Copyright by Karen Ann Roesch 2009 The Dissertation Committee for Karen Ann Roesch Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Texas Alsatian: Henri Castro’s Legacy Committee: Hans. C. Boas, Supervisor Marc Pierce Robert King Patience Epps Lars Hinrichs Texas Alsatian: Henri Castro’s Legacy by Karen Ann Roesch, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2009 Dedication To my paternal grandmother, Rosa Lee Hawkins Collins, a Texas-German speaker, and My mother, Joanne Powell Collins, who set an example for me in her achievement of high academic goals Acknowledgements First and foremost, I express my deep appreciation and thanks to the communities of Castroville, D’Hanis, and LaCoste for their participation in and support of my efforts to document the Alsatian language in Texas, which they have so treasured and ardently preserved. Many people in the Alsace also supported me and facilitated my work, even welcoming me into their homes, for which I am deeply thankful. Without their help and encouragement, I would not have been able to achieve my goal. I equally thank my husband and best friend, who lovingly encouraged me and unfailingly gave me both technical and emotional support in the undertaking of this monumental task to its completion, even when it meant weekly separation over a period of several years. Special appreciation goes to my daughter, Cara, who tolerated me in her apartment during the week, lifted my spirits when I was overwhelmed, and made me eat breakfast every day before I left for the courses which prepared me for this task. I also thank my sons, Stefan and Christoph, who were always willing to make time to solve my computer crises and performed the design and upkeep of my website highlighting my research. My deep appreciation also goes to the members of my dissertation committee for their guidance and comments: Dr. Hans Boas, Dr. Robert King, Dr. Marc Pierce, Dr. Patience Epps, and Dr. Lars Hinrichs. I especially thank my dissertation advisor, Dr. Hans Boas, for providing the right blend of guidance and advice during the dissertation v process, and Dr. Marc Pierce, for his untiring willingness to proof-read my many drafts and for his insights into historical and phonological issues. I also thank my professors in the Department of Germanic Studies and the Department of Linguistics for not only arming me with the necessary knowledge and tools to undertake such a task, but also for their thoughtful comments on my papers which prepared me for this topic. Last, but never least, I thank my graduate colleagues and numerous friends who have expressed interest in my work and encouraged me throughout my academic journey. vi Texas Alsatian: Henri Castro’s Legacy Publication No._____________ Karen Ann Roesch, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2009 Supervisor: Hans C. Boas This study constitutes the first in-depth description and analysis of Texas Alsatian as spoken in Medina County, Texas, in the twenty-first century. The Alsatian dialect was transported to Texas in 1842, when the entrepreneur Henri Castro recruited colonists from the Alsace to fulfill the Texas Republic’s stipulations for populating his land grant located to the west of San Antonio. Texas Alsatian (TxAls) is a dialect distinct from other varieties of Texas German (Gilbert 1972: 1, Salmons 1983: 191) and is mainly spoken in Eastern Medina County in and around the city of Castroville. With a small and aging speaker population, it has not been transmitted to the next generation and will likely survive for only another two to three decades. Despite this endangered status, TxAls is a language undergoing death with minimal change. This study provides both a descriptive account of TxAls and discussions on extra- linguistic factors linked to ethnic identity and language loyalty, which have enabled the maintenance of this distinctive Texas German dialect for 150 years. To investigate the extent of the maintenance of lexical, phonological, and morphological features, this study vii identifies the main donor dialect(s), Upper Rhine Alsatian, and compares its linguistic features to those presently maintained in the community, based on current data collected between 2007 and 2009 and Gilbert’s (1972) data collected in the 1960s. This discussion of TxAls is three-fold: (1) an analysis of social, historical, political, and economic factors affecting the maintenance and decline of TxAls, (2) a detailed structural analysis of the grammatical features of TxAls, supported by a description of its European donor dialect and substantiated by Gilbert’s (1972) data, and (3) a discussion of the participants’ attitudes toward their ancestral language, which have either contributed to the maintenance of TxAls, or are now accelerating its decline, based on responses to a survey developed for the TxAls community, the Alsatian Questionnaire . viii Table of Contents List of Tables ....................................................................................................... xiii List of Figures...................................................................................................... xvi List of Illustrations............................................................................................. xviii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.....................................................................1 1.1 Introduction: Rationale and research questions .....................................1 1.2 Methodology and data............................................................................6 1.3 What is Texas Alsatian?........................................................................10 1.3.1 The land of origin......................................................................14 1.3.2 The donor dialect, Upper Rhine Alsatian .................................18 1.4 Adopted home of TxAls: Medina County 2000 ..................................20 1.4.1 Linguistic beginnings..................................................................24 1.4.2 The Texas Germans of Castroville ...........................................26 1.5 TxG dialects: Contact, shift, and decline..............................................28 1.6 Participant profile..................................................................................32 1.6.1 Speaker fluency.........................................................................35 1.6.2 Language acquisition and fluency ............................................38 1.7 Language use today...............................................................................40 1.8 Overview of dissertation structure........................................................46 CHAPTER TWO: THE SOCIOHISTORICAL CONTEXT................................49 2.1 The ecology of language.......................................................................49 2.2 Beginnings: the historical context........................................................53 2.2.1 German immigration to Texas ..................................................55 2.2.2 Immigration to Medina County ................................................56 2.2.3 Henri Castro, Empresario .........................................................58 2.2.4 The Alsatians of Castroville.....................................................60 2.3 Socio-cultural contexts: religion and education...................................65 2.4 Political and economic contexts............................................................72 ix 2.4.1 Insulation...................................................................................72 2.4.2 “Reawakening” .........................................................................74 2.4.3 Verticalization vs. horizontalization.........................................76 2.5 Language shift and diglossia: English /Alsatian..................................78 2.5.1 Diglossia: English /Alsatian.....................................................78 2.5.2 Diglossia and language shift in other TxG dialects ..................81 2.5.3 Real and apparent-time analysis of 2009 participants ..............86 2.6 Group vitality: Language maintenance, shift, death ............................92 2.7 Summary...............................................................................................94 CHAPTER THREE: THE LEXICON OF TEXAS ALSATIAN.........................97 3.1 Introduction...........................................................................................97 3.2 Distinguishing TxAls lexically .............................................................98 3.3 Lexical borrowing...............................................................................109 3.4 Lexical innovation and convergence ..................................................116 3.5 Code-switching ...................................................................................120 3.6 Summary.............................................................................................127 CHAPTER FOUR: THE PHONOLOGY OF TEXAS ALSATIAN..................130 4.1 Introduction.........................................................................................130 4.2 Phonological features of European Alsatian (ALS)...........................133 4.2.1 Regional German dialects in contact with Alsatian................136 4.2.2 Alsatian (LAlem): distinguishing