Italian-Americanisms? or regionalisms?

[Laurence Horn]

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>The pronunciations of ricotta and manicotti are straight from Southern
>Italy, common to a variety of regional dialects (like Neopolitan, Sicilian,
>etc)

Ah, that answers my earlier query.  Sounds like general sound changes
across the relevant region.  I don't know if "abeets" (apizza) for
"pizza" extends beyond the villages that populated New Haven's
Wooster Street neighborhood in the early 20th century.  Anyone
outside New Haven come across this pronunciation?
>>
>>Gravy 'tomato sauce for pasta'--

Could this be a calque on "ragu", which (in different places) has
both "(meat) gravy/stew" and "tomato sauce for pasta" meanings?

Larry