Tag Archives: dialect maps

The Pin-Pen Merger

I used Ancestry.com for a few months, before it got a bit too expensive. One of the main family branches that I researched were (was?) the Kendricks, a family in Kentucky that has been in that state for several generations. … Continue reading

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Posted in American English | Tagged , , , | 34 Comments

“Ayuh”: America’s Oddest “Yes”

Growing up in Southern New England, I heard tell of a near-mythical dialect feature from Maine and other places further north: ayuh. This word is the informal version of “yes” in Maine, and, unusually for semi-archaic dialect words, it has … Continue reading

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Posted in American English | Tagged , | 40 Comments

Americans: Intolerant of Regional Accents?

I often assume that the British are more accent-conscious than we Americans are. Let me put that more bluntly: I assume the British are more accent-intolerant than we are. There is a good bit of evidence to support this. Brits … Continue reading

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Posted in Accent Reduction | Tagged , , , , | 25 Comments

The Remarkable History of “Y’all”

In contemporary New York City, it is common to hear local teenagers use the word “y’all.” A few decades ago, this word would have been confined to speakers of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), who brought the word with them … Continue reading

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Posted in American English | Tagged , , , | 53 Comments

Rick Aschmann’s Dialect Map

I have been studying dialects for years, and I have never come across anything as remarkable as Rick Aschmann’s American Dialect Map. For serious linguists, Aschmann’s research might seem wildly unscientific and cavalier. But for a hardcore dialect nerd like … Continue reading

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