Record Nr.

UNINA9910455535003321

Autore

Willinsky John <1950->

Titolo

Empire of words [[electronic resource] ] : the reign of the OED / / John Willinsky

Pubbl/distr/stampa


Princeton, N.J., : Princeton University Press, c1994

ISBN

1-282-75196-4

9786612751967

1-4008-2135-5

1-4008-1384-0

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (269 p.)

Disciplina

423/.028

Soggetti

Encyclopedias and dictionaries - History and criticism

English language - Lexicography

English language - Etymology

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [239]-249) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. At Trench's Suggestion, 1858-1878 -- Chapter 3. Murray's Editorship, 1879-1915 -- Chapter 4. Shakespeare's Dictionary -- Chapter 5. Citing The Shrew -- Chapter 6. A Victorian Canon: The Authors -- Chapter 7. A Victorian Canon: The Titles -- Chapter 8. A Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary, 1957-1986 -- Chapter 9. Modern Citation -- Chapter 10. The Second Edition, 1984-1989 -- Chapter 11. The Sense of Omission -- Chapter 12. A Source of Authority -- Appendix of Tables -- Notes -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

What is the meaning of a word? Most readers turn to the dictionary for authoritative meanings and correct usage. But what is the source of authority in dictionaries? Some dictionaries employ panels of experts to fix meaning and prescribe usage, others rely on derivation through etymology. But perhaps no other dictionary has done more to standardize the English language than the formidable twenty-volume Oxford English Dictionary in its 1989 second edition. Yet this most

Victorian of modern dictionaries derives its meaning by citing the earliest known usage of words and by demonstrating shades of meaning through an awesome database of over five million examples of usage in context. In this fascinating study, John Willinsky challenges the authority of this imperial dictionary, revealing many of its inherent prejudices and questioning the assumptions of its ongoing revision. "Clearly, the OED is no simple record of the language `as she is spoke,'" Willinsky writes. "It is a selective representation reflecting certain elusive ideas about the nature of the English language and people. Empire of Words reveals, by statistic and table, incident and anecdote, how serendipitous, judgmental, and telling a task editing a dictionary such as the OED can be." Willinsky analyzes the favored citation records from the three editorial periods of the OED's compilation: the Victorian, imperial first edition; the modern supplement; and the contemporary second edition composed on an electronic database. He reveals shifts in linguistic authority: the original edition relied on English literature and, surprisingly, on translations, reference works, and journalism; the modern editions have shifted emphasis to American sources and periodicals while continuing to neglect women, workers, and other English-speaking countries. Willinsky's dissection of dictionary entries exposes contradictions and ambiguities in the move from citation to definition. He points out that Shakespeare, the most frequently cited authority in the OED, often confounds the dictionary's simple sense of meaning with his wit and artfulness. He shows us how the most famous four-letter words in the language found their way through a belabored editorial process, sweating and grunting, into the supplement to the OED. Willinsky sheds considerable light on how the OED continues to shape the English language through the sometimes idiosyncratic, often biased selection of citations by hired readers and impassioned friends of the language. Anyone who is fascinated with words and language will find Willinsky's tour through the OED a delightful and stimulating experience. No one who reads this book will ever feel quite the same about Murray's web of words.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910788853003321

Autore

Aizicovici Sergiu <1948->

Titolo

Degree theory for operators of monotone type and nonlinear elliptic equations with inequality constraints / / Sergiu Aizicovici, Nikolaos S. Papageorgiou, Vasile Staicu

Pubbl/distr/stampa


Providence, Rhode Island : , : American Mathematical Society, , [2008]
©2008

ISBN

1-4704-0521-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (84 p.)

Collana

Memoirs of the American Mathematical Society, , 0065-9266 ; ; number 915

Disciplina

515/.3533

Soggetti

Differential equations, Elliptic

Differential equations, Nonlinear

Variational inequalities (Mathematics)

Topological degree

Monotone operators