What Makes a Dialect a Dialect: The Roots of Upper Peninsula English | Kathryn Remlinger | TEDxNMU

Did you know that everyone-you, me, your high school English teacher-has a dialect? If this is the case, why don’t some of us think we have a dialect, when in fact we do? Kathryn Remlinger explores the regional dialect of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Dr. Kathryn Remlinger grew up in Columbus, Ohio. She earned a B.A. in French and sociology and an M.A. in English from Morehead State University and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Technical Communication with emphasis in sociolinguistics from Michigan Technological University. She is currently Professor of English at Grand Valley State University where she teaches a range of socio-cultural linguistics courses. Her research broadly focuses on the relationship between language, identity, and place and more specifically on how we use language to shape ideas about dialects and our perceptions about groups of speakers, the role of tourism and media in affecting language attitudes and awareness, as well as the history and development of regional dialects. She is author of Yooper Talk: Dialect as Identity in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She balances her life with cycling, cross-country skiing, and spending time with friends and her spouse, Robert Bell. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@alansalmi]

It’s nice to see my father’s sign immortalized on the Internet!

[@superyouper]

Vilho told the surveyors to stay off his land. They told him that they were building a road across his land. He finally put up this sign; "my name pe Vilho Lehto. You no tesspass my land or I soot you vit two pipe sootgun and pe no pullsit either."

[@icysurfer1]

Yoopers are wonderful. Honest. Kathryn is charming, and knowledgeable.

[@ViolettiHorse98]

been out of ishpeming for about 12 years, ill never forget my childhood there. I love the UP. It’s my homeland. yooper always by heart

[@ORCLEAM]

Proud to be a Yooper and one to use da term since 1975...

[@jacobhaarala6744]

Was born in Wisconsin but my great grandparents moved from Finland to the Houghton area and my dad went to michigan tech

[@gregorysouthworth783]

My dad grew up in Michigan and I remember he mentioned that people in the UP sounded differently from the LP. This is fascinating stuff. I see what Dr. Remlinger means about language contact. I live in Texas and it now has such a polyglot of American English: Midwest, Southeastern, Intermountain West, Middle Atlantic, California, etc. If that wasn't enough, Spanish, especially Mexican and Central American varieties, is bound to be major influencer in years to come as it is even now. I even hear Anglos and African Americans saying words with a Spanish lilt and OMG, code switching: "Hola, amigo, que tal? Answer: Bien, and you? My kids have grown up in Texas, mostly, and like many of their peers, they have what one linguist said of many young Texans, that they now have a kind of generic Middle American accent, much like Kansas or Missouri. Not long ago some of their peers went on a trip back East. They were asked where they were from and they said Texas. The most common response, which perplexed them, was: "Well, you sure don't sound like it!" It would be fun to hop into a time machine and fast forward to see how this all plays out all over the country.

[@dontlookatender9282]

GO YOOPERS, GO, EH! as a yooper, I am so happy that this was brought up and I hope lots of people will see this so that they stop calling us Canadians.

[@dontlookatender9282]

Iykury it still works

[@jrodagormykid9063]

For real I am a yooper and Canadians sound rediculous to me.

[@codyt8541]

@@iykury got a few more now

[@icysurfer1]

I am from SE MI, and people worldwide think I am Canadian, so Yoopers have no chance..>! haha

[@kdyooper28]

Born and raised Yooper, attended NMU, displaced to WI but my ashes will return.

[@ralphtuttila3096]

Nice presentation. I am a Yooper living in Minnesota for many years. There is a dialect in the mining areas of Minnesota called 'Range talk " that is quite similar to Yooper talk. And one Bobby Aro nailed this down so well as to learning to speak English he said; " If you vonder vai I tak tis vai, Its cuz my Englis teatser vas Finnish'

[@pekkakuosmanen5744]

Hyvin sanottu!😂

[@boundboy1]

I've got that record!

[@d.singler-kron9034]

Appreciate my 2 years at Suomi College. Wouldn't trade them for anything. Hauska Juolua...

[@emcc127]

Such great material and presentation. Kowsit Lats even had a punchline! Well done. Thanks

[@jrodagormykid9063]

Say yah to da U.P. eh? 906 represent SISU 🇫🇮 my grandmother and great aunts didn't speak Finnish but their English has/had a super heavy Finnish annunciation.

[@bachbaby6996]

I'd like to thank the professor for this presentation, and also anyone involved in facilitating it.

[@tenorinchoir]

When I was a student at NMU in the late 60's we UP students were labeled Yooper's by students from other areas, primarily from downstate MI, and it was obvious their intent was to qualify us as "hicks". In turn we labeled them as "trolls". It was our local accent that gave them the first clue, but they observed behaviors that they figured were backward. At the time our campus was the only place we heard the term Yooper, giving us the impression that here was the time and place the name was coined.

[@Saintacy]

In the 90s, trolls wpuld still ask us yoopers if we had indoor plumbing. I guess they mistook the saunas at the end of some yoopers driveways as outhouses.

[@SuperOlds88]

Better to be a "hick" than from Detroit or Lansing.

[@kelkeljones4]

I've lived in the lower for 12 years and have lost my accent for the most part! But it comes out when I have a drink or two! Lol The one that I get called out on the most is "about" ie "aboot" 😂

[@scotthackenbruch3000]

Lower Peninsula are you not trolls? But seriously I have seen a map with the UP absent so ya people still see us as Canadians. Even though I have not lived in the UP in decades it is still home.

[@dianewiegel7136]

I went to Michigan Tech and loved the Yooper accent and tried to use it the first year I went home to St. Louis.

[@wayneerbe8299]

Another toot. Class of 71,eh

[@dianewiegel7136]

@@wayneerbe8299 nope graduated Tech in '84

[@uprebel5150]

Naubinway means: “Place of echos”.

