Northern Cities Vowel Shift region English

E82531

Northern Cities Vowel Shift region English is a distinctive Midwestern American English variety characterized by a systematic rotation of short vowel sounds, especially in cities around the Great Lakes.

All labels observed (4)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Midwestern English dialect
regional dialect of English
variety of American English
contrastsWith Canadian English
American English
surface form: General American English

Southern American English
documentedBy William Labov
documentedIn Atlas of North American English
hasExampleWordPronunciation "block" pronounced with fronted /ɑ/
"cat" pronounced with raised and tensed /æ/
"caught" pronounced with lowered and fronted /ɔ/
hasLinguisticFeature Northern Cities Vowel Shift region English self-linksurface differs
surface form: Northern Cities Vowel Shift
hasPerceptualEffect can sound "nasal" or "twangy" to non-local listeners
hasPhonologicalFeature distinctive short-a system
monophthongal realization of some diphthongs in informal speech
hasPhonologicalProcess /æ/ raising and tensing
/ɑ/ fronting
/ɔ/ lowering and fronting
/ɛ/ backing
/ɪ/ lowering and backing
/ʌ/ backing
systematic rotation of short vowels
hasSociolinguisticAssociation Rust Belt
surface form: Rust Belt cities

urban speech
white working-class speakers
hasStatus undergoing change and possible reversal in younger speakers
hasVowelSystemType chain shift of short vowels
isRecognizedBy North American dialectologists
isSubsetOf Inland North American English
spokenIn Great Lakes region
Inland North region
United States of America
surface form: United States
spokenInCity Buffalo
City of Chicago
surface form: Chicago

Cleveland
Detroit
Flint, Michigan
Gary, Indiana
Milwaukee
Rochester
surface form: Rochester, New York

Syracuse
surface form: Syracuse, New York

Toledo
surface form: Toledo, Ohio
studiedInField phonology
sociolinguistics
timePeriodOfMajorDevelopment 20th century

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

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

Midwestern American English hasSubvariety Northern Cities Vowel Shift region English
Northern Cities Vowel Shift region English hasLinguisticFeature Northern Cities Vowel Shift region English self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Northern Cities Vowel Shift
Wisconsin English hasFeature Northern Cities Vowel Shift region English
this entity surface form: Northern Cities Vowel Shift (in some speakers)
Inland North American English characterizedBy Northern Cities Vowel Shift region English
this entity surface form: Northern Cities Vowel Shift
Canadian Raising of /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ relatedPhenomenon Northern Cities Vowel Shift region English
this entity surface form: Northern Cities Vowel Shift (for comparison)