Confederate German

Confederate German is the name of the dialect of German found mostly in Texas, Rio Grande, New Mexico, and Washington, with more than 15 million speakers, not counting those in Florida, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and in the Pacific States.

Differences
European German has a tendency to have a uvular R like French, while Confederate German uses a trilled R like Scottish or Berlin German. Additionally, European German uses the present perfect (I have seen, ich habe gesehen) while Confederate German uses the simple past (I saw, ich sah) as the conversational past tense. There is also a tendency for Confederate German to use the past subjunctive of strong verbs more often than the composed form (ich käme rather than ich würde kommen), and to use the genitive more than 'von'+dative (das Auto meines Freundes rather than das Auto von meinem Freund).

Strong Verbs
Confederate Germans in the late 19th century had a renaissance in Texas, and were distinctly proud of their language. A young linguist, Johannes Wright, a bright young Texan German, published a book listing out all the strong verbs of the proto-Germanic mother language of English and German, which had an influence on many Texan Germans who began using the strong verb forms of verbs which had become weak, such as backen (backte, gebacken), now backen (buk, gebacken).

Examples

 * I saw where my boat was. I would go if I had time.
 * Ich sah wo mein Boot war. Ich ginge wenn ich Zeit hätte.
 * I would find my cell phone if I had a light.
 * Ich fände mein Handy wenn ich Licht hätte.