Middle High German term database

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The Middle High German Term Database ( MHDBDB ) of the Paris Lodron University Salzburg is a freely accessible and free online database from the field of digital humanities . It enables access to the most important works of Middle High German poetry from a wide variety of perspectives via a versatile search functionality and is considered the largest electronic collection of German texts from the Middle Ages and the most extensive retrieval system for this corpus.

The user can not only search for words, character strings and terms from various sources, but also evaluate linguistic or semantic questions on the text base. Furthermore, the MHDBDB offers the possibility to search for more complex word or term combinations, i.e. for simultaneous occurrences (co-occurrence) of different words or terms in a given context. Most of the vocabulary recorded in the MHDBDB is assigned to a lemma and organized according to a system of semantic concept categories.

Working with the MHDBDB cannot replace reading the original texts, but more intensive reading, a more scientific interpretation and a significant overview of the large text base are supported, which would no longer be achievable with conventional aids (keywords: distant and close reading ). Comparative perspectives on other works as well as the entirety of the most relevant literary traditions are made possible from linguistic and subject-historical standpoints.

However, the MHDBDB currently does not offer users access to full texts (download), but, in contrast to digital archives of Middle High German texts, is deliberately designed as a pure search system that limits access to text excerpts. This avoids the problem of ancillary copyright, can use current editions as a basis and is therefore not limited to old, already outdated text editions as a basis.

History and background of the MHDBDB

The MHDBDB was developed over the course of about 40 years by Klaus M. Schmidt ( Bowling Green State University ) and Horst Pütz ( Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel ) with the participation of students from the departments of German and German Philology and Computer Science from Bowling Green State University as well developed by the universities of Salzburg, Kiel and Vienna . The development is based on two originally separate projects, the dictionary of terms on Middle High German literature at Bowling Green State University and the text archive and dictionary of names at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, both of which have been funded since the early 1970s. In 1992 they merged to form the jointly managed major project MHDBDB.

In May 1995, on the occasion of the International Congress on Medieval Studies at the University of Michigan in Kalamazoo, a worldwide information retrieval system was opened over the Internet. This created a powerful information system for the Middle High German language and literature, which has not yet been matched by a similarly extensive project in other medieval languages.

In autumn 1998 this system was transferred to a relational database from ORACLE and a new user interface based on web pages was created.

The MHDBDB has been installed at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg since 2002, from where the project is administered and supported.

From 2002 to 2016 the MHDBDB received external sponsorship from the University of Vienna for the system maintenance of the database.

The MHDBDB has been linked to the Middle High German dictionaries in the network (dictionary network ) of the University of Trier since 2006 .

The MHDBDB has been supported by a scientific advisory board since 2015: Manfred Kern (University of Salzburg), Thomas Kühtreiber (Institute for Reality Studies / Krems, University of Salzburg), Ingrid Matschinegg (Institute for Reality Studies / Krems, University of Salzburg), Matthias Meyer (University of Vienna) , Hans Moser ( University of Innsbruck ), Christian Rohr ( University of Bern ), Siegrid Schmidt (University of Salzburg).

Since summer 2016, the MHDBDB has been donated to the University of Salzburg and has been affiliated to the Interdisciplinary Center for the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age (IZMF).

The MHDBDB is now one of the international standard tools within medieval disciplines, for example Medieval German Studies , History , Religious Studies or Art Studies .

Relaunch

An upcoming relaunch for the years 2015–19 will bring the MHDBDB up to date with the latest developments in the field of digital humanities. It is necessary to adapt the database and the user interface to the current state of the art. Are taken into account u. a. the use of a document-oriented database and the introduction of modern technologies such as XML , TEI , responsive HTML and mobile apps .

The aim is to a. Improvements regarding:

  • Speed ​​/ scope of services
  • Ease of use ( usability ), d. hu a. more intuitive alignment of search options
  • Web design

The database will be completely redesigned and migrated:

  • Texts that are unproblematic under copyright law are freely accessible (data exports for research purposes).
  • Open and non-proprietary interfaces enable easy exchange and access.
  • Use of free formats and protocols to ensure the exchange between researchers and the community.
  • TEI XML is used as the database.
  • Export to different formats using XSLT.

Text base and statistics

Currently (as of October 2015) the text archive of the database consists of 655 texts, most of which have already been largely lemmatized and thus made comprehensible. The text base contains a total of around 10 million words. The word index comprises approx. 38,000 lemmas and approx. 236,000 individual words, i.e. H. Spelling forms and inflection variants . The lemmas are assigned around 53,000 different meanings in the form of New High German terms. This means that a large part of the Middle High German literature is available for simultaneous retrieval. This text base offers a representative cross-section through the Middle High German vocabulary with regard to individual words, word forms and, above all, fields of meaning. It is constantly being expanded to include new texts. The focus of the expansion is currently on the lyric corpora of the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries as well as the increasing input of factual and specialist texts from the Middle Ages and the early modern period .

