In Words in Time and Place, David Crystal has taken the Historical
Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary and excerpted fifteen terms
from it to demonstrate the volume's usefulness as well as how intriguing
the book is. The project to create the HTOED began in the
mid-1960s and took forty years to come to fruition. The purpose of
the larger book is to help track the linguistic changes and additions to
words over the span of centuries.
Following a brief introduction, in which he explains, the concept,
Crystal turns his attention to the first of the words he has excerpted,
looking at synonyms for "dying." To help illustrate the
variety of words, before ever tackling the HTOED entries, Crystal
quotes from Monty Python's 1969 "Parrot Sketch," in which an
irate John Cleese is trying to return a dead bird to shopkeeper Michael
Palin, running through a litany of synonyms for death. Crystal's own
exploration of synonyms begins with the ninth century King Alfred's use of
the words swelt and forswelt, proceeding through common
phrases such as "giving up the ghost" and archaic terms, such as
disperish.
The strength of Crystal's collection is not the simple listing of
words, but his inclusion of source material, noting when a phrase was
widespread or when it had only a single use, and explaining how the terms
fit into the larger scheme of things. Words which seem to no longer
have any connection to the key word Crystal is discussing, can often be
shown to have a link in a round-about away, often through other
euphemisms. For instance, while “miscarry” currently refers to the
death of a fetus, Crystal points out that when it was first used in the
late fourteenth century, it could apply to any death. Other words are
better known through alternate forms.
While “refection” dates to the fifteenth century as a term for
a meal, it mostly remains in modern usage as “refectory.” Crystal
repeats the same format for all of the terms he is exploring.
Although the main purpose of Words in Time and Place is to track
the linguistic changes as euphemisms are piled on euphemism and loan words
are brought into the English language, the book serves another important
purpose: entertainment. Crystal's descriptions of words and
their explanations are interesting in their own right as they expand the
readers vocabulary and understanding of our language, often with the
introduction of archaic and dead words and phrases. While it is
conceivable that a reader could get the same information from the HTOED,
at two large volumes and a nearly $500 price tag, it is far less
accessible to the average and casual reader than Words in Time and
Place.
In addition to tracking words through time, Crystal
is also aware of words used in a limited geographic range.
He notes that the thirteenth century word “cang” was only use
in the West of England. Its
definition is known because while the phrase “old cang” appears in one
copy of the Ancrene Riwle, the
phrase appears as “ald fol” in an alternative text. In Yorkshire, the
term “rabbit” was used as a curse, which, of course, says something
about the culture of the region.
Crystal provides an interesting look at the changes of language over the
years, providing a context for the archaic words he discusses as well as
an etymology for more common words. Although
the book can be read straight through, it can also be dipped into at
random, although Crystal’s introductions to each section provide a
useful and educational basis for his discussion of terms.
