[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] PLATTDEUTSCHER CLUB

Otto otto at schienke.com
Tue May 30 17:08:41 PDT 2006


Hi Mike,
The full name  appears to be a local designation peculiar to the  
Hoboken area.
'Eastern' refers to what, East Hoboken? East Jersey?
A 'Platt-Deutsch-er'  refers to a Flatland German, one speaking  
Flatland German.
Dutch, Angles, Frisians, Saxons, Pomeranians, East Prussians and so  
on, spoke dialects of flat-land German.

Inquire within your club specified area to determine the ethnicity of  
the speakers.
 From what lowland area do they come at the beginning of their  
migration?

Flat-land German is one of the major three groups of German I loosely  
refer to as:
1. Flat-land German  (think sand & beaches & marshlands)
2. Hilly area German  (think rolling foothills)
3. Mountain area German  (think of yodeling and mountain climbing)
All three major groupings have many dialects and overlapping of the  
dialects within their area.

German is a catch-all word.
Germanic peoples are comprised of North, West, East, etc. Germanic  
language groups.
Language is a home.
People live in their language.
I am writing this E-letter in a Germanic language with at least four  
major groups to it,
American, British, Canadian, and Australian English.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_language

On May 30, 2006, at 3:20 PM, Mike McHenry wrote:

> About a month ago the list had a discussion about German dialects.  
> My German
> grand parents lived in Hoboken, New Jersey from 1910 to 1920. This  
> town was
> a German immigrant strong hold. For those who don't where it is  
> located in
> the USA it is across the Hudson River from New York City. In going  
> through
> city directories of the time I came across a number of German  
> clubs. One was
> called the "Eastern Plattdeutscher Club". From the previous  
> discussion I
> thought Plattdeutsch referred to a German dialect. Can anyone tell  
> me what
> this inferred about the club?
. . .  Otto

                      " The Zen moment..." wk. of March 5, 2006
                      ________________________________
                         "Remove what isn't... What is remains."







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