An Analysis of the Professor and the Madman and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
a. Introduction
Before the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1927, one pamphleteer complained that, “We have neither Grammar nor Dictionary, neither Chart nor Compass, to guide us through the wide sea of Words” (Winchester 92). He was right that until that point, no comprehensive dictionary of the English language had been published. There was, of course, Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language, released in 1755, which was an unquestionable success, although it merely provided a snapshot of the language of the 18th century, rather than a history and explanation of the evolution of the English language, or a prediction of directions in which it could evolve in the future. This is the mastery of the Oxford English Dictionary, published on New Year’s Eve 1928. the Oxford English Dictionary took over seventy years to complete and yielded twelve massive volumes. Five supplements were subsequently completed, which were added into a new twenty-volume set.
The OED, as its name has been abbreviated, defines over half a million words, includes millions of characters and is unique because it incorporates not only definitions and etymology of each word, but also the linguistic history of each. The OED successfully shows each word’s, “subtle changes of shades of meaning, or spelling, or pronunciation…and when each word slipped into the language” (Winchester 26). The Oxford English Dictionary is for many reasons the incontestable cornerstone of the English language.
Author Simon Winchester does an excellent job in his book, The Professor and The Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, of portraying the details of the making of the OED. However, more than just a history of the dictionary, The Professor and The Madman is as its subtitle says, “a tale of murder, insanity, and the making of the Oxford English Dictionary.” The Professor and The Madman reads almost like a thriller crime novel. As Salon book
Before the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1927, one pamphleteer complained that, “We have neither Grammar nor Dictionary, neither Chart nor Compass, to guide us through the wide sea of Words” (Winchester 92). He was right that until that point, no comprehensive dictionary of the English language had been published. There was, of course, Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language, released in 1755, which was an unquestionable success, although it merely provided a snapshot of the language of the 18th century, rather than a history and explanation of the evolution of the English language, or a prediction of directions in which it could evolve in the future. This is the mastery of the Oxford English Dictionary, published on New Year’s Eve 1928. the Oxford English Dictionary took over seventy years to complete and yielded twelve massive volumes. Five supplements were subsequently completed, which were added into a new twenty-volume set.
The OED, as its name has been abbreviated, defines over half a million words, includes millions of characters and is unique because it incorporates not only definitions and etymology of each word, but also the linguistic history of each. The OED successfully shows each word’s, “subtle changes of shades of meaning, or spelling, or pronunciation…and when each word slipped into the language” (Winchester 26). The Oxford English Dictionary is for many reasons the incontestable cornerstone of the English language.
Author Simon Winchester does an excellent job in his book, The Professor and The Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, of portraying the details of the making of the OED. However, more than just a history of the dictionary, The Professor and The Madman is as its subtitle says, “a tale of murder, insanity, and the making of the Oxford English Dictionary.” The Professor and The Madman reads almost like a thriller crime novel. As Salon book