This book examines how a new dialect emerges. It is based on empirical research carried out in Waumandee, Wisconsin, a small community set in a linguistically uncharted territory in North America. Waumandee English is influenced by the native languages of settlers who arrived from different parts of Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Austria and Ireland. Traditional dialectology augmented by sociolinguistic and psychological parameters enables the reader to follow the path of current dialect emergence in Waumandee English.

Trempealeau County is in the western part of Wisconsin, on the Mississippi River. It is bounded on the east by Jackson County, on the north by Eau Claire County, on the west by Buffalo County, as well as by Winona County across the Mississippi River in Minnesota. The area belongs entirely to the Mississippi system, and is separated into three distinct divisions, the Trempealeau Prairie Region, the Trempealeau Valley Region and the Beef River Region. The county was created Jan. 24, 1854.