aa˛-fang-ǝ (G. anfangen) to begin; alée˛ (G. alleín) alone; schee˛ (G. schön) handsome; bee˛ (G. bein, pl. beine) leg, legs; kee˛ (G. kein) none; grii˛ (G. grün) green; duu˛ (G. thun) to do. Was hǝt ær geduu˛? (G. Was hat er gethan?) what has he done? mei˛ (G. mein, meine) my; dei˛ (G. dein) thy; nei˛ (G. hinein) within; ei˛ being the only nasal dipthong.
The obscurity arising from a neglect of the nasal vowels appears in the following lines—
Final n is not always rejected, but remains in many words, among which are—'in' in; 'bin' am; 'un' and; 'iin'(him) G. ihn (but hii˛ for G. hin thither); 'fun' (from) G. von; 'wan' (when); 'hen' (have) G. haben; 'kan' (can); 'schun' (already) G. schon.
German infinitives in-en end in-ǝ in PG., a vowel not subject to nasality, so that when G. gehen (to go) remains a dissyllable it is 'gee'ǝ,' but when monosyllabised it becomes 'gee˛'—this vowel being nasalisable. Similarly, G. zu stehen (to stand) becomes 'tsu schteeǝ' and 'tsu schtee˛;' G. zu thun (to do) may be 'tsu tuu˛'—'tsu tuuǝ' or (with n preserved) 'tsu tuunǝ,' and G. gehen (to go) may have the same phases.
§ 5. The Consonants.
The Germanism of confusing b, p; t, d; k, g, is present in PG. and they are pronounced flat, that is, with more of the surface of the organs in contact than in English—a characteristic which distinguishes German from languages of the Dutch and Low-Saxon (Plattdeutsch) type.[11] This must be remembered in reading the examples, in which the ordinary usage of these letters will be nearly followed.
The consonants are b, ch, d, f, g (in get, give), gh, h, j (English y), k, l, m, n, ng, p, r (trilled), s (in seal, not as in miser), sch (in ship), t, w (a kind of v made with the lips alone). 'ch' has the two usual variations as in recht and buch, and its sonant equivalent 'gh' (written with 'g' in German) presents the same two phases, as in G. regen and bogen. 'ng' before a vowel as in singer, hence 'finger' is fing-er and not fing-ger. 'n' before 'k' is like 'ng,' as in G. links (on the left), which is pronounced like an English syllable. Vowels to be repeated are indicated by a hyphen, as in ge-ennǝrt (altered), nei-ichkeit (novelty).
Should letters be wanted for English j, z, v, w, the first may have dzh, and the others italic z, v, w, with ks for x.
As the reader of English who speaks PG. can learn the German alphabetic powers in half an hour, PG. should be written on a German basis, and not according to the vagaries of English spelling, with its uncertainty and reckless sacrifice of analogy. In print, PG. should appear in the ordinary roman type, in which so many German books are now published.[12]
§ 6. Stein or Schtein?
The sequents sp, st, are perhaps universally converted into 'schp' and 'scht' in PG., as in 'geescht' for gehest, 'hascht' for hast, 'Kaschp'r' for Caspar, 'schtee˛' for stein, and 'schpeck' for speck, all of which are genuine German, as distinguished from Saxon, Anglo-saxon, and Hollandish, because S is incompatible before labials (w, m, p) and dentals (l, n, t) in High German. Hence, where Dutch has zwijn, smidt, and speelen, German has schwein, schmidt, and schpielen; and for Dutch forms like slijm, snee, and steen, German has schleim, schnee, and schtein; but as the German uses the conventional spellings 'spielen' and 'stein,' he is apt to fancy that a law of speech is of less importance than the flourishes of a writing-master, or the practice of a printing-office, even when his own speech should teach him the law.
That German has this feature practically, is proved by the fact that words apparently in sp-, st-, become schp-, scht-, when adopted into Russian, although this language has initial sp-, st-,—a transfer of speech rather than of spelling, which is as old as the thirteenth century, when the Old High German 'spiliman' (an actor) went into Old Slavonic as (using German spelling) 'schpiljman,' where 'spiljman' would have been more in accordance with the genius of the language.
