There was also a dialect of German spoken in Texas by the descendants of German immigrants. It had some divergences from anything spoken in Europe. It’s probably extinct by now, as the speakers largely switched to English around the time the US entered WW2. A decade or two ago, a university in Germany sent some linguists to interview the remaining speakers, the youngest of whom were in their 60s.
this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2026
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Very interesting!
I can see that there are hints of northern Norwegian, like Æ and MÆ as personal pronouns - reminds me of my chatty aunties in Seattle, the family was originally from Svolvær in Lofoten.
There are some Norwegian speakers in the States that can speak quite pure Norwegian, but from what I've read, it seems to be a form of Norwegian that was common close to a hundred years ago.
Fun fact; there are about as many Norwegians in north America as there are Norwegians in Norway.
The first episode of Twin Peaks offers a wonderful display of American Norwegian as it sounded in the 90s - there's Norwegian investors in the episode, and they hired local actors to play the part. They indeed sound like they're straight out of the 1920s.
Tusen takk for ditt svar! Det er så interessant. Jeg er litt trist at jeg vokste ikke opp med mer norsk kultur.
Det er iallfall veldig kult at det fortsatt er Amerikanere som snakker norsk! Det er jo ikke så mange av oss, så morsomt at det finnes en gruppe Nordmenn som ikke er norske ute i verden.
Vokste du opp med noe av norsk kultur? Lefse eller rømmegrøt?
Og har du sett filmen "John: The Last Norwegian Cowboy"?
Nei, jeg har sett filmen, men jeg skal. Jeg vokste bare opp med videoer om språket, dessverre. Og kalle «Christmas» for «jul» noen ganger. Tilsynelatende er familien min fra Trondheim og Det kongelige slott i Oslo.
There are also Swedish communities that speak old Swedish from 100 years ago. It's super interesting to see your old roots in another country. If I recall correctly the Swedes are located in Minnesota
I think most of the Scandis dispersed around the Northern states and Canada. Guess a swamp in Louisiana might've been be a bit too warm and sticky for them.
Fun fact; there are about as many Norwegians in north America as there are Norwegians in Norway.
Not really. But there are as many Americans who identifies as Norwegians in the US as there are actual Norwegians. They aren't Norwegians though, they are US citizens with (some) Norwegian ancestors.
I'm talking about Norwegians as an ethnic group, not citizens. There are about 4.45 million Norwegians in Norway and 5 million in North America.
Så kult!
Yeah, I am one of those. A US citizen with some Norwegian culture and ancestors, but I wasn’t born nor raised in Norway
Whoa, super cool!!!! Snakker du norsk?
Jepp. Jeg er nordnorsk, men vokste opp i Møre og Romsdal. Hvor i statene bor du, og hvor i Norge er familien din fra?
Vel for å svare på spørsmålet ditt, familien min er fra Trondheim, det virker for meg
mytrueancestry.com sier også at «vi» (familien min) er fra Slottet (det kongelige slott) i Oslo.
Å, det er en ære, Deres Majestet. 😆
Hmmm, jeg vet ikke siden det er for så lenge siden, men vi omfavner fortsatt språket. Jeg bor i Illinois :D
Vi lærer språket og vokste opp med noen ord som «jul» for «Christmas». Pappa også er en nerd så han liker gammelnorsk også.