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Dictionary of American Regional English

The Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) has been publishing words, pronunciations and phrases from regions across the U.S. since 1985.

Take a Regional DARE!
What's a Skelly? Discover how different parts of the U.S. describe health, food and leisure activities.

Linguistic Profiling?
There's more in the crime solvers' tool kit than what we see on TV. Roger W. Shuy talks about one of the most satisfying applications of his work.

On the Road
August Rubrecht shares an intimate portrait of life in the 1960s on a DARE "Word Wagon."

DARE Words

Radio America

American Varieties Index

Samples from the DARE Audio Collection:

African American woman from Jasper, Ala. recorded in 1966
White male from Prescott, Ariz. recorded in 1967
White male from San Bernardino, Calif. recorded in 1967
White male from Lebanon, Conn. recorded in 1969
White woman from Tifton, Ga. recorded in 1968
White woman from Chicago, Ill. recorded in 1966
White woman from Vevay, Ind. recorded in 1968
White male from New Orleans, La. recorded in 1968
White male from Presque Isle, Mass. recorded in 1966
White male from Smith Island, Md.recorded in 1968
African American woman from Boston, Mass. recorded in 1967
White male from Roswell, N.M. recorded in 1966
White woman from Brooklyn, N.Y. recorded in 1968
White woman from Guymon, Okla. recorded in 1966
White male from Brownsville, Texas recorded in 1967
White woman from Shamilah, Wash. recorded in 1966
White woman from Superior, Wis. recorded in 1968

Suggested Reading/Additional Resources

The Atlas of North American English 1^st national effort to systematically describe U.S. phonology
The American Dialect Society Dedicated to the study of regional American speech
Language Use in Your Town: The Modern Language Association's new Language Map displays the locations and approximate numbers of speakers of the 30 languages most commonly spoken in the United States.
Center for Applied Linguistics CAL is a private, non-profit organization that uses the findings of linguistics and related sciences in identifying and addressing language-related problems.
Linguistic Society of America (LSA)The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) was founded in 1924 to advance the scientific study of language. Linguistics has developed dramatically in the intervening years, greatly expanding the understanding of human language.

The Dictionary of American Regional English is published by
Harvard University Press.


National Endowment for the Humanities	William and Flora Hewlett Foundation	Ford Foundation	Rosalind P. Walter	Arthur Vining Davis Foundations	Carnegie Corporation of New York