The Pennsylvania German Dialect 9781463221584

Citation preview

T h e Pennsylvania German Dialect

A n a l e c t a Gorgiana

328 Series Editor George Kiraz

Analecta Gorgiana is a collection of long essays and

short

monographs which are consistently cited by modern scholars but previously difficult to find because of their original appearance in obscure publications. Carefully selected by a team of scholars based on their relevance to modern scholarship, these essays can now be fully utili2ed by scholars and proudly owned by libraries.

The Pennsylvania German Dialect

Marion Dexter Learned

gorgia* press 2009

Gorgias Press LLC, 180 Centennial Ave., Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2009 by Gorgias Press LLC Originally published in All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. 2009

1

ISBN 978-1-60724-560-5

ISSN 1935-6854

Extract from The American Journal of Philology, vols. 9 & 10 (1888;1889).

Printed in the LTnited States of America

IV.—THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN DIALECT. I. ETHNOGRAPHICAL

INTRODUCTION.

T h e object of the present chapter is to trace the history of the early German settlers of Pennsylvania from their old homes in the Fatherland to their settlements in the province of William Penn. By thus ascertaining their ethnic origin it will be possible to determine the speech-elements brought by them to Pennsylvania soil and developed into the unique dialect termed " Pennsylvania G e r m a n " or " Pennsylvania D u t c h " (called by those who speak it, " Pennsylvänisch Deitsch"). While the theme is of peculiar interest to the linguist, it has for the student of American institutions also an importance too often overlooked by our historians. Here two great branches of a powerful ethnic stem unite to develop under new conditions a new social and political organism. It is hence great historical injustice to include all the early settlements of Pennsylvania under the occupation and development of that province by Quakers (or Friends). It has been those of German blood, men like Rupp, Seidensticker, Egle, and others of local importance, who have called attention to the real significance of this German element in the colonization of America. 2 True, our liberty-loving poet has caught the plaintive note of the pioneer's song and woven it into the touching " Lay of the Pennsylvania Pilgrim," Franz Daniel Pastorius leaving the scenes of literary activity and the " überdrüssig gekosteten europäischen Eitelkeiten" to find religious freedom and political quiet beyond the sea, in a humble cottage, over whose portal he set the Latin motto: " P a r v a domus sed arnica Bonis: procul este P r o f a n i . " K l e i n ist mein Haus, doch Gute sieht es gern ; W e r gottlos ist, der bleibe fern. 3 1 This paper forms the first chapter of a more elaborate philological treatise on the Pennsylvania German dialect. 2 Of America, because from Pennsylvania a constant stream of migration has pushed its way into all parts of the West. Cf. Rauch's H a n d b u c h , Preface, p. 8. 3 C f . Seidensticker, Bilder aus der Deutsch-Pennsylvanischen Geschichte,

S. 39-

THE

PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

65

T h e r e is perhaps 110 State in the Union affording so m a n y curious p h e n o m e n a of social history as the K e y s t o n e State. Here are found living illustrations of nearly e v e r y step of our national d e v e l o p m e n t — t h e statesman, scholar, p o e t — w o r t h y representatives of m o d e r n c u l t u r e — a n d hard by, the crude, honest, industrious Palatine ( P f a l z e r ) or Swiss, wearing the g a r b of the seventeenth century, o b s e r v i n g the customs of his ancestors in their m o d e s t hamlets along the R h i n e , contentedly indifferent to the march of literature, art or science. H e r e , too, is found the most varied c o m m i n g l i n g of n a t i o n a l i t i e s — D u t c h , S w e d e s , English, S c o t c h , Irish, N o r w e g i a n s , Danes, 1 F r e n c h , G e r m a n s , not to s p e a k of the promiscuous influx of H u n g a r i a n s , Italians and what not, in the last few decenniums of the present century. It is in the midst of such varied ethnic forces that w e are to s e e k the causes which h a v e contributed to the formation of this important speech-island in the d o m a i n of G e r m a n dialects. T h e subject p r o p e r will be discussed under t w o p e r i o d s — t h e first, that of colonization 2 ( 1 6 8 2 - 1 7 5 3 ) ; the second, that of migration and frontier settlement ( 1 7 5 3 - 1 8 4 8 ) . T o g i v e completeness to the treatment, it will not be amiss to review briefly early G e r m a n colonization in other p r o v i n c e s of A m e r i c a . In the y e a r 1705 a n u m b e r o f G e r m a n R e f o r m e d left their h o m e s between Wolfenbiittel and Halberstadt, went first to N e u w i e d in R h e n i s h Prussia, and thence to H o l l a n d , whence ( 1 7 0 7 ) t h e y sailed for N e w Y o r k , intending to j o i n the D u t c h settlements in that p r o v i n c e ; but, driven b y storm into the D e l a w a r e B a y , they started for N e w Y o r k b y a land route t h r o u g h N o v a Caesaria ( N . J.). O n reaching the regions watered b y the M u s c o n e t c o n g , the Passaic and their tributaries, they halted and settled what is now k n o w n as G e r m a n V a l l e y of Morrison C o u n t y , N . J. M a n y of their descendants are still to be found in S o m e r s e t , B e r g e n , and E s s e x counties. T h e r e w e r e G e r m a n settlements at E l i z a b e t h t o w n before 1730, and about the same time at H a l l Mill. O f the 33,000 w h o at the invitation o f Q u e e n A n n e left the R h i n e country for L o n d o n in the y e a r s 1708-9, 12,000 to 13,000 1 In 1853 O l e B u l l attempted to settle a colony of N o r w e g i a n s and D a n e s in A b b o t t T o w n s h i p , Potter C o u n t y . Some of these colonists still remain in the county. 2 T h e early settlements of the D u t c h on the D e l a w a r e , of the S w e d e s in the southeastern corner of the province, of the F r e n c h pioneers in the western portion of the State, do not directly concern us here.

66

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

arrived in L o n d o n 1708. In the fall of 1709 one hundred and fifty families, consisting of six hundred Palatines, were sent under the direction of Christian de Graffenried and L u d w i g Michel, natives of Switzerland, to North Carolina. Tobler and Zuberbühler of St. Gall, Switzerland, settled with a large number of their countrymen in Granvill County, N. C., in the first third of the 18th century. M a n y Germans went from Virginia and Pennsylvania to the mountainous regions of North Carolina. Lincoln, Stoke, and Granvill counties were settled b y Germans. T h o s e in North Carolina from Pennsylvania alone numbered in 1785 over 1 5 0 0 souls.' Another company of Palatine Lutherans left L o n d o n in the year 1708 under the direction of R e v . J o s u a Kocherthal, arrived in New Y o r k probably in December of the same year and settled at Newberg. In June, 1 7 1 0 , ten vessels set sail from London with more than 4000 Germans and, after a v o y a g e of six months, arrived in N e w Y o r k . It is stated that 1700 died during the passage or immediately on landing. In the autumn, about 1400 of the survivors were sent to Livingston's Manor on the Hudson. Of these, one hundred and fifty families went to Schoharie Valley in 1 7 1 2 , and some found a home on the frontiers of the M o h a w k Valley. Queen A n n e sent some Germans to Virginia also, where they settled at R a p p a h a n n o c k in Spottsylvania County. T h e y advanced later, however, up the river, and many of them crossed over into North Carolina. Shenandoah and R o c k i n g h a m counties, V a . , were settled before 1746 by Germans from Pennsylvania. M a n y of their descendants still speak the German language, or " Dutch," as Washington called it when referring to them in his surveys of their land." A s early as 1 7 1 0 - 1 7 1 2 German emigrants came to Maryland and settled between Monocacy and the mountains, where F r e d ericktown was laid out in 1745. This settlement soon extended to the Glades, Middletown, and Hagerstown. In the years 1 7 4 8 - 5 4 about 2800 Germans were brought to Maryland, many of whom settled in Baltimore. 3 In the year 1 7 1 6 - 1 7 several thousand Germans, under the 1

Cf. Rupp, 30,000 German Names, p. 4, quoted from Löher, p. 69. Quoted by Rupp in 30,000 German Names, p. 7, from Sparks' Washington, I I 418. 3 C f . Rupp, 30,000 German Names, p. 1 3 , and Gayarre's Louisiana, pp. 360-1. s

