Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage

The Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, abbreviated DCEU, is a dictionary of Caribbean English, compiled by the University of the West Indies lecturer, Richard Allsopp, and first published by Oxford University Press in 1996. It is deemed a landmark publication, being the first regional dictionary for the Commonwealth Caribbean.^{[n 1]}

Cover page, 1st ed / by OUP, 1996 / via Amazon
Editor	Richard Allsopp
Subject	Caribbean English
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Publication date	1996
Publication place	UK
Media type	Print
Pages	777
ISBN	0198661525

Background

In 1967, the Caribbean Association of Headmasters and Headmistresses, recognising 'the inadecuacy of imported British and American dictionaries,' resolved to 'request the appropriate department of the University of the West Indies to compile a list of lexical items in each territory and to circulate these to schools for the guidance of teachers.'^{[1][n 2]} The request was forwarded to Richard Allsopp, a UWI English lecturer, who by that time 'already had some ten shoe-boxes each of about 1,000 6 × 4 cards and many loose unfiled cuttings, notes and other material' on Guyanan, Eastern Caribbean, Belizean, Jamaican, and Trinidadian English usage.^{[2][n 3]} In order to build a proper regional dictionary from said collection, Allsopp founded the Caribbean Lexicography Project in 1971 at Cave Hill, Barbados, with Ford Foundation funding.^{[3][n 4]} Data collection extended to 1982, with subsequent editing taking a further ten years.^[4] The completed manuscript was submitted to Oxford University Press in 1992, where it underwent a number of revisions over the next three years.^[4]

The DCEU was first published by OUP in early 1996, and reprinted by UWI Press in 2003.^[5]

Contents

The DCEU is a descriptive, rather than historical, dictionary, in that it is 'not a chronicle of [the Caribbean's] linguistic past, but a careful account of what is current.'^[6] Despite this, it is also a prescriptive dictionary, in that it '[omits] the mass of Caribbean basilectal vocabulary and idiom in favour of the mesolectal and acrolectal, and [uses] a hierarchy of formalness in status-labelling the entries throughout.'^[7]

Over 20,000 English and Creole entries form the main body of the dictionary, though it further contains a French and Spanish supplement, and an introductory survey of Caribbean English.^[8]

Reception

Prescriptive aspects of the DCEU have been criticised, with one reviewer noting they serve to 'reinforce a notion that creoles are only suitable for joking, insulting, and cursing,' and another noting that they exclude 'many lexical items which form part of the vibrancy of the Caribbean English lexicon.'^[9] The DCEU 's English phonology, characterisation of Creoles, inclusion of non-aglicised loanwords, and exclusion of non-Commonwealth Caribbean Englishes have been further criticised.^[10]

Legacy

Allsopp deemed the DCEU a 'landmark' publication, comparable to regional dictionaries like Webster's in 1828, Dictionary of Canadian English in 1967, and Australian National Dictionary in 1988.^[11] Reviewers have largely concurred.^{[n 5]}

See also

• Webster's Dictionary – 1828 landmark regional dictionary of American English
• Macquarie Dictionary – 1981 landmark regional dictionary of Australian English

Notes and references

Explanatory footnotes

1. Encompassing Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos, and UK and US Vigin Islands (Allsopp 2003, p. xviii). The French and Spanish supplement further covers French Guyana, Haiti, Guadaloupe, Martinique, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela (Allsopp 2003, p. 675).
2. According to Allsopp 2003, pp. xix–xx, although Caribbean English and Creoles 'had from time to time prompted a few local glossaries' since at least 1905, it was not until 1967 that 'the first scholarly regional dictionary appeared,' namely the Dictionary of Jamaican English, which was 'naturally seen as limited to Jamaica although its linguistic scholarship is regional in reach and importance.'
3. Collected since at least 1949 (Allsopp 2003, p. xxi).
4. As part of UWI's Caribbean Language Research Programme, established 1969, also funded by the Ford Foundation (Allsopp 2003, p. xxi).
5. Aceto 1998, p. 412 deemed it 'a groundbreaking publication.' Bamiro 1998, p. 268 described it as 'the first lexicography project to deliberately undertake an etymological, cross-referenced inventory of Anglophone Caribbean culture.' Winer 1998, p. 192 called it 'a real achievement.' Mair 1997, pp. 141, 143 deemed it 'the impressive fruit of one scholar's lifetime of labour and 25 years of organised preparations in the Caribbean Lexicography Project [...] a landmark of World English lexicography, probably best compared to the publication in 1981 of the Macquarie Dictionary, which in addition to being a first-rate resource for language study did much to improve the self-perception of speakers of Australian English and the status of this variety abroad.' Cooper 1996, p. 77 commented, 'like many other colonial and neo-colonial societies, including Australia, Canada, Nigeria, India, and New Guinea, the English speaking Caribbean now has its own Dictionary.' Gorlach 1996, pp. 289, 295 called it 'an original and enticing work,' and an 'important book.' Salazar 2021, para. 1 deemed it 'a landmark work of World English lexicography that continues to be the most authoritative historical record of the rich and colourful vocabulary of one of the world’s most diverse Anglophone regions.'

Short citations

1. Allsopp 2003, p. xx.
2. Allsopp 2003, p. xxi.
3. Allsopp 2003, p. xxi; Allsopp 1997, p. 37.
4. Allsopp 1996, p. 38.
5. Allsopp 2003, edition notice, paras. 2-4.
6. Allsopp 2003, p. xxv.
7. Allsopp 2003, p. xxvi.
8. Bamiro 1998, p. 269; Allsopp 1996, p. vii; Winer 1998, p. 188.
9. Aceto 1998, p. 412; Bamiro 1998, p. 268.
10. Aceto 1998, pp. 412–413; Bamiro 1998, p. 267.
11. Allsopp 2003, p. xxxi.

Full citations

1. Aceto M (1998). "Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Ed. by Richard Allsopp (Review)". Language. 74 (2): 412–413. doi:10.1353/lan.1998.0210.
2. Allsopp R (1997). "Cataloguing the Caribbean". English Today. 13 (3): 37–38. doi:10.1017/S0266078400009822.
3. Allsopp R, ed. (1996). Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198661525. LCCN 97108598.
4. Allsopp R, ed. (2003) [First published 1996 by OUP]. Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage (Reprint of 1st ed.). Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press. ISBN 976-640-145-4. LCCN 2010385367. ProQuest 2352573179.
5. Allsopp R, ed. (2004) [First published 1996 by OUP]. Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage (New ed.). Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press. OL 22149803M.
6. Bamiro EO (1998). "Review: Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage". Links & Letters. 5: 266–269. ISSN 1133-7397. UAB 167229.
7. Cooper VO (1996). "Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage". Caribbean Quarterly. 42 (4): 76–77. JSTOR 23050394.
8. Gorlach M (1996). "Richard Allsopp, Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage". English World-Wide. 17 (2): 289–296. doi:10.1075/eww.17.2.13gor.
9. Mair C (1997). "Review: Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage". Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik. 22 (1): 141–143. JSTOR 43025530.
10. Salazar D (2021). "A Carnival of Words: Caribbean English in the OED September 2021 Update". OED World English Hub. Archived from the original on 19 September 2024.
11. Winer L (1998). "Review: Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage". New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids. 72 (1–2): 188–192. JSTOR 41849922.