North-Central American English

North-Central American English is a special way of speaking that many people in the Upper Midwestern United States use. This area includes places like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. People often call it the "Minnesota accent" or "Wisconsin accent," especially in certain parts of these states.

This way of speaking developed in a place where many different dialects come together. It is related to the way people talk in the Inland Northern dialect areas near the Great Lakes region, as well as dialects from Canada and other nearby regions.

One clear feature of this dialect is the way people say certain sounds. For example, words like "cot" and "caught" might sound the same to someone who speaks this way. This feature helps define where the dialect is spoken, covering parts of several states including North Dakota, South Dakota, and even reaching into Iowa and Nebraska.

History and geography

The way people talk in the northern United States changed because many people from Scandinavia and Germany moved there in the late 1800s. Some experts think this mixing of languages created new sounds in the local speech. Others believe these sounds have been around for a long time and were kept by people from places like Scots-Irish or other British areas.

People in places like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, parts of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and Northern Wisconsin come from many backgrounds, including Finnish, French Canadian, and Scandinavian families. Because of these different languages, people from other areas might find it hard to understand their speech. Many Finnish people moved to the Upper Peninsula, and some went on to Minnesota. A similar way of talking is also found in Southcentral Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Valley, where people from the northern United States settled during the Great Depression.

Phonology

The North-Central American English dialect has some unique sounds and ways of speaking. For example, the sounds made with "u" and "o" in words like "coat" and "ago" stay the same and do not change shape as they might in other parts of the United States. Some people in this area also say words like "bag" and "flag" with a slightly higher sound.

Words like "fire" and "tiger" often have a raised sound too. The way people say "cot" and "caught" can also be the same, which is common in this region. This accent also keeps certain sounds the same as in General American English, such as saying all the sounds in "Mary," "marry," and "merry" the same way.

Some people might say "these" as "deez" or "those" as "doze," especially in certain communities. There are also small influences from languages like Swedish and Norwegian in some areas.

Grammar

In this way of speaking, people sometimes use the word "with" without saying what it goes with. For example, they might say, "Do you want to come with?" instead of "Do you want to come with me?" or "with us?" This is different from most other kinds of English, where "with" usually needs an object. This special use of "with" probably came from the languages of some immigrants, like Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Dutch, or Luxembourgish.

People in some areas also use the word "yet" in a special way. They might say, "I need to clean this room yet," meaning "I still need to clean this room." Also, in some places, saying "shut the lights" can mean "turn off the lights."

Vocabulary

Here are some special words and phrases used by people living in the northern middle part of the United States:

• boulevard – a grassy median strip
• berm, boulevard, or terrace – a grassy road verge
• bubbler – a drinking fountain (mainly used in Eastern Wisconsin, especially Milwaukee)
• 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". It’s a short and polite way to talk about a small mistake.
• 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 special type of North-Central English exists in southcentral Alaska in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. This happened because many people moved there from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the 1930s.

Two strong types of North-Central English are "Yooper" English, spoken in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Iron Range English, spoken in Minnesota's Mesabi Iron Range. These types were shaped by Nordic immigration to those areas around the early 1900s. Iron Range English is sometimes called "Rayncher" English.

Upper Peninsula English

The English spoken in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and some nearby parts of Wisconsin, is known as Yooper English. This type of English has been influenced by Finnish-speaking immigrants. However, younger speakers might be sounding more like nearby Standard Canadian English.

In popular culture

The Minnesota accent is well-known from the film Fargo, especially through the character Marge Gunderson played by Frances McDormand, and the TV show that followed it.

You can also hear this accent from many minor characters, particularly those voiced by Sue Scott, in the radio program A Prairie Home Companion. The accent also appears in the film New in Town.

Notable lifelong native speakers

Some famous people known for speaking the North-Central American English dialect include Steven Avery, who has a strong Wisconsin accent, and Michele Bachmann, known for her flat Minnesota accent. Others include Charlie Berens (in character), Chris Farley with his Wisconsin accent, Jan Kuehnemund, Brock Lesnar, Don Ness, Julianne Ortman, Sarah Palin, and Mark Proksch. Sarah Palin's speech sounds similar to characters from Fargo because she grew up in an area of Alaska settled by people from Minnesota.