Editing Pennsylvania Dutch language (section)

== Written language ==
Pennsylvania Dutch has primarily been a spoken dialect throughout its history, with very few of its speakers making much of an attempt to read or write it. Writing in Pennsylvania Dutch can be a difficult task, and there is no spelling standard for the dialect. There are currently two primary competing models upon  which numerous orthographic (i.e., spelling) systems have been based by individuals who attempt to write in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. One 'school' tends to follow the rules of American English orthography, the other the rules of Standard German orthography (developed by [[Preston Barba]] and [[Albert F. Buffington]]). The choice of writing system is not meant to imply any difference in pronunciation. For comparison, a translation into Pennsylvania Dutch, using two spelling systems, of the [[Lord's Prayer]], as found in the common traditional language English translation, is presented below. The text in the second column illustrates a system based on American English orthography. The text in the third column uses, on the other hand, a system based on Standard German. The English original is found in the first column, and a [[Standard German]] version appears in the fifth column. (Note: The German version(s) of the Lord's Prayer most likely to have been used by Pennsylvania Germans would have been derived in most cases from Martin Luther's translation of the New Testament.)
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!English (traditional)
!Writing system 1<br />(English-based)
!Writing system 2<br />(German-based)
!Modern Palatine German
!Modern German<br />(close translation)
!Modern German<br />(standard wording)
|-
|Our Father who art in heaven,
|Unsah Faddah im Himmel,
|Unser Vadder im Himmel,
|Unser Vadder im Himmel
|Unser Vater im Himmel,
|Vater Unser im Himmel,
|-
|Hallowed be thy name.
|dei nohma loss heilich sei,
|dei Naame loss heilich sei,
|Dei Name sell heilich sei,
|Deinen Namen lass heilig sein,
|geheiligt werde dein Name,
|-
|Thy kingdom come.
|Dei Reich loss kumma.
|Dei Reich loss komme.
|Dei Reich sell kumme,
|Dein Reich lass kommen.
|Dein Reich komme.
|-
|Thy will be done,
|Dei villa loss gedu sei,
|Dei Wille loss gedu sei,
|Dei Wille sell gschehe
|Deinen Willen lass getan sein,
|Dein Wille geschehe,
|-
|on earth as it is in heaven.
|uf di eaht vi im Himmel.
|uff die Erd wie im Himmel.
|uf de Erd wie im Himmel.
|auf der Erde wie im Himmel.
|wie im Himmel, so auf Erden.
|-
|Give us this day our daily bread.
|Unsah tayklich broht gebb uns heit,
|Unser deeglich Brot gebb uns heit,
|Geb uns heit das Brot, was mer de Daach brauchen,
|Unser täglich Brot gib uns heute,
|Unser tägliches Brot gib uns heute,
|-
|And forgive us our trespasses;
|Un fagebb unsah shulda,
|Un vergebb unser Schulde,
|Un vergeb uns unser Schuld
|Und vergib unsere Schuld,
|Und vergib uns unsere Schuld,
|-
|as we forgive those who trespass against us.
|vi miah dee fagevva vo uns shuldich sinn.
|wie mir die vergewwe wu uns schuldich sinn.
|wie mir denne vergewwe, wo an uns schuldich worre sin.
|wie wir denen vergeben, die uns schuldig sind.
|wie auch wir vergeben unseren Schuldigern.
|-
|And lead us not into temptation
|Un fiah uns naett in di fasuchung,
|Un fiehr uns net in die Versuchung,
|Un fiehr uns nit in Versuchung,
|Und führe uns nicht in die Versuchung,
|Und führe uns nicht in Versuchung,
|-
|but deliver us from evil.
|avvah hald uns fu'm eevila.
|awwer hald uns vum ewile.
|awwer rett uns vum Beese.
|aber halte uns vom Üblen [fern].
|sondern erlöse uns von dem Bösen.

