Dominik pointed out the usefulness of regular expressions in searching for variations in spelling etc.as in the website Saktumiva which has examples of their use. I'd also like to point out that the full power of regular expressions can be used to search the Muktabodha searchable e-text library. https://muktalib7.com/DL_CATALOG_ROOT/digital_library_secure_entry.htm

If you click "Help" it gives you instructions on how to search the library with regular expressions. It gives a simple example of how to find all lines in all texts that have both śiva and śaktī in the same line, but the full power of regular expressions can be used including the examples shown on the website Saktumiva .

Harry Spier

On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 3:25 PM Dominik Wujastyk <wujastyk@gmail.com> wrote:

In transcribing a manuscript it is best practice to transcribe diplomatically exactly what the MS says.

A second, separate file may be prepared that contains various normalisations, like ba/va or śa/sa, rma/rmma, etc.

To normalise the main transcription file takes away the opportunity to study these phenomena. And in any case, the majority of these features can be manipulated with regular-expression rules, as in Saktumiva. So there's no need to normalise them.

Best,
Dominik