§ 7. Vowel Changes.
Altho the pronunciation of many words is strictly as in High German, there are the following important variations. German a becomes normally the vowel of what and fall, but it has the Swiss characteristic of closing to 'o,' as in 'ool' (eel) G. aal; 'ee˛ mool' (once) G. ein mal; 'woor' (true) G. wahr; 'joor' (year) G. jahr; 'frooghǝ' (to ask) G. fragen; 'frook' (a question) G. frage; 'doo' (there) G. da; 'schloofǝ' (to sleep) G. schlafen; 'schtroos' (street) G. strasze; 'nooch' (towards) G. nach; 'hoor' (hair) G. haar, but 'paar' (pair) and others do not change.
The vowel of fat occurs in 'kschær' (harness) G. geschirr; 'hærpscht' (autumn) G. herbst; færtl (fourth) G. viertel; kærl (fellow) G. kerl.
German 'o' becomes 'u,' as in 'kumǝ' (u short, see § 2) to come, Austrian kuma, G. kommen; 'schun' (already) G. schon; 'fun' (of) G. von; 'wuunǝ' (to reside) G. wohnen; 'wuu' (where) G. wo; 'sun' (sun) Austr. sunn, G. sonne; 'suu˛' and 'suun' (son) G. sohn; 'númitaag' and 'nómidaak' (afternoon) G. nachmittag; 'dunǝrschtaag' (thursday) G. donnerstag; 'hunich' (honey) G. honig.
German 'ei' is often 'ee,' as in 'heem' (home) G. heim; 'deel' (part) G. theil; 'seef' (soap) G. seife; 'bleech' (pale) G. bleich; eens (one) G. eins; 'tswee' (two) G. zwei.
Irregular forms appear in 'maulwarf' (mole) G. maulwurf; 'blĕs' (pale, rhyming lace) G. blass; 'siffer' (tippler) G. säufer; 'schpoot' (late) G. spät, ä long; 'm'r wellǝ' (we will) G. wir wollen; 'dii úmeesǝ' (the ant) G. die ameise; 'ep,' 'eb' (whether) G. ob; 'dærfǝ' (to dare) G. dürfen; 'færichtǝrlich' (frightful) G. fürchterlich; 'ich færicht mich dat [or dart, G. dort] anǝ tsu gee˛.' I fear me to go yonder.
'Dat anǝ' is for G. dort hin, 'anǝ' being a Swiss adverb made of G. an (on, towards). 'dat' is not common in PG. and it may have been brought from abroad, as it occurs in Suabian—
"Aepfel hott ma dott gsia, wie d' Kirbiss bey üss;" (Radlof, 2, 10.)—(Man hat dort gesehen) Apples have been seen there like (G. Kürbisse, PG. kærǝpsǝ) pumpkins with us.
The foregoing 'anǝ' appears in Swiss "ume und anne" (thither and hither) where 'ume,' Austr. 'uma,' is from G. um (about). Stalder refers 'anne' to G. an-hin, and Swiss 'abe' to ab-hin. Schmid (Schwäb. Wb., p. 23) has ane, dortane, dettane. Schmeller (Bayer. Wb. 1869, p. 91) cites Graff (1, 499), for Ohg. ostana (from the East), and Grimm (3, 205).
While PG. 'alt' and 'kalt' (old, cold, a in what) have the comparatives 'eltǝr' 'keltǝr,' the influence of r in 'karts' (short), G. kurz, and 'hart' (hard), produces 'kærtsǝr' and 'hærtǝr,' instead of G. kürzer and härter. Long a becomes long u in G. samen (seed), PG. 'suumǝ.'
§ 8. Dipthong Changes.
