Italian-Americanisms? or regionalisms?

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:11 PM -0400 7/13/02, Enid Pearsons wrote:
>The "abeets" pronunciation certainly extended to (perhaps I should say
>permeated) Bridgeport, as did the designation "pie".
>
>Enid Pearsons
>
>==============
>  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?
>
>| Larry

Yes, in response to Enid's and Frank's posts, I realize that "greater
New Haven" with respect to the "apizza" a-BEETS designation extends
west to Bridgeport (in exchange for lending us their "Frisbie" pie
plates) and north to Meriden.  I was wondering more about the areas
outside the Wooster Street sphere of influence.  (One of these days
I'll locate my student's senior essay in which he tracks the New
Haven Italian dialect to its source in two small villages in
Campania.)

Larry