In parts of Wisconsin where the dialect is heavily influenced by German, it’s not unusual to hear phrases, like “Let’s go buy some bakery” for “let’s buy some baked goods,” and “from little on up,” meaning “from a young age.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “German Influence on Wisconsin Dialect”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette. Grant, earlier in the show you said there’s a lot going on in Wisconsin in terms of language, and you’re right.
And there aren’t that many books that drill down and look at the language of just one particular state, but there’s a new one that I’ve really been enjoying. It’s called Wisconsin Talk, and it’s by three professors at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
And it’s a scholarly book, but it’s also highly accessible. And it’s all about the linguistic diversity in the Badger State because, as you know, it’s home to three different dialects of English.
And those dialects are now being enriched by an influx of immigrants who speak Spanish, who speak Hmong and Somali. And in addition to that, Wisconsin has the largest diversity of American Indian languages east of the Mississippi.
And some of the language of Wisconsin that I really enjoy derives from German, because in the 19th century and the 20th century, Germans were the largest group of immigrants. And there are a lot of phrases that I really get a kick out of there.
For example, the expression from little on up.
From little on up. I don’t know that one.
From little on up or from little up. It means since childhood. You know, so you might say I’ve enjoyed asparagus from little on up.
From when I was a little on it, but they have a particular way of phrasing it.
Yeah.
Nice.
Or if I said to you, Grant, let’s go get some bakery.
Bakery?
Let’s go buy some bakery.
Does that mean baked goods?
Yes, it does. I mean, to my ear, that means let’s go buy some random building where sweet rolls and bread and those kinds of things are produced, right?
But to say let’s go get some bakery is not uncommon in Wisconsin.
That’s interesting.
Yeah, the dialect map is incredible for Wisconsin. It’s a great place to go to study language because the things that are happening on the national platform or the national language are reflected in that state.
And you can go there and get a lot of diversity in one place. And you made a really good point about these two separate generations of immigrants coming into that part of the country.
Maybe they came for agriculture. Maybe they came for what are now Rust Belt jobs. But in any case, these waves of immigrants are layering on top of each other and creating new linguistic trends and changes.
I love it.
Yeah.
And you mentioned immigrants coming in to do different kinds of jobs. In southwest Wisconsin, there are descendants of Cornish miners.
Cornish miners?
Yeah. And there’s a whole different…
They have their own things going on.
Yeah.
Wisconsin, a language trendsetter, I guess, right?
Yeah.
But we could do this with all 49 states. And heck, the provinces as well, right?
And I would really recommend this book, Wisconsin Talk, is from the University of Wisconsin Press. We’ll put a link to it on the website.
If you’ve got something to say about the way people in Wisconsin talk, we’d love to hear it.
Or email us, words@waywordradio.org.
