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120-580: Plautdietsch was a Low German dialect like others until it was taken by Mennonite settlers to the southwest of the Russian Empire starting in 1789. From there it evolved and subsequent waves of migration brought it to North America, starting in 1873. In Latin America the first settlement occurred in Argentina in 1877 coming from Russia. Plautdietsch is spoken by about 400,000 Russian Mennonites , most notably in

240-589: A July 2014 interview with her said that Novorossiya "is some sort of artificial idea that lives only in the minds of people in the Kremlin ." In 2016 Marlène Laruelle wrote that Alexander Prokhanov formed the Izborsky Club around the Novorossiya meme. Gerard Toal opines that "In breaking apart a sovereign territorial state, it is helpful, if not always necessary, to have an alternative geopolitical imaginary at

360-596: A Low German plural: Burrasch , Wratschen . The pure Low German words Äsel and Schlorr are seldom used in Mexico. The spelling of Plautdietsch has also been controversial. The main criteria for spelling systems have been: One problem has been what letters to use for sounds that do not exist in German, such as the palatal /c/ and /ʝ/ sounds, which are both pronounced and spelled differently in various dialects of Plautdietsch. Old Colony speakers pronounce these sounds by striking

480-762: A break) The first half of the 16th century was the onset of the rule of terror by the Duke of Alba in the Spanish Low Countries during the Dutch Revolt (a.k.a. Eighty Years' War ), that was centered on religious freedom for the Protestants . As a result, many Mennonites and Reformed left the country. This continued in the 17th century, when the Dutch Reformed Church became the official religion, being less than indulgent to other types of Protestantism, let alone

600-612: A few Mennonite Church members. They almost immediately began to split into separate churches themselves. Today these groups are among the most conservative of all Swiss Mennonites outside the Amish. They stress strict separation from "the world", adhere to "strict withdrawal from and shunning of apostate and separated members", forbid and limit cars and technology and wear plain clothing. Conservative Mennonites are generally considered those Mennonites who maintain somewhat conservative dress, although carefully accepting other technology. They are not

720-626: A group of Anabaptist Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation . The name Mennonites is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland , part of the Holy Roman Empire , present day Netherlands . Menno Simons became a prominent leader within the wider Anabaptist movement and was a contemporary of Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Philip Melanchthon (1497–1560). Through his writings about

840-695: A new monarch would take power, and the Mennonites would be forced to flee again, usually leaving everything but their families behind. Often, another monarch in another state would grant them welcome, at least for a while. While Mennonites in Colonial America were enjoying considerable religious freedom, their counterparts in Europe continued to struggle with persecution and temporary refuge under certain ruling monarchs. They were sometimes invited to settle in areas of poor soil that no one else could farm. By contrast, in

960-574: A progressive Mennonite church. Most progressive Mennonite Churches place a great emphasis on the Mennonite tradition's teachings on pacifism and non-violence . Some progressive Mennonite Churches are part of moderate Mennonite denominations (such as the Mennonite Church USA ) while others are independent congregations. Most Mennonite denominations hold a conservative position on homosexuality. The Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests

1080-574: A somewhat representative sample of the complicated classifications within the Mennonite faith worldwide. Moderate Mennonites include the largest denominations, the Mennonite Brethren and the Mennonite Church. In most forms of worship and practice, they differ very little from many Protestant congregations. There is no special form of dress and no restrictions on use of technology. Worship styles vary greatly between different congregations. There

1200-514: A source from where words are borrowed extensively, especially for religious terms. Many of these words show the effects of the High German consonant shift, even though they are otherwise adapted into Plautdietsch phonetics. Compare: This is the case particularly on nouns made out of verbs. The verb normally shows the unshifted consonant, whereas the noun has a shifted Germanized consonant: schluten, Schluss; bräakjen, Bruch (to close, closure; to break,

1320-667: A sympathetic audience among the larger of these German-Mennonite congregations around Krefeld , Altona, Hamburg , Gronau and Emden . It was among this group of Quakers and Mennonites, living under ongoing discrimination, that William Penn solicited settlers for his new colony. The first permanent settlement of Mennonites in the American colonies consisted of one Mennonite family and twelve Mennonite-Quaker families of German extraction who arrived from Krefeld , Germany, in 1683 and settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania . Among these early settlers

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1440-608: A three case system with the definite articles, without much consistency. The system looks somewhat like this, some might use the dative neuter articles, others might not: All possessives (see under pronouns) are declined like in this way. With the form äa (her/their) an r has to be reinserted before adding endings ( äaren, äare ). Mennonite Low German nouns inflect into two numbers: singular and plural , three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter, but only two cases, nominative and oblique . The historical dative and accusative have merged, even though some writers try to maintain

1560-586: A three cases distinction, which has been lost for most speakers, perhaps centuries ago. The oblique case is distinct from the nominative only in 1) personal pronouns: ekj froag am , hee auntwuat mie (I ask him, he answers me) 2) articles and demonstrative and possessive adjectives in the singular masculine gender: de Voda halpt dän Sän (the father helps the son) (observe: nouns are not inflected themselves) and 3) proper names, i. e. traditional Mennonite names: Peeta frajcht Marie -en , Marie auntwuat Peet ren (Peter asks Mary, Mary answers Peter) Plural formation

1680-709: A unified group and are divided into various independent conferences and fellowships such as the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church Conference. Despite the rapid changes that precipitated the Old Order schisms in the last quarter of the 19th century, most Mennonites in the United States and Canada retained a core of traditional beliefs based on a literal interpretation of the New Testament scriptures as well as more external "plain" practices into

1800-449: A year the project was abandoned: on 1 January 2015 the founding leadership announced the project had been put on hold, and on 20 May the constituent members announced the freezing of the political project. Anna Nemtsova forecast this disintegration in August 2014, and she predicted the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine then too. Oksana Yanyshevskaya , a Ukrainian government official, in

