The vocabulary of Texas, and of the Southwest, has a character that sets it apart from all others. It is to some extent an amalgamation of words brought from other sections. A more important ingredient, however, has been a large group of words that initially grew into usage in Texas itself. Utilizing a thorough knowledge of language and a remarkable insight into linguistics, the author, a professor of English at the University of Texas, has compiled a reference book for scholars, writers, and laymen whose interests involve the use of this vocabulary. It is a well-balanced book, designed to present to the reader not only the actual vocabulary in use but also the area involved, topical surveys of words used, their backgrounds, and geographical aspects of their usage. Easterners and Westerners alike will relish the unique flavor of the Southwestern vocabulary.

In a linguistic climate that is hyperaware of so-called language death, dictionaries have been touted as stalwarts for language preservation. When wielded by communities undertaking language revitalization, dictionaries can be designed to facilitate reversing language shift and fostering linguistic innovation. Indeed, dictionaries’ reputation as multifunctional reference materials make them adaptable to a wide variety of community needs.

Revitalization Lexicography provides a detailed account of creating a dictionary meant to move a once-sleeping language into a language of active daily use. This unique look under the hood of lexicography in a small community highlights the ways in which the dictionary was intentionally leveraged to shape the Tunica language as it inevitably changes throughout revitalization. Tunica, one of the heritage languages of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Marksville, Louisiana, has been undergoing active revitalization since 2010. The current generation of speakers began learning Tunica, a once-sleeping language, through written documentation. Now enough Tunica speakers to confer amongst themselves when questionable language use arises.

Marrying both the theoretical and the practical aspects that contributed to the Tunica dictionary, this book discusses complex lexicographic tasks in a manner accessible to both academic and community readers. This work is firmly backdropped in a fieldwork approach that centers the community as owners of all aspects of their revitalization project. This book provides concrete and practical considerations for anyone attempting to create a dictionary. Contrasting examples from Tunica and English dictionaries, this book challenges readers to rethink their relationship to dictionaries in general. A must-read for anyone who has ever touched a dictionary.