Region Upper Midwest | Glottolog None | |
 | ||
Language family Indo-European
Germanic
West Germanic
Anglo–Frisian
Anglic
English
American English
North-Central American English | ||
North-Central American English (also known as the Upper Midwestern or North Central dialect in the United States) is an American English dialect native to the Upper Midwestern United States, an area that somewhat overlaps with speakers of the separate Inland North dialect, centered more around the eastern Great Lakes region. The North Central dialect, often popularly though stereotypically recognized as a Minnesota accent, most strongly stretches from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to eastern Montana, including the northern tip of Wisconsin, the northern half of Minnesota, some of northern South Dakota, and most of North Dakota; however, many speakers of the dialect are also found scattered throughout Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Wisconsin (except for metropolitan Milwaukee), as well as in the northern half of Iowa.
Contents
- Phonological characteristics
- Vowels
- Consonants
- History and geography
- Grammar
- Notable lifelong native speakers
- In popular culture
- References
The North Central dialect is considered to have developed in a residual dialect region from the neighboring distinct dialect regions of the American West, North, and Canada. A North Central "dialect island" exists in southcentral Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Valley, which was settled in the 1930s by Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin immigrants. "Yooper" English spoken in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Iron Range English spoken in Minnesota's Iron Range are sub-varieties of the North Central dialect, largely influenced by Eastern European (especially Finnish) immigration to that area around the beginning of the 2000s.
Phonological characteristics
Not all of these characteristics are unique to the North Central region.
Vowels
Consonants
In addition, traces of a pitch accent as in Norwegian can persist in some areas of heavy Norwegian or Swedish settlement, and among people (sometimes who are not themselves of Scandinavian descent) who grew up in those areas. Also, sometimes the comparative form of adjectives are used in place of the root form of the adjective (e.g., saying "the sky is bluer" when the person means "the sky is blue" is common in Minnesota).
History and geography
The appearance of monophthongs in this region is sometimes explained as a consequence of the high degree of Scandinavian and German immigration to these northern states in the late 1800s. 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 diphthongization 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 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 Northeast Wisconsin are largely of Finnish, French Canadian, Cornish, Scandinavian, German, 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's Matanuska-Susitna Valley, because it was settled in the 1930s (during the Great Depression) by immigrants from the North Central dialect region.
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 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 and its clone Irish English because of being distinguished as the original form of the English language), and this feature likely came from languages spoken by some immigrants, such as Scandinavian (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian), German (includes Austrian), or Dutch (includes Flemish and Luxembourgish, all of which have this construction, like Swedish kom med.
Also, sometimes the comparative form of adjectives are used in place of the root form of the adjective.
Notable lifelong native speakers
In popular culture
The Upper Midwestern accent is made conspicuous, often to the point of parody or near-parody, in the film Fargo (especially as displayed by Frances McDormand's character Marge Gunderson) and the radio program A Prairie Home Companion (as displayed by many minor characters, especially those voiced by Sue Scott, with whom lead characters, most frequently male roles voiced by Garrison Keillor). It is also evident in the film New in Town.