Cassell's German & English Dictionary [antikvár]

FOREWORD A cordial welcome must be extended to the new édition of the familiar old 'Breul' which had recently shown some signs of advanced age. Completely revised by an English scholar with a thorough knowledge of the German language, this dictionary can now once again take its traditional place among the great dictionaries. Dictionaries arranged alphabetically will always remain indispensable, notwithstanding the fact that modern linguistics is increasingly con-cerned with the organic structure of language according to subject and substance. Nor can alphabetical dictionaries ever be superseded as auxiliaries in the task of interpreting one civilization and one nation to another. For the greater part of the German people as well as for a growing number of English-speaking peoples, the English and German languages are, more than ever before, the main pillars of the bridge leading to mutual understanding. This bridge must be kept in constant repair. To-day many fresh demands are made upon the compiler of a dictionary. It is no longer enough that he should be fully conversant with the present-day standard of the language. He must not merely bring the vocabulary up to date nor must he confine himself to the définition of a word as such, but he has to take into account its meaning within a given context and its idiomatic variations. This aspect of the language as a living organism has particularly been borne in mind in the present dictionary, which should prove a veritable mine of information for English and German readers alike. Careful notice has also been taken of those subdivisions of speech which of recent years have claimed the attention of philologists, such as the colloquialisms used within certain social groups (family, school, etc.), and the vernacular of professions and trades (nautical speech, printers' jargon, etc.). Serious attention has been given to the extent to which the standard language is continually being enriched by words and idioms assimilated from the various dialects. To all these concerns of modem linguistics Cassell's Dictionary has been responsive. Ample space has been given to regional and vocational terms, familiar turns of speech, and even slang expressions. But the new 'Betteridge' does not only serve the everyday require-ments of ordinary speech; it is equally helpful to the translater grappling with serious literature, the learner and student of the language, the modern-language master, and the scientist. It is to be hoped that this dictionary will find its way to the shelves of all those who in their various ways can be expected to benefit from its riches. gerhard cordes