(''Hutterisch'') 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 also called '''Tirolean''', but this is an anachronism.
Hutterite is spoken in the US States of
Washington ,
Montana ,
North and
South Dakota , and
Minnesota ; and in the Canadian provinces of
Alberta ,
Saskatchewan , and
Manitoba . Its speakers belong to the ''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 , the standard language of the surrounding areas.
Hutterite German is descended from the German which was spoken in
Carinthia , in
Austria , in the mid-
18th Century . Since the German dialects spoken in Carinthia don't resemble those which were spoken in the
Palatinate and in
Alsace (mostly
Alemannic dialects), Hutterite German is fairly unintelligible to a speaker of
Pennsylvania German , although for geographical reasons, these two languages are rarely in contact.
It should be noted that, although at one time the Hutterites spoke
Tirol ean German, they no longer do. The switch among Hutterites from Tirolean German to Carinthian German occurred during years of severe persecution in Europe when Hutterite communities were devastated and survival depended on the conversion of many Austrian
Protestant refugees to Hutterite
Anabaptism .
The language has since adopted some
Slavic as well as English loan words, which are the result of Hutterite migrations into eastern
Europe and now
North America .
Hutterite German is for the most part an unwritten language.
The Hutterites employ
Martin Luther 's predecessor to
Standard German as the written form, and every Hutterite child learns Luther's German in school (although their schooling for the most part is in English).
Ethnologue report for Hutterite German
