What Kind of American English Do You Speak? (Non-Americans encouraged to reply)

[Ellemeno]

Your Linguistic Profile:

55% General American English

20% Dixie

20% Yankee

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofamericanenglishdoyouspeakquiz/

[Penthesilea]

As most of you know, I'm not only non-American, but also not a native English speaker. And have never been to the US in my life. But for the fun of it, I participated.

***Your Linguistic Profile:***

50% General American English

25% Yankee

20% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofamericanenglishdoyouspeakquiz/


There are 5% missing 

Uuups. Just noticed Celeste is missing 5%, too.
Maybe for 5% we don't speak at all. That must be the Ennis-side in all of us 

[Kazza]

Well, I was born and raised in London, so I was interested to see what I would get:

Your Linguistic Profile: 
45% General American English 
15% Yankee 
5% Dixie 
5% Midwestern 
5% Upper Midwestern 

Karen

[delalluvia]

Very bizarre results since I was born and raised in the American Southwest and have never been back east.

Your Linguistic Profile:
50% General American English
25% Dixie
15% Yankee
5% Upper Midwestern
0% Midwestern

[RouxB]

Your Linguistic Profile: 
45% General American English 
15% Dixie 
15% Upper Midwestern 
15% Yankee 
0% Midwestern 

That was tough as I was born and spent much of my early life in the south. My speech has changed drastically even from my early teen years. I pronounce words and use much different terminology than I did when I was young and from what I grew up with. Oddly my sister, who is 18 months older and shares my southern beginnings, and my brother who is 8 years younger and was born and raised in southern CA, do are more similar in their speech and more similar to my parents.

I am so adrift in the world

[Mikaela]

Your Linguistic Profile: 

50% General American English 
30% Yankee 
15% Dixie 
0% Midwestern 
0% Upper Midwestern 


Huh. I'd have expected my percentage of General American to be much higher. Then again, I'd have expected the percentages to add up to 100. 

I note that my results are similar to Penthesilea's. Interesting, since we don't share first languages but do share a history of being non-native English speakers who haven't ever lived in the US.

What is Yankee, anyway? Is that closer to British-English?   (Over here, "Yankee" is used simply as another term for "American". I'm sure Scarlett O'Hara would have been horrified.)

[serious crayons]

Your Linguistic Profile:
55% General American English
20% Upper Midwestern
10% Yankee
5% Dixie
5% Midwestern

My profile makes sense, as I am Midwestern. I'm guessing my 5% Dixie comes from entirely from the fact that I say "y'all." When I lived in New Orleans, I quickly adopted "y'all" because I like it better than "you guys." It's more gender-neutral, and nobody says "you guys" down there (and they laugh outright at "pop"!).

Mikaela, in most parts of this country "Yankee" is typically used to refer to people who live in New England. In my experience Southerners only occasionally apply it to Northerners -- and then, sort of ironically. Certainly not like they did in Scarlett's day.

[nakymaton]

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English
20% Yankee
10% Upper Midwestern
5% Dixie
0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofamericanenglishdoyouspeakquiz/

This makes sense: my parents are from the upper Midwest, but I was born and raised in New England (not just New England, but the most Yankee part of New England... north and east of the Northeast), and I've lived all around the country.

Don't know where the 5% Dixie crept into my speech.

It's interesting that it doesn't include any of the Western variants of American English -- the Midwest pretty much stops at Kansas, and Dixie stops at Texas, in my mental map of the country. Perhaps Californians change too fast (both in populations and in linguistic characteristics) to be distinctive. And the folks from, say, Wyoming don't talk much or something.

Also, it is very amusing that it doesn't add to 100%. Yay, American education! 

[one_of_one]

***Your Linguistic Profile:***

50% General American English

25% Yankee

10% Dixie

5% Midwestern

5% Upper Midwestern


I'm British, and I had to answer about three of the questions with things I never say because there wasn't another option.

[Shakesthecoffecan]

I am:

35% Dixie 
30% General American English 
15% Yankee 
10% Upper Midwestern 
0% Midwestern 

But I think I sound like a damn hilbilly.