A History of the Chambers Dictionary (Lexicographica Series Major, 143)

313 Pages·2013·2.727 MB·English

by  Mariusz Kaminski

Mariusz Kamiński
A History of the Chambers Dictionary
LEXICOGRAPHICA
Series Maior
Supplementary Volumes to the International Annual
for Lexicography
Suppléments à la Revue Internationale de
Lexicographie
Supplementbände zum Internationalen Jahrbuch für
Lexikographie
Edited by
Rufus Hjalmar Gouws, Ulrich Heid, Thomas Herbst,
Oskar Reichmann, Stefan Schierholz,
Wolfgang Schweickard and Herbert Ernst Wiegand
Volume 
Mariusz Kamiński
A History
of the Chambers
Dictionary
DE GRUYTER
ISBN978-3-11-031250-8
e-ISBN978-3-11-031273-7
ISSN0175-9264
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
ACIPcatalogrecordforthisbookhasbeenappliedforattheLibraryofCongress.
BibliografischeInformationderDeutschenNationalbibliothek
DieDeutscheNationalbibliothekverzeichnetdiesePublikationinderDeutschen
Nationalbibliografie;detailliertebibliografischeDatensindimInternet
überhttp://dnb.dnb.deabrufbar.
©2013WalterdeGruyterGmbH,Berlin/Boston
Druck:Hubert&Co.GmbH&Co.KG,Göttingen
♾GedrucktaufsäurefreiemPapier
PrintedinGermany
www.degruyter.com
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my profound gratitude to Professor Tadeusz Piotrowski for
suggesting the topic for my PhD thesis, on which the current book is based, as well
as supervising the work, and sharing with me his deep knowledge of lexicographic
theory and practice. Special thanks are due to the reviewers of the original manu-
script, Professor Arleta Adamska-Sałaciak and Professor Rafał Molencki, for their
insightful critical remarks and valuable comments which laid the foundations for
the revision of the work.

Contents
Introduction | 1
The object of the study | 1
The structure of the book | 2
1 Methodological and theoretical foundations of the analysis | 3
1.1 Numbering of editions | 3
1.2 Sampling method | 5
1.3 The arrangement of entries | 6
1.4 The selection of morphological forms | 7
1.5 The selection and growth of vocabulary | 8
1.6 Defining meaning | 9
1.7 The order and discrimination of senses | 12
1.8 Etymology | 13
1.9 Usage labels | 14
1.10 Syntagmatic and paradigmatic information | 15
1.11 Pronunciation | 15
1.12 Outside matter | 17
2 The founders of W. & R. Chambers publishing house | 18
3 The origin of the dictionary | 21
3.1 The sociohistorical background | 21
3.2 The intellectual background: an overview of possible sources of the
Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (Ch-A) | 26
4 Biographical notes on the editors | 31
4.1 James Donald | 31
4.2 Thomas Davidson | 32
4.3 William Geddie | 32
4.4 Agnes Macdonald | 33
4.5 Betty Kirkpatrick | 33
4.6 Catherine Schwarz | 34
4.7 Ian Brookes | 35
5 Educational beginnings: Chambers’s Etymological Dictionary of the English
Language (Ch-A, 1867) | 36
5.1 Meaning and etymology in Ch-A | 36
5.1.1 Primary meanings | 36
5.1.2 Secondary meanings | 40
viii | Contents
5.1.3 Etymological groups | 42
5.1.4 Etymology | 44
5.2 Other descriptive and pedagogical considerations in Ch-A | 50
5.2.1 The selection of vocabulary | 50
5.2.2 The selection of morphological forms | 50
5.2.3 Defining meaning | 52
5.2.4 Usage labels | 57
5.2.5 Syntagmatic and paradigmatic information | 57
5.2.6 Pronunciation | 58
5.2.6.1 Notation system | 58
5.2.6.2 Suprasegmental features | 60
5.2.6.3 Choice of variety | 61
5.2.7 Outside matter | 62
6 Towards the optimal arrangement of entries | 64
6.1 Ch-B | 64
6.2 Ch-C | 65
6.3 Ch-1—Ch-3 | 67
6.4 Ch-4—Ch-12 | 68
7 The selection of morphological forms | 71
7.1 Ch-B | 71
7.2 Ch-C | 73
7.3 Ch-1 | 73
7.4 Ch-2 | 74
7.5 Ch-3 | 74
7.6 Ch-4 | 74
7.7 Ch-5—Ch-7 | 74
7.8 Ch-8—Ch-12 | 75
8 The growth of vocabulary | 77
8.1 Ch-B | 78
8.2 Ch-C | 79
8.3 Ch-1 | 82
8.4 Ch-2 | 82
8.5 Ch-3 | 84
8.6 Ch-4 | 84
8.7 Ch-5 | 85
8.8 Ch-6 | 86
8.9 Ch-7 | 87
8.10 Ch-8 | 88
8.11 Ch-9 | 88
Contents | ix
8.12 Ch-9new | 89
8.13 Ch-10 | 90
8.14 Ch-11—Ch-12 | 90
9 Defining meaning | 97
9.1 Definitions: general characteristics | 97
9.2 Encyclopaedic definitions | 100
9.3 Idiosyncratic definitions | 102
10 The order and discrimination of senses | 111
10.1 Ch-B | 111
10.2 Ch-C—Ch-1 | 112
10.3 Ch-2—Ch-3 | 112
10.4 Ch-4—Ch-7 | 113
10.5 Ch-8—Ch-9 | 113
10.6 Ch-9new—Ch-12 | 114
11 Etymology | 116
11.1 Ch-B | 116
11.2 Ch-C | 117
11.3 Ch-1 | 119
11.4 Ch-2— Ch-3 | 119
11.5 Ch-4— Ch-5 | 121
11.6 Ch-6—Ch-7 | 121
11.7 Ch-8 | 121
11.8 Ch-9—Ch-12 | 122
12 Usage labels | 124
12.1 Ch-B | 124
12.2 Ch-C—Ch-1 | 125
12.3 Ch-2—Ch-3 | 126
12.4 Ch-4—Ch-5 | 128
12.5 Ch-6—Ch-7 | 129
12.6 Ch-8 | 130
12.7 Ch-9 | 131
12.8 Ch-9new—Ch-12 | 131
13 Syntagmatic and paradigmatic information | 143
13.1 Ch-B—Ch-1 | 143
13.2 Ch-2 | 144
13.3 Ch-3—Ch-12 | 145