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History and Evolution of Dictionaries

The document summarizes the evolution of dictionaries from ancient Sumerian word lists dating back to 2300 BCE to modern dictionaries. It describes some of the earliest dictionaries including: Chinese character compendiums from the Zhou dynasty, the 4th century BCE Amarakośa Sanskrit dictionary, and 8th-14th century Arabic dictionaries organizing words by rhyme. It then discusses the development of early modern European bilingual dictionaries and English dictionaries such as Richard Mulcaster's 1592 word list, Huloet's 1480 Latin-English dictionary, and Dr. Samuel Johnson's influential 1721 English language dictionary. The summary concludes with details about Noah Webster's 1828 American dictionary and the multi-decade project creating the Oxford

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Victoria Mascaliuc
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47 views12 pages

History and Evolution of Dictionaries

The document summarizes the evolution of dictionaries from ancient Sumerian word lists dating back to 2300 BCE to modern dictionaries. It describes some of the earliest dictionaries including: Chinese character compendiums from the Zhou dynasty, the 4th century BCE Amarakośa Sanskrit dictionary, and 8th-14th century Arabic dictionaries organizing words by rhyme. It then discusses the development of early modern European bilingual dictionaries and English dictionaries such as Richard Mulcaster's 1592 word list, Huloet's 1480 Latin-English dictionary, and Dr. Samuel Johnson's influential 1721 English language dictionary. The summary concludes with details about Noah Webster's 1828 American dictionary and the multi-decade project creating the Oxford

Uploaded by

Victoria Mascaliuc
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Evolution of Dictionary

Dictionary
A dictionary, also referred to as a
lexicon, wordbook, or vocabulary,
is a collection of words in one or
more specific languages, often listed
alphabetically, with usage
information, definitions, etymologies,
phonetics, pronunciations, and other
information

Principles of Dictionarymaking
it has been prepared for one or more
functions;
it contains data that have been
selected for this purpose
its lexicographic structures link and
establish relationships between the
data so that they can meet the needs
of users

History of Dictionary-making
The oldest known
dictionaries were
cuneiform tablets with
bilingual Sumerian
Akkadian wordlists,
A Chinese dictionaryas the
earliest surviving
monolingual dictionary,
Shizhoupian as a
"dictionary", modern
scholarship considers it a
calligraphic compendium of
Chinese characters from
Zhou dynasty bronzes.

2300 BCE.

, the ca. 3rd


century BCE

History of Dictionary-making
Philitas of Cos wrote
a pioneering
vocabulary
Disorderly Words
which explained the
meanings of ra
The first Sanskrit
dictionary, the
Amarakoa, was
written by Amara
Sinha

(fl. 4th century


BCE)

ca. 4th century CE.

History of Dictionary-making
According to the
Nihon Shoki, the
682 CE
first
Japanese dictionary
was the long-lost
Niina glossary of
Chinese
characters.
8th and 14th
centuries
Arabic dictionaries
-organizing words
in rhyme order

European Dictionaries
he earliest modern European
dictionaries were bilingual
dictionaries.
An early non-alphabetical list
of 8000 English words was
the Elementarie created by
Richard Mulcaster in 1592.

British LEXICOGRAPHY
DICTIONARY
The Promptoriom
Puerorum-bilingual
Abecedarium Anglico
Latinum- Richard Huloet
A New ENGLISH
Dictionary-John Kersey
A Universal
Etymological
Dictionary-Nathan Baily

Sir Thomas Eliot


1533
1480
1552
1702
1721

A Dictionary of the English Language


[Link] Johnson
1747

Alphabetical order
Quotations
Preface
Abbreviations
Explanation
Origin
SUPPLIMENT

A Dictionary of the American


Language
1843

Noah Webster

1857-1928
49 years of work
Editors
Henry Sweet and
Henry Nicol
James Murray
12 volumes
1928

OXFORD DICTIONARY 1933


TH BIGGEST- 12 VOLUMES

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