The Oxford English Dictionary Flashcards
Who were the authors/compliers of this dictionary?
The Oxford University Press and James A. H Murray worked together to work on a New English Dictionary (Oxford English Dictionary) in 1879
Readers around the English speaking world got involved to compile words from historical and contemporary texts as well as newspapers, journals, recipe books and political documents. They were sent to Murray for assessment and consideration for the dictionary.
How many words and volumes did this dictionary contain?
The dictionary contained 400,000 words and phrases in ten volumes but originally it was planned for the dictionary to have 6400 pages in 4 volumes.
This is a lot more than all previous dictionaries..
Who were the intended audience for this dictionary?
Originally it was intended for the scholarly community but it attracted all kinds of interested readers.
What was the reason for producing this dictionary?
The Oxford English dictionary started because the Philological Society of London recognised that existing English language dictionaries were deficient meaning a gap for a new and improved version.
Explain how the OED holds an descriptivist attitude.
The OED aimed to collect words that are the standard as well as the ‘newest fashionable or technical terms’. This suggest an open mind when compiling the collection, taking into account the changing society. This would imply a descriptivist attitude.
What were notable features of the OED that were seen in previous dictionaries?
The features included by the OED: Word and definition Word class Pronunciation Etymology of the word Various forms of spellings
Give me two examples of recognisable words.
Villian - Person associated with crime, used to mean a particular class of people on lower levels of society
Silly - Originally meant happy, blissful, lucky or blessed then narrowed to absurd or ridiculous.
Give me 2 examples of obsolete words.
Bridewell - A prison or reform for petty offenders.
Camelopard - A giraffe
