Hello!
I'm going to study in Kansas as an exchange student and would like to know if the accent of Kansas has a number of distinctive features. Or can it be considered General American? I've heard it being described sort of 'twangy', especially the speech of southern Kansans?
Thank you
There are three accents in Kansas.
The Westernmost portion has a Western accent: basically the same as the entire Western US. It is 100% cot-caught merged.
The Easternmost portion has a Midland accent. Some people think the Midland accent sounds a little Southern, others think it is even less accented than the Northern accent. It is transitionally cot-caught merged. Some people pronounce words like "cot" and "caught" differently most of the time; others pronounce them the same; some people think they are a little different, but pronounce them the same; others think they're the same but pronounce them differently.
The rest of Kansas has a mixed accent. People have various features from the Western and the Midland accents.
Yes, I have noticed this too. I lived in KS on and off for about five years. The history of the KS accent no doubt goes back just prior to the civil war, when the population consisited of pro and anti-slavery factions warring to tip the slavery scale in their own favor. The State was bascially settled by East coasters and Southerners (Lawrence, KS was actually founded by a group from Massachusetts-the first church is still there downtown). Many battles played out in Lawrence. Although the north midland accent traditionally occurs in Maryland area (a southern state whos accents-especially in the northern parts-tend to have a northern flavor mixed with a scots-irish blend) and can sound a little like Philly accents that have similar mix, the midland accent occurs all the way across the U.S. from the east coast to California. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine (who I worked with) went to california on vacation; he remarked that "most people didn't know that I was from KS." I told him, "that's because you don't have much of a mid-western accent. My grandfather that grew up in Nortonville KS (close to the Missouri border) still has a strong mid-western drawl. He does pronounce certain words in a northern east coast fashion (pronouncing adult like a-dult and others with a more southern flavor. Now, when you begin to hit the rockies area, people tend to pick up the mid-western drawl again (heading up into Denver). As a matter of fact the "california accent" (the true-not exaggerated one- found around orange/LA counties as well as innermost bay area and beyone) is actually a blend of midwest accents, east coast and hispanic influences. I didn't realize until i moved up to northern california (around Sacramento) how strong the midwestern accents play in that particular area.