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{{Short description|English dialect of the American Midwest}}
{{Refimprove|date=May 2007}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Use American English|date=April 2024}}
'''North Central American English''' is used to refer to two dialects spoken in the Midwest United States.
{{Infobox language
A fuller explanation of key distinctions of the region's speech may be found in the appropriate section of ].
| region = ]
| speakers = ?
| date =
| ref =
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=]
|fam3=]
|fam4=]
|fam5=]
|fam6=]
|fam7=]
|fam8=]
|ancestor=]
|ancestor2=]
|ancestor3=]
| isoexception = dialect
| glotto = nort3317
}}


'''North-Central American English''' is an ] ], or dialect in formation, native to the ], an area that somewhat overlaps with speakers of the separate ] situated more in the eastern ].<ref name=Allen/> In the ], it is also known as the '''Upper Midwestern''' or '''North-Central dialect''' and stereotypically recognized as a '''Minnesota accent''' or sometimes '''Wisconsin accent''' (excluding Wisconsin's ]). It is considered to have developed in a residual dialect region from the neighboring ], Inland Northern, and ] dialect regions.<ref name=Labov>{{Cite book| last = Labov | first = William |author2=Sharon Ash |author3=Charles Boberg | title = The Atlas of North American English | publisher = Mouton de Gruyter | year = 2006 | location = Berlin | isbn = 3-11-016746-8 }}</ref>
''An adjacent dialect region to the east, is that of ].'' This dialect is different from North Central American English, and should not be confused with it.


If a strict ] is used to define the North-Central regional dialect, it covers the ], the northern border of ], the whole northern half of ], some of northern ], and most of ];<ref>{{Harvp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=148}}</ref> otherwise, the dialect may be considered to extend to all of Minnesota, North Dakota, most of South Dakota, northern ], and all of Wisconsin outside of the southern portion of the ].<ref>. Telsur Project. University of Pennsylvania.</ref>
==Michigan and Wisconsin==
{{Main|Yooper dialect}}
It refers to the dialect of the ] spoken most commonly in The ] (UP), where it is commonly called ]. Although it is also spoken in parts of the ], ] and southern ], ], its use is most prevalent in the UP.


==History and geography==
It is common in the Upper Peninsula and in Wisconsin to append the classic Canadian "]" to statements-turned-questions,though it is pronounced more like']", in place of the usual "isn't it?", "right?" or "hmmm?" (as in "You think so, hey?") &mdash; also common are "Ya know? and don't cha know?; but this tendency does not extend to statements as is frequently heard in Canada. It is also common to put a superfluous "then" at the end of sentences, and it is common to use the expression "bye now". A related expression may be a contraction of "isn't it so" pronounced "in't-so". This expression appears to be local to the region around ], Wisconsin. Sheyboygan is in the ] region. Explain to me why it is here. In southwestern Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota a "d" sound replaces the "th" sound ( Hey, what'cha doing over dere?).The "or" sounds like "ur' or "er" ( your and for sound like yur and fer).
], by county, with Scandinavian heritage; note Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.]]
]
The appearance of ]s in this region is sometimes attributed to the high degree of ]n and ] immigration to these northern states in the late 19th century. The linguist Erik R. Thomas argues that these monophthongs are the product of language contact and notes that other areas in which they occur are places in which speakers of other languages have influenced such as the ].<ref>{{cite book |last= Thomas |first= Erik R. |year= 2001 |title= An Acoustic Analysis of Vowel Variation in New World English |series= Publication of the American Dialect Society |page= |location= Durham |publisher= Duke University Press |isbn= 0-8223-6494-8 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/acousticanalysis0000thom/page/85 }}</ref> An alternative account posits that the monophthongal variants represent historical retentions since ] of the mid vowels seems to have been a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of the English language, appeared within the last few centuries, and has not affected all dialects in the ]. The monophthongs heard in this region may stem from the influence of ] or other British dialects that maintain such forms. The fact that the monophthongs also appear in ] may lend support to this account since Scots-Irish speech is known as an important influence in Canada.


People living in the ] (whose ] and sometimes sub-dialect is known as "Yooper," deriving from the ] "U.P." for "Upper Peninsula"), many northern areas of the ], and in Northern ] are largely of ], French Canadian, Cornish, ], ] or Native American descent. The North-Central dialect is so strongly influenced by those areas' languages and by Canada that speakers from other areas may have difficulty understanding it. Almost half the Finnish immigrants to the U.S. settled in the Upper Peninsula, and some joined Scandinavians who moved on to Minnesota. Another sub-dialect is spoken in ]'s ] because it was settled in the 1930s (during the ]) by immigrants from the North-Central dialect region.<ref name="Purnell"/><ref name="Pinker">{{cite news |last= Pinker |first= Steven |date= October 4, 2008 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/opinion/04pinker.html?_r=0 |title= Everything You Heard is Wrong |work= The New York Times |page= A19}}</ref>
The local dialect of the city of ] is heavily influenced by ] features, resulting in certain unique constructions and phraseologies. For example, one goes "by" a destination, not "to", as in "I'm going by the store", a usage copied from the German preposition "bei". One notable vocabulary item is "]", meaning "]". One explanation of its origin is from a child's remark at the ceremony opening of the first such public fountain in the city. However, the term "bubbler" most likely comes from the name of a water fountain design made by ], the predominant maker of fountains in these areas. In the region, it is commonly used to the north in Sheboygan and in the west to ], although it is also found in parts of Eastern New England, including ].


