About a generation ago Mr. Matthew Arnold twitted our nation
with the fact that "the journeyman work of literature" was much
better done in France--the books of reference, the biographical
dictionaries, and the translations from the classics. He did
not especially mention dictionaries of the language, because he
was speaking in praise of academies, and, as far as France is
concerned, the great achievement in that line is Littre and not
the Academy's Dictionary. But the reproach has now been rolled
away--<i>nous avons change tout cela</i>--and in every branch
to which Arnold alluded our journeyman work is quite equal to
anything in France.
It is generally allowed that a vast improvement has taken place
in translations, whether prose or verse. From quarter to
quarter the <i>Dictionary of National Biography</i> continues
its stately progress. But the noblest monument of English
scholarship is <i>The New English Dictionary on Historical
Principles</i>, founded mainly on the materials collected by
the Philological Society, edited by Dr. James Murray, and
published at the cost of the University of Oxford. The name
<i>New</i> will, however, be unsuitable long before the
Dictionary is out of date. Its right name is the <i>Oxford
English Dictionary</i> (`O.E.D.'). That great dictionary is
built up out of quotations specially gathered for it from
English books of all kinds and all periods; and Dr. Murray
several years ago invited assistance from this end of the world
for words and uses of words peculiar to Australasia, or to
parts of it. In answer to his call I began to collect; but
instances of words must be noted as one comes across them, and
of course they do not occur in alphabetical order. The work
took time, and when my parcel of quotations had grown into a
considerable heap, it occurred to me that the collection, if a
little further trouble were expended upon it, might first enjoy
an independent existence. Various friends kindly contributed
more quotations: and this Book is the result.
In January 1892, having the honour to be President of the
Section of "Literature and the Fine Arts" at the Hobart Meeting
of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science,
I alluded to Dr. Murray's request:
A body like this Section, composed of men from different parts
of scattered colonies, might render valuable help in organising
the work of collecting authorities for our various peculiar
words and usages. Twenty or thirty men and women, each
undertaking to read certain books with the new dictionary in
mind, and to note in a prescribed fashion what is peculiar,
could accomplish all that is needed. Something has been done
in Melbourne, but the Colonies have different words and uses of
words, and this work is of a kind which might well extend
beyond the bounds of a single city. At first it may seem as if
our words were few, as if in the hundred years of Australian
life few special usages have arisen; but a man with a
philological turn of mind, who notes what he hears, will soon
find the list grow. Some philologers speak, not perhaps very
satisfactorily, of being "at the fountains of language": we can
all of us testify to the birth of some words within our own
memory, but the origin of these, if not noted, will in time be
lost. There are many other words which the strictest cannot
condemn as slang, though even slang, being the speech of the
people, is not undeserving of some scientific study; words, for
instance, which have come into the language from the
Aborigines, and names of animals, shrubs, and flowers. It
might even be possible, with sufficient co-operation, to
produce an Australian dictionary on the same lines as the
<i>New English Dictionary</i> by way of supplement to it.
Organisation might make the labour light, whilst for many it
would from its very nature prove a pleasant task.
These suggestions were not carried out. Individuals sent
quotations to Oxford, but no organisation was established to
make the collection systematic or complete, and at the next
meeting of the Association the Section had ceased to exist,
or at least had doffed its literary character.
At a somewhat later date, Messrs. Funk and Wagnall of New York
invited me to join an "Advisory Committee on disputed spelling
and pronunciation." That firm was then preparing its
<i>Standard Dictionary</i>, and one part of the scheme was to
obtain opinions as to usage from various parts of the
English-speaking world, especially from those whose function it
is to teach the English Language. Subsequently, at my own
suggestion, the firm appointed me to take charge of the
Australian terms in their Dictionary, and I forwarded a certain
number of words and phrases in use in Australia. But the
accident of the letter A, for Australian, coming early in the
alphabet gives my name a higher place than it deserves on the
published list of those co-operating in the production of this
<i>Standard Dictionary</i>; for with my present knowledge I see
that my contribution was lamentably incomplete. Moreover, I
joined the Editorial Corps too late to be of real use. Only
the final proofs were sent to me, and although my corrections
were reported to New York without delay, they arrived too late
for any alterations to be effected before the sheets went to
press. This took the heart out of my work for that Dictionary.
For its modernness, for many of its lexicographical features,
and for its splendid illustrations, I entertain a cordial
admiration for the book, and I greatly regret the unworthiness
of my share in it. It is quite evident that others had
contributed Australasian words, and I must confess I hardly
like to be held responsible for some of their statements. For
instance--
"<i>Aabec</i>. An Australian medicinal bark said to promote
perspiration."
I have never heard of it, and my ignorance is shared by the
greatest Australian botanist, the Baron von Mueller.
"<i>Beauregarde</i>. The Zebra grass-parrakeet of Australia.
From F. beau, regarde. See BEAU n. and REGARD."
As a matter of fact, the name is altered out of recognition,
but really comes from the aboriginal <i>budgery</i>, good, and
<i>gar</i>, parrot.
"<i>Imou-pine</i>. A large New Zealand tree. . . . called
<i>red pine</i> by the colonists and <i>rimu</i> by the
natives."
I can find no trace of the spelling "Imou." In a circular to
New Zealand newspapers I asked whether it was a known variant.
The <i>New Zealand Herald</i> made answer--"He may be sure that
the good American dictionary has made a misprint. It was
scarcely worth the Professor's while to take notice of mere
examples of pakeha ignorance of Maori."
"Swagman. [Slang, Austral.] 1. A dealer in cheap trinkets, etc.
2. A swagger."
In twenty-two years of residence in Australia, I have never heard
the former sense.
"<i>Taihoa</i>. [Anglo-Tasmanian.] No hurry; wait."
The word is Maori, and Maori is the language of New Zealand, not
of Tasmania.
These examples, I know, are not fair specimens of the accuracy
of the Standard Dictionary, but they serve as indications of
the necessity for a special book on Australasian English.