THE

PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

67

leadership of John L a w , 1 e m b a r k e d for Louisiana, but L a w l a n d e d them on the pontines of Biloxi, near Mobile. A f t e r e x p o s u r e a n d death h a d w r o u g h t their r a v a g e s , about three h u n d r e d finally settled a l o n g the Mississippi, in the present C 6 t e d ' O r , thirty or forty miles a b o v e N e w Orleans. T h e i r descendants f o r g o t their mother t o n g u e and a d o p t e d the F r e n c h l a n g u a g e . In the spring of 1734, some L u t h e r a n s from S a l z b u r g in U p p e r A u s t r i a arrived in G e o r g i a and settled E b e n e z e r in E f f i n g h a m C o u n t y . T h i s colony received accessions and n u m b e r e d in 1745 several hundred families. In addition to forty or fifty M o r a v i a n s w h o h a d a l r e a d y settled in the State under the leadership of Nitchman, there were also a number of G e r m a n s in S a v a n n a h . In the y e a r 1732 about one h u n d r e d and s e v e n t y persons were b r o u g h t o v e r b y P u r y of N e u c h a t e l and b e g a n a Swiss settlement called P u r y s b u r g , on the north b a n k of the S a v a n n a h , about thirty-six miles from its mouth. In the y e a r s 1 7 4 0 - 1 7 5 5 m a n y Palatines were sent t o S o u t h Carolina and settled O r a n g e b u r g , C o n g a r e e , a n d W a t e r e e . In 1765 m o r e than six h u n d r e d Palatines a n d Suabians, sent over from L o n d o n , settled a separate township in S o u t h Carolina. In 1739 a settlement was m a d e b y G e r m a n L u t h e r a n s and G e r m a n R e f o r m e d at W a l d o b o r o u g h in Lincoln C o u n t y , Maine. 2 In 1753 G e o r g e II of E n g l a n d induced a c o m p a n y consisting l a r g e l y of Hanoverians to g o a n d settle in N o v a Scotia. They landed at Marliguish June 7th o f the same y e a r and laid out the t o w n of L u n e n b u r g , w h e r e their descendants are still to be found. I . — P E R I O D OF COLONIZATION

(1682-1753).

A t the beginning of this period w e are met b y two g r o u p s of facts which g a v e rise to the great influx of G e r m a n s into Penns y l v a n i a : ( 1 ) the unsettled political, religious and social condition of G e r m a n y ; ( 2 ) the influence of W i l l i a m Penn's travels in that country, w h i c h , at the b e g i n n i n g of the 17th century a prosperous country, h a d been reduced b y the T h i r t y Y e a r s W a r to the most wretched p o v e r t y . T h e peasant, w h o s e condition before the war, t h o u g h tolerable, was not without m a r k s of the wars of 1 T h e famous visionary banker, author of " A Discourse upon Money and Trade." 2 Further survivals of their influence are Bremen in the same county, and Frankfort in W a l d o County, Maine.

68

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

the early 16th century, was brought to the last extremity. H e had caught the spirit of misrule from the lawless life of the soldier. Villages and towns lay in ashes ; many a promising son of the soil fell a victim to the plague, and many districts were left desolate. Burgher and peasant alike groaned under the weight of religious persecution. " W h e r e Catholicism still had foothold, the leaders of the Protestant party were swept away—especially the parochial clergy (Seelsorger)—most thoroughly in those provinces in which the Emperor himself was sovereign. Much had been done before the l o n g war, but still, at the beginning of the struggle, the political majority, the keenest intelligence, the greater number of the congregations in Upper Austria, Moravia, Bohemia, and Silesia, were evangelical. A t this point a thorough reformation was instituted. Burghers and peasants were driven to confession in crowds by the soldiers ; whoever, often after imprisonment and torture, refused to renounce his faith, was compelled to quit the country, which many thousands did. It was deemed a favor if the fugitives were granted an insufficient respite for the disposition of their movable property." 1 W h i l e southeastern Germany was suffering from the wounds of the Thirty Years W a r , the western provinces, especially the Upper Rhine country, were suffering under the ravages of Louis X I V . H e had laid waste the cities of Alsace and taken possession of Freiburg in the Breisgau, Lorraine, Franche Comté, Vaudemont, Saarlouis, Saarbrücken, Mömpelgard, Luxemburg, and Strassburg. In 1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes, by which Henry I V had granted Protestants equal rights with Catholics (1598), thus driving out. of France 500,000 Huguenots, many of whom sought refuge in Germany, Holland, and England. Intheyear 1689 the Rhine Palatinate (Rhein-Pfalz, Kur-Pfalz) was exposed to the most ruthless devastations. Terror reigned in hideous guise. If we add to these conditions the religious disturbances resulting from the pietistic movement throughout Germany, we shall find a ready explanation of the enthusiasm with which Germans hailed the hope of a peaceful home beyond the sea. It was just prior to this culmination of woes that William Penn made his visits to G e r m a n y — t h e first in 1671, the second in 1677. During his first visit Penn went to Emden, Crefeld, and various 1

Freytag, Bilder I I I 199.

THE

PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

69

points in W e s t p h a l i a . It is, however, the second of his visits w h i c h has the greatest significance. T h i s time he went to R o t t e r d a m , L e y d e n , Haarlem, and, most important of all, A m s t e r d a m , w h e r e a general assembly of Q u a k e r s ( F r i e n d s ) from various parts of E u r o p e was c o n v e n e d . Besides the a b o v e - n a m e d places, P e n n revisited Crefeld, E m d e n , and D u i s b u r g , e x t e n d i n g his travels u p the R h i n e l a n d to K r i s c h h e i m , W o r m s , Frankfort-on-the-Maine and n e i g h b o r i n g points. T h e acquaintances m a d e d u r i n g this visit led to the formation of two important land companies, the Crefeld Purchasers and the F r a n k f o r t L a n d C o m p a n y . The Crefelders were, h o w e v e r , strictly s p e a k i n g , private land-buyers and not an organization. It was as plenipotentiary a g e n t of the F r a n k f o r t C o m p a n y that F r a n z Daniel Pastorius arrived in Philadelphia, A u g u s t 20, 1683, accompanied b y ten persons. T h e i r object was to prospect f o r subsequent emigrants. T h e first actual G e r m a n colonists, h o w ever, arrived in Philadelphia O c t o b e r 16, 1683, by the ship " C o n c o r d " (the P e n n s y l v a n i a - G e r m a n " M a y f l o w e r " ) . T h i s c o m p a n y of settlers consisted o f thirteen families from Crefeld a n d the n e i g h b o r h o o d . " Sie w a r e n eine S i p p e so zu sagen. S o weit ihr G e w e r b e hat ermitteln lassen, waren es grösstenthiels Leinweber, so dass Pastorius allerdings V e r a n l a s s u n g hatte, den W e b e r s t u h l in das S t a d t w a p p e n v o n G e r m a n t o w n zu setzen " (Seidensticker). Siedensticker thinks the thirty-three souls mentioned are to be understood, from the correspondence of C l a y p o o l e and F u r l y , as thirty-three " f r e i g h t s . " T h i s b e i n g the case, the actual number must have been considerably more than thirty-three persons, as children under t w e l v e y e a r s c a m e as " h a l f - f r e i g h t " and those under one y e a r of a g e c a m e free. T h e names o f these persons are interesting a n d significant. 1 It was this g r o u p of colonists w h o , under the direction of Pastorius, b e g a n the settlement of G e r m a n t o w n , 1683. S e i d e n s t i c k e r s u g g e s t s that there m a y h a v e been Mennonites a m o n g them, t h o u g h C r e f e l d and K r i s c h h e i m near W o r m s were strong Q u a k e r points, and that the early divisions of G e r m a n t o w n — K r i s h e i m , S o m m e r h a u s e n , C r e f e l d — doubtless represented the places dear to t h e m as h o m e s in the Fatherland. O f the Crefeld Purchasers, w h o had b o u g h t in all 18,000 acres of land in Pennsylvania, J a c o b T e l n e r of C r e f e l d c a m e to A m e r i c a in 1684, V a n B e b b e r in 1687, Jan Strepers of 1 Cf. Seidensticker, Bilder, S. 28, who cites Pastorius' " Grund- und L a g e r buch."

