Northern American English or Northern U.S. English (also, Northern AmE) is a class of historically related
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...
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 linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
s, spoken by predominantly
white Americans
White Americans are Americans who identify as and are perceived to be white people. This group constitutes the majority of the people in the United States. As of the 2020 Census, 61.6%, or 204,277,273 people, were white alone. This represented ...
, in much of the
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 ...
and some of the
Northeast region within the United States. The North as a super-dialect region is best documented, by the 2006 ''
Atlas of North American English'' (ANAE), in the greater metropolitan areas of
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
,
Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as “Western Mass,” is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and u ...
,
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
and
Central New York
Central New York is the central region of New York State, including the following counties and cities:
With a population of about 773,606 (2009) and an area of , the region includes the Syracuse metropolitan area.
Definitions
The New York ...
, Northwestern
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
,
Northeastern Pennsylvania
Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton, Nanticoke, and Car ...
, Northern
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
,
Northern Indiana
Northern Indiana is a region of the U.S. State of Indiana, including 26 counties which border the states of Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. Northern Indiana is also considered part of the Great Lakes Megalopolis. The area is generally classified i ...
,
Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010.
Economics
Northern Illinois is dominated by t ...
, Northeastern
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 sout ...
, and
Eastern South Dakota, plus among certain demographics or areas within
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, and
New York's Hudson Valley. The ANAE describes that the North, at its core, consists of the
Inland Northern dialect (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 ...
) and
Southwestern New England dialect.
The ANAE argues that, though geographically located in the
Northern United States, current-day
Northwestern U.S.,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
,
Eastern New England and some
Upper Midwestern accents do not fit under the Northern U.S. accent spectrum, or only marginally. Each has one or more phonological characteristics that disqualifies them. Meanwhile,
Central and Western Canadian English is presumed to have originated but branched off from Northern U.S. English within the past two or three centuries.
["Canadian English". Brinton, Laurel J., and Fee, Marjery, ed. (2005). Ch. 12. in ''The Cambridge history of the English language. Volume VI: English in North America.'', Algeo, John, ed., pp. 422–440. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992. , 978-0-521-26479-2. On p. 422: "It is now generally agreed that Canadian English originated as a variant of northern American English (the speech of New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania)".]
Northern U.S. accents are often distinguished from
Southern U.S. accents by retaining as a
diphthong (unlike the South, which commonly
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 ...
izes this sound) and from
Western U.S.
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 ...
and
Canadian accents by mostly preserving the distinction between the
/ɑ/ and /ɔ/ sounds in words like ''cot'' versus ''caught'' (except in the transitional dialect region of the Upper Midwest and variably in other Northern areas, especially among younger Americans).
In the very early 20th century, a generic Northern U.S. accent was the basis for the term "
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 ...
", though regional accents have now since developed in some areas of the North.
[Labov et al., p. 190.]
Phonology
The ANAE defines a Northern linguistic super-region of American English dialects as follows: (as in ''goat, toe, show,'' etc.) and traditionally (as in ''goose'', t''oo'', sh''oe'', etc.) pronounced
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 in ...
ly far in the back of the mouth, "''r''-fulness" (or
rhoticity), and a common lack of the
cot–caught merger, meaning that words like ''pond'' and ''pawned'', or ''bot'' and ''bought'', are not
pronounced identically (with the second of this class of words being pronounced usually farther back in the mouth and with more
rounded lips).
The
Northern Cities Vowel Shift
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 ...
is a series of sound changes in the North that covers a large area from
western New York State west through the U.S.
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 ...
and areas of the
Upper Midwest
The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...
.
A phenomenon known as "
Canadian raising
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
"—the lifting of the body of the tongue in both and before
voiceless consonants
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...
(therefore, in words, like ''height, slight, advice, clout, ouch, lout, '' etc., but not in words like ''hide, slide, advise, cloud, gouge, loud,'' etc.)—is common in eastern
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
, for example in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
(and the traditional accent of
Martha's Vineyard), as well as in the
Upper Midwest
The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...
