Assessing non-standard writing in lexicography

In this chapter I will look at some aspects of the treatment of non-standard and regional varieties in historical dictionaries, especially the OED. I will examine closely the spelling forms found in a series of passages written by non-professional, naïve writers, and the challenges for interpretation, presentation, and labelling which such data pose for a historical dictionary. My main focus will thus be quite narrow, but I hope that this detailed approach will raise issues and challenges which resonate with those faced by other researchers in this area.