German 'au' sometimes becomes 'aa' (in call), as in PG. 'laafǝ' (to walk) G. laufen; 'glaabǝ' (to believe) G. glauben; 'kaafǝ' (to buy) G. kaufen; 'tsaam' (bridle) G. zaum; 'traam' (dream) G. traum; 'fraa' (wife, woman) G. frau, PG. pl. 'weiwǝr,' because, as the German plural of frauen could not well make 'fraaǝ,' the plural of weib was preferred.
German 'au' remains in PG. 'plaum' (plum) G. pflaume; 'daum' (thumb); 'haufǝ' (heap); 'saufǝ' (to sup); 'haus' (house); 'taub' (dove) G. taube; 'aus' (out); 'fauscht' (fist).
German 'au' becomes 'oo' (Eng. floor) in PG. 'groo' (grey) an earlier form of G. grau; 'bloo' (blue) G. blau; and the name 'Stauffer' is sometimes pronounced 'stoof'r.'
In the plural, 'au' becomes 'ei,' as in PG. 'haus,' pl. 'heiser;' 'maus' pl. 'meis;' 'laus' pl. 'leis;' 'maul' (mouth) pl. 'meiler' G. pl. mäuler; 'gaul,' pl. 'geil,' G. pl. gäule (horses); 'sau' (sow, hog), pl. 'sei,' G. pl. säue, sauen.
When 'au' has become 'aa' the German plural äu becomes 'ee,' as in 'beem' (trees) G. bäume; 'tseem' (bridles) G. zäume.
'Floo,' G. floh (flea) pl. 'flee' for G. flöhe, is due to the fact that German long ö is replaced by ee.
German au is u in the earlier PG. 'uf' (up) G. auf, found in Swisserland and other localities; but 'haus' is not hūs, and 'maul' is not mūl as in Swiss.
§ 9. Words lengthened.
Some monosyllables are dissyllabised under the influence of trilled r, and of l (which is akin to r), as in 'Jar’ik' (York); 'Jær'ik,' German Georg (George), perhaps the only example of the Berlin change of G to (German) J.
| PG. | G. | E. | PG. | G. | E. | |
| schtar'ik | stark | strong | dar'ich | durch | through | |
| mar'ikt | markt | market | kar'ǝp | korb | basket | |
| ær'ǝwǝt | arbeit | work | bær'ik | berg | hill | |
| kær'ich | kirche | church | mil'ich | milch | milk | |
| karrich | karren | cart | kal'ich | kalk | lime | |
| geenǝ | gehen | to go | genunk | genug | enough | |
| reeghǝrǝ | regnen | to rain | wammǝs | wamms | jacket |
PG. g'seenǝ (seen) G. gesehen, occurs in South German, as in the following (Radlof 2, 100), which closely resembles PG.
.... vun der Zit an het me niks me vun em g'sehne un g'hört. From that time on, ('mĕ' G. man) one (hat) has seen and heard nothing ('mē' G. mehr) more of him.
G. Es fängt an zu regnen und zu schneien. PG. es fangt (not fängt) aa˛ tsu reeghǝrǝ un tsu schneeǝ. It begins to rain and to snow.
§ 10. Words shortened.
Condensation is effected by absorption, as of d by n in 'wunǝr' (wonder) G. wunder; and of f by p in 'kǝp' (head) G. kopf;—by the elision of consonants (an Austrian feature) as in 'wet' (would) G. wollte; 'net' (not) G. nicht.
By elision of vowels (particularly final e) as in 'schuul' (school) G. schule, 'tsammǝ' (together) G. zusammen; and by shortening vowels, as in 'siw'ǝ' (seven) G. sieben; 'gew'ǝ' (to give) G. gēben; G. heurathen (to marry), Suab. heuren, PG. 'heiǝrǝ'; G. gleich (like) PG. 'glei'; 'tsimlich' (tolerable) G. ziemlich.
