Pennsylvania Dutch English
Pennsylvania Dutch English is a dialect of English that has been influenced by the Pennsylvania German language. It is largely spoken in South Central Pennsylvania, both by people who are monolingual and bilingual. The dialect has been dying out, as non-Amish younger Pennsylvania Germans tend to speak 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 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:- Widespread devoicing of obstruents.
- The use of certain vowel variants in specific phonological contexts.
- The use of Pennsylvania German verb and noun stems in word construction.
- Specific intonation patterns for questions.
- Special placement of prepositional phrases in sentences.
- The use of "ain't" and "not" or "say" as question tags.
- The use of "still" as a habitual verbal marker.
- Use of the word "yet" to mean "still," such as "do you work at the store yet?" to mean "do you still work at the store?"
- Use of terms such as "doncha know" and "so I do" or "so he does" at the end of declaratory sentences.
- Use of the word "awhile" at the end of sentences proposing simultaneous actions.
- Omitting "to be" from the passive construction in an infinitive following "needs" or "wants".
| Pennsylvania Dutch English term | Standard English term | Pennsylvania German term | Related Standard German term | Word-for-word Standard German translation |
| Outen the lights. | Turn off the lights. | Mach's Licht aus. | Mach das Licht aus. | "Make the light off." |
| The is all. | There is no more . | Die sin all. | Die sind alle. | "The are all." |
| Don't eat yourself full. | Don't fill yourself up. | Iss dich net voll. | Iss dich nicht voll. | "Eat yourself not full." |
| There's cake back yet. | There is cake to come. | Es gibt datt noch Kuche. | Es gibt da noch Kuchen. | "It passes there yet cake." / "There is yet cake." |
| It wonders me. | It makes me wonder. | Es wunnert mich. | Das wundert mich. | "It wonders me." |
| Spritzing | Lightly raining | Schpritze | Spritzen | "Spurting / Squirting" |
| Rutsching | Squirming | Rutsche | Rutschen | "Slipping / Sliding" |
| Schusslich | Clumsy | Schusslich | Schusselig | "Scatty / Scatterbrained" |
| Doplich / Doppich | Clumsy | Doppich | Täppisch / Tappig | "Clumsy" |
| Yah, well. | Whatever / It makes no difference | Ya, well. | Ja, wohl. | "Yes, well." |
| Wutz | Pig | Die Wutz | Die Wutz | "The Pig" |
| Kutz / Kutzing | Vomit / Vomiting | Die Kutz / Kutze | Die Kotze / Kotzen | "Vomit" |
| Schtriwwelich | Uncombed or stringy | Schtriwwelich | Strubbelig | "Disheveled" |
| Brutzing / Grexing | Whining/ Complaining | Brutze / Grexe | Jammern / Klagen | "Whining / Complaining" |
| Wuntz | For a second / Quickly | Eemols | Einmal | Once / One-time |
| Mox nix | Irrelevant | Macht's nix | Macht nichts. | " Matters not." |
| Nix nootz / Nix nootzie | Misbehaving | Nixnutz | Nichtsnutz | "No-use." |
| Schnickelfritz | Troublemaker | Schnickelfritz | Schnacken + Fritz | "Chatting Fritz" |
| That's all | None left / All gone | All / Alle | Alle / Leer | "All / Blank" |
| Right like | Exactly the same as | Genau wie / Yuscht wie | Genau wie | "Just like" |
Other idioms include "Make wet?" meaning "Is it going to rain?", "hurrieder" meaning "faster", and "dippy eggs/ecks" meaning "over-easy or soft-boiled eggs".