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Samuel Johnson

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1728 He entered Oxford but was forced to leave after a year for lack of funds. ... its purity may be preserved, its use ascertained, and its duration lengthened. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Samuel Johnson


1
  • Samuel Johnson His Dictionary
  • HS im WS 2005/6 Standardization of the English
    language
  • Dozent Prof. Dr. Busse
  • Presented by Xiao, Mei Wu, Jiayin

2
Lifeline
  • Samuel Johnson, Writer
  • Born 18 September 1709
  • Birthplace Lichfield, England
  • Died 13 December 1784
  • Best Known As Editor of A Dictionary of the
    English Language (1755)

3
Early Life and Works
  • 1728 He entered Oxford but was forced to leave
    after a year for lack of funds.
  • 1729-1735 He sustained himself as a bookseller
    and schoolmaster.
  • 1735 He married Elizabeth Porter, a widow 20
    years his senior, and remained devoted to her
    until her death in 1752.
  • 1737 Johnson settled in London and began his
    literary career in earnest. Edward
    Cave's Gentleman's Magazinepoetry and prose on
    subjects literary and political.
  • 1738 Poem London published anonymously, praised
    by Pope won Johnson recognition in literary
    circles.
  • 1744 Life of Savage, a bitter portrait of
    corruption in London and the miseries endured by
    writers.
  • 1749 The Vanity of Human Wishes.
  • 1750-1752 The Rambler, essays.

4
Later Life and Works
  • 1755 Dictionary of the English Language, the
    first comprehensive lexicographical work on
    English ever undertaken.
  • 1759 Rasselas, a moral romance.
  • 1761 The Idler, a collection of his essays.
  • 1764 Johnson and Joshua Reynolds founded The
    Club (later known as The Literary Club).
  • 1765 Johnson's long-heralded edition of
    Shakespeare appeared.
  • 1770s Johnson wrote a series of Tory pamphlets.
  • 1773 He toured the Hebrides with Boswell and
    published his account of the tour in 1775.
  • 1779-1781 Lives of the Poets, his last major
    work.

5
A Dictionary of the English Language
  • Published in London
  • Printed by W. Strahan in 1755
  • Written in 1747-1755
  • 42,773 words
  • 114,000 quotations

6
The Plan of A Dictionary of the English Language
(1747)
  • Johnson aims to compile a dictionary by which
    the pronunciation of our language may be fixed,
    and its attainment facilitated by which its
    purity may be preserved, its use ascertained, and
    its duration lengthened.
  • - Two major decisions discussed by Johnson The
    delimitation of the dictionary what to put in
    and what to leave out that of the authority and
    the basis on which his decisions are made.

7
The Features of the Dictionary
  • Numbered senses
  • i. natural and primitive signification
  • ii. consequential meaning
  • iii. metaphorical sense
  • iv. Any observation that arises from the
    comparison of one meaning with another

8
The Features of the Dictionary
  • Illustrative quotations
  • 114,000 quotations from books to illustrate the
    meanings of words
  • The first lexicographer to introduce quotations
    from modern authors Shakespeare, Milton and
    Dryden into an English dictionary, and Johnson
    was making these authors into modern classics.
  • Citations in Latin and Greek languages

9
The Features of the Dictionary
  • Domains
  • Johnson is the first to recognize that language
    is made up of multiple areas of discourse, or
    domains, each with its own specialized
    vocabulary, and each with its own specialized
    meanings for words, even if these words were
    common words of the language.

10
Johnson's version
  • Most frequently, Johnson quoted Shakespeare,
    Milton and Dryden. However, if he didn't like a
    quotation, or if a phrase didn't convey the exact
    meaning he required, he did not hesitate to chop,
    twist around, or rewrite a few words.
  • Johnson also recognized, however, that language
    is difficult to fix.
  • Unlike most modern lexicographers, Johnson
    introduced humor or prejudice into many of his
    definitions.

11
Criticism
  • Johnson limited his explorations, searching only
    through the books on his own shelves, or those
    lent to him by friends and acquaintances.
  • Johnson was criticized for imposing his
    personality on to the book.
  • Johnson's etymology would be considered poor by
    modern standards, and he gave little guide to
    pronunciation.

12
Literature
  • Tony Crowley, Proper English? readings in
    language, history and cultural identity.
  • Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English
    Language, CDROM.
  • http//www.fab24.net/jd100203/index_.htm

13
-The End-
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