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Understanding Nephi with the Help of Noah Webster

TitleUnderstanding Nephi with the Help of Noah Webster
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2014
AuthorsSpendlove, Loren Blake
JournalInterpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture
Volume11
Pagination97-159
KeywordsGrammar; Nephi
Abstract

Dictionaries, especially Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, can be useful and informative resources to help us better understand the language of the Book of Mormon. This article compares definitions of words and phrases found in the book of 1 Nephi, using Webster’s 1828 dictionary and the New Oxford American Dictionary as references. By comparing these two dictionaries, we can see how word usage and meanings have changed since the original publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830. We can also gain a greater appreciation of the text of the Book of Mormon in a way that its first readers probably understood it.

URLhttps://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/understanding-nephi-with-the-help-of-noah-webster/