A Dictionary of Cameroon English Usage

Book excerpt: 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.