The statistics on the current text stock can be accessed online.

The List texts function provides information about the text archive of the database . There you can call up the texts in alphabetical order, by text type or by author and get an overview of which texts have been integrated into the database so far, on which editions they are based and how far they have already been lemmatized and disambiguated . The most important historical information about the authors can also be found there. The text material in the database is constantly being expanded. Under the supervision of the MHDBDB team, these texts can also be edited by the users themselves through lemmatization and subsequent disambiguation. The 'source' is of course recorded with the necessary information about the author and creator.

The lemmatized word material is based on the holdings of the Middle High German standard dictionary by Matthias Lexer . A lemma is assigned not only all spelling and inflection variants available in the text base with their respective part of speech definitions in the form of grammar abbreviations (example: NOM = noun), but also all compound words that have been integrated into the text archive so far (the frequency of each word variant can be determined separately).

Search modules of the MHDBDB

The MHDBDB is divided into two search modules:

  • Word index with meaning components
  • Text search for references

Word index search

The word index work module is somewhat comparable to Matthias Lexer's Middle High German dictionary . It enables the search for individual lemmas (including the corresponding word forms, compounds and meanings) or for word fields, without references. The word material is assigned to individual lemmas and reflects the current level of frequency of occurrence of each individual word form in the entire text corpus. It is also classified according to semantic characteristics.

Text search

The text search module offers complex search options for references depending on the selection in the entire corpus, in specific works, for individual poets or genres. The same search queries can be carried out as in the word index , but further search options are possible. The references can be output in a context that can be determined by the user with 1 to 10 lines before and after the item searched for.

The complex search using typical examples with search operators

To carry out more complex searches, the use of a few search operators is necessary. An in-depth overview of search operators and options for text analysis can be found in the user manual of the MHDBDB as well as in the help for text search and the help for word index search.

The six most important operators

1) $ → The string of characters following this operator is understood as a pure string of characters.

Example: $ inde
Result:

  • indie, ind, inde, indie, indie, indie
  • Indus, Inde, Indus

2) @ → The string of characters following this operator is understood as a lemma.

3) * → This operator stands as a "joker" for any character or any character string.

Example: * inde *
result u. a .:

  • tie up, tie up, tie up, anbynd, tie up, anbyndunck, tie up, tie up, tie up
  • cry at, cry at, cry at
  • to bind, to bind, to bind, to bind, to bind

4) , → This operator determines a successive sequence of words (only for text search )

Example: in, old, poor
result u. a .: 

 Nibelungenlied (Hs. A)

 Strophe 1
 1 Uns ist in alten mæren wnders vil geseit
 2 von helden lobebærn von grozzer chuonheit
 3 von fröuden hoch geziten von weinen vnd von klagen
 4 von chuoner rechen strite mvget ir nv wunder hoeren sagen

 Nibelungenlied (B/C)
 Strophe 1
 1 Uns ist in alten maeren wunders vil geseit
 2 von helden lobebaeren, von grôzer arebeit,
 3 von fröuden, hôchgezîten, von weinen und von klagen,
 4 von küener recken strîten muget ir nu wunder hoeren sagen.

 Nibelungenlied (C)
 Strophe 1
 1 Uns ist in alten maeren wunders vil geseit
 2 von heleden lobebaeren, von grôzer arebeit:
 3 von freude und hôchgezîten, von weinen unde klagen
 4 von küener recken strîten muget ir nu wunder hoeren sagen.

 Die Rabenschlacht
 1 Welt ir in alten maeren
 2 wunder hoeren sagen
 3 von recken lobebaeren,
 4 sô sult ir gerne dar zuo dagen.

5) + → This operator connects the various objects that are to be searched for within a context.

Example: im + liebet (only for the text search. The context is set to four words as an example)
Result, u. a .: 

 Barlaam und Josaphat
 11573 sô liebet im ir minne alsô

 Frauenbuch (Spechtler)
 1144 im liebet, daz si jenen man
 1145 hat gehabt lieb als si sol:

 Frauenlob Teil III
 38 daz liebet im und lait der Juden orden.

