{"id":64540,"date":"2024-06-13T04:16:52","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T09:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=64540"},"modified":"2024-06-13T04:47:13","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T09:47:13","slug":"respect-the-local-pronunciation-runza-and-henri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=64540","title":{"rendered":"Respect the local pronunciation: runza and Henri"},"content":{"rendered":"

After I left Omaha and headed westward on Route 30 \/ Lincoln Highway, I began to notice that every little town along the way with a population of around three thousand or more had a restaurant called Runza.\u00a0 My instinct was to pronounce that \"roon-zuh\", but the people around here say \"run-zuh\".<\/p>\r\n

Because I was not familiar with them, at first I didn't pay much attention to the Runza restaurants, but then I saw a sign that said they made legendary burgers.\u00a0 Since I'm a burger freak, always in quest of a superior hamburger, by the time I reached Cozad — which somehow has captured my heart, for more than one reason — I decided to stop in and try one.<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

Wow!\u00a0 What I found out is that \"runza\" is the name of the signature sandwich that they serve:<\/p>\r\n

A runza<\/b> (also called a bierock<\/a><\/b>, krautburger<\/b>, or kraut pirok<\/b>) is a yeast<\/a> dough<\/a> bread pocket<\/a> with a filling consisting of beef<\/a>, cabbage<\/a> or sauerkraut<\/a>, onions<\/a>, and seasonings.\u00a0 Runzas can be baked into various shapes such as a half-moon, a rectangle, a round (bun), a square, or a triangle. The runzas sold by the Runza restaurant chain<\/a> are rectangular while many of the bierocks sold in Kansas<\/a> are round buns.<\/p>\r\n

The runza is a regional cuisine<\/a> of Nebraska<\/a>, with some commentators calling it \"as Nebraskan as Cornhusker<\/a> football<\/a>.\"[<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\r\n

(source<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n

Since the chain will freeze and ship them anywhere, if you're not planning on coming to the middle of the continent anytime soon, I'd recommend that you order a dozen and give 'em a try.<\/p>\r\n

More on the history of this wonderful sandwich and the etymology of its name:<\/p>\r\n

The runza sandwich originated from the pirog<\/a><\/i>, an Eastern European baked good or more specifically from its small version, known as pirozhok<\/a><\/i> (literally \"little pirog<\/i>\"). In the 18th century, Volga Germans<\/a> (ethnic Germans who settled in the Volga River<\/a> valley in the Russian Empire<\/a> at the invitation of Catherine the Great<\/a> because of their skill in farming), adapted the pirog<\/i> \/pirozhok<\/i> to create the bierock<\/a>, a yeast pastry sandwich with similar savory ingredients. When the political climate turned against the Volga Germans as part of Russification<\/a> including the threat of conscription into the Russian army, many emigrated to the United States, creating communities across the Great Plains<\/a>. These immigrants, including the Brening family that settled near Sutton, Nebraska<\/a>, brought their bierock recipes with them. Sarah \"Sally\" Everett (n\u00e9e<\/a><\/i> Brening), originally of Sutton, is credited with adapting her family's bierock recipe into the runza and also inventing the name for the sandwich. In 1949, Everett went into business selling runzas with her brother Alex in Lincoln<\/a>, founding the Runza restaurant chain<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

Many sources agree that Sally Everett invented the name \"runza\" although it is likely she adapted it from an existing name for the sandwich; either the krautrunz<\/i><\/span>, an older, different German name for the bierock, or the Low German<\/a> runsa<\/i><\/span>, meaning \"belly\", alluding to the gently rounded shape of the pouch pastry. The modern German ranzen<\/i><\/a>, also meaning satchel, derives from runsa<\/i><\/span>. The word \"runza\" is registered as a trademark<\/a> in the United States, held by the Runza restaurant chain<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

(source<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n

The Runza restaurants also have the best, crunchiest, crinkliest french fries I have ever bit into and the crispiest, savoriest, juciest, sweetest double dipped onion rings I have ever tasted.<\/p>\r\n

Runza was not the only reason I decided to stay an extra day in this charming town that lies smack dab on the 100th meridian, where the Great Plains begin.\u00a0 Another reason is because it is the hometown of Robert Henri (1865-1929), famous American painter and art teacher.\u00a0 Robert Henri was born Robert Henry Cozad, and the town is named after his father, John J. Cozad, who founded it in 1873, when there was nothing else out here beside the Union Pacific Railroad and the Platte River.<\/p>\r\n

The father was a fabulous gambler who was so good at faro<\/a> (< pharaoh) that he could easily make a fortune in no time at all, so notoriously successful, in fact, that most gambling houses across the country would not let him play.<\/p>\r\n

One of John J. Cozad's businesses was growing hay.\u00a0 The cattle of a neighboring rancher ruined some of John J.'s crop, leading to a heated conflict between the two men.\u00a0 I think this was in the days when there were no fences and practically no law.\u00a0 John J. took the rancher to court, which so outraged the rancher that he began to mercilessly beat John J., who whipped out his pistol in self defense, and shot the man, leading to his death.\u00a0 There are a lot more lurid details about what actually transpired, but they are beyond my remit for Language Log.<\/p>\r\n

Suffice it to say for now that the Cozads soon left town, with the result that they changed their names.\u00a0 Robert Henry Cozad became Robert Henri.\u00a0 Since one of the places he studied art was in Paris, I assumed that he wanted his name to be pronounced \u00e0 la fran\u00e7aise.\u00a0 When I heard the young guide (sophomore in college) at the Robert Henri Museum say \"Robert\" (as in English) and \"henrye\" [\/\u02c8<\/span>h<\/span>\u025b<\/span>n<\/span>r<\/span>a\u026a<\/span>\/<\/a>]), this struck me as provincial.\u00a0 I mentioned this to her, and she said that many people from out of town told her the same thing.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

It turns out that Robert Henri is well known in art history circles with the pronunciation of his name as \"Robert Henrye\" \u00e0 l'anglaise, and that was his personal preference.\u00a0 He <\/span><\/span>was a distant cousin of the renowned painter Mary Cassatt<\/a> and studied at the <\/span><\/span>Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts<\/a> (PAFA) in Philadelphia<\/a> under Thomas Anshutz<\/a>, a protege of Thomas Eakins<\/a>,\u00a0 Together with\u00a0John Sloan<\/a> (1871\u20131951) and other like-minded individuals, Henri was a founder of the revolutionary Ashcan School<\/a> and later became an influential teacher himself, with distinguished followers such as George Bellows<\/a>, Arnold Franz Brasz<\/a>, Stuart Davis<\/a>, Edward Hopper<\/a>, Rockwell Kent<\/a>, Henry Ives Cobb, Jr.<\/a>, Lillian Cotton<\/a>, Amy Londoner<\/a>, John Sloan<\/a>, Minerva Teichert<\/a>, Peppino Mangravite<\/a>, Rufus J. Dryer<\/a>, Yasuo Kuniyoshi<\/a>, and Mabel Killam Day<\/a>.\u00a0 (source<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n

Aside from his extensive, well-catalogued oeuvre, Henri also wrote an influential treatise titled <\/span><\/span>The Art Spirit<\/i> (1923) that is still in use in some art schools today.<\/p>\r\n

A final note:\u00a0 one of the first things I noticed upon seeing photographs and portraits of Robert Henri is that his eyes had epicanthal folds, a physical trait possessed by none of the other members of his family.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Selected readings<\/b><\/p>\r\n