No way! Amish speak German?

Dr.Colosso said:

I just saw this. I knew that they came from Germany, but I always thought they spoke English. I understand him too. It's mostly German but Guder daag: Guten tag / goedendag and alle daag: alledaags is a Dutch word. Flat German is like Dutch. This is funny.
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Amish is probably a Bastardisation of Both German and Dutch..as well as English...I've always thought that anyway...
 

I've listened to some youtube videos but it's not like Dutch. I saw this in the comments. I can understand a Mennonite better. That's low German which is similar to Dutch.

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BeefStu said:
I would imagine it is somewhat like Afrikaans language from South Africa spoke. Bit of a mix of German, Dutch and French. There are a lot of different dialects of certain languages that are similar but not quite the same. Quebecois French isn't quite the same as Parisian French.
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In the same way that Mexican Spanish or Chillean is quite different to Spain Spanish.... there are similar words but its not the same language
 

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Pennsylvania Dutch is not Dutch spoken in the Netherlands, but very similar to a dialect from Southwest Germany. I as a German do understand large parts of it, but not all.
This video of the beautiful young lady gives you some insight.

 
George1959 said:

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Pennsylvania Dutch is not Dutch spoken in the Netherlands, but very similar to a dialect from Southwest Germany. I as a German do understand large parts of it, but not all.
This video of the beautiful young lady gives you some insight.

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This is great! Funny that they introduced Groundhog day.
 
hollydolly said:
In the same way that Mexican Spanish or Chillean is quite different to Spain Spanish.... there are similar words but its not the same language
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Even within South American countries, Spanish varies. In Ecuador, the Spanish spoken in the cities varies quite a bit from that spoken out in the country.

AND then there's "Chinese"......there are enough dialects to make the greatest linguist's head spin.
 
I’d understood the Mennonites originated in far eastern Germany, pre WWII borders. I’m not sure about the Amish. Here in central Kansas, there is a very large Amish and Mennonite population. Restaurants are serving dishes they’re calling German that I’d never heard of (verinika) or had a different meaning of (zweibach)… I lived in Northern Germany for several years, near Bremen, so clearly it’s a regional thing. I’ve heard and generally understood whatever form of German they’re speaking.
 
It's understandable that you wouldn't have known this, @Dr.Colosso, since you don't live in the US.

By the way, most Amish and Mennonites also bilingual in their own language plus English. They learn Pennsylvania Dutch at home and English while out in the larger community.
 

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