Hillbillies, Hicks, and

Southern Belles 11

The Language Rebels^1

The South eagerly defines itself against the North, advertising itself

as more earthy, more devoted to family values, more spiritual, and

then is furious to have things turned around, to hear itself called hick,

phony, and superstitious. The South feeds the sense of difference and

then resists the consequences.

Ayers et al. (1996: 63–64)^2

Defining the South

Drawing a map of any kind is not a neutral exercise. Every mapmaker
brings a set of goals, presumptions and generalizations to the task. The
purpose may be simply to gather data for others to use in their work, as
was the case with traditional dialectology; these days it is more likely that
a linguist takes an interest in mapping variation over space as one step in a
larger investigation (Figure 11.1).