JO

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

Kaldenkirchen in 1 6 9 1 . Although no statement is found that fresh colonists came at these different times, it is hardly probable that these land-purchasers came over to settle without considerable companies of their immediate acquaintances. Thus w e have located the first German settlers in Penn's Province. T h e next company of Germans to settle in Pennsylvania was a group of enthusiasts, called " T h e A w a k e n e d " ( " E r w e c k t e " ) , about forty in number, under the guidance of Johann Kelpius. T h e y arrived in Philadelphia J u n e 22d, and in Germantown on " S t . J o h a n n i s t a g " of the year 1694. Kelpius himself was from Siebenbürgen. H e , with Koster, Falckner, Biedermann and others, had rallied around Pfarrer Zimmermann, who had been removed from his pastorate in Bietigheim in Wiirtemberg. A f t e r a short stay in Halberstadt and Magdeburg, the company decided to emigrate to Pennsylvania. Zimmermann, however, died in R o t terdam, leaving Kelpius to direct the mystic wanderers into the new land. H e accordingly settled the suspicious new-comers on the Wissahickon, a short distance from Germantown, probably near the present Hermit's Spring and Hermit's Lane. Kelpius himself was steeped in the teachings of J a c o b Böhme, Dr. Petersen, and the English prophetess J a n e L e a d e . W i t h his little group of mystics he resolved to lead a hermit's life in the wilderness and await the second coming of Christ. Their settlement was called " D a s W e i b in der W ü s t e " (the woman in the wilderness). Besides the men above mentioned there were a number of women, but with no thought of earthly love in their life. 1 F r o m the Chronicon Ephratense 2 we learn the further development of this society: " I h r e Anzahl war damals (1694) bey vierzig, hatte sich aber vermehrt, dann 1704 vereinigte sich Conrad Matthai, ein Schweizer, damit." F r o m 1 7 0 4 - 1 7 1 2 the first settlements in B e r k s County were made b y English Friends, French Huguenots, and German emigrants from the Palatinate. T h e Germans settled near W a h l i n k (Oley). Isaac T u r k , or de T u r c k , having been compelled, like thousands of his countrymen, to quit France, fled to Frankenthal in the Palatinate, emigrated thence ( 1 7 0 9 J to America and settled near Esopus, N. Y . , but removed in 1 7 1 2 to Oley, B e r k s County, 1 Cf. Seidensticker, Bilder, S. 98 : " Und so wollten denn auch die Mitglieder des ' Weibes in der W ü s t e ' nicht freien und nicht gefreit werden." 2 A chronicle kept in the cloister at Ephrata, Lancaster County, Pa.

THE

PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

71

Pa. In the same y e a r a c o m p a n y of Mennonites purchased land in P e q u e a (in the present L a n c a s t e r C o u n t y ) , Pennsylvania. In order to escape persecution for their religious convictions, t h e y left their h o m e s in the cantons Zurich, Bern, and S c h a f f h a u s e n , Switzerland, in 1672, and settled in A l s a c e and a l o n g the R h i n e a b o v e S t r a s s b u r g . In 1708 t h e y m i g r a t e d to L o n d o n to find protection in the realm of Q u e e n A n n e . F r o m E n g l a n d t h e y emigrated to A m e r i c a and settled first at G e r m a n t o w n . S o o n a part of them r e m o v e d to P e q u e a - T h a l and f o r m e d the nucleus o f the settlement at E d e n . T h i s colony received l a r g e accessions of both Swiss and G e r m a n s , especially in the y e a r s 1 7 1 1 a n d 1 7 1 7 . M a n y distributed themselves a m o n g the various districts of the province without reporting to the provincial authorities either their names or origin. 1 T h e following from R u p p ' s edition of Benjamin R u s h ' s E s s a y on the Manners and C u s t o m s of the G e r mans of Pennsylvania will s h o w the general character of the G e r m a n s w h o went at this period to E n g l a n d , Ireland, 2 and A m e r i c a , especially Pennsylvania : " F r o m the middle of A p r i l , 1709," s a y s R u p p in a note, " t i l l the middle o f July of the same y e a r there arrived at L o n d o n 11,294 G e r m a n Protestants, males and females. O f the males there w e r e : husbandmen and vine-dressers, 1838; bakers, 3 5 6 ; masons, 3 87; carpenters, 1 2 4 ; s h o e m a k e r s , 6 8 ; tailors, 9 9 ; butchers, 2 9 ; millers, 4 5 ; tanners, 1 4 ; stocking-weavers, 7 ; saddlers, 1 3 ; glass-blowers, 2 ; hatters, 3 ; lime-burners, 8 ; schoolmasters, 18 ; engravers, 2 ; bakers, 3 22 ; brickmakers, 3 ; silversmiths, 2 ; smiths, 3 5 ; herdsmen, 3 ; blacksmiths, 48; potters, 3 ; turners, 6 ; statuaries, 1 ; surgeons, 2 ; masons, 3 39. O f these 11,294 there were 2556 w h o h a d families." 4 W e h a v e g i v e n 1 7 x 2 as the date of the first settlement on P e q u e a C r e e k because the record of their land-purchase bears that date. It is possible that a few G e r m a n s had b e g u n to take up land here earlier. T h e manner in which t h e y radiated from G e r m a n t o w n can be seen in the following statement: " In 1 7 1 6 G e r m a n s , F r e n c h and a few Hollanders b e g a n to b r e a k g r o u n d twenty, thirty, forty, ' Cf. John D i c k i n s o n ' s Report of 1719. M a n y o f the descendants of those who settled in Ireland may still be found in Ulster. 2

' E n u m e r a t e d twice because quoted verbatim. F r a n k f u r t e r - M e s s - K a l e n d e r von Ostern bis H e r b s t 1709, S. 90.

4Cf.

72

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

sixty, seventy miles from the chief town" 1 (Germantown). L a r g e German settlements were made at the same time in the present Berks County. In 1 7 1 7 a German Reformed society was formed in Goschenhoppen; some Low German Mennonites were settled on the Perkiomen and Schippack (Skippack) creeks; Germans and French in Wahlink, and some Huguenots in Oley. 2 In the year 1 7 1 9 about twenty families of Schwarzenau Baptists (Täufer) came to Philadelphia, Germantown, Schippack (in Oley), Berks County, and to Conestoga, and Mühlbach (Mill Creek), Lancaster County. From the Chronicon Ephratense is taken the following account of this company of " T ä u f e r , " now generally known throughout the State as Dunkards (Dunker o r T u n k e r ) : " A t t h e beginning of the 18th century arose a large sect called Pietists, representing all ranks and stations. Of these, many returned to the church and became Church-Pietists (Kirchen-Pietisten) ; the rest betook themselves to the districts of Marienborn, Schwarzenau, and Schlechtenboden. From this latter branch two different societies were formed, ' Die Inspirations-Verwandten' and ' Die Schwarzenauer Täufer.' In the year 1708 the following eight persons broke the ice: Alexander Mack as teacher, a certain very rich miller of Schriesheim on the Bergstrasse, his ' Hausschwester,' a ' Witwe Nöthigerin,' Andreas Bone, Johann Georg Honing, Lucas Vetter Keppinger, and a certain nameless armorer. From these eight persons originated all the ' Tauffgesinnten' among the High Germans in North America. T h e society of ' T'auffer' (Baptists) in Schwarzenau became widely extended. One branch of it settled in Marienborn, and in the year 1 7 1 5 are found in Crefeld. In 1 7 1 9 a party of them under Peter Becker came to Pennsylvania." A few lines further on the Chronicle says of Konrad Beissel, the founder of the cloister at Ephrata, 3 that he was expelled from the Kur-Pfalz, " l i k e many others from Frensheim, Lambsheim, Mutterstadt, Frankenthal, Schriesheim, and other places, the most of whom [i. e. of which persons] ended their days in Pennsylvania." Konrad Beissel arrived in Boston. Mass., in 1720, came to Conestoga, Lancaster County, Pa., and settled at Mühlbach the same year. 1

