Seminar paper from the year 1993 in the subject American Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,7, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Englische Philologie), course: Varieties of American English, language: English, abstract: The long persistence of Pennsylvania German English for nearly two centuries in an English-speaking territory which was settled by English, Scotch-Irish and Welsh as early as by Germans , naturally brought about a certain contact between English and German language that influenced both, the generally spoken English and the specific dialect formation that languages borrowed from each other. This paper is an attempt to show in how far this language contact has caused mutual language borrowings, which were by no means restricted to vocabulary items but also extended to phonological and syntactic features, having as well influential effects on intonational patterns.

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"The phonological differences found in the informants' varieties of English are reflected in the differences in the areas of language use and language attitude. In the final chapter, findings gained from the study of the latter two areas are used to suggest an explanation of the "Pennsylvania German paradox." An attempt is made to integrate the phonological findings into a larger theory of language change and to make predictions about future linguistic developments."--BOOK JACKET.

"The long persistence of Pennsylvania German English for nearly two centuries in an English-speaking territory which was settled by English, Scotch-Irish and Welsh as early as by Germans, naturally brought about a certain contact between English and German language that influenced both, the generally spoken English and the specific dialect formation that languages borrowed from each other"--Back cover

Excerpt from The Pennsylvania-German Dialect: A Study of Its Status as a Spoken Dialect and Form of Literary Expression, With Reference to Its Capabilities and Limitations, and Lines Illustrating Same That a general renaissance has been inspired along va rions lines of literary effort among the descendants of the early pennsylvania-germans is manifest on every hand. That they have awakened to their opportunity, their power and their duty, and have resolved to claim the wealth of theirliterary and historical heritage is equally apparent; stimulated everywhere by the example and the work of the pennsylvania-german Society. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.