Crafting Language: Inside the Monumental Mission of Lexicographers and Their Dictionaries

Writing a dictionary can seem a daunting, almost impossible task when considering its immense size, volume, and the vast amount of information it contains. A few dedicated men, however, devoted their entire lives to this endeavour.

James Murray: Lexicographer: Oxford English Dictionary

James Murray, a Scottish schoolteacher, wrote the first Oxford English Dictionary. The work began in 1879, and at that time, it was named the New English Dictionary. Five years into the task, Murray realised he was still circling the alphabet, 'a', and had only reached the word 'ant'. He had a dedicated team of assistants to help him with the work. Murray also made a public appeal for volunteers to send him quotes that would help identify rare words and their usage. He received immense help from volunteers known and unknown to him. These volunteers dedicated themselves to their work with unwavering passion and conviction. The volume of mail that went to Murray and his team and back was so huge that the local post office set up a special mailbox near his working shed, which he called the scriptorium.

Murray left his studies when he was fourteen because his parents were poor. Murray, from his childhood, lived a life immersed in books and went on to become a teacher in a local school. After moving to London and pursuing his academic interests for some time, Murray was deeply interested in the English language. By then, he was proficient in many languages. While preparing the New English Dictionary, Murray always sought to include as many foreign words as possible. Although he faced criticism for this approach, he continued with it to the end. In hindsight, one can only salute the farsightedness of this genius for enriching the language through an array of fresh words, which brought rich cultural diversity to the language. His approach was inclusive, and the regional variations of English, spoken in different parts of the colonial British Empire, found their way to the dictionary he prepared. 

Murray had a daily work schedule that began at 6 o’clock in the morning and ended at 11 at night. He died in 1915, leaving his work unfinished. The completed dictionary was published in 1928, with the last word he worked on being ‘Trink’, which means ‘turn down’.

Dr William Chester Minor

James Murray sought assistance from individuals worldwide to identify words, their usage, and terms in common use across different regions. Dr William Chester Minor stands out among his voluntary contributors. He had sent 3000-something English quotations from an array of books to Murray. Many years later, Murray came to know that Dr Minor was an inhabitant of a mental asylum, and the reason was that he murdered someone under mental delusion. Minor had a special room in the asylum to keep his huge and rare collection of books. Though James Murray facilitated Minor's improved treatment and support during his confinement, Minor ultimately succumbed to his deteriorating health and persistent delusions while residing in a different asylum.

Samuel Johnson Jr: Another Great Lexicographer and His First American Dictionary

Samuel Johnson Jr wrote the first American dictionary. It took a decade for him to complete the task. Given the scale of the task, it is impressive that he completed it in just a decade. This was the same Samuel Johnson who, by kicking a stone and declaring “I refute it thus!”, ground to dust the then-fashionable theory that matter does not exist. Soon he found out America had its share of national pride and felt what it lacked was a dictionary. He accepted money from an ordinary bookseller to write an American dictionary and set up his workshop. He published his dictionary in 1755. 

His contemporaries have described Samuel Johnson as restless and unkempt. The English language was his way out of depression and melancholy; he masked his personal problems successfully with work addiction and a jovial outside persona. Until the Oxford English Dictionary was published, Johnson’s dictionary was the unquestioned reference text of the English language for America and the entire world.

Henry Watson Fowler

The New York Times called Henry Fowler the “king of English”. He is the author of the Dictionary of English Language Usage. Fowler also started his career as a schoolmaster. He, with his brother, Frank Fowler, made this comprehensive book on English usage possible. Frank Fowler died before the completion of the work. They were amateurs, but they wrote the best book ever on the subject. The book was published in 1926. This was a very different kind of dictionary written by a very knowledgeable connoisseur of the English language and in a lighter vein. Yet Fowler was careful not to compromise on the nuances of meaning and usage.

Noah Webster: Author: The Merriam-Webster Dictionary

It took Noah Webster 25 years to write his comprehensive English dictionary, which we now call the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. He was the one who simplified English language spelling for Americans and formally gave birth to American English. He removed silent letters and double letters from the spellings of many words, and thus in American English, the spelling for 'colour' became 'color', and 'travelled' became 'traveled'. Webster believed that, following the establishment of a national government in America, the people deserved a distinct national language, one that differed from colonial British English. He also believed that simplifying the language allowed him to restore it to its Anglo-Saxon origins. In the face of strong criticism, Webster withdrew many of his simplified spelling suggestions when his dictionary was published but retained many changes he made to spelling. Webster was a controversial person in his political stands, as he argued against new legislation for freedom of the press and gender equality.

Despite their legendary contributions to dictionary compilation, these renowned lexicographers have since been forgotten. Yet, we use their dictionaries almost daily; the ultimate paradox of humanity's progress. Those who achieve remarkable feats through sheer will, dedication, and courage may be forgotten, yet the new shoots of progress that they planted will endure.

References

A short history of Oxford dictionaries, Oxford Dictionaries.

OED blogs

The Guardian

The New Yorker