Not much to report on of late, so here is a paper on Pennsylvania German sayings on traditional slip- and sgrafitto-decorated earthenwares.
Hafner Deitsch: Pennsylvania German Language and Potters
Pennsylvania German, or Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch, is a
German-American dialect originally spoken in Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
and Delaware. A predominantly agricultural region, what is commonly known as
“Pennsylvania Dutch Country” is also home to a distinctive traditional pottery
industry. Given my interests in
pottery and other crafts of the German diaspora, I decided to look into the use
of Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch language and its use in traditional earthenware production. First, I will analyze how potters’ specialized use of
Deitsch reflected their relationship to their tools, wares and their craft.
Second, I will look at how the public face of potters’ Deitsch, the Sprichwörter (sayings) that decorate the
pottery, helped to preserve and to standardize the dialect.
Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch (a.k.a.
Pennsilvaani Deitsch or Pennsylvania Deitsch) arose from a mixed stock of
Rhenish Palatine, Bavarian, Swiss, and other Germanic dialects. Because the
various dialects were largely mutually intelligible, there was no need for a
“grammarless” pidgin (cf. Silverstein 1997:134) to develop. Germans adopted
English as a second language for the purposes of trade with Anglo-dominated
cities such as Philadelphia. Nonetheless, Deitsch emerged to feature a
simplified grammar as well as an increasingly diversified vocabulary based on
heavy adaptation and borrowing, especially from English. The dominant dialect
in Deitsch was that of the Rhenish Palatinate and even today, online forums of
Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch are posted to by Palatine (Pfaltzer) Germans who, but for numbers of English loan words and
adaptations, find their Pältzisch
quite similar to Deitsch. Michael Silverstein (1997:132) refers to this as the
emergence of a “key dialect.”
From the late 1600s to the late
1700s, there existed a disconnect between the spoken dialect and the literary
German of Pennsylvania’s sacred and secular texts. Examples of written Deitsch first emerged in almanacs,
decorated pottery, samplers, and furniture. Flourishing in the eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries, these forms later declined until reemerging in the
mid-twentieth century as a “lingua tourist.” This renaissance was supported by
sales of furnishings and decorative arts such as fraktur and pottery to travelers on the new national highways. In
the golden age of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, presentation
plates, decorated with old sayings and freshly-minted proverbs not only
transcribed spoken Deitsch with obvious pride, but were highly visible texts.
As such, decorated pottery had a strong influence of the growing movement to
standardize Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch in the mid-1800s (Barber 1903:26).
Although Deitsch is not a “national
language,” Pennsylvania’s “Dutch Country” does function as a semi-autonomous
society and the processes by which the present form of Deitsch was arrived at
are nicely paralleled by Haugen’s four steps (1966). Deitsch is distinguished
in that rather than coalescing from several different dialects into a standard
language, it had formed from several languages into a dialect. Written works
had helped suppress many elements of Swiss and Bavarian-German while allowing
considerable freedom within Rhenish-Palatine dialects. By Haugen’s approach
however (e.g. 1966:297), it might better be classified as a language. Deitsch
not only has an extremely loyal following, but it has been standardized as to
grammar and spelling. Further, however close it remains to existing dialects in
Germany, its isolation across the Atlantic argues for status as a distinct
language just as Afrikaans received despite mutual intelligibility with Frisian
German and Dutch.
Around the turn of the twentieth
century, supporters of Pennsylvania Germans followed on the heels of German
nationalists who were promoting dialectology, the study of dialects as socially
constituted language variants (c.f. Koerner 1991). In this, students of Penn
Dutch presaged the work of Einar Haugen on Midwestern Norwegians by half a
century. Unlike states such as Minnesota and Wisconsin where ethnic languages
did not come under major pressure until after World War II, the core
settlements and heartland of Pennsylvania Dutch Country became the crossroads
of some of the country’s first national highways, funneling unprecedented
modern influence into what had been a relatively protected region.
The Potter’s Trade Expressed in Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch
Pennsylvania’s German pottery
industry flourished in the eighteenth nd nineteenth centuries. Decorated wares
bore tulips and other common Pennsylvania German motifs painted or “trailed” in
liquid clay (slip). Slip-ware acted as a “ceramic literature” which preserved
traditions, bore new ones, and helped to establish the Pennsylvania German
language (Barber 1903:27). Just by looking through a list of Pennsilfaanisch
Deitsch words employed by potters, it is possible to begin a rudimentary study
of what things and ideas held value for the potter and why, a basic
biosystematics of the craft.
Both turning and decorating pots can
become second nature to the potter, the embodiment of “embodied” or “expert”
knowledge.” The motions of measuring out
clay, kneading it, centering it on the wheel or pressing it into a mold become
completely natural. So too, a sense of aesthetics and permissible grammar of
ornament and decoration, in this case, of embellishments in verse (Hill
&Mannheim:382, Henry Glassie). Culture, writ in clay, is indeed as Sapir
says, “a historically derived, shared gestalt of patterns” (Hill and
Mannheim 1992:383)
The Pennsylvania Hafner or Topfer
moved in a number of fields shared with others in the community. Almost
certainly, there would be a religious congregation. Many potters were also
farmers. All shared the brotherhood of the craft. Others belonged to groups
ranging from choral societies to community governments. Each field enforced its
own patterns of speech and speech performance. Potters in German communities
were, perhaps, somewhat more likely to belong to a middling or better social
group than in neighboring groups of other ethnic backgrounds (c.f. Irvine).
