Research idea - dictionaries

[Joel S. Berson]

I don't know if there might be any really useful information or
pointers in "Websterisms: A Collection of Words and Definitions Set
Forth by the Founding Father of American English", comp. by Arthur
Schulman.  It has introductions by (separately) Jill Lepore and
Schulman.  The latter writes about "Webster vs. Johnson", and I think
both write about description vs. prescription.  There is also
discussion of what Webster wrote about what he was doing, but
unfortunately no footnote citations.  Schulman includes the preface
to Webster's 1828 dictionary, but of course that can be found elsewhere.

Joel

At 8/1/2012 10:29 AM, Garson O'Toole wrote:
>Some of Samuel Johnson's definitions in "A Dictionary of the English
>Language" (1755) humorously illustrate the tension between describing
>and prescribing. The definition of patron is fun.
>
>Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch
>who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery.
>
>Oats: A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in
>Scotland appears to support the people.
>
>Distiller: One who makes and sells pernicious and inflammatory spirits.
>
>Lexicographer: A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies
>himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of
>words.
>
>Politician: 1. One versed in the arts of government; one skilled in
>politicks. 2. A man of artifice; one of deep contrivance.
>
>These items are abbreviated and taken from a secondary source (on the web).
>
>http://www.samueljohnson.com/definitions.html
>
>Perhaps one could search GB and JSTOR for pieces of these definitions.
>Matches might reveal critical essays on the topic of
>prescribing/describing.
>
>Garson
>
>On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 9:45 AM, W Brewer <brewerwa at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Research idea - dictionaries
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Arnold Zwicky wrote/requoted: <<<Do you know of any good critical studies
> > of dictionaries? Dictionaries as prescribing/ascribing vs. describing?>>>
> > WB: Understandably vague. Somewhere I have stuff on the Webster's Third
> > controversy, when descriptivism hit a brick wall in 1961. So much for the
> > Grande Vulgarisation of linguistic science. (Wikipedia s.v. Webster's
> > Dictionary looks like a good survey.)
> >
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