Pennsylvania Dutch English

Pennsylvania Dutch English
Native to United States, Canada
Region Pennsylvania; Ohio; Indiana; Ontario; and elsewhere
Latin (English alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3 –
Counties in "Pennsylvania Dutch Country", one of several regions in which Pennsylvania German and "Pennsylvania Dutch English" have traditionally been spoken.

Pennsylvania Dutch English is a dialect of English that has been influenced by the Pennsylvania German language. It is largely spoken in South Central Pennsylvania, both by people who are monolingual (in English) and bilingual (in Pennsylvania German and English). The dialect has been dying out, as non-Amish younger Pennsylvania Germans tend to speak modern General American English. Very few non-Amish members of these people can speak the Pennsylvania German language, although most know some words and phrases. The World War II Generation was the last generation in which Pennsylvania Dutch was widely spoken outside the Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities.

Features of Pennsylvania German influence

Pennsylvania Dutch English differs from standard American English in various ways. Some of its hallmark features include the following:

  • Widespread devoicing of obstruents.
  • The use of certain vowel variants in specific phonological contexts.
  • The use of Pennsylvania German verb and noun stems in word construction.
  • Specific intonation patterns for questions.
  • Special placement of prepositional phrases in sentences (so that "Throw some hay over the fence for the horse" might be rendered "Throw the horse over the fence some hay").
  • The use of "ain't" and "not" or "say" as question tags.
  • The use of "still" as a habitual verbal marker.
  • Use of the word "yet" to mean "still," such as "do you work at the store yet?" to mean "do you still work at the store?"
  • Use of terms such as "doncha know" and "so I do" or "so he does" at the end of declaratory sentences.
  • Use of the word "awhile" at the end of sentences proposing simultaneous actions (e.g. "Go get the tea out of the pantry; I'll start boiling the water awhile.").
  • Omitting "to be" from the passive construction in an infinitive following "needs" or "wants"( e.g. "the car needs cleaned" instead of "the car needs to be cleaned").

Other calques and idioms include:

Pennsylvania Dutch EnglishStandard EnglishStandard German
Make wet?Is it going to rain?Wird es regnen?
Outen the lights.Turn off the lights.Mach das Licht aus.
The candy is all.There is no more candy.Die Süßigkeiten sind alle.
Don't eat yourself full.Don't fill yourself up.Iss dich nicht voll.
There's cake back yet.There is cake to come.Es gibt da noch Kuchen.
It wonders me.It makes me wonder.Das wundert mich.
HurriederFasterSchneller
SpritzingLightly rainingnieseln
RutschingSquirmingauf dem Bauch rutschen
SchusslichClumsy with things usually because of hurryingschusselig
DoplichClumsy with selfTollpatschig sein.
Yah, well.Whatever, or It makes no differenceJa, wohl.
WutzPig (when someone eats a lot)die Wutz
Kutz / kutzingVomit / vomitingdie Kotze / kotzen
WonnernausA polite way of saying "None of your business"
SchtriwwelichUncombed or stringystrubbelig
Brutzing, GrexingWhining/complainingJammern, Klagen
Wuntz (Once)for a second/real quickEin Moment / mal
Dippy ecksover easy, soft-boiled eggsSpiegeleier
Mox nixirrelevantDas macht nichts OR Macht nichts.
Nix nootz/Nix nootzieMisbehaving (usually referring to a little kid)Nichtsnutz
Schnickelfritztroublemaker (usually referring to a little kid)Störenfried
AllNone left/All gonealle / leer
Right likeexactly the same asGenau wie

See also

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.