Dictionaries

[yoy]

This may have a really obvious answer but I'm just curious - when did the English language become so standardised? Who commissioned or invested someone with the power to create a dictionary and how did it become official? Are there any laws which protect language? Which was the first country or culture to formalise its language and create a dictionary?

[carolegif]

The English Language first became standardised by Caxton and his printing press. this was the first time a language needed to be standardised and he chose the South East Midlands dialect as his template for the spelling.

Dr Johnson decided that English words needed to be recorded at a time when the vocabulary was increasing at a high rate due to the exploration of the globe and the advances in science. I don't think anyone ordered him to do it.

Language by its very nature changes from outside influences and a good example of this is the rise of American English computer language and also txts.

Hope this helps a bit

carolegif

[pmoor]

Also:

Dictonarys are not offical. Enyone can write one, it is just that certan company's have been accepted as the standard (Most notably the Oxford English dictonary, and there other dictonarys)

As a side note there are no laws stadardising english, but France do have laws protecting French, as the French government felt that there was to much English creeping into there language.