==Minnesota== ==Phonology==
{{IPA notice|section}}
The term also refers to a similar accent spoken in ], particularly in rural areas. The accent is perhaps most famous for its heavily emphasized use in the movie '']'', although the depiction was not an entirely accurate one. (While the movie's title city is in fact located in ], it's set primarily in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.) The popular radio host ] has also helped to make the accent well-known. The accent itself is known for its long, ]al 'O' vowels, as in the words "boat", "toast", "snow" or "ghost". The sound of "a" in "that" is pronounced long, and often with acute accent. Minnesotans are stereotypically known for using "]" (Norwegian, pronounced "oofda"), "yah sure" and "you betcha" in everyday conversation, but these are only used infrequently except as a self-referential joke. Another common usage is "hot-dish" instead of "casserole" (possibly from the Swedish ''varmrätt'').
Not all of these characteristics are unique to the North-Central region:


===Vowels===
These very similar accents were heavily influenced by 19th century immigrants from ], ], ] and ]. Many people in Minnesota, particularly those who are older and live in rural portions of the state, have a melodic way of speaking that is reminiscent of Swedish and Norwegian.
*{{IPA|/u/}} and {{IPA|/oʊ/}} are "]" in this region: they do not undergo the ] that is common in some other regions of the United States. In addition to being conservative, {{IPA|/oʊ/}} may have undergone ] to {{IPA|}}. The same is true for {{IPA|/eɪ/}}, which can be realized as {{IPA|}}, but data suggest that monophthongal variants are more common for {{IPA|/oʊ/}} than for {{IPA|/eɪ/}}, and that they are more common in ''coat'' than in ''ago'' or ''road'', which may indicate ]. Regionally, monophthongal mid vowels are more common in the northern tier of states and occur more frequently in Minnesota and the Dakotas but much rarer in ] and ].<ref name=Allen>{{Cite book| last = Allen | first = Harold B. | title = The Linguistic Atlas of the Upper Midwest | publisher = University of Minnesota Press | year = 1973 | location = Minneapolis | isbn = 0-8166-0686-2 }}</ref> The appearance of monophthongs in the region is sometimes explained due to the high degree of ] and ] immigration to these northern states in the late nineteenth century. Erik R. Thomas argues that the monophthongs are the product of language contact and notes that other areas in which they occur are places in which speakers of other languages have had an influence, such as the ].<ref>Thomas, Erik R. (2001). ''An Acoustic Analysis of Vowel Variation in New World English''. Publication of the American Dialect Society 85. Durham: Duke University Press. {{ISBN|0-8223-6494-8}}</ref> An alternative account posits that the monophthongal variants represent historical retentions. ] of the mid vowels seems to have been a relatively recent phenomenon, appearing within the last few centuries, and did not affect all dialects in the ]. The monophthongs that are heard in this region may stem from the influence of ] or other British dialects that maintain such forms.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} The fact that the monophthongs also appear in ] may lend support to this account since Scots-Irish speech is known as an important influence in Canada.
* Some or partial evidence of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, which normally defines neighboring ], exists in North-Central American English. For example, {{IPA|/æ/}} may be generally raised and {{IPA|/ɑ/}} generally fronted in comparison to other American English accents.<ref>Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006:204)</ref>
* Some speakers exhibit extreme raising of {{IPA|/æ/}} before voiced velars ({{IPA|/ɡ/}} and {{IPA|/ŋ/}}), with an up-glide, and so ''bag'' sounds close to ''beg'' or is even raised like the first syllable of ''bagel''. Other examples are the words ''flag'' and ''agriculture''.<ref name=Labov />
* Raising of {{IPA|/aɪ/}} is found in the region and occurs before some voiced consonants. For example, many speakers pronounce ''fire'', ''tiger'', and ''spider'' with the raised vowel.<ref>{{Cite journal| last = Vance | first = Timothy J. | title = "Canadian Raising" in Some Dialects of the Northern United States | journal = American Speech | volume = 62 | issue = 3 | pages = 195–210 | publisher = Duke University Press | location = Durham, NC | year = 1987 | doi = 10.2307/454805| jstor = 454805}}</ref> Some speakers in this region raise {{IPA|/aʊ/}} as well.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Kurath | first = Hans | author2 = Raven I. McDavid | title = The Pronunciation of English in the Atlantic States | publisher = University of Michigan Press | year = 1961 | location = Ann Arbor | isbn = 0-8173-0129-1}}</ref>
* The onset of {{IPA|/aʊ/}} if it is not subject to raising is often quite far back and results in pronunciations like {{IPA|}}.
* The ] is common throughout the region,<ref name=Labov /> and the vowel can be quite forward: {{IPA|}}.
* The words ''roof'' and ''root'' may be variously pronounced with either {{IPA|/ʊ/}} or {{IPA|/u/}}; that is, with the vowel of ''foot'' or ''boot'', respectively. That is highly variable, however, and the words are pronounced both ways in other parts of the country.
* The North-Central accent shows certain ] features, such as ] and the ], as well as a lack of both the ] of the American South and the ].<ref name=Labov />


===Consonants===
In these accents, "yah" or "ya" is frequently used instead of "yeah" or "yes" (cf. Swedish, Norwegian, German, Danish, Dutch, "ja"). The Germanic trend of replacing {{IPA|/ð/}} with /d/ and {{IPA|/θ/}} with /t/ is sometimes heard, including "that" becoming "dat" and the ] Northeast district sometimes, often in jest, referred to as "]."
Word-initial ] is possible among speakers of working-class backgrounds, especially with pronouns: 'deez' for ''these'', 'doze' for ''those'', 'dem' for ''them'', etc. In addition, traces of a ] as in ] and ] persist in some areas of heavy Norwegian or Swedish settlement and among people who grew up in those areas, some of whom are not of Scandinavian descent.


