Fellow Lexicographers [was: lonely vs. lonesome?]

[Thomas Paikeday]

Three of the leading desk dictionaries seem to have conspired to give
short essays (synonym notes) at ALONE discussing ALONE, DESOLATE,
FORLORN, LONE, LONELY, LONESOME, SOLITARY.

This loner's question: Do these notes help in the main dictionary
functions of decoding (getting the meaning of a word) and encoding
(using it in utterances of one's own)?

For example, if the general meaning of the group is "isolated from
others" (M-W) and there are two main and two subsidiary senses, how is
the user (such as a farm-based Minnesotan) going to find out (decode)
the exact meaning of a common expression like "lonely bachelor" or how
it is distinguished from "lonesome bachelor"? How is she going to choose
between the two when on the horns of "lonely/lonesome girl"?

In my view, since language is naturally acquired by listening and
imitation, a better way of helping dictionary users may be to give a
representative sample of idiomatic usages (though not so extensively as
below) and let the users have their pick. Abstractions, whether used for
defining or pronouncing words, don't seem so efficient as concrete
real-life examples.

TOM PAIKEDAY
lexicographer
www3.sympatico.ca/t.paikeday/index.htm


Beverly Flanigan wrote:
>
> This country/farm-based Minnesotan only used "lonesome" as a kid.  "Lonely"
> was added much later as an "educated" term.
>
> At 01:37 PM 8/26/2002 -0400, you wrote:
> >I find the human connection of lonely/lonesome quite interesting.
> >Dennis's contrastive sentence "A lonesome whistle is one which evokes
> >lonely feelings in the listeners" is particularly striking. I'd like to
> >study the question further. Here are some common expressions for
> >analysis:
> >
> >LONELY (in senses of "being alone and gloomy; [attrib.] alone and
> >isolated")
> >a lonely bachelor, widow; feeling depressed and lonely; sad and lonely;
> >lonely and homesick; the lonely hearts column; the lonely desert night;
> >a cold and lonely world; a lonely lingering death; a lonely business,
> >childhood, journey, life, look, house, place, road, trail, traveller,
> >tree, village, voice; It's lonely at the top.
> >
> >LONESOME (in senses of "feeling lonely; causing one to feel lonely;
> >solitary")
> >a lonesome bachelor, existence, highway, orphan, road.
> >
> >Incidentally, my database has six times more "lonely" citations than
> >"lonesome" ones.
> >
> >TOM PAIKEDAY
> >lexicographer
> >www3.sympatico.ca/t.paikeday/index.htm
> >
> >
> >"Dennis R. Preston" wrote:
> > >
> > > I have a tendency to use lonely with +human ("I'm just lonely boy")
> > > and lonesome with -human ("I heard that lonesome whistle blow") to
> > > cite from songs, as folk seem to like to do these days.
> > >
> > > The restriction on "lonely" with -human is strongest; for me, a
> > > "lonely whistle" is one longing for company (unlikely); a "lonesome
> > > whistle" is one which evokes lonely feelings in its listeners (like a
> > > "lonesome sight" does in its viewers, etc...).
> > >
> > > dInIs
> > >
> > > >On 25 Aug 2002, at 21:48, Indigo Som wrote:
> > > >  Is "lonesome" regularly used outside of country or
> > > >>  blues songs?
> > > >>
> > > >>  Thanks,
> > > >>  Indigo
> > > >
> > > >I tend to think of this as a countryish variant, too.  I associate it
> > > >with the writings of Mark Twain. (For example, the opening
> > > >sentence of _A Connecticut Yankee_ is: "It was a soft, reposeful
> > > >summer landscape, as lovely as a dream, and as lonesome as
> > > >Sunday.")  I guess this has no bearing on contemporary use of the
> > > >word, but my search of a literature database indicates that it
> > > >showed up in authors who dealt in more "sivilized" subjects as well
> > > >-- Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, James, Wharton, Stevenson,
> > > >Norris, and Gibbon.  Twain had more hits than any individual author
> > > >in the database, though.
> > > >
> > > >Joanne Despres
> > >
> > > --
> > > Dennis R. Preston
> > > Professor of Linguistics
> > > Department of Linguistics and Languages
> > > 740 Wells Hall A
> > > Michigan State University
> > > East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
> > > Office - (517) 353-0740
> > > Fax - (517) 432-2736