 Der Renner
 13014 Swer im daz liebet, der tuot wol:

  Kudrun
 Strophe 609
 2 liebet er der meide und wil si bî im tragen

 Prosa-Lancelot (Teil 3)
 13 sere gerne. und sie liebet im also sere das yne ir geluost me zu sehen dann zu

  Willehalm (U.v.T.)
 23 liebet im ir minne süeze.

Here, in a few seconds, multiple evidence can be found that the lemma love in Middle High German still performs the functions that can only be fulfilled in New High German with several verbs: Mhd. she loves in = Nhd. she loves him; Mhd. she loves im = Nhd. he likes her; Mhd. Swer im daz loves = Nhd. who makes it palatable to him


6) & → The operator means that the search criteria associated with this character must be fulfilled at the same time (see example below).

The search for semantic term fields ( text search & word index )

The complex heart of the MHDBDB is the thesaurus of semantic categories (system of terms).

Each lemma is semantically defined by a corresponding spectrum of meanings, not with the help of a corresponding New High German translation, but by metal-linguistic (New High German) terms. A lemma can comprise several meaning components, which in turn can consist of one or more concept categories. These are represented in the MHDBDB by their numerical addresses (digit codes), which are also used to search for these meanings and for term fields and which can be looked up under the term system.

As with the text search , the word index can also be searched for the terms = meanings or meaning components. The result of this search is the (Middle High German) word field that is associated in the lemmatized and disambiguated word material of the database with the meaning component (s) or metalinguistic terms searched for, in the form of a lemma list. From the lemma list, links lead to the corresponding article in the word index .

Example:

The term Various Crafts / Professions is represented by the numerical address 233042, the term Female by 21011.

If both of these conceptual criteria are to be met, the search command is: 233042 & 21011

Result u. a. ( Word index ):

  • arzâtinne, arcedinne, arzaetinne, arzatin, arzâtîn, arzatinne, arzâtinne
  • Baderinne, Baderinne, Paderin
  • bread master, bread master, bread master
  • gebûrinne, gebiurin, gebourinnen, gebuorn, geburin, gebûrinne, purin, pauwerinn, puorin, purin
  • miserly, miserly
  • goltsmidinne, goltsmidinne
  • hârvlehtærinne, hârflehterin, hârvlehtaerinne, hârvlehtærinne
  • kelnærinne, waitress, kelnaerinne, kelnærinne, kelnerîn
  • koufmannin, coufmannin, koufmannin

The MHDBDB in class

The MHDBDB is currently used by a number of universities in Germany and Austria, but also by schools in the classroom. The courses range from an introduction to Middle High German and introductions to the technology of scientific work to advanced seminars in mhd. Language and literature. Examples of possible use in the classroom are:

  • Ablaut series : Since there are no conjugated forms under the verb lemmas in the standard dictionaries , it is often difficult for learners to find the correct assignment to the corresponding ablaut series in the conjugated forms of strong verbs when introducing Middle High German. This problem can be discussed using the MHDBDB. For example, the form zouc can be entered in the search window of the word index . This leads to the article of the verb lemma to draw . If the search command @ * ieh * & <VRB> | @ * ieg * & <VRB> (@ = Lemma; * ieh * = has the syllable ieh; <VRB> = must be verb; | = as well as) entered, you get a list of verb lemmas with their Variants that include most of the verbs in this class. If you enter the same search commands in the text search , you will get corresponding text documents for all shapes. Through these and similar tasks with the MHDBDB, the students can work their way up to the initial classes in a short time, always staying connected with texts and doing without the laborious memorization of abutment tables.
  • Name search and text identification : Names are an important link between different texts. For example, the Arthurian novels can be identified as a group through a specific catalog of names. Views of different works of one type of text can be created solely through the parallels between the names and the associated motifs. Klaus Klein's quick identification of the Wolfenbüttler fragment to Reinbots by Durne Georgsroman proves that the names are one of the most important identification factors of newly found fragments from the mhd. Literature .
  • Rhyme and metrics : The students can get an overview of the rhyme situation in any work in the text base and then compare this with other works. For shorter works (e.g. Herzmaere Konrad von Würzburg ), you can even call up an entire dictionary of rhymes directly by entering the search command #e in the word index .
  • Motif search : By combining the most diverse semantic search criteria, you can search for motifs within a single work, a text type, an author or the entire corpus. This method enables students and scientists to achieve an almost complete picture, away from the episodic listing of documents and towards a careful content analysis through more intensive reading. Example ( text search ): A proper name ( <NAM> ) occurring together with ( + ) term weapon ( 23231 ) occurring together with ( + ) term death ( 21104 ) results in the search input <NAM> + 23231 + 21104 . Result: Depending on the context input (1 to 2 lines), between 48 and more than 450 text passages result.