===Phonemic incidence===
In addition, many Minnesotans use the word "borrow" to mean both "lend" and "borrow," as in, "I borrowed him the book." This usage may be traced to Swedish or German, where the word for "lend" and "borrow" are the same (låna).
Certain phonemes appear in particular words and set the North-Central dialect apart from some other American English:<ref name="Jøhndal">Jøhndal, Marius et al. (2018) . "". Cambridge University.</ref>
*''absurd'' often uses {{IPA|/z/}} (rather than {{IPA|/s/}})
*''across'' may end with a final {{IPA|/st/}} and rhyme with ''cost'', particularly in Wisconsin
*''anti'' often uses {{IPA|/aɪ/}} (rather than {{IPA|/i/}})
*''aunt'' often uses {{IPA|/ɑ/}} (rather than {{IPA|/æ/}})
*''roof'' often uses {{IPA|/ʊ/}} (rather than {{IPA|/u/}})<ref>Labov et al., 2006, p. 292</ref>
*''turbine'' often uses {{IPA|/ən/}} (rather than {{IPA|/aɪn/}}) and so has the same pronunciation as ''turban''
*Words spelled with ''ag'', such as'' bag'' or ''ragged'', use {{IPA|/eɪ/}} or {{IPA|/ɛ/}} (rather than {{IPA|/æ/}})
*Final ''-ing'' in nouns and ] endings tends to be realized as {{IPA|}} (rather than {{IPA|/ɪŋ/}}) and so ''morning'' with ] is {{IPA|}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hunter |first1=Marsha |last2=Johnson |first2=Brian K. |title=The Articulate Advocate: New Techniques of Persuasion for Trial Attorneys |date=2009 |publisher=Crown King Books |chapter=Articulators and Articulation |isbn=9780979689505 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OQDBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92|page=92|quote=Regional Accents ... A distinguishing characteristic of the Upper Midwestern accent is the tendency to turn the 'ing' sound into 'een,' with a cheerful 'Good morneen!'}}</ref>


==Grammar==
Minnesotans also tend to pronounce the sound of "a" as an "e". Therefore, the word "bag" is often said as "beg" and "hat as "het".
In this dialect, the ] ''with'' is used without an object as an ] in phrases like '']'', as in ''Do you want to come with?'' for the standard ''Do you want to come with me?'' or ''with us?'' In standard English, other prepositions can be used as adverbs, like ''go down'' (''down'' as adverb) for ''go down the stairs'' (''down'' as preposition). ''With'' is not typically used in that way in Standard English (particularly in ] and ]), and that feature likely came from languages spoken by some immigrants, such as Scandinavian (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian), German, or Dutch and ], all of which have the construction, like Danish and Swedish {{Lang|sv|kom med}} or German {{Lang|de|komm mit}}.<ref>{{Cite thesis |type= Ph.D. thesis |title=Do you want to come with?: A cross-dialectal, multi-field, variationist investigation of with as particle selected by motion verbs in the Minnesota dialect of English |url=https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/dissertations/AAI3344140/ |last=Spartz |first=John M |year=2008 |publisher=Purdue University}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=What's with 'come with'? Investigating the origins (and proper use) of this and other Midwesternisms |first= Heidi |last= Stevens |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/tribu/ct-tribu-words-work-midwest-20101208,0,2295075.story |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=December 8, 2010 |access-date= September 14, 2013}}</ref>


The adverb "yet" may be used in a phrase such as "I need to clean this room yet" to mean "still," particularly around Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. "Shut the lights" may mean "shut off the lights," particularly in the same places.<ref name="Jøhndal"/>
==Common features==
These speakers tend to leave out the object of "to go with," "to come with," and similar constructions. "You wanna come with?" is considered correct, with an implied "me" or "us" at the end (cf. German "Kommst Du mit?", Norwegian "Blir du med?", Swedish "Följer du med?", Dutch "Kom je mee?"). This descends from the Germanic separable prefix verbs, which heavily influences the speech in the area. (This phenomenon has also been recorded in French-speaking areas of Belgium and Switzerland: "Vas-tu avec?".)


