Question

The passage is as follows:

In the mid-eighteenth century, the publication of Samuel Johnson’s *Dictionary of the English Language* was heralded as a monumental attempt to stabilize a tongue perceived as drifting toward chaotic degeneration. Popular historiography often characterizes Johnson’s project as a conservative effort to arrest linguistic mutability, freeze vocabulary, and establish immutable standards of correctness. Indeed, Johnson’s early writings, particularly his 1747 *Plan of a Dictionary*, suggest an ambition to 'embalm his language, and secure it from corruption.' However, this initial impulse represents only the catalyst, not the ultimate reality of the project. As Johnson progressed through the compiling of usage, his philosophy underwent a profound shift. By the time the dictionary was published in 1755, Johnson openly acknowledged that language is a living organism, constantly reshaped by the daily transactions of its speakers. The true significance of his work lay not in an impossible arrest of language change, but in how it negotiated the socio-economic anxieties of the rising middle class. By systematically cataloging words alongside literary citations, the *Dictionary* provided a map of social mobility, offering the burgeoning bourgeoisie a manual for acquiring the cultural capital of the aristocracy. Thus, while the dictionary did document spelling and definition, its primary cultural function was to construct a class-conscious linguistic standard that reconciled the inevitability of change with the societal demand for elite distinctiveness.

Which of the following statements best summarizes the main idea of the passage?