Do People Who Speak "Pittsburghese" Sound Like They're From The South? (comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents some comments about whether or not people who speak "Pittsburghese" sound like they're from the United States South. 

My comment and my daughter's comment are Included in this post. I gleaned all the other comments in this post from discussion threads of four YouTube videos.

The content of this post is presented for linguistic and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

DISCLAIMER: These comments are presented for the linguistic record. They document that some people believe that Pittsburghese sometimes or always sounds Southern to them and other people disagree with that conclusion.

These comments shouldn't be construed to mean that the United States dialect that is commonly known as "Pittsburghese" actually sounded like or sounds like an accent or more than one accent from the southern region of the United States.

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This is part of an ongoing pancocojams post about United States dialects in general and African American dialects in particular. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/01/black-pittsburghers-and-pittsburghese.html for a closely related pancocojams post entitled "Black Pittsburghers And "Pittsburghese" Accents & Words (article excerpts)".

Alco, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/01/accent-tag-videos-of-black-woman-and.html for two accent tag videos of people from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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BRIEF INFORMATION ABOUT PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh
"Pittsburgh ... is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the second-most populous city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia and the 68th-most populous city in the U.S. with a population of 302,971 as of the 2020 census. The city anchors the Pittsburgh metropolitan area of Western Pennsylvania; its population of 2.457 million is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U.S. Pittsburgh is the principal city of the greater Pittsburgh–Weirton–Steubenville combined statistical area that extends into two neighboring states, Ohio and West Virginia.

[...]

Regional identity

Pittsburgh falls within the borders of the Northeastern United States as defined by multiple US Government agencies. Pittsburgh is the principal city of the Pittsburgh Combined Statistical Area, a Combined statistical area defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Pittsburgh falls within the borders of Appalachia as defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission, and has long been characterized as the "northern urban industrial anchor of Appalachia."[67] In its post-industrial state, Pittsburgh has been characterized as the "Paris of Appalachia",[68][69][70][71] recognizing the city's cultural, educational, healthcare, and technological resources, and is the largest city in Appalachia.

[...]

By the 2020 census, the population slightly declined further to 302,971.[116] Its racial and ethnic makeup in 2020 was 64.7% non-Hispanic white, 23.0% Black or African American, 5.8% Asian, and 3.2% Hispanic or Latino American of any race"...
-snip-
For comparison, click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia for information about Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which is located in Eastern Pennsylvania about six hour by car away from Pittsburgh.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE 
I realize that there are multiple accents that can be referred to as "Southern (United States) accents. 

The purposes of this pancocojams post isn't to prove or disprove whether people who live in  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (and people who are from Pittsburgh) and speak particular ways that are labeled "Pittsburghese" sound like they are "from the South". Instead, this post documents some examples of comments that I found on that subject in several YouTube discussion threads on "Pittsburghese".

Here's a comment that I wrote in January 2024 and added in response to a comment in this YouTube video's discussion thread: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVehhCdk1LI "The Most Authentic Pittsburgh Accent You Will Ever Hear" published by HLN, Feb 20, 2015

"@normaniii8498, i'm African American and have lived in Pittsburgh (Homewood, the Hill, and East Liberty) for 45 years. I have NEVER heard any Black person in Pittsburgh or its surrounding area say "yinz" or "yinzer" and I don't recall hearing any Black person from here say "yunz". The first White person I heard say "yinz" (and "redd up" -another Pittsburghese word that I haven't heard Black people say) was a youngish middle age White woman at work in downtown Pittsburgh who was very proud of her Irish ancestry. Instead of "yinz" I believe that most Black Pittsburgers say "y'all. We (Black Pittsburghers) do say "pop" like other people in Pittsburgh instead of saying "soda" which I was used to saying since I'm from Atlantic City, New Jersey. Also, Black folks in Pittsburgh say "hoagie" (like other Pittsburghers) instead of "subs" which I was used to saying in Atlantic City. I'm stuck on those terms for sandwiches because I bought a "sub" yesterday from a Pittsburgh neighborhood deli which labeled that type of sandwich a "Yinzer". The deli is in a mostly White neighborhood in Pittsburgh (Morningside) but their sandwiches are the closest that I've found to the subs I remember from Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Also, when I first came to Pittsburgh in 1969 I thought that people in this city regardless of race sounded like they were from the South. Now I've gotten use to the way people talk here, and I can't tell the difference. But now my family in New Jersey say I sound like I'm from the South.

I'd love to "hear" from other people about the racial differences that they've experienced in the words that people use in Pittsburgh and elsewhere and/or how those words sound differently even if they are spelled the same."

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I've added similar comment to the discussion threads of a few other YouTube videos and will not include those comments to this pancocojams post. 

