Jersey Dutch
Encyclopedia
Jersey Dutch was a variant of the Dutch language
spoken in and around Bergen
and Passaic
counties in New Jersey
from the late 17th century until the early 20th century. It may have been a partial creole language
based on Zeeland
ic and West Flemish
Dutch dialects with English
and possibly some elements of Lenape
. It was spoken by the descendants of Dutch settlers to New Jersey and by the mixed race people known as the Ramapough Mountain Indians
. It was sometimes called Neger Duits – "Negro Dutch, although 'Duits' actually means 'German'" – when spoken by mixed race people.
There were two distinct variations of Jersey Dutch, the regional Dutch dialect that was spoken by the actual descendants of Dutchmen, and the version spoken by black slaves and people of mixed race. In the latter, there is an overall decline in inflection, apparently including a loss of past-tense verb forms. This is due to the isolation from other Dutch speakers and contact with English-speaking settlers. The former variation experienced a similar decline but to much less of an extent, and is not a creole language.
An example of Jersey Dutch:
In standard modern Dutch
:
In English
:
From: A text in Jersey Dutch Dr J. Dyneley Prince, 1910; via Radio Netherlands.
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
spoken in and around Bergen
Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...
and Passaic
Passaic County, New Jersey
Passaic County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 501,226. Its county seat is Paterson...
counties in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
from the late 17th century until the early 20th century. It may have been a partial creole language
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
based on Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
ic and West Flemish
West Flemish
West Flemish , , , Fransch vlaemsch in French Flemish) is a group of dialects or regional language related to Dutch spoken in parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France....
Dutch dialects with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and possibly some elements of Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
. It was spoken by the descendants of Dutch settlers to New Jersey and by the mixed race people known as the Ramapough Mountain Indians
Ramapough Mountain Indians
The Ramapough Mountain Indians, also known as Ramapo Mountain Indians or the Ramapough Lenape Nation, are a group of approximately 5,000 people living around the Ramapo Mountains of northern New Jersey and southern New York. Their tribal office is located on Stag Hill Road on Houvenkopf Mountain in...
. It was sometimes called Neger Duits – "Negro Dutch, although 'Duits' actually means 'German'" – when spoken by mixed race people.
There were two distinct variations of Jersey Dutch, the regional Dutch dialect that was spoken by the actual descendants of Dutchmen, and the version spoken by black slaves and people of mixed race. In the latter, there is an overall decline in inflection, apparently including a loss of past-tense verb forms. This is due to the isolation from other Dutch speakers and contact with English-speaking settlers. The former variation experienced a similar decline but to much less of an extent, and is not a creole language.
An example of Jersey Dutch:
- En kääd'l had twî jongers; de êne blêv täus;
- de andere xong vôrt f'n häus f'r en stat.
- Hai waz nît tevrêde täus en dârkîs tû râkni arm.
- Hai dogti ôm dat täus en z'n vâders pläk.
- Tû zaide: äk zal na häus xâne. Main vâder hät plänti.
In standard modern Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
:
- Een man had twee jongens; de ene bleef thuis;
- de andere ging voort van huis voor een vermogen.
- Hij was niet tevreden thuis en hij werd daardoor arm.
- Hij dacht aan thuis en zijn vaders plaats.
- Toen zei hij: ik zal naar huis gaan. Mijn vader heeft voldoende.
In English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
:
- 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 he became poor.
- He thought about home and his father's place.
- Then said: I shall go home. My father has plenty.
From: A text in Jersey Dutch Dr J. Dyneley Prince, 1910; via Radio Netherlands.
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.
- Bachman, Van Cleaf, Alice P. Kenney & Lawrence G. van Loon. 1980. ‘ “Het Poelmeisie”. An introduction to the Hudson Valley Dutch dialect’. New York History 61, 161-185.
- 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).
- van Loon, L.G. 1938. Crumbs from an old Dutch closet. The Dutch dialect of Old New York. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
- van Loon, L.G. 1939. 'Ave atque Vale, Jersey Lag Duits Verdwijnt'. Onze Taaltuin 8, 91-95, 107-119.
- Noordegraaf, Jan. 2008. 'Nederlands in Noord-Amerika. Over de studie van het Laag Nederlands (Low Dutch)'. Trefwoord, tijdschrift voor lexicografie, December 2008, 1-29. (http://www.fryske-akademy.nl/trefwoord.)
- Prince, J. Dyneley. 1910. ‘The Jersey Dutch dialect’. Dialect Notes 3, 459-484.
- Prince, J. Dyneley. 1913. ‘A text in Jersey Dutch’. Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsche Taal en Letterkunde 32, 306-312.
- Shetter, William Z. 1958. ‘A final word on Jersey Dutch’. American Speech 33, 243-251.
- Storms, James B.H. 1964. A Jersey Dutch vocabulary. Park Ridge, N.J.: Pascack Historical Society