Minneapolis - St. Paul Metro

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A community for leftists and progressives within the Minneapolis - St. Paul Metro Area, including all suburbs and exurbs.

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Why do Minnesotans have accents? (www2.startribune.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (3 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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

So, kinda like the stereotypical Canadian accent?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

This meme isn't entirely a joke