MEDIACOM-RELEASE-OXFORD-UNIVERSITY-PRESS
120 YEARS AFTER JAMES MURRAY'S APPEAL FOR WORDS FOR THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, OXFORD AGAIN SAYS TO
ENGLISH-SPEAKERS WORLDWIDE: YOUR LANGUAGE NEEDS YOU! TO NEWS EDITOR:
LONDON, UK, July 29, 1999/TTNN-AsiaNet/ --John Simpson, Chief Editor, Oxford English Dictionary 'I invite readers to
contribute to the development of the Dictionary by adding to our record of English throughout the world. Everyone can
play a part in recording the history of the English language and in helping to enhance the Oxford English Dictionary.'
120 years ago, James Murray, original editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, launched an 'Appeal to the
English-Speaking and English-Reading Public' of Great Britain, America and the British Colonies for new words for the
Dictionary. The appeal proved that dictionary-making is an exception to most fields of scholarship - anyone can make a
valuable contribution. From Minnesota to Melbourne, scholars and readers came to Murray's aid. Without their help, the
Dictionary would never have been published. Since that time, many more people - of all ages and from all walks of life -
have made valuable contributions to the Dictionary.
Now, Murray's appeal is being relaunched to mark one of the most important events of the start of the new millennium -
the creation of a record of the English language like no other.
Lexicographers at Oxford University Press are now engaged upon the huge task of completely revising the Oxford English
Dictionary by 2010. The first complete revision in its history, it is projected to cost 35 million. In March 2000,
Oxford will take a big step towards that goal by publishing the Oxford English Dictionary ONLINE, which will incorporate
at least 1,000 new and revised entries every quarter.
John Simpson: 'There is no longer one English - there are many Englishes. Words are flooding into the language from all
corners of the world. Only a dictionary the size of the Oxford English Dictionary can adequately capture the true
richness of the English language throughout its history, and the developments in world English. When the online edition
is launched, I would be delighted to have many new contributors helping us to map the past, present, and future of
English.'
ENDS....
MEDIA RELEASE FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS