What does a Montana accent sound like? (Helena, Lewistown: land, deal)

[callmemaybe]

Originally Posted by Reziac

As to the R in "warsh" -- I've concluded that's not a regionalism, but rather is an inherited mannerism probably predicated on mouth and tongue shape, since not everyone even in the same family will say "warsh" even when there's a definite trend toward using it. In my family it's about half and half, even among those who've lived closely -- frex, my mom and sister don't say "warsh", but my mom's sister, brother, and myself all do.

Warsh is also heard in Oregon and Washington, and I'd presume Idaho and possibly even British Columbia. It seems like something mostly older people, like older than 50 or so do though. Is it maybe a pan-Northwestern thing?

[historyfan]

It is a big state but overall there is a definite dialect. The only accent is a very slight drawl that you have to really listen for in most people's speech.

In some little pockets of the state you will hear a higher pitched faster speech that reminds me of Southern Midwesterners. These tend to be multi-generational cow folks that have foregone formal education but can do anything on a horse.

The addition of r in wash to worsh and dropping g's is more age related...likely heard in someone over 60. I do not know anyone younger that says Illinoyse...they say Il-lin-oy and Hah-wy-ee not Hah-wy-yah. Education levels play a role also. I think about 25% of total MT population is college educated.

We know we are hicks but we try not to speak like we are.

Speaking slower and pronouncing every syllable is the most noticeable trait. So much so that adding an extra one is common...reel-a-tor for realtor. Older people are more apt is say ah-loom-min-ee-um for aluminum, fill-um for film, and then conversely drop parts like bat-tree for battery.

Reely for really, crick for creek, ant for aunt...are some common examples of Montana dialect. So is using the word pop for carbonated beverage instead of soda and outfit for vehicle.

Then there is the world of Butte/Anaconda. It has its own unique dialect and speech pattern which is Jersey-ish with the "youse guys". And FYI there they say And-Duh-con-da not An-a-Con-da.

[Reziac]

I was reading somewhere that "ant" is actually closer to the original pronunciation than is "aunt". A great deal of what is currently considered "ignorant" speech (eg. "aks" for "ask") is like that -- not truly ignorant, but rather an historical artifact ("aks" is the original form!), or a transplant from another language. Frex, stuff like "Youse guys" -- that originated as an Irishman trying to make English grammar behave like Gaelic, which has a plural form of "you".

As to my mom's family's occasional "warsh" -- we hie from North Dakota and Minnesota, and before that from Norway. So, nope, not a pan-northwestern thing!

[Threerun]

I have not noticed any accent.

I have been asked A LOT where I come from, because I do have an accent and idioms that are quite different than around here, lol.

[Reziac]

Hey Threerun, maybe we'll adopt some of your idioms, after all adopting new words and phrases is why English has the largest vocabulary of any language (over 1 million words, vs 500,000 or so for the next richest language).

As I was saying above, a lot of what's derided as "hick" speech is actually the educated speech of a previous era, remnants from when the mainstream speech "degraded" (you can read bewailment of how popular speech is "going downhill" all the way back to the Roman era!) So it would really be more accurate to consider those "hick" accents as genteel reminders of how our better-educated ancestors spoke.

[NYMTman]

Watch the movie Fargo... the Montana accent is a somewhat more subtle version of that. Once in a while I'll hear a really thick one though, like how Sarah Palin talks. Doncha knoooow.

[MontanaGyrl]

I came out here decades ago from the South and I thought Montanans sounded like Canadians. Boy, did I get jumped on when I said so! If you have lived here forever then you'll say Montanans have no accent, but they do. Every place has one.

[Reziac]

Or you'll hear a descendant of the Dutch/German farm accent -- sort of like a drawl with sharp edges, and a hint of that Scandinavian lilt one hears in Minnesoooota.

[jasper12]

Interesting. I think Montana has regional dialects. I can tell a person who has lived in Butte most of their lives from someone who has lived in Browning...or Plentywood.

I took the test...scored with a Chicago accent....I lived there until I was 10.

[RogueMom]

I noticed the Sarah Palin type of accent form the native Montanans out there. I think of it as an upper-midwest type of accent, it's very subtle. It is slightly "fargo-ish". And they really do say Pop instead of Soda. If you are out there long enough, you will find yourself saying it too because you feel funny calling it soda after awhile.

I also noticed they say "beg" instead of bag. I worked in retail and they would ask customers "Would you like a bigger beg for that?".

Great people those Montanans.