Preface to a Dictionary of the English Language

Preface to a Dictionary of the English Language

Samuel Johnson, english writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer (1709-1784)


This ebook presents «Preface to a Dictionary of the English Language», from Samuel Johnson. A dynamic table of contents enables to jump directly to the chapter selected.


Table of Contents

- About This Book

- Preface To A Dictionary Of The English Language

- In Adjusting The Orthography, Which Has Been To This Time Unsettled And Fortuitous, I Found It Necessary To Distinguish Those Irregularities That Are Inherent In Our Tongue, And Perhaps Coeval With It, From Others Which The Ignorance Or Negligence Of Later Writers Has Produced. Every Language Has Its Anomalies, Which, Though Inconvenient, And In Themselves Once Unnecessary, Must Be Tolerated Among The Imperfections Of Human Things, And Which Require Only To Be Registered, That They May Not Be Increased, And Ascertained, That They May Not Be Confounded: But Every Language Has Likewise Its Improprieties And Absurdities, Which It Is The Duty Of The Lexicographer To Correct Or Proscribe.