North-Central American English (in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, also known as the Upper Midwestern or North-Central dialect and stereotypically recognized as a Minnesota accent or Wisconsin accent) is an
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
native to the
Upper Midwestern United States, an area that somewhat overlaps with speakers of the separate
Inland North dialect situated more in the eastern
Great Lakes region
The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with the Canadian p ...
.
[ The North-Central dialect is considered to have developed in a residual dialect region from the neighboring distinct dialect regions of the ]Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
, Inland North, and Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
If a strict ''cot–caught'' merger is used to define the North-Central regional dialect, it covers the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
, the northern border of Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, the whole northern half of Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, some of northern South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
, and most of North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
; otherwise, the dialect may be considered to extend to all of Minnesota, North Dakota, most of South Dakota, northern Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
, and all of Wisconsin outside of the eastern ridges and lowlands
The Eastern Ridges and Lowlands is a geographical region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Wisconsin, between Green Bay in the north, and the border with Illinois in the south. Lake Michigan lies to the east of the region.
The Eastern R ...
.
History and geography
The appearance of monophthong
A monophthong ( ; , ) is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation. The monophthongs can be contrasted with diphthongs, wh ...
s in this region is sometimes attributed to the high degree of Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n and German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
immigration to these northern states in the late 19th century. Linguist Erik R. Thomas argues that these monophthongs are the product of language contact and notes that other areas where they occur are places where speakers of other languages have had an influence such as the Pennsylvania "Dutch" region. An alternative account posits that these monophthongal variants represent historical retentions, since diphthong
A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
ization of the mid vowels seems to have been a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of the English language, appearing within the last few centuries, and did not affect all dialects in the U.K.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
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
Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the varieties of English native to Canada. According to the 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or 58.1% of the total population; the remainder spoke French ( ...
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
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
(whose demonym
A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
, and sometimes sub-dialect, is known as "Yooper," deriving from the acronym
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
"U.P." for "Upper Peninsula"), many northern areas of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan
The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the ...
, and in Northern Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
are largely of Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
, French Canadian, Cornish, Scandinavian, German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, and/or Native American descent. The North-Central dialect is so strongly influenced by these areas' languages and 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, some joining Scandinavians who moved on to Minnesota. Another sub-dialect is spoken in Southcentral Alaska
Southcentral Alaska (russian: Юго-Центральная Аляска) is the portion of the U.S. state of Alaska consisting of the shorelines and uplands of the central Gulf of Alaska. Most of the population of the state lives in this regio ...
's Matanuska-Susitna Valley
Matanuska-Susitna Valley () (known locally as the Mat-Su or The Valley) is an area in Southcentral Alaska south of the Alaska Range about north of Anchorage, Alaska.
It is known for the world record sized cabbages and other vegetables displayed ...
, because it was settled in the 1930s (during the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
) by immigrants from the North-Central dialect region.
Phonology
Not all of these characteristics are unique to the North-Central region.
Vowels
* and are "conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
" in this region, meaning they do not undergo the fronting that is common in some other regions of the United States. In addition to being conservative, may be monophthong
A monophthong ( ; , ) is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation. The monophthongs can be contrasted with diphthongs, wh ...
al . The same is true for , which can be realized as , though data suggests that monophthongal variants are more common for than for , and also that they are more common in ''coat'' than in ''ago'' or ''road'', which may indicate phonological
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
conditioning. Regionally, monophthongal mid vowels are more common in the northern tier of states, occurring more frequently in Minnesota and the Dakotas but much rarer in Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
and Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
. The appearance of monophthongs in this region is sometimes explained due to the high degree of Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n and German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
immigration to these northern states in the late nineteenth century. Erik R. Thomas argues that these monophthongs are the product of language contact and notes that other areas where they occur are places where speakers of other languages have had an influence such as the Pennsylvania "Dutch" region. An alternative account posits that these monophthongal variants represent historical retentions. Diphthong
A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
ization 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 UK. 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
Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the varieties of English native to Canada. According to the 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or 58.1% of the total population; the remainder spoke French ( ...
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
Inland Northern (American) English, also known in American linguistics as the Inland North or Great Lakes dialect, is an American English dialect spoken primarily by White Americans in a geographic band reaching from the major urban areas of U ...
, exists in North-Central American English. For example, may be generally raised and generally fronted in comparison to other American English accents.
* Some speakers exhibit extreme raising of before voiced velars ( and ), with an up-glide, so that ''bag'' sounds close to ''beg'' or even as raised as the first syllable of ''bagel''. Other examples of where this applies include the word ''flag'' and ''agriculture''.
* Raising of is found in this region. It occurs before some voiced consonants. For example, many speakers pronounce ''fire'', ''tiger'', and ''spider'' with the raised vowel. Some speakers in this region raise as well.
* The onset of when not subject to raising is often quite far back, resulting 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 or ; that is, with the vowel of ''foot'' or ''boot'', respectively. This is highly variable, however, and these words are pronounced both ways in other parts of the country.
