What kind of accent is that, Sarah?

By Jason George | Chicago Tribune reporter
September 18, 2008
Have you noticed Gov. Sarah Palin's accent?

You're not alone. Ever since U.S. Sen. John McCain added the Alaska governor to the Republican presidential ticket, Palin's speech pattern and pronunciation have prompted Web and water-cooler conversations.

Some keyboard critics enjoy the sound of Palin's voice; many don't. Fans and foes alike describe it with colorful phrases, such as "a little Minnesota, a little Valley Girl," "an interesting mix of Minnesota, and Mississippi" and "bush-like," as in Native American accents heard in Alaska's bush or remote areas. Many commentators wonder if Palin's voice reflects a true "Alaskan accent."

It does—at least it's one Alaskan accent, said William Labov, a University of Pennsylvania linguistics professor and co-author of the "Atlas of North American English."

"She's a good example of the Northern speech with a Western influence," he added, pointing to several examples, such as Palin's dropping of "g's" from word endings and pronunciation of "terrorist" as two syllables instead of three.

Also, "that 'O' sound is a character in the 'Fargo'-like speech influenced by the German and Scandinavians," he added.

Of course, Alaska's isolation and its large population of transplants from the lower 48 mean that there's not just one state accent. Palin herself was born in Idaho before moving to Alaska as a young child. Except for her infancy, and college stints in Hawaii and Idaho, Palin has lived her whole life in the nation's 49th State.

Not all Alaskans agree that Palin's accent is their own. However, the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska's largest newspaper, chided comedian Robin Williams last week for "apparently an Alaska accent," as he described Palin as "Tina Fey meets 'Fargo.' "

Fey's take on Palin, during last week's episode of "Saturday Night Live," was brilliant, said Judi Dickerson, a Hollywood dialogue and dialect coach who has worked with numerous A-list actors, including Russell Crowe for the film "Mystery, Alaska."

"It's really making it flat and nasal," she said. "Even to the little mouth purse of self-satisfaction, it was perfect."

more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-palin-accent-0918sep18,0,2590617.story

comments are pretty good too...

chewing on a jelly roll :rofl:

Nothing remotely near it.

There should simply be an "off" button to her.

That voice creeps me out!!!

I hit the mute button whenever she comes on TV.

but I'm a hillbilly from the southern Appalachians and I'm sure my accent is atrocious to many.
:evilgrin:

I've heard some profound stuff out of the mouths of hillbillies.

And some mind blowingly stupid crap out of the mouths of educated New Englanders.

old snl character

You got it

She really does have an unfortunate voice for a country as shallow and superficial as this one is.

It's already costing her.

Her accent matches her audience...dumb people. The same people who accuse Obama of being an elitist for having the audacity to be smart.

It's not a Canadian accent - they round their 'o's. Instead of 'out', they say 'oot'.

That flat nasal tone is pure Minnesota/North Dakota.

People whose native dialect is "Fargo" have come out and said it's different. That it sounds like somebody trying to imitate their dialect. Some disagree; most don't. They should know.

But the Mat-Su Valley was settled mostly by Minnesotans, so that's the basis for the dialect. It's not surprising they'd be quite similar. The Mat-Su dialect's changed a bit over time, and wasn't settled just by Minnesotans.

Palin's parents were Idahoan. There are some commonalities between Idaho and Minnesota dialects, but some differences.

Palin has Canadian raising (which isn't uncommon in American dialects, but was first described systematically for Canadian speech--the "long i" sounds in "writer" and "rider" are so different as to have split). She also tenses her lax I (as in "instinct") and moves it closer to her high front vowel (as in "see"), but for her they don't merge.

As for Alaskans saying it's not "the" Alaskan dialect, given that there are a fair number of Alaskan dialects, and not everybody in Alaska's familiar with all of them, that can just be ignored. There's a tendency for people to assume their dialect is either the best one or the most widespread. On any given day, most people are wrong.

Linguists other than Labov have hashed this out a bit; not everything's resolved, but a lot of details are. One problem is that nobody--including Labov--has made a good survey of Alaskan dialects. Partly because it's recently settled, so the dialects are in flux and not quite settled, partly because nobody's much cared. You go to Alaska, you work on Yup'ik or some native language.

It sound like the accents in the movie Fargo to me. I am a third generation Alaskan, lived in Anchorage my whole life. I don't know anyone who speaks like she does. Maybe her parents have strong accents from their time in Idaho? Do people from Idaho talk like that? The people I know here speak like people in the Washington and Oregon states.

Whatever it is, her numbers are in the hopper.