Canadian Oxford Dictionary

From Library Journal
Canadian EnglishAhistorically overwhelmed by British and American linguistic influencesAcontains comparatively few terms unique to Canada. It comes as no surprise, then, that only about 2000 of the 130,000 entries in the this title are actually Canadianisms (e.g., "fishway," "outport," "pure laine," "riding," and "shit distributor"). Aimed at adults and older students, the Canadian Oxford also indicates preferred Canadian pronunciation and spellings; most of the rest of the lexical text, however, adheres closely to that found in the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1995. 9th ed.). The dictionary also includes brief entries for some 800 prominent Canadians and 1200 Canadian places, both useful encyclopedic features. The dictionary has two major competitors, the ITP Nelson Canadian Dictionary (Nelson Canada, 1996) and the Gage Canadian Dictionary (Gage, 1996). All three are reasonably current, similar in size (1700+ pages), and do a first-rate job of covering the small body of active Canadian English vocabulary, though the Canadian Oxford has a slight quantitative edge, claiming "almost two thousand Canadianisms, more than any other general dictionary." Most Canadian libraries will want all three, and larger U.S. libraries ought to have at least one, with the Canadian Oxford as the logical first choice.AKen Kister, author of "Best Dictionaries," Tampa, FL Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
This new edition of the well-received Canadian Oxford Dictionary (COD), published in 1998, includes many additions to Canadian and standard English. The preface states that more than 5,000 new words have been added, particularly in the information technology and alternative medicine fields. More than 200 new Canadian terms have also been identified and added; altogether, the dictionary defines 2,200 Canadian words and senses.As with the previous edition, definitions are arranged so that the meaning most familiar to Canadians comes first. New to this edition are preferred word breaks and parts of speech that are written in full instead of being abbreviated. Part of the fun in a guide to Canadian English is checking the differences between standard American and Canadian pronunciations and spellings: schedule is pronounced skedule and red is a color on the American side of the border, but schedule and colour prevail on the Canadian side. Chesterfield, gold eye, jam buster, and other Canadian expressions and words will be found here, as will new words and terms known more widely, such as supersize and weapon of mass destruction. The COD also includes short entries for proper nouns and names of more than 1,400 Canadian places and 850 Canadian people as well as people and geographical locations from around the world. Like the first edition, the second concludes with several appendixes: a six-page style guide, a list of the prime ministers and governors general of Canada, weights and measures (Canada measures using the metric system), a short history of the English language, and the Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, and Russian alphabets.The COD is a must for any U.S. library close to the Canadian border and for academic institutions with Canadian studies programs (or programmes). Canadian libraries will want to update their reference collections with this latest edition, which is also a worthy edition to any Canadian home reference collection. Terri Tomchyshyn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
This second edition of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary continues to define the authoritative standard for Canadian dictionaries. This popular dictionary's 300,000 words, senses and definitions combine in one reference book information on English as it is used worldwide and as it is used particularly in Canada. Definitions, worded for ease of comprehension, are presented so that the meaning most familiar to Canadians appears first and foremost. Each of these entries is exceptionally reliable, the result of thorough research into the language and Oxford's unparalleled language resources. Five professionally trained lexicographers spent five years examining databases containing over 20 million words of Canadian text from more than 8,000 Canadian sources of an astonishing diversity. The lexicographers also examined an additional 20 million words of international sources. This new edition is completely up to date with 5,000 new words and senses. In addition it features 2,200 uniquely Canadian words and senses, 350 usage notes, 7,000 idiomatic expressions, 5,500 biographical entries, and over 5,600 place names. There are also several new features in this edition: preferred word breaks are given throughout, parts of speech are written in full, and the first print run will feature cut thumb-indexing tabs.


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Canadian English--historically overwhelmed by British and American linguistic influences--contains comparatively few terms unique to Canada. It comes as no surprise, then, that only about 2000 of the 130,000 entries in the this title are actually Canadianisms (e.g., "fishway," "outport," "pure laine," "riding," and "shit distributor"). Aimed at adults and older students, the Canadian Oxford also indicates preferred Canadian pronunciation and spellings; most of the rest of the lexical text, however, adheres closely to that found in the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1995. 9th ed.). The dictionary also includes brief entries for some 800 prominent Canadians and 1200 Canadian places, both useful encyclopedic features. The dictionary has two major competitors, the ITP Nelson Canadian Dictionary (Nelson Canada, 1996) and the Gage Canadian Dictionary (Gage, 1996). All three are reasonably current, similar in size (1700+ pages), and do a first-rate job of covering the small body of active Canadian English vocabulary, though the Canadian Oxford has a slight quantitative edge, claiming "almost two thousand Canadianisms, more than any other general dictionary." Most Canadian libraries will want all three, and larger U.S. libraries ought to have at least one, with the Canadian Oxford as the logical first choice.--Ken Kister, author of "Best Dictionaries," Tampa, FL Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.


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