Author: Barbara Johnstone Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0199374910 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 288
Book Description
This book explores the history of Pittsburghese, the language of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area as it is imagined and used by Pittsburghers. Pittburghese is linked to local identity so strongly that it is alluded to almost every time people talk about what Pittsburgh is like, or what it means to be a Pittsburgher. But what happened during the second half of the 20th century to reshape a largely unnoticed way of speaking into this highly visible urban "dialect"? In this book, sociolinguist Barbara Johnstone focuses on this question. Treating Pittsburghese as a cultural product of talk, writing, and other forms of social practice, Johnstone shows how non-standard pronunciations, words, and bits of grammar used in the Pittsburgh area were taken up into a repertoire of words and phrases and a vocal style that has become one of the most resonant symbols of local identity in the United States today.
Author: Barbara Johnstone Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG ISBN: 1614511780 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 124
Book Description
Linguists have sporadically noted peculiarities of pronunciation, lexis and morphosyntax in the speech of European Americans in the Pittsburgh area, and Pittsburgh speech, locally known as “Pittsburghese”, has been a topic of discussion in the Pittsburgh area for decades. This variety has never before been systematically documented, however. The first and only scholarly book to describe Pittsburgh-area varieties of English, Pittsburgh Speech and Pittsburghese is an essential reference tool for anyone studying the dialect of the Pittsburgh area and the only textbook choice for anyone teaching about it.
Author: Joe Wos Publisher: ISBN: 9780976244264 Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
The Three Little Pigsburghers is the first children's book to be written in Pittsburghese! (You can learn more about Pittsburghese in our video section.) Written and illustrated by Joe Wos, the book follows the traditional story of "The Three Little Pigs" -- but with a distinctly Pittsburgh twist. The pigs' father plays for the Stillers (sort of). The Big Bad Wuff is a Cleveland fan, of course, and likes to go arahn blowin' hauses dahn! The book requires a primer in Pittsburghese and includes a special Yinzernary that translates key words into the uniquely Pittsburgh dialect. It all began as a challenge of sorts. Joe was performing at a storytelling festival in Florida. Each of the storytellers agreed to tell a story in the round, in a different language. The story was toldin Spanish, Cherokee, Russian and -- finally, when it came to Joe, he realized he only knew one other language besides English ... his true native tounge as a Yinzer -- Pittsburghese. The off-the-cuff language lesson and story left an impression on the other storytellers. But it would be 10 years before he would revisit the idea, which led to the writing of the Three Little Pigsburghers. Joe views his latest endeavor as more than just an easy gag, believing that creating a children's book helps preserve a dialect that has an important place in Pittsburgh culture. The book is geared toward children and adults. It's a handy, fun book for locals, fans and expatriates of Pittsburgh! The book is filled with Pittsburgh references and a few inside gags that Joe won't reveal just yet. The book also features a foreword by Rick Sebak.
Author: Chris Preksta Publisher: Penguin ISBN: 0142181722 Category : Humor Languages : en Pages : 177
Book Description
When Pittsburgh Dad debuted on YouTube, creators Chris Preksta and Curt Wootton little suspected their sitcom would receive more than sixteen million views and turn their blue-collar everyman into a nationally known figure. Illustrated with hilarious black-and-white photos, Pittsburgh Dad shares the best of the best, from rants about swimming pool rules to reflections on coaching little league to curmudgeonly movie reviews. With its heavy dose of nostalgia and pitch-perfect sensibility, Pittsburgh Dad will have readers laughing in recognition, especially those who love recent blockbusters like Sh*t My Dad Says and Dad Is Fat.
