Northern Cities Shift

E942795
chain shift phonological phenomenon sound change vowel shift

The Northern Cities Shift is a major chain vowel shift affecting the pronunciation of short vowels in many urban areas of the U.S. Inland North, notably around the Great Lakes.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Northern Cities Vowel Shift 2

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf chain shift ⓘ
phonological phenomenon ⓘ
sound change ⓘ
vowel shift ⓘ
affects /æ/ ⓘ
/ɑ/ ⓘ
/ɔ/ ⓘ
/ɛ/ ⓘ
/ɪ/ ⓘ
/ʌ/ ⓘ
short vowels ⓘ
affectsPhonemeClass short front vowels ⓘ
short-a system ⓘ
associatedWith Inland North American English NERFINISHED ⓘ
causes restructuring of vowel space in Inland North English ⓘ
changeType chain reaction of vowel movements ⓘ
contrastsWith Canadian Shift NERFINISHED ⓘ
Southern Vowel Shift ⓘ
dialectRegion Great Lakes region NERFINISHED ⓘ
Inland North NERFINISHED ⓘ
firstDescribedBy William Labov NERFINISHED ⓘ
geographicSpread urban areas of the U.S. Inland North ⓘ
hasKeyFeature backing of /ɛ/ ⓘ
backing of /ʌ/ ⓘ
fronting of /ɑ/ ⓘ
lowering and backing of /ɔ/ ⓘ
lowering of /ɪ/ ⓘ
raising of /æ/ ⓘ
identifiedIn Atlas of North American English NERFINISHED ⓘ
isComponentOf North American English phonological variation NERFINISHED ⓘ
language English ⓘ
notableIn Buffalo NERFINISHED ⓘ
Chicago NERFINISHED ⓘ
Cleveland NERFINISHED ⓘ
Detroit NERFINISHED ⓘ
Milwaukee NERFINISHED ⓘ
Rochester, New York NERFINISHED ⓘ
Syracuse, New York NERFINISHED ⓘ
Toledo, Ohio NERFINISHED ⓘ
phonologicalEnvironment stressed vowels ⓘ
status in decline among younger speakers in some areas ⓘ
studiedBy Charles Boberg NERFINISHED ⓘ
Sharon Ash NERFINISHED ⓘ
William Labov NERFINISHED ⓘ
timePeriod 20th century ⓘ
variesBy city ⓘ
social class ⓘ
speaker age ⓘ

Referenced by (3)

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

Canadian Shift in short front vowels → distinctFrom → Northern Cities Shift ⓘ
Inland North region → hasFeature → Northern Cities Shift ⓘ
this entity surface form: Northern Cities Vowel Shift
Inland North region → knownFor → Northern Cities Shift ⓘ
this entity surface form: Northern Cities Vowel Shift