English in America: A Linguistic History

An overview of the American English dialect map; the difference between a language, a dialect and an accent; the rules governing all linguistic systems; how and why some varieties of language become valued standards, and others are stigmatized.

The main English dialect hubs in the new American colonies; how these are influenced by contact with languages such as Native American languages, Spanish, French and Dutch; the five stages of development English dialects typically undergo.

How the English settlers transform themselves from colonists to American citizens; how English in America becomes American English; myriad dialects begin to coalesce; an explosion of linguistic creativity, especially in the creation of dialect words.

America begins looking inward for its language standards; the new norms are recorded in dictionaries, spelling books and grammar; they are celebrated in American literary works; key figures in this stage of American English's development.

The westward expansion of American English; the New England dialect spreads across the North; the South extends to the Southwest; people in the middle intermingle; how "General American English" is born; where it is; who speaks it.

What to call a big road where one drives fast; how to pronounce the word "been"; where one's linguistic usages places them on the American dialect map; how linguists get data to make their dialect maps; how they decide where to draw dialect lines.