Allen Spiker German Russian Dialect Tapes
Collection
Identifier: Mss 371
Scope and Content
The Allen Spiker German Russian Dialect Tapes consists of the original oral interviews done on audio tapes, conducted by Allen Spiker during the late 1970s and 1980s as part of his academic study in German linguistics, focusing on the spoken dialect of German Russian immigrants and their descendants now living in North Dakota. Of particular interest was the low German Kashubish dialect. Spiker himself was of German Russian heritage. In addition to word lists pronounced by the interviewee, many tapes
include biographical information as well as other historical information related to the German Russian
experience, both in Russia and the United States.
The Documentation Series includes all the paper files associated with the collection. It includes a photocopy of the 1978 grant application to the North Dakota Committee for the Humanities and Public Issues (North Dakota Humanities Council) requesting fund for Allen Spiker to ‘present the history, development factors and present conditions of the German-Russian language in North Dakota. The program’s purpose is to create an understanding and appreciation of an otherwise underrated aspect of our state’s heritage.’ The proposal was for Spiker to give a program to the ten regional chapters of the North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from Russia in 1979. The ‘Proposed Dialect Atlas … “ document is a nice overview of the project. Its text is reproduced in the ‘Project Description’ section of this finding aid.
The remaining files are Spiker’s notes and annotations regarding a number of his interviews, particularly his recording and analyzing the German pronunciation of various words by the interviewees. Only a few of the interviewees are documented in the files. Among the people identified in the ‘Dialect Analysis Sheets’ file are: Eva Hartze, Rochus Streifel, Damian Baumgartner, Wendelin Wikenheiser, Mr. & Mrs. Flemmer, Philipp Wall, Gunda Berreth, Tessman.
The two Transcription files contain handwritten notes and several typed partial transcriptions of interviews. Most is in German with several translations. Those represented in the notes file include: Damian Baumgartner, Anna Schnell, John Gross, Rochus Streifel, Frieda Hoff, and Edward Lepp. The typed transcription file includes items of Rochus Streifel ‘(Lied vom Anfang der Welt’), John Gross (‘Prohibition agents & the kid’), and Edward Lepp (‘Die Storchgeschichte’ and ‘Erster Raububerfall’). All the typed transcriptions are in German with English translations. The Wortlisten file includes a list of the words used by Allen Spiker as well as phonetic transcriptions for some of the people he interviewed.
The Publications Series includes two publications and an article acquired by Mr. Spiker as part of his research project. They include Amerikanismen deutschen Gegenwartssprache, by Broder Carstensen and Hans Galinsky, published in 1967 by Carl Winter Universitatsverlag; and Kleinen historische Lautlehre des Deutschen, by Blanka Horacek, published in 1966 by Wilhelm Brauuller Universitats Verlaugsbuchhandlung. This later work is extensively marked, no doubt by Mr. Spiker. The final item is an eight page article titled Von den deutschen Mundarten zum Meuhochdeutschen from 1976.
The Interviewee Series has been arranged alphabetically by the first name listed on the reel-to-reel or cassette tape. Many tapes include multiple interviewees and some names appear on more than one tape. Apparently Spiker made duplicate copies of some of the interviews both onto cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes; thus determining what is the original recording is not always possible. He also appears to have combined several interviews onto the same reel-to-reel tape.
A name index together with the entry number has been compiled and provided below. The descriptive data is taken from documentation written on the tape or the box in which it is housed. The Institute staff has not listened to the actual tapes for additional descriptive information, except those that have been made available online as part of Digital Horizons. Almost all the original reel-to-reel tapes were transferred to audio cassette in the early 2000s by the Institute staff. In 2010-2011 additional reel-to-reel tapes and cassettes were digitized when donated as an addition to the collection.
Tape numbers and formats for each interviewee are recorded in the Box and Folder List. The main Tape number sequence is for all 7 inch reel-to-reel audio tapes, while the Tape ‘B’ series designates all 7 inch reel-to-reel audio tapes. Cassettes with a ‘C’ indicate the copy cassettes made by the Institute staff. The ‘Digital’ designation is for those audio tapes digitized prior to donation.
The North Dakota Committee for the Humanities and Public Issues Series is assumed to document Allen Spiker’s speaking about his project, as sponsored by the Committee. The Program Response and Program Tape audio tapes are assumed to be part of his speaking on the project, although staff has not verified this through actually listening of the tapes.
The Documentation Series includes all the paper files associated with the collection. It includes a photocopy of the 1978 grant application to the North Dakota Committee for the Humanities and Public Issues (North Dakota Humanities Council) requesting fund for Allen Spiker to ‘present the history, development factors and present conditions of the German-Russian language in North Dakota. The program’s purpose is to create an understanding and appreciation of an otherwise underrated aspect of our state’s heritage.’ The proposal was for Spiker to give a program to the ten regional chapters of the North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from Russia in 1979. The ‘Proposed Dialect Atlas … “ document is a nice overview of the project. Its text is reproduced in the ‘Project Description’ section of this finding aid.
