000 04794cam a2200493 i 4500
001 on1101621696
003 OCoLC
005 20210615125747.0
008 190115t20192019njua b 001 0 eng d
010 _a 2019931238
040 _aSDL
_beng
_erda
_cDLC
_dOCLCO
_dNFG
019 _a1059269349
_a1103321060
_a1242885100
020 _a9780691188911
_q(hardcover : acid-free paper)
020 _a0691188912
_q(hardcover : acid-free paper)
020 _a9780691210179
_q(paperback : acid-free paper)
020 _a0691210179
_q(paperback : acid-free paper)
035 _a(OCoLC)1101621696
_z(OCoLC)1059269349
_z(OCoLC)1103321060
_z(OCoLC)1242885100
042 _alccopycat
043 _an-us---
092 _a423.09
_bM382
049 _aNFGA
100 1 _aMartin, Peter,
_d1940-
_eauthor.
245 1 4 _aThe dictionary wars :
_bthe American fight over the English language /
_cPeter Martin.
246 3 4 _aDic*tion*ar*y wars
246 3 0 _aAmerican fight over the English language
264 1 _aPrinceton, New Jersey :
_bPrinceton University Press,
_c[2019]
264 4 _c©2019
300 _ax, 358 pages :
_billustrations ;
_c25 cm
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
336 _astill image
_bsti
_2rdacontent
337 _aunmediated
_bn
_2rdamedia
338 _avolume
_bnc
_2rdacarrier
386 _mOccupation/field of activity group:
_nocc
_aTeachers
_2lcdgt
386 _mGender group:
_ngdr
_aMen
_2lcdgt
520 _a"A compelling history of the national conflicts that resulted from efforts to produce the first definitive American dictionary of English. ... [English professor] Peter Martin recounts the patriotic fervor in the early American republic to produce a definitive national dictionary that would rival Samuel Johnson's 1755 Dictionary of the English Language. But what began as a cultural war of independence from Britain devolved into a battle among lexicographers, authors, scholars, and publishers, all vying for dictionary supremacy and shattering forever the dream of a unified American language. The overwhelming questions in the dictionary wars involved which and whose English was truly American and whether a dictionary of English should attempt to be American at all, independent from Britain. Martin tells the human story of the intense rivalry between America's first lexicographers, Noah Webster and Joseph Emerson Worcester, who fought over who could best represent the soul and identity of American culture. Webster believed an American dictionary, like the American language, ought to be informed by the nation's republican principles, but Worcester thought that such language reforms were reckless and went too far. Their conflict continued beyond Webster's death, when the ambitious Merriam brothers acquired publishing rights to Webster's American Dictionary and launched their own language wars. From the beginning of the nineteenth century to the end of the Civil War, the dictionary wars also engaged America's colleges, libraries, newspapers, religious groups, and state legislatures at a pivotal historical moment that coincided with rising literacy and the print revolution. Delving into the personal stories and national debates that arose from the conflicts surrounding America's first dictionaries, The Dictionary Wars examines the linguistic struggles that underpinned the founding and growth of a nation." --
_cDust jacket.
504 _aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 333-347) and index.
505 0 0 _gPart one.
_tNoah Webster's battles.
_tBritish mockery and American disdain ;
_tNoah Webster: "The wildest innovator" ;
_tWebster's first dictionary ;
_tDisplacing Delilah ;
_tThe lexicographer's fifth column ;
_tTea and copyright: Goodrich takes over ;
_tSpelling wars: the rise of Lyman Cobb ;
_tThe "common thief" ;
_tWebster's decline --
_gPart two.
_tThe Merriams at war.
_tTaking Webster out of Webster: from family feuds to the Merriam Brothers ;
_tWaiting for Worcester ;
_tThe Bohn affair ;
_tConverse's complaint ;
_tChildren, money, and "trash" ;
_tHigh stakes: "Have we a national standard of language?" ;
_tThe "terrible rival": Worcesterian resurgence ;
_tThe Merriams triumphant: "Worcester! Worcester! all change for Webster!" --
_gConclusion --
_gAppendix A:
_tThe "Webster" brand --
_gAppendix B:
_tFour centuries of selected dictionaries of the English language --
_gAppendix C:
_tPublishing terms --
_gAppendix D:
_t"The spelling bee at Angels (reported by Truthful James)," /
_rby Bret Harte.
650 0 _aEnglish language
_zUnited States
_xLexicography
_xHistory.
650 0 _aEncyclopedias and dictionaries
_xHistory and criticism.
_9218496
600 1 0 _aWebster, Noah,
_d1758-1843.
600 1 0 _aWorcester, Joseph E.
_q(Joseph Emerson),
_d1784-1865.
610 2 0 _aG. & C. Merriam Company.
_9144864
994 _aC0
_bNFG
999 _c330284
_d330284