The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-01-07
A NEW LEXICON.
-
First Volume of the
" Standard Dictionary.
:
SOME ESPECIAL FEATUR
-
A Greater Number of Words Than
-, Are to Be Found in Any
Previous Work.
SOME ESPECIAL FEATURES


. considered a wonderful piece of leXicO-
graphical work, and its wide range of sub.
..iecfs and large vocabulary seemed TO pre-
clude for years the publication of any
other work on the sane subject. A die
tionary continuing G250C0 words might
60. well lie deemed ample 20 meet the require
-: ments Of any language.
49,. Dr. Jacob Grimm, one of the ablest
:. phllologers of Germany. said q few years
ago, speaking of the English tongue
when we consider its richness, intel
= lectualiiy and condemned adaptability no
one Of all the other living languages NAV
: beplaced at its side-yea, not even our
own German language" Undoubtedly
high praise, hut be might have said that
-: no other language has the same intensive
Qualify Of life. Life means growth, iu-
;. crease development, and the speech.
,*ot which Shakespeare used only
a small portion TO express the
:: conceptions of the master mind of the
- world has since his time widened and
bToadened and lived with the advancing
life of the peoples that use it. The Eng
llsh-speakiDg races are everyw here-on
sea and land, under the fervid heat of the
tropics and in the far north where winter
holds bis Icy reign three-Quarlers of a
year, on mountain and forest in workshop
and mine, pressing forward to do and dare
and enriching their mother tongue with
words for every new fact, every new COLI
Cept, every new experience which it at
tains by contact with nature in its myriad
-. forms. No need to wonder then that one
dictionary is followed by another, the
Century with its 225. 600 words by the
Standard with its 100000.
- The nineteenth century is an encyclo-
pedic age. lis greatest achievement is the
Encyclopedia Britannica; its greatest lex
-cogra phic work is undoubtedly the Stand
ard Dictionary. Brave old Samuel John
son plodded on through eight years to
produce his dictionary with its $4,000
words and phrases. It was d mean work,
but a whole lifetime would have been in
sufficient fOr him to perform the physical
= work of this dictionary, and a hundred
litetimes would have been required to
: amass the special knowledge requisite for
J. the work.
-: The Standard Dictionary has been in the
. :-hands of its makers for four years. The
editorial staff comprises hundreds of men
:: eminent in their own departments of
=: knowledge, and each was employed on the
. dictionary on his own specially. For in
STANCE, F. a. March. the DISTINGUISHED
=. pni1ologlst, looks after the spelling and
pronunciation; hon. G. Nj. Cooley, Hon.
John B. Moore and Hon. L. J. Phelps edit
the law matter. Evolution is in the hands
of Thomas H. Huxley. Anglo-African
words are edited by Henry NJ. Stanley.
- gems and precious stones are under the
care Of G. T. Kunz. Tiffany & Co. s expert.
Schele de We're deals with Americanisms.
=. church terms are looked after by repre-
sentatives Of the various churches. E.
Muybrdge edits all matter connected with
animal LOGON otion, w. Steinitz deals with
chess and T. Horace TealI with compound
words.
AS FAR as possible specialists deal with
~ special subjects. Besides, there are ad-
visory boards to which separate subjects
= are entrusted. as the committee on refer
ence On new words and the advisory
committee on disputed spelling and pro-
nunciation, the latter consisting of fifty
i've distinguished lieIati representing
=. England, TIE I'm tied States, Can ada Aus
" tralia-in fact, every land where English
is spoken.
There are twelve stages in the makeup
of each page of the dictionary. First
comes the manuscript copy as prepared by
the dehners; then the type written copy
as passed by the reviewers the first galley
%, proof as passed by the form department;
the second and third galley proofs with
= the corrections of the specialists and Office
editors; the fourth galley proof as passed
: by the editors; first, second and third page
proofs, followed by the plate proof, and
corrected by the editors-eleven stages in
all, each stage subject to revision by num-
beTs OF capable men-and then follows the
.. completed page. 1t seems as if no means
OF securing accuracy had been neglected,
and an examination of the pages in its
. various stages shows what high degree
OF correctness the dictionary has attained
' of n il
tloDaTy for purposes other than to learn
" the spelling of word use it for one of two
= reasUns-either to find the meaning or the
right pronunciation. In regard to mean
= lEgs the editors of the Standard Dictionary
nave MADE an innovation. Instead of
printing the meanings in the chronological
: or historical order the modern meanings
=. are given first, commencing with that in
most general use. To one accustomed to
p the old dictionary method this change at
.nrst is startling; but common-senss soon
= brings realization of the value OF the
change. In looking for word it is the
scholar alone who is likely TO want the
= meanings IN historical order or according
TO their natural development. Nne-tenths
OF the people want the meaning In use at
;. the :. present time, and, consulting the
-Deeds OF the majority, the commonest
meaning is placed first.
In regard to spelling, while the editors
of the Standard have been conservative in
line of phonetic reform taken by the Amer
.. iCan Pathological and the American SPELL
ing Reform Association. Disputed spell
- ings and prom unclatiOns, as already stated,
ARE laid before a special committee of phil
0logists. who mark their preferences.
These are submitted for final judgment to
:. Professor F. a. March. By this method
will be given a value to the spelling and
. pronunciation that has never been at
.:tained before in any dictionary, In such
: a matter the judgment of ffty-fve men
must be broader than the judgment of one,
whose eye and ear may easily have been
: biased by some of Bacon's idOla to special
: forms and sounds.
:. Many quotations that had grown to be
the common stock of dictionary-makers
= will be missed in this publication. 1t is
=. Rev work, and hundreds of readers have
ransacked English literature from the
Gays OF ChauceT to our own to find out
The various meanings of words and apt
= quotations TO illustrate them. And,
furthermore, one is not left in doubt as to
whence the quotations are taken. Chapter
and verse are given and the refarances can