The remaining files are Spiker’s notes and annotations regarding a number of his interviews, particularly his recording and analyzing the German pronunciation of various words by the interviewees. Only a few of the interviewees are documented in the files. Among the people identified in the ‘Dialect Analysis Sheets’ file are: Eva Hartze, Rochus Streifel, Damian Baumgartner, Wendelin Wikenheiser, Mr. & Mrs. Flemmer, Philipp Wall, Gunda Berreth, Tessman.
The two Transcription files contain handwritten notes and several typed partial transcriptions of interviews. Most is in German with several translations. Those represented in the notes file include: Damian Baumgartner, Anna Schnell, John Gross, Rochus Streifel, Frieda Hoff, and Edward Lepp. The typed transcription file includes items of Rochus Streifel ‘(Lied vom Anfang der Welt’), John Gross (‘Prohibition agents & the kid’), and Edward Lepp (‘Die Storchgeschichte’ and ‘Erster Raububerfall’). All the typed transcriptions are in German with English translations. The Wortlisten file includes a list of the words used by Allen Spiker as well as phonetic transcriptions for some of the people he interviewed.
The Publications Series includes two publications and an article acquired by Mr. Spiker as part of his research project. They include Amerikanismen deutschen Gegenwartssprache, by Broder Carstensen and Hans Galinsky, published in 1967 by Carl Winter Universitatsverlag; and Kleinen historische Lautlehre des Deutschen, by Blanka Horacek, published in 1966 by Wilhelm Brauuller Universitats Verlaugsbuchhandlung. This later work is extensively marked, no doubt by Mr. Spiker. The final item is an eight page article titled Von den deutschen Mundarten zum Meuhochdeutschen from 1976.
The Interviewee Series has been arranged alphabetically by the first name listed on the reel-to-reel or cassette tape. Many tapes include multiple interviewees and some names appear on more than one tape. Apparently Spiker made duplicate copies of some of the interviews both onto cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes; thus determining what is the original recording is not always possible. He also appears to have combined several interviews onto the same reel-to-reel tape.
A name index together with the entry number has been compiled and provided below. The descriptive data is taken from documentation written on the tape or the box in which it is housed. The Institute staff has not listened to the actual tapes for additional descriptive information, except those that have been made available online as part of Digital Horizons. Almost all the original reel-to-reel tapes were transferred to audio cassette in the early 2000s by the Institute staff. In 2010-2011 additional reel-to-reel tapes and cassettes were digitized when donated as an addition to the collection.
Tape numbers and formats for each interviewee are recorded in the Box and Folder List. The main Tape number sequence is for all 7 inch reel-to-reel audio tapes, while the Tape ‘B’ series designates all 7 inch reel-to-reel audio tapes. Cassettes with a ‘C’ indicate the copy cassettes made by the Institute staff. The ‘Digital’ designation is for those audio tapes digitized prior to donation.
The North Dakota Committee for the Humanities and Public Issues Series is assumed to document Allen Spiker’s speaking about his project, as sponsored by the Committee. The Program Response and Program Tape audio tapes are assumed to be part of his speaking on the project, although staff has not verified this through actually listening of the tapes.
Dates
- 1974 -1981
Access
The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the NDSU Archives.
Copyrights
Copyrights to this collection is held by the NDSU Archives.
Biography
Allen L. Spiker was born in Valley City, N.D. on August 4, 1950, son of Clarence and Gladys Spiker. After graduating from high school in Fargo, N.D. he attended North Dakota State University for several years. In 1969 he entered the U.S. Army. After studying German at the U.S. Defense Language Institute, West Coast, he served in the military police and stationed in Germany from 1970-1972. After his discharge he attended NDSU before transferring to the University of North Dakota where he earned a
degree in anthropology and German. In 1976 he received a Fulbright Scholarship for a year of study in German linguistics at the Albert-Ludwigs Universitaet in Freiburg, Germany. His research project there involved a comparative analysis of the German language spoken in Strasburg, N. D. and the modern Alsatian (German) language. In 1978 he received a master’s degree in German Linguistics from the University of North Dakota. His thesis was A Survey of English Loanword usage in the Spoken German Language of German-Russians in North Dakota. He taught German at Mayville State Teachers College. In 1983 he graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He practiced law in Wisconsin, Indiana and Nebraska up to his death.
Allen Spiker married Susanna Von Essen and they had a daughter Andrea. Allen died at Omaha, Nebraska on June 8, 2008.
Allen Spiker married Susanna Von Essen and they had a daughter Andrea. Allen died at Omaha, Nebraska on June 8, 2008.
Project History
The following text was written by Allen Spiker in 1978 describing his project for a ‘Proposed Dialect Atlas for the German-Russians of North Dakota.’
“The German language spoken by the German-Russians in North Dakota is an important aspect of the culture and heritage of this second largest ethnic group in the state. Long neglected by linguists, the unrecorded language is rapidly disappearing with the demise of the native speakers, typically the oldest generation of German-Russians who learned German as their first language and still actively use Geman in their communities and homes.
The German language of the German-Russians in North Dakota is unique. The language developed in the foreign environment of the Russian colonies and later in the United States. Many important questions about the language and its development remain unanswered. How has it developed? How heavily influenced has it been by Russian and English? If German dialects still exist in the German-Russian communities in North Dakota, what are their characteristics?
