Not all of these characteristics are unique to the North-Central region:
Vowels • and are "
conservative" in this region: they do not undergo the
fronting that is common in some other regions of the United States. In addition to being conservative, may have undergone
monophthongization to . The same is true for , which can be realized as , but data suggest that monophthongal variants are more common for than for , and that they are more common in
coat than in
ago or
road, which may indicate
phonological conditioning. Regionally, monophthongal mid vowels are more common in the northern tier of states and occur more frequently in Minnesota and the Dakotas but much rarer in
Iowa and
Nebraska. The appearance of monophthongs in the region is sometimes explained due to the high degree of
Scandinavians and
German immigration to these northern states in the late nineteenth century. Erik R. Thomas argues that the monophthongs are the product of language contact and notes that other areas in which they occur are places in which speakers of other languages have had an influence, such as the
Pennsylvania "Dutch" region. An alternative account posits that the monophthongal variants represent historical retentions.
Diphthongization of the mid vowels seems to have been a relatively recent phenomenon, appearing within the last few centuries, and did not affect all dialects in the
United Kingdom. The monophthongs that are heard in this region may stem from the influence of
Scots-Irish or other British dialects that maintain such forms. The fact that the monophthongs also appear in
Canadian English may lend support to this account since Scots-Irish speech is known as an important influence in Canada. • Some or partial evidence of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, which normally defines neighboring
Inland Northern American English, exists in North-Central American English. For example, may be generally raised and generally fronted in comparison to other American English accents. • Some speakers exhibit extreme raising of before voiced velars ( and ), with an up-glide, and so
bag sounds close to
beg or is even raised like the first syllable of
bagel. Other examples are the words
flag and
agriculture. Some speakers in this region raise as well. • The onset of if it is not subject to raising is often quite far back and results in pronunciations like . • The
cot–caught merger is common throughout the region, •
absurd often uses (rather than ) •
across may end with a final and rhyme with
cost, particularly in Wisconsin •
anti often uses (rather than ) •
aunt often uses (rather than ) •
roof often uses (rather than ) •
turbine often uses (rather than ) and so has the same pronunciation as
turban • Words spelled with
ag, such as
bag or
ragged, use or (rather than ) • Final
-ing in nouns and
nonfinite verb endings tends to be realized as (rather than ) and so
morning with
g-dropping is ==Grammar==