The Oxford History of English Lexicography
Price:
$350.00 (08)Description
These substantial volumes present the fullest account yet published of the lexicography of English from its origins in medieval glosses, through its rapid development in the eighteenth century, to a fully-established high-tech industry that is as reliant as ever on learning and scholarship. The history covers dictionaries of English and its national varieties, including American English, with numerous references to developments in Europe and elsewhere which have influenced the course of English lexicography.Part one of Volume I explores the early development of glosses and bilingual and multilingual dictionaries and examines their influence on lexicographical methods and ideas. Part two presents a systematic history of monolingual dictionaries of English and includes extensive chapters on Johnson, Webster and his successors in the USA, and the OED . It also contains descriptions of the development of dictionaries of national and regional varieties, and of Old and Middle English, and concludes with an account of the computerization of the OED .
The specialized dictionaries described in Volume II include dictionaries of science, dialects, synonyms, etymology, pronunciation, slang and cant, quotations, phraseology, and personal and place names. This volume also includes an account of the inception and development of dictionaries developed for particular users, especially foreign learners of English.
The Oxford History of English Lexicography unites scholarship with readability. It provides a unique and accessible reference for scholars and professional lexicographers and offers a series of fascinating encounters with the men and women involved over the centuries in the making of works of profound national and linguistic importance.
Features
- Meets the needs of historians of lexicography and those interested in a specific topic such as place names or slang
- Describes the OED -derived dictionaries, including dictionaries of Scots, and Old and Middle English
- Covers all the major varieties of English
- Covers the complete history, from medieval glosses to contemporary on-line publication
- Written by distinguished international scholars
Reviews
"Cowie's authors remind us of the power of correctly used language in communication." --W.F. Bynum, Nature
"This work's high quality and long-lasting subject matter make it a necessary purchase for libraries specializing in research, linguistics, and lexicography."-- Library Journal
"The best reference history I've read in a long time, and I feel confident in saying that if you love dictionaries, you will want to set some time aside for reading it." --Stephen Dodson
About the Author(s)
A. P. Cowie is Honorary Reader in Lexicography at the University of Leeds. He was co-editor of the third edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary and chief editor of the fourth edition. He is the co-editor of the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms and was editor of the International Journal of Lexicography from 1998 to 2003. His books include English Dictionaries for Foreign Learners: A History (OUP, 1999) and, as editor, Phraseology: Theory, Analysis, and Applications (OUP, 1998). He is currently preparing the second edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms by A. P. Cowie, R. Mackin, and I. R. McCaig.
