Susan M. Butler

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Susan M. Butler

AO
Born1948 (age 70–71)
Academic background
Alma mater University of Sydney
Academic work
DisciplineLexicographer
Notable works Macquarie Dictionary (editor)

Susan Margaret Butler AO (born 1948) is an Australian lexicographer, who was the editor and publisher of the Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English from its first edition in 1981 until its seventh in 2017, and her retirement in 2018. [1]

<i>Macquarie Dictionary</i> dictionary of Australian English

The Macquarie Dictionary is a dictionary of Australian English. It is generally held by universities and the legal profession to be the authoritative source on Australian English. It also pays considerable attention to New Zealand English. Originally it was a publishing project of Jacaranda Press, a Brisbane educational publisher, for which an editorial committee was formed, largely from the Linguistics department of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. It is now published by Macquarie Dictionary Publishers an imprint of Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd. In October 2007 it moved its editorial office away from Macquarie University to the University of Sydney, and then later to the Pan Macmillan offices in the Sydney central business district.

Australian English is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. Although English has no official status in the Constitution, Australian English is the country's national and de facto official language as it is the first language of the majority of the population.

Butler intended to become a composer, and majored in Latin and Greek at the University of Sydney [2] before working in a factory. In 1970, she was employed by Jacaranda Press as a research assistant on a proposed dictionary of Australian English. [3] Over the next ten years, Butler became the dictionary's editor, and published its first edition in 1981. [4] In addition to the Macquarie, Butler has written several lexicographical books including The Dinkum Dictionary: The Origins of Australian Words and The Aitch Factor: Adventures in Australian English. [5]

University of Sydney university in Sydney, Australia

The University of Sydney is an Australian public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is Australia's first university and is regarded as one of the world's leading universities. The university is colloquially known as one of Australia's sandstone universities. Its campus is ranked in the top 10 of the world's most beautiful universities by the British Daily Telegraph and The Huffington Post, spreading across the inner-city suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington. The university comprises 9 faculties and university schools, through which it offers bachelor, master and doctoral degrees.

In 2018, Butler was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to the community as a lexicographer and author, as a facilitator of academic discourse on Australian English language, and to commercial publishing". [6]

The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours for Australia were announced on 11 June 2018 by the Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove.

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References

  1. ↑ "Take a bow, Sue Butler". Macquarie Dictionary. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  2. ↑ White, Sue (29 June 2015). "Meet the boss - dictionary editor Susan Butler". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "Living language". Weekend of Ideas. National Museum of Australia. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  4. ↑ "Susan Butler, editor of the Macquarie Dictionary". Radio National. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Susan Butler". The Drum. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  6. ↑ "BUTLER, Susan Margaret". Australian Honours Search Facility. Australian Government. Retrieved 2 July 2018.


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