Illinois Accents (Chicago, Aurora, Naperville: homes, school, living)

[Katarina Witt]

I would certainly agree with my good pal Drover. When we would visit my family's Wisconsin relatives, some of them could barely understand my Pittsburgh accent (nor could I understand some of them)!

It is true that westerners (Coloradans, Idahoans, Arizonans, etc) don't have such marked accents as some of their eastern and southern friends, but it's there nonetheless.

[LeftSo.IL.Behind]

Sorry, Drover, I thought that sentence might be misconstrued. When I said,

"I don't want to sound pious, but the fact is that the more successful and intellegent families in the area tend to speak proper English that sounds very much like most areas of the country that do not possess specific, strong accents (like: Chicago, Wisconsin or Boston)."

I was saying that Chi, Wis and Boston DO possess specific, strong accents and that proper english spoken in Southern IL sounds like most OTHER places in the Midwest or Western US.

[jcp123]

Originally Posted by dkc

I've lived in southern Illinois my entire life, I just started college and a good portion of the students are from the Chicago area, everyone always comments that I have an accent. I find this kind of interesting, thing is, I can't tell I have an accent. So what I'm wondering is what exactly is the southern Illinois accent? Because I can't notice it.

The Illinois accent I've noticed is a bit nasal, but pretty subtle and for the most part, not harsh. It's certainly not as noticible as Boston or NYC. It also tends to hold onto long vowels even longer, e.g saying "bayad" instead of bad, etc.

[irish setter girl]

I think the Chicago accent has a nasaly, short a sound. Also, midwesterns tend to say the short i as a short e. For example: melk instead of milk. I also find my DH's family in central and southern IL tend to add -th to words to make up new words. Plus they tend to pronounce words differently such as: crick instead of creek, boo-fay intead of buffet (buf-fay), and the southern draw comes out with extra syllables in most words. I find southern IL sometimes has more of a KY accent where the words are highlighted with a short i sound.
Someone told me that Cleveland, OH has the "newscaster accent" and is to be the neutral accent of the country. Is this true?

[Drover]

To most of the country, a Cleveland accent is practically indistinguishable from a Chicago accent. What has come to be known as the Chicago accent hugs the Great Lakes southern shorelines as far east as Rochester NY.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by irish setter girl

Someone told me that Cleveland, OH has the "newscaster accent" and is to be the neutral accent of the country. Is this true?

I believe that used to be the case, but not anymore. Last year or so PBS ran an entire program on accents across the US.
Do You Speak American | PBS
if you can track it down, its pretty fascinating.

heres the section that deals with the midwest accent
Do You Speak American . Sea to Shining Sea . American Varieties . Midwest | PBS

[irish setter girl]

Thanks Drover and Via Chicago for the information. I'll check it out!

[nanannie]

People in the midwest speak correctly.Everyone else in the country has an accent......Thats what my mother always told us anyway

[j33]

My current favorite "illinois accent" is the accent of the woman who makes the announcement regarding "an incoming train" on the CTA's orange line. Her accent cracks me up every time.

[AlwaysBeachin]

Since you guys are on the topic of accents, I thought I'd chime in. As you can see from my profile, I'm from Mobile, AL (on the Gulf Coast). After 6 or so trips to Chicagoland, I've decided I'd eventually like to relocate there--notably Aurora/Naperville. I have been told by a native Chicagoan that my accent is not that bad (i.e. not a Mississippi boy accent). I am trying to rid myself of any trace of a Southern accent partly because of the poor stereotype. (Not everyone down here is a hillbilly; I didn't choose to be from here either).

How do I rid myself of this? I find that the more I'm around Chicagoans, the easier it is to adapt to the different accent. I pronounce my "t's" and other sounds correctly as in maintenance and not the Southern (main'in-ince). I just want to get rid of any trace of a Southern accent! Unfortunately I've grown up here all my life, so it may take some work.