Pennsylvania Dutch language in the context of "Mennonite"

The Amish (/ˈɑːmɪʃ/ , also /ˈæmɪʃ/ or /ˈeɪmɪʃ/; Pennsylvania German: Amisch), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss and Alsatian origins. As they maintain a degree of separation from surrounding populations, and hold their faith in common, the Amish have been described by certain scholars as an ethnoreligious group, combining features of an ethnicity and a Christian denomination. The Amish are closely related to Old Order Mennonites and Conservative Mennonites, denominations that are also a part of Anabaptist Christianity. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, Christian pacifism, and slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with a view neither to interrupt family time, nor replace face-to-face conversations whenever possible, and a view to maintain self-sufficiency. The Amish value rural life, manual labor, humility and Gelassenheit (submission to God's will).

The Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Mennonite Anabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann. Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish. In the second half of the 19th century, the Amish divided into Old Order Amish and Amish Mennonites; the latter do not abstain from using motor cars, whereas the Old Order Amish retained much of their traditional culture. When people refer to the Amish today, they normally refer to the Old Order Amish, though there are other subgroups of Amish. The Amish fall into three main subgroups—the Old Order Amish, the New Order Amish, and the Beachy Amish—all of whom wear plain dress and live their life according to the Bible as codified in their church's Ordnung. The Old Order Amish and New Order Amish conduct their worship in German, speak Pennsylvania Dutch, and use buggies for transportation, in contrast to the Beachy Amish who use modern technology (inclusive of motor cars) and conduct worship in the local language of the area in which they reside. Both the New Order Amish and the Beachy Amish emphasize the New Birth, evangelize to seek converts, and have Sunday schools.

New Holland (Pennsylvania Dutch: Seischwamm) is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,762, an increase over the figure of 5,378 tabulated in 2010.

Old Order Mennonites (Pennsylvania German: Fuhremennischte) form a branch of the Mennonite tradition. Old Order are those Mennonite groups of Swiss German and south German heritage who practice a lifestyle without some elements of modern technology, still drive a horse and buggy rather than cars, wear very conservative and modest dress, and have retained the old forms of worship, baptism and communion.

All Old Order Mennonites reject certain technologies (e.g., radio, television, Internet), but the extent of this rejection depends on the individual group. Old Order groups generally place great emphasis on a disciplined community instead of the individual's personal faith beliefs. The Pennsylvania German language is spoken vigorously among all horse-and-buggy groups except the Virginia Old Order Mennonites, who lost their original language before becoming Old Order. There is no overall church or conference to unite all the different groups of Old Order Mennonites. In 2008–2009, a minority of Old Order Mennonites accepted automobiles, whereas a majority retain horse and buggy transportation.

A kapp (/kɒp/, Pennsylvania German from German Kappe meaning cap, cover, hood) is a Christian headcovering worn by many women of certain Anabaptist Christian denominations (especially among Amish, Mennonites, Schwarzenau Brethren and River Brethren of the Old Order Anabaptist and Conservative Anabaptist traditions), as well as certain Conservative Friends and Plain Catholics, in obedience to Paul the Apostle's command in 1 Corinthians 11:2–10.

Primitive forms of the kapp are seen in the depictions of early Christian women as portrayed in the "etchings in the Catacomb of Domitila in Rome—dating as far back as A.D. 95". The 12th century Waldensians wore the kapp in France and Italy, as did the early Anabaptists of the 16th century—a practice continued down to the present-day by Old Order Anabaptists and Conservative Anabaptists.

Lehigh County (/ˈliːhaɪ/; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lechaa Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 374,557. Its county seat is Allentown, the state's third-largest city after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The county is part of the Southeast region of the commonwealth.

Along with Northampton County to its east, the two counties combine to form the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, the third-largest metropolitan area of Pennsylvania with a population of 861,889 as of 2020. Lehigh County is one of the fastest-growing counties in Pennsylvania and the more highly populated of the two counties. Both counties are part of the Philadelphia television market, the fourth-largest television market in the nation.

Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch: Allenschteddel, Allenschtadt, or Ellsdaun) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lehigh County, and is the third-most populous city in Pennsylvania, with a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census. It is also the most populous city in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area of eastern Pennsylvania, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation as of 2020.

Founded in 1762, Allentown is located on the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River. It is the largest of three adjacent cities, including Bethlehem and Easton in Lehigh and Northampton counties, in the Lehigh Valley region. Allentown is located 48 miles (77 km) north of Philadelphia and 78 miles (126 km) west of New York City.

West Central German (German: Westmitteldeutsch) belongs to the Central, High German dialect family of German. It includes the following sub-families:

• Central Franconian (Mittelfränkisch)
  • Ripuarian (Ripuarisch), spoken in North Rhine-Westphalia (including Kölsch) and German-speaking Belgium and a small edge of the south of the Dutch province of Limbourg.
  • Moselle Franconian (Moselfränkisch; French: francique luxembourgeois) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and France
    • Luxembourgish (Luxemburgisch; Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch; francique luxembourgeois or luxembourgeois) in Luxembourg, Belgium and France
    • Hunsrik (Riograndenser Hunsrückisch), spoken in Brazil and derived from the Hunsrückisch dialect of Moselle Franconian
• Rhine Franconian (Rheinfränkisch; francique rhénan)
  • Palatinate Franconian (Pfälzisch; francique palatin), spoken in Rhineland-Palatinate
    • Lorraine Franconian (Lothringisch; francique lorrain) in the French region of Lorraine
    • Bukovina German (Bukowinadeutsch) in Bukovina (extinct)
    • Pennsylvania German (Pennsylvaniadeutsch) in historical communities in North America, especially Pennsylvania
  • Hessian (Hessisch) in Hesse and the Rhenish Hesse region of Rhineland-Palatinate
    • North Hessian (Nordhessisch)
    • Central Hessian (Mittelhessisch)
    • East Hessian (Osthessisch)
    • South Hessian (Südhessisch)

On the southern and southeastern edges, West Central German varieties border on an area often considered a transitional area between Central German and Upper German, comprising the dialect groups South Franconian German and East Franconian German (popularly called Franconian because dialects of this sub-family are spoken all over Franconia).

Berks County (Pennsylvania German: Barricks Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading, the fourth-most populous city in the state. The county is part of the South Central region of the commonwealth.

The county borders Lehigh County to its north, Schuylkill County to its north, Lebanon and Lancaster counties to its west, Chester County to its south, and Montgomery County to its east. The county is approximately 26 miles (42 km) southwest of Allentown, the state's third-largest city, and 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Philadelphia, the state's largest city.