Below are some audio and video samples of Wisconsin Pomeranian Low German. For more information, please contact Ryan Dux ([email protected]).
About Ryan Dux, Primary Investigator The primary investigator for the project is Ryan Dux, a graduate of Merrill High School and descendant of Wisconsin Pomeranians. Ryan became interested in German-American languages while completing his BA at UW-Madison and received training in documentary linguistics during his Ph.D. studies at U-Texas, Austin, where he worked as a research assistant with the Texas German Dialect Project, directed by Hans C. Boas. See below for a link to Ryan's homepage and other interesting websites about German(s) in America! |
About the Project
The Wisconsin Pomeranian Low German project aims to document the final generation of Pomeranian German speakers who brought their unique dialect to Lincoln and Marathon counties in Central Wisconsin nearly 200 years ago. Since December 2013, approximately 35 Wisconsin Pomeranian speakers have volunteered to participate in interviews, which include translations from English into (Wisconsin) German and open-ended sections in which speakers use Wisconsin Low German to talk about various topics surrounding the community, their history, and their culture. Speakers also fill out linguistic-biographical questionnaires about their histories, language use, and attitudes towards Wisconsin German. The interviews are highly important for scholars and other German-American enthusiasts, as they provide valuable linguistic and ethnographic information to help us better understand the history of (Central) Wisconsin, the lives and experiences of German-American immigrants, and the creative ways in which the Pomeranian dialect has developed since being brought to Wisconsin nearly two centuries ago. The interview data will soon be made available through the German Speech Islands database at the University of Texas at Austin. |
WLG Audio Sample 1Listen to this clip from a Wisconsin Pomeranian speaker.
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WLG Audio Sample 2Listen to this clip from a Wisconsin Pomeranian speaker.
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Prost Song
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