Minnesota vs.Wisconsin Accent (how much, house, live in)

[Schuman]

Not talking about words or nicknames. What are the main differences? Are their any?

[stlouisan]

None that I've observed. They're both pretty close together, same thing with Michigan. The Upper Midwest accent is basically a General American accent with Canadian influences, vs. the Lower Midwest which is General American with Southern influences.

[jtur88]

Minnesota has a fairly strong accent that they share somewhat with the Dakotas and western Wisconsin. But it is very different in eastern Wisconsin near the Lakeshore, and then the Milwaukee accent is a very different urban accent influenced by Polish and German immigration, that more closely resembles Chicago. When I hear someone from Wisconsin, I can always tell which of those three areas they come from.

[steel03]

Simple mnemonic - Minnesooohta has more ohhhhhh, Wiscaaansin has more aaaaaaaaa.

[danielj72]

Originally Posted by stlouisan

None that I've observed. They're both pretty close together, same thing with Michigan. The Upper Midwest accent is basically a General American accent with Canadian influences, vs. the Lower Midwest which is General American with Southern influences.

This is kinda true. I live in Michigan recently went on vacation to the southern states and was told twice I sounded Canadian. One guy said I sounded a bit like those characters on the movie Fargo. I dont see it, but how would I see my own accent. I think the accent your talking about is strongest in northern Mn, northern Wi and northern Mi, but all parts of all three states have that accent to some degree. Here in Michigan a strong accent is associated with the UP. (yooper accent) Another poster suggested that Milwalkee sounds a bit like Chicago and I would agree. Detroit also does too. Other than those three cities all three upper midwestern states do have a distinct accent that people from other parts of the nation can pick up. Usually they just think its Canadian like they did with me. If you listen to Canadians you will see we dont really just talk like them though, as the upper midwestern dialect has alot to do with the heavy German and Scandinavian immigration that impacted Mich, Wisc and Minn.

[Ghengis]

It's been my observation that the Wisconnie accent is considerably more slurred.

[west336]

Originally Posted by stlouisan

None that I've observed. They're both pretty close together, same thing with Michigan. The Upper Midwest accent is basically a General American accent with Canadian influences, vs. the Lower Midwest which is General American with Southern influences.

I like that generalization!

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

It's been my observation that the Wisconnie accent is considerably more slurred.

That might have something to do with the taverns and bars everywhere!

[stlouisan]

Originally Posted by danielj72

This is kinda true. I live in Michigan recently went on vacation to the southern states and was told twice I sounded Canadian. One guy said I sounded a bit like those characters on the movie Fargo. I dont see it, but how would I see my own accent. I think the accent your talking about is strongest in northern Mn, northern Wi and northern Mi, but all parts of all three states have that accent to some degree. Here in Michigan a strong accent is associated with the UP. (yooper accent) Another poster suggested that Milwalkee sounds a bit like Chicago and I would agree. Detroit also does too. Other than those three cities all three upper midwestern states do have a distinct accent that people from other parts of the nation can pick up. Usually they just think its Canadian like they did with me. If you listen to Canadians you will see we dont really just talk like them though, as the upper midwestern dialect has alot to do with the heavy German and Scandinavian immigration that impacted Mich, Wisc and Minn.

that's why I called them influences...and Canadians I suspect shared some common ancestry with Upper Midwesterners. Regardless, somebody who has never heard an Upper Midwest accent before would guess you to be Canadian, however, it's kind of a lot like the Lower Midwest...once you hear a real southern or Canadian accent, you'll be able to distinguish the two.

THe most distinct things I notice in an upper Midwest accent is the dropping of u's...the word house is pronounced "hose", out="oat", pound="poned", etc. Ya' know, etc...the first time I heard somebody from Toronto however, I realized just how much heavier the dialect was in Canada. it's almost like they replace the u's with w's and lengthen the o's...out=oowwwt, etc....with the addition of several general pronunciations noticeably absent in Upper Midwest dialect. It's a similar story w/ South Midland vs. Southern. South Midland typically doesn't lengthen o's, and the phrase "y'all" typically isn't heard either. "I's" are pronounced "ah", although it's more inconsistent, u's are lengthened, although that again is inconsistent and in many cases the pin/pen merger is present. Other than that, the dialect is General American. Y'all isn't a term I hear very often. When i do hear it, and it's not common, you can hear a brief "you" in the pronunciation...it is pronounced much slower and typically not definitively abbreviated like in the south.

By far the biggest distinctions are that a South Midland dialect will almost never feature more than one or two of these features, and the lengthening of o's is completely absent. What is lengthened is not nearly as emphasized or abbreviated.

Among younger generations, it's more difficult to tell it apart because of the General American accent rapidly starting to become favored over traditional dialect among younger generations in the south, making accents less thick and pronounced typically, especially in the cities...the typical samplings of people I've noticed featuring the people likely to speak traditional regional dialects are the white working class in cities, white rural folks, and the older generations, born in at latest the 1960s or early 1970s. And of course, generally they will have to be raised there. My city is a strange exception though...the traditional St. Louis dialect I hear commonly among people of the Baby Boom generation or earlier is nonexistent among younger generations. General American is almost universally the dialect among these generations, although South Midland a somewhat common dialect among the working class.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that both the Upper and Lower Midwest have dialects that carry influences from the outside areas bordering them...the Upper has Canadian influences, the Lower has Southern influences...the dialects thus are classified as Upper Midwest vs. South Midland. To the trained ear, one can easily differentiate them from Southern and Canadian dialect..they will be noticeably flatter, however...General American is mixed in very well.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

That might have something to do with the taverns and bars everywhere!

I attribute it as more to do with overwhelming despair