American Norwegian (Norwegian: amerikansk norsk) is a koiné dialect of Norwegian spoken by Norwegian-Americans.
| American Norwegian | |
|---|---|
| amerikansk norsk | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Midwest, West |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | |
| Latin (Norwegian alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
| IETF | no-US |
While American Norwegian is not archaic in its use of grammar, its lexicon can be described as slightly archaic.[1][2]
History
editImmigration
editAmerican Norwegian formed as a result of Norwegians migrating to the United States.[2] In 1825, the first organized emigration party consisting of several dozen Norwegians left Stavanger on board the Restauration.[2][3] Early migration was largely due to religious persecution, particularly of Quakers and Haugeans,[4] but intensified and diversified in the second half of the 19th century. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Norwegian migration to North America continued, primarily through the White Star Line,[5] and the Cunard Line.[6]
Speakers
editBetween 1910 and the First World War, one million Americans had Norwegian as their first language, many of whom subscribed to Norwegian-language newspapers,[7] such as Decorah Posten and Skandinaven.
Grammar
editVariations in grammar indicate koineization.[1]
Gender
editIn Norwegian, grammatical gender is opaque, meaning a word's gender is not immediately obvious based on meaning or phonetics. Children, thus, often overgeneralise masculine gender. This same effect can be observed in heritage speakers. This overgeneralisation is far less common when words are used in their definite form. Similarly, overgeneralisation is seen more in prenominal possession compared to postnominal possession.[8]
| Gender | CANS (N = 50) |
NorDiaCorp (old, N = 127) |
NorDiaCorp (young, N = 66) |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | 76.3% (753) | 64.8% (1833) | 74.9% (909) |
| F | 16.9% (164) | 18.2% (514) | 5.4% (66) |
| N | 6.9% (67) | 17.0% (481) | 19.7% (239) |
| Direction | Tokens | Types |
|---|---|---|
| F→M | 39.0% (92/236) | 43.1% (31/72) |
| N→M | 48.8% (80/164) | 69.4% (34/49) |
| N→F | 10.4% (17/164) | 26.5% (13/49) |
In some European Norwegian dialects, feminine and masculine gender have combined into common gender,[8] while in other dialects, words considered feminine elsewhere are masculine.
Examples
editBelow are examples of non-target consistent indefinite articles:[8]
Masculine article used with feminine word
Har
du
en
ku
enda?
Have you a.M cow.F still?
Masculine article used with neuter word
Hun
var
på
en
fjell
She was on a.M mountain.N
Feminine article used with neuter word (Menneske is a feminine word in many Norwegian dialects.)
Det
var
ei
menneske
It was a.F human.N
Lexicon
editPronouns in Norwegian and American dialects are relatively similar.[1]
Due to less input in Norwegian, Norwegian-Americans acquire fewer native words. This has led to more loaning and calquing from English into American Norwegian (e.g. lage leving, a literal translation of "make [a] living", rather than the native expression tjene til livets opphold) as well as the preservation of words now obsolete in European Norwegian.[9] Many such words are absorbed and adopt Norwegian pronunciation and grammar. Some of these include: farm, kæunti (county) and seidvåk (sidewalk).[2] New words have also been developed, such as American hå ti, replacing European når, meaning "when".[10]
See also
edit- Urban East Norwegian – Norwegian dialect spoken in Oslo and Eastern Norway
- Bergensk – Norwegian dialect spoken in Bergen
- Trøndersk – Norwegian dialect spoken in Trøndelag
- American English – English dialect spoken in United States
References
edit- ^ a b c Bondi Johannessen, Janne; Laake, Signe (2012). "To myter om det norske språket i Amerika: Er det gammeldags? Nærmer det seg en bokmålsstandard?" [Two Myths About the Norwegian Language in America: Is it old-fashioned? Is it Approaching a Bokmål Standard?]. Norsk Lingvistisk Tidsskrift (in Norwegian Bokmål). 30 (2): 204–228. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Natvig, David. "Continuity and Change in American Norwegian". Wisconsin Languages. University of Wisconsin–Madison. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ "Descendants of Norse 'Mayflower' Pioneers at Centennial Celebration". The Capital Times. June 9, 1925. p. 4. Retrieved September 25, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Ingrid Semmingsen, C. A. Clausen (transl.). Haugeans, Rappites, and the Emigration of 1825 Archived September 1, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Norwegian-American Historical Association. Volume 29: Page 3.
- ^ "The White Star Line". Norway-Heritage. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
- ^ "The Cunard Line". Norway-Heritage. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
- ^ "Den norske Amerika-drømmen" [The Norwegian American Dream]. National Library of Norway (in Norwegian Bokmål). November 7, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Lohndal, Terje; Westergaard, Marit (March 16, 2016). "Grammatical Gender in American Norwegian Heritage Language: Stability or Attrition?". Frontiers in Psychology. 7 (7): 344. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00344. PMC 4793186. PMID 27014151.
- ^ Sonstad, Klaus (April 21, 2023). "Vaps, luta lei og 577 milliarder". Språksnakk (in Norwegian). 24 minutes in. NRK. NRK P2. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
- ^ Reed, Sada (October 16, 2017). "Norwegian America's hidden dialects". The Norwegian American. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
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