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 (so that "Throw the horse some hay over the fence" might be rendered "Throw the horse over the fence some hay").
- 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 (e.g. "Go get the tea out of the pantry; I'll start boiling the water awhile.").
- The use of "tree" instead of "three" to describe the number "3".
Other calques and idioms include:
| Pennsylvania Dutch English | Standard English | Modern German |
|---|---|---|
| Make wet? | Is it going to rain? | Wird es regen? |
| Outen the lights. | Turn off the lights. | Mach das Licht aus. |
| The candy is all. | There is no more candy. | Die Süßigkeiten sind alle. |
| Don't eat yourself full. | Don't fill yourself up. | Iss dich nicht voll. |
| There's cake back yet. | There is cake to come. | Es gibt da noch Kuchen. |
| Red up the room. | Clean the room. | Räum das Zimmer auf. |
| It wonders me. | It makes me wonder. | Das wundert mich. |
| Hurrieder | Faster | Schneller |
| Spritzing | Lightly raining | nieseln |
| Rutsching | Squirming | auf dem Bauch rutschen |
| Schusslich | Clumsy with things usually due to hurrying | schusselig |
| Doplich | Clumsy with self | Tollpatschig sein. |
| Yah, well. | Whatever, or It makes no difference | Ja, wohl. |
| Wutz | Pig (when someone eats a lot) | die Wutz |
| Kutz / kutzing | Vomit / vomiting | die Kotze / kotzen |
| Wonnernaus | A polite way of saying "None of your business" | |
| Schtriwwelich | Uncombed or stringy | strubbelig |
| Brutzing, Gretzing | Whining/complaining | Jammern, Klagen |
| Wuntz (Once) | for a second/real quick | Ein Moment / mal |
| Dippy ecks | over easy, soft-boiled eggs | Spiegeleier |
| Mox nix | irrelevant | Das macht nichts OR Macht nichts. |
| Nix nootz/Nix nootzie | Misbehaving(usually referring to a little kid) | Nichtsnutz |
| Schnickelfritz | troublemaker(usually referring to a little kid) | Störenfried |
| All | None left/All gone | alle / leer |
| Right like | exactly the same as | Genau wie |
Read more about this topic: Pennsylvania Dutch English
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