Tom McArthur (linguist)
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Thomas Burns McArthur (23 August 1938 – 30 March 2020) was a Scottish
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
,
lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...
, and the founding editor of '' English Today''. Among the many books he wrote and edited, he is best known for the ''Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English'' (the first ''thematic'' monolingual learner's dictionary, which complemented the '' Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English'' by bringing together sets of words with related meanings); ''Worlds of Reference''; and the ''Oxford Guide to World English'' (2002, paperback 2003). McArthur's most notable work was '' The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992), a 1200-page work with 95 contributors and 70 consultants. It was hailed by ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' as a "leviathan of accessible scholarship" and was listed on the '' Sunday Times'' bestseller list. He published an abridged edition in 1996 and a concise edition in 1998. A second edition was published in 2018, co-edited with Jacqueline Lam McArthur and Lise Fontaine. Besides writing and editing books, McArthur also taught at the
University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...
's Dictionary Research Centre. In 1987 he collaborated with
David Crystal David Crystal, (born 6 July 1941) is a British linguist who works on the linguistics of the English language. Crystal studied English at University College London and has lectured at Bangor University and the University of Reading. He was aw ...
to produce an 18-part radio version of a TV series ''The Story of English'' for BBC World Service, and in 1997 he co-founded the Asian Association for Lexicography. Earlier in life, he had served as an officer-instructor in the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
, taught at a secondary school in
Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...
(where he was also part-time reporter for the local newspaper), and later at the Cathedral School in Bombay. He published books about Indian philosophy and the ''
Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...
'', researched and wrote about the languages of Scotland, and penned several unpublished novels. McArthur died at age 81 on 30 March 2020.


Appointments

* Lecturer and Director of Studies at Extra Mural English Language Courses,
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
* 1979–1983: Associate Professor of English, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada * 1987–2000: Visiting Professor, Dictionary Research Centre,
University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...
* 2001: Visiting Professor,
Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...
,
Lingnan University Lingnan University a public research university located in Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong. Lingnan University has 3 faculties, 3 Schools, 16 departments, 2 language centres, and 2 units (science and music), offering 29 degree honours ...
,
Xiamen University Xiamen University (XMU; ) is a public university in Siming, Xiamen, Siming, Xiamen, Fujian, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Pro ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McArthur, Tom Academics of the University of Exeter 20th-century British linguists 1938 births 2020 deaths