Chapter VII — Comparisons With Other Dialects
§ 1 Pg. Not Swiss
PG. is not Swiss, altho it has a number of Swiss characteristics, and the line (Radlof, 2, 68)—
“Was isch säll für e sufere kärli?”
is very near its PG. form—
Was isch sel f’r ǝ saubǝr kærli? What sort of cleanly fellow is that?
PG. has both ‘ær iss’ and ‘ær isch’ (he is) according to the locality, of which the latter may be less common. The Rev. D. Ziegler (a native, like myself) refers the ‘isch’ variety to the Mennonite and Dunker population, and as there were many Dunkers (or Tunkers) where my early years were passed, I heard more of this than of the other.
The indicative mood present tense of haben and sein are, with some variations, as follows (Stalder, 1, 47-50)—
| Swiss. | PG. | Swiss. | PG. |
| i hah; | ich hab, hap, I have. | i bi; | ich bin, I am. |
| de hest; | du hǝscht, thou hast. | de bisch, bist; | du bischt, thou art. |
| er hed, hett; | ær hat, he has. | er isch, ist; | ær iss, isch, he is. |
| mer hend; | m’r hen, we have. | mer sind; | m’r sin, we are. |
| der hend; | d’r hent, you have. | der sind; | d’r sint, you are. |
| sj hend; | sii hen, they have. | sj sind; | sii sin, they are. |
Here the dative singular mir (to me) is used in the nominative plural instead of wir (we), and also in impersonal expressions; and the dative singular dir (to thee) is similarly used for Ihr (you), as in ‘d’r sint’ for G. Ihr seid (you are). G. Ihr habet (you have) has forced its t upon the first and third persons plural of the Swiss forms; and in PG. the second person is sometimes forced upon the third, as in the following, from the Wollenweber’s Gemälde (in the German character), 1869, p. 124,—
For äbout 32 Johr z’rick, do hent unsre... Schaffleut... im Stenbruch geschafft, un sten gebroche, for de grosze Damm zu fixe. ‘Fr ǝbaut’ tswee-un-dreissich joor tsrik, do hent unsre... schaffleit... im schtee˛bruch geschafft, un schtee˛ gebrǝchǝ f’r di grosse ‘damm’ tsu fixǝ.
‘For about’ thirty-two years back, here have our laborers worked in the quarry, and quarried stone to ‘fix’ the big ‘dam.’ (Here the English fix and dam are used, instead of G. fixîren, and der damm.)
Here the first for may be regarded as English, but the second occurs in the Palatinate—“for den Herr Ring sehr ungünschtig” (Kobell), for Mr. Ring very unfavorable—“for sei Lügerei,”—for his truthlessness.
The next is extracted from a poem by Tobias Witmer, dated from the State of New York, June 1, 1869, printed in the ‘Father Abraham’ English newspaper, in roman type, and reprinted Feb. 18, 1870. The original spelling is that of Mr. Rauch, and is not reproduced. Dialectic words are spaced, and English words are here put in italics. The translation is rather free.
Geburts-Daak—An mei˛ Alti.
Oo wass is schennǝr uf dǝr welt
dass blimlin, root un weiss?
un bloo un geel,47 im ærblǝ48 felt
wass sin sii doch so neis!
Ich wees noch guut, in seller tseit
hab ich niks liiwǝrs duu˛49
dass in dii wissǝ—lang un breit
so blimlin ksuucht wii duu.
Doch iss ǝs schun ǝ lang-i tseit
sid’r ích dart ín dem felt,
dii blimlin ksuucht, uf lang un breit,
un uf dei˛ bussǝm kschpellt.
D’r hent ǝmool ǝ gærtl kat—
mei˛ schwestǝrli un duu;
ich hab s pripeerd mit hak un schpaat
dii blummǝ nei˛ tsu duu˛;
un wuu ich hab im grossi schweel,
dii kii dart hinnǝ ksuucht,
dii leedi-schlippǝrss, weiss un geel,
hab ich mit, heem gebracht,
un hab sii in sel gærtl plantst
bei nacht, in muundǝs licht:
d’r hent s net gwist, bis juscht æt wantst51
hent diir s gegest s war mich. Birthday—To my Wife.
Oh what is finer in the world
than flowrets red and white?
and blue and yellow in the field
how beautiful and bright.
I know yet well that in that time,
nought would I rather do,
than in the meadows long and wide
such flowrets seek as you.
Yet it is quite a lengthened time,
since I in yonder field,
sought out the flowers far and wide,
and on thy bosom pinned.
You also had a garden bed—
you and my sister fair,
which I prepared with hoe and spade
to set the flowers there;
and where I in the ample vale50
the cattle there had sought,
the lady-slippers, gold, and pale,
with me I homeward brought,
and in that garden bed at night
I set them when the moon was light.
You did not know who it could be,
but all at once you thought of me.