GERMAN reacts to PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH

My Patreon: / chrisyt_
GERMAN reacts to PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH
I do America Reaction, some call it Reaction US, Reaction USA. I love to get to know the USA, My videos arent British Reaction or Brit reacts videos. I am also very interested in the usa military reaction as well as us military reaction. I have a passion for us sports reaction, like nfl reaction or nba reaction. I am not brit reacts to america. I do European reacts videos. I also do reaction to america and reaction to us and reaction to usa videos. In this video we cover
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I reacted to the following videos:
WIKITONGUES: Dale speaking Pennsylvania German and English • WIKITONGUES: Dale spea...
Es Hinkelhaus - Douglas Madenford • Es Hinkelhaus
Patrick Donmoyer - Pennsylvania Dutch Phrases (The Philadelphia Inquirer) • Patrick Donmoyer - Pen...
0:00 Intro
#usa #reaction

[@norman3605]

Remember that the immigrants who brought Pennsylvania Deutsch to the US came over in the 1600s to the 1800s, while the Texas Germans immigrated in the mid 19th Century. Pennsylvanian German has therefore had a much longer time to diverge from standard German than Texas German.

[@Lysandra-8]

Funny, i can understand spoken german from 1350 better than Pennsylvania dutch. It seems that they created their own german language😅

[@valkyrie1066]

Yes, like 1650. (My family)

[@dnmehay]

It was already a very divergent dialect when they came over, as well. Not to mention these people don't seem like true native speakers of Pennsylvania German.

[@contumelious-8440]

@@Lysandra-8 Yes, very funny how you ever heard German spoken in 1350.

[@Lysandra-8]

@@contumelious-8440 People also learn Latin, a language that no one has spoken as a native language for 1,500 years. And there are much older languages ​​as examples, such as Sumerian or Ancient Greek. The English also know what Old English (up to around 1100) must have sounded like and compare it with the language spoken today. why shouldn't that work in German?

[@hardheadjarhead]

Pennsylvania Dutch has had 300 to 400 years of evolution in the United States where it was separated from other German dialects. I imagine a lot of Germans would have a hard time speaking to a German who spoke German from 1650. It’s the same thing with English. A lot of Americans struggle with Shakespeare.

[@Lysandra-8]

German here, actually I can understand German from 1350 (frühneuhochdeutsch) pretty well. The spelling is not the same and the grammar has changed, but when spoken it is easy to understand.

[@timmooney7528]

In the English language there have been several vowel shifts over the centuries. While Shakespeare can be read by modern readers, it would sound different from a speaker from his era.

[@strawman6085]

Shakespeare has an added difficulty by writing in flowerily language for the most part.

[@keegster7167]

@@timmooney7528the Great Vowel Shift had just began to happen at that stage so it probably would have vowels in between Middle English and later modern English :p

[@Ryan-ff2db]

Shakespeare was intended for an audience and not really meant to be read but acted. Often with poetic language using jokes and idioms that are not easily understood today. Other texts of the late 1500's and early 1600's are much easier to read. This is very similar to how he understood direct language far better than the poem.

[@CountryFenderBass]

I’m from Lancaster Pa. My Uncle came to visit from Germany. He is a farmer and he wanted to visit an Amish farm. I took him to Amos Stoltzfus’s farm. Within 10 minutes they found common ground language wise and he spent 3 hours visiting him. You need to come here and speak with real Amish

[@annppatterson1093]

Very interesting to me, Chris!

[@JimmyH1967]

half my upbringing in East Petersburg (Hempfield). :-)

[@mystikarain]

So true! Most Amish will not allow (religious reasons) themselves to be filmed or to be recorded in any way even photographs are forbidden in most of their traditions.

[@Pops-km8xt]

I'm from Philly. Got one of my dogs from Stoltzfus. Not sure if it was Amos. Seems like that last name is like Smith. I realize most are related.

[@eyzmin]

@@mystikarain that is only a small amount that believe that, literally every sect of amish have different rules, the ones near me in Steuben County (NY) are very lax and allow most of the stuff the others forbid, like gas powered machines

[@pushpak]

I'm American and I worked for a Dutch company and my boss, who was Dutch, asked me what I thought of the language. I said it sounds like German spoken badly. He laughed.

[@classic_sci_fi]

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin eater. Had a wife and couldn't keep her. Put her in a pumpkin shell and there he kept her very well.

[@ozzybloke-craig3690]

I thought that is what he said, just because i heard Peter twice and the rhythm fit perfectly how he recalled it.

[@ozzybloke-craig3690]

And then as I posted that he said it in English. Lol

[@ginnyjollykidd]

Yes, that is the American version. We have a lot of German literature that made its way here and stuck.

[@johns1625]

Based and peduncle-pilled

[@jpbaugh]

We need "Chris visits Pennsylvania Dutch communities" - this needs to happen!

[@Echowhiskeyone]

It was explained to me that PA Dutch is German from 300 years ago that stagnated; whereas, in Europe, German evolved into modern German. Not exactly true, but close enough. More like they diverged 300 years ago and PA Dutch hit a wall and changed slowly. My ancestors came to America in the Early 1700s from Germany and Switzerland. I grew up hearing this spoken and it was easy for me to learn German.

[@binxbolling]

This is typical of colonial settlements. US pronunciation is closer to 1700s British English. Icelandic is closer to Old Norse than the Scandinavian languages are. Etc.

[@patricialavery8270]

Makes sense since the German people would have come to Pennsylvania far earlier than Texas.Texas got German immigrants around the 1830s .

