Can German and Dutch speakers understand Plautdietsch (Mennonite Low German)? In this episode we showcase some of the similarities and test the degree of mutual intelligibility between them. Instead of a list of words and sentences, Corinna (Plautdietsch speaker) will read some short sentences to see how well Remco (Dutch speaker) and Matthias (German speaker) can understand the language.

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Plautdietsch (Mennonite Low German) is a Low Prussian dialect of East Low German which has been influenced by Dutch. It developed in the Vistula delta area of Royal Prussia. The Mennonites took the Plautdietsch language with themselves as they moved to the southwest of the Russian Empire in late 1700s, and eventually brought it to North America in the 1800s.

Today, Plautdietsch, with two major dialects, is spoken across Canada, with significant communities residing in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as well as the United States, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Belize, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.

The first Mennonites who arrived in Canada initially settled in Southern Ontario while Canada was still a British colony. Today, the Mennonite population is Canada is around 200,000, but many do not speak Plautdietsch.

A brief history about the Mennonites:

The Mennonites, along with the Amish, are a religiouscultural group which formed during the Protestant Reformation in Central Europe. Dating their separate Christian identity to the Anabaptist movement of the early 16thcentury Reformation. Mennonite differ from other Christian denominations in that baptism is a choice made by mature voluntary believers, and not by infants. Menno Simons, originally a Roman Catholic priest, left his position with the Catholic church and became the leader of the Anabaptists in the area, and the people in this community became known as Mennists (later Mennonites). The persecution of the community led to them scattering throughout Europe and North America.