15-11-2003 02:59									#1
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I had been thinking it would be fun to talk to people here from my ancestral homelands about that heritage. Then I noticed the Suomi thread and the talk of the "Godless Normans" in the Native American thread, so here goes.

I am half Norwegian, one eigth German Swiss, one eigth Danish and one eigth Swedish, and I guess the remainder is mostly British. I live in California.

My most recent Norwegian ancestors came from Stavanger, and their ancestors came from Hordaland, the islands of Nordland, and elsewhere in Rogaland.

My Danish ancestors came from the areas of Vejle, Ribe, and Vensisel. My Swedish ancestors came from Smaaland and the southern tip of Gotland Island.

My Swiss ancestors came mostly from Bern and Zurich cantons, with some from Thurgau canton.

I took one year of German in high school (all that was available at that school at the time) and in recent years I've been studying several languages on my own. I know I should focus on one language at a time and I guess that should be Norwegian, but I want to see what I come up with if I mix together Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese, and I also get distracted and study things like German and Hebrew. As it is the only language I'm fluent in is English.

So is anyone here from Stavanger, Lofoten, Gotland, or any other of the places I mentioned?

Jeg snakke en litt Norsk, en litt Dansk, en litt Svensk, og en litt Tysk.

Ich spreche eine kleine Deutsch und Norwegish.

	15-11-2003 03:17									#2
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You speak a small German?

	15-11-2003 03:24									#3
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Maybe he wants a very short German to talk with- he must be afraid of tall people

	15-11-2003 03:46									#4
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Don't say that! You'll make Brent Cross

	15-11-2003 03:46									#5
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Well I guess now I know that's not correct German... I was sure no one ever corrected me in person...

	15-11-2003 04:15									#6
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Hi Brent. I haven't lived either place but I've spent a considerable amount of time of the last year of high school cruising around the few interesting parts of Vendsyssel (that's the correct spelling). It's the northern part of the peninsula and if your Danish ancestors didn't live by the sea up there, I understand their decision to move.

You should know Ribe is not an "area" as much as a town. If I recall correctly, Vikings used to hang out there, and it's way more than 1000 years old, making it the oldest town in Denmark.

As for the closing comment, you mean "Jeg taler lidt dansk." or "Jeg taler en smule dansk".

	15-11-2003 04:33									#7
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quote: I know I should focus on one language at a time and I guess that should be Norwegian, but I want to see what I come up with if I mix together Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese,

Interesting concept but I don't think anyone would understand you. Icelandic and Faroese are very different from the other languages. Norwegian would be the best choice IMO

Jeg snakker litt norsk.

I guess in Stavanger they'd say somethng like "Eg snakke lidt norske"

	15-11-2003 04:50									#8
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quote: Jeg snakke ... en litt Svensk

No, not at all. But don't let that stop you.

	15-11-2003 04:56									#9
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quote: Originally posted by Gangerolf ...Icelandic and Faroese are very different from the other languages. Norwegian would be the best choice IMO

I thought Icelandic was just 1000 year old Norwegian?

	15-11-2003 05:01									#10
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It is but during those 1000 years Norwegian has changed a lot, while Icelandic hasn't changed at all (almost)

	15-11-2003 05:19									#11
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quote: Originally posted by Kropotkin No, not at all. But don't let that stop you.

Brent

The trick to speaking svenska is to realize that you will always speak swinglish. I know swedes who will tell you that the queen (who's german) doesn't really speak swedish. My wife, who is swedish, gets complimented on her swedish when she goes home (it's accentless after years living outside of Sweden). Just accept it and forge ahead.

Jag prota swinglish

say it with pride man!

	15-11-2003 05:23									#12
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Well, the queen do speak swedish. She just sounds funny.

	15-11-2003 05:33									#13
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There really isn't much need to learn a Scandinavian language if you're not counting on living in Scandinavia. And there's no need at all to learn all of them

I'd go with the German thing instead if I were you.

	15-11-2003 05:37									#14
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quote: Originally posted by Kropotkin Well, the queen do speak swedish. She just sounds funny.

see I tol y'all

	16-11-2003 03:37									#15
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In case no one figured it out, that "Es ist nicht Deutsch" thread was an accident. It was supposed to be a response on this thread.

Isn't Ribe also a county? Or did it used to be? I thought it still was.

I guess the mixture I'm aiming for is more Norwegian, Swedish and Danish. Would my strategy work for Icelandic and Faroese separate from the others?

I realized what I said wasn't Swedish, but I guess it's not Norwegian either.

I guess my language studies aren't so much for the purpose of communicating vocally. I will probably want to read and write the languages on the internet more than speak them (but not on this forum, apparently). And I like studying unuseful languages for fun.

