Philip Durkin

This article is about the lexicographer and etymologist. For the jurist and politician, see Philip J. Durkin.

Philip Durkin
Alma mater	University of Oxford
Known for	Deputy Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary
Scientific career
Fields	Lexicography; etymology; historical linguistics
Institutions	Oxford University Press; University of Glasgow

Philip N. R. Durkin is a lexicographer and etymologist, Deputy Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and leader of its team of specialist etymology editors. His books include The Oxford Guide to Etymology (2009) and Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English (2014), and he is the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Lexicography (2015).

Education

Durkin earned a doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1994 with a thesis on late Middle English prose texts. ^[1]

Career

Durkin has worked on the OED since the late 1990s and leads its etymology and form-history work. ^{[2] [3] [4]} He has also held an honorary research post in the School of Critical Studies at the University of Glasgow. ^[5]

Selected works

Books

• Durkin, Philip (2009). The Oxford Guide to Etymology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-969161-6. ^{[6] [7]}
• Durkin, Philip (2014). Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-957499-5. ^{[8] [9] [10]}
• Durkin, Philip, ed. (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Lexicography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-969163-0. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

Articles

• Durkin, Philip N. R. (May 1999). "Root and Branch: Revising the etymological component of the Oxford English Dictionary". Transactions of the Philological Society. 97 (1): 1–150. doi:10.1111/1467-968X.00044.

References

1. Durkin, Philip N. R. (1974). A study of Oxford, Trinity College, MS 86, with editions of selected texts, and with special reference to late Middle English prose forms of confession (D. Phil.). University of Oxford, Department of English. OCLC   557319557.
2. Durkin, Philip (2022). "Tracking the history of words: changing perspectives, changing research" (PDF). Journal of the British Academy. 10: 67–91. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
3. Hodgson, Charles. "Philip Durkin – Language and Brain Lab (Oxford)". University of Oxford. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
4. "Podictionary Interview – Philip Durkin". OUP Blog (recorded interview). Oxford University Press. 15 October 2009.
5. "Dr Philip Durkin — Honorary Senior Research Fellow". University of Glasgow. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
6. Roberge, Paul T. (March 2011). "Review: The Oxford Guide to Etymology". English Language & Linguistics. 15 (1): 183–88. doi:10.1017/S1360674310000341 . Retrieved 18 October 2025.
7. Seebold, Elmar (February 2011). "Philip Durkin, The Oxford Guide to Etymology". Anglia (review) (in German). 128 (2): 323–25. doi:10.1515/angl.2010.035.
8. Podhajecka, Mirosława (2014). "Review: Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English". International Journal of Lexicography. 27 (4): 457–66. doi:10.1093/ijl/ecu022.
9. Turner, Robin (3 March 2014). "Welsh has had less influence on English than Hawaiian - claim". Wales Online. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
10. "Maori one of most borrowed languages" . The New Zealand Herald. 21 March 2014.
11. Dehui, Li (2017). "Review: The Oxford Handbook of Lexicography". Lexikos. 27: 609–613. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
12. Healey, Antonette diPaolo (2017). "The Oxford Handbook of Lexicography ed. by Philip Durkin (review)". Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America. 38 (2): 114–19. doi:10.1353/dic.2017.0013.
13. Trap-Jensen, Lars (March 2018). "Philip Durkin (ed): The Oxford Handbook of Lexicography". International Journal of Lexicography (review). 31 (1): 114–18. doi:10.1093/ijl/ecw043.

External links

• University of Oxford profile