Yat (New Orleans)
Encyclopedia
Yat is a dialect
of English
spoken in the Greater New Orleans Area. The term refers to those people who speak with the Yat accent and dialect of New Orleanians throughout the city. The name comes from the common use amongst said people of the greeting, "Where y'at?" (Where you at?), which is a way of asking, "How are you?" The Yat dialect has its influences from Louisiana French and Southern American English
, particularly Older Southern American English. While the term Yat is usually reserved specifically for the strongest varieties of the New Orleans dialect, the term often refers specifically to speakers of Yat in some parts of the city and the inner suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana
. Though Yat is said to be the language of the Ninth Ward, "Yat" is one of many sub-dialects of the New Orleans dialect that is spoken throughout the city.
's book, The Earl of Louisiana, in a passage that was used as a foreword to John Kennedy Toole
's well-known posthumous novel
about New Orleans, A Confederacy of Dunces
:
The quote above is a little dated, because large parts of the Third Ward of New Orleans are no longer German and Irish, as with most of the city of New Orleans.
Historically, the city of New Orleans was home to people of French
and Spanish
heritage, as well as those of African
heritage, which led to the creation of the Louisiana Creole
language. This city came under U.S. rule in the Louisiana Purchase
, and over the course of the 19th century, the city transitioned from speaking French to becoming a non-rhotic
English speaking society. Similarly, much of the south has historically spoken non-rhotic English. The city's geographic isolation has helped lead to the creation of a new local dialect.
A misconception in other parts of the US is that the local dialect of New Orleans is Cajun
. The city's cultural and linguistic traditions are distinct from that of the predominantly rural Acadiana
, an area spanning across South Louisiana. While there has been an influx of Cajuns into the city since the oil boom of the later 20th century and while there are some similarities due to shared roots, Cajun culture has had relatively little influence upon Creole culture and thus Yat culture. The confusion of Cajun culture with the Creole culture is largely due to the confusion of these French cultures by the tourism and entertainment industries; sometimes deliberately as "Cajun" was discovered to be a potentially lucrative marketing term.
A Yat accent is considered an identity marker of a White person born and raised in the greater New Orleans area. Speakers with a New Orleans accent often find a sense of pride in having a local accent. This dialect is closely associated with the white population of the New Orleans metropolitan area. However, due to most of the African-American population living there prior to 1803 during the colonial French era, Black New Orleanians do share more lingual characteristics with the white population than most other places in the southern United States. This distinctive accent is dying out generation by generation in the city due to white flight of the city, but remains very strong in the suburbs.
Speakers of this dialect originated in the Ninth Ward
, as well as the Irish Channel
and Mid-City. Slighter intonations of the dialect can be heard in some parts of the city, such as Lakeview, the Marigny, the Garden District, and some parts of Gentilly, but mainly in the suburbs. The dialect is present to some degree in all seven parishes that make up the New Orleans metropolitan area
, from St. Tammany to Plaquemines. As with many sociolinguistic artifacts, the dialect is usually more distinct among older members of the population. The New Orleans suburban area of Chalmette
is known for the strongest Yat accent of the Greater New Orleans area, due to the massive population of White Ninth Warders relocating to Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana
.
And then there are words which can be pronounced differently, yet according to no particular pattern: , 'sink' [zink], 'room' [ɻʊm], 'mayonnaise' [ˈmejnæz], 'museum' [mjuˈzæm], 'ask' [æks], just to name a few examples.
New Orleans is pronounced [nəˈwɔʷlɪnz], [nəˈwɔʷlijənz] or with the /ɻ/ still intact. The 'Nawlins' [nɔlɪnz] of the tourist industry and the common [nuwɔɻˈliːnz] are not to be heard among natives. Louisiana
is pronounced as the standard [luˈwiziænə] or a slightly reduced [ləˈwiziænə], but never as [ˈluziænə].
The main character of the cartoon strip Krazy Kat
spoke in a slightly exaggerated phonetically-rendered version of early-20th century Yat; friends of the New Orleans-born cartoonist
George Herriman
recalled that he spoke with many of the same distinctive pronunciation
s.
Benny Grunch and the Bunch recorded an album
known as the 12 Yats of Christmas, which is one of the truest expressions of Yat dialect
and culture
. The songs explain much of the local customs
and traditions of New Orleans and the surrounding areas, but perhaps raise as many questions as they answer for outsiders, because the lyrics are mostly in Yat. The local CBS
affiliate, WWL-TV
Channel 4 usually broadcasts video
s of the songs during the Christmas
holidays during their evening newscasts and via the station's website.
