Ask some dyed-in-the-wool Milwaukeeans if there's a such thing as a Milwaukee accent, and it's actually possible some of them will say no.

Maybe they'll even say, "Ya, der ain't a M'waukee accent, you've gotta go down by da Sout, once, to hear someone talk like dat."

And, from a linguistic point of view, those Milwaukeeans -- the ones who say 'bubbler,' 'acrosst' and 'ain'a,' -- the ones who speak with that distinct thick nasal intonation -- may be correct, depending on which linguist you ask.

According to Tim Machan, a linguistics professor and chair of the Marquette University department of English, it takes more than some quirky pronunciations to qualify as a full-fledged accent.

"There is what a linguist would call an accent, which is a collection of forms and pronunciations and sentence structure and words that are distinct enough," says Machan. "Then there's the perception of an accent, which is a different beast entirely. It's what people imagine they are saying or imagine others to say, and that can be just as powerful as the reality."

But Bert Vaux, a professor of linguistics at UWM, says most people in Milwaukee do have a distinct accent, which he defines as "as a variety of a language that differs in pronunciation features."

"It may also differ in vocabulary, as the Milwaukee variety does, but this doesn't play a role in the definition," says Vaux.

Vaux and Machan agree that Milwaukee-talk doesn't qualify as a dialect, either.

Says Machan, "From a linguistic point of view, there really isn't a Milwaukee dialect. There are particular words, like 'bubbler' and 'ain'a,' and a handful of other particularities like 'down by.'

"When linguists look at these things, they don't have a hard figure; it's a fluid thing. But (when we) look at language in the United States today, there is essentially one dialect band that goes from Philadelphia west.

"For the most part, people in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Chicago, Denver and even San Francisco would be judged to speak the same dialect," he says.

The differences between Milwaukee and points west just aren't as significant as Australian English or Southern American English, he says.

"(I know it's) a crushing blow to Packers fans who think they speak much differently from Bears fans, because they don't," says Machan.

Again, Vaux disagrees.

"Packers fans actually do speak quite differently than Bears fans, at least if you are comparing Green Bay and Chicago. These differences are all phonological (pronunciation) and lexical (vocabulary), but they are speech differences all the same.

Vaux says the choice of words in Milwaukee adds up to something unique.

"Southeastern Wisconsin is an odd linguistic island," says Vaux. "It says 'soda,' while the rest of the Midwest (except around St. Louis) says 'pop.' It says 'bubbler' while the rest of the Midwest says 'drinking fountain' or 'water fountain.' It says 'freeway' while the rest of the area says 'highway' or 'expressway.' It also fits in with the upper Midwest in using 'ramp' for a 'parking garage.' It pronounces 'bag' as 'baig.' (It does not) diphthongize i, e, o, and u. "

Of course, Machan doesn't deny Milwaukeeans have their own way of speaking.

"I'm not saying that we're identical in speech, but a dialect is an abstraction."

More importantly, he says the most significant reason to study the way Milwaukeeans speak is for its social implications. Academics call this the study of sociolinguistics.

"Language is something we use to define ourselves. In that sense, it can be very important to people to say they have a distinct accent," says Machan. "Yes, there are some differences, but it is more magnified in the mind of the user."

Says Machan, "I think it's really intriguing the interest people have to want their language to be unique. It shows how powerful language is to identify ourselves."

Does dis accent come from acrosst the ocean? Is it German or no?

OK, so linguists are split about the existance of a Milwaukee accent. But there's little doubt that we do talk differently than our friends in Cleveland or Los Angeles.

"The nasal (sound) is the one that eludes me, because it's not in Polish or German. It's in French, but there's a fairly small string of French speakers," says Machan. "I don't know where it comes from, but it's very distinct from Minnesota."

Vaux says what we hear is not exactly nasal.

"This is a common misperception," says Vaux. "For some reason, people without linguistic training perceive varieties of speech other than their own as either 'nasal' or 'sing-songy,' when in fact neither is really true. What people are perceiving as nasality in Milwaukee speech is actually slight differences in tongue position in vowels. What they are perceiving as sing-songiness is actually differences in the rules of intonational structure, which do in fact involve pitch variations, but do not actually involve singing or anything close to that."  Page 1 of 2 (view all on one page)

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Posted by iwbaker on Dec. 13, 2007 at 11:54 a.m. (report)

Where in Milwaukee are you from man? If you actually live in the city and not the suburbs, have you ever been on the Southside? 'ain'a' can be found there, right inside the city. You must not have a lot of contact with the working class. And I think the article talks more about the region of the city and not about the inner city limits.

Posted by OMCreader on Nov. 14, 2006 at 3:04 p.m. (report)

N.D. said: I've lived in Milwaukee for most of my life and never heard anyone say "ain'a hey." What this article is describing is a Cudahy accent, if anything.