~ S ~
S, Has in English the same hissing sound as in other languages, and unhappily prevails in so many of our words that it produces in the ear of a foreigner a continued sibilation.
In the beginning of words it has invariably its natural and genuine sound: in the middle it is sometimes uttered with a stronger appulse of the tongue to the palate, like z; as rose, roseate, rosy, osier, nosel, resident, busy, business. It sometimes keeps its natural sound; as loose, designation; for which I know not whether any rules can be given.
In the end of monosyllables it is sometimes s, as in this; and sometimes z, as in as, has; and generally where es stands in verbs for eth, as gives. It seems to be established as a rule, that no noun singular should end with s single: therefore in words written with diphthongs, and naturally long, an e is nevertheless added at the end, as goose, house; and where the syllable is short the s is doubled, and was once sse, as ass, anciently asse; wilderness, anciently wildernesse; distress, anciently distresse.
Wonderful, keep up the good work!
Can I help?
Proofreading is a big help. If you notice a transcription error, please contact me.
If time permits, can the words regulate, rule and commerce be added soon? It would be most helpful. Those that discuss the Constitution often reference Johnsons. Thank you.
They have been added:
Regulate
Rule (noun)
Rule (verb active)
Rule (verb neuter)
Commerce (noun)
Commerce (verb)
I am researching the life of George Ord (1781-1886) of Philadelphia, who is said to have contributed many entries to Johnson’s expanded dictionary (as well as Noah Webster’s first dictionary).
How may I find out which and how many entries he provided to Johnson’s dictionary.
Thanks in advance for any help you might provide.
Al,
Johnson died in 1784, when Ord was only 3 years old. Any entries linked to Ord which appeared in “Johnson” dictionaries would have been added by later lexicographers (many of whom linked the title of their dictionary to Johnson merely for marketing purposes). I focus on the original dictionary Johnson produced, so I do not know much about post-Johnson additions.
I was going to suggest looking at the online OED, but I tried searching for George Ord there myself and was unable to find any contributions or sources linked to Ord.
Sorry that I’m unable to provide any further assistance.
Would you be able to transcribe “Indubitable”?
There is a transcription error in the second sentence under the letter “h”. It should read: ‘the h in English is scarcely “ever” mute’; not “every”
Thanks.
Thanks for catching that. It has been fixed both on the “H” entry page and on the alphabet page.
trouble is it takes half an hour to find a word if not yet transcribed, since if you want ‘time’ you go to ‘T’ and then have to turn some 50 pages, one at a time, to get to to ‘time’. Why not allow one to select a page by number?
Mark,
go to “Page View.” Under the title “Page View” and above the image and page number are two drop-down boxes – “Select Section” and “Select Page”. If you wanted to find “time,” for instance, you would select “T” from the first box. This causes the “Select Page” box to be filled in with the pages from the “T” section, enabling you to select “Tillyfally – Time.” Press the “Go” button and that page is loaded.
Do you have a definition of “arms” as in weaponry? This also is significant in interpreting the constitution.
Here it is, newly transcribed from page 159: Arms
I wonder is there was a definition for ‘people’ as in The People…did Johnson define that?
The first of the five definitions under “People (noun)” is “A nation; these who compose a community,” which includes an illustrative quotation from Shakespeare’s Coriolanus: “What is the city but the people? / True the people are the city.” The entry can be found here.
Hi, I was searching for one of the most used words in the 18th century: Nature, but it isn’t here. Can it be added?
I’ve added “Nature”: http://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/?p=15301