Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion [Paperback]

David Crystal (Author), Ben Crystal (Author), Stanley Wells (Preface)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0140291172 | ISBN-13: 978-0140291179 | Publication Date: December 31, 2002

A vital resource for scholars, students and actors, this book contains glosses and quotes for over 14,000 words that could be misunderstood by or are unknown to a modern audience. Displayed panels look at such areas of Shakespeare's language as greetings, swear-words and terms of address. Plot summaries are included for all Shakespeare's plays and on the facing page is a unique diagrammatic representation of the relationships within each play.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The main lexical references for Shakespeare scholars in the twentieth century were first Alexander Schmidt's two-volume Shakespeare Lexicon (1874) and later C. T. Onions' Shakespeare Glossary, which appeared in 1911 and was revised by Onions in 1919. A further revision in 1986, by Robert D. Eagleson, kept Onions in print but failed, to some extent, to satisfy scholars. The new Shakespeare's Words seems likely to fill the void created by the superannuated Onions.

Using the New Penguin Shakespeare as their text, the editors, linguist David Crystal and his actor son Ben Crystal, first collected all of the "problem" words flagged by the Penguin editors and then scoured the plays and sonnets for additional "difficult" words--especially words that are no longer current or that have developed a different sense since Shakespeare's time. After a few further additions, their entries totaled 21,263 under 13,626 headwords.

Rather than defining a word by listing a single near synonym, the Crystals decided that a system called lexical triangulation would better reflect the complexity of Shakespeare's language. Most entries have three glosses, each providing a slightly different slant. For example, englut is glossed as "swallow up, gulp down, devour." Each entry includes part of speech, an illustrative quotation (with text and context identified), and selected references to other occurrences. Sidebars contain brief tutorials on address forms, money, weapons, and more.

Readers newly acquainted with Shakespeare will benefit greatly by browsing through the Crystals' list of 100 frequently encountered words, which are accompanied by more illustrative quotations than are provided elsewhere. Other useful features are a chronology, plot synopses, diagrams illustrating interactions of characters, and 16 appendixes providing brief definitions for historical people, places, foreign terms, and other vocabulary not found in the A-Z section.

This is a most ambitious work that will be of immense value to student and scholar alike, a worthy successor to the landmark volumes that preceded it. Recommended for large public and academic libraries. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

A fresh look at the vocabulary of Shakespeare's poems and plays including a glossary of nearly 14,000 words and meanings. Ideal for aficionados and amateurs alike, either as a quick reference or as a basis for in-depth research. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 676 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (December 31, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140291172
• ISBN-13: 978-0140291179
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 7.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Books & Reading > Reference
  • #45 in Books > Education & Reference > Quotations
  • #97 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Criticism & Theory

More About the Author

David Crystal is honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has written or edited over 100 books and published numerous articles for scholarly, professional, and general readerships, in fields ranging from forensic linguistics and ELT to the liturgy and Shakespeare. His many books include Words, Words, Words (OUP 2006) and The Fight for English (OUP 2006).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Shakespeare Reference, May 20, 2005

By 

John R. Bridell (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion (Paperback)

This book is the very, very, very best Shakespeare Reference that I've come across. It is everything that it was cracked up to be. I wish that I had this source available 50 years ago.

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensible, December 1, 2006

By 

Polymath-In-Training (Olive Branch, MS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion (Paperback)

Other than a good edition of the plays, this is the one reference that you absolutely must have. It has tremendously enhanced my reading of the plays. I no longer have to wonder or guess what a word means. I believe that it was linguist John McWhorter who pointed out in one of his books that some of Shakespeare's words have changed meanings over the centuries; some of the words don't seem to fit into the context because they meant something different then. Crytal's book clear all that up. Whenever I look up a word, I jot down its meaning in the play. This makes reading and rereading simpler and better.

Add to this the Arden complete plays, a fine edition and cheap in paperback, and Margaret Garber's Shakespeare After All, a readable scholarly introduction to each of the plays, and you have an inexpensive trio of books that are really all you need to enjoy reading the plays.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By Saint Charity -- What a great reference!, December 28, 2006

By 

Jean E. Pouliot (Newburyport, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion (Paperback)

What an awesome idea! To put into one place definitions for the hard-to-understand Elizabethan English that one runs into in Shakepeare! Whether it be "prithee" or "forsooth" or "prating mountebank," the dictionary will help give the Shakespeare novice or pro the information needed to decipher the Bard's often-complex writing.

In addition, there are frequent collections of definitions that gather together words in a single theme -- say, words related to politeness, or swear words. These colections give the reader a chance to compare many words of the same genre and gain even more insights into Elizabethan usage.

The defintions are somewhat sparse, but that's probably necessary given the sheer volume of words being defined. However, each word references the play or play in which it it used.

Marry! -- that is to say, "By Mary!" -- a wonderful accompaniment to anyone interested in Shakespeare!