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Censuses offer bountiful but underexploited sources for studies of linguistic usage, especially with their detailed geographic and demographic information about respondents. To demonstrate potential uses of census data, this study explores the regional variation in 1880 U.S. Census respondents when referring to establishments serving alcoholic beverages and to those establishments' employees. The analysis shows distinct regional patterns of using barkeeper rather than bartender (more common in the South), of referring to a workplace as a tavern (overwhelmingly a Middle Atlantic phenomenon), and of speaking of attending bar rather than tending or keeping it (also concentrated in the Middle Atlantic). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An appendix is presented of notes on English language usage including stops, consonant durations, and phonemes from various articles in the issue.

One stigmatized feature of Utah speech is the "dropped t" in words such as kitten and mountain. We investigated three possible phonetic correlates of "t-dropping" by recording participants from Utah and other Western states reading a document containing several instances of /t/ followed by a syllabic nasal. The first possible correlate, actual deletion of /t/, was uncommon but occurred slightly more often in the mouths of Utahns. The second possible correlate was realizing /t/ as a glottal stop, which was actually done more often by non-Utahns than Utahns (89% versus 81%, resp.). The third correlate, releasing the glottal stop orally rather than nasally (e.g., [khɪɁən] and [mawɁən] vs. [khɪən] and [mawɁn]) is the most likely candidate for "t-dropping" since Utahns did this in 17% of the cases compared to less than 1% in non-Utahns. Logistic regression analysis of the data indicates that age, percentage of life lived in Utah, and gender were strong predictors of oral release; it was used most often by young females who had lived the majority of their life in Utah. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of the prefix un- in the English language. According to the authors, the use of the prefix has been prevalent in Modern English, particularly by the British playwright William Shakespeare. The article also examines the use of the prefix in nouns and verbs, and points to the use of the prefix in advertising slogans, such as 7-UP soda and the Smart Car, and popular culture such as social media. The article also provides several nouns and verbs beginning with the un- prefix, along with definitions.

Under consideration are two databases from the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States; one contains the responses to the 'cornbread' question, and the other the responses to the 'other bread made of cornmeal' question. Taken together, these databases offer a staggering 336 different terms used for cornbreads. The present work investigates the depth of this variation, looking first at the LAMSAS responses and then at the history of cornbread itself. A historical perspective reveals that represented by these 'cornbread' responses are different preparations, ingredients, shapes, cooking methods, cooking vessels, and varied cultural and linguistics contacts, all of which grow out of the history of cornmeal-based cooking in America. This article demonstrates how the variation found within the cornbread-related databases offers a compelling description of American lifeways and cultureways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article locates variation in the social practice of a preadolescent cohort as it establishes an integrated status system in the move toward adolescence. Based in an emerging heterosexual market, the status system links gender with heterosexuality and power. It is argued that the emergence of the common female lead in sound change is located in this social moment, as the heterosexual market transforms gender relations, redefining gender around heterosexuality. Heterosexual speech must be studied as an accomplishment and in the context of the power relations within which sexual categories are constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]