ABSTRACT

This unique work challenges the assumption that dictionaries act as objective records of our language, and instead argues that the English dictionary is a fundamentally ethnocentric work. Using theoretical, historical and empirical analyses, Phil Benson shows how English dictionaries have filtered knowledge through predominantly Anglo-American perspectives. The book includes a major case study of the most recent edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and its treatment of China.

chapter |7 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|16 pages

Dictionaries and theories of language

chapter 2|19 pages

The semiotics of the dictionary

chapter 3|18 pages

The centre–periphery metaphor in action

chapter 5|22 pages

From Johnson to the OED

chapter 7|12 pages

China in the OED: the wordlist

chapter 9|15 pages

China in the OED: definitions

chapter 10|27 pages

China in the OED: quotations

chapter 11|6 pages

Conclusion