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 Pennsylvania German. It is largely spoken in the South Central area of 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 of 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:

Other calques and idioms include:

Pennsylvania Dutch English Standard English Standard 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.
Hurrieder Faster Schneller
Spritzing Lightly raining nieseln
Rutsching Squirming auf dem Bauch rutschen
Schusslich Clumsy with things usually because of hurrying schusselig
Doplich Clumsy with self Tollpatschig sein.
Yah, well. Whatever, or It makes no difference Ja, wohl.
Wutz Pig (when someone eats a lot) die Wutz
Kutz / kutzing Vomit / vomiting die Kotze / kotzen
Wonnernaus A polite way of saying "None of your business"
Schtriwwelich Uncombed or stringy strubbelig
Brutzing, Grexing Whining/complaining Jammern, Klagen
Wuntz (Once)for a second/real quick Ein Moment / mal
Dippy ecksover easy, soft-boiled eggs Spiegeleier
Mox nixirrelevant Das 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 as Genau wie

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.