.
Raising of just is found throughout the entire North, including in the
Great Lakes area, and elsewhere in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
. This second, more focused type of raising also appears to spreading beyond the North, as well as to
California English
California English (or Californian English) collectively refers to varieties of American English native to California. A distinctive vowel shift was first noted by linguists in the 1980s in southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area of ...
,
Philadelphia English
Philadelphia English is a variety or dialect of American English native to Philadelphia and extending into Philadelphia's metropolitan area throughout the Delaware Valley, including southeastern Pennsylvania, counties of northern Delaware (esp ...
, and
Western American English dialects overall.
Phonemic distribution
The following pronunciation variants used more strongly in this region than anywhere else in the country:
[Vaux, Bert and Scott Golder. 2003]
The Harvard Dialect Survey
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Linguistics Department.
*''apricot'' as (rather than )
*''been'' as (a
homophone
A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...
with the name ''Ben'')
*''crayon'' as the single-syllable or (with the
short-a split)
*''pajamas'' as (in addition to more widely common around Boston, New York City, and the South)
*''handkerchief'' rhyming with ''beef''
*''poem'' as the single-syllable , rhyming with ''dome''
*''root'' and ''roof'' using the vowel as a somewhat common alternative to the typical vowel
Declining characteristics
The North has historically been one of the last U.S. regions to maintain the
distinction between /ɔr/ and /oʊr/, in which words like ''horse'' and ''hoarse'' or ''war'' and ''wore'', for example, are not
homophone
A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...
s; however, the merger of the two has quickly spread throughout the North. The vowel was once a common Northern U.S. sound in the word ''creek'', but this has largely given way to the vowel , as in the rest of the country.
Vocabulary
The North is reported as uniquely or most strongly using certain words:
*''babushka'' (a woman's
headscarf
A headscarf is a scarf covering most or all of the top of a person's, usually women's, hair and head, leaving the face uncovered. A headscarf is formed of a triangular cloth or a square cloth folded into a triangle, with which the head is cov ...
, tied under the chin)
*''bare-naked'' (synonym for ''naked'')
*''
crayfish'' (a freshwater lobster-like crustacean)
*''crust'' (the end of a bread loaf)
*''diagonal'' or ''kitty-corner'' (situated slanted across a street or intersection)
*''doing cookies'' (rare synonym, scattered throughout the North, for ''
doing doughnuts'')
*''frosting'' (synonym for ''
icing'')
*''futz'' or ''futz around'' (; to fool around or waste time)
*''garbage'' (synonym for ''trash'')
*''on the fritz'' (out of order, or into a state of disrepair)
*''pit'' (the ''seed'' or ''stone'' of a fruit)
*''you guys'' (the usual plural form of ''you'')
*''woodchuck'' (synonym for ''
groundhog
The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as a woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.
The groundhog is a lowland creature of North America; it is found through mu ...
'')
Northeastern American English
![US Northeastern states](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/US_Northeastern_states.svg)
A Northeastern Corridor of the United States follows the Atlantic coast, comprising all the
dialects of New England,
Greater New York City, and
Greater Philadelphia
The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Vall ...
(including adjacent areas of New Jersey), sometimes even classified as extending to Greater Baltimore, Washington D.C., and New York's Hudson Valley. This large region, despite being home to numerous different dialects and accents, constitutes a huge area unified in certain linguistic respects, including particular notable vocabulary and
phonemic
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west ...
incidence (that is, basic units of sound that can distinguish certain words).
Phonemic distribution
These phonemic variants in certain words are particularly correlated with the American Northeast (with the more common variants nationwide given in parentheses):
*''cauliflower'' with the "i" pronounced with the vowel (in addition to the vowel )
*''centaur'' rhyming with ''four'' (in addition to the variant rhyming with ''far'')
*''miracle'' as or (in addition to )
*''route'' rhyming with ''shoot'' (in addition to ''shout'')
*''syrup'' as or (in addition to )
*''tour'' and ''tournament'' with (like ''tore'')
*''vase'' as or (rhyming with ''stays'' or ''spas'', in addition to the more
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 ...
