Pittsburgh English
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Pittsburgh is the linguistic center of a dialect region within Midland American English, covering most of western Pennsylvania as well as parts of northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio, and a small area of western Maryland.
The Pittsburgh dialect, often referred to as Pittsburghese (or Yinzbonics), contains substrates reflecting the ethnic heritage of the region: Scotch-Irish, German, and most prominently, Slavic. The distinctive features of the dialect emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when a large influx of immigrants arrived and found work in the booming steel industry. There are still vibrant ethnic communities in Pittsburgh, composed of both recent immigrants and third- or fourth-generation Americans, particularly in the South Side and Squirrel Hill, where it is not uncommon to hear people speaking Polish, Russian, and Serbo-Croatian. There are many heritage speakers of Eastern European languages, and some exclamations and babytalk expressions are common even among those who have otherwise been totally assimilated. There has also been significant influence, in the speech of younger Pittsburghers, from African American Vernacular English, especially in syntax.
With the advent of mass media, along with an influx of technology industry workers, certain localized vocabulary items are becoming less common, though still definitely noticeable; continuation and even some innovation are present among young people who feel a strong sense of local pride. Regional features in speech are heavily class-marked; working class Pittsburghers use far more local features than the upper middle class. Geographically, frequency of regional features is highest in the south and north, weakest in the center and east. Such generalizations are hard to make, however, due to the vast number of neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, their insular character, and irregular distribution, with some of the most conservative dialectic regions abutting the most deregionalized.
(A note on terminology: Pittsburgh English is the proper name of the dialect. The term Pittsburghese, though in common use, is considered derogatory, and is most commonly used by Pittsburghers who eschew regional linguistic features; much to their chagrin, these people are quite likely to use the forms they stigmatize themselves.)
The dialect is defined by idiosyncrasies of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
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Pronunciation
- There are several contractions not found in standard English, such as or from did you, from did he, from did she, etc. This is not really a Pittsburgh-specific feature; while it is often considered "Pittsburghese" it is fairly common in fast speech throughout the eastern United States.
- To can be pronounced and is often affixed to the following word. Example: to leave becomes Similarly, you is pronounced , [ji] or even [i].
- Stress falls on the beginning of a compound word, and the first stress in a word often becomes the primary one: 'post,office; pro'nunci,ation.
- Syllabic r as in hurt is a rhotacized mid front vowel, rather than a rhotacized mid central vowel in standard English.
- Vocalic nuclei are rarely rounded.
- American Standard English and often monophthongize to , and to , especially in relaxed speech: Downtown becomes . Recent research by CMU's Barbara Johnstone in 2002 has shown that this feature is receding among Pittsburghers born after 1950.
- When not monophthongized, the nuclei of diphthongs shift toward [æ], especially in enunciated speech: This appears to be on the increase, used by young people proud of their local heritage.
- As in many dialects of American English, [æ] before [n] [m] or or [l] standardly change to a diphthong . This new phoneme often merges into [æ], especially among younger Pittsburghers. This second merger creates a new set of homonyms such as pal and pale.
- Final in unstresses syllables is pronounced as [n] more frequently than in most American dialects.
- [l] is "dark" (ie velarized), and sometimes purely velar, postvocalically and often in other positions.
- Stops, including nasal stops, are flapped and voiced noninitially before vowels in rapid speech.
- Unlike other Midland dialects, are merged as ; cot and caught are homonyms. (see cot-caught merger)
- Epenthetic r occurs after vowels in a small number of words, e.g. wash becomes .
For information on IPA symbols used, see International Phonetic Alphabet for English.
Dialectic terms
- babushka (accent on the second syllable) n. bandana or headscarf. Occasionally refers to an elderly woman or your grandmother, based on the commonality of wearing a headscarf.
- buggy n. shopping cart
- chimbley n. a chimney. From Scots English.
- chipped ham (pronounced "chipp'tam") or chipchopped ham n. very thinly sliced ham for use on sandwiches.
- crick n. creek
- cue-pons n. coupons
- dahntahn n. down town
- dippy eggs n. eggs over easy which are not fully cooked, so that the yolk is still runny
- guchies "n." underwear, as in, "Always wear clean guchies n'at, 'cause what if yinzer in an accident?"
