Yooper dialect

Upper Peninsula (U.P.) English, also known as Yooper English, or colloquially as Yoopanese, is a variety of American English native to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (locally abbreviated as "U.P." and the basis for the endonym ""). Upper Peninsula English is considered a subset of North Central (or Upper Midwestern) English, an American regional dialect, or set of dialects, in transition. Although spoken throughout the U.P., it is primarily spoken in the western U.P., and not all residents use these features. Equally important is the fact that many of these features are found throughout the Upper Midwest, especially in northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota and to a degree in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan.

Yooper differs from standard English primarily because of the linguistic background of settlers to the area. The majority of people living in the Upper Peninsula are of Finnish, French Canadian, Cornish, Scandinavian, German, or Native American descent. The Yooper dialect is also influenced by the Finnish language making it similar in character to the so-called "Rayncher speek" (presumably an eye dialect spelling of "Ranger speak") spoken in the Mesabi Iron Range in northeast Minnesota. Almost half the Finnish immigrants to the U.S. settled in the Upper Peninsula, some joining Scandinavians who moved on to Minnesota.

The Yooper accent follows the local North Central (Upper Midwest) pronunciation system, but with the following noticeable additions:

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