provocative Sayings and Humorous English Expressions of the Pennsylvania Dutch
English as a World Language
provocative Sayings and Humorous English Expressions of the Pennsylvania Dutch
English, with its growing whole of varieties, pidgins and inflections, is now firmly established as a world language. It is currently spoken as a second or foreign language by more speakers than those who call it their first language. Now there are more than three non-native speakers of English for every native speaker and the whole of non-native English speakers continues to grow on a daily basis. "There's never before been a language that's been spoken by more people as a second than a first", said David Crystal, author of the book "English as a Global Language". In the area where I grew up in south central Pennsylvania, there is an inviting variety of the English language spoken by the "Pennsylvania Dutch".
One difficult aspect of the English speech in Dauphin, Lancaster and York counties settled in south central Pennsylvania, where a large attention of Amish, Mennonites and other "Pennsylvania Dutch" sects live is the manipulation of the grammar elements of English. Here are a few examples of the ways in which grammar and word order are managed in daily Pennsylvania Dutch speech. For "Outlanders", anything who is not Pennsylvania Dutch, these expressions of daily speech can range from amusing to startling. Here's a look at just a few of the many aspects of this variety of English.
Convoluted Grammatical Forms
"Throw Papa down the stairs his hat."
Explanation: Throw Papa's hat down the stairs to him. (I don't care how old he is, don't you dare touch ole Papa!)
"Go out and tie the dog loose and don't forget to outen the light."
This expression uses convoluted grammar in expanding to "Germanic" verbalizations. Here the verb "outen" means "to turn out". The adjective and noun are used in reverse order from other forms of suitable English.
"The owner says he'll pay me ten dollars a day if I eat myself, but just five dollars if he eats me."
Explanation: No, there's no cannibalism here! The worker will get ten dollars a day for providing his own meals, but five dollars a day if the owner has to furnish the worker's food. (Whew! I'm glad we cleared that one up!)
"He's a pretty good man yet, ain't not?"
Explanation: He's a pretty good man (provider), isn't he? (a tag ask form)
Use of Specialized Vocabulary
Addition of specialized, but "local" vocabulary is also quite ordinarily done as demonstrated in these examples.
"Shall I put the candy in a toot?" (A "toot" is a paper bag.)
When talking about that fact that his father or grandfather is sick a child might say:
"Pop ain't so good; his eatin's gone away and he don't look so good in the face, either."
Speaking about his son's difficulties in school a father could be heard to express the following sentiments: "My son ain't dumb. It ain't that he can't learn, it's just that after he learns it, he forgets it."
If you don't speak "Pennsylvania Dutch" in one of its multiple forms, they just might say of you: "You don't make yourself out so good. You talk so fancy like a body can't understand you."
In talking about man who doesn't read aloud well, at a meeting or in school for example, people might say something like: "When he gets up to read he gets befuddled."
Or how about this amusing slight observation of someone else person's speech: "Don't talk so quick, it runs together too much when I think."
Pennsylvania Dutch Proverbs
Some inviting Pennsylvania Dutch proverbs contain these offerings:
"Kissin' wears out, cooking don't"
"No woman can be happy with less than seven to cook for"
"A plump wife and a big barn never did any man harm"
"He who has a private dare not tell it to his wife"
"Ve get too soon oldt, und too late schmart"
The Keystone State
In this region of the "Keystone state" as Pennsylvania is monickered, this variety of is often called "Ferhoodled English" by the Pennsylvania Dutch themselves and by local "Outlanders". Celebrated for their economical lifestyle and natural, appetizing farm-fresh cooking, the Amish and other sects lead to the tourism of the state. Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to sample the crafts, food and "peculiar" language this austere people. It is but yet someone else of the many continually developing varieties of English as a global language.
"When you come over - come out" When you're in the area, drop by. See, hear, and feel the food and the Pennsylvania Dutch for yourself.
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