Catchword Presence Checker
Check for a catchword by comparing the last word of a verso's closing line with the first word of the following recto after exact normalization (case-folding, accent-stripping and trimming of punctuation).
Description
Check for a catchword by comparing the last word of a verso's closing line with the first word of the following recto after exact normalization (case-folding, accent-stripping and trimming of punctuation).
Catchword Presence Checker: Check for a catchword by comparing the last word of a verso's closing line with the first word of the following recto after exact normalization (case-folding, accent-stripping and trimming of punctuation).
When to use Catchword Presence
Use this palaeographic utility to apply a stated dating, script, abbreviation, codicological, metrological, layout, or condition rule consistently while preparing manuscripts for scholarly review.
- Verso tail
- Closing-line transcription of the verso.
- Recto head
- Opening-line transcription of the next recto.
How Catchword Presence works
Check for a catchword by comparing the last word of a verso's closing line with the first word of the following recto after exact normalization (case-folding, accent-stripping and trimming of punctuation). The tool evaluates the supplied inputs together and returns the named outputs below; it does not infer omitted operating conditions or change the units shown.1
- Catchword match
- True when the tail's last word repeats as the head's first word.
- Matched word
- The matching word, or an empty string when absent.
Limitations and assumptions
- Script and manuscript evidence varies by language, region, institution, period, scribe, material, restoration, and cataloguing convention. A heuristic flag or score is not an authoritative date, hand attribution, reading, provenance, or conservation diagnosis.
- Use finite inputs in the displayed units and preserve more precision than the final presentation requires. Independently verify safety-critical, financial, compliance, or production decisions.
Alternative or Complementary approaches
Retain page images, scale, foliation, material, provenance, diplomatic transcription, uncertainty, and comparison exemplars; confirm conclusions with codicological context and specialist judgment.
References
-
Codicology — Wikipedia contributors
Similar or alternative tools
- Ex-libris Inscription Extractor
Extract structured fields from a bookplate or ownership inscription under the stated rules: recognise case-insensitive phrases 'ex libris', 'ex-libris', 'exlibris', 'from the library of' and 'from the books of', take everything after the earliest phrase as owner text with edge punctuation trimmed, and report the first 400-2100 integer found as the year (0 when none).
- Hair/Flesh Note Generator
Generate the standard catalogue hair/flesh note for a leaf from which skin side faces the first page, deriving the opposite side for the verso with exact string construction.
- Capitalization Randomness Index
Measure how liberally a manuscript sample capitalizes word initials: the exact fraction of whitespace tokens beginning with an uppercase letter (a rate near one reflects the medieval habit of decorating most words) plus the number of distinct capitalized initial letters.