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144-479: The Amish ( / ˈ ɑː m ɪ ʃ / , also / ˈ æ m ɪ ʃ / or / ˈ eɪ m ɪ ʃ / ; Pennsylvania German : Amisch ; German: Amische ), formally the Old Order Amish , are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss and Alsatian origins. As they maintain a degree of separation from surrounding populations, and hold their faith in common,
288-465: A written standard based on the various spoken German dialects in a very long process that started in the time of classical Middle High German (1170–1250). Pennsylvania Dutch instead reflects the independent development of Palatine German, especially from the region that is called Vorderpfalz in German. Since Pennsylvania Dutch is largely derived from Palatine German, which did not fully undergo
432-453: A 2017 report by Canadian Mennonite magazine: The customs of Old Order Mennonites, the Amish communities and Old Colony Mennonites have a number of similarities, but the cultural differences are significant enough so that members of one group would not feel comfortable moving to another group. The Old Order Mennonites and Amish have the same European roots and the language spoken in their homes
576-565: A believer’s actions are submission, obedience, humility, and simplicity. Gelassenheit should be the overriding aspect for every person within the Amish community, and it must be viewable through actions and possessions. Lamentations 3:26 "quietly wait," "in the Froschauer [German] Bible reads 'in Gelassenheit' (instead of quietly) – one probable Biblical reference that helped to establish this important 'Anabaptist term.'" The Ordnung
720-501: A change is not worth the risk that she may never again talk to her daughter who married a young man from another district. Because of the threat of being shunned, change to the Ordnung is usually incremental and done in concert with other districts. No Ordnung of any Anabaptist subgroup remained totally unchanged. Many Old Order Amish, Old Order Mennonites, Old Colony Mennonites and German Baptist groups have changed their Ordnung during
864-486: A competition for status goods, or photographs might cultivate personal vanity. Electric power lines would be going against the Bible, which says that you shall not be "conformed to the world" ( Romans 12:2 ). Amish church membership begins with baptism , usually between the ages of 16 and 23. It is a requirement for marriage within the Amish church. Once a person is baptized within the church, he or she may marry only within
1008-459: A desire for togetherness and fellowship. It binds marriages, it strengthens family ties to live together, to work together, to worship together and to commune secluded from the world. Two types of Ordnung must be distinguished. The first are printed rules, the second are generally verbal and are universally understood by the local members. All rules guide the Amish believer in the application and practice of godly principles. Both types clarify what
1152-550: A form of Bernese German (Adams County, IN and daughter settlements) or a Low Alemannic Alsatian dialect (Allen County, IN and daughter settlements). Contrary to popular belief, the word "Dutch" in "Pennsylvania Dutch" is not a mistranslation, but rather a corruption of the Pennsylvania German endonym Deitsch , which means "Pennsylvania Dutch / German" or "German". Ultimately, the terms Deitsch, Dutch , Diets and Deutsch are all cognates and descend from
1296-647: A form of Swiss German and Low Alemannic Alsatian , not Pennsylvania Dutch, are spoken. Additionally, English has mostly replaced Pennsylvania Dutch among the car driving Old Order Horning and the Wisler Mennonites. Other religious groups among whose members the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect would have once been predominant, include: Lutheran and German Reformed congregations of Pennsylvania Dutch background, Schwenkfelders , and Schwarzenau (German Baptist) Brethren . Until fairly recent times,
1440-571: A greater extent, and were perhaps more likely to maintain a separate Amish identity. There are a number of Amish Mennonite church groups that had never in their history been associated with the Old Order Amish because they split from the Amish mainstream in the time when the Old Orders formed in the 1860s and 1870s. The former Western Ontario Mennonite Conference (WOMC) was made up almost entirely of former Amish Mennonites who reunited with
1584-532: A horse and buggy. The Amish are known for their plain attire. Men wear solid colored shirts, broad-brimmed hats, and suits that signify similarity amongst one another. Amish men grow beards to symbolize manhood and marital status, as well as to promote humility. They are forbidden from growing mustaches because mustaches are seen by the Amish as being affiliated with the military, to which they are strongly opposed, due to their pacifist beliefs. Women have similar guidelines on how to dress, which are also expressed in
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#17327647640551728-584: A leader among the Emmentalers) argued that fallen believers should only be withheld from communion , and not regular meals. The Amish argued that those who had been banned should be avoided even in common meals. The Reistian side eventually formed the basis of the Swiss Mennonite Conference . Because of this common heritage, Amish and conservative Mennonites from southern Germany and Switzerland retain many similarities. Those who leave
1872-641: A lesser degree, the regions of Alsace and Lorraine in eastern France , and parts of Switzerland . Differing explanations exist on why the Pennsylvania Dutch are referred to as Dutch , which typically refers to the inhabitants of the Netherlands or the Dutch language , only distantly related to Pennsylvania German. Speakers of the dialect today are primarily found in Pennsylvania, Ohio , Indiana , and other Midwestern states , as well as parts of
2016-731: A lot of contact with more progressive Mennonites and the outside world, had the result that many of these men never joined the Amish church. In the 1950s, the Beachy Amish laid heavy emphasis on the New Birth , personal holiness and Sunday School education. The ones who wanted to preserve the old way of the Beachy became the Old Beachy Amish . In 1966, the New Order Amish were formed after certain congregations left
2160-765: A member loves the church or does not. There is no middle ground. An important part of Amish life is Gelassenheit ( pronounced [ɡəˈlasn̩haɪt] ) — "yieldedness", "letting be", or "submission to the will of God" (in modern German approximately: "composure", "tranquility", "serenity"). This concept derives from the Bible when Jesus said, "not my will but thine be done," thereby making individuality, selfishness, and pride, abhorrent (see humility ). "He submits to Christ, loses his own will, and yields (Gelassenheit) himself in all areas." Serving others and submitting to God, therefore, permeates all aspects of Amish life. A person’s personality must be modest, reserved, calm, and quiet. The values which must be apparent in
2304-419: A modification of the Ordnung, the members must also consider the implication to the districts around them. If neighboring districts believe a particular change is too radical, the offended district could break off communications and refuse to recognize them as fellow Amish. This threat is of concern, not only for community reasons, but because of family ties. For example, an Amish woman might decide that voting for
2448-523: A powerful conveyor of Amish identity." Although "the English language is being used in more and more situations," nonetheless Pennsylvania Dutch is "one of a handful of minority languages in the United States that is neither endangered nor supported by continual arrivals of immigrants." Because it is an isolated dialect and almost all native speakers are bilingual in English, the biggest threat to
2592-424: A related but distinct group. According to one scholar, "today, almost all Amish are functionally bilingual in Pennsylvania Dutch and English; however, domains of usage are sharply separated. Pennsylvania Dutch dominates in most in-group settings, such as the dinner table and preaching in church services. In contrast, English is used for most reading and writing. English is also the medium of instruction in schools and