literature

  • Katharina Zeppezauer-Wachauer: “Ûf wîʒen tuochen” and “ûf unwashed secken”. Searching for and finding arranged tables and anti-tables in German-language literature of the Middle Ages with the help of the MHDBDB . In: Andrea Hofmeister (Hrsg.): Cookbook research interdisciplinary. Contributions to the culinary history symposia in Melk 2015 and Seckau 2016 (=  Grazer Medieval Writings: Sources and Studies ). No. 1 . Unipress Verlag, Graz 2017, ISBN 978-3-902666-53-6 , p. 195-216 .
  • Daniel Schlager, Margarete Springeth, Katharina Zeppezauer-Wachauer: Neidhart in the Middle High German Term Database (MHDBDB) . Ed .: Margarete Springeth, Franz V. Spechtler (=  De Gruyter Reference ). De Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 2017, ISBN 978-3-11-033406-7 , pp. 419-459 .
  • Klaus M. Schmidt, Margarete Springeth, Katharina Zeppezauer-Wachauer: Macho ethics. Rage - ruin in the Nibelungenlied . In: Sibylle Jefferis (Ed.): Studies and New Texts of the Nibelungenlied, Walther, Neidhart, Oswald, and Other Works in Medieval German Literature: In Memory of Ulrich Müller II (Kalamazoo Papers 2014) (=  Göppinger Arbeit zur Germanistik ). No. 780 . Kümmerle, Göppingen 2015, ISBN 978-3-86758-035-9 , pp. 209-247 .
  • Vlastimil Brom: Possibilities for the semantic evaluation of late medieval historiographical texts. Samples on the subject of 'rule' . In: Jana Kusová, Lenka Vodrážková, Magdalena Malechová (eds.): German without borders: Linguistics . Tribun EU, Brno 2015, ISBN 978-80-263-0939-0 , p. 51-67 (examined using the MHDBDB).
  • Robert Schöller: Ahi Effects. Considerations on the interjection of premodern texts . In: Georg Hofer, Robert Schöller, Gabriel Viehhauser (eds.): Historical rooms. Narrated rooms. Designed rooms: Festschrift for Leopold Hellmuth on his 65th birthday . Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-7069-0841-2 , p. 35–54 (investigation using the MHDBDB).
  • Ulrich Müller: Computer-Based Medieval Research (with an Emphasis on Middle High German) . In: Albrecht Classen (Ed.): Handbook of Medieval Studies. Terms - Methods - Trends . No. 1 . De Gruyter, Berlin, New York 2010, pp. 343-353 .
  • Michael R. Ott: Literary Studies by Search Engine. In search of fictional inscriptions with the “Middle High German Term Database” . In: Material Text Culture Blog . No. 5 , 2013 ( materiale-textkulturen.de [PDF; accessed on July 26, 2016]).
  • Margarete Springeth: The analytical way is the goal: The Middle High German term database as an online text archive . In: Wernfried Hofmeister, Andrea Hofmeister-Winter (ed.): Paths to the text. About the Availability of Medieval Editions in the 21st Century. Graz Colloquium 17th – 19th September 2008 (=  supplement to editio ). No. 30 . Niemeyer, Tübingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-484-29530-8 , p. 185-202 .
  • Margarete Springeth: Herzogenburg documents in the Middle High German term database (MHDBDB) . In: Georg Vogeler (Ed.): Digital Diplomatik. New technologies in the historical work with documents (=  archive for diplomatics, written history, seal and heraldry ). Supplement 12. Böhlau, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-412-20349-8 , p. 294-317 .
  • Margarete Springeth: Nibelungenlied goes online. The Middle High German term database (MHDBDB) as a tool for text analysis . In: Gudrun Marci-Boehncke, Jörg Riecke (eds.): From myths and mars. Medieval cultural history as reflected in a scientist's biography . Olms, Hildesheim 2006, ISBN 978-3-487-13179-5 , p. 357-372 .
  • Margarete Springeth: In search of terms and motifs. The Middle High German Term Database (MHDBDB) at the University of Salzburg . In: Martin J. Schubert (Hrsg.): German texts of the Middle Ages between handwriting proximity and reconstruction (=  supplements to editio ). No. 23 . Niemeyer, Tübingen 2005, ISBN 978-3-484-29522-3 , p. 317-323 .
  • Helmut W. Klug: Herbs in the German-language poetry of the High Middle Ages. Occurrence, application and effect in selected texts (=  supplements to Editio . No. 5 ). Hamburg 2005, ISBN 978-3-8300-2008-0 (investigation also with the help of the MHDBDB).
