The Amish of America speak a hybrid dialect called Pennsylvania Dutch or Pennsylvania German. It is a Germanic language with a good amount of English mixed in.
If you sit and listen to two Amish speaking, you may be surprised that what seems like every fifth or tenth or twentieth word is actually English. Occasionally you find you can sort of follow along as they speak.
PA Dutch is a largely unwritten language. When the Amish write notes and letters to one another, they usually use English.
But the typical Amish child will not speak much or any English until he or she reaches school age. PA Dutch is the first language they learn as toddlers, and the language that most Amish are most comfortable conversing in. Once in school, the teacher, who is almost always Amish, teaches the children English, and all lessons are held using English as a base language.
In fact, many if not most Amish are actually trilingual, because in addition to English and ‘Dutch’, they speak and understand High German, which is the language their Bibles are written in and the language typically used in their church services.
The Amish are not the only ones who have been known to speak PA German, though they are the largest group. Speakers of the dialect, including Mennonites and non-Amish, have been found historically in the southeastern region of Pennsylvania, as well as in the Shenandoah valley region stretching south through Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.
External linguistic Amish resources
- Erik Wesner is an expert on the Amish. In fact he even wrote this post. Please go to his site Amish America he even has a great post called,
- Ask an Amishman. He you can ask a real live Amish man questions, I think he has a computer hidden in his barn or something, really.
- The following this Amish language , to listen to a sample recording of Pennsylvania Dutch.
Tags: Amish language


62 responses to The peculiar language of the Amish
I am no expert. My wife and I just picked up the Alice Spayd PA German (PG) disks from the Mennonite Historical Society in Lancaster as well as the workbook for the class that is starting on September 17th. I listen to it each morning on the way in to work. I am starting to be able to follow the conversations here:
csumc.wisc.edu/AmericanLanguages/search_clip_type.php?clip_type=PennDutch
Funny thing is, there is one clip where the interviewer is German and he is asking the other man questions in hoch-Deutsch (HD). The man is answering in HD also. I can understand that perfectly. But the PG is still a bit difficult. Most of it has to do with pronunciation. Like “Don” above was saying, even within the PG dialect there is a wide range of variation in pronunciation (The “die” vs. “day” sounds.)
From the sound clips at that link above, listen to how many English words the Amish lady from Nappannee throws into the conversation “seventy seven to seventy nine”, “supposed to”, “five through eight”, “Devotions”, “Reading”, “Writing”, “History” (note her pronunciation of “History”), etc.
This article and the ensuing discussion has been great. I think you made some great points, Mark. I am a big fan of flash cards. In fact I have been working on several PA German flashcard decks for iFlipr (an iPhone flashcard program: iflipr.com). I am a bit hung-up on some of the verb conjugations. The nouns are “done” meaning there is a set of 231 words with their articles and plural endings. Look for “PA German – Nouns”. Some have pictures. Most do not. I will share the verbs deck when I sort-out the conjugations.
Reading the Bible is another good suggestion. Although, the Amish actually use Die Heillige Schrift and Ausbund, both of which are in HD. It would be REALLY helpful if someone wrote a Rosetta Stone module for PG.
So, for those who are interested, I added three flashcard decks to iFlipr.com:
PA German – Nouns
PA German – Verbs
PA German – Verbs (with conjugations)
These have 232, 95, and 43 cards respectively. Someone needs to verify my work to ensure proper conjugations, articles, etc. As time permits, I will post other parts of speech (Adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, etc.)
Machst gut!
um A….. its hebrew not jewish
I am 14…I am not Amish, but i am willing to see what it is like to be or become Amish. I read a book and its called Summer Hill secrets. I forgot who it is by, but its a wonderful book! About a young 15 year old girl who is growing up in the Amish Community. Her neighbors, The Zook Family are Amish. I read it and i loved it! I went down to southern IL and i went through the Amish commuinty. Tell ya the truth, I like there way of life. Somtimes, i think it is better to live the life as “plain people” Is it possible for a 14 year old girl to become Amish? Even if her parents arent? Or when i am older, will i beable to marry into the Amish church? all of the questions i have with hardly any answers..i need help!
Katie, Amish life is great. I think it is an ideal in some ways. However, when I was young I wanted to be a Trappist monk (basically). Now I have a family and moved to Europe and very happy. If you really do have a calling to this, my friend is an author on a couple of Amish books (coming out) and really one of the experts in the world on the Amish. He is fact has or had a post about ‘ask an Amish man’, where you can ask an Amish guy directly questions. amishamerica.com He is rebuilding his site, so it might be a mess now, but contact him via e-mail or blog his name is Erik Wesner.
The Amish definitely speak the language differently that the non-Anabaptist Pennsylvania Dutch, but I do understand it. It is interesting to see how English words enter the tongue and get “dutchified.”
I will be doing a paper on how the English “happen” replaced its Teutonic equivalents, “gschehna” and “bassiera” in Pennsylvania German.
A study of the Pennsylvania Dutch is not complete without mentioning the role of religion. I have yet to meet kinder, gentler folks than the Amish and Mennonites.
Their method of maintaining the language, that is, talking nothing but it to the kids till first grade, is very wise and successful. Thus it becomes the beloved Muttersprache that they will never forget.
How similar is the language of the Amish to Afrikaans? are they mutually understandable?
I will ask my resident Amish expert today, but I think they are like English and Dutch. Close but no cigar.
what are Amish Words
for Dad
Children
Marriage
Date of Death
Date of Marriage
Parents
Grandparents
thank you
Please don’t make the mistake to call the language “Dutch” as it is not: Dutch means: from the Netherlands or the language, spoken in the Netherlands.
It is “Deutsch” which mean: from Deutschland (or Germany) or the language, spoken in Germany.
To mention Afrikaans in relation to Amish:
Afrikaans is from origine a language from the Dutch (from The Netherlands) and not from the Germans (Deutsch) so it has some similar or almost similar words but is different again just as the language in the Netherlands is different from the language in Germany.
I know how it is to be Amish i live around them. my grandma drives them around.
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