What’s the most commonly spoken language in your state? (We’ll exclude the two obvious ones, of course — English and Spanish.) This map shows the surprising answer, at least if we trust Business Insider:
Absolutely fascinating, but I’m not completely convinced. How reliable are the data here? Suppose the Gandalf Institute took a poll tomorrow; would they get the same results? Also, what’s with “Chinese”? Do they mean Mandarin? And how about the wishy-washy “Dakota/Lakota/Nakota/Sioux”???? C’mon, folks, take a stand!
And where’s Hawaii?
OK, so which states raise red flags for me? Here are the eight that I’m skeptical about (I’m not saying that they are wrong, just that I have trouble believing them):
- Chinese in Arkansas
- Korean in Georgia
- Nepali in Nebraska
- Gujarati in New Jersey
- German in South Carolina
- Arabic In Tennessee
- Chinese in Utah
- Arabic in West Virginia
What do you think? Any obvious explanations?
Categories: Linguistics
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