okay, this will prove where you're from

[Duck on Wheels]

Hmm. I tried modifying my answers (sometimes two different answers both seemed to fit). I still came up as Inland North. Not. And my pronunciations never struck me as different from the other kids at school back in the day. So now I'm wondering ... When they ask whether you yourself hear your pronunciation as same or different for, say, cot and caught ... well maybe I hear my pronunciation as different, but that difference is not one recognized by linguists so the test is based on somebody else's "hearing"? Maybe? Or are they basing the California dialect on SoCal, which I vaguely recall as different from NoCal? Anyway ... can somebody from NoCal who got a result Western or California or the like say what answers they gave? I'm just curious.

[Mr. Bloom]

Reimionds me of some town near where I grew up. Like Versailles (VER-sales), and New Madrid ( new MAD(not MAH)-rid), MO and Vienna (VI-anna, not Ve-anna) and Renault(RE-noat), IL

Fredwina: You grew up in Southern Indiana, didn't you?

[LadyinWhite]

Mine said no accent or "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

Born and raised in Vermont. BUT - I am a speaker by trade and I consciously worked to get rid of any hillbilly sound to my voice. My family all speak with a thick accent.

[eofelis]

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

I was born in the North Shore area of Massachusetts. Moved to Wyoming at 25, now I'm in western Colorado. Never have more than passed through the Midland.

I do add an "r" occasionally on to the end of a word that doesn't need one.

Few people would guess that I'm from New England, but I can sure spot a NE accent when they show up around here.

[Fredwina]

Fredwina: You grew up in Southern Indiana, didn't you?

"I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockle burs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me!"
Getting that out of the way,
I'm from the City of Jackson, Mo(not to be confused with Jackson County,MO) population when I Graduated High school : 7827. It's about 120 miles south of Saint Louis and is next door to Cape Girardeau(Cape Ge-RAH-do, or just Cape ) Some towns did manage to avoid the mangled french pronunciation. OF course , you should hear my try and pronounce Rancho Cucamonga (she's still at Cocomungo )

[ace]

wow. it pegged me. I've lived in California for 20 years, but it knew I am originally from Boston :-)

[Deanna]

It got me all wrong - born and raised in California, but it says I'm a midland. For those who are interested in American dialects, visit:

http://cfprod01.imt.uwm.edu/Dept/FLL...stics/dialect/

This was an advanced dialect survey conducted over the internet with many, many more detailed questions (I think it took me almost an hour to complete it). The survey is now closed but the results can be fun to explore. Maybe I'm nerdy this way, but I think it's fascinating.

[Dianyla]

Another dialect mutt here. I was raised in SoCal until the age of 16, then lived in Spain and Canada for a year each, then have lived in Portland for the last 11 years. Anyway, this quiz thinks I'm Inland North, runnerup being the Midland. A few years ago I took another similar quiz that pegged me as having a southern twang. I think I know what the problem is... it's my friends and coworkers!

When I used to work with this woman from Georgia, I got the "are you southern?" question all the time. Last year I had a coworker from Minneesohda and even though she's been gone for 9 months now I'm still working on recovering from that one. Just last week at the doctor's office the receptionist said "Oh your accent is so cute where are you from?" and I just said "huh??" She couldn't quite place it, though. She just knew I wasn't from 'round here.

The other thing that happens - I tend to intentionally pronounce words somewhat literally. So when my mind knows that "collar" and "caller" are written differently, I consciously pronounce them in a way that makes sense to me. I don't like ambiguous homonyms!