What Does Kansas Speech Sound Like? It Depends Who You Ask

Abstract

Perceptual dialectology investigates lay perceptions of how linguistic information relates to geographic information, often by asking participants to mark on a blank map how people speak in different areas. In studies of the United States, Kansas is often left off these maps as not particularly notable. This study investigates the beliefs and attitudes that Kansans and non-Kansans have about speech in the state by asking about the likelihood of talkers with various U.S. regional dialects of being from Kansas. Participants rated talkers from various U.S. dialect regions on how “accented” they sounded and how likely they were to be from Kansas. Results revealed contrasting beliefs: Kansans associated Kansas speech with unaccentedness, while non-Kansans associated Kansas speech with Southern-accented voices. Factor analysis of social trait ratings indicated that voices perceived as “Midwestern” and “nice” predicted higher Kansas-likelihood ratings, particularly for Kansans, whereas non-Kansans linked Kansas speech to “Southern” characteristics. Acoustic analysis showed that Kansans were more attuned to local features, such as /æ/-retraction, while non-Kansans relied on stereotypically Southern vowel features when judging Kansas likelihood. Both groups, however, demonstrated accurate geographic knowledge of Kansas. Findings highlight the role of experience in perceptions of regional speech, particularly for varieties lacking salient stereotypes.