Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss the kind of evidence that the documents of the Salem witchcraft trials can give us of the language written and spoken in New England at the end of the seventeenth century. The most important types of text included in these papers are (1) official documents, (2) witness depositions, and (3) examinations of the accused.
Attention is called to certain linguistic features, such as the use of the auxiliary do, the future auxiliaries shall and will, and the variation between no and not any, as well as to some discourse aspects typical of the courtroom situation.
