North-Central American English Explained

Region:	Upper Midwest
Speakers:	?
Familycolor:	Indo-European
Fam2:	Germanic
Fam3:	West Germanic
Fam4:	Ingvaeonic
Fam5:	Anglo–Frisian
Fam6:	English
Fam7:	North American English
Fam8:	American English
Ancestor:	Old English
Ancestor2:	Middle English
Ancestor3:	Early Modern English
Isoexception:	dialect
Glotto:	nort3317

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.^[1]

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 eastern ridges and lowlands.^[2]

History and geography

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.^[3] 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, and/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.^[4]

Phonology

pronounced as /notice/Not all of these characteristics are unique to the North-Central region:

Vowels

• pronounced as //u// and pronounced as //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, pronounced as //oʊ// may have undergone monophthongization to pronounced as /[o]/. The same is true for pronounced as //eɪ//, which can be realized as pronounced as /[e]/, but data suggest that monophthongal variants are more common for pronounced as //oʊ// than for pronounced as //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.^[5] 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.^[6] 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, pronounced as //æ// may be generally raised and pronounced as //ɑ// generally fronted in comparison to other American English accents.^[7]
• Some speakers exhibit extreme raising of pronounced as //æ// before voiced velars (pronounced as //ɡ// and pronounced as //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 pronounced as //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.^[8] Some speakers in this region raise pronounced as //aʊ// as well.^[9]
• The onset of pronounced as //aʊ// if it is not subject to raising is often quite far back and results in pronunciations like pronounced as /[ɑʊ]/.
• The cot–caught merger is common throughout the region, and the vowel can be quite forward: pronounced as /[ä]/.
• The words roof and root may be variously pronounced with either pronounced as //ʊ// or pronounced as //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:^[10]

• absurd often uses pronounced as //z// (rather than pronounced as //s//)
• across may end with a final pronounced as //st// and rhyme with cost, particularly in Wisconsin
• anti often uses pronounced as //aɪ// (rather than pronounced as //i//)
• aunt often uses pronounced as //ɑ// (rather than pronounced as //æ//)
• roof often uses pronounced as //ʊ// (rather than pronounced as //u//)^[11]
• turbine often uses pronounced as //ən// (rather than pronounced as //aɪn//) and so has the same pronunciation as turban
• Words spelled with ag, such as bag or ragged, use pronounced as //eɪ// or pronounced as //ɛ// (rather than pronounced as //æ//)
• Final -ing in nouns and nonfinite verb endings tends to be realized as pronounced as /[in]/ (rather than pronounced as //ɪŋ//) and so morning with g-dropping is pronounced as /[ˈmoɹnin]/^[12]

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 or German .^{[13] [14]}

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.^[10]

Vocabulary

• boulevard, a grassy median strip
• berm, boulevard, or terrace, a grassy road verge^[10]
• bubbler, a drinking fountain (mainly used in Wisconsin)
• breezeway or skyway, a hallway-bridge connecting two buildings^[15]
• eh?, a question tag (particularly used in the northern sections of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan)
• frontage road, a service or access road^[16]
• hotdish, a simple entree (main) cooked in a single dish, like a casserole^[17]
• ope, an onomatopoeia with variable meanings, including "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" ^[18]
• pop or soda pop, a sweet carbonated soft drink^[15]
• parking ramp, a multi-story parking structure^[19]
• rummage sale, a yard or garage sale^[16]
• sliver, a splinter^[10]
• spendy, expensive or high-priced^[10]
• stocking cap, a knit wool hat^[10]
• supposably (for supposedly), particularly in Wisconsin^[10]
• 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^[20]

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.^[21] "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").^[22]

Upper Peninsula English

English of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan,^[23] plus some bordering areas of northeast Wisconsin,^[24] colloquially known as U.P. or "Yooper" English,^[25] or Yoopanese,^[26] 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 recent study of Marquette County.^[23]

The traditional Yooper accent is associated with certain features: the alveolar stops pronounced as //d// and pronounced as //t// in place of the English dental fricatives pronounced as //ð// and pronounced as //θ// (like in "then" and "thigh", so that then (pronounced as //ðɛn//) becomes den (pronounced as //dɛn//), etc.); the German/Scandinavian affirmative ja pronounced as /[jä]/ 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 pronounced as //aʊ// and pronounced as //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.^{[27] [28] [29]}

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

• Steven Avery - "recognizably thick Wisconsin accent"^[30]
• Michele Bachmann - "that calming, matzoh-flat Minnesota accent"^[31]
• Charlie Berens (in character)
• Jan Kuehnemund
• Brock Lesnar
• Don Ness - "You'll find that Ms. Palin and Duluth Mayor Don Ness don't sound all that different."^[32]
• Julianne Ortman
• Sarah Palin^[21] - "Listeners who hear the Minnewegian sounds of the characters from Fargo when they listen to Ms. Palin are on to something: the Matanuska-Susitna Valley in Alaska, where she grew up, was settled by farmers from Minnesota"^[4]
• Mark Proksch

See also

• Inland Northern American English
• North American English regional phonology
• Regional vocabularies of American English

References

• Book: Kortmand . Bernd . Schneider . Edgar W. . 2004 . A Handbook of Varieties of English . . 978-3-11-017532-5.
• Book: Labov . William . William Labov . Ash . Sharon . Boberg . Charles . 2006 . The Atlas of North American English . Berlin . Mouton-de Gruyter . 187–208 . 3-11-016746-8 .

