Editing German language (section)

====North America====

[[image:Bundesarchiv Bild 137-005795, Deutsche Zeitungen in Nordamerika.jpg|thumb|left|German-language [[newspaper]]s in [[North America]] in 1922]]

''See also [[Pennsylvania German]][[Plautdietsch]][[Hutterite German]]''

[[German in the United States]] is the fifth most spoken language at home (~ 1.4 million) after [[English language|English]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]], and [[French language|French]] according to the 2000 U.S. Census.<ref name = "US Census">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t20/tab05.pdf |title=Table 5. Detailed List of Languages Spoken at Home for the Population 5 Years and Over by State: 2000 |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=2010-03-15}}</ref> The United States, therefore, has one of the largest concentrations of German speakers outside Europe. The states of [[North Dakota]] and [[South Dakota]] are the only states where German is the most common language spoken at home after English (the second most spoken language in other states is either Spanish or French).<ref name = "US Census"/> An indication of the German presence can be found in the names of such places as New Ulm and many other towns in Minnesota; [[Bismarck, North Dakota|Bismarck]] (state capital), [[Munich, North Dakota|Munich]], [[Karlsruhe, North Dakota|Karlsruhe]], and [[Strasburg, North Dakota|Strasburg]] in North Dakota; [[New Braunfels]] and Muenster in Texas; and Kiel, [[Berlin, Wisconsin|Berlin]] and [[Germantown, Wisconsin|Germantown]] in Wisconsin. Over the course of the 20th century many of the descendants of 18th century and 19th century immigrants ceased speaking German at home, but small populations of elderly (as well as some younger) speakers can be found in [[Pennsylvania]] ([[Amish]], [[Hutterites]], [[Dunkard Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania|Dunkards]] and some [[Mennonites]] historically spoke [[Hutterite German]] and a [[West Central German]] variety of [[Pennsylvania German language|Pennsylvania Dutch]]), [[Kansas]] (Mennonites and [[Volga German]]s), North Dakota (Hutterite Germans, Mennonites, [[History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union|Russian Germans]], Volga Germans, and [[Baltic Germans]]), [[South Dakota]], [[Montana]], [[Texas]] ([[Texas German]]), [[Wisconsin]], [[Indiana]], [[Oregon]], [[Louisiana]] and [[Oklahoma]]. A significant group of German [[Pietists]] in [[Iowa]] formed the [[Amana Colonies]] and continue to practice speaking their heritage language. Early twentieth century immigration was often to [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], [[Chicago]], [[New York]], [[Milwaukee]], [[Pittsburgh]] and [[Cincinnati]].

In [[Canada]], there are 622,650 speakers of German according to the most recent census in 2006,<ref name="Statcan">{{cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/topics/RetrieveProductTable.cfm?ALEVEL=3&APATH=3&CATNO=&DETAIL=0&DIM=&DS=99&FL=0&FREE=0&GAL=0&GC=99&GK=NA&GRP=1&IPS=&METH=0&ORDER=1&PID=89189&PTYPE=88971&RL=0&S=1&ShowAll=No&StartRow=1&SUB=705&Temporal=2006&Theme=70&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=&GID=837928 |title=Statistics Canada 2006 |publisher=2.statcan.ca |date=2010-01-06 |accessdate=2010-03-15}}</ref> while people of German ancestry ([[German Canadians]]) are found throughout the country.  German-speaking communities are particularly found in [[British Columbia]] (118,035) and [[Ontario]] (230,330).<ref name="Statcan"/>  There is a large and vibrant community in the city of [[Kitchener, Ontario]], which was at one point named Berlin.  German immigrants were instrumental in the country's three largest urban areas: [[Montreal]], [[Toronto]], and [[Vancouver]]; while post-[[Second World War]] immigrants managed to preserve a fluency in the German language in their respective neighborhoods and sections. In the first half of the 20ᵗʰ century, over a million [[German-Canadian]]s made the language Canada's third most spoken after [[French language|French]] and [[English language|English]].

In Mexico there are also large populations of [[German Mexican|German ancestry]], mainly in the cities of: [[Mexico City]], [[Puebla]], [[Mazatlán]], [[Tapachula]], and larger populations scattered in the states of [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], [[Durango]], and [[Zacatecas]]. German ancestry is also said to be found in neighboring towns around [[Guadalajara, Jalisco]] and much of Northern Mexico, where German influence was immersed into the Mexican culture. Standard German is spoken by the affluent German communities in Puebla, Mexico City, [[Nuevo León]], [[San Luis Potosí]] and [[Quintana Roo]].

=====Dialects in North America=====

The dialects of German which are or were primarily spoken in colonies or communities founded by German-speaking people resemble the dialects of the regions the founders came from. For example, Pennsylvania German resembles [[Palatinate German]] dialects, and Hutterite German resembles dialects of [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthia]]. [[Texas German]] is a dialect spoken in the areas of Texas settled by the [[Adelsverein]], such as New Braunfels and Fredericksburg. In the [[Amana Colonies]] in the state of Iowa, [[Amana German]] is spoken. [[Plautdietsch]] is a large [[minority language]] spoken in Northern Mexico by the [[Mennonite]] communities, and is spoken by more than 200,000 people in Mexico. [[Pennsylvania German language|Pennsylvania Dutch]] is a dialect of German spoken by the [[Amish]] population of Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio.

[[Hutterite German]] is an Upper German dialect of the [[Austro-Bavarian]] variety of the German language, which is spoken by Hutterite communities in Canada and the United States. Hutterite is spoken in the U.S. states of [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]], [[Montana]], [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]], and [[Minnesota]]; and in the Canadian provinces of [[Alberta]], [[Saskatchewan]] and [[Manitoba]]. Its speakers belong to some Schmiedleit, Lehrerleit, and Dariusleit Hutterite groups, but there are also speakers among the older generations of Prairieleit (the descendants of those Hutterites who chose not to settle in colonies). Hutterite children who grow up in the colonies learn and speak first Hutterite German before learning English in the public school, the standard language of the surrounding areas. Many colonies, though, continue with German Grammar School, separate from the public school, throughout a student's elementary education.