The authors of this book draw on previously unpublished archive material to explore the pioneering endeavours of the scholars who conceived the Oxford English Dictionary and, with the assistance of an army of correspondents, brought it into being after half a century of Herculean labour. Its first publication in 1928 as the twelve-volume A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles was an important cultural event. In lexicographical and linguistic terms it was a revolution. Deliberately conceived as a new departure in English lexicography, the dictionary constituted an emphatic return to first principles, in terms of the evidence by which the record of the language was constructed and in the nature of the work itself. The prescriptive policy of earlier dictionaries was replaced by empirical description, while new scientific principles of philology were deployed to advance the understanding of the meaning and function of language. Lexicography and the OED provides new perspectives on the principles of the work and on the people, readers as well as editors, who created it. It includes chapters on its early history; the sources that were read for it; the nature of Englishness and the concept of the 'alien'; questions of inclusiveness and correctness; the standards of usage which the dictionary came to record; the treatment of early English and of science; the representation of pronunciation; the fundamental issues of word-formation; and the at times intractable problems of meaning. The book also sets the dictionary in the context of international lexicography, and examines how it was received by scholars and by the public. This is the most wide-ranging account yet published of the creation of one of the great canonical works of the twentieth century.

About the Author
Lynda Mugglestone is Fellow in English Language and Literature at Pembroke College, Oxford, and News International Lecturer in Language and Communication. She has written widely on nineteenth-century language and associated issues -- literary and linguistic, as well as lexicographic.

Reviews
...this collection gives some fascinating insights into the making of the OED and is an essential reading for lexicographers and students of English (historical) linguistics. * Marcus Callies, eLanguage *
This volume provides an excellent scholarly assessment of the contribution of the OED and suggests many potentially fruitful areas for further research. * LinguistList *
The authors adopt a range of linguistic approaches and frequently draw upon unpublished materials in the archives of Oxford University Press and the Murray papers ... Lynda Mugglestone provides an introduction to the volume by considering the achievement of the OED within its historical context ... This introduction provides a fascinating survey of the kinds of problems Murray and his associates were faced with on a daily basis. * LinguistList *
Lexicography and the OED justifiably claims to be "the most wide-ranging account yet published of the creation of one of the great canonical works of the 20th century ... This study is an essential acquisition for lexicographers, language scholars and researchers. Indeed, anyone with a passion for the English language and a basic knowledge of the history of the OED will find much of interest within these pages. * Richard Boyle, Times Higher Education Supplement *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199251957
Author Lynda Mugglestone
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 434g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 155mm * 17mm