Here's what my adult daughter (who was born and raised in Pittsburgh and still lives here) said when I told her about the subject of this pancocojams post that I was working on. (This comment has not been published anywhere else online but in this pancocojams post).

Tazi Hughes, January 11, 2024
"Someone I met when I was in Philadelphia for a convention asked me where I was from and told me that I sound like I was from "the country". I said “Really? I’m from Pittsburgh.” I know why they said it ‘cause they were from Philly and Philly has a hard accent like New York does too. 

I think “Y’all is a "country word”. White people say “yinz”. But Cleveland sounds much more Southern than Pittsburgh.”

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SELECTED ONLINE COMMENTS ABOUT THIS SUBJECT FROM VARIOUS YOUTUBE DISCUSSION THREADS

The YouTube discussion threads for these comments are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes online.

DISCUSSION THREAD #1
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SruMKGoj71M&t=3s " #Real Thick Accent: Southside Pittsburgh Dialect" by People Like Us - The CNAM Channel, Dec 13, 2016

Old time white working-class Pittsburgh accents as spoken by three women in their 60s, recorded Summer 1985. Unedited video capture of this unique dialect, suitable for actors and students of linguistics. From The AMERICAN TONGUES Archive.

1. @BrokenGodEnt, 2019
"They sound a little southern, but besides that they don't really have a very pronounced accent imo."

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 2. @pagandiety, 2020
"BrokenGod Ent. its the words they use"

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3. @thorr18BEM, 2020
"At 0:13 her pronunciation of "down" sounds like "dahn" to me. I hear an accent that could not be missed. It's not every word but it's there."

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4. @OttoBongBoy, 2020
"Definitely not southern at all"

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DISCUSSION THREAD #2
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcBiLDAfmVA "S**t Pittsburgher's Say Pittsburghese", published by Addicted to TV, Feb 19, 2012

 Written by John Dave & Maria of the Q92.9 Morning Show Pittsburgh.
-snip-
*This is how this title is written on YouTube.

1. @LiamJude, 2013
"Were not freakin southerners lol. This is really far fetched."

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2.@NicoleBailey24, 2013
"We don't sound southern ."

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3. @OrphanIzzy, 2014
"Yeah... Uh, no.  Not very accurate from a native Pburgher.  Sorry."

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4. @cmahammer, 2014
"Skinnier guy w/ the receding hairline is the best version.  Girl is terrible."

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5. @edg6762, 2017
"Christopher Anderson she goes from sounding like Cincinnati to Kentucky. Terrible"
-snip-
Cincinnati, Ohio

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6. @sakurya972, 2015
"I just heard about Pittsburgh having an accent. Is it just me or do they sound Irish? Can anyone explain the accent? Curious Canadian here."

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7. @bulldog81ful, 2015
"Part of the reason why you here an "Irishy" twang to it is because the Scots - Irish or Ulster - Scots settled in Pittsburgh before trekking   further south into Appalachia and the Southwest. It's really more of a Scottish accent  to be precise."

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8. @user-ud7xm5rx3t, 2016
"no"

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9. @edg6762, 2017
"Sakurya these accents are more ranging from Cincinnati accents or even Eastern Kentucky accents. they are not consistent.

that said the Pittsburgh accent is heavily Scottish influenced. scotch Irish"

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10. @shaunthompson5581, 2015
"The girls definitely sound the most realistic but not everyone talks like that here"

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11. @edg6762, 2017
"shaun thompson no she sounds Southern"

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12. @ilikethisand.2016
"It sounds like a southern accent mixed with an Australian accent and a Canadian accent"

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13. @draufgaenger9226, 2016
"The one fat guy just sounds like a southerner which isn't pittsburghese. Most everyone else sounded pretty accurate."

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14. @edg6762,2017
"Draufgaenger no they didn't. girl sounded Southern!"

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15. @edg6762,2017
"And if you want to get specific, what gave away their non local sound is the fact they say "Dan" for down instead of "dahn". It's Dahntahn not Dantan. They sound more like Eastern Kentucky than actual Pittsburgh. At least get the monophthong right"

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16. @edg6762, 2017
"these people were doing Baltimore accents. not Pittsburgh whatsoever. in fact they sounded like half Wisconsin half Baltimore. even each person sounded different. the girl sounded like she was from the South!"

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17. @redcomic619,2018
"This sounds like a Chicago, Boston or Southern accent depending on who is talking."

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18. @gigglebits616 , 2018
"I lived in Pittsburgh my whole life and I definitely have an accent, but these people sound more southern

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19. @jaymorris9952, 2019
" Giggle Bits  southern? Wtf are you talking about"

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20. @leonacoburn5852, 2023
"​@gigglebits616 Well ,we are by the Appalachian mountains, so we also have mountain talk

J'eet yet?

J'wantto?

Did you eat yet?

Do you want to?"

