American Midlands
The Merriam-Webster definition of a dialect is:
"a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language."
"a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language."
What is the Midland Dialect?
The three main dialects in the middle western area of the United States are the Northern, the Midland, and the Southern dialects. Labov “further divided [the Midland] into two sections: the Midland North and the Midland South” (Haynie). These two dialects are very different and are not to be considered the same.
The Midland Dialect that we are focusing on, mostly North Midland in Indiana
- is rhotic
- not undergoing the NCVS change
- contains mergers like the cot-caught and mary-marry-merry mergers
- and also uses the need/want + past participle construction
- says words like pop and dinner
(Just to name a few)
Our Mission:
To inform you on the phonology, lexical terms, and grammar of the Midland dialect, provide primary research to back up our findings, and to give examples of claims.
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