I chose Arvada, CO (part of Jefferson County), which is my hometown and somewhere I'd consider teaching in the future. Based on what I saw on the map, other than English, the most common languages spoken in Arvada are Spanish and German. The census reported that 2,911 individuals (or 0.56%) spoke German and 31,708 (or 6.07%) spoke Spanish. I think Spanish being this common is very accurate. I know lots of people who speak Spanish in Arvada, and I'm not surprised to see this is the second most common language.

Aside from Spanish, Denver (which is close to Arvada) is known for its more neutral, Western American English dialect. From the videos provided, I hear a very flat way of speaking that will sometimes omit consonants in the middle of a word, like the t in mountains. According to the website, we pronounce "cot" and "caught" alike, which is true. Our dialect is not very discernible from neighboring western states like Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona, etc., but we definitely sound different from Southern States, Eastern States, and other areas around the country.

The geographic area I decided to focus on was Littleton, CO (my hometown), and I could see myself teaching here in the future. In addition to English, the most prevalent languages are Spanish (79%) and American Sign Language (48%). I am surprised that ASL is a top language! After ASL, Japanese is the next most common language (30%). As for dialects in Littleton, it is mostly with the pronunciation of "pin" and "pen" and r dropping.

Ruby Trione

1. Geographic Area: I chose to focus on Jefferson County, Colorado, which is also my home town.

2. Most Prevelant Language (other than english): Based on the Washington Post map, the most commonly spoken language other than English in Jefferson County is Spanish, with about 10.45% of residents speaking it at home.

3. English Variety/ Dialect: The variety of English spoken in this area is called Western American English. Some unique features of this dialect include how the "t" sound is softened or barely pronounced in words such as mountain, kitten, or water. This makes the prononucation sound more like moun'n, ki'en, and wa'er.

English is the predominant language spoken in this area. Excluding English, Spanish and Spanish Creole are the predominant languages spoken in the area. About 13.7% of the United States population speaks Spanish at home and less than 1% of the population speaks Spanish Creole. Excluding English and Spanish, Chinese is the predominant language spoken in this area, around 1% of the United States population speaks Chinese. 

The dialect of North American English spoken in this region is called Urban Coastal California English which is part of Western American Dialect. 

I listened to Dave Brubeck, a Jazz Musician from Concord. I heard how “On” rhymes with “Dawn”, not “ Don”.  

In this type of English we say our “R” very clearly in words, meaning people from here are typically rhotic speakers. Also vowels are usually pushed together when pronouncing words. 

1. The geographic location that I chose was my hometown. Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York.

2. The Washington Post article states that the other most common languages are Spanish or Spanish Creole and Chinese

3. The North American English Dialect map describes Oyster Bay as the “Greater New York City”. There are various unusual vowels like “bad” and ‘had” don't rhyme and “father” and “brother” dont rhyme.

2 : The most prevalent language other than English is Spanish. About 24.40% or 221,019 people primarily speak Spanish in Austin.

3 : The dialect that the American English Dialect resource shows is the most prevalent dialect is something called a Lowland Southern Accent. What I've noticed about this accent after growing up in a city where I heard this accent a lot is that people talk with a drawl, and tend to elongate certain parts of words. Another characteristic is the vocabulary that is used by Texans. For example, "y'all" is a very common word that everybody uses, including myself.

1. I focused my exploration on Aurora, CO (and Arapahoe County). Aurora is where I grew up and went to school, I would also prefer to come back here and teach.

2. The most prevalent languages other than English in Aurora are Spanish and African languages, Spanish speakers making up about 12.49% and speakers of African languages about 1.18%. This is not a surprise to me because of the diversity I grew up with and because I made up part of the statistic on Spanish speakers.

3. The dialect of the more general region is Western. After listening to a few of the audio samples, I did notice the emphasis on "ou" in words such as "sound," and the tendency to emphasize "t" sounds. Some unique features to the English spoken in Colorado are like the way we pronounce Colorado as Color-ad-o.

I focused on Centennial/Aurora, as this is the area where I went to high school. The predominant language in this area is English, while the predominant language spoken, excluding English, is Spanish and African languages. About 14.14% speak Spanish, and about 3.5% speak African languages. In the Centennial/Aurora area, the primary dialect spoken is Western American English, also known as Western U.S. English. Listening to audio samples, the accent sounds pretty neutral compared to other regions, with the cot–caught merger making words like cot and caught sound the same, and t sounds, like in mountain, said as mou’in. Unique features include pronunciation patterns such as the cot–caught merger, vowels like u in goose, and flapping of t so metal and medal sound alike. The vocabulary appears to reflect outdoor life, with words like "trailhead" and "range," while the grammar aligns with General American English, exhibiting few unique differences.

Geographic Area:

I focused on Austin, Texas, mostly within Travis County. This is my hometown and one of the places I have in mind to teach in the future. I would like to teach here after graduation because of Austins' cultural diversity and good educational system.

Language Data:

Based on the Washington Post article "Mapping Where English Is Not The Language At Home," the language spoken at home most other than English in Travis County is Spanish. Roughly 1,200 (28%) of residents speak Spanish at home.

English Dialect in the Area:

According to the North American Dialects map, the English spoken in Austin is primarily Southern American English, with influence from Southwestern and General American dialects due to the city's growth and migration patterns.

