Jersey Dutch Language
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Jersey Dutch (''Duits'') was a
Dutch dialect Dutch dialects are primarily the dialects that are both cognate with the Dutch language and are spoken in the same language area as the Dutch standard language. Dutch dialects are remarkably diverse and are found in the Netherlands and northern ...
formerly spoken in and around the counties of
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
and
Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...
in
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
from the late 17th century until the early 20th century. It evolved in one of the two
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
-speaking enclaves that remained for over two centuries after the dissolution of Dutch control in North America, the other (around
Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
) giving rise to
Mohawk Dutch Mohawk Dutch is a now extinct Dutch-based creole language mainly spoken during the 17th century west of Albany, New York in the area around the Mohawk River, by the Dutch colonists who traded with or to a lesser extent mixed with the local popul ...
. It may have been a partial
creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. ...
based on
Zeelandic Zeelandic ( zea, Zeêuws; nl, Zeeuws; vls, Zêeuws) is a group of Friso-Franconian language varieties spoken in the southwestern parts of the Netherlands. It is currently considered a Low Franconian dialect of Dutch, but there have been move ...
and
West Flemish West Flemish (''West-Vlams'' or ''West-Vloams'' or ''Vlaemsch'' (in French-Flanders), nl, West-Vlaams, french: link=no, flamand occidental) is a collection of Dutch dialects spoken in western Belgium and the neighbouring areas of France and t ...
Dutch dialects with
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and possibly some elements of
Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
. The Jersey Dutch language was spoken by the
Jersey Dutch The New York Dutch, also known simply as Dutchmen (Dutch: ''Duitsers''), were a cultural group native to New York and New Jersey found along the old borders of New Netherland. In New York they were known as the New York Dutch, and in New Jersey ...
, the descendants of
New Netherlander New Netherlanders were residents of New Netherland, the seventeenth-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the northeastern coast of North America, centered on the Hudson River and New York Bay, and in the Del ...
s who settled in
Bergen, New Netherland Bergen was a part of the 17th century province of New Netherland, in the area in northeastern New Jersey along the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers that would become contemporary Hudson and Bergen Counties. Though it only officially existed as an ind ...
, in 1630, and by
Black slaves The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...
and
free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (French: ''gens de couleur libres''; Spanish: ''gente de color libre'') were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not ...
also residing in that region, as well as the American Indian people known as the
Ramapough Lenape Nation The Ramapough Lenape Nation is a state-recognized tribe in New Jersey. They were previously named the Ramapough Mountain Indians (also spelled Ramapo), also known as the Ramapough Lenape Nation or Ramapough Lunaape Munsee Delaware Nation. They h ...
.


Etymology

The term "Dutch" originally referred to all Germanic language speakers. The English settlers referred to the Dutch language spoken by the New York and Jersey Dutch as low Dutch (Dutch: ''laag duits''), and the
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
spoken by the
Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ), also known as Pennsylvania Germans, are a cultural group formed by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. They emigrated primarily from German-spe ...
in Pennsylvania as high Dutch (German: ''hochdeutsch'').


Varieties

By the mid-eighteenth century, according to one estimate, up to 20% of the population of the areas of New Jersey with "a strong Dutch element" were enslaved people. Blacks who grew up in insular Dutch communities (such as
Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Baumfree; November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist of New York Dutch heritage and a women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to f ...
) were raised speaking the Dutch language, or adopted it later in life, to speak both with their white Dutch-descendant counterparts and with each other. Some Blacks during this period spoke Dutch as their primary or only language, and for some knowing the language was a point of pride:
"They were Dutch and proud of it. I can remember my Aunt Sebania telling me about her great-grandmother, a stern old lady who both spoke and understood English, but who refused to speak it except in the privacy of her home. In public she spoke Dutch, as any proper person should do, a dignified language."
Some contemporary reports from white speakers of Jersey Dutch reported a distinct
variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
of the language unique to the Black population, which they called ("Negro Dutch", not to be confused with the
Dutch creole A Dutch creole is a creole language that has been substantially influenced by the Dutch language. Most Dutch-based creoles originated in Dutch colonies in the Americas and Southeast Asia, after the 17th century expansion of Dutch maritime powe ...
). This term was used both for the speech of the Ramapough (a distinct community of Black, white, and
Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
descent), and of other Blacks in
Bergen County Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Sojourner Truth's Dutch, for example, was described by her owner's daughter around 1810 as "very similar to that of the unlettered white people of her time." The only contemporaneous linguistic treatment of Jersey Dutch draws primarily on the speech of three white Jersey Dutch speakers and one Ramapough speaker, and notes phonetic, syntactic, and lexical differences between the two groups.


Phonology


Vowels

The vowel system of Jersey Dutch differs markedly from
Standard Dutch Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. ''Afrikaans'' i ...
, as well as from the Dutch dialects from which it derives, perhaps due to the influence of
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
. The following chart is based on the speech of two white Jersey Dutch speakers recorded in 1910 and 1941 respectively. Parentheses "indicate that the vowel is attested in few forms."