[@publiusvelocitor4668]

Yoopers are America's own Canadians, and I say that with love. (for Yoopers AND Canadians)

[@lb9031]

thanks!

[@bbadlar3]

people should listen to the song/commentary from Da Yoopers called 'Yooper Talk'. Main talker is one of founding members of the group. Quite the story teller. Could listen all day.

[@lindagoldthorpe2112]

I grew up in the eastern UP, and we sound different than my relatives in Houghton county.

[@jrodagormykid9063]

It's because they're all Finns (like me, but I'm in Munising) up there in Houghton/Hancock

[@stantaylor3350]

I agree, eastern U.P. family names place the accent on the second syllable, where as Marquette county family names have the accent on the first syllable. These are Finnish family names. Example, eastern it's Pe-so( long O) la. Marquette county, Pes- ola. Same with Eastern Har- varn- en. Marquette county, Harv-- arnen

[@daddyrabbit835]

I grew up in the DeTour/ Drummond area

[@daddyrabbit835]

I grew up in the DeTour/ Drummond area and I agree.

[@kerricorser4562]

That was a great talk! I learned a lot after 30 years up here eh? Eh... I always tease about my kids growing up as Yoopers sayin stuff like 'eh der son'

[@occipitalneuralgia2339]

It’s January 2020, and this is the first time I ever even heard this word!

[@jrodagormykid9063]

Come visit us sometime 906 most beautiful area of the country.

[@windermere2330]

Bring your bug repellent in the summer!

[@dylandangler9992]

born and raised in Hancock! 906

[@michigangarnet3804]

I would like someone to explain “I seen” as part of the dialect

[@smitty560]

Grew Up in Hancock in the Copper Country...When Even the UP Had Regional Dialects Within...BUT...I Still Go Da Store Eh....

[@lorivachonkarvonen3977]

They still do! I grew up in L'Anse/Baraga, came from family from Misery Bay (one grandparent very Finn, the other French Canadian). Baraga people sound slightly different than Houghton people, and Calumet people talk different than Toivola people. They all sound totally different than MQT and even more different farther east. In trying to be proper, I say "I am going to the store" but in my head I hear "I go store now, eh." HAHA!!

[@smitty560]

@@lorivachonkarvonen3977 YES, And Half the Localities You Mentioned will (or Now Would Have ) Had Some Different Twist, Unique to THEM...40-50 Years Ago, You Could Tell by Listening !!! FINALLY Someone Who Understands !!!!

[@granskare]

yea, I'm a yooper :)

[@9ZERO6]

I approve.

[@penetratorzeke]

what about yous guys eh? swampers? the turdy tree point buck? put on your chook? she left out a lot

[@jcleve04]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute. Finnish doesn't have prepositions? Hmmm.

[@kke]

We do have prepositions. For example "Ilman housuja" = "Without pants". You could also say "housuitta" and it's the exact same thing, but for a lot of things there's no prepositionless version, like "ensi (next) jouluna (christmas)", "viime (last) kesänä (summer)". For a lot of stuff where english uses prepositions, we use post positions, for example "behind the house" is "talon (house) takana (behind)", "under the lid" is "kannen (lid) alla (under)". Mostly finnish uses inflections: talo (a house), taloon (into a house), taloihin (into houses), talosta (from a house), taloistaan (of/about their houses), etc etc. There's like 3000+ inflections or their combinations you can use on a single word, you can use just one word to describe something that in english requires several words: taloistaankohan (from their houses perhaps?), talohinnekin (also into your houses), taloihinsakin (also into their houses), taloihinneko (into their houses?), taloihimmeko (into our houses?), taloihimmekohan (into our houses perhaps?), ymmärtämättömyyksistäänköhän (perhaps because of their misunderstandings). What we don't have is gender pronouns, everyone is 'hän', there's no he/she, there's no feminine or masculine words either. The language is totally genderless.

[@yooperviking2515]

Love da Yoop

[@davidjsouth231]

I’m a Loper and have some influences from the Yooper like eh,

[@jeffbetts4254]

Yah Eh.

[@johnrococo982]

No owan understands us eh. I jus wanna go deeer huntin .

[@georgeelder8415]

Do schools still close up for opening week?

[@madalynn3901]

@@georgeelder8415some schools do! depends on the district

[@melaninqueen2413]

What about us in the Lower Peninsula?!

[@guyneault5054]

Melanin Qween Well, what about you trolls?

[@melaninqueen2413]

@@guyneault5054 hey we're not trolls, lol! We're just the your fellow Michiganders! Even though we may not have your Finnish like accent, we have the English, German and Irish... which is still cool! And it's Queen.

[@amyscott4511]

Not all Yooper’s are finish.

[@jrodagormykid9063]

@@amyscott4511 true but the yooper accent is totally based on Finnish.

[@jrodagormykid9063]

@@melaninqueen2413 I'm friends with a lot of trolls but you guys are still trolls lol

[@breaker-one-nine]

Go Bessemer. lol. Origin of the word.. no doubt, eh.

[@paveldatsyuk7175]

if you really wanna hear some perfect english try some beer league haha

[@joeatunderground8714]

Yooper is made up by people not from there.

[@harhailija6104]

Torilla tavataan!

[@patrickaalfs9584]

They talk that way because its so cold most of the year, they need to keep their teeth covered with their lips. And a little inbreeding.

[@trevorwarner6087]

Patrick Aalfs little inbreeding? Cmon now

[@Freds_mom]

@@trevorwarner6087 it's sure seems a little true in Rapid River. When I moved here in 1978, I was shocked by the amount of people I went to school with who were cousins!😆

[@Apradavra]

Loukinen was a great professor.