[@annielehnhardt_kolakowski5818]

They say Dutch, but it is Deutsch.

[@Lebst]

@@annielehnhardt_kolakowski5818 The word Dutch in English used to refer to both German and Dutch (and everything in between as it's a big dialect continuum.) Only later was the word German used to make a distinction.

[@AezlyndWanderin]

Languages are living breathing beings. They can grow and change, they can have children and they can die. It makes sense that Pennsylvania Dutch, Dutch and German would all be drastically different from the Common Germanic language they all descended from. I know some people (by some people I mean the French) want to stop their language from changing at all but the only way to stop a language from changing is to unalive everyone who speaks it.

[@kennethbosley1915]

The Pennsylvania Dutch from the Pennsylvania Deutch is derived from a combination of Anglo-Saxon English influences and the German language as it was spoken by the Hessian Troops who stayed behind after the Revolutionary war and Amish influences brought to America. This also occurred before the Brothers Grimm began the standardization of the Germanic languages into a common language for all Germans.

[@ferretyluv]

We associate Pennsylvania Dutch with the Amish and Mennonites.

[@darleneschneck]

I’m 8th generation Pennsylvania Dutch, Lutheran on my father’s side and Mennonite and Schwenkfelder on my mother’s side. The Pennsylvania Dutch people were primarily from the Palatinate, Alsace, and Switzerland. The majority of them emigrated prior to the American Revolution. More than 90% were Lutheran and reformed, the rest were Anabaptists. Their regional dialects blended over time and adopted some English words-the origin of the unique Pennsylvania Dutch dialect.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

A lot of them are descendent from people moving over to avoid religious prosecution.

[@norman3605]

German was still in widespread use in central Pennsylvania during the Civil War. The Union Army had entire regiments that spoke only German. I also read a memoir from one of General Lee’s lieutenants who complained that, as the Confederate army advanced on Gettysburg, they couldn’t understand the local farmers who spoke only German. See here for more: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Americans_in_the_American_Civil_War

[@Staxx0]

This is true. A large portion of the Pennsylvania “army” which was half Pennsylvania Dutch and half ethnic Germans (450,000 total) but didn’t speak English they spoke German.

[@jenniferhanses]

Yep. Linguistic studies showed that non-English speakers living in communities built around their language in the US could persist in speaking their own language for about 80-100 years. My father's family lived in a German settlement in Michigan. It was near a French settlement and a Dutch settlement. They used English as a trading language for people outside of their town. But the local papers and local people would speak the languages of their towns on a daily basis, not English. This was around 1826 that they got there. When WWII rolled around in the 1940s, my father's uncles still spoke good enough German that they would end up being translators for their Army units. English was their main language at that point. But they spoke German enough with family that they could speak and understand it, and pick up more useful German when they were in Germany talking with locals. It should be noted my comments apply to people who aren't actively trying to keep their original language or culture like the PA Dutch do. My father's family never resisted being American. They were just also culturally German. If you set up schools to teach your original language, and have religious and cultural prohibitions that you enforce, it's different in terms of not acclimatizing to the melting pot.

[@martingingerich8830]

IM Amish I speak Pennsylvania dutch and also High German...it's so cool to watch you unravel the similarities of the languages...also what throws you off is the Swiss that's mixed in 😆

[@ImCarolB]

We had visitors from Germany so we took them to visit Swiss friends, thinking they'd get along. The German man always answered the Swiss man in English, until he asked why. The German said, "I really don't understand you and can't answer you in your language!"

[@martingingerich8830]

@@ImCarolB 😆 that's too funny

[@gingersnap22]

I live in western Pennsylvania. The funny thing about it is the "English", as what the Amish call us, pick up on their words also and use it in our own language.

[@LoriLynch-bt8tj]

My grandmother, (my mothers mother), was German. When she came to America with her parents in the early 1900's, she wasn't allowed to speak German. She and her brother were to go to school and learn English. Then come home every day and teach it to their parents. They would eat dinner, then get out their pieces of chalk and little chalk boards, sit down at the table and learn a little bit of English every day until they had learned enough to be able to get by in their neighbors in their little town. Her parents were QUITE clear that "they were Americans now...and Americans speak English, and you will not speak German in this house!" If my grandmother slipped up and said something in German, her father would tell her VERY loudly to "SPEAK ENGLISH!!"

[@catw6998]

Same with my family (Mom’s side] but not as strict.

[@EggplantHarmesan]

chalk

[@embroiderart6131]

My aunt's mom was the same way. She was Japanese and flat out refused to teach any of her children Japanese.

[@PrestonSpeedPublicat]

My maternal grandpa spoke 7 languages. He ADAMANTLY refused to practice German with my older brother or myself or any language for that matter only American (he never called it English ... he called it American) My father could speak Welsh, some Swedish, & some Finnish, but he would not teach us any of those languages at all I grew up in Michigan & would sneakily watch Canadian cartoons in French on CKLW television station (without telling my parents).& could understand & speak conversational French before kindergarten .. LOL

[@drtidrow]

@@PrestonSpeedPublicat Channel 9, as I recall. 🙂

[@karenk2409]

I love how curious and enthusiastic Chris is about everything he explores! His delighted smile is infectious.

[@joshitheyoshi2533]

Dutch and German in America speaking their native language is wonderbar! (Mexican americans or Arab americans speaking theirs is nasty however).

[@Robert08010]

This is a subculture that is fairly self-isolating. And while I think many of them know English, I don't think there is much NEW German influence. So it would be more interesting to hear how their current speech pattern compares with German of a few hundred years ago.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

patterns are obviously similar to the dialects spoken in the areas their ancestors came from.