2736-437: A reluctance to be forward, to be self-promoting, or to assert oneself. The Amish's willingness to submit to the "Will of Jesus ", expressed through group norms, is at odds with the individualism so central to the wider American culture. The Amish anti-individualist orientation is the motive for rejecting labor-saving technologies that might make one less dependent on the community. Modern innovations such as electricity might spark
2880-530: A role in the Old Order division of the second half of the 19th century. Telephones were the first important technology that was rejected, soon followed by the rejection of cars, tractors, radios, and many other technological inventions of the 20th century. Old Order Mennonites, Old Colony Mennonites and the Amish are often grouped together in North America's popular press. This is incorrect, according to
3024-820: A root verb and a prefix. Some of these in Standard German are completely semantically transparent, such as mit-gehen 'to go with', from mit- 'with' and gehen 'go'. Others, like mit-teilen lit. ' with-share ' which means 'to inform' and not the sharing of concrete entities, are not semantically transparent. That is, their meaning is not the sum of their parts. Separable verbs are used widely in Pennsylvania Dutch, and separable verbs can even be formed with English roots and prefixes. Virtually all separable verbs in Pennsylvania Dutch are semantically transparent. Many semantically opaque separable verbs such as um-ziehe lit. ' pull around ' , meaning, 'to move house', has been replaced by
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#17327647640553168-545: A second wave of immigration in the mid-19th century, which came from the same regions, but settled more frequently in Ohio, Indiana, and other parts of the Midwest. Thus, an entire industrial vocabulary relating to electricity, machinery and modern farming implements has naturally been borrowed from the English. For Pennsylvania Dutch speakers who work in a modern trade or in an industrial environment, this could potentially increase
3312-447: A spoken dialect throughout its history, with very few of its speakers making much of an attempt to read or write it. Writing in Pennsylvania Dutch can be a difficult task, and there is no spelling standard for the dialect. There are currently two primary competing models upon which numerous orthographic (i.e., spelling) systems have been based by individuals who attempt to write in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. One 'school' tends to follow
3456-672: A temptation to stay at home speaking to a friend rather than walking or taking a buggy ride to visit a neighbor (though a 'community' telephone is often maintained at a suitable distance from the home to permit contact during emergencies). Although Amish home and social life has remained mostly unaltered, a new technology can be adopted once it has passed a rigorous examination. The Ordnung is used to examine any new proposed use of technology. A proposal may be accepted for business reasons, but never for personal wishes, for entertainment, or for self-indulgences. A proposal will likely be rejected if it could have negative social implications. A telephone in
3600-498: A view neither to interrupt family time, nor replace face-to-face conversations whenever possible, and a view to maintain self-sufficiency. The Amish value rural life, manual labor, humility and Gelassenheit (submission to God's will). The Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Mennonite Anabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann . Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish. In
3744-563: A year by all members of the church. Only if all members give their consent to it, Lord's supper is held. The Ordnung must be observed by every member and covers many aspects of day-to-day living, including prohibitions or limitations on the use of power-line electricity , telephones , and automobiles , as well as regulations on clothing . As present-day Anabaptists , Amish church members practice nonresistance and will not perform any type of military service. The Amish value rural life, manual labor, humility, and Gelassenheit , all under
3888-508: A yearly service in Pennsylvania Dutch. Other non-native speakers of the dialect include those persons that regularly do business with native speakers. Among them, the Old Order Amish population was probably around 227,000 in 2008. Additionally, the Old Order Mennonite population, a sizable percentage of which is Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking, numbers several tens of thousands. There are also thousands of other Mennonites who speak
4032-516: Is 'one of a handful of minority languages in the United States that is neither endangered nor supported by continual arrivals of immigrants.'" The Amish largely share a German or Swiss -German ancestry. They generally use the term "Amish" only for members of their faith community and not as an ethnic designation. However some Amish descendants recognize their cultural background knowing that their genetic and cultural traits are uniquely different from other ethnicities. Those who choose to affiliate with
4176-430: Is a set of behavioral rules, and all members within a church agree to have their lives ordered by that code. Each person is expected to live simple lives devoted to God, to family, and to the community, based upon their understanding of God's laws. To the Amish, the Ordnung provides a strong sense of group identity. Ultimately, adherents claim that its rules are supported by scripture, and they believe that persecution
4320-531: Is agreed upon – or changed – within the whole community of baptized members prior to Communion which takes place two times a year. The meeting where the Ordnung is discussed is called Ordnungsgemeine in Standard German and Ordningsgmee in Pennsylvania Dutch. The Ordnung include matters such as dress, permissible uses of technology, religious duties, and rules regarding interaction with outsiders. In these meetings, women also vote in questions concerning
4464-410: Is banned. Anything which could promote sloth, luxury or vanity is strictly prohibited. Because 120-volt electricity connects to the outside world, it violates the Amish idea of separation from society. Owning an automobile could be a sign of status and it would promote vanity and competition between the church members; a direct violation of Gelassenheit's value of modesty. A telephone in the house would be
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4608-564: Is best preserved in the Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities, and presently the members of both groups make up the majority of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers. The ancestors of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers came from various parts of the southwestern regions of German -speaking Europe, including Palatinate , Electoral Palatinate (German: Kurpfalz ), the Duchy of Baden , Hesse , Saxony , Swabia , Württemberg , Alsace (German Elsass ), German Lorraine , and Switzerland . Most of
4752-448: Is conjugated simply as realized , and 'farm' may be conjugated as farmed or ge-farm-t . Some German-origin verbs may also appear without the ge- prefix. Schwetze 'talk, speak', may be conjugated as geschwetzt or simply as schwetzt . Both English influence and overall simplification may be at work in the dropping of the ge- prefix. Pennsylvania Dutch, like Standard German, has many separable verbs composed of
4896-419: Is considered worldly and sinful. To be worldly is to be lost. Any rule that is not directly supported by biblical references will be justified through reasoning as to why violating it would cause the believer to turn worldly. Separation from the world means to be different from the world, and the congregation must agree on how they are to be different. This is accomplished through the Ordnung. Two times each year
5040-425: Is disputed. As in Standard German, Pennsylvania Dutch uses three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter). Pennsylvania Dutch has three cases for personal pronouns : the accusative , nominative , and dative , and two cases for nouns: the common case, with both accusative and nominative functions, and the dative case. There is no genitive case in Pennsylvania Dutch. The historical genitive case has been replaced by
