In its final form, the panel comprised nearly 200 prominent members of professions whose work demanded sensitivity to language. The descriptive information was derived from actual texts.Д¬itations were based on a million-word, three-line citation database prepared by Brown University linguist Henry KuДЌera.ДЇor expert consultation on words or constructions whose usage was controversial or problematic, the American Heritage Dictionary relied on the advice of a usage panel.

It took the innovative step of combining prescriptive information (how language should be used) and descriptive information (how it actually is used). The AHD broke ground among dictionaries by using corpus linguistics for compiling word frequencies and other information.

However, Morris made inconsistent use of the panels, often ignoring their advice and inserting his own opinions. The AHD was edited by William Morris and relied on a usage panel of 105 writers, speakers, and eminent persons chosen for their well-known conservatism in the use of language. When that failed, he contracted with Houghton to publish a new dictionary. Merriam Company so that he could undo the changes. James Parton (1912вЂ“2001), grandson of the English-born American biographer James Parton (1822вЂ“1891), and founder, publisher and co-owner of the magazines American Heritage and Horizon, was appalled by the permissiveness of Webster's Third, published in 1961.

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