Answers to three of the questions used in gathering material for the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) are analyzed in this paper. The data was collected state by state, and the number studied in each state was based on the 1960 population figures and known patterns of settlements and migrations. In the first question, the informants…

Claiming that understanding the social context in which words are formed is necessary to appreciate the richness and vitality of language, this book presents an informal, discursive examination of how and why American speech came to be the way it is, and in particular where the words came from. The book follows a roughly chronological format from…