147. Why fine lexicographers do not become fine writers except Dr. Johnson? P S Remesh Chandran

147

Why fine lexicographers do not become fine writers except Dr. Johnson?

P. S. Remesh Chandran
 
Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum
 

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We have heard about fine lexicographers and about fine writers but rarely have we heard about fine lexicographers who are also fine writers. One of the rare exemptions to this was Dr. Samuel Johnson. And among the pioneers of lexicography there were a few other such eminent writers as J. R. R. Tolkien, Thomas Dyche, Noah Webster and Nicolas Slonimsky, whose careers remind us that in the beginning it were writers who took up the additional job of collecting words and compiling dictionaries out of need to help themselves and those coming after them. But soon there were no more fine writers among fine lexicographers.

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Take the example of the word lexicographer itself. Why do some writers choose to use the words lexicologist, neologist or etymologist instead? It is not an ‘instead’. It was writers who invented these words or coined them using their native or Greek, Latin, English or French roots, and adding to these roots prefixes or suffixes in front or back or both when their need demanded. Writers created words, not lexicographers. Writers asked no one’s permission before creating words and they didn’t need to ask anyone too. They are licensed to deal licentiously with language. That is their privilege which is to the world’s advantage.

 
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So, unless there are writers and a resulting literature, there will be no lexicographers in a country. From the period when lexicography began in a country or a language, we can roughly arrive at the time when literature began and ripened there, enough to demand the collection, classification and compilation of words not only in their language but in other languages also to warrant the inevitable supply. In this aspect, the history of lexicology is also our guide to when writers and literature originated in those countries, which in itself is a denotation mark of when and where civilization flourished and when and where there were darkness at that time.

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Dictionaries, lexicons, thesauruses and glossaries were in need when the number of writers in a country increased. The time when these compilations came into demand also tells us the time when literature in those countries became ripe. So, we come to conclude that literature became ripe in Greece far earlier than 3rd century BC. 300 years later Ancient Rome made it during the time of Jesus Christ. China also made it even before the same century ended. Egypt and Italy passed that mark in 2nd and 3rd centuries. During the 8th, 9th and 11th centuries (1) Iraq, (2) Japan & Spain, and (3) Turkey & Italy respectively produced their first Arabic, Japanese and Hebrew language thesauruses, lexicons or dictionaries. England and France came up with their first dictionaries in the middle of the 13th century but they were not English or French but Latin and Croatian bilinguals. They had to wait till Germany’s Lithuanian dictionary of 16th century came out, to publish their first English and French dictionaries soon after. But Poland and Turkey also produced theirs during the same time and stole the thunder. Perhaps the Germans did not give their presses. By the middle of the 18th century the English had brought printing to India and by then even this author’s native language of Kerala, Malayalam, also had a comprehensive dictionary thanks to the Germans. By going approximately 300 years back from these time marks, we can deduce the time when literature and writers in these languages and countries took proper form.

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Can lexicographers order writers that they must use such and such words at such and such places for such and such purposes? Then why not they, learned in all these words far better than any writer write books? They lack the main ingredient- imagination and the power to create. When Geoffrey Chaucer thought the word ‘books’ is not sufficient to transfer to the mind of the reader the impression of a heavy load of books a student carries, he simply used the word ‘bookès’. It was plain licentious dealing with language. But who is to question the Father of the English Language? Whatever he used the society accepted and became theirs. Matthew Arnold observed that writers’ such licentious dealing with language is beautiful and what adds richness to language. So now we have a student ‘carrying a set of bookès’. 

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But what will happen if a modern day grammarian sees this? He will immediately look up ‘his bible’ and give the verdict that Geoffrey Chaucer did not know spellings and the proper forms of words! He will try to correct the ‘misspelling’ and spread the word which finally will reach the editor of an ancient printing house who will tell the grammarian that the spelling cannot be corrected and that is what that mark above the ‘è’ is placed there for- for reminding the ‘è’ must be stressed, not left out or removed. So that is why now no lexicographers become writers: they lack the basic ingredients- imagination and the power to create. The first shock to these kinds of grammarians was Robert Browning’s publication of The Grammarian’s Funeral which the world celebrated and laughed a lot over which. 

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More English articles by the author at:  
http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.com/
 
Malayalam articles by the author at:  
http://sahyadrimalayalam.blogspot.in/
 
More political article by the author here:  
http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.com/p/list-of-political-articles.html
 
About the Author P. S. Remesh Chandran:

Editor of Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum. Author of several books in English and in Malayalam. And also author of Swan: The Intelligent Picture Book. Born and brought up in the beautiful village of Nanniyode in the Sahya Mountain Valley in Trivandrum, in Kerala. Father British Council trained English teacher and Mother University educated. Matriculation with distinction and Pre Degree Studies in Science with National Merit Scholarship. Discontinued Diploma studies in Electronics and entered politics. Unmarried and single.

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E-Mail: bloombookstvm@gmail.com
 
Post: P. S. Remesh Chandran, Editor, Sahyadri Books, Trivandrum, Padmalayam, Nanniyode, Pacha Post, Trivandrum- 695562, Kerala State, South India.
 
Tags:

Lexicographer, Lexicologist, Neologist, Etymologist, Lexicology, Lexicons, Dictionaries, Thesauruses, Glossaries, Writers, Words Collection Classification Compilation, Dr Samuel Johnson, Bilinguals, // Noah Webster, Geoffrey Chaucer, Literature, Grammarians, Licentious Language, Greek Latin English French Roots, Prefixes Suffixes,

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