Plautdietsch Mennonite Low German Language

So in some previous posts I have given you a few basic Plautdietsch words, pronunciations and meanings.  Do you find yourself asking what the heck is Plautdietsch?

Go to Wiki and you find this...

A low Prussian variety of East Low German with Dutch influences.

Jo, daut!

(Yes, that!)

;)

Mein

Grootfoda, Grootmutta, 

Foda, en Onkel und  ne Taunt 

have all used this dialect.

I have been fascinated with it since I was a little girl.  I loved hearing the stories they had to tell 

and they were mesmerizing.

 Unless, they spoke to me out of frustration.

With my feisty passionate attitude I was the recipient of the above frequently;)

So where should you start if you wish to understand our

  Plautdietsch Low German Mennonite language...

Kjenn Jie Noch

Plautdietsch

a Mennonite low German Dictionary by Herman Rempel

$16.95 from Mennolink.org

To go along with the Dictionary you can 

hear pronunciations at this link

www.plautdietsch.ca/PronunciationExercise.htm

I am currently working on some flashcard .pdf files for the girls. 

 I will share them with you as they are completed.  

*Note* I am letting the girls pick the words they are interested in 

so the flash cards are going to be a bit random.  

click image, print on white card stock and cut out.

Gott Saajne!

Streuselkuchen

What a beautiful morning it was in eastern SD.

De boom jlistre enn de sonn.

The trees glisten in the sun.

Below is a photo of the Monroe Elevator and frosted winter trees. 

Looking southwest from our home.

Feb. 5th 2012

The view outside and the smell inside could not make for a better start to the day.

Streuselkuchen was baked this AM.

(Streusel Cake)

I use a basic Zwieback recipe from my Aunt Ella Berg Tieszen,

 topped with condensed milk and crumb topping.

Sliced up bits of heaven...

Jo! The Amazing Race on CBS is one of my favorite television shows.  

Favorite episodes include the cowboy brothers Jet and Cord.

In the youtube video below you will see Jet eating a piece of Kuchen 

at the Onces y Cabanas Bellavista in Chile 

*(take note he is pronouncing Kuchen wrong)*

GMR's started emigrating to Chile in 1848

My Gravy!  LOL, that expression cracks me up every time;)

I can tell you what KUCHEN is

KUCHEN pronounced as COOK-N and it means cake and or a pie like pastry.

My favorite varieties are cherry and Poppyseed, YUMMY!

Streusel, sounds like stroy- sell  =   Something Scattered or Sprinkled

de  sounds like the e in (met) deh =   the

boom,  sounds like baum   =  trees

enn, sounds like n  =   in

de sonn sounds like deh sone   =   the sun  

jo  Sounds like   yo  =   yes    

Jlistre  sounds like ya-liss-ter   =   glisten  

Gott Saajne!

German Scripts and Translations

German Script has to be, hands down, the most difficult time I have in translating old documents.  Between aging ink and handwriting skills this task is difficult and often leads to one gigantic headache.  Today my plan is to inform you on the type names and point you in the direction of a cypher sheet.  I have this printed out and readily available when I am transcribing.

Here is some history of Old German Script.

In 1455 when Gutenberg was printing the first Bible he had to carve three hundred (some sources quote 290) characters to represent a twenty six letter alphabet.  

The first Bible was thus printed in a script called Blackletter.

It took an entire day to create one letter!

In Nazi Germany Hitler sent out a decree stating that the only script to be used is 

 (normalschrift) Normal Script

 all others were found to be Jewish in origin

.

Hitlers Decree

Yet there are many other script styles some are

Fraktur

Kurrent

Jack-boot Helvetica

(schaftstiefel Grotesk)

Sutterlin

Antique book I have in my library...

What script was used, can you translate the script? 

 I will give you a few days before I post the answer for you;)

Please do not leave your answer in the comment section, TY.

Any questions leave a comment or email me at paschal.sara@gmail.com

Gott Saajne!

Anabaptist Mennonite History 1-3

Here are some informative videos describing the Anabaptist movement and Menno Simmons

Main points to remember about Menno Simmons:

• Menno Simmons was an ordained Catholic Priest, Jan 12 1536 he rejected the Catholic Church Beliefs and joined the Anabaptist Reformation.
• Menno believed that the BIBLE was above the church.
• Believed in adult baptism also called "believers' baptism" where the person has come to a conclusion on their own that they wish to follow God's teachings.
• Insisted the Church and State should be separate entities.
• Wanted his society to remain Peaceful leading up to Mennonite beliefs on exemption of military service. Setting in motion the constant migrations during early Reformation.
• In the 16th century making such profound splits between Catholicism and the Anabaptist placed a bounty on followers.  In early Anabaptist history followers were constantly on the move and held hidden services.  Many  were killed for professing Anabaptist beliefs.

More links

Menno Simmons on Wikipedia

MennoSimons.net
Menno Simons Historical Library

Keep this in mind
There are many spellings and pronunciations for Menno Simmons as it is with many
 names from early centuries.

Gott Saajne!

America on the Horizon

February 31st 1862 Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act 

this opened up the American West for emigrant GMR's.

My Ancestors arrived in Philadelphia and New York starting in 1874 moving west into Dakota Territory, homesteading in Hutchinson and Turner Counties.
Below is an original Homestead claim for Heinrich Adrian...
Brooda met Isaac Adrian mien groot Grootfoda
Brother to Isaac Adrian my great Grandfather

Below is a map for Rosefield Township, I have marked ancestor land for

the Peter Tieszen groot Grootfada...

To file your homestead claim after five years had passed of hard manual labor improving and living on the land

you could file for the deed.  You had to be 21 and be able to prove what I stated above.  Here is the proof submitted by my ancestor Jakob Adrian he was 26 years old at the time a GMR  Naturalized American Citizen homesteading in McCook County, Dakota Territory.

Only 40% of GMR's that started the Homesteading process actually obtained a deed, 

that is how difficult the situation!

He states a house was built May 8th 1878

Farmer

SW section 24-100-56

Section 13-100-56

Cultivated, actual residence

Sod house 18' by 32'

Sod stable 18' by 32'

well of water 13 feet deep

40 acres of breaking

total value $250.00

Wife (Maria Loewen she was not named on the document) and two children 

(Rev. J.J. and Cornelius they are also not named on the document), 

lived continuously on the land since first establishing

Never absent

raised crops on the land for the past six seasons

Heinrich Buller was the called witness

(the rest is illegible)

As a small girl mien Foda took us to see the soddy, I have clear memories of the outing being a huge fan of Little House I had to pretend I was Laura;)

It was also one of the few times I heard... 

mien Foda  Plautdietsch onn en je' lach

my Fathers  low German and laughter

It is gone now no bones of the original sod structures remain.

front of Document...

Low German Mennonite Plautdietsch words used above...

• groot  sounds like gr-oat  =   great
• Broda  sounds like bro-da   =   Brother
• groot Grootfoda  sounds like gr-oat gr-oat fodda  =   Great Grandfather
• mein  sounds like mine  =   my
• met  sounds like met   =   to
• Gott sound like  got    =   God
• Saajne sounds like  za (long A)-yene     =   Bless
• onn = and
• en je' lach = laughter

Gott Saajne!
God Bless!