It may appear to the beginner that by this time we have certainly found out all there is to know about anecdote, but we have not.
Here is how the entry looks in the Oxford English dictionary.
Anecdote( ). [a fr. Anecdote, or ad. Its source, med. L. Anecdota(see sense I), a. Gr. Things unpublished, f. Published, f. To give out, publish, applied by Procopies to his “Unpublished Memories” of the of the Emperor Justinian, which consisted chiefly of tales of the private life of the court;whence the application of the name to short stories or particulars]
1) pl. Secret, private, or hitherbo unpublished narratives or details of history. (At first, and how again occas. Used in L form anecdota( ) 1676 MARVELL Mr. Smirke Wks. 1875 IV.41. A man ... might make a pleasant story of the anecdota of that meeting. 1727. Swift”Gulliver” VIII. 230. Those who pretend to write anecdotes, or secret history[...]
2) The narrative of a detached incident, or of a single event, event told as being in itself interesting or striking( At first, An item of gossip)
1761 Gorke in Elli’s Orig. Left 11. 483. IV. 429. Monsieur Coccei will tell you all the anecdotes of London better then I can[...] 1838. Ht. Martineau Demerara
12. He told some anecdotes of Alfred’s childhood. Mod. An after-dinner anecdote
b. collect
1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey 3. II. 95 A companion who knew everything, everyone, full of wit and anecdote.
3) Comb. , as anecdote-book, -loving;anecdote-monger a retailer of anecdotes[...]
1) With the information already given, it is easy to understand the etymology of this entry. It should be observed that according to it, anecdote may not have come into English from French, but directly from midieval Latin. That this source is likely is suggested by the spelling the word has in the earliest example found of its use in English. Had it come from french anecdotes, it is not easy to see why Marvel in 1676 spelled it anecdota. Of course, it may have come into English both from French and from Latin.
2) The most noteworthy feature of this entry, and of the dictionary from which it comes, is that the definitions are followed by examples of the use of the word in the senses given. These examples all follow the same pattern. First comes the date, than the authors name in small capitals, than thie title of the work cited, usually abbreviated, followed by the number of the page. The use of illustrative quotationsis a marked feature of historical dictionaries. They are given generously in the OED, there being about 1827306 of them in that great work.
It wod be a mistake, however, to conclude that the earliest example given in the OED for a word in a particular sense is really the first time the word uccurs in print. The OED is a remarkable dictionary, but it would bu much more so if those who collected, material for it had been able to find the very first printed uses of all the words with extremely useful to have such dates as are given, but they should not be misinterpreted.
3) Under 3 in the above entry there are given combinations into which anecdote has entered. The first two of these, anecdote-book, and anecdote-loving, are illustrated by only one example each. Neither of the expressions appears to have been much used. The same may be said of anecdote-monger, which is treated slingtly differently becouse two examples of its use were available.
The modern American dictionary is typically a single compact volume published at a relatively modest price containing:
1) definitive American spellings;
2) pronunciation indicated by diacritical markings;
3) strictly limited etymologies;
4) numbered senses;
5) some illustrations;
6) selective treatment of synonyms and antonyms;
7) enxyclopedic inclusion of scientific, technological, geofraphical, and biographical items.
The first American dictionaries were unpretentious little schoolbooks based chiefly on Johnson’s Dictionary of 1775 by way of various English abridgments of that work. The most famous work of this class, Noah Websters Compedious Dictionary of the English Language(1806) was an enlargement of Entick’s spelling Dictionary (London 1764), distinguished from its predecessors chiefly by a few encyclopedic supplements and emphasis upon its Aericanism. The book was never popular and contributed little either to Webster’s own reputation or to the development of the American dictionary in general.
The first important date in American lexicography is 1828. The work that makes it important is Noah Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language in two volumes. Webster’s book has many deficiencies-etymologies quite untouched by the linguistic sciense of the time, a rudimentary pronunciation system actually inferior to that used by Walker in 1791, etc. –but in its insistence upon American spellings, in definitions keyed to the American scene, and in its illustrative quotatons from the founding Fathers of the Republic, it provided the country with the first native dictionary comparable in scope with that of Dr. Jhonson. Probably its greatest contribution to succeding American dictionaries was the style of definition writing-writing of a clarity and pithiness never approached before its day.
The first American lexicographer to hit upon the particular pattern that disbinguishes the American dictionary was Webster’s lifelong rival, Joseph E. Worcesfer. His Comprehensive Pronouncing, and Explanation Dictionary of the English Language(1830), actually a thoroughly revised abridgment of Webster’s two-volume work of 1828, was characterised by the additions of new words, a more conservative spelling, brief, well phrased definitions, full indication of pronunciation by means of diacritics, use of stress marks to divide syllables, and lists of synonyms. Because it was compact and low priced, it immediately became popular-far more popular in fact, than any of Webster’s own dictionaries in his own lifetime.
In the field of unabridged dictionaries, the most important accretion is the great /american linguist, William Dwight Whitney and issued in six volumes. At the moment , the most important advances in lexicography are taking place in the field of the abridged collegiate-type dictionaries.
Meanwhile the scholarly dictionary has not been neglected. Once the New English dictionary Was published, scholarly opinion reealized the need to supplement it in the various periods of English and particulary in American English. The first of the proposed supplements, edited by Sir William Graigie and Professor G. R. Hulbert, is the Dictionary of American English on Historical Princples., completed in 1944. This was followed by a dictionary of Americanisms, edited by Mitford M. Mathews and publishied in 1951. A Middle English Dictionary, a dictionary of Later Scottish are in preparation, and work on the American Dialect society is now under way.
1) Dictionaries prooide with various kinds of useful information. Some of them, besides entries, have additional articles about the English language, forms of address, weights and measures, special signs and symbols, common given names, some list historical events, and some, home remedies and so on.
2) The common reader turns to a dictionary far information about spelling, pronunciation, meaning and proper use of words, He wants to know what is current and respectable. He wants to know facts about any language, especially difference berween the American and English languages.
3) The average purcaser of a dictionary uses it most often, probably, to find out what a word “means”. As a reader he wants to know what the author intended to convey. As the speaker or writer, he wants to know what a word will convey to his editors. And this too, is complex, subtle and forever changing thing.
4) Dictionary material which are in different kinds of dictionaries widely uses in language investigations by linguists.
5) Using the dictionary helps us to improve our language. We learn more and more new words, phrases, set expressions. Our vocabulary becomes richer and our language becomes more connected and tuneful
The list of literature
1. Readings in Modern English lexicology. Ленинград-1975ю
2. V Kuznetsova. Notes on English lexicology К. Радянськашкола 1966
3. I. V. Arnold. The English word М. Вища школа 1986
4. Раєвська Н. М. English Lexicology. К. Вища школа. 1971.
5. Educational book guilt New York 1957
6. The World Book Encyclopedia. Chcago. London. Sydney. Toronto 1994
7. The american heritage dictionary. Second college edition. Houghton Misslin. Company Boston. 1983
8. Webster’s New world dictionary of the american language. David. B. Guralnik, general editor. 1985
9. Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English language. (secon edition, unabridged) G&C. Merian Company, publishers Springfield, Mass. USA. 1958.
10.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English language. William Morris. Boston/ New York/ Atlanta/ Geneva/ Dallas/ Palo Alto 1969
29-04-2015, 05:04