@article{818,
  keywords = {Cultural identity, Language maintenance, German, Amish, Mennonites (Old Order)},
  author = {Karen Johnson-Weiner},
  title = {Community Identity and Language Change in North American Anabaptist Communities},
  abstract = {Draws on archival research & on fieldwork conducted since 1984 in Swartzentruber Amish communities in New York, & in Old Order Amish & Mennonite communities in New York, along the Michigan-Indiana border, Pennsylvania, & Ontario, to explore patterns of language maintenance & shift among historical German-speaking North American Amish & Mennonite communities. Findings reveal how these groups have utilized language to encode & mediate group identity. The Old Order Amish & the Old Order Mennonites have maintained German to resist secular authority, remain separate from the dominant society, preserve the traditions of their forefathers, &, above all, mark themselves as Old Order. More liberal groups have shifted to English to demonstrate a commitment to evangelism & a rejection of Old Order practice. Analysis supports the view that individual communities may actively direct language change. Guided by an ideology that invests particular patterns of language use with religious significance, each Amish & Mennonite community determines its own linguistic fate. 77 References. Adapted from the source document},
  year = {1998},
  journal = {Journal of Sociolinguistics},
  volume = {2},
  number = {Journal Article},
  pages = {375-394, },
  address = {United Kingdom},
  isbn = {1360-6441},
  language = {English},
}