posted on October 1, 2008 08:34:08 PM new
I have been trying to figure out WHY Sarah Palin sounds like she is from Northern Minnesota. I mean, she sounds like she walked right off the set of "Fargo" (filmed in Minnesota doncha know?)
I found my answer -
"Palin spent her childhood in Alaska's Mat-Su Valley, which is where she got her distinctive manner of speaking. The next town over from Wasilla, Palmer, has a large settlement of Minnesotans—who were moved there by a government relief program in the 1930s—and features of the Minnesotan dialect are thus prominent in the Mat-Su Valley area. Hence the Fargo-like elements in Palin's speech, in particular the sound of her "O" vowel. (Despite its name, Fargo took place mostly in Brainerd, Minn.) However, even in the area, many people speak a more general Alaskan English, the sort one would find in nearby Anchorage. Palin's frequent dropping of the final G in -ing words and her pronunciation of terrorist with two syllables instead of three are characteristic of general Alaskan English (and Western English) rather than the specific Mat-Su Valley speech."
posted on October 1, 2008 09:51:23 PM new
I too thought she had a Minnesota accent, with shades of midwestern speech. An interesting thing I've noticed is that many people born and raised in parts of Washington State have always sounded like the people I grew up with in Illinois.
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posted on October 2, 2008 12:29:03 AM new
I live in Minnesota and have never heard anyone speak like Palin but then again I don't know anyone as stupid as Palin
posted on October 2, 2008 04:42:41 AM new
You must not get out much Mingo or maybe you talk like that and don't hear it? Where in Minnesota do you live? I moved to Minneapolis from Nebraska when I was in high school (I went to West High) and OMG everyone talked like that! Not only did they have that accent but they also said: "Borrow me a dollar" (instead of "lend" and "Please hand me a scissor'. Lots of sentences ended in "you betcha","doncha know", "I'm sure" or "for sure". Over time I think the Minneapolis dialect has been diluted but you still hear it in Northern Minnesota. Spend a week in Fergus or Moorhead if you doubt it ... or listen to Al Franken
Edited to add - I lived very near SLP, the home of Al Franken AND the Coen Brothers.
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posted on October 2, 2008 04:47:37 PM new
Ya, in my secluded, un-sophisticated, non-cosmopolitan life I never made it to .....Fargo.....
LOLOLOL!!!!!
No, neglus, no one I've met in over 60 years in Minnesota and Wisconsin has had an accent like SaraTodd Palin...guess I don't "get out" to the upper reaches of the border too much(or ever)....although I'm sure they're much more wordly up there than I.
Yes, some WORDS are the same but see, a "word" isn't an "accent"...there's a difference.
and "Please hand me a scissor'. Lots of sentences ended in "you betcha","doncha know", "I'm sure" or "for sure". Over time I think the Minneapolis dialect has been diluted but you still hear it in Northern Minnesota. Spend a week in Fergus or Moorhead if you doubt it ... or listen to Al Franken 