Notes and References

1. Book: Labov, William . Sharon Ash . Charles Boberg . The Atlas of North American English . Mouton de Gruyter . 2006 . Berlin . 3-11-016746-8 .
2. https://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/maps/MapsNC/Map1NC.html "Map: North Central Region"
3. Book: 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 . 0-8223-6494-8 . registration .
4. News: Pinker . Steven . October 4, 2008 . Everything You Heard is Wrong . The New York Times . A19.
5. Book: Allen, Harold B. . The Linguistic Atlas of the Upper Midwest . University of Minnesota Press . 1973 . Minneapolis . 0-8166-0686-2 .
6. 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.
7. Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006:204)
8. Vance . Timothy J. . "Canadian Raising" in Some Dialects of the Northern United States . American Speech . 62 . 3 . 195–210 . Duke University Press . Durham, NC . 1987 . 10.2307/454805. 454805.
9. Book: Kurath, Hans . Raven I. McDavid . The Pronunciation of English in the Atlantic States . University of Michigan Press . 1961 . Ann Arbor . 0-8173-0129-1.
10. Jøhndal, Marius et al. (2018) [2004-2006]. "The UWM Dialect Survey". Cambridge University.
11. Labov et al., 2006, p. 292
12. Book: Hunter . Marsha . Johnson . Brian K. . The Articulate Advocate: New Techniques of Persuasion for Trial Attorneys . 2009 . Crown King Books . Articulators and Articulation . 9780979689505 . https://books.google.com/books?id=-OQDBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92. 92. 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!'.
13. Ph.D. thesis . 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 . Spartz . John M . 2008 . Purdue University.
14. News: What's with 'come with'? Investigating the origins (and proper use) of this and other Midwesternisms . Heidi . Stevens . Chicago Tribune . December 8, 2010 . September 14, 2013.
15. Cassidy, Frederic Gomes, and Joan Houston Hall (eds). (2002) Dictionary of American Regional English. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
16. Vaux, Bert, Scott A. Golder, Rebecca Starr, and Britt Bolen. (2000-2005) The Dialect Survey. Survey and maps.
17. Mohr, Howard. (1987) How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor's Guide. New York: Penguin.
18. Web site: Lemke . Daphne . 'Ope, sorry!' Where did Midwesterners get this onomatopoeia? Let's ask linguists . Oshkosh Northwestern . 31 October 2023.
19. Web site: Brogan . Dylan . 2021-09-06 . Garage versus ramp . 2022-04-09 . Isthmus Madison, Wisconsin . en-us.
20. News: Binder. David. 14 September 1995. Upper Peninsula Journal: Yes, They're Yoopers, and Proud of it. New York Times. A16.
21. Purnell . T. . Raimy . E. . Salmons . J. . Defining Dialect, Perceiving Dialect, and New Dialect Formation: Sarah Palin's Speech . Journal of English Linguistics . 2009 . 37 . 4 . 331–355 [346, 349]. 10.1177/0075424209348685. 144147617 .
22. Kalibabky, Mike (1996). Hawdaw Talk rayncher, and Iron range Words of Wisdom. Chisolm, Minnesota: Moonlight Press.
23. Rankinen . Wil . The Michigan Upper Peninsula English Vowel System in Finnish American Communities in Marquette County . American Speech . 89 . 3 . Fall 2014 . 312–347 . 10.1215/00031283-2848989 . 0003-1283 . 1527-2133 . October 25, 2015 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20161228163526/http://americanspeech.dukejournals.org/content/89/3/312.abstract . December 28, 2016 .
24. News: Jenkins . Richard . May 21, 2015 . Linguistics Professor Provides Insight into 'Yooper' Accent Trends . The Daily Globe . Ironwood, MI . November 13, 2015 . live . 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 . November 17, 2015 .
25. Remlinger . Kathryn . Joseph . Salmons . Luanna . von Schneidemesser . amp . Revised Perceptions: Changing Dialect Perceptions in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula . American Speech . 84 . 2 . Summer 2009 . 176–191 . 10.1215/00031283-2009-014 . 0003-1283 . 1527-2133 . November 13, 2015.
26. Book: Zimmerman, Karla . Great Lakes: Lake Lovers' Trail . https://books.google.com/books?id=Nmdg8m3rlrsC&pg=PA350 . Sara . Benson . Amy . Balfour . USA's Best Trips: 99 Themed Itineraries Across America . Oakland . Lonely Planet . 2010 . 9781741797350 . 668112230 . 350 . January 30, 2016 . .
    News: Ted . Kleine . June 18, 1998 . Turning Yoopanese . Chicago Reader . January 30, 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160205123851/http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/turning-yoopanese/Content?oid=896617 . February 5, 2016 .
27. News: How Frances McDormand Got into 'Minnesota Nice' . The New York Times . March 17, 1996 . Fuller . Graham .
28. Web site: How to Actually Speak Like a Fargo Character . April 16, 2014 .
29. Web site: Richa Moorjani from 'Never Have I Ever' on playing a grim cop in Fargo's latest season . December 20, 2023 .
30. Smith, Candace (2016). "Seth Meyers forced back to work in hilarious ‘Making a Murderer’ spoof." New York Daily News. NYDailyNews.com
31. Weigel, David (2011). "Michele Bachmann for President!" GQ. Condé Nast.
32. "What Americans sound like". The Economist. The Economist Newspaper Limited 2011.