* The North-Central accent shows certain General American
General American English or General American (abbreviated GA or GenAm) is the umbrella accent of American English spoken by a majority of Americans. In the United States it is often perceived as lacking any distinctly regional, ethnic, or so ...
features, such as rhoticity and the ''Mary-marry-merry'' merger, as well as a lack of the ''pen–pin'' merger of the American South or the Canadian shift.
Consonants
Word-initial th-stopping
''Th''-stopping is the realization of the dental fricatives as stops—either dental or alveolar—which occurs in several dialects of English. In some accents, such as of Indian English and middle- or upper-class Irish English, they ...
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
A pitch-accent language, when spoken, has word accents in which one syllable in a word or morpheme is more prominent than the others, but the accentuated syllable is indicated by a contrasting pitch ( linguistic tone) rather than by loudness ( ...
as in Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
can 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, setting the North-Central dialect apart from some other American English:[Jøhndal, Marius et al. (2018) ]004-2006
A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain.
The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oar. There are two rowers on th ...
The UWM Dialect Survey
. Cambridge University.
*''absurd'' often uses (rather than )
*''across'' may end with a final , rhyming with ''cost'', particularly in Wisconsin
*''anti'' often uses (rather than )
*''aunt'' often uses (rather than )
*''roof'' often uses (rather than )
*''turbine'' often uses (rather than ): the same pronunciation as ''turban''
*Words spelled with ''ag'', such as '' bag'' or ''ragged'', use or (rather than )
Grammar
In this dialect, the preposition
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
''with'' is used without an object as an adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...
in phrases like '' come with'', as in ''Do you want to come with?'' for 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 this way in standard English (particularly in British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
and Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
English), and this feature likely came from languages spoken by some immigrants, such as Scandinavian (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian), German, or Dutch and Luxembourgish
Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide.
As a standard form of th ...
, all of which have this construction, like Swedish .
The word ''yet'' can 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" can mean "shut off the lights", particularly in that same region.
Vocabulary
* ''boulevard'', a grassy median strip
The median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also a ...
* ''berm, boulevard,'' or ''terrace'', a grassy road verge
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
* ''bubbler'', a drinking fountain (mainly used in Wisconsin)
* ''breezeway'' or ''skyway'', a hallway-bridge connecting two buildings[Cassidy, Frederic Gomes, and Joan Houston Hall (eds). (2002) ''Dictionary of American Regional English''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.]
* '' eh?'', a question tag
A question is an utterance which serves as a request for information. Questions are sometimes distinguished from interrogatives, which are the grammatical forms typically used to express them. Rhetorical questions, for instance, are interrogat ...
(particularly used in the northern sections of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan)
* ''frontage road
A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drivew ...
'', a service or access road[Vaux, Bert, Scott A. Golder, Rebecca Starr, and Britt Bolen. (2000-2005) ]
The Dialect Survey
'. Survey and maps.
* ''hotdish
A hotdish is a casserole dish that typically contains a starch, a meat, and a canned or frozen vegetable mixed with canned soup that must be served hot or warm. A classic example is made with ground beef, topped with tater tots, and flavored w ...
'', a simple entree (main) cooked in a single dish, like a casserole
A casserole ( French: diminutive of , from Provençal 'pan') is a normally large deep pan or bowl a casserole is anything in a casserole pan. Hot or cold
History
Baked dishes have existed for thousands of years. Early casserole recipes ...
* ''pop'' or ''soda pop'', a sweet carbonated soft drink
* ''parking ramp'', a multi-story parking structure
* ''rummage sale'', a yard or garage sale
A garage sale (also known as a yard sale, tag sale, moving sale and by many other namesSome rarely used names include "attic sale," "basement sale," "rummage sale," "thrift sale," "patio sale," "lawn sale," and "jumble sale".) is an informal ...
* ''sliver'', a splinter
A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...
* ''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
The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the ...
* ''Yooper'', a person from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
Sub-varieties
A North-Central " dialect island" exists in southcentral Alaska
Southcentral Alaska (russian: Юго-Центральная Аляска) is the portion of the U.S. state of Alaska consisting of the shorelines and uplands of the central Gulf of Alaska. Most of the population of the state lives in this regio ...
's Matanuska-Susitna Valley
Matanuska-Susitna Valley () (known locally as the Mat-Su or The Valley) is an area in Southcentral Alaska south of the Alaska Range about north of Anchorage, Alaska.
It is known for the world record sized cabbages and other vegetables displayed ...
, 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
The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iron Range of Minnesota ...
are strong sub-varieties of the North-Central dialect, largely influenced by Fenno-Scandinavia
__NOTOC__
Fennoscandia (Finnish, Swedish and no, Fennoskandia, nocat=1; russian: Фенноскандия, Fennoskandiya) or the Fennoscandian Peninsula is the geographical peninsula in Europe, which includes the Scandinavian and Kola peninsul ...
n 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
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
, plus some bordering areas of northeast Wisconsin, colloquially known as U.P. or "Yooper" English, or Yoopanese, is a North-Central sub-variety with some additional influences from Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
-speaking immigrants to the region. However, younger speakers may be starting to align closer to nearby Standard Canadian English
Standard Canadian English is the largely homogeneous variety of Canadian English that is spoken particularly across Ontario and Western Canada, as well as throughout Canada among urban middle-class speakers from English-speaking families, exc ...
