Pittsburgh the City of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh

The city of Pittsburgh has long been known as a 'steel' tough city filled with a variety of individuals who are as rough and coarse as the city itself. This perception of Pittsburgh and its inhabitants began to change in the early 1980's with the decline of the steel production for which the city was famous. Pittsburgh, from the time of the Civil War until those early 1980's, was a city filled with steel mills and other factories whose sole purpose was to provide America and the world with the steel it needed to fuel unprecedented growth. With competition and a decline in the need for steel, Pittsburgh had to transform itself from a city of steel mills to a city that provides (primarily) services such as healthcare and medical expertise.

From its roots, in the early 1700's, until the years of the civil war, Pittsburgh's primary source of industry was not steel, instead it was the building of boats for those people interested in using any of the three major rivers between which Pittsburgh was located. Since the city is located at the confluence of three rivers; the Alleghany, the Ohio and the Monongahela, it was a natural starting point for explorers who wished to travel deeper inland in what was to become America's great Midwest.

In 1754, the French became interested in its location, building a fort there in an effort to control river travel and in linking their people in Canada with the French people in Louisiana.

The French took this step even though the governor of the time, Governor Dinwiddie, had explicitly warned them not to. In response to the construction, the British forced the French to leave the fort in 1758 and then built Ft. Pitt to take its place.

Many of the early settlers of the area came from Northern Ireland and Northern England and brought with them many of the foods, customs, languages and dialects ingrained in their culture. The majority of these people were Scots-Irish. Over time, these hearty men and women developed a dialect that became known as Pittsburghese that is still unique to Pittsburgh and the surrounding area today.

"Many people in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania think that there is a distinctive dialect of English spoken in this area, which they call "Pittsburghese." (Johnstone 2007) Dr. Johnstone explains that Pittsburghese contains words that are used throughout the western Pennsylvania and the eastern Ohio area but that common usage is primarily limited to the city of Pittsburgh and its surrounding suburbs. Though Pittsburghese was much more prevalent initially than it currently is, many of the words associated with Pittsburghese continue to be used by the inhabitants of the area today.

Dialects from specific areas, unlike languages, will probably be around for centuries to come and may even become more important in the future than they are currently.

The reason for this; with many of the world's languages dying out (thanks to globalization) dialects could become the harbinger upon which we judge where individuals are from. Some experts believe that many of the languages spoken today will no longer be spoken within a relatively short amount of time.

"More than half of the world's languages are spoken by fewer than 10,000 people and may be lost by the end of the century." (Furniss 2007-page 53) This may be true of languages, but Pittsburghers will probably say that their unique usage of the English language is what sets them apart from other dialects found across the United States. Some experts believe that Pittsburghese is not as unique to the city as what its habitants would like to believe.

Some studies show that the "monophthongization" of such words as house, sauerkraut, down and found are the only true dialectic differences consistently found in Pittsurgh.

Monophthongization in regards to Pittsburghese is when those words, and similar ones as well, are spoken using the "ah" sound instead of the more common "aw" sound.

How this monophthonigization or "Pittsburghese" evolved is an interesting study in the movements of different groups of people during America's growing years. Immigrants at that time were facing starvation and death in their homelands and looked to America as a promised land.

"In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries "Pittsburgh promised employment and a solution to their immediate need to make a living, which was growing more difficult to accomplish in their homelands." (Bodnar 2000-page 13)

Even before that time, however, the Scots-Irish settlers brought their own pronunciation of English to the Pittsburgh area. Many of these Scot-Irish immigrated from Ulster, a northern province in Ireland.

"When people talk about "Pittsburghese," they often mention words like yinz (you, plural), slippy (slippery), and nebby (nosy), sounds like the vowels in Stillers (Steelers) or dahntahn (downtown), and expressions like n'at (and that, used to mean something like et cetera)." (Johnstone 2001) Much of the language usage came from these many immigrants who were drawn to the work that was available in Pittsburgh and its factories. The work involved steel production and factory jobs that, while they did not require much in the way of book knowledge, did require that an individual be willing to work hard, long hours at dirty, noisy jobs.

