Abstract
ABSTRACTThe authors use American Community Survey (ACS) language data for 2009 to 2013 to map all U.S. counties where 10 percent or more of the population age five and older is estimated to speak a minority (heritage) language at home. The methodology of the ACS data estimation and the limitations of ACS language data, especially for assessing bilingualism, are reviewed. We then explain the methodology underlying our maps and discuss the geographic patterns, evolution, and sociospatial aspects of Spanish, Native North American, French, German, Asian, and Pacific Island languages, all of which are used by multiple communities in the United States. Four causes are suggested to explain those counties where heritage languages only as a group meet or exceed the 10 percent threshold (i.e., our sixth language category). The article concludes with a consideration of the benefits of bilingualism, the pressure from English that the heritage languages face, and some suggested directions for geolinguistic research of geographic patterns of languages and bilingualism in counties across the United States.
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