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Amish Shwitzer: An Old Order Contact Language, Anja Hasse, Guido Seiler

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

There is relatively little linguistic research on the language spoken by the Swiss Amish community of Adams County, IN. The language is remarkable for various reasons. First, it is a kind of a mixed language with closely related parental languages which has so far not been found elsewhere in the languages of the world. Second, it is an example of a complex linguistic inner-Amish separation. While the convergence of Amish Shwitzer towards Pennsylvania Dutch grammar is caused by intense contact between Swiss and Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking Amish, the retention of Bernese German features inherited by the ancestors of the modern-day Swiss …