5184-489: Is important because women are not allowed to wear jewelry, such as wedding rings, as it is seen as drawing attention to the body which can induce pride in the individual. All clothing is sewn by hand, but the way to fasten the garment widely depends on whether the Amish person is a part of the New Order or Old Order Amish. The Old Order Amish seldom, if ever, use buttons because they are seen as too flashy; instead, they use
5328-577: Is mainly derived from Palatine German , spoken by 2,400,000 Germans in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region , a region almost identical to the historical Palatinate. There are similarities between the German dialect that is still spoken in this small part of southwestern Germany and Pennsylvania Dutch. When individuals from the Palatinate (Pfalz) region of Germany today encounter Pennsylvania Dutch speakers, conversation
5472-424: Is more easily pronounced, and so German gesund > gsund > tsund and German gesagt > gsaat > tsaat . Likewise, German gescheid > gscheid > tscheid /tʃaɪt/ . German zurück > zrick > tsrick /tʃɹɪk/ . The shift is rather common with German children learning to speak. The softened ⟨w⟩ after guttural consonants has mixed with
5616-707: Is now in its fourth century on North American soil, had more than 250,000 speakers in 2012. It has shifted its center to the West with approximately 160,000 speakers in Ohio , Indiana , Wisconsin , Iowa and other Midwest states. There is even a small but growing number of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers in Upper Barton Creek and Springfield in Belize among Old Order Mennonites of the Noah Hoover group . The dialect
5760-574: Is often possible to a limited degree. Pennsylvania Dutch for the most part does not reflect the diverse origins of the early speakers from regions along the upper Rhine River ( Rhineland , Württemberg , Baden , Saarland , Switzerland and the Elsass/ Alsace ) but almost exclusively the strong immigrant group from the Palatine. Pennsylvania Dutch is not a corrupted form of Standard German , since Standard German originally developed as
5904-592: Is presented below. The text in the second column illustrates a system based on American English orthography. The text in the third column uses, on the other hand, a system based on Standard German. The English original is found in the first column, and a Standard German version appears in the fifth column. (Note: The German version(s) of the Lord's Prayer most likely to have been used by Pennsylvania Germans would have been derived in most cases from Martin Luther's translation of
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6048-470: Is similar to the American average though they tend to eat more preserved meat. Amish cuisine is often mistaken for the similar cuisine of the Pennsylvania Dutch with some ethnographic and regional variances, as well as differences in what cookbook writers and food historians emphasize about the traditional foodways and intertwined religious culture and celebrations of Amish communities. While myths about
6192-547: Is still rather easy to understand by German dialect speakers of the Rhineland-Palatinate area. The people from southern Germany, eastern France and Switzerland, where the Pennsylvania Dutch culture and dialect sprung, started to arrive in North America in the late 17th and the early 18th centuries, before the beginning of the Industrial Revolution . To a more limited extent, that is also true of
6336-406: Is the natural result of Christian discipleship. The Ordnung creates boundaries for the Amish, and they view it much like a children's schoolyard fence - remaining within the enclosure allows them freedom, but to cross the fence would mean worldly danger. In Garry Schmidt's book, Early Anabaptist Spirituality , he argues that a person who has learned to live within a respectful Ordnung appreciates
6480-426: Is the same German dialect. Old Colony Mennonites use Low German, a different German dialect. Two key concepts for understanding Amish practices are their rejection of Hochmut (pride, arrogance, haughtiness) and the high value they place on Demut (humility) and Gelassenheit (calmness, composure, placidity), often translated as "submission" or "letting be". Gelassenheit is perhaps better understood as
6624-513: Is used in business transactions and often, out of politeness, in situations involving interactions with non-Amish. Finally, the Amish read prayers and sing in Standard German (which, in Pennsylvania Dutch, is called Hochdeitsch ) at church services. The distinctive use of three different languages serves as a powerful conveyor of Amish identity. "Although 'the English language is being used in more and more situations,' Pennsylvania Dutch
6768-416: Is used to produce Gelassenheit, which is to be shown via a yielding of spirit to the traditions. The Amish glance back into the past and examine their traditions, treasuring them. The past is always the main resource for coping with the present. An Amish businessman may look forward to plan for new markets for his products, however, he never loses sight of the past and its precious legacy. To give yourself under
6912-537: Is used vigorously by the horse and buggy Old Order Mennonites in the northern part of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Speakers without an Anabaptist background in general do not pass the dialect to their children today, but the Old Order Amish and horse-and-buggy Old Order Mennonites do so in the current generation, and there are no signs that the practice will end in
7056-488: The Ordnung , the Amish version of legislation. They are to wear calf-length dresses, muted colors along with bonnets and aprons . Prayer kapps and bonnets are worn by the women because they are a visual representation of their religious beliefs and promote unity through the tradition of every woman wearing one. The color of the bonnet signifies whether a woman is single or married. Single women wear black bonnets and married women wear white. The color coding of bonnets
7200-465: The Ordnung . Bearing children, raising them, and socializing with neighbors and relatives are the greatest functions of the Amish family. Amish typically believe that large families are a blessing from God. Farm families tend to be larger, because sons are needed to perform farm labor. Community is central to the Amish way of life. Working hard is considered godly, and some technological advancements have been considered undesirable because they reduce
7344-604: The American Civil War , the federal government replaced Pennsylvania German schools with English-only schools. Literary German disappeared from Pennsylvania Dutch life little by little, starting with schools, and then to churches and newspapers. With the decline of German instruction, Pennsylvania High German became a dead language . Since 1997, the Pennsylvania Dutch newspaper Hiwwe wie Driwwe allows dialect authors (of whom there are still about 100) to publish Pennsylvania Dutch poetry and prose. Hiwwe wie Driwwe
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#17327647640557488-596: The High German consonant shift , several vowels and consonants in Pennsylvania Dutch differ when compared with Standard German or Upper German dialects such as Alemannic and Bavarian. The American English influence is most significant on vocabulary and to a much lesser degree on pronunciation; the English influence on grammar is relatively small. The question of whether the large loss of the dative case —the most significant difference compared with Palatine German—is due to English influence or reflects an inner development
7632-469: The New Order Amish , and the Beachy Amish —all of whom wear plain dress and live their life according to the Bible as codified in their church's Ordnung . The Old Order Amish and New Order Amish conduct their worship in German, speak Pennsylvania Dutch , and use buggies for transportation, in contrast to the Beachy Amish who use modern technology (inclusive of motor cars) and conduct worship in
7776-409: The New Order Amish , and the Beachy Amish —all of whom wear plain dress and live their life according to the Bible as codified in their church's Ordnung . The Old Order Amish and New Order Amish conduct their worship in German, speak Pennsylvania German , and use buggies for transportation, in contrast to the Beachy Amish who use modern technology (inclusive of motor cars) and conduct worship in