Actual New Orleans accents were long seldom heard nationally (New Orleanians who attained national prominence in the media often made an effort to tone down or eliminate the most distinctive local pronunciations). After the displacement of Greater New Orleans area residents due to Hurricane Katrina, America was introduced to some of the New Orleans yat accents due to the constant news coverage. Stephen Seagal's show Lawman
, also exposed some of the Yat accents and dialects to the nation as well.
Ronnie Virgets
, a New Orleans writer, commentator, and journalist, employs New Orleans dialects and accents in his written and spoken works, including the locally produced public radio program, Crescent City. WWNO
, the local public radio station, broadcasts the program and provides access to past Crescent City programs on its website.
A Midwest Cajun restaurant chain based in Indianapolis
, Indiana
carries the name Yats. Also, cell phone company Boost Mobile
used the phrase "Where Y'At?" in early advertising campaigns.
Who Dat?
is a chant used in support of the New Orleans Saints
football
team. The entire chant is "Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?" Saints fans are collectively called "Who Dat Nation."
The Yat dialect is seldom heard when New Orleans is depicted in movies and television shows. Traditionally, characters portrayed from New Orleans are heard using a southern or Cajun accent.
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
spoken in the Greater New Orleans Area. The term refers to those people who speak with the Yat accent and dialect of New Orleanians throughout the city. The name comes from the common use amongst said people of the greeting, "Where y'at?" (Where you at?), which is a way of asking, "How are you?" The Yat dialect has its influences from Louisiana French and Southern American English
Southern American English
Southern American English is a group of dialects of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from Southern and Eastern Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast, and from the Atlantic coast to most of Texas and Oklahoma.The Southern dialects make...
, particularly Older Southern American English. While the term Yat is usually reserved specifically for the strongest varieties of the New Orleans dialect, the term often refers specifically to speakers of Yat in some parts of the city and the inner suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Though Yat is said to be the language of the Ninth Ward, "Yat" is one of many sub-dialects of the New Orleans dialect that is spoken throughout the city.
History
The origins of the accent are described in A. J. LieblingA. J. Liebling
Abbott Joseph Liebling was an American journalist who was closely associated with The New Yorker from 1935 until his death.-Biography:...
's book, The Earl of Louisiana, in a passage that was used as a foreword to John Kennedy Toole
John Kennedy Toole
John Kennedy Toole was an American novelist from New Orleans, Louisiana, best-known for his posthumously published novel A Confederacy of Dunces. He also wrote The Neon Bible. Although several people in the literary world felt his writing skills were praiseworthy, Toole's novels were rejected...
's well-known posthumous novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
about New Orleans, A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces is a picaresque novel written by John Kennedy Toole, published by LSU Press in 1980, 11 years after the author's suicide. The book was published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy and Toole's mother Thelma Toole, quickly becoming a cult classic, and later a...
:
The quote above is a little dated, because large parts of the Third Ward of New Orleans are no longer German and Irish, as with most of the city of New Orleans.
Historically, the city of New Orleans was home to people of French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
and Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
heritage, as well as those of African
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
heritage, which led to the creation of the Louisiana Creole
Louisiana Creole French
Louisiana Creole is a French Creole language spoken by the Louisiana Creole people of the state of Louisiana. The language consists of elements of French, Spanish, African, and Native American roots.-Geography:...
language. This city came under U.S. rule in the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
, and over the course of the 19th century, the city transitioned from speaking French to becoming a non-rhotic
Rhotic and non-rhotic accents
English pronunciation can be divided into two main accent groups: a rhotic speaker pronounces a rhotic consonant in words like hard; a non-rhotic speaker does not...
English speaking society. Similarly, much of the south has historically spoken non-rhotic English. The city's geographic isolation has helped lead to the creation of a new local dialect.
A misconception in other parts of the US is that the local dialect of New Orleans is Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
. The city's cultural and linguistic traditions are distinct from that of the predominantly rural Acadiana
Acadiana
Acadiana, or The Heart of Acadiana, is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that is home to a large Francophone population. Of the 64 parishes that make up Louisiana, 22 named parishes and other parishes of similar cultural environment, make up the intrastate...
