| This is a generic and historical study of the earliest monolingual English dictionaries, focusing on Robert Cawdrey's Table Alphabeticall of 1604, John Bullokar's English Expositor of 1616, and Henry Cockeram's English Dictionarie of 1623, as well as their antecedents in spelling books, bilingual lexicons, and monolingual glossaries.;The first chapter explores the expansion of the English vocabulary during the sixteenth century and argues that the first dictionaries were published for the dual purpose of educating readers and reforming the language. I discuss the tension between the descriptive and prescriptive approaches to writing in general and lexicography in particular, showing how this tension became especially acute in Renaissance discussions about spelling, diction, and style. My computer analysis of the selection of words common to the first three compilers suggests that they adhered to an Horatian mean of proper diction: accepting and defining new words already accepted by custom.;Cawdrey's dictionary attempted to teach the "cultural literacy" required for the Puritan effort of ordaining the priesthood of all believers. Cawdrey advocates a plain style and criticizes "inkhorn" terms; he would restore a lost biblical past by purifying the English language of elaborate metaphors and foreign loanwords. But there is an essential conflict within his work: whereas the minister insists upon the spiritual benefits of plain English, the schoolmaster promotes the practical necessity of learning hard, latinate vocabulary.;The Roman Catholic John Bullokar reacted against Cawdrey's attempts to reform both religion and language. Bullokar would preserve the traditional medieval past, and he offers his dictionary as an encyclopedic guide to culture as a whole, including Catholic doctrine, classical allusions, poetic diction, and Chaucerian archaisms. I compare the first two compilers' selection and definition of words, showing distinctions not only between their religious dogmas but also between each compiler's general attitude toward the past.;Henry Cockeram experimented boldly with English standard usage, introducing many words that had never before and have never since had an existence outside dictionaries. He was an activist lexicographer who neglected his educational obligations and instead attempted to recreate the English language in the image of Latin. |
