Is Pittsburghese flattening out?
Some say the region’s heavy accent and dialect have gradually been going away.
But Dr. Scott Kiesling, a linguistics expert at the University of Pittsburgh, tells the Big K Morning Show that the traditional dialect of Pittsburghese is not disappearing, it's evolving in response to demographic, economic, and technological changes.
“Flattening out doesn’t really happen, we really thing that there’s always a dialect and it just changes so, it is definitely changing because that’s what language always does, we always don’t like the way the kids are talking and that’s gone on for generations,” said Dr. Kiesling.
He adds the heavy accent may be fading among younger generations and white-collar professionals.
“The way people say ‘dahntahn’ or ‘cahch’ things like that, that seems to be a little less because people are so aware of them and also ‘yinz’ seems to be less, in terms of actually using it for talking to people, it’s definitely something that people identify with Pittsburgh though,” said Dr. Kiesling.
He says a similar evolution in linguistics can also be heard in the dialect in Baltimore and Philadelphia as well.
