Is regionalism connected to the pronunciation of words in the United States? The following will hopefully answer this question.

-results used from Dr. Bert Vaux’s Dialect Survey

vaux@uwm.edu

Reference: http://cfprod01.imt.uwm.edu/Dept/FLL/linguistics/dialect/index.html

How do you say the word aunt?

“ah”nt

“ant”

“au”nt (as in ‘caught’)

1. aunt      a. [ ] as in "ah" (9.62%)     b. [ ] as in "ant" (75.15%)     c. [ ] as in "caught" (2.77%)

Can you detect any regional differences with this word?

How do you pronounce the word been?

As in “sit” (bin)

As in “see” (been)

As in “set” (ben)

a. [ ] as in "sit" (64.82%)     b. [i:] as in "see" (3.59%)     c. [ ] as in "set" (28.60%)

Slight difference in Upper Midwest

The first vowel in the word Florida.

“Flow” rida

“Flah” rida

“Flaw” rida

“Flore” ida

     a. [o:] as in "flow" ("flow-ri-da") (4.95%)     b. [ ] as in "ah" ("flah-ri-da") (11.37%)     c. [ ] as in "saw" ("flaw-ri-da") (7.09%)     d. [ ] as in "sore" ("flore-i-da") (73.38%)

How do you pronounce the word lawyer?

As in “boy” (loyer)

As in “saw” (law-yer)

a. with [ j] as in "boy" ("loyer") (72.84%)  b. with [ ] as in "saw" ("law-yer") (21.96%)

Upper Midwest? Northwest?

The second vowel in the word pajamas.

As in “jam” (pa-jamas)

As in “father (pa-jahmas)

 a. [ ] as in "jam" (45.92%)     b. [ ] as in "father" (51.86%)

Which of these terms do you prefer

for a sale of unwanted items on

your porch, in your yard, etc.?Tag sale, yard sale, garage sale, rummage sale

     a. tag sale (3.60%)     b. yard sale (36.41%)     c. garage sale (52.17%)     d. rummage sale (3.10%)      (10736 respondents)

What do you call the long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce, and so on?     a. sub (77.15%)     b. grinder (2.87%)     c. hoagie (6.98%)     d. hero (5.18%)     (10708 respondents)

66. What do you call the miniature lobster that one finds in lakes and streams for example (a crustacean of the family Astacidae)?Crawfish. Crayfish, Crawdad

     a. crawfish (38.82%)     b. crayfish (32.45%)     e. crawdad (19.48%)       (10684 respondents)

73. What is your *general* term for the rubber-soled shoes worn in gym class, for athletic activities, etc.?

Sneakers, gym shoes, tennis shoes, other?

     a. sneakers (45.50%)      c. gymshoes (5.55%)       f. tennis shoes (41.34%)     (10722 respondents)

75. What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?Shopping cart, grocery cart,

Carriage, buggy

     a. shopping cart (77.02%)     c. grocery cart (13.95%)     e. carriage (0.95%)     f. buggy (4.11%)       (10705 respondents)

What term do you use to refer to something that is across both streets from you at an intersection (or diagonally across from you in general)?

Kitty-corner? Anything else?

     a. kitty-corner (49.53%)     d. catty-corner (30.38%)     g. I can only use "diagonal" for this (12.31%)     (10706 respondents)

77. What do you call the activity of driving around in circles in a car?

     a. doing donuts (80.71%)     b. doing cookies (1.74%)     c. whipping shitties (1.43%)     d. other (16.12%)     (10011 respondents)

80. What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

     a. sunshower (34.29%)     c. the devil is beating his wife (6.43%)     h. I have no term or expression for this (55.15%)       (10691 respondents)

94. Do you say "frosting" or "icing" for the sweet spread one puts on a cake?

     a. frosting (32.79%)     b. icing (16.88%)     c. icing is thinner than frosting, white, and/or made of powdered sugar and milk or lemon juice (20.73%)     d. both (28.87%)       (10702 respondents)

What do you call the thing from which you might drink water in a school?

     a. bubbler (3.84%)     c. drinking fountain (33.16%)     d. water fountain (60.97%)     e. other (1.74%)     (10656 respondents)

Obvious regional influence?

105. What is your generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage?

     a. soda (52.97%)     b. pop (25.08%)     c. coke (12.38%)     (10669 respondents)

What do you call the act of covering a house or area in front of a house with toilet paper?

     a. tp'ing (57.61%)     b. rolling (6.68%)     c. toilet papering (21.04%)       (10658 respondents)