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Samples
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Another way of illustrating the Northern Cities Shift is in the table below, which contains a transcription of each word's vowel as pronounced in shifted and unshifted dialects. Click on any word to hear a comparison of its pronunciation in shifted and unshifted dialects.
Something to remember about the Northern Cities shift is that, despite its name, it is not a feature of every northern city. For example, the Boston and New York accents have not experienced it, nor has any Canadian variety. Some parts of the shift are incomplete in other locales as well; for example, some Mid-Atlantic dialects might have an advancement of 
to [a], without any of the other changes in the shift.
© 2001 The Language Samples Project
