Pennsylvania Dutch English
Pennsylvania Dutch English | |
---|---|
Native to | United States, Canada |
Region | Pennsylvania; Ohio; Indiana; Ontario; and elsewhere |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | |
Latin (English alphabet) | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
The Pennsylvania counties of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, where Pennsylvania Dutch English has
traditionally been spoken |
Pennsylvania Dutch English is a dialect of
Pennsylvania Germans tend to speak 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 of the mid-20th century was the last generation in which Pennsylvania Dutch was widely spoken outside the Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities.[1]
Features of Pennsylvania German influence
This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2022) |
Pennsylvania Dutch English differs from standard
English in various ways.[2]
Some of its hallmark features include:
- Widespread devoicing of obstruents, such as “round” being pronounced “rount” or “eggs” as “ecks”.
- The use of certain vowel variants in specific phonological contexts.[further explanation needed]
- The use of Pennsylvania German example needed]
- Specific intonation patterns for questions.[example needed]
- Special placement of prepositional phrasesin 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 example needed]
- The use of the phrase "what for" to mean "what kind of." (German = "was für")
- 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 include:
Pennsylvania Dutch English term | Standard English term | Pennsylvania German term | Related Standard German term | Word-for-word Standard German translation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Outen the lights. | Turn off the lights. | Mach's Licht aus. | Mach das Licht aus. | "Make the light out." |
The [noun(s)] is/are all. (e.g. The food is all.) |
There is/are no more [noun(s)]. | Die [nouns] sin all, OR Der/Die/Es [noun] is all. | Die [nouns] sind alle, OR Der/Die/Das [noun] ist alle. | "The [nouns] are all." |
Don't eat yourself full. | Don't fill yourself up. | Iss dich net voll. | Iss dich nicht voll. | "Eat yourself not full." |
There's cake back yet. | There is cake to come. | Es gibt datt noch Kuche. | Es gibt da noch Kuchen. | "There is still cake." |
It wonders me. | It makes me wonder. | Es wunnert mich. | Das wundert mich. | "It wonders me." |
Spritzing | Lightly raining | Schpritze | Spritzen | Spritzing |
Rutsching | Squirming | Rutsche | Rutschen | "Slipping / Sliding" |
Schusslich | Clumsy (with things, usually due to hurrying) | Schusslich | Schusselig | "Scatty / Scatterbrained" |
Doplich / Doppich | Clumsy (with oneself) | Dappich | Täppisch / Tappig | "Clumsy" |
Yah, well. | Whatever / It makes no difference | Ya, well. | Ja, wohl. | "Yes, well." |
Wutz | Pig (when someone eats a lot) | Die Wutz | Die Wutz | "The Pig" (regional word) |
Kutz / Kutzing | Vomit / Vomiting | Der Kotz / Kotze | Die Kotze / Kotzen | "Vomit" |
Schtriwwelich | Uncombed or stringy | Schtriwwelich | Strubbelig | "Disheveled" |
Brutzing / Grexing | Whining / Complaining | Brutze / Grexe | Jammern / Klagen | "Whining / Complaining" |
Wuntz (Once) | For a second / Quickly | Eemols | Einmal | Once / One-time |
Mox nix | Irrelevant | Macht's nix | (Das) Macht nichts. | "(That) Matters not." |
Nix nootz / Nix nootzie | Misbehaving (usually referring to a little kid) | Nixnutz | Nichtsnutz | "No-use." |
Schnickelfritz | Troublemaker (usually referring to a little kid) | Schnickelfritz | Schnacken + Fritz | "Chatting Fritz" |
Right like | Exactly the same as | Genau wie / Yuscht wie | Genau wie | "Just like" |
Other idioms include "Make wet?" meaning "Is it going to rain?", "hurrieder" meaning "faster", and "dippy eggs/ecks" meaning "over-easy or soft-boiled eggs".
See also
- Lunenburg English, a dialect of Canadian English similarly influenced by German
- Northeast Pennsylvania English
- Philadelphia dialect
- North American English regional phonology
- Regional vocabularies of American English
References
- ^ Di Domizio, Tony (November 10, 2010). "Pennsylvania Dutch dialect is still alive in the region". Souderton Independent.
- ^ Lynch, Larry. "Pennsylvania Dutch: Structure, Pronunciation, and Popular Expressions". Bright Hub Education.
External links
- "Pennsylvania German versus Germany German". Get Germanized. youtube.com.
- www
.padutchdictionary .com - www
.deitshbooks .com