Researching German-Bohemian dialect
University professors from Germany gather info in New UlmBy RON LARSEN Journal Staff Writer
Article Photos
NEW ULM - Two German linguists who are tracking the Bohemian-German dialect around the world are in New Ulm for four days interviewing individuals of Bohemian-German ancestry in order to try to "map" their dialects.
For Alfred Wildfeues and Nicole Eller of the University of Regensburg, Germany's language department, it's a project that is going to take them to various parts of the world before their work is completed. When they've finished their research, they plan to publish their findings.
"We are on a project together with Kansas University at Lawrence, together with our university at Regensburg in Bavaria, and it was Nicole's idea together with a professor from KU to do research on German-Bohemian language in the United States. I was happy to jump onto the ship so I could join them in their research so that's why we are here," Wildfeues said.
While they're starting with interviews here in the United States, the pair know that there's going to be a lot more international travel connected with this project.
"We both wrote our doctoral theses a couple years ago. Nicole wrote on the Bohemian-German dialect in Bohemia, and I wrote mine on the Bavarian dialect," Wildfeues said.
"Now we plan a publication of Bohemian-German dialect all around the world because there are settlements here in the states. There are settlements in the Ukraine, Romania, New Zealand and Brazil, many, many places. The Bohemians liked traveling."
It was when the pair made their first trip to Kansas last year that they learned about the Bohemian-German population here in the New Ulm area.
"We met Pat Kretsch and [Pat] Eckstein last year in Lawrence on a contract last year, and we spent the last 10 days down in Kansas this year in interviews with speakers of Bohemian-German dialect in Ellis County which is quite close to Hays," Wildfeues explained.
"Then, we drove up through northwest Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and up to Minnesota, and today we do dialect interviews with speakers of Bohemian German here in New Ulm, like Kretsch and Eckstein."
This journey won't be their last research trip to the United States, however.
"We will come back next year twice and once again in 2010 to complete our research on the Bohemian-German dialects in the United States," he said.
Meanwhile, Wildfeues and Eller will be doing dialect interviews in the German Bohemian Society offices at 1200 S. Broadway until they leave so any individuals of German Bohemian ancestry in the area are invited to drop in to be interviewed.
Ron Larsen can be reached at rlarsen@nujournal.com
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dlwurscher
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08-07-08 8:00 AM
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Have Them check out Cole Camp Mo, German is still spoken there.
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