The Lexicon in Dickens (Book Review‪)‬

Tadao Yamamoto, Growth and system of the language of Dickens: An introduction to a Dickens lexicon. (3rd, revised, edition). Hiroshima: Keisuisha Publishing Company, 2003. Pp. 589. Tadao Yamamoto (1904-91) studied under the tutelage of Dr. Sanki Ichikawa in Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo). He began his teaching career at the Hiroshima Normal College, and after five years, was appointed Assistant Professor at Hiroshima University of Literature and Science (both of which were incorporated into Hiroshima University). In those days his chief concern turned to stylistics as well as syntax. During the dark days of World War II he devoted himself to the studies of Dickens's language, and wrote a doctoral dissertation on the language of Dickens with a special reference to idiomatic expressions, and obtained the degree of Doctor of Literature from the University of Tokyo in 1946, the following after the termination of the War. The dissertation, entitled Growth and system of the language of Dickens: An introduction to a Dickens lexicon, was issued in 1950, and for its excellence the Japan Academy Prize was awarded to him in 1953, the first time it had been won by a scholar of English language and literature. Its outline will be given below.