Philadelphia English

Philadelphia English is the variety or dialect of American English spoken in Philadelphia and extending into Philadelphia's suburbs in the Delaware Valley as well as South Jersey and many parts of Central Jersey. It is one of the best-studied accents of American English, as Philadelphia's University of Pennsylvania is the home institution of William Labov, one of the most productive American sociolinguists. Philadelphia English is very similar to Baltimore English; however, Philadelphia English differs in that it shares some distinct features with New York City English and to a lesser extent other regions of the United States, although it is its own unique dialect region.

The Philadelphia Dialect includes the dialects of nearby Reading, Pennsylvania and the Wilmington, Delaware / northern Delaware area, areas which are generally considered within the Delaware Valley or Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. The Philadelphia Dialect also includes the dialect spoken in South Jersey and South Jersey cities such as Atlantic City. Philadelphia Dialect is related to the dialect spoken in Baltimore, Maryland, together with which it constitutes what Labov describes as the "Mid-Atlantic dialect".[1]

The Philadelphia accent is commonly heard amongst the Irish American and Italian American working-class neighborhoods and its surrounding cities and suburbs. Conversely, Philadelphia speakers further up the SES scale show a somewhat stronger tendency to lose distinctive dialect features (or attenuate them in the direction of General American) than is true in the neighboring dialect areas of Baltimore and New York.

According to Barbara Johnstone, a professor of English and linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University, migration patterns and geography create the origin of the dialect. The Philadelphia area dialect was influenced by immigrants from Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.[2]

Scope

Due to the fact that the accent is often considered to be the toughest to emulate,[3] actual Philadelphia dialects are seldom heard nationally. Movies and television depictions often substitute a New York or a General American accent. Natives who work in media and entertainment often assimilate to the General American broadcast standard. Speakers with a noticeable local accent include Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC's Mad Money,[4] singer Joe Bonsall, political commentator Chris Matthews,[5] Bam Margera,[4] and several others in the MTV Jackass crew. In addition, the Philadelphia accent can be heard prominently in many of the songs of the Philadelphia area bands The Dead Milkmen, Bloodhound Gang, and G. Love & Special Sauce. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent much of his youth in the Philadelphia area, and his English is influenced by a Philadelphia accent. Venezuelan American actress Sonya Smith, who was born in Philadelphia, speaks with a Philadelphia accent in both English and Venezuelan Spanish.

Movies and television shows set in the Philadelphia region generally make the mistake of giving the characters a working class New York dialect (specifically heard in films set in Philadelphia such as the Rocky series, Invincible, and A History of Violence). A contrary example is the character of Lynn Sear (played by Toni Collette) in The Sixth Sense, who speaks with an accurate Philadelphia dialect. In the film Sleepers, Kevin Bacon, a Philadelphia native, uses an exaggerated Philadelphia accent for the character of Sean Nokes.

The use of geographically inaccurate dialects is also true in movies and television programs set in Atlantic City or any other region of South Jersey; the characters often use a supposed "Joisey" dialect, when in reality that New York-influenced dialect for New Jersey natives is almost always exclusive to the extreme northeastern region of the state nearest New York City. An important factor here is that in the real world, "local" TV, political, and sports personalities in South Jersey and part of Central Jersey are culturally associated with Philadelphia, not New York City.

The accent is generally spoken in Southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and Northern Delaware, but it is not uncommon to hear the accent being spoken as far north as Pottsville, PA and as far south as Lewes, DE.

Linguistic features

Pronunciation

Vowels

The vowels in Philadelphia speech show a remarkable degree of volatility. Labov's extensive research has identified changes affecting over half of the vowel phonemes. In regional terms, Philadelphia shows an interesting mixture of Northeastern and Midland patterns.

Consonants

Phonemic incidence

Lexicon

There are a number of slang terms and other lexical items associated with the City of Philadelphia, its surrounding counties, and South Jersey.

For example, a sandwich consisting of a long bread filled with lunch meat, cheese, and lettuce, onion and tomato, variously called a "sub" or "submarine sandwich" in other parts of the United States, is called a hoagie. Olive oil, rather than mayonnaise, is used as a topping, and "hot" or "sweet" peppers are used for spice. The term 'hoagie' originated in Philadelphia.[14][15][16] A similar sandwich toasted in an oven or broiler is called a grinder.[17][18]

Small chocolate or multi-colored confections sprinkled on ice cream and cake icing, elsewhere called sprinkles are known as jimmies in the Philadelphia area, as well as in the Boston (although only chocolate ones are Jimmies in Boston) and Pittsburgh areas.

The interjection yo originated in the Philadelphia dialect among Italian American and African American youths. The word is commonly used as a greeting or a way to get someone's attention.[19][20][21]

Many Philadelphians are known to use the expression "youse" both as second person plural and (rarely) second person singular pronoun, much like the mostly Southern / Western expression "y'all" or the Pittsburgh term, "yinz". "Youse" (often "youse guys" when addressing multiple people) is common in many working class northeastern areas, but is often associated with Philadelphia especially. The pronunciation reflects vowel reduction more often than not, yielding /jəz/ and /jz/ ("yiz") just as often as the stereotypical /juːz/. (ex: "Yiz want anything at the store?" "Yiz guys alright over there?").[22][23][24][25] Second person singular forms commonly are heard as /jə/ and /j/. Although enthusiasts celebrating the accent's distinctiveness like to point out that instances of terminal /z/ in singular use occur, it is inaccurate to say they are common.

