By: Maggie Hong
If you think the Midwest isn’t an important part of the English speaking world, think again. The largest change to the English language since the time of Shakespeare is happening right here, in the upper Midwest.
Think of a typical Minnesotan accent. Someone might say ‘bayg’ instead of ‘bag’, or ‘melk’ instead of ‘milk’. These aren’t just regional pronunciations; they are markers of a big change to the way we speak English.
When we pronounce words like ‘bag’, ‘milk’, ‘cat’, and ‘bit’, we form vowel sounds using a certain position of our mouth. All our vowel sounds, though they were in use for centuries before, were firmly established during the Great Vowel Shift throughout the 15th century. They’ve remained mostly the same since. Now, in cities surrounding the Great Lakes region, they are changing.
Vowels are organized in a sort of carousel, corresponding to where in the mouth they are pronounced. Vowels like the one in ‘bat’ are pronounced near the back of the mouth, while ‘bot’ is pronounced at the bottom of the mouth. When one vowel moves out of its spot, say from the back to the bottom of the mouth, the rest follow it. The vowel which was pronounced at the bottom of the mouth moves to the front, the one from the front moves to the top, and so on.
In the northern cities, this began with the vowel in ‘bat’, known as the trap vowel. The trap vowel, which was pronounced in the middle of the mouth, began to get longer, now sounding like the vowel in ‘yeah’ or ‘mia’ and resulting in the Midwestern pronunciation of ‘bayg’. As the trap vowel moves up, it occupies the space once held by the ‘kit’ vowel. ‘Kit’ moves down, now being pronounced with the vowel in ‘dress’, and resulting in the Midwestern pronunciation of ‘melk’. This continues until every vowel sound has shifted.
The resulting set of pronunciations defines the Midwestern accent. And although English speakers around the world have accents, the Midwestern accent is the most significant because it is a chain shift. In the British or Australian accent, vowels move one at a time. The change is small. In the Midwest, they shift in a chain reaction, each move prompting another. No such chain shift has occurred on a large scale since vowels were first established in the 15th century. So, the next time you hear someone say ‘melk’, you are witnessing a historic moment for the English speaking world: the Northern Cities Vowel Shift.
For more information, please visit:
Plaid Line + PRIZM + Scottie News 