The Model for Australian State Dictionaries of Language and of Folk Belief: Review of 'Dictionary of Newfoundland English'. Edited by G.M. Story, W.J. Kirwin and J.D.A. Widdowson. Toronto and London, University of Toronto Press. Second edition, with supplement, 1990. pp. lxxviii + 770.

Abstract

Published in 1982 to international acclaim, the first edition of the Dictionary of Newfoundland English (DNE) introduced the world to an incredibly rich, and partly archaic, 'English' dialect with deep roots in Ireland and in the English West Country. The present second edition offers approximately 1500 new or expanded entries, as well as many modified and additional senses, and fresh usages. As the London Times puts it, 'the whole compilation illustrates perfectly the way that language evolves to fit historical and geographical circumstances'. The purpose of this short article is to show how DNE both captures the folklore and folk- and sea-ways of an 'English' work time pre both Atlantic oilfields and pre-Confederation Newfoundland, and serves as an excellent states model for Australia, or 'provincial' model for New Zealand.