AB is conventionally termed an early Middle English dialect, used in the writing of Ancrene Wisse and the texts of the so-called 'Katherine Group' (13th century). The 'A' and 'B' refer to excerpts from the book published by Joseph Hall Selections from Early Middle English, 1130-1250, where 'A' corresponds to the texts of the 'Katherine Group' of the manuscript 'Bodley MS 34 'And' B 'to the manuscript of Ancrene Wisse contained in' Corpus MS 402 '. The term was coined in 1929 by the philologist JRR Tolkien, who appreciated that the dialect of both manuscripts was highly standardized, pointing to "a standard language based on one in use in the West Midlands in the thirteenth century" . Bibliography
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