A Dictionary of Cameroon English Usage

This book initiates the process of codification of a postcolonial variety of English, namely Cameroon English. It focuses on the present-day lexicon of this non-native variety of English. English has been in use in this territory for a long period of time and over the years, it has developed some characteristic lexical features which have not as yet been described fully. Previous researchers have been regarding linguistic innovations as cases of lexical errors or Cameroonisms; as a result, teachers and language purists have been discouraging their usage. Today, it is obvious that these innovations have come to stay; they are specific to Cameroon and therefore constitute Cameroon's contribution to the development of world language English. The book is divided into two parts. Part One gives background information on Cameroon (physical and human geography, economy and geopolitics), the language situation in Cameroon (ancestral and vehicular languages, major lingua francas and official languages) and the linguistic features of English in Cameroon (phonology, grammar and lexicology). Part Two describes the research design (textual material, method of data collection and informants) and provides a lexicographic description (spelling, word formative process, definition) of characteristic Cameroon English lexemes.

Autorentext

The Author: Jean-Paul Kouega was born in Cameroon in 1960. He obtained a Combined French-English Bilingual Degree (Universities of Yaounde and of East Anglia) in 1983 and a « Maîtrise » in English language, with a dissertation on «The Use of Pro-Forms in Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge» (University of Yaounde) in 1984. Then in 1988, at the University of Nottingham, England, he received a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Modern English Language. He later on earned a « Doctorat de 3e Cycle » in English Studies and a « Doctorat d'Etat » in English language from the University of Yaounde I, Cameroon. Since 1991, he has been teaching undergraduate courses in English phonology, TEFL and French-English translation, and graduate courses in English sociolinguistics in this university. In 2005, he was promoted to the rank of Associated Professor.

Inhalt
Contents: Background information on Cameroon (physical and human geography, economy, geopolitics) - The language situation of Cameroon (ancestral and minor vehicular languages, major lingua francas, official languages) - Linguistic features of English in Cameroon (phonology, grammar, lexicology) - Research design (textual material, method of data collection, informants) - The dictionary - Proverbs and sayings - Forenames and their pet-name forms - Recent literary works by native Cameroon English writers (1990-2006).