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What is the Midwest?What is the Midwest?

What is the Midwest?What is the Midwest? IntroductionIntroduction• Two common perceptions of Midwestern accent

– no accent at all– more nasal

• There is in fact a variety of very distinct midwestern accents• They are characterized primarily by their vowel systems:

– Minnesota-type– Northern Cities shift

• Midwest includes all 3 dialect areas (as we’ll see):– Chicago, Minnesota, North Dakota in North– middle of IL, IN, in Midlands (warsh, needs washed, wait on)– southern tips in South (e.g. pin/pen merger in southern Indiana)

• ethnic influences– German (bratwurst)– Polish (kielbasa)

– Scandinavian (kringle)

Stereotypes of the MidwestStereotypes of the Midwest

• Maude from the Simpsons (Minnesota?)• Fargo

–note in particular "pure" (i.e. monophthongal) vowels; MN/ND accent

• Bill Swerski’s Quiz Masters (6)• Lansing phone sex commercial (23)• What linguistic features were exploited?

Settlement historySettlement history• Major conduit from the East to the West• 4 main entryways into the Midwest:

– Cumberland Gap/Wilderness Trail (1775-; Kentucky →Ohio Valley)

• after War of 1812: KY, TN, VA, NC → southern OH, IN, IL– Ohio River (Northeast, PA, MD → Cincinnati and

other river towns; cOH– National Road (now 70), 1833-: PA, MD →

Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis– Great Lakes/Erie Canal: NY, NEng → nOH, nIN, nIL,

MI, WI• Each stream remained separate; → 3-tiered

settlement pattern:

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Settlement historySettlement history

Percentage of the 1850 population in Ohio from three Eastern hearth areas (Wilhelm 1982)

New England Mid-Atlantic (PA, NJ, DE, MD) South (VA, KY, NC, TN)

••7676--100%100%

••5151--75%75%

••2626--50%50%

••00--25%25%

••7676--100%100%

••5151--75%75%

••2626--50%50%

••00--25%25%

••7676--100%100%

••5151--75%75%

••2626--50%50%

••00--25%25%

Settlement historySettlement history

• Diffusion of methods of wood construction– Upper South: log

construction brought from PA

– Lower South: frame construction from Southern Tidewater hearth

– Upper North: frame construction from New England

– Lower North: post-log construction, from PA vis National Road

The 3 dialect areas in the MidwestThe 3 dialect areas in the Midwest

PronunciationPronunciation

• Northern Cities Vowel Shift• bag• commonly thought to say [®Uf], [®Ut], etc. (but

do they?)• stopping (working-class, as in Boston, NYC)

SyntaxSyntax

• where’s he at? etc.• take with, come with

Midwest vMidwest vocabularyocabulary

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Midwest vMidwest vocabularyocabulary Midwest vMidwest vocabularyocabulary

Midwest vocabularyMidwest vocabulary

•on accident/by accident• level below the first floor•Long john

Upper Midwest vUpper Midwest vocabularyocabulary• Place to buy cigarettes and lottery tickets• Casserole = ?• Drive in circles in a car = ?• Duck duck _ ?

MichiganMichigan

•party store, party pack store = ma and pa convenience store

•Devil’s night:

Devil’s NightDevil’s Night

110. What do you call the night before Halloween?a. gate night (0.38%)b. trick night (0.32%)c. mischief night (11.53%)d. cabbage night (1.73%)e. goosy night (0.38%)f. devil's night (12.16%)g. devil's eve (0.74%)h. I have no word for this (68.87%)i. other (3.90%)

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ChicagoChicago

• Goethe, Devon…• jagoff• gaper's block

Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, Wisconsin

• Wis[k]onsin vs. Wis[kh]onsin• Mwaukee• Bubbler• Cannibal samwich• Freeway• sudsy, barley-pop = beer (Milwaukee)

Meals, convenience store, drive-through liquor store, o, “North Dakota”, talk, y’know, eh, road tripping

MinnesotaMinnesota

• hot lunch• bar• ramp• borrow me a

quarter• farmer

matches

Final questionsFinal questions

• Does Standard American English = Midwestern American English?– Why do so many people think this?

• What are the best sources of Midwestern accents on TV?– Jerry Springer, Oprah, Jenny Jones (Lower North)– hockey players (Upper Midwest)

Carbonated beveragesCarbonated beverages

Exceptions: St. Louis, Milwaukee

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The Northern Cities Vowel ShiftThe Northern Cities Vowel Shift

• Throughout the industrial inland North

• Most strongly advanced in the largest cities: Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Flint, Gary, Chicago, Rockford.– log, fog, on, etc. > [A]– Chicago potty : Boston party– cat

i´I

E √Q

A

Å

Targeted in Da Bears and Lansing Phone Sex

BagBag

108. baga. [Q] as in “sat”

b. [E] as in “set”

c. [ej] as in “say”

d. other (2.63%)

Tennis shoesTennis shoes

73. What is your *general* term for the rubber-soled shoes worn in gym class, for athletic activities, etc.?

a. sneakers (48.07%)b. shoes (1.70%)c. gymshoes (5.67%)e. jumpers (0.01%)f. tennis shoes (39.09%)g. running shoes (1.43%)

Roof, &c.Roof, &c.

25. roof, room, broom, roota. [uw] as in "sue" (75.29%)b. [U] as in "put" (3.10%)c. all 4 do not have the same vowel (21.61%)