Dr. Johnson and the American Vocabulary

Dr. Johnson and the American Vocabulary L Richard W. Bailey The University of Michigan "n November-December 1754, three anonymous essays appeared .in The World, all of them looking on the completion ofjohnson's Dictionary with eagerness and affirmation. The first two were written by Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth Earl of Chesterfield, and dealt mainly with the "authority" of a dictionary to improve the language. They are famous because they elicited a querulous letter from Johnson in which he alleged that Chesterfield should have provided financial support for his work and had not done so. Later published in Boswell's Life ofJohnson, the letter came to be seen as a milestone in the evolution from patronage in support ofscholarly works to support from commercial publishers who could hope to profit from the books they commissioned and sold. The third of the essays published in The World was written by Richard Owen Cambridge, a boulevardier and man ofletters, then at work on a history of the British in India (never completed). Chesterfield had suggested, in jest, that a "small supplemental dictionary" might be produced that would contain the words in use among the bon ton. Cambridge began his essay by agreeing that a "neological dictionary" might be published as an appendix to each year's almanac to capture new words. Cambridge's idea was more expansive than Chesterfield's and pointed to new terms in use in discussing the "East Indies." In his list, he included joss, pagoda, pafonquin, nabob, mandarin, junk, and sepoy. If he had expectedJohnson to have included these words, he would be disappointed when the Dictionary finally appeared in April 1755. Of them only junk 'a small ship of China' would appear. Johnson supposed it was a word from India; junk is now believed to be from Malaya, reaching English through Portuguese and Dutch. Dictionaries:Journal ofthe Dictionary Society ofNorth America 30 (2009), 130—135 __________________Dr. Johnson and the American Vocabulary131 Cambridge then turned his attention to the Americas, reproducing what he claimed to be an extract from a letter "from one of our colonies." Doubtless he fabricated it in order to display a dense thicket of Americanisms: The Chippeways an Orundaks are still very troublesome. Last week they scalped one of the Indians: but the Six Nations continue firm; and at a meeting of Sachems it was determined to lake up the hatchet, and make the war-kettle boil The French desired to smoak the. calumet ofpeace; but the half-king would not consent. They offered the speech-belt, but it was refused. Out governor has received an account of their proceedings, together with a string ofwampam, and a bundle ofskins to brighten the cliain (The World, n. 102 [December 12. 1755]). Cambridge speculated that "? guide to the New English tongue" would have a great sale. But if he had imagined thatJohnson would include words like these, he would have been disappointed. Nonetheless it is worth asking what words of American origin appeared in the Dictionary and whereJohnson might have obtained information about them. The foundational document forJohnson's dictionary was Nathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionarium Britannicum, a substantial and excellent reference work that was reprinted in abridgements throughout the eighteenth century. In fact Bailey's work outsold Johnson's until it ceased to be published and Johnson's fame increased with the publication of Boswell's Life in 1791. Like Johnson, Bailey was a somewhat eccentric definer, but he showed a definite interest in American words. Among the Americanisms Bailey defined were these: AcouiY, [in America] a little Beast of the Shape and Size of a Rabbet , which has no more than two Teeth in eachjaw, and feeds like a Squirrel. But is a fierce Greature, and when irritated, will stamp with its Hind Feet, and erect its Hair. [Modern English agouti] Assapa'nick, a little creature in America, a sort of flying Squirrel. Boicini'nga, an Animal [in America] call'd the Ratde Snake, whose [b]ite is deadly, except a speedy Remedy be applied. GlJCHOV'os, A Fly in America, which shines in the Night so brightly that Travellers are said to be able to travel, read or write by its Light. Ja...