T H.E diphthong oi [1I] in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialects is interesting both phonemically and historically because of its infrequent occurrence. Excluding compounds, there are only a dozen native dialect words which contain this diphthong, viz. (the Middle High German and New High German equivalents are given here for comparison): [de bab9agi] parrot, MHG papegan, papigan, NHG Papagei; [drmI9], past participle [ga'dr:Id] to threaten rain, MHG dr6uwen, drouwen, drowen, drewen, dr6un, dreun, dr6n, NHG drauen, drohen; [s h:i] hay, MHG hou, houwe, hou, houwe, NHG Heu; [di huisd] haying time; [de mwi] May, MHG meie, meige, NHG Mai; [s ui], plural [di DIe] egg, MHG ei, NHG Ei; [:II] oh! goodness! MHG ei, eia, NHG eil oil; [di rxI], plural [di rmIa] or [di r3ie] row, MHG reie, reige, rei, NHG Reihe (Reige); [fdr~ia], past participle [gfdrmid] to bed cattle, horses, MHG str6uwen, strewen, str6un, NHG streuen; [s>Ic] or [soIc] such, MHG so, solich, NHG so, solch; [de v3i], plural [dI v3I(a)] hawk, MHG wie, wige, wihe, wiwe, NHG Weihe; [de ds>Ie] hand of a clock, MHG zeiger, NHG Zeiger. Of these, only about seven are in common use in most sections where Pennsylvania Dutch is spoken; they are: [s hzi] hay, [di hoxad] haying time (almost always found in the combination [di h3Iad un ae:en] haymaking and harvest), [de m:i] May, [s 1I] egg, [di rcI] row, [s>ic] or [soic] such, and [de vJi] hawk (also in the various compounds [hIrglvoi] chicken hawk, [o:sv3i] turkey buzzard, and [Jdo:sv:i] chicken hawk-these being regional variants). These seven have a relatively high frequency occurrence. The word [s>i(]/[soi], however, may be considered a questionable case because of its double pronunciation. That is, when pronounced [s3i?], it is doubtless to be counted among the words containing the diphthong [3i] and is, in all probability, ultimately derived from the MHG solich; the same word (with similar pronunciation) exists in a number of German dialects. On the other hand, the alternate form [soIc] hints at a morphologically complex compound of [so], the more common word for such, plus the beloved adjective suffix [-I?], in which case [oi] cannot be regarded as a diphthong per se but merely the result of the juxtaposition of [-o] and [I-]. Thus, if