Michigan Accent

http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=550

call - between [kal] and [kAl] L very light for an American
ask - between [aesk] and [Esk]
spoons - /fronted oo/
slabs - /slEbz/
snack - /sne:k/ closed E (think French é), but nasalized
Bob - /bab/ very fronted (like French â)
also - between /also(u)/ and /Als(ou)/; again very light L for an American
frog - /frQAg/ with a fast diphthong
bags - /bE:gz/


It does sound accented/funny (Bob [bab], snack [sne~:k]).

Hmm.. that is actually rather different from the speech here, if you transcriptions are right. For the sake of comparison, for those same words I have:

call [k_hQ:U]
ask [E{sk] or [E{s]
spoons [spu~:ns]
slabs [sM\E{:ps]
snack [snE{k]
Bob [ba:b] or [ba:p]
also ["QUso:]
frog ["fRQ:g], ["fr\Q:g], ["fRQ:k], or ["fr\Q:k]
bags ["bE{:ks]

(Note that [E{] above, regardless of length, can actually vary between [{_r] and [i_^{] on hand, and can be [E@_^] on the other.)

The only thing, though, is that you have not transcribed any of the vowels corresponding to historical /{/ as diphthongal, which makes me wonder about the accuracy of your transcriptions; particulary, I wonder whether the [E], [E:], and [e:] you transcribe for such are not actually [{_r], [E@_^], and [e@_^] respectively.

>>It's not common at all here in California.<<

It still is found outside the range of the NCVS, and does not involve the diphthongization of historical /{/, which is what generally occurs in the NCVS outside of the slight raising of such in rather careful speech.

"hi, i'm from michigan, born and raised. i live in the suburbs around metro detroit. people from michigan are called michiganians."

This is what I mean-no "proper" or perhaps "common" designation for people from Michigan. I've seen Michiganders, heard "Michiganers" and read "Michiganians"...I have no idea what is preferred.

I myself have never seen "Michiganians" before, always "Michiganders", I have to say.

People from Michigan are officially "Michiganians" and colloquially "Michiganders." Michiganders is used much more often, though.

that Madonna interview is more California-sounding than Michigan-sounding...go figure

why is that every US star wants to sound like a Californian?

An interesting thing I've noticed is that regionally
deviant accents like the NCVS, which have many speakers and are, in their
own way, influential, are sort of hidden away when it comes to television
and cinema and such. It's quite rare that you see a TV commercial
featuring someone with a NCVS Midwest accent, for example. Faux-New York
accents are sometimes used for comical effect on commercials, often
offensively. One interesting exception to all this is commercials for the
Wal-Mart stores; these seem intentionally to feature people with strong
regional US accents, often twangy and vaguely Southern.

"An interesting thing I've noticed is that regionally
deviant accents like the NCVS, which have many speakers and are, in their
own way, influential, are sort of hidden away when it comes to television
and cinema and such."

I've always thought Eminem rapped with a noticeable white Detroiter accent, so I'm not sure the accent is completely "hidden away." From an intonation sense it doesn't quite differ from general American like a New York or a southern accent does, so that's probably why you don't see it used more for some kind of comic effect.

>> '''Catch' as /kEt_S/ rather than /k{t_S/ is not a NCVS phenomenon, but a common dialectal pronunciation throughout North America. ''

It's not common at all here in California. <<

Maybe not to you and the speakers that you hang out with, but considering 1) that it is probably idiolectal variation, and not a regional isogloss that determines the pronunciation of "catch", just as it is with milk/melk route/route coupled with the fact that 2) many residents in California are not native born, and 3) I've heard many Californians with this feature, I must disagree with you.

Terry O'Quinn from ABC's 'LOST' Is from Newberry, MI.
He dosn't sound much like a yooper though...more like south michigan to me.