| PG. | G. | E. | PG. | G. | E. | |
| niks | nichts | nothing | mr sin | wir sind | we are | |
| wet | wollte | would | géscht'r | gestern | yesterday | |
| set | sollte | should | nemmǝ | nehmen | to take | |
| knǝp | knopf | button | nam'itag | nachmittag | afternoon | |
| knep | knöpfe | buttons | geblíwǝ | geblieben | remained | |
| kich | küche | kitchen | jets[13] | jetzt | now | |
| kuuchǝ | kūchen | cake | parr'ǝ | pfarrer | preacher | |
| wǝch | woche | week | oowǝt | abend | evening | |
| wǝchǝ | wochen | weeks | weipsleit | weibsleute | women | |
| kiw'l | kübel | bucket | rei˛ | herein | herein | |
| blos | blase | bladder | nei˛ | hinein | hither-in | |
| meim | meinem | to my | draa˛ | daran | thereon | |
| anǝr | ander | other | eltscht | älteste | oldest | |
| nanǝr | einander | each other | tswíwlǝ | zwiebeln | onions | |
| unǝr | unter | under | hend | hände | hands | |
| drunǝ | darunter | ther'under | plets | plätze | places | |
| nunǝr | hinunter | down there | nummǝ[13] | nun mehr | only | |
| dro'wǝ | daroben | above | nimmǝ[13] | nimmer | never | |
| driw'ǝ | darüber | ther'over | mee[13] | mehr | more | |
| drin | darin | ther'in | noo | darnach | ther'after | |
| ruff | darauf | there up | pluuk | pflūg | plow | |
| nuff | hinauf | up there | pliighǝ | plfüge | plows | |
| sind | sünde | sin | kalénǝr | kalénder | cálendar |
As G. 'ü' becomes 'i' in PG., G. lügen (to tell a lie) and liegen (to lie down—both having the first vowel long) might be confused, but the latter is shortened in PG., as in 'ær likt' (he lies down) 'ær liikt' (he tells a lie).
| PG. Was wi't? | What wilst thou? | G. Was willst du? |
| Woo't weepe? | Woo't fight? | Woo't teare thy ſelfe?[14] |
| Ich wil fischǝ gee˛. | I will go to fish. |
| Ich hab kschriwwǝ. | I have (geschrieben) written. |
| Sin mr net keiǝrt? | Are we not married? G. Sind wir nicht geheirathet? (or verheirathet.) |
Infinitive-n is rejected, as in the Swiss and Suabian dialects. In an Austrian dialect it is rejected when m, n, or ng precedes, as in singa, rena, nehma, for singen, rennen, nehmen.—Castelli, Wörterbuch, 1847, p. 31.
The length of some vowels is doubtful, as in 'rot' or 'root' (red, like English rŏte or rōde), 'so' or 'soo,' 'nochbǝr' or 'noochbǝr,' 'ǝmol' or 'ǝmool,' 'ja' or 'jaa,' 'sii' or 'sĭ' (she, they, ĭ in deceĭt, not in sit). Compare English 'Sēe!' and 'Sĕe thêre!'
Accent in PG. agrees with that of High German. When indicated, as in danóot or danoot' (for the 'oo' represent a single vowel, as in Eng. floor), it is to afford aid to the reader not familiar with German accent.
[6] For example, as the vowel of German schaf is long, the PG. word 'schafleit,' which occurs in a quoted passage farther on, would be likely to be read 'schaafleit' (sheep-people or shepherds) instead of 'schaffleit' (work-people), although it is stated that in the spelling used, a vowel must not be made long unless its letter is doubled. "This tendency, and a trick of reading words like nisbut, relation, qismut, fortune, as if written nizbut, qizmut, should be carefully guarded against.... Even is, as, rusm, will, in spite of the caveat, ... become again in his mouth iz, az, ruzm, rather than the iss, auss, russm, intended."—Gilchrist, 1806.
[7] High German letters which represent PG. sounds are in parentheses.
[8] The long vowel used by native speakers in Bath, Somersetshire, England.
[9] These two powers are not quite the same.
[10] Indicated in 1860 in my Analytic Orthography, §§ 661-3, and in my note to A. J. Ellis's Early English Pronunciation, 1869, p. 655, note 2, col. 2. "The lost final n is commonly recalled by a nasal vowel."
