The Pacific Northwest English Project

The Northwestern United States (including Washington, Oregon, Idaho andUtah) is the product of a rich history of Native American, European, Asian, and other influences. The Pacific Northwest English (PNWE) project explores the extent of English dialect development in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

The story of the Pacific Northwest is one of constant settlement and immigration. Although a few pockets of historically-isolated communities can be found, most of us live in places where our voices intermingle with people of different backgrounds.

Two hundred years after Lewis and Clark's historic voyage to the Pacific coast, has the Northwest been established long enough to have unique dialect features? Has the history of ongoing settlement made the Pacific Northwest the truest of American melting-pots? How much have Native Americans, Scandanavians, Asians, East-coast Americans, and other groups impacted the speech of this region? Read more about the project