Dialect Features and Observations from Audio Samples:

Listening to audio samples from the region, I noticed a slight drawl in vowel sounds and frequent use of regional expressions. Some examples of this were:

• Phonology: Monophthongization (e.g., "ride" sounding like "rahd"), and the pin/pen merger, meaning both words sound extremely similar if not the same.

• Lexicon: Words like "Y'all" (you all), "fixin' to" (about to), and the use of "coke" meaning any soda.

• Morphosyntax: Occasional use of double modals (e.g., "might could" or "might should" in sentences such as "I might could see you tomorrow"), which is characteristic of the Southern dialect region.

1. I focused my exploration on Jonesboro, Louisiana, since that's where I lived from ages 4 to 10.

2. The most prevalent languages other than English in Jonesboro are French (Patois, Cajun) 1.298% and Spanish or Spanish Creole 1.075% I'm not surprised by this number because the majority of people who live in this vip code are white or African American.

3. The dialect of this area in north-central Louisiana (Jackson Parish), a region that patterns with Southern American English, is known to Southern Vowel Shift & drawl: short front vowels may develop glides.

   Lexicon & grammar common to Southern English examples: "y’all" (2nd-person plural), fixin’ to (be about to), occasional double modals (might could), completive done (We done told y’all).

I decided to do the location where I grew up which is lone tree, Colorado, which is in Douglas county. The most prevalent language excluding English in this area is Spanish but only 1.9%/2,432 of the people in this area speak Spanish. The next language that is spoken the most in the Lone Tree area is Hebrew (0.77%/958). The Spanish didn't really surprise me as I know a lot of Spanish speakers live in Colorado but not many around my area, but I do hear them from time to time so this number makes sense to me! The Hebrew really surprises me because I don't know anyone that speaks Hebrew and I don't think I have ever heard it being spoken around this area. The dialect for this area is Western traditional English. Looking at all the areas in Colorado surprised me because there are so many different types of pronunciations between counties. Like in Pueblo pin=pen but another area in Colorado has a very western/country sounding accent. I feel like I hear all types of accents and variations of language in Colorado so it's fun to see which areas differ from the rest!

^{1) I chose my hometown, Rye, to focus on for this. It is a suburb about 40 minutes from New York City.}

^{2) The other prominent languages spoken there other than English are Spanish Creole and Italian.}

^{3) The North American English Dialects calls Rye "The North." When saying things like "car," someone may say "cah" instead due to people often dropping the "r" in words.}

Weld county is in the west region of the US, and it mostly is known for its standard American English dialect, with little to no accent. Sometimes a hard r dialect is identified, alongside a Spanish accent spoken into some words.

Meilani Cano

https://www.seekingmyroots.com/members/files/H000480.pdf

1. I decided to focus on Hennepin County, Minnesota because I grew up in the Twin Cities.

2. Other than English, Spanish and African languages are the most prevalent. 5.75% percent of the population speaks Spanish, and 3.05% of the population speaks an African language.

3. Minnesotans typically lengthen their vowels when speaking, and I could see this in the Baffin Island expedition video with the word "those." Another example of this is seen in the word "know" in the Jesse Ventura video. The North Central dialect of English is spoken in Hennepin County.

I focused on Glynn County, Georgia a coastal area because it's far from home, and I think it would be fun to move somewhere new. The most common non-English language spoken here is Spanish, with about 6% of residents using it at home. From the North American English Dialects map, this region is part of the Southern Coastal dialect area, which falls under Southern American English. Listening to audio samples,I noticed the speech has a gentle drawl and a slower, more melodic rhythm. Unique features of this variety include drawn-out vowels, the use of “y’all." In some parts of the coast, there is also influence from the Gullah language, which adds to the region’s distinct linguistic history.

Here is a link to a map of the county I explored: https://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/states/georgia/counties/glynn-county-map.html

1. Alexandria, Virginia, where I am from! (More specifically, Fairfax County)

2. The most predominant language spoken other than English was Spanish or Spanish Creole, about 14% of the population. The most predominant language spoken, excluding English AND Spanish, was Korean, about 3.1%.

3. 
   

   • What is the variety/dialect of North American English that is spoken in this region called? 

The dialect spoken in Fairfax County is Mid-Atlantic/Greater Washington, D.C. English, which sounds similar to General American. There is also a local D.C. African American English present in the county as well.

• If there are audio samples of the variety/dialect in your chosen area, listen to a few and note what you notice or heard.

What I heard was mainly your typical General American-sounding Mid-Atlantic dialect. There’s definitely some local slang that I know personally from growing up there, but the slang mostly picks up the closer you live to the city of D.C. 

• What are some unique features of this variety of English? (pronunciation/phonology, words/vocabulary/lexicon, grammar/morphosyntax, etc.)

General American is in much of NoVA (Northern Virginia): rhotic /r/ (“car” with /r/), little to no Northern Cities or Southern Vowel Shift, and fairly neutral “short-a.” There are also D.C. vowel quirks, especially in long-time local communities: e.g., a merger that can make “Maryland” ~ “Muriland” and “very” ~ “vury.” Patterns like final consonant changes (e.g., bed sounding closer to bet, bag → back) is also something that comes within this variety.