Pennsylvania Dutch: A Dialect of South German With an Infusion of EnglishHaldeman, Samuel Stehman
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Pennsylvania Dutch: A Dialect of South German With an Infusion of English
Haldeman, Samuel Stehman
Pennsylvania German dialect
[29] Mustersaal aller teutschen Mundarten, ... Bonn, 1822, vol.
2, p. 361. By a type error, _m_ of getscheumpt was omitted. See also Dr.
Mombert's History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1869, p. 373.
[30] See note 1 on next page.
[31] Any place where liquor is retailed is called a saloon, and
in a certain town a cabin with a single room is labeled DON JUAN
WALLING'S SIGN EMPORIUM.
[32] 'You have _removed_' (your residence), but the third
person plural is not thus used in PG.
[33] G. ein gutes, but the Austrian extension _gūăt_ is
not PG.
[34] Neuter for feminine, as in Bavarian and Austrian.
[35] These four words are printed in Roman type.
CHAPTER VI.
SYNTAX.
The confusion of forms in the declension of German articles, pronouns,
and adjectives, as given in print, is avoided in dialects, and on the
upper Rhine all classes use the masculine nominative _der_ for the
accusative _den_, thus making a step towards rational grammar--the
feminine _die_ and the neuter _das_ being equally nominative and
accusative. According to Radlof, from Swisserland to Holland, on both
sides of the Rhine, there is scarcely a locality where the nominative is
distinguished from the accusative and the dative, and he cites as
examples--"ich trinke rother Wein" (for _rothen_); "ich habe der Esel
gesehen" (for _den Esel_); "ich sitze auf der Baum" (for _dem
Baum_).[37] In PG. this _rother_ for _rothen_ is sometimes cut down to
"root" the common PG. neuter form, particularly with the _definite_
article, as in--
Ich trink d'r root wei˛. _I drink the red wine._ Was f'r wei˛
wit [willst du] trinke? _What kind of wine willst drink?_ Ich trink
tschenǝrli rooter wei˛.[36] _I 'generally' drink red wine._
G. Wir geben guten Lohn. PG. M'r gewwǝ guutǝr loo˛. _We give
good wages._
ǝn guutǝr freind (n guuti fraa, n guut haus) is n guut ding. _A
good friend_ (masc.), _wife_ (fem.), _house_ (neut.) _is a good
thing_ (neut.).
Sellǝr mann hǝt mei, huut allǝs ufgebrǝchǝ. _That man
has broken_ (meinen) _my hat_ (alles auf) _all up._
Ich bin naus in _=dǝr=_ hoof un bin unsǝrǝr kats uf
_=dǝr=_ schwants getrettǝ, selli hǝt mich gekratst. (_Nsp._)
_I went_ (hinaus) _out, in_ (G. den Hof, _m._) _the yard, and trod
on_ (G. den Schwanz) _the tail of our cat, she scratched me._
... weil ich mich geschämmt hab, bin ich uf _=dǝr=_ schpeichǝr
geschniikt oone ǝn wǝrt tsu saaghǝ. (_Nsp._) _While I shamed
myself, I 'sneaked' up to_ (den) _the loft without a word to say._
G. Das Wetter ist den ganzen Tag schön gewesen. PG. s wettǝr iss
d'r gants (or gans) daak schee˛ gwest. _The weather has been
fine the entire day._
G. Ich gehe in den Keller. PG. Ich gee in dǝr kellǝr. _I am
going into the cellar._
In the next, _Stuhl_ being masculine, the nominative _der_ is used for
the dative _dem_, but the accusative _ihn_ ('n) is preserved--
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