[Homestead] It's almost over
sjc
indexer at fairpoint.net
Wed Dec 3 17:52:25 EST 2008
bob ford wrote:
> ....* Note, I'm not as educated on the history of the Amish as you, I thought they considered themselves "German". German history is filled with great warriors. I don't know much about the Swiss ? They ski, and make cheese and watches and chocalate; and guard the Pope, I don't really know if they have ever been dominant
>
>
And indeed they do often refer to themselves as "Gutch", from the German
(Deutsch) language, and by extension, the Pennsylvania Dutch, which
includes, actually many groups, some of them Anabaptist, but not all.
Early Swiss formers, contemporaries of Luther in the north, involved in
what became the Anabaptist groups were German-speaking Swiss in
nationality and residence. Some of the early groups went to the
Alsatian areas, where one presumes French might have been at least the
local language, however, I've never heard an Amishman refer to himself
as a 'frenchman' which even sounds funny. I'm not aware that they
generally have, over the years, spoken any language other than German
other than picking up languages where they've moved (English in this
country, Portugese and Spanish is South and Central America, for
example) and most Old Order Churches, plus many Beachy and other 'less
strict" groups hold services in German, speak at home in German, and use
German bibles. There is considerable attempt to maintain German as
their first language, some who leave still feel strongly enough about it
that they teach their own kids 'the old way'; my kids in fact are
trilingual, via this route. But their peoples of origin were Swiss
initially.
I've never gone along, but a lot of folks I know have been on a
"Berne-to-Bern" tour, from Berne, IN, to Bern, Switzerland, and they
report that except for words added since (probably not many astronauts
in 1600, I guess), they can speak without misunderstanding/s to
German-speaking residents in that region, a fact in which they seem to
delight, since that group in IN came pretty directly from the region of
Bern and many can cite fairly close relatives still there.
SJ
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