[@davidweiss8710]

I'm adopted but my grandfather on my Dad's side was PA Dutch and after researching that ancestry I could back to when they came over to the US when it was the colonies. It was crazy to go back to the the German and Swiss ancestors. My Dad, if he was still alive, would have been amazed.

[@CyndiDeimler]

Same! I found that my dad was a descendant of Hans Herr, who first brought the Mennonites to the Lancaster, Pa area after getting a land grant from William Penn!

[@DamonNomad82]

I also have Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. I'm descended from an early Mennonite bishop in what is now northwestern Germany, Hermann op den Graaf. His 3 oldest children, Hester, Abraham and Isaac, were invited by William Penn, who was a cousin of theirs on their mother's side, to come to the new colony he was founding at Pennsylvania. They became one of the 13 founding families of Germantown, PA. Their descendants eventually intermarried over several generations, so I am descended from all three siblings.

[@davidweiss8710]

@@DamonNomad82 that's interesting! odd though 😃

[@davidweiss8710]

@@CyndiDeimler Very cool! I'm sure my Dad's relatives would have known yours as well.

[@valkyrie1066]

We only know back to Ellis Island. We know points of origin were Germany and Switzerland, but my dad would have been THRILLED if we actually made contact! Many of them at the time were illiterate and the name was spelled as the recorder HEARD it. Thus....we find a half dozen different spellings of the name. We changed it at some point; Heistandt was "Americanized" to Hiestand. Going back through THIS century...we see all kinds of similar spelling. Only DNA will tell.

[@jeannine1739]

This is the poem he's reading, in English: One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, You said that once I decided to follow you, You'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why, when I needed you most, you would leave me." The Lord replied, "My son, My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I Carried You."

[@philomelodia]

That’s a beautiful poem. I actually choked up. Thank you. Somehow, I think I needed that right now. Life is a bit challenging at the moment. Be well

[@notmyworld44]

Translation into German: Eines Nachts hatte ein Mann einen Traum. Er träumte, er ginge mit dem Herrn am Strand entlang. Am Himmel blitzten Szenen aus seinem Leben auf. Für jede Szene bemerkte er zwei Fußabdrücke im Sand: einer gehört ihm, der andere dem Herrn. Als die letzte Szene seines Lebens vor ihm aufblitzte, Er blickte zurück auf die Fußspuren im Sand. Er bemerkte, dass es auf seinem Lebensweg oft nur einen einzigen Fußabdruck gab. Er bemerkte auch, dass es in der tiefsten und traurigsten Zeit seines Lebens geschah. Das störte ihn wirklich und er befragte den Herrn darüber. „Herr, Du hast gesagt, als ich mich entschied, Dir zu folgen, Du würdest den ganzen Weg mit mir gehen. Aber ich habe bemerkt, dass ich in den schwierigsten Zeiten meines Lebens Es gibt nur einen Satz Fußabdrücke. Ich verstehe nicht, warum du mich verlassen hast, als ich dich am meisten brauchte. Der Herr antwortete: „Mein Sohn, mein kostbares Kind, ich liebe dich und das würde ich auch tun Verlasse dich niemals. Während eurer Zeit der Prüfung und Leid, wenn man nur einen einzigen Fußabdruck sieht, Damals habe ich Dich getragen.

[@kamelhaj6850]

I can never get through hearing that poem without crying. So beautiful!!

[@ArcherJadephoenix]

America often uses the same base German uses. "How goes it?" "Oh you know. It goes." Or "how's it going?" "Good."(or other). Formal is "how are you?" Or "how are you doing?" There are a lot of variations of asking the same question. You also have to take into consideration that the PA Dutch left Germany a while back, you're dealing with an english-ized older German. Mixed with all of the other ethnicities that settled in that area at the time. Despite their isolation now, there was definitely mingling at first. I have gone there often since I only live an hour and change away, and their food is amazing. Their furniture is famous for its quality, too. And they are often helpful, even if they don't quite accept the outside (English) world.

[@racheldrum1982]

Pennsylvania Dutch church services, I've heard, are in Hochdeutsch. They study German in their schools.

[@timmooney7528]

Same applies to Amish people. They worship in Hochdeutsch.

[@OwnedByAGrey]

I’m PA Dutch and speak both PA Dutch and Hoch Deutsch. The similarities are just enough to get by with native German speakers. There are now PA Dutch classes being offered in local universities. I’d like you to listen to the Amish speaking PA Dutch. I wonder if their accent would make a difference. Very much enjoy your videos.

[@hazelleblanc8969]

That was crazy - when the gentleman started reading, I thought I understood what he was saying, even though I am an English speaker who knows very little German. When you started to translate what you thought he was saying, I thought my first impression was incorrect. But I wasn't. It turned out that I could recognize Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater simply from the rhythm of it being read, even though I couldn't understand the words.

[@roselove001]

Also, English is a Germanic language with a lot of Latin in it. Many of our everyday words are derived from German words. I find etymological studies fascinating!

[@jonathan19082]

It’s a poem. Called Foot prints. Where there is one set of foot prints. Jesus carried me

[@misspapillon8889]

I'm fascinated by languages. My grandfather was from Prussia (modern day Germany) and moved to Mexico in the late 1800's /early 1900s. In Sonora Mexico there are communities of "Germexicans". They have their own version of German. It's very interesting to be in a Mexican village and then you come across blond and redheaded Germans speaking Spanish.

