Wisconsin Words Comparison Maps

Do Wisconsinites drink pop or soda? Is lutefisk still around? Does Wisconsin not only fight over the remote control but what to call it? We have the answers! We mapped a small sample of words used in Wisconsin  in a few different ways. We wanted to compare change over time, to show variation of word usage within the state, and to show a few linguistic topics of interest—pronunciations and tag questions.  All maps were produced by Evan Applegate at the UW–Cartography Lab.

1. Participation Map. This map shows all participants in Wisconsin who answered at least one survey question.

 

2. Comparison Maps. We wanted to see how some Wisconsin words have changed over time. The 1960s data is on the left and the 2010s data on the right. A community with an asterisk behind its name in the 2010s maps indicates a legacy community, a community that took part in both surveys.
3. New Questions. The 2013-14 OSWE Questionnaire asked some new questions of Wisconsin residents and we used some of those responses to show variation in word usage throughout the state.
4. Pronunciation Maps. We also asked some new questions about pronunciation of common words in the OSWE Questionnaire. Here are a couple of those.
5. Tag Question Maps. In both the 1960s and today, Wisconsin still shows some interesting variety.