Talk:Pennsylvania Dutch English

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Wonnernaus[edit]

I can't find any Standard German equivalent, but Swiss German has the word "Gwundernase" which means someone who is curious about things not their business. Could this be added to the table, in spite of not being Standard German? 130.92.175.158 (talk) 08:04, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Untitled[edit]

Does this sentence make any sense :) " 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)." ???Stettlerj 08:06, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Well, yes. Pennsylvania Dutch English is often used by native English speakers in the region who are influenced by the Pennsylvania German language. Users of Pennsylvania German English need not actually speak Pennsylvania German. For example, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, all of the phrases listed on the chart are quite common among those who speak English, but who do not speak Pennsylvania German. I don't agree, however, that the Pennsylvania German English is in danger of dying out soon, as everyone I know uses some form of it, and local Amish and Mennonite farmers continue to use it regularly (actually, constantly) Freedomlinux 04:51, 8 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You are right. I think it just sounded strange, and also I questioned why "south-central PA" and not "southeast PA". When speaking of "monolinguals" who know two varieties there is probably a better way to say it, and southcentral makes it seem like most speakers live in Gettysburg. Also, from this article, I suppose I found other things strange, like it seems to suggest we are to believe that Pennsylvania Dutch descendants in Indiana, Ohio, and Canada all now speak a P.A. U.S. dialect of English... This article has problems on many levels. "Red" as in "red up" does not actually come from Pennsylvania Dutch (although used in PA). In general, the article seems way too "quaint" and not very scientific, although I admit, I personally say half of them. Stettlerj 05:57, 9 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, someone took away what little linguistic information was there and had replaced it by "quaint sayings". I changed it back. Stettlerj 06:09, 9 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Reliable source?[edit]

This is on the bottom of one of the sources cited as basis for this page.

"Most of the content on h2g2 is created by h2g2's Researchers, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. For any other comments, please start a Conversation above."

Among other things, we learn from the "h2g2 Researchers" that there are only 15 000 Pennsylvania Dutch speakers. However, given that there are around 200 000 Pennsylvania Dutch speaking Amish, let alone over 15 000 Wenger Mennonites, this statistic is obviously questionable (and wrong), and who knows what else. I think one should be careful to check the validity of one's sources, otherwise what is the point. We should be citing reliable sources such as linguistic studies, etc. not websites which come with a reliablitiy warning. It is obvious from someone in the know that the references cited either quote directly, or are based for the most part on, books and pamphlets sold in tourist shops in southeastern Pennsylvania after WW1 and neither source (horseshoe & bbc) cited at the bottom of the page can trace their info to those in the field of linguistics. Stettlerj 18:41, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Before I added those, the page had no resources. If you have any linguistic studies to tout, by all means, tout them. Also, Ethnolouge gives a 100,000 figure for Pennsylvania Dutch speakers.CharlesMartel 20:58, 14 April 2007 (UTC)CharlesMartel[reply]

added "say" as a question tag[edit]

I grew up in Lehigh County, and in the fifties Penna Dutch English was still pretty common. For a non "outsider" to eschew any use of PDE was considered a mark of being a social climber, or stuck up. Although I have heard aint and not as question tags, by far the most common in our area was say.

While aint and not make a lot of sense as question tags, as does "n'est-ce pas", say seems to be unique. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 214.16.41.245 (talk) 19:22, 3 May 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Tom [email protected]

Thanks, Tom. Our family (Reading) almost always used "ain't" as a question tag. In the sense of "don't you agree?" :) 76.19.161.28 (talk) 02:42, 4 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wrong counties highlighted in map[edit]

Traditionally, the Penna Dutch Country has 6 counties, but you are mistaken to leave Northampton County out of the six.

Bethlehem was certainly a PAD town. Well into the 19th century, it was a closed Moravian community, and no English speakers lived there. Today, the borough of Northampton is still pretty Dutchified, more so than most places in Lehigh County.

Easton was a mix, even 50 years ago, but the Dutch influence still stretched to the Delaware, and even into Phillipsburg, NJ.

I cant edit the map, but it would be nice if somebody could fix this. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 214.16.41.245 (talk) 19:28, 3 May 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Where I grew up dutchified would have been dutchey (dootchy); aint so.Nitpyck (talk) 06:28, 13 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I grew up in eastern Centre County, PA, and left there in 1971. Many of the words and phrases listed are still commonly used there, and there is a distinct guttural accent similar to German. for instance, my name is John; people there pronounce it as "Chawn". As I was growing up people wondered where you were from if your last name wasn't German. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.62.193.219 (talk) 18:37, 23 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

another idiom gretzing = crying or moaning[edit]

I can't figure out how to add a row to the idiom table, but

gretzing means crying or moaning

There is a similar Yiddish word that Klezmer musicians use to refer to the classic crying sound that Klezmer clarinet players make.

I was once working at a corportate HQ building in the MD suburbs of DC, and a coworker mentioned we would all get gretzy if we did not break for lunch soon. He had no idea that it was not an English word that everybody would understand. Turns out he was from Wind Gap, Northampton Co. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 214.16.41.245 (talk) 19:34, 3 May 2007 (UTC).[reply]

My family is from PA, where "house" is pronounced more like "hoss." My sister was sadly nicknamed "gretzy" when she was young. She's still gretzy, to be quite honest. 76.19.161.28 (talk) 02:34, 4 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

to spritz[edit]

to spritz can also mean to squirt with a squirt gun or hose.

Tom, [email protected]

sneaky[edit]

I've heard this used to mean "a picky eater", as in "Junior won't eat that. Oh, he's sneaky!" Anyone else ever encounter this?Ealdent 15:08, 28 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]