Their speech would not have been that of the highest-ranking members of the
society, though among the Moravians, for example, education was more equal and
tradesmen were often active in the community leadership. Potters’ ability to blend
into the upper levels of the community using physical means parallel
Bernstein’s linguistic “elaborated code.” Rudolph Christ, a potter in Salem,
North Carolina, made a point of keeping a well-ordered shop and gardens with
up-to-date wares[1] while
actively engaging in the proceedings of the Aufseher Collegium (town council).
Christ’s rebellious apprentice, on the other hand, engaged in a “restricted
code,” hanging around the tavern, talking back, slowing work, and eventually
turning from potting to brickmaking.
Concepts of time are limited in the
Hafner’s Deitsch, as they are in other traditional (i.e. pre-industrial)
crafts, to the agricultural cycles. Many potters were, first and foremost,
farmers, and only turned their undivided attention to the craft when harvest
demanded crocks for apple butter and plates for pies. Otherwise, work in the
potteries was measured by the piece- so many dozen vessels completed and sold
with each load burned. Only at kiln-firing did time grow of the essence, as
fireboxes were stoked round the clock for thirty six hours by boys playing
games and singing old songs.
Separated from the main house on
already-isolated farmsteads, the typical backyard potter’s workshop was an
island of industry in the midst of wheat fields and pastures. Potting seems to
have been a predominantly male occupation among the Pennsylvania Germans. There
are for example, no female (“hafnerin”) inscriptions. Certainly female family
members assisted in potting, and probably continued businesses after deaths or
in absences, but none are known to have opened their own shops. The pottery,
then, was typically a male linguistic sphere. The language of the potter was
shared between the master, apprentices, and the occasional customer. Although
apprentices frequently rotated from one pottery to another until founding their
own establishments, day-to-day contact within the craft was minimal. Within
these enclaves, various continental dialects were overlapped. As a result, each
master’s craft language was constituted by a slightly different set of terms.
As Henry Bivins (1972) explained, these were artisans unencumbered by the need
to create a standardized catalog of wares. Thus we see the [modern] German Schüßel rendered as schissel, schisel, or schüsel in everything from inventories to the
decorations on the ware itself. Even when contents was apparently a given, the
vessel name remained a matter of taste.
A sugar bowl might be a Zuckerbüchse
(small canister), a topf (a pot), or
a schüßell (Guilland 1971:279). Even
the most common items carried multiple names, such as the apple butter crock,
or Epfel Buther Haffa, also known as
a Lodt Varrik Haffa (Barber 1903).
Pottery forms and their names
provide considerable insight into Deitsch culture. Although many forms were
transplanted more-or-less directly from Germany, others now thought of as
quintessentially “Penn Dutch” such as the pie plate were Anglo-American
inventions (Guilland 1971:29). Whereas continental Germans had been accustomed
to shallow tortes and cakes, the abundance of fruit combined with the flaky
crust of English meat pies resulted in the apple, cherry, and other pies that
have become staples of Dutch markets and restaurants. Beginning in 1785,
Deitsch potters produced their Poi
schissel – or Boi-Schissel- by
the thousands (Barber 1903:100-1)
Beaudry (1981:5) gives examples
where a pot’s purpose became the abbreviation by which it was known, such as
“posset” for posset pot or “caudle” for caudle cup. Similarly, she notes
instances of metonymy such as when “dish” substitutes for food, as in “we ate a dish.” Among
Pennsylvania German potters, the word “schissel” (Schüßel- bowl) became the
blanket term for many dishes, shallow bowls, pans, and plates. Likewise, “topf”
(pot) served in most cases for crocks (“kruch”
or Krug) as well as for pots. Changes
in craft language may also have been encouraged when Pennsylvania Germans moved
to new areas where they were a minority among Anglo and Scots-Irish settlers.
Moravian potters in North Carolina, for example, seem to have eventually
adopted the term “kruch” (Bivins 1972:142). It is tempting to think that the
traditional “topf” (pot) was representative of earlier, more
insular German communities and that “kruch”
reflected a less intimate, more cosmopolitan, and more individualized usage.
Beaudry (1981:8) finds a similar situation in the replacement of “pot” with
“cup” in descriptions of drinking (e.g. “pot-shot” versus being “in ones’s
cups”). There, an older tradition of drunkenness euphemism focused on communal
alcohol containers such as jug and pot, while newer, more solitary drinking
methods are reflected in the individualized cup and bottle. The first mention
of a bottle to be found in decorated pottery appears in 1846. It is telling
that although borrowings from English are common elsewhere in Deitsch, this “bottel” is one of very few among ceramic
forms (Barber 1903:211).. It is probable that the words chosen by potters
represent linguistic parallels to or components of the shift from folk/communal
to individual/Georgian mindsets put forward by James Deetz (1977).
Guilland (1971:218) notes the use of
the word Fetlicht (“fat light”) for a lamp using animal fat or tallow for
fuel and contrasts this Deitsch word with the Scots-Irish equivalent, “slut-lamp.”
Whereas most definitions of “slut” refer to characteristics of dirtiness or
muddiness, the German Fett has much
more positive connotations as a natural substance and a symbol of wealth and
prosperity, similar to the use of the English “fat” in “Fat of the Land.” The
choice of Fetlicht corresponds well
to other attitudes among the Pennsylvania Germans towards the stuff of an
honest and godly rural life. This set of attitudes has come to represent the
‘Dutch,’ “a genius, a spirit, an underlying personality-which is very much its
own” (Basso 1988:123).
