Editorial Guidelines

Below is a list of our criteria for the transcription of the manuscripts. For those texts that have been edited, you will also find the criteria for normalization, punctuation and correction. The guidelines for TEI encoding can be found in our TEI manual.

Transcriptions

• All characters are transcribed as accurately as possible. This applies not only to letters, but also to (rare) handwritten punctuation, rhyme points, word delimiters, quire numbers, overflow marks for line overhangs, hyphens, insertion marks or transposition marks.
• We do not reproduce allographs. Letters of the Latin alphabet are always standardized according to modern conventions. Therefore, we make no distinction between the various handwritten forms of e.g. d, i, r, s. The only exception to this is the long-s ⟨ſ⟩, because its similarity to ⟨f⟩ has historically caused it to be misread or incorrectly written. Ligatures of ⟨ſ⟩ and ⟨z⟩, which in later manuscripts often strongly resemble the modern German ⟨ß⟩, are transcribed as ⟨ſz⟩.
• We distinguish between ⟨i⟩ and ⟨j⟩ when a manuscript shows clear tendencies towards a graphematic distinction (usually in the case of textura manuscripts).
• In some manuscripts, particularly in later ones, it is usually impossible to tell whether the scribe wrote ⟨cz⟩ or ⟨tz⟩. In these cases, we always transcribe ⟨cz⟩.
• Diacritics appear above the sound to which they refer. Horizontal shifts, which occur frequently in the more recent paper manuscripts are therefore not depicted.
• Abbreviations are recorded as such. The abbrevation marks are attached to the letter to which they belong. We do not resolve abbreviations that do not abbreviate anything or whose resolution would appear redundant or meaningless (which is often the case with 15^th century manuscripts).
• Upper and lower case is retained. Where necessary, it will be decided on a manuscript-by-manuscript basis as to what is to be considered as upper or lower case (especially in bastarda codices). Upper case would be expected to use different pen strokes compared with lower case.
• Highlighted letters (usually initials, detached or coloured verse beginnings) are always transcribed as upper case letters, even if the letter has the shape of (enlarged) lower case. In manuscripts that do not highlight the first letters of verses but usually set an upper case letter at the beginning, we also transcribe as upper case letters with the shape of lower case.
• The separation of words of the manuscript is preserved. When it is not possible to decide objectively whether there is a blank space or not, the transcription adjusts to what is grammatically more correct in each case.
• Medieval or early modern corrections (deletions, insertions, substitutions or transpositions) are transcribed. Later or modern changes are commented on where necessary.
• Where text is not clearly legible we transcribe it if possible, but any uncertainty will be noted in the coding.
• Additional texts, such as titles by the scribe, colophones or explicits, are recorded as such.
• Verse counting is based on the standard for each work, as established in research. Corresponding verses can thus be synchronised in the synopsis. Additional verses to the standard count, or verses that are completely modified receive an alternative numbering: the number of the last coinciding verse followed either by a letter (e.g. 1234a) or by a comma and a secondary numer (e.g. 1234,1), depending on what the research tradition to each text is.
• Gaps are only indicated where (later) material damage has led to loss of text, not missing verses of the standard text.
• We do not record elements which definitely have no relevance for the text. This includes material damage outside the text box, decorations outside of the ruling lines, pen trials etc. In case of doubt, the element concerned is described in a note.

Editorial principles

• Not all transcribed manuscripts are edited. Depending on the project, the selection may be larger or smaller. Non-edited texts are accessible as transcription with resolution of abbreviations and only the normalizations of the first two paragraphs in the following section.
• Converting the texts into ‘classical’ Middle High German would be contrary to the text-historical principle of this edition. We therefore edit various texts in such a way that their phonetic status is preserved as far as possible.
• In general, we do not place length marks (^) over vowels. We assume that the vowel length can in most cases be easily recognized by the reader. We only make exceptions where confusion is possible, namely with the dialectally competing prepositions an and ân ('on' and 'without'), or in manuscripts that clearly sometimes mark vowel length.
• Imperfect rhymes or metrical overlengths or shortenings are not considered errors, but rather documentation of what was acceptable to writers and listeners alike.
• Our editorial work consists of normalizations, punctuation, and occasionally corrective interventions. Normalizations are not explicitly documented: they can be traced at any time by switching to transcription mode. As a general rule, interventions in the text are justified in a note.

