[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] dialects

[MacDerk at aol.com]

One note on Borscht... it is practical since you have it in a big  
travelling pot that you can build a fire under with wood or propane or what have  
you.  I would bet my life that it was the meal of sailors, armies on  
foot...or gypsies searching for the elephants stolen from India by Alexander...  if 
there is one useful thing to know how to assemble it is borscht and the  
implements and ingredients follow ... the invention... "....Necessity truly is  
the mother of invention..."  and borscht the lasting proof that armies and  
sailors etc... march and sail on their stomachs...  I had the pleasure of  
working at sea with a crew mate from Poland ... en route to Odessa during 
the  grain grants... his room was stuffed full of beets for the voyage...
_The Early History, The Gypsies_ 
(http://www.scottishgypsies.co.uk/early.html)  and sailors...  transporting or looking for... borscht...
 


No one knows  when the first gypsies left India or, indeed,  why. They seem 
to have arrived in the Middle East about 1000 AD, some going on  into North 
Africa ...  
More results for _original gypsies from India looking for  elephants_ 
(https://www.google.com/search?biw=1253&bih=656&q=original+gypsies+from+india&sa=X
&ei=PJE4Us2lIYmS9QTt5IHwBw&ved=0CGEQjxgwBQ) 

 
 
In a message dated 9/13/2013 12:26:48 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
dfoote at okstate.edu writes:

My 2  cents:
- As hinted at by another, 'Prussian' was originally a Baltic ethnic  group
and Baltic language. The ethnic group was largely assimilated by the  12-13
century 'crusades' of the Tuetonic Knights. The Prussian language  is
documented (vocabulary lists, catechism) up to the 16th century. In  the
modern era, there are a 'Low Prussian' and a 'High Prussian' (See  Wikipedia
for outlines)

- 'Ish' reveals influence from southern and  central High German dialects.
The other end of the spectrum, Low German (as  well as Dutch, Frisian) is
'Ik'. Central High German is in the middle,  '/ix/' (IPA, like Scottish
'loch')

- In the small town of Corn,  Oklahoma and its surroundings, there was a
significant population of  Germans from Russia or Poland. The majority were
Low German speaking  Mennonites from Russia/Ukraine/Volhynia/Crimea. Others
were from Russian  Poland who mostly had reverted to High German by the
1850s. (The Mennonites  along the Vistula had come from Dutch/Low German
areas, spoke Dutch in  church until 1750s, while quickly adapting to the
Vistula Low German)   We have my great-aunt and my grandfather (who had a
father born near  Warsaw) on video recalling a joke. The Low  Germans
(Plattdeutsch/Plautdietsch) spoke a German that was  'platt  und verdreht':
flat and twisted. They recalled this in the presence of my  grandfather's
wife, who was from a Low German family. She chuckled. This is  one of the
few vivid memories I have of them, since they all pased in the  mid- 1990s
when I was in my teens. (Yes, I'm one of the youngsters of the  list)

- Unfortunately, I am not familiar with Perogies. However, I do  know that
Borscht is tomato and chicken based ;) , Zweiback are soft, sweet  yeast
rolls (not large crackers), Verenika is plain yummy  and
Porzelki/Niejakoakja are fabulously  sinful.
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