约翰逊《英语词典》的语文性与专科性——基于植物名词条目的研究

A Case Study of Philological and Special Style in Defining the Plant Nouns in Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language(1755)

《英语词典》(1755)是约翰逊博士独立编纂完成的,该词典承袭了西方语言文学研究传统,开启了现代英语词典编纂先河。本文抽样选取一定数量的常用植物名词,分析其词条结构、释义格式、引证选配,以期对《英语词典》及其语文性有一个更加全面和客观的认知。研究发现,《英语词典》在继承西方自苏格拉底传承下来的词语定义范式基础上,通过以"引证代释义"的隐性释义方式,将同时代菲利普·米勒《园艺词典》(1731)的科学研究成就"纳为己有",实现了语文释义与专科释义的"有机"统一。这从一个侧面也反映出整部词典所表征的知识体系能够代表该时代的物质和文明成果。

Dr. Samuel Johnson＇ s Dictionary of the English Language （1755） has long been recognized as an inheritance of the Western tradition of philology and literature, and Dr Johnson, the initiator of modern English lexicography. This study sampled some common plant noun entries from the Dictionary and examined their entry structures, definition formats, and selection and allocation of citations. A more comprehensive and objective picture is thus gained on the philological nature of the dictionary. This study finds that in definition the Dictionary adopted Miller＇ s definitions of plants as citations from his Gardner＇ s Dictionary. This policy of adoption has successfully united the philological and special knowledge of definition in one entry. Such a unity of definition and citation has also made it possible for the Dictionary to have embraced the remarkable achievements of literature and scientific studies of the time.