German Dialect in Texas

[cessna152towser]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22490560

The first German settlers arrived in Texas over 150 years ago and successfully passed on their native language throughout the generations - until now.

German was the main language used in schools, churches and businesses around the hill country between Austin and San Antonio. But two world wars and the resulting drop in the standing of German meant that the fifth and sixth generation of immigrants did not pass it on to their children.

Still the biggest ancestry group in the US, according to Census data, a large majority of German-Americans never learned the language of their ancestors.

Hans Boas, a linguistic and German professor at the University of Texas, has made it his mission to record as many speakers of German in the Lone Star State as he can before the last generation of Texas Germans passes away.

Mr Boas has recorded 800 hours of interviews with over 400 German descendants in Texas and archived them at the Texas German Dialect Project. He says the dialect, created from various regional German origins and a mix of English, is one of a kind.

"We have found no two speakers that speak roughly alike," Mr Boas told the BBC at his office in Austin.

The BBC's Franz Strasser went to Weimar, New Braunfels and Austin to find the last speakers of this dialect.

For those who are able to view the link, the short article is accompanied by an interesting four minute video which interviews Texans of German descent.

[cck]

I live in the Texas Hill Country and it appears to me that German is fast disappearing. This weekend I will be visiting the town of Gruene. Unfortunately that name is now pronounced "green." I have never heard it said properly.

[Piipriker]

I live in the Texas Hill Country and it appears to me that German is fast disappearing. This weekend I will be visiting the town of Gruene. Unfortunately that name is now pronounced "green." I have never heard it said properly.

In the dialect of my home town the pronunciation "green" is absolutely correct, like the one example in the video.

Thanks Alex for sharing.

hejdå Jörg

[ShaunMaxwell]

I grew up in Brenham, Texas, about 70 miles west of Houston. Brenham is a very German town, and many of my classmates opted to take German as a foreign language, so that they could converse with their grandparents!

[TheOfficialBren]

One of my best mates is a German-Texan. His great-grandparents immigrated from Strittmatt, Germany. Today they speak nothing but English. The very few words and phrases they know are little more that the standard conversational phrases. Those are spoken with an entirely rhotic-American accent.

Based upon my personal direct observation I would say that the latest waves of immigration (Spanish-speakers, South East Asian tongues) seem to be the most noticeable among the foreign language speakers while more established foreign languages (German, French, Swedish, Italian, Tagolog) seem to be in very rapid decline. Indigeonous tongues (Lakota, Nakota, Hawai'ian, Inuit, et al) seem to be struggling to stay alive, most regretably.

As an example, Gaelic was once modestly spoken** during the American colonial period where Irish and Scottish communities were dominant. Now it is spoken by a handful of Americans...and solely as a novelty--almost like a souvenir from a trip to "Scotireland."
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Scotireland

In the US we seem to have a history of assimilation and are attempting backpedal in order to preserve our multi-cultural history. New waves of immigrants seem to benefit the most from this. Those of us Americans who have been here a bit and fully assimilated seem to get accused of "playing at" being this or that when we rediscover our heritages.

It has been mentioned that our neighbour to the north, Canada, has a very successful track record with regard to balancing multi-culturalism along with a distinct national identity. Perhaps we Americans can learn a few things from our Canadian cousins.

IDIC

I hope that I didn't derail the discussion. No offense or detraction intended.
-------
** I am reminded of a story from the pre-revolutionary period in where a slave of Irish and African heritage had escaped from his master. He was easily located and returned to the plantation from where he escaped because he spoke only Gaelic. This is an oddity, for sure, but Gaelic was at one time a (modestly spoken) living language here.

[David Thorpe]

This weekend I will be visiting the town of Gruene.

A favorite old haunt of mine. Great place to spend a day!

South Texas has amazing cultural diversity - Mexican, Spanish, French, German, Czech, Polish, Cajun, English, Scottish, Irish and on and on. Very rich variety of interesting peoples and places.

[brewerpaul]

I find that an interesting and enjoyable video especially as Im a Texas German. Pretty much no mutt Texas German at that. My ancestors came over in the early to mid 1800's for various reasons besides economics. The land companies that started in New Braunfels were responsible for settling the Germans throughout the Hill Country and surrounding areas. Germans and other Europeans people were brought over in the early days to balance out the Mexican and Comanche populations. For many it was economics that brought them here, a way to start over. For many in the deep Hill Country in towns like Comfort and Sisterdale it was politics. Many of these Germans were of the Freethinkers Society and left Germany due to the increased nationalism and the political atmosphere. They set up many schools, universities, news paper and many other things. Many of these Germans were part of the only Union troops in an otherwise Confederate state, but that goes into many more stories. The Freethinkers sort of died out after the Civil War but their legacy is still around with schools and the newspapers of San Antonio.
Other German farmers settled east of New Braunfels in the farming areas of Maxwell, Lockhart, Sequin and other towns. When they settled an area they built up the most important things first, a church, school, shooting club and homes. I can go to Maxwell Texas and drive up to Ebenezer Lutheran Church and find the graves of my ancestors that settled the area, including my Great Grandfather whom Im named after. The Germans settled well in these areas and mixed well with the populations already there. When I was in my early 20s I worked in a Chevrolet dealership in Fredricksburg Tx where they spoke an mix of German, English and Mexican, sometimes in the same sentence. I was amazed how the languages intermixed depending on who walked in to buy parts. My own father spoke German on the farm as a child but most of that stopped after WW2. Even though it was still spoken some, and he can at least carry on a little conversational German, my generation was never taught it. Perhaps if I had lived in the Hill Country that would have been different but living in San Antonio and eventually New Orleans we never spoke German. It is too bad the language is being lost though there is still a strong hold on other parts of the culture. The whole area is filled with the history of many cultures that lived there at different times in history, the Comanche, the Mexican, Germans, Czechoslovakians, Africans as slaves and free persons and more. The cultures each mixed and shared in the shaping of what we call the Texas Hill Country, an area and people I am proud to call mine.

[cck]

In the dialect of my home town the pronunciation "green" is absolutely correct, like the one example in the video.

Thanks Alex for sharing.

hejdå Jörg

That is very interesting. Is "rot" pronounced "red" and " blau" pronounced "blue?"

[Green Dragon]

............ My own father spoke German on the farm as a child but most of that stopped after WW2.

I have to agree with your statement. My grandparents spoke Czech, German and English. When my father and uncle were born, just after WWI, they only taught them English. My understanding was they were American and English was all they needed to know. I still here some Czech when I travel back to my home town in Central Texas, but I have not heard any German in years.

One thing that has remained is the music. Czech and German folk music (polkas, etc.) can still be heard on the local radio station.

[DougC]

Brewerpaul-you mentioned the Germans starting schools and what not in Texas. My wife is related to the first Texas-German school teacher in Texas. Her family also has two original frontier houses restored/moved. The older of the two is a dog run house called the Adolf Schlameus House located in Wimberley, Texas. This house was moved from its original location under Canyon Lake. The other is a fachwerk house located in Heritage Village in New Braunfels. This house was dismantled and put back to together by a family member who is now a retired school teacher. It's also pretty cool to go to the Institute of Texan Culture in San Antonio and see family drawing of old Schlameus. If anyone goes to Gruene, stop by Heritage Village...its on the way.

Up until my wife's father's generation, Texas German was spoken by the family. My wife even called her grandparents Oma and Opa. And, her dad confirmed the WWII comment-the entire family spoke Texas German until WWII broke out.