Normalizations

• We normalize the alternating use of ⟨u⟩ and ⟨v⟩, which is typical of medieval writing: ⟨u⟩ denotes the vowel (vnd → und), ⟨v⟩ the consonant (graue → grave). We also normalize the frequent spelling ⟨w⟩ for /wu/, sometimes also for /vu/ (wrden → wurden; wrte → vurte). The same applies to the frequent use in the 13^th century of ⟨c⟩ instead of ⟨z⟩ (dac herce), which we standardize into ⟨z⟩ (daz herze).
• The same applies to ⟨i⟩ and ⟨j⟩: vocalic forms a converted into ⟨i⟩ jmmer → immer; semi-vocalic forms in ⟨j⟩: iamer → jamer); only in forms with ⟨ie⟩ do we retain the ⟨i⟩, because it is unclear when the /i/ in this hiatus changed into a semi-consonant. In ⟨y⟩ ⟨ÿ⟩ ⟨ẏ⟩ with sound value /i/ we normalize to ⟨i⟩; in the rhyming hiatus (usually marked by the superscript dot) we write ⟨î⟩: keẏ → Keî.
• We regularize the Early New High German diphthongs ⟨aw⟩ und ⟨ew⟩ as ⟨au⟩ and ⟨eu⟩: frawe → fraue, hewte → heute. When a diphthong is followed by a ⟨w⟩, we keep the latter: frauwe, beschauwen, as there could be a consonantic phonetic value. We keep double ⟨ee⟩, because it generally marks a vowel length: eere, seere. When ⟨ë⟩ stands for /ä/, we transform it into ⟨ä⟩: wëre → wäre, rewsëre → reusäre. When there is no other phonetic value, we understand an umlaut over ⟨i⟩ as a graphic variant of the i-dot.
• Abbreviations are resolved according to their position and meaning. Using the control option, they can be displayed in italics or simply resolved. Abbreviations that do not abbreviate anything or whose resolution would appear redundant or pointless (which is often the case with 15th century manuscripts), see above, are deleted in the regularisation process.
• Diacritical suprascripts may (especially in later manuscripts) use the same grapheme for different phonetic phenomena or conversely use different signs to represent the same phonetic value. We apply the following principles for their treatment. When they are intended to mark a modified vowel, they are represented with umlaut, e.g. ⟨uͤ⟩ ⟨vͤ⟩ ⟨v̂⟩ ⟨ü⟩ ⟨ú⟩ for /ü/ becomes ⟨ü⟩, ⟨oͤ⟩ ⟨ó⟩ ⟨ö⟩ for /ö/ becomes ⟨ö⟩, or ⟨ä⟩ ⟨á⟩ for /ä/ becomes ⟨ä⟩. When the diacritics mark a diphthong, they are resolved: e.g. ⟨uͦ⟩ → ⟨uo⟩, ⟨oͮ⟩ → ⟨ou⟩ (sometimes ⟨uo⟩). In manuscripts from the middle of the 14^th century onwards, we do not generate ⟨uo⟩-diphthongs, but rather resolve to ⟨ue⟩. When no phonetic value can be detected, we omit the diacritic in the edition: ⟨ú⟩ for /u/ → ⟨u⟩, eẃ for /eu/→ ⟨eu⟩, aẃ for /au/ → ⟨au⟩, and so on.
• Consonants, particularly those in more recent manuscripts, deserve a special paragraph: we simplify double consonants like ⟨nn⟩, ⟨ff⟩, ⟨tt⟩, etc. wherever the duplication has not been preserved in modern German: hannt → hant; hetten → hetten; ergraiff → ergraif; alssam → alsam. We preserve combinations of ⟨mb⟩ and ⟨mp⟩: kumbt, sampnung. We keep ⟨dt⟩, as well as we accept ⟨ch⟩ in the position of /k/. We regularize ⟨ck⟩ to ⟨k⟩ when the double consonant is not preserverd in modern German or when it is not between vowels: junckfraw → junkfrau, wolcken → wolken, starck → stark, marckt → markt, winckel → winkel; instead: blicke, dicke, krucke, rock. The same applies to ⟨gk⟩, which we regularize into ⟨ck⟩ or ⟨k⟩ because we think they mark an occlusive: bugkel → buckel, unlangk → unlank. When the ⟨ck⟩ or ⟨gk⟩ is followed by an ⟨h⟩, we preserve it. We simplify ⟨kch⟩ into ⟨kh⟩, but ⟨gch⟩ into ⟨ch⟩. We always keep ⟨w⟩ with consonantic value. When the scribe writes a ⟨w⟩ in place of a /b/, we regularize into ⟨b⟩: wegerte → begerte, unwerait → unberait, wedacht → bedacht; also awentewer → abenteuer; we apply the same principle in reverse cases: beib → weib, leb → leu. We simplify ⟨cz⟩ into ⟨z⟩, except in those places where modern German uses ⟨tz⟩: lützel, sitzen, satzt; here we transform the ⟨cz⟩ into ⟨tz⟩; the same applies to ⟨tz⟩, which we either preserve or transform into ⟨z⟩ depending on whether it is preserved or not in Modern High German.
• We reproduce initials as upper case letters, except in those cases in which they are evidently in the middle of a sentence. We regularize the beginnings of verses, which usually start with an upper case letter, to lower case. We capitalize proper names and treat Christ as proper name. We preserve capitalized beginnings of nouns (which are rare in parchment manuscripts, but more frequent in paper manuscripts) when we consider that they are in some way remarkable words or terms of courtly culture. Capitalized pronouns or numbers are regularized to lower case.
• We mainly unify the separation of words following linguistic criteria. Separately written prefixes or unambiguous compounds are written together. Proclitically attached prepositions (zetuon, zeherzen) are separated. Prepositional adverbs (war umbe, da mite) and separable prepositional prefixes (ane sehen) are encoded as linguistically separate words, but we respect the manuscript in terms of the use of a space between them. For pro- and enclitic negations of verbs (ensprach, nist) and pronouns (ern, dun, also demonstrative pronouns desn), as well as for pronouns enclitically attached to verbs (sageter, also double pronouns hastus), we also follow the spelling of the manuscript in spite of our separate tokenization. Combinations with ander- are written together if they are linguistically one word (anderswa, anderstunt), but apart if they are two words (ander hande).
• We carefully normalize proper names according to the same criteria, but not where significant or striking variants may occur, e.g., Iwotyn for Iwein.
• In case of spellings which, in our opinion, make legibility difficult, we carefully normalize them. These include, for example, the use of ⟨s⟩ for /∫/, which we transform into ⟨sch⟩: rittersaft → ritterschaft; or eventual occurrence of ⟨i⟩ for /ü/ (wirde → würde); coincidence of subjunctive forms without umlaut and past tense forms: war → wär. It is mostly a matter of judgement where coherence can hardly be achieved.
• We leave diphthongs, especially those with umlaut, in their original state.
• We do not correct sentences that do not contain negative particles, but which must obviously be understood as negations (mostly in later manuscripts). The same applies in cases where the subject pronoun is missing (mostly in 13^th century manuscripts). In both cases, we only complete the text when a confusion is possible or the understanding is difficult.
• For normalization processes that only affect individual manuscripts, cf. the description of the manuscript.

