The first known woman lexicographer was the Abbess Herrad in the 12th century, while the first in English appears to have been Sam Johnson's friend Mrs Hester Thrale or Piozzi (with her British Synonymy in 1794). There were never many, right into our own century, but nowadays it is no longer unusual to find women in controlling positions in the world of lexicography. Tom McArthur interviews two such women among the words: ELIZABETH KIRKPATRICK, in Edinburgh, Scotland, and DELLA SUMMERS in Harlow, England.

Third in our series on the literatures of English around the world: Canada's response to a dual European heritage, to the closeness of the United States, and to its own inner tensions.

What happens when people translate ‘works of literature’? Do we lose more than we gain whenever a text is rendered from one language into another, or is accessibility in any form better than no translation at all?

Lee W Huebner, Publisher of the International Herald Tribune, answers some questions about his Paris-based newspaper's aims, history, organization, distribution and style, as well as its claim to be ‘the global newspaper’ for a select cosmopolitan clientele.

What do we understand nowadays by the traditional phrase ‘English literature’? Is it the literature of England and England alone, or of the whole British Isles when English is used, or does it cover the literature of all the world when that literature is cast in English?

Some consider that Scots is simply a northerly dialect of English. Others assert that it is a language in its own right, as distinct from English as Dutch is distinct from German, with its own oral and literary heritage. What is the truth of the matter?

What do we understand nowadays by the phrase ‘American literature’? What factors have shaped it and made it distinctive and autonomous, and what relation does it now bear to the traditional conception of ‘English literature’?

Dr Johnson said it all: ‘Dictionaries are like watches; the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite right.’ What was true in the middle of the 18th century is still true, but where in the good doctor's spectrum does the new and weighty 1,876-page Longman tome lie – nearer the better-than-none or close to the never-quite-good-enough?

A great deal of vivid, everyday English dates from the heyday of the sailing ship. BILL BEAVIS, himself a sailor, gets cracking with some nautical word histories that might take you aback.