The Pittsburgh dialect, often referred to as (or '''Yinzbonics'''), contains , 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 Immigrant s 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 Assimilate d. 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.
- The vowels And Are Merged Before , so that pairs like ''full''/''fool'' and ''pull''/''pool'' become Homophonous as and respectively (Labov, Ash, and Boberg 2006: 69–70).
- Unlike other Midland dialects, And Are Merged As ; ''cot'' and ''caught'' are homophones (Labov, Ash, and Boberg 2006: 59–60, 271).
- The first stress in a word often becomes the primary one: pro'nunci,ation.
- Syllabic ''r'' as in ''hurt'' is a Rhotacized Mid Front Vowel , rather than a rhotacized Mid Central Vowel in General American .
- Vocalic nuclei are rarely Rounded .
- General American and often '' becomes . Recent research by Carnegie Mellon University 's Barbara Johnstone (Johnstone et al 2002) has shown that this feature is receding among Pittsburghers born after 1950.
- When not monophthongized, the nuclei of diphthongs shift toward {Link without Title} , 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, before [n or and before [ɹ }} or standardly change to a diphthong . This new phoneme often merges into [æ , especially among younger Pittsburghers. This second merger creates a new set of Homonym s such as ''pal'' and ''pale''.
- {Link without Title} is "dark" (i.e. 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.
- Epenthetic ''r'' occurs after vowels in a small number of words, e.g. ''wash'' becomes .
- The ''h'' is commonly dropped from the beginning of many words, e.g. here/ear hear/ear.
Further information can be found in chapter 19 of Labov et al. (2006).
For information on IPA symbols used, see International Phonetic Alphabet For English .
''Please do not add items to this list that cannot be verified in print.''
- ''n.'' Abbreviated form of Iron City, a beer produced by the Pittsburgh Brewing Company
- ''v.'' out "Get aht of here!"
- ''‘at'' ''prep.'' contraction of 'that'.
- (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.
- ''n.'' shopping cart
- ''n.'' a chimney. From Scots English.
- (pronounced "chipp'tam") or '''chip-chopped ham''' ''n.'' very thinly sliced ham for use on sandwiches.
- ''n.'' a breaded Pork dish (ironically, it does not contain Chicken )
- ''n.'' coupons
- ''n.'' Pittsburgh.
- ''adj.'' down
- ''n.'' downtown
- ''n.'' eggs over easy which are not fully cooked, so that the yolk is still runny
- ''n.'' underwear, as in, "Always wear clean guchies n'at, 'cause what if yinz'er in an accident?"
- ''n.'' a rubber band.
- ''n.'' a submarine sandwich, always served toasted.
- ''n., vulgar'' an asshole; an extremely disagreeable person; ''jackoff''
- ''n.'' any shrub with thorns
- ''v.'' 1) to waste time; 2) to mess with someone in a non-serious fashion
- ''n.'' candy flecks put on ice cream or cupcakes; sprinkles
- ''n.'' synonym for bologna lunchmeat. Isaly's , a local chain of delis, sells a popular variety known as ''square jumbo''
- ''interj., 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.'' kielbasa
- ''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?'')
- ''v.'' to investigate or take interest in things which are none of one's business. ''He was nebbin' around in my business.''
- ''adj.'' Given to prying into the affairs of others; nosy.
- ''n., vulgar'' An individual who persistently or habitually cannot mind their own business.
- ''interj.'' No way. ''Opposite of yuh-huh''
- ''n.'' a pile.
- (often shortened to '''progie''') ''n.'' a Polish pasta product usually filled with mashed potatoes and cheese. See Pierogi .
- ''n.'' Pittsburgh.
- ''n.'' Flavored carbonated water, aka Soft Drink (ie: Pepsi, Coke)
- ''n.'' pronunciation
- ''v.'' intermediate step between tidying and cleaning ' Yinz better redd up this room ' From Scots English.
- ''n.'' The .
- ''n.'' refers strictly to only unflavored Seltzer Water (NOT THE SAME AS POP Ie: Pepsi, Coke)
- ''n.'' the East Liberty district of Pittsburgh
- ''adj.'' slippery
- ''n.'' a stereotypical Pittsburgher, after Stan Savran of "Stan & Guy" and radio DJ Jim Krenn's "Stanley P. Kachowski"[http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06036/649008.stm character.
- ''n.'' the Pittsburgh Steelers football team.
- The Strip District (Pittsburgh) district of Pittsburgh where specialty foods and groceries are bought.
- ''n.'' a vacuum cleaner
- ''n.'' A towel
- ''n.'' Cops, task force
- ''n.'' tennis shoes
- ''or'' '''tubes''' ''n.'' either the Fort Pitt or Liberty Tubes, tunnels drilled through Mt. Washington which separate the South Side from the South Hills
- used to address more than one person as in "You guys'es house is real nice."
- ''interj.'' Yes, absolutely. ''Opposite of nuh-uh''
- or '''yunz''' ''pr.'' Second person plural pronoun; losing some ground to both '''you guys''' and '''yall'''.
- ''n.'' a major avenue going through the South Hills area of greater Pittsburgh.
- interjection of amazement or surprise.
- "Go to hell!" Refers to an ornate clock on a busy streetcorner in downtown Pittsburgh attached to the Kaufmann's department store. {Link without Title}
- hell (e.g., "hale no", "go to hale", etc.)
- "Do you know what I mean?"
- motherfucker
- taffy, or a lollypop
- 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" and the preposition "to" is removed; Pittsburgh English "I'm going down the Benches" 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.
- Pittsburgh English also contains the "positive anymore" construction. While in Standard English ''anymore'' must be used as a negative Polarity Item (NPI), Pittsburgh English does not have this restriction. When not used as an NPI, ''anymore'' means approximately the same as "these days". For instance, a Pittsburgher may say "It seems I always wear these shoes anymore."
- Johnstone, B. and Danielson, A., "Pittsburghese" in the Daily Papers, 1910-1998: Historical Sources of Ideology about Variation, ''New Ways of Analyzing Variation'' Conference, October 2001.
- Johnstone, B., Bhasin, N., and Wittkowski, D., "Dahntahn" Pittsburgh: Monophthongal /aw/ and representations of localness in Southwestern Pennsylvania. ''American Speech'' 77(20):146-166.
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