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Sociocultural Dimensions of Lexis and Text in the History of English
Edited by Peter Petré, Hubert Cuyckens and Frauke D'hoedt
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 343] 2018
► pp. 183–200

Chapter 8
Common to the North of England and to New England

British English regionalisms in John Russell Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms

This paper examines the British English dialect material behind the compilation of John Russell Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms. It focuses on evidence furnished by six historical dialect glossaries and dictionaries quoted by Bartlett, which include John Ray’s A collection of English words not generally used (1674, 1691) and James O. Halliwell’s Dictionary of archaic and provincial words (1847). My aim is to determine the function of these works in Bartlett’s dictionary, exploring their lexicographical treatment and their geographic labels, so as to ascertain whether the transatlantic link specified between varieties of American and British English relied on any of them in particular. I also examine the four editions of Bartlett’s dictionary and study the impact of the policy concerning the admission of Americanisms on the material found in British English regional sources.
Keywords: Dictionary of Americanisms , British English dialects, Americanisms, dialect lexicography, Late Modern English
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.John Russell Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms
    • 2.1General aims and sources
    • 2.2Americanisms
  • 3.British English regionalisms in the Dictionary of Americanisms
  • 4.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 4 July 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.343.08rua
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