Working to preserve a historic dialect (Texas German)

Star-Telegram ^ | 8-26-07 | R.A. Dyer

[Dysart]

Fifth-generation Texans Alphons Nuhn and Lillian Wunderlich sing a German folk song in New Braunfels.

[Texas Eagle]

The Texas German Dialect Project has been funded through grants, although that funding expired at the end of last year, Boas said. He said it costs about $35,000 a year to maintain the program.

I smell a stinkkatze.

[Tax-chick]

Cool! I worked with a lady - she’d be in her 60’s now - who grew up speaking Tex-Deutch in Bergheim.

[Hardastarboard]

Die Stinkkatz

I nominate this for the new nickname for the Democrat Party.

On a serious note (actually, I was serious above), I was surprised that so many Germans settled in Texas. I learned that just a year or two ago.

[mikrofon]

Ich bin ein Texikaner, j’alle...

[ARE SOLE]

Achtung little doggie !

Regards

[AnnaZ]

Although fewer than 10,000 speakers remain, at one time as much as 20 percent of the Texas population may have spoken the language. Moltz said that many German settlers arrived in Galveston and spread out during the mid-1800s, and now a swath of German communities can be found running north and south down the middle of the state.

The immigrants settled in dozens of towns like Fredericksburg, New Braunfels and Boerne. At one time there were more than 150 German-language newspapers in Texas, and in many towns German was spoken almost exclusively.

Wars brought decline

But the dialect began to fade during World War I, Boas said.

"A little before World War I, there was a big nativist movement in the U.S. and [the idea] was that if you're in the United States, then you better speak English -- there just wasn't a lot of tolerance for people who speak differently," Boas explained.

Thank goodness for those immigrants, as I love "their" towns, least those I've visited. They look like places from fairy-tales -- beautiful stone homes, old Victorians, beer gardens, wide streets, very clean and orderly. One can sense the love of community and beauty -- they really picked some of the most idyllic settings.

[Dysart]

I have occasionally heard scraps of info about the German flavor of certain areas of Texas, but I'm a little surprised to learn the language was spoken by as many 20% of Texans at one time, per the article.

[Physicist]

Interesting. From what region of Germany did they come, and when?

We're fighting a similar losing battle here in Pennsylvania. Fortunately, we have a larger remaining population to work with, and some communities who still preserve the language (Amish and Mennonites). Still, it's disappearing rapidly.

[ozzymandus]

Same diff in KS, there’s still a large number of people of German ancestry in the area who keep German traditions. Actually, most of the German people here, (including me) are German/Russian, or Volga Germans, or, in the vernacular “Rooshins”. (Is that hate speech?? Can I sue somebody?? Call me, John Edwards!)

[bereanway]

Over 20 years ago I ate at a small restaurant in New Braunfels called the Log House. It was an old, old log cabin that had been converted into a restaurant by a younger German couple who had just come to the US. The food could not have possibly been any better. Without a doubt the best restaurant I’ve ever visited.

[ReignOfError]

Die Stinkkatz,
Die Stinkkatz,
Was sind sie Sie einziehend?

Die Stinkkatz,
Die Stinkkatz,
Es ist nicht Ihre Störung

Via Babelfish translation -- apologies if I butchered the language.

[goldstategop]

Wenn Deutschland in Texas wäre, würden sie Texaner sprechen! Die Geschichten von Karl May und der Amerikanischen Grenze waren in Deutschland vor den Kriegen sehr populär. Es hat immer eine Faszination mit Amerika unter den Deutschen gegeben. Sogar der verschiedene Dialekt hat ihre amüsanten Eigenschaften. Die Deutsch-Variante von Texas hat seinen eigenen Charme!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[RedWhiteBlue]

An interesting tidbit, posted a few years ago: Prince uncovers 19th-century plot to make Texas German

[Dysart]

I really don’t have any specifics about the German emigration to Texas. Surely there must be some Texas FReepers who have knowledge(or an oral tradition) of their origins, however, my roots are largely from Scotland and Ireland and I just haven’t come across too much info of this group. I’d hoped someone would catch this article and add some more detail/personal history. I do know that there are several communities in the Hill Country that have pockets of Texas-Germans. Incidentally, Fredericksburg was recently listed as one of the best small towns in America.

[goldstategop]

NEW BRAUNFELS - A LITTLE BIT OF GERMANY IN THE MIDDLE OF TEXAS HILL COUNTRY

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Dysart]

Here’s the translation-— The Stinkkatz, the Stinkkatz, what are they you taking in? The Stinkkatz, the Stinkkatz, it is not your interference.

[magslinger]

Ich bin ein Texikaner, j’alle...

You are a beer? Correct would be "Ich bin Texikaner, j’alle..."

/obscure Kennedy allusion.

[Dysart]

Interesting.

And watch that hate speech...

[Aruchu]

My family came in through Brownsville in the 1860’s, they were from Alsace. Ethnic Germans, but today it is in france. Oddly enough the kids there aren’t speaking German anymore, only french.