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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A selection of definitions from Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language which illustrate the way in which he included his personal opinions and views in the definitions. Bibliography lists 3 sources
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4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: JL5_JLjohns.rtf
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that Johnson was approached to compile an English dictionary, there was "national embarrassment" about the fact that although the Italian and the French intellectual world had impressive and thorough dictionaries,
there was no such comparable work in English literary society. The few dictionaries which were available were sketchy and incomplete, and certainly could not match, in terms of their background
research and thoroughness, those which existed in other countries. However,
to the modern reader, accustomed to the compilers focus on objectivity and carefully-traced etymology in present-day dictionaries, it is evident upon reading Johnsons that his aim was not to define
words impartially so much as to incorporate his own opinions on the terms being defined: the dictionary was not simply a list of meanings, synonyms and etymologies, but rather a
framework within which he could insert a frequently scathing commentary on his cultural environment.
Consequently, many of the entries give considerable insight into Johnsons own personality, and his social and political views. Whilst he does offer what
might be termed the "straightforward" meanings of the words, he frequently adds a commentary of his own which sometimes refers to the way that the words themselves are used in
common parlance, and sometimes acts as the starting point for a more general comment on social institutions, his countrymen, the inhabitants of other countries, and so on. Nor did
Johnson confine himself solely to his own assessment of the meanings of words, he frequently added quotations from classical authors both as exemplars of the term being defined, and as
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