JHH on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday

[Herb Stahlke]

Among the definitions sampled in the article is

nebby (adj) Snoopy, inquisitive. (Usage: chiefly Pennsylvania)

Here in Central Indiana the pronunciation is "nibby."  I don't have
access to DARE, so I don't know if "nibby" is also there.  I wonder if
this is an instance of the lax front vowel merger best known in
"pin/pen" but also found before other consonants.

Herb

On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 9:52 AM, Arnold Zwicky<zwicky at stanford.edu> wrote:
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> "Regional Dictionary Tracks the Funny Things We Say"
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