[@southjerseyjim5049]

The German my Grandmother spoke is utterly different than Pennsylvania “Dutch”. Having been raised in the Delaware Valley and having spent many day trips to “The Dutch Country” I always wondered why the two were so divergent. Since my family is Catholic and immigrated from the southern German states, I figured it was just the difference between hochdeutsch and Bavarian. I guess that’s not the case. It’s more the result of immigrating two centuries later and the divergence and evolution of the language. I find that really fascinating.

[@hollycook5046]

I remember it as "Peter Peter pumpkin eater, had a wife and couldn't keep her"

[@mamasugar1]

Yes - Yes that was it.

[@theelizabethan1]

​@@TheDuckofDoom. ".... and there he kept her very well."

[@AzaleaLala]

"Peter Peter pumpkin eater, had a wife but couldn't keep her. Put her in a pumpkin shell and there he kept her very well". That's the version I learned as a kid. Interesting.

[@marshsundeen]

@@AzaleaLala many nursery rhymes are creepy.

[@johnking8896]

Doug is a German teacher so he knows German and Penn. Dutch which is probably why sometimes you can understand him perfectly and othertimes not. He switches back and forth in his video.

[@archstanton9182]

Some of the "distortions" of the standard German were brought over from the Rheinland Pfalz. Hinkle is used in the Pfalz.

[@gkiferonhs]

You might want to see how close Yiddish is to German.

[@yivo9996]

Chris, Hutterite German (Hutterisch) is another German Dialect unique to North Americans. Its spoken by Hutterites in Canada and the United States. Maybe that one might be worth reacting to.

[@EddieReischl]

I remember watching this on Feli's channel, and I remember finding Doug the easiest to understand, probably because he's younger and his speech is flowing more evenly and confidently. Plus, I sort of figured things out from the context of his video, that always helps your brain fill in the blanks. Good point on "schule" too. If I'm speaking to a German, I have to remind myself to sound out the vowel at the end of it, because for whatever reason, we basically say the English "school" with a soft "sh" sound at the beginning in our German dialects here. It's like you said, it's been influenced by American English.

[@johnjones_1501]

My mother was raised Anabaptist, not Amish, but a break off religion with strong German roots. I grew up thinking Beef Stroganoff was a dish always served on a bed of mashed potatoes, no noodles, because that is the dish they described as beef stroganoff.

[@anniesenol9858]

My mother is Danish so I learned a little Danish when I was 8 and lived with my grandparents for half a year attending 2nd grade where I had the same teacher who also taught my mom as a girl. Because of remembering a little Danish, I was able to understand several words in both the Texas German and the Pennsylvania Dutch videos, not enough to make out what was being spoken about. Reading and writing, school, work and housewife were words I recognized as the German for those words are close to Danish. It was interesting that the Texas German was mostly a northwestern Germany dialect as northwestern Germany is right across the border from Denmark. I figured out that the Pennsylvania Dutch man was telling the parable of the one set of footprints as I knew that story. It's fun to learn about other languages and dialects. It's interesting how some immigrants have kept their native language after generations in America.

[@steev927]

Your reaction to the 2nd person speaking reminds me a lot of what we have in the US called "Spanglish"... and probably some other countries. It's basically 80% spanish with 20% or so, variably, english phrases and words. Having learned basic spanish, spanglish always messed with me the same way you reacted to Pennsylvania dutch. Americans also love to shorten words and phrases as much as possible, so it seems like they did the same thing with PD. Also, Germans have no humor?!? Flula Borg is one of my absolute favorites!

[@valkyrie1066]

"Spanglish" I love it. PA Dutch; I moved to Southern California. Added Spanish as a THIRD language; however, the local Mexicans have a different language than "book" Spanish. Odenodor is "computer" but in Mexico is "Computadora" A car isn't an "auto" it's a "Carro" Spanglish should be the official language of southern California...if you have neighbors, you learn! Most people speak a mix of English/Spanish there. We managed to fumble our way through buying/selling, recipes, family details, etc. I'm relatively sure an actual Spaniard would just be CONFUSED. Unfortunately, after two cervesas I can't keep the three languages apart....

[@Lethal22GS]

My 8th great grandfather Petrus (Peter) Wentz was from the Palatinate region in Germany, known as "Pfalz" in German. The Palatinate is located in the southwestern part of Germany along the Rhine River. This region was a significant source of German immigration to America in the 18th century, as many people left due to religious conflicts, economic hardships, and wars. The Rhineland region in southwestern Germany includes the Palatinate area where my ancestors, such as Peter Wentz, were from. The Rhineland is known for its historical significance and beautiful landscapes, and many German immigrants from this region settled in Pennsylvania, contributing to the area's rich cultural heritage. Peter Wentz is a significant German American historical figure, especially known for his connection to George Washington. Peter Wentz's home, the Peter Wentz Farmstead in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, served as a temporary headquarters for George Washington during the Revolutionary War in October 1777. Washington used the farmstead as a base of operations before and after the Battle of Germantown. The farmstead has been preserved as a historical site and offers insights into the life and times of Peter Wentz and my family, as well as the broader context of the American Revolution.

[@gj939]

There is another German dialect in the United States and Canada called Hutterisch, related to the Hutterites of the Northern Plains. Also, there are unique dialects within the Amish/Mennonites beyond Pennsylvania Dutch.

[@New_Wave_Nancy]

Occasionally, in casual usage, someone might say, "How goes it?" here in the US.

