MADISON, Wis. (AP) ―


When Sarah Palin burst onto the national political stage there was a lot of talk about her distinctive way of talkin', you betcha.

Heck, she moved to Alaska when she was too young to speak and grew up in the small town of Wasilla, but doggone it, why did she talk like someone from the movie "Fargo"?

Three University of Wisconsin-Madison linguists tackled the conundrum in a research article to be published in the Journal of English Linguistics next month. The answer lies in something that happened in the 1930s.

During the presidential campaign, almost every aspect of Palin's life, including how she talked, was dissected by everyone from curious voters to political pundits. Many noted that for someone who grew up in Alaska, she talked a lot like she had been raised in Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota.

The UW researchers said people living in Alaska's Matanuska and Susitna valleys, where Wasilla is located, are largely descendants of farmers who moved there in the 1930s from the Upper Midwest. More than 200 farm families moved to the Wasilla area in 1935 as part of a government program to start a new farming community.

"Everybody's ear was basically right, but there's a little complexity there that you don't get until you go through and hack through it systematically," said Joe Salmons, director of UW's Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures. He wrote the paper along with UW linguistics professors Thomas Purnell and Eric Raimy after they parsed the 7,640 words Palin spoke during the 2008 vice presidential debate.

While Palin has the expected Upper Midwestern speech patterns, she also has what Salmons called "screaming hallmarks of western speech."

For example, Palin pronounces the word "feel" like "fill" and "peel" like "pill." Those inflections were not picked up on by the media or those who lampooned Palin, including Tina Fey on "Saturday Night Live," Salmons said.

"It wasn't part of the stereotype," he said.

They found that she dropped the -ing at the end of words nearly 12 percent of the time, said the words "darn" and heck" two times each, referred to her grandmother as "gramma" and offered a "shout out" to a third-grade class in Alaska.

That type of informal speech is jarring to listeners attuned to hearing formal political talk and led many to question whether Palin was doing it for effect, Purnell said.

"This is a situation where you really expect someone to be using the most formal grammar," Salmons said.

No matter how natural it may sound, some of what Palin says is probably cultivated to appeal to a certain demographic, said Carl Shepro, a political science professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

David Bowie, an English professor specializing in linguistics at the same university, said Palin didn't use so many informalities before she ran for national office.

"She doesn't sound like that when she's speaking to Alaskans," Bowie said.

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I LIKE people from MN, and I see that you are from there, also, so tell us why would you insult them by comparing them to *HER* --- that horrible, creepy Palin? < shudders >

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My favorite description of Alaskans comes from Tom Bodett, yes the Motel 6 guy, who moved from Michigan to live and work in Homer, AK, which is pretty near the "end of the road."

It's a state populated with people who came to the end of the road and didn't have the sense to turn around

Palin is a KOOK, but any non native who lives in Hawaii has no room whatsoever to tell other folks they should not be living in any state.

Sir, where did I suggest that "other folks should not be living in any state?" I'll await your response.

While pondering that, keep in mind that native Hawaiians emigrated from Polynesia, traversing the great expanse of the Pacific in wooden canoes . . . so your point is? Pineapples were smuggled in from South America, sugarcane imported here, along with coffee and macadamias . . . Even the state bird, the Nene Goose, were originally from Canada. So, there really isn't a "native" population on these isles

Native is an elusive word to define.

I ejoyed the Tom Bodine quote. Clearly he meant it as self deprecative humor.

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..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

And what does this mean then? How much more of a short term memory problem can you have? You like to be cryptic and then you can deny your own words- you'd make a fine addition to the Bush staff.

Yeah you are right. We might as well delete native from the dictionary with the way you look at it. That'll tidy up the world for invaders everywhere. This way the powerful can say no one belongs anywhere and so we can dismiss all the talk about the USA's central american past, and how we treated/treat the american indians too.

who are you referring to?

and where and when did this person tell other folk...etc.?

(seriously, i am quite confused.)

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Is Tom Bodett posting here?

i think "non native who lives in hawaii" might be a reference to obama? can't really understand that though.

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"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

cryptic

Square Heads

If I searched hard enough I could find a post where I stated that she sounded like she was from Northern Minnesota right after she was announced as the running mate for McCain. I guess I just assumed that is what most Alaskans sounded like (I haven't exactly spoken with many natives of Alaska).

I don't really believe that she changed her accent for national TV. I do believe that she used some terms like 'gramma' and darn and heck to appeal to her audience.

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The Person who resigned the Alaska Chief Executive Position...
'cause she couldn't "Stand the Heat in the Kitchen" is an IDIOT. "Case Closed".

It is most unfortunate that her accent Mimics that of our Upper Midwest
(I.E. : Minnesota,Michigan,Wisconsin)
BUT,It is not a Blemish upon those Fine American's Escutcheons.

That's like blaming,Hitler on Today's current citizens of Berlin.

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Here, I found it-
I was responding to JenTays' questions about what kind of accent is that (Palin's)?

"You must have never been to the northern midwestern states or Canada.
That is how everyone sounds. Didn't you ever see the movie Fargo? "

Post #5
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=232532


Swede, we think alike! I also said she belonged in Fargo.

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2009 ML320 Bluetec
1985 300CD
1981 300TD

Past Mercedes
1979 300TD
1982 300TD
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1998 E430
1984 300SD
1980 300SD