==Vocabulary==
A common feature is a long "A" sound (such as the sound used in "day") in words with the "ag" combination such as "bag", "flag", "wagon", and several others.
* ''boulevard'', a grassy ]<ref name="Vaux"/>
* ''berm, boulevard,'' or ''terrace'', a grassy ]<ref name="Jøhndal"/>
* ''bubbler'', a drinking fountain (mainly used in Wisconsin)
* ''breezeway'' or ''skyway'', a hallway-bridge connecting two buildings<ref name="DARE">Cassidy, Frederic Gomes, and Joan Houston Hall (eds). (2002) ''Dictionary of American Regional English''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.</ref>
* ''duck, duck, gray duck'', the children's game ] in Minnesota
* '']?'', a ] (particularly used in the northern sections of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan)
* '']'', a service or access road<ref name="Vaux">Vaux, Bert, Scott A. Golder, Rebecca Starr, and Britt Bolen. (2000-2005) ''''. Survey and maps.</ref>
* '']'', a simple entree (main) cooked in a single dish, like a ]<ref>Mohr, Howard. (1987) '']''. New York: Penguin.</ref>
* ''ope'', an ] with variable meanings, including "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" <ref>{{cite web |last1=Lemke |first1=Daphne |title='Ope, sorry!' Where did Midwesterners get this onomatopoeia? Let's ask linguists |url=https://www.thenorthwestern.com/story/life/2020/05/04/ope-sorry-deeper-look-into-midwests-favorite-expression/3003713001/ |website=Oshkosh Northwestern |access-date=31 October 2023}}</ref>
* ''pop'' or ''soda pop'', a sweet carbonated soft drink<ref name="DARE"/>
* ''parking ramp'', a multi-story parking structure<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brogan |first=Dylan |date=2021-09-06 |title=Garage versus ramp |url=https://isthmus.com/api/content/cc09cbde-0b6d-11ec-b64d-1244d5f7c7c6/ |access-date=2022-04-09 |website=Isthmus {{!}} Madison, Wisconsin |language=en-us}}</ref>
* ''rummage sale'', a yard or ]<ref name="Vaux"/>
* ''sliver'', a ]<ref name="Jøhndal"/>
* ''spendy'', expensive or high-priced<ref name="Jøhndal"/>
* ''stocking cap'', a knit wool hat<ref name="Jøhndal"/>
* ''supposably'' (for ''supposedly''), particularly in Wisconsin<ref name="Jøhndal"/>
* ''troll'', a person from the ]
* '']'', a ]n exclamation or ] used to express dismay, surprise, astonishment, exhaustion, or relief
* ''Yooper'', a person from the ]<ref>{{cite news|last=Binder|first=David|date=14 September 1995|title=Upper Peninsula Journal: Yes, They're Yoopers, and Proud of it|newspaper=New York Times|page=A16|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/14/us/upper-peninsula-journal-yes-they-re-yoopers-and-proud-of-it.html}}</ref>

==Sub-varieties==
A North-Central "]" exists in ]'s ], since, in the 1930s, it absorbed large numbers of settlers from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.<ref name="Purnell">{{cite journal |last1=Purnell |first1=T. |last2=Raimy |first2=E. |last3=Salmons |first3=J. |title=Defining Dialect, Perceiving Dialect, and New Dialect Formation: Sarah Palin's Speech |journal=Journal of English Linguistics |date=2009 |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=331–355 |doi=10.1177/0075424209348685|s2cid=144147617 }}</ref> "Yooper" English spoken in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Iron Range English spoken in Minnesota's ] are strong sub-varieties of the North-Central dialect, largely influenced by ]n immigration to those areas around the beginning of the twentieth century. Iron Range English is sometimes called "Rayncher" English (an ] of "Ranger").<ref>Kalibabky, Mike (1996). ''Hawdaw Talk rayncher, and Iron range Words of Wisdom''. Chisolm, Minnesota: Moonlight Press.</ref>

===Upper Peninsula English===
English of the ],<ref name="Rankinen">{{cite journal|last=Rankinen |first=Wil |title=The Michigan Upper Peninsula English Vowel System in Finnish American Communities in Marquette County |url=http://americanspeech.dukejournals.org/content/89/3/312.abstract |journal=American Speech |volume=89 |issue=3 |date=Fall 2014 |pages=312–347 |doi=10.1215/00031283-2848989 |issn=0003-1283 |eissn=1527-2133 |access-date=October 25, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228163526/http://americanspeech.dukejournals.org/content/89/3/312.abstract |archive-date=December 28, 2016 }}</ref> plus some bordering areas of northeast Wisconsin,<ref>{{cite news|last=Jenkins |first=Richard |date=May 21, 2015 |url=http://www.yourdailyglobe.com/story/2015/05/21/news/linguistics-professor-provides-insight-into-yooper-accent-trends/4842.html |title=Linguistics Professor Provides Insight into 'Yooper' Accent Trends |work=The Daily Globe |location=Ironwood, MI |access-date=November 13, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117015641/http://www.yourdailyglobe.com/story/2015/05/21/news/linguistics-professor-provides-insight-into-yooper-accent-trends/4842.html |archive-date=November 17, 2015 }}</ref> colloquially known as U.P. or "Yooper" English,<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Remlinger |first1= Kathryn |first2= Joseph |last2= Salmons |first3= Luanna |last3= von Schneidemesser |name-list-style= amp |title= Revised Perceptions: Changing Dialect Perceptions in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula |url= http://americanspeech.dukejournals.org/content/84/2/176.abstract |journal= American Speech |volume= 84 |issue= 2 |date= Summer 2009 |pages= 176–191 |doi= 10.1215/00031283-2009-014 |issn= 0003-1283 |eissn= 1527-2133 |access-date= November 13, 2015}}</ref> or rarely Yoopanese,<ref>{{cite book |first= Karla |last= Zimmerman |chapter= Great Lakes: Lake Lovers' Trail |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Nmdg8m3rlrsC&pg=PA350 |editor1-first= Sara |editor1-last= Benson |editor2-first= Amy |editor2-last= Balfour |title= USA's Best Trips: 99 Themed Itineraries Across America |location= Oakland |publisher= Lonely Planet |year= 2010 |isbn= 9781741797350 |oclc= 668112230 |page= 350 |access-date= January 30, 2016 |via= ] }}<br />{{cite news|first=Ted |last=Kleine |date=June 18, 1998 |title=Turning Yoopanese |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/turning-yoopanese/Content?oid=896617 |work=Chicago Reader |access-date=January 30, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205123851/http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/turning-yoopanese/Content?oid=896617 |archive-date=February 5, 2016 }}</ref> is a North-Central sub-variety with some additional influences from ]-speaking immigrants to the region. However, younger speakers may be starting to align closer to nearby ], according to a 2014 study of ].<ref name="Rankinen"/>

