‘A matter both of curioſity and uſefulneſs’: Compiling the Corpus of English Texts on Language

Abstract

This paper describes the compilation of CETeL, the subcorpus on ‘Language and Linguistics’ in the Coruña Corpus of English Scientific Writing, and discusses the various challenges encountered during the process of selection and digitisation of material. CETeL includes forty-four samples of texts on Language, Languages, and Linguistics from the period 1700–1900, and on completion will contain around 400,000 words. The paper will examine the historical context of academic writing in that period and the way in which this context affects the process of compilation. Likewise, the criteria followed in the compilation of the Coruña Corpus will be discussed in order to show the extent to which these criteria have affected the compilation of CETeL, and how they contribute towards making the corpus representative of the disciplinary practices of the period. Finally, the corpus will also be described according to a series of parameters used to assure representativeness and balance, namely the date of publication of samples, their genre, and the sex and linguistic background of their authors.