How close would I get to Gutnish if I just studied the official Scandinavian languages plus German?

	16-11-2003 05:40									#16
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quote: Originally posted by Gangerolf It is but during those 1000 years Norwegian has changed a lot, while Icelandic hasn't changed at all (almost)

I know, it is like the difference of medieval Dutch and the language I speak today. But when I was in Iceland I noticed that Norwegian tourists had little problems understanding Icelandic and Icelanders could understand Norwegian.

	16-11-2003 08:30									#17
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I'm 1/2 German, the rest English, Irish and Scottish. Don't expect a golden tan any time soon.

	16-11-2003 08:57									#18
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Iceland is an awesome country and I want to go back there

	17-11-2003 03:08									#19
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quote: Originally posted by Hueij I know, it is like the difference of medieval Dutch and the language I speak today. But when I was in Iceland I noticed that Norwegian tourists had little problems understanding Icelandic and Icelanders could understand Norwegian.

They were probably not speaking Icelandic.
Icelanders learn Danish at school. (Danish spoken with an Icelandic accent is actually way easier to understand than standard Danish.) Also, many Icelanders have worked or studied in Norway and speak the lingo.

	17-11-2003 03:46									#20
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Icelanders learn Danish at school.

They really do? I knew they taught Danish on the Faroes and Greenland, but those areas are part of the nation after all. What's next, you're going to convince me the Finns still learn Swedish in school?

	17-11-2003 04:10									#21
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I'm 1/4 Welsh, 1/8 Scot, and the rest English so I can say this with the pride of my Germano-Celtic roots:

I'd kill for a cuppa luv.

	17-11-2003 04:18									#22
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Monk, sure they do.

	17-11-2003 04:22									#23
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By the way, when you say "part of the nation", you surely mean "colonies stolen from Norway", right?

	17-11-2003 19:47									#24
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Icelanders take Icelandic, English, a scandinavean language (of choice), and a fourth language (of choice)while in school.

	17-11-2003 20:46									#25
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quote: but I want to see what I come up with if I mix together Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese

Definitely concentrate on learning only one of these languages at a time. Norwegian, Danish and Swedish resemble each other pretty much so learning one of them eliminates the need for learning (to speak or write) the others. After that you can tackle Icelandic, or Faroese, if you want. Just remember that you have to be Really good if you actually want to communicate with someone using one of these languages, since their speakers generally know a lot of English.

	18-11-2003 01:52									#26
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I knew Scandinavians learned several languages but always wondered whether they were counting all the other Scandinavian languages. Now I know. Does what Spencer saifd about Icelanders go for all Scandinavians? Is there any sort of tendency for that fourth language, like is it usually an IndoEuropean one? Are any specific languages significantly common to fill that spot, like German or French?

	18-11-2003 02:56									#27
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In Norway we learn Norwegian* (obviously), English, a choice of German or French, and in highschool you can take German, French, Russian or Spanish as a fourth language but it's not compulsory.

*Norwegian is actually two languages; Bokmål (Book Language)and Nynorsk (New Norse) and we have to learn both.

They teach some Old Norse/Icelandic and the basic differences between Norwegian, Swedish and Danish in the Norwegian classes, but that's minimal.

The Scandinavian languages are mutually intelligible, so there's no real need for eg a Norwegian to take Swdish classes. But there are many differences, and they often make for humorous misunderstandings.

	18-11-2003 14:31									#28
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Aren't Bokmål and Nynorsk more like two different ways of writing Norwegian, Bokmål being based on Danish and Nynorsk on some Norwegian dialects? At least that's the impression I've gotten...

	18-11-2003 17:27									#29
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Aivo, that's correct. Maybe I shouldn't have gone as far as calling them two languages. Then again, no-one actually speaks pure Bokmål or pure Nynorsk, so you couldn't call them two different dialects either. And I'd say that Bokmål is closer to Danish than it is to Nynorsk, and Danish is a considered a seperate language from Norwegian. So it's... complicated!

And to further complicate matters, both Bokmål and Nynorsk allow different spelling, grammar etc. So you kind of get a continuum from conservative Nynorsk via radical Nynorsk and radical Bokmål to conservative Bokmål. This means most people can write more or less the way they speak, which is important in a country with 1000 dialects.

	19-11-2003 03:54									#30
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Useful information there. Does anyone here know anything about Gutnish, the language of the island of Gotland? From what I know, it's a mixture of Swedish, Danish, and German, because the island has been ruled by each of those nations. I hear it's quite difficult for mainland Swedes to understand.