Thread: Dialects in the U.S and how Americans speak English differently

Here is a link to an article that discusses American dialects that might be of interest to our translators. Sub, hoagie, hero? Map shows how Americans speak English differently ( NOTE..I JUST BOUGHT A NEW COMPUTER WITH WINDOWS 8 AND I HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO SOME THINGS WITH IT YET. FOR INSTANCE I CAN'T SEEM TO CREATE A NEW PARAGRAPH BY HITTING ENTER. SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME .) "A North Carolina State University student's heat map project shows dialects across the U.S.
While looking for ideas for his end-of-year statistics project, Joshua Katz decided to do a "smoothed version" of Bert Vaux's old dialect maps, which are based on data collected on regional dialects in the U.S., with the help of a 20-question survey that included everything from the pronunciation of "pecan" to whether "y'all" is preferred over "you."
Katz took the existing data, and with the help of statistical algorithms, created maps that give a more complete picture of national dialect differences.
"I've always found regional variations in dialect really fascinating," Katz says. "Language says so much about who a person is. To me, dialect is a badge of pride — it's something that says, 'This is who I am; this is where I come from.' So, just to take one example, being from South Jersey, what everyone else calls a 'sub' will for me always be a 'hoagie.'"

Originally Posted by Salvadorm

Why an English dialect be called hero? the map don't show any region Speaking "hero" dialect.

Hola Salvadorm: Hero is a reference to a sandwich which is called by other names in different dialects. Go here Dialect Survey Results It is an interactive map with a list of 105 questions (upper left corner) which you can scroll through to see how words and phrases are treated in different places of the map.

Originally Posted by amayo

I´ve lived in the New England and the Northwest and for me they will always be subs!!

Hola Amayo! Yes, and they're called subs here in Texas also. The nationwide chain Subway specializes in submarine sandwiches. I'm guessing they're called submarines (subs) due to their shape?

Hey chris! I've seen them as hoagies. Also, if my memory serves the Cuban sandwich in Miami was very similar.

I haven't been to New Jersey in a lot of years but still remember the fantastic food in the diners around Secaucus and Newark. A guy could gain some pounds eating in them!!! haha Are diners still big there?