Alan McConchieFeb 7, 2024

The epic linguistic map came up in conversation at work today, so today is one of those days to regularly to pause and spend some time admiring this map of North American English dialects by Rick Aschmann:

https://aschmann.net/AmEng/

#linguistics #LinguisticGeography #cartography #OutsiderArt #NorthAmerica #maps #dialect #dialectology

Show threadDoctor LURKFeb 8, 2024
@alan it's impressive, but woefully incomplete IMHO - I can think of at least five different dialects just along the I-5 corridor alone, from Chicano English and the modified Valleyspeak (which I mentally call the "skater's dialect") of Humboldt County and the Emerald Triangle to the Portland dialect's fronted vowels and the flat, country radio-informed pseudo-twang of lumber town natives. It's silly to paint everything west of Denver as one huge blob of homogeneity with a few small enclaves!
Show threadKrupo
@doctorLURK @alan I was going to add the same about the "we're just phoning it in" blob for most of English Canada.
Feb 8, 2024 at 1:37amWeb
Show threadDoctor LURKFeb 8, 2024

@krupo @alan I believe it! The truth is that a lot of research into these dialects is still ongoing because they're relatively young, so not a lot of them have been formally accepted yet. It's still weird to see that unfinished work visualized. We know better than to think it's definitive - we *know* languages are always evolving, if nothing else - but our ape brains can't resist thinking "this is set in stone" when we see static information like this.

It's still a really cool project!

Show threadKrupoFeb 8, 2024
@doctorLURK @alan agreed, the more I read and learned about it, the more I accepted it's a work in progress and would temper my initial criticism. Won't edit or take away the original comment as it shows my evolving understanding of what this all represents.
Show threadKrupoFeb 8, 2024

@doctorLURK @alan I read on more deeply, and there were a few relevant points. Almost 1000 samples in the collection and following a CBC interview:

"Note to Canadians: Nora points out that Canadians are currently underrepresented on the map. So, this is your chance to change that! Send in your samples...."

It's funny because I can pick up different accents just from the different parts of Toronto

Show threadDoctor LURKFeb 8, 2024
@krupo @alan very cool!