New Braunfels, Texas – When Hans Boas came to the University of Texas from California in 2001 to teach German, he stopped in the Hill Country town of Fredericksburg, which embraces its German roots with a robust Oktoberfest and German-themed restaurants and shops.
While eating “der Hamburger” at lunch, Boas overheard an “interesting-sounding German” – one that sounded a bit odd to him as a native speaker of the language. It was sprinkled with English words and phrases pronounced with a German accent, and some phrases that sounded German but weren’t quite right.
What he heard was “Texas German,” a dialect that developed as German settlers came to central Texas in the 1840s. But the people who speak it are dying, so Boas is working to document the dialect before it’s too late.
“Once it’s gone, it’s gone,” he said. “If you’re an archaeologist, it’s still possible to dig up some dead bones that were there … but when a speaker is dead, the language is dead.”
Texas German is a hybrid, mostly German but altered by English, particularly words and phrases for new technology or uniquely American things.
Airplane is “das Luftschiff” or airboat in Texas, while in Germany it’s “das Flugzeug” – the flying thing. Skunk is “die Stinkkatze” or stinking cat in Texas, while European German speakers say “das Stinktier” or stinking animal. Other English words are simply said with a German accent. Creek becomes “die Creek,” pronounced “crik” in Texas German.
