•February 15, 2023•
By Jim Baumann
NP Guest Writer

Do you speak Illinoisan?
More to the point, do you speak Chicagoan?
Heck, I could just as easily ask whether you speak North Sidese or South Sidese.
Perhaps it’s the 59 years I’ve spent listening to and speaking to Illinoisans, but during a brief conversation I can safely guess whether you spent much of your life north or south of the Loop. I can even tell most Minnesotans from North Dakotans, which is a rare skill.
So I am of a mind that there is no such thing as an Illinois dialect. It’s too broad. I know people from northern, central and southern Illinois, and we barely sound like we’re from the same country.
I grew up in Arlington Heights, but this column’s editor, Michelle Holdway, hails from downstate Herrin. And she has kept her southern twang for decades since moving to the Chicago area.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.