7920-673: The Noah Hoover Mennonites speak Pennsylvania Dutch. There are also some recent New Order Amish immigrants in Bolivia , Argentina , and Belize who speak Pennsylvania Dutch while the great majority of conservative Mennionites in those countries speak Plautdietsch. Heut is 's xäctly zwanzig Johr Dass ich bin owwe naus; Nau bin ich widder lewig z'rück Und steh am Schulhaus an d'r Krick Juscht nächst ans Daddy's Haus. Today it's exactly twenty years Since I went up and away; Now I am back again, alive, And stand at
8064-536: The Proto-Germanic word *þiudiskaz meaning "popular" or "of the people". The continued use of "Pennsylvania Dutch" was strengthened by the Pennsylvania Dutch in the 19th century as a way of distinguishing themselves from later (post 1830) waves of German immigrants to the United States, with the Pennsylvania Dutch referring to themselves as Deitsche and to Germans as Deitschlenner (literally "Germany-ers", compare Deutschländ-er ) whom they saw as
8208-798: The Southern states such as in Kentucky and Tennessee , in the United States, and in Ontario in Canada. The dialect historically was also spoken in other regions where its use has largely or entirely faded. The practice of Pennsylvania Dutch as a street language in urban areas of Pennsylvania, including Allentown , Reading , Lancaster , and York , was declining by the beginning of the 20th century. But in more rural Pennsylvania areas, it continued in widespread use until World War II . Since that time, its use in Pennsylvania rural areas has greatly declined. It
8352-549: The Thirteen Colonies went its own way as an independent nation. In that history, Pennsylvania adopted the Pennsylvania Dutch language as its national language and developed into a German-speaking nation, with its own specific culture, very distinct from both its English-speaking neighbors and European Germany. Organizations Ordnung In the Anabaptist tradition, an Ordnung is a set of rules describing
8496-588: The hook and eye approach to fashion clothing or metal snaps. The New Order Amish are slightly more progressive and allow the usage of buttons to help attire clothing. Amish cuisine is noted for its simplicity and traditional qualities. Food plays an important part in Amish social life and is served at potlucks , weddings, fundraisers, farewells, and other events. Many Amish foods are sold at markets including pies, preserves, bread mixes, pickled produce, desserts, and canned goods. Many Amish communities have also established restaurants for visitors. Amish meat consumption
8640-463: The suppression of the German language in the US that eventually led to language shift of most Pennsylvania German speakers, leaving the Amish and other Old Orders as almost the only speakers by the end of the 20th century. This created a language barrier around the Amish that did not exist before in that form. In the late 1920s, the more change-minded faction of the Old Order Amish, that wanted to adopt
8784-608: The way of life of church members . The term is mostly used by Amish and Old Order Mennonites . Ordnung ( pronounced [ˈɔʁdnʊŋ] ) is the German word for order , discipline, rule, arrangement, organization, or system. Because the Amish have no central church government, each assembly is autonomous and is its own governing authority. Thus, every local church maintains an individual set of rules, adhering to its own Ordnung, which may vary from district to district as each community administers its own guidelines. Among
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#17327647640558928-410: The "Old Order" Amish, a conservative faction that separated from other Amish in the 1860s, are those who have most emphasized traditional practices and beliefs. The New Order Amish are a group of Amish whom some scholars see best described as a subgroup of Old Order Amish, despite the name. As of 2011, about 40 different Old Order Amish affiliations were known to exist. The eight major affiliations of
9072-399: The 20th century, almost all Amish children attended Amish schools. In the last quarter of the 20th century, a growing number of Amish men left farm work and started small businesses because of increasing pressure on small-scale farming. Though a wide variety of small businesses exists among the Amish, construction work and woodworking are quite widespread. In many Amish settlements, especially
9216-454: The 300,000 figure from 2015, at the same time the total number of settlements grew from 501 to 675 (+35%), and the number of districts from 2,193 to 3,039 (+39%). The United States is the home to the overwhelming majority (over 98 percent) of the Amish people. In 2024, Old Order communities were present in 32 U.S. states. The total Amish population in the United States as of June 2024 has stood at 394,720 up 17,445 or 4.6 percent, compared to
9360-515: The Amish are usually baptized no earlier than 18 and children are not counted in local congregation numbers, estimating their numbers is difficult. Rough estimates from various studies placed their numbers at 125,000 in 1992, 166,000 in 2000, and 221,000 in 2008. Thus, from 1992 to 2008, population growth among the Amish in North America was 84 percent (3.6 percent per year). During that time, they established 184 new settlements and moved into six new states. In 2000, about 165,620 Old Order Amish resided in
9504-404: The Amish as different because they drive buggies, use horse drawn farm implements, dress plainly, etc. These differences are not accidental. When asked today why they have rejected a specific thing, many members of the church will simply reply: “Because it’s not Amish.” Because each Amish district is a separate church, Ordnung rules will differ from locale to locale. There are diverse groups among
9648-400: The Amish fold tend to join various congregations of Conservative Mennonites . Amish began migrating to Pennsylvania, then-regarded favorably due to the lack of religious persecution and attractive land offers, in the early 18th century as part of a larger migration from the Palatinate and neighboring areas. Between 1717 and 1750, approximately 500 Amish migrated to North America, mainly to
9792-441: The Amish have been described by certain scholars as an ethnoreligious group , combining features of an ethnicity and a Christian denomination. The Amish are closely related to Old Order Mennonites and Conservative Mennonites , denominations that are also a part of Anabaptist Christianity. The Amish are known for simple living , plain dress , Christian pacifism , and slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with
9936-678: The Amish later emerged, started in circles around Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) who led the early Reformation in Switzerland . In Zürich on January 21, 1525, Conrad Grebel and George Blaurock practiced believer's baptism to each other and then to others. This Swiss movement, part of the Radical Reformation , later became known as Swiss Brethren . The term Amish was first used as a Schandename (a term of disgrace) in 1710 by opponents of Jakob Amman , an Anabaptist leader. The first informal division between Swiss Brethren
10080-518: The Amish population passed the milestone of 400,000, with about 395,000 Old Order Amish living in the United States, and over 6,000 in Canada: a population that is rapidly growing. Amish church groups seek to maintain a degree of separation from the non-Amish world. Non-Amish people are generally referred to as "English" by the Amish, and outside influences are often described as "worldly". Amish church membership begins with adult baptism , usually between
10224-424: The Amish should deal with the tensions caused by the pressures of modern society. The meetings themselves were a progressive idea; for bishops to assemble to discuss uniformity was an unprecedented notion in the Amish church. By the first several meetings, the more traditionally minded bishops agreed to boycott the conferences. The more progressive members, comprising roughly two-thirds of the group, became known by
10368-441: The Amish, Gelassenheit is seen in all of the following aspects of Amish life: There are several levels of piety in the Ordnung moral code. There could be another category that is so clearly wrong, it is not included in the Ordnung. Murder would be a prime example. Modern technology is used selectively by the Amish for fear that it may weaken the family structure. If any equipment does not maintain principles of Gelassenheit, it
