German Dialect Recordings from Kansas and Missouri

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From 1979 to 2020, Professor William D. Keel and his graduate students at the University of Kansas recorded speakers of German dialects in Kansas and Missouri. This collection contains MP3 excerpts from the recorded interviews, edited to preserve the privacy of participants. The recordings contain data collected from dialect questionnaires developed in Germany and the USA, along with free speech conversation, anecdotes, jokes, songs and recipes.
With just a few exceptions, speakers are identified by a code that begins with KS or MO, depending on the state the speaker represents, Kansas or Missouri.
Questionnaire sets are found in compressed zip file format for easy download of multiple soundfiles.
Refer to the User Guide for more information.
For an introduction to the German dialects in Kansas, read Deitsch, Däätsch, Düütsch and Dietsch: The Varieties of Kansas German Dialects after 150 Years of German Group Settlement in Kansas by William Keel.
For comprehensive statistics on mid-20th century German usage in Kansas counties (along with other languages), read Foreign Language Units of Kansas by J. Neale Carman.

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Recent Submissions

  • Publication
    MO26 Benton County, Missouri
    (2000) Johnson, D. Chris; Lunte, Gabi; Keel, William D.
    KU Questionnaire responses recorded in 2000 for the North Low Saxon (West Low German) Plattdüütsch dialect of Cole Camp, Missouri. Female speaker born in 1935.
  • Publication
    MO25 Benton County, Missouri
    (2000) Johnson, D. Chris; Lunte, Gabi; Keel, William D.
    KU Questionnaire responses recorded in 2000 for the North Low Saxon (West Low German) Plattdüütsch dialect of Cole Camp, Missouri. Female speaker born in 1933.
  • Publication
    MO24 Benton County, Missouri
    (2000) Johnson, D. Chris; Lunte, Gabi; Keel, William D.
    KU Questionnaire responses recorded in 2000 for the North Low Saxon (West Low German) Plattdüütsch dialect of Cole Camp, Missouri. Male speaker born in 1922.
  • Publication
    MO23 Benton County, Missouri
    (2000) Johnson, D. Chris; Lunte, Gabi; Keel, William D.
    KU Questionnaire responses recorded in 2000 for the North Low Saxon (West Low German) Plattdüütsch dialect of Cole Camp, Missouri. Female speaker born in 1927.
  • Publication
    MO22 Benton County, Missouri
    (2000) Johnson, D. Chris; Lunte, Gabi; Keel, William D.
    KU Questionnaire responses and a short phrase recorded in 2000 for the North Low Saxon (West Low German) Plattdüütsch dialect of Cole Camp, Missouri. Female speaker born in 1927.
  • Publication
    MO21 Benton County, Missouri
    (2000) Johnson, D. Chris; Lunte, Gabi; Keel, William D.
    KU Questionnaire responses recorded in 2000 for the North Low Saxon (West Low German) Plattdüütsch dialect of Cole Camp, Missouri. Male speaker born in 1927.
  • Publication
    MO20 Benton County, Missouri
    (2000) Johnson, D. Chris; Lunte, Gabi; Keel, William D.
    KU Questionnaire responses recorded in 2000 for the North Low Saxon (West Low German) Plattdüütsch dialect of Cole Camp, Missouri. Male speaker born in 1924.
  • Publication
    MO19 Benton County, Missouri
    (2000) Johnson, D. Chris; Lunte, Gabi; Keel, William D.
    KU Questionnaire responses recorded in 2000 for the North Low Saxon (West Low German) Plattdüütsch dialect of Cole Camp, Missouri. Male speaker born in 1928.
  • Publication
    MO18 Benton County, Missouri
    (2000) Lunte, Gabi; Keel, William D.; Johnson, D. Chris
    KU Questionnaire responses and a poem recorded in 2000 for the North Low Saxon (West Low German) Plattdüütsch dialect of Cole Camp, Missouri. Female speaker born in 1925.
  • Publication
    MOGRP3 Osage County, Missouri
    (2000) Keel, William D.; Lunte, Gabi; Johnson, D. Chris
    This was a group interview conducted in a home in Loose Creek, Missouri. The group participated in a discussion of how words and phrases were expressed in their Lower Rhenish (West Low German) dialect. The speakers mentioned ancestral connections with the village of Lank in North Rhein-Westphalia.
  • Publication
    MOGRP2 Morgan County, Missouri
    (2000) Keel, William D.; Lunte, Gabi; Johnson, D. Chris
    This was a group interview held in a Mennonite restaurant in Versailles, MO. The group consisted of middle-aged and older speakers. KU Questionnaire items #1, #14, #15, and #17 were not collected. A number of short phrases and a few rhymes were collected along with the questionnaire items that we did get.
  • Publication
    MOGRP1 Osage County, Missouri
    (2000) Keel, William D.; Lunte, Gabi; Johnson, D. Chris
    This was a group interview conducted in Westphalia, Missouri. Speakers shared in completing the KU Questionnaire and also participated in some lively back-and-forth about how to say certain words and phrases.
  • Publication
    KS44 Ellis County, Kansas
    (1993) Johnson, D. Chris
    Wenker sentences, conversations, and anecdotes recorded in 1993 for the Volga German (West Middle German) dialect of Schoenchen, KS. Male speaker, born in 1919.
  • Publication
    KS43 Russell County, Kansas
    (1995) Johnson, D. Chris
    Wenker sentences, conversations and anecotes/jokes recorded in 1995 for the Volga German (West Middle German) dialect of Milberger, KS. Male speaker, born in 1933.
  • Publication
    KS42 Harvey County, KS
    (2001) Johnson, D. Chris; Lunte, Gabi
    KU Questionnaire responses recorded in 2001 for the Mennonite Plautdietsch (East Low German) dialect of Hesston, KS. Female speaker, born in 1915.
  • Publication
    KS41 Russell County, Kansas
    (2007) Khramova, Maria
    Wenker sentences and a conversation about some of the Russian borrowings in the dialect recorded in 2007 for the Volga German (West Middle German) dialect of Milberger, KS. Female speaker, born in 1924.
  • Publication
    MO17 St. Charles County, Missouri
    (2000) Keel, William D.; Lunte, Gabi; Johnson, D. Chris
    KU Questionnaire responses and two words of interest recorded in 2000 for the Westphalian (West Low German) dialect of Cappeln, MO. Male speaker born in 1919.
  • Publication
    MO14 St. Charles County, Missouri
    (2000) Keel, William D.; Lunte, Gabi; Johnson, D. Chris
    KU Questionnaire responses and a word of interest recorded in 2000 for the Westphalian (West Low German) dialect of Augusta, MO. Male speaker born in 1925.
  • Publication
    MO13 St. Charles County, Missouri
    (2000) Keel, William D.; Lunte, Gabi; Johnson, D. Chris
    KU Questionnaire responses recorded in 2000 for the Westphalian (West Low German) dialect of Femme Osage, MO. Male speaker born in 1932.
  • Publication
    MO11 Lafayette County, Missouri
    (1993) Keel, William D.
    Wenker sentences, a short conversation, and a few words of interest recorded in 1993 for the Eastphalian (West Low German) dialect of Emma, MO. Female speaker born in 1926.