Folk defining in monolingual English learners’ dictionaries

Part IV. The Modern World: Missionary and Subsequent Traditions 
Unlike the previous sections, which primarily tackle the emergence and consolidation of 
different lexicographies over time, Part IV focuses on the expansion of pre-existing 
lexicography practices through the work conducted by missionaries overseas.
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The following 
are the articles included in Part IV: ‘Missionary Traditions in South America’ and ‘Missionary 
Traditions in Mesoamerica,’ by Otto Zwartjes; ‘Missionary and Subsequent Traditions in North 
America,’ by Willem de Reuse; ‘Missionary Traditions in East Asia,’ also by Otto Zwartes; 
‘European Traditions in India and Indonesia,’ by Toon van Hal; ‘Missionary and Subsequent 
Traditions in Africa,’ by Gonçalo Fernandes; and ‘Missionary and Other Traditions in 
Australia,’ by William B. McGregor. Part IV once again highlights the willingness of 
The 
Cambridge WHL
to be as comprehensive and inclusive as possible. Even though world 
lexicographies were already consolidated by this period, their expansion overseas and 
subsequent contact with the rich local languages and cultures had a profound impact on their 
format and delivery (among other characteristics). This last section, thus, is undoubtedly rich, 
not only in terms of the history of lexicography, but also with regards to its potential 
sociolinguistic and even anthropological underpinnings. 
Commonalities are frequently found across territories. Initially, lexicography adopts a 
paramount role in assisting missionaries with their learning of native languages, which would 
constitute a first step in enabling communication between Europeans and locals. In ‘Missionary 
Traditions in South America,’ Zwartjes specifically mentions that ‘the target readers of these 
missionary language tools were missionaries who had come from Europe and who had not yet 
mastered the relevant local language, or missionaries who had already acquired some basic 
knowledge of a local language and wanted to improve their skills’ (p. 560). It is within this 
context that the Dominican friar Domingo de Santo Tomás compiled his famous 
Lexicón, o 
Vocabulario de la lengua general del Perú
(1560), typically considered the founder of 
‘missionary lexicography in South America’ (p. 555). Regarding the sources of these overseas 
lexicographic works, these typically referred to European prior publications
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(in many cases 
these works were actually published in Europe; see pp. 560–563), and in some cases included 
a grammatical appendix (e.g. 
Arte y vocabulario en la lengua general del Perú
, 1586; p. 561). 
Some of these dictionaries would intrinsically intertwine with evangelisation efforts of the local 
communities (e.g. 1583–1584 
Doctrina Christiana y catecismo
, p. 565; for protestant 
lexicography in North America, see pp. 602–604). A recurring takeaway from the articles in 
Part IV is that the missionaries did not appear to have agreed-upon, unified criteria regarding 

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the markedness of language varieties (e.g. diatopical vs. diastratical), citation forms, 
organizational principles, or content. This also applies to glottonyms themselves, many of 
which would today be perceived as inaccurate (e.g. Luis de Valdivia refers to Mapuche as, 
simply, ‘the language of Chile’ (originally in Spanish, 
lengua de Chile
). However, a trend is 
seen in that lexicographic tools eventually become more systematic (usually containing the 
‘trilogy of dictionary, grammar, and catechism’; p. 593) and, thus, increasingly suitable to fulfil 
pedagogical purposes.
It may be relevant to remember that some of the overseas civilisations had already 
developed their own lexicographic techniques well prior to the arrival of the missionaries. In 
these cases, accommodation efforts were needed (e.g. for India, see pp. 643–646). In Africa, an 
especially complex situation is found in its linguistic wealth and the diversity in missionaries 
themselves. These missionaries (who were typically speakers of Portuguese, English, French, 
or German) were not only European, but there were also some Americans among them. 
Although the linguistic landscape of Africa surely becomes challenging when it comes to 
synthesising it in a single chapter, Gonçalo Fernandes appears to be highly successful in 
obtaining an understandable, comprehensive picture through his careful presentation of the 
main African languages and language families in the context of missionary lexicography. Also, 
Fernandes takes the opportunity to point in the direction of next steps in the research conducted 
in connection with underrepresented communities or aspects (e.g. when he mentions that ‘the 
oldest Bantu vocabulary is still a manuscript waiting for—and deserving—a critical edition’—
p. 681). Along the same lines, William B. McGregor presents the reality of missionary 
lexicography in Australia, in which ‘prior to contact with Europeans, some 400 languages were 
indigenous to this region’ (p. 682). According to McGregor, ‘missionaries arguably made the 
most significant contributions to the lexicography of indigenous languages in Australia and the 
Pacific until modern times. In overall terms, perhaps, they made more substantial contributions 
to lexicography than to grammatical description of the languages—though they also made 
important contributions to grammatical description’ (p. 682). An interesting characteristic 
highlighted by McGregor is that ‘aboriginal people themselves became […] actively involved 
in compiling dictionaries and producing definitions’ (p. 687). Such compilations are especially 
valuable in areas like Australia, where many of the aboriginal languages ‘are highly endangered 
or moribund’ (p. 705). 

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10 
3. Closing remarks 
The volume reviewed guides the reader through the fascinating world history of lexicography. 
Even though the