Jamieson's Dictionary of Scots: the story of the first historical dictionary of the Scots language

Rennie, S. (2012) Jamieson's Dictionary of Scots: the story of the first historical dictionary of the Scots language. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK. ISBN 9780199639403 (doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199639403.001.0001)

Abstract

John Jamieson’s Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808) was the first complete dictionary of Scots and is a landmark in the development of historical lexicography. This book is the first full‐scale study of Jamieson’s work on both the Dictionary and the later Supplement of 1825. Using Jamieson’s correspondence and surviving manuscript sources, it traces the evolution of the Dictionary project, from Jamieson’s early linguistic fieldwork to the production and promotion of the Dictionary over twenty years later. It discusses Jamieson’s editorial methods and examines in detail the content of the Dictionary, highlighting Jamieson’s pioneering of the historical method, as well as his innovative use of contemporary and popular sources. It also reveals how Jamieson continually revised and updated his text, aided by a growing number of contributors and specialist consultants – among them Sir Walter Scott – and describes how his work was supplemented by later editors, ensuring that the Dictionary dominated Scots lexicography for over a century, providing inspiration to generations of creative writers, as well as source material for the major historical dictionaries of English and Scots that were to follow.

• Item Type: Books
• Additional Information: Shortlisted for the Saltire Society Scottish Research Book of the Year 2012.
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Rennie, Dr Susan
• Authors: Rennie, S.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Language and Linguistics
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISBN: 9780199639403