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Article published In: Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 9:1/2 (1982) ► pp.121–133

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Benjamin martin the linguist

 | Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden
Published online: 1 January 1982
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https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.9.1-2.07tie
Summary
Benjamin Martin (1704–82) was a versatile character whose interests and abilities were varied and wide-spread; moreover, he was reasonably successful in practically everything he undertook. However, in a biography by John R. Millburn, Benjamin Martin: Author, Instrument-maker, and ‘Country Showman’ (Leyden, 1976), his linguistic career is not treated as fully as it might have been. In a period of almost 20 years (1748–66) Martin published one dictionary and two works on English grammar, all of which were later reprinted. Towards the end of his linguistic career he was still regarded as an authority on matters of lexicography, and his three works on language are discussed in several modern works on the history of linguistics. This paper, therefore, aims at completing the picture drawn by Millburn as far as Martin’s linguistic work is concerned but it also accounts for certain aspects about his workson language that have so far remained unexplained.
Résumé
Benjamin Martin (1704–1792) fut un homme de caractère versatile, aux intérêts et compétences divers et étendus; il parvint d’ailleurs à un succès notable dans presque tout ce qu’il entreprit. Cependant, la biographie de John R. Millburn, Benjamin Martin: Author, Instrument-maker, and ‘Country Showman’ (Leyden, 1976) n’accorde pas à sa carrière linguistique toute l’ampleur qu’elle mériterait. Sur une période de près de vingt années (1748–1766), Martin publia un dictionnaire et deux ouvrages sur la grammaires anglaise, tous réédités par la suite. Vers la fin de sa carrière linguistique, on le considérait toujours comme une autorité en matière de lexicographie et ses trois ouvrages linguistiques font l’objet de discussion dans plusieurs ouvrages modernes traitant de l’histoire de la linguistique. Le présent article vise donc à compléter le portrait tracé par Millburn en ce qui concerne l’oeuvre linguistique de Martin; mais il rend compte aussi de certains aspects touchant à ses ouvrages linguistiques et qui n’ont pas encore été bien expliqués jusqu’ici.
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Percy, Carol
2018. Interview with Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade. Journal of English Linguistics 46:4 ► pp. 320 ff. DOI logo

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