1920-424: Is a heavy tendency to shift /o/ sound up to [u] . Pronunciation of certain vowels and diphthongs varies from some speakers to others; the diphthong represented by ee for instances is pronounced [oi] or even [ei] by some. Likewise the long vowels represented by au and ei might have a diphthong glide into [ʊ] and [ɪ] , respectively. Low German grammar resembles High German, as the syntax and morphology

2040-843: Is comparatively complex. Three major procedures can be established: 1) through an ending, -a, -en, -s, -sch or none at all; 2) voicing the final devoiced consonant and 3) fronting (and maybe lowering) a back vowel, which might require palatalization of a velar consonant. A given word could have one or two, all or none of these characteristics. No ending , no voicing, no vowel fronting: de Fesch de Fesch, daut Schop, de Schop, daut Been, de Been (fish, fishes; sheep, sheep; leg, legs) Voicing, no ending, no vowel fronting: Frint, Friend; Boajch, Boaj (friend/s, mountain/s) No ending, no voicing, vowel fronting: Foot, Feet (foot, feet) Voicing and vowel fronting, no ending: Hoot, Heed (hat/s) -a ending: only: Licht, Lichta (light/s) with voicing: Bilt, Bilda (picture/s) Mennonite Mennonites are

2160-581: Is conservative doctrine, dress, and traditions, common roots in 19th-century and early 20th-century schisms, and a refusal to participate in politics and other so-called "sins of the world". Most Old Order groups also school their children in Mennonite-operated schools. Stauffer Mennonites , or Pike Mennonites, represent one of the first and most conservative forms of North American Horse and Buggy Mennonites. They were founded in 1845, following conflicts about how to discipline children and spousal abuse by

2280-548: Is nearly the same as High German's. Over the years, Plautdietsch has lost some inflection. It is, however, still moderately inflectional, having two numbers, three genders, two cases, two tenses, three persons, two moods, two voices, and two degrees of comparison. Even though Plautdietsch has three genders, in the nominative case it has only two definite articles (like Dutch and Low German); masculine and feminine articles are homophonous. However, masculine and feminine indefinite articles are still different (like German) and thus,

2400-477: Is no formal liturgy; services typically consist of singing, scripture reading, prayer and a sermon. Some churches prefer hymns and choirs; others make use of contemporary Christian music with electronic instruments. Mennonite congregations are self-supporting and appoint their own ministers. There is no requirement for ministers to be approved by the denomination, and sometimes ministers from other denominations will be appointed. A small sum, based on membership numbers,

2520-414: Is paid to the denomination, which is used to support central functions such as the publication of newsletters and interactions with other denominations and other countries. The distinguishing characteristics of moderate Mennonite churches tend to be ones of emphasis rather than rule. There is an emphasis on peace, community and service. However, members do not live in a separate community—they participate in

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2640-518: Is today Poland, where they used to live until 1945. Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church is a Low German Mennonite Church, in Goessel , Kansas, US. Some of the major differences between the two (major) varieties are: A few other differences sometimes related to this issue are the exact pronunciation of the IPA c sound and words as jenau/jeneiw. According to some studies, those might be due to the level of education of

2760-582: The Anarcho-Communists of Nestor Makhno , who considered the Mennonites to be privileged foreigners of the upper class and targeted them. During expropriation, hundreds of Mennonite men, women and children were murdered in these attacks. After the Ukrainian–Soviet War and the takeover of Ukraine by the Soviet Bolsheviks , people who openly practiced religion were in many cases imprisoned by

2880-773: The Black Sea and Crimea . The province fell largely within a slightly wider area known in Ukrainian as the Stepovyna and in Russian as the Stepp "Steppe Land", or Nyz "Lower Land". The name Novorossiya, which means New Russia, entered official usage in 1764, after the Russian Empire conquered the Crimean Khanate , and annexed its territories, when Novorossiya Governorate (or Province)

3000-670: The Black Sea in an area that Russia had recently acquired in one of the Russo-Turkish Wars . This is now part of Ukraine as well as other countries. Beginning in 1873, many Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites migrated from the Russian Empire to the United States and Canada. In 1922, Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites from Canada started to settle in Mexico, and in 1927 in Paraguay. In the 1930s, Mennonites emigrated mainly from Soviet Ukraine directly to Brazil. The first Mennonite settlement in Bolivia

3120-615: The Lower and Upper Barton Creek Colonies in Belize. Lower Barton is inhabited by Plautdietsch speaking Russian Mennonites, whereas Upper Barton Creek is mainly inhabited by Pennsylvania Dutch language -speaking Mennonites from North America. Neither group uses motors or paint. Persecution and the search for employment forced Mennonites out of the Netherlands eastward to Germany in the 17th century. As Quaker Evangelists moved into Germany they received

3240-542: The Reformation Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss Anabaptist founders as well as early teachings of the Mennonites founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus . Formal Mennonite beliefs were codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith (1632), which affirmed "the baptism of believers only, the washing of the feet as a symbol of servanthood, church discipline,

3360-729: The Soviet Union's collapse on 26 December 1991 and concurrent with the lead-up to Ukrainian independence on 24 August 1991, a nascent movement began in Odesa for the restoration of Novorossiya region; it however failed within days and never defined its borders. The initial conception had not developed exact borders, but focus centred on the Odesa , Mykolaiv , Kherson , and Crimean oblasts, with eventually other oblasts joining as well. The name received renewed emphasis when Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in an interview on 17 April 2014 that

3480-808: The voiced palatal stop /ɟ/ , written gj or dj. (A similar event occurred with English, but not as generalized). Where an /e/ or /i/ has been sunken to /a/ , the palatalized sound is retained. Also where German has a palatalization (of the shifted /ç/ consonant), Plautdietsch retains the palatalization (of /k/ ) even after lowering a front vowel. Most Anabaptists that settled in the Vistula Delta were of Dutch or northern German origins, and were joined by refugees from different parts of Germany and Switzerland, who influenced their developing language. After almost two centuries in West Prussia, German replaced Dutch as church, school and written language and has become

