Scandinavian languages

[Rick Mc Callister]

	I lived in New Wilmington PA for 3 years, which is about half
Amish. The language the Amish used there was essentially English with
German dialect vocabulary. They spoke this with Amish who visited from
other areas, including Lancaster Co PA. My colleague in German, who was
German, as well as the German tutors from Germany all stated that a German
who did not know English would not be able to understand them because they
used English syntax and English idioms in their language. The Amish
themselves agreed with this assessment and said that was why they taught
High German in their schools. They said that they did not write in their
spoken language but rather in High German. It's possible that their High
German may be strongly influenced by the spoken language.
	This at least is the situation now. In the past, it was certainly
different.
	The local variety of English is said to have some German influence
and some people did say things like "He's there yet" for "He's still there"
but just as many people spoke something similar to "Burghese" --the working
class dialect of Pittsburgh.