Tuesday 25 March 2014
Saturday 22 March 2014
Monday 17 March 2014
What's new | Oxford English Dictionary - March 2014
What's new | Oxford English Dictionary
The new entries
Words that caught my eye include:
Blu-Tack
bookaholic
book-building
bookwoman
chugger
demotivated
E ticket
Ethical Society
ethno - many words starting with ethno
honey trap
imperial purple
science fantasy
scissor-kick
toilet-paper (verb)
wackadoo and wackadoodle
The new entries
Words that caught my eye include:
Blu-Tack
bookaholic
book-building
bookwoman
chugger
demotivated
E ticket
Ethical Society
ethno - many words starting with ethno
honey trap
imperial purple
science fantasy
scissor-kick
toilet-paper (verb)
wackadoo and wackadoodle
BBC News - Time up on export bar for 500-year-old dictionary
Good News! 18 March 2014
British Library saves 15th Century Catholicon Anglicum from export
BBC News - Time up on export bar for 500-year-old dictionary
Why no publicity before the ban expired? A search on Google news for "Catholicon Anglicum" produces just this one article, on the BBC website on 17 March 2014. There is no mention that I can see on the British library website.
Some extracts from the BBC article
"Christopher Wright from the RCEWA said: "This rare survival of a 15th Century English-Latin word list is one of the vital first steps on the road to the English Dictionary as we know it today.
"Its anonymous author, possibly a Yorkshireman on the basis of some dialect words included, provides an invaluable witness to the English language as it existed in the second half of the 15th Century, and can claim an honourable place in the roll of famous lexicographers that stretches through Johnson and Murray into our own age.""
What do these documents tell us?
The 8000 words in the dictionary provide many ways of studying the culture, social attitudes and beliefs of medieval England. There are only two known copies "Catholicon Anglicum", the one being considered by the RCEWA ("Lincoln Catholicon Anglicum") and one in the British Library, which contains many "scribal mistakes" and is defective, with lost leaves.
There is an 1881 edition of the dictionary based on the "Lincoln Catholicon Anglicum". The Catholicon Anglicum is referred to over 1900 times in the Oxford English Dictionary.
The "Lincoln Catholicon Anglicum" was produced, probably in Yorkshire, in 1483. It has 191 leaves, measures 223mm x 53mm and is in good condition. The dictionary contains the ownership inscription of Thomas Flower in 1520, who was described as "Succentor" of Lincoln Cathedral and may have been elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1519.
Sale at Sotheby's in 2013
The sale details in Sotheby's catalogue.
What does this tell us?
The dictionary is known as the "Monson 'Catholicon Anglicum'. I had been referring to the dictionary as the "Lincoln Catholicon Anglicum" above, but will now refer to it as the Monson Catholicon Anglicum. The Monson Catholicon Anglicum was used as the basis of an 1881 edition of the book, but has been unseen and unrecorded since then.
The dictionary was written in 1483.
After Thomas Flower the next provenance mentioned is William John Monson, 7th Baron Monson (1829-98). The Monson family had strong connections with Lincoln - details to follow.
The description includes "England, (probably East Ridings, Yorkshire, perhaps Rotherham), 1843
Monson Family
This is what Wikipedia says about the 7th Baron Monson
The first Baronet Sir Thomas Monson (1565-1641) was from South Carlton in Lincolnshire, so the Monson family has a long connection with Lincolnshire.
1881 edition of Monson Catholicon Anglicum
You can read the 1881 edition here.
Wikipedia - Catholicon Anglicum
Wikipedia - Catholicon Anglicum
British Library saves 15th Century Catholicon Anglicum from export
BBC News - Time up on export bar for 500-year-old dictionary
Why no publicity before the ban expired? A search on Google news for "Catholicon Anglicum" produces just this one article, on the BBC website on 17 March 2014. There is no mention that I can see on the British library website.
Some extracts from the BBC article
"The Department of Culture Media and Sport said that the Catholicon Anglicum was
the only complete one in existence, and represented a crucial milestone in the
evolution of the English dictionary. "
"It is believed the dictionary was written in the north of England, specifically
Yorkshire, based on the dialect of the English words present"
"Its anonymous author, possibly a Yorkshireman on the basis of some dialect
words included, provides an invaluable witness to the English language as it
existed in the second half of the 15th Century, and can claim an honourable
place in the roll of famous lexicographers that stretches through Johnson and
Murray into our own age.""
RCEWA
The RCEWA is the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, administered by Arts Council England.
Case 14 - The Monson Catholicon Anglicum
What do these documents tell us?
The 8000 words in the dictionary provide many ways of studying the culture, social attitudes and beliefs of medieval England. There are only two known copies "Catholicon Anglicum", the one being considered by the RCEWA ("Lincoln Catholicon Anglicum") and one in the British Library, which contains many "scribal mistakes" and is defective, with lost leaves.
There is an 1881 edition of the dictionary based on the "Lincoln Catholicon Anglicum". The Catholicon Anglicum is referred to over 1900 times in the Oxford English Dictionary.
The "Lincoln Catholicon Anglicum" was produced, probably in Yorkshire, in 1483. It has 191 leaves, measures 223mm x 53mm and is in good condition. The dictionary contains the ownership inscription of Thomas Flower in 1520, who was described as "Succentor" of Lincoln Cathedral and may have been elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1519.
Sale at Sotheby's in 2013
The sale details in Sotheby's catalogue.
What does this tell us?
The dictionary is known as the "Monson 'Catholicon Anglicum'. I had been referring to the dictionary as the "Lincoln Catholicon Anglicum" above, but will now refer to it as the Monson Catholicon Anglicum. The Monson Catholicon Anglicum was used as the basis of an 1881 edition of the book, but has been unseen and unrecorded since then.
The dictionary was written in 1483.
After Thomas Flower the next provenance mentioned is William John Monson, 7th Baron Monson (1829-98). The Monson family had strong connections with Lincoln - details to follow.
The description includes "England, (probably East Ridings, Yorkshire, perhaps Rotherham), 1843
Monson Family
This is what Wikipedia says about the 7th Baron Monson
The first Baronet Sir Thomas Monson (1565-1641) was from South Carlton in Lincolnshire, so the Monson family has a long connection with Lincolnshire.
1881 edition of Monson Catholicon Anglicum
You can read the 1881 edition here.
Wikipedia - Catholicon Anglicum
Wikipedia - Catholicon Anglicum
Wednesday 12 March 2014
Tuesday 11 March 2014
8 pronunciation errors that made the English language what it is today | David Shariatmadari | Comment is free | theguardian.com
8 pronunciation errors that made the English language what it is today | David Shariatmadari | Comment is free | theguardian.com
"Someone I know tells a story about a very senior academic giving a speech. Students shouldn't worry too much, she says, if their plans "go oar-y" after graduation. Confused glances are exchanged across the hall. Slowly the penny drops: the professor has been pronouncing "awry" wrong all through her long, glittering career. "
"Someone I know tells a story about a very senior academic giving a speech. Students shouldn't worry too much, she says, if their plans "go oar-y" after graduation. Confused glances are exchanged across the hall. Slowly the penny drops: the professor has been pronouncing "awry" wrong all through her long, glittering career. "
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