Language and Vernacular Culture: Why Folklorists Should Read the Dictionary of American Regional English

It took fifty years to conceptualize and complete the unsurpassed Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE). Renowned philologist Frederic G. Cassidy (1907-2000) served as chief editor, and Joan Houston Hall was associate editor for the first three volumes (I [A-C], 903 pages, 1985; II [D-H], 1175 pages, 1991; III [I-O], 927 pages, 1996); after the death of the untiring Cassidy at the age of ninety-three, Hall naturally became chief editor of the final two volumes (IV [P-Sk], 1014 pages, 2002; V [Sl-Z], 1244 pages, 2012). Now that this magnum opus of 5263 pages (each printed in two columns) is finished, its five massive volumes represent a unique compendium of the amazingly rich treasure trove of American regional English. Most volumes in the series appeared about every six years, though the last and largest took about ten years to produce. As Hall explains, this was primarily due to the fact that she and her co-workers decided to make extensive use of electronic sources for historical references of individual words, word pairs, and entire phrases. Be that as it may, the publishing process spanned nearly thirty years; during this slow gestation, DARE became a classic in the lexicographical registration of American regional English. The study of the American language is simply unthinkable without this unique and invaluable resource, and scholars and students of many disciplines owe much gratitude to the diligent and dedicated people who were involved in its creation.

As one would expect, the fifth and final volume under review contains a most impressive list of hundreds of DARE staff, students, and volunteers who worked on the dictionary between 1965 and 2011 (2012, xii-xxx). Of interest also is the list of financial contributors (xxxi-xxxix). In addition, there is a bibliography of about 13,000 references (1147-1244), making this the volume with the largest page count. As can be imagined, users of the dictionary had very much looked forward to this comprehensive bibliography, which includes all abbreviated references given throughout the five volumes! The bibliography demonstrates the incredibly extensive research conducted on all aspects of the American language since the project began in the mid-sixties, and I am certain that I will not be the only scholar who intends to read it from beginning to end. It should be noted here as well that persons interested in the history of the entire project can inform themselves by way of Cassidy's fascinating introduction to the first volume (1985, xi-xxii).

Speaking of the work as a whole, permit me—as someone who purchased the first four volumes for my personal library over the years—to register two small quibbles. It is my feeling that while Joan Houston Hall without a doubt deserves to be listed as chief editor of the last two volumes, I wish that the name of Frederic G. Cassidy had not been dropped from the title page. He could and should have been referenced as "founding editor" or the like without in any way infringing on the magisterial work of Joan Houston Hall, who was his equal co-worker throughout the project. In any case, those who reference this exemplary dictionary will most certainly cite both Cassidy and Hall as its pair of chief editors. Finally, as I look at the fifth volume standing next to the four published previously, I can't help but wonder why the production managers at Harvard University Press changed the design of the final dust jacket. That simply makes no sense; but I hasten to add that the appearance of the actual cloth binding—with a United States map on the front and attractive gold lettering on the spine—has remained the same since 1985.

Having spent many hours—actually, several days—enjoying the pure scholarly pleasure of reading hundreds of entries in this fifth volume, I am inclined to write pages of praise regarding the many people...