A Dictionary of Hong Kong English: Words from the Fragrant Harbor

by Patrick J. Cummings, Hans-Georg Wolf

This book is the first dictionary of Hong Kong English and one of the few non-native variety dictionaries of English. It includes only words and word senses that are particular to this variety or have a specific reference to Hong Kong, and thus contributes to legitimizing Hong Kong English as a variety in its own right. While the main focus is on contemporary language use, from all domains of Hong Kong life, historical terms and references are covered as well. Entries are designed according the state of the art in lexicography and show pronunciation, source language, frequency, authentic usage, and cultural conceptualizations. As additional features, the dictionary provides a brief history of Hong Kong English, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, historical place names and their current equivalents, words of Hong Kong origin now in international use, as well as further reference material.

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2011

Reviews

[Wsclai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite interesting but not very comprehensive. Most entries are just romanisation of Cantonese words which as a local HKer would not consider as Hong Kong English. They sound more like Cantonese spoken by non native HKers and I won't take them as English. Some entries include no origin of the word nor a Chinese translation. Some words like 'wok' only has the idiomatic meaning but not the literal one, which I think has become a word used worldwide to refer to a Chinese cooking utensil.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun book! I knew many of these terms, but not all of the origins. There were plenty of new terms--at least to me.