OED on CD-ROM



The history of the Oxford English Dictionary (continued)



The New Oxford English Dictionary project



Editorial Processes


During the course of the project, the text of the Dictionary was emended in numerous
ways, over and above the central activity of integrating the matter from the Supplement
into the main OED. Many classes of change were logically necessitated by integration;
others, notably the adoption of the International Phonetic Alphabet and the addition of
new words, were undertaken in order to increase the usefulness of the Dictionary. These
alterations (a detailed explanation of which is given in the foregoing Introduction)
were made during the three main stages by which the new edition was produced: initial
data capture, automatic text processing, and interactive editing.

During initial data capture the chief amendments to the text were: the provision of
transliteration for foreign script where the source text lacked it; the resolution of
hyphenation problems; research on quotations with questionable text or imperfect
citations; and the regularization of individual aberrantly structured entries. Before
automatic text processing began, every main headword and bold subordinate headword in
the OED that required an initial capital was marked by editorial staff and this
information keyed into the computer, enabling the text and cross-references to be
automatically emended. The system itself automatically carried out the conversion of the
ICC tagging system to the generalized mark-up language; the translation of the Murray
phonetic symbols and stress-marks into their IPA equivalents; the addition of a part of
speech or homonym number to headwords no longer unique after integration; and the
adjustment of cross-reference details affected by integration. The correction (by
editors at the screen) of irregularities encountered by the parser was made at this
stage, but corrections to capitalization, cross-references, and the phonetic
transcriptions were made during the third stage. Many problems with the five hundred or
so rarely occurring special characters, detected in the middle stage, were dealt with
then too.

During the stage of interactive integration, galley-proof reading, and correction
checking, the lexicographical group was notably assisted by a wide range of computer
searches, the results of which were furnished on printed reports which could be tailored
into formats of maximum usefulness. Among other matters, these reports covered
unresolved cross-references, erroneous or ambiguous phonetic transcriptions, italicized
phrases with initial capital letters, stray pronunciations that had not been converted
to IPA, and entries with abnormal sense orders and structures. In addition, it was at
this stage that the editorial group entered the addenda and spurious entries from Volume
XII of the OED; the corrections which had been prepared for Volumes I and II of the
Supplement but not inserted in them; and a host of minor corrections assembled on slips
before and during the previous stages of the project. The entries for the twenty-six
letters of the alphabet, and for certain similar two-letter groups, were also given
special attention at this stage, as were many main entries from the Supplement which,
for completeness' sake, required the transfer of portions of text from other (originally
OED) entries. It may be said without exaggeration that the apparently straightforward
task of amalgamating the two texts turned out to have ramifications and implications so
multifarious, protean, and unpredictable that the project team occasionally despaired of
detecting them all; and it is also freely acknowledged that resources sometimes did not
permit them to carry out changes prescribed in the Supplement to quite the extent or
degree implied by the latter. No effort was spared, however, in the attempt to carry out
faithfully both the overt instructions and the implied purport of every one of the
69,372 entries in the Supplement.


The future of the OED


It was recognized at the start of the project that no enhancements of the Dictionary
could be carried out before the texts of the Supplement and the first edition of the OED
had been combined. This amalgamation has been achieved, and the OED now exists in a
second edition. But the English language continues to develop, the requirements of
lexicography continue to change, and, accordingly, work on the OED continues too. The
most important way in which the OED can be updated is by the addition of new words and
senses, and this task is well in hand. Already 5,000 new items have been added to the
second edition, and these can be regarded as an earnest of many more that are in the
course of compilation. It has become very clear to the editors of this edition that
virtually no new item can be added to the Dictionary without repercussions upon the
entries already there. Purely as a result of integration, therefore, many changes have
been made to the text which fall into the category of revision. Then, outside this
sphere, the most important global revision of the text - the replacement of Murray's
phonetic transcription with IPA - has already been achieved (though it could helpfully
be extended, for example by the coverage of non-RP varieties). In short, the revision
and updating of the OED is already well under way.

Much, however, remains to be done. Indeed some parts of the task could never be
completed once for all, but that should be no deterrent from making a start. There is
much in the style of the Dictionary, the punctuation, the capitalization, the
definitional terminology, and the spelling (within entries and even of some headwords)
that calls for modernization. In the cross-reference system, many improvements are
desirable, notably in the citation of variant spellings as headwords and in the more
precise specification of parts of speech, homonym numbers, and sense numbers. In the
etymologies, the varying systems of transcription should be harmonized, the linguistic
nomenclature should be brought up to date, and the results of recent research should be
added. The organization of senses within many entries needs to be rethought. Numerous
scientific and technical definitions need to be brought into line with present-day
knowledge (though the Supplement amended the treatment of many of the most important
terms). Many of the definitions of general vocabulary need to be reworked to take
account of recent technological and social changes. There are a number of references to
countries, currency values, institutions, and persons, which are now anachronistic; and
there are still a few definitions which enshrine social attitudes that are now alien.
The usage and subject labels should be made fully consistent and modernized.

Many current words are illustrated by a latest quotation from the first half of the
nineteenth century, or even earlier, and it is difficult to distinguish them from words
or senses that are now, in fact, disused. Recent examples ought to be supplied for every
sense that is still current. The citation style of many quotations from the original OED
could well be brought up to the standard of consistency of the Supplement (although
improving it would require the rechecking of many thousands of quotations). Earlier
examples exist (in various places) for thousands of words and senses, and these should
be added. The coverage of English before 1700, and at least as far back as 1500, could
be markedly improved. Last, but certainly not least, the coverage of English outside the
United Kingdom needs to be greatly expanded, especially the English of North America,
which is the greatest source of linguistic change, but not neglecting the English of the
many other parts of the world where it is a first or important second language.

Other improvements could be mentioned, but these are the principal aspects of the OED on
which there is work to be done, as most regular users of the Dictionary will recognize,
however greatly they admire it. To these improvements the New OED project team hope to
address their efforts in the coming years, so that the Oxford English Dictionary may
continue to be an accurate and comprehensive register of the whole vocabulary of English.

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