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21. @brennangum6236,2019
"The vernacular wasnt bad but people from the burgh dont have that twang in their accents. There is definitely pittsburgh vocab I use that I didnt realize was pretty local... Like jagoff, jaggerbush, buggie, pap, redd up is a big one and I didnt realize it was local until I asked people at work in NY to redd up and they had no clue what I was saying, hoagie, hit the bricks, chipped ham, pronouncing ow's like ah's but no southern twang."

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22. @robinchesterfield42, 2020
"It's...it's like Nyew Yawk and some form of southernish drawl had an unholy baby with Minnewegian, and then you dipped the whole thing in....ALIEN I don't know.  Some things I can see how they're related to other accents, and others...Pittsburghese is apparently just its own thing.  Wow."

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23. @VividFilmProductions, 2021
"It’s basically Canadian mixed with American southern"

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24. @merccadoosis8847, 2021
"some of that stuff sounds like a southern drawl"

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25. @mariowalker9048, 2022
"It sounds like a great  lakes accent mixed with Southern Appalachia"

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DISCUSSION THREAD #3
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO_tMLAUNhE "Pittsburghese English As Spoken in Pittsburgh", published by Brices Mice, Nov 2, 2014

Found this awesome Robot at the Heinz Museum in Pittsburgh, who could speak "Pittsburghese" !  What a delight!

1. @jimbrooks3370, 2015, 2015
"Until I went to college, I had no idea that we southwestern Pennsylvanians were the only people that called rubber bands "gum bands" or called shopping carts "buggies". I'll also never forget how shocked I was that the lady at the deli counter had no idea what I was talking about when I asked for half a pound of chipped ham. I just thought to myself, "Jeez! What kinda place is yinz runnin' dahn here?!" "

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2, @krazyj2010, 2018
"My family’s from KY and WV and we call shopping carts “buggies”, haha!"
-snip-
KY = Kentucky
WV= West Virginia

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3. @shycheyenne9460, 2019
"Lol, sounds a lot like Kentucky 😁"

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4. @lisacox3750, 2019
"I’m from Kentucky and this is true in certain areas. I find the accent strange because it sounds Southern but then kind of Chicago too. Interesting.

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5. @chazzkramer7676, 2021
" Brices Mice  Leave PA, go anywhere else and ask "Do yinz havennny pop?" Whatcha the reaction!"

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6. @jamesslick4790, 2023
"Chazz Kramer  Nope: Eastern PA uses "soda" No one in Philly uses the word "pop". But go to Chicago and its called "pop". Pittsburgh and Chicago also share the GREAT word "jagoff". What Chicagoan's might not know is the word  "Hoagie". The word "Hoagie" is just about the ONLY thing Pittsburgh shares with Philadelphia, It seems "hoagie" is strictly a PA word for such a sammich that the rest of the US calls a "sub". Pittsburgh is TECHNICALLY "Northeast", yet borders the SOUTH, But is "Culturally" Midwest. You will hear "pop" versus "soda" all over the Midwest!"

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7. @shycheyenne9460, 2019
"Lol, sounds a lot like Kentucky 😁"

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8. @lisacox3750, 2019
"I’m from Kentucky and this is true in certain areas. I find the accent strange because it sounds Southern but then kind of Chicago too. Interesting.

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9. @Seiferboi, 2019
"Found this is I was browsing Pittsburghese. I guess I was spelling y'ns wrong, because I've been spelling it youins lol! That's how my granddad says the word. The guys doing the voice at times sounds like a southerner, and other times sounds like he's from Jersey!"

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10. @paulmiller677, 2019
"PENNSYLTUCKY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

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 DISCUSSION THREAD #4
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVehhCdk1LI 
"The Most Authentic Pittsburgh Accent You Will Ever Hear" published by HLN, Feb 20, 2015

@Hrothgar98. 2016
"This guy's speech here doesn't reflect an "accent", as much as it does Pittsburgh slang, argot and regional dialect. But I have noticed that there is a distinct Pittsburgh accent, and it seems to contain elements of American southern/Appalachian (Virginia - North Carolina), German (Bavaria) and even a smattering of good ol' Bawlmer (Baltimore)."

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@Happy63funny, 2017
"Pretty good accent. The accent is weird to allot of people; but it comes from the unique mixing of ethnicities in the burgh. Polish, Slovak, German, Irish, African American, and many others."

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@Nicole-kq7rm, 2018
"Happy63funny cause we are the melting pot, burgh life"

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@eqbrim, 2018
"Curious, I know it mostly comes down from Pennsylvania Dutch which is pretty much German. Then Irish, and Polish. What part of the accent is shaped from African American?"

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@eqbrim, 2018
" Shade Slayer  As for the Music, you are absolutely correct with the roots being African American. The examples you provided for the Pittsburghese comes from Europe. I dont know the origins of 'Y'all' but i do know that Yinz came from the Scots-irish. The south had no influence on Pittsburghese."

