Canadianism, Americanism, NORTH Americanism: DARE AND DCHP AS DIALECTOLOGICAL RESEARCH TOOLS

Abstract

This article approaches two repositories of lexical items, the Dictionary of American Regional English and the Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, as repositories of historical dialectology. Starting with a detailed comparison of the two historical dictionairies in letter T, the authors discuss and illustrate ways to tap these resources for uses for which they were originally not intended but can be fruitfully exploited. As both dictionaries were edited by teams headed by dialectologists, Frederic Cassidy and Walter S. Avis, respectively, it is not surprising that the approach outlined here seems worthwhile of pursuit not just for the historical linguist, but also for those working on various aspects of present-day North American English. After giving recommendations for the use of the two repositories for such work, the authors highlight areas for future revisions and conclude with a section on the use of social networking in dialectological research.