You may think that English dictionaries have been used for many, many centuries. The spelling of English has always been a problem, but it was more of a problem in the days before a dictionary. In those days people spelt words in different ways which you might find interesting. But it made reading English much more difficult. So dictionaries were invented to encourage everybody to spell the same. In fact, an English dictionary like the kind you use today wasn't made until the time of the Qing Dynasty.
The largest dictionary in the world is the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED for short. The idea for this dictionary came from an important meeting in Britain in 1857. Twenty-two years later, Oxford University asked James Murray to be the editor of its new dictionary.
Murray had not been to college. At the age of fourteen, he left his village school in Scotland and taught himself while working in a bank. Later he became a great teacher. After Oxford gave him the job, Murray had a place built in the garden behind his house to do his work. Part of it was one metre underground. In winter he had to wear a heavy coat and put his feet in a box to keep warm. Every morning, Murray got out of bed at five o'clock and worked several hours before breakfast. Often he would work by candle light into the evening.
Murray hoped to finish the new dictionary in ten years. But after five years, he was still adding words for the letter A! Then others went to work with Murray, and his two daughters were among them. He worked on the dictionary until he was very old. Forty-four years later, in 1928, other editors finished it. It had more than 15,000 words in twelve books. And you thought your English dictionary was big!
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Notes on James Murray's life |
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Murray's early life |
Born in Scotland. He left school at 14 and became a worker, later a great teacher. |
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Murray's work on OED |
He became the editor of OED in the year . His working were bad: —he worked in a part-underground place in the garden his house —in winter it was terribly cold there —he often worked by candle light into the evening The time he spent on OED was much than expected. Later others and his two daughters him. |
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Other information |
OED was finished in the year 1928. It had over 15,000 in twelve books. It is the dictionary in the world. Thanks to it, people can in the same way. For Murray, working on a dictionary wasn't only a ; it was a wonderful journey. |