Simple potters’ signatures can be
revealing as well. ”rudolf drach hefner in bädminster daunschib 1792” (“Rudolf
Drach, potter in Bedminster Township,” Barber 1903:117) for example, reminds us
of the thinly dispersed nature of German settlement where counties and
townships were often more significant referents than a distant town. Samuel
Troxel, engaging in a bit of courtly conceit, signed himself “Potter to Upper
Hanuber County Township Montgomery County and State of Pennsylvania.” (Barber
1903:167) Interestingly, Troxell
translated the already-German Hanover as if it were English (over=über).
Torn between a variety of vessel
names, the potters did succeed in supplying a standard name for their own trade.
The word Töpfer, typically used in
modern German, was rarely seen among Pennsylvania Germans[2].
Instead, the moniker of choice was Hafner,
with variants including hafener,
haffener, haefner, haeffner, häfner, and häefner. Likewise, the clay that provided them with their livlihood
rarely went by the German for clay, Thon[3].
Instead, it was “Earth” that served (Erde).
For deeply religious Pennsylvania German potters, this may have been a very
conscious choice. Sects such as the Amish, Dunkards, Anabaptists, Mennonites
and others all looked to bibles based on Luther’s 1545 translation of the Old
Testament. In Genesis, Luther translates: “Und Gott der Herr machte den Menschen
aus einem Erdenkloß” (And God the
Lord made the man out of a lump of earth).[4] The potters, in pursuing their craft, paid
homage to God. As one pot reads, “The dish is made of earth and clay,
And humans, too, are made that way, Anno 1800” (Barber 1903:208). The analogy to godliness is not without
circumspection, however: “Drawing flowers is common, But giving fragrance doth
God alone” (Barber 1907:114).
Sprichwörter in Pennsylvania German Redware
“and
on their earthenwares, they inscribed in the dialect of the people, the homeley proverbs and motoes and rude rhymes, quotations
from the bible and lines from old
German Hymns, which had ornamented the coarse pottery of their ancestors”
- Edwin Atlee Barber (1903:208-9)
- Edwin Atlee Barber (1903:208-9)
Sprichwörter,
or sayings, figured prominently in the decoration of slip-trailed and
sgrafittoed redwares among Pennsylvania German potters. Many of the sayings
were carried over from home regions in the Rhineland Palatinate, Bavaria,
Switzerland, and elsewhere. Others were most certainly the creation of
individual potters. Some became almost synonymous with a given type of vessel
or occasion, particularly in presentation dishes for weddings. Almost all were in the local dialect; few if
any mid- late eighteenth-century German potters used English inscriptions[5]
(Barber 1907:110-11).
Restricted to a few lines of trailed
slip, the Sprichwort represented a specialized genre that relied on customers’
and viewers’ knowledge of traditional lore and values, as well as familiarity
with Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch. The Sprichwort as genre was actively negotiated
between potters, the community, and their past.
If standardized craft language was
rare among Pennsylvania German potters, standardization in the choice of Sprichwort was relatively common. One of the most
common Sprichwörter translates as “The pot is made of earth, when it breaks,
the potter laughs, therefore take care of it.” Combined with the names of
recipients and dates of anniversaries, this Sprichwort
was utilized by many potters. It became ingrained into the potting mind as a
basic verse appropriate to slip-trailed decoration. As such, it represents an
element of the ‘Hafner habitus’. Recycling tried and true Sprichwörter might be
viewed as one means to avoid judgment and the failure of new ideas. Beyond
blaming an apprentice, there was little potters could do to disavow a sentiment
rendered on a product that might outlast them (cf. Cameron on Lang). Again,
however, the potter’s will is exercised in the spelling and structure of the
verse. Standardized though the choice of phrase was, its execution was far from
“cookie-cutter.” In the eight examples of “The pot is made of earth” included
in the appendix, there are many variations in spelling and sentence structure,
but together, they suggest the limits of variation in a developing, literary
Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch. The potter was restricted to expressing himself within
the bounds of what his customers deemed to be legitimate Deitsch. On occasion,
however, the potter may have found a pleasing spelling or turn of phrase
necessitating a certain abbreviation or structure that proved so popular as to
enter the language as normative.
The presence of extensive variation
in spelling and accuracy-of-recall in applying old Sprichwörter makes one
wonder in light of the discussion of whether written or spoken language is more
elaborate or faithful (cf. Chaffe and Tannen). Certainly the turning or
throwing of the pot itself (or press-molding for that matter) could become a
completely fluid and natural operation. It
does not seem possible that this could be so for the potter when
wielding a slip cup or incising tool.[6]
Added to this, slip-decorated vessels were in the minority of any given
potter’s production. The great bulk of German redwares consisted of utilitarian
forms such as apple butter crocks, milk pans, and flowerpots. Where a potter
might make only a handful of decorated pieces per firing, the spelling of Sprichwörter would not have
become second nature by dint of constant repetition. Finally, some forms went through
transformations that combined amnesis with parody. Thus, a common plate design
bearing what began as George Washington transitions from “I’ve ridden over hill
and dale, ‘Have found disloyalty everywhere” to “I’ve ridden over hill and
dale, ‘Have found pretty girls everywhere,” to “I’ve waited many an hour and
day, and yet no girl will have me” (Appendix).
In “Speaking With Names,” linguist
Keith Basso (1988:110) notes that unless listeners “are able to picture a
physical setting for narrated events… the events themselves will be difficult
to imagine.” For all those who grew up in the kitchens and parlors of
“Pennsylvania Dutch Country,” pots spoke.