[@SwimCoach8]

I'm 65. I picked up Pennsylvania Dutch from my Grandparents. Lebanon and Lancaster Counties are our neighbors in Dauphin County. Large Amish communities. Tuesdays at Roots Farmers Market and Fridays at The Green Dragon Farmers Market are the best places to encounter PA. Dutch. (Both in Lancaster County). I like to eaves drop. I can understand 70 to 80 percent of conversations. However, I don't really speak Dutch. The amount of English dropped into conversation depends on the the person speaking. Old Order Amish drop very few English words into conversations. These are the folks that travel in horse and buggies. Shun modern conveniences and farm using draft animals (draft horses and mules). I'm sorry, I was laughing when the gentleman was speaking about his chickens. In lazy every day conversation hinkle will sound more like hingle. Lebanon County will sound more like Lepnin Coundy. BTW...Fredericksburg, in Lebanon County is home to a large Hinklefest. Yes, you can get chicken prepared any way imaginable.

[@krillin876]

My sister works in Harrisburg, what a small world...

[@notmyworld44]

Chris, American bandleader Lawrence Welk was from Strasburg, North Dakota, which is a city with a strong German heritage. Mr Welk was very well-known in America for his television program which featured his dance band in the 1950s and 1960s. He was quite famous for his German accent which many American comedians enjoyed imitating. I would like very much if you would interview a German-speaking person from Strasburg, North Dakota. I am enjoying your videos. Chris, der amerikanische Bandleader Lawrence Welk, stammte aus Strasburg, North Dakota, einer Stadt mit starkem deutschen Erbe. Herr Welk war in Amerika für seine Fernsehsendung, in der seine Tanzband in den 1950er und 1960er Jahren auftrat, sehr bekannt. Er war ziemlich berühmt für seinen deutschen Akzent, den viele amerikanische Komiker gerne nachahmten. Ich würde mich sehr freuen, wenn Sie eine deutschsprachige Person aus Strasburg, North Dakota, interviewen würden. Ich genieße deine Videos. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooqahqiMjt1prac

[@jewishspacelaseroperator5410]

You should check out all the funky German dialects spoken in Argentina and Brazil! They’re super divergent apparently!

[@stonent]

Well I guess they were trying to get away from the mainland. lol.

[@KarlMcMAn]

Hey Chris, I really enjoy your videos. Just thought I'd say something for once

[@donnalowe9334]

Have you found the Volga - Germans that moved to Russia in around 1767 time under Catherine the Great. Many left Russia for the USA central plains to be farmers, or, to Argentina, Canada etc. to avoid serving in the Russian army. They are unique and quite interesting plus the cooking is very special. Unlike regular German foods. There are many videos about them. They still speak German. Thank you for delightful information! Appreciated.

[@injunsun]

@ChrisReacts, weirdly, I understood that the guy was doing "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater," because of the cadence, and his accent made the words sound more English. This is a famous nursery rhyme in the U.S., though usually much shorter, and slightly different. In our version, the guy basically sticks his wife in a pumpkin shell, and "there he kept her very well," as in, what? She couldn't get out? It was always kind of confusing. As for our liking Germany, after WWII, it was touchy, but we warmed up to West Germany, and into the '90s, we were rooting for the East Germans to overthrow Russia's influence, and reunite. My parent's generation said it could not and would not happen, because of needing to keep suppressed German aggression, so Europe would not allow it. I told dad, "Europe won't be able to prevent it." I told him the wall would come down years before it did. Since we are taught German school kids are instructed heartily against Fascism, and we have seen this borne out in the actions of Germans we have known, trust grew, and reconnecting to our roots became not just possible, but practically fashionable.

[@RJTheHero8]

I was born into a Mennonite community, and the German that's spoken is very different from my understanding. Unfortunately, when growing up, my father would speak English around me and my siblings, so we never got a full understanding of what everything in this German meant. I myself only know a few phrases. If anybody else knows more about this, please let me know. I've always been curious as to what made it so different from other German dialects.

[@waltermaples3998]

0:17 Chris I Love You My Handsome Friend ❤❤❤.. America 🇺🇸 is so Diversed . Our Country is built on diversity and different Countries and cultures. I Love America 🇺🇸 😉👍❤️🇺🇸. And I Love this Video ❤❤❤. I just Pray 🙏🙏 Everyday that the World go get along..

[@tylerbaer1829]

Glad you're reacting to this. I grew up not far from this region and there's nowhere like it in america. Truly a unique piece of history they have.

[@prettybullet7728]

It's similar to the Cajuns in Louisiana who speak Cajun French. Most of the time people from France have a hard time understanding what they are saying. One time there was a much older Cajun couple who were speaking and a KZbinr from France understood them.

[@KurNorock]

I don't know German/Dutch at all but i could immediately tell that was "Peter Peter pumpkin eater". Though his English translation is considerably different from what I'm used to.

[@lindaniedringhaus8790]

Make no mistake: Americans love all things German!

[@bradleycegelsk804]

My grandmother what's 100% German ancestry. Part of her ancestry went back to the Pennsylvania Dutch. Very interesting video.

[@user-calm_salty]

When I was in High School, (in the '70's) we were required to take one foreign language, the choices were Spanish or German. Same school in the '90's was Spanish or French.

[@pablonh]

"How's it going" and e.g. "It's going fine" are normal where I live (New England).

[@Quasar1953]

My great-grandmother came to America from the Black Forest. My grandmother was the youngest of 10 kids so her German language skills were food, naughty words, and idioms. Love your channel!

[@Pops-km8xt]

I had family from Deutschland. Near the Schwartzwald I was told. I studied German in high school. By 4th year most had passed. Grandfather spoke it fluently but died when i was 6. That was 1973. Learned some from his brother and sister.

