oe_clarkhall - 0006.htm

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

THE first edition of this dictionary having been exhausted, it has
been extensively revised, and certain new features and alterations
have been introduced into it.

1. The principle of arranging all words according to their actual
spelling has been to a considerable extent abandoned. It was
admittedly an unscientific one, and opened the door to a good many
errors and inconsistencies. The head form in this edition may be
either a normalised form or one which actually occurs.

2. Words beginning with ge- have been distributed among the
letters of the alphabet which follow that prefix, and the sign + has
been employed instead of ge- in order to make the break in alpha-
betical continuity as little apparent to the eye as possible. The sign
± has been used where a word occurs both with and without the prefix.

3. References to Cook's translation of Sievers' Anglo-Saxon
Grammar, and to the Grammatical Introduction to Sweet's Reader
have been taken out, as Wright's or Wyatt's Old English Grammar
will have taken their place with most English students.

4. A new feature which, it is hoped, will prove widely useful, is
the introduction of references to all, or nearly all, the headings in the
New English Dictionary under which quotations from Anglo-Saxon
texts are to be found. A vast mass of valuable information as to the
etymology, meaning and occurrence of Old English words is contained
in that Dictionary, but is to a very large extent overlooked because it
is to be found under the head of words which are now obsolete, so thafc
unless one happens to know what was the last form which they had in
Middle English, one does not know how to get at it. This information
wOl be made readily available by the references in the present work,
which will form a practically complete index to the Anglo-Saxon
material in the larger dictionary and will at the same time put the
student on the track of interesting Middle English examples of the use
of Old English words. Besides directing the reader (by means of
quotation marks) to the heading in the New English Dictionary where
the relevant matter may be found, an indication has been given of the



		PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION THE first edition of this dictionary having been exhausted, it has been extensively revised, and certain new features and alterations have been introduced into it. 1. The principle of arranging all words according to their actual spelling has been to a considerable extent abandoned. It was admittedly an unscientific one, and opened the door to a good many errors and inconsistencies. The head form in this edition may be either a normalised form or one which actually occurs. 2. Words beginning with ge- have been distributed among the letters of the alphabet which follow that prefix, and the sign + has been employed instead of ge- in order to make the break in alpha- betical continuity as little apparent to the eye as possible. The sign ± has been used where a word occurs both with and without the prefix. 3. References to Cook's translation of Sievers' Anglo-Saxon Grammar, and to the Grammatical Introduction to Sweet's Reader have been taken out, as Wright's or Wyatt's Old English Grammar will have taken their place with most English students. 4. A new feature which, it is hoped, will prove widely useful, is the introduction of references to all, or nearly all, the headings in the New English Dictionary under which quotations from Anglo-Saxon texts are to be found. A vast mass of valuable information as to the etymology, meaning and occurrence of Old English words is contained in that Dictionary, but is to a very large extent overlooked because it is to be found under the head of words which are now obsolete, so thafc unless one happens to know what was the last form which they had in Middle English, one does not know how to get at it. This information wOl be made readily available by the references in the present work, which will form a practically complete index to the Anglo-Saxon material in the larger dictionary and will at the same time put the student on the track of interesting Middle English examples of the use of Old English words. Besides directing the reader (by means of quotation marks) to the heading in the New English Dictionary where the relevant matter may be found, an indication has been given of the