FREIE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN
JOHN-F.-KENNEDY-INSTITUT FÜR NORDAMERIKASTUDIEN
Varieties of North American English

Scandinavian-American English

Tracing Influences of de
Scandinavian Immigrants′ Languages
On English in the United States

by

Anja Klein

May 1998

Contents

1. Introductory notes 2

2. Scandinavian immigration 2
2.1 Immigration and settlement patterns 3
2.1.1 Historical-political background 3
2.1.2 The Danes 3
2.1.3 The Norwegians 4
2.1.4 The Swedes 5
2.2 Characteristics of the Scandinavian immigrants 7

3. Studying bilingualism 8

4. Features of Scandinavian-American language mixing 10
4.1 Development of language contact 10
4.2 Phonetic interference 12
4.3 Syntactic and grammatical interference 14
4.4 Lexical interference 18

5. Concluding remarks 21

References 24

1. Introductory notes

Within the framework of language varieties, language contact and bilingualism in the United States, the subject to be studied closer in this paper will be the kind of English that has been spoken in the areas of the U.S. that are characterized by large-scale Scandinavian immigration. The question will be if the English language that already prevailed in these areas might have been influenced in any way by the language of the new settlers and what exactly can be traced of this interference.

As there are a lot of different aspects to this subject, some restrictions regarding which of these to concentrate on will have to be made. The most important restriction is that focus will lie on Norwegian and Swedish aspects, though Danish issues are considered in passing rather than in depth. With respect to a limited extent of this paper Icelandic and Finnish issues will not be dealt with at all. These and some other considerations will be resumed after a more general introduction to Scandinavian immigration to the U.S. In the next chapter a short account will be given of the historical development of the immigration process, settlement patterns as well as characteristics of the people and cultures that have come into contact during this process.

The third chapter treats some theoretical ideas and concepts which are useful in this kind of study, whereas the fourth chapter eventually deals with findings and  conclusions made by researchers in this field of study. An overview of researchers’ opinions and descriptions of this linguistic phenomenon will round off this report.

2. Scandinavian immigration

In order to understand the process of cultural and linguistic contact and interference between the American and Scandinavian cultures, it is necessary to view it on the historical background of immigration and settlement.

2.1 Immigration and settlement patterns
2.1.1 Historical-political background

The three Scandinavian countries, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, were in the first half of the 19th century characterized by traditionally agrarian structures and vast and thinly settled, poor areas, often in a harsh climate, contrasted by generously designed capitals where political, economic and cultural power concentrated. Denmark, with its capital Copenhagen, and Sweden, with its capital Stockholm, had been the most powerful nations in the north of Europe. Norway, with its capital of Christiania (now Oslo), however, had been part of Denmark over the centuries. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars Norway gained its temporary independence in 1814, but was soon ceded under Swedish rule. Thus, Norwegian life was determined by a foreign power for another century. Norway eventually gained national independence in 1905.

2.1.2 The Danes

The first immigrants from Denmark settled in the first half of the 17th century in the Dutch settlements of New Amsterdam (today the area of New York).¹ In a second wave from 1735 Danes of Moravian pietist faith settled in Pennsylvania. A century later, beginning in the 1840s, more Danes were forced to emigrate due to religious repression in their home country, many of them settling in Utah. For about 70 years between 1860 and 1930, the Danes constituted the second largest ethnic group in Utah.²

Danish mass immigration, however, set in later than in other countries. Political unrest and repression led to large-scale emigration from the 1870s, with peak years in 1882 and between 1903 and 1905. The total number of Danish immigrants to the United States from 1820 through to 1975 is about 363,000.³

2.1.3 The Norwegians 

After the modest beginnings of modern Norwegian immigration to the United States in the 17th century, large-scale emigration from Norway was set in motion during the 1820s on the back of political, economic, and demographic pressures. The total number of inhabitants doubled between 1815 and 1860, a process that led to increasing poverty and social dissatisfaction among the more and more landless laborers.

[...]

[1] Cf. Dorothy Burton Skårdal: “Danes“ in: Thernstrom, Stephan, Ann Orlov, Oscar Handlin (eds.): Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1980: p. 273.

[2] Ibid., p. 274.

[3] Ibid.