10512-562: The Amish, thereby creating distinctions within their Ordnung. The following is a general list and not exhaustive. Examples of Practices Prescribed by the Ordnung: Examples of Practices Prohibited by the Ordnung: "Amish practices evolve over time. As modernization takes place, the Amish negotiate to what degree they will accept and utilize technology and other practices of the outside world. This cultural compromise has allowed
10656-453: The Amish, these rules are largely unwritten, yet they define the very essence of Amish identity. Conservative Mennonites refer to Ordnung by the English terms "discipline" or "standard", and their rules are usually written. Anabaptists , such as the Amish, believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible . Thus the Ordnung is intended to ensure that church members live according to the biblical Word of God, as they understand it. The Ordnung
10800-526: The Bible into Pennsylvania Dutch. The New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs was published in 2002 by the Bible League. The entire Bible, Di Heilich Shrift , was completed and published in 2013 by TGS International. Deitsh Books has published a dictionary (2013) and a grammar book (2014) by D Miller using the same American English orthography. In 2014, Jehovah's Witnesses began to publish literature in Pennsylvania Dutch. Pennsylvania Dutch, which
10944-430: The English word move . Adjectival endings exist but appear simplified compared to Standard German. As in all other South German dialects, the past tense is generally expressed using the perfect : Ich bin ins Feld glaafe ('I have run into the field') and not the simple past ( Ich lief ins Feld ['I ran into the field']), which is retained only in the verb "to be", as war or ware , corresponding to English
11088-461: The German language. The members of these groups are largely of Amish origin, but they are not in fellowship with other Amish groups because they adhere to theological doctrines (e.g., assurance of salvation ) or practices ( community of goods ) that are normally not accepted among mainstream Amish. The Bergholz Community is a different case; it is not seen as Amish anymore because the community has shifted away from many core Amish principles. Because
11232-468: The Mennonite Church in Canada. Orland Gingerich's book The Amish of Canada devotes the vast majority of its pages not to the Beachy or Old Order Amish, but to congregations in the former WOMC. Several other groups, called " para-Amish " by G. C. Waldrep and others, share many characteristics with the Amish, such as horse and buggy transportation, plain dress , and the preservation of
11376-666: The New Testament.) Pennsylvania High German is a literary form of Palatine written in Pennsylvania , the Palatinate , and other Palatine states (e.g. the Hessian Palatinate ), used between the 1700s and early 1900s. In Pennsylvania, this literary form helped maintain German education and instruction, and was spoken in schools and churches. It is often seen in Fraktur art and script. Immediately after
11520-494: The Old Order Amish are listed below, with Lancaster as the largest one in number of districts and population: The table below indicates the use of certain technologies by different Amish affiliations. The use of cars is not allowed by any Old and New Order Amish, nor are radio, television, or in most cases the use of the Internet. Three affiliations – "Lancaster", "Holmes Old Order" and "Elkhart-LaGrange" — are not only
11664-425: The Old Order Amish due to issues regarding salvation and "the use of modern agricultural methods." The Old Order Amish believe that they have a "hope for salvation", believing that "joining with other church members to live according to the Ordnung and the Bible will give them the strength to lives worthy of salvation". The New Order Amish, on the other hand, affirm that a believer can have assurance —"that one can know
11808-790: The Old Order in the 19th century in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, a major split among the Old Orders took until World War I . At that time, two very conservative affiliations emerged – the Swartzentruber Amish in Holmes County, Ohio , and the Buchanan Amish in Iowa. The Buchanan Amish soon were joined by like-minded congregations all over the country. With Germany's aggression toward the US in World War I came
11952-411: The Ordnung, creating a balance between tradition and change. A district’s Ordnung is meant to convey the community's rigid traditions, so whenever members begin exploring new things which raise concerns, the local church must decide if such activities should be allowed. Twice a year each Amish district holds a council meeting, called Ordnungsgemeine , led by the bishop. After listening to a discussion on
12096-411: The Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. In the 2007–2008 school year, the classes were being taught by Professor Edward Quinter. In 2008–2009, Professor Robert Lusch served as the instructor. According to one scholar, "today, almost all Amish are functionally bilingual in Pennsylvania Dutch and English; however, domains of usage are sharply separated. Pennsylvania Dutch dominates in most in-group settings, such as
12240-416: The United States and Canada. There are approximately 300,000 native speakers of Pennsylvania Dutch in the United States and Canada. The language traditionally has been spoken by the Pennsylvania Dutch, who are descendants of late 17th- and early to late 18th-century immigrants to Pennsylvania , Maryland , Virginia , West Virginia , and North Carolina , who arrived primarily from Southern Germany and, to
12384-717: The United States, of whom 73,609 were church members. The Amish are among the fastest-growing populations in the world, with an average of seven children per family in the 1970s and a total fertility rate of 5.3 in the 2010s. In 2010, a few religious bodies, including the Amish, changed the way their adherents were reported to better match the standards of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. When looking at all Amish adherents and not solely Old Order Amish, about 241,000 Amish adherents were in 28 U.S. states in 2010. The Amish added 100,000 more adherents in just 9 years, reaching 401,000 in 2024 in comparison with
12528-423: The United States. There are also attempts being made in a few communities to teach the dialect in a classroom setting; however, as every year passes by, fewer and fewer in those particular communities speak the dialect. There is still a weekly radio program in the dialect whose audience is made up mostly of the diverse groups, and many Lutheran and Reformed congregations in Pennsylvania that formerly used German have
12672-463: The age of 40 never used the dative, while older speakers showed strongly variable behavior. There was little difference between members of the different religious denominations in the Kalona. Many verbs of English origin are used in Pennsylvania Dutch. Most English-origin verbs are treated as German weak verbs , receiving a past participle with a ge- prefix and a -t suffix, thus for example
12816-605: The ages of 16 and 23. Church districts have between 20 and 40 families, and Old Order Amish and New Order Amish worship services are held every other Sunday in a member's home or barn, while the Beachy Amish worship every Sunday in churches. The rules of the church, the Ordnung , which differs to some extent between different districts, are reviewed twice a year by all members of the church. The Ordnung must be observed by every member and covers many aspects of Old Order Amish day-to-day living, including prohibitions or limitations on
12960-645: The auspices of living what they interpret to be God's word. Members who do not conform to these community expectations and who cannot be convinced to repent face excommunication and shunning . The modes of shunning vary between different communities. On average, about 85 percent of Amish youth choose to be baptized and join the church. During an adolescent period of rumspringa ( lit. ' running around ' , from Pennsylvania German rumschpringe ' to run around; to gad; to be wild ' ; compare Standard German herum-, rumspringen ' to jump around ' ) in some communities, nonconforming behavior that would result in
13104-558: The car, broke away from the mainstream and organized under the name Beachy Amish . During the Second World War , the old question of military service for the Amish came up again. Because Amish young men in general refused military service, they ended up in the Civilian Public Service (CPS), where they worked mainly in forestry and hospitals. The fact that many young men worked in hospitals, where they had
