rewards for lexicographical research

[Steve Kl.]

> >         But Larry Horn's enthusiastic and often helpful and enlightening
> > comments demonstrate that there are lots of people out there (and on this
> > list) who don't dichotomize the world this way, and who take equal delight
> > and interest in practical problems of lexicography (and other things as
> > well, including language teaching or civil rights) and in theoretical
> > or even empirical research and analysis.

One other note.

Larry Horn is many things. My academic background is in pragmatics, and I
don't think there is a single person alive or dead who has made as much of
a contribution to the field as he has. I respect him and his work like I
respect no other linguist. I have probably every paper of his and his
Natural History of Negation is within a hand's reach as I type this.

As anyone on any linguistically related listserve knows, he indefatigably
contributes to practically every list. His comments are always insightful.
He provides moral support to students. Would that all professors take an
interest in their field and their students like he does.

Larry also has excellent insights about definitions and word choice. He
was indispensible in helping me craft some tricky definitions.

All that said, there is one thing Larry Horn is *not*. He is not a
full-time lexicographer. I have no doubt that he would make an awesome
one. But I am quite confident that were he a lexicographer working for a
publishing company, academic or otherwise, he would have to leave theory
by the wayside for 99% of his daily grind. (Well, it's Larry... maybe
98%.)

-- Steve