This book epitomizes the history of Roget's Thesaurus as the merger of a dictionary of synonyms and a topical, i.e. non-alphabetical, dictionary. It has all the linguistic features of a text. Its many editions between 1852 and 2002 are marked by special lexicographical as well as socio-political elements. It has adopted a model function with respect to other languages as, for example, German, French, and Spanish. Its most outstanding feature, the semantic order of its words, is illustrated by a comparison with John Wilkins' ‘Tables’. It can be used as a starting point for an inquiry into the s ... More

This book epitomizes the history of Roget's Thesaurus as the merger of a dictionary of synonyms and a topical, i.e. non-alphabetical, dictionary. It has all the linguistic features of a text. Its many editions between 1852 and 2002 are marked by special lexicographical as well as socio-political elements. It has adopted a model function with respect to other languages as, for example, German, French, and Spanish. Its most outstanding feature, the semantic order of its words, is illustrated by a comparison with John Wilkins' ‘Tables’. It can be used as a starting point for an inquiry into the serial structure of the mental lexicon. It has special potential for cognitive investigation and didactic application. In a final analysis, the book argues that synonymy, as made practical in every thesaurus, is indispensable for human communication by language.