Tom McArthur | |
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Born | 23 August 1938 |
Died | 30 March 2020 (aged 81) |
Nationality | Scottish |
Education | MA, University of Glasgow, 1958; PhD, University of Edinburgh, 1977[1] |
Occupation(s) | linguist, expert on English as a world language, writer, editor |
Notable work | Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English; English Today; Worlds of Reference; Oxford Companion to the English Language; Oxford Guide to World English |
Spouse(s) | Feri Mottahedin (married 1963, died 1993); Jacqueline Lam (married 2001) |
Children | 3 |
Parents |
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Tom McArthur (23 August 1938 – 30 March 2020) was a Scottish linguist,[2] lexicographer, and the founding editor of English Today.[3][4] Among the many books he wrote and edited, he is best known for the Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English,[5] the first thematic monolingual learner's dictionary, which complemented the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English by bringing together sets of words with related meanings,[6] Worlds of Reference,[7][8] as well as the Oxford Guide to World English (2002, paperback 2003).
McArthur's most notable work was The Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992),[9] a 1200-page work with 95 contributors and 70 consultants, which was hailed by The Guardian as a "leviathan of accessible scholarship" and was listed on the Sunday Times bestseller list.[10] He published an abridged edition in 1996 and a concise edition in 1998. A second edition was published in 2018, co-edited with Jacqueline Lam McArthur and Lise Fontaine.[10][11]
McArthur also taught at the University of Exeter's Dictionary Research Centre,[10] which was established in 1984 by Reinhard Hartmann.[citation needed] In 1987 he collaborated with David Crystal to produce an 18-part radio version of a TV series The Story of English for BBC World Service.[10][12] and in 1997 he co-founded the Asian Association for Lexicography.[13] Earlier, he published books about Indian philosophy and the Bhagavad Gita,[14][15] and the languages of Scotland,[16] wrote unpublished novels,[17] served as an officer-instructor in the British Army,[13] taught in Sutton Coldfield and in Bombay Cathedral School, and reported for local newspapers.[10]
McArthur died aged 81 on 30 March 2020.[10]