Oxford English Dictionary 2014
Former Oxford Dictionary editor secretly deleted Indian
words: book
An eminent former editor of the Oxford English Dictionary
attempted to rewrite it by deleting thousands of words with foreign roots, including those of Indian-origin,
a new book claims.
Robert Burchfield deleted words like 'balisaur', a badger-like animal from India, 'Danchi', a Bengali plant and 'boviander', the name in British Guyana for a person of mixed race living on the river banks.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is now re-examining words removed by Burchfield who edited the world respected dictionary during the 70s and 80s and who died in 2004 aged 81.
Sarah Ogilvie, also a former OED editor, in her new book 'Words of the World' reveals how Burchfield started a rumour that his earlier editors were inward-looking anglocentrics, when in fact the opposite was true.
After investigating Burchfield's rumours she discovered they were unfounded and that he was actually responsible for the deletion of words such as 'shape', meaning a Tibetan
Robert Burchfield deleted words like 'balisaur', a badger-like animal from India, 'Danchi', a Bengali plant and 'boviander', the name in British Guyana for a person of mixed race living on the river banks.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is now re-examining words removed by Burchfield who edited the world respected dictionary during the 70s and 80s and who died in 2004 aged 81.
Sarah Ogilvie, also a former OED editor, in her new book 'Words of the World' reveals how Burchfield started a rumour that his earlier editors were inward-looking anglocentrics, when in fact the opposite was true.
After investigating Burchfield's rumours she discovered they were unfounded and that he was actually responsible for the deletion of words such as 'shape', meaning a Tibetan
councillor and 'wake-up', a golden-winged woodpecker.
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