Editing Dictionary (section)

===Prescriptive vs. descriptive===
Lexicographers apply two basic philosophies to the defining of words: [[Prescription and description|''prescriptive'' or ''descriptive'']]. [[Noah Webster]], intent on forging a distinct identity for the American language, altered spellings and accentuated differences in meaning and pronunciation of some words. This is why [[American English]] now uses the spelling ''color'' while the rest of the English-speaking world prefers ''colour''. (Similarly, [[British English]] subsequently underwent a few spelling changes that did not affect American English; see further at [[American and British English spelling differences]].)<ref name="Benson2002">{{cite book|author=Phil Benson|title=Ethnocentrism and the English Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WeuW7oy7-58C&pg=PA8|year=2002|publisher=Taylor & Francis|pages=8–11|isbn=9780203205716}}</ref>

Large 20th-century dictionaries such as the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (OED) and ''[[Webster's Third New International Dictionary|Webster's Third]]'' are descriptive, and attempt to describe the actual use of words. Most dictionaries of English now apply the descriptive method to a word's definition, and then, outside of the definition itself, provide information alerting readers to attitudes which may influence their choices on words often considered vulgar, offensive, erroneous, or easily confused.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade|author2=Wim van der Wurff|title=Current Issues in Late Modern English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x91EUnnWwR8C&pg=PA41|year=2009|publisher=Peter Lang|pages=41–42|isbn=9783039116607}}</ref> ''[[Merriam-Webster]]'' is subtle, only adding italicized notations such as, ''sometimes offensive'' or ''stand'' (nonstandard). ''[[American Heritage Dictionary|American Heritage]]'' goes further, discussing issues separately in numerous "usage notes." ''[[Encarta Webster's Dictionary|Encarta]]'' provides similar notes, but is more prescriptive, offering warnings and admonitions against the use of certain words considered by many to be offensive or illiterate, such as, "an offensive term for..." or "a taboo term meaning...".

Because of the widespread use of dictionaries in schools, and their acceptance by many as language authorities, their treatment of the language does affect usage to some degree, with even the most descriptive dictionaries providing conservative continuity. In the long run, however, the meanings of words in English are primarily determined by usage, and the language is being changed and created every day.<ref>Ned Halley, ''The Wordsworth Dictionary of Modern English Grammar'' (2005), p. 84</ref> As [[Jorge Luis Borges]] says in the prologue to "El otro, el mismo": "''It is often forgotten that (dictionaries) are artificial repositories, put together well after the languages they define. The roots of language are irrational and of a magical nature.''"

Sometimes the same dictionary can be descriptive in some domains and prescriptive in others. For example, according to [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]], the ''Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary'' is "at war with itself": whereas its coverage (lexical items) and glosses (definitions) are descriptive and colloquial, its [[Niqqud|vocalization]] is prescriptive. This internal conflict results in absurd sentences such as ''hi taharóg otí kshetiré me asíti lamkhonít'' (she'll tear me apart when she sees what I've done to the car). Whereas ''hi taharóg otí'', literally 'she will kill me', is colloquial, ''me'' (a variant of ''ma'' 'what') is archaic, resulting in a combination that is unutterable in real life.<ref>[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, Ghil'ad]] (1999). [http://www.professorzuckermann.com/review-of-the-oxford-english-hebrew- Review of the Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011063925/http://www.professorzuckermann.com/review-of-the-oxford-english-hebrew- |date=11 October 2016 }}, ''[[International Journal of Lexicography]]'' 12.4, pp. 325-346.</ref>