> As for your Northern Illinois accent. Chicago?
Northern Cities
Vowel Shift? Do you hear 'chopsticks' when someone not of
your
dialect says 'ChapStix' (ChapStix is the brand name of a lip
balm).
I'd be grateful for a short explanation of what the Vowel Shift
is
and where the Vowel Shift Belt is situated.
A useful URL
If you follow the links, especially
to map 1, you see one version of how US dialects are divided. This map asserts
there is a 'Western' dialect zone; other maps extend Midlands into the west.
Within the understandings of this site, my dialect, then, becomes 'Western'.
As for the Northern Cities Vowel Shift,
this page covers it rather fully in a section lower down.
My command of phonology is insufficient to
give a clear description of what is happening. This is something I've only heard
of, and not experienced personally.
Mark.