Author: Tammy Pasterick Publisher: She Writes Press ISBN: 1647421926 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 379
Book Description
It’s Pittsburgh, 1910—the golden age of steel in the land of opportunity. Eastern European immigrants Janos and Karina Kovac should be prospering, but their American dream is fading faster than the colors on the sun-drenched flag of their adopted country. Janos is exhausted from a decade of twelve-hour shifts, seven days per week, at the local mill. Karina, meanwhile, thinks she has found an escape from their run-down ethnic neighborhood in the modern home of a mill manager—until she discovers she is expected to perform the duties of both housekeeper and mistress. Though she resents her employer’s advances, they are more tolerable than being groped by drunks at the town’s boarding house. When Janos witnesses a gruesome accident at his furnace on the same day Karina learns she will lose her job, the Kovac family begins to unravel. Janos learns there are people at the mill who pose a greater risk to his life than the work itself, while Karina—panicked by the thought of returning to work at the boarding house—becomes unhinged and wreaks a path of destruction so wide that her children are swept up in the storm. In the aftermath, Janos must rebuild his shattered family with the help of an unlikely ally. Impeccably researched and deeply human, Beneath the Veil of Smoke and Ash delivers a timeless message about mental illness while paying tribute to the sacrifices America’s immigrant ancestors made.
Author: Michael R. Shaughnessy Publisher: Arcadia Publishing ISBN: 1439618518 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 128
Book Description
German Pittsburgh explores the multifaceted cultural history of German-speaking immigrants and residents in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Today over one quarter of the city’s residents claim German heritage, the largest ethnic group in the region. German-speaking Pittsburghers include names like H. J. Heinz, Honus Wagner, and the Kaufmanns, and they produced beloved Pittsburgh beers such as Iron City and Penn Pilsner. It might be surprising to know that German was an official language of the city at one time, and a daily German newspaper was printed from the mid-1800s up through World War II. Today remnants of the German-speaking community can be found on the North Side, the South Side, Troy Hill, and Mount Oliver, to name a few. German Pittsburgh provides an overview of the contributions that this diverse ethnic community has made and is making today in the city.
Author: Robert Macneil Publisher: Nan A. Talese ISBN: 0307423573 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 242
Book Description
Is American English in decline? Are regional dialects dying out? Is there a difference between men and women in how they adapt to linguistic variations? These questions, and more, about our language catapulted Robert MacNeil and William Cran—the authors (with Robert McCrum) of the language classic The Story of English—across the country in search of the answers. Do You Speak American? is the tale of their discoveries, which provocatively show how the standard for American English—if a standard exists—is changing quickly and dramatically. On a journey that takes them from the Northeast, through Appalachia and the Deep South, and west to California, the authors observe everyday verbal interactions and in a host of interviews with native speakers glean the linguistic quirks and traditions characteristic of each area. While examining the histories and controversies surrounding both written and spoken American English, they address anxieties and assumptions that, when explored, are highly emotional, such as the growing influence of Spanish as a threat to American English and the special treatment of African-American vernacular English. And, challenging the purists who think grammatical standards are in serious deterioration and that media saturation of our culture is homogenizing our speech, they surprise us with unpredictable responses. With insight and wit, MacNeil and Cran bring us a compelling book that is at once a celebration and a potent study of our singular language. Each wave of immigration has brought new words to enrich the American language. Do you recognize the origin of 1. blunderbuss, sleigh, stoop, coleslaw, boss, waffle? Or 2. dumb, ouch, shyster, check, kaput, scram, bummer? Or 3. phooey, pastrami, glitch, kibbitz, schnozzle? Or 4. broccoli, espresso, pizza, pasta, macaroni, radio? Or 5. smithereens, lollapalooza, speakeasy, hooligan? Or 6. vamoose, chaps, stampede, mustang, ranch, corral? 1. Dutch 2. German 3. Yiddish 4. Italian 5. Irish 6. Spanish
Author: Barbara Johnstone
Author: Sam McCool
Author: Barbara Johnstone
Author: Barbara Johnstone
Author: Barbara Johnstone
Author: Joe Wos
Author: Chris Preksta
Author: Tammy Pasterick
Author: Michael R. Shaughnessy
Author: Robert Macneil