Frederic G. Cassidy

Frederic Gomes Cassidy (October 10, 1907 – June 14, 2000) was a Jamaican-born linguist and lexicographer. He was a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and founder of the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) where he was also the chief editor from 1962 until his death. He was an advocate for the Jamaican language and a pioneer of autonomous orthographies for creole languages.

Early life and education He was born in Kingston, Jamaica on October 10, 1907. His father was Canadian and his mother was Jamaican. In 1918, aged 11, Cassidy moved with his family to Akron, Ohio where he graduated from high school. He enrolled in Ohio University later transferring to Oberlin College, where he graduated in 1930 and obtained a master's degree in 1932. By 1938, Cassidy had earned his doctoral degree at the University of Michigan, and had married Hélène Lucille Monod, a fellow student. He used a tape recorder to document the language and may have been the first person to use the technology in the country. in a book titled Jamaica Talk. In 1967 he edited the Dictionary of Jamaican English, co-edited with Robert B. LePage, which drew from four centuries of written and oral usage.

Orthography for creole languages

Cassidy advocated for creole languages to use an orthography, or writing style, that did not rely on European spelling conventions.

Cassidy pioneered an orthography, initially proposed in 1961 and known as the Cassidy System, developed specifically for Jamaican that uses a phonemic system that closely reproduces the sound of the language. The Cassidy System was later adopted and modified by the Jamaican Language Unit (JLU) at University of the West Indies, and is now known as the Cassidy/JLU orthography.

In 2012 the Bible Society, in collaboration with JLU, translated the New Testament into Jamaican using the Cassidy orthography, it was published as Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment.

Awards and honours He was awarded three medals from the Institute of Jamaica; the Centenary Medal in 1979, the Silver Musgrave Medal in 1962 and the Gold Musgrave Medal in 1983.

He has honorary doctorates from the Memorial University of Newfoundland and the University of West Indies.