3600-483: The " Radical Reformation ". Many government and religious leaders, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, considered voluntary church membership to be dangerous—the concern of some deepened by reports of the Münster Rebellion , led by a violent sect of Anabaptists. They joined forces to fight the movement, using methods such as banishment, torture, burning, drowning or beheading. Despite strong repressive efforts of

3720-696: The 1770s Catherine the Great of the Russian Empire acquired a great deal of land north of the Black Sea (in present-day Ukraine) following the Russo-Turkish War and the takeover of the Ottoman vassal, the Crimean Khanate . Russian government officials invited Mennonites living in the Kingdom of Prussia to farm the Ukrainian steppes depopulated by Tatar raids in exchange for religious freedom and military exemption. Over

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3840-602: The 1920s, Russian Mennonites from Canada started to migrate to Latin America (Mexico and Paraguay), soon followed by Mennonite refugees from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Further migrations of these Mennonites led to settlements in Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Belize, Bolivia and Argentina. By the beginning of the 20th century, the Mennonites in Russia owned large agricultural estates and some had become successful as industrial entrepreneurs in

3960-556: The 1950s and 1960s. The first conservative withdrawals from the progressive group began in the 1950s. These withdrawals continue to the present day in what is now the growing Conservative Movement formed from Mennonite schisms and from combinations with progressive Amish groups. While moderate and progressive Mennonite congregations have dwindled in size, the Conservative Movement congregations continue to exhibit considerable growth. Other conservative Mennonite groups descended from

4080-596: The Anabaptist movement, Menno Simons , a Catholic priest in the Low Countries , heard of the movement and started to rethink his Catholic faith. He questioned the doctrine of transubstantiation but was reluctant to leave the Roman Catholic Church. His brother, a member of an Anabaptist group, was killed when he and his companions were attacked and refused to defend themselves. In 1536, at the age of 40, Simons left

4200-742: The Black Sea were sparsely populated and were known as the Wild Fields (as translated from Polish or Ukrainian), Dykra (in Lithuanian) or Loca deserta ("desolated places") in Latin on medieval maps. There were, however, many settlements along the Dnieper River . The Wild Fields had covered roughly the southern territories of modern Ukraine ; some say they extended into the modern Southern Russia ( Rostov Oblast ). The Russian Empire gradually gained control over

4320-524: The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective of Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA. Many Progressive Mennonite churches allow LGBTQ+ members to worship as church members. In some more moderate congregations and conferences, people who identify as LGBTQ+ have been banned from membership, and leading worship. The Germantown Mennonite Church in Germantown, Pennsylvania is one example of such

4440-781: The French in religious wars, and Queen Anne had invited the Germans to go to the British colonies. Of these immigrants, around 2,500 were Mennonites and 500 were Amish. This group settled farther west than the first group, choosing less expensive land in the Lancaster area. The oldest Mennonite meetinghouse in the United States is the Hans Herr House in West Lampeter Township . A member of this second group, Christopher Dock , authored Pedagogy ,

4560-624: The Greek ana ["again"]). These forerunners of modern Mennonites were part of the Protestant Reformation , a broad reaction against the practices and theology of the Roman Catholic Church . Its most distinguishing feature is the rejection of infant baptism , an act that had both religious and political meaning since almost every infant born in western Europe was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church . Other significant theological views of

4680-538: The Latin American countries of Mexico, Peru , Bolivia, Paraguay, Belize, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay , along with the United States and Canada (notably Manitoba , Saskatchewan , and Ontario ). Today, Plautdietsch is spoken in two major dialects that trace their division to what is now Ukraine. These two dialects are split between Chortitza Colony and Molotschna . Today, many younger Russian Mennonites in Canada and

4800-731: The Mennonite church in Switzerland and South Germany to include shunning , to hold communion more often, and other differences. When the discussions fell through, Ammann and his followers split from the other Mennonite congregations. Ammann's followers became known as the Amish Mennonites or just Amish. In later years, other schisms among Amish resulted in such groups as the Old Order Amish , New Order Amish , Kauffman Amish Mennonite , Swartzentruber Amish , Conservative Mennonite Conference and Biblical Mennonite Alliance . For instance, near

4920-556: The Mennonite population has become urbanized and more integrated into the wider culture, this visible difference has disappeared outside of Conservative Mennonite groups. The Reformed Mennonite Church, with members in the United States and Canada, represents the first division in the original North American Mennonite body. Called the "First Keepers of the Old Way" by author Stephen Scott , the Reformed Mennonite Church formed in

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5040-627: The Mennonites developed in opposition to Roman Catholic views or to the views of Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli . Some of the followers of Zwingli's Reformed church thought that requiring church membership beginning at birth was inconsistent with the New Testament example. They believed that the church should be completely removed from government (the proto– free church tradition), and that individuals should join only when willing to publicly acknowledge belief in Jesus and

5160-826: The Moldavian region of Bessarabia , the modern Ukraine 's regions of the Black Sea littoral (Prychornomoria), Zaporizhzhia , Tavria , the Azov Sea littoral (Pryazovia), the Tatar region of Crimea , the area around the Kuban River , and the Circassian lands. The modern history of the region follows the fall of the Golden Horde . The eastern portion was claimed by the Crimean Khanate (one of its multiple successors), while its western regions were divided between Moldavia and Lithuania . With

5280-511: The Netherlands and started around 1530 to settle around Danzig and in West Prussia , where they lived for about 250 years. Starting in 1791 they established colonies in the south-west of the Russian Empire and beginning in 1854 also in Volga region and Orenburg Governorate . Their ethno-language is Plautdietsch , a Germanic dialect of the East Low German group, with some Dutch admixture. Today, many traditional Russian Mennonites use Standard German in church and for reading and writing. In

