- Hutterite German
Infobox Language
name=Hutterite German
nativename=Hutterisch
region=Alberta ,Saskatchewan , andManitoba ,Canada ;Washington ,Montana , North andSouth Dakota .
speakers=unknown
iso3=geh
familycolor=Indo-European
fam1=Indo-European
fam2=Germanic
fam3=West Germanic
fam4=High German
fam5=Upper German
fam6=Austro-Bavarian Hutterite German ("Hutterisch") is an
Upper German dialect of the Austro-Bavarian variety of theGerman language , which is spoken byHutterite communities inCanada and theUnited States . Hutterite is also called Tirolean, but this is an anachronism.Distribution and literacy
Hutterite is spoken in the US states of
Washington ,Montana , North andSouth Dakota , andMinnesota ; and in the Canadian provinces ofAlberta ,Saskatchewan , andManitoba . Its speakers belong to the "Schmiedleit", "Lehrerleit", and "Dariusleit" Hutterite groups, but there are also speakers among the older generations of "Prairieleit" (the descendants of those Hutterites who chose not to settle in colonies). Hutterite children who grow up in the colonies learn and speak first Hutterite German before learning English, the standard language of the surrounding areas.As of 2003, there are about 34,000 speakers in the world, 85% of them living in 333 colonies in Canada and the remaining 15% in 123 colonies in the USA. Canadian adults are generally literate in
Biblical German (Martin Luther 's predecessor toStandard German ) that they employ as the written form for Scriptures whileStandard German is used in the USA for religious activities. Children learn English at school; Canadian Hutterites have a functional knowledge of English. Hutterisch, is for the most part an unwritten language, though in August 2006 Hutterite author, Linda Maendel released a children's story titled, "Lindas Glücklicher Tag" in which all the dialogue is written in the dialect. Maendel is also working on a series of bible stories with Wycliff Bible translators.History and related languages
Hutterite German is descended from the German which was spoken in Carinthia, in
Austria , in the mid-18th century, a Bavarian-Austrian language. Since dialects spoken in Palatinate and inAlsace are mostly Alemannic languages, Hutterite German is only 50% intelligible to a speaker of Pennsylvania German (source : The Ethnologue, 15th ed.). It is more closely related toAustro-Bavarian (Bavaria andAustria ),Cimbrian andMócheno (both spoken inItaly ).It should be noted that, although at one time the Hutterites spoke
Tirol ean German, they no longer do. The switch among Hutterites from Tirolean German to Carinthian German occurred during years of severe persecution in Europe when Hutterite communities were devastated and survival depended on the conversion of many AustrianProtestant refugees to Hutteriteanabaptism .The language has since adopted some Slavic as well as English loan words, which are the result of Hutterite migrations into eastern
Europe and nowNorth America .See also
* Pennsylvania German
*Texas German
*Plautdietsch
*Hutterite External links
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=geh Ethnologue report for Hutterite German]
* [http://www.hbbookcentre.com/lindasgluecklichertag.html Lindas Glücklicher Tag]
* [http://hbbookcentre.com/hutterischabibltschichtlen1.html Hutterischa Bibl Tschichtlen 1]
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