Indeed, of the eight actions claimed by Basso to be accomplished by
Apache place-names, seven are shared with decorated German pottery:
“; 2) evoke prior texts, such as
historical tales and sagas; 3) affirm
the value and validity of traditional moral precepts (i.e. ancestral wisdom);
4) display tactful and courteous attention to aspects of both positive and
negative face; 5) convey sentiments of charitable concern and personal support;
6) offer practical advice for dealing with disturbing personal circumstances
(i.e. apply ancestral wisdom); 7) transform distressing thoughts caused by
excessive worry into more agreeable ones marked by optimism and hopefulness; 8)
heal wounded spirits.” (Basso 1988:121)
“An authoritative word,” according
to Mikhail Bakhtin, is possessed of a special, “hieratic” language (Bakhtin
1981:342). The authoritative Sprichwort,
though composed of a whole verse, likewise drew on traditional texts and used
these to provide advice or support, conjure agreeable thoughts, and heal the
spirit. To accomplish these actions, potters modified traditional forms and
coined new spellings, structures, and verse representing the “poetic
imagination” (Hill & Mannheim 1992:399).
While ‘Dutch’ pots may not speak as eloquently as the landscapes of
Basso’s Cibecue, their meanings and associations are integral to Pennsylvania
German folk tradition.
Speaking
through Sprichwörter, some pots actively engaged their environment. In 1846,
one dish admonished the diner to beware “the bottle standing by,” for it had
already “dispatched the luck of many” (Barber 1903:211). Typically euphemistic,
the dish literally warned that the decorative star it bore, representing the
star of the diner, was the root of the bottle’s power.
As suggested by Shirley Brice Heath,
coding can play a significant part in language, even when users have forgotten
the original coded meanings. Like the Dullabana
(tulip), alternately associated with the blossoms in the footsteps of Christ,
pomegranates and bells of Solomon’s Temple, or the flowers of Freya,
Sprichwörter have sometimes lost their original meanings. A general
understanding of positive or negative connotations led potters to cavalierly
apply the former while carefully avoiding the latter.
Protected by the use of euphemistic
phrasing, potters engaged in wordplay.
Often, such humorous verses belie older traditions of animism. One dish
mocks its host’s table, “I’ve never been where people ate their lunch so late.”
Speaking authoritatively in Deitsch, a pan tells a wife to take bread from the
oven and a shaving bowl orders a husband “hold still a bit, your hairs aren’t
many.” Many pots bear inscriptions overtly
referencing themselves and their decorative elements for the sole purpose of
establishing a rhyme: “Dren Blumen auf einem Stiehl, Lang in die Schüssel und
nim nicht viel” (three flowers on one stem, reach inside and don’t take much),
Written Deitsch is linked to a
strong sense of community. Combined with Latin, Deitsch was used to create a
code with strong ritual significance in Pennsylvania German Braucherei (magic) and is still used in
verbal and written forms by pow-wow
doctors in their curings and unverhexing (uncrossing) of patients. The mythic
power of written and spoken Deitsch was a core element in the Grundsau Lodsches
(Groundhog Lodges) founded in defense of Pennsilfaanish Deitsch culture in the
face of strong anti-German sentiment in two World Wars. The belief in the power of the language was
so strong in World War I that hundreds of Eastern Pennsylvania soldiers went
into battle carrying Himmelsbriefe[7]
to protect them from injury and capture (Hark 1938:154)
Dishes decorated with Sprichwörter
sat prominently on plate rails and in the Eckshunke (corner cupboards) of
houses all over central and eastern Pennsylvania. Generations were raised under
their hopeful or cautionary maxims. In terms of the preservation of language,
heirloom plates spoke with authority
as to how the grandparents spoke and lived, the yellow permanence of the
lettering legitimating word choices
made fifty years or a century earlier.
Ende
For Pennsylvania German potters,
potting and pottery provided venues for sundry German and Swiss dialects to
coalesce into a more monolithic, normative “Deitsch” (Cameron 1997:10). Pots played a significant role, alongside
folk art and furnishings, Deitsche newspapers and almanacs to provide powerful,
natural mechanisms for preserving and standardizing Pennsilfaaanisch Deitsch.
Even the potters themselves, in teaching apprentices and interacting with
customers in their own craft language, reinforced the dialect as a whole.
Although there are still regional
differences in Pennsilfaanisch Deitch, it has reached a point where, for
example, editors of “Deitsch Wikipedelche” hash out acceptable grammar and word
choice in the Deitsch Wiki. Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch continues to face
challenges from declining populations of old order sects of Amish and
Mennonites as well as from unprecedented pressures from housing and
suburban development from Philadelphia.
As I have attempted to show in this paper, “Penna Dutch” is a dialect
intricately wed to surviving craft communities such that of traditional
potters. Action taken to preserve either language or craft will invariably
benefit the other by improving community and craft identity and maintaining a
“ceramic literature.”
Appendix:
Einige Sprichwörter-
Some Sayings:
Following are some Sprichwörter
from Pennsylvania German slipwares, organized by production date. The original
is followed, for comparison, by a rough high-German equivalent (only spelling
has been changed) and an English interpretation.
¤
Putz
und Balvir mich Hiebsch und fein
Das ist
gefal der liebste mein, 1733
Putz und razier mich hübsch und fein
Das es gefällt der liebste mein, 1733
Clean and shave me handsome and fine
So I might please beloved mine, 1733
(1733, Barber 1903:197)
¤
Aufrichtig
gegen jedermann
Vertraulich
gegen wanich
Verschwiegen
sein so vül mann kahn
Als wer
ich bin der bin ich
Und
dasz ist wahr. Ao. 1769
Aufrichtig gegen Jedermann
Vertraulich gegen wenig
Verschwiegen sein so viel mann kann
Als wer ich bin, der bin ich
Und das ist wahr. Ao. 1769
Honest with every man,
Trusting of few
Be reserved as much as possible
As if you were, who you are
And that is true. Ao. 1769
(Barber 1903:193)
¤
Du bist
mir ein lieber man
So bald
ich dier gesehen hann
Du bist ein lieber man
So bald ich dir gesehen hab’
Thou wert to me a loving dear man
As soon as I had seen thee.
