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In:Dutch and Contact Linguistics: The Dutch language outside the Low Countries
Edited by Christopher Joby and Nicoline van der Sijs
[IMPACT: Studies in Language, Culture and Society 55] 2025
► pp. 479–501

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Chapter 15
Dutch names in a Mexican Mennonite Old Colony community?

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Published online: 4 July 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.55.15hoe
Abstract
The Old Colony Mennonite residents of Salamanca, Mexico, are descendants of Anabaptists from the 16th-century Netherlands. Their everyday language is Plaut­dietsch, an East-Low German variety that exhibits notable Dutch influence, particularly in its lexicon. The Plaut­dietsch first names (call names) and corresponding hypocoristic forms in these communities suggest a Dutch linguistic legacy. The Mennonites’ naming traditions — personal names, colony names, and street village names — serve as acts of memory preservation, reflecting their diasporic history from the Netherlands into the Americas. Language use and name-giving may be safeguarding continuity in the Old Colony archipelago. However, fieldwork from Chihuahua shows that increased exposure to modernity can significantly impact naming traditions. For now, the legacy embedded in the Plaut­dietsch call names of Salamanca’s Mennonites remains a living testament to their Dutch history.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Salamanca and the wanderings of the Mennonite community
    • 1.2Dutch presence in the Plaut­dietsch language/community
  • 2.Fieldwork: Assembling the corpus
  • 3.Call names: Analyzed and compared
    • 3.1Similarities and differences between the Plaut­dietsch and Dutch call names
    • 3.2Mennonite names in Salamanca compared to those in ethnic Mennonite communities in Chihuahua
  • 4.Plaut­dietsch/Dutch call names with Dutch diminutive suffixes?
    • 4.1Diminutive suffixes in Plaut­dietsch: (Low) German or Netherlandic?
    • 4.2Historical use of names with diminutives in 17th-century Dutch writing
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgement
  • Notes
  • References
References (40)
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