Apparently my last posting was a bit depressing for certain demographics (of which I suppose I can claim membership). As such, I've decided on something a bit more calming and fun for this round, namely maps. Graphic presentation of demographic and biological data, particularly derived from GIS systems, is quickly becoming required practice in biological anthropology. In later posts I hope to share some exciting research in this area that was presented at the last AAPA meeting. Until then, here are a few quickly acessable maps for you perusal available via the internets:
American English Dialects - Here you'll find a wealth of linguistic and demographic information regarding the various permutations of the English language within the United States and Canada. You can even contribute to the project by providing a recording of your own voice to the database of dialect samples.
Ancestry Distribution in the US - 2000 Census - To date, I have not found any comparable maps for historical census data, either at the national level or more local levels. Local maps in particular would be quite valuable in representing the historic depth of various population histories in the United States.
Pop vs. Soda - This one has been of interest ever since my undergraduate days at SUNY Oswego back in PI (pre-internet) 1991-1995. Apparently, Oswego sits at the pop-soda frontier, which rings true with my own memory of the frequency of usage for either (and "coke" was never used as a generic term for soft drinks). I'm not sure if there is a map of the "pizza" vs. "pie" distribution, but my prediction is that it would follow a similar distribution.
Yay, maps!
ReplyDeleteStuff like that "American English Dialects" almost makes me wish I hadn't neglected linguistics so badly. It's a fascinating map, and I can't get past my own accent enough to understand it all. Neat!