, an area spanning across South Louisiana. While there has been an influx of Cajuns into the city since the oil boom of the later 20th century and while there are some similarities due to shared roots, Cajun culture has had relatively little influence upon Creole culture and thus Yat culture. The confusion of Cajun culture with the Creole culture is largely due to the confusion of these French cultures by the tourism and entertainment industries; sometimes deliberately as "Cajun" was discovered to be a potentially lucrative marketing term.
A Yat accent is considered an identity marker of a White person born and raised in the greater New Orleans area. Speakers with a New Orleans accent often find a sense of pride in having a local accent. This dialect is closely associated with the white population of the New Orleans metropolitan area. However, due to most of the African-American population living there prior to 1803 during the colonial French era, Black New Orleanians do share more lingual characteristics with the white population than most other places in the southern United States. This distinctive accent is dying out generation by generation in the city due to white flight of the city, but remains very strong in the suburbs.
Local Variance
The Yat dialect is the most pronounced version of the New Orleans Accent. Natives often speak with varying degrees of the Brooklyn-esque accent, ranging from a slight intonation to what is considered full Yat. As with all dialects, there is variance by local speakers due to geographic and social factors. This results in many different levels of Yat throughout the area, marking distinct differences between higher-income people and lower-income people. Yat tends to differ in strength and intonation from neighborhood to neighborhood. The type, strength, and lexicon of the accent vary from section to section of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Longtime residents can often tell what area the other residents are from by their accent.Speakers of this dialect originated in the Ninth Ward
Ninth Ward of New Orleans
The Ninth Ward or 9th Ward is a distinctive region of New Orleans, Louisiana that is located in the easternmost downriver portion of the city. It is geographically the largest of the 17 Wards of New Orleans....
, as well as the Irish Channel
Irish Channel, New Orleans
Irish Channel is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Magazine Street to the north, 1st Street to the east, the Mississippi River to the south and Toledano to the...
and Mid-City. Slighter intonations of the dialect can be heard in some parts of the city, such as Lakeview, the Marigny, the Garden District, and some parts of Gentilly, but mainly in the suburbs. The dialect is present to some degree in all seven parishes that make up the New Orleans metropolitan area
New Orleans metropolitan area
New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner, or the Greater New Orleans Region is a metropolitan area designated by the United States Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans...
, from St. Tammany to Plaquemines. As with many sociolinguistic artifacts, the dialect is usually more distinct among older members of the population. The New Orleans suburban area of Chalmette
Chalmette, Louisiana
Chalmette is a census-designated place in and the parish seat of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 32,069 at the 2000 census. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area...
is known for the strongest Yat accent of the Greater New Orleans area, due to the massive population of White Ninth Warders relocating to Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
Pronunciation
There are also numerous phonological differences between words pronounced in the dialect and their standard equivalents. This most often occurs in the form a stress-shift towards the front of a word (i.e. 'insurance', 'ambulance' as [ˈinʃuɻəns], [ˈæmbjəˈlæns]), or in the form of a change in vowel quality. Some of the most distinct features are:- the rounding and lowering in some cases of /a/ and /ɔ/ to [ɔʷ] (i.e., 'God,' 'on,' 'talk', become [ɡɔʷd], [ɔʷn], [tɔʷk])
- the loss of rhoticization on syllables ending in /ɻ/ (i.e. 'heart,' fire' become [hɔʷt], [ˈfajə])
- the full rhoticization of a syllable-internal /ɔj/ (i.e. 'toilet,' becomes [ˈtɝlɪt]). This feature is more typical in men than in women.
- the loss of frication in the interdental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ (i.e. 'the,' 'there,' 'strength' become [də], [ˈdæə], [ʃtɻejnt])
- the substitution of /ɪn/ or /ən/ (spelled -in, -en) for /ɪŋ/ (spelled -ing)
- the split of the historic short-a class into tense [eə] and lax [æ] versions
- the coil–curl merger of the phonemes /ɔɪ/ and /ɝ/, creating the diphthong [ɜɪ], before a consonant, in words such as boil, oil, and spoil, although this feature has mostly receded, except St. Bernard Parish
And then there are words which can be pronounced differently, yet according to no particular pattern: , 'sink' [zink], 'room' [ɻʊm], 'mayonnaise' [ˈmejnæz], 'museum' [mjuˈzæm], 'ask' [æks], just to name a few examples.
