The Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage is the first attempt for over four hundred years to provide an authentic record of current English from the Caribbean archipelago, Guyana and Belize.
Drawing its data from a broad range of enquiry through teacher workshops in twenty-two territories in eighteen states, from speech recordings and over one thousand written sources of Caribbean literature, reference works, magazines, pamphlets and newspapers, the Dictionary surveys a range of over twenty thousand words and phrases and with hundreds of illustrative citations.
With a specially designed system of labelling, the Dictionary offers maximum levels of clarity and accessibility. Providing four levels of identification from Creole to Formal, and with labels to denote social and grammatical register, it also gives particular focus to Indic and French Creole loan-words, Etymological and Usage Notes are included, as well as a short supplement listing Caribbean French and Spanish equivalents to Caribbean English items selected from the main work.
Covering as it does a large number of independent and non-contiguous states, the Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage is not only an instrument of education wherever Caribbean people live in the world but also a unique contribution to international lexicography and the record of World English.
First published by Oxford University Press in 1996, the Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage is now available in a paperback edition for the first time.
“A splendid book.”
– Frederic G. Cassidy
“This is a work by a man who relishes languages for its own sake and who uses it with gusto.”
– Ian Hancock, University of Texas at Austin
Caribbean English is an exceptionally rich dialect, evocative and vivid. Take "bagabu," for instance, a fine word American and British English lack, referring to dried nose mucus. "Day-clean" is a lovely word for dawn. To be in "goat-heaven" is to be in a state of bliss, but to have "goat-mouth" is a nasty business, similar to giving the evil eye. A "pissintail" is a disrespectful young thing, while "piss-a-bed" merely refers to wild coffee. A solid, scholarly work that fills an important reference niche, Allsopp's dictionary covers more than 20,000 words and phrases from Guyana to the Bahamas and Belize. Even if you've no Caribbean ties, are conducting no Caribbean research, and planning no Caribbean vacation, the dictionary is worth the price solely for its grand browsing pleasure. --Stephanie Gold
