Detroit Dialect Study Records

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: GTM-180317

Request

Scope and Contents

Open reel recordings related to the Detroit Dialect Study, which was conducted by Roger Shuy in the 1960s. The recordings in this collection have been digitized and redacted interviews are available online.

Dates

Creation: 1960s

Creator

Shuy, Roger W. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Access to the original recordings is generally restricted due to personally identifiable information (PII) concerns. Redacted interview recordings are available online.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of the materials being used, establishing who the copyright owner is, locating the copyright owner, and obtaining permission for intended use.

Historical Note

The Detroit Dialect Study (DDS) was a large-scale study of social stratification of American English. The DDS, led by Dr. Roger Shuy, systematically gathered and analyzed data to determine the linguistic patterns at play across ethnicity, sex, social class, and age, and the results have informed work on education policy regarding vernacular American English dialects.

Extent

9 Cubic Feet (9 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

License: This record is made available under an Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons license.

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Roger Shuy, circa 1995.

Existence and Location of Copies

The recordings in this collection have been digitized and redacted interviews are available online.

Digitization of this material was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) that was awarded to North Carolina State University. The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Related Materials

A report on the study was released in 1968.

The Booth Family Center for Special Collections also holds the Center for Applied Linguistics LINCS Project Records and the Center For Applied Linguistics Negro American Dialect Project Records.