Pratt, T.K. 1943–

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Pratt, T.K. 1943–

(Terry Kenneth Pratt)

PERSONAL: Born June 30, 1943, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; son of Kenneth and Audrey (Rogers) Pratt; married Jennifer Shields, July 30, 1988. Education: University of London, Ph.D., 1975. Politics: "Leftish." Religion: Agnostic. Hobbies and other interests: Music, gardening, theater.

ADDRESSES: Office—Department of English, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Ave., Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada C1A 4P3. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, faculty member, 1972–, professor of English, 1999–.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Dictionary of Prince Edward Island English, University of Toronto Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1988.

(Editor, with Scott Burke) Prince Edward Island Sayings, University of Toronto Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

General editor, "Gage Canadian Reference Series" of dictionaries and thesauruses for schools.

SIDELIGHTS: For nearly ten years, T.K. Pratt, professor of English and linguistics at Canada's University of Prince Edward Island, embarked on a linguistic adventure with fellow inhabitants of Prince Edward Island. The result was Dictionary of Prince Edward Island English. Through the extensive use of letters, questionnaires, and queries to special target groups and workers, Pratt linked his findings to those of his archival research into the rich English, Scottish, Irish, Acadian, and Micmac heritages of the island community. Wayne Grady, a reviewer in Books In Canada, called the work "a superbly readable dictionary that reverberates with the real, living language of a people" and "scholarly enough" for the "most ardent wordmonger." Although it is shorter than the Dictionary of Newfoundland English, this dictionary, according to commentators, does not lack in detail. What Pratt accomplishes with his effort is nothing less than "a kind of oral history" of the Prince Edward Islanders, Grady noted. Pratt concludes the dictionary with an extensive essay in which he discusses origins and usage of its many entries. Reviewer Grady concluded that The Dictionary of Prince Edward Island English is "a worthy addition to the growing family of regional wordbooks" of the Canadian Atlantic provinces. Pratt later completed an editorial collaboration with Scott Burke titled Prince Edward Island Sayings.

Pratt once told CA: "A friend of mine once called me a 'wordsmith' and that notable word fits most my interests as a teacher and writer and man about amateur theater."