350 • Chapter 11 Language Variation Among Social Groups: Dialects

talk like one another. A corollary of the second principle is that people not talking with
one another tend to become linguistically differentiated.
Today the languages of Europe look separate and tidily compartmentalized on a map.
In reality they are not so neatly distinguishable. Instead, there is a continuum of varia-
tion, and languages "blend" into one another. The national border between France and
Italy also serves as a dividing line between French-speaking and Italian-speaking areas.
But the French spoken just inside the French border shares features with the Italian spo-
ken just outside it. From Paris to the Italian border lies a continuum along which local
French varieties become more and more "Italianlike." Likewise, from Rome to the
French border, Italian varieties become more "Frenchlike."
Swedes of the far south can communicate better with Danish speakers in nearby Den-
mark using their local dialects than with their fellow Swedes in distant northern Sweden.
The same situation exists with residents along the border between Germany and Holland.
Using their own local varieties, speakers of German can communicate better with speak-
ers of Dutch living near them than with speakers of southern German dialects. Examples
of geographical dialect continua are found throughout Europe. In fact, while the standard
varieties of Italian, French, Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese are not mutually intelligi-
ble, the local varieties form a continuum from Portugal through Spain, halfway through
Belgium, then through France down to the southern tip of Italy. There are also a Scandi-
navian dialect continuum, a West Germanic dialect continuum, and South Slavonic and
North Slavonic dialect continua.
In the case of Kupwar, if there were no outside reference varieties against which to
compare the varieties spoken in the village, we ntight be inclined to say that the varieties
spoken there were dialects of one language. The residents of Kupwar, however, have
found it socially valuable to continue speaking "different" languages, despite increasing
grammatical similarity. What counts most in deciding on designations for language vari-
eties and on whether such names represent dialects of a single language or separate lan-
guages are the views of their speakers.

National Varieties of English

In this section we briefly examine some national varieties of English, with emphasis on
American English and British English.

American and British National Varieties

The principal varieties of English throughout the world are customarily divided into British
and American types. British English is the basis for the varieties spoken in England, Ire-
land, Wales, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, and
South Africa. American (or North American) includes chiefly the English of Canada and
the United States.
Despite the groupings just suggested, certain characteristics of Canadian English are
closer to British English, while certain characteristics of Irish English are closer to North
American English. And there are many differences between, say, standard British English
and standard Indian English. But we can still make a number of generalizations about
British-based varieties and American-based varieties, provided we recognize that neither
group is completely homogeneous.
 National Varieties of English • 351

Spelling There are well-known spelling differences between British and American
English. Some are systematic, others limited to a particular word. American red, white,
and blue colors are colours in Britain, and many other words ending in -or in American
English end in -our in British English. Among idiosyncratic spellings are British ryres
and kerb versus American tires and curb. Interestingly, Canadians often use British
rather than American spelling practices, a reflection of their close historical association
with Britain. For the most part, these spelling differences don't reflect spo~en differ-
ences. Below are listed some common American - British spelling correspondences.
American British American British
labor, favor labour, favour tire tyre
license, defense licence, defence curb kerb
spelled, burned, spilled spelt, burnt, spilt program programme
analyze~ organize analyse, organise pajamas pyjamas
center, theater centre, theatre check cheque
judgment, abridgment judgement, abridgement ton tonne
dialed, canceled dialled, cancelled catalog catalogue
installment, skillful instalment, skilful czar tsar
Pronunciation Differences in vowel and consonant pronunciation, as well as in word
stress and intonation, combine to create American and British accents. Speakers of both
varieties pronounce the vowel of words in the cat, fat, mat class with lre/. For similar
words ending in a fricative such as fast, path, and half, American English has lrel, while
some British vatieties have 10:/, the stressed vowel of father. . Americans pronounce the
vowel in the new, tune and dury class with lui, as though they were spelled "noo," "toon,"
and "dooty." Varieties of British English often pronounce them with Ijul, as though
spelled "nyew," "tyune," and "dyuty," a pronunciation also heard among some older
Americans.
As to consonants, perhaps the most noticeable difference has to do with intervocalic
Itl. When Itl occurs between a stressed and an unstressed vowel, Americans and Canadi-
ans usually pronounce it as a flap [r]. As a result, the word sitter is pronounced [slrar],
and latter and ladder are pronounced the same. By contrast, speakers of some British
vatieties pronounce intervocalic Itl as [t]. As another example, most American vatieties
have a retroflex Irl in word-final position in words such as car and near and also preced-
ing a consonant as in cart and beard, whereas some British vatieties, including standard
British English, do not. With respect to this post-vocalic Irl, speakers of Irish and Scot-
tish English follow the American pattern, while speakers of dialects in New York City,
Boston, and parts of the coastal South follow the British pattern.
Among differences of word stress, British English tends to stress the first syllable of
garage, fillet, and ballet, while American English places stress on the second syllable. The
same is true for patois, massage, debris, beret, and other borrowings from French. In cer-
tain polysyllabic words such as laboratory, secretary, and lavatory, the stress patterns dif-
fer, with American English preserving a secondary stress on the next-to-Iast syllable.

