[Lexicog] The influence of Shakespeare on the English language (was: Onomatopoeia)

[Fred Shapiro]

On Sun, 20 May 2007, Fritz Goerling wrote:

> You seem to be quite knowledgeable about Shakespeare, so the following
> information about the bard's influence on the English language might not be
> new to you but to others on the list.
>
> http://shakespeare.about.com/library/weekly/aa042400a.htm

People who compile these lists of thousands of words "coined" by 
Shakespeare may be knowledgeable about Shakespeare, but are not too 
knowledgeable about historical lexicography.  The vast majority of the 
words on this list and similar ones were not introduced by Shakespeare. 
Because the first edition of the OED read Shakespeare more carefully than 
it did anyone else, and because the first edition of the OED lacked the 
powerful online tools and scholarly editions now available to 
lexicographers, Shakespeare's coinages were greatly exaggerated.  The 
currently ongoing revision of the OED is finding, for probably 90% of the 
words on the Shakespeare-coinage lists, earlier examples by other authors.

Fred Shapiro


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS
   Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press
Yale Law School                             ISBN 0300107986
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexicographylist/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexicographylist/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:lexicographylist-digest at yahoogroups.com 
    mailto:lexicographylist-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    lexicographylist-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/