Is there a "Jello Belt" accent? (live, move to)

[belmont22]

Are there distinct linguistic features that separate the speech of Utah and surrounding, heavily LDS regions from the varieties spoken on the West Coast and in other parts of the West?

Mormon Corridor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I've never heard of a "Utah accent" but I wouldn't be too surprised if there were pronunciations and words unique to the Mormon Corridor. I think they do use words like "gosh" and "heck" more there since Mormons tend to be more against swearing than most other Christians.

[ischyros]

I'm from the Midwest and I've been to Salt Lake City once (other than driving through) and I've spent a week across southern Utah from Moab to St George. I never noticed any kind of accent that sounded different than the way I speak.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by belmont22

Are there distinct linguistic features that separate the speech of Utah and surrounding, heavily LDS regions from the varieties spoken on the West Coast and in other parts of the West?

Mormon Corridor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I've never heard of a "Utah accent" but I wouldn't be too surprised if there were pronunciations and words unique to the Mormon Corridor. I think they do use words like "gosh" and "heck" more there since Mormons tend to be more against swearing than most other Christians.

I've lived in Utah all my life, and while I can't personally hear any difference between how I speak and how people elsewhere in the West speak, I've been asked on multiple occasions about my "interesting accent." I do know there are a few words Utahns notoriously mispronounce. One is "creek"; so many Utahns say "crick" instead. I frequently hear "mountain" pronounced without the 't' and with kind of a glottal stop between the two syllables. (I'm not sure how to explain that one.)

[Hamtonfordbury]

The Utah accent among older people was similar Minnesota or Western Canadian accents. It had a heavy Scandinavian sound. A lot of my older relatives had it, as well as some of the older LDS church leaders today. I think the California influence has got to Utah in recent generations though.

[belmont22]

Originally Posted by Hamtonfordbury

The Utah accent among older people was similar Minnesota or Western Canadian accents. It had a heavy Scandinavian sound. A lot of my older relatives had it, as well as some of the older LDS church leaders today. I think the California influence has got to Utah in recent generations though.

So younger Utahns say things like hella, dude, and ohmaigawd? The shame.

[portlanderinOC]

When I drove through St. George, everyone there had an accent that sounded kind of like Minnesota and California put together. Even the young folk. My mum even noticed so that says something.

[Spontoneous]

I lived in Utah most of my life. It's where my ancestors settled on both sides of my family. There is a distinct accent associated with some Utahns (and Idahoans) - usually found in the rural areas of the state. Many people drop the "t" in some words: mountain = mou-uhn, Layton = Lay-uhn, Orton = Or-uhn, ant = anh, don't = donh, etc.
The use of the word gall is prevalent. Not gall, as in the gall of bitterness. It's pronounced gahl and is used in response to something that they feel is ridiculous. Ex: "He decided to move to Hollywood and become an actor." "Oh, gahl!" Thicker accents elongate the "a" and the last "l." Gahl-leh. It happens with other words, too. When they're irritated with their mother = "Mom-eh!"
They do say crick, instead of creek. Chicken Creek sounds like chick-n-crick and Chalk Creek sounds like Chahcrick. Some will say things like: "We was down by the lake." and "No, it aint." Also, they'll say "for real?" but it's pronounced "fer rill?"
"They're" becomes "thur."
When my grandma wants me to get a cord out of the cupboard, she says. "There's a card in the cupboard." It's the same with the words war, ward, Lord, etc. "My brother fought in the war." becomes "My brother fauh in the whar." Towns like American Fork and Spanish Fork are pronounced American Fahrk and Spanish Fahrk. But if you're really rural, you just call it Spaneesh for short.
Also, some say Eye-talian and Eye-rack.
Mormons also use all kinds of words to substitute swear words. Ex. Dang, shoot, friggin', gosh dangit, etc.
When my dad says goodbye on the phone, he says, "Love you, kid." But it sounds like, "Luv y'kid."

[MillennialUrbanist]

Originally Posted by belmont22

I think they do use words like "gosh" and "heck" more there since Mormons tend to be more against swearing than most other Christians.

I heard somewhere that devout Christians---and most Mormons are pretty devout---are against minced oaths like these. Their preferred M.O. is to substitute words entirely. For example, "oh, my goodness!" for "oh my god!", and "what in the world?" for "what the hell?". I actually adopted this for myself, when not using actual words, because it feels more polite. And I'm not religious in the slightest.

[BurnInTheMil]

Utah people DO have a noticeable accent, I actually discovered this just yesterday with one of my newer clients at work.

I thought the guy was either Canadian or from Minnesota, turns out he is from the Salt Lake Ciy area.

[Pincho-toot]

Originally Posted by Hamtonfordbury

The Utah accent among older people was similar Minnesota or Western Canadian accents. It had a heavy Scandinavian sound. A lot of my older relatives had it, as well as some of the older LDS church leaders today. I think the California influence has got to Utah in recent generations though.

I know this is an old post, but I had a manager who was from Utah, surname was Sorensen and by accent I coulda sworn he was from Minnesota. It wasn't the thick "Doncha know" accent but sounded like he could easily be from the Twin Cities.