Western Pennsylvania English, known more narrowly as Pittsburgh English or popularly as Pittsburghese, is a dialect of American English native primarily to the western half of Pennsylvania, centered on the city of Pittsburgh, but potentially appearing in some speakers as far north as Erie County, as far west as
What accent is Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania English or Pennsylvania dialects may refer to: Inland Northern American English, spoken in northeastern Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Dutch English, spoken in southeastern Pennsylvania by some of the Pennsylvania Dutch community. Philadelphia English, spoken in southeastern Pennsylvania.
How many accents does Pennsylvania have?
Those regions come together in Pennsylvania — which makes the state kind of a crossroads of the English language. Thanks in part to immigration patterns and relative geographic isolation, Pennsylvania is home to six — count’em six — distinct English dialects.
Does Pennsylvania have Southern accent?
There’s an expression in Pennsylvania, “Pittsburgh on one side, Philadelphia on the other, pennsyltucky in the middle.” People in the middle of the state really do have an almost southern accent, definitely different than West Virginia or what I think of as an “Appalachian accent”.
What is a Philly accent called?
Unlike New York City English, however, most speakers of Philadelphia English have always used a rhotic accent (meaning that the r sound is never “dropped”).
What is a Philadelphia accent called?
The Philadelphia accent today is “rhotic” or r-pronouncing. There are some instances of non-rhoticity possibly found in South Philadelphia.
Do Philly got an accent?
The Philadelphia accent has got quite the reputation. The New York Times called it “arguably the most distinctive, and least imitable, accent in North America.” A 2013 University of Pennsylvania study analyzed the shifts of the accent; the eldest of the voices were born more than 100 years ago.
Is there an Amish accent?
Rather, the Amish dialect of the language is a type of High German that would be entirely incomprehensible to someone from, say, Berlin. (Although it maintains some similarities to another language derived from High German, Yiddish).
What states have the heaviest accents?
According to Americans, the place in the US with the strongest accent is Boston, with 23% of people choosing this response. Another 16% say the Southern coast has the strongest regional accent, while New York and Texas were tied, with 13% saying these states had the strongest accents.
What is a Western Pennsylvania accent?
A defining feature of Western Pennsylvania English is the cot–caught merger, in which /ɑ/ (as in ah) and /ɔ/ (as in aw) merges to a rounded vowel: [ɔ~ɒ]. As in most other American dialects, the father–bother merger also occurs. Therefore, cot and caught are both pronounced [kʰɔt~kʰɒt]; Don and dawn are both [dɔn~dɒn].
What is the Central Pennsylvania accent?
These German settlers learned to speak English from people with Scots-Irish accents and consequently, the Central Pennsylvania accent to this day maintains the harsh, guttural sound one would expect to hear from a German speaker who learned to speak English by listening to Scottish-accented English.
What is the Scranton accent?
Maybe you’re familiar with Gawker hero Raymond Lyman. The Scranton accent, formed in the lung-blackening coal mines of northeastern Pennsylvania, shares the dirty unfortunate slurring of the Philadelphia accent but with the added bonus of the Midwestern wide mouth.
Which state has the strongest Southern accent?
- Probably Gulf Coast Mississippi, subject to definitions and qualifications.
- We’ll leave the New Orleans accent ‘Yat’ out of it.
- With those limitations in place,generally the farther south you go in Alabama or Mississippi, and the closer you get to the Gulf of Mexico, the stronger the accent may get.
Where does the Pennsylvania accent come from?
These people originated in northern England and Scotland, and they brought some characteristic pronunciations, words, and grammatical structures with them. The people from northern England, some of whom were Quakers, came to the eastern part of Pennsylvania and moved west into central Pennsylvania.
What states have a Southern twang?
Naturally, they would have their own way of speaking. The Southern dialect is a unique subcategory of the American-English Language. “Southern” is spoken mostly by natives of the southern states; Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, The Carolinas, Tennessee, and parts of Virginia.
Why does Philly say JAWN?
Simply answered, jawn is a stand-in for, but not limited to, objects, places, people, and events. Jawn can mean nothing and everything. It’s similar to the word ‘thing’ in use but carries more local flair.
Why do they say JAWN in Philly?
Jawn is believed to be derived from the word “joint”. Historically, the city’s Black population migrated to the northern part of the city from Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas, bringing with them a Southern dialect that relied on words such as ‘joint’.
Is Philly more Irish or Italian?
Philadelphia has the 3rd largest Irish American population in the country.
What do Philly people say weird?
Pronunciation Guide
Water is pronounced “wooder”. If someone says “Do you want ice in your wooder?” they’re asking if you want ice in your H2O. Bala Cynwyd is pronounced “BA-la KIN-wid”.
What are Philly slang words?
Philly Slang: From Jawn to Youse
- Jawn. Some holiday jawn.
- Wooder. Wooder ice.
- Down the shore. Downtheshore (photo: EQRoy/Shutterstock)
- Hoagies. Wawa hoagie for the shore.
- The Linc. If you’re tailgating, you’re tailgating at the Linc.
- Jeet? Well, did you??
- Jabroni.
- Wiz wit.
How do Pennsylvanians say y all?
“Yins” in western Pennsylvania could be “y’all” in much of the South, “youse guys” in Brooklyn, and “you lot” in England.