Rupp, 30,000 German Names, p. 10. Ibid. p. 29, note. 3 Cf. Siedensticker, Bilder, for a most interesting account of this cloister and the life in it. 2

THE PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

73

In the next company of Germans who settled in the province of Pennsylvania we find a remarkable instance of the toilsome migration of the time. In order to trace the steps of these weary wanderers who came to seek a peaceful retreat in the wild freedom of Tulpehocken, we must revert to the years 1708-9. These Germans were among the unfortunates who, driven by bitter persecution from the Kur-Pfalz, had gone to England in 1 7 0 8 - 9 . A t Christmas, 1709, four thousand were shipped in ten vessels to New Y o r k , where they arrived J u n e 10, 1 7 1 0 . In the following fall they were taken to Livingston's Manor to work out their passage from Holland to England and from the latter to America. In 1 7 1 3 they were released from the debt and betook themselves, about one hundred and fifty families, to Schoharie, N. Y . Most of these migrated to Tulpehocken, Pennsylvania, in 1 7 2 3 . The leading spirit of this Tulpehocken settlement, however, was K o n rad Weiser, who came with another accession of Palatines in 1 7 2 9 and located near the present Womelsdorf, which had been settled by the Schoharie Palatines. T h e following report (made 1764) of Keith's administration (about the year 1 7 2 9 ) affords additional testimony as to the great numbers of Germans coming in at that time: " H e [ K e i t h ] settled in Pennsylvania a number of Palatines, . . . and those emigrants poured in such numbers into Pennsylvania that the government of the province refused to receive any more unless they paid a pecuniary consideration for their reception. This obliged many ships full of them to g o to other British settlements." In one y e a r no less than 6200 Germans and others were imported into the colony. In this same year that company of the Taufer which had gone in 1 7 2 0 to Westervam in W e s t Friesland came to Pennsylvania. T h e r e is record of seventy-five Palatine families who arrived in Philadelphia in August of 1 7 2 9 and settled in Quintaphilla, which seems to have been partly occupied, 1 7 2 3 - 9 , b y the Schoharie settlers. In this same year ( 1 7 2 9 ) emigrants from Germany settled also in the eastern part of the same county (Lebanon), and a company of German J e w s made a settlement near Scheafferstown, the present inhabitants of which are largely of German descent. Here these J e w s had a synagogue, and as early as 1 7 3 2 a necropolis. In 1 7 3 0 a few Dutch settled in Pike township, B e r k s County, where many of their descendants are still living. Kutztown in the same county was settled by Germans about 1 7 3 3 .

74

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

In 1734 a considerable number of S c h w e n k f e l d e r s settled in H e r e f o r d township and on contiguous lands in B e r k s , M o n t g o m e r y , and L e h i g h counties, w h e r e m a n y of their descendants are still to be found. T h e i r number in 1876 was g i v e n as about three hundred families, constituting e i g h t hundred members, with five churches and one school-house. 1 T h e next settlement of importance was m a d e b y the Moravians at Bethlehem, N o r t h a m p t o n C o u n t y , Pa. In the spring of 1740 s P e t e r Bohler left G e o r g i a with a few Moravians from Herrnhut, S a x o n y , w h o had attempted a settlement a m o n g the C r e e k Indians in 1734. In 1741 they b e g a n to build the town of Bethlehem (the present centre of the Moravian C h u r c h N o r t h ) . In 1745 most of those w h o had settled in G e o r g i a , n u m b e r i n g several h u n d r e d families, m i g r a t e d to Pennsylvania because they were religiously o p p o s e d to bearing arms in the war with Spain. T h e y settled for the most part in the counties of B e r k s , M o n t g o m e r y , B u c k s , and L e h i g h , and organized a church at E m a u s as early as 1747. 3 In 1748 R e a d i n g , B e r k s C o u n t y , was founded and continues to be one of the strongest G e r m a n centres of the State. D r . E g l e ' s w o r d s are fitting h e r e : " R e a d i n g , at the erection of B e r k s C o u n t y ( 1 7 5 2 ) , contained three h u n d r e d and seventy-eight inhabitants. T h e original settlers were principally G e r m a n s from W i i r t e m b e r g and the Palatinate, with a few F r i e n d s under the patronage of Penn. M o s t of the inhabitants b e i n g Germans, t h e y g a v e character to the l a n g u a g e and customs. F o r m a n y y e a r s the G e r m a n t o n g u e was almost e x c l u s i v e l y s p o k e n , and is still used in social intercourse and religious worship in a considerable portion of the present population. T i l l 1824, the date of the erection of the first Presbyterian church, the religious services of the churches were held in G e r m a n . " 4 W h a t is here said of R e a d i n g is true in 1 M r . J. Y . H e c k l e r writes me under date of September 17, 1887, that the S c h w e n k f e l d e r s ' settlement is d i v i d e d into two districts, the U p p e r and the L o w e r . T h e y have six churches, located as f o l l o w s : In the U p p e r D i s t r i c t , (1) the Upper H a n o v e r township, near the county line of Montgomery, L e h i g h , and B u c k s counties ; (2) on the " T e u f e l ' s L o c h , " W a s h i n g t o n township, B e r k s C o u n t y ; (3) in H o s e n s a c k V a l l e y , U p p e r M i l f o r d township, L e h i g h C o u n t y . I n L o w e r District, (1) in the eastern corner of L o w e r Salford township ; (2) in southern corner of T o w a m e n c i n t o w n s h i p ; (3) in southern part of W o r c e s t e r township ; last three all in Montgomery C o u n t y . 2Cf. 3Cf.

H e n r y ' s L e h i g h V a l l e y (in five numbers), N o . 2, pp. 172 if.

R e i c h e l , F r i e d e n s t h a l and its Stockaded (1749-1767). 4Cf.

M i l l , Northampton

County

Chapter on R e a d i n g in E g l e ' s H i s t o r y of Pennsylvania (ed. of 1876).

THE

PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

75

general of m a n y smaller towns in the G e r m a n districts o f the State. O n e needs only to pass along the streets of H a m b u r g , A l l e n t o w n , Lancaster or Y o r k , to find himself environed b y this peculiarly G e r m a n atmosphere. T h u s I h a v e traced the history of the G e r m a n settlements of Pennsylvania through the period of colonization, as it m a y fitly be termed, without implying, of course, that the stream of emigration from the a b o v e n a m e d districts of G e r m a n y ceased to flow in the middle of the 18th century. O n the contrary, the influx of G e r m a n s b e c a m e so great as to b e almost uncontrollable. T h i s will be seen in the following : " Im H e r b s t e 1747 k a m e n nicht w e n i g e r als 7049 D e u t s c h e in Philadelphia an. I m S o m m e r jenes Jahres landeten 12,000 D e u t s c h e . " 1 In the p r e c e d i n g p a g e s the directions h a v e been indicated in w h i c h this g r e a t G e r m a n migration m o v e d for the most part till the y e a r 1848. II.—PERIOD

OF MIGRATION AND

FRONTIER

SETTLEMENT

(1750-1800). T h e s e c o n d period of Pennsylvania G e r m a n history from circa 1 7 5 0 - 4 to the beginning of the present century was one of great agitation and extensive migration within the limits of Pennsylvania as well as b e y o n d its borders. T h e peaceful colony to w h i c h the beneficent Penn, the pioneer of religious tolerance in A m e r i c a , had invited the persecuted of e v e r y creed, began to be disturbed b y the omens of war. T h e s a v a g e neighbors of c o p p e r hue, w o n at first b y the manly negotiations of Penn, and christianized in great numbers b y the pacific teachings of both Q u a k e r s and Moravians, were now incited b y the fury of F r a n c e and b e c a m e hideous monsters, s p r e a d i n g terror and death with the relentless t o m a h a w k . H a r d l y had the Indian w a r - w h o o p , m i n g l i n g in weird accord with the battle-cries of F r a n c e , died a w a y in the forest g l o o m , w h e n the alarm of revolution sent dismay t h r o u g h o u t the fair province o f Pennsylvania, heralding the event which was to solve the problem of A m e r i c a n independence, and transform loosely settled colonies into c o m p a c t States of the U n i o n . A f t e r the close of the R e v o l u t i o n a new m o v e m e n t begins in Pennsylvania. Enterprising pioneers from N e w E n g l a n d , N e w Y o r k and eastern Pennsylvania p u s h into the northern and western 1 Cf. Dr. W . J. Mann, D i e Gute A l t e Z e i t in Pennsylvania, S. 24, and Hallische Nachrichten, S. 125.

