Editing Pennsylvania Dutch (section)

==Autonym==
Differing explanations exist on why the Pennsylvania Dutch are referred to as ''Dutch'', which typically refers to the inhabitants of the [[Netherlands]] or the [[Dutch language]], which is only distantly related to Pennsylvania German.

Several authors and etymological publications consider the word ''Dutch'' in ''Pennsylvania Dutch'', which in medieval times could also be used to refer to speakers of various German dialects, to be an archaism specific to 19th-century American English, particularly in its colloquial form.<ref>Mark L. Louden: Pennsylvania Dutch: The Story of an American Language. JHU Press, 2006, p.2</ref> An alternative interpretation commonly found among laypeople and scholars alike is that the ''Dutch'' in ''Pennsylvania Dutch'' is an anglicization or "corruption" ([[Folk etymology|folk-etymological]] re-interpretation) of the Pennsylvania German [[Endonym and exonym|autonym]] ''deitsch'', which in the Pennsylvania German language refers to the Pennsylvania Dutch or Germans in general.<ref>Robert Hendrickson (2000). The Facts on File Dictionary of American Regionalisms. United States of America: Infobase Publishing. p. 723.</ref><ref>Irwin Richman: The Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Arcadia Publishing, 2004, p.16.</ref><ref>Nicoline van der Sijs:Cookies, Coleslaw, and Stoops: The Influence of Dutch on the North American Languages. Amsterdam University Press, 2009, page 15.</ref><ref>Sally McMurry: Architecture and Landscape of the Pennsylvania Germans, 1720-1920. University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated, 2011, page 2.</ref> However, some authors have described{{Explain|reason=Why? And what is their own alternative explanation?|date=October 2024}} this hypothesis{{Clarify|reason=Which hypothesis exactly? Several are stated above.|date=October 2024}} as a misconception.<ref>Mark L. Louden: Pennsylvania Dutch: The Story of an American Language. JHU Press, 2006, p.2</ref><ref>Hostetler, John A. (1993), ''Amish Society'', The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, p. 241</ref>

The migration of the Pennsylvania Dutch to the [[United States]] predates the emergence of a distinct German national identity, which did not form until the late 18th century.<ref>[[Hans Kohn (Historiker)|Hans Kohn]] (1951): ''The Eve of German Nationalism (1789–1812).'' In: ''Journal of the History of Ideas.'' Bd. 12, Nr. 2, S. 256–284, hier S. 257 ({{JSTOR|2707517}}).</ref> The formation of the [[German Empire]] in [[1871]] resulted in a [[semantic shift]], in which ''deutsch'' was no longer principally a linguistic and cultural term, but was increasingly used to describe all things related to Germany and its inhabitants. This development did not go unnoticed among the Pennsylvania Dutch who, in the 19th and early 20th century, referred to themselves as ''Deitsche'', while calling newer German immigrants ''Deitschlenner'' {{lit}} 'Germany-ans'.<ref>Mark L. Louden: Pennsylvania Dutch: The Story of an American Language. JHU Press, 2006, pp. 3–4.</ref>