1. A new and thoroughly revised edition of Stratmann’s Dictionary is

being prepared by Mr. Henry Bradley, for the Delegates of the Clarendon Press. Note On The Phonology Of Middle-English. One great difficulty in finding a Middle-English word in this, or any other, Dictionary is due to the frequent variation of the symbols denoting the vowel-sounds. Throughout the whole of the period to which the work relates the symbols _i_ and _y_, in particular, are constantly interchanged, whether they stand alone, or form parts of diphthongs. Consequently, words which are spelt with one of these symbols in a given text must frequently be looked for as if spelt with the other; i.e. the pairs of symbols _i_ and _y_, _ai_ and _ay_, _ei_ and _ey_, _oi_ and _oy_, _ui_ and _uy_, must be looked upon as likely to be used indifferently, one for the other. For further information, the student should consult the remarks upon Phonology in the Specimens of English (1150 to 1300), 2nd ed., p. xxv. For those who have not time or opportunity to do this, a few brief notes may perhaps suffice. The following symbols are frequently confused, or are employed as equivalent to each other because they result from the same sound in the Oldest English or in Anglo-French:— _i_, _y_;—_ai_, _ay_;—_ei_, _ey_;—_oi_, _oy_;—_ui_, _uy_. _a_, _o_;—_a_, _æ_, _e_, _ea_;—_e_, _eo_, _ie_;—_o_, _u_, _ou_;—(all originally short). _a_, _æ_, _ea_, _e_, _ee_;—_e_, _ee_, _eo_, _ie_;—_o_, _oo_, _oa_;—_u_, _ou_, _ui_;—(all long). These are the most usual interchanges of symbols, and will commonly suffice for practical purposes, in cases where the cross-references fail. If the word be not found after such substitutions have been allowed for, it may be taken for granted that the Dictionary does not contain it. As a fact, the Dictionary only contains a considerable number of such words as are most common, or (for some special reason) deserve notice; and it is at once conceded that it is but a small hand-book, which does not pretend to exhibit in all its fulness the extraordinarily copious vocabulary of our language at an important period of its history. The student wishing for complete information will find (in course of time) that the New English Dictionary which is being brought out by the Clarendon Press will contain all words found in our literature since the year 1100. Of course variations in the vowel-sounds are also introduced, in the case of strong verbs, by the usual ‘gradation’ due to their method of conjugation. To meet this difficulty in some measure, numerous (but not exhaustive) cross-references have been introduced, as when, e.g. ‘Bar, bare’ is given, with a cross-reference to Beren. Further help in this respect is to be had from the table of 183 strong verbs given at pp. lxix-lxxxi of the Preface to Part I of the Specimens of English (2nd edition); see, in particular, the alphabetical index to the same, at pp. lxxxi, lxxxii. The same Preface further contains some account of the three principal Middle-English dialects (p. xl), and Outlines of the Grammar (p. xlv). It also explains the meaning of the symbols þ, ð (both used for _th_), ȝ (used for _y_ initially, _gh_ medially, and _gh_ or _z_ finally), with other necessary information. The Clarendon Press Glossaries. This work gives _all_ the words and _every_ form contained in the glossaries to eleven publications in the Clarendon Press Series, as below:— S.—Specimens of Early English, ed. Morris, Part I: from A.D. 1150 to A.D. 1300. This book contains extracts from:—1. Old English Homilies, ed. Morris, E.E.T.S. 1867-8, pp. 230-241; 2. The Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 1137, 1138, 1140, 1154; 3. Old Eng. Homilies, ed. Morris, First Series, pp. 40-53;