;6

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

portions of the State, opening to the commerce of the world rich products of the soil and treasures of the mine. But to understand the migrations of Germans already settled in the province, and the isolated cases of this movement prior to 1750, it will be necessary to glance at the feud between the Pennsylvania Germans and the Scotch-Irish. Throughout almost the entire extent of the Kittatinning Valley, from northeastern Pennsylvania to northern Maryland, the Scotch-Irish were either already settled or settling when the Germans came into the region. It is a remarkable fact that most of the important settlements first made by the former are now occupied by the latter. This is particularly the case in the present counties of Lancaster, Y o r k , Franklin, and Cumberland. 1 Apart from the apparent natural antipathy in the character of these races, the most potent cause of the feud was the Cressap rebellion in 1736. This was a raid made on the incoming German settlers in the southern part of Y o r k County. Cressap had come up from Maryland with " about fifty kindred spirits " and offered the Scotch-Irish, as their share of the booty, the improvements made by the Germans, on condition that they should aid him in dislodging the latter. From their failure in the attempt to drive out these so-called German intruders the Scotch-Irish have to date the era of their retreat before the advancing Teutons. This advance was sustained, not by force of arms, but by more efficient instruments of conquest, untiring industry and thrift. Following the track of these events, we find the Germans gradually occupying the greater portion of lower Lancaster, Y o r k , and much of Franklin and Cumberland counties, while the Scotch-Irish move on into the unsettled districts along the Susquehanna and Juniata, with the Germans in their wake. It is but fair to state that the Scotch-Irish preference for the stirring scenes of border life doubtless played a considerable rôle in this general migratory movement. A s early as 1728-9 we find Germans settling west of the Susquehanna in the rear of the advancing Scotch-Irish. In 1741 Fred. Star and other Germans settled in Perry County, probably near Big Buffalo Creek. New Germantown was afterwards laid out and named after Germantown near Philadelphia. Pfautz Valley in the same county was settled about 1 7 5 5 by Pfautz, a 1 In Cumberland County the displacement is not so far-reaching as in the others mentioned. In the large towns especially the Scotch-Irish population has continued to predominate.

THE

PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

77

German. Most of the settlers seem to have come from the eastern part of the State. A s early as 1747 a number of German families ventured to locate in Schuylkill County. Geo. Godfried O r w i g and others from Germany settled at Sculp Hill, a mile south of Orwigsburg. A Y e a g e r ( J a e g e r ) family from near Philadelphia came to this valley about 1762. Soon after 1 7 5 2 the Scotch-Irish of old Allen township in Northampton County were supplanted b y Germans. Kreidersville was named for one of the German farmers who came in 1765. Gnadenhiitten (the present Lehighton and Hanover townships) was occupied b y Germans. In the year 1 7 5 5 a colony of Dunkards (or Baptists) settled in Blair County in what is called the Cove, where many of their descendants are still to be found " retaining well-nigh the same simplicity which marked their fathers—non-resistants, producers, non-consumers." 1 In the years 1 7 5 7 - 6 0 many of the Scotch-Irish in Cumberland County were supplanted by Germans. E v e n as early as 1749 the agents of the Proprietaries were instructed not to sell any more land to the Irish, but to induce them to g o to the North Kittatinning Valley. In 1764 Hanover, Y o r k County, was laid out. T h e following year ( 1 7 6 5 ) records a noble civilizing enterprise undertaken b y the Moravians among the Indians. April 3d of this year eight Moravian adults and upwards of ninety children set out from Bethlehem and reached Wyalusing, in the present Bradford County, M a y the 5th. This mission, opened by Zeisberger, the Moravian apostle to the Indians, 1763, received the name Friedenshutten. A school-house was built in which both adults and children learned to read the Delaware and German languages. 2 T h e place became a Christian German-Indian town. In the year 1 7 7 2 (June n t h ) , however, they began their exodus from Friedenshiitten in two companies, one under Ettwein, the other under Rothe. 3 A t the time of the exodus they numbered one hundred and fifty-one souls. F o r the Moravian work among the ' D r . E g l e , Centennial Hist, of Pennsylvania, cf. Cove, Blair County. T h e rich results of Zeisberger's lexicographical work are carefully preserved, for the most part in manuscript form, in the Moravian library at Bethlehem, Pa. 3 Cf. Ettwein's Journal. 2

78

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

Indians this was " the era of gradual decadence extending down to our own times, when there is but a feeble remnant of Christian Indians ministered to by the Moravians dwelling at New Fairfield, Canada, and New Westfield, K a n s a s . " 1 In 1769 Berlin, in Brathes Valley, Somerset County, was settled by Germans. Later some Mennonites came and joined this settlement. In 1 7 7 3 Isaac Valkenburg, with his sons-in-law, Sebastian and Isaac Strape, from Claverack on the Hudson, settled at Fairbanks, Bradford County. Thither came also Germans from the neighborhood of Philadelphia. In this same year the Pennamites sent a German, Phillip Buck, to settle at the mouth of Bowman's Creek, and two others who settled at the mouth of Tunkhannock Creek in Wyoming County. There were possibly others with them. In the years 1787-9 John Nicholson gathered from Philadelphia and the lower Susquehanna about forty Irish and German families and settled them in Hopbottom, Susquehanna County. Dutch Hill, in the same county (just north of Wyalusing), was settled by persons of Dutch descent born in New Y o r k . In Cambria County the main source of the population was Pennsylvania German stock. Their pioneer was Joseph Yahns, and those who followed him were for the most part Dunkards and Mennonites or Amish. Yahns arrived in 1791 at Kickenapawling's old town. The others settled in the adjacent county, principally at Amish Hill. Their descendants are still to be found around Johnstown (Johns- or Yahnstown). A colony of German Catholics settled near Carrolltown. Columbia County was entered by Germans (among them Christian Brobst or Probst and Georg Knappenberger) in the year 1793. Germans are now found in great numbers around Catawissa, where formerly Quakers held sway. Zelienople and Harmony in Butler County are occupied mainly by Germans descended from a society of Harmonists who settled there in the years 1802-3. In 1807 Herman Blume, a native of Hesse-Kassel, with others, founded a German settlement at Dutch Hill, Forest County. Blume was followed by many of his fellow-countrymen (Hessians). In this (Forest) county was laid, too, the scene of many of Zeisberger's labors. Greene County was filled up after the Revolution from the eastern counties of the State and foreign immigration. Where 1 Quoted from Rev. W. C, Reichel by Egle, Hist, of Pa., p. 414.

THE

PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

?9

the mixture is so promiscuous it is difficult to discriminate after one or two generations. About 1830 Mennonites and Dunkards settled near McAllister ville in Lost Creek Valley, Juniata County. Germans in Baltimore and Philadelphia effected a settlement on the " community 1 plan" at St. Mary's, Elk County. In 1842 and 1845 Garner brought from Europe an industrious company of settlers who located in Benzinger township in the same county. Thus we have traced in general outlines the history of German settlement in Pennsylvania down to that period of German emigration initiated by the revolutionary troubles of 1848. For our purposes these later arrivals have no special importance. In considering the dialect of the Pennsylvania Germans, it is the formative periods which are of the greatest significance, because during these the language not less than the people took firm possession of Pennsylvania soil. It will be noticed that in many cases only the bare mention of an isolated German settler has been made. W e have given the few traces that history has preserved for us, being thus thankful for now and then a silent landmark to indicate the track of the settler. It remains for the local investigator to trace family genealogies and note local peculiarities of speech-mixture in these minor settlements. Having thus glanced at the successive German settlements of Penn's province in their chronological order, let us consider more particularly the speech elements transplanted to Pennsylvania soil by these in-coming settlers. A t the very outset the question arises, W h y should these German colonists have retained their language and, to no slight extent, their manners and customs, while the Dutch and Swedes along the Delaware, and the French 2 in the western part of the State, practically lost all traces of their original speech ? T o answer this it will be necessary to consider the number and distribution, the religious, social, political and intellectual character and aims of these early German settlers. ' T h e application of Fourier's economic plan in the T e u t o n i a community is an interesting experiment for political economists of the present day. 2 T h e F r e n c h settlement near L e c o n t e ' s M i l l s and F r e n c h v i l l e , Clearfield C o u n t y , and the N o r w e g i a n - S w e d i s h settlement under the direction of O l e Bull in Potter County, are too recent to fall within the scope of our present investigation- E i t h e r of these settlements, however, would amply repay a summer tramp if any dialectician should feel disposed to try the i n v i g o r a t i n g air of northern P e n n s y l v a n i a .

