Reps. Brown, Adamini, Shackleton and Casperson offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 183.

            A resolution establishing Yooper as Michigan’s official state dialect.

            Whereas, Yooper, or the dialect of the Upper Peninsula, is a unique blend of accents tied to the rich mining heritage of the Upper Peninsula.  It is a blend of Finnish, Swedish, Cornish, German, French, Irish, Italian, Russian, English, and Native American dialect. The Yooper dialect is noted for it unique intonations or vocal inflections, in particular, its drawn out vowels.  It also ends sentences with 'eh' and substitutes the d or t for the 'th' sound; and

            Whereas, The Yooper dialect is a direct tie to our state’s heritage.  It originated around 1840 during the height of iron and copper mining in the Upper Peninsula, when thousands of immigrants and American prospectors came to persue the American dream by mining the Upper Pennisula's vast copper and iron resources.  By 1917, 75 percent of the Upper Peninsula’s population was foreign-born. Since there were so many immigrants, the people never relinquished their native accents. After several generations, the accents blended together; and

            Whereas, The Yooper dialect is closely associated with our state by people throughout the United States.  It is easy to recognize, since the media has used it as a source of entertainment.  "Escanaba in da Moonlight" introduced the Yooper dialect to a vast population. Our dialect is associated with independent, hearty individualism and the active sportsmen’s tradition; and

            Whereas, Yooper is an endangered dialect, that is on the verge of vanishing forever.  The population of the Upper Peninsula is declining and aging, and younger families are moving away.  Proper English is being taught in schools, so only old-timers speak Yooper.  Many people make fun of Yooper because it sounds different from what other Midwesterners speak; and

            Whereas, If this dialect were protected, passed on from each generation, and preserved, we as a state could maintain a tie to our multi-cultural heritage; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body establish Yooper as Michigan’s official state dialect.