  • Margarete Springeth: The texts of Oswald von Wolkenstein in the Middle High German term database . In: Oswald von Wolkenstein Society eV (Hrsg.): Yearbook of the Oswald von Wolkenstein Society . No. 15 , 2005, ISSN  0722-4311 , p. 466 .
  • Ruth Weichselbaumer: Virtual Middle Ages. Medieval Studies on the Internet . S. Hirzel, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3-7776-1361-1 , p. 98 .
  • Klaus M. Schmidt, Margarete Springeth: From Herzeloyde to Cundrie. Medieval women straight from the web. Working with the Middle High German term database (MHDBDB) . In: Silvia Kronberger, Ulrich Müller (Ed.): Kundry & Elektra and their suffering sisters. Schizophrenia and hysteria / female characters in music theater. (=  Word and Music. Salzburg Academic Contributions ). No. 53 . Mueller-Speiser, Anif / Salzburg 2003, ISBN 978-3-85145-083-5 , p. 179-209 .
  • Katrin Woesner: Glossary of terms and index to Albrecht's RECENT TITUREL. Alphabetical index. I-IV (=  indices for German literature ). Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen 2003, ISBN 978-3-484-38032-5 (glossary of terms and index created with the help of the MHDBDB).
  • Klaus M. Schmidt, Horst P. Pütz: The Middle High German term database . In: Journal for German Antiquity and German Literature . No. 130 , 2001, p. 493-495 .
  • Klaus M. Schmidt: A database for the term dictionary mhd. Epik and progress in automatic disambiguation. In: Paul Sappler, Kurt Gärtner, Michael Trauth . In: Machine processing of old German texts IV . Niemeyer, Tübingen 1991, p. 192-204 .
  • Klaus M. Schmidt: The contribution of the term-oriented lexicography to the systematic recording of language change and the term dictionary on Middle High German epic . In: Wolfgang Bachofer (Ed.): Middle High German Dictionary in Discussion. (=  German Linguistics series ). No. 84 . Niemeyer, Tübingen 1988, p. 35-49 .
  • Klaus M. Schmidt: An Algorithmic Approach to a Parser For Automatic Disambiguation of Homographs in Middle High German on the Basis of the Conceptual Dictionary Project . In: Computers in Literary and Linguistic Computing. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, April 2-6, 1984 . Slatkine, Genève 1985, pp. 345-353 .
  • Klaus M. Schmidt: Achievements, dreams of the future and wrongdoing in the field of content-related text analysis with the help of the electronic computer . In: Paul Sappler, Erich Strassner (Hrsg.): Machine processing of old German texts III . Niemeyer, Tübingen 1980, p. 101-111 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ulrich Müller: Computer-Based Medieval Research (with an Emphasis on Middle High German) . In: Handbook of Medieval Studies. Terms - Methods - Trends. No. 1, 2010, p. 347; 352 f.
  2. ↑ Entry in the online portal Mediaevum.de . Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  3. ↑ Entry in the online portal Mediaevum.de . Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  4. ↑ Note from Mediävistenverband eV Accessed on April 12, 2016.
  5. ^ Reference from the University of Berlin . Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  6. ^ Reference from the University of Freiburg . Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  7. ↑ Medieval Philology on the Internet. The Middle High German term database. Contribution to the magazine for German antiquity and German literature (ZfdA) . Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  8. ↑ Middle High German dictionaries in the network (dictionary network) . Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  9. ↑ http://mhdbdb.sbg.ac.at:8000/LastStatistics.de.html - Accessed April 12, 2016.
  10. ↑ http://mhdbdb.sbg.ac.at/mhdbdb/App?action=TextList - Retrieved on April 12, 2016.
  11. ↑ http://mhdbdb.sbg.ac.at/mhdbdb/App?action=DicSelect - Retrieved on April 12, 2016.
  12. ↑ http://mhdbdb.sbg.ac.at/mhdbdb/App?action=TextQueryModule - Retrieved on April 12, 2016.
  13. ↑ http://mhdbdb.sbg.ac.at/help/general.de.html - Retrieved on April 12, 2016.
  14. ↑ http://mhdbdb.sbg.ac.at/help/analyze-whatisit.de.html - Retrieved on April 12, 2016.
  15. ↑ http://mhdbdb.sbg.ac.at/help/dictionary-whatisit.de.html - Accessed April 12, 2016.
  16. ↑ http://mhdbdb.sbg.ac.at/mhdbdb/App?action=BrowseCategory - Retrieved on April 12, 2016.