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Introduction
During the 18th century the need to fix and regulate the English language arose. For
many authors it was essential to correct the spelling, grammar and word usage of the
language in order to achieve a greater accuracy and precision of expression. In this context
we can find two different views. On the one hand, there were authors in favour of this
regulation of the English language, such as Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe, who declared
that grammars and dictionaries were essential to carry out this task. On the other, there
were scholars who thought that the language should evolve without restrictions.
Many authors defended the correct use of the language, despising what they called
cant or low speech. They also rejected the words that English borrowed from other
languages such as Latin and French, since they maintained that these languages were
corrupting their mother tongue. Indeed, they defended the idea that a fixed system would
make the language stronger and so its nation. For these reasons, Swift, among others,
proposed the creation of an English academy, following the model of France, where
Cardinal Richelieu had founded the Acadmie Franaise.1
<http://www.ucc.ie/>
<http://www.publications.villanova.edu/>
<http://ethnicity.rutgers.edu/ >
<http://www.bl.uk/ >
<http://www.publications.villanova.edu/ >
Hitchings 2005, p.227-8
7
DeMara 1999, 99.
8
<http://ethnicity.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/preface.html>
6
Conclusion
To sum up, it can be said that Samuel Johnson was one of the greatest figures of
Great Britain, who, in this case, stands out for his labour as a lexicographer. His Dictionary
can be described as the first important dictionary of the English language, which was the
based for future linguistic works.
Works cited
19 March 2011 <http://ethnicity.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/preface.html>
19March 2011 <http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/texts/dict/transcript1387.html>
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20 March 2011
<http://www.publications.villanova.edu/Concept/2007/07_papers_html/Lasak.ItWillGrow
Muddy.htm>
20 March 2011 <http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/E700001-017/index.html>
Baugh & Thomas. A History of the English Language. London: Routledge, 2002
Demara, Robert. Johnsons Dictionary. The Cambridge Companion to Samuel Johnson.
Ed. Greg Clingham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 85-101.
Hitchings, Henry. Dr Johnson's Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book that
Defined the World. London: John Murray, 2005