Philip Durkin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199574995
- eISBN:
- 9780191771446
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199574995.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Lexicography, Historical Linguistics
This book traces the history of loanwords in English from earliest times to the present day. The first two chapters outline the research methodology and framework, and introduce several key datasets ...
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This book traces the history of loanwords in English from earliest times to the present day. The first two chapters outline the research methodology and framework, and introduce several key datasets that are referred to throughout the book: the full wordlist of the Oxford English Dictionary; the 1,000 most frequent words in a corpus of contemporary English; and the English words that provide the closest fit with a large list of basic meanings. The next three chapters look at the historical and cultural background up to the Norman Conquest, the methodology of comparative linguistics and the identification of families of related languages, the ways in which loanwords from the remote past are identified, and, finally, why there are relatively few English loanwords from the Celtic languages of the British Isles. The following three groups of chapters form the heart of the historical discussion in the book, looking in detail at loanwords from Latin found in Old English; loanwords resulting from Scandinavian contact and settlement; and loanwords that reflect multilingual contacts between French, Latin, and English in later medieval England. The final part of the book looks in detail at loanwords from Latin and French from 1500 to the present, including the role of loanwords in the history of written English and in the formation of specialist technical and scientific vocabularies; the contribution from other major donor languages, both within Europe and beyond (including Arabic, Hebrew, languages of South Asia, Malay, Chinese, Maori, and Japanese); and, finally, it assesses the deep transformations in all layers of the vocabulary of English that have resulted from the integration of loanwords from different sources.Less
This book traces the history of loanwords in English from earliest times to the present day. The first two chapters outline the research methodology and framework, and introduce several key datasets that are referred to throughout the book: the full wordlist of the Oxford English Dictionary; the 1,000 most frequent words in a corpus of contemporary English; and the English words that provide the closest fit with a large list of basic meanings. The next three chapters look at the historical and cultural background up to the Norman Conquest, the methodology of comparative linguistics and the identification of families of related languages, the ways in which loanwords from the remote past are identified, and, finally, why there are relatively few English loanwords from the Celtic languages of the British Isles. The following three groups of chapters form the heart of the historical discussion in the book, looking in detail at loanwords from Latin found in Old English; loanwords resulting from Scandinavian contact and settlement; and loanwords that reflect multilingual contacts between French, Latin, and English in later medieval England. The final part of the book looks in detail at loanwords from Latin and French from 1500 to the present, including the role of loanwords in the history of written English and in the formation of specialist technical and scientific vocabularies; the contribution from other major donor languages, both within Europe and beyond (including Arabic, Hebrew, languages of South Asia, Malay, Chinese, Maori, and Japanese); and, finally, it assesses the deep transformations in all layers of the vocabulary of English that have resulted from the integration of loanwords from different sources.
Sylviane Granger and Magali Paquot (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199654864
- eISBN:
- 9780191745966
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654864.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Lexicography, Semantics and Pragmatics
This book introduces the rapidly evolving field of electronic lexicography. The aim is to provide a wide overview of the full process of electronic dictionary production and present some of the ...
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This book introduces the rapidly evolving field of electronic lexicography. The aim is to provide a wide overview of the full process of electronic dictionary production and present some of the challenges faced by publishers, editors and lexicographers as well as the benefits offered to a wide range of users language learners, translators and professionals. Throughout the book particular focus is placed on user needs and the functionalities of electronic dictionaries that are designed to meet them. The volume contains chapters introducing some innovative dictionary projects and surveys of dictionary use. One of the hallmarks of the volume is that it is not limited to English but touches on a range of other languages (Bantu languages, French, German, Russian, Slovene, Spanish as well as sign language). Another key feature of the volume is that it embraces a wide range of lexicographic theories and practices.Less
This book introduces the rapidly evolving field of electronic lexicography. The aim is to provide a wide overview of the full process of electronic dictionary production and present some of the challenges faced by publishers, editors and lexicographers as well as the benefits offered to a wide range of users language learners, translators and professionals. Throughout the book particular focus is placed on user needs and the functionalities of electronic dictionaries that are designed to meet them. The volume contains chapters introducing some innovative dictionary projects and surveys of dictionary use. One of the hallmarks of the volume is that it is not limited to English but touches on a range of other languages (Bantu languages, French, German, Russian, Slovene, Spanish as well as sign language). Another key feature of the volume is that it embraces a wide range of lexicographic theories and practices.
Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- December 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198808206
- eISBN:
- 9780191845888
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198808206.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, English Language, Lexicography
Usage guides, or language advice manuals, are being published in large numbers, both in Britain and the US. The first titles that usually spring to mind are Fowler’s Modern English Usage (1926) or ...
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Usage guides, or language advice manuals, are being published in large numbers, both in Britain and the US. The first titles that usually spring to mind are Fowler’s Modern English Usage (1926) or Sir Ernest Gowers’s Complete Plain Words (1954). Yet as a phenomenon, they are much older than that: the first English usage guide was published in 1770, and the first American one in 1847. Today, new titles come out almost every year, while old works are revised and reissued. At the same time, usage advice can be readily found on the internet: Grammar Girl, for instance, is a good example of what is in effect an online usage guide, and there are many others about. Remarkably, however, the kind of usage problems that have been treated over the years are very much the same, and attitudes towards them, by usage guide writers and the general public alike, are slow to change. Remarkably also, usage guides continue to be published despite easy online access to usage advice: there is clearly a market for them, and especially the more controversial ones sell well. How are usage guides compiled and revised? Who writes them? How do they do they differ from, say, grammars and dictionaries? How do attitudes to usage problems change? Why does the BBC need its own style guide, and why are usage guides published to begin with? These are central topics in the book.Less
Usage guides, or language advice manuals, are being published in large numbers, both in Britain and the US. The first titles that usually spring to mind are Fowler’s Modern English Usage (1926) or Sir Ernest Gowers’s Complete Plain Words (1954). Yet as a phenomenon, they are much older than that: the first English usage guide was published in 1770, and the first American one in 1847. Today, new titles come out almost every year, while old works are revised and reissued. At the same time, usage advice can be readily found on the internet: Grammar Girl, for instance, is a good example of what is in effect an online usage guide, and there are many others about. Remarkably, however, the kind of usage problems that have been treated over the years are very much the same, and attitudes towards them, by usage guide writers and the general public alike, are slow to change. Remarkably also, usage guides continue to be published despite easy online access to usage advice: there is clearly a market for them, and especially the more controversial ones sell well. How are usage guides compiled and revised? Who writes them? How do they do they differ from, say, grammars and dictionaries? How do attitudes to usage problems change? Why does the BBC need its own style guide, and why are usage guides published to begin with? These are central topics in the book.
D. Gary Miller
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199654260
- eISBN:
- 9780191742064
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654260.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Lexicography
From its Germanic roots on the Continent, English has had many influences from other languages. This work documents the main influences on the lexicon and the structure. The earliest contacts were ...