New Orleans is pronounced [nəˈwɔʷlɪnz], [nəˈwɔʷlijənz] or with the /ɻ/ still intact. The 'Nawlins' [nɔlɪnz] of the tourist industry and the common [nuwɔɻˈliːnz] are not to be heard among natives. Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
is pronounced as the standard [luˈwiziænə] or a slightly reduced [ləˈwiziænə], but never as [ˈluziænə].
New Orleans accent in popular conception
The distinct New Orleans dialect has been depicted in many ways throughout the city and America.The main character of the cartoon strip Krazy Kat
Krazy Kat
Krazy Kat is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George Herriman, published daily in newspapers between 1913 and 1944. It first appeared in the New York Evening Journal, whose owner, William Randolph Hearst, was a major booster for the strip throughout its run...
spoke in a slightly exaggerated phonetically-rendered version of early-20th century Yat; friends of the New Orleans-born cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
George Herriman
George Herriman
George Joseph Herriman was an American cartoonist, best known for his classic comic strip Krazy Kat.-Early life:...
recalled that he spoke with many of the same distinctive pronunciation
Pronunciation
Pronunciation refers to the way a word or a language is spoken, or the manner in which someone utters a word. If one is said to have "correct pronunciation", then it refers to both within a particular dialect....
s.
Benny Grunch and the Bunch recorded an album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
known as the 12 Yats of Christmas, which is one of the truest expressions of Yat dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
. The songs explain much of the local customs
Norm (sociology)
Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...
and traditions of New Orleans and the surrounding areas, but perhaps raise as many questions as they answer for outsiders, because the lyrics are mostly in Yat. The local CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate, WWL-TV
WWL-TV
WWL-TV, virtual channel 4, is the CBS-affiliated television station serving New Orleans, Louisiana, southeast Louisiana and parts of southern and coastal Mississippi, and is the primary CBS station for South and Coastal Mississippi. It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 36...
Channel 4 usually broadcasts video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
s of the songs during the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
holidays during their evening newscasts and via the station's website.
Actual New Orleans accents were long seldom heard nationally (New Orleanians who attained national prominence in the media often made an effort to tone down or eliminate the most distinctive local pronunciations). After the displacement of Greater New Orleans area residents due to Hurricane Katrina, America was introduced to some of the New Orleans yat accents due to the constant news coverage. Stephen Seagal's show Lawman
Steven Seagal: Lawman
Steven Seagal: Lawman is an American reality television series on the A&E Network which stars actor and martial artist Steven Seagal performing his duties as a reserve deputy sheriff in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.It premiered on December 2, 2009....
, also exposed some of the Yat accents and dialects to the nation as well.
Ronnie Virgets
Ronnie Virgets
Ronnie Virgets is a New Orleans, Louisiana writer, commentator, and journalist. He is a native of New Orleans and has lived there for most of his life.-Background:...
, a New Orleans writer, commentator, and journalist, employs New Orleans dialects and accents in his written and spoken works, including the locally produced public radio program, Crescent City. WWNO
WWNO
WWNO is a public radio outlet in New Orleans, Louisiana that offers Classical, Fine Arts, Jazz, as well as informative programming like "Car Talk", and the highly acclaimed radio program "A Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor. The station produces a locally oriented variety program,...
, the local public radio station, broadcasts the program and provides access to past Crescent City programs on its website.
A Midwest Cajun restaurant chain based in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
carries the name Yats. Also, cell phone company Boost Mobile
Boost Mobile
Boost Mobile is a brand of wireless prepay service run by Sprint Nextel, operating within the Sprint Prepaid Group along with Virgin Mobile USA, Assurance Wireless, and payLo by Virgin Mobile. Boost Mobile uses GSMand iDEN networks...
used the phrase "Where Y'At?" in early advertising campaigns.
Who Dat?
Who Dat?
Who dat? is an English idiom originating from New Orleans for over a century. First referenced in poetry, the phrase was a common dialogue element between the performers and crowd at traveling minstrel shows in the region. Eventually, the phrase became used in US cinematic productions for two...
is a chant used in support of the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team. The entire chant is "Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?" Saints fans are collectively called "Who Dat Nation."
The Yat dialect is seldom heard when New Orleans is depicted in movies and television shows. Traditionally, characters portrayed from New Orleans are heard using a southern or Cajun accent.