The history of english lexicography

The history of lexicography of the English language goes as far back as the Old English period where its first traces are found in the form of glosses of religious books with interlinear translation from Latin. Regular bilingual English-Latin dictionaries already existed in the 15th century. 

The First unilingual English dictionary, explaining words appeared in 1604. Its aim was to explain difficult words. Its title was "A Table Alphabetical, containing and teaching the true writing and understanding of hard usual English words borrowed from the Hebrew, Greece, Latin or French". The volume of 120 pages explaining about 3000 words was compiled by Robert Cawdrey, a schoolmaster. 

The first attempt at a bigger dictionary including all the words of the language, not only the difficult ones, was made by Nathaniel Bailey. He . published the first edition of Universal Etymological English Dictionary in 1721. It was the first to include pronunciation and etymology. 

The first big explanatory dictionary "A Dictionary of the English Language in Which the Words are Deduced from Their Originals and Illustrated in Their General Significations by Examples from the Best Writers: In 2 vols." was complied by Dr Samuel Johnson and published in 1755. The most important innovation of S. Johnson's Dictionary was the introduction of illustrations of the meanings of the words by examples from the best writers. 

Pronunciation was not marked, because S. Johnson was very touch sure of the wide variety of the English pronunciation and thought it impossible to set up a standard there; he paid attention only to those aspects of vocabulary where he believed he could improve linguistic usage. S. Johnson's influence was tremendous. He remained the unquestionable authority for more than 75 years. 

As to pronunciation, the first pronouncing dictionary was published in 1780 by Thomas Sheridan, grandfather of the great dramatist. In 1791 appeared The Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language by John Walker, an actor. The vogue of this second dictionary was very great, and in later publications Walker's pronunciations were inserted into S. Johnson's text - a further step to a unilingual dictionary in its present-day form.

The Golden Age of English lexicography began in the last quarter of the 19th century when the English Philological Society started work on compiling The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which was originally named. New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (NED). It is still referred to as either OED or NED. 

The objective of this colossal work was and still is to trace the development of English words from their form in Old English. Where they were not found in Old English, it was shown when they were introduced into the language. The development of each meaning and its historical relation to other meanings of the same word is as well displayed. For words and meanings which have ' become obsolete the date of the latest occurrence is provided. All this is done by means of dated quotations ranging from the oldest to recent appearances of the words in question. The English of G.Chaucer, of the "Bible" and of W. Shakespeare is given as much attention as that of the most modern authors. The dictionary includes spellings, pronunciations and detailed etymologies. The completion of the work required more than 75 years. The result is a kind of encyclopaedia of language used not only for reference purposes but also as a basis for lexicological research. 

The First part of the Dictionary appeared in 1884 and the last in 1928. Later it was issued in twelve volumes and in order to hold new words a three volume Supplement was issued in 1933. These volumes were revised in the seventies. Nearly all the material of the original Supplement was retained and a large body of the most recent accessions to the English language added. 

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English was first published in 1911, i.e. before the work on the main version was completed. It is not a historical dictionary but one of current usage. A still shorter form is The Pocket Oxford Dictionary. The latest edition of OED was undertaken in 1905. The new enlarged version was issued in 22 volumes 1994. Two Russian borrowings glasnost and perestroika were included in it. This publication was followed by a two volume Supplement to hold new words. 

Another big dictionary, also created by joined effort of enthusiasts, is Joseph Wright's "English Dialect Dictionary". Before this dictionary could be started upon, a thorough study of English dialects had to be completed. With this target in view W.W. Skeat, famous for his "Etymological English Dictionary" founded the English Dialect Society in 1873. Dialects are of great importance for the historical study of the language. In the 19th century they were very pronounced though now they are almost disappearing. The Society existed till 1896 and issued 80 publications.