ABSTRACT
The generative phonologist collects data from one dialect and traces the phonological processes that are relevant to the material under scrutiny. Linguistic atlases present linguistic data in a way that implies the geographical distribution. This distribution is the result of various processes and developments and by looking for the processes the linguistic reality the atlases mirror. Generative phonology with its very insistence on abstract processes provides an excellent tool. The innovative force of rounding adjustment is strongest in the central Midlands; Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire are more conservative and one notable exception being the localities along the Welsh border. Reflexes of goose treat a group of five maps: swath; wasp; water; wash; quarry. The goose analysis is based on a triangular vowel system with four heights.
