How do you recognise a Chicago accent?

Raised “trap” vowel — “cat” towards “kee-at”. Fronted “lot” vowel — “block” towards “black”. “Cot” and “caught” stay distinct. Chicago-specific vocabulary: “gym shoes”, “pop”, “the expressway”.

Which famous people have a Chicago accent?

Jennifer Hudson is a speaker whose recorded speech anchors the Chicago / Inland North English profile used by DialectGuessr.

How do I test whether I have a Chicago accent?

DialectGuessr's free accent test asks 29 questions about the words you use and how you pronounce them, then scores your answers against the Chicago / Inland North English profile and every other profile in the survey. It takes about two minutes and needs no account.

Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo

The Chicago accent

The Inland North runs along the Great Lakes from upstate New York through Cleveland and Detroit to Chicago, and it is defined by the Northern Cities Vowel Shift — a rotation in which “block” drifts towards “black”, “bet” towards “but”, and “cat” towards “kee-at”. Speakers rarely notice it in themselves, which is why the region long claimed to have no accent at all.

Take the quiz and see how close your accent is →

How to recognise a Chicago accent

Raised “trap” vowel — “cat” towards “kee-at”.
Fronted “lot” vowel — “block” towards “black”.
“Cot” and “caught” stay distinct.
Chicago-specific vocabulary: “gym shoes”, “pop”, “the expressway”.

Also known as Chicago accent, Inland North accent, Great Lakes accent, Midwestern accent. Spoken in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo, United States.

The Chicago pronunciation fingerprint

These are the answers the quiz expects from a Chicago speaker on its 30 pronunciation questions. Where a feature varies within the region, more than one answer counts as a match.

“bath” takes the short vowel of “cat”
The Trap–Bath Split: Does “Bath” Rhyme With “Cat” or “Father”?
the R at the end of “car” is pronounced
Rhotic vs Non-Rhotic: Do You Pronounce the R in “Car”?
a quick D-like tap in “bottle”
Bottle, Bo'le or Boddle? The T in the Middle of a Word
“cot” and “caught” stay distinct
The Cot–Caught Merger: Do “Cot” and “Caught” Sound the Same?
“Mary”, “marry” and “merry” all sound the same
Mary, Marry, Merry: One Sound, Two or Three?
“day” ends on a slight “ee” — day-ee
The Vowel in “Day”: Gliding or Steady?
“go” ends on a slight “oo” — go-oo
The Vowel in “Go”: Gliding or Steady?
“tune” sounds like “toon”, without a Y sound
Tune, Toon or Choon? The Y After a Consonant
no — they sound different
Do “Singer” and “Finger” Rhyme? The Velar Nasal Plus
one — “film”
“Film” or “Fillum”? The Helping Vowel in Highland and Irish English
no — they end in a vowel
The Bristol L: Why “Area” Can Sound Like “Areal”
a th sound
“Dat” for “That”: TH-Stopping in the Function Words
“ship” and “sheep” have different vowel sounds
Ship or Sheep? The Vowel That Divides Native and Learned English
“put” and “putt” have different vowels
The Foot–Strut Split: Do “Put” and “Putt” Rhyme?
“three” starts with a TH sound, with the tongue against the teeth
Three, Free or Tree? What Happens to Your TH
the H in “house” is pronounced
H-Dropping: Do You Say “House” or “'Ouse”?
“fur” and “fair” stay distinct
Fur and Fair: The Merger That Marks Liverpool
“beer” and “bear” stay distinct
Beer and Bear: The Merger That Marks New Zealand
“happy” ends on a long “-ee”
Happy: Does It End in “-ee” or “-ih”?
“wine” and “vine” start with different sounds
Wine or Vine? Where V and W Fall Together
“school” starts straight on the S
“Eschool” for “School”: The Vowel Some Accents Add
“bed” ends with D and “bet” ends with T
Bed or Bet? Final-Obstruent Devoicing
a smooth R, without tapping or rolling the tongue
Rolled, Uvular or Neither? How the R Is Made
“pin” and “pen” stay distinct
Pin or Pen? The Southern US Vowel Merger
the vowel in “ride” glides from one sound to another
Does “Ride” Stay on One Sound? Southern PRICE
“celery” and “salary” stay distinct
Celery or Salary? Melbourne's Quiet Giveaway