(David Spinner 1770s?, Barber 1903:134)
¤
Der
broden steht im offenloch
Frau
geh hin und holl in doch, 1776
The bread lays in the oven’s mouth
Lady go hence and get it do, 1776
(Barber 1903:211)
¤
Es wird
gewisz kein wey, diesen vogel Kriegen,
Weil
die dullebahnen, sich über sie biegen;
Das
graut is wohl gesaltzen
Aber
übel geschmalzen
Her Koch
Es wird gewiß kein Wey, diesen Vogel kriegel,
Weil die Tulpen, sich über sie biegen;
Das Kraut ist wohl gesalzen
Aber übel geschmalzen
Herr
Koch
Certainly no hawk will seize this bird,
For the tulips bend over it;
The cabbage is well pickled
But poorly greased,
Master
Cook
(Georg Hübener 1785?,
Barber 1903:116)
¤
Deisa
Schüssel ist von Örda gemacht
Von sie
Zerbricht der Heffner lacht
Diese Schüßel ist aus Erde gemacht
Wenn sie zerbricht, der Häfner lacht
This dish is made of earth
When she/it breaks, the potter laughs
(1786, Barber 1903:72)
¤
Kadarine
Raederin- Ihre schüssel
Aus der
ehrt mit verstant
Macht
der Haefner aller Hand 1786
(Georg Hübener, Guilland 1971:264, Barber 1903:112)
¤
Der
hafen ist von ert gemacht, 1788
The pot is made of earth, 1788
(Barber 1903:207)
¤
Mathalena
Jungin; ihr Schüssel
Die
Schüssel ist von Ert gemacht
Wann
sie verbricht, der Häefner lacht
Darum
nempt sie in acht
1789-
Blummen Mollen ist gemein
Aber
den geruch zu geben vermach nur Gott allein
Magdalena Jungin; ihre Schüssel
Die Schüssel ist von Erde gemacht
Darum nimmt sie in Acht
Wann sie zerbricht, der Häefner lacht
1789- Blumen Malen ist gemein [ordinär]
Aber den Geruch zu geben vermach nur Gott allein
Madalena Young, her dish
The dish is made of earth
When she/it breaks, the potter laughs
Therefore, take care of her/it
1789- Painting flowers is common,
But giving fragrance doth God alone
(Barber 1907:114)
¤
Die
Schüssel ist von ert gemagt
Wan sie
verbricht der Haefner lacht
Darum
nem sie Wohl in acht.
Maria Helbard
(Georg Hübener 1785-98, Barber 1903:117)
¤
Glück
und unglück
ist
Alle Morgen unser Frühstük
Glück und Unglück
sind alle Morgen unser Frühstück
[Good] luck and bad luck are each day our breakfast [lit.
“early piece”]
(1790s?, Barber 1903:193)
¤
Sing,
bet und geh auff Gottes wegen
Vericht
das deine nur getreu
Sing, pray and go on Gods way
Be true in what is yours to do
(1790’s?, Barber 1903:194)
¤
Ech
weitig nit indar welt
Mein
bart dar ist gar din gestelp, 1791
I know not in the world
My beard is grown so thin, 1791
(Barber 1903:211)
¤
Ich bin
ein vogel aller ding
Dass
brod ich ess dasz lits ich sing, 1792
I am a bird, of course
Whose bread I eat, his song I sing, 1792
(Barber 1903:211)
¤
Es sein
kein vögel, es sind kein fisch
Es weis
ken gucku was es ist
Eine
blume Zuschreiben
Ist für
die zeit zu verdreiben, 1793
Es sind kein Vögel, es sinf kein Fisch
Es weiß kein Kuckuck
was es ist
Eine Blume zu zuschreiben
Ist für die Zeit zu vertreiben, 1793
There be no birds, there be no fish
It knows no cuckoo what is is
A flower to dedicate (draft?)
Is for to while away the time
(Barber 1903:211)
¤
Alle
Schöne Jungfern hat Gott Erschafen
Die
sein vor die Hefner äwer
nicht vür die
Pfaffen
21
ten Ocdober Anno 1793
Alle Schöne Jungfern hat Gott erschafen
Die sind für die Hafner Aber nicht für die Pfaarer
21ten
Oktober Anno 1793
All young maids hath God wrought
They are for the potter, but not for the pastor
(Barber 1903:200)
¤
1793 Alle Schöne Jungfern
hat
Gott erschafen
Die
sein vor die hefner
Aver
nicht vor die Pfaffnen
1793 Alle Schöne
Jungfern
hat Gott erschafen
Die sind für die Hafner
Aber nicht für die Pfaarer
All young maids
hath God wrought
They are for the potter
But not for the pastor
(289 Guilland)
¤
Essen
ist vor leib und leben
Trincken
ist auch gut darneben, 1793
Essen ist für Leib und Leben
Trinken is auch gut daneben, 1793
Eating is for body and life
Drinking is also good besides
(Barber 1903:210)
¤
Es ist
kein vöglein so vergesen
Es rüth
ein stündlein nach dem essen
Geschehen den 20 ichsten Nofember
1796
Es ist kein Vöglein zu vergeßen
Es ruht ein Stündlein nach dem Essen
Geschehen
den Achtundzwanzigsten November 1796
No bird should forget
To rest a short hour after eating
It happened
the 28th of November 1796
(Barber, 1903:173)
¤
Glük
und unglük ist Alle Morgen unser Frühstük
1796,
18 August.
Glück und Unglück sind alle Morgen unser Frühstück
1796, 18 August
[Good] luck and bad luck are each day our breakfast [lit.
