A Guide to the Oxford English Dictionary

By Donna Lee Berg

Book Overview

In a recent review of the Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM, Library Journal called the accompanying booklet, a brief guide to the OED, a "work of art." Now, this work of art has been expanded and enhanced to a full-length book, A Guide to the Oxford English Dictionary. Here Donna Lee Berg has provided a fascinating source of general information about the OED as well as a detailed account of the conventions and organization of the dictionary text, specially designed to enhance the reader's enjoyment and understanding of this incomparable work. This lively volume is the first to provide an in-depth account of the structure of the OED: it gives an analysis of the components of a typical entry, and covers special entries, such as acronyms, abbreviations, and proper names. In addition, a fascinating A-Z companion section covers grammatical terms, languages, the history of the Dictionary, the individuals who have shaped it, and a host of other topics. Also included are a bibliography, a chronology of the OED, and a listing of key facts and figures about the Dictionary. The Guide will be an invaluable handbook for everyone who relies on the OED, a roadmap to the greatest dictionary ever compiled.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198691793
• ISBN13: 9780198691792
• Release Date: August 1993
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

The only way to get everything out of your OED

If you bought a 20-volume dictionary, you'd expect you'd need a guidebook, wouldn't you? Well, this is it. This book contains clear explanations of all of the conventions used in the Oxford English Dictionary. There are plenty of examples to illustrate all the intricacies that go into documenting the language, and each example is carefully chosen to best show-off the dictionary and acquaint the casual reader/peruser thereof. The second half of the book is a an "A-Z Companion" to the OED, which is interesting reading in and of itself. It took me a while to find a copy of this out-of-print book at a reasonable price, but it was well worth the wait and it improves the cost performance of my dictionary exponentially. If you have the big OED, you need this small OED guide.

Very Helpful

This book is a very nice supplement to the 20 volume OED. It has 2 main parts:"Part One is a step-by-step guide to understanding the kinds of information found in, and the conventions of, typical OED entries, including pronunciation, word origins, grammatical function; the organization of historical changes of meaning; and the role of the many illustrative quotations.""Part Two is an A-Z Companion to the OED, covering its history, the individuals who have shaped it, its terminology and methods, and a wealth of fascinating facts and figures."There is also a 7 page chronology of the OED, a facts and figures section, and a bibliography.

Indispensible guide for the new OED user

I had the compact edition of the first edition of the OED for several years, but I rarely used it. The print was pretty small, but the main reason was that I apparently didn't understand the arrangement scheme and methods employed by the OED. I bought this guide recently, just to see if I was missing anything crucial. It cleared up my understanding in so many ways; I was persuaded to buy the full 20 volume set of the 2nd edition. I recommend this book to anyone who uses the OED or is thinking about using it, and wants to use it to its fullest capacity.