29.624, Books: The Unmasking of English Dictionaries: Dixon

Wed Feb 7 17:58:23 UTC 2018

LINGUIST List: Vol-29-624. Wed Feb 07 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.624, Books: The Unmasking of English Dictionaries: Dixon

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Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2018 12:58:18
From: Louise Bowes [lbowes at cambridge.org]
Subject: The Unmasking of English Dictionaries: Dixon

Title: The Unmasking of English Dictionaries 
Publication Year: 2018 
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
	   http://cambridge.org

Book URL: http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/history-english-language/unmasking-english-dictionaries 

Author: R. M. W. Dixon

Paperback: ISBN:  9781108433341 Pages:  Price: U.S. $ 24.99
Paperback: ISBN:  9781108433341 Pages:  Price: U.K. £ 19.99
Paperback: ISBN:  9781108433341 Pages:  Price: Europe EURO 23.33

Abstract:

When we look up a word in a dictionary, we want to know not just its meaning
but also its function and the circumstances under which it should be used in
preference to words of similar meaning. Standard dictionaries do not address
such matters, treating each word in isolation. R. M. W. Dixon puts forward a
new approach to lexicography that involves grouping words into 'semantic
sets', to describe what can and cannot be said, and providing explanations for
this. He provides a critical survey of the evolution of English lexicography
from the earliest times, showing how Samuel Johnson's classic treatment has
been amended in only minor ways. Written in an easy and accessible style, the
book focuses on the rampant plagiarism between lexicographers, on ways of
comparing meanings of words, and on the need to link lexicon with grammar.
Dixon tells an engrossing story that puts forward a vision for the future.

Prologue: the work in advance
1. How the language is made up
2. What a dictionary needs to do
3. Semantic set: finish, cease, and stop
4. Explaining hard words
5. Putting everything in
6. Semantic set: big and little, large and small
7. Spreading wings
8. Semantic organisation
9. Semantic set: fast, quick, rapid, swift, slow, and speed
10. No need to keep re-inventing the wheel
11. The nineteenth century
12. Semantic set: want, wish (for), and desire
13. The role of grammar
14. Standing still
15. The way forward.

Linguistic Field(s): Lexicography
                     Semantics

Subject Language(s): English (eng)

Written In: English  (eng)

See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/books/get-book.cfm?BookID=124194

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