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@michaelalancope9729,2019
"eqbrim then lets not call it Pittsburghese then. Lets call it Europeanease because obviously we are only talking about European-American accent because Pittsburgh as plenty of African-Americans there that talk nothing like this guy"

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@tpresto9862, 2023
"Jag comes from Scot-Irish (to jag is to provoke someone).  Yinz cames from Scottish settlers who would say "You ones" instead of "you" to plauralize "you."  "You Ones" turned into you-uns, which became yunz and eventally yinz."

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@belowaveragejoh, 2019
"It’s like a mix of Baltimore and Welsh"

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@dalepeto9620, 2020
"Don't know what Welsh sounds like, but I think it's Brooklyn and West Verginny southern hillbilly tawk. We're close to WV."

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@christophercomer1877, 2020
" Dale Peto  Definitely a Northeast/Appalachian accent"

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@sylviaross5486, 2021
"I'm a native of Sand Mountain in northeastern Alabama, in southern Appalachia. Just watched the movie State of Play, where I heard them say “Yinzer” several times. I looked this word up, & found out some native Pittsburghers are of Scots-Irish – or as we say it, Scotch-Irish – descent. Some of their vernacular is either very similar or identical to words I grew up with: 2nd person plural Pittsburghese yinz/yunz; 2nd person plural South Appalachia yunz/you-uns; wash in Pittsburghese warsh; South Appalachia warsh; shopping cart Pittsburghese buggy; South Appalachia buggy. This is amazing! I had no idea these words dated all the way back to Scotland & Northern Ireland!"

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@roastbeef9619, 2022
"I’m also from Sand Mountain.  The similarities are pretty spooky"

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@mayavenuemisfit814, 2022
"The accent is more noticeable and pronounced in the immediate Pittsburgh area, but if you draw a circle with Erie at the north, Morgantown, WV to the south, Altoona to the east, and Youngstown, Ohio to the west, about 90% of those living inside that circle speak various "Pixburghese" derivatives"
-snip-
Erie and Altoona are cities in the state of Pennsylvania.

WV= the state of West Virginia

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #5
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX4kxkV5kxQ "Pittsburghese: The Story of a Dialect" published by Carnegie Mellon University's Dietrich College, Nov 1, 2013

What's in a word? Plenty, if you're from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where phrases like "Yinz going dahntahn to watch dem Stillers?" are symbols of local identity.

 A new book by Carnegie Mellon University's Barbara Johnstone uncovers that there is much more to "Pittsburghese" than how native western Pennsylvanians speak. Speaking Pittsburghese: The Story of a Dialect traces the history of Pittsburgh's language as it is imagined and used by Pittsburghers. Johnstone asks why the city's words and expressions are so strongly linked to local identity that Pittsburghese is alluded to almost every time people talk about what Pittsburgh is like or what it means to be from the area.

1. @mrs.lionheart1403. 2014
" "yinz" is used in some areas of the south too", I heard it first in Arkansas."

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@Cathyladybug, 2015
"Oh I know thats right. Im from upstate SC born n raised, I say yuns mire than yall and sometimes it sounds like yins or yens. But tou dont hear it too often around here, except by the very few that keep the "old south" speak alive. Its goin extinct nowadays."
-snip-
"SC" = South Carolina

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #6 - 
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWMeZT16IHU "Pittsburghese: sayings, lingo and accents in Pittsburgh"  published by Lifey, Aug 13, 2013

Pittsburghese: sayings, lingo and accents in Pittsburgh….

1. @DaveEvans17, 2014
"Lots of similarities to a Southern accent. We use "buggies" too. "

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2. @MeadeSkeltonMusic, 2016
"+Dave Evans it sounds nothing like southern to me."

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3. @RandomPlayIist, 2014
"You have the terms down and explained it well but your accent was off.  It sounded too southern."

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4. @Nelphoto, 2015
"Yinz better Red up 'em rooms 'fore I leave yinz go to da movies!

I'm goin dahn na Sahside to watch da stillers game

I'm havin a jumbo sammich a pop for lunch today

Yinz wanna take the incline up to Mahnt Worshington?

I'm going to da biir store in S'Liberty to pick up some Irns n'at!

Goin ta gin' igle to pick up some  Isly's chipchoped ham

Yinz should really git ahda da has more!

I'm headin' Dahntahn to do my Christmas shoppin'

Haas come yinz aint watchin' da buccos?

Careful aht dere. Roads are rill slippy

I'm goin dahna strip to grab a pramanti's samich

Hey! 'At Jaggoff cut me off!

Jeet jet? No jew?"

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5. @msparis, 2016
"Yes! 😂😂😂😂"

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