Using di good news when talking about good news from the Bible is also clear.
di good news veyyich da Jesus di good news funn di Bivvel
Goodi sacha is a theocratic term that will need to be explained more. It’s okay to use it when talking about things from the Bible. Just be prepared to explain when talking to Deitshi leit (native Deitsh speakers).
The format of the midweek meetings were updated in January 2024, and with that, some of the names of the sections and parts have been adjusted. This means that some of the translated Deitsh names have been updated as well.
Midweek Meeting (Deichdivoch Fasamling)
Our Christian Life and Ministry = Unsah Ministry un Vi Miah Layva
Treasures From God’s Word = Treasures Funn di Bivvel
The Treasures Talk = Da Treasures Talk
Spiritual Gems = Spiritual Gems Keshtlichi Sacha
Vass vellet diah sherra funn ĘĽs Bivvel layses dee voch?
Apply Yourself to the Field Ministry = Fa Bessah Vadda in di Ministry
Bible Reading = ĘĽS Bivvel Layses (fa dee voch)
đź’ˇ Saying “This week’s Bible reading” is unnatural in Deitsh. “The Bible reading this week” or “Our Bible reading this week” sound more natural.
Starting a Conversation = En Conversation Shteahra
Following Up = Viddah Zrikk Gay
Making Disciples = Yingah Macha
Explaining Your Beliefs = Dei Glawva Ekshplayna
Living as Christians = Fa Layva vi Christians
Congregation Bible Study = Di Congregation Bivvel Shtoddi
But when a sentence starts with time words, the verb order changes. How?
⌚ What are time words?
First, what are time words?
A time word is any word or phrase that is something time-related. Here are some common time words.
S’eahsht (First)
Fa shteahra mitt (To start with)
Heit (Today)
Nau (Now)
An selli zeit (At that time)
Noch sell (After that)
Awl ufamoll (All at once)
Neksht (Next)
Daylmohls / Alsamohl (Sometimes)
Dimeiya (This morning)
No (Then)
S’letsht yoah (Last year)
Meiya (Tomorrow)
Nuff biss nau (Up until now)
S’letsht moll (Last time)
Funn da shteaht (From the start)
Geshtah (Yesterday)
Glei (Soon)
Neksht voch (Next week)
Biss no (Until then)
Vann … (When …)
There are others, but this gives you a good idea of what a time word/phrase is.
How do time words affect sentences?
In a simple statement, the subject (noun) usually goes first. Then the first verb follows in the sentence. But when a sentence starts with a time word or phrase, the verb jumps in front of the subject.
In the next examples, notice where the verb (italics) is in each sentence. Then, look how the noun and verb change order when the same sentence starts with a time word (bold).
English
Pennsylvania Dutch
We can sing a song.
Miah kenna en song singa.
Now, we can sing a song.
Naukenna miah en song singa.
It will be winter.
Es zayld vindah sei.
Soon, it will be winter.
Gleizayld’s vindah sei.
We can go.
Miah kenna gay.
Then we can go.
Nokenna miah gay.
Everything changed.
Alles hott getshaynsht.
All of a sudden, everything changed.
Awl ufamollhott alles getshaynsht.
I had a dog back then.
Ich habb en hund katt zrikk no.
Back then, I had a dog.
Zrikk no, havvich en hund katt.
Examples with and without time words at the start of sentences.
Do you see how time words change where the first verb goes?
Now, look at the last 2 sentences in the examples above.
See how time words only affect the verb order when they are at the start of the sentence?
When time words are at the end of a sentence, the rest of the sentence is normal.
Bonus Words
There are some other words that are not time words, but also follow the same rules.
Fleicht (Maybe) Ich kann zrikk kumma. Fleicht kann ich zrikk kumma.
Location words (In Japan, …) Es sinn feel traditions es leit doon in iahra layva. In Japan, sinn es feel traditions es leit doon in iahra layva.
Remember
When you start a sentence with a time word, expect your next word to be a verb.
The word missa means must in English. But how do you say something must not be done (as in, it’s not allowed) in Pennsylvania Dutch? Missa nett…, right?
Using missa with nett
The word missa is often mistakenly used along with nett to say “must not” — as in, it’s not allowed; it’s something we cannot do.
Let’s look at an example.
You want to say (EN)
If you say
How it sounds to a Deitsh speaker
We must not steal.
Miah missa nett shtayla.
It’s not required that we steal. It would probably be okay, but we don’t have to.
â›” Wrong way
You want to say (EN)
If you say
How it sounds to a Deitsh speaker
We must not steal.
Miah daufa nett shtayla.
We must not steal. Stealing is not allowed.
âś… Correct way
Use daufa nett instead
To a native speaker, missa nett is like saying it probably would be ok, but we don’t have to. In other words, it’s not something that’s required.
Instead, you should use: daufa nett
👍🏻 Miah daufa nett shtayla. (PG meaning: We must not steal.)
In this case, daufa means allowed. So daufa nett means “not allowed”.
How to correctly use missa nett
There are some correct ways of using missa nett:
Miah missa nett peiyneera, avvah miah kenna vann miah vella. (We don’t have to; it’s not required.)
Miah missa nimmi unsah placements counta. (We’re no longer required.)
In the above examples, you would be saying: we’re not required to…
Using missa by itself
Good news: When used by itself, missadoes mean “we must”; as in something we are required or that we have to do.