Consonants

Jersey Dutch consonants are largely the same as those of Standard Dutch, with a few exceptions.


Example

An example of Jersey Dutch, transcribed in 1913, spoken by Matthew Hicks of Mahwah, the white sexton of a Dutch church.''A Text in Jersey Dutch by J. Dyneley Prince, Ph. D.'', in: ''Tijdschrift voor nederlandsche taal- en letterkunde, uitgegeven vanwege de maatschappij der nederlandsche letterkunde te Leiden. Twee en dertigste deel. Nieuwe reeks, vier en twintigste deel.'' Leiden, 1913, p. 306–312
HathiTrust-US
. Cf.: J. Dyneley Prince, Ph.D., ''The Jersey Dutch Dialect'', in: ''Dialect Notes. Publication of the American Dialect Society. Volume III (Parts I-VIII, 1905 to 1912).'' p. 459–484
HathiTrust-US


Jersey Dutch


Standard Modern Dutch

Below is a word-by-word translation of the Jersey Dutch quote, rather than a fluent Dutch rendering.


English

The prodigal son: A man had two sons; the one stayed at home; the other went abroad from home to make his fortune. He was not content at home and therefore then he became poor. He thought about it at home and his father’s place. Then said: I shall go home. My father has plenty.


See also

*
List of Bergen, New Netherland placename etymologies Bergen, New Netherland, Bergen was a part of the 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch colony of New Netherland, in what is now northeastern New Jersey. Placenames in most cases had their roots in Algonquian languages, Algonquian Delaware languages, ...
*
Pennsylvania Dutch language Pennsylvania Dutch (, or ), referred to as Pennsylvania German in scholarly literature, is a variety (linguistics), variety of Palatine German language, Palatine German, also known as Palatine Dutch, spoken by the Amish, Old Order Amish, Old Or ...
*
Mohawk Dutch Mohawk Dutch is a now extinct Dutch-based creole language mainly spoken during the 17th century west of Albany, New York in the area around the Mohawk River, by the Dutch colonists who traded with or to a lesser extent mixed with the local popul ...
*
Dutch-based creole languages A Dutch creole is a creole language that has been substantially influenced by the Dutch language. Most Dutch-based creoles originated in Dutch colonies in the Americas and Southeast Asia, after the 17th century expansion of Dutch maritime powe ...


Notes


References

* ''Handboek der Nederlandsche taal: Deel I. De sociologische structuur der Nederlandsche taal I.'', Jac. van Ginneken and L.C.G. Malmberg, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. 1928
Chapter 10: Het Amerikaansch.
* ''Ik was te bissie...Nederlanders en hun taal in de Verenigde Staten: 2.3 Het taalgebruik van de 17e-eeuwse immigranten en hun nakomelingen'', Jo Daan, De Walburg Pers. 2007

(Click on link and then scroll down.) *Mencken, H.L. ''
The American Language ''The American Language; An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States'', first published in 1919, is H. L. Mencken's book about the English language as spoken in the United States. Origins and concept Mencken was inspired by ...
''. 1921
Appendix II - Non-English Dialects in America: Dutch


Further reading

* Bachman, Van Cleaf. 1982. ‘The story of the Low Dutch language’. ''De Halve Maen'' 56: 3, 1–3, 21; 57: 1, 10–13. * Bachman, Van Cleaf. 1983. ‘What is Low Dutch?’ ''De Halve Maen'' 57: 3, 14–17, 23–24. * Buccini, Anthony F. 1995. ‘The Dialectical Origins of New Netherland Dutch’. ''Dutch Linguistics in a Changing Europe. The Berkeley Conference on Dutch Linguistics 1993''. Ed. by Thomas Shannon & Johan P. Snapper. Lanham etc., 211–263. (Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies, 8). * Noordegraaf, Jan. 2008. 'Nederlands in Noord-Amerika. Over de studie van het Laag Nederlands (Low Dutch)'. ''Trefwoord, tijdschrift voor lexicografie'', December 2008, 1-29. (https://web.archive.org/web/20040215024441/http://www.fryske-akademy.nl/trefwoord/.) * Prince, J. Dyneley. 1913. ‘A text in Jersey Dutch’. ''Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsche Taal en Letterkunde'' 32, 306–312. * Scheltema, Gajus and Westerhuijs, Heleen (eds.),''Exploring Historic Dutch New York''. Museum of the City of New York/Dover Publications, New York (2011) {{ISBN, 978-0-486-48637-6 * Storms, James B.H. 1964. ''A Jersey Dutch vocabulary''. Park Ridge, N.J.: Pascack Historical Society Languages of New York (state) Languages of New Jersey Bergen County, New Jersey Dutch-American culture in New Jersey Dutch-based pidgins and creoles Dutch language in the United States Extinct languages of North America Passaic County, New Jersey Ramapough Mountain Indians Languages attested from the 17th century Languages extinct in the 20th century Languages of the African diaspora