North Central American English
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North Central American English is used to refer to a dialect of American English. It is also known as Upper Midwestern among some linguists. The area is centered on Minnesota; however, it also consists of much of North Dakota and South Dakota, northern Iowa, much of Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
This dialect is perhaps most famous for its use in the movie Fargo.
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[edit] Characteristics
Not all of these characteristics are unique to the North Central region.
[edit] Vowels
- Monopthongization occurs in words such as boat, so, etc. such that /oʊ/ is often pronounced as a nearly pure close-mid back rounded vowel [o]. Monopthongization also occurs in /eɪ/, bringing it's pronunciation closer to a pure [e] in words such as day, play, etc.
- The open back unrounded vowel, as in GA "spa" is found in words such as "on" and "hot"
- The words roof and root may be variously pronounced with either /ʊ/ or /u/; 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 Mary-marry-merry merger: Words containing /æ/, /ɛ/, or /eɪ/ before an "r" and a vowel are all pronounced "/eɪ/-r-vowel," so that Mary, marry, and merry all rhyme with each other, and have the same first vowel as Sharon, Sarah, and bearing. This merger is widespread throughout the Midwest, West, and Canada.
- The words cot and caught are distinct in some areas of this region, and are the same in other parts; see cot-caught merger for more information.
- The pin-pen merger does not occur.
- The flag-plague merger is found in the speech of some people in this region. This merger means that /æ/ merges with /eɪ/ before /g/, so that flag rhymes with plague; both words are pronounced with the vowel sound of the word face. Even in speakers that do not have the merger, there is noticeable raising of /æ/ before g, such that bag and bat do not have the same vowel.
- Canadian raising can be found in the speech of some people in this area. This means that the word like can have a different diphthong than the word live, and (although less commonly in this region) about can have a different diphthong than the word loud. The former offers distinction between the pronunciation of "writer" and "rider," as well as between "hire" and "higher." Canadian raising seems follow different rules in this region, as "spider" would typically not be raised, but it is here.
- The Northern cities vowel shift has an influence over much of this region. Accents in which /ʌ/ is more retracted than /ɑ/ (whether by backing of /ʌ/, fronting of /ɑ/, or both) can be found in southeastern North Dakota, northeastern South Dakota, much of northern Iowa, much of Minnesota, and the vast majority (if not all) of Wisconsin. The diphthongization of /æ/ before oral consonants is found in parts of Minnesota (St. James to the north, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Brainerd to the south).
- The conservative character of the region is best exemplified by the speakers of northern Iowa, who come as close to Labov's initial position as any in the country. The more northerly parts of this region show the well-known monophthongal character of the long high and mid vowels. The stereotype of Minnesota speech, for example, is expressed in the pronunciation of Minnesota with a long, monophthongal o: [ˌmɪnəˈsoːɾə].
[edit] Consonants
- North Central speech is rhotic.
