This book complements and advances the traditional scholarship on the history of English. It is about the role of different forms of colonization and related ideologies in its diversification. It also discusses the consequences of its appropriation by practitioners of different cultures and its indigenization into their own language.
The book features a comprehensive exploration of lexicography, divided into several thematic sections. It begins with an introduction and contextualizes culture through various contributions discussing the interplay between dictionaries and cultural constructs, including insights from Yiddish sources and literary allusions in French. The historical context of lexicography is examined, highlighting Mesoamerican and Chinese lexicography, as well as the influence of French dictionaries. Subsequent sections address the ideological underpinnings of language use, with discussions on political influences in Spanish dictionaries, Soviet lexicography, and biases in Italian thesauri. The theme of pluricentricity and ethnocentricism is explored through analyses of biases in English dictionaries and the ideologies reflected in Korean lexicography. The book also delves into the dynamics of language change versus prescriptivism, emphasizing the learner's perspective in dictionary usage. It addresses the structuring of semantics, ethical issues in lexicography, and biases that may arise from cultural contexts. Finally, it examines terminology across cultures, with a focus on Amharic lexicography and grammatical indications in Chinese dictionaries. The afterword discusses future directions and challenges in the field, providing a multifaceted view of the role of dictionaries in cultural and linguistic landscapes.