Scope and Content
Audio recordings of American English dialects from the University of South Alabama, Doy Leale McCall Rare Book & Manuscript Library's Dialect Tape Center collection created by Joseph C. Mele, a former faculty member, between 1975-1980. The collection includes 305 audiocassettes of 30-minute dialect samples recorded by Mele and other recordists (agents) of individuals in 31 states, particularly in the South, with more numerous recordings made in Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. In addition, 41 recordings were made of English spoken by non-Americans from 23 different countries in Asia, Europe, and Australia, as well as in Mexico, Panama, and Nigeria. The birth year of each speaker is documented and ranges from the 1890s to 1950s. Samples generally consist of two parts: an impromtu monologue and a 44-sentence sequence highlighting each English phoneme.