Anymore is used as a positive polarity item, e.g. "Joey's hoagies taste different anymore."[26]

Notable examples of native speakers

Lifelong speakers

Marginal speakers

See also

References

  1. Labov, William (2007) "Transmission and Diffusion", Language June 2007 p. 64
  2. Malady, Matthew J.X. (2014-04-29). "Where Yinz At; Why Pennsylvania is the most linguistically rich state in the country.". The Slate Group. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  3. http://matadornetwork.com/life/12-things-didnt-know-philadelphia/
  4. 1 2 Loviglio, Joann. "RESEARCHERS TRACK EVOLUTION OF PHILLY'S ODD ACCENT". AP. AP. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  5. Trawick-Smith, Ben. "The Overlooked Philadelphia Accent". 15 July 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  6. Fruehwald, Josef (2007). "The Spread of Raising". College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania
  7. Gordon, Matthew (2004) "New York, Philadelphia and other Northern Cities" in Kortmann, Bernd & Schneider, Edgar W. (Eds.) A Handbook of Varieties of English: Volume 1: Phonology Walter de Gruyter ISBN 3-11-017532-0 p. 290
  8. 1 2 3 4 Quinn, Jim (1997). "Phillyspeak". Philadelphia City Paper. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  9. Labov (2001), p. 123
  10. 1 2 3 New York Times Sunday Review, Loose Ends "The Sound of Philadelphia Fades Out" Daniel Nester March 1, 2014
  11. Rocco Dal Vera Rhoticity Study, Rocco Dal Vera on Rhotic and Non-Rhotic English Accents
  12. Barrist, Adam (2009), "The Concrete Lawyer" ISBN 978-1-4401-6573-3
  13. Wolfram and Ward, p. 90.
  14. Kenneth Finkel, ed., Philadelphia Almanac and Citizen’s Manual, (Philadelphia: The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1995) page 86.
  15. "Philly Via Italy", thirtyfourthstreetmagazine, April 17, 2007, page 9.
  16. "The Submarine Sandwich: Lexical Variations in a Cultural Context," Eames & Robboy, American Speech, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Dec., 1967), pp. 279–288
  17. Eames, Edwin and Howard Robboy. American Speech, Vol. 42, No. 4. "The Submarine Sandwich: Lexical Variations in a Cultural Context"
  18. "A Hoagie By Any Other Name" (PDF). Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  19. "Sorry, New York, 'Yo' Was Born in Philadelphia". The New York Times. August 19, 1993. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  20. How they Talk in Philadelphia
  21. Dalzell, Tom (1996). Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam Webster. ISBN 0-87779-612-2.
  22. My sweet | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/03/2008
  23. Push and Pull of Immigration: Letters from Home – Johnstown Heritage Discovery Center
  24. PhillyTalk.com – Philly Slang
  25. Tony Luke’s: The New Yorker
  26. Labov, Ash, & Boberg (2006), p.293
  27. Rogers, John (October 25, 2010). "Gloria Allred: The attorney people love to hate". Ventura County Star. Journal Media Group.
  28. Smith, Lynn (December 30, 2002). "He's got game". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times.
  29. Buckley, Tom (July 23, 1989). "HIS WIVES AND OTHER STRANGERS". The New York Times. The New York Times Company.
  30. http://www.phillymag.com/tag/bob-brady/
  31. Morrison, John (2014). "Comedian David Brenner, 78, was a uniquely Philly guy". Philly.com. Interstate General Media, LLC.
  32. ""Mad Money" Host Jim Cramer Will Film Show With Villanova Business Students". MetroMBA. MetroMBA. Apr 29, 2013.
  33. http://articles.philly.com/2009-12-10/sports/25269568_1_tim-donaghy-nba-referee-son-of-sam-laws
  34. Smith, Ben (2008). "Labor Confronts Race Issue". Politico. Capitol News Company LLC.
  35. Thompson, Gary (April 13, 2012). "Stooges story". Philadelphia Daily News. Philadelphia Media Network, LLC.
  36. http://www.phillymag.com/articles/veterans-day-guarnere-heffron-band-of-brothers/
  37. Johnson, Michelle (2003). "The Godfather of Stand-Up". The Age. Fairfax Media Limited.
  38. Rutledge, Stephen (September 22, 2015). "#BornThisDay: Musician, Joan Jett". The Wow Report. World of Wonder Productions, LLC.
  39. Martinez, Pedro; Silverman, Michael (2015). Pedro. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 154. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  40. http://articles.philly.com/2011-08-12/sports/29880807_1_herb-magee-head-coach-high-school-coach
  41. Craig Lyndall (January 14, 2015). "Mike Mayock talks about Cardale Jones’ NFL draft stock". waitingfornextyear.com. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  42. Stone, Andrea (2010). "Pennsylvania Grudge Match: Iraq Vet Patrick Murphy Battles Old GOP Foe". Huffington Post (Politics Daily). AOL, Inc.
  43. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nTMEirKUw-QC&pg=PA143&lpg=PA143&dq=noam+chomsky+philadelphia+accent&source=bl&ots=-EfYwqOXG-&sig=_WZ0W2_CZDnECi27ITGleLFb9wc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBGoVChMItNSMg9v3yAIVxlUaCh3OSg1S#v=onepage&q=noam%20chomsky%20philadelphia%20accent&f=false
  44. Kark, Chris (2004). "Concert review: G-Love stirs the special sauce". ASU Web Devil.
  45. http://www.phillymag.com/articles/features-how-to-speak-philadelphian-accent-on-chris-matthews/
  46. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/philadelphians-have-a-unique-accent-with-pronunciation-evolving-over-the-decades/2013/04/29/fcfe7b18-ae74-11e2-98ef-d1072ed3cc27_story.html

External links

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