Editing Pennsylvania Dutch language (section)

=== Grammar ===
[[File:Harbaugh's Harfe - Gedichte in pennsylvanisch-deutscher Mundart (1870) Colorized.jpg|thumb|Pennsylvania Dutch writer [[Henry Harbaugh]]]]

As in Standard German, Pennsylvania Dutch uses three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter).
Pennsylvania Dutch has three cases for [[personal pronouns]]: the [[Accusative case|accusative]], [[nominative]], and [[Dative case|dative]], and two cases for nouns: the common case, with both accusative and nominative functions, and the dative case.
There is no genitive case in Pennsylvania Dutch. The historical genitive case has been replaced by the dative, and possession is indicated with a special construction using the dative and the possessive pronoun: 'the man's dog' becomes {{lang|pdc|em Mann sei Hund}} (literally: 'to the man his dog'). Studies have shown variability in the use of the dative case in both sectarian and non-sectarian communities. The trend is towards use of the common case for nouns and the accusative case for pronouns, instead of the dative.<ref name="Huffines91">
{{cite journal |last1=Huffines |first1=Marion Lois |title=Acquisition Strategies in Language Death |journal=Studies in Second Language Acquisition |date=1991 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=43–55 |doi=10.1017/S0272263100009712 |issn=0272-2631 |jstor=44487534|s2cid=143488878 }}</ref> Thus, {{lang|pdc|em Mann sei Hund}}, for example, has frequently become {{lang|pdc|der Mann sei Hund}}.

The dative case in Pennsylvania German is used to express possession, to mark objects of [[prepositions]], to mark [[indirect objects]], and to indicate the direct objects of certain verbs. It is expressed, as in Standard German, through the use of dative forms of personal pronouns and through certain [[inflection]]s of articles and adjectives modifying nouns. In non-sectarian speech in central Pennsylvania, the dative is widely used among the older generations who are fluent in Pennsylvania German, whereas younger [[semi-speaker]]s tend not to use the dative as much. Many semi-speakers used the [[English possessive]] ''-'s''.<ref name="Huffines91"/>

In contrast, [[Anabaptists]] in central Pennsylvania had almost completely replaced the dative with the accusative case. Meanwhile, members of the entirely Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking community in [[Kalona, Iowa|Kalona]], all of whom were Amish or Mennonite, showed strong age-related variation. Speakers under the age of 40 never used the dative, while older speakers showed strongly variable behavior. There was little difference between members of the different religious denominations in the Kalona.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keiser |first1=Steve Hartman |title=A Plain Difference: Variation in Case-Marking in a Pennsylvania German Speaking Community |journal=OSU Working Papers in Linguistics |date=1999 |volume=52 |pages=249–288 |url=https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/81975/WPL_52_Summer_1999_249.pdf |access-date=26 February 2022 |publisher=Ohio State University}}</ref>

Many verbs of English origin are used in Pennsylvania Dutch. Most English-origin verbs are treated as [[Germanic weak verb|German weak verbs]], receiving a [[past participle]] with a {{lang|pdc|ge-}} prefix and a {{lang|pdc|-t}} suffix, thus for example the past participle of 'change' is usually {{lang|pdc|ge-change-t}}. Verbs with unstressed first syllables generally do not take the {{lang|pdc|ge-}} prefix, so the past participle of 'adopt' is ''adopted'', as in English. This follows the pattern of words with inseparable prefixes in German. However, English-origin verbs which are stressed on the first syllable may also appear without the {{lang|pdc|ge-}} prefix. Thus, 'realize' is conjugated simply as ''realized'', and 'farm' may be conjugated as ''farmed'' or {{lang|pdc|ge-farm-t}}. Some German-origin verbs may also appear without the {{lang|pdc|ge-}} prefix. {{lang|pdc|Schwetze}} 'talk, speak', may be conjugated as {{lang|pdc|geschwetzt}} or simply as {{lang|pdc|schwetzt}}. Both English influence and overall simplification may be at work in the dropping of the {{lang|pdc|ge-}} prefix.<ref name="Fuller99">
{{cite journal |last1=Fuller |first1=Janet M. |title=The Role of English in Pennsylvania German Development: Best Supporting Actress? |journal=American Speech |date=1999 |volume=74 |issue=1 |pages=38–55 |issn=0003-1283 |jstor=455747}}</ref>

Pennsylvania Dutch, like Standard German, has many [[separable verb]]s composed of a root verb and a prefix. Some of these in Standard German are completely semantically transparent, such as {{lang|de|mit-gehen}} 'to go with', from {{lang|de|mit-}} 'with' and {{lang|de|gehen}} 'go'. Others, like {{lang|de|mit-teilen}} {{lit|with-share}} which means 'to inform' and not the sharing of concrete entities, are not semantically transparent. That is, their meaning is not the sum of their parts. Separable verbs are used widely in Pennsylvania Dutch, and separable verbs can even be formed with English roots and prefixes. Virtually all separable verbs in Pennsylvania Dutch are semantically transparent. Many semantically opaque separable verbs such as {{lang|pdc|um-ziehe}} {{lit|pull around}}, meaning, 'to move house', has been replaced by the English word ''move''.<ref name="Fuller99"/>

Adjectival endings exist but appear simplified compared to Standard German. As in all other South German dialects, the past tense is generally expressed using the [[perfect (grammar)|perfect]]: {{lang|pdc|Ich bin ins Feld glaafe}} ('I have run into the field') and not the simple past ({{lang|de|Ich lief ins Feld}} ['I ran into the field']), which is retained only in the verb "to be", as {{lang|pdc|war}} or {{lang|pdc|ware}}, corresponding to English ''was'' and ''were''. The [[subjunctive mood]] is extant only as {{lang|de|Konjunktiv I}} ({{lang|de|Konjunktiv II}} is totally lost){{clarify|date=March 2018}} in a limited number of verbs. In all other verbs it is expressed through the form of {{lang|de|Konjunktiv I}} of the verbs 'to do' ({{lang|pdc|du}}) and 'to have' ({{lang|pdc|hawwe}}''/''{{lang|pdc|have}}) combined with the [[infinitive]] or the [[participle|past participle]], e.g., {{lang|pdc|ich daet esse}} ('I would eat'), {{lang|pdc|ich hett gesse}} ('I would have eaten').

Several Pennsylvania Dutch grammars have been published over the years. Two examples are ''A Simple Grammar of Pennsylvania Dutch'' by [[J. William Frey]] and ''A Pennsylvania German Reader and Grammar'' by [[Earl C. Haag]].