5400-470: The Netherlands bear the designation of ethnic Mennonites . Across Latin America, Mennonite colonization has been seen as a driver of environmental damage, notably deforestation of the Amazon rainforest through land clearance for agriculture. The early history of the Mennonites starts with the Anabaptists in the German and Dutch-speaking regions of central Europe. The German term is Täufer (Baptist) or Wiedertäufer ("re-Baptizers" or "Anabaptists" using

5520-412: The Netherlands, the Mennonites enjoyed a relatively high degree of tolerance. Because the land still needed to be tended, the ruler would not drive out the Mennonites but would pass laws to force them to stay, while at the same time severely limiting their freedom. Mennonites had to build their churches facing onto back streets or alleys, and they were forbidden from announcing the beginning of services with

5640-403: The Old Colony dialect, as seen in their verb endings, while the other three use the Plautdietsch as spoken by the descendants of the Bergthal Colony, i. e. the Old Colony dialect with a loss of -n endings. Mennonite Low German has many sounds, including a few not found in other varieties of Low German. Where symbols for consonants occur in pairs, the left represents the voiceless consonant and

5760-490: The Roman Catholic Church. He soon became a leader within the Anabaptist movement and was wanted by authorities for the rest of his life. His name became associated with scattered groups of nonviolent Anabaptists whom he helped to organize and consolidate. During the 16th century, the Mennonites and other Anabaptists were relentlessly persecuted . This period of persecution has had a significant impact on Mennonite identity. Martyrs Mirror , published in 1660, documents much of

5880-437: The Russian authorities commenced a broad program of colonization, encouraging large migrations from a broader spectrum of ethnic groups. Catherine the Great invited European settlers to these newly conquered lands: Romanians (from Moldavia , Wallachia and Transylvania ), Bulgarians , Serbs , Greeks , Albanians , Germans , Poles , Italians , and others. Catherine the Great granted Prince Grigori Potemkin (1739–1791)

6000-497: The Soviet government. This led to a wave of Mennonite emigration to the Americas (U.S., Canada and Paraguay). When the German army invaded the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941 during World War II, many in the Mennonite community perceived them as liberators from the communist regime under which they had suffered. Many Russian Mennonites actively collaborated with the Nazis, including in the rounding up and extermination of their Jewish neighbors, although some also resisted them. When

6120-438: The United States in 1688. The treatise was addressed to slave-holding Quakers in an effort to persuade them to change their ways. In the early 18th century, 100,000 Germans from the Palatinate emigrated to Pennsylvania, where they became known collectively as the Pennsylvania Dutch (from the Anglicization of Deutsch , which now means German but used to mean West Germanic). The Palatinate region had been repeatedly overrun by

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6240-413: The United States speak only English. For example, Homer Groening —the father of Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons )—spoke Plautdietsch as a child in a Mennonite community in Saskatchewan in the 1920s, but Matt never learned the language. In 2007, Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas directed the film Stellet Licht ( Silent Light ), set in a Mennonite community in Chihuahua , Mexico. Most of

6360-414: The United States. There are Mennonite settlements in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Colombia. The Mennonite Church in the Netherlands still continues where Simons was born. Though Mennonites are a global denomination with church membership from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, certain Mennonite communities with ethno-cultural origins in Switzerland and

6480-414: The absence of an official orthography, there are quite a few written texts in the Plautdietsch language. A significant example is the Bible, whose New Testament was published in 1987 and the complete version subsequently published in 2005. It shares grammatical and lexical similarities with other varieties of Low German, and in general it is intelligible to other Low German speakers after some acquaintance. On

6600-418: The area, signing peace treaties with the Cossack Hetmanate and with the Ottoman Empire at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish Wars of 1735–39 , 1768–74 , 1787–92 and 1806–12 . In 1764 the Russian Empire established the Novorossiysk Governorate ; it was originally to be named after the Empress Catherine, but she decreed that it should be called New Russia instead. Imperial Russia’s view of New Russia

6720-442: The area. In 1775, the Russian Empress Catherine the Great forcefully liquidated the Zaporizhian Sich and annexed its territory to Novorossiya, thus eliminating the independent rule of the Ukrainian Cossacks. The governorate was dissolved in 1783. In 1792, the Russian government declared that the region between the Dniester and the Bug was to become a new principality named " New Moldavia ", under Russian suzerainty. According to

6840-442: The beginning of the 19th century due to the intensive movement of colonists who rapidly created towns, villages, and agricultural colonies. During the Russo-Turkish Wars , the major Turkish fortresses of Ozu-Cale , Akkerman , Khadzhibey , Kinburn and many others were conquered and destroyed. New cities and settlements were established in their places. Over time the ethnic composition varied. Multiple ethnicities participated in

6960-417: The beginning of the 20th century, some members in the Amish church wanted to begin having Sunday schools and participate in progressive Protestant-style para-church evangelism. Unable to persuade the rest of the Amish, they separated and formed a number of separate groups including the Conservative Mennonite Conference. Mennonites in Canada and other countries typically have independent denominations because of

7080-545: The beginning of the 20th century. However, disagreements in the United States and Canada between conservative and progressive (i.e. less emphasis on literal interpretation of scriptures) leaders began in the first half of the 20th century and continue to some extent today. Following World War II, a conservative movement emerged from scattered separatist groups as a reaction to the Mennonite churches drifting away from their historical traditions. "Plain" became passé as open criticisms of traditional beliefs and practices broke out in

7200-402: The centuries. With regard to salvation , Mennonites believe: When we hear the good news of the love of God, the Holy Spirit moves us to accept the gift of salvation. God brings us into right relationship without coercion. Our response includes yielding to God's grace, placing full trust in God alone, repenting of sin, turning from evil, joining the fellowship of the redeemed, and showing forth