[@kellylausman259]

My father was raised Amish (he jumped the fence), so I’ve heard Pennsylvania Deutsche all my life. I still don’t understand any of it. I always was told that Pennsylvania Deutsche was a combination of German/Swiss/Dutch. But my ancestors also came to the US in the 1600s, so it was the language as it was spoken 400 years ago and then evolved from there. My ancestors came from Switzerland, where they had moved from Germany to escape religious persecution. Most all the Amish in my area (Northern Indiana)can trace their families back to this single family. I can trace my family back to the 1300s. (Amish keep really good written records).

[@johnhelwig8745]

My mother's mother was Pennsylvania Dutch from the Lebanon PA area. My father's parents immigrated from Germany. So very different. Even my father's parents spoke in different dialects because of the regions they were from.

[@anonymousone2843]

I have lived in Northeast Pennsylvania my entire life, almost 50 years. My grandmother was Pennsylvania Dutch, aka German. She rarely spoke in any German unless she was mad or frustrated. A 4'9 petite woman yelling in some messed up sounding German always makes me laugh to think of it😂. She was born in 1912 and died in 2008. She was 2nd generation American.

[@thedeviouspanda]

German was offered as a foreign language class at my high school and I was definitely surprised by how popular it was. It was way more popular than French, which I was learning 😅

[@StratospheralNurse]

I super enjoyed this video! I speak a little bit of German, just enough to give me some clue as to what they were saying every 30 seconds or so lol. Had an easier time understanding the older man than the younger man, probably just due to how fast the younger guy was talking. Please please PLEASE do more of these! I love it!!!

[@nagillim7915]

As an English person who learned German in school it's so interesting hearing you say that being German and knowing English too helps make Dutch semi-comprehensible because when i went to the Netherlands i had the same experience. I could read a lot of the Dutch signs and work out what they meant. I remember years ago watching a.British documentary where they sent some Old English speakers to Friesland to see if Anglo-Saxon and Frisian were mutually comprehensible and there was some ridiculously high overlap of words and grammar. Obviously English got a big dollop of French into the language after 1066 that makes modern English and Dutch very different grammatically and syntactically.

[@chewie2055]

My husband is from Flensburg…..we live in America…..my son lived in Lancaster PA. For a bit …amongst the Amish..my husband use to drive the Amish crazy speaking to them in proper German…drove them crazy…

[@SpaceMonkey15]

Have you considered reviewing Hutterite German (a dialect spoken by a religious group called the Hutterites in the US northwest)?

[@frankdeboer1347]

I'm starting to think that this guy isn't a native speaker of Pennsylvania Dutch, but rather a native American speaker who learned Pennsylvania Dutch with an American accent.

[@annielehnhardt_kolakowski5818]

He is Deutsch,(German) and he was born there. He now lives in USA.❤❤

[@annielehnhardt_kolakowski5818]

It's Deutsch, not Dutch.❤❤

[@jeffdollar1646]

​@@annielehnhardt_kolakowski5818in Pennsylvania, it's "Dutch".

[@davidw7]

@@jeffdollar1646 Yes with the English commonly thinking Deutsch meant Dutch as it sounded as such to them. So that was basically why PA Dutch stuck to this day. Still, why not a video with actual Amish Pa Dutch/Duetsch? I mean there are some less-strict sects who will appear on camera and there are videos of being welcomed into their farm homes. That would make it bit more authentic. Those interviewed are clearly in the English world vs the Amish actual PA Dutch life-style and daily use of the language.

[@TacomaGirl]

​@@davidw7 I heard people say not all Pennsylvania Dutch are Amish.

[@wallybeecher3799]

The cadence reminds me of southwest Germany. I lived in Karlsruhe and learned German there. When moved to Schweinfurt I thought I’d forgotten German until I went back to visit friends in Karlsruhe.

[@roselove001]

My grandmother had German ancestry/family from different regions, but they all came to America by 1830. She left me notes in German and English and very old cookie recipes as well! Thanks to your videos, I realized that she spoke with different dialects, and misspelled/pronounced differently certain words. Because of your videos, I have been able to decipher more of the notes she left about her family! Antique German plus different regional accents (modern), and all so interesting! (And yes, her cookie and pastry recipes are all delicious!) I would type their names but my spell check is fighting me!😂

[@rebeccagroot8882]

Also remember that the old order Amish do not allow formal education past the 8th grade, and even what they do get is spotty. So the literacy levels might be affecting speech greatly.

[@ferretyluv]

Pennsylvania Dutch is based on Palatine Dutch, so it’s more like Franconian and Hessian than High German.

[@TheCsel]

With some communities having Swiss influences

[@ferretyluv]

@@TheCsel True. I believe Ammann was Swiss.

[@yinzertoyguy3678]

I grew up in an area with a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch, even though I don't speak any. Even when they spoke in English though, there is a lot of influence on their speaking patterns. For example, you might hear "outen the lights" or "make out the lights" instead of "turn off the lights. "To be" is often omitted from sentences altogether, so you get phrases like "The trash needs out" or "My hair needs cut". You'll often hear some people end sentences with the word "wunst" even if the sentence is entirely in English, and sometimes it's with an English "w", other times with an English "v". You also hear a lot of "hey, now" and "och". PA Dutch also have a very unique accent, which is definitely not anything like yours, but also not particularly "American". J sounds often come out as "ch" but that's not the extent of it. I grew up with tons of Kleins, Bauers, Meyers, Kochs, Fischers, Hoffmanns, Schafers, Zimmers, Schwabachs, Beckers, Richters, Hartmanns, and others.