Examples:
Miah missa du vass Jehova havva vill.
Miah missa ice cream havva.
Miah missa anri leit lanna veyyich Jehova.
Miah missa bayda.
Review
Must = missa (as in has to be done)
Must not = daufa nett (as in not allowed)
Not required = missa nett (as in doesn’t have to be done)
Most native Pennsylvania Dutch speakers will understand both the words patient and geduldich. But when would it be best to each?
Patiencenoun (the quality)
patience (more common) Du musht may patience havva.
geduld (less common outside of the Bible, but understood by most. Most commonly used if at end of sentence along with mitt) Gott sei geduld is’n kshenk. Miah missa’s ohnemma mitt geduld.
Patientadj (what someone is or can become)
patient See is immah patient mitt iahra kinnah. Sei patient mitt si.
geduldich Gott is geduldich mitt uns.
Patientlyadv = patiently (how someone does something) Ich binn am patiently voahra biss ich healthy binn.
đź’ˇ Patience, patient, patiently can also give idea of endurance (continuing on with something hard to deal with).
Summary
When talking about about something from the Bible, or a Bible subject, geduld and geduldich are very common.
But if having a casual conversation, it would be more common to use patience and patient instead.
And if talking about someone patiently doing something or patiently waiting, then you’re safer to use the English word patiently.
Many Pennyslvania Dutch figures of speech are similar to ones in English; but often slightly different. This is true when it comes to talking about things that are said to “run” in English.
In English, some things are said to run—even though they don’t have legs.
A river or stream runs
Tears can run down your face
Liquids can run over (as in overflow)
But in Pennsylvania Dutch, those inanimate objects (things without real legs) are usually said to ‘walk’ (lawfa).
Examples
A riverwalks Da revvah lawft. Di revvahra lawfa deich di valley. Da revvah is gloffa biss’s ufgedrikkeld vadda is.
Tears walk down someone’s face ’S awwa-vassah lawft ivvah iahra bakka nunnah.
When water or liquids overflow in Deitsh, they “walk over” ’S vassah is am ivvah-lawfa! Da revvah zayld ivvah-lawfa noch da shtoahm.
Exceptions
There are a couple of exceptions.
Motors and equipment do“run” (shpringa) in Pennsylvania Dutch (generators, refrigerators, washing machines, motors, and cars and trucks)
Daviess County is in the southwest part of Indiana. There are at least 10,000 Amish who speak Pennsylvania Dutch, along with many Mennonite families who also may speak the language.
As with any language, some say certain words differently, and those words really stand out to someone from another area. This is definitely true with Pennsylvania Dutch speakers.
Living in Daviess County myself, I notice some differences in how those in this county say certain words. Part of this may be because the Amish who first settled in Daviess County arrived more directly from Germany to this area.
Southern accent
If you travel to Daviess County or meet someone from here, the first thing that will stand out is their strong southern accent.
But you’ll also notice some other differences.
Since these are regional differences, I will not be putting them in the regular Pennsylvania Dutch Words List. But if you live nearby, this is a good page to bookmark.
ei has a long eye sound
Daviess County Amish say words with the letter combination ei with a long eye sound (similar to parts of Pennsylvania) instead of the more common ay sound.
ww becomes gg
Words that have double w‘s are often said with g‘s.
(eyes) awwa = agga
(to say) sawwa = sagga
yy becomes gg
A lot of words that have double y‘s in them are said with double g‘s instead.
The word iahra (their) is still used when talking about something that belongs to more than one person. But when talking about something belonging to a woman, most in Daviess County use sei instead of iahra. Vass is dei fraw sei nohma?
The next time you meet someone from Daviess County, see if you can pick out some of these words.
The most common way you’ll say yes in Pennsylvania Dutch is yau.
Yau means exactly what you’d expect it to mean—yes. Use yau when answering questions. It’s uncomplicated, and the opposite of nay (no).
yo
While yo also means yes, knowing when and how to use yo is trickier and depends on the conversation.
… knowing when and how to use yo is trickier and depends on the conversation.
Let’s look at 2 of the most common ways to use yo in a Pennsylvania Dutch conversation.
2. yo = definitely yes
In some areas, yo is used to emphasize yes—as in, definitely yes. It can be used either in response to a question, or to a statement you really agree with.
Examples of definitely yes
Vitt samm ice cream? Yo, ich du!
Eah is reeli am vaxa. Yo, yo, yo.
3. yo = yes (actually)
You can also use yo for yes when responding to a question or statement that the other person assumes the answer to is no. Probably the closest to English would be: actually yes.
Example:
Person 1: ’Sis am shnaya grawt nau. Du bisht nett am do hivva kumma, gell? Person 2: Yo. Ich zayl glei datt sei.
In the example, person 1 doesn’t expect person 2 to be coming over since it’s snowing. However, person 2 says the equivalent of, “Actually, yes. I will be there soon.”
Another example:
Person 1: Da Henry shaft nett heit, gell? Person 2: Yo. Eah shaft biss middawk.
Again, person 1 thought Henry wasn’t working today. But person 2 says that actually (yes), he works until lunch.
As you can imagine, this use of yo is pretty limited and you probably won’t use it very often. But it’s good to know in case you hear someone else say it to you.
