Ebook: Criolisches Wörterbuch: Erster zu vermehrender und wo nöthig zu verbessernder Versuch (1767/68) sowie das anonyme, Johan Christopher Kørbitz Thomsen Kingo (J.C. Kingo) zugeschriebene, »Vestindisk Glossarium«

This is an edition of the first dictionary of a Creole language, compiled in 1767/8, together with a more or less contemporaneous vocabulary of that same language, the Negerhollands spoken on the Virgin Islands, under Danish rule at that period. There are more than 3400 entries, varying greatly in nature and length and ranging from a simple translation of the respective German lemma to extended articles containing examples of phraseology and syntax and also providing metalinguistic commentaries. The dictionary is a major document of the early stages of a Creole language. The same is true to a lesser extent of the vocabulary, which displays obvious Danish influences. Over and above this, the dictionary is also of outstanding value as a testimony of early 18th century lexicography in the German-speaking area.