Caught in a hubbub? Have you ever driven on a side road? Have you used Swampbox?

These are some of the terms you may hear while in State 48 and the majority of residents want them preserved.

A Writing Tips Institute survey found that 57% of Arizonas surveyed supported the idea that the Arizona dialect was “formalized by law (to prevent extinction).”

WTI described the state dialect as “a unique blend of Spanish, Native American and cowboy terminology, vocabulary, grammar and intonation.”

But the contours of the Arizona dialect are more nuanced than described, says linguistics professor Karen Adams, director of graduate studies at Arizona State University’s Department of English.

“There’s more than one way to speak in Arizona,” says Adams. “There are definitely differences in urban areas, there are differences in rural areas. There are differences in the linguistic backgrounds of the speakers themselves.”

According to Adams, dialects consist not only of local dialects and pronunciations, but also of speech conventions. “There’s also something called ‘pragmatics.’ It has to do with how you take turns, the norms about what’s polite and what’s not,” said Adams, who taught a class at ASU called Speaking Arizona. I was.

The Arizona dialect stands as a living monument to the forces that shaped the state. Maricopa, Gila and Cochise – all county names – are each derived from an indigenous language. Mesa is Spanish for table, but refers to a geographical feature. The hockey team’s mascot, now playing in Tempe, pronounced “ki-yote,” a desert animal, is a remnant of Wilde’s waist. The Arabic word “haboob” was added to the lexicon by scientists in the 1970s to describe the dust storms of the monsoon season.

While the Southwest may not have a culturally defined dialect like the American South or Northeast, for example, there are many ways to say and pronounce “Arizona,” says Adams.

“As a linguist, I have to say ‘the Arizona dialect.’ It’s plural,” says Adams. “We all have dialects and speak different kinds of English.”

Dialects are still taking shape as the state’s population grows and adds to the melting pot the ways people speak. According to a University of Arizona report, 62,086 Californians immigrated to Arizona between 2014 and 2018 Did. Washington and Texas followed in second and her third, and in five years he brought more than 15,000 new residents to Arizona.

“Arizona has always had immigrants, either from the West Coast or originally from the East and South,” says Adams. “As long as there is continued population migration, there will be variations in the variety of breeds, depending on who moves into the area and who does not.”

Dialects process what they hear, but the importance of preserving dialects is rooted in the identity they represent, says Adams.

“For some older communities in the Phoenix area, like Mesa, and people in older rural areas, maintaining these specific uses is a way of showing that we’re still here and really , we’re an important part of this state,” Adams said.

While there is currently no legislative body to maintain Arizona dialects, legislators can take cues from Britain, where multiple languages ​​and dialects coexist.

In 2011, the Welsh National Assembly passed legislation to make Welsh the official language of the country, creating the role of the Welsh Language Commissioner to protect and develop the use of the Welsh language.

“What that essentially means is that Welsh people should be able to access services, public services in Wales via the Welsh language,” Welsh Commissioner Efa Griffood Jones said in an interview. said. “It is true that not all shops have it, but many shops on the main street have signs in both Welsh and English. You can see that it will be done in Welsh and English at (speaker).”

According to the UK 2021 Census, 17.8% of the population speaks Welsh. In the 2016-20 Welsh Position Report, 86% of Welsh said the language was something to be proud of and 67% said more needs to be done to protect it. I’m here.

Jones reiterated that the way people speak, whether it’s the official language or a local dialect, is integral to how they see the country itself.

“There is no question that the Welsh language is part of Welsh identity and part of what makes Wales different from the rest of the UK,” Jones said. “But we had trouble saying if Welsh is ours or if you speak Welsh.”

Arizonans have contours and nuances to their speech, but Ryan Clark, who moved to Arizona from Montana 11 years ago, says the dialects have one thing in common.

“One thing I’ve always noticed all Arizonans say is that it’s dry heat.”