Dialect as Identity Exhibited by Yooper We-Type Solidarity

There are many ways an individual's dialect can be used as a form of identity. People who speak the Upper Peninsula or "Yooper" dialect are able to use their dialect as a form of identity by choosing not to switch to a more common dialect for their audience in an effort to make those who don't speak the dialect feel left out. This has been called a We-type solidarity because it gives the impression that speakers of the dialect think they are better than others and contributes to the us-them distinction that can make people from lower Michigan feel like outsiders. This can also be viewed as a form of retaliation because often people from lower Michigan make speakers of the Upper Peninsula dialect feel like lesser people by teasing them about the way they talk.

A perfect example of the Yooper We-type solidarity can be found in my previous post of the Yooper Map of Michigan.
http://walkinthewords.blogspot.com/2008/06/yooper-map-of-michigan.html

The Yooper Map of Michigan

Yoopers Identify with Sisu

Now that I am in Northern Michigan for a good part of the summer, I thought I would return to one of my favorite topics which is the dialect spoken in the Upper Peninsula by "Yoopers."
An aspect of this dialect that I have not previously mentioned is its use as a form of identity.

Though the Upper Peninsula dialect may be similar to those found in Canada and Wisconsin, Michigan as a state has a unique geography that enables it to have these two distinct dialectical regions in one state with a fairly definitive dividing line, the Great Lakes.

The Upper Peninsula dialect has not blended with the Lower Michigan dialect into one homogenous “Michigan accent” because of the way speakers use dialect variation as a symbol of identity. There is a growing belief in the field of dialectology that, in addition to region and social class, a speaker’s attitudes and the identity they want to project also have a great influence on their speech behavior.

The Upper Peninsula residents’ self-identity is based on their ethnic and cultural backgrounds and is embodied by the Finnish word sisu. Sisu has no exact translation but denotes a strong sense of pride and determination that is part of the Finnish culture in the Upper Peninsula. Residents of the Upper Peninsula are determined to have their own identity because they are proud of it. The dialect acts as a verbal marker of this identity.

More on the Yooper Dialect

Here are some more examples of differences between the dialect found in the Upper Peninsula and the Standard American Dialect:

U.P. Dialect --- Standard American Dialect
Expressions:
Wah --- Wow
Holy wah! --- Really wow
Eh. Okay, --- what or hey
Yah sure-hey --- You’ve got to be kidding. I don’t believe it.
Youbetcha --- Yes, without a doubt

Directional Phrases:
Side by each --- Side by side
Pre’neer --- Pretty near or very close
Kotisva --- Go this way
Kotatva --- Go that way

Grammatical changes:
Let’s go Shop-ko. --- Let’s go to the store.
Make wood --- Split logs

Vocabulary:
Pank --- To pack down
Swampers --- Rubber boots
Choppers --- Deer skin mittens with a wool insert
Chuke --- French-Canadian knitted hat with a tassel
Lats --- Skis, usually homemade
Sauna --- Finnish steam room
Camp --- Cottage

Foods:
Pasty --- Finnish or Cornish meat pie
Kala Mojaka --- Finnish fish stew
Juustua --- Finnish cheese

Many of these examples also exhibit the strong influence of the Finnish language on the dialect found in the Upper Peninsula today.

The differing grammatical rules can be seen by the dropping of prepositions in the dialect. This is directly related to the Finnish language as it has 14 declensions of nouns and does not use prepositions. Finnish nouns have the meaning of “to” added as a suffix called a postposition. In addition, the Finnish language does not use articles such as a, an or the. This can be seen in the sentence structure of the dialect as well and in the example of “Let’s go Shop-ko”.

Word borrowing is also used. Some of the words in the dialect are Finnish words including many of the popular foods and some of the directional phrases.

Gotta Love Dem Yoopers

One of the first papers I wrote while working on my MA (and one of my favorite subjects still) was about the dialect of English used in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This dialect has been called Yooper Talk, Yoopanese and Yooponics based on the the word Yooper.

Yooper has become such a commonplace term for the residents of the Upper Peninsula that it has even gained mention in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. The definition is listed as “A native or inhabitant of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The etymology is from UP, which is the abbreviation for Upper Peninsula.

The dialect has also been called Finglish because of the strong Finnish influence on the phonology, grammar and vocabulary of the dialect in the Upper Peninsula. While speakers of the dialect follow rules that vary from those of Standard American English, they follow these rules because they are rules that are based on the original language that helped form the dialect. In sum, this does not mean that these people have poor grammar, are using sloppy, lazy speech or are any less intelligent than those who speak what is considered Standard American English.

Following is an example of pronunciations in the U.P dialect that differ from Standard American English: dese, dem, dose and da instead of these, them, those and the
both pronounced as bot with a soft t

The Finnish influence is shown here by the lack of the “th” sound. The Finnish language does not have this sound and this results in the use of the “d” sound in place of the English “th” sound and the use of the soft t sound at the end of words that end in th.

As I previously mentioned, this is one of my favorite subjects so check back for more about the U.P. and Yoopers in the near future.