Philadelphia English
Labov's "A Life of Learning Recording"
Labov's ACLS keynote speech "A Life of Learning," which includes famous audio from Martha's Vineyard, Harlem, Philadelphia. [Published on 05-01-2026]
Kroll Show - Welcome to Pawnsylvania
Play videoA skit from the Kroll Show featuring a pawn shop owner from Philadelphia (played by Nick Kroll, who is from New York) and from Pittsburgh (played by an actor I don't recognize). The actors use stereotypical features of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh English. The video naturally recalls Barbara Johnstone's work on the enregisterment of Pittsburghese.
My Mother, Whenever She Passed Away, She Had Pneumonia
I have a good friend from West Virginia. Before knowing him I had never heard the use of "whenever" in a sentence like "Whenever we used to go to the lake as kids we would eat lots of popsicles." I would say something like "When we used to go to the lake as kids we would eat lots of popsicles." I know now this phenomenon to be called the "punctual whenever" and it seems to be localized in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, mostly, but Midlands, some of the South, and Appalachia in general. The only other region where this phenomenon is widespread is Northern Ireland.
Philadelphian Accent - Indexing and Ideologies (PhillyTawk: Da Accent inna Media)
Play video
Philadelphian and self-proclaimed “accent nerd” Sean Monahan makes Youtube videos about the accents in the Mid-Atlantic region. In this video he talks about representations of the Philadelphian accent in movies and TV (or lack thereof), then it cuts to a montage of Philadelphians speaking to hear the difference between actors and native speakers. This video is a great example of indexicality and language ideologies at play. Sean is very proud of the accent that indexes him as a Philadelphian but aware that the lack of accurate representations of the dialect makes it hard for outsiders to recognize it. In the beginning of the video he even mentions people on the west coast though he had a speech impediment – this reveals a language ideology they have about how English “should” sound.
Revolutionary War - SNL
Play videoSNL skit about the differences in the ideologies of Philadelphians and New Englanders and it also shows the differences in their accents.
Jawn - It's the new 'Yo'
A profile of the slang term "jawn," unique to Philadelphia, which is used in a the new Rocky movie. [Published on 12-01-2015]
Where Yinz At
An in-depth look at dialect diversity in Pennsylvania, with a particular focus on the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia dialects and an overview of their features, with comments from Barbara Johnstone and William Labov. [Published on 04-29-2014]
America's Ugliest Accents
The Kroll Comedy Show spooks speakers from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in one sketch, and Gawker calls them "America's ugliest accents."
Highlights from "Wildwood, NJ"
Play videoScenes from a 1994 documentary about Wildwood, NJ that exemplify features of Philadelphia/South Jersey English.
Translating Philly-ese
A 2014 article on the changing Philadelphia dialect.
Philly's Accent is Changing
Play videoA video interviewing William Labov and colleagues about their project on change in Philadelphia English