7320-406: The cities, employing wage labor. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War (1917–1921), all of these farms (whose owners were called Kulaks ) and enterprises were expropriated by local peasants or the Soviet government. Beyond expropriation , Mennonites suffered severe persecution during the course of the Civil War, at the hands of workers, the Bolsheviks and, particularly,

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7440-501: The desire to live in accordance with his teachings. At a small meeting in Zurich on 21 January 1525, Conrad Grebel , Felix Manz , and George Blaurock , along with twelve others, baptized each other. This meeting marks the beginning of the Anabaptist movement. In the spirit of the times, other groups came to preach about reducing hierarchy, relations with the state, eschatology , and sexual license, running from utter abandon to extreme chastity . These movements are together referred to as

7560-660: The dialect of that writer. The most famous Plautdietsch writer, Arnold Dyck , wrote in the Molotschna dialect, though his origins were from the Old Colony. During his life, he made many changes in his spelling system. His developments are a basis for the various spellings used today. In the following table, only his final system is taken into account, as used in his famous Koop enn Bua series, along with Herman Rempel ( Kjenn Jie noch Plautdietsch? ), Reuben Epp ( Plautdietsche Schreftsteckja ), Jack Thiessen ( Mennonite Low German Dictionary ), J. J. Neufeld ( Daut niehe Tastament ) and Ed Zacharias ( De Bibel ). The latter two claim to write in

7680-399: The expansion of the Ottoman Empire , the whole Black Sea northern littoral region came under the control of the Crimean Khanate that in turn became a vassal of the Ottomans. Sometime in the 16th century the Crimean Khanate allowed the Nogai Horde which were displaced from its native Volga region by Muscovites and Kalmyks to settle in the Black Sea steppes . Vast regions to the North of

7800-459: The extreme." Surkov claims that Ukraine is "a muddle instead of a state. […] But there is no nation. There is only a brochure, ‘The Self-Styled Ukraine’, but there is no Ukraine." During the Wagner Group mutiny in June 2023, President Putin used the phrase in a speech responding to the mutiny, praising those "who fought and gave their lives to Novorossiya and for the unity of the Russky Mir ". The ethnic composition of Novorossiya changed during

7920-474: The film's dialogue is in Plautdietsch, which some of the actors had to learn phonetically. Other parts were played by people of the local community. Plautdietsch speakers today are mostly the descendants of Mennonites who fled in the 16th century to escape persecution and resettled in the Vistula delta . These refugees were Frisians and Saxons from East Frisia, people from Flanders (now part of Belgium) and central Europeans. They settled in West Prussia mostly in

8040-568: The final -n as the Molotschna speakers do. Plautdietsch has a Low German base, and as such, it does not show the effects of the High German consonant shift . This distinguished the High German dialects from the Low German dialects and all other Germanic languages. The basic distinctions between High German and Low German are: Like Dutch, Frisian and Low German, Plautdietsch only shows the mutation of ⟨th⟩ into ⟨d⟩ . As shown, while Dutch, English and German have experienced similar vowel shifts, Plautdietsch has only merged

8160-418: The first American monograph on education. Today, Mennonites also reside in Kishacoquillas Valley (also known as Big Valley), a valley in Huntingdon and Mifflin counties in Pennsylvania. Novorossiya Novorossiya is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later become the southern mainland of Ukraine : the region immediately north of

8280-476: The first Russian census of the Yedisan region conducted in 1793 (after the expulsion of the Nogai Tatars) 49 villages out of 67 between the Dniester and the Southern Bug were Romanian. From 1796 to 1802 Novorossiya was the name of the reestablished Governorate with the capital Novorossiysk (previously and subsequently Ekaterinoslav, the present-day Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk not to be confused with present-day Novorossiysk , Russian Federation ) In 1802 it

8400-451: The former Amish-Mennonite churches which split, like the Wisler Mennonites, from the Old Order Amish in the latter part of the 19th century. (The Wisler Mennonites are a grouping descended from the Old Mennonite Church.) Other Conservative Mennonite churches descended from more recent groups that have left the Amish, like the Beachy Amish or the Tennessee Brotherhood Churches. In North America, there are structures and traditions taught as in

8520-547: The founding of the cities of Novorossiya (most of these cities were expansions of older settlements ). For example: According to the report of governor Aleksandr Shmidt ( ru ), the ethnic composition of Kherson Governorate (which included the city of Odesa ) in 1851 was as follows: With regard to language usage, Russian was commonly spoken in the cities and some outside areas, while Ukrainian generally predominated in rural areas, smaller towns, and villages. The 1897 All-Russian Empire Census statistics show that Ukrainian

8640-461: The general community as "salt and light" to the world ( Matthew 5 :13,14). The main elements of Menno Simons' doctrine are retained but in a moderated form. Banning is rarely practiced and would, in any event, have much less effect than in those denominations where the community is more tightly knit. Excommunication can occur and was notably applied by the Mennonite Brethren to members who joined

8760-525: The general population). Mennonites can be found in communities in 87 countries on six continents. Seven ordinances have been taught in many traditional Mennonite churches, which include "baptism, communion, footwashing, marriage, anointing with oil, the holy kiss, and the prayer covering." The largest populations of Mennonites are found in Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, and

8880-459: The holy kiss, and the prayer covering." In 1911, the Mennonite church in the Netherlands ( Doopsgezinde Kerk ) was the first Dutch church to have a female pastor authorized; she was Anne Zernike . There is a wide scope of worship, doctrine and traditions among Mennonites today. This section shows the main types of Mennonites as seen from North America. It is far from a specific study of all Mennonite classifications worldwide but it does show

9000-706: The image of Christ. We thus respond in faith to Christ and seek to walk faithfully in the way of Christ. Traditionally, Mennonites sought to continue the beliefs of early Christianity and thus practice the lovefeast (which includes footwashing , the holy kiss and communion ), headcovering , nonresistance , the sharing of possessions and nonconformity to the world ; these things are heavily emphasized in Old Order Mennonite and Conservative Mennonite denominations. Seven ordinances have been taught in many traditional Mennonite churches, which include "baptism, communion, footwashing, marriage, anointing with oil,

