Linguistic Atlas of New England

The Linguistic Atlas of New England project, begun in 1889 and published 1939-1943, documented two major dialect areas of New England, which are related to the history of the settling and dispersal of European settlers in New England with successive waves of immigration. The Eastern dialect area corresponds to the section settled and expanded from the Atlantic seaboard, while the Western New England dialect area corresponds to the area settled from the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound west of the river. (Hampshire County forms part of the dividing line; Pelham, Massachusetts was settled from the Atlantic as an offshoot from Worcester; Hadley and Amherst, Massachusetts from the Connecticut River.)

Handwritten transcription sheets (carbon copies) in the International Phonetic Alphabet, with some explanatory comments in longhand, recording hundreds of interviews held in communities throughout New England in the 1930s by linguists, documenting the geographic distribution of variant pronunciations and usages of spoken English. Worksheets are supplemented by phonological analyses; a published Handbook of the linguistic geography of New England (2nd Edition, 1972) which serves as index, introduction, and commentary to the papers; audio tapes of some follow-up interviews, 1934; and character sketches of informants by field workers.

The field workers’ task was to ascertain the usage of each informant on 814 words and phrases grouped in 711 numbered items, in interviews totaling from 6 to 20 hours per informant. The worksheets record the terms in groupings such as numerals, expressions of time, clothing and bedding, animals and calls to animals, dwellings, and the family. The interviews, when transcribed and compiled, resulted in the Linguistic Atlas of New England, published in 1939-1943, and the Handbook to the atlas, published first in 1939.

The atlas and the handbook are both organized term by term. The set of worksheets here, carbon copies from the interviewers’ workbooks, are arranged by community and then by informant, so that the total record of each informant is kept together, as it can be best exploited by research.

The atlas and the handbook are both organized term by term. The set of worksheets here, carbon copies from the interviewers’ workbooks, are arranged by community and then by informant, so that the total record of each informant is kept together, as it can be best exploited by research.