History of how English has been codified in grammar books and dictionaries

Codification is a term that refers to the method which language is captured and elucidated

into the English dictionaries. The first codification process occurred in 1490 when William

Caxton translated the Virgils Aeneid to an English language (Demaria, 1986). Thus, Caxton

introduced a new form of technology known as printing to allow his books reach a wider

audience. However, he faced challenges with dialectal diversity because his books were not read

and understood with many individuals in the country. However, in the eighteenth century,

English codification took place at large as witnessed with the publication of many dictionaries,

which included Samuel Johnson dictionary, Noah Webster dictionary and Routledge dictionary

(Hitchings, 2005). The publication of the grammars and dictionaries at this period intended to

teach the English language to the welsh population. In 1536, the Act of Union was established

between the Wales and England that allowed the improvement and correction of the English

language (Demaria, 1986). The process allowed a codification process that was influenced by the

kings English to cater for legal and administrative language. In addition, the codification process

at this period incorporated literary English that governed the great literature used in publishing

and printing. Lastly, the codification language incorporated oxford English to be used for

education and religious purposes.

Therefore, codification in this period affected standard language because it influenced its

spoken form. For instance, the influence of education in codification affected pronunciation in

the nineteenth century because of the rise of public schools. Nonetheless, the extensive use of

radio and television gave rise to BBC English that influenced individuals pronunciation and

media English became acceptable to the society because it was widely understood(Hitchings,

2005).
 Reasons why dictionaries were commissioned

The reason why dictionaries were commissioned is to help provide standard rules that

will govern the English language. For instance, Dictionary of English language was

commissioned by a group of authors in London to ensure that English language followed specific

language. Before commissioning dictionaries, English language was unruly and messy; thus, this

called for some kind of discipline to disentangle the mess of the language.

Moreover, modern education ensured that English education gained ground and was the

main source of medium to transfer ideas and information. For instance, in India educational

papers were written in English such as the Cuttack standard that promoted English journalism. At

this period, the need for education was a subject topic in various Odia periodicals and

newspapers such as Utkala Darpana(1873). The Odia newspapers published government notices,

notifications, important reports and advertisements published in the English language. Therefore,

both odia and English language was restored in schools to be used as formal education \.

However, with modern education it became important to formalize Odia and English language.

Therefore, this called for commissioning of dictionaries to provide bilingual dictionaries that

could be used for specific schools purposes. Already existing dictionaries underwent

commissioning to allow the inclusion of odia and English language. For instance, an

advertisement in a book prepared for the use of Orissa government schools wrote that it

contained updated words of sancrut origin and definitions to cater for the people common

language (Mishra & Sridhar, 2017). As such, it is safe to say that dictionaries were

commissioned to form a part of a reference material that would help translate textbooks

published in the eighteenth century. Nonetheless, the commissioned dictionaries written in

bilingual language helped the local to read and learn the English language.
 Criteria used to include words in the dictionary

Four major criteria are used to integrate a new word in the dictionary, which includes

evidence, new words, removal of old words and including words in the ELT dictionaries. For

new words to be integrated into the dictionary there should be proof of evidence that is created

with an entry word known as dord. The case of dord highlights that when one writes a dictionary

there should be research evidence that provides practical usage of the word (Lynch, 2004). Thus,

for a word to be inputted in a dictionary, it should have been used regularly and widely. The

criteria were established because early lexicographers relied on their knowledge to include things

that caught their eyes in the dictionary. Thus, this called for vast quantity of evidence where

dictionary makers established if the hard evidence was efficient to include a word in the

dictionary.

Second, new words in the oxford dictionary were integrated when the word fit the

English lexicon. If the editors of the oxford dictionary established that a word was consisted with

the rules of the English lexicon, it was included in the dictionary. More importantly, the word

will be included in oxford dictionary if it has appeared in more than five times in different

sources such as print and media over a five-year period. However, some exceptions are made if

the words are used frequently because the five-year period provides an inconvenient time lag for

a word to be formally recognized in a dictionary.

 Third, dictionary makers use the reading and marking process of sourcing published

material to find out information about new uses of existing words. Other publishers use spell

checkers and apply to new texts to retrieve a list of times that is not included in dictionaries.

