Colonia Tovar dialect

Spoken in

• Indo-European Germanic West - Germanic high German Alemannisch Niederalemannisch Alemán coloniero

De

Ger (ISO 639-2 / B) / eng (ISO 639-2 / T)

Gct

Alemán Coloniero is a niederalemannischer dialect of German, which is mainly spoken in Colonia Tovar, Venezuela. As a self-description can be found in Tovar following names: Dialecto, Ditsch, Alemán, Alemannic, Patua. The ISO abbreviation comes from the English name Colonia Tovar German.

The dialect is, like other Alemannic dialects, difficult to understand, only standard German speaking people. Alemán Coloniero is the language of the descendants of German settlers, most of whom emigrated in 1843 from the area around the emperor chair to Venezuela. The settlers were recruited primarily by the Italian geographer Augustin Codazzi in Endingen chair and Wyhl on behalf of the Venezuelan State. On December 18, 1842 left 80 families, a total of 389 people, the home region of Baden and mastered in three weeks walking the distance of 660 km via Strasbourg to Le Havre. By boat they reached Venezuela in April 1843.

The dialect has evolved from the South Baden and a small influence of some other dialects of southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Most speakers also speak the official language of Spanish, which also diverse Spanish loanwords in Alemán Coloniero are included. This dialect alongside the official native language Spanish is dominated in Colonia Tovar of almost 3000 and in the region of 16,000 people. The descendants of the settlers have long been integrated by school and married in Venezuela.

In the old families ( Guth, Rudman, Roo, misle, Herig, Muttach ) the Alemán Coloniero is not only very well spoken, but also passed on to the succeeding generation. It is not possible to predict whether the dialect is still spoken in one or two generations, however, recognize the Tovarer that they thus have an important cultural property and are trying everything to get the dialect. The majority of the still Alemannic -speaking people of Colonia Tovar could not visit the country of origin of their ancestors so far. But you want to remain aware of their cultural roots. Therefore, thinking about exchange programs with the former homeland. Because of the Alemannic carnival, the half-timbered style of building, the cuckoo clocks, ham, Eisbeins with sauerkraut and strawberry tarts and sometimes folk dressed women, the area is visited by many tourists from the rest of Venezuela.

Teaching of the German / Alemannic

The importance of the school in the Colonia Tovar is of particular importance. Until 1942, when the Colonia Tovar was declared a municipality with Tovar as the capital, it was found that the majority of the over 15 -year-old Spanish could neither read nor write. This and the seclusion are two main reasons why the dialect has received. However, when the Venezuelan government learned of this, the Venezuelan education system and with this the Spanish language has been introduced. The students were forbidden from now on, at school Alemannic to " chatter ". They received blows on the hands when they did it anyway. Also, they were persuaded, the dialect is not a language, but he was (wrongly) Patois and therefore bad. The influence of the Venezuelan on the Tovarer was even more By connecting the colony to the rest of the state. It was and is always trying since to be able to use German as a language of instruction, but until now the state has granted schools permission for a bilingual education or German as a second language. So allowed to teach only private tutor both the dialect and the standard German.

Was the non-existent education with the non-existent Spanish a reason that the dialect has been preserved, so the existing system in Spanish for the loss of the dialect in large part is now responsible.