[11] The real physiological generation of these flat consonants is very difficult for an Englishman to understand. Dr. C. L. Merkel, of Leipzig, a middle-German, confesses that for a long time he did not understand the pure b, d, not having heard them in his neighbourhood. He distinguishes (Physiologie der Menschlichen Sprache, Leipzig, 1866, pp. 146-156), 1. The "soft shut sounds" or mediæ, characterized by an attempt to utter voice before the closure is released, 2. "the half-hard shut sounds" or tenues implosivæ, characterized by a sound produced by compressing the air in the mouth by the elevation of the larynx, the glottis being closed, which "therefore acts like a piston," followed by the sudden opening of the mouth and glottis, allowing the vowel to pass, (this is his description of the flat sounds, which he says Brücke, a Low-Saxon, reckons among his mediæ), 3. "the hard explosive shut sounds," characterized by a shut mouth and open glottis through which the unvocalised breath is forced against the closing barrier more strongly than in the last case, but without pressure from the diaphragm, 4. "the aspirated or sharpened explosive sound," in which the last pressure occurs with a jerk. The compound English distinction, p, b; t, d; k, g, seem almost impossible for a middle and south-German to understand.—A. J. E.
[12] On the inconsistencies of Rauch's Orthography on an English basis, see my note 2, p. 655 of Ellis's Early English Pronunciation.
[13] Swiss forms.
[14] Hamlet, act 5, sc. 1, speech 106; folio 1623, tragedies, p. 278, col. 2.
CHAPTER III.
Vocabulary.
The vocabulary of PG. has but few synonyms, a single word being used where High German has several, as 'plats' (place) for G. platz and ort. Of the German words for horse (pferd, ross, gaul, etc.), 'gaul' is universal in speech, ross seems not to be known, and pferd is almost restricted to print.[15] A colt is not called füllen as in German, but 'hutsch,' with a diminutival 'hutschli' (in Suabian hutschel, hutschele, Westerwald husz, Lusatian huszche.)
A pig is not ferkel (Lat. porc-ell-us, Welsh porch-ell) but 'seili' (from sau), and children call it 'wuts' (Suab. butzel) a repetition of this being used (as well in vicinal English) in calling these animals. 'Kalb' (calf, pl. 'kelwǝr') is named by children 'hamǝli'[16] when a suckling. Cows are called with 'kum see! see! see hamǝli! see!' and when close at hand with 'suk suk suk' (as in forsook)—used also in the English of the locality.[17]
Of G. knabe (boy) and bube, pl. buben, PG. takes the latter as 'buu,' pl. 'buuwǝ;' and of the G. haupt and kopf (head) it prefers the latter as 'kǝp.' Of the verbs schmeissen and werfen (to throw), kriegen and bekommen (to obtain), hocken and sitzen (to sit), schwetzen and sprechen (to talk), erzählen and sagen (to tell), PG. uses 'schmeissǝ,' 'kriighǝ,' 'hǝkǝ,' 'schwetsǝ' and 'saaghǝ' almost exclusively.
The suffix -lein, condensed to -li and -l, is the universal diminutival, as in Swisserland and South Germany—a small house being called 'heissli' and not häus-chen, and a girl 'meedl' and not mädchen. It is, however, very often associated with the adjective klee (little) G. klein, as in PG. 'ǝ klee˛ bichli' (a little book).
German kartoffeln (potatoes) is rejected for G. grundbirnen[18] under the form of 'krumpiirǝ,' where 'krum' is accepted by some as krumm (crooked), while some regard the latter part as meaning pears, and others as berries.
F'rleícht, Fileícht (perhaps, G. vielleicht) are in use, but the former seems the more common.
Sauǝrampl, G. sauerampfer (sorrel, Rumex).
Rewwǝr, Krik, Krikli (Eng. river, creek) have thrust aside G. flusz and bach.
Laafǝ (to walk; G. laufen to run, and to walk).
