“Prescriptivism and 18th-century Bilingual Dictionaries. William Perry’s The Standard French and English Pronouncing Dictionary (1795)”

The role of eighteenth-century pronouncing dictionaries in prescribing norms for a “correct” and “proper” pronunciation has been largely analysed (see, for example, Sheldon 1946, Beal 1999 and 2004, Mugglestone 2003) and the works of some mainstream phoneticians/lexicographers, such as Sheridan (1780) and Walker (1791), studied in depth. In recent times, due attention has been also paid to non-mainstream, ‘provincial’ authors such as William Perry’s The Royal Standard English Dictionary (1775) and The Standard French and English Pronouncing Dictionary (1795). Following Cormier and Herberto’s study (2004), Perry’s bilingual dictionary is analysed in order to see to what extent it followed Boyer’s influential work (1699) or was influenced by the new prescriptive attitude of the time.