin in 2001. A period of twenty years will see the completion of the dictionary, the printed version consisting of four volumes, containing approximately 1000 pages each. The new dictionary is meant to assume the role hitherto fulfiled by its predecessors dating from the 19th Century, for the language of the literary sources from the period 1050 to 1350. Being the most recent of current projects concerning historical citation lexicography, it was possible to base all of the work on the new Middle High German dictionary entirely on electronic data processing from the very beginning. The compilation of data for the new dictionary is based on an comprehensive electronic archive containing all texts of the basic corpus in full, as well as list of potential headwords (Lemmakandidatenliste) consisting of app.ly 80.000 lemmata, obtained from the preceding dictionaries. After preparing the digitized text sources with specific markings, the lemmatized archive of citational evidence is then produced by employing a system of programmes devised for semi-automated lemmatization, drawing informational data from the texts. Additionally, the programming also inputs to the archive all word forms as derived independently from the texts by way of an especially devised lemmatization component. Thus the electronic archive of citational evidence will serve as the basis for the future dictionary, complete with an additional system of programmes which will support the composition of entries, from the coordination and presentation of citational data through to the stage of typesetting the finished entries. By entirely basing the new dictionary on data processing, it will be possible to publish an electronic version alongside the printed edition of the dictionary, which will appear periodically in separate issues/installments. With little extra preparation the electronic publication will furthermore provide access to the digitized text material itself as well as offer a wide range of further data retrieval opportunities. [...] The prospects discussed in the contribution refer to the particular advantages of publishing electronic dictionaries as well as to questions pertaining to lexicographical concepts. These questions are basically concerned with the nature of the relationship between the electronic publication of the dictionary and the data material it is based on (particularly the text- and citation archive), should they be published in combination and thus present the opportunity of proceeding directly from the article into the archive. We have also addressed the question of whether and to what extent the dictionary should - in addition to its essential functions - be designed to meet the demands of new classes of users for whose purposes various kinds of structured listings or registers might be required. |