Johnson’s Dictionary and the language of learning Essay

Codification preserves to the methods and process by which a phrase is standardized. These special methods include the creation and the apply of hyphen and language guides, dictionaries and the grammar textbooks. It is measurable to realize that codification is an ongoing process. The most(prenominal) grave period in the codification of side, is the 18th century that was characterized with the existenceation of hundreds of grammar and vocabulary. These include dictionaries much(prenominal) as Samuel Johnsons Monumental Dictionary, in 1755 among another(prenominal) dictionaries (Johnson & Lynch, 2003). fib of position Codification in Dictionary and Grammar booksCodification of side language can be traced back in Britain, in the 18th century. During that time, office norms were stipulated by authors such as John Walker and Thomas Sheridan. On the other hand, in the unify States, the codification of English was primarily initiated and undertaken by Noah Webster, on an o rthographic and lexical level. Britain attributes its present lexicographic work of Samuel Johnson (Hickey, 2011).When analyzing the Englishs recent annals, it is all-important(prenominal) to distinguish between the actual frontier standard and the notion of standard. It is important to understand that the earliest root to the condition Standard English in the Oxford English dictionary dates back in the year 1836 (Hickey, 2011). Standard English in the codify sense refers to the maturement of the 18th-century jumpment. There be several reasons as to why the English could pretend risen then, however, there were precursors to the 18th-century notion of English.Some researchers argue that the earliest codification of English began in the 16th century via the publication of grammars and dictionaries most of which ar intended to teach the English language to the rural squires principally later the Union Act of 1536 between Wales and England. The Standard English was primarily codified between the 16th and 17th centuries. Ascertaining and improving the English tongue began in 1712, Bishop Lowths grammar in 1762 and the Samuel Johnson first appeared in 1755. The codification process was characterized with triplet main influences which were paramount (Kemmer, 2009). The kings English in the form of legal and administrative language. Literary English which was in the form of acceptable language that was mainly utilize by great literature and for the purposes of printing and publishing. The English of study and church or commonly referred to as Oxford English. There was no point in which the state was involved.The Codification process also greatly affected the spoken form of the English standard language. The Received pronunciation was mainly codified through education influence especially that of nineteenth-century public schools, followed from the 20th Century by television, radio and cinema. It is perceived that about 3 to 5 percent of the British ten d to speak Received orthoepy today (Kemmer, 2009).Commissioning of DictionariesThe growing use of written language created the regard for materials that presented the need for materials that portrayed the aspect of the language, in a way that could be looked up by all the individuals that desired information about the English language. This was initially meant for the non-native speakers, however, later on the English native speakers that wanted to fill in about the freshly and developed part of the language also looked for such materials. The initial dictionaries were mainly a reheel of hard terminology. This mainly involved, the list of new loan spoken language that were from the classical language and the new British colonies overseas. By the eighteenth century, dictionary writing was mainly a accepted activity and the learned men and scholars were being commissi sensationd by various publishers to write such materials (Kemmer, 2009).Other plates in Europe, language acad emies were being open up so as to codify and also publicize all the aspects of the language. However, this front was not adopted in the English-speaking lands and there was never a recognized academy for standardization in either United States or Britain. The publication of Samuel Johnsons Dictionary which was of the English language was a prodigious milestone in the development of a dictionary and other reference materials (DeMaria, 1986). The dictionary adopted to a greater extent or less a descriptivist notion that is very modern and was at odds with the former prescriptive view of the earlier dictionary producers. Johnson recognized change as a normal process and refused to see change as a degeneration (Hitchings, 2005).By the time the Johnson dictionary was developed, the spelling system was already in place and recognizably the same as that of the modern English with relatively few orthographic peculiarities (Reddick & Johnson, 1990). On the other hand, political indepen dence in the United States led to the push for distinguishing cultural factors. As a result, Noah Webster, came up with a dictionary that contained regional, American