Is a fizzy, bubbly drink called “pop" or "soda"? Well, as it turns out, both (and other words) are used in different parts of the United States and beyond. Many words and expressions we use daily in English vary depending on the region. These differences in dialect make for interesting variations in English and even confusion- a certain word used may not be recognized by speakers outside the region that uses it.

Accents and pronunciation also vary throughout English speaking areas. For example, a New England accent (northeastern corner of the United States) often drops r’s at the end of words. A New York accent will often round “a'' or “o” sounds in many words. Other accents within the United States and in places where English is spoken, (such as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Hong Kong, India, South Africa, and more) also have their own unique lexical and phonetic characteristics. This project aims to elicit a corpus that represents the diversity of regional vocabulary, mainly focusing on English spoken in the United States. However, we welcome any speaker of English to participate in this project.