When speakers of different language varieties come into contact with each other, one variety often becomes dominant (based on relative social, economic, and/or political prestige), even to the point where it totally supersedes the other variety. This is what has occurred in Green Point, Pennsylvania, a small rural mountain community whose members once spoke Pennsylvania Dutch (a German dialect). This language was superseded by English several decades ago, and for at least two generations residents have spoken their own variety of the language, Pennsylvania Dutchified English (PDE); today even that variety is threatened by the overpowering influences of the standard variety of English spoken in the region. In addition to briefly describing the some linguistic features of PDE, this study examines the forces behind the Pennsylvania Dutch--Pennsylvania Dutchified English--regional standard of English language shift that has taken place in this community, in two ways--first by looking carefully at the historical and economic factors that have played a role in residents' language choices in the past, and then by investigating the influence of certain social variables that may be linked to residents' choices between PDE and the regional standard today. The paper concludes with a discussion of the prospects for the survival of PDE in this area and offers some suggestions for actions that PDE speakers can take to preserve their dialect, if they choose to do so. / Department of English

This thesis should serve as a comprehensive site report for both Porter’s Bar (8Fr1) and Green Point (8Fr11) mounds in northwest Florida. These prehistoric burial mounds and their associated village shell midden are determined to have been constructed during two different time periods, Middle Woodland and Early Woodland, respectively. This is the first time that all materials and data have been described and compiled for both sites, despite the fact that they were both originally recorded over a century ago and described differently later by multiple researchers. The mounds served as an important ceremonial center along Apalachicola Bay some 1500 years ago, beginning perhaps during the Early Woodland (1200 B.C. – A.D. 250) and continuing through the Middle Woodland (A.D. 250 – A.D. 650). Evidence indicates an earlier Late Archaic component, and a much later historic nineteenth-century component. People living here probably experienced slightly different coastlines as sea levels fluctuated. The village midden associated with the two mounds extends for nearly 300 meters along the bay shore and has been damaged by sea-level change, while other parts have been borrowed for road material. The mounds have been damaged by looting and residential construction. All known materials and data from the two sites are presented and compared, including burial styles and associated funerary goods. Ceramic types and tempers indicate that Green Point mound was one of the few built during the Early Woodland known in the region. The same population may have constructed Porter’s Bar during Middle Woodland times, perhaps a century or two later, and included artifacts that are rarely found in the research area. Potential areas of further investigation are noted, but time is limited as the midden will probably be inundated within the next fifty years.