VICE CHANCELLOR at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Rex Nettleford, yesterday described Professor Fred Cassidy as a "linguist and lexicographer, scholar and humanist" whose erudition, dedication and intellect added new and significant dimensions to the world of scholarship.
This is attested to by his sustained study and painstaking documentation of the language of the Jamaican people, Professor Nettleford added.
Professor Cassidy died in Wisconsin, USA, at the age of 93 on Wednesday.
Mr. Cassidy was better known locally for Jamaica Talk, a book about the development, structure and dynamics of the indigenous language of Jamaica and a Dictionary of Jamaican English in two editions.
In recognition of Professor Cassidy's contribution to Jamaican and Caribbean Language Studies, the University of the West Indies conferred on him the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters in 1984.
The citation noted that the Caribbean region and the world were in his debt for the publications, "works which both celebrate the collective genius of an entire people over time," Professor Nettleford said.
Professor Cassidy was born in Jamaica and received his early schooling at Miss Amy Beckwith's Preparatory School. He was later educated at Jamaica College until the age of eleven and completed his formal education in the United States, graduating from Oberlin College with a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, and a Master of Arts in 1930 and 1932 respectively.
After teaching in various universities and after he gained his doctorate from the University of Michigan in 1938, he moved to the University of Wisconsin and assumed the Chair in English which he held on tenure at Wisconsin until his retirement. After retirement, Professor Cassidy continued as editor and director of the Dictionary of American Regional English.