“early piece”]
(Barber 1903:122, Guilland 1971:223)
¤
Wer
etwas will verschwiegen haben
Der
derf es seiner frau nicht sagen
Wer etwas will verschwiegen haben
Der darf es seiner Frau nicht Sagen
He who would have something secret
He dare not tell it to his wife
(1796, in Barber 1903:121)
¤
Lieber
will ich ledig leben
Als der
Frau die Hosen geben
Rather would I single live
Than the wife the britches give
(1797, in Barber 1903:121)
¤
Die
Schüsel ist von ert gemagt
Wan sie
verbricht der Häfner lacht
Darum
nem sie wohl in acht
Maria Helbard, 1798
Die Schüßel ist von Erde gemacht
Wenn sie zerbricht, der Hafner lacht
Darum nimm sie wohl in acht
Maria
Helbard, 1798
The dish is made of earth
When she/it breaks, the potter laughs
Therefore, take good care of her/it
Maria
Helbard, 1798
(Barber 1903:185)
¤
Glick,
glas, und erde
Wie
bald bricht die werde
Aus der
erd mit verstant
Magt
der hefner aller Hand 1798
Glück, Glaß, und Erde
Wie bald die zerbrochen werden
Aus die Erde mit Verstand
Macht der Hafner aller Hand, 1798
Luck, glass and earth
How soon they are broken
Out of the earth with understanding
The potter makes all things, 1798
(Barber 1903:208)
¤
Die
schisel ist von erd und don
Und die
mensch bist auch davon, Anno 1800
Die Schüßel ist von Erde und Ton
Und die Menschen sind auch davon Anno 1800
The dish is made of earth and clay
And humans, too, are made that way, Anno 1800
(Barber 1903:208)
¤
Ich
will als lieber letig leben
Als der
frau die Hosen geben
Den 24
Jiun, 1800
Rather would I single live
Than the wife the britches give
(Barber 1903:121)
¤
Junferlein
und rosen bleder
Vergehen
wie das regen weder
1802 den 22 May
Geschrieben von P.V.M.
Jungfraülein und Rosenblätter
Vergehen wie das Regenwetter
1802 den
22ten May
Geschrieben
von P.V.M.
Maidens and rose petals
Pass like rainy weather
1802 the 22
May
Writte by
P.V.M.
(Barber 1903:209)
¤
In der
schisel steth ein Haus
Wer
mausen will der bleib draus
Ost,
West,
Main
frau ist der best
In die Schüßel steht ein Haus
Wer mausen will, der bleib drauß’
Ost, West,
Meine Frau ist die Beste
In the dish stands a house
Who would pilfer best keep out
East, West,
My wife is the best
(1804, Barber 1903:183
¤
Ich bin
geritten über berg und Dal
Hab
untrue funten über ahl, 1805
Ich bin geritten über Berg und Thal
Hab’ Untreu gefunden überall, 1805
I have been riding over hill and dale
‘Have found disloyalty everywhere
(Johannes Neesz, “Washington plate” in Barber 1903:142)
¤
Ich bin
geritten vil stunt und dag
Und
doch noch kein metel haben mag. A.o. 1805
Ich bin geritten viel Stund’ und Tag’
Und noch kein Mädel haben mag
I have ridden many an hour and day
And yet no girl will have me
(Barber 1903:142)
¤
Ich bin
geritten über berg und dahl
Hab
metger funten über ahl
Ich bin geritten über Berg und Thal
Hab Mädche gefunden überall
I have been riding over hill and dale
‘Have found [pretty] girls everywhere
(Barber 1903:143)
¤
Ein
Peifge tuback ist einen so gut
Als wan
man die daller bei den Metger ver dut
Ein Pfeiffchen Tabak ist einen so gut
Als wan man die Thaler/Dollar bei den Mädcher vertut
A small pipe of tobacco does one as good
As when he spends his dollars on the girls
(post-1805, “Washington Plate” Barber 1903:142)
¤
Deisa
schüssel ist von Örda gemacht
Von se
zerbricht der Heffner lacht, 1810
Diese Schüßel ist von Erde gemacht
Wenn sie zerbricht, der Hafner lacht, 1810
This dish is made of earth
When it breaks the potter laughs
(Barber 1903:208)
¤
Da ist
fleisch und sauerkraut
Unser
Mäd ist ein Braut im jahr 1810
Da ist Fleisch und Sauerkraut
Unsere Mäd[l/chen] ist eine Braut im Jahre 1810
There is meat and sauerkraut
Our girl is a bride in the year 1810
(Guilland 1971:141)
¤
Fische,
Vögel und Fornellen
essen
gern die Haffner Gsellen, March 20, 1810
Fische, Vögel und Forellen
essen gern die Hafner Gesellen
Journeymen potters like to eat fish, fowl and trout
(Barber 1903:210)
¤
Fünf
Blumen auf einem Stiel
Kreif
in die Schissel und isz nicht viel, 1811
Five flowers on one stem
Reach in and don’t eat many
(Henry Roudebuth, Barber 1903:161)
¤
Ich bin
noch nie gewest
Wo man
so spat du mittag est
Ao im jahr 1812
Ich bin noch nie gewesen
Wo man so spat zu Mittag ist
Anno im
Jahr 1812
I have never been
Where people ate their lunch so late
Anno in the
year 1812
(by Johannes Neesz, in Barber 1903:139)
¤
Lieber
Vatter im Himmel reich
Was du
mir gibst das es Ich gleich,
Johannes Neesz, Ao 1812
Deat Father in Kingdom Heaven,
What though givest me, I now eat
Johannes
Neesz, Anno 1812
(Barber 1903:140)
¤
Es ist
mier ser bang
Meine
Wieste Tochter grigt kein Mann H.R. 1813
Es ist mir sehr bang
Meine wieste [ungezogene, böse] Tochter kriegt kein Mann
H.R. 1813
I am much afraid
My naughty daughter will get no man H.R. 1813
(Henry Roudebuth, Barber, 1903:161)
¤
Diese
schissel ist gemacht vor den in
Nord
gemänner Daunfiel bergs gaundie
Junius
den 4. 1814. So viel von mier
Heinrich Stofflet
Diese Schüssel ist gemacht für den in
Nord Gemeinde, Daunfiel, Berks County
Juni den 4. 1814. So viel von mir.