13248-606: The challenge of maintaining their mother tongue. Numerous English words have been borrowed and adapted for use in Pennsylvania Dutch since the first generations of Pennsylvania German habitation of southeastern Pennsylvania. Examples of English loan words that are relatively common are bet ( Ich bet, du kannscht Deitsch schwetze 'I bet you can speak Pennsylvania Dutch'), depend ( Es dependt en wennig, waer du bischt 'it depends somewhat on who you are'); tschaepp for 'chap' or 'guy'; and tschumbe for 'to jump'. Today, many speakers will use Pennsylvania Dutch words for
13392-462: The church means to yield, to submit. Modern culture's aggressive individualism sharply contrasts with the Amish gelassenheit. Through Gelassenheit, an Amish person yields to the Ordnung, the will of God, church, elders, parents, community, and traditions. The individual suppresses the will of 'self' in lieu of the Amish community. By giving up individuality and any thought of selfishness, they embrace God's will by serving others and submitting to Him. To
13536-479: The church, or young children raised in Amish homes, but too young to yet be church members, are considered to be Amish. Certain Mennonite churches have a high number of people who were formerly from Amish congregations. Although more Amish immigrated to North America in the 19th century than during the 18th century, most of today's Amish descend from 18th-century immigrants. The latter tended to emphasize tradition to
13680-619: The dative is widely used among the older generations who are fluent in Pennsylvania German, whereas younger semi-speakers tend not to use the dative as much. Many semi-speakers used the English possessive -'s . In contrast, Anabaptists in central Pennsylvania had almost completely replaced the dative with the accusative case. Meanwhile, members of the entirely Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking community in Kalona , all of whom were Amish or Mennonite, showed strong age-related variation. Speakers under
13824-406: The dative, and possession is indicated with a special construction using the dative and the possessive pronoun: 'the man's dog' becomes em Mann sei Hund (literally: 'to the man his dog'). Studies have shown variability in the use of the dative case in both sectarian and non-sectarian communities. The trend is towards use of the common case for nouns and the accusative case for pronouns, instead of
13968-508: The dative. Thus, em Mann sei Hund , for example, has frequently become der Mann sei Hund . The dative case in Pennsylvania German is used to express possession, to mark objects of prepositions , to mark indirect objects , and to indicate the direct objects of certain verbs. It is expressed, as in Standard German, through the use of dative forms of personal pronouns and through certain inflections of articles and adjectives modifying nouns. In non-sectarian speech in central Pennsylvania,
14112-446: The degree of intrusion on Amish values and households that would result if fixed-line external power were used. In farming, horses are used to pull wagons, buggies, and agricultural equipment. Gasoline engines may be allowed to run the machinery but horses are required for locomotion. The Old Order Amish are permitted to use modern transportation as long as they do not own or operate the equipment. All of these guidelines are set out in
14256-408: The details with outsiders, therefore the precise reasons are difficult to explain. They formulate their rules with two interconnected goals in mind. First, is it compatible with their values. If a particular decision might disrupt their religion, tradition, community, or families, they are likely to prohibit it. The second purpose is to create a fence between themselves and Englishers. Most Americans see
14400-601: The dialect is gradual decay of the traditional vocabulary, which is then replaced by English loan words or words corrupted from English. In the United States, most Old Order Amish and all "horse and buggy" Old Order Mennonite groups speak Pennsylvania Dutch, except the Old Order Mennonites of Virginia , where German was already mostly replaced at the end of the 19th century. There are several Old Order Amish communities (especially in Indiana) where Bernese German ,
14544-505: The dialect, as well as thousands more older Pennsylvania Dutch speakers of non-Amish and non-Mennonite background. The Grundsau Lodge, which is an organization in southeastern Pennsylvania of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers, is said to have 6,000 members. Therefore, a fair estimate of the speaker population in 2008 might be close to 300,000, although many, including some academic publications, may report much lower numbers, uninformed of those diverse speaker groups. There are no formal statistics on
14688-623: The diffusion of shoofly pie are common subject matter for studies of American cuisine , food anthropologists point out that the culinary practices of Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish are innovative and dynamic, evolving across time and geographic spaces, and that not all the Pennsylvania Dutch are Amish, and not all Amish live in Pennsylvania. Distinguishing local myths from culinary fact is accomplished by dedicated anthropological field studies in combination with studies of literary sources, usually newspaper archives, diaries, and household records. The Amish fall into three main subgroups—the Old Order Amish,
14832-506: The dinner table and preaching in church services. In contrast, English is used for most reading and writing. English is also the medium of instruction in schools and is used in business transactions and often, out of politeness, in situations involving interactions with non-Amish. Finally, the Amish read prayers and sing in Standard, or High, German ( Hochdeitsch ) at church services. The distinctive use of three different languages serves as
14976-638: The division after 1862 formed the Conservative Amish Mennonite Conference in 1910, but dropped the word "Amish" from their name in 1957; in the year 2000 many congregations left to organize the Biblical Mennonite Alliance in order to continue the practice of traditional Anabaptist ordinances, such as headcovering . Because no division occurred in Europe, the Amish congregations remaining there took
15120-399: The exception of diet, and their per-person emissions has been estimated to be less than one quarter that of the wider society. Most Old Order Amish, New Order Amish and the Old Beachy Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch, and refer to non-Amish people as "English", regardless of ethnicity. Two Amish subgroups – called Swiss Amish – whose ancestors migrated to the United States in the 1850s speak
15264-410: The faith. Church districts have between 20 and 40 families and worship services are held every other Sunday in a member's home or barn . The district is led by a bishop and several ministers and deacons who are chosen by a combination of election and cleromancy (lot). The rules of the church, the so-called Ordnung , which differs to some extent between different districts, is reviewed twice
15408-585: The future. There are only two car driving Anabaptist groups who have preserved the dialect: The Old Beachy Amish and the Kauffman Amish Mennonites , also called Sleeping Preacher Churches. Even though Amish and Old Order Mennonites were originally a minority group within the Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking population, today they form the vast majority. According to sociologist John A. Hostetler , less than 10 percent of
15552-467: The guttural ⟨r⟩ of earlier generations and also turned into an American ⟨r⟩ and so German gewesen > gwest > grest and German geschwind > gschwind > tschrind /tʃɹɪnt/ . The changes in pronunciation, combined with the general disappearance of declensions as described above, result in a form of the dialect that has evolved somewhat from its early Pennsylvania origins nearly 300 years ago and
15696-405: The home is prohibited among the Old Order Amish because it interferes with face-to-face visits with neighbors. However, a few of the more liberal districts have allowed the telephone. Any technology that is seen to be corrupting spiritual or family life is rejected out of hand. Television would never be considered because it brings unbiblical values into the home. Amish dairy farms have discarded