Schpring-ǝ (to run, a Swiss usage. G. springen, to leap, spring, gush).
Petsǝ (to pinch), Alsace pfetsǝ, Swiss pfätzen, Suab. pfetzen.
Tref (Suab., a knock, blow). PG. 'ich tref dich' (I strike thee).
Schmuts (a hearty kiss). Swiss, Suab., in G. schmatz.
Un'ich (under), G. unter, occurs in provincial German as unn-ig and unt-ig; hinnig occurs also, PG. 'hinnich,' as in 'hinnich d'r diir' behind the door.
Wii m'r donaus glǝffǝ sin, bin ich hinnich iin nooch glǝffǝ. As we walked out, I walked behind him.
For 'hinnich,' Alsatian has hing-ǝ, as in 'M'r geen hing-ǝ [nach den] noo dǝ goortǝ noo'—We go along behind the garden.
Uumǝt, oomǝt, Austr. omad, Swiss amet, G. das grummet (aftermath). Suab. ämt, emt, ömd, aumad; Bavar. âmad.
Arik, arrig (much, very), Swiss arig, G. arg (bad, cunning).
PG. Ich hab net gwist [Suab. gwest] dass es so arrik reeghǝrt. I did not suppose it to be raining so hard.
Artlich (tolerably) is the Swiss artlich and artig.
Ewwǝ, G. adv. ēben (really, even, just), but it is PG. 'eewǝ' when it is the adj. even.
Ich hab ewwǝ net gwist for sure eb ær ǝ fraa hǝt ǝdǝr net. (Rauch.) I did not even know 'for sure' if he has a wife or not.
ámanat, adv. metathesised and adapted from G. an einem Orte (at a place), a dative for an accusative an einen Ort (in a place) as used here. In the example, 'anǝ' is G. an inflected, and zŭ of zu schícken is omitted, as sometimes done in PG.
... wan als ǝ briif kummt f'r ámanat anǝ schikǝ ... (Rauch.) When ever a letter comes for to send on—to be sent on.
Henkweidǝ (weeping willow). G. Hängebirke, is hanging birch.
Tappǝr (quickly), as in Schpring tappǝr run quick! be in a hurry—thus used in Westerwald, and as very in Silesia. G. tapfer (brave, bravely), E. dapper.
Meenǝr (more), Meenscht (most), for G. mehr, meist, are réferable to mancher and a hypothetic mannigste. 'Mee' and 'mee˛' (more), Swiss—"Was wett i meh?" What would I more. "Nimme meh," never more. PG. 'Was wet ich mee? Nimmi mee.' (See Ellis, Early English Pronunciation, p. 663, note 39.)
Schtrublich, schtruwlich. G. struppig (bristly, rough), Swiss strublig, PG. 'schtruwlich' (disordered, uncombed, as hair). English of the locality stroobly.
Neewich; SG. nebensich, Wetterau (upper Hessia) nêbig, G. neben (beside).
"Naevvich der mommy ruht er now [Eng. now]
In sellem Gottes-acker[19] dort,
Shraegs[20] fun der Kreutz Creek Kerrich nuf, [hinauf.]
Uft denk ich doch an seller ort!"—Rachel Bahn.
Hensching, G. handschue (gloves, Sw. händschen) becomes a new word with 'hen' for hände (hands), the ä umlaut being used to pluralise, but the word is singular also, and, to particularise, a glove proper is 'fing-er hensching' and a mitten 'fauscht-hensching.' This termination is given to 'pærsching' a peach.
Sidder (since), Swiss sider, sitter; Suabian and Silesian sider; Scotch, etc., sithens.
Schpel (a pin), SG. die spelle (a better word than G. stecknadel); Dutch speld (with d educed from l); Lat. SPIcuLa.
Botsǝr (masc. a tail-less hen), Holstein, buttars. Provincial G. butzig (stumpy).
Mallikǝp (i.e. thick-headed, a tadpole). Swiss mollig, molli (stout, blunt); Suabian mollig (fleshy). Alsatian muurkrǝntl (tadpole) from muur, G. moder, Eng. mud. The PG. of western New York has taken the New England word polliwog.