}~'I TrY It Yourself: Use the IPA sympols given' on the inside front and back
covers bf this 'texf to' lninscribe the word laboratory to represent both British and
American pro.~?nciations with four syllables . •. " .. ' .
,,';
352 • Chapter 11 Language Variation Among Social Groups: Dialects

Syntax and Grammar Some noun phrases that denote locations in time or space take an
article in American English but not in British English.
American British
in the hospital in hospital
to the university to university
the next day next day
Some collective nouns (those that refer to groups of people or to institutions) are
treated as plural in British English but usually as singular in American varieties. An
American watching a soccer game might say Cornell is ahead by two, whereas a British
observer might say Manchester are ahead by two. Americans rely more on form than on
sense. Thus, speaking of the Anaheim Angels baseball team, a writer or sportscaster
might say Anaheim has won again or The Angels have won again. In both British and
American English, a noun such as police takes a plural verb, as in The police are
atrempting to assist the neighbors.
A further illustration of the grammatical differences between the two varieties is the
use of the verb do with auxiliaries. If asked Have you finished the assignment?, Ameri-
can English pernlits Yes, [ have, while British English allows that imd Yes, [ have done.
Asked whether flying time to Los Angeles varies, a British Airways flight attendant
might reply, It can do.
Vocabulary There are also vocabulary differences between American and British English,
such as those below.
American British American British
elevator lift second floor first floor
TV telly flashlight torch
hood (of a car) bonnet trunk (of a car) boot
cookies biscuits dessert pudding
ga:>lgasoJine petrol truck lorry
can tin intennission interval
line queue exit way out
washclothlfacecloth flannel traffic circle/rotary roundabout

* Try Yourseif: In some cases;' a word use,;!'in Britain i~ h;.rdiy krioW'r{ ~ tl;~..
IUnitedIStatesIt
.. In othe(cases, the most commonBritis~ .tenn hap~en~ ' ~oitQ~':the .
most common American teffil. For .each of the following, give the orctiriwYAJ.nericru, ·
English equivalent: fortnight, holiday, motorway, diversion, roadwo~ks, joiliing paitzts, '.
tailback, hire car. car park, windscreen, sp~er. ." . c..•. ;:': '.:
:;;"';'.:,~c"::;"c,,',' .. i<

Regional Varieties of American English

Starting in the late 1940s, investigation of vocabulary patterns in the eastern United
States suggested Northern, Midland, and Southern dialects. Midland was divided into
North Midland and South Midland varieties. Boston and metropolitan New York were
 Regional Varieties of American English • 353

seen as distinct varieties of the Northern dialect. Midwestern states silch as Illinois, Indi-
ana, and Ohio, which had been formerly thought of as representing "General American,"
were seen as situated principally in the North Midland dialect, with a narrow strip of
Northern dialect across their northernmost counties and a small strip belonging to the
South Midland variety across their southern counties. More receut investigations suggest
refinements of that scheme, such as those represented in the geographical patterns of
Figure 11-1.

Mapping Dialects
In order to propose a map such as the one in Figure 11-1, dialectologists investigate pat-
terns of usage. Investigators may rely on vocabulary, pronuuciation, or grammar. Typi-
cally, a researcher with a lengthy questionnaire visits a town and inquires of residents
what they call certain things or how they express certain meanings. Figure ll-l is based
on regional vocabulary. Note that this interpretation of the data divides the United States
into two main dialects (North and South), each ·of which is divided in tum into Upper
and Lower sections, with the West viewed as an extension of the North dialect. The map
in Figure 11-1 relies on fieldwork undertaken in the 1960s and 1970s for the Dictionary
of American Regional English, or DARE. Later we'll examine that project a bit more.
Prior to DARE, several linguistic atlas projects were undertaken, part of a project
called the Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada. Data collection in several
regions was completed and the results published, but parts of the project remain incom-
plete. Still, the data collected provide a useful view of regional variation. To take an
354 • Chap te r 11 Language Variation Among Social Groups: Dialects

example, when Atlas investigators asked respondents for the commonly used term for the
large insect with transparent wings often seen hovering over water, local terms came to
light. Figure 11-2 shows darning needle as the most common term,in New England,
upstate New York, metropolitan New York (including northern and eastern New Jersey
and Long Island), and northern Pennsylvania. Elsewhere, other terms predominated:
mosquito hawk in coastal North Carolina and Virginia, snake doctor in inland Virginia,
and snake feeder along the northern Ohio River in West Virginia, Ohio, western Pennsyl-
vania, and the upper Ohio ValJey toward Pittsburgh.

FIGURE 11·2
•
Words for 'Dragonfly' in the Eastern States
,':.:'

•
o
I o

o DARNING NEEDLE
• MOSQUITO HAWK
• SPINDLE
• SNAKE FEEDER
• SNAKE DOCTOR
• SNAKE WAITER
, ;:

Source: Kurath 1949.