8o

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

It is not possible to ascertain the exact number of G e r m a n s w h o settled in Pennsylvania from 1682-1753, because in the y e a r s o f the largest influx great numbers were allowed to enter the p r o v i n c e and take up land near their fellow-countrymen without record or notice of either their origin or destination. W e can, however, determine the number a p p r o x i m a t e l y from the official reports of the time. F o r the ship-lists prior to 1727 no adequate documents are accessible or, so far as is k n o w n , e x t a n t ; from 1 7 2 7 - 1 7 7 7 R u p p ' s " C o l l e c t i o n of 30,000 G e r m a n N a m e s " serves our purpose. A c c o r d i n g to R u p p , only about t w o h u n d r e d families of G e r m a n s h a d c o m e to Pennsylvania before the y e a r 1700. T h e s e h a d settled in and around G e r m a n t o w n . S y p h e r states that nearly 50,000 G e r m a n s had found homes in the province before 1727, the y e a r R u p p ' s lists begin. In 1731 the L u t h e r a n m e m b e r s h i p of Pennsylvania n u m b e r e d about 17,000, and that of the G e r m a n R e f o r m e d C h u r c h about 15,000 (chiefly from the districts of Nassau, W a l d e c k , W i t g e n s t e i n , and W e t t e r a u ) . In 1752, of the 190,000 inhabitants of the province about 90,000 were Germans. 1 In 1790, a c c o r d i n g to Ebeling, 2 the G e r m a n population of Pennsylvania was 144,660. T h u s w e m a y safely estimate the G e r m a n population of the State in the y e a r 1800 at 150,000. In 1870 the a g g r e g a t e population of Pennsylvania numbered 3,521,975, of w h i c h number 1,200,000 were of G e r m a n descent a n d 160,146 directly from G e r m a n y , thus l e a v i n g 1,139,854 (more than six sevenths of the entire number o f G e r m a n b l o o d ) born for the most part on A m e r i c a n (Pennsylvania) soil. W h e n w e c o m e to the distribution of Pennsylvania G e r m a n s in those districts w h e r e they h a v e preserved their dialect, it will be found impossible to g i v e exact figures, because ( 1 ) no accurate record of births, deaths, removals a n d accessions is k e p t as is the case in C a n a d a ;3 (2) m a n y , especially merchants not of G e r m a n descent, s p e a k the dialect fluently; (3) m a n y w h o are of G e r m a n extraction no longer s p e a k the vernacular of their ancestors, but r e g a r d it with an air of contempt, and use every means to b e c o m e A m e r i c a n i z e d and lose even the reminiscences of their G e r m a n traditions. T h a t greatest of levelling influences, the public school, m a k e s it imperative to s p e a k E n g l i s h , thus dividing 1

Cf. Seidensticker, Gesch. d. d. Gesellschaft von P e n n s y l v a n i e n , S. 18 ; Dr.

Smith, Brief State of the Province of P e n n s y l v a n i a . 2 E b e l i n g , B e s c h r e i b u n g der E r d e , A b t h e i l u n g , P e n n s y l v a n i e n . 3Cf.

Prof. E l l i o t t , A m e r i c a n Journal of Philology, 1885, pp. 135 ff.

THE

PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

81

families, so that often the parents speak their dialect among themselves and to the children, while the latter speak English among themselves and to the parents. In many sections of the State, Lancaster and York counties for example, which one or two generations ago were distinctively German, the old vernacular is fast disappearing and the English is becoming the current speech, leaving only the name of speaker and locality as reminders of a once flourishing German community. It is possible, however, to indicate approximately the status of what may be termed distinctively Pennsylvania German districts. For the most part the genuine Pennsylvania German is to be found in the agricultural districts and country towns and villages, although in cities like Philadelphia, Allentown, Reading and Harrisburg there are large numbers whose vernacular is Pennsylvania German. In such cities as those just named it is possible to hear almost every dialectic variation, from the language of the Swiss to that of the Hollander, from the patois of the peasant to the polished speech of the literatus. But if we pass beyond the sphere of these great levelling centres, we shall find frhe original dialect and, to no slight extent, the customs of the simple pioneers in full sway. It is only necessary to state here that as a rule the general historic outlines have remained intact, the old settlements gradually enlarging, and in many cases sending out from their midst more adventurous spirits who became the nuclei of new settlements in fhe western counties of the State. The Germans were for the most part agriculturists or local artisans and possessed their land. There have usually been some younger representatives willing to cultivate the paternal acres and perpetuate the ancestral title to the soil. T o recapitulate, the distribution of the dialectic elements may be stated as follows: In the first settlement at Germantown were Crefelders till 1709-10, when the " Pfälzer'" began to pour in from the Palatinate. Here are represented (1) Low Frankish and Rhine Frankish, of the Lower Rhine province near Düsseldorf; (2) South Frankish, near the North Alemannic (Suabian) border; South Frankish, specifically Rhine Palatinate (Rheinpf'álziscK)\ (3) South Frankish1 T h e term " P f ä l z e r " as used in the ship-lists is not sharply defined, and may apply to representatives not only of the P f a l z ( K u r p f a l z ) but to any R h i n e l a n d e r , and sometimes, it would seem, to any German, A s a matter of fact, however, the most of the so-called Pfälzer were from the R h e n i s h Palatinate, as their dialect shows. T h i s will be discussed in another chapter.

82

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

Alemannic of Alsace and Lorraine. In Berks County, where the inhabitants are stigmatized as " dumb Dutch," the speech-elements were (i) "Rkeinpfälzisch," brought into Wahlink and Oley by French Huguenots temporarily living in the Palatinate and by native Palatines; into Tulpehocken by the New York Palatines from Schoharie and others direct from the Palatinate; (2) Alemannic, brought into Bern by the Swiss; (3) Welsh in Brecknock, Caernarvon, Cumru, Robeson, and Union townships; (4) Swedish in Union township; (5) Silesian, probably with Saxon and other elements, brought by the Schwenkfelder into Hereford township and lands adjoining in Lehigh and Montgomery counties ; (6) English1 in Union township; (7) Dutch (8) Suabian at Reading.3 In the region of Eden (Pequea-Thal), Lancaster County, we find Alemannic elements from Zürich, Bern, Schaffhausen, and possibly a considerable mixture of "Rheinpfälzisch" which latter, with probably many other dialectic varieties, came also with the Dunkards (Tunker) to the regions along the Conestoga and Mühlbach, Lancaster County, and also to Skippack in Oley, Berks County. The few Dutch that settled near Pottsville, Schuylkill County, brought Low German elements, as did those also in Pike township, Berks County.4 Into Northampton County came with the Moravians, Upper Saxon elements (Sachsen-Altenburg), and extended into Berks, Bucks, Montgomery, and Lehigh counties. Thus it is seen that the ethnic elements which developed the Pennsylvania German speech represent a wide and varied linguistic territory. Nor must it be supposed that, inasmuch as the Pennsylvania German is spoken of as a unit, such a complete 1 E n g l i s h is m e n t i o n e d here to show the variety of speech-elements represented in this one county. I t w i l l be understood that the E n g l i s h element is a constant quantity in every settlement of any importance in the w h o l e province. 2 T o H a m b u r g , B e r k s C o u n t y , came the speech of H a m b u r g , G e r m a n y , b u t it soon came into contact with the great Pfälzisch current and was merged in it and in the neighboring dialects. 3 I n and around R e a d i n g , B e r k s County, the dialect elements were chiefly Suabian and R h i n e Frankish, many of the settlers h a v i n g come from Wiirtem-

berg and settled w i t h Pfälzer from the various sources mentioned above. 4 In P i k e township, B e r k s County, the D u t c h element is quite small compared w i t h the A l e m a n n i c and R h i n e Frankish.

