Lexical Distance in LAMSAS.

The "Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States" (LAMSAS) is admirably accessible for reanalysis (see http://hyde.park.uga.edu/lamsas/, Kretzschmar, 1994). The present paper applies a lexical distance measure to assess the lexical relatedness of LAMSAS's sites, a popular focus of investigation in the past (Kurath, 1949; Carver, 1989; McDavid, 1994). Several conclusions are noteworthy: First, and least controversially, we note that LAMSAS is dialectometrically challenging at least due to the range of field workers and questionnaires employed. Second, on the issue of which areas ought to be recognized, we note that our investigations tend to support a three-way North/South/Midlands division rather than a two-way North/South division, i.e. they tend to support Kurath and McDavid rather than Carver, but this tendency is not conclusive. Third, we extend dialectometric technique in suggesting means of dealing with alternate forms and multiple responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]