The Language of Thieves and Vagabonds : 17th and 18th Century Canting Lexicography in England / Maurizio Gotti.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gotti, Maurizio, author.

Series:

Lexicographica. Series Maior

Lexicographica. Series Maior ; 94

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cant--England--History--17th century.

Cant.

Cant--England--History--18th century.

Thieves--England--Language--History.

Thieves.

Rogues and vagabonds--England--Language--History.

Rogues and vagabonds.

English language--Early modern, 1500-1700--Lexicography.

English language.

English language--18th century--Lexicography.

English language--Early modern, 1500-1700--Slang.

English language--18th century--Slang.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (165 p.)

Edition:

Reprint 2012

Place of Publication:

Tübingen : Max Niemeyer Verlag, [2012]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The object of the volume is the analysis of the main dictionaries and glossaries of the canting language (the particular jargon spoken by thieves and vagabonds) that appeared in the 17th and 18th centuries. The scholars' attention has mostly concentrated on the earliest publications - particulary those appearing in the Elizabethan period -, while relatively little research has investigated subsequent canting dictionaries and glossaries. The aim of the present volume is to fill this gap. The main works on canting published in the 17th and 18th centuries are analysed in chapters 3 to 10. The first two chapters provide a necessary introduction to the investigation carried out in the subsequent sections, examining the great increase in the numbers of vagabonds and criminals in England in that period from a sociohistorical perspective and reviewing the 16th-century English literature about the underworld. The subsequent eight chapters give a detailed analysis of the main works on canting which appeared in the second part of the 17th century and during the whole of the 18th century. The specific features of each publication are identified, as well as the method adopted by its author in the compilation of his dictionary/glossary and the most likely sources of its entries, in order to determine the degree of novelty and relevance that his contribution has brought to this field. The final chapter deals with the evolution in the meaning of the term 'cant' itself in the period taken into consideration.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1. The English Underworld in the 16th-18th Centuries

Chapter 2. Early Canting Literature

Chapter 3. The New Canting Terms Reported by Richard Head

Chapter 4. The Canting Terms of Coles' Dictionary

Chapter 5. Β.E.'s Innovative Approach

Chapter 6. The Canting Component of The Ladies Dictionary

Chapter 7. Alexander Smith's Thieves New Canting Dictionary

Chapter 8. Lexical Additions in A New Canting Dictionary

Chapter 9. John Poulter's Canting Expressions

Chapter 10. Francis Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Chapter 11. The Evolution of the Concept of Cant in the 17th and 18th Centuries

Appendices

Bibliography

Summaries

Indexes

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [137]-140) and indexes.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9783110924404

3110924404

OCLC:

922946907