Pennsylvania Dutch - The Story of an American Language (Paperback)

The fascinating story of America's oldest thriving heritage language. Winner of the Dale W. Brown Book Award by the Young Center for Anabaptists and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College While most world languages spoken by minority populations are in serious danger of becoming extinct, Pennsylvania Dutch is thriving. In fact, the number of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers is growing exponentially, although it is spoken by less than one-tenth of one percent of the United States population and has remained for the most part an oral vernacular without official recognition or support. A true sociolinguistic wonder, Pennsylvania Dutch has been spoken continuously since the late eighteenth century despite having never been "refreshed" by later waves of immigration from abroad. In this probing study, Mark L. Louden, himself a fluent speaker of Pennsylvania Dutch, provides readers with a close look at the place of the language in the life and culture of two major subgroups of speakers: the "Fancy Dutch," whose ancestors were affiliated mainly with Lutheran and German Reformed churches, and traditional Anabaptist sectarians known as the "Plain people"-the Old Order Amish and Mennonites. Drawing on scholarly literature, three decades of fieldwork, and ample historical documents-most of which have never before been made accessible to English-speaking readers-this is the first book to offer a comprehensive look at this unlikely linguistic success story.

General

Imprint:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Young Center Books in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies
Release date:	February 2019
First published:	2016
Authors:	Mark L. Louden
Dimensions:	229 x 152 x 33mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	504
ISBN-13:	978-1-4214-2897-0
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Sociolinguistics Books > Humanities > History > American history > General Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Calvinist, Reformed & Presbyterian Churches > General Books > History > American history > General Books > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Calvinist, Reformed & Presbyterian Churches > General Books > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Calvinist, Reformed & Presbyterian Churches
LSN:	1-4214-2897-0
Barcode:	9781421428970

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