David Frum recently blogged about the complexity of the English language in North America. He shared the graphic from a study on this topic. You can (and should) look at the larger, more detailed map here. Not unsurprisingly, many readers for this blog probably speak with the North Central and Western North dialects. But zoom in … there’s more.
I often wonder why I spend so much time writing a whole blog about one little part of the world, or why anyone bothers to read it. I think the answer is found in the fact that we get our own special circle on this giant, complicated map. Language is culture. This place is unusual.
When I moved here, I didn’t notice much of an accent from people of my town, but this is a diverse town. I DID notice a strong accent and grammar distinctions among those raised only 30 – 40 miles from here, in the truly Range towns. However, I seemed to have picked up the Canadian pronunciation of “ou” (slightly) as in “about”. When I’ve traveled elsewhere, people have asked me if I’m from Canada. Well, I KNOW i don’t say that the way they do in Nova Scotia.