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Original Essays | June 11, 2013

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1 Beaverton Reference- Words Phrases and Language
2 Burnside Linguistics- English Linguistics and Dialects
1 Hawthorne Linguistics- General

Lexicographer's Dilemma

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Lexicographer's Dilemma Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In its long history, the English language has had many lawmakers—those who have tried to regulate or otherwise organize the way we speak. The Lexicographer's Dilemma poses a pair of questions—what does proper English mean, and who gets to say what's right? Our ideas of correct or proper English have a history, and today's debates over the state of the language—whether about Ebonics in schools, the unique use of language in a South Park episode, or split infinitives in the Times—make sense only in historical context. As historian Jack Lynch has discovered, every rule has a human history, and the characters who populate his narrative are as interesting for their obsessions as for their erudition. Charting the evolution of English with wit and intelligence, he provides a rich historical perspective that makes us appreciate a new the hard-won standards we now enjoy.

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About the Author

Jack Lynch is a professor of English at Rutgers University and a Johnson scholar, having studied the great lexicographer for nearly a decade. In addition to his books on Johnson and on Elizabethan England, he has written journal articles and scholarly reviews, and hosts a Web site devoted to these topics at http://andromeda. rutgers.edu/~jlynch/18th/. He is the author of Becoming Shakespeare and Samuel Johnson's Insults and the editor of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary. He lives in Lawrenceville, NJ.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780802777690
Author:
Lynch, Jack
Publisher:
Walker & Company
Author:
Lynch, Jack W.
Author:
Jack W. Lynch, II
Author:
Lynch, Jack W., II
Subject:
Linguistics - Etymology
Subject:
General
Subject:
Dictionaries - General
Subject:
General History
Subject:
Grammar
Subject:
Punctuation
Subject:
Grammar & Punctuation
Subject:
Reference-Etymology
Copyright:
2010
Edition Description:
Trade Paperback
Series Volume:
The Evolution of 'Pr
Publication Date:
20101031
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
BandW Illustrations throughout
Pages:
336
Dimensions:
8 x 6 x 1 in 1 lb
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Related Subjects


History and Social Science » Linguistics » English Linguistics and Dialects
History and Social Science » Linguistics » General
History and Social Science » Linguistics » Historical and Comparative
History and Social Science » World History » General
Reference » Dictionaries » General
Reference » Etymology
Reference » Words Phrases and Language

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