In search of “the lexicographic stamp”
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Rita Queiroz de Barros
Abstract
This chapter is a contribution to the study of G. A. Sala and of the LModE period from the perspective of historical lexicography. Taking as its starting point “Slang”, an article published by Sala in an 1853 issue of Dickens’s Household Words, the study investigates Sala’s reliance on previous glossaries of slang and the possible impact of the numerous examples he provides upon the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED1), prepared shortly after. The analysis described concludes that, despite Sala’s discussion of words previously unregistered in dictionaries, his text had a tenuous impact upon OED1; it shows furthermore that OED1 did not ignore recent contemporaneous slang, testifying instead to the complex relation LModE speakers had with non-standard language.
Abstract
This chapter is a contribution to the study of G. A. Sala and of the LModE period from the perspective of historical lexicography. Taking as its starting point “Slang”, an article published by Sala in an 1853 issue of Dickens’s Household Words, the study investigates Sala’s reliance on previous glossaries of slang and the possible impact of the numerous examples he provides upon the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED1), prepared shortly after. The analysis described concludes that, despite Sala’s discussion of words previously unregistered in dictionaries, his text had a tenuous impact upon OED1; it shows furthermore that OED1 did not ignore recent contemporaneous slang, testifying instead to the complex relation LModE speakers had with non-standard language.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Phonology
- “A received pronunciation” 21
- The interplay of internal and external factors in varieties of English 43
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Part II. Morphosyntax
- The myth of American English gotten as a historical retention 67
- Changes affecting relative clauses in Late Modern English 91
- Diffusion of do 117
- A diachronic constructional analysis of locative alternation in English, with particular attention to load and spray 143
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Part III. Orthography, vocabulary and semantics
- In search of “the lexicographic stamp” 167
- “Divided by a common language”? 185
- Women writers in the 18th century 203
- Eighteenth-century French cuisine terms and their semantic integration in English 219
- Spelling normalisation of Late Modern English 243
-
Part IV. Pragmatics and discourse
- A far from simple matter revisited 271
- What it means to describe speech 295
- Being Wilde 315
- “I am desired (…) to desire” 333
- Index 357
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Phonology
- “A received pronunciation” 21
- The interplay of internal and external factors in varieties of English 43
-
Part II. Morphosyntax
- The myth of American English gotten as a historical retention 67
- Changes affecting relative clauses in Late Modern English 91
- Diffusion of do 117
- A diachronic constructional analysis of locative alternation in English, with particular attention to load and spray 143
-
Part III. Orthography, vocabulary and semantics
- In search of “the lexicographic stamp” 167
- “Divided by a common language”? 185
- Women writers in the 18th century 203
- Eighteenth-century French cuisine terms and their semantic integration in English 219
- Spelling normalisation of Late Modern English 243
-
Part IV. Pragmatics and discourse
- A far from simple matter revisited 271
- What it means to describe speech 295
- Being Wilde 315
- “I am desired (…) to desire” 333
- Index 357
