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
¶ 5. Wii kummt ǝs, dass deel weipsleit in eirǝm iistan (Easton) soo
aarm [sein wollen] sei˛ wellǝ un doch soo lang-i frackschwents uf 'm
'peefmǝnt' noochschleefǝ? [Werden] wærre[64] selli weipsleit
betsaalt f'r s 'peefmǝnt' [sauber] sauwǝr tsu haltǝ, ǝdǝr wii
[können] kennǝ sii 'affoordǝ' soo aa˛tsugeeǝ?
_How comes it, that_ (theil) _part (of the) women in your Easton_ (sein
wollen) _pretend to be so poor, and yet_ (nach-schleifen) _drag along_
_such long frock_ (schwänze) _tails on the 'pavement'? Will those women
be paid for keeping the 'pavement' clean, else how can they 'afford' to
proceed thus?_
¶ 6. Wii kummt ǝs, dass dii jung-i buuwǝ selli meed, woo reichi
daadis [Swiss dädi] hen, liiwǝr noochschpringǝ als dii aarmi? Gukt
sel net als wii wann sii meer uum s geld gewwǝ [thäten] deetǝ als
wii uum dii meed? Wann ich ǝn meedl wær un hätt so ǝn 'boo,' dann
deet ich iin mit d'r feiǝrtsang fartschtéwǝrǝ.
_How comes it, that the young men_ (lieber nachspringen) _sooner run
after those girls who have rich_ [the plural _-s_ is English] _fathers,
than the poor ones? Looks it not just as if they would give more for the
money than for the maid? If I were a girl and had such a 'beau,'_ (then)
_I would_ [stöbern, ö long] _drive him forth with the fire-tongs._
¶ 7. Wii kummt ǝs, dass n deel jung-i leit nimmi deitsch leesǝ un
schwetsǝ kennǝ, wann sii mool '_jes_' un '_noo_' saaghǝ kennǝ?
Meim [dative for genitive] nochbǝr, dem Maardi Halsbendl sei˛
eltǝst'r [sohn] suu˛, dær so deitsch waar wii saurkraut des schun
siwwǝ mool ufgwærmt iss, waar kærtslich ǝmool in d'r schtatt, un wii
ær wiid'r heem kummǝ iss, do waar ær so eng-lisch, dass ær schiir gaar
nimmi mit seim daadi un mammi schwetsǝ kann. Sii sin 'nau' arik im
'truwl' un sei˛ daadi meent, sii misst'n iin naus nooch Kniphaus'n
schikkǝ, f'r iin wiid'r (widr) deitsch tsu machǝ.
_How comes it that some young people are no longer able to read and
speak German if they only know how to say 'yes' and 'no'? The eldest son
of my neighbor Martin Neckband, who was as Dutch as sourcrout which has
been warmed up seven times, was once recently a week in town, and when
he had returned home again, there was he so English that he could
scarcely speak anymore with his father and mother. They are 'now'
greatly in 'trouble,' and his father thinks they must send him out to
Kniphausen to make him German again._
¶ 8. Wie kummt ǝs, dass dii aarmi leit geweenlich dii meerschtǝn
hund un katsǝ hen? Do bei uns wuunt n famíljǝ, dii als bettǝlǝ
muss, un dii fiir groosǝ hund un siwwǝ katsǝ hǝt. Sii selwǝr
saaghǝ, sii misst'n so fiil hund hawǝ f'r dii diib aptsuhaltǝ.[65]
_How comes it, that poor people_ (gewöhnlich haben) _commonly have the
most dogs and cats? Here near us lives a family which must always beg,
and which has four large dogs and seven cats. They themselves say, they_
(müszten haben) _were obliged to have so many dogs to keep away the
thieves._
§3.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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