1. Field Work in Utah English
English Language Society Meeting

2. What do these signs have in common?
Utahisms!

3. Why is it important to do field work in a language like Utah English?
dialect prejudice
dialect change
dialect acquisition
social factors that influence dialect
speech pathology
computer language processing
heritage/ genealogy

4. Why do field work in Utah English?
From The Phonological Atlas of Northern America

5. Why do field work in Utah English?
Utah is also a great place to study dialect acquisition and social factors (like religion)

6. How do you do field work in a language like English?
Usually we need a lot of speakers, so
interviews
phone calls
covert observations
public forums
door-to-door
We decided on door-to-door—so the four of us got a map of Utah County and each took a different section

7. The Utah English Project Team
Diane, Wendy, Jared and Danny

8. Some of the Questions from the Survey
In what building does a farmer keep his animals?
Name the days of the week
What is the term for a sweetened carbonated beverage?
If you had to say there’s a difference, what’s the difference between a bag and a sack?
What do you say when people say thank you to you?

9. What were some of the challenges of doing field work in dialects of English?
Achievement of a random sample
Recording of the speakers
Confusion over some of the questions
Worry about keeping anonymity
Worry about saying the wrong thing
Anger of some of the groups (non-LDS participants)
Belief that they did not have a Utah “accent”
Suspicions about our work/danger to us

11. Some more fun things we encountered
Overexcitement about helping us out
People’s feelings about Utah English
Coaching by husbands/wives

12. NWAV and LSA 2005