The map I created is a map of Garreau's "Dixie" divided into sub-regions based off Linguistic dialects. I created the sub-region names from an article in The Washington Post titled "What dialect do you speak? A map of American English". The map I was most influenced by was Robert Delaney's map of "Dialects and Subdialects of American English in the 48 conterminous states", where he named and separated sub-regions off of distinct dialects.
For my map, I used his sub-region names and edited certain dialect names I thought could be changed. I changed "Louisiana" to "Louisiana/New Orleans" since the sub- region did not encompass Louisiana as a whole. These names are based off of geographic features of the regions, such as mountains or proximity to the coast. Names are also based off of the historical features of each sub-region.
Taking this rough layout of sub-regions, I deeply dove into other internet sources researching individual sub-regions, their dialects, and the history behind the development of these dialects. In my map I included descriptions of each dialect that I found through research and the history behind the development of these sub-regions. I also included images relating to the sub-regions and showing their unique features. Lastly, I included numerous videos exemplifying the unique dialect used in each sub-region.
In the text, The Human Mosaic a region is defined as a geographical unit based on characteristics and functions of culture. The type of sub-regions Garreau's map is divided into is formal. A formal region is an area inhabited by people who have one or more traits in common such as language. In creating my map, I chose to use the polygon feature instead of lines in order to show boarder zones since cultures and dialects overlap and mix. The entire map shows a core-periphery pattern of Southern Accents. The entire map of Garreau's Dixie can be grouped into an accent called "Southern", but within a Southern Accent is a much more complex division of dialects shown through the map's sub-regions. These sub-region dialects have a core-periphery pattern where the center of the sub-regions hold the strongest dialect trait, and the outer portions of these sub-regions are where the "accents" are weaker.
Some resources I used to create this map are:
South Midland
Southern Appalachian
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