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THE MICHIGAN ACCENT

Welcome to the Michigan Accent Pronunciation Guide

Ahhh, Michigan! Land of big waters. Place where you point to your palm to give directions. Home of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Meijer Thrifty Acres, and the Michigan Militia, as well as native musicians Eminem, Madonna, and the Romantics. Admidit: you've alwayz waanted to tock like yer from Michigin. Ev'ryone secritly does. The good neeuwz is that 't's easy an' fun... heere's how!

A little bit Fargo, a little bit Nasal Chicago, and a little bit Canadian, the Michigan Accent was derived from a lot of the linguistic influences of its early settlers: Irish, Finnish, Welsh and Dutch. In some areas, particularly around blue collar parts of Detroit, hordes of poor Southerners who came up the Dixie Highway to work on the assembly lines in the early-to-mid 1900's have also injected a bit of Southern twang into our Northern European heritage.

The resulting mix is similar to a pirate from Kentucky with a head cold... something my friends give me a hard time about quite frequently.

Click the links above for some tips ta help ya soun' like yer from the Moder Ciddy.

Next: About this Guide >>>

About the Author/Editor

ERIC WEAVER is an advertising executive and Grand Rapids native who nearly lost his Michigan accent as he wandered across the US and abroad... but survived to write this guide. In addition to MichiganNative.com, he maintains a blog on advertising, marketing and customer relations called Brand Dialogue.

Special thanks to Jay Nordlinger for his very nice comments in National Review on October 19, 2006...to Susan Whitall of the Detroit News for her article on February 20, 2004; Shawn Peterson of the Michigan Talk Radio Network for the March 2001 interview on the "Captain and Crew" Show, and Cameron Knowles of WSGW-AM for his radio interview on September 29th, 2000.

 

 

 

The Michigan Accent Pronunciation Guide and all content on this site, unless otherwise noted, is copyright © 1995 - 2013 by Eric Weaver. All rights reserved worldwide. Don't make me go get all litigious on yer ass, okey doke?