, according to a recent study of Marquette County.
The traditional Yooper accent is associated with certain features: the alveolar stops and in place of the English dental fricatives
A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in t ...
and (like in "then" and "thigh", so that ''then'' () becomes ''den'' (), etc.); the German/Scandinavian affirmative ''ja'' to mean 'yeah' or 'yes' (often Anglicized in spelling to ''ya''); the filler or question tag
A question is an utterance which serves as a request for information. Questions are sometimes distinguished from interrogatives, which are the grammatical forms typically used to express them. Rhetorical questions, for instance, are interrogat ...
''eh'' or ''hey'' at the ends of sentences, as in Canadian English; notably raised nuclei in the vowels and ; 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 Upper Midwestern accent is made conspicuous, often to the point of parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
or near-parody, in the film '' Fargo'' (especially as displayed by Frances McDormand
Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and producer. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Em ...
's character Marge Gunderson
''Fargo'' is a 1996 black comedy crime film written, produced and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Frances McDormand stars as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant Minnesota police chief investigating a triple homicide that takes place after a desperat ...
) and the radio program ''A Prairie Home Companion
''A Prairie Home Companion'' is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...
'' (as displayed by many minor characters, especially those voiced by Sue Scott, with whom lead characters, most frequently male roles voiced by Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radio ...
). It is also evident in the film ''New in Town
''New in Town'' is a 2009 American-Canadian romantic comedy drama film, directed by Jonas Elmer, starring Renée Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., and Siobhan Fallon Hogan. It was filmed in Winnipeg and Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada, and in Los Angeles ...
''.
Notable lifelong native speakers
*Steven Avery
Steven Allan Avery (born July 9, 1962) is an American convicted murderer from Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, who had previously been wrongfully convicted in 1985 of sexual assault and attempted murder. After serving eighteen years of a thirty-tw ...
— "recognizably thick Wisconsin accent"
*Michele Bachmann
Michele Marie Bachmann (; née Amble; born April 6, 1956) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 until 2015. A member of the Republican Party, she was a candidate for President of the United States in the 20 ...
— "that calming, matzoh-flat Minnesota accent"
*Charlie Berens
Charlie Berens (born April 27, 1987) is an American journalist, comedian, and creator of "Manitowoc Minute". He has been featured on FOX, CBS, ''Funny or Die'', TBS Digital, ''Variety'', and MTV News. His observational humor often focuses on ...
*Jan Kuehnemund
Janice Lynn Kuehnemund (; November 18, 1953 – October 10, 2013) was an American lead guitarist who founded the all-female hard rock/glam metal band Vixen.
Life and career
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Kuehnemund formed an all-female band known ...
*Brock Lesnar
Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist (MMA), amateur wrestler, and professional American football player who holds both American and Canadian citizenship. He is ...
*Don Ness
Don Ness (born January 9, 1974) is an American politician who served as the 38th Mayor of Duluth, Minnesota from 2008 to 2016. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
Early life and education
Ness was born in Duluth to Don ...
— "You'll find that Ms. Palin and Duluth Mayor Don Ness don't sound all that different."[What Americans sound like". ''The Economist''. The Economist Newspaper Limited 2011.]
/ref>
*Julianne Ortman
Julianne E. Ortman (born August 29, 1962) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, she represented District 47, which included portions of Carver County in the southwester ...
*Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...
— "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
Matanuska-Susitna Valley () (known locally as the Mat-Su or The Valley) is an area in Southcentral Alaska south of the Alaska Range about north of Anchorage, Alaska.
It is known for the world record sized cabbages and other vegetables displayed ...
in Alaska, where she grew up, was settled by farmers from Minnesota"
*Mark Proksch
Mark Proksch ( '; born ) is an American comedian and character actor. He is best known for acting in the television series ''The Office'', ''Better Call Saul'', ''Dream Corp LLC'', '' What We Do in the Shadows'' and as a fictionalized version o ...
See also
*Inland Northern American English
Inland Northern (American) English, also known in American linguistics as the Inland North or Great Lakes dialect, is an American English dialect spoken primarily by White Americans in a geographic band reaching from the major urban areas of U ...
*North American English regional phonology
North American English regional phonology is the study of variations in the pronunciation of spoken North American English (English of the United States and Canada)—what are commonly known simply as "regional accents". Though studies of regional ...
*Regional vocabularies of American English
Regional vocabulary within American English varies. Below is a list of lexical differences in vocabulary that are generally associated with a region. A term featured on a list may or may not be found throughout the region concerned, and may or ...
Notes
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:North-Central American English
American English
Iowa culture
Michigan culture
Languages of Minnesota
Languages of Montana
North Dakota culture
South Dakota culture
Wisconsin culture
Culture of the Midwestern United States
Montana culture