-
PART FOUR: Conclusion
- University of Iowa Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
PART FOUR Conclusion [3.90.205.166] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 01:31 GMT) WHILE the general process of linguistic acculturation to the dominant norm is a well-attested phenomenon in the history of America's countless ethnic enclaves, the specific details of the situation in Pella are unique and deserve to be recorded not only in lingustic literature, but also (and not least of all) in a manner that makes them accessible to members of that community who may someday wish to recapture a bit of a now-vanishing era. There is currently a great deal of scholarly activity in the field of language contact and language change. As the final pages of this book are being written, several major collections of essays are being prepared for press, with reports on case studies that, in greater and less detail, will strike a chord of familiarity with the reader of this volume . James Dow of Iowa State University, for instance, has compiled a rich array of studies for a special twovolume number of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language on language maintenance and language shift. Nancy C. Dorian of Bryn Mawr College is editing a volume for Cambridge University Press, entitled Investigating Obsolescence: Studies in Language Contraction and Death, with sections on both the cultural and linguistic aspects of language change. If there are any points that set this book apart from others, it is that it is the first book-length study based on 101 PELLA DUTCH prolonged on-site contact of the interaction between the Dutch and English languages in this country and one of a relatively small number of longer works that combine the fruits of language investigation with observations on patterns of community life within a prominent ethnic center of the American heartland. (For an excellent overview of Dutch throughout the United States, see Jo Daan's recent Ik was te bissie . . .; for the Great Plains states in general, one might profitably consult Paul Schach's collection of shorter papers, Languages in Conflict.) It would tax reader and author alike to pour through a list of all the sociolinguistic studies of recent years that in some way suggest the very broad scholarly context in which Pella Dutch is presented. In addition to various collected studies, one can choose individual sociolinguistic treatments of languages as diverse as American creoles, Serbian in Louisiana, or the idiom of America's JudeoSpanish community.l Those with a particular interest in Dutch will find a rich variety of data on the current linguistic situation in the Low Countries.2 While much of the current literature includes some technical and descriptive material, many authors nevertheless attempt to place their findings into a social and cultural context that can be appreciated by seriously interested nonspecialists. It would be a pity, however, if this study were to end with an encouragement to look elsewhere for a final statement on just what the material presented here really means. Consistent with my desire that this be the account given by my sources themselves, I would like to conclude with Ia remark that, though made quite casually by a member of the speaker pool, says ever so much about the current and future status of the Dutch language in Pella. In the Netherlands, one might have said "er is weI nog meer, maar ik weet niet hoe men het alles in het Nederlands zou moeten zeggen:' In his Pella Dutch, this indi102 [3.90.205.166] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 01:31 GMT) CONCLUSION vidual said "zo binnen weI meer dingen dat ik nie weet hoe moet men het in het Hollands zeggen" (there are certainly more things [to tell], but I don't know how one ought to say it in Dutch). Having made that admission, the speaker concluded not only an interview, but also gave expression to the end of the era in which Dutch was the natural language in which to express whatever was worth telling. 103 ...