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    From Tongue to Text: The Transmission of the Salem Witchcraft Examination Records

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    Grund_Peter_From_tongue_to_text.pdf (230.9Kb)
    Issue Date
    2007-01-01
    Author
    Grund, Peter
    Publisher
    Duke University Press
    Type
    Article
    Article Version
    Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    This article explores the problem of using court documents for studies of the spoken language of the past. It discusses three sets of examination records from the Salem witchcraft trials in 1692. By comparing records that exist in two or more alternative versions, the article shows that there are substantial linguistic and content-related differences between the versions. It is suggested that the recorders of the examinations paid more attention to the substance of the proceedings than to the exact language used by the participants and that the recorders reconstructed the courtroom dialogue on the basis of (shorthand) notes, mixing their own and the informants' language. The variation in the documents casts doubt on the reliability of the records as accurately reflecting the original courtroom dialogue. The use of the examination records as linguistic sources is thus called into question, especially for historical sociolinguistic studies that attempt to correlate language use and extralinguistic factors such as sex, age, and social status.
    Description
    This is the author's accepted manuscript. The published version can be found here http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00031283-2007-005
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/13517
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1215/00031283-2007-005
    Collections
    • English Scholarly Works [308]
    Citation
    Grund, Peter. 2007. “From Tongue to Text: The Transmission of the Salem Witchcraft Examination Records.” American Speech 82(2): 119–150. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00031283-2007-005

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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

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