Henry Cecil Kennedy Wyld

Henry Cecil Kennedy Wyld (1870–1945) was a significant English lexicographer.

Early life

Kennedy was born in 1870. He studied at Charterhouse from 1883 to 1885. He was privately educated in Lausanne from 1885 to 1888. He studied at the University of Bonn, the University of Heidelberg and Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

Academic career

From 1904 to 1920, he was Baines Professor of English Language and Philology, Liverpool University. He joined the faculty at the University of Oxford in 1920. He remained at the faculty till his death in 1945.

Publication

Kennedy published many papers and books during his career. He published his "Universal Dictionary of the English Language" in 1932.

Honors

Kennedy was awarded British Academy Biennial Prize for contributions to the study of the English Language and Literature in 1932.

Quote

Concerning Standard English, he is remembered for saying, " [it] is spoken by people of corresponding education and cultivation all over the country." ["Teach Yourself Linguistics" by Jean Aitchinson, page 187] , thus suggesting that it is tinged with social prejudice.

Bibliography

*"The teaching of reading in training colleges", 1905

References

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