The traditional Yooper accent is associated with certain features: the alveolar stops {{IPA|/d/}} and {{IPA|/t/}} in place of the English dental ] {{IPA|/ð/}} and {{IPA|/θ/}} (like in "then" and "thigh", so that ''then'' ({{IPA|/ðɛn/}}) becomes ''den'' ({{IPA|/dɛn/}}), etc.); the German/Scandinavian affirmative ''ja'' {{IPA|}} to mean 'yeah' or 'yes' (often Anglicized in spelling to ''ya''); the ] or ] ''eh'' or ''hey'' at the ends of sentences, as in Canadian English; notably raised nuclei in the vowels {{IPA|/aʊ/}} and {{IPA|/aɪ/}}; the word ''youse'' as a second-personal plural noun, like ''you guys'' in neighboring dialects; and a marked deletion of ''to the'' (e.g., "I'm going store," "We went mall," and "We'll go ]"), influenced by Finnish, which does not have any articles corresponding to ''a'', ''an'', or ''the''.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

==In popular culture==
The Minnesota accent is made conspicuous in the film '']'' (especially as displayed by ]'s character ]) and the subsequent ].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/17/movies/how-frances-mcdormand-got-into-minnesota-nice.html | title=How Frances McDormand Got into 'Minnesota Nice' | work=The New York Times | date=March 17, 1996 | last1=Fuller | first1=Graham }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a28265/fargo-tv-series-accents/ | title=How to Actually Speak Like a Fargo Character | date=April 16, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vogue.in/content/richa-moorjani-from-never-have-i-ever-on-playing-a-grim-cop-in-fargos-latest-season | title=Richa Moorjani from 'Never Have I Ever' on playing a grim cop in Fargo's latest season | date=December 20, 2023 }}</ref>

The accent can be heard from many minor characters, especially those voiced by ], in the radio program '']''. It is also evident in the film '']''.{{fact|date=February 2024}}

==Notable lifelong native speakers==
<!-- Keep list alphabetical and include citations! Al Franken and Garrison Keillor, for instance, do not seem to show any unique features of the Upper Midwest, though Keillor is known to imitate the accent for comic effect. Their natural accents seem more neutralized to "General American." Joel Hodgson and Jesse Ventura barely qualify; they've long lost or perhaps never strongly had the accent to begin with. Please add them in only if you have supporting citations that suggest a lifelong use of the accent.-->
*] &mdash; "recognizably thick Wisconsin accent"<ref>Smith, Candace (2016). "." ''New York Daily News''. NYDailyNews.com</ref>
*] &mdash; "that calming, matzoh-flat Minnesota accent"<ref>Weigel, David (2011). "" '']''. ].</ref>
*] (in character)
*]
*]
*] &mdash; "You'll find that Ms. Palin and Duluth Mayor Don Ness don't sound all that different."<ref>"</ref>
*]
*]<ref name="Purnell"/> &mdash; "Listeners who hear the ] sounds of the characters from '']'' when they listen to Ms. Palin are on to something: the ] in Alaska, where she grew up, was settled by farmers from Minnesota"<ref name="Pinker"/>
*]


==See also== ==See also==
*] *]
*]
*]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}


==References== ==References==
* {{cite book |last1= Kortmand |first1= Bernd |last2= Schneider |first2= Edgar W. |year= 2004 |title= A Handbook of Varieties of English |publisher= ] |isbn= 978-3-11-017532-5}}
{{reflist}}
* {{cite book |last1= Labov |first1= William |author-link= William Labov |last2= Ash |first2= Sharon |last3= Boberg |first3= Charles |year= 2006 |title= The Atlas of North American English |location= Berlin |publisher= Mouton-de Gruyter |pages= 187–208 |isbn= 3-11-016746-8 }}
* (French)

* at buzzle.com
== Further reading ==
*{{Cite book |last=McClelland |first=Ted |title=How to speak Midwestern |date=2016 |publisher=Belt Publishing |isbn=978-0-9977742-7-6 |location=Cleveland, Ohio |oclc=959032362}}
*{{cite book| last=Remlinger |first=Kathryn |title=Yooper Talk: Dialect as Identity in Michigan's Upper Peninsula |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |isbn=0299312542}}


