this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2024
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Minneapolis - St. Paul Metro

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Why do Minnesotans have accents? (www2.startribune.com)
submitted 2 months ago by m_f@midwest.social to c/msp@midwest.social
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[–] boaratio@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I believe the answer is because Minnesota has a large population of swedish immigrants.

[–] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Many linguists attribute Minnesotans' unusual single-tone pronunciation of long "a's" and "o's" to the influence of Scandinavian settlers, as those sounds are common in languages of that region.

But Minnesota's large number of immigrants from Norway and Sweden didn't arrive until the latter half of the 19th century, Haataja noted. The first Europeans to settle the area were largely English speakers from the British Isles. And both Scottish English and Irish English speakers are known for those same long "a" and "o" pronunciations.

Probably helped make it more distinct.

[–] shutz@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

So, kinda like the stereotypical Canadian accent?

[–] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I always thought it was because they were were so close to border and more isolated from other US people.

[–] m_f@midwest.social 2 points 2 months ago

This meme isn't entirely a joke