amish speak what language
The history of the Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Anabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann. Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish. In the early 18th century, many Amish and Mennonites immigrated to Pennsylvania for a variety of reasons. His 1968 article, “What the Pennsylvania Dutch Dialect Has Meant in My Life,” is well worth reading. For an Amish perspective on the sociolinguistic ecology of German, Pennsylvania Dutch, and English in Old Order society, the 1986 article, “What Is in a Language,” is to be recommended. Whatever varieties of German they spoke in Europe, the Amish assimilated to the language of the majority, Pennsylvania German, which resembles most closely the German dialects spoken in the southeastern Palatinate, near the city of Mannheim. The influence of English on Pennsylvania German is often overstated. Only 10 to 15 percent of Pennsylvania German vocabulary is English-derived; its core grammatical structures remain Palatine German. The Amish speak Pennsylvania German among one another and it is the language of sermons in church. English is used mainly with non-Amish relatives and friends, but it is also the dominant medium of literacy. The Amish (/ˈɑːmɪʃ/; Pennsylvania Dutch: Amisch, German: Amische) are a group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships with Swiss Anabaptist origins. They are closely related to, but distinct from, Mennonite churches. The vast majority of Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites across North America speak two languages fluently, Pennsylvania German (popularly known as Pennsylvania Dutch) and English. Pennsylvania Dutch is an American language that developed from the immigration of German speakers to colonial Pennsylvania. Many scholars and some speakers of the language call it Pennsylvania German in order to emphasize its historical connection with German rather than the Dutch (Netherlandic) language. Though it is widely believed that the Dutch in Pennsylvania Dutch is due to a mistranslation of the word Deitsch (or Deutsch, in standard German), that is not correct. In earlier forms of British and American English, both Dutch and German could refer to speakers of what we would today call German. Amish lifestyle is regulated by the Ordnung (German, meaning: order), which differs slightly from community to community, and, within a community, from district to district. What is acceptable in one community may not be acceptable in another. For much of the history of the language, however, the Amish and other conservative Anabaptist groups, including many Old Order Mennonites, comprised only a small percentage of the total Pennsylvania Dutch–speaking population. Today, the most traditional descendants of the Amish continue to speak Pennsylvania German, also known as Pennsylvania Dutch, although a dialect of Swiss German is used by Old Order Amish in the Adams County, Indiana area.
Pennsylvania German and English.