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

British English regionalisms in John Russell Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms
  • Javier Ruano-García
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Sociocultural Dimensions of Lexis and Text in the History of English
This chapter is in the book Sociocultural Dimensions of Lexis and Text in the History of English

Abstract

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.

Abstract

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.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1. Conspicuous lexical choice in past societies
  6. Chapter 1. Old English ead in Anglo-Saxon given names 15
  7. Chapter 2. News and relations 41
  8. Chapter 3. “… all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air” 61
  9. Part 2. Historical layers in text and genre
  10. Chapter 4. Conservatism and innovation in Anglo-Saxon scribal practice 79
  11. Chapter 5. Old English wills 103
  12. Chapter 6. Spatio-temporal systems in Chaucer 125
  13. Chapter 7. “A riddle to myself I am” 151
  14. Part 3. Lexis, morphology, and a changing society
  15. Chapter 8. Common to the North of England and to New England 183
  16. Chapter 9. Betwixt, amongst , and amidst 201
  17. Chapter 10. English word clipping in a diachronic perspective 227
  18. Index 253
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.343.08rua

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1. Conspicuous lexical choice in past societies
  6. Chapter 1. Old English ead in Anglo-Saxon given names 15
  7. Chapter 2. News and relations 41
  8. Chapter 3. “… all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air” 61
  9. Part 2. Historical layers in text and genre
  10. Chapter 4. Conservatism and innovation in Anglo-Saxon scribal practice 79
  11. Chapter 5. Old English wills 103
  12. Chapter 6. Spatio-temporal systems in Chaucer 125
  13. Chapter 7. “A riddle to myself I am” 151
  14. Part 3. Lexis, morphology, and a changing society
  15. Chapter 8. Common to the North of England and to New England 183
  16. Chapter 9. Betwixt, amongst , and amidst 201
  17. Chapter 10. English word clipping in a diachronic perspective 227
  18. Index 253
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