This web application is a built-in search engine for the Eighteenth-Century English Grammars (ECEG) database which allows users to examine the grammars compiled in it. The homepage displays the items (grammars) sorted chronologically so that the first record in the table is the earliest grammar, starting with 1700 to 1800). For each grammar, the table lists the year of publication, the first known edition, the author’s name and the title of the item. On the far-right of the table, the tab ‘View’ will take users to the individual page of each grammar for further details about the item and its author. Just above the table on the right-hand side, users can see the total number of items on display: 323 overall, or x hits after running a search.
(See Figure 1)
Figure 1
On the homepage, above the main table listing the grammars are the search tools. Clicking on the top tab ‘All years’ will display the full list of years in which the collected grammars were published. Likewise, the second tab ‘First editions’ displays the edition number. Notice that ‘0’ means that the number of the edition is unknown, it can be the first one or an unnumbered copy. The tab ‘Grammar title’ is a free-text field in which users can search for keywords or partial title strings. Comma (,) can be used for searching various words at the same time. Asterisk (*) stands for one or more characters, e.g. “art*”:
art
artistic
arts
article
...
The interrogation mark (?) serves as wildcard for one character alone, e.g. “g?nius”:
genius
And we can combine the wildcards, too, for instance “g?n*”:
genius
gentlemen
Gent
general
...
On the right-hand side of the above mentioned search filters there are two tabs: “Download results” and “Clear filters”. The former will download the database fields which users select for download (see Figure 2 and Figure 3); a minimum of one field must be selected. Users are given the option to download results in the format JSON or CSV.
Figure 2Figure 3
At the bottom right of the screen there is a floating tab in dark colour with two further options, which pop-up when you browse over it (see Figure 4). The first one jumps to the top of the page, and the second one is prints the current page to a PDF file.
Figure 4
When users run a search, the search string performed is displayed above the main table listing the grammars (see Figure 5).
Figure 5
This is not just for reference for the user, but it also aims to facilitate further searches based on the current search filter. For instance, if users click on “AND” or “OR”, this will modify the current search as follows:
OR » AND (and vice versa)
ANY » ALL (and vice versa)
Besides, clicking on an item in bold will remove that item from the parameters of the following search. Changes made to the current search will flag the search string in a different colour, to remind users that they need to carry out the search again for new results based on the changes just made (see Figure 6).
Figure 6
Clicking on the ‘View’ tab on the right-hand side of the table listing the grammars will open a new page with details about that particular grammar. (See Figures 7 to 12).
The menu on the right-hand side of the grammar page allows users to navigate from section to section easily by simply clicking on the heading in which they are interested. Users can also navigate from record to record by clicking on the arrows (previous-next) (see Figure 13). The same tool is visible at the bottom of the page. Parallel to the homepage, the dark floating tab at the bottom right of the screen will display two functions: jump to the top of the page and print the current page to a PDF file.
Figure 13
About the project
The project
ECEG is an electronic resource for the study of the eighteenth-century grammatical tradition which contains bibliographic information about 323 grammars of the English language written between 1700 and 1800, enhanced with biographical information about their writers.
The database has been designed and compiled by Nuria Yáñez-Bouza (then at The University of Manchester; now at University of Vigo) and María E. Rodríguez-Gil (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Research Institute of Text Analysis and Applications).
The database is maintained via IATEXT. The current release was migrated in November 2019; the contents remain as of July 2012.
The database
Four main groups of reference sources have been read, collated and contrasted (sometimes there are inconsistencies and/or disagreements between authors).
Bibliographies: Kennedy (1927; with addenda and corrigenda by Gabrielson 1929); Alston (1965-2008, vols. I-VIII, Supplement, Addenda); Evans's American bibliography (1903-1959), along with the supplement volume by Bristol (1970).
Collections, facsimiles and reprints: Eighteenth-Century Collections Online (2006-2010); Evans Digital Collection of American Imprints; Alston's (1967-73) facsimile reprint series English Linguistics 1500-1800.
Scholarly works: Leonard (1929); Poldauf (1948); Michael (1970, 1987); Vorlat (1975); Sundby et al. (1991); Mitchell (2001).
Databases and indexes with biographic information: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB online 2004), Lexicon Grammaticorum (Stammerjohann et al. 1996), Universal Index of Biographical Names (Koerner 2008); modern historiographic surveys (e.g. Tieken-Boon van Ostade 1996; Rodríguez-Gil 2002; Cajka 2003; Percy 2003; Sturiale 2006; Navest 2008).
