John Minsheu (or Minshew) (1560–1627) was an English

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

and lexicographer. John Minsheu

Biography

He was born and died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Little is known about his life. He published some of the earliest dictionaries and grammars of the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the ...

for speakers of English. His major work was the ''Ductor in linguas'' (''Guide into tongues''), an eleven-language dictionary. With his ''Ductor in linguas'' he is also one of the first known inventors of the use of

subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, a ...

as a method of funding publication of a book. He also expanded Richard Percivale's Spanish dictionary.''A Spanish Dictionary''
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Works

* ''Joyful Newes out of the Newe Founde Worlde'' (1577) * ''Spanish Grammar'' (1599) * ''Dictionarie in Spanish and English'' (1599 & 1623), an augmented version of ''Bibliotheca Hispanica'' (1591) by Richard Percyvall (1993 reprint: ) * ''Ductor in linguas'' (''The Guide into Tongues'') (1617) ** including ''Vocabularium Hispanicolatinum et Anglicum copiossissimum'' (''A Most Copious Spanish Dictionarie with Latine and English'') * ''Pleasant and Delightfull Dialogues in Spanish and English'' (1623)

References

Sources

* Jürgen Schäfer, ''John Minsheu: Scholar or Charlatan?'', in '' Renaissance Quarterly'', Vol. 26, No. 1 (Spring, 1973), pp. 23–35.
GIGA Quotes

''Some Notes on the Life and Work of John Minsheu (1560–1627)*'', Vivian Salmon, London
(PDF)

External links

* Example of ttp://digital.tcl.sc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/IOEPP/id/88 a pagefrom 1617 ed. of ''Ductor in Linguas'' 1560 births 1627 deaths Writers from London English lexicographers 16th-century English writers Linguists from England British Hispanists {{UK-linguist-stub