|-
|For thine is the kingdom, the power
|Fa dei is es Reich, di graft,
|Fer dei is es Reich, die Graft,
|Dir gheert jo es Reich, die Kraft,
|Denn Dein ist das Reich, die Kraft
|Denn Dein ist das Reich, und die Kraft
|-
|and the glory, For ever and ever.
|un di hallichkeit in ayvichkeit.
|un die Hallichkeit in Ewichkeit.
|un die Herrlichkeit in Ewichkeit.
|und die Herrlichkeit in Ewigkeit.
|und die Herrlichkeit in Ewigkeit.
|-
|Amen.
|Amen.
|Amen.
|Amen.
|Amen.
|Amen.
|-
|}

=== Pennsylvania High German ===
[[File:Pennsylvania High German letter, written in Palatine Fraktur.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|An example of Pennsylvania High German written in Fraktur script]]
Pennsylvania High German is a [[literary language|literary form]] of [[Palatine German language|Palatine]] written in [[Pennsylvania]], the [[Palatinate (region)|Palatinate]], and other Palatine states (e.g. the [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel|Hessian Palatinate]]), used between the 1700s and early 1900s. In Pennsylvania, this literary form helped maintain German education and instruction, and was spoken in schools and churches.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19306962.1945.11786250|title=Pennsylvania "High German"|journal=The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory|date=1945 |doi=10.1080/19306962.1945.11786250 |access-date=2024-05-01 |last1=Wood |first1=Ralph Charles |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=299–314 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://padutch.net/texts/|website=padutch.net|title=Texts|date=May 24, 2014 |access-date=2024-05-01}}</ref><ref name="hessischenpfalz">{{cite book |title=Wie's klingt am Rhei' mundartliche Gedichte aus der hessischen Pfalz|author=The Bavarian State Library|year=1886|pages=112}}</ref> It is often seen in [[Fraktur (folk art)|Fraktur]] art and script.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/fraktur-folk-art/|title=Fraktur Folk Art|website=publicdomainreview.org|access-date=2024-05-01}}</ref>

Immediately after the [[American Civil War]], the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] replaced Pennsylvania German schools with English-only schools. Literary German disappeared from Pennsylvania Dutch life little by little, starting with schools, and then to churches and newspapers.<ref name="merrittgeoprgeyorgey">{{cite book |title=A Pennsylvania Dutch Boy And the Truth About the Pennsylvania Dutch|year=2008|author=Merritt George Yorgey|publisher=Xlibris US|location=United States of America|pages=17, 18, 19}}</ref> With the decline of German instruction, Pennsylvania High German became a [[dead language]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19306962.1945.11786250|title=Pennsylvania "High German"|journal=The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory|date=1945 |doi=10.1080/19306962.1945.11786250 |access-date=2024-05-01 |last1=Wood |first1=Ralph Charles |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=299–314 }}</ref>

=== Publications ===
Since 1997, the Pennsylvania Dutch newspaper ''[[Hiwwe wie Driwwe]]''<ref>Werner, Michael (ed.) Hiwwe wie Driwwe. http://hiwwewiedriwwe.wordpress.com/</ref> allows dialect authors (of whom there are still about 100) to publish Pennsylvania Dutch poetry and prose. ''Hiwwe wie Driwwe'' was founded by [[Michael Werner (publisher)|Michael Werner]]. It is published twice a year (2,400 copies per issue)—since 2013 in cooperation with the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at [[Kutztown University of Pennsylvania]]. Since 2002, the newspaper is published [[Hiwwe wie Driwwe|both online and in print]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

In 2006, the [[Germany|German]] publishing house Edition Tintenfaß started to print books in Pennsylvania Dutch.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc., using American English orthography (see Written language), has translated the Bible into Pennsylvania Dutch. The [[New Testament]] with [[Psalms]] and [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]] was published in 2002 by the Bible League. The entire Bible, ''Di Heilich Shrift'', was completed and published in 2013 by TGS International. Deitsh Books has published a dictionary (2013) and a grammar book (2014) by D Miller using the same American English orthography.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Deitsh Books | url=https://www.deitshbooks.com/ | access-date=2025-03-22 | website=www.deitshbooks.com}}</ref>

In 2014, Jehovah's Witnesses began to publish literature in Pennsylvania Dutch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jw.org/pdc/publications/bichah/|title=Online Bichah es Dich Helft di Bivvel Shtodya}}</ref>