ABSTRACT The Dictionary of American Regional English, official dictionary of the American Dialect Society, treats both regional and social variation among speakers of American English. Based on an extensive program of contemporary (1965-70) fieldwork in 1002 communities across the U.S., and an equally extensive collection of historical and written sources, DARE includes words, phrases, and pronunciations that vary from one part of the country to another or from one social group to another. The Dictionary provides full historical treatment, with pronunciations, variant forms, etymologies, geographical distributions, social and usage labels, notes definitions, dated quatations, and cross- references, as appropriate. A unique feature of DARE is the inclusion (within the text) of maps showing regional distributions of words, phrases, or forms. Volume I, containing introductory matter and the letters A-C, was published in 1985 to the acclaim of scholars, reviewers, and the public as well. Volume II (D-H) will appear in 1990. Three more volumes, including two more of text and one containing the bibliography, contrastive regional and social maps, and summary of all the data collected during the fieldwork, will complete the project. Volumes will appear at approximately five-year intervals. DARE will not only provide a full record of regional American English, but will alos furnish, both in the Dictionary text and in the unused data, the resources to stimulate much further linguistic research.
