A Report on the Dictionary of Cape Breton English

Abstract

This paper reviews the progress of the work on the Dictionary of Cape Breton English and examines some of the terms from coal mining and steel production as examples of a regional lexicon. For the past three summers research assistants have been collecting words, senses, and phrases that are used distinctively on Cape Breton Island. As a pilot project to test the 'regionality' of the words, this paper examines the terms used in two of Cape Breton's industries to establish procedures for determining which technical terms are used distinctively on Cape Breton Island and which are used generally in the two industries.