Pennsylvania Dutch : the story of an American language / Mark L. Louden.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Louden, Mark Laurence, author.

Series:

Young Center books in Anabaptist & Pietist studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pennsylvania Dutch--Languages.

Pennsylvania Dutch.

Pennsylvania Dutch--History.

History.

Pennsylvania Dutch--Religion.

Pennsylvania Dutch--Social life and customs.

German Americans--Pennsylvania--Language.

German Americans.

Languages in contact--Pennsylvania.

Languages in contact.

Language and languages.

Berks County (Pa.)--Languages.

Berks County (Pa.).

Berks County (Pa.)--Social life and customs.

Pennsylvania.

Physical Description:

xxii, 473 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016.

Summary:

"While most world languages spoken by minority populations are in serious danger of becoming extinct, Pennsylvania Dutch is thriving. In fact, the number of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers is growing exponentially, although it is spoken by less than one-tenth of one percent of the United States population and has remained for the most part an oral vernacular without official recognition or support. A true sociolinguistic wonder, Pennsylvania Dutch has been spoken continuously since the late eighteenth century, even though it has never been "refreshed" by later waves of immigration from abroad. In this probing study, Mark L. Louden, himself a fluent speaker of Pennsylvania Dutch, provides readers with a close look at the place of the language in the life and culture of two major subgroups of speakers: the "Fancy Dutch," whose ancestors were affiliated mainly with Lutheran and German Reformed churches, and conservative Anabaptist sectarians known as the "Plain people"--The Old Order Amish and Mennonites. Drawing on scholarly literature, three decades of fieldwork, and ample historical documents--most of which have never before been made accessible to English-speaking readers--this is the first book to offer a comprehensive look at this unlikely linguistic success story"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Chapter 1 What Is Pennsylvania Dutch? 1

Chapter 2 Early History of Pennsylvania Dutch 63

Chapter 3 Pennsylvania Dutch, 1800-1860 119

Chapter 4 Profiles in Pennsylvania Dutch Literature 179

Chapter 5 Pennsylvania Dutch in the Public Eye 237

Chapter 6 Pennsylvania Dutch and the Amish and Mennonites 298

Chapter 7 An American Story 355.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781421418285

1421418282

OCLC:

907657512

Online:

Cover image