Revisionary texts.: examining the Editors’ Proofs of OED1

In 2021, the final Editors’ Proofs of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary were a surprise discovery in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Signed, dated, and liberally annotated by all four editors, as well as by the compositors and press-room workers at Oxford University Press, these proofs document a liminal stage immediately before publication, detailing the editors’ final cuts and the challenges (and compromises) that late-stage editing can reveal. As this article explores, the Proofs represent a substantial contribution to the material history of the OED and of the constraints of lexicography in the age of hot metal. Shedding new light on the ways in which, under pressures of space, key questions about expendability and inclusion were negotiated between different communities of practice, the Proofs present a visible testimony of change, substitution, and loss

Dialect, interaction and class positioning at school: from deficit to difference to repertoire.

Sociolinguists have been fighting dialect prejudice since the 1960s, but deficit views of non-standard English are regaining currency in educational discourse. In this paper I argue that the traditional sociolinguistic response – stressing dialect systematicity and tolerance of ‘difference’ – may no longer be effective by questioning a key assumption that both deficit and difference approaches share, namely that there exist discrete varieties of English. Based on an empirical study of the language of working-class children in north-east England, I demonstrate that non-standard dialects of English do not have a discrete system of grammar that is isolated from other varieties; rather local dialect forms interact with a range of semiotic resources (including standard forms) within speakers’ repertoires. Interactional analyses of the children’s spontaneous speech highlight this hybridity, as well as the social meanings behind the linguistic choices children make. I conclude by addressing educational responses to non-standard dialect in the classroom, suggesting that it is not the presence or absence of non-standard forms in children’s speech that raises educational issues; rather, educational responses which problematise non-standard voices risk marginalising working-class speech, and may contribute to the alienation of working-class children, or significant groups of them, within the school system

Let’s buy: An antipestilential quilt

This blog post explores the links between language, advertising, and illness/medical persuasion

Decolonising the dictionary; narratives of history and empire in the OED

A Dictionary, stated Richard Chenevix Trench in 1857, is the history of a nation contemplated from one point of view. Over the long history of the OED, however, configurations of nation -- and attendant readings of history -- have changed significantly, necessitating a complex renegotiation of the 'point of view' adopted within a range of entries. This paper will examine some of the historical narratives which come to be embedded within the reading (and rereading) of Empire over different editions of the OED (though particular attention will be given to the historical positioning of OED1, and its underlying editorial remit and assumptions). Presenting a process of linguistic 'decolonisation' which can ultimately displace particular views of both history and nation (in ways which can perhaps be surprising within a dictionary on historical principles), the paper will look in detail at the problems and patterns which such ideologically motivated revision can present

Language

This chapter provides a critical exploration of a number of aspects of received wisdom about Johnson and language, both in relation to Johnson's own linguistic practice in speech and writing, as well as within his published works on language, including his celebrated Dictionary. It examines Johnson's interest in, and presentation of variation, contact, and change, alongside his engagement with other languages, while directing close attention to Johnson's documentary and evidential processes in terms of spelling, meaning, and use, and the discourses of power, reform, and authority that these reveal

Let's buy: Some Cordial Balm of Gilead

Examines advertising, persuasion, and social history of the Cordial Balm of Gilea