{{English dialects}} {{English dialects by continent}}
{{Languages of the United States}}


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Latest revision as of 06:20, 23 December 2024

English dialect of the American Midwest

North–Central American English
RegionUpper Midwest
Language familyIndo-European
Early formsOld English
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottolognort3317

North-Central American English is an American English dialect, or dialect in formation, native to the Upper Midwestern United States, an area that somewhat overlaps with speakers of the separate Inland Northern dialect situated more in the eastern Great Lakes region. In the United States, it is also known as the Upper Midwestern or North-Central dialect and stereotypically recognized as a Minnesota accent or sometimes Wisconsin accent (excluding Wisconsin's Milwaukee metropolitan area). It is considered to have developed in a residual dialect region from the neighboring Western, Inland Northern, and Canadian dialect regions.

If a strict cot–caught merger is used to define the North-Central regional dialect, it covers the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the northern border of Wisconsin, the whole northern half of Minnesota, some of northern South Dakota, and most of North Dakota; otherwise, the dialect may be considered to extend to all of Minnesota, North Dakota, most of South Dakota, northern Iowa, and all of Wisconsin outside of the southern portion of the eastern ridges and lowlands.

History and geography

Percentage of the U.S. in 2000, by county, with Scandinavian heritage; note Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.
Percentage of the U.S. in 2000, by county, with Finnish heritage; note the upper regions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

The appearance of monophthongs in this region is sometimes attributed to the high degree of Scandinavian and German immigration to these northern states in the late 19th century. The linguist Erik R. Thomas argues that these monophthongs are the product of language contact and notes that other areas in which they occur are places in which speakers of other languages have influenced such as the Pennsylvania "Dutch" region. An alternative account posits that the monophthongal variants represent historical retentions since diphthongization of the mid vowels seems to have been a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of the English language, appeared within the last few centuries, and has not affected all dialects in the United Kingdom. The monophthongs heard in this region may stem from the influence of Scots-Irish or other British dialects that maintain such forms. The fact that the monophthongs also appear in Canadian English may lend support to this account since Scots-Irish speech is known as an important influence in Canada.

People living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (whose demonym and sometimes sub-dialect is known as "Yooper," deriving from the acronym "U.P." for "Upper Peninsula"), many northern areas of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and in Northern Wisconsin are largely of Finnish, French Canadian, Cornish, Scandinavian, German or Native American descent. The North-Central dialect is so strongly influenced by those areas' languages and by Canada that speakers from other areas may have difficulty understanding it. Almost half the Finnish immigrants to the U.S. settled in the Upper Peninsula, and some joined Scandinavians who moved on to Minnesota. Another sub-dialect is spoken in Southcentral Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Valley because it was settled in the 1930s (during the Great Depression) by immigrants from the North-Central dialect region.

Phonology

This section contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between , / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Not all of these characteristics are unique to the North-Central region:

Vowels

  • /u/ and /oʊ/ are "conservative" in this region: they do not undergo the fronting that is common in some other regions of the United States. In addition to being conservative, /oʊ/ may have undergone monophthongization to . The same is true for /eɪ/, which can be realized as , but data suggest that monophthongal variants are more common for /oʊ/ than for /eɪ/, and that they are more common in coat than in ago or road, which may indicate phonological conditioning. Regionally, monophthongal mid vowels are more common in the northern tier of states and occur more frequently in Minnesota and the Dakotas but much rarer in Iowa and Nebraska. The appearance of monophthongs in the region is sometimes explained due to the high degree of Scandinavians and German immigration to these northern states in the late nineteenth century. Erik R. Thomas argues that the monophthongs are the product of language contact and notes that other areas in which they occur are places in which speakers of other languages have had an influence, such as the Pennsylvania "Dutch" region. An alternative account posits that the monophthongal variants represent historical retentions. Diphthongization of the mid vowels seems to have been a relatively recent phenomenon, appearing within the last few centuries, and did not affect all dialects in the United Kingdom. The monophthongs that are heard in this region may stem from the influence of Scots-Irish or other British dialects that maintain such forms. The fact that the monophthongs also appear in Canadian English may lend support to this account since Scots-Irish speech is known as an important influence in Canada.
  • Some or partial evidence of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, which normally defines neighboring Inland Northern American English, exists in North-Central American English. For example, /æ/ may be generally raised and /ɑ/ generally fronted in comparison to other American English accents.
  • Some speakers exhibit extreme raising of /æ/ before voiced velars (/ɡ/ and /ŋ/), with an up-glide, and so bag sounds close to beg or is even raised like the first syllable of bagel. Other examples are the words flag and agriculture.
  • Raising of /aɪ/ is found in the region and occurs before some voiced consonants. For example, many speakers pronounce fire, tiger, and spider with the raised vowel. Some speakers in this region raise /aʊ/ as well.
  • The onset of /aʊ/ if it is not subject to raising is often quite far back and results in pronunciations like .
  • The cot–caught merger is common throughout the region, and the vowel can be quite forward: .
  • The words roof and root may be variously pronounced with either /ʊ/ or /u/; that is, with the vowel of foot or boot, respectively. That is highly variable, however, and the words are pronounced both ways in other parts of the country.
  • The North-Central accent shows certain General American features, such as rhoticity and the Mary-marry-merry merger, as well as a lack of both the pen–pin merger of the American South and the Canadian shift.

