Amana German

Last updated
Amana German
Native to United States
Region Amana Colonies in Iowa
Language codes
ISO 639-3

Amana German (German : Amana-Deutsch or Kolonie-Deutsch, lit. Colony German) is a regiolect based on West Central German that is still spoken by several hundred people in the Amana Colonies in Iowa.

Contents

The Amana Colonies were founded in 1856 by Inspirationalists of German origin who came from West Seneca near Buffalo in New York. Amana is derived from the Hessian dialect, which is a West Central German dialect. There are seven villages in Amana with slightly different dialect features.

Even though the use of the language is in decline, it is far from being moribund. There are several major studies about the language of Amana. [1]

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Amana may refer to:

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West Amana is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Iowa County, Iowa, United States, and is part of the "seven villages" of the Amana Colonies. As of the 2010 census, the population of West Amana was 135.

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References

  1. Philip E. Webber: Kolonie-Deutsch: Life and Language in Amana, Ames, 2006, page 14.

Literature

See also