Jersey Dutch

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Red: Main language area of ​​Jersey Dutch into the 20th century.

Jersey Dutch was a language based on the Dutch dialect of Zealand . It was spoken mainly in the counties of Bergen and Passaic in New Jersey from the late 17th century to the early 20th century . The language, the main part of which was Dutch and Zeeland, also adopted a large number of words, first from German, later from English and also some elements from the language of the Lenni-Lenape Indians.

Since the Jersey Dutch had a very simple grammar , the language was taught to many slaves who then spoke to one another; later, when they were released, they kept the language. As a result, the language was also referred to by some as Neger Duits - to be distinguished from the Caribbean Creole language Neger- Dutch (for the meaning of duits, see German (Etymology) ).

Text example Jersey Dutch:

De v'lôrene zőn.
En kääd'l had two jongers; de êne blêv deceive;
de other xöng vôrt f'n häus f'r en stât.
Hāi wāz nît tevrêde täus en dârkîs tû râkni ārm.
Hāi doǵti ôm dāt täus en z'n vâders pläk.
Tû zāide: äk zāl na house xâne. Māin vâder has plänti.
[...]

In Dutch :

De lost zoon.
Een man had twee jongens; de êne bleef t'huis;
The other went voort van huis voor een dar.
Hij was niet tevreden t'huis en daardoor toen raakte arm.
Hij dacht aan dat t'huis en zijn vaders plaats.
Toen zei hij: ik zal naar huis gaan. Mijn vader heeft overvloed.
[...]

In English :

The lost 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.
[...]

In German :

The lost Son.
One man had two sons. One stayed at home;
the other left home to make his fortune.
He was not happy at home and it made him poor.
He thought of his home and his father's place.
Then he said: I should go home. My father lives in abundance.
[...]

swell

  • 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, four en twintigste deel. Leiden, 1913, pp. 306-312 ( HathiTrust-US ). See: 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). Pp. 459-484 ( HathiTrust-US )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ DBNL: Jo Daan, Ik was te bissie ... Nederlanders en hun taal in de Verenigde Staten · dbnl. Retrieved November 10, 2019 (Dutch).