Ego Documents in the History of English

doi:10.1017/9781009205443.027

24 - Ego Documents in the History of English

from Part III - Genre and Medium in the Record

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 October 2025

Anita Auer and

Raymond Hickey

Edited by

Merja Kytö and

Erik Smitterberg

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Merja Kytö: Affiliation:
Uppsala Universitet, Sweden
Erik Smitterberg: Affiliation:
Uppsala Universitet, Sweden

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Summary

The chapter is concerned with ego documents, that is sources like autobiographies, diaries and letters, as a data source for historians of the English language. First, the term ego documents is defined and its merits for historical sociolinguistic research are outlined. Thereafter, literacy and education opportunities, and the availability of and approaches to ego documents, are traced from the later Middle Ages to the Modern English period, followed by an illustration of language use across social layers, and a comparison to another contemporary text type. A particular focus is put on ego documents as a source of vernacular speech, for example as data for varieties of English for which there is no other contemporary documentation. The examples given illustrate the sometimes more speech-like and informal nature of ego documents and highlight the value of the text category for historical linguistics.

Keywords

ego documents autobiographies diaries letters migration literacy education opportunities

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: The New Cambridge History of the English Language
Documentation, Sources of Data and Modelling
, pp. 586 - 612

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009205443.027 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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