THE PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

83

levelling has taken place as to render it impossible to trace the original dialectical characteristics. This will receive fuller treatment in the chapter on P h o n o l o g y . T h e causes leading to the perpetuation of these peculiarities were in general the same as those which preserved to our time this widely spoken dialect itself. R u p p remarks that the Germans w h o came to Pennsylvania before 1717 were for the most part persons of means. T h i s in many cases was true, but they were as a class from the humbler walks of life, seeking a quiet retreat from the storms of persecution. T h e y were men of firm convictions, and in many cases deeply imbued with the spirit of pietism. T h e y cherished the traditions of the Fatherland, cared little for political power or prominence, were content to till their fertile acres in this occidental E d e n unmolested in their religious and social rights and liberty. H e r e is a state of political units quite different from the early settlers of N e w England, where the responsibility of government was keenly felt by the individual settlers when they met in that greatest of Teutonic institutions, the town meeting. Besides the unobtrusive character of the early Pennsylvania Germans, there were other potent forces favoring the perpetuation of their lang u a g e , such as the organization of German schools in all important German centres, the establishment of printing presses in Germantown and Ephrata, from both of which towns German-American publications were distributed in great numbers throughout the province, v a r y i n g in importance from Sauer's American edition of the German Bible and the Chronicon Ephratense to the simplest tract and calendar. T h e pulpit has been and continues to be the great bulwark of conservative strength. M. D .

LEARNED.

III.—THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN DIALECT. II. ABBREVIATIONS. Aarg. A.-S. Basl. Br. Gr. Brandt Bav. D. Fischer P.-D. G. Fischer K. Z. Goth. Grimm H. Horn Kl. (Kluge) K. lex. M. I i . G. N. (Nadler) N. H. G. N . E. O. H . G. O. N. U. P. O. S. P. G. Paul Mhd. Gr. Rauch R. P. Sanders Sch. Pdn. Sch. M. B. Sch. B. W . Sch. Sch, Id. S.-C. W. A. G. W . B. G. W. Mhd. Gr. Westr. Wien. Z.

= : Aargau dialect. zz Anglo-Saxon (Old English). Basel dialect. zz Braune's Althochdeutsche Grammatik. zz Brandt's German Grammar. zz Bavarian dialect. zz Dutch (Holländisch). zz: Fischer's Pennsylvanisch-Deutsche Gedichte. zz Fischer's Kurzweil und Zeitvertreib. zz Gothic. " Grimm's Deutsche Grammatik. zz H a l d e m a n ' s Pennsylvania Dutch. ~ 'm H o r n sei, Buch. zz: Kluge's Etymologisches Wörterbuch. = Kobell's Gedichte in pfälzischer Mundart. zz lexical(ly). zz Middle H i g h German. zz Nadler's Gedichte in Pfälzer Mundart. zz New H i g h German. = New English (Modern English). zz Old H i g h German. zz Old Norse. = Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz). zz Old Saxon. zz Pennsylvania German. zz Paul's Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik (Zweite Aufl.). = R a u c h ' s Pennsylvania Dutch Hand-book. — Rhine Palatinate dialect (Rheinpfälzisch). ~ Sanders' D e u t s c h e s Wörterbuch. zz Schade's Paradigmen. zz Schmeller, Die Mundarten Bayerns. zz Schmeller's Bayerisches Wörterbuch. zz Schandein's Gedichte in Westricher Mundart. zz Schweizerisches Idiotikon. zz Sievers-Cook, Grammar of Old English. zz Weinhold's Alemannische Grammatik. zz Weinhold's Bairische Grammatik. zz Weinhold's Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik. zz Westrich dialect. = Wiener Dialekt (Vienna dialect). zz Zeller's Dichtungen in pfälzischer Mundart.

THE PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN DIALECT.

179

PHONOLOGY.

§ 1 . — T h e conclusions of the introductory chapter show clearly that the speech elements transplanted to Pennsylvania were preeminently those from the Rhenish Palatinate. T h e chapters on phonology and morphology will substantiate the fact that Pennsylvania German, in borrowing from English to enrich its vocabulary, has by no means forfeited its birthright and become a pitiable hybrid of bad German and worse English, but, on the contrary, has perpetuated in their pristine vigor the characteristics of its venerable European ancestor, the Rhine Frankish, specifically Rhine Palatinate, " Rheinpf alzisch." T h e following comparative view of Pennsylvania German phonology represents what is recognized in eastern and central Pennsylvania as the Pennsylvania German dialect. A more detailed treatment of dialectical differences in various portions of the State is reserved for a subsequent chapter. For reasons which will appear in the preface, a normalized text, differing from any yet in use among P. G. writers, has been adopted. T h e following treatment locates the P. G. form historically b y stating (1) the Pennsylvania German word ; (2) (in parenthesis) the New High German and New English etymological and lexical equivalents, where the latter differ from the former; (3) the Rhine Palatinate, Rhein-Pfalzisch or Westrich (usually the most nearly related European dialect; cf. Ethnographical Introduction, pp. 1 8 - 2 0 ) ; and (4) the Old High German equivalent (where peculiarly interesting, the Rhine Frankish form of the O. H. G. period). T h e most nearly related forms are printed in type so that the eye can catch at a glance the affinities of the word under consideration. In order to give both German and English readers a complete picture of our dialect, we have given the N. H . G. and N. E. equivalents, even at the risk of stating what the philologist would sometimes readily supply. T h e phonetic notation has been reduced to the simplest possible system. It is to be regretted that the new system of notation proposed by the Modern Language Association of America is not ready for adoption. After comparing the systems of Bell, Sweet, Storm, Winteler, and Sievers, I have adopted the following. It seemed preferable to retain the v instead of using in its place the 0 with the hook or inverted c, inasmuch as this sound is written a in most of the Germanic languages. In the table below, the equivalents in Winteler's system are given in ( ).

l8o

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

§2. T A B L E OF E Q U I V A L E N T S . Vowels P . G.

E 2> se ¡6 e e e 3 i I O o u u

Wintelcr.

N e w English equivalent and example,

(o s approaching a) (»' approaching a) (Sievers' ae2 as modified by the following r.)

o in hot, a in what, aw in law. a in marry. a in car. e in clever, e in met, bet. a in pale, sale, last e in seven, i in six, fix. ee in keel, feel, o in omission, o in home, u in pussy. 00 in pool, fool.

(e5) (i'3) ( f )

(o 2 ) ("•) (u 2 ) («')

Diphthongs:

(o' + i 2 ) (o 2 + u) ei (cf. H . ? 3 ) (a+i2) si (rare, cf. H., ch. I, §3), P. G. ex. hai! v\ (— y + i)

EU

oy in boy, coy. ou in house, ei in height. a i i n aisle (of London).

