Why don't Northerners seem to lose their accents when they move South? (upper-class, bill)
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Let me just remind all of you that most people in MN do not have an accent - I've met one person that talked like the movie Fargo and he was originally from ND.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Umbria
Let me just remind all of you that most people in MN do not have an accent - I've met one person that talked like the movie Fargo and he was originally from ND.
I disagree.
Sure, the "Fargo" accent is much more Dakota buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut many of y'all have noticeable accents. Trust me.
At the winery I've met several Wisconsin and Minnesota folks and there is definitely an accent unique to that area.
A friend of mine is from Minnesota and he has an accent as well.
It's not as extreme as people assume, but it exists.
Sure, the "Fargo" accent is much more Dakota buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut many of y'all have noticeable accents. Trust me.
At the winery I've met several Wisconsin and Minnesota folks and there is definitely an accent unique to that area.
A friend of mine is from Minnesota and he has an accent as well.
It's not as extreme as people assume, but it exists.
Oooohhh ders no accent in da upper Midwest eh. Ya dos people in da state of Minnesooota, Wiscansin en Meeshigan dooont talk with accents. Now da rest of da country, dhey are da ones with da accents eh, ya youbetcha dhey have accents. Ders no time fur accents up here eh, tooo busy shoveling snow eh. Ya we just got nother foot eh. Well its May now soooo It should stop snowing soon dontchaknow. Maybe da ice el melt off da lake by June dis year. I think ill just heat up a pastie to eat eh, dat el warm me up.
All kidding aside the accent is commonly called the fargo accent, or the Yooper accent. It is a mixture of Scandanavian and German influenced, and in the northern parts of Mi, Wi and MN its quite strong. Even in the southern parts of those states it can be detected but its most prevalent in the north.
Let me just remind all of you that most people in MN do not have an accent - I've met one person that talked like the movie Fargo and he was originally from ND.
Oooohhh ders no accent in da upper Midwest eh. Ya dos people in da state of Minnesooota, Wiscansin en Meeshigan dooont talk with accents. Now da rest of da country, dhey are da ones with da accents eh, ya youbetcha dhey have accents. Ders no time fur accents up here eh, tooo busy shoveling snow eh. Ya we just got nother foot eh. Well its May now soooo It should stop snowing soon dontchaknow. Maybe da ice el melt off da lake by June dis year. I think ill just heat up a pastie to eat eh, dat el warm me up.
All kidding aside the accent is commonly called the fargo accent, or the Yooper accent. It is a mixture of Scandanavian and German influenced, and in the northern parts of Mi, Wi and MN its quite strong. Even in the southern parts of those states it can be detected but its most prevalent in the north.
I have now lived in the UP for almost two years. I don't notice an accent here. Poor grammar and weird words, yes (I cringe every time I hear "yous guys"). Accent, no.
I think the argument that there isn't a "Northern Accent" is because there isn't. There IS a Southern accent and a Boston accent, a Jersey accent, a Long Island accent, a North Dakota accent, etc. etc. but no "Northern" accent.
Lol of course there's a Minnesota accent. I'm from here but lived in AZ and IL. When j came back, it was still here!
In the twin cities it's like Atlanta or Houston - the locals, and often blue collar/trades have stronger accents. There's plenty of transplants in the twin cities that don't but the locals surely have the accent.
Having said that - the Fargo movie accent is very much overblown. I've met a couple people who talk like that, almost always from very small towns in the northern parts of the state.
There are some oddballs who seem to magnify their upbringing once they leave the place of upbringing. I didn't feel like a Midwesterner until I left the Midwest, and suddenly my Southern Illinoisan accent (which I didn't even know I had) became noticeable. Sometimes when you are talking to a buncha people who clearly have a different accent than you, it almost makes you reinforce your own accent even more.
That's true. I know the further President GW Bush was from Texas, the thicker his accent got.
My mother moved to Southern Maryland from the Midwest, and she definitely speaks with a Southern Maryland accent now, not a Midland one. She's gotten comments when in her hometown about her accent because the Midwestern accent is nearly gone and people perceive her as not from there.
So there can definitely be a change from a Midland Accent to a Southern Accent.
Curiously, I had her take the NYT Dialect Quiz and it gave an odd result for "Most Similar Cities": Des Moines, Richmond, and DC. I Attribute this to the fact that although her accent has become noticeably Southern, her terms for things remain Midwestern. For comparison, my own results were Richmond, Norfolk, Greensboro
Everyone I know that has moved down South sounds different, it might take a few years but you can hear the southern influence, some even have more of a general American accent.
I've lived in MN most of my life and when I watch TV shows like news stations out of NY or "The View" etc... i don't hear any accent - the way they speak is like what I hear from neighbors, friends, family here in MN. I would detect a difference.
So, all you smarties, explain that.
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