“A Wiltshire word, according to Kennett”

This paper aims to cast light upon the making of Halliwell’s Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words (1847) focusing on some of the regional material contained in it. In particular, the paper examines the contribution of White Kennett’s unpublished Etymological Collections of English Words and Provincial Expressions, also known as MS Lansd. 1033, so as to measure the extent to which Halliwell relied on this hitherto unexplored source of regional lexis in the making of his dictionary. The analysis shows that Kennett’s manuscript furnished a significant amount of data to Halliwell’s work and that Halliwell treated them with care. At the same time, the analysis lays emphasis both on the linguistic legacy of Kennett’s work and the need for further research into one of the key sources of dialect words of the Late Modern English period prior to the publication of Joseph Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary.

Published online: 18 December 2013
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.148.05rua