The Linguistic Atlas Project is the oldest and largest ongoing American English survey project in the U.S. Under the leadership of its editor-in-chief William Kretzschmar, Harry and Jane Willson Professor in the Humanities, UGA has become a national center for dialect research, and the materials of the LAP are the best source for the history of mid-century American English. In writing about an upcoming grant awarded to Kretzschmar and colleagues, we learned about LAP and unearthed this video from a couple of years ago in which Dr. Kretzschmar - and some everyday people - talk about linguistics and how useful it is:
"The accent makes it more likely that people will accept your information. If it sounds familiar, they trust it." - William Kretzschmar
More [humanities] news to come.