Chicago English

E82530

Chicago English is a regional variety of American English spoken in and around Chicago, characterized by distinctive vowel pronunciations and lexical features typical of the urban Great Lakes area.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf regional dialect of American English
variety of English
associatedWith Inland North American English
surface form: Inland North dialect region
country United States of America
surface form: United States
distinctFrom American English
surface form: General American English

New York City English
Southern American English
grammaticalFeature occasional use of needs washed construction in some speakers
occasional use of positive anymore in some speakers
hasFeature distinctive lexical items
distinctive vowel pronunciations
urban Great Lakes vowel system
hasWritingSystem Latin alphabet
influencedBy African American English in Chicago
Inland North American English
immigrant languages in Chicago
languageFamily Germanic languages
Indo-European language family
surface form: Indo-European languages

West Germanic languages
lexicalFeature use of "the city" to refer specifically to Chicago
use of "the lake" to refer to Lake Michigan
use of the term "dibs" for claiming a parking space
use of the term "front room" or "frunchroom" for living room in some speakers
use of the term "gym shoes" for athletic shoes
use of the term "jagoff" as an insult in some speakers
use of the term "pop" for carbonated soft drinks
partOf American English
phonologicalFeature /θ/ and /ð/ generally maintained as dental fricatives
monophthongal or less diphthongal /eɪ/ in some speakers
monophthongal or less diphthongal /oʊ/ in some speakers
possible participation in the Northern Cities Vowel Shift in older speakers
raised and fronted /æ/ in some environments
retention of rhoticity
region Great Lakes region
Midwestern United States
sociolinguisticFeature ongoing change in younger speakers
variation by ethnicity
variation by neighborhood
variation by social class
spokenIn City of Chicago
surface form: Chicago

Chicago metropolitan area
Northeastern Illinois
surface form: northeastern Illinois

urban Great Lakes region
studiedIn dialectology
sociolinguistics
timePeriod contemporary English variety
typicalSpeakers residents of Chicago
residents of Chicago suburbs

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.