The North Carolina Language and Life Project, sponsored by Linguistics at NC State, conducts research across North Carolina, as well as relevant outlying areas. To learn more about a particular community, click on one of the research sites displayed on the map:

Other sites: Abaco, Bahamas Tristan da Cunha Smith Island, Chesapeake

Research sites in North Carolina include the Outer Banks island communities of Ocracoke and Harkers Island; tri-ethnic communities of Native Americans, African American communities, and Anglo Americans in Robeson County in the Southeastern part of the state and in Halifax and Warren Counties in the Northeastern region of the state; Cherokee and Anglo Americans in the Smoky Mountains (Graham County) in the Southwestern region of the state; and historically isolated African American and Anglo American communities in the coastal, mainland area of Hyde County.

Research outside of North Carolina includes a site in the Bahamas (Cherokee Sound in Abaco) where an isolated group of Anglo loyalists with possible Carolina roots currently lives, as well as Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. In addition to basic research on language variation and change conducted in these sites, community-based dialect awareness programs have been developed in some sites, including experimental curricula for the schools and the production of video documentaries and exhibits highlighting community dialects.

Typically, a small team of students and faculty at NC State conducts interviews with residents of representative speech communities under the direction of Walt Wolfram, Director of the NCLLP, or other faculty members undertaking field-initiated research. Funding for activities since 1993 has been provided by the NSF, NEH, the William C. Friday Endowment at NC State, and the NC State Extension Program.