Some philological implications of punctuation in editions of Middle English texts

Abstract

This study investigates the use of editions with modernised punctuation for linguistic enquiries. While previous studies have highlighted potential qualitative issues with using such editions, this study provides a quantitative analysis in order to give insight into how often editions with modernised punctuation tend to deviate from their manuscript’s punctuation. By doing so, this study provides further insight into how frequently the use of such editions may potentially lead the linguistic scholar astray. This study reveals that a high proportion of the punctuation marks encountered in the studied editions have no corresponding mark in the manuscript, ultimately concluding that the use of such editions may have an impact on the current understanding of Middle English syntax and text interpretation.