The Lion, the Witch, and the Armoire: Lexical Variation in Case Furniture Terms Available to Purchase

This article explores the vast amount of lexical variation in case furniture terms found within databases of the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States and the Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States as well as more recent picture-elicited survey data from Georgia and Mississippi. The history of case furniture is explored briefly in order to highlight the origins of some of the lexical variation found within the data. Also discussed is the larger issue of the general pattern of lexical variation. The variation itself is addressed as the responses to the Linguistic Atlas bureau/dresser question and wardrobe question are examined more closely as well as the data from the Georgia and Mississippi picture surveys.