Everyday words in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo

Expected everyday vocabulary for a Chicago speaker.
Question	Usual answer
What do you usually call a sweet carbonated drink?	Pop
What do you call shoes worn for sport or exercise?	Gym shoes
What do you usually call the main evening meal?	Dinner
What do you call a small, round piece of bread for one person?	Roll
What do you call thin strips of potato served hot and fried?	Fries
What is your general word for small sugary treats?	Candy
What do you call the wheeled basket used in a supermarket?	Shopping cart
What do you call restaurant food collected to eat elsewhere?	Carry-out
What do you call a public fixture you drink water from?	Water fountain
What do you call a small neighbourhood shop selling everyday items?	Convenience store
How do you usually address a group of people informally?	You guys
What do you call the household container for unwanted rubbish?	Garbage can
What do you call the narrow passageway between or behind houses?	Alley / alleyway
What do you call the insulated box you carry cold drinks in?	Cooler
You are waiting your turn behind other people. What are you doing?	Waiting in line
“Man’s getting emotional.” Who is “man”?	It does not make sense to me
What do you call rubber sandals held on by a strap between the toes?	Flip-flops
What do you call the red-amber-green signal at a junction?	Stoplight
What do you call a circular junction you drive around?	Traffic circle
How do you say “the” in a phrase like “I’m going down the shop”?	A full “the”
“We’ll not be home while seven.” What does that sentence mean to you?	It does not make sense to me
“I’m after having my dinner.” What does that sentence mean to you?	It does not make sense to me
What do you call a shared minibus used as public transport?	I do not have a word for that
Does “she be working on Fridays” sound like a normal way to say she works Fridays regularly?	No — it does not sound like my English
Does “the car needs washed” sound normal — without “to be”?	No — I would say “needs to be washed”
What do you call a long sandwich in a split roll?	Sub / submarine
What do you call a multi-storey building for parking cars?	Parking garage
Can “da kine” stand in for a thing you have not named?	No — that is not a word I use

What 24 people from the Chicago area told the survey

24 people who grew up in the Chicago area have taken the DialectGuessr quiz. These are the answers where they differ most from everyone else who has taken it.

Answers from people who grew up in the Chicago area, against everyone else in the survey.
Question	Their answer	Here vs elsewhere
Which is closest to how you naturally say “tune”?	“Toon” — without a Y sound	100% vs 45% elsewhere · 24 of 24
How do “Mary”, “marry”, and “merry” compare in your natural accent?	All three sound the same	83% vs 41% elsewhere · 20 of 24
You are waiting your turn behind other people. What are you doing?	Waiting in line	100% vs 60% elsewhere · 24 of 24
In your natural accent, does “bath” use the vowel in “cat” or “father”?	Like “cat” — a short vowel	100% vs 61% elsewhere · 24 of 24
What is your general word for small sugary treats?	Candy	88% vs 48% elsewhere · 21 of 24
What usually happens to the middle consonant when you say “bottle”?	A quick D-like tap	83% vs 47% elsewhere · 20 of 24

From people who chose to take the quiz and pinned where they grew up, so a self-selected sample rather than a random one. The figures are recalculated daily as more people answer.

How Michigan answered the Harvard Dialect Survey

The Harvard Dialect Survey, collected by Bert Vaux and Scott Golder in 2002–2003, recorded how respondents in every US state answered the same questions. These are Michigan’s answers, most common first.

Michigan, Harvard Dialect Survey.
Question	Answers in Michigan
Soda, Pop or Coke? The Map of How America Orders a Fizzy Drink	pop 81% · soda 14% · coke 1%
Traffic Circle, Roundabout or Rotary?	traffic circle 43% · roundabout 26% · rotary 6%
Water Fountain, Drinking Fountain or Bubbler?	drinking fountain 79% · water fountain 20% · bubbler 1%
Crawfish, Crawdad or Crayfish?	crayfish 50% · crawfish 34% · crawdad 9%
Roly Poly or Potato Bug?	roly poly 47% · potato bug 7%
You Guys, Y'all or You All?	you guys 56% · you all 10% · y'all 5%
Kitty-Corner or Catty-Corner?	kitty-corner 87% · catty-corner 4%
Garage Sale or Yard Sale?	garage sale 64% · yard sale 25%
Tennis Shoes or Sneakers?	tennis shoes 60% · sneakers 20%
Frosting or Icing?	frosting 50% · icing 6%
Scratch Paper or Scrap Paper?	scrap paper 47% · scratch paper 19%
Frontage Road, Service Road or Access Road?	service road 46% · frontage road 14% · access road 12%
Caramel: Two Syllables or Three?	with 2 syllables ("car-ml") 65% · with 3 syllables ("carra-mel") 14%
Mischievous or Mischievious?	mischievous (3 syllables) 40% · mischievious (4 syllables) 34%
Rubber Band, Hair Tie or Elastic?	rubber band 31% · hair tie 30% · (hair) elastic 7%

Data from the Harvard Dialect Survey (Bert Vaux and Scott Golder, 2002–2003), used under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 licence. A self-selected sample from two decades ago: how people spoke then, not a census.

Speakers with a Chicago accent

Jennifer Hudson
Englewood, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Raised in Englewood on Chicago's South Side; this match uses the Inland North profile.

Accent profiles are anchored to primary-source regional recordings from the International Dialects of English Archive, not to any individual performance.