Renæssanceforum 6

		Renæssanceforum 6 • 2010 Jonathan Adams & Peter Zeeberg The Dictionary Database at www.renaessancesprog.dk: An Online Tool for the Study of Renaissance Language in Denmark close window

		The project Renæssancens Sprog i Danmark (The language[s] of the Renaissance in Denmark) ran from January 2007 until the end of 2009 at the Society for Danish Language and Literature in Copenhagen. It has resulted in two online searchable databases: a dictionary database and a text corpus (www.renaessancesprog.dk). The dictionary database forms the main focus of the article. The background to the project is provided by a description of the previous rather scanty lexicographical work still available for early modern Danish and Neo-Latin. The dictionary database presents a useful supplement within both fields by making seven Latin-Danish or Danish-Latin dictionaries from the period 1510-1626 available in searchable form. The article describes how using XML mark-up has made it possible to present these structurally different dictionaries together in one database. An account of the base's search options and functionality is given. And finally, the value of the dictionary database is demonstrated by showing how it provides translations of Danish and Latin words as they were actually understood and used in the Renaissance.