Logomacy
Between logomachy and logomancy . . .

I was reading this on the train up to Providence, and back. I figure that in about eight pretty solid hours of reading I managed to get almost all the way through…two chapters. And I used to pride myself on being a fast reader. I was never bored, but man is that a dense book. And at over 1700 pages, I suspect that Huddleston and Pullum are quite correct in supposing that not many people are going to sit down and read it cover to cover. Maybe if we ever actually launch a manned voyage to Mars…
I’m not sure that I can summarize it. In fact, I’m sure that I can’t. But I can relate one or two things that were new to me, and struck me as highly interesting:

I’m quite impressed with the simplification of lexical verbs into six inflectional forms: preterite, present 3d singular, present plain, plain form, gerund-participle, and past participle.
What syncretism has joined, let no fossilized paradigm put asunder!

Also, the classification of former contractions as negative forms of auxiliary verbs was novel to me, but makes sense. When I described this to some of my friends they were skeptical (except about “won’t” because of the obvious shift), but came around when presented with the non-expandable examples such as “Don’t you think that it’s true?” or “Can’t you see her?”

In general, I really liked the approach that they take, explaining in detail exactly what considerations led them to the decisions that they made, and giving copious examples. The writing, while dense, and often technical, is quite clear and I appreciate the flashes of humor. If only it weren’t such a workout to lug it around, I probably would make the attempt to read it cover to cover.

Old English in the OED - June 2002 Newsletter - Oxford English Dictionary

The revision of Old English material in the Third Edition will be thoroughgoing. Every single Old English quotation, whether already in OED or newly added, is being checked against the most recent reliable edition of the text, with new bibliographical details and additional context being given where appropriate. Dating of quotations has been radically revised, with NED’s assumed composition dates replaced by a simple threefold division of all pre-1150 quotations into ‘early OE’ (up to 950), ‘OE’ (950-1100), and ‘late OE’ (1100-1150), based firmly on manuscript dates as agreed by the most recent scholarship.

I’m thinking of ponying up for an individual subscription to the online edition as my holiday present to me this year. It’s spendy ($295), but oh-so-tempting.

Since reading the Professor and the Madman got me interested, I’ve been perusing the OED Newsletter. One interesting item:

J. R. R. Tolkien & the OED - June 2002 Newsletter - Oxford English Dictionary

Amid all the publicity surrounding this year’s release of the film of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, it has occasionally been mentioned that Tolkien was an English professor. What is rather less well known is that in 1919 and 1920, at the very start of his career, Tolkien worked on the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary; he later said of this time that he ‘learned more in those two years than in any other equal period of my life’.