9120-416: The infinitive of verbs, after short vowels, and sometimes after back vowels as seen in the example Huarn, Hieena. All words with a /ɡ/ or /k/ preceding or following a front vowel ( /e/ or /i/ , not counting schwa ) have been shifted to /j/ and /c/ (the latter has been written as kj or tj), even if there is another consonant between the vowel and the consonant. An intervocalic /ɡ/ is palatalized as

9240-654: The middle of the tongue against the palate. Others, especially speakers of the Molotschna dialect, instead strike the tongue against the alveolar ridge and spell them ⟨tj⟩ and ⟨dj⟩ . Most Plautdietsch speakers' ears are not accustomed to realize these subtle, if not trivial, differences, and will often confuse one with the other. Other problematic areas: use or non-use of ⟨v⟩ for some words with /f/ sound, use or non-use of Dehnungs-h , when to double consonants and when not to. When comparing different writers, one must take into account

9360-539: The military during the Second World War. Service in the military is generally not permitted, but service in the legal profession or law enforcement is acceptable. Outreach and help to the wider community at home and abroad is encouraged. The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a leader in foreign aid provision. Traditionally, very modest dress was expected, particularly in Conservative Mennonite circles. As

9480-539: The more Low German form Brams ), spark plugs (pluralized Ploggen ), but also words like peanuts , belt , tax . Plautdietsch speakers living in Spanish-speaking countries use many Spanish words in daily speech, especially in business and communication (telephone, for instance) vocabulary. Two examples of words that are completely adapted into Mennonite Low German are Burra (Mexican Spanish burro , donkey) and Wratsch (Mexican Spanish huarache , sandal). Both have

9600-458: The most conservative fraction maintaining use of the Plautdietsch dialect. Plautdietsch is primarily a spoken language, and does not have an official orthography. However, there have been attempts to create a written form of the language. One of the main issues facing the development of an official orthography is the variation in pronunciation among various speech communities. Another hindrance to

9720-693: The name of New Russia was in fact the most powerful statement imaginable of Russia's national coming of age. The administrative centre of the Novorossiysk Governorate was at the St. Elizabeth fortress (today in Kropyvnytskyi ) in order to protect the southern borderlands from the Ottoman Empire , and in 1765 this passed to Kremenchuk . After the annexation of the Ottoman territories to Novorossiya in 1774,

9840-549: The names for those technologies. For Mennonites who had settled in North America in the 1870s, all new words were borrowed from English. Even though many of those settlers left for South America only 50 years after their arrival, they kept and sometimes adapted these words into the Mennonite Low German Phonetics: In particular, words for auto parts are taken from English: hood , fender , brakes (along with

9960-443: The obedience of faith in word and deed. When we who once were God's enemies are reconciled with God through Christ, we also experience reconciliation with others, especially within the church. In baptism we publicly testify to our salvation and pledge allegiance to the one true God and to the people of God, the church. As we experience grace and the new birth, we are adopted into the family of God and become more and more transformed into

10080-419: The old Germanic /yː/ sound with /iː/ , while long /uː/ is retained in the Molotschna dialect. The Old Colony variety has fronted it to the now vacant /yː/ . Not only has Plautdietsch undergone vowel shift, various dialects of Plautdietsch have also had their own shifts. The deletion of r has been completed in most final positions, after front vowels and before alveolar consonants, but is still retained in

10200-590: The one-true-church doctrine and their use of avoidance toward their own excommunicated members. The Holdeman Mennonites do not believe that the use of modern technology is a sin in itself, but they discourage too intensive a use of the Internet and avoid television, cameras and radio. The group had 24,400 baptized members in 2013. Old Order Mennonites cover several distinct groups. Some groups use horse and buggy for transportation and speak German while others drive cars and speak English. What most Old Orders share in common

10320-527: The opportunity to emigrate, and the vast majority emigrated to Germany. The Russian Mennonite immigrants in Germany from the 1990s outnumber the pre-1989 community of Mennonites by three to one. By 2015, the majority of Russian Mennonites and their descendants live in Latin America, Germany and Canada. The world's most conservative Mennonites (in terms of culture and technology) are the Mennonites affiliated with

10440-671: The organization had 109 member denominations in 59 countries, and 1.47 million baptized members in 10,300 churches. The beliefs of the movement are those of the Believers' Church . One of the earliest expressions of Mennonite Anabaptist faith was the Schleitheim Confession , adopted on 24 February 1527. Its seven articles covered: The Dordrecht Confession of Faith was adopted on 21 April 1632, by Dutch Mennonites, by Alsatian Mennonites in 1660, and by North American Mennonites in 1725. It has been followed by many Mennonite groups over

10560-402: The other hand, it has several developments and sound shifts not found in any other Low German dialect. Regional differences of the language have developed. This is common in spoken languages that have historically lacked a consistent writing system, and have been carried to territories where other languages prevail. Major differences seem to have originated in the beginning of the 19th century in

10680-577: The persecution of Anabaptists and their predecessors, including accounts of over 4,000 burnings of individuals , and numerous stonings , imprisonments , and live burials . Today, the book is still the most important book besides the Bible for many Mennonites and Amish, in particular for the Swiss-South German branch of the Mennonites. Persecution was still going on until 1710 in various parts of Switzerland. In 1693, Jakob Ammann led an effort to reform

10800-758: The powers of an absolute ruler over the area from 1774, after which he directed the Russian colonization of the land. The rulers of Novorossiya gave out land generously to the Russian nobility ( dvoryanstvo ) and the enserfed peasantry —mostly from Ukraine and fewer from Russia—to encourage immigration for the cultivation of the then sparsely populated steppe. According to the Historical Dictionary of Ukraine : The population consisted of military colonists from hussar and lancer regiments, Ukrainian and Russian peasants, Cossacks, Serbs, Montenegrins, Hungarians, and other foreigners who received land subsidies for settling in