Heinrich
Stofflet
This dish is made for he in
North community Daunfiel, Berks County,
June 4, 1814. So much for me
Henry
Stofflet
(Barber 1903:162)
¤
Gottes
güt und true
Die ist
alle mörnen neü
Anno domini 1818
Gottes Güt und treu
Die ist alle Morgen neu
Anno domini
1818
God’s goodness and truth
Are new every morning
Anno Domini
1818
(Barber 1903:207)
¤
Halt du
nur ein wenig still
Deine
hare seind nit viel
Halt du nur ein wenig still
Deine Haare sind nicht viel
Hold still a bit
Your hairs aren’t many
(on a shaving bowl)
(Guilland 1971:273)
¤
Aus der
erde mit verstand
Macht
der hefner allerhand
Aus der Erde mit Verstand
Macht der Häfner Allerhand
Out of earth with understanding
The potter makes everything
(1823 in Barber 1903:76)
¤
aus der
erde mit verstand
macht
der hefner aller hand July the 17th 1823
Aus der Erde mit Verstand
Macht der Hefner Allerhand July the 17th, 1823
Out of earth with understanding
The potter makes everything July the 17, 1823
(Guilland 1971:213)
¤
In der
schissel stedt ein stern
Und die
medger haben die buben gern, 1823
H.E.IS.T
In die Schüßel steht ein Stern
Und die Mädche haben die Buben gern, 1823
H.E.IS.T
In the dish is a star
And the girls like the boys, 1823
(Barber 1903:210)
¤
In der
mid state ein Stern
Was ich
gleich das es ich gern, 1826
Ind die Mitte steht ein Stern
Was ich gleich, das ess ich gern, 1826
In the middle is a star
What I’m about to, I like to eat, 1826
(Barber 1903:210)
¤
Aus der
Erde mit verstant
Macht
der heffner aller-hand, 1826
Aus der Erde mit Verstand
Macht der Hafner aller Hand, 1826
Out of earth with understanding
The potter makes everything, 1826
(Barber 1903:207)
¤
Aus der
Erde mit verstandt
So
macht der heffner aller hand
Aus der Erde mit Verstand
Macht der Hafner Aller hand
Out of earth with understanding
The potter makes everything
(1826, Barber
1903:204)
¤
Dieser
haffen von erd gemacht
Und
wann er verbrecht, der hefner lacht
Dieser Hafen von Erd gemacht
Und wann er zerbricht, der Hafner lacht
This pot is made of earth
And when he/it breaks, the potter laughs
(Samuel Troxel 1828, Barber 903:164)
¤
Fisch
und Fögel gehören nicht den growen flögel,
Aber
Fögel Fisch gehören den Herren auf den
disch
Fisch und Vögel gehören nicht den grauen Flögel,
Aber Vögel Fisch
gehören den Herren auf den Tisch
Fish and birds aren’t for rude churls,
But birds and fish are for the gentleman on the table
(by Samuel Troxel, Barber 1903:166)
¤
Wer das
lieben ungesund
So
dätens docter meiten
Und
wans den wibern weh däd
So
dädens sie nicht leiten
Wäre das Lieben ungesund
So tätens Doktoren vermeiden
Und wann es Weibern weh tat
So tätens sie nicht Leiden
If loving were unhealthy
The doctors would avoid it
And if women it would
hurt
Then they wouldst not abide it
(by Samuel Troxel 1826, Barber 1903:166)
¤
In der
Schisel auf dem disch
Lustig
ist wer noch ledig ist
Traurig
wer versprochen ist
In die Schüßel auf dem Tisch
Lustig ist, wer noch ledig ist
Traurig, wer versprochen ist
The the dish upon the table
Happy who yet single be
Sorry who betrothed be
(by Samuel Troxel 1823-33, Barber 1903:168)
¤
Ich hav
geward schon ein mangen dag
Und
mich doch kein bub nicht haben mag
Lieben
un Geliebt zu werden
Is die
Gröste Freud auf Erden
Und so
Weider Im Jahr 1831
Es
neckt mich jetzt der wohllust art
Ich hab
schon lang auf dich gewart.
I have waited already many a day
And yet no boy will have me
To love and be loved
Is the greatest joy on earth
Ans so
forth, in the Jear 1831
It’s got me in a loving way
I’ve already waited on you a long while
(Barber 1903:210)
¤
Dren
Blumen auf einem Stiehl
Lang in
die Schüssel und Nim Nicht Viel.
