Many of us first encountered that magical book called a dictionary when we were in grade school. For a few of us, the alphabetical list of words with their myriad definitions seemed infinitely fascinating, while most found recess far more interesting. In the history of the English language, the dictionary is a fairly recent innovation and many scholars feel that the modern concept of the dictionary can be dated to April 15, 1755 when Samuel Johnson published his book A Dictionary of the English Language.
Lexicology is the study of how words are formed and lexicography deals with how they are included in dictionaries. The great lexicographer Samuel Johnson defined a lexicographer as:
“a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the origin and detailing the signification of words.”
While Samuel Johnson is probably the world’s best-known lexicographer, in the United States Allen Walker Read was probably the greatest twentieth-century lexicographer.
With regard to lexicology and lexicography, Pushpinder Syal and D. V. Jindal, in the second edition of their book An Introduction to Linguistics: Language, Grammar and Semantics write:
“Lexicology is the science or the set of theoretical principles that govern the production of a dictionary. Dictionary writing or lexicography is a professional activity aiming at the production of dictionaries.”
The dictionary is, of course, the finished product of a complex process. In its simplest form, the dictionary is a list of words in alphabetic order. For each of these entries there is a guide to meaning—often in the form of a definition—along with some indication of pronunciations. In some cases there may be examples of correct usage and etymologies.
The dictionary is a description of words in a language, but the question is: what language? For many lexicographers, such as Samuel Johnson, language means literature. Thus, the search for words, their usage, and their meaning involves a search of literature and the written record. In compiling the original Oxford English Dictionary, for example, a panel of 89 volunteer readers would submit illustrative quotations. The editor, Herbert Coleridge, would then compare the way the target word was used in each of them. This provided a comparison of different meanings and nuances. Simon Winchester, in his book The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary, writes:
“It was by way of this non-judgmental, descriptive, and manifestly non-prescriptive way that meanings were eventually discerned, and the definitions written.”
While writing is a form of language, language itself is far more than writing. Writing tends to be formal and reflects a style and word usage that most people do not use when speaking. Should dictionaries, then, include words from spoken language, words which reflect informal rather than formal use? The American lexicographer Allen Walker Read wanted to know how people used words in real situations. This included words which might be technical (jargon), informal (slang), and offensive (taboo words). With regard to writing, his interest also included graffiti.
Lexicographers love words and are often passionate about them. Each year the American Dialect Society, after vigorous debate, selects the Word of the Year. The words selected in recent years include “because” (2013), “hashtag” (2012), and “occupy” (2011).
Merriam-Webster named “culture” as the word of the year for 2014.