Synthesized answer
The passages describe "Hobson-Jobson" as "A GLOSSARY OF COLLOQUIAL ANGLO-INDIAN WORDS AND PHRASES AND OF KINDRED TERMS" [5], [1]. The original conception of the glossary was to cover words that "recur constantly in the daily intercourse of the English in India, either as expressing ideas really not provided for by our mother-tongue, or supposed by the speakers (often quite erroneously) to express something not capable of just denotation by any English term" [3]. These words were often "Oriental words highly assimilated, perhaps by vulgar lips, to the English vernacular" [4].
The provided passages do not detail what kind of modern "colloquialisms and kindred terms" stemming from global interactions or specific subcultures might warrant a similar glossary if the principles were applied to contemporary English, nor do they discuss the unique challenges that would arise in compiling such a glossary today. They focus on the historical context and purpose of the original "Hobson-Jobson" glossary related to Anglo-Indian interactions [1], [3], [4], [5].
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
dem est; VOCEM sic semper eandem Esse, sed in varias doceo migrare figuras." Ovid. Metamorph. xv. 169-172 (adapt.). "... Take this as a good fare-well draught of English-Indian liquor ."— Purchas , To the Reader ( before Terry's Relation of East India), ii. 1463 (misprinted 1464). "Nec dubitamus multa esse quae et nos praeterierint. Homines enim sumus, et occupati officiis; subsicivisque temporibus ista curamus."— C. Plinii Secundi , Hist. Nat. Praefatio, ad Vespasianum . "Haec, si displicui, fuerint solatia nobis: Haec fuerint nobis praemia, si placui." Martialis , Epigr. II. xci.…
Vocabularies of Indian and other foreign words, in use among Europeans in the East, have not unfrequently been printed. Several of the old travellers have attached the like to their narratives; whilst the prolonged excitement created in England, a hundred years since, by the impeachment of Hastings and kindred matters, led to the publication of several glossaries as independent works; and a good many others have been published in later days. At the end of this Introduction will be found a list of those which have come under my notice, and this might no doubt be largely added to. Of modern…
e to affect its distinctive character, in which something has been aimed at differing in form from any work known to us. In its original conception it was intended to deal with all that class of words which, not in general pertaining to the technicalities of administration, recur constantly in the daily intercourse of the English in India, either as expressing ideas really not provided for by our mother-tongue, or supposed by the speakers (often quite erroneously) to express something not capable of just denotation by any English term. A certain percentage of such words have been carried to…
which has been given to this book (not without the expressed assent of my collaborator), doubtless requires explanation. A valued friend of the present writer many years ago published a book, of great acumen and considerable originality, which he called Three Essays , with no Author's name; and the resulting amount of circulation was such as might have been expected. It was remarked at the time by another friend that if the volume had been entitled A Book, by a Chap , it would have found a much larger body of readers. It seemed to me that A Glossary or A Vocabulary would be equally…
← Hobson-Jobson ( 1903 ) by Henry Yule and Arthur Burnell A → 2629965 Hobson-Jobson 1903 Henry Yule and Arthur Burnell [ A ] - [ B ] - [ C ] - [ D ] - [ E ] - [ F ] - [ G ] - [ H ] - [ I ] - [ J ] - [ K ] - [ L ] - [ M ] - [ N ] - [ O ] - [ P ] - [ Q ] - [ R ] - [ S ] - [ T ] - [ U ] - [ V ] - [ W ] - [ X ] - [ Y ] - [ Z ] A GLOSSARY OF ANGLO-INDIAN COLLOQUIAL WORDS AND PHRASES AND OF KINDRED TERMS ["Wee have forbidden the severall Factoryes from wrighting words in this languadge and refrayned itt our selves, though in bookes of coppies we feare there are many which by wante of tyme for…
More questions about this book
- How would you explain the core linguistic problem that the "Hobson-Jobson" glossary aims to address, as if you were teaching someone unfamiliar with the concept of language borrowing and transformation?
- The various historical quotes lament the unintelligibility or mixed nature of language. How do these diverse perspectives, from 17th-century merchants to ancient philosophers, collectively justify the significant "laboris opus" undertaken by Yule and Burnell in compiling a glossary like "Hobson-Jobson"?
- Ovid's adapted quote suggests language is fluid but retains its essence, like wax taking new forms. How does this view reconcile with or challenge the concerns expressed by the Surat Factors and R. Verstegan regarding the perceived degradation or confusion caused by the influx of "foreign" words?
- Beyond simply defining words, what deeper insights into cultural exchange, historical power dynamics, or the very nature of language itself can be gleaned from the specific examples and overall purpose of a glossary like "Hobson-Jobson"?