[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] dialects

[Foote, Daniel]

My 2 cents:
- As hinted at by another, 'Prussian' was originally a Baltic ethnic group
and Baltic language. The ethnic group was largely assimilated by the 12-13
century 'crusades' of the Tuetonic Knights. The Prussian language is
documented (vocabulary lists, catechism) up to the 16th century. In the
modern era, there are a 'Low Prussian' and a 'High Prussian' (See Wikipedia
for outlines)

- 'Ish' reveals influence from southern and central High German dialects.
The other end of the spectrum, Low German (as well as Dutch, Frisian) is
'Ik'. Central High German is in the middle, '/ix/' (IPA, like Scottish
'loch')

- In the small town of Corn, Oklahoma and its surroundings, there was a
significant population of Germans from Russia or Poland. The majority were
Low German speaking Mennonites from Russia/Ukraine/Volhynia/Crimea. Others
were from Russian Poland who mostly had reverted to High German by the
1850s. (The Mennonites along the Vistula had come from Dutch/Low German
areas, spoke Dutch in church until 1750s, while quickly adapting to the
Vistula Low German)  We have my great-aunt and my grandfather (who had a
father born near Warsaw) on video recalling a joke. The Low Germans
(Plattdeutsch/Plautdietsch) spoke a German that was  'platt und verdreht':
flat and twisted. They recalled this in the presence of my grandfather's
wife, who was from a Low German family. She chuckled. This is one of the
few vivid memories I have of them, since they all pased in the mid- 1990s
when I was in my teens. (Yes, I'm one of the youngsters of the list)

- Unfortunately, I am not familiar with Perogies. However, I do know that
Borscht is tomato and chicken based ;) , Zweiback are soft, sweet yeast
rolls (not large crackers), Verenika is plain yummy and
Porzelki/Niejakoakja are fabulously sinful.