Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. Vol. 1. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 24)
Geoff Barnbrook: From description to prescription and back again
more information, especially on restrictions of operation of meanings, continues as the hard word dictionary develops. Alongside the increase in size of entries there is also a steady increase in the " total numbers of words included, from around 3,000 in Cawdrey to 25,000 in Coles, who also includes dialect words, but no pretence is made to cover the more usual words of the language. Most modern monolingual dictionaries are more comprehensive, and J.K.'s A New English Dictionary (1702), which covers about 28,000 words, is one of the first to attempt this development. 3.2 Comprehensive Dictionaries The title page of A New English Dictionary (K[ersey], 1702) explicitly draws attention to the extent of its departure from the hard words tradition: A New English Dictionary: Or, a Compleat Collection Of the Most Proper and Significant Words, Commonly used in the Language; With a Short and Clear Exposition of Difficult Words and Terms of Art. The whole digested into Alphabetical Order; and chiefly designed for the benefit of Young Scholars, Tradesmen, Artificers, and the Female Sex, who would learn to spell truely; being so fitted to every Capacity, that it may be a continual help to all that want an Instructor' Starnes & Noyes (1991, p.71) refer to the fusion attempted in J.K.'s work between the spelling and grammar books, with their lists of ordinary words, usually without definition, and the dictionary, with its treatment only of hard words. The improvement of spelling is the main declared aim of this dictionary, and even the brief summary on the title page makes clear the difference between the treatment of hard words, which are given a 'Short and Clear Exposition', and the 'Compleat Collection Of the Most Proper and Significant Words, Commonly used in the Language'. The common words in the dictionary are often simply listed, as in a spelling book, although attempts are made to put them in a useful and informative context, as with these examples taken from the first two pages: A-board, as a-board a Ship Above, as above an Hour About, as about Noon 18
