The North and Northeast
The primary boundary between the North and South begins somewhere in
Central Delaware, extends westward near the old Mason-Dixon Line and continues
approximately along the Ohio River. There are five original coastal centers
from which most American dialects developed: Boston, mPhiladelphia, Tidewater
Virginia, Charleston and New Orleans. By the end of the nineteenth century
there were almost no foreign born residents in the South, but the Northern
dialects were further enriched by other cultures which shaped their dialects.
This is believed to have impacted the American Regional dialects that will
be further discussed.
NEW ENGLAND AND NORTHEAST
New Englanders' speech is often recognized by their inclination to drop
postvocalic r's, as in "go pa'k the ca'," and for inserting r's where they
don't belong, for example, "that's a good idear," and for pronouncing "aunt"
and "glass" like proper Englishmen. It's hard to believe that this dialect
with it's strong accent is the origin of the quite different Northern dialect.
Somewhere at some time this conservative parent dialect, which uses old
and relic expressions and is less colloquial than any American regional
dialect, brought about this lexically innovative North, whose speech is
heavy with new coinages, regional colloquialisms and slang usage.
REGIONS OF NEW ENGLAND
There are two major dialect regions of New England, which are Eastern and
Western New England, along with seven subregions, including the Boston
area, the Lower Connecticut River Valley, the Narragansett Bay area (Rhode
Island), Worcester County, the Plymouth area, the Merrimack Valley and
Coastal Maine.
The boundary separating Eastern from Western New England starts at the
mouth of the Connecticut River, goes north to the southern border of Franklyn
County in west-central Massachusetts, where it turns west for almost 50
miles to Berkshire Hills, then goes north again, running along the crest
of the Green Mountains to the Vermont-Canadian border.
Some of the words used here are...
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"Sour-milk cheese" instead of "cottage cheese,"
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"The necessary" or "necessary house" instead of "outhouse,"
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"Bonnyclabber" or "bonnyclapper" means "thick sour milk,"
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"Double runner" instead of "bobsled,"
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"Tonic" meaning "carbonated soft drink" and
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"Fuss-pot" or "fuss-budget" means a "finicky or fussy person."
LEXICON
New England has always been tied to the sea, therefore penetrating its
speech with nautical and sea weather terms. However, most of this lexicon
pertains to farming and domestic life. The Indians of this region left
their imprint on the speech as well as the food, since they introduced
the New England pilgrims to Indian corn.
Audio Clip of Boston Speech
THE NORTHEAST
The Northeast is basically an extension on New England settlement first
into New York, where a unique kind of Yankee speech evolved through its
contact with the old Western frontier. The Northeast is a transitional
yet distinct area between the New England and eastern Pennsylvania axis
and the full extension of the Northern region.
LEXICON
This lexicon is rich in nature terms, such as using the word "brook" instead
of "stream". Speakers also use the expression "mackerel sky", which means
a sky covered with small cumulus clouds forming a pattern reminiscent of
the markings on a mackerel. Another term they use is "buttonwood" for a
sycamore tree.
The number of subregions in New England and the Northeast gives it cultural
diversity. Because of the number of immigrants, this region has had many
influences, including those from the Dutch and German, the seafaring background
of Eastern New England, and the rural farming life of Upstate New York
and Western New England. These subregions and their dimensions have remained
intact over the years.
Audio Clip of Brooklyn Speech
THE NORTH
The North originates in two cultural and linguistic hearths: New England
and Southern Pennsylvania. These two subcultures flowed westward, intermingling
from time to time, but generally remaining separate. This separateness
formed two major Northern dialect regions: the Upper North and the Lower
North.
THE NORTH LAYER
The most common boundary of the North is the area north of the Ohio river
and much of the territory west of the Mississippi.
LEXICON
Most of the North Layer’s lexicon is coined in America with few archaism.
