Re: OT: learning curve (was: a little comparison of procmail and maildrop)
On Fri, Nov 07, 2003 at 02:43:06PM +0100, René Clerc wrote:
> OT: in Holland, we have one dictionary which is authorative. Is
> there one authorative for the English language?
I feel pretty confident in answering, "No," to that question. I
haven't studied languages in university or anything, but as far as I
know, the English language has been in a pretty constant state of flux
since its creation.
As far as authoritative dictionaries for modern English, there are a
couple of choices, which I think David has already pointed out. In
USA, the dictionaries published by the Merriam-Webster company seem to
be the most commonly available. They are reasonably thorough and
precise, but, as David also pointed out, they tend to include many
colloquial and slang terms, as well as degenerate back-constructions.
For a more scholarly and stable authority on English, the British
"Oxford English Dictionary" is a good choice. It is extensive and
widely respected. There are some disadvantages to the OED, though,
one being its immense size. (In print that I estimate to be somewhere
around 4-point type on very thin pages, it fits into two enormous
volumes weighing in at a good 3 kilos each.) Another disadvantage
is that the etymologies, though ample, can be fairly cryptic and
difficult to follow. I've heard that this is a result of the insanity
of the original author, but that may just be a rumor. :^)
Anyway, English is a bastard mutt of a language which defies
specification and is eminently susceptible to mutation. For those who
are interested in extreme mutations of English, I'd recommend reading
_Riddley Walker_ by Russell Hoban, _A Clockwork Orange_ by Anthony
Burgess, and maybe anything by James Joyce (if you're courageous.)
Ciao,
Allister
--
Allister MacLeod <amacleod@xxxxxxxx> | http://amacleod.is-a-geek.org/
Elen síla lúmenn'omentielvo.