[@wawaweweb1811]

I grew up in Central Pennsylvania and I'm descendant of a family that came from Schaffhausen Switzerland before the U.S. was the U.S. I remember as a child my grandmother telling me I was 'speaking Dutch' because I was using English words with German syntax.

[@user-vo9xu8dn1d]

Pennsylvania Dutch came from Switzerland. Protestant groups escaped persecution coming to the Americas in the 1600s to the early 1900s. It is interesting that you noted the Saxon in the man's speech. The Saxons invaded England in the 400-500s. From this came a mix of Angle (Danish) and Saxon (German) to become Anglo-Saxon. I find it interesting that after centuries, old languages are still in the modern American English. The American (U.S and Canada) will slur or garble vowels. This is an English influence of the 1600s - 1700s. Many of the English who settled in America came from eastern and southern England. You can still hear this influence in the eastern part of the U.S. It influenced the sounds of Modern American English. Then it mixes with German and other languages still spoken in the U.S. Language is its own animal.

[@lewistasso8866]

The "Dutch" in the language name is from "Deutsch."

[@mischievousraven]

Hi Chris! My maternal ancestors immigrated from Germany (mostly Saxony and Lower Saxony) in the 1830s to Perry County, Missouri. I grew up hearing conversational German from my grandparents, older aunts and uncles, and great aunts and uncles. They always called it "Saxon German." I would love to see your reaction to our "Saxon German" dialect! There is a video on YT called "Bill Bock and Edgar Dreyer Speaking Saxon German" produced by the St. Louis Post Dispatch that is a really good example of the dialect. :) Love your videos!

[@lisab.9956]

I have lived in Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutsch) country & am half Pennsylvania Dutch (which means I'm half Pennsylvania German) that have been here since 1700s, but I'm not Amish or Mennonite & don't speak language. From what I have been told, they took German they knew in Europe & gradually changed it. Some words are like modern day German, some are old German, other words are Americanized German, & rest are words that they created. Basically they created their own dialect that is only spoken among Pennsylvania Dutch people. In Pennsylvania a number of Pennsylvania Dutch words have been incorporated into people everyday speech for English-only speakers.

[@catw6998]

Those in Pennsylvania (most especially that area) also had a tendency to switch word order around. Something similar to offen go the lights for the lights go off.

[@netdragon256]

I could tell it was Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater because of the structure of the rhyme

[@EliasBac]

Very interesting ^^ I feel the exact same as a French whene I hear Cajun in Louisiana. It’s fascinating ❤

[@kamelhaj6850]

Have you ever heard Quebecois? I took French in high school and I couldn't understand it at all!

[@EliasBac]

@@kamelhaj6850 I was born and raised in France and I live in Quebec since 2013 so yes I sure did 😆 And if French is your first language, you will easily understand Quebec French. You may struggle with some words and the way they pronounce things but overall it is quite easy to understand. Now if you learned standard French as a non French speaker, I understand why you had a hard time 😊 Cajun is a whole other level ;)

[@paulharrison8379]

Feli from Germany interviewed the second Pennsylvania Dutch speaker on your video who is also a KZbinr. He said that he has been to South West Germany and completely understood the local dialect but not so much understood standard German. He said that there was a school in South West Germany who sends students to his area in America and they have no problem talking in their local dialect to Pennsylvania Dutch speakers.

[@machinegunjackmcgurn804]

My great grandfather was a mennonite, and my grandfather went to a mennonite church growing up. He spoke some German but forgot most over the years. Our original ancestors were from the Ruhr.

[@OkiePeg411]

He is reading a very old English nursery rhyme. My mother had a nursery rhyme book when I was a child and read them to me. When I was little, most kids knew many of those nursery Rhymes. Now, they would be considered mean, spousal or child abuse or violent!!! 😆 🤣 😂

[@eTraxx]

So. Soon after I got to Germany in 1992 I leaned how to ask for change in German. My 5th great grandfather ... "John Traxler" spoke German. That "John" is the English version .. his name evidently was actually/maby/perhapos "Johanes Hans George Traxler". We have no idea which of the Germanies he came from .. at that time you had a Gadzillion German princedoms from the low countries to Switzerland. The settlers around Orangeburg, SC at the time are recorded as German and Swiss .. whatever that meant in 1738. Me ... being totally Americanized some 200+ years and speaking little German .. well .. I could order beer and food .. so I learned to say "Können Sie geben mir Kleingeld?" (Ok .. I used Google translate attempting to plug in what I remember from all those years ago). In ANY CASE. I proudly said something close enough to that, that the guy understood. He looked at me and asked in English .. "You want change". That was really a terrible thing .. like he shot me down. Plop. Ha.

[@1pelicanmarsh]

you were really getting the essence of the "footprints", as in English its somewhat abstract. you really were getting that.

[@muriyyahbeard5137]

I’m from Pennsylvania. PA Dutch has had 400 years to split and evolve. Its like how Spanish and Italian are both from Latin

[@nydutch1609]

PA German did not split and evolve. The German these people speak is from 350 years ago. Yes, some English words are used as well. They are speaking an old German and from a particular region.

[@jeraldehlert7903]

The older gentlemen doesn't sound like he's a native speaker of the language.

