WEBSTER'S INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10268, 10 February 1899, Page 2

WEBSTER'S INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY.

mm BY PROFESSOR MORRIS. (From the Melbourne "Age." Frequently have I been asked to recommend n dictionary. Of dictionaries, having a love for them and an abundant use, I have gathered a somewhat large collection ; and I have* been guilty of myself producing a dictionary, though in a strictly limited field. These arc probably sufficient reasons for venturing U> prepare a review on a new edition of one of the best known dictionaries »f our language. Webster's Christian name was Noah, and the last editor. Dr. Porter, snjoyed tho sam« curious antediluvian prefix. > Though the dictionary is not quite as old as i the days of the patriarch, it low a tolerably ancient history. The first edition saw the j light in 1828. more than two generations j ago, and editio v have been constantly appearing since. In 1864. at "half time. ' appeared an excellent revised edition, with the etymologies "made in Germany," and very well made, too, by one Dr. Malm, of Berlin. Later English dictionary men, such as Skeat, apeak with praise «»f Malm's Webster; but it does not seem quite right that Knglish etymologies should have to travel so far afield as Berlin, and we may feel thankful that mwudiiys buth England and the United States can prcduce as good work on the subject as DeutschUnd itM-'.f. aye, and better. To all who ask mc to recommend a complete dictionary of the language for a few pounds I have been in the habit of recommending "Webster's International." But it miiv be said, "This is an American book, not an English book, where is your patriotism" I make reply th_t 1 cannot regard Americans as foreigners. We speak one common language, with variations not graiter than are to he found in the language spoken within the British Isles; unci the be.-a American authors vary as little in their use of language from standard English writers, as the latter do amongst each Dlht:'. Iv the*- days we are all rejoicing that the two great "branches of the Anglo-M-xou ruw are drawing closer togetiier. One reason for this, working surely, even it slowly, i« t•■> be found in common language and common reading. We shall not be kepi apart by a mere question of spelling. Some «n the spellings to which strongest objection lias been taken, as "ax" and "center, are regarded by Dr. Murray as the older spelling, so thai the modern English is the variation. Tho authors quoted throughout the dictionary a:o English as much as American, or even more. Web.„er, though it has existed for over 70 yc_ts, is not antiquated, but undergoing a constant process of revision, and is kept up to date in a manner that seems marvellous. Here, for instance, is "Argon," Rayleigh und Ramsay given as the authority. , Here is "Antitoxin. Under "ray" an account is given, of the "Rontgen" or X rays. I find it difficult to see how these changes are introduced. It would ssem as if, whilst the dictionary is being printed, the press were -topped to insert a newly coined word, just as tne printing of a newspaper is suspended on the arrival of important news. No one can deny that Webster is "up to date," to use an expression so useful and necessary that it has censed to be regarded as slang. In this latest edition of Webster what I have called "Austral English" has had more careful attention paid to it than ever before in any complete dictionary of the English language, and with excellent results. It -would be easy for mc to make comments, from which, for obvious reasons, I forbear. Under 'larrikin," a note gives the Dalton story, in defence of which Melbourne men are willing to shed much ink. This is what the American editor adds: "The story lacks confirmation, but the word may not improbably be connected with 'lark,' to frolic, to which indeed the Prov. English iarrick,' lively, careless, and 'larack,' to frolic,, to _omp, are perhaps related." In reviewing so large a work, the question arise- how shall examples be selected. The most famous dictionary of the English Language is that by Dr. Johnson. Boswell, speaking of this, mentions some words as to which objection had been raised to Johnson's definitions, Let us look at these words, and compare what Webster says with what Johnson once said. It will be remembered that a lady asked the doctor why he had defined* "pastern" as the knee of a liorse. Bystanders expected an explosion, or at least a defence. "Ignorance, madam, pure ignorance," was lus candid reply. Webster's definition runs:—"That part of .the foot of ' the horse and allied animals, between the fetlock and the coffin joint." Reference is further given to a picture of the horse with all his parts named.. Johnson's definition of "network," often a source, of merriment, quolad with sportive malignity, isoys Boswell, was "anything reticulated or decussated at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections.' Webster defines it thus:—"A fabric of threads, cords or wives crossing each other ut certain intervals} and knotted or secured at the crossings, thus leaving spaces or meshes between them." Johnson, as in his political reporting, so in his dictionary derivations, contrived that the "Whig dogs should have the worst of it. Thus, Tory is "one who adheres to the ancient constitution of the State and the . apostolic hierarchy of the Church of England," but Whig is "the name of a faction. ' Webster runs:—Tory, "A member of the ' Conservative party as opposed to the progressive party which, was formerly called the Wing, and is now called the Liberal party, an earnest supporter of existing royal and ecclesiastical authority." 'Ihe term Tory is really almost out oi date in English politics, and is only used of the extreme wing of the Conservative party, what in France is known as the extreme right. Webster's note on Whig is too long for quotation, but it is very much to the point. Johnson is well known to have inserted that a pension was "an allowance made to any one without an equivalent. In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a State hireling for treason to bis country.' But the old doctor never showed his sound common sense better than when ho did not parrait this definition to interfere with the prompt acceptance of _ pension when it was offered to him. _uv definition of Excise was tho most vicious, and the Board of Excise actually took legal, opinion as to whether the definition was in the eye ot tho law a libel. Lord Mansfield gave his opinion that it was, but no action was brought—wisely enough---though the gaiety of nations hau been increased thereby. Excise is "a hateful tax levied upon commodities and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but by wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid, in modern times we entertain no violent views against excise. What was new in JohnSon's day has become old now, and nor here nor elsewhere will Webster run any risk of a prosecution for his definition— "An inland duty or impost operating as an indirect tax on the consumer, levied upon certain specified articles, as t____hacco, ale, spirits. Ac, grown or manufactured in the country." Now for a few comments taken at random. It is a common mistake to make the plural of Mussulman as if the last syllable were the English word "man." Webster rightly gives the plural as Mussulmans." A kindred word is Moslem, the plural of which i« Moslems, or, collectively, Moslem. The plural of kangaroo is nob given, aud Australians are hardly agreed whether it should follow sheep or horse. Debacle, made so familiar by Zola's great book on the Franco-Prussian war, is used in English as a geological term —"a breaking or bursting forth, a violent rush or flood of waters, which breaks down opposing barriers, and hurls forward and disperses blocks of stone and other debris." Under the word "change," this half line from Tennyson caught my eye—"down the ringing grooves/ftf change." " Question has often been p_t<»j-r__ace the poet's idea? In the life, published a year ago. the poet's own expl_na_cii is given: "When I went by the fii-JTtriin from Liverpool to Manchester (18,0), I tho ,_,_t that the wheels ran in a groove." Do,vn the ringing grooves ktSie great will _p m for ever, and with the world «be English language. Whether for the better or the wowe, language will Mtange, for nothi" - -",h_et_ in one stay.