These questions can be answered in part by the use of a ‘dialect atlas.’ The atlas consists of almost two hundred words, phrases and sentences designed to reflect language variation and similarities which exist in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. The material would be collected in the following manner: One informant would be interviewed in as many German-Russian communities in North Dakota as time and money permit. The informant has to be a long-term resident of the community/area who still actively uses German to be considered a ‘representative speaker.’ The informant would be requested to give the German forms for the English forms in the dialect atlas, i.e. ‘what do you call a horse?’ The entire session would be tape recorded for later analysis.
The recordings would then be phonetically transcribed for a comparative analysis with the data collected from other informants. Each individual entry from the atlas would then be recorded on a map of North Dakota. A legend on each map indicates usage from each community, i.e. *Pferd,+Ross, =Gaul. Since religious affiliation generally conforms with language variation, the religion of each informant (community) would also be indicated on the map.
I have developed the dialect atlas for the German-Russians in North Dakota over a period of two years. The initial idea resulted from the usage of the ‘Der deutsche Sprachatlas’ (a diachronic work valuable for comparative research) and the recent Alsatian Dialect Atlas. Course work and actual field work with dialect research at the ‘Institut fur geschichtliche Landeskunde’ in Freiburg, Germany, where also very influential. The actual selection of the contents of my dialect atlas is the result of research I have done on the language in North Dakota since 1974 and of consultation with speakers of the language.
I began actual field testing of the atlas in early 1978, eventually covering one or more individuals in a dozen North Dakota communities. During this period I continued to revise the material. In its present form I am convinced that the atlas will reveal important characteristics of the unstudied language of the German-Russians in North Dakota. In a few years the completion of such a project will be impossible considering the rapidly dwindling number of native speakers.”
“The German language spoken by the German-Russians in North Dakota is an important aspect of the culture and heritage of this second largest ethnic group in the state. Long neglected by linguists, the unrecorded language is rapidly disappearing with the demise of the native speakers, typically the oldest generation of German-Russians who learned German as their first language and still actively use Geman in their communities and homes.
The German language of the German-Russians in North Dakota is unique. The language developed in the foreign environment of the Russian colonies and later in the United States. Many important questions about the language and its development remain unanswered. How has it developed? How heavily influenced has it been by Russian and English? If German dialects still exist in the German-Russian communities in North Dakota, what are their characteristics?
These questions can be answered in part by the use of a ‘dialect atlas.’ The atlas consists of almost two hundred words, phrases and sentences designed to reflect language variation and similarities which exist in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. The material would be collected in the following manner: One informant would be interviewed in as many German-Russian communities in North Dakota as time and money permit. The informant has to be a long-term resident of the community/area who still actively uses German to be considered a ‘representative speaker.’ The informant would be requested to give the German forms for the English forms in the dialect atlas, i.e. ‘what do you call a horse?’ The entire session would be tape recorded for later analysis.
The recordings would then be phonetically transcribed for a comparative analysis with the data collected from other informants. Each individual entry from the atlas would then be recorded on a map of North Dakota. A legend on each map indicates usage from each community, i.e. *Pferd,+Ross, =Gaul. Since religious affiliation generally conforms with language variation, the religion of each informant (community) would also be indicated on the map.
I have developed the dialect atlas for the German-Russians in North Dakota over a period of two years. The initial idea resulted from the usage of the ‘Der deutsche Sprachatlas’ (a diachronic work valuable for comparative research) and the recent Alsatian Dialect Atlas. Course work and actual field work with dialect research at the ‘Institut fur geschichtliche Landeskunde’ in Freiburg, Germany, where also very influential. The actual selection of the contents of my dialect atlas is the result of research I have done on the language in North Dakota since 1974 and of consultation with speakers of the language.
I began actual field testing of the atlas in early 1978, eventually covering one or more individuals in a dozen North Dakota communities. During this period I continued to revise the material. In its present form I am convinced that the atlas will reveal important characteristics of the unstudied language of the German-Russians in North Dakota. In a few years the completion of such a project will be impossible considering the rapidly dwindling number of native speakers.”
Extent
4.6 Linear Feet
51 Reels (51 audio tapes (7 inch))
25 Reels (25 audio tapes (5 inch))
239 Audio Cassettes (239 audio cassettes)
11 Digital Images (11 compact disks)
Language of Materials
English
German
Abstract
The Allen Spiker German Russian Dialect Tapes consist of original oral interviews conducted by Allen Spiker during the late 1970s and 1980s as part of his academic study in German linguistics. His focus was on the spoken dialect of German Russian immigrants and their descendants living in North Dakota. The interviews consist of pronounced word lists, biographical information, and other historical information related the German Russian experience in both Russia and the United States.
Provenance
Donated by Allen Spiker, 1987; Susanna Von Essen, 2011 (Acc. 2215, 2970).
Property rights
The NDSU Archives owns the property rights to this collection.
- Title
- Finding Aid to the Allen Spiker German Russian Dialect Tapes
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Institute for Regional Studies Repository
Contact:
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu