[Angel Bear]

Most people tell me I sound like a Southern California girl

[lilbear]

I'm from MI and my husband is raised half SC and half OH and now that I've been in SC for 5 years, I'm a mix.. lol People tell me I sound like I have both accents, MI and southern. lol

Hubby and I go back and forth all the time over the word coupon. He says, "cyupon" I say "coopon" I say root with short oo's but he thinks I'm saying 'rut'. Same for roof.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by RJ17015

OMG -- I can't believe you posted this! I am one of those Michiganders who doesn't get the MI accent??? We moved to SC, and most people can pinpoint me to the Midwest, but a woman this weekend said "you're from MI" I was shocked. She said yes you have a MI accent.

Yes I am baffled - sorry - I don't hear it. Sad thing is no one can tell me how I speak different. I don't have a y'all, or a southern drawl. Yet I'm not the New England -- "cot" and "caught", nor the New Yorker/NJ.

So can you explain the "accent?" So far no one has been able to explain how we sound different than the rest of the US.

That used to happen to me. I moved away from Michigan and people would comment on the accent and I did not hear it. I couldn't hear it going back home for visits -- people in Michigan didn't sound any different to me than the people where I now lived.

Then one time I went back for a visit and I heard it plain as day. It's a different way that people in Michigan talk -- but Minnesota people talk the same way. I began to hear it in myself and I can almost always spot the accent now when I hear it somewhere now.

It's a bit of a nasal accent. Even the way "accent" is said, there's a drawing out of the "aaack". It generally gets more pronounced the further north in Michigan you go which was also something I couldn't tell before but once you learn to hear the accent, you'll see what it is. To me it sounds pretty cool -- I like how the Michigan accent sounds.

[RJ17015]

Originally Posted by mofromcheboygankalamazoo

we ALL have accents...although i would just say we pronounce things differently by region!...i am proud of the phrases i use and the "accent" i have now that i live in philly.......
although i just started a teaching job here in the third grade and they are working on Homophones, words pronounced the same but spelled differently...AND i was looking in a book my mentor teacher gave be and get this it said "bin" and "been" are homophones!!!!! i told her that is not true where i come from...and she said i better learn the way things are pronounced there-but i am stubborn, i just won't teach them that homophone!

I think there lies the problem. I think as children we were taught (not tot) the correct pronunciations of words. I know we were, and if a child had a speech problem with (r's or s's) they would go to a special speech class -- I can remember in elementary school, constantly being corrected.

Okay - example using don't instead of doesn't or the word ain't. I was watching TV here in SC - and this ad came on -- where the owner (I'm assuming he was the owner of the business) does the ad -- and here in a TV ad is improper English -- I WAS FLOORED! I can't remember exactly, but it was something like doesn't and don't -- like it don't get any better than this, instead of it doesn't get any better than this.

Anyway -- growing up in MI, the Detroit area, this would have NOT been accepted. I remember being afraid to read out loud in elementary school out of fear of mispronunciations, and constantly being corrected. I remember working on how to pronounce different vowel sounds - it was a big deal!

Just a thought.

Oh and I also read that the midwest America accent is the most sought after accent since it is considered the "norm." Politicians, actors, newscasters, spend a lot of money to learn to the Midwestern accent, that is why we as Midwesterners don't hear it.

[lilbear]

Have you ever seen the Big 'O Dodge commercial? I guess its shortened for Big Old Dodge?

And I see commercials that are supposed to be for something important and they talk SO bad. It's lack of education that causes their accents maybe. As one person I know from this area, who doesn't sound southern at all calls it, "country" talk.

[mostie]

I've been here for a little over 2 years, originally from CA- and people here DO have an accent! To me, they definitely sound Canadian- I spent a few months in Canada, and that's what people here sound like, to me.

I've been told that I have an accent as well, HA- I tell everyone, "no, people from California don't have accents...everyone else does!" heh heh

[GoGators1]

Originally Posted by Rapunzll

Sure we have an accent, but it is not much of one. Think about it, most of the newsreaders on national news programs sound like us!

I can't think of a single newsreader that sounds even remotely like the people I've met in Michigan.

[GoGators1]

I guess my ultimate question here was do you all notice your accent? The answer appears to be no.

[GoGators1]

I think Canadian is a decent comparison. It also reminds me of the movie Fargo, just toned down a little bit.

[GoGators1]

Originally Posted by RJ17015

I think there lies the problem. I think as children we were taught (not tot) the correct pronunciations of words. I know we were, and if a child had a speech problem with (r's or s's) they would go to a special speech class -- I can remember in elementary school, constantly being corrected.

Okay - example using don't instead of doesn't or the word ain't. I was watching TV here in SC - and this ad came on -- where the owner (I'm assuming he was the owner of the business) does the ad -- and here in a TV ad is improper English -- I WAS FLOORED! I can't remember exactly, but it was something like doesn't and don't -- like it don't get any better than this, instead of it doesn't get any better than this.

Anyway -- growing up in MI, the Detroit area, this would have NOT been accepted. I remember being afraid to read out loud in elementary school out of fear of mispronunciations, and constantly being corrected. I remember working on how to pronounce different vowel sounds - it was a big deal!

Just a thought.

Oh and I also read that the midwest America accent is the most sought after accent since it is considered the "norm." Politicians, actors, newscasters, spend a lot of money to learn to the Midwestern accent, that is why we as Midwesterners don't hear it.

You're referring to the "Standard Midwest" accent. This is something MUCH milder than Michigan. My sister is a casting agent in CA, and what they refer to as the midwestern accent when casting a reporter is something so much milder than what I've heard in Michigan it's basically not comparable. Also, I'm not trying to say you all are uneducated. I don't think in this case education has anything to do with it. Of course it is more common for uneducated people from rural towns to have thicker accents in any area, but the people I'm talking about are not necessarily uneducated or from rural towns. I'm sure you were well educated, and I'm sure your teachers taught you properly. I wouldn't want to imply otherwise. Nonetheless, the Northern Cities Vowel Shift is an absolutely documented phenomenon in areas like Michigan. Look it up.