Dictionary of American Regional English

Dictionary of American Regional English. The Dictionary of American Regional English is a comprehensive reference work that documents the regional variations of the English language in the United States. It was edited by Frederic G. Cassidy and Joan Houston Hall, and published by Harvard University Press, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The dictionary is a valuable resource for scholars of American English, including Noam Chomsky, William Labov, and John McWhorter, who have studied the language's evolution and diversity, as seen in the works of Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, and Toni Morrison.

Introduction

The Dictionary of American Regional English is an essential tool for understanding the complexities of American English, which has been shaped by the country's history, geography, and cultural diversity, as noted by H.L. Mencken and Mario Pei. The dictionary's scope is comparable to that of the Oxford English Dictionary, which was edited by James Murray and Henry Bradley, and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, which was founded by Noah Webster. The dictionary's editors, Frederic G. Cassidy and Joan Houston Hall, drew on the expertise of linguists such as William Bright, Dell Hymes, and Roger W. Shuy, who have studied the language's regional variations, as seen in the Appalachian English, New England English, and Southern American English dialects.

History

The Dictionary of American Regional English was first conceived in the 1960s by Frederic G. Cassidy, who was inspired by the work of Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada and the American Dialect Society, founded by William Dwight Whitney and James Russell Lowell. The project was supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which have also funded projects such as the Dictionary of Old English and the Middle English Compendium, edited by Frances McSparran and Douglas Moffat. The dictionary's development involved collaboration with linguists such as Raven I. McDavid Jr., Virginia McDavid, and Raymond K. O'Cain, who have studied the language's regional variations, as seen in the works of Flannery O'Connor, William Faulkner, and Eudora Welty.

Publication

The Dictionary of American Regional English was published in five volumes between 1985 and 2013 by Harvard University Press, which has also published works such as the Harvard Classics and the Loeb Classical Library, edited by Charles William Eliot and James Loeb. The dictionary's publication was a major event in the field of linguistics, with reviews and articles appearing in publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Journal of English Linguistics, edited by John Algeo and Edward Finegan. The dictionary has been praised by scholars such as Steven Pinker, Deborah Tannen, and Geoffrey Nunberg, who have studied the language's evolution and diversity, as seen in the works of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and George Orwell.

Content

The Dictionary of American Regional English contains over 60,000 entries, including words, phrases, and expressions that are unique to specific regions of the United States, such as Hawaiian Pidgin, Chicano English, and African American Vernacular English. The dictionary's content is based on a comprehensive survey of the language, including data from the Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada and the American Dialect Society, as well as contributions from linguists such as John S. Kenyon, Thomas A. Knott, and Hans Kurath, who have studied the language's regional variations, as seen in the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, and Theodore Dreiser. The dictionary's entries include information on the word's pronunciation, usage, and etymology, as well as examples of its use in context, as seen in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner.

Methodology

The Dictionary of American Regional English was compiled using a rigorous methodology, involving fieldwork, surveys, and archival research, as seen in the works of Leonard Bloomfield and Edward Sapir. The dictionary's editors, Frederic G. Cassidy and Joan Houston Hall, worked with a team of linguists and researchers to collect and analyze data on the language's regional variations, using techniques such as dialectology and sociolinguistics, as developed by William Labov and Peter Trudgill. The dictionary's methodology has been praised by scholars such as John McWhorter and Steven Pinker, who have studied the language's evolution and diversity, as seen in the works of Mark Twain, Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens.

Reception

The Dictionary of American Regional English has received widespread acclaim from scholars and reviewers, who have praised its comprehensiveness, accuracy, and insight into the complexities of American English, as noted by H.L. Mencken and Mario Pei. The dictionary has been recognized with awards such as the Dartmouth Medal and the American Library Association's Reference and User Services Association award, and has been praised by scholars such as Noam Chomsky, Deborah Tannen, and Geoffrey Nunberg, who have studied the language's evolution and diversity, as seen in the works of Toni Morrison, John Updike, and Don DeLillo. The dictionary is a valuable resource for scholars, writers, and language enthusiasts, and has been widely adopted in academic and research institutions, including Harvard University, Stanford University, and University of California, Berkeley, as well as in organizations such as the Modern Language Association and the Linguistic Society of America. Category:American English