, rhyming with ''space'')
The Northeast tends to retain a contrastive /ɔ/ vowel (in words like ''all'', ''caught'', ''flaw'', ''loss'', ''thought'', etc.): specifically, this is realized as . Northern New England and many younger speakers do not retain this vowel, however.
Vocabulary
Terms common or even usual to the whole Northeast include:
*''
brook'' (synonym for ''
stream'')
*''bureau'' (synonym for ''
chest of drawers
A chest of drawers, also called (especially in North American English) a dresser or a bureau, is a type of cabinet (a piece of furniture) that has multiple parallel, horizontal drawers generally stacked one above another.
In American English a ...
'' or ''dresser'')
*''cellar'' (synonym for ''
basement'')
*''
cruller
A cruller () is a deep-fried pastry like a doughnut popular in Europe and North America often made from a rectangle of dough with a cut made in the middle that allows it to be pulled over and through itself, producing twists in the sides of the p ...
'' (a twisted, often stick-like doughnut)
*''goose pimples'' (synonym for ''
goose bumps''),
*''elastic'', ''hair elastic'', or ''hair thing'' (synonyms for ''
hair tie
A hair tie (also called a ponytail holder, hair band, hair elastic, wrap around, gogo, or bobble) is an item used to fasten hair, particularly long hair, away from areas such as the face. This is usually done as part of a hairstyle such as pigt ...
'')
*''papering'' or ''TP'ing'' (synonym for ''
toilet papering
Toilet papering (also called TP-ing, house wrapping, yard rolling, or simply rolling) is the act of covering an object, such as a tree, house, or another structure with toilet paper. This is typically done by throwing numerous toilet paper rolls ...
'')
*''rotary'' (synonym for ''
traffic circle
A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford Eng ...
'')
*''
sneakers'' (any athletic shoes)
*''soda'' (any sweet, carbonated
soft drink)
*''
stoop'' (small outdoor staircase to a building's front door, particularly in the NYC area)
*''
sunshower'' (a sunny rainshower)
*''
tractor trailer
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer ...
'' (a
semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-traile ...
)
Inland Northern, Upper Midwestern, and Northwestern American English
![Great Lakes Compact members](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Great_Lakes_Compact_members.svg)
The recent
Northern cities vowel shift
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 ...
, beginning only in the twentieth century, now affects much of the North away from the Atlantic coast, occurring specifically at its geographic center: the Great Lakes region. It is therefore a defining feature of the
Inland North
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 ...
dialect (most notably spoken in Chicago, Detroit, and western New York State). The vowel shift's generating conditions are also present in some
Western New England English;
[Labov, William; Ash, Sharon; Boberg, Charles (1997).]
Dialects of the United States
" ''A National Map of The Regional Dialects of American English''. University of Pennsylvania. otherwise, however, this vowel shift is not occurring in the Northeastern United States.
North-Central American or Upper Midwestern English, based around Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and North Dakota, may show some elements of the Northern cities vowel shift and the ANAE classifies it as a transitional dialect between the Inland North, Canada, and the West. Many Upper Midwesterners have a full cot-caught merger, which disqualifies their dialect from the traditional "Northern" definition.
Northwestern American English falls broadly under
Western American English
Western American English (also known as Western U.S. English) is a variety of American English that largely unites the entire Western United States as a single dialect region, including the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexic ...
, not Northern. Also a transitional dialect, its speakers share major commonalities with Californians and Canadians.
See also
*
New England English
New England English is, collectively, the various distinct dialects and varieties of American English originating in the New England area. Most of eastern and central New England once spoke the " Yankee dialect", some of whose accent features st ...
*
Upper Midwest American English
Notes
References
*
{{English dialects by continent
American English
Culture of the Midwestern United States
Culture of the Northeastern United States