Punctuation

• One of the editorial normalisations is that we either replace the very rare punctuation of the manuscripts with modern characters when it makes sense or (e.g. in the case of rhyme dots) erase it in the edition mode.
• The rest of the punctuation we add according to modern rules and our understanding of the text. Occasionally we accept apokoinou-constructions by not using periods. Direct speech is marked by guillemets (› ‹), indirect speech by single inverted commas. After inquit-formulas we put a colon; after zwar, deiswar, entrüwen, etc. we put a comma. Instead, we don’t place a comma before simple appositions like got der guote or Artus der kuning; neither we do with formula like weiz got, wizze Christ or herre Christ.

Interventions

• Interventions consist in (rare) corrections or additions in cases of evident errors. In our understanding, an error is a textual phenomenon that makes no sense and is not repeated in the manuscript, which means that it is not systematic. We respect unusual linguistic forms that may not appear in other testimonies but do so repetedly in a certain manuscript; if we modify them for better readability, we treat them as regularizations, not as corrections. When correcting, we try to make the text of the specific manuscript comprehensible with the minimal change, occasionally following other testimonies; but we do not pretend to reconstruct an ‘original’.
• If possible, we complete words that are only partially preserved due to material loss, but recognizable.
• When words, full lines or parts of them are found missing, but they are indispensable to complete the sentence or to make it understandable, we complete them following another manuscript, even when this produces dialectal inconsistencies. This is e.g. the case in Iwein manuscript A (west central Frankish), that frequently omits lines, which we complete, when we consider it necessary, with the corresponding lines from ms. B (Alemannic).
• In additions or corrections, we only use modern graphemes or graphic usages; we don't use long ⟨ſ⟩, nor ⟨v⟩ for vocalic /u/, etc.