M. Lynne Murphy

A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles

A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles is the fullest ever study of the English language in South Africa. The result of 25 years of work, this dictionary has been researched and written according to historical principles. However, as well as recording examples of South African English going back to the sixteenth century, the dictionary also provides an insight into the dramatic political and cultural changes in South Africas history by examining the countrys ever changing language right up to the present day. Research into language has involved the contributions of hundreds of individual South Africans, as well as extensive research into all other forms of the written and spoken language. Diverse and informative entries include robot (a traffic light), bakkie (a small truck), bond (a mortgage), and brinjals (aubergines). The dictionary includes such areas as childrens slang, the vocabulary of soldiers, the mines, local music terms, the townships, food, and a detailed look at the complex language of apartheid. English words originating from all the countrys groups are recorded, including words from Dutch/Afrikaans, the Malayo-Indonesian languages, the Indian, Khoisan, Nguni, and Sotho languages.

Signals of Contrastiveness: But, Oppositeness, and Formal Similarity in Parallel Contexts

By examining contexts in which “emergent” oppositions appear, we consider the relative contribution of formal parallelism, connective type, and semantic relation (considered as an indicator of relative semantic parallelism) in generating contrast. The data set is composed of cases of ancillary antonymy—the use of an established antonym pair to help support and/or accentuate contrast between a less established pair. Having devised measures for formal and semantic parallelism, we find that but is less likely to appear in contexts with high levels of formal parallelism than non-contrastive connectives like and or punctuation. With respect to semantic parallelism, we find that contrastive connectives are less likely to occur with pairs that are in traditional paradigmatic relations (“nym relations”: antonymy, co-hyponymy, synonymy). The article’s main hypothesis—that non-paradigmatic relations need more contextual sustenance for their opposition—was therefore supported. Indeed, pairs in nym relations were found to be more than twice as likely to be joined by a non-contrastive connective as by a contrastive one.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (review)

The time between editions of the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (henceforth AHD) is declining regularly, from the thirteen years between the first (1969) and the second edition,1 to ten years between second and third (1992), to eight years between AHD3 and AHD4. A question this phenomenon raises is whether the increase in the new edition rate reflects improved technology and methods for dictionary-making or whether the differences are mostly cosmetic, in order to present the product as new and thus invigorate lagging sales. Happily for consumers and lexicographers, the evidence favors the former hypothesis. AHD4 is the product of obvious systematic revision, both in its entries and its features. This is especially stunning when we review the facts about the earlier editions. AHD2C did not involve a full revision of AHDl or even AHDlC, so twenty-three years passed between the publication ofAHDl and the first full revision, AHD3. The changes between AHD3 and AHD4 are sometimes subtle and occasionally striking, but the fact that this new edition involves so many changes in so few years is a testament to the mercurial nature of the English language and its use, as well as to the sensitivity and organization of the American Heritage editorial staff. This is not, of course, to say that the AHD4 is without faults, some of which might have been avoided with a little more time and care. Happily, most faults are found in the details, not in the premises or policies of the dictionary. This edition boasts several new features (full color illustration, Our Living Language Notes, Proto-Semitic roots appendix) and thousands of new words and senses. This review progresses from the outside of the dictionary in, and from the front to back. The dictionary can be purchased with a CD-ROM companion, which is not reviewed here.

The Lexicon in Acquisition

1. The lexicon: words old and new Part I. Lexical Acquisition: 2. Early lexical development 3. The mapping problem 4. Conventionality and contrast 5. Pragmatic principles and acquisition 6. Transparency and simplicity 7. Productivity Part II. Case Studies of Lexical Innovation: 8. Words for things 9. More words for things 10. Words for agents and instruments 11. Words for actions 12. Words for undoing actions Part III. Conclusion: 13. Issues for acquisition Bibliography Index of names Index of subjects.