Samuel Johnson The Lexicographer - 1350 Words

Samuel Johnson the biographer, essayist, critic, poet, prose writer, parliamentary writer, dramatist and conversationalist, has been an extraordinary lexicographer too. He published his two- volume Dictionary on 15 April 1755, â€Å"The Dictionary of the English Language†. This Dictionary has also been at times published as Johnson’s Dictionary. Robert Burchfield the modern lexicographer commented on Johnson’s Dictionary: In the whole tradition of English Language and literature the only dictionary compiled by a writer of the first rank is that of Dr. Johnson Samuel Johnson the premier literary figure of mid-eighteenth century was born to Sarah and Michael Johnson on 18th Sep, 1709. Though his†¦show more content†¦Thus a contract of 1500 guineas was signed on 18th June 1746 with William Strahan and associates. [Lane, 1975] Before starting the work Johnson wrote a Plan for the Dictionary. The patron of the Plan was Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. [Lane 1975, pp. 117-118] The Earl promised to lend all the support for his work, though whenever Johnson approached him he was sent back from the door and he was not given any attention from the Earl. This Johnson felt insulting. The Earl on his side wrote two essays as ‘letter of recommendations’ after the Dictionary was published in ‘The World’. Since as patron Johnson felt that the Earl had not fulfilled his job therefore he wrote a letter to Chesterfield, which became one of the famous letters. Here Johnson criticized The Earl for n ot completing his work properly as a patron and he felt ditched. Johnson wrote the Plan of an English Dictionary in (1747). In his Plan Johnson announced his ambition as to what he aimed to pursue in his Dictionary. He was very clear from the beginning that the work he is undertaking is considered as ‘drudgery for the blind’. He wrote: lexicographer holds the lowest place†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..my lord I entered with the pleasing hope that as it was low likewise it would be safe’.(Plan 1747) He aimed to rationalize spellings, trace etymologies, see to the proper pronunciation and find out the correct meaning ofShow MoreRelatedImportant Incident That Influenced The English Language1571 Words   |  7 Pageseighteenth century lead a major shifting from the complete authority of the grammarians on the English language to the lexicographers’ control and decision making of the language!! II. To start with, I have to mention the most important factor of our subject which is Samuel Johnson’s â€Å"Dictionary of the English Language†, that had been published on April 15, 1755. Samuel Johnson who was born in September 18, 1709 gave his dictionary its prestige and made it a part of history as it was first publishedRead MoreThe First English Dictionary By Samuel Johnson842 Words   |  4 PagesThe original definition of lexicon is as follows: â€Å"A dictionary; a book teaching the signification of words† (Johnson, 233). The public uses dictionaries as guidebooks for meaningful speech and discourse. Those who task themselves with creating these texts are called lexicographers. The first English dictionary was written by Samuel Johnson in 1755. Johnson shared his views of lexicographers in his preface to â€Å"A Dictionary of the English Language†: â€Å"Among these unhappy mortals is the writer of dictionaries;Read MoreEnglish Around Time By Samuel Johnson829 Words   |  4 Pages TRA0130 Across time, many people have advocated for the stabilisation of the English language. Samuel Johnson was a lexicographer who dedicated his life to doing so. He published his dictionary in 1755, in an effort to prescribe the use of the London dialect of English. However, his aims were not met and people continued to speak in their various dialects. What Samuel Johnson did not expect was the unstoppable way in which language evolves. Neither did he realise the timeframe requiredRead MoreThe Main Problems of Lexicography4849 Words   |  20 Pagesexplanatory dictionary should strive to cover all the words of the language, including neologisms, nonce-words, slang, etc. and note with impartial accuracy all the words actually used by English people; or whether, as the great English lexicographer of the 18th century Samuel Johnson used to think, it should be preceptive, and (viewed from the other side) prohibitive. Dictionary-makers should attempt to improve and stabilise the English voca bulary according to the best classical samples and advise the readersRead MoreLexicography as a Science of Dictionary-Making6054 Words   |  25 Pageslexicon (vocabulary) of a language and developing theories of dictionary components and structures linking the data in dictionaries. This is sometimes referred to as met lexicography. A person devoted to lexicography is called a lexicographer, famously defined in Samuel Johnsons Dictionary of the English Language (1755) as A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words. General lexicography focuses on the designRead MoreCritically Evaluating the Relationship Between Language and Social Processes and Analysing the Significance of Language Change and Variety for Literacy Learning and Development.2446 Words   |  10 Pagestranslating Latin to English. Between the years of 1583-1914 the British Empire stretched over 10 million square miles with a population of 400 million people that left new varieties of English language to develop all over the world. 1746 saw a Lexicographer called Dr. Johnson write a dictionary that contained 42,773 words that portrayed a standard spelling. The English language developed further and in 1857 the Oxford English Dictionary was written, it was completed in 1928 and is still developing as the languageRead MoreAnalysis Of Kehinde Wiley s Large Scale, Brightly Colored2992 Words   |  12 PagesPortrait of Samuel Johnson, 2009, from the Black Light series. A young black man is shown posing with hands in a gestural pose a s if he is arguing or describing something, holding his face stiff and posed. He wears a black jacket with white racing stripes, a collared dress shirt, necktie, and a tilted sea foam green baseball cap. Textile-like floral motifs of red, pink, and brown repeat over the entire background, enmeshing over the photographed figure’s pose. The work is copied after Dr. Samuel JohnsonRead MoreImportance Of Internationalisation Of Social Work2312 Words   |  10 Pagesworld where all professions and disciplines are going global why should Social Work hold itself back? Yes, the internationalisation of Social Work is a work in progress and it is not an entirely easy path to tread upon but as the wise lexicographer Samuel Johnson said â€Å"What is easy is seldom excellent.† References Actionaid. (n.d). Who we are. Retrieved November 28, 2014, from http://www.actionaid.org / who-we-are Nayak, A. J. (2014). Haiyan month on – communities lead the way. Action aid. November