10920-478: The practical considerations of distance and, in some cases, language. Many times these divisions took place along family lines, with each extended family supporting its own branch. Political rulers often admitted the Menists or Mennonites into their states because they were honest, hardworking and peaceful . When their practices upset the powerful state churches, princes would renege on exemptions for military service, or

11040-485: The ready and for this ersatz replacement to have some degree of local credibility and support." The Novorossiya idea is just this portmanteau . The idea of Novorossiya goes hand-in-hand with the erasure of Ukrainian statehood, or as Vladislav Surkov said in his defenestration interview in February 2020, "There is Ukrainian-ness. That is, a specific disorder of the mind. An astonishing enthusiasm for ethnography, driven to

11160-473: The right represents the voiced consonant . Observations: According to the spelling system of De Bibel these sounds are spelled as follows: The vowel inventory of Plautdietsch is large, with 13 simple vowels, 10 diphthongs and one triphthong. The /u/ sound has been shifted to /y/ in the Old Colony dialect, leaving the sound only as part of the ua diphthong. However, in certain areas and age groups, there

11280-505: The shunning of the excommunicated, the non-swearing of oaths, marriage within the same church", nonresistance , and in general, more emphasis on "true Christianity" involving "being Christian and obeying Christ" as they interpret it from the Holy Bible . The majority of the early Mennonite followers, rather than fighting, survived by fleeing to neighboring states where ruling families were tolerant of their belief in believer's baptism . Over

11400-444: The sound of a bell. A strong emphasis on "community" was developed under these circumstances. It continues to be typical of Mennonite churches. As a result of frequently being required to give up possessions in order to retain individual freedoms, Mennonites learned to live very simply. This was reflected both in the home and at church, where their dress and their buildings were plain. The music at church, usually simple German chorales,

11520-596: The speaker, as well as the influence of Russian and standard German. The distinctive features of Chortitza-Plautdietsch as opposed to Molotschna-Plautdietsch include: Some Plautdietsch speakers might speak a mixture of both dialects. For instance, those who trace their origin to the Bergthal Colony in New Russia—a daughter colony of the Old Colony—show all the phonetic distinction of the Old Colony version, but drop

11640-610: The state churches, the movement spread slowly around western Europe, primarily along the Rhine . Officials killed many of the earliest Anabaptist leaders in an attempt to purge Europe of the new sect. By 1530, most of the founding leaders had been killed for refusing to renounce their beliefs. Many believed that God did not condone killing or the use of force for any reason and were, therefore, unwilling to fight for their lives. The non-resistant branches often survived by seeking refuge in neutral cities or nations, such as Strasbourg . Their safety

11760-402: The territories of Kharkiv , Luhansk , Donetsk , Kherson , Mykolaiv and Odesa were part of what was called Novorossiya. In May 2014, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic proclaimed the confederation of Novorossiya and its desire to extend its control towards all of southeastern Ukraine. The confederation had little practical unity and within

11880-434: The three genders can still be perfectly established. In the oblique case , the masculine has a special definite article, making it once more different from the feminine, which, like the neuter, does not change. In the plural number, all gender identification is lost (as in German, Dutch and Low German); all plural determiners and adjective endings are homophonous with the feminine singular. Some Plautdietsch writers try to use

12000-583: The three local areas of Nehrung (on the Baltic Sea), Werder (islands in the Vistula delta) and Niederung (south of the Werder), where they adopted the respective local Low German dialect as their everyday language. As Mennonites they kept their own (primarily Dutch and Low German) identity, using Standard Dutch as the language of the church well into the 18th century. As a written language, they took up High German. At

12120-571: The tide of war turned, many of the Mennonites fled with the German army back to Germany where they were accepted as Volksdeutsche . The Soviet government believed that the Mennonites had "collectively collaborated" with the Germans. After the war, many Mennonites in the Soviet Union were forcibly relocated to Siberia and Kazakhstan. Many were sent to gulags as part of the Soviet program of mass internal deportations of various ethnic groups whose loyalty

12240-476: The time of their migration to the Russian Empire, their spoken language resembled the dialects of the region with only some few Dutch elements. Their East Low German dialect is still classified as Low Prussian. Russian Mennonites trace their genealogical roots mostly to the Low Countries . Beginning in the late 18th century, the expanding Russian Empire invited Germans and many from the Kingdom of Prussia , including many Mennonites, to create new colonies north of

12360-582: The two major Mennonite settlements in Ekaterinoslav, also known as Novorossiya , or New Russia, which lies in modern-day Ukraine. The colonies were Chortitza (Old Colony) and Molotschna (New Colony), as noted above. There was a third variety spoken by Groningen Old Flemish Mennonites in Waldheim, Gnadenfeld  [ uk ] , and Alexanderwohl, which traced its origin from Przechovka . From Przechovka some moved to Brenkenhoffswalde and Franztal , in what

12480-589: The types perceived as radical (non-violent, no bearing of arms, no recognition of worldly authorities). In Low German area, they left their language traces in particular at the lower Vistula , around Danzig and Elbing , and up the river towards Toruń . Wherever Mennonites settled, they found new foods and other items with which they were not familiar with. When that happened, they took the name that local people used for those items. The following words are of Russian or Ukrainian origin: As Mennonites came into contact with new technology, they often adopted and adapted

12600-410: The unification of the language is the fact that most Plautdietsch speaking people are not found in one geographical region, being spread across North America (Canada, the United States, Mexico), Central America and South America. Noteworthy attempts at an orthography include those done by Fast (1982), Reimer (1982), Reimer et al. (1983), Epp (1996), Loewen (1996, 1998), and Heinrichs et al. (2001). Despite

