Pennsylvania Dutch Dialect Project

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Following are some tips to help remember the genders of groups of nouns (most adopted with permission from Peter Schroeder's website). Most of these rules from Standard German apply, however, some (like words ending in -en) are difficult to apply since the Pennsylvania German dialect has dropped the trailing -n.

In many cases, I've used the same words in case you want to compare/contrast the Pennyslvania German word with the Standard German equivalent.

• Compound Words Take the Gender of the Last Noun in the Chain
• Nouns that Refer to People or Animals Often Refect Biological Gender
• Names of Months are Masculine
• Nouns Refering to Precipitation are Masculine
• Nouns Ending in -el, ich are Usually Masculine
• Names of Trees are Usually Feminine
• Names of Flowers are Usually Feminine
• Nounds Ending in -oog, -ei, -ie, -heit, -keet, -keit, -schaft, -ung are Almost Alwaays Feminine
• Nounds Starting with Ge- are Often Neuter
• Nouns with Diminutive Endings (-li, -xin) are Always Neuter

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Masculine		Feminine
der Bruder	(the brother)	die Schweschder	(the sister)
der Daadi	(the father)	die Mudder	(the mother)
der Groossdaadi	(the grandfather)	die Groossmammi	(the grandmother)
der Soh	(the son)	die Dochder	(the daughter)
der Onkel	(the uncle)	die Aent	(the aunt)
der Tietscher	(the teacher - male)	die Tietschern	(the teacher - female)
der Schneider	(the tailor)	die Frackmachern	(the dressmaker-female)

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der Yenner	January
der Hanning	February
der Maz	March
der Abrill	April
der Moi	May
der Yuni (Tschuun)	June
der Yuli (Tschulei)	July
der Augscht	August
der September	September
der Oktower	October
der Nowember	November
der Disember	December

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der Newwel	the fog
der Regge	the rain
der Schee	the rain

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der Leffel	the spoon
der Hunnich	the honey
der Essich	the vinegar
der Keenich	the king

However, there are exceptions (die Summerkich, the summer kitchen)

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die Asche	the ash
die Baerke	the birch
die Buche	the beech
die Linne	the linden
die Tanne	the fir
die Weide	the willow

However, there are exceptions (der Meebel, the maple).

The names of some trees are coupled with the masculine word Baam (tree), example der Beintbaam (the pine tree)

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die Daalerros	the aster
die Dollebaan	the tulip
die Gerranne	the geranium
die Gungelrieb	the orchid
die Maulros	the hollyhock
die Maerzeblumm	the violet
die Ros	the rose

However, there are exceptions (es Gaardenagglie, the carnation).

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die Woog	the balance
die Freierei	the courtship
die Grankheit	the illness
die Lidderlichkeet	the dissoluteness
die Raarichkeet	the rarity, scarcity
die Schicklichkeit	the tact
die Briederschaft	the brotherhood
die Rechning	the account, bill
die Wohning	the dwelling

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es Gebei	the building
es Gebund	the bundle
es Geheil	the weeping
es Gelechter	the laughter
es Geshrei	the shout

However, there are exceptions (die Geburt, the birth).

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es Eise	the iron
es Gold	the gold
es Kubber	the copper
es Mess	the brass

However, there are exceptions (der Schtaal, the steel).

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es Bobbeli	the baby
es Hundli	the puppy

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