Vee bisht doo?
That’s Pennsylvania Dutch for “How are you?” and is one of more than 500 words and phrases found in mypocket size “The A(h)mish Language for the English” dictionary.
This dictionary started as an idea for several reasons. One for me to sharpen my Amish/Dutch speaking back to where I can speak it more fluently as I did in my childhood. Also, so my daughter, who is always asking me how to say things in Dutch, could learn more words and easier. For my two sons they will have a tool and keepsake to learn from as they grow older
When I realized how many words in the Amish language I no longer knew, I solicited the help of one of my friends, Steve. We started having a lot of fun with compiling a vocabulary list, but we still did not know as many words as we needed.
Our dads were our next compatriots. Growing up Amish, they were able to teach us a lot. We wanted to be able to pronounce the words correctly so we spelled them exactly as we thought they sounded. After talking and laughing a lot, we thought maybe a lot of other people would be interested in learning the Amish (pronounced Ahmish, not Aimish) language.
About the book
In our pocket guide you will find:
- rules of pronunciation
- more than 500 of the most commonly used words in the Amish language
- numbers 1-20, and how to count over 20
- telling time
- commonly-used phrases that could help you a lot — from finding somewhere to eat, to finding the outhouse!