Dialect Identification: The Effects of Region of Origin and Amount of Experience

This study examines whether two factors, region of origin (i.e., being from either Utah, Western states, or non-Western states) and amount of experience for those not native to Utah (having less than one, more than one but less than five, or over five years living in Utah), influence how well listeners are able to distinguish between Utah and non-Utah speakers and what phonetic characteristics they use to do so. The results suggest that the more similar the listener's dialect is to Utah English, the better his or her ability to identify Utah speakers. Moreover, it was found that listeners from Utah use less stereotypical characteristics of Utah English for identifying Utahns from non-Utahns; those from the Western United States and other locations use more. This study demonstrates that listeners with more experience with Utah English are better able to identify Utah speakers than those with less experience. These findings are also examined in light of stereotypical perceptions of both Utah English and the phonetic characteristics examined in this study.