In the
Smithsonian Magazine's January 17,2024 issue, its history correspondent Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton observes that although the United States doesn't have an official language, "a road trip across the country reveals dozens of different accents and dialects of English that serve as living links to Americans’ ancestors."
She takes note of the Linguistic Society of America's finding that "even Americans, most of whom speak only English, usually know more than one dialect,” but these dialects are rooted in the same parent system that their partly independent histories that have left intact in different parts of that system.
BACKGROUND IMAGE VIA ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO UNDER PUBLIC DOMAINThe U.S. has five distinct regions--the West, the Midwest, the Southwest, the Southeast, and the Northeast--with broad accent categories based on these regions that can be accurately broken down into diverse dialects across different localities.
The article then provides an interactive map where the reader can explore and study audio recordings of the different accents and dialects spoken in the U.S.
Read in full "Myriad factors influencing variations among American accents and dialects" in smithsonianmag.com now!
