Arguing against Northern Cities Shift reversal: Counter-shifting in Michigan

Abstract

I have analysed the vowels /i, ɪ, ɛ, æ, ʌ, u, ʊ, ɔ, ɑ/ across multiple regions in the state of Michigan. By organizing them by demographics of age, region, population-density, and sex, I identified that the Northern Cities Vowel Shift (NCS) is reversing as indicated in other areas of the Inland North, but its distribution among the demographic categories and the mechanism of reversal are inconsistent across Michigan and the rest of the Inland North. On account of this, I propose that we are not observing a “reversal” of the NCS, but a series of “counter-shifts.”