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From its Germanic roots on the Continent, English has had many influences from other languages. This work documents the main influences on the lexicon and the structure. The earliest contacts were with the Romans, when many words were borrowed by the Germanic tribes from Vulgar Latin. In the British Isles, Roman influence continued but the primary influence, though largely substratal, was from Brythonic Celtic. In the later period the Latin influence became largely literary. Meanwhile, Danes settled northeast England, and the contact situation there was complicated but the major result was a high degree of koineization, reflected in major structural innovations shared with East Norse, primarily Old Jutland Danish. Subsequently, the French dominated southeast England and created a superstrate that resulted in Anglo-French on the one hand and the transfer of thousands of words to English on the other. As these words assimilated to the English lexicon, their affixes became an important part of English word formation, productivity beginning as early as the thirteenth century. The result of all this contact was that English preserved little of its Germanic heritage. Later influences were largely restricted to the lexicon and consisted mainly of learned Greek and latinate roots, many of which became standard English, though frequently of a higher register than native roots of similar import, and facilitated scientific word formation.Less
From its Germanic roots on the Continent, English has had many influences from other languages. This work documents the main influences on the lexicon and the structure. The earliest contacts were with the Romans, when many words were borrowed by the Germanic tribes from Vulgar Latin. In the British Isles, Roman influence continued but the primary influence, though largely substratal, was from Brythonic Celtic. In the later period the Latin influence became largely literary. Meanwhile, Danes settled northeast England, and the contact situation there was complicated but the major result was a high degree of koineization, reflected in major structural innovations shared with East Norse, primarily Old Jutland Danish. Subsequently, the French dominated southeast England and created a superstrate that resulted in Anglo-French on the one hand and the transfer of thousands of words to English on the other. As these words assimilated to the English lexicon, their affixes became an important part of English word formation, productivity beginning as early as the thirteenth century. The result of all this contact was that English preserved little of its Germanic heritage. Later influences were largely restricted to the lexicon and consisted mainly of learned Greek and latinate roots, many of which became standard English, though frequently of a higher register than native roots of similar import, and facilitated scientific word formation.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This book provides a survey of dictionaries of slang and cant (the language of thieves and beggars) in the period 1859-1936. It covers Britain, American, Australia, India, and other countries then ...
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This book provides a survey of dictionaries of slang and cant (the language of thieves and beggars) in the period 1859-1936. It covers Britain, American, Australia, India, and other countries then part of the British Empire. Dictionaries by Hotten and Farmer and Henley are covered in particular detail. By the end of the period, war, the Depression, and prohibition all played a vital role in determining what type of dictionaries were being produced.Less
This book provides a survey of dictionaries of slang and cant (the language of thieves and beggars) in the period 1859-1936. It covers Britain, American, Australia, India, and other countries then part of the British Empire. Dictionaries by Hotten and Farmer and Henley are covered in particular detail. By the end of the period, war, the Depression, and prohibition all played a vital role in determining what type of dictionaries were being produced.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199567256
- eISBN:
- 9780191595073
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199567256.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
Although there are continuities with earlier slang lexicography, particularly in the work of Eric Partridge, the period covered by this volume sees a number of marked social and lexicographical ...
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Although there are continuities with earlier slang lexicography, particularly in the work of Eric Partridge, the period covered by this volume sees a number of marked social and lexicographical changes. The post-war cultural dominance of the United States is evident throughout, as is the influence of African‐American music and language. Slang dictionaries also document attempts by Britain and its colonies to (re)define their sense of national identity. Musical and cultural trends each produced their own characteristic slang, which was manipulated by commercial interests to target the youth market. Homosexual slang was documented first as a diagnostic tool for psychiatrists, but later became an expression of gay pride. Attempts to associate homosexuality with communism label gay rights as a significant threat to the structure of society. Drugs were another threat that became dominant in this period, and the punitive response saw a rapidly increasing prison population. Dictionaries of crime during this period tend to concentrate on the language used inside prisons rather than by criminals at large. But slang is not just for left-wingers. British dictionaries of rhyming slang and dictionaries of Australian slang both express anxieties about immigration through their attempts to construct a working‐class national identity. Right-wing pressure groups in the United States produced dictionaries of slang to reveal the threat represented by homosexuality and rock music. The biggest backlash is found in the numerous dictionaries of CB radio, which allowed blue‐collar white southerners to reconstruct themselves as freedom‐fighting urban cowboys.Less
Although there are continuities with earlier slang lexicography, particularly in the work of Eric Partridge, the period covered by this volume sees a number of marked social and lexicographical changes. The post-war cultural dominance of the United States is evident throughout, as is the influence of African‐American music and language. Slang dictionaries also document attempts by Britain and its colonies to (re)define their sense of national identity. Musical and cultural trends each produced their own characteristic slang, which was manipulated by commercial interests to target the youth market. Homosexual slang was documented first as a diagnostic tool for psychiatrists, but later became an expression of gay pride. Attempts to associate homosexuality with communism label gay rights as a significant threat to the structure of society. Drugs were another threat that became dominant in this period, and the punitive response saw a rapidly increasing prison population. Dictionaries of crime during this period tend to concentrate on the language used inside prisons rather than by criminals at large. But slang is not just for left-wingers. British dictionaries of rhyming slang and dictionaries of Australian slang both express anxieties about immigration through their attempts to construct a working‐class national identity. Right-wing pressure groups in the United States produced dictionaries of slang to reveal the threat represented by homosexuality and rock music. The biggest backlash is found in the numerous dictionaries of CB radio, which allowed blue‐collar white southerners to reconstruct themselves as freedom‐fighting urban cowboys.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199557097
- eISBN:
- 9780191719875
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557097.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Lexicography
This is the first volume in a complete history of the documentation of English cant and slang from 1567 to the present. It gives insights into the early history of slang, the people who used it, and ...
