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Old 12-29-2012, 11:45 AM
 
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Well, I searched the forum and didn't come up with any results, so please don't jump all over me if this was addressed in another thread, but...

I was wondering what the accent of Iowans is like and what traits dominate it? Is it the general Upper Midwest accent? I am imagining it to be something like Minnesota "light," is that far off? I saw an episode of Extreme Home Makeover with a family from the Cedar Rapids area (but rural) and they sounded like they were from Wisconsin to me...but that was just one family and my random impression. I am also sure there is variation from what point to another within the state....but I would appreciate any insight from people that are knowledgeable about this subject. Thanks!
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Old 12-29-2012, 04:14 PM
 
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
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Do you want to know what the general Iowan sounds like? Turn on the national news and listen to the anchor. Do you hear anything distinquishable? Probably not. That would be it.
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Old 12-29-2012, 04:21 PM
 
Location: Sioux Falls, SD area
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Originally Posted by capitalcityguy View Post
Do you want to know what the general Iowan sounds like? Turn on the national news and listen to the anchor. Do you hear anything distinquishable? Probably not. That would be it.
Very true with one exception. Along the southern 1/4th of the state, you will definitely pick up a very distinct Missouri type drawl from a very large percentage of the people. I'm not putting it down, it's actually kind of "down homey".
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Old 12-29-2012, 04:40 PM
 
Location: Boilermaker Territory
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Iowa accent is fairly neutral overall, with the exception of some more pronounced rounded vowels, particularly the letter o in the northern 1/3 of the state.

Last edited by GraniteStater; 12-29-2012 at 04:53 PM..
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Old 12-29-2012, 04:43 PM
 
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Very neutral accent for the most part (besides the rural towns), some people do sound a bit small town with expressions they still use like "going to the store", occasionally still hear someone say "warsh", but mainly with the older generation.
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Old 12-29-2012, 11:52 PM
 
Location: Somewhere below Mason/Dixon
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Iowa seems to have the same upper midwest accent you find in Mn, Wi, or Mi. The upper midwest was settled by yankee New Englanders, then inundated with German and Scandanavian immigrants creating the unique dialect of that region. Iowa is part of that as far as I know.
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Old 12-30-2012, 09:15 AM
 
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Originally Posted by danielj72 View Post
Iowa seems to have the same upper midwest accent you find in Mn, Wi, or Mi. The upper midwest was settled by yankee New Englanders, then inundated with German and Scandanavian immigrants creating the unique dialect of that region. Iowa is part of that as far as I know.
That was my assumption after what I heard on TV...but a lot of people here are saying it's neutral. I read somewheret that the Omaha area is basically the neutral US accent...and maybe that expands east across Iowa at that latitude...? So, the Upper Midwest accent is more common the fathur north in the state and more neutral in the south? That is what I am assuming based on what I have read so far. I would like to know the dividing line though...maybe the I-80?
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Old 12-30-2012, 06:24 PM
 
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
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^ The bottom two tiers of counties have a light sourthern draw. The top two (maybe more?) have the light upper Midwest accent. I'm from the latter, and people here in Des Moines often guess that I'm from "up north".
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Old 12-30-2012, 06:33 PM
 
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Originally Posted by Chelito23 View Post
That was my assumption after what I heard on TV...but a lot of people here are saying it's neutral. I read somewheret that the Omaha area is basically the neutral US accent...and maybe that expands east across Iowa at that latitude...? So, the Upper Midwest accent is more common the fathur north in the state and more neutral in the south? That is what I am assuming based on what I have read so far. I would like to know the dividing line though...maybe the I-80?
Yes, it runs from around Lincoln/Omaha across Iowa until far western Illinois. Iowa doesn't really have any of the "minnesota accent". If they had one in Cedar Rapids, it's probably just random.

Many news anchors were actually put into spots in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, etc. because historically it's the most neutral sounding area of the country. They pick up the "accent" in those areas to use nationally.
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Old 12-30-2012, 06:40 PM
 
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Originally Posted by Chicago60614 View Post
Yes, it runs from around Lincoln/Omaha across Iowa until far western Illinois. Iowa doesn't really have any of the "minnesota accent". If they had one in Cedar Rapids, it's probably just random.

Many news anchors were actually put into spots in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, etc. because historically it's the most neutral sounding area of the country. They pick up the "accent" in those areas to use nationally.
Thanks, I know it's an imperfect science and didn't want to mistake the whole area based on one family. When Iowans travel to the opposite end of the country, where have people assumed you are from, based on your speech, if this has happened to any of you?
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