the names of objects in daily use, until the dialect can best be described as a fusion of Franconian and Alemannic with an admixture of English varying from one per cent. in the rural districts to a large percentage in the towns.
The language exhibits the characteristic dialectic darkening of a to o (schlof for Schlaf; jor for Jahr), further the fronting of ö to e (here for hören; bes for böse) and of ü to i (bicher for Bücher). German ei and äu generally appear as ē (del for Teil; bem for Bäume). The consonants p, pp, and d are not shifted (pund for Pfund; kloppe for klopfen; kopp for Kopf; dag for Tag; mudder for Mutter). Final vowels and inflectional n are dropped (mid for müde; bem for Bäume; finne for finden; gfunne for gefunden).
The writings of the Pennsylvania Germans have been mainly of a religious character, such as hymns and polemical pamphlets. They were written as a rule in the High-German literary dialect, with, however, a number of exceptions. Within the last forty years, however, a number of poems in the dialect have been written. Consult: Seidensticker, Bilder aus der deutsch-pennsylvanischen Geschichte (2d ed., New York, 1886); id., The First Century of German Printing in America (Philadelphia, 1893); Cobb, Story of the Palatines, an Episode in Colonial History (New York, 1897); Sachse, The German Sectarians of Provincial Pennsylvania, 1694-1800 (ib., 1895-1900); Haldeman, Pennsylvania Dutch (ib., 1872); Learned, The Pennsylvania German Dialect (Baltimore, 1889).
PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY, The. An association organized in Lancaster, Pa., April 15, 1891, to collect, preserve, and publish documents relating to the history of the Pennsylvania Germans, and cause original papers to be prepared and read before the society. Its regular members, who now number about 400, must be direct descendants of the early German or Swiss emigrants to the colony of Pennsylvania. The society holds an annual meeting in some one of the smaller cities of eastern Pennsylvania, and publishes annually a volume of Proceedings, including the papers read at each meeting.
PENNSYLVANIA STATE COLLEGE. A coeducational institution of higher learning at State College, Pa., organized on a collegiate basis as the Farmers' High School in 1859. In 1862 the name was changed to The Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, and in 1874 to its present title. The principal income of the college is derived from the sale of public lands held in trust by the State. The grounds contain 400 acres, of which the campus covers 60 acres, the remainder being devoted to a model farm. The courses of instruction occupy four years. The general courses offered are a classical general science, a Latin scientific, and a philosophical course. The technical courses include agriculture, biology, chemistry, civil, electrical, mechanical, and mining engineering, mathematics, and physics. All courses, except the classical, lead to the B.S. degrees. In the graduate courses the degrees of C.E., M.E., E.M., E.E., and M.S. are conferred. In 1902 the faculty numbered 48; the college was attended by 602 students, of whom 420 were in the School of Engineering; 1800 persons took correspondence courses in agriculture. The endowment was $517,000, the income was $137,992, and the value of the college grounds, buildings, and equipment was $850,000. The library contained 19,181 volumes.
PENNY (AS. penig, pennig, peneg, pening, pœning, pending, OHG. phantinc, pfentinc, pfending, phenning, Ger. Pfenning, Pfennig, penny; perhaps connected with OHG. phant, pfant, Ger. Pfand, pawn, pledge, or less plausibly with OHG. pfanna, phanna, panna, Ger. Pfanne, AS. panne, Eng. pan, from ML. panna, from Lat. patina, shallow bowl). A British coin and money of account. After the sceattæ (q.v.) it is the most ancient of the English coins, and was the only one generally current among the Anglo-Saxons. The penny is first mentioned in the laws of Ina, King of the West Saxons, about the close of the seventh century. It was at that time a silver coin, and weighed about 22½ troy grains, being thus about 1240 of the Saxon pound weight. This relation to the pound weight is evidently derived from the usage of the early Franks, who retained the Roman division of the libra into 20 solidi, and the solidus into 12 denarii (the denarius being thus the 240th part of the libra or pound). (See Mark.) Half-pence and farthings were not coined in England till the time of Edward I., but the practice previously prevailed of so deeply indenting the penny with a cross mark that the coin could be easily broken into two or four parts as required. Silver farthings ceased to be coined under Edward VI., and silver half-pennies under the Commonwealth. By this time the penny had steadily decreased in weight; it was 18 grains under Edward III., 15 and 12 under Edward IV., 8 under Edward VI., and under Elizabeth it was finally fixed at 72331 grains, or 162 of an ounce of silver, a value to which the subsequent copper pennies, which till 1860 were the circulating medium, closely approximated. In 1672 an authorized copper coinage was established, and half-pence and farthings were struck in copper. The penny was not introduced till 1797, and at the same period the coinage of twopenny pieces was begun; but these latter, being found unsuitable, were withdrawn. The penny of the present bronze coinage is of only about half the value of the old copper penny. The German pfennig was also originally a silver coin bearing the same relation to the German pound of silver as the English penny to its pound. And in the twelfth century it was made so broad, in imitation of the Byzantine coins, that it would no longer bear to be struck with a die on each side as before, but was struck on one side only. In the beginning of the fourteenth century the mark of silver was anew divided into 60 parts or coins, which, to distinguish them from the old coins, were called grossi denarii, whence the term groschen. In the modern monetary system of Germany, the pfennig is a nickel coin, the hundredth of the mark, the latter being equal to a shilling or about $0.25.
PENN YAN. A village and the county-seat of Yates County. N. Y., 45 miles north by west of Elmira; on Lake Keuka, and on the Northern Central and the New York Central railroads (Map: New York, C 3). It has an attractive location on the lake, the shores being covered with cottages and the hills with vineyards. There are Penn Yan Academy, a public school library, and a fine county court house and jail. The village is situated in a noted grape-growing region, and has extensive agricultural, fruit, and wine-making
