Assignment 5 – The Dictionary

Read the descriptions of the procedures Johnson followed in compiling his dictionary in Macarthur and in Johnson’s Preface. How might the procedures have been different if he had had modern technologies at his disposal—a networked computer, substantial corpora of online literature and texts, and so forth. Can the entire procedure of lexicography be crowd-sourced, à la the Urban Dictionary? Do you think we still require professional lexicographers?

Answer some of these questions in no more than 500 words.

Due: 2/24, 5:00 PM. Submit answer on bSpace assignment page.

For questions about the length or style of the essay, review the assignment guidelines.
  • answer the questions (a page or less)
  • provide citations (page numbers are fine if you’re referencing an assigned reading)
  • proofread your answer