Blech (tin, a tin cup); dim. 'blechli.' Blechiche Bool (a tin bowl, i.e. a dipper, a convenient word which seems not to have been introduced). In Pennsylvanian English, a tin cup is a tin.
In old English, 'than' represented than and then, and PG. has 'dann' for both G. dann (then) and denn (for); and also 'wann' for wann (when) and wenn (if), as in Rachel Bahn's lines—
| "Doch guckt 's ah recht huebsch un' nice | Doch gukt 's aa recht hipsch un 'neis' |
| Wann all die Baehm sin so foll ice—" | Wan al dii beem sin so fǝl eis— |
|
Yet it looks (auch) also right fair and 'nice'
When all the trees are so full of ice. |
|
| "Forn bild der reinheit is 's doh, | F'r 'n bild dǝr reinheit[21] iss ǝs doo, |
| In fact, mer kenne sehne noh, | 'in fækt,' m'r kennǝ seenǝ noo, |
| Dass unser Hertz'[22] so rein muss seih, | dass unser hærts so rein[21] muss sei˛, |
| Wann in des Reich mer welle neih." | wann in des reich m'r wellǝ nei˛. |
For a picture of purity is it (da) here, 'in fact' (wir können sehen darnach) we can perceive therefrom, that our heart must be as pure, (wenn in das reich wir wollen hinein) If we would enter into the kingdom.
Baschtǝ (to husk maize), from 'bascht,' G. bast (soft inner bark, E. bast), applied in PG. to the husk of Indian corn.—Rachel Bahn (1869) thus uses it—
"Die leut sie hocke 's welshcorn ab, Dii leit sii hackǝ 's welschkarn ap, 'S is 'n rechte guhte crop, 's iss 'n rechte guute 'crap,' (fem.) Un' wann's daer genunk werd sei, un wan 's dærr genunk wært sei˛, Noh bashte sies un' fahres eih." noo baschtǝ sii 's un faarǝ 's ei˛.
The people they (ab-hacken) chop off ('s, das) the maize, (es ist) it is a right good 'crop,' and when (es) it becomes (dürr genug) dry enough, they (darnach) afterwards husk it and (fahren) haul it in.
Greisslich (to be disagreeably affected). SG. grüselig, G. gräszlich (horrible), E. grisly.
Noo, danoo', danoot', nord, G. darnach (then, subsequently).
Bendl (a string), schuubendl (shoe-string). Swiss bändel.
Schteiper, n. (Lat. stîpes), a prop, as of timber. G. nautical term steiper, a stanchion. Schteiperǝ, v.t. to prop; to set a prop.
Fǝrhúttǝlǝ, v. intrans. 'Ich bin f'r-huttlt,' (I am confused, perplexed.) 'Ich denk dii bissnǝss iss 'n bissli f'r-huttlt.' (I think the 'business' is a bit mixed up.) G. verhūdeln (to spoil, bungle.)
Paanhaas, as if, G. pfanne-hase (pan-hare). Maize flour boiled in the metsel-soup, afterwards fried and seasoned like a hare. (Compare Welsh rabbit.) The word is used in English, conjointly with scrapple.
Loos (a sow), as in Swiss and Suabian.
Laad, fem. (coffin), toodlaad, toodǝlaad, as in Alsace. G. die lade (chest, box, case). PG. bettlaad, Suab. bettlade, for G. bettgestell (bedstead).
Schtreel, m. (a comb), Swiss, Alsatian, Suab. der strähl. But G. striegel, PG. striegel, PG. strigl, is a currycomb.
Aarsch, the butt end of an egg, as in Suabian.
Falsch (angry), as in Swiss, Bavarian, and Austrian. PG. Sel hǝt mich falsch g'macht. That made me angry.
Hoochtsich, Alsat. hoochtsitt, G. hochzeit (a wedding).
Heemǝln, Swiss heimeln (to cause a longing, to cause home feelings).