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Texas German (German: Texasdeutsch) is a group of German language dialects spoken in Texas by descendants of German immigrants who settled there in the mid-19th century. These "German Texans" founded the towns of Bulverde, New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, Boerne, Pflugerville, Walburg and Comfort in Texas Hill Country; Muenster in North Central Texas; and Schulenburg, Brenham, Industry, New Ulm and Weimar in east Texas.

Texas German
Texasdeutsch
Native to	Texas
Region	Texas Hill Country
Native speakers	4,000–6,000, declining (2013)[1][2]
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Elbe Germanic High German Texas German
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None
IETF	de-u-sd-ustx

History and documentation

While most heritage languages in the United States die out by the third generation, Texas German is unusual in that most German Texans continued to speak German in their homes and communities for several generations after settling in the state.[3] The State of Texas recognized German as having equal status to Spanish from 1846[4] up until World War I, when Texan education rules were established mandating English-only instruction, requiring children to learn English in school regardless of what was spoken at home. Due to the assimilation of these communities and public hostility towards the German language during both World War I and World War II, Texas German speakers drifted towards English, and few passed the language to their descendants.[5] By 1950, the number of new speakers of the language was virtually zero.[3]

The dialects are near extinction, as they are now spoken almost exclusively by a few elderly German Texans.

Currently, Dr. Hans Boas at the University of Texas is recording and studying the dialect,[6] building on research originally performed by Dr. Glenn Gilbert of Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the 1960s.

It's an odd mixture of English and 19th-century German," says Boas ... "Hardly any of the Texas Germans speak alike. There's a lot of variation in the dialect. Texas German borrows about 5 to 6 percent of its vocabulary from English.'[7]

Boas' book on the language, The Life and Death of Texas German, describes the German dialects which may have been the source of the language spoken in Texas.[8]

A short documentary project named "All Güt Things" was produced about Texas German in 2016.[3]

An episode with the title "Texas German" was published on the podcast Yellow of the Egg in 2022, where Dr. Hans C. Boas (Director of the Texas German Dialect Project) was a guest.

Current distribution and population

As of the U.S. 2000 Census, some 1,035 people report speaking German at home in Fredericksburg,[9] the town with the largest community of Texas German speakers, representing 12.48% of the total population, 840 in New Braunfels,[10] 150 in Schulenburg,[10] 85 in Stonewall,[11] 70 in Boerne,[10] 65 in Harper,[12] 45 in Comfort[13] and 19 in Weimar,[10] all of which except for Schulenburg and Weimar, lie in the traditional Texas German heartland of the Hill Country. Gillespie County, with the communities of Fredericksburg, Harper, Stonewall, and Luckenbach, has a German-speaking population of 2,270, 11.51% of the county's total. In all, 82,100 German-speakers reside in the state of Texas,[10] including European German speakers.

Comparisons with German and English

Texas German is adapted to U.S. measurement and legal terminologies. Standard American German words typically were invented, introduced from other German dialects of the region, or English loanwords were introduced for words not present in 19th-century German. Dialect leveling is also found throughout many of the American German dialects including Texas German.[14] In some cases, these new words also exist in modern Standard German, but with a different meaning. For instance, the word Luftschiff (used for "airplane") means airship in Standard German.

The table below illustrates some examples of differences:

American English	Texas German	Literal translation	Standard German	Literal translation
skunk	Stinkkatze	stink cat	Stinktier	stink animal
airplane	Luftschiff	airship	Flugzeug	flight tool
blanket	Blanket	blanket (borrowing)	Decke	blanket, cover
gone	all	empty; gone	leer; alle	empty; used up

See also

• German Texan
• New Braunfels, Texas
• Czech Texan
• Pennsylvania German
• Hutterite German
• Plautdietsch
• German language in the United States

References

Sources

• Boas, Hans C (2009). The Life and Death of Texas German. Publication of the American Dialect Society. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822367161.

External links

• "All Gut Things" crowdsourcing project
• Texas German Dialect Project
• Rampas, Martina (April 14, 2008). "Man spricht Texas-Deutsch" [They speak Texas German]. Die Spiegel (in German).
• "German dialect in Texas is one of a kind, and dying out". BBC News. May 15, 2013.

На других языках

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- [en] Texas German

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[fr] Allemand du Texas

L'allemand du Texas (en allemand, Texasdeutsch, en anglais, Texas German) est un dialecte dérivé de l'allemand et parlé par des Germano-Américains dans la région de Texas Hill Country, aux États-Unis. Bien qu'on ne dispose pas d'une estimation exacte, on estime que les locuteurs de ce dialecte sont aujourd'hui environ 3 000.

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[it] Texasdeutsch

Il Texasdeutsch ("tedesco del Texas") è una variante della lingua tedesca parlata nel Texas.

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[ru] Техасдойч

Техасдойч (нем. Texasdeutsch) — разновидность немецкого языка, используемая потомками немецких переселенцев в Техасе с середины XIX века. На сегодняшний день этим языком владеет не более 3 тысяч человек.

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