Im Jahr 1831
Drei Blumen an einem Stiehl
Reich in die Schüßel und nimm nicht Viel
Im Jahr
1831
Three flowers on one stem
Reach into the dish and don’t take too many
In the year
1831
(by Jacob Scholl, Barber 1903:159)
¤
Alles
verfressen und Versofen vor meinem end
Macht
ein rüchdig Testament. Im Jahr 1831
Alles verfressen und versaufen vor meinem End
Macht ein richtig Testament
To consume bolt and drink up everything before my end
Makes a just testament. In the year 1831
(Jacob Scholl, Barber 1903:160)
¤
Alles
verfreszen und Versoffen vor meinem end
Macht
ein richdig Testament.
Alles verfressen und versaufen vor meinem End
Macht ein richtig Testament
To consume bolt and drink up everything before my end
Makes a just testament.
(1831? , Barber 1903:160)
¤
Wer das
lieben ungesund
So
thätens docter meiten
Und
wans den wibern weh thät
So
thätens sie nicht leiten
Sep. 25 1833
Wäre das Lieben ungesund
So tätens Doktoren vermeiden
Und wann es Weibern weh tät
So tätens sie nicht Leiden
If loving were unhealthy
The doctors would avoid it
And if women it would
hurt
Then they wouldst not abide it
Sep. 25
1833
(by Samuel Troxel 1833, Barber 1903:167)
¤
Der
Stern der auf der Bottel blickt
Der hat
schon mannichem sein Glick verstickt, 1846
Der Stern der auf die Flasche blickt
Der hat schon manchem sein Glück verstickt, 1846
The star that glances at the bottle
Has already dispatched the luck of many, 1846
(Barber 1903:211)
¤
Schwinder
dann der Rauch im Wind,
Fang
ich anzulachen
Denke
so verganglich sind
All die
andern Sachen
Verschwindet dann der Rauch im Wind
Fang ich an zu lachen
Denke [ich]- so vergänglich sind
Alle die andern Sachen
[Should] the smoke vanish in the wind
I begin to laugh
Thinketh I, so ephemeral are
All the other things[cares]
(Lasansky 1989:40)
¤
Sources:
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1981 The
Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M.M. Bakhtin. M. Holquist, ed. Austin: University of
Texas Press.
Barber, Edwin Atlee.
1907 Lead
Glazed Pottery: Part First (Common Clays)- Plain Glazed, Sgraffito, and Slip-Decorated Wares.
The Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial
Art. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1903 Tulip
Ware of the Pennsylvania German Potters: An Historical Sketch of the Art of
Slip-Decoration in the United States.
The Pennsylvania Museum
and School of Industrial Art. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Basso, Keith H.
1988 “Speaking with Names”: Language and Landscape
among the Western Apache. Cultural
Anthropology. (3)2:99-130, May 1988.
Beaudry, Mary C.
1981 Pot-Shot,
Jug-Bitten, Cup-Shaken, Object Language and Double Meanings. Paper
presented at the 80th Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological
Association. Mary C. Beaudry, Boston University.
Berlin, et al.
1973 General Principles of Classification and
Nomenclature in Folk Biology. American Anthorpologist 175(1):214-242.
Bivins, John Jr.
1972 The
Moravian Potters in North Carolina. Old Salem, Inc. Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Briggs, Charles L. and Baumann, Richard.
Genre,
Intertextuality, and Social Power.
Cameron, Deborah.
1997 When Worlds Collide: Expert and Popular
Discourse on Language. Language Science. 19(1):7-13.
Chaffe, Wallace and Tannen, Deborah.
1987 The Relation Between Written and Spoken
Language. Annual Review of Anthropology.
16:383-407
Comstock, H.E.
1994 The
Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley Region.
The Museum of Early Southern
Decorative Arts, Winston-Salem, North Carolina and The University of North Carolina Press,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Deetz, James.
1977 In
Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life. Anchor Books.
New York, New York.
Guilland, Harold F.
1971 Early
American Folk Pottery. Chilton Book Company. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Hark, Ann.
1938 Hex
Marks the Spot. J.B. Lippincott Company. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Haugen, E.
1972 Dialect, Language, Nation. In The Ecology of Language, ec. AS Dil. Pp.237-254.
Stanford University Press. Stanford, California.
Hill, Jane H. and Mannheim, Bruce.
1992 Language and World View. Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 21 (1992), pp.381-406
Irvine, Judith T.
1989 When Talk Isn’t Cheap. American Ethnologist, (16)2:248-267.
Lasansky, Jeannette.
1989 Central
Pennsylvania Redware Pottery 1780-1904. Oral Traditions Projects.
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
1912 Pennsylvania Slip-Ware. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 7(11):208-211, Nov. 1912.
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1997 Encountering Language and Languages of
Encounter. Journal of Linguistic
Anthropology. 6(2):126-144.
South, Stanley.
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Pennsylvania
[1] Christ’s
pottery, for example, was the first in country to produce several English
ceramic types.
[2] It
should be noted that the Unitas Fratrum
or the United Brethern (Moravians) enforced standardization through support of
community-directed schooling for both girls and boys, men and women. It is
interesting that the word Töpfer is used by them.
[3] Only one
example of the use of don was found
in Barber, 1903:208
[4] It is also possible, that this
and similar word choices could have been used to form an alliance with morally
unassailable ground, protecting individual potters from judgment by their
communities.
[5] The use
of English became more common in the 19th and 20th
centuries as Anglo neighbors and tourists sought out the potters.
[6] The
swiftest and most speech-like of “ceramic literature” are probably the incised
verses on the bases and sides of vessels [often stoneware], not covered herein.
[7] “Heaven
Letters”- letters believed to have been sent directly from God to Earth via an
angel. The letters promised all good to believers and ill fortune to those who
heeded not.
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