Germanic heritage

[Brent]

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.

[uh Clem]

You speak a small German?

[Datajack Franit]

Maybe he wants a very short German to talk with- he must be afraid of tall people

[Provost Harrison]

Don't say that! You'll make Brent Cross

[Brent]

Well I guess now I know that's not correct German... I was sure no one ever corrected me in person...

[Monk]

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".

[Gangerolf]

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"

[Kropotkin]

Jeg snakke ... en litt Svensk

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

[Hueij]

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?

[Gangerolf]

It is but during those 1000 years Norwegian has changed a lot, while Icelandic hasn't changed at all (almost)

[SpencerH]

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!

[Kropotkin]

Well, the queen do speak swedish. She just sounds funny.

[Monk]

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.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Kropotkin
Well, the queen do speak swedish. She just sounds funny.

see I tol y'all

[Brent]

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?