15840-445: The home, no personal ownership of automobiles). However, many of the Ordnung guidelines also focus on cultivating what the Amish see as beneficial character traits. The Ordnung attempts to prevent pride, envy, vanity, laziness, dishonesty, etc. According to the Amish, the purpose of the Ordnung is to guide Amish behavior into being more Christ-like, thus defining who they are. It ultimately intends that they be separate and different from
15984-454: The issue in question, the adult church members, men and women (all are expected to attend unless they are ill), vote. To ensure that the idea is carefully considered, voting is designed to make any change difficult, because once a rule has been adopted it is difficult to have it rescinded. If two or more people reject the change, the Ordnung remains unaltered. The Amish allow for change, but their emphasis centers on tradition. When considering
16128-519: The language from hearing their parents using it and from interactions with the generation older than their parents. Among the first natively English speaking generation, oldest siblings typically speak Pennsylvania Dutch better than younger ones. There have been efforts to advance the use of the dialect. Kutztown University offers a complete minor program in Pennsylvania German Studies. The program includes two full semesters of
16272-402: The larger ones, farmers are now a minority. Approximately 12,000 of the 40,000 dairy farms in the United States are Amish-owned as of 2018. Until the early 20th century, Old Order Amish identity was not linked to the limited use of technologies, as the Old Order Amish and their rural neighbors used the same farm and household technologies. Questions about the use of technologies also did not play
16416-560: The last 150 years so much, that they shifted away from the Old Order type of Community. For example, even the most traditional Old Order Amish groups like the Swartzentruber Amish and the Nebraska Amish allow their members to ride in cars under certain circumstances, primarily in cases of emergency. The Amish have few written explanations why certain things are regulated by the Ordnung. Non-Amish are not allowed to attend their council meetings, and most Amish are hesitant to discuss
16560-514: The local language of the area in which they reside (with exception of the Old Beachy Amish who continue to use Pennsylvania German). Both the New Order Amish and the Beachy Amish emphasize the New Birth , evangelize to seek converts, and have Sunday Schools . Over the years, the Amish churches have divided many times mostly over questions concerning the Ordnung, but also over doctrinal disputes, mainly about shunning. The largest group,
16704-457: The local language of the area in which they reside. Both the New Order Amish and the Beachy Amish emphasize the New Birth , evangelize to seek converts, and have Sunday Schools . In the early 18th century, many Amish and Mennonites immigrated to Pennsylvania for a variety of reasons. Most Old Order Amish, New Order Amish and the Old Beachy Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch , but Indiana's Swiss Amish also speak Alemannic dialects . As of 2024,
16848-579: The loss of identity of many Amish congregations occurred in the third quarter of the 19th century. The forming of factions worked its way out at different times at different places. The process was rather a "sorting out" than a split. Amish people are free to join another Amish congregation at another place that fits them best. In the years after 1850, tensions rose within individual Amish congregations and between different Amish congregations. Between 1862 and 1878, yearly Dienerversammlungen (ministerial conferences) were held at different places, concerning how
16992-472: The members come together (Ordnungsgemee) and express their unity before they partake in communion. Their concurrence on the Ordnung implies complete satisfaction with it. The agreement brings peace among members, and peace with God. If there is not group unity, then the Lord’s Supper is not observed. Obedience is a close associate to Ordnung, because it is a symbol informing the body of believers as to whether
17136-593: The metal milk bucket and three-legged stool in favor of an automated milking system. The Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture demand that certain guidelines be followed before milk can be marketed. Thus, power equipment and refrigerated bulk tanks are a necessity and permitted. However, the electricity needed to run a modern dairy must be produced, typically using diesel/gasoline generators or solar power . This may be more expensive than grid electricity, but lacks
17280-499: The name Amish Mennonite, and eventually united with the Mennonite Church , and other Mennonite denominations, mostly in the early 20th century. The more traditionally minded groups became known as the Old Order Amish. The Egli Amish had already started to withdraw from the Amish church in 1858. They soon drifted away from the old ways and changed their name to "Defenseless Mennonite" in 1908. Congregations who took no side in
17424-563: The need for hard work. Machines such as automatic floor cleaners in barns have historically been rejected as this provides young farmhands with too much free time. Amish communities are known for traveling by horse and buggy because they feel horse-drawn vehicles promote a slow pace of life. Many Amish communities do also allow riding in motor vehicles , such as buses and cars. They also are allowed to travel by train . In recent years many Amish people have taken to using electric bicycles as they are faster than either walking or harnessing up
17568-460: The original Pennsylvania Dutch population was Amish or Mennonite. As of 1989, non-sectarian, or non-Amish and non-Mennonite, native Pennsylvania-Dutch speaking parents have generally spoken to their children exclusively in English. The reasons they cited were preventing their children from developing a "Dutch" accent and preparing them for school. Older speakers generally did not see a reason for young people to speak it. Many of their children learned
17712-407: The past participle of 'change' is usually ge-change-t . Verbs with unstressed first syllables generally do not take the ge- prefix, so the past participle of 'adopt' is adopted , as in English. This follows the pattern of words with inseparable prefixes in German. However, English-origin verbs which are stressed on the first syllable may also appear without the ge- prefix. Thus, 'realize'
17856-415: The people in these areas spoke Rhine Franconian , especially Palatine German and, to a lesser degree, Alemannic dialects; it is believed that in the first generations after the settlers arrived, the dialects merged. The result of that dialect levelling was a dialect very close to the eastern dialects of Palatine German, especially the rural dialects around Mannheim / Ludwigshafen . Pennsylvania Dutch
18000-540: The previous year. Pennsylvania has the largest population (92.7 thousand), followed by Ohio (86 thousand) and Indiana (65.5 thousand), as of June 2024. The largest Amish settlements are in Lancaster County in southeastern Pennsylvania (43.6 thousand), Holmes County and adjacent counties in northeastern Ohio (40.4 thousand), and Elkhart and LaGrange counties in northeastern Indiana (29.2 thousand), as of June 2024. The highest concentration of Amish in
18144-633: The region that became Berks County, Pennsylvania , but later moved, motivated by land issues and by security concerns tied to the French and Indian War . Many eventually settled in Lancaster County . A second wave of around 1,500 arrived around the mid-19th century and settled mostly in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and southern Ontario. Most of these late immigrants eventually did not join the Old Order Amish but more liberal groups. Most Amish communities that were established in North America did not ultimately retain their Amish identity. The major division that resulted in
18288-458: The rules of American English orthography, the other the rules of Standard German orthography (developed by Preston Barba and Albert F. Buffington ). The choice of writing system is not meant to imply any difference in pronunciation. For comparison, a translation into Pennsylvania Dutch, using two spelling systems, of the Lord's Prayer , as found in the common traditional language English translation,
