JAMIE CAVALLARO HOLDS HER NEW BOOK, ‘Y IS FOR YINZ.’ | COURTESY JAMIE CAVALLARO

Does your child know Pittsburghese? From Gum Band to Stillers, author Jamie Cavallaro has included the most notable Pittsburgh words in an ABC-style format in her new children’s book, “Y is for Yinz.”

“I wanted to really encapsulate just the Pittsburgh culture for younger kids,” says Cavallaro, an author of three self-published children’s books this year. 

Originally from Mount Lebanon, Cavallaro graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a degree in communications media. 

JAMIE CAVALLARO’S THREE CHILDREN’S BOOKS PUBLISHED THIS YEAR | COURTESY JAMIE CAVALLARO

“Growing up in Pittsburgh was a really awesome experience, and I don’t think I realized that until I was older,” she says. “The type of people that live there, and just the culture and inside jokes that we all have with each other.” 

She’s lived around the country from Charlotte, North Carolina; New York; San Francisco; and now Denver. Her favorite thing about Pittsburgh? “The way that everyone in Pittsburgh sees each other and says hello and acknowledges each other. I think that’s such a special thing.” 

According to the Gumberg Library at Duquesne University, “Pittsburghese” or what it calls Western Pennsylvania English, has its roots within Scots-Irish, Pennsylvania German and Slavic-speaking vocabularies. The dialect is primarily native to Western Pennsylvania.

“It is distinct for it’s cot-caught merger, where for example ‘ah’ sounds merge into an ‘aw’ sound to create a number of vowel mergers. The dialect centers in the city of Pittsburgh with the strongest accents associated with the working class population. They are historically known as yinzers,” according to the library’s website.

Which Pittsburgh word is her favorite? “Me, my mom and my sister have been calling each other nebby our whole lives, and it makes us laugh,” says Cavallaro. She also is fond of the word slippy. 

She’s incorporated some of those terms in her book: N is for Nebby, for example. S is for Stillers, G is for Gum Band and C is for Chipped Ham. J is for Jaggerbush and, of course, Y is for Yinz.

As a mother of a 4- and 5-year-old, Cavallaro aims to write fun books that grab children’s attention. “I love words in the way that you can use them to create rhythm. as well as stories that really spark imagination. That is the driver.” 

Her children, she says, are always eager to help her with creating her books, including “Y is for Yinz.” As Cavallaro worked on the final page, Z is for Zoo, her children had some thoughts. “As I was drawing animals, they’re telling me what animals to draw next. They have fun watching me do it and like to participate.,” 

“Y is for Yinz” is her third book. Early on she was inspired to write after reading Shel Silverstein’s poems. “As a kid, when I was sitting in my room in elementary school reading through these poems, I felt like I could connect to some of those thoughts,” she says. 

Her first book “Why Not on Tuesday” was released in January as a collection of children’s poems. Accompanied by doodles, the silly short poems allow for a deeper connection to the reader’s thoughts, she says. Her second book “Bob the Frog,” released in March, is a rhythmic short story. It follows the titled frog on a quest to calm his hunger. 

Since its release in April, “Y is for Yinz” has been enjoyed by Pittsburghers of all ages. Cavallaro was surprised by the immense support for her book, prompting old friends to send their appreciation. 

“It’s been like a cool experience just to reconnect with folks that I haven’t talked to in a really long time,” she says. “But I also feel the people of Pittsburgh are enjoying it and having fun with it, which was the goal.”

Jilian Musser’s reporting is supported by the Pittsburgh Media Partnership.