[Lexicog] Re: Using older dictionaries

[rtroike at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU]

An additional step in ethnolexicography:

Sometimes older dictionaries can't be ignored, even if a modern linguist
regards the transcription of an entry as erroneous. Mary Haas once told
me that when she was working on Choctaw, and using Byington's 1861(?)
dictionary with consultants, they insisted on preserving the original
forms, despite her efforts to convince them that these had typological
errors. Where speakers of a language are familiar with the spellings in
an older dictionary, it may be necessary to use an incorrect older
spelling as an entry, and give a cross-reference to the newer spelling,
without prejudice. The new entry could give all of the pertinent information,
and include a reference such as "Spelled xxxxxx in Byington (1861)".

   Rudy




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