The use of the term ‘English grammar’ in ECEG refers to a work which fulfils the following criteria:
it deals with morphology and syntax;
it is written in English, including those which appear in polyglot grammars when it is evident that the purpose is to teach English, too;
it is written by native speakers, with the exception of a small number of ‘naturalized English speakers’ (Sundby et al. 1991: 15);
it is printed in the British Isles and, to a lesser extent, the America colonies, again with the exception a couple of foreign places which were consistently quoted in our bibliographic sources.
Crucially for a better understanding of the eighteenth-century grammatical tradition and grammar-writing practices, the scope of the term ‘English grammar’ in ECEG goes beyond the traditional, narrow view of grammar as ‘distinct’, stand-alone grammar book. Rather, it also includes subsidiary grammars prefixed to (i) dictionaries or encyclopaedias; (ii) works concerned with the philosophy of the language; (iii) rhetoric and elocution treatises; (iv) letter-writing manuals; (v) polyglot grammars, if written to help them acquire a knowledge of the English language; (vi) spelling-books; and (vii) books of exercises. There is, inevitably, a miscellany category, and we have consulted some manuscripts, too.
The current version of the database consists of 323 items – English grammars – written by 275 different authors between 1700 and 1800. Each item has been coded in the fullest detail possible in twenty-one different fields, with further sub-classifications, thematically grouped in three major categories: grammars (13), authors (5) and sources (3). Below is a brief description of the fields and subfields. Data can be updated at any time.
Grammars
Title. Full title including printing details.
Year. Of the first edition or the earliest edition containing a grammar of English.
Edition. First edition or earliest edition containing a grammar of English.
Editions. All editions cited in the literature (including editions of copies not located).
Place of Printing. Country, County, City.
Printers. As in the imprint.
Booksellers. As in the imprint.
Price. As in the imprint.
Physical Description. From catalogues.
Type of Work. English (‘distinct’) grammar, Dictionary, Book of exercises, Language, Rhetoric/Elocution treatises, Letter-writing manuals, Polyglot grammars, Spelling Book, Miscellaneous.
Divisions of Grammar. Primary contents: Orthography, Orthoepy, Etymology, Syntax, Prosody.
Subsidiary Contents. Punctuation, Rhetoric material, Examples of bad English, Examples of handwriting, Snatches of history/geography, Logic, etc.
Target Audience. Categories: Age, Gender, Instruction, Specific Purpose. (Each of these categories comprises a range of different values.)
Authors
Name. Surname, Forename.
Gender. Male, Female, Anonymous.
Place of Birth. Country, County, City.
Occupation. Books, Education, Politics, Religion, Science, Writing, Other. (Each of these categories comprises a range of jobs.)
Biographical details. e.g. Age, Place of residence, Acquaintances, Other writings.
References
Holding libraries. Of the first extant edition consulted. (As documented in summer 2010.)
References. Literature from which the primary sources have been drawn.
Comments. Observations/Corrections from the literature and from our own research.
Online interface
The contents of the online database are available via two interfaces: Browse layout and Search layout. Search results can be downloaded to the user's computer in .CSV or .JSON file format.
In the Browse layout, records (~ grammars) are by default chronologically sorted, so that record 1 dates from 1700 and record 323 dates from 1800. Users can browse record by record. Users can also sort the entries by Author or Edition.
The contents of each record or each search hit are displayed in two panels: (i) Home panel, with the Year, Title, First Edition, Author, and (ii) View panel, with the full data record. In the View panel users can scroll down the different fields annotated (as explained above) or click on the relevant section on the menu displaying on the right-hand side of the page. In the search tool, these can be searched for individually or in combined searches.
To search the database, the home page offers the search panel for the three fields Year – Edition – Title. By clicking on “Show advanced filters”, users can customise the search options to their needs across the various tabs available: Author – Content – Imprint – Editions – References – Comments. A drop-down value list will appear in some fields, offering values that can be searched for; users can select various values at the same time. Notice that users can also type in text in the box just above the drop-down menu when it displays. In combined searches users can switch between AND/OR by clicking on the AND/OR item or switch between ALL/ANY by clicking on the ALL/ANY item.
The number of hits (‘search results’) is displayed on the top-right of the page. To start a new search from scratch, click on the icon for Back to Results and then Clear Filters.
Web interfaces design and development: Carlos Martel Lamas (IATEXT-Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 2019 - 2020)
Web service design, development and implementation: Carlos Martel Lamas (IATEXT-Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 2019 - 2020)
Logo design: Carlos Martel Lamas (IATEXT-Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 2019 - 2020)
Project supervisor: Francisco Javier Carreras Riudavets (IATEXT-Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 2019 - 2020)
Zenón José Hernández Figueroa and Gustavo Rodríguez Rodríguez have contributed to the development of the current project through suggestions and corrections. (IATEXT-Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 2019 - 2020)
