Regional dialects vary in their words, pronunciation, and grammar. Examples of words are "skillet" vs "frying pan"; pronunciation "creek" vs "crick," and grammar with the differences between "my hair needs combed," "my hair needs to be combed," and "my hair needs combing." This USIA videotape (from the late 1970s) discusses standard American regional dialects, which derived from a British origin and evolved primarily from the "middle colonies" of the Colonial era (Pennsylvania area). (See also A Dialect Map of American English.)

American English features loan words from a variety of sources:

• DUTCH: "Jan Kees," the Bowery, kil(l) [Catskill, Schuylkill]
• INDIAN: hickory, catawba, pecan, chipmunk, raccoon, skunk, opossum, teepee, wigwam, totem, powwow, podunk.
• FRENCH/INDIAN: toboggan, bayou, caribou
• FRENCH: prairie, lacrosse, portage, calumet
• WEST AFRICAN: cooter, goober, banjo, boogie-woogie, voodoo, jazz
• SPANISH: mesa, arroyo, bronco, ranch, lasso, sombrero, chaps, rodeo

Internal Regional Varieties. There are 18 early American population centers which retain a distinct dialect, representing main colonial settlements where mobility was limited for the first generations. The eastern half of the U.S. can be divided into four distinct dialect areas. The film contrasts these four distinct areas, together with two of the eastern population zones.

• NORTHERN DIALECT: N.E., N.Y., Great Lakes route west - G. Ford
• NORTH MIDLAND: Pa., Ohio, Va., Md., Ohio river route west - J.Glenn
• SOUTH MIDLAND: KY, TN, Cumberland Gap route west - Catfish Hunter
• SOUTHERN: Deep South, southern Appalachian route - Rosalynn Carter
• METROPOLITAN NEW YORK CITY: Professor Richard Morris
• NEW ENGLAND: John F. Kennedy (giving medal to Alan Shepard)

Regional vocabulary differences: sycamore/buttonwood, porch/ stoop, brook/branch/creek/run, vest/jacket, (kindling)firewood/lightwood, cottage cheese/pot cheese.

Grammar differences: waked up/woke up, quarter to 9/quarter til 9/quarter of 9, shoes need fixed/need to gbe fixed/need fixing, standing on line/standing in line, wait on/wait for (people).

Test cases for regional similarities: pail/bucket, you-all/ youse, your/you-uns, I want off the bus/I want to get off the bus.

Shifting patterns are the rule in American English. Some features may be isolated or peculiar to one regional dialect, but most are found in nearly all, or at least are recognized by all. However, certain features of pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary are highly characteristic of, and therefore stereotyped to, different regions of the country and their people, and would be considered nonstandard in other than their native areas.

• New England -- Listerine commercial;
• South Midlands -- United Presbyterian Church ad;
• Southern -- Dodge Challenger ad and 'Southern sheriff';
• New York City/ New Jersey metropolitan -- Glade air freshener ["air conditioner"], plus comedian Rodney Dangerfield in a Lite Beer commercial