16.2072, Media: NYTimes: Dr. Johnson's Revolution

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-16-2072. Tue Jul 05 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.2072, Media: NYTimes: Dr. Johnson's Revolution

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1)
Date: 02-Jul-2005
From: Karen Chung < karchung at ntu.edu.tw >
Subject: NYTimes: Dr. Johnson's Revolution 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Tue, 05 Jul 2005 08:55:47
From: Karen Chung < karchung at ntu.edu.tw >
Subject: NYTimes: Dr. Johnson's Revolution 
 


The New York Times  Editorials/Op-Ed  July 2, 2005

Dr. Johnson's Revolution
By Jack Lynch

...Johnson approached each entry with the same overarching question: What
does a word mean? You can answer this question many ways. You can turn to
Latin roots, consult a committee of authoritative scholars, or follow
logical principles about things like double negatives.

But Johnson's answer was simpler: a word means whatever the best writers
say it means. He was convinced that no one - no emperor, no king and
certainly no dictionary writer - had the authority to rule on meanings. Our
language is the common property of all who have used it, and meanings come
not from fiat but from precedent. ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/02/opinion/02lynch.html


Karen Chung
http://ccms.ntu.edu.tw/~karchung/
http://lists.topica.com/lists/phonetics/ 


Linguistic Field(s): Lexicography

Subject Language(s): English (ENG)




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