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This is the first volume in a complete history of the documentation of English cant and slang from 1567 to the present. It gives insights into the early history of slang, the people who used it, and how and why it was recorded. Well over a hundred glossaries of cant and slang were published between 1567 and 1784. The cant lists reveal the secret language allegedly used by thieves and beggars to conceal their illicit conspiracies: this book investigates where and how they were produced and the relationship between such lists and canting literature. The book considers why this period was so fascinated by crime and by criminals, and apparently so obsessed with the need to record their language. How far, it asks, are the lists genuine records of contemporary cant, and how far the products of literary invention? Who produced them, and how were they researched? Who bought them, and what did they hope to gain from them? It also provides unusual and unexpected insights into the underworlds of early modern England.Less
This is the first volume in a complete history of the documentation of English cant and slang from 1567 to the present. It gives insights into the early history of slang, the people who used it, and how and why it was recorded. Well over a hundred glossaries of cant and slang were published between 1567 and 1784. The cant lists reveal the secret language allegedly used by thieves and beggars to conceal their illicit conspiracies: this book investigates where and how they were produced and the relationship between such lists and canting literature. The book considers why this period was so fascinated by crime and by criminals, and apparently so obsessed with the need to record their language. How far, it asks, are the lists genuine records of contemporary cant, and how far the products of literary invention? Who produced them, and how were they researched? Who bought them, and what did they hope to gain from them? It also provides unusual and unexpected insights into the underworlds of early modern England.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199557103
- eISBN:
- 9780191719882
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557103.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Lexicography
This book is the second volume of the history of the recording and uses of slang and criminal cant and takes the story from 1785 to 1858, and explores their manifestations in the United States and ...
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This book is the second volume of the history of the recording and uses of slang and criminal cant and takes the story from 1785 to 1858, and explores their manifestations in the United States and Australia. During this period, glossaries of cant were thrown into the shade by dictionaries of slang, which now covered a broad spectrum of non-standard English, including the language of thieves. This book shows how Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue revolutionized the lexicography of the underworld. It explores the compilation and content of the earliest Australian and American slang glossaries, whose authors included the thrice-transported James Hardy Vaux and the legendary George Matsell, New York City's first chief of police, whose The Secret Language of Crime: The Rogue's Lexicon informed the script of Martin Scorcese's film Gangs of New York. Cant represented a tangible danger to life and property, but slang threatened to undermine good behaviour and social morality. This book shows how and why they were at once repellent and seductive. The book's account casts new light on language and life in some of the darker regions of Great Britain and the English-speaking world.Less
This book is the second volume of the history of the recording and uses of slang and criminal cant and takes the story from 1785 to 1858, and explores their manifestations in the United States and Australia. During this period, glossaries of cant were thrown into the shade by dictionaries of slang, which now covered a broad spectrum of non-standard English, including the language of thieves. This book shows how Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue revolutionized the lexicography of the underworld. It explores the compilation and content of the earliest Australian and American slang glossaries, whose authors included the thrice-transported James Hardy Vaux and the legendary George Matsell, New York City's first chief of police, whose The Secret Language of Crime: The Rogue's Lexicon informed the script of Martin Scorcese's film Gangs of New York. Cant represented a tangible danger to life and property, but slang threatened to undermine good behaviour and social morality. This book shows how and why they were at once repellent and seductive. The book's account casts new light on language and life in some of the darker regions of Great Britain and the English-speaking world.
