Dictionaries and the Authoritarian Tradition: Study in English Usage and Lexicography (Janua Linguarum. Series Practica)

This book is for Elaine ## PREFACE Almost since its beginning, the English dictionary has been linked culturally with attitudes which have been fundamentally opposed to linguistic change. Although authoritarian linguistic attitudes have not been particularly characteristic of lexicographers, especially in the last hundred years, many others have continued to view the dictionary as an instrument to retard or check natural change in language, whether phonological, morphological, semantic, or grammatical. This book examines the tradition which has associated conservative or authoritarian attitudes with dictionaries of English, and which has perpetuated the fiction that the dictionary establishes the standard of usage for the language. Although his "Plan of a Dictionary" might seem to imply otherwise, the notion of the dictionary as linguistic authority for the standard of usage probably did not spring full grown from the head of Samuel Johnson. "One great end of this undertaking", he wrote to Lord Chesterfield, "is to fix the English language." 1 After seven years of "harmless drudgery", however, Johnson was forced to admit that his dream of stemming the intumescent tide of linguistic change merely "indulged expectation which neither reason nor experience could justify". 2 Yet the myth of the authority of the dictionary has persisted, in spite of our understanding that change in language is normal. Indeed, change is the very elan vital of language: when a language stops changing, it is no longer capable of expressing life; it is dead. If it were possible for the lexicographer to "secure [the language] from corruption and decay", this would, to turn Johnson's phrase to new purpose, truly "embalm his language". 3 Ever since Richard Chenevix Trench pointed to "some deficiencies in our English dictionaries", 4 lexicographers have been somewhat more modest in their cultural aspirations than were Samuel Johnson and Noah Webster. But the cultur-1

This large-scale comparative study analyses the two principal mechanisms employed in modern legal systems to deal with the social problem of occupational illness and injury, namely, employers' liability and workers' compensation. It provides a detailed description of the systems in operation in twelve countries around the world, investigating the complex legal structures and the interaction with other social institutions, as well as their inter-jurisdictional coordination through private international law. Current international trends are identified and assessed and the fundamental political issues highlighted and explored. The study's ultimate goals are not only descriptive but also to answer the question of how compensation and liability systems can best be adapted to meet society's needs in the 21st century.

The countries covered are: Australia (Mark Lunney), Austria (Ernst Karner/Felix Kernbichler), Denmark (Vibe Ulfbeck), England and Wales (Richard Lewis), France (Florence G'Sell/Isabelle Veillard), Germany (Raimund Waltermann), Italy (Alessandro P Scarso/Massimo Foglia), Japan (Keizo Yamamoto/Tomohiro Yoshimasa), the Netherlands (Siewert D Lindenbergh), Poland (Domenika Dörre-Nowak), Romania (Christian Alunaru/Lucian Bojin) and the United States of America (Michael D Green/Daniel S Murdock).

The book is completed by three concluding essays that address general themes:

• Thomas Thiede, The European Coordination of Employers' Liability and Workers' Compensation
• Ken Oliphant, The Changing Landscape of Work Injury Claims: Challenges for Employers' Liability and Workers' Compensation
• Gerhard Wagner, New Perspectives on Employers' Liability - Basic Policy Issues

Frontmatter -- PREFACE -- CONTENTS -- 1. THE ORIGINS OF ENGLISH LEXICOGRAPHY -- 2. THE AUTHORITARIAN TRADITION IN LANGUAGE: ENGLAND -- 3. THE AUTHORITARIAN TRADITION IN LANGUAGE: AMERICA -- 4. THE SECOND DICTIONARY WAR: 'WEBSTER'S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL' -- 5. LEXICOGRAPHY AND ENGLISH USAGE -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- Backmatter