"Most immigrants, did manage to acquire manual work upon their arrival in the 'steel city." (Bodnar 2000-page 113) With this influx of immigrants, who came primarily from Italy and Poland, also came a large contingent of American blacks who formerly resided in the south. All these people were drawn to the area with the promise of jobs and a secure future, and each brought its own special style of speaking the English language. "These people originated in northern England and Scotland, and they brought some characteristic pronunciations, words, and grammatical structures with them." (Johnstone 2001) recent study showed, "On the basis of historical research, ethnography, discourse analysis, and sociolinguistic interviews, the authors describe how a set of linguistic features that were once not noticed at all, then used and heard primarily as markers of socioeconomic class, have come to be linked increasingly to place and "enregistered" as a dialect called "Pittsburghese." (Andrus 2006 ab) Much of the dialectic was adopted and continued by these immigrants as Andrus showed in his study.

Another important factor in this continued use of Pittsburghese is the media's use of the same words and pronunciations. Many of the immigrants were poor and uneducated and easily fell into the same patterns of language usage as those around them, both at work and at home. Many of them were unable to read, but importantly, they wanted more for their children and because of the available work, they were able to provide the children with the opportunity to become educated. Because the media continued to use the same phrases as they had used earlier, even the now educated offspring spoke in the same manner.

A dialect is unlike the language from which it is derived, in that the dialect survives, and possibly even thrives, due to its uniqueness. While languages are often conquered and overwhelmed by outside forces, a dialect continues as a source of pride to its users. Many Pittsburghers are proud of their "Pittsburghese" and even promote its usage in commercial ventures.

At the height of its glory, the Roman Empire did not force the cities and people they conquered to speak Latin, but most did anyway, giving up their 'native' language

In order to speak the Roman's more glorified Latin.

"The Romans didn't have a specific policy to force their subjects to speak Latin," says Nicholas Ostler, chairman of the Foundation for Endangered Languages. "But there was a prestige associated with the language in most of their conquered areas -- it was the language of trade and administration -- and anyone who wanted to get on in life had to learn to speak it." (Furniss)

Though the conquered learned to speak Latin, it is probably safe to state that they each had their own unique pronunciation. This is true of dialects in America as well, including Pittsburghese. Unlike the conquered people of the Roman Empire, Americans were not forced to learn English, instead they were influenced by the language use surrounding them. It is a lot like the saying "when in Rome, do as the Romans do," only in this case it would be, "when in Pittsburgh, speak Pittsburghese" and it will probably endear you more readily to the residents there. Much of the historical aspect of Pittsburghese is due to the fact that these immigrants adopted the dialect with which they became most familiar. Andrus states; "The stylized performance of dialect is enhanced by exploring the historical and ideological processes that make resources for these practices available."

If the resources that are available are the ones with which the immigrants were also most familiar, then it only makes sense that the dialect would be adopted into daily use.

Some of the differences of the dialect as compared to others includes the fact that verbs often form passive structures.

Carol Tenny wrote in a recent study that, "Verbs describing psychological states often form passive structures in the English spoken in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania." (Tenny 1998-page 591) She also states that there is no prohibition on verbal passives for non-agentive psych verbs produced by universal grammar principles, but English verbal passives are more felicitous as the verb becomes more eventive.

By speaking in a more verbally passive style, Pittsburghers are quite distinct in their word usage. Pittsburghese includes words that may or may not be recognized in other locales or by people traveling to or through Pittsburgh. Words such as; gesundheit, a word used to express goodwill to a person who has sneezed, or gumband, another word for rubberband are examples of Pittsburghese.

Words that are included in Pittsburghese but are also used throughout the area surrounding Pittsburgh (eastern Ohio and northwest West Virginia) includes; berm, which is the shoulder of the road, and grinnie which is more commonly known as a chipmunk.

Many of the words used in Pittsburghese concern types of foods. Two examples are; golumpki, which are known in other areas as 'a pig in a blanket' (a hot dog wrapped in a biscuit) and butterbread, which is exactly as it sounds, bread that is buttered. Other examples of Pittsburghese as it pertains to foodstuffs are; dippy, which means any food that you can use to dip in (ie; coffee, gravy, eggs etc.) and cruds or crudded milk, which is cottage cheese.

Many of the Scot-Irish that immigrated to the Pittsburgh area not only brought their own unique pronunciation of the English language, but brought diverse and tasty foodstuffs with them as well. Pittsburghese reflects these foods and ties the food and language together and to the area. It is rumored that during the Depression era immigrants to the Pittsburgh area brought with them city chicken, which is scraps of pork or chicken fashioned into a make-shift drumstick. Other words for food found in Pittsburghese includes; chipped ham, very thinly sliced ham for sandwiches and a hoagie, a sandwich sometimes referred to as a sub-or a submarine sandwich. Interested individuals can also sample pierogies, a filled, and usually boiled dumpling, or a kolbassi, another word for sausage, or even jumbo, which is what Pittsburghers call bologna lunchmeat. One of the easiest ways that a person can tell if they are being talked to by a Pittsburgher is when they say "yinz" meaning, of course, you all, or all of you. Individuals from the south may say "yall" but Pittsburghers will not recognize it, since "yinz" is their correct way of saying it.

