Texas German (German: Texasdeutsch) is a dialect of the German language that is
spoken by descendants of German immigrants who settled in the Texas Hill
Country region in the mid-19th century.
These immigrants founded the towns
of New
Braunfels, Fredericksburg, Boerne, Schulenburg, Weimar, Walburg, and Comfort. Most German Texans continued to speak German in their
homes and communities, but were required to learn English when Texas education
rules mandated English-only instruction during and after World War I. Due to the growth of these communities
and cultural bias during
World War I and World War II, Texas German
speakers drifted towards English, and few passed the language to their
descendants.
The dialect
is near extinction, as it is now spoken almost exclusively by a few elderly
German Texans. Currently,
Dr. Hans Boas at the University of Texas is
recording and studying the dialect, building on research originally performed by
Dr. Glenn Gilbert, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, in the 1960s.
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These immigrants founded the towns of New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, Boerne, Schulenburg, Weimar, Walburg, and Comfort. Most German Texans continued to speak German in their homes and communities, but were required to learn English when Texas education rules mandated English-only instruction during and after World War I. Due to the growth of these communities and cultural bias during World War I and World War II, Texas German speakers drifted towards English, and few passed the language to their descendants.
The dialect is near extinction, as it is now spoken almost exclusively by a few elderly German Texans. Currently, Dr. Hans Boas at the University of Texas is recording and studying the dialect, building on research originally performed by Dr. Glenn Gilbert, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, in the 1960s.
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