Linguistic segmentation

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Word Segmentation

Word segmentation MUST be transcribed as closely as possible to the source, without normalization.

However, the medieval period marks a transition from scripta continua (continuous script without spaces) to the use of typographic spaces between words, a practice fully established only with the advent of print technology. Word separation in medieval manuscripts—and sometimes in manuscripts more generally—is therefore not standardized, making it inherently complex.¹.

In a given document, word division can be highly subjective, and two transcribers may interpret it differently. When it is impossible to determine whether a space is present or not, the irregularity of spacing in manuscripts has led to the following rule: When unclear, word segmentation SHOULD follow modernized conventions to ensure consistency, using the typographic space (" " [U+0020]). However, some exceptions apply due to the medieval nature of some documents and their linguistic state, which are described below in the section Exceptions and Special Cases.

Special Cases

• As the use of the apostrophe doesn't exist in medieval manuscrit, original agglutination MUST be kept, eg.qil for the normalized form q'il.
• The used of doubled consonants to note elision MUST be kept and not normalized, eg. arriva is kept instead of á riva.
• Locutions in the process of being lexicalized (such as for verbs like enchargier/en chargier, en fuir/enfuiror certain locutions such as aujourd'hui) MUST be transcribed as they appeared in the source.
• The separation of the initial at the beginning of a verse in poetry MUST be imitated.
• In the case of a drop capital at the beginning of a line, it CAN either be ignored (as such letters are often more decorative than textual) or transcribed on a separate line. This is because the baseline of a drop capital typically does not align with the rest of the text, and line segmentation often fails to capture it as part of the continuous line.

When in doubt, word segmentation should follow the usage of the contemporary or normalized language of the manuscript.

Hyphenation

Hyphenation refers to the indication that a word has been split at the end of a line. While it appears inconsistently in medieval manuscripts, it is frequent in modern and contemporary sources.

Hyphenation MUST be transcribed whenever it appears in the source.

A hyphenation symbol MUST NOT be added if it is not present in the source.

The character "-" [U+002D] MUST be used to transcribe the hyphenation symbol, regardless of its form in the source. If the hyphenation symbol is repeated at the beginning of the next line, it MUST also be transcribed as "-" [U+002D].

Diastoles

Sometimes, diastoles (vertical or oblique pen strokes) are drawn between two contiguous letters to indicate that they belong to different words. Diastoles (vertical or oblique pen strokes) MUST be transcribed with the sign "/" [U+002F].