Department of English

Topic: Lexical Research; Scholars are remarkably nave about lexical resources from dictionaries to corpora. Sometimes, reading explanatory notes in an edition of some text, Ill come across discussion of a words history or historical meaning thats -- how shall I put this? -- wrong, and I think, Where did this editor learn how to do lexical research? I suppose the editor didnt, and thats the potentially missing research skill this practicum addresses. In fact, there are many opportunities to write about words besides editorial footnotes, and members of this course will practice a couple of them, with an eye to publication. First, well consider lexical resources; lexical evidence and how to assess it; and how to identify lexical problems worth writing about. Naturally, youll be asked to identify a lexical problem and write about it in a short article (1-7 pages) -- a note of the kind published in Notes & Queries -- due towards the middle of the term. Then, well consider how to write glossaries, why we write them, what sorts of research underlies them, and how best to represent that research to various audiences and to various scholarly effects. Naturally, youll be asked to write a specimen of a glossary, which might prove the basis of a more ambitious project you pursue after our course is over. Counts for the English research skills requirement. Instructor: Michael Adams