Editing Pennsylvania Dutch language (section)

== Survival ==
[[File:Pennsylvania German Sticker.svg|thumb|right|Pennsylvania German sticker, saying, "We still speak the mother tongue"]]
Pennsylvania Dutch, which is now in its fourth century on North American soil, had more than 250,000 speakers in 2012. It has shifted its center to the West with approximately 160,000 speakers in [[Ohio]], [[Indiana]], [[Wisconsin]], [[Iowa]] and other Midwest states.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> There is even a small but growing number of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers in [[Upper Barton Creek]] and [[Springfield, Belize|Springfield]] in Belize among Old Order Mennonites of the [[Noah Hoover Mennonite|Noah Hoover group]]. The dialect is used vigorously by the [[horse and buggy]] Old Order Mennonites in the northern part of the [[Regional Municipality of Waterloo]] in Ontario, Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maple_View_North_Mennonite_Meetinghouse_(Alma,_Ontario,_Canada)|title=Maple View North Mennonite Meetinghouse (Alma, Ontario, Canada) – GAMEO|website=gameo.org|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref>

Speakers without an [[Anabaptist]] background in general do not pass the dialect to their children today, but the [[Amish|Old Order Amish]] and horse-and-buggy [[Old Order Mennonites]] do so in the current generation, and there are no signs that the practice will end in the future. There are only two car driving Anabaptist groups who have preserved the dialect: The [[Old Beachy Amish]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Midwest_Beachy_Amish_Mennonite_Church|title=Midwest Beachy Amish Mennonite Church – GAMEO|website=gameo.org|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref> and the [[Kauffman Amish Mennonite]]s, also called Sleeping Preacher Churches.<ref>[[Donald Kraybill|Donald B. Kraybill]]: ''Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonites'', Baltimore, 2010, page 239.</ref> Even though Amish and Old Order Mennonites were originally a minority group within the Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking population, today they form the vast majority. According to sociologist [[John A. Hostetler]], less than 10 percent of the original Pennsylvania Dutch population was Amish or Mennonite.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}

As of 1989, non-sectarian, or non-Amish and non-Mennonite, native Pennsylvania-Dutch speaking parents have generally spoken to their children exclusively in English. The reasons they cited were preventing their children from developing a "Dutch" accent and preparing them for school. Older speakers generally did not see a reason for young people to speak it. Many of their children learned the language from hearing their parents using it and from interactions with the generation older than their parents. Among the first natively English speaking generation, oldest siblings typically speak Pennsylvania Dutch better than younger ones.<ref name="Huffines91" />

There have been efforts to advance the use of the dialect. [[Kutztown University of Pennsylvania]] offers a complete minor program in Pennsylvania German Studies. The program includes two full semesters of the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. In the 2007–2008 school year, the classes were being taught by Professor Edward Quinter. In 2008–2009, Professor Robert Lusch served as the instructor.

According to one scholar, "today, almost all Amish are functionally bilingual in Pennsylvania Dutch and English; however, domains of usage are sharply separated. Pennsylvania Dutch dominates in most in-group settings, such as the dinner table and preaching in church services. In contrast, English is used for most reading and writing. English is also the medium of instruction in schools and is used in business transactions and often, out of politeness, in situations involving interactions with non-Amish. Finally, the Amish read prayers and sing in Standard, or High, German ({{lang|pdc|Hochdeitsch}}) at church services. The distinctive use of three different languages serves as a powerful conveyor of Amish identity."<ref>''An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change in the World's Largest Amish Community'' by Charles E. Hurst and David L. McConnell. The Johns Hopkins University Press: 2010. {{ISBN|0-8018-9398-4}} pg 15–16</ref> Although "the English language is being used in more and more situations," nonetheless Pennsylvania Dutch is "one of a handful of minority languages in the United States that is neither endangered nor supported by continual arrivals of immigrants."<ref>''An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change in the World's Largest Amish Community'' by Charles E. Hurst and David L. McConnell. The Johns Hopkins University Press: 2010. {{ISBN|0-8018-9398-4}} pg 15</ref>

Because it is an isolated dialect and almost all native speakers are bilingual in English, the biggest threat to the dialect is gradual decay of the traditional vocabulary, which is then replaced by English loan words or words corrupted from English.