It has few loan-words and only a couple of recent ones borrowed from the
Europeans. One of these is German "fest" for "festival" or "holiday," which
is almost always used as the second element in an expression and denotes
a lively gathering. It is often used in "gabfest", which is known to be
a gossip session.
This lexicon acknowledges the presence of immigrant groups with derogatory
appellations, such as calling someone from Poland a "Polak".
The North has a substantial number of slang and colloquial expressions--"to
sweat like a butcher" is to do strenuous physical work, a "grind" is someone
who studies all the time, an old man is called a "duffer" and to vomit
is to "toss your cookies".
The North layer is rich in popular fauna a flora terms. Farming has
also contributed to a substantial number of terms in this lexicon.
Audio Clip of Michigan Speech
THE UPPER NORTH
The Upper North can be considered the core of the North. It is a distinct
and clearly defined area with a number of unmixed North features. The Upper
North speech region is an extension of New England and its early settlements
in New York.
THE UPPER NORTH LAYER
The Upper North Layer has less influence in the west than does the North
Layer. This layer reinforces many of the internal patterns of the North
Layer.
LEXICON
This layer outlines the major Upper North dialect region, whose terms tend
to be relatively recent coinages. This lexicon has very few loan-words
with some derogatory regionalisms for certain immigrant groups. For example,
a "sheeny" is a Jewish person and a "mick" is an Irishman.
Slang and colloquial terms make up a large percentage of this lexicon.
To be "strapped" is to be without money or broke. The slang expression
for mouth is "yap" and for nose is "schnozz". Some of the colloquial phrases
in this lexicon are "all the tea in China," which is used in sentences
such as "I wouldn’t do that for all the tea in China" and "at swords’ points",
meaning at odds with someone. If one wants to express how mean someone
is they would say "That person is meaner than dirt."
Most of the slang relates to types of people, as in "squealer," derived
from the criminal argot term for an informant. Also, a weak person is called
a "milquetoast" and a drunk is a "souse".
This lexicon is rich in folk terms for plants and animals. For example,
an earthworm is called an "angleworm", a tadpole is a "pollywog" and a
"bloodsucker" is a leech.
Calls to animals have been recognized as one of the best defined sets
of regionalisms. People in the Upper North and West call cows by saying
"so-boss."
INLAND NORTH LAYER
The Inland North Layer is a combination of Eastern Upper North, Upper North
and West, Eastern North and North and West. The distinct characteristic
of this layer is that New England is not included.
LEXICON
Some features of this lexicon were carried west and then died out, which
is shown by the word "wheatcake" for pancake and "crick" for creek or stream.
Some of the Northeast words were altered, for example a bobsled is called
a "bobsleigh."
Some of the expressions used in the Inland Upper North are "pit" for
peach seed and "tag-tail" for tagalong. Here they call a nose a "schnozzle."
The Inland Upper North uses many derogatory epithets, such as calling
a cheap red table wine "dago red." In addition, a Roman Catholic is sometimes
called a "fish-eater."
Grammatical regionalisms are rare in this lexicon. One that does exist
is an expression used to say you have a splinter is to have a "run into
the skin."
THE UPPER MIDWEST LAYER
This region is centered on Minnesota and includes North and South Dakota,
most of Nebraska, northern Iowa and Illinois, all of Wisconsin and western
Michigan.
LEXICON
The largest group of foreign settlers in this region were Scandinavians,
so there are a few expressions relating to Norwegians, such as "Norski,"
which is the term used for Norwegian.
Some flora and fauna terms used here are "creeping jenny" for a Moneywort,
which is a trailing plant, and "Canadian Soldier" for the black and red
grass bug.
A common regional name for boiled and fried strips of potatoes are "American
fried potatoes," or just "American fries." Two regional pastries are "long
john," or oblong doughnut, and a "bismark," meaning a jelly or custard
filled doughnut.
Bibliography
Carver, Craig M. American Regional Dialects. Michigan: The University of
Michigan Press, 1989.