Nonetheless, before the new word is added in the dictionary, the editor must ensure that it has

enough citation to indicate that it has been used widely. In addition, dictionaries publishers

monitor the development of English new words by conducting a language research on the

internet and public journals. The publishers gather data from online tests, printed materials,

glossaries and encyclopedia. After retrieving information, the publishers will establish the

frequent occurrence of a particular word to determine its potential inclusion in the dictionary

(Lynch, 2004).

It is worth noting that the main consideration for dictionary publisher use to include a

word in a learners dictionary is the intended use of the dictionary. For instance, an advanced

learners dictionary will contain a broad coverage of words as compared to low-level

dictionaries. For the advanced learners dictionaries, the level of word include will use more

derivatives, idioms and fixed expressions to five a detailed sense of classifications. As such, this

indicates that new words are more likely to be integrated in high level dictionaries because they

have a huge scope an extended coverage as compared to level dictionaries.

Extent the dictionary is either prescriptive or descriptive

Prescriptivism is the enforcement of standard set of rules per an individual or institution.

Prescriptivism in dictionaries outlines the language rules that one should follow in language

usage (Abecassis, 2008). Usually, the prescriptivism dictionaries are traditional and pass down

wisdom to teach people about new terminologies. On the other hand, descriptivism in

lexicographical means the language has a set of behaviors and usage examined by editors.
For instance, language comprises a set of characteristics that is obtained from a study and has an

explanation offered. So in essence, prescriptivism used in dictionaries provides logic and rules

while descriptivists words have no standards as they use expressive words to derive a certain

mood. Thus, American English dictionary that have a historical survey and terms of American

history are largely prescriptivism. For instance, the Webster dictionary (1939), American

heritages (1969) were written in a prescriptive manner to indicate the traditional and liberal way

of English thinkers (Abecassis, 2008). Besides, the prescriptive dictionaries were written for

marketing purposes as they helped translate English language published on texts. For people to

purchase large texts, the dictionaries had to define various terms in the publications to allow the

texts to reach a wider audience. Therefore, the lexicographers analyzed large numbers of

previous texts to understand the written text and learn about new language and words used.

Thereafter, the lexicographers had a responsibility of explaining the texts to folks in dictionaries

to promote an understanding of the written text.

Nonetheless, descriptivist dictionaries use large uses of data that people could use as a

reference material. The dictionaries had an input of panels of experts that provided advice on

language matters to help the lexicographers input acceptable time. Therefore, most words used in

descriptive dictionaries are used to describe common debates to provide meaning and resolve

confusions associated with linguistic behavior. In fact, descriptive language is used to help

provide guidelines for effective language use for modes of speech and writing. For example, the

oxford English dictionary is a descriptivist because it has excellent etymologies, perfect use of

citations and contains comprehensive historical perspectives (Abecassis, 2008).

 In conclusion, prescriptive language use in dictionaries is criticized, as it does not take

into account any stylistic and language changes. Critics feel that prescriptive grammar impose

the norms of conservative people to all English language users. Thus, linguistics feels that this

characteristic of prescriptive grammar exemplifies the specific attitude of language usage. As

such, it is advisable that dictionaries incorporate both descriptive and prescriptive language to

cater for the needs of the new generations that have new languages. Descriptive language plays a

significant role in dictionaries because it provides a description of linguistic structures that will

help enrich utterances of native speakers.

 References

Abecassis, M. (January 01, 2008). The ideology of the perfect dictionary : how efficient can a

dictionary be?. Lexikos, 18, 1-14.

DeMaria, R. (1987). Johnson's dictionary and the language of learning. Chapel Hill: University

of North Carolina Press.

Hitchings, H. (2006). Dr Johnson's dictionary: The extraordinary story of the book that defined

the world. London: John Murray.

In Sridhar, M., & In Mishra, S. (2017). Language policy and education in India: Documents,

contexts and debates Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Johnson, S., & Lynch, J. (2004). Samuel Johnson's dictionary: Selections from the 1755 work

that defined the English language. Londres: Atlantic Books.