Angolan, n. and adj.

[Ben Zimmer]

On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 1:04 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>
> Surely needs attention, and a search for "Angolian" as well.

I'm sure you won't have to wait too long, since the OED3 revision
project has looped back to the "A" entries (the AA-AEVUM range was
revised for the Dec. 2011 quarterly update).


> A. n. has two quotations, 1600 and 1976.  The slave trade will
> provide many in the intervening centuries.  The definition "A native
> or inhabitant of Angola, a republic (formerly a Portuguese colony) in
> south-western Africa." might require extension to the region rather
> than being limited to a former Portuguese colony.
>
> B. adj.'s earliest quotation is 1875.  The "Angolan language" can be
> found in 1724 in Charles B. Johnson's (or is it Daniel Defoe's) "A
> General History of the Pyrates, from their First Rise", and "A
> General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious
> Pyrates"  (GBooks, also held by ECCO). There is "Angolan Woman" in
> 1741: James Parsons, "A Mechanical and Critical Enquiry into the
> Nature or Hermaphrodites" (GBooks).

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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