12720-598: The use of automobiles. They are notable for being the church of Milton S. Hershey 's mother and famous for the long and bitter ban of Robert Bear, a Pennsylvania farmer who rebelled against what he saw as dishonesty and disunity in the leadership. The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite , a group often called Holdeman Mennonites after their founder John Holdeman, was founded from a schism in 1859. They emphasize Evangelical conversion and strict church discipline. They stay separate from other Mennonite groups because of their emphasis on

12840-570: The very early 19th century. Reformed Mennonites see themselves as true followers of Menno Simons' teachings and of the teachings of the New Testament . They have no church rules, but they rely solely on the Bible as their guide. They insist on strict separation from all other forms of worship and dress in conservative plain garb that preserves 18th century Mennonite details. However, they refrain from forcing their Mennonite faith on their children, allow their children to attend public schools, and have permitted

12960-546: The years Mennonite farmers and businesses were very successful. In 1854, according to the new Russian government official invitation, Mennonites from Prussia established colonies in Russia's Volga region , and later in Orenburg Governorate ( Neu Samara Colony ). Between 1874 and 1880 some 16,000 Mennonites of approximately 45,000 left Russia. About nine thousand departed for the United States (mainly Kansas and Nebraska) and seven thousand for Canada (mainly Manitoba). In

13080-627: The years, Mennonites have become known as one of the historic peace churches , due to their commitment to pacifism . Mennonites seek to emphasize the teachings of early Christianity in their beliefs, worship and lifestyle. Congregations worldwide embody various approaches to Mennonite practice, ranging from Old Order Mennonites (who practice a lifestyle without certain elements of modern technology) to Conservative Mennonites (who hold to traditional theological distinctives, wear plain dress and use modern conveniences) to mainline Mennonites (those who are indistinguishable in dress and appearance from

13200-410: Was William Rittenhouse , a lay minister and owner of the first American paper mill. Jacob Gottschalk was the first bishop of this Germantown congregation. Four members of that early group of Mennonites and Mennonite-Quaker, Francis Daniel Pastorius , Abraham op den Graeff , Derick op den Graeff (both cousins to William Penn) and Garret Hendericks signed the first formal protest against slavery in

13320-500: Was described in 2006 by the historian Willard Sunderland: The old steppe was Asian and stateless; the current one was state-determined and claimed for European-Russian civilization. The world of comparison was now even more obviously that of the Western empires. Consequently it was all the more clear that the Russian empire merited its own New Russia to go along with everyone else's New Spain , New France , and New England . The adoption of

13440-669: Was divided into three governorates, the Yekaterinoslav , Kherson , and the Taurida . From 1822 to 1874 the Novorossiysk-Bessarabia General Government was centred in Odesa . The region remained part of the Russian Empire until its collapse following the Russian February Revolution in early March 1917. The territory became part of the short-lived Russian Republic for one year then in 1918, it

13560-717: Was founded in 1957 by Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites from Paraguay. Soon, conservative Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites from Canada, Mexico, and Belize also relocated to Bolivia, settling together. In 1986/7, a settlement was founded in Argentina by Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites from other Latin American countries. Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites have also recently begun colonies in the jungle of Peru . Plautdietsch-speaking communities in Latin America have mostly maintained their language, while also learning Standard German and local languages. In North America, many Mennonites have adopted English as their common language. In Germany, many Mennonites have shifted to Standard German, with only

13680-509: Was founded in 1976 in the United States and has member churches of different denominations in the United States and Canada. The Mennonite Church Canada leaves the choice to each church for same-sex marriage . The Mennonite Church in the Netherlands and the Mennonite Church USA which had 62,000 members in 2021, about 12% of American Mennonites, permit same-sex marriage . The "Russian Mennonites" (German: "Russlandmennoniten") today are descended from Dutch Anabaptists , who came from

13800-695: Was founded. Official usage of the name ceased after 1917, when the entire area (minus Crimea) was annexed by the Ukrainian People's Republic , precursor of the Ukrainian SSR . Novorossiya Governorate was formed in 1764 from military frontier regions and parts of the southern Hetmanate , in anticipation of a war with the Ottoman Empire . It was further expanded by the annexation of the Zaporozhian Sich in 1775. At various times, Novorossiya encompassed

13920-658: Was largely included in the Ukrainian State and in the Ukrainian Soviet Republic at the same time. In 1918–1920, it was, to varying extents, under the control of the anti- Bolshevik White movement governments of South Russia whose defeat signified the Soviet control over the territory, which became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic , within the Soviet Union in 1922. Following

14040-460: Was often tenuous, as a shift in alliances or an invasion could mean resumed persecution. Other groups of Anabaptists, such as the Batenburgers , were eventually destroyed by their unwillingness to fight. This played a large part in the evolution of Anabaptist theology. They believed that Jesus taught that any use of force to get back at anyone was wrong, and taught to forgive. In the early days of

14160-458: Was performed a cappella . This style of music serves as a reminder to many Mennonites of their simple lives, as well as their history as a persecuted people. Some branches of Mennonites have retained this "plain" lifestyle into modern times. The Mennonite World Conference was founded at the first conference in Basel , Switzerland, in 1925 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Anabaptism . In 2022,

14280-494: Was seen as questionable. Many German-Russian Mennonites who lived to the east (not in Ukraine) were deported to Siberia before the German army's invasion and were also often placed in labor camps . In the decades that followed, as the Soviet regime became less brutal, a number of Mennonites returned to Ukraine and Western Russia where they had formerly lived. In the 1990s the governments of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine gave these people

14400-415: Was the native language spoken by most of the population of Novorossiya, but with Russian and Yiddish languages dominating in most city areas. The 1897 All-Russian Empire Census statistics: Many of the cities that were founded (most of these cities were expansions of older settlements ) during the imperial period are major cities today. Imperial Russian regiments were used to build these cities, at

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