 Regional Varieties of American English • 355

You can see in Figure 11-2 that not all the terms for 'dragonfly' are tidily distributed.
In some areas, only a single form occurred, but in others more than one. The larger O's
on the map in New England indicate that darning needle was the only regional term
found there. You can see in Figures 11-3 and 11-4 that mosquito hawk was virtually the
ouly regional response given in parts of southeast Texas and portions of central Texas, as
well as all of Louisiana and Florida, and much of southern Alabama, Mississippi, and
Georgia. But snake doctor was the favored form in west, north, and northwest Texas, the
western half of Tennessee, the northern parts of Alabama and Mississippi, and part of
northwestern Georgia. Snake feeder oc"Curred occasionally in Oklahoma along the Cana-
dian and Arkansas rivers (which aren't labeled in our figure but can be identified within
Oklahoma near the solid triangles of Figure 11-4). Both mosquito hawk and snake doctor
were used in the southern half of Arkansas (in Figures 11-3 and 11-4). Darning needle,
so popular in New York and New England, occurred too infrequently even to be recorded
on these maps of the South. Some respondents were unacquainted with local terms and
reported using only dragonfly. (Note: If you live in or come from an area represented on
the maps but find the terms indicated there unfamiliar, bear in mind that the data were
often gathered in rural areas and represent "folk" speech as well as "cultivated" speech.
Moreover, some of the interviews took place decades ago, and word usage may have
changed in the meanwhile.)

FIGURE 11-3
Words for 'Dragonfly' In Texas, Arkansas, louisiana, Oklahoma
356 • Chap te r 11 Language Variation Among Social Groups: Dialects

FIGURE 11-4
Words for 'Dragonfly' in the Gulf States

Determining Isoglosses Once a map has been marked with symbols for various fea-
tures, lines called isoglosses can often be drawn at the boundary for the different forms.
For example, in Figure ll-S on page 357 the four isoglosses traversing the North-Central
states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois represent the northernmost limits of greasy pro-
nounced IgriziJ with a IzI , of snake feeder as the term for 'dragonfly: and of two other
features.
Figure 11-6 on page 358 represents seven isoglosses in the Upper Midwest. Three
of them mark the southernmost boundaries of Northern features: humor pronounced
[hjum~rl (/hjl is represented in 'the map's legend as /hyfJ; boulevard referring to the grass
strip between the curb and sidewalk; and come in (fresh), meaning ' to give birth' and
usually said of a cow. The four other isoglosses mark the northernmost boundaries of
Midland features: the word on pronounced with a rounded vowel (/~I or 10/, where 101 is
like 10/ but pronounced with lip rounding) instead of an unrounded 10/; the term cater-
wampus, meaning 'askew' or 'awry'; the term roasting ears for 'com on the cob'; and
lightbread for 'white bread.'

Dialect Boundaries
Imagine each isogloss map stacked on top of one another on a transparency. The result
would be a map similar to the one in Figure 1! -6 and would show the extent to which
 Regional Varieties of American English • 357

the isoglosses from different maps "bundle" together. The geographical limit for the use
of a particular word (say, caterwampus) often corresponds roughly to the limit for other
terms or pronunciations. Where isoglosses bundle, dialectologists draw. dialect bound-
aries. Thus, a dialect boundary is simply the location of a bundle of isoglosses. The map
in Figure 11-1 on page 353 is a distillation of dozens of maps similar to those in Figures
11-5 and 11-6.

FIGURE 11-5
Four Isoglosses in the North-Central States (Northern limits)
358 • Chapter 11 Language Variation Among Social Groups: Dialects

FIGURE 11-6
Seven Isoglosses in the Upper Midwest

' . ND

,,~.',.:,L", ~;11:J)/:;<~%: ,.'.'

---- ... - '~
" "i"'" NoriliernlinrllsofMidla.ng
: ; './
" ~ ' -/o~o/"in.'~n~ :;.:.
• < "0" , .' • . - ~.cilte:rWiinlpus·
.
."

.... "; em
.- - roasting
"", :'. ·; ::,.( , 7, ~li~ht..b~ead .

<..

~; ,,"

Speech patterns are influenced partly by the geographical and physical boundaries
that facilitate or inhibit conununication and partly by the migration routes followed in
settling a place, Among the isoglosses of Figure 11-5, the one for Igrisil versus IgriziJ
essentially follows a line (now approximated by Interstate 70) that was the principal road
for the migration of pioneers during the postcolonial settlement period,
In the western United States, the dialect situation is more complex than in the longer
established areas of the East, South, and Midwest The West drew settlers speaking
dialects from various parts of the country, California continues to welcome immigrants
from other parts of the country and the world,

Dictionary of American Regional English

The Dictionary of American Regional English makes available more information about
regional words and expressions throughout the United States than has ever been known
before,