Other word usage common to Pittsburghese includes; nebby or neb-nosed, meaning that a person is nosy, or slippy which is another way of saying slippery. It is not only the words used that defines Pittsburghese, but the way common words are replaced as well. Oftentimes, Pittsburghers will use short phrases such as "n'at" which is sometimes used to say "you know what I mean, even without me saying it." or, they will reverse the meaning of 'leave, let'. An example of this would be 'leave me go now," or "let the flower vase on the table." Most dialects turn these two words around in their usage.

William Labov conducted a telephone survey that was published in 2006 by Mouton deGuyter that explained many of the idiosyncrasies of many dialects and in particular "Pittsburghese." The sounds of many of the words associated with Pittsburghese were explained by long-term residents of Pittsburgh during the survey. The study broke down the dialect primarily based on the / ay / vs. The / aw / sound and particularly the / ah / replacing the / ow/. An example of this is dahtahn replacing downtown.

Explaining how the Pittsburgh dialect retained its Scots-Irish originality but was accepted into modern day usage as well, Andrus suggests "that social and geographical mobility during the latter half of the twentieth century has played a crucial role in the process." (Andrus pg 79) Initially Pittsburghese was likely to be used to distinguish between social classes.

With the huge influx of immigrants at the turn of the 20th century and the general acceptance by the media of the dialect, it has morphed into something much more concrete and acceptable.

Other experts agree with Andrus, including Barbara Johnstown, a noted expert on Pittsburghese. She says that other sources that influence the way Pittsburghers talk includes the fact that Germans made up a large part of the earliest European population of western Pennsylvania and cites words such as 'gesundheit' and 'sauerkraut' as proof that many of those words still survive in Pittsburghese to this day.

Johnstown agrees with Andrus concerning the Africans that moved to western Pennsylvania and the other immigrants that arrived at the beginning of the 20th century which included Italians, Poles, Slovaks and Jews who brought with them words from their languages including 'babushka', 'salami', 'pierogi', 'halushky' and 'flanken'.

Johnstone states that the more recent influx into Pittsburgh society of Russian immigrants will, at some point, means that their contribution to Pittsburghese will happen in the not too distant future and will add to the colorful dialect already in existence. At that time, Pittsburghers will likely have added even more words from more immigrants, but nonetheless most of them will recognize that Pittsburgh, as it was first established will accept them all graciously.

When the following phrase was penned, "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the said town of Pittsburgh shall be, and the same is hereby, erected into a borough, which shall be called the borough of Pittsburgh for ever" (Carnegie 2006) it is fairly certain that most of the inhabitants cheered and may have even used such a phrase as "yinz are no longer slippy, whenever you did the deed we are redd up for it."

The inhabitants of Pittsburgh at that time probably feasted not only on the words that made them an official city (or borough at least), but may have also feasted on a wide variety of items that are well-known for that area. Some of those foodstuffs have survived unscathed until this day, and many more have been introduced and have become synonymous with Pittsburgh. One of the area favorites is flanken, or in other words, short ribs or flank steak. Flanken is Yiddish for side of beef. This can be prepared over open flames or slow pressure-cooked and covered with special spices.

If the restaurants in the city are any indication, then many of the favorites found in Pittsburgh can also be found in other locales as well. Recently a restaurant was opened at the Pittsburgh airport that featured "local cuisine." This local cuisine included; "salads, panini sandwiches, Chicago-style pizza, beer and wine." (Creative 2005-page 28)

One of the other favorite restaurants touts their desserts and the fact that they use only local ingredients to create their masterpieces. The Cafe at the Frick Art & Historical center in Pittsburgh "boasts an array of mouth watering artisan desserts. The desserts showcase intense flavors composed from, traditional and - most uniquely - strictly seasonal ingredients." (Lefebvre 2006-page 72) Using local ingredients does not set this particular restaurant apart as much as might seem likely, since many of the restaurants in the area tout the same principle, but it does signify an advantage enjoyed by the business' and people of Pittsburgh. That advantage is that much of Pittsburgh unique local flavor, including food, is grown and harvested locally, making it easier, cheaper and more efficient to create the foods that Pittsburgh citizens enjoy.