Minnesota vs. Pennsylvania

It just so happens that most of my friends are either from Minnesota or Western/Central Pennsylvania. Our group is divided according to accents. Though I don’t usually recognize the fact that I have an accent, my friends are quick to remind me. The MN people have also commented that they don’t realize that they have an accent except when the PA people tease them. The functions of these conversations are both phatic and metalingual.

However, all of us are proud of our state and, to a certain extent, our accents. I tease the MN people for saying “Ooooh yaaaah” or “Suuuure yooou betcha dontcha knooow” or “oofda!” They make fun of my colloquialisms (gumband = rubberband, read up = clean up, sweeper = vaccuum) and failure to pronounce L’s and double O’s.

Accents define who we are to a certain extent. They let other people know where one is from and often are the basis by which people are judged. I have become much more aware of my accent by comparing the way I speak to the way my friends from MN speak.