Consonants

Word-initial th-stopping is possible among speakers of working-class backgrounds, especially with pronouns: 'deez' for these, 'doze' for those, 'dem' for them, etc. In addition, traces of a pitch accent as in Swedish and Norwegian persist in some areas of heavy Norwegian or Swedish settlement and among people who grew up in those areas, some of whom are not of Scandinavian descent.

Phonemic incidence

Certain phonemes appear in particular words and set the North-Central dialect apart from some other American English:

  • absurd often uses /z/ (rather than /s/)
  • across may end with a final /st/ and rhyme with cost, particularly in Wisconsin
  • anti often uses /aɪ/ (rather than /i/)
  • aunt often uses /ɑ/ (rather than /æ/)
  • roof often uses /ʊ/ (rather than /u/)
  • turbine often uses /ən/ (rather than /aɪn/) and so has the same pronunciation as turban
  • Words spelled with ag, such as bag or ragged, use /eɪ/ or /ɛ/ (rather than /æ/)
  • Final -ing in nouns and nonfinite verb endings tends to be realized as (rather than /ɪŋ/) and so morning with g-dropping is

Grammar

In this dialect, the preposition with is used without an object as an adverb in phrases like come with, as in Do you want to come with? for the standard Do you want to come with me? or with us? In standard English, other prepositions can be used as adverbs, like go down (down as adverb) for go down the stairs (down as preposition). With is not typically used in that way in Standard English (particularly in British and Irish English), and that feature likely came from languages spoken by some immigrants, such as Scandinavian (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian), German, or Dutch and Luxembourgish, all of which have the construction, like Danish and Swedish kom med or German komm mit.

The adverb "yet" may be used in a phrase such as "I need to clean this room yet" to mean "still," particularly around Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. "Shut the lights" may mean "shut off the lights," particularly in the same places.

Vocabulary

  • boulevard, a grassy median strip
  • berm, boulevard, or terrace, a grassy road verge
  • bubbler, a drinking fountain (mainly used in Wisconsin)
  • breezeway or skyway, a hallway-bridge connecting two buildings
  • duck, duck, gray duck, the children's game duck, duck, goose in Minnesota
  • eh?, a question tag (particularly used in the northern sections of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan)
  • frontage road, a service or access road
  • hotdish, a simple entree (main) cooked in a single dish, like a casserole
  • ope, an onomatopoeia with variable meanings, including "excuse me" or "I'm sorry"
  • pop or soda pop, a sweet carbonated soft drink
  • parking ramp, a multi-story parking structure
  • rummage sale, a yard or garage sale
  • sliver, a splinter
  • spendy, expensive or high-priced
  • stocking cap, a knit wool hat
  • supposably (for supposedly), particularly in Wisconsin
  • troll, a person from the Lower Peninsula of Michigan
  • uff da, a Scandinavian exclamation or interjection used to express dismay, surprise, astonishment, exhaustion, or relief
  • Yooper, a person from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Sub-varieties

A North-Central "dialect island" exists in southcentral Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Valley, since, in the 1930s, it absorbed large numbers of settlers from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. "Yooper" English spoken in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Iron Range English spoken in Minnesota's Mesabi Iron Range are strong sub-varieties of the North-Central dialect, largely influenced by Fenno-Scandinavian immigration to those areas around the beginning of the twentieth century. Iron Range English is sometimes called "Rayncher" English (an eye spelling of "Ranger").

Upper Peninsula English

English of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, plus some bordering areas of northeast Wisconsin, colloquially known as U.P. or "Yooper" English, or rarely Yoopanese, is a North-Central sub-variety with some additional influences from Finnish-speaking immigrants to the region. However, younger speakers may be starting to align closer to nearby Standard Canadian English, according to a 2014 study of Marquette County.

The traditional Yooper accent is associated with certain features: the alveolar stops /d/ and /t/ in place of the English dental fricatives /ð/ and /θ/ (like in "then" and "thigh", so that then (/ðɛn/) becomes den (/dɛn/), etc.); the German/Scandinavian affirmative ja to mean 'yeah' or 'yes' (often Anglicized in spelling to ya); the filler or question tag eh or hey at the ends of sentences, as in Canadian English; notably raised nuclei in the vowels /aʊ/ and /aɪ/; the word youse as a second-personal plural noun, like you guys in neighboring dialects; and a marked deletion of to the (e.g., "I'm going store," "We went mall," and "We'll go Green Bay"), influenced by Finnish, which does not have any articles corresponding to a, an, or the.

In popular culture

The Minnesota accent is made conspicuous in the film Fargo (especially as displayed by Frances McDormand's character Marge Gunderson) and the subsequent television series.

The accent can be heard from many minor characters, especially those voiced by Sue Scott, in the radio program A Prairie Home Companion. It is also evident in the film New in Town.

