# Why does the U.S. have so many regional accents?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700/why-does-the-u-s-have-so-many-regional-accents
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700/why-does-the-u-s-have-so-many-regional-accents.md
Podcast: [Grammar Girl](https://stenobird.com/podcast/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700)
Published: 2026-08-04T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/grammar-girl/episodes/why-does-the-us-have-so-many-different-regional-accents
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/69c1476c007cdcf83fc0964b/e/6a6b903c87f5f77b024a4126/media.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700/episodes/why-does-the-u-s-have-so-many-regional-accents
Duration seconds: 612

## Resource

1208. This week, linguist Valerie Fridland explains why the U.S. has so many regional accents — tracing New England, Mid-Atlantic, Southern, and Western speech back to where their first settlers came from, and how we can still hear "founder effects" in the way we talk today. Valerie Fridland is a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and author of " Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents ." You can find her at valeriefridland.com . 🔗  Join the Grammar Girl Patreon. 🔗  Share your familect recording in   Speakpipe  or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) 🔗  Watch my   LinkedIn Learning writing courses . 🔗  Subscribe to the   newsletter . 🔗  Find an edited   transcript . 🔗  Get   Grammar Girl books . | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of  the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network . Audio Engineer:  Castria Communications Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb | Theme music by  Catherine Rannus . | Grammar Girl Social Media:  YouTube .  TikTok .  Facebook .  Threads .  Instagram .  LinkedIn .  Mastodon .  Bluesky . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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