§3. CONSONANTS. b (voiceless) = b as in N. H . G. bitter. v (voiced spirant, = : b with a stroke and represents original b) — v as in N. E. never. d (voiceless) — d as in N. H . G. Ding, f (voiceless spirant) r r f as in N. H . G. finden, N. E. find, g (voiceless) = g as in N . H . G. Gift, N. E . gift. ch (voiceless spirant, in Italics to distinguish from P. G. ch r= N. H . G. ch) — g (ch) as in N. H . G. selig. y (palatal, medial, — older intervocalic g) — y as in N. E . many a (when pronounced together), h (aspirate) = h as in N . H . G. H a n d , N . E. hand, j (for original j or consonantal i) — j as in N. H. G. J a h r , N. E. year, k (voiceless) — k as in N . H . G. Konig, N. E . king. 1 = 1 as in N. H . G. lang, N. E. long. 1 (strongly liquid when intervocalic) = : 11 as in N. E. willing, m = : m as in N. H . G. H e i m , N . E . home, n = n as in N. H. G. Name, N . E. n a m e , p (voiceless) = : p as in N. H . G. Pein. r — r as in N. E. ring, often trilled, when medial as in N. E. borough, s (voiceless spirant) — s as in N. E. seven, t (voiceless) — t as in N. H . G. Topf, N. E. top. w represents original w (hw) less voiced (less dental) than w in N. H . G. was. z ( t + s) — ts as in N. E . cats, k s (x). dzh ( = N . E. j in J o h n ) . sch ( = s, N. H . G. sch) = sh as in N. E. s h o r t . ~ indicates nasality. ch ( = N. H . G. ch and written for it) = ch in N. H . G. ich.

THE PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

l8l

VOWELS.

v. §4.—P. G. v has a sound approaching that of 0, and is doubtless a very old one, as would appear from such forms as O. H. G. seal and scol, haldn and hoi on, or better zata and zota, where no liquid influence has to be accounted for (cf. Br. Gr. §25, 6, 1). This sound (as short) has the same quality as the a in N. E. wallow ; as long, it is well known to N. E. in all, call, fall (for A.-S. cf. S. C. § 5 1 ; for Alemannic, cf. W . A . G. § 1 1 2 ; for the change before nasals and I cf. W . Mhd. Gr. §20). T h e sound occurs also in other German dialects; cf. Sch. Id. S. X V I , Htigel's Wiener Dialekt, S. 10. P. G. v represents: 1. Germanic a, N. H . G. a, R . P. a (for Bav. cf. Sch. M. B . §108). P. G. nucht (N. H . G . nacht, N. E. night), R . P. nacht ( Z . ) ; P. G. dBnk (N. H. G . dank, N. E. thank(s)) ; P. G. hBls (N. H . G. hals, lex. N. E. n e c k ; cf. halse, Spencer); P. G. lund (N. H. G. land, N. E. land), R . P. land (N.), Westr. lann (Sch.); P. G. munn (N. H. G. mann, N. E. man); P. G . h i n d (N. H. G. hand, N. E . hand); P. G. schind(t) (N. H . G. schände, lex. N. E . shame). Note 1.—In some cases P. G. has retained Germanic short a, while in N. H . G . this a has been lengthened. P. G. fetar ( N . H. G. vater, N. E. father), R . P. vadder (N.), vatter (Z.), Bav. väda', and valls'. M. H. G. vater, O. H. G. vatar. 2. a of Latin words introduced early. P. G. kurd (N. H . G. karte, N. E. chart, card), M. H. G. karte « Fr. carte); cf. P. G. kurd (lex. N. H. G . k ä m m e n ; cf. karden, lex. N. E. card wool); cf. N. H . G. karde, M. H. G. karte, O. H. G. charta (lex. N. E. teasel, cardoon) < [ L a t . circa 7th cent. ( K l u g e ) . 3. Germanic u (except Gothic, which has ai, azi). P. G. durch, dBrach (N. H. G. durch, N. E. thorough, through), R . P. durch, but cf. R . P. nor, norre ( = N. H. G. nur) and worscht, M. H. G . durch, dur, O. H. G. duruh, durah, duri, dar, but Goth, \airh; P. G. wBrzal (N. H. G. wurzel, lex. N. E. root; cf. N. E . wurt), Goth, waürts; P. G . werscht (N. H. G. wurst, lex. N. E. sausage). 4. 0 in N. E . words introduced into P. G. E x . : P. G. schop ( = N. H. G. werkstätte, N. E. shop; P. G. schlop (lex. N. H. G. kiichenabfall, schlampe, N. E. slop, swill, an untidy female.

i82

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

In consonantal combinations si, sp, st of words borrowed from the English are usually pronounced schl, schp, seht, if initial; cf. §40. §5.—P. G. v corresponds to : 1. Original Germanic & (Gothic e); cf. W. A. G. §44. (For O. H. G. ä Germanic te, cf. Br. Gr. §34, a, 1). P. G. »dar, R. P. a (0), cf. pi. odera (H.) (N. H. G. ader, lex. N. E. vein; cf. A.-S. äsdre), R. P. oder (N.), Bav. ada', auda', O. H. G. ädara ; P. G. m»la (N. H. G. mahlen, lex. N. E. grind), R. P. m a h l e (NO, but cf. P. G. mola (N. H. G. malen); P. G. m»na (N. H. G. mahne, N. E. mane); P. G. h»s3 (N. H. G. hase, N. E. hare). For j»r more generally j ör, schl»f, generally schlöf; cf. §12, 3. 2. Germanic au, which in some cases > 6 in O. H. G. (cf. Br. Gr. §45), and in others remained as a diphthong, written ou after the ninth century (cf. Br. Gr. §46), R. P. aa (&), P. G. d?b (N. H. G. taub, N. E. deaf); P. G. dV (N. H. G. thau, N. E. dew) ; P. G. 1/ fa (N. H. G. laufen, N. E. leap, etymologically but lexically N. E. run and walk) ; R. P. laafe (Z. and K.), Westr. lafe (Seh.). 3. Germanic a, R. P. a. P. G. sch»d3 (N. H. G. schade, etymol. M. E., N. E. scathe, scath, lexically N. E. damage, harm) ; P. G. n»m9 (N. H. G. name, N. E. name), R. P. n a m e (N. and Sch.) ; P. G. s?m3 (N. H. G. sama, lexically N. E. seed); cf. N. E. semen Lat. semen. Note 1.—This correspondence extends also to contracted monosyllables. P. G. mvä (N. H. G. magd, N. E. maid), R. P. m a h d (Z.), Bav. mäid, r,ici3d, M. H. G. maget, meit, O. H. G. magad, Goth. maga\s. 4. N. E. aw, P. G. l»messig (lexically N. H. G. gesetzmässig, gesetzlich), N. E. according to law, compound N. E. l a w German m ä s s i g . For formations of this kind cf. chapter on English Mixture. e. §6.—In P. G. as in O. H. G. original Germanic e has remained (cf. Br. Gr. §29). Moreover, in many this e, which in O. H. G. became i before i or u in the following syllable (cf. Br. Gr. §30, a and c), has persisted as e in P. G. Ex. : O. H. G. nimis, hilfis, nimu, hilfiCy- P. G. nemscht, helfscht, nema, helfa. (For infinitives see examples below.) As in O. H. G. so in P. G. this original e is pronounced short and open. The following examples show in striking manner the lengthening of this e in N. H. G. (cf. Brandt, §488, 2) : P. G. g e v a (N. H. G. geben, N. E. give), R. P. g e w w e (N.

THE

PENNSYLVANIA

GERMAN

DIALECT.

183

Z.), Bav. g 6 b m ; P. G. nema (N. H . G . nehmen, N. E . take, lexical equivalent, cf. A.-S. niman), Westr. nemma (Sch.); P. G. helf,nem, 2 sg. imper.; gebt,nemmt ( K . ) , helft ( K . ) , werd ( K . ) , 3 sg. indie., are all in keeping with the P. G. principle of avoiding the umlaut forms in the pres. indie, of strong verbs. T h e same tendency is found in other dialects, as for example R . P., Westr. T h e following are examples of nouns retaining this original Germanic e: P. G . schweval (N. H. G. schwefel, lexically N. E . sulphur; cf. A . - S . swefl) ; P. G. neval (N. H . G. nebel, lexically N. E. mist, fog ; cf. O . S. neval), R . P. newwel (Z.). Note 1 . — P . G. writers do not distinguish orthographically between original Germanic e and e produced by the z-um laut of a. For the latter we use the usual sign e. § 7 A . — P . G. e represents : 1. i of words introduced (as early as O. H. G. period) from Latin (N. H. G. e). P. G. bech, pech (N. H. G. pech, lex. N. E. pitch or shoemaker's wax), M. H. G. bech,pech, O . H. G. beh, peh (cf. M. H . G . p f i c h , O. H. G. pfih