18432-625: The same way as the change-minded Amish Mennonites in North America and slowly merged with the Mennonites . The last Amish congregation in Germany to merge was the Ixheim Amish congregation, which merged with the neighboring Mennonite Church in 1937. Some Mennonite congregations, including most in Alsace , are descended directly from former Amish congregations. Although splits happened among
18576-473: The schoolhouse by the creek Just next to Grandpa's house. Orange is the New Black character Leanne Taylor and family are featured speaking Pennsylvania Dutch in flashbacks showing her Amish background before ending up in prison. Science-fiction writer Michael Flynn wrote the novella The Forest of Time , depicting an alternate history in which the United States was never established, but each of
18720-409: The second half of the 19th century, the Amish divided into Old Order Amish and Amish Mennonites ; the latter do not abstain from using motor cars, whereas the Old Order Amish retained much of their traditional culture. When people refer to the Amish today, they normally refer to the Old Order Amish, though there are other subgroups of Amish . The Amish fall into three main subgroups—the Old Order Amish,
18864-512: The shunning of an adult who had made the permanent commitment of baptism, may be met with a degree of forbearance. Amish lifestyle is regulated by the Ordnung ("rules") which differs slightly from community to community and from district to district within a community. There is no central Amish governing authority . Each Amish community makes its own decisions, and what is acceptable in one community may be unacceptable in another. The Ordnung
19008-629: The size of the Amish population, and most who speak Pennsylvania Dutch on the Canadian and U.S. censuses would report that they speak German, since it is the closest option available. Pennsylvania Dutch was reported under ethnicity in the 2000 census. There are also some Pennsylvania Dutch speakers who belong to traditional Anabaptist groups in Latin America. Even though most Mennonite communities in Belize speak Plautdietsch , some few hundreds who came to Belize mostly around 1970 and who belong to
19152-590: The smaller numerals and English for larger and more complicated numbers, like $ 27,599. Conversely, although many among the earlier generations of Pennsylvania Dutch could speak English, they were known for speaking it with a strong and distinctive accent. Such Pennsylvania Dutch English can still sometimes be heard. Although the more-recently coined term is being used in the context of this and related articles to describe this Pennsylvania Dutch-influenced English, it has traditionally been referred to as "Dutchy" or "Dutchified" English. Pennsylvania Dutch has primarily been
19296-801: The speaking of Pennsylvania Dutch had absolutely no religious connotations. In Ontario, Canada, the Old Order Amish, the members of the Ontario Old Order Mennonite Conference , the David Martin Old Order Mennonites , the Orthodox Mennonites and smaller pockets of others (regardless of religious affiliation) speak Pennsylvania Dutch. The members of the car driving Old Order Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference have mostly switched to English. In 2017, there were about 10,000 speakers of Pennsylvania Dutch in Canada, far fewer than in
19440-483: The state of his soul while on earth". Until about 1950, almost all Amish children attended small, rural, non-Amish schools, but then school consolidation and mandatory schooling beyond eighth grade caused Amish opposition. Amish communities opened their own Amish schools. In 1972, the United States Supreme Court exempted Amish pupils from compulsory education past eighth grade . By the end of
19584-450: The three largest affiliations but also represent the mainstream among the Old Order Amish. The most conservative affiliations are at the top, the most modern ones at the bottom. Technologies used by very few are on the left; the ones used by most are on the right. The percentage of all Amish who use a technology is also indicated approximately. The Old Order Amish culture involves lower greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors and activities with
19728-617: The use of power-line electricity, telephones, and automobiles, as well as regulations on clothing. Generally, a heavy emphasis is placed on church and family relationships. The Old Order Amish typically operate their own one-room schools and discontinue formal education after grade eight (age 13 – 14). Most Amish do not buy commercial insurance or participate in Social Security . As present-day Anabaptists , Amish church members practice nonresistance and will not perform any type of military service. The Anabaptist movement, from which
19872-493: The value of freedom of heart, peace of mind, and clear conscience. And he indicates that such a person had more freedom, more liberty, and more privilege than those outside the church. Some of the most common Ordnung rules are: separation from the world, hard work, a woman's submission to her husband, mode of dress, and refusal to buy insurance. Non-Amish often think of the Ordnung in terms of restrictions (e.g., women must submit to husbands, no electrical power lines, no telephone in
20016-638: The world is in the Holmes County community; nearly 50 percent of the entire population of Holmes County is Amish as of 2010. Pennsylvania German language Canada: Pennsylvania Dutch ( Deitsch , Pennsilfaanisch-Deitsch or Pennsilfaanisch ) or Pennsylvania German is a variety of Palatine German spoken by the Pennsylvania Dutch , including the Amish , Mennonites , Fancy Dutch , and other related groups in
20160-484: The world. As such, anything viewed as disruptive to their society, such as personal power, wealth, and status, are funneled through the Ordnung social order . Disobedience to these lifestyle regulations is punished by discipline initiated by the church leaders. One of the more severe actions that the Amish bishop can mete out is Shunning (Meidung). An Amish minister says of the Ordnung: A respected Ordnung generates peace, love, contentment, equality, and unity. It creates
20304-676: The years. Two examples are A Simple Grammar of Pennsylvania Dutch by J. William Frey and A Pennsylvania German Reader and Grammar by Earl C. Haag . The tables below use IPA symbols to compare sounds used in Standard German (to the left) with sounds that correspond to them in their Pennsylvania Dutch cognates , reflecting their respective evolutions since they diverged from a common origin. In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania , there have been numerous other shifts that can make their Pennsylvania Dutch particularly difficult for modern High German speakers to understand. A word beginning in ⟨gs⟩ generally becomes ⟨ts⟩ , which
20448-492: Was and were . The subjunctive mood is extant only as Konjunktiv I ( Konjunktiv II is totally lost) in a limited number of verbs. In all other verbs it is expressed through the form of Konjunktiv I of the verbs 'to do' ( du ) and 'to have' ( hawwe / have ) combined with the infinitive or the past participle , e.g., ich daet esse ('I would eat'), ich hett gesse ('I would have eaten'). Several Pennsylvania Dutch grammars have been published over
20592-580: Was founded by Michael Werner . It is published twice a year (2,400 copies per issue)—since 2013 in cooperation with the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University . Since 2002, the newspaper is published both online and in print . In 2006, the German publishing house Edition Tintenfaß started to print books in Pennsylvania Dutch. Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc., using American English orthography (see Written language), has translated
20736-541: Was recorded in the 17th century between Oberländer s ( those living in the hills ) and Emmentalers (those living in the Emmental ). The Oberländer s were a more extreme congregation; their zeal pushed them into more remote areas. Swiss Anabaptism developed, from this point, in two parallel streams, most clearly marked by disagreement over the preferred treatment of "fallen" believers. The Emmentalers (sometimes referred to as Reistians, after bishop Hans Reist ,
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