Books on the language and culture of the MidAtlantic region.
We’ve never had a book that quickly and simply describes the Philadelphia dialect…until now! Yo! How to Speak Philadelphian will teach you the basics of Philadelphia words and pronunciations, from classics like hoagie, wooder, and iggles, to all the complicated rules behind the way we use short a. You’ll learn how native speakers almost got into fistfights over word pairs like ferry-furry, bounce-balance, and mayor-mare. You’ll learn our grammatical quirks like youse, positive anymore, and done your homework. And you’ll find a mini-dictionary that covers everything from historic local terms like squares and baby coach to newer words like mac machine and jawn.
Claudio Salvucci has been researching the Philadelphia dialect for over 30 years, from obscure historical references to the latest scientific studies. He has written numerous books and articles on local languages and spent most of his life in the Delaware Valley before finding peace and quiet in the Poconos.
Claudio Salvucci has been researching the Philadelphia dialect for over 30 years, from obscure historical references to the latest scientific studies. He has written numerous books and articles on local languages and spent most of his life in the Delaware Valley before finding peace and quiet in the Poconos.