Caribbean English Vocabulary: Setting a Norm through Lexicographic Practice

Caribbean English (CarE), the variety of English spoken throughout the Anglophone Caribbean, is one of the several extraterritorial Englishes (ETEs) in use around the world. Due to the varied context of each Caribbean territory, the vocabulary features of CarE witness a dynamic and diversified reality. In such a complex sociolinguistic milieu, mostly affected by continua and fuzzy borders, a shared norm – in lexicographic terms – cannot be easily set. The most recent contributions to Caribbean lexicography, that is, the Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage (DCEU) and the New Register of Caribbean English Usage (NRCEU), encompass all English varieties spoken in the Caribbean. In the introduction to the DCEU it is stated that the dictionary, “equipped to function as a cultural agent” (Allsopp R. 2003b: xxxi), is both “descriptive” (Allsopp R. 2003b: xxv) and “prescriptive” (Allsopp R. 2003b: xxvi), thus having the explicit goal of putting on paper a shared norm, at least as far as vocabulary is concerned. Therefore, the aim of this article is to assess – through lexicographic evidence – whether a norm can be recognized for CarE, despite the complex coexistence of various local varieties within the English-speaking Caribbean.