Susan Rennie
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199639403
- eISBN:
- 9780191741920
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199639403.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Lexicography, Historical Linguistics
John Jamieson’s Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808) was the first complete dictionary of Scots and is a landmark in the development of historical lexicography. This book is the ...
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John Jamieson’s Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808) was the first complete dictionary of Scots and is a landmark in the development of historical lexicography. This book is the first full‐scale study of Jamieson’s work on both the Dictionary and the later Supplement of 1825. Using Jamieson’s correspondence and surviving manuscript sources, it traces the evolution of the Dictionary project, from Jamieson’s early linguistic fieldwork to the production and promotion of the Dictionary over twenty years later. It discusses Jamieson’s editorial methods and examines in detail the content of the Dictionary, highlighting Jamieson’s pioneering of the historical method, as well as his innovative use of contemporary and popular sources. It also reveals how Jamieson continually revised and updated his text, aided by a growing number of contributors and specialist consultants – among them Sir Walter Scott – and describes how his work was supplemented by later editors, ensuring that the Dictionary dominated Scots lexicography for over a century, providing inspiration to generations of creative writers, as well as source material for the major historical dictionaries of English and Scots that were to follow.Less
John Jamieson’s Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808) was the first complete dictionary of Scots and is a landmark in the development of historical lexicography. This book is the first full‐scale study of Jamieson’s work on both the Dictionary and the later Supplement of 1825. Using Jamieson’s correspondence and surviving manuscript sources, it traces the evolution of the Dictionary project, from Jamieson’s early linguistic fieldwork to the production and promotion of the Dictionary over twenty years later. It discusses Jamieson’s editorial methods and examines in detail the content of the Dictionary, highlighting Jamieson’s pioneering of the historical method, as well as his innovative use of contemporary and popular sources. It also reveals how Jamieson continually revised and updated his text, aided by a growing number of contributors and specialist consultants – among them Sir Walter Scott – and describes how his work was supplemented by later editors, ensuring that the Dictionary dominated Scots lexicography for over a century, providing inspiration to generations of creative writers, as well as source material for the major historical dictionaries of English and Scots that were to follow.
Peter Gilliver
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199283620
- eISBN:
- 9780191826092
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283620.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Lexicography, Historical Linguistics
This book tells the history of the Oxford English Dictionary from its beginnings in the middle of the nineteenth century to the present. It explores the cultural background from which the idea of a ...
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This book tells the history of the Oxford English Dictionary from its beginnings in the middle of the nineteenth century to the present. It explores the cultural background from which the idea of a comprehensive historical dictionary emerged as a new concept in the lexicography of English, and traces the process of bringing this concept to fruition, from the first attempts to collect quotation evidence in the 1850s, under the auspices of the Philological Society of London, through the engagement of Oxford University Press as the Dictionary’s publisher, the appearance of the first printed fascicle in 1884, and various other publishing developments, to the launching of the OED as an online database in 2000 and beyond. It also examines the evolution of the lexicographers’ working methods, and provides much information about the individuals who have contributed to the project over the last century and a half. Numerous individual words, and their entries in the Dictionary, are also discussed.Less
This book tells the history of the Oxford English Dictionary from its beginnings in the middle of the nineteenth century to the present. It explores the cultural background from which the idea of a comprehensive historical dictionary emerged as a new concept in the lexicography of English, and traces the process of bringing this concept to fruition, from the first attempts to collect quotation evidence in the 1850s, under the auspices of the Philological Society of London, through the engagement of Oxford University Press as the Dictionary’s publisher, the appearance of the first printed fascicle in 1884, and various other publishing developments, to the launching of the OED as an online database in 2000 and beyond. It also examines the evolution of the lexicographers’ working methods, and provides much information about the individuals who have contributed to the project over the last century and a half. Numerous individual words, and their entries in the Dictionary, are also discussed.
