"Say What?" - Lehigh Valley's Language History

The contours of the Lehigh Valley, and the many languages that have been spoken on its hilltops and in its valleys, have created our unique geography. This area includes Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania, along the Delaware River, about half-way down to Philadelphia from the New York state line. The Lehigh River runs between the two counties, emptying into the Delaware as it heads toward the Atlantic. The whole area had been called Northampton County, until Lehigh County was carved out of the western half.

Indigenous languages such as that spoken by the Lenni Lenape people were heard in the hills and valleys before the arrival of the European settlers. Many natural features, such as the Lehigh River, and towns, such as Macungie, were named by the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware Indians. This sentiment is reflected by an unknown poet, who wrote "Their names are on your waters and ye cannot wash them out..."

Settlers arriving from other geographic areas brought their own speech, songs, hymns, and poems and ways of expressing their cultures. Phrases and words spoken today in the Lehigh Valley area reflect the words of these ethnic groups. In the 1700s, mostly German and English languages were heard on farms and town streets in the area. Scots-Irish families, such as the Allens, who founded Northampton Town, which later became Allentown, spoke English.

"Pennsylvania German" (sometimes called "Pennsylvania Dutch") settlers spoke dialects of German, from the various areas such as principalities which later to become southwest Germany. They developed flourishing farms and small towns in outlying areas, and worshiped in union churches used by their Lutheran and Reformed congregations. Moravian settlers also spoke German as they founded religion-based towns such as Bethlehem, Nazareth and Emmaus.

During the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, people arrived from Ireland and various areas of Europe. Eastern and southern Europeans came from areas such as the Austro-Hungarian empire and Italy. Many of them spoke Slavic languages such as Polish and Slovenian, while others spoke languages such as Hungarian.

During this period, work in coal and slate mines and in the iron and steel industries led the patterns of settlement. Workers from Wales and Cornish areas settled in the northern parts of Northampton and Lehigh counties, using their experience to work in the slate mines. Coal miners settled in eastern, northern and central Pennsylvania. Areas such as south Bethlehem reflect the cultural heritage of workers in the iron and steel industry. Women often worked in factories such as silk and textile mills and cigar factories.

Many families from eastern Europe were Roman Catholic or Orthodox, and built churches where they could worship in their own languages and practice their traditional customs. They installed stained glass windows with beautiful scenes from their home towns.

Today in Lehigh Valley homes, churches and schools there is a great diversity of languages being spoken. Arabic, Vietnamese, Spanish, Chinese, sign language for the deaf, Polish, and Pennsylvania German are but a few. Many festivals are held honoring these cultural traditions with food, music and crafts.

Our English dialects in the Lehigh Valley reflect our diverse heritage. Our "Pennsylvania Dutch" accents, our Black English phrases, our Slavic names with their many consonants, and the Yiddish words that pepper our speech come together to create a "Lehigh Valley" dialect all our own.

Understanding and speaking a second language gives us a window into our history and offers us different avenues of expression. This knowledge gives us a deeper understanding and appreciation of our own English language.

The history of language families can be traced in a tree-shaped diagram. From the tips of the branches that symbolize languages spoken today, we can trace down toward the large branches, then down into the trunk. At last we sink into the roots, journeying down through the mists of time.