Notable lifelong native speakers

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Allen, Harold B. (1973). The Linguistic Atlas of the Upper Midwest. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-0686-2.
  2. ^ Labov, William; Sharon Ash; Charles Boberg (2006). The Atlas of North American English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016746-8.
  3. Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006), p. 148
  4. "Map: North Central Region". Telsur Project. University of Pennsylvania.
  5. Thomas, Erik R. (2001). An Acoustic Analysis of Vowel Variation in New World English. Publication of the American Dialect Society. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-8223-6494-8.
  6. ^ Purnell, T.; Raimy, E.; Salmons, J. (2009). "Defining Dialect, Perceiving Dialect, and New Dialect Formation: Sarah Palin's Speech". Journal of English Linguistics. 37 (4): 331–355 . doi:10.1177/0075424209348685. S2CID 144147617.
  7. ^ Pinker, Steven (October 4, 2008). "Everything You Heard is Wrong". The New York Times. p. A19.
  8. Thomas, Erik R. (2001). An Acoustic Analysis of Vowel Variation in New World English. Publication of the American Dialect Society 85. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-6494-8
  9. Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006:204)
  10. Vance, Timothy J. (1987). ""Canadian Raising" in Some Dialects of the Northern United States". American Speech. 62 (3). Durham, NC: Duke University Press: 195–210. doi:10.2307/454805. JSTOR 454805.
  11. Kurath, Hans; Raven I. McDavid (1961). The Pronunciation of English in the Atlantic States. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-8173-0129-1.
  12. ^ Jøhndal, Marius et al. (2018) . "The UWM Dialect Survey". Cambridge University.
  13. Labov et al., 2006, p. 292
  14. Hunter, Marsha; Johnson, Brian K. (2009). "Articulators and Articulation". The Articulate Advocate: New Techniques of Persuasion for Trial Attorneys. Crown King Books. p. 92. ISBN 9780979689505. Regional Accents ... A distinguishing characteristic of the Upper Midwestern accent is the tendency to turn the 'ing' sound into 'een,' with a cheerful 'Good morneen!'
  15. Spartz, John M (2008). Do you want to come with?: A cross-dialectal, multi-field, variationist investigation of with as particle selected by motion verbs in the Minnesota dialect of English (Ph.D. thesis). Purdue University.
  16. Stevens, Heidi (December 8, 2010). "What's with 'come with'? Investigating the origins (and proper use) of this and other Midwesternisms". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  17. ^ Vaux, Bert, Scott A. Golder, Rebecca Starr, and Britt Bolen. (2000-2005) The Dialect Survey. Survey and maps.
  18. ^ Cassidy, Frederic Gomes, and Joan Houston Hall (eds). (2002) Dictionary of American Regional English. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  19. Mohr, Howard. (1987) How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor's Guide. New York: Penguin.
  20. Lemke, Daphne. "'Ope, sorry!' Where did Midwesterners get this onomatopoeia? Let's ask linguists". Oshkosh Northwestern. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  21. Brogan, Dylan (September 6, 2021). "Garage versus ramp". Isthmus | Madison, Wisconsin. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  22. Binder, David (September 14, 1995). "Upper Peninsula Journal: Yes, They're Yoopers, and Proud of it". New York Times. p. A16.
  23. Kalibabky, Mike (1996). Hawdaw Talk rayncher, and Iron range Words of Wisdom. Chisolm, Minnesota: Moonlight Press.
  24. ^ Rankinen, Wil (Fall 2014). "The Michigan Upper Peninsula English Vowel System in Finnish American Communities in Marquette County". American Speech. 89 (3): 312–347. doi:10.1215/00031283-2848989. eISSN 1527-2133. ISSN 0003-1283. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  25. Jenkins, Richard (May 21, 2015). "Linguistics Professor Provides Insight into 'Yooper' Accent Trends". The Daily Globe. Ironwood, MI. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  26. Remlinger, Kathryn; Salmons, Joseph & von Schneidemesser, Luanna (Summer 2009). "Revised Perceptions: Changing Dialect Perceptions in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula". American Speech. 84 (2): 176–191. doi:10.1215/00031283-2009-014. eISSN 1527-2133. ISSN 0003-1283. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  27. Zimmerman, Karla (2010). "Great Lakes: Lake Lovers' Trail". In Benson, Sara; Balfour, Amy (eds.). USA's Best Trips: 99 Themed Itineraries Across America. Oakland: Lonely Planet. p. 350. ISBN 9781741797350. OCLC 668112230. Retrieved January 30, 2016 – via Google Books.
    Kleine, Ted (June 18, 1998). "Turning Yoopanese". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  28. Fuller, Graham (March 17, 1996). "How Frances McDormand Got into 'Minnesota Nice'". The New York Times.
  29. "How to Actually Speak Like a Fargo Character". April 16, 2014.
  30. "Richa Moorjani from 'Never Have I Ever' on playing a grim cop in Fargo's latest season". December 20, 2023.
  31. Smith, Candace (2016). "Seth Meyers forced back to work in hilarious ‘Making a Murderer’ spoof." New York Daily News. NYDailyNews.com
  32. Weigel, David (2011). "Michele Bachmann for President!" GQ. Condé Nast.
  33. "What Americans sound like". The Economist. The Economist Newspaper Limited 2011.

References

Further reading

  • McClelland, Ted (2016). How to speak Midwestern. Cleveland, Ohio: Belt Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9977742-7-6. OCLC 959032362.
  • Remlinger, Kathryn. Yooper Talk: Dialect as Identity in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0299312542.
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