Notes on variation and lexical diachrony in the Parish Memories-Alentejo collection (1758)

Abstract

Memórias Paroquiais-Alentejo (1758) collects the responses of the parish priests from the largest region of Portugal (Alentejo) to a survey carried out by the Crown, asking about the state of the territory and its populations, and also about the effects of the earthquake 1755. This article discusses the transformative process from the manuscripts up to the processable digital stage. We described some individualising characteristics of the lexical “corpus” obtained with PLN. Marks of lexical diachrony also stand out, revealing society and its uses in the mid-18th century.