By Dictionary, we mean a form of book, but to make this thing more interesting and to add some twist in your knowledge world, we have some newer dictionaries like StarDict and The New Oxford American Dictionary that runs on PDA’s and Computers. Even Accessibility of online dictionary English via Internet is also working like ‘Aladdin’s Wonder Lamp’.
Why We Need To Access Dictionary English
There are different reasons behind your need to access the dictionary English. It is simply because of dictionary, translating something into English or English into your native language is no more a Herculean task. You may need to look up the definition of the unfamiliar word that you have come across or you may try to translate something from your language into English or back to your language or even you may need to learn how to speak a few basic English terms. Here lies the successful story of dictionary English.
A Glance At The History Of Dictionary English
The history of dictionary English is almost like reading an adventure story. It is worth noting that English dictionary have never been produced by the government or any official body or any learned committee. It was always left to enthusiastic eccentrics. Let us have a look at its past:
- In 1721, Bailey wrote Nathaniel universal etymological dictionary and others, but that proved something sloppy and highly specialized.
- In 1755, Samuel Johnson wrote dictionary of English literature, He defined some 43,000 words, supported by some 114,000 quotations but that also did not work as his dictionary contained huge inconsistencies and was biased.
- Webster Noah [1758-1843], He published a series of books and was probably the best seller in American history. His work “The American Dictionary of English Language” boasted of 70,000 words.
- In 1847, The Merriam Webster dictionary have been a great success.
The Upswing Of Oxford Dictionary English
In 1884, First, Vol. of Oxford English dictionary took its lead. It is ambitious intension was to record every word used in English and to trace it back through all its shifting meanings, spellings and many more. Its second edition was published in 1989 in 20 volumes. It was perhaps the greatest work of scholarship ever produced.
Its only because of the dictionary English, more is known about the history of English than any other language in the world. Here every word has its detailed pedigree. The only aim of the Oxford English dictionary that contained 301,100 entries was to present you the alphabetical series in words that have formed the English vocabulary from time of the earliest record down the present day with all its relevant facts concerning their form, pronunciation and etymology. It embraces not only the conversations and standard language of literature but also the main technical vocabulary.
To conclude we can say that dictionary English is the focus of much scholarly work about English words, where every single word has its detailed pedigree. Coupled with its headword variant spellings, vocabulary, pronunciation and etymology the dictionary English is one of the best-researched books in the world.