Abilene, Texas in the context of "Texan English"

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⭐ Core Definition: Abilene, Texas

Abilene (/ˈæbɪln/ AB-i-leen) is a city in Taylor and Jones counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statistical area, which had a population of 176,579 as of 2020. Abilene is home to three Christian universities: Abilene Christian University, McMurry University, and Hardin–Simmons University. It is the county seat of Taylor County. Dyess Air Force Base is located on the west side of the city.

Abilene is located on Interstate 20, which forms a rounded bypass loop along the northern side of the city, between exits 279 on its western edge and 292 on the east. The city is located 150 miles (240 km) west of Fort Worth. Multiple freeways form a loop surrounding the city's core: I-20 on the north, US 83/84/277 on the west, and Loop 322 to the east. The former Texas and Pacific Railway, now part of the Union Pacific mainline, divides the city into well-established north and south zones. The historic downtown area is on the north side of the railroad, while the growing south of downtown Abilene "SODA" district is located on the south side of the tracks.

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Abilene, Texas in the context of North Texas

North Texas is a term used primarily by residents of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to refer to a geographic area of Texas, generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, west of Paris, and north of Waco. Definitions of the region typically do not include the sparsely populated Panhandle of Texas, which is the northernmost region of Texas bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east.

North Texas is centered upon the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the largest metropolitan area in Texas and the Southern United States. People in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas sometimes use the terms Metroplex, DFW, and North Texas interchangeably. However, North Texas refers to a much larger area that includes many northern rural counties along the Red River of the South border.

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Abilene, Texas in the context of Midland American English

Midland American English is a regional dialect or supradialect of American English, geographically lying between the traditionally defined Northern and Southern United States. The boundaries of Midland American English are not entirely clear, being revised and reduced by linguists due to definitional changes and several Midland sub-regions undergoing rapid and diverging pronunciation shifts since the early-middle 20th century onwards.

As of the early 21st century, these general characteristics of the Midland regional accent are firmly established: fronting of the //, //, and /ʌ/ vowels occurs towards the center or even the front of the mouth; the cot–caught merger is neither fully completed nor fully absent; and short-a tensing evidently occurs strongest before nasal consonants. The currently documented core of the Midland dialect region spans from central Ohio at its eastern extreme to central Nebraska and Oklahoma City at its western extreme. Certain areas outside the core also clearly demonstrate a Midland accent, including Charleston, South Carolina; the Texan cities of Abilene, Austin, and Corpus Christi; and central and some areas of southern Florida.

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Abilene, Texas in the context of West Texas

West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio.

No consensus exists on the boundary between East Texas and West Texas. While most Texans understand these terms, no boundaries are officially recognized and any two people are likely to describe the boundaries of these regions differently. The historian and geographer Walter Prescott Webb has suggested that the 98th meridian separates East and West Texas; writer A.C. Greene proposed that West Texas extends west of the Brazos River. Use of a single line, though, seems to preclude the use of other separators, such as an area—Central Texas. Texas is part of the South and the American Southwest at the same time, while the semiarid and desert climates of West Texas are clearly characteristic of the Southwest.

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Abilene, Texas in the context of Taylor County, Texas

Taylor County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 143,208. Its county seat is Abilene. The county was created in 1858 and later organized in 1878. It is named for Edward Taylor, George Taylor, and James Taylor, three brothers who died at the Battle of the Alamo.

Taylor County is included in the Abilene, TX metropolitan statistical area, and is considered part of West Texas.

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Abilene, Texas in the context of Jones County, Texas

Jones County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 19,663.Its county seat is Anson. The county was created in 1858 and organized in 1881. Both the county and its county seat are named for Anson Jones, the fourth and final president of the Republic of Texas.

Jones County is included in the Abilene, Texas, metropolitan statistical area.

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Abilene, Texas in the context of Abilene Christian University

Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a private Christian research university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an R2 (High Research Spending and Doctorate Production) institution. It was founded in 1906 as Childers Classical Institute. It is affiliated with Churches of Christ.

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Abilene, Texas in the context of McMurry University

McMurry University is a private Methodist university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1923 and named after William Fletcher McMurry. The university offers forty-five majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural sciences, education, business, and religion, and nine pre-professional programs, including nursing, dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary, and law.

In the fall of 2023, the university enrolled 2,556 students. Methodist students constitute 27 percent of the student population. Ninety five percent of students are Texan. Minority groups make up approximately one-fourth of the student body. In the freshman class, 98 percent of students receive some financial aid. Fifty-three percent of students live on campus, and 75 percent of students are involved in at least one extracurricular activity. McMurry boasts a student to faculty ratio of 13:1.

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Abilene, Texas in the context of Hardin–Simmons University

Hardin–Simmons University (HSU) is a private Baptist university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

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Abilene, Texas in the context of Dyess Air Force Base

Dyess Air Force Base (AFB) (IATA: DYS, ICAO: KDYS, FAA LID: DYS) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of downtown Abilene, Texas, and 150 miles (240 km) west of Fort Worth, Texas.

The host unit at Dyess is the 7th Bomb Wing assigned to the Global Strike Command Eighth Air Force. The wing is one of only two B-1B Lancer strategic bomber wings in the USAF, the other being the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota.

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