Dialects and dialectology

Do you speak American? → Link

Do you speak American? is a very entertaining PBS production that explores features of American English and tries to answer questions like  "Why is the English spoken by Maine lobstermen so different from that spoken by cowboys in Texas?" or "Does Spanish pose a threat to English as the dominant language in America?". Journalist Robert MacNeil travels cross-country to answer these questions and examine the dynamic state of American English - a language rich with regional variety, strong global impact and cultural controversy.The DVDs are available in the Mediathek (BIS Oldenburg).

Sounds familiar? Accents and dialects in the UK → Link

Sounds familiar? is a project by the British Library that maps sound recordings of speakers from all over the UK. The site includes many recordings, transcripts of them and additional information on many topics relating to accents and dialects in the UK. It even contains a glossary, in case you are not sure what exactly double negation means. On top of the easy to understand definition, the glossary also links you directly to those sound files in which the phenomenon you were looking for occurs.

BBC Voices: Accents and dialects in the UK → Link

BBC Voices is a BBC project that collects and displays recordings of speakers from all over the UK. If you want to know whether friends on the Shetland Islands sound in contrast to a group of neighbours in Devon, BBC voices is the place to go!

UK Sound Map → Link

The British Library project UK Sound Map is similar to BBC Voices in aims and scope. UK Sound Map is an interactive project that collects and displays sound recordings of speakers from all over the UK.

International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA) → Link

The International Dialect of English Archive is an online archive of primary source dialect and accent recordings for the performing arts. It includes information about and sound recording of dialects or varieties of English spoken all over the world.

Atlas of North American English (ANAE) and the TELSUR Project → Link

The Telsur Project is a survey of linguistic changes in progress in North American English. It is the creator of the Atlas of North American English (ANAE).
"The Atlas of North American English provides the first overall view of the pronunciation and vowel systems of the dialects of the U.S. and Canada. The Atlas re-defines the regional dialects of American English on the basis of sound changes active in the 1990s and draws new boundaries reflecting those changes. It is based on a telephone survey of 762 local speakers, representing all the urbanized areas of North America. It has been developed by Bill Labov, one of the leading sociolinguists of the world, together with his colleagues Sharon Ash and Charles Boberg." (Publisher's information)
An online version of the atlas is available for students of Oldenburg University. Please note that you might only be able to access the online version if you are connected to the University network.

Linguistic Atlas Projects → Link

The Linguistic Atlas Projects site gives an overview of the many linguistic atlas projects conducted in the USA and Canada. It provides information about each atlas project (such as the areas covered, the methods used to elicit dialect feature and a short bibliography) and among others includes the following atlas projects: LAGS (Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States),LAMSAS (Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States), LANE (Linguistic Atlas of New England),LAUM (Linguistic Atlas of the Upper Midwest).

Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) → Link

The Dictionary of American Regional English is an alphabetically sorted dictionary that not only tells you the meaning of the word but also where in the United States the word is used. The site not only provides comprehensive information about DARE (its history, structure, etc.) but also gives you a sample of 100 entries to see what DARE is like.

Varieties of English

The Bochum Gateway to World Englishes 

The Dialect Survey

Phonetics and phonology

Interactive IPA charts (consonants, vowels and diphthongs in both GA and RP)

The International Phonetic Association (IPA)

IPA Keyboard

Online material: Peter Ladefoged's course in phonetics

x-ray video of the articulation of the phrase On top of his desk (Peter Ladefoged)

UCLA Phonetics Lab data (including sound files)