ground definitions so as to distinguish it from the British English (Kemmer, 2009).Noah Webster went to the extent of creating his own dictionary which contained some American-dialect definitions. This provides the required orthographic distinction without changing significant mutual intelligibility. He mainly incorporates the use of ize instead of ise for the verbs and the elimination of suffix u in the suffix our (Kemmer, 2009).The criteria for including words in the dictionaryEvery year, numerous English words and expressions develop and frankincense the major dictionaries do keep way of life of such words so as to determine those to add and those that are not acceptable. We are going to analyze how the Oxford dictionary carries out this initiative (Oxford University Press, 2014).The Oxford University Press has on e of the largest and vast languages research program in the world (Oxford University Press, 2014). Their most important resource are the Oxford Reading Programme and the Oxford English Corpus. The Corpus mainly entails documents that have been sourced from the internet whereas the reading program refers to an electronic collection of extracts and quotations mainly drawn from a variety of popular fiction, songwriting and scientific journals (Oxford University Press, 2014). This is mainly based from the contributions of the network of readers based across the globe who are constantly on the lookout for new words and meaning and also other languages.The Oxford University Press, continually keeps track of the two programs so as to be able to track new words that come into the English language. Upon having evidence that a new term is used by various sources and not just by one individual or writer, the word therefore becomes a chance for the inclusion into one of the Institutions dictio naries (Oxford University Press, 2014).In the previous centuries, most dictionaries were confined to a list of words that most writers thought would be useful, even when there was no proof that individuals had used the words before. It is important to note that this does not work in the same manner in today. Personal inventions are not allowed in the modern dictionaries and only footing that have been utilized for a period of time and by a wide group of people, can be accepted into the dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2014). quality between Prescriptive and Descriptive DictionaryPrescriptivism refers to the enforcement and the assertion of a specific set of rules by an institution or a person. With regards to dictionaries, prescriptivism refers to the situation where the dictionary explains the language rules that should be followed and the norms and usages that should also be avoided (Barrett, 2012). Prescriptions and proscriptions are traditional and in the main represent re ceipt of wisdom. On the other hand, descriptivism in a lexicographical context refers to the language usage and behaviors.The fact is that basically all the English language dictionaries are descriptive in nature. The main editors always refer to it as recording the language and how the words are spelled and used. Descriptive languages, thus describe the language and include words that are commonly used even those that are non-standard and often include non-standard spelling. Prescriptive dictionaries are more concerned about the standard or correct English. In other words, they prescribe the proper spelling and usage of words (Barrett, 2012).From the analysis above, it is rectify to state that the prescriptive dictionaries tend to promote Standard English, unlike the descriptive dictionaries which mainly describe the language.ConclusionThe paper effectively analyses the codification of English, history of how English was codified in dictionaries and grammar books, reasons why the dictionaries were codified, and criteria used for including words in the dictionary and the extent to which dictionary is considered to be either descriptive or prescriptive.ReferencesBarrett, G. (2012, September). Comparing and Arguing About Dictionaries. Retrieved from Way Word Radio http//www.waywordradio.org/how-do-you-rank-dictionaries/DeMaria, R. (1986). Johnsons Dictionary and the language of learning. Oxford Clarendon.Hickey, R. (2011). Standard English and standards of English. 1-31.Hitchings, H. (2005). Defining the world the anomalous story of Dr. Johnsons Dictionary. New York Farrar, Straus and Giroux.Johnson, S., & Lynch, J. (2003). Samuel Johnsons dictionary selections from the 1755 work that delimitate the English language. New York Walker & Co.Kemmer, S. (2009). The History of English. Retrieved from Rice University http//www.ruf.rice.edu/kemmer/Histengl/spelling.htmlOxford University Press. (2014). How do you find whether a new word should be included in an Oxf ord dictionary? Retrieved from Oxford Dictionaries http//www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/how-do-you-decide-whether-a-new-word-should-be-included-in-an-oxford-dictionaryReddick, A. H., & Johnson, S. (1990). The making of Johnsons dictionary, 1746-1773. Cambridge Cambridge University Press.Source document