| CHWP B.11 | Siemens, "Lexicographical Method in Cawdrey" |
As is stated on the title page of the Table Alphabeticall, Cawdrey's interest was in defining "hard vsual English wordes" (1604: A1r). By defining hard words, Cawdrey meant to deal with "any kind of word, old or new -- even proper names, which might present difficulties in understanding" (Schäfer 1970: 34), and not simply neologisms and inkhorn terms. In doing so, he defines almost exclusively open-class, or content, words[11] for his intended audience of "vnskilful persons", those who may not be able to understand some less commonly used words "which they shall heare or read in Scriptures, Sermons, or else where" (1609: A1r).
In his four editions, he provides in excess of 3,200 distinct definitions, covering more than 3,300 words.[12] Chiefly, Cawdrey's hard words are nouns; he provides 1,579 nominal definitions, including present participles which function as nouns. He also defines 826 adjectives, including past participles which function as adjectives, 795 lexical verbs, and 29 other words, which include 23 adverbs, four interjections, one preposition (maugre), and one pronoun (whilke) (figure 4).[13] Generally, his headwords are lemmatized; all but two percent (68) of all definitions follow a headword which is reduced to its lemma form, and these exceptions include 66 plural nouns, one ordinal noun, and one lexical verb in the first person singular.[14]
Cawdrey's definitions are also predominantly brief. In the 1604 edition, for example, three-quarters of definitions are made up of less than one short line of text, and some one-third are defined with three words or less. His most frequent method of definition is to provide a synonym or a number of synonyms, at times separated by a conjunction, an infinitive marker (to) and an infinitive verb, or a determiner (or adjective) followed by a noun. Of all his definitions, 1,171 words conform to these basic patterns.[15]
However, the remaining set of Cawdrey's definitions, some two-thirds of the total, are of a more complex style. In definitions of nouns, most common is a single synonym, occurring 245 times, and two single synonyms, occurring 145 times. Aside from the basic synonymic pattern of definition, he employs 607 unique repeating phrases which form two other common definition structures.[17] The first, which builds on the nominal-centred definitive method, employs adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions; these number 440.
In the second, a pattern which is repeated 28 times, Cawdrey employs verbal phrases to define nouns.[18]
In defining verbs, Cawdrey employs 355 distinct repeating phrases, and the most frequent entries include a single synonymic lexical verb (83) or two of them (34). In addition to these simple definitions, Cawdrey employs two other patterns. The first, occurring 148 times, is strictly verbal and resembles synonymical definition except that it includes adverbs and prepositions.
The second, repeated 136 times, includes adjectives and simple nominal phrases.
Cawdrey defines his adjectives with a total of 378 distinctly different repeating lexical sequences, and his most common definition consists of a single synonym (95) or two synonyms (91). His method of definition is best described as composing two distinct groups. The first has its basis in the synonymic method but introduces adverbs (34), noun phrases (114), and verb phrases (17) to add further information.
The second group, which is much less frequent (33), are not so obviously synonymical; rather, they are centred upon phrases beginning with relational pronouns, such as that or that which; see below:
[Return to table of contents] [Continue]
[18] The legend to the above representation, and those following, is as below:
For purposes of simplification, any phrase centred on the noun is treated as a Noun Phrase.