[@Nightey]

I'm, from SE Austria and could understand more than I thought. "Heute" for example we say "heit" and "Henne" (or in general a chicken) is "Hendl". That's the Upper German dialect that was way more north some 200-400 years ago but retained as the Bavarian dialect (or in German "Bairisch"), which is a form of Upper German. "De nei Joa kummt" what he said for example we would say "Des neie Joa kummt" for "the new year comes", the "ich winsch eich" we would say "i winsch eich" and also the German "glücklich" we say "glicklich". But our dialect is nonetheless pretty confusing for Germans. We say "aufi" (hinauf) for up, "owi" (herunter) for down, "umi" ((hin)über - "geh umi" is like "geh da rüber") for across and "gschreams" (drüben?) for diagonally across (some local dialects also say "dauni" for sth further away). Also we say "da" for sth that's there and "dort" for sth that's further away, which is I think the exact opposite of what Germans would say :D

[@daveb9920]

This was really fun! Thank you for doing this 😍

[@joelmoreno4223]

Thank you Chris for your entertaining reaction

[@josepheilers8939]

A couple years ago I was working at a restaurant when a couple of Mexican moravians came in. They spoke little English but spoke some sort of Spanish dialect of German so I attempted to communicate with the German that I learned from living in Germany, but it was still quite difficult to understand them. Very interesting experience for me

[@kamelhaj6850]

There is another reaction video where a German lady (Chris' age) listens to an older lady speaking Pennsylvania "Dutch". The young German lady was able to understand almost everything the "Dutch" lady said. This elderly gentleman speaks with a very strong American accent and I wonder if he is truly "Dutch".

[@h3lblad3]

My favorite video on you here I use to show the difference is called "Sie schwetzt elsassisch, Ich schwetz PA deitsch". It's literally just a conversation between two people.

[@philipschaffer9414]

Yiddish is Germanic. Slavic and Hebrew

[@Bob-jm8kl]

I took four years if German in high school. A couple year's later I was listening to NPR Hanukkah special. Part of it included songs in Yiddish. With knowing what Hanukkah is about, with context, and my German, I could basically understand most of it.

[@marshsundeen]

Yes, and a temple is a Schul.

[@JefferyCunningham-tb2cj]

Lol😂 shows what I know , I always associated Yiddish with Hebrew . I learned something today.

[@chrishoopengarner2940]

Some of my family left Germany in 1740 and became US citizens through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and settled amongst the Pennsylvania Dutch

[@frankdeboer1347]

I recognized the poem Footprints immediately and I never learned German. I did speak Friesian and Dutch.

[@Hefaistosify]

Plattdütsch in Southern Denmark is also funny LOL Great vids!

[@shannonkamkar4508]

Its a nursery rhyme called Peter peter pumpkin eater, had a wife and couldn't keep her, he put her in a pumpkin shell, and there he kept her very well.

[@mamasugar1]

Straight Pennsylvania Dutch on my father's side - sadly, I didn't have much exposure to the culture. We ate lots of pork and kraut in my house though. 🙂 I worked at the city zoo when I was young, and it was wild seeing the horse and buggies full of little Amish kids.

[@brettk9316]

Run into them all the time when go to Penn st football games when we stay at Bellefonte campgrounds. They are very nice and hardworking people.

[@mamasugar1]

@@brettk9316 Yes they are. Don't take their picture though. My sister pulled over to take a picture of little Amish kid on the farm. She has a great pic of him flipping her the bird. LOL No faces on their dolls and pictures are against their religion. "No graven images."

[@georgehollingsworth2428]

Some thoughts from an American who understands German German, and also Texas German. This gentleman in the interview has clearly spent a large part of his life elsewhere in America. The American part of his accent is from the Northeast, possibly New York or New Jersey, or the military. As others here have pointed out he did not sound like a true Pennsylvania Dutch German speaker. The German speakers I met in Pa had a very precise accent.

[@daisygoon]

Guten abend! now you've gotta do Canadian Hutterisch!

[@MasiukA]

Pennsylvania German is rooted in the Pfalz/Palatinate and Swiss dialects of German. On top of that, it's old versions of those dialects AND it's had 300+ years of evolution and English influences. Interesting to watch since one side of my family has deep Mennonite roots in Pennsylvania.

[@HemlockRidge]

It's more interesting when the real Dutchies speak in English. Their sentence structure is still based in the German. "Trow Papa down the stairs, his hat... nah vonce (now once)".

[@richardcampbell3445]

The farmer threw the cow over the fence some hay.

[@ginnyjollykidd]

Oh, gosh! I learned German for three years in university, and I could get around fairly well in Germany should I ever go. (It's on my bucket list to go one December.) My friend comes from Kaiserslauten(spelling?) in southeast Germany, and mostly I think she speaks Hochdeutsch with a few exceptions like "nee" for "no." (She uses that often even in English.) I get about five or six words also, and the German articles. When you said "fröhe" I thought he had said "froh." Oh, and my German friend tells me I sounds like I'm from Baden. That warms my heart, since the German part of my family _did_ come from Baden.😊

[@PrestonSpeedPublicat]

I recognized the cadence with Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater (a well-known nursery rhyme) ... I was shocked that's what he was saying ... LOL Footprints in the Sand = fairly famous poem that became popular in the early 1980s ... I sent it to my Aunt anonymously when she was very ill ... hopefully, he'll read it in American ... cuz it's too much for me to type ... LOL

[@brittanykaufman9394]

My grandma told me that we're Pennsylvania Dutch or Pennsylvania German so naturally I thought that we're Germans who settled in Pennsylvania. Then I began to learn how to speak German and I got fairly good at it. So finally I meet a nice Old Order Mennonite family and I learned that day that Pennsylvania Dutch is NOT the same as German 😅 I was so embarrassed that I didn't speak for the rest of the day.