Robert Cawdrey's Total Alphabeticall Flashcards
Give me 3 things about the contextual information on the dictionary.
Written in 1604 - first single language English dictionary ever produced.
Listed 3000 words.
Many were difficult, more latinate words that people might not know the meanings of. That derived from foreign or ancient languages (e.g. Hebrew, Greek, Latin or French)
Who was the Intended Audience?
Cawdrey essentially wrote his dictionary for as many people as possible.
At the time, the majority of people couldn’t read or write, so Cawdrey wrote his dictionary in simple, understandable terms in the hopes that it would help more people (not just the gentry and those who could afford tutors) to teach themselves about the English language.
What were the 5 reasons Cawdrey wanted to create the dictionary?
Cawdrey wanted the English language to be “better organised”
In the 16th century, many new words began to enter the English language, which worried Cawdrey as he believe that people would have become confused
Cawdrey wanted the English language to be “better organised”
In the 16th century, many new words began to enter the english language, which worried Cawdrey as he believe that people would have become confused
He had hoped that in producing his dictionary, he would encourage more people (“Ladies, gentlewomen, or any other unskilfull persons”) to learn to read and write ‘properly’
Few girls would have gone to school at this time and only the wealthy could afford a decent education -
Cawdrey’s ‘Alphabeticall’ provided the basic rules of English to those who were willing to learn → his word definitions were not complicated, meaning that the book’s simplicity provided help to those who wished to have a better understanding of books, or learn the ‘correct’ way to spell
Explain if the dictionary holds prescriptivist or descriptivist values?
The simplicity of Cawdrey’s ‘Table Alphabeticall’ provided help for readers who wished to learn the ‘correct way’ of spelling → this shows that Cawdrey believed there was one particular or correct way of spelling words, and therefore pushed this prescriptivist idea in his dictionary
His distaste for “well-to-do gentlemen” using foreign words and fancy phrases within speech implies that he disagreed with the idea that their speech was moving away from their “mothers language”, and developing into something new, showing him to support one type of language use over another - a prescriptivist practice
What were some notable features/contribution to the dictionary?
Simplified word definitions to make dictionaries more accessible to the wider population.
Even though the work itself is important as it is the first collection of its kind, it has never been deemed particularly useful; being only 120 pages long, with only brief (sometimes single-word) definitions, and obscure word choices, it is hard to see it as a useful text
Give me 3 examples of recognisable words.
Abandon
Abolish
Decide
Give me 3 examples of obsolete words and their definitions.
‘Adiunct , an accidental qualiti, or any propert that is not a substance’
Anathema, accursed or giuen ouer to the devil’
Metritoriuos’ that deserueth, or set for advauntage’
Explain how his dictionary links with Standardisation?
His dictionary links with standardisation, as he is enforcing the grammar and definition to his readers according to him and Standard English. Through enforcing, he spreads these forms to his readers so that they can standardised to in knowing what Standard English is.