- gumband n. a rubber band.
- hoagie n. a submarine sandwich
- jag-off n., vulgar an asshole; an extremely disagreeable person
- jagger bush n. any shrub with thorns
- jag around v. 1) to waste time; 2) to mess with someone in a non-serious fashion
- jeetjet phrase did you eat yet (often accompanied by nojoo)
- jimmies n. candy flecks put on ice cream or cupcakes; sprinkles
- jumbo n. synonym for bologna lunchmeat. Isaly's, a local chain of delis, sells a popular variety known as square jumbo
- Kennywood's open interj., said to men only indicates that the zipper of one's pants is open. Kennywood is a popular amusement park that is only open during the summer months.
- n'at contraction "and that". Means, "along with some other stuff", as in, "Yinz wanna go dahn ta Isaly's n'get sommadat square jumbo n'at?" (Do you all want to go down to Isaly's and get some of that square baloney, and a few other things?)
- neb v. to investigate or take interest in things which are none of one's business. He was nebbin' around in my business.
- nebby adj. Given to prying into the affairs of others; nosy.
- nebshit n., vulgar An individual who persistently or habitually cannot mind their own business.
- nojoo phrase no, did you (possibly precluded by jeetjet)
- nuh-uh interj. No way. Opposite of yuh-huh
- pierogie (often shortened to progie) n. a macaroni product filled with mashed potatoes
- pop n. a soft drink.
- pronounciation n. pronunciation
- redd up v. intermediate step between tidying and cleaning ' Yinz better redd up this room '
- rubbers n. galoshes
- soda n. refers strictly to only unflavored carbonated water (NOT THE SAME AS POP Ie: Pepsi, Coke)
- Sliberty n. the East Liberty district of Pittsburgh
- slippy adj. slippery
- stickies n. Post-It notes.
- Stillers n. the Pittsburgh Steelers football team.
- street car n. a trolley
- sweeper n. a vacuum cleaner
- tennies n. tennis shoes
- terlet n. The toilet itself, or the name of the restroom proper.
- the tube or tubes n. either the Fort Pitt or Liberty Tubes, tunnels drilled through Mt. Washington which separate the South Side from the South Hills
- up Mike's 'n down Jake's n. fictitious location used when one is asked where one is going and does not wish to answer or doesn't know
- you guys'es used to address more than one person as in "You guys'es house is real nice."
- yuh-huh interj. Yes, absolutely. Opposite of nuh-uh
- yinz or yunz pr. Second person plural pronoun; losing some ground to both you guys and yall.
- worsch wash
Older idioms not used much among younger generations
- Jiminey Christmas! interjection of amazement or surprise.
- Kiss my ass under Kaufmann's Clock! "Go to hell!" Refers to an ornate clock on a busy streetcorner in downtown Pittsburgh attached to the Kaufmann's department store.
- hale hell (e.g., "hale no", "go to hale", etc.)
- n'ya mean? "Do you know what I mean?"
- mar-farker motherfucker
- sucker taffy
Grammar
- Dependent verbs containing "to be" in standard English lack it in Pittsburgh English thus ASE "the cat wants to be let in" corresponds to Pittsburgh "the cat wants let in" or "the cat wants in" and standard "the car needs to be washed/the car needs washing" to "the car needs washed." This grammatical structure is a calque from Scots Gaelic, which historically had major linguistic influence in the region.
- The adverb "down" is frequently used in expressions with "to go;" Pittsburgh English "I'm going down to the Benches" [the benches outside the Squirrel Hill post office, a popular hangout for teenagers] corresponds to standard English "I'm going to the Benches."
- Zero auxilary in the perfect, and therefore merger of perfect with simple past: PE I seen it for ASE I saw it and I've seen it.
- Related to the above, merging of pluperfect into simple past and of future perfect into simple future.
External links
- Pittsburgh Speech and Society (http://english.cmu.edu/pittsburghspeech/) A site for non-linguists, created by Carnegie-Mellon University linguist Barbara Johnstone.
- Pittsburghese (http://www.pittsburghese.com) A site made for laughs, mostly