DOCSLIB.ORG

Names in Sweden Throughout History Kerstin Jonmyren

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Names in Sweden Throughout History Kerstin Jonmyren Swedish American Genealogist Volume 24 | Number 3 Article 13 9-1-2004 Names in Sweden Throughout History Kerstin Jonmyren Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonsag Part of the Genealogy Commons, and the Scandinavian Studies Commons Recommended Citation Jonmyren, Kerstin (2004) "Names in Sweden Throughout History," Swedish American Genealogist: Vol. 24 : No. 3 , Article 13. Available at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonsag/vol24/iss3/13 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center at Augustana Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Swedish American Genealogist by an authorized editor of Augustana Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Johansson, Kjellberg, Lindelius, Leijonhuvud, and Rask: Names in Sweden Throughout History BY KERSTIN JONMYREN Quite often I get questions from my with only Gustaff or with Gustaff Holmer, Linder, etc. It was rare that research clients about Swedish name Eriksson, because his father was the farmers took family names. They changes. They are confused because nobleman Erik Johansson. He came were described by the people in their they don't understand why and how to be called Vasa during later cen­ villages using the names of their our names were passed down. turies, long after his death, because farm. It was Sven i Viistergarden or To identify people by their father's his family had a picture of a vase, a Anna i Hultet. On the other hand, for name is not a new idea. There are sheaf, on their coat of arms. a craftsman it could be useful to be examples already in the Bible: Jacob, known by his own family name. The son of Zebedee, and Jacob, son of same would apply for city-dwellers, Alpheus. Foreign influences where there were no places to help At the end of the Viking era, a The Scandinavian countries did not describe someone during a time large number of rune stones were live in isolation. We had active ties when cities were undergoing rapid raised in Sweden; several reasons for with countries on the continent, growth. this have been offered: one of the particularly Germany, where an­ better suggestions is that the stones other naming practice, family names, Different names in the became a fashion among the more was used, the same system as in powerful farmers to memorialize same family ancient Rome, where children in­ their families; another that they It was not unusual that one changed herited the family name. denote a deed to the land area. There family names between generations Germans, like the British, often people are sometimes named as son or that siblings took different family had names that described occu­ or daughter of someone. One ex­ names. I know of a case from the lat­ pations: Muller, Meyer, and Schu­ ample is Ojul, Erik's son, named on ter half of the 1800s where the macher, and Miller, Cooper, and the famous Sparlosa stone. father's name was Olof Cedergren. Mason. After the Viking age, this usage One son was called Olofsson, one solidified; Erik's son became Eriks­ daughter Olofsdotter, one son Ceder­ son, Jacob's daughter became Jacobs­ Old habits change gren, and one son Hoglander. dotter. This naming model is usually Sometime in the mid-1800s, when To begin with, many people with called patronymics and was in Swedish society was changing, our new family names were written in practice in all of the Nordic countries. old naming habits began to change the church records with both the One was given a name at baptism too. Adopting family names had patronymic and surname; Sven Jo­ and later was identified also by his begun earlier; city-dwellers and hansson Nordin or Erik Svensson or her patronymic, mostly in formal skilled workers had begun doing so Hoglund, but soon they became just and written contexts. This complete­ in the early 1700s, and from the Sven Nordin or Erik Hoglund. The ly logical naming system lived on middle of the 1800s this custom family name was inherited as a rule unchanged all the way into the 1900s became common even in the country­ by the children. in many places in our country. In side. principle, patronymics applied to all The names followed a certain Women's names pattern. Some chose nature words people, poor or rich. Our 16th century The wife of the family was written king, known like lind (linden tree), berg (moun­ in our time as Gustaf with her own surname; either a tain), gren (branch), sjo (lake), and Vasa, was not called that in his time. patronymic or a family name from He signed holm (island), and put them together his documents in various her father. Well into the 1900s the to their liking, such as Berggren, women began to be written with Lindberg, Holmsjo, etc. There were their husbands' surnames, some­ also other patterns to follow: Oster­ times with the addition of 'nee­ gren, Soderlund, Paulin, Berglin, something,' such as "Elisabeth Carls- Swedish American Genealogist 2004:3 23 son, nee von Malmborg." This might contexts. The custom of the family ner, Oskar, and Valter, and many have indicated that she felt that her name remains, as in the Johansson others. birth family was of a higher social family or the Osterberg family, but When a child was given two or standing than her husband's. upon marriage a Swedish couple to­ more first names anyone of them The patronymic form -dotter dis­ day can choose whether each will could be used in daily speech, and appeared during the later part of the keep his or her own surname, or both unless you knew the person, you 1800s and was changed into -son. The will take the man's or woman's name, could not be certain ifhe was known pastors wrote Larsson for Larsdotter or they can even chose a totally new as Per or Johan or Albert, if he was or Andersson for Andersdotter. In third name. If the parents each have baptizedPerJohanAlbert. I can take research in the second half of the different surnames, they can freely an example of this tiresome system 1800s one can never guess which choose which of them the child shall from my own family. My father and surname a child, such as an emi­ have. But the next child, born of the uncle, born 1898 and 1900, got four grant, would take, and one must find same parents, is to have the same first names each. My father went by that out in each case. Maria, daugh­ surname as the older sibling. his second name, my uncle, his ter of Lars Svensson, could call her­ An almost similar name trend has fourth. My mother was called by her self Larsson or Svensson or perhaps happened in all three of the Scandi­ second of three first names; I myself even Larsdotter. All this shows that navian countries. Iceland has still by the first of three. My sons all go the very old naming system in the kept the logical naming system with by the second of three first names. Nordic countries was completely dis­ -son and -dotter because foreign im­ solving by the end of the 1800s. migration has never been especially Out-of-wedlock children big there. There was a large group that was The 1900s always in a jam during the old logical Because of social changes, ordinary The First Names naming system: children born out of people, beginning in the cities, began Beginning in the early 1600s, foreign wedlock, those who had no official to be titled as Mr., Mrs., and Miss. influences showed in that children father. In most cases there is no These titles had earlier been only for could be given two or more first father's name listed in the birth the nobility and were used with first names, as opposed to the single books for illegitimate children, but names: Mrs. Ebba, Mr. Peder, and names used before. This custom quite often they have received a Miss Elin. But around the turn of the began in the upper classes but slowly patronymic as an adult. Evidently 20th century there arose the wholly became very common among coun­ the pastors approved the name that illogical vocative forms Miss Petters­ try folk from the 1800s on. To give the child in question stated as an son and Mrs. Gustafsson. First one's children several, often fanciful adult and created a patronymic from names were reserved for private use and romantic names was free and it. In most cases the people in the within the family, and surnames something even poor people were parishes also knew who the fathers became the important ones. Busi­ allowed. of these children were. nessmen and craftsmen wrote their Earlier the number of Swedish Still there was a group of children names often with just first initials first names was very limited and who had no known father. They could and surname, such as Editor E. A. children often were named after sometimes have their mother's pat­ Johansson. their paternal or maternal grand­ ronymic, or make up a new proper parents. In every village there were family name for themself. Some­ Titles in daily use perhaps no more than 6 or 7 male or times, but rather unusual, is the Various titles, more or less fanciful, female names. If we name Anders, usage of a metronymic, Karinsdotter began to be used as a form of address, Erik, Sven, Nils, Olaf, Johan, and Pe­ or Stinasson. and it became difficult to know how ter, or Anna, Maria, Lena, Catharina, to address people.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Dark Unknown History
    Ds 2014:8 The Dark Unknown History White Paper on Abuses and Rights Violations Against Roma in the 20th Century Ds 2014:8 The Dark Unknown History White Paper on Abuses and Rights Violations Against Roma in the 20th Century 2 Swedish Government Official Reports (SOU) and Ministry Publications Series (Ds) can be purchased from Fritzes' customer service. Fritzes Offentliga Publikationer are responsible for distributing copies of Swedish Government Official Reports (SOU) and Ministry publications series (Ds) for referral purposes when commissioned to do so by the Government Offices' Office for Administrative Affairs. Address for orders: Fritzes customer service 106 47 Stockholm Fax orders to: +46 (0)8-598 191 91 Order by phone: +46 (0)8-598 191 90 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.fritzes.se Svara på remiss – hur och varför. [Respond to a proposal referred for consideration – how and why.] Prime Minister's Office (SB PM 2003:2, revised 02/05/2009) – A small booklet that makes it easier for those who have to respond to a proposal referred for consideration. The booklet is free and can be downloaded or ordered from http://www.regeringen.se/ (only available in Swedish) Cover: Blomquist Annonsbyrå AB. Printed by Elanders Sverige AB Stockholm 2015 ISBN 978-91-38-24266-7 ISSN 0284-6012 3 Preface In March 2014, the then Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag presented a White Paper entitled ‘The Dark Unknown History’. It describes an important part of Swedish history that had previously been little known. The White Paper has been very well received. Both Roma people and the majority population have shown great interest in it, as have public bodies, central government agencies and local authorities.
    [Show full text]
  • Case of Stjerna V. Finland*
    EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS In the case of Stjerna v. Finland*, The European Court of Human Rights, sitting, in accordance with Article 43 (art. 43) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ("the Convention") and the relevant provisions of Rules of Court A**, as a Chamber composed of the following judges: Mr R. Ryssdal, President, Mr F. Matscher, Mr L.-E. Pettiti, Mr B. Walsh, Mr C. Russo, Mr I. Foighel, Mr R. Pekkanen, Mr J.M. Morenilla, Mr L. Wildhaber, and also of Mr H. Petzold, Acting Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 21 June and 24 October 1994, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the last-mentioned date: _______________ Notes by the Registrar * The case is numbered 38/1993/433/512. The first number is the case's position on the list of cases referred to the Court in the relevant year (second number). The last two numbers indicate the case's position on the list of cases referred to the Court since its creation and on the list of the corresponding originating applications to the Commission. ** Rules A apply to all cases referred to the Court before the entry into force of Protocol No. 9 (P9) and thereafter only to cases concerning States not bound by that Protocol (P9). They correspond to the Rules that came into force on 1 January 1983, as amended several times subsequently. _______________ PROCEDURE 1. The case was referred to the Court on 9 September 1993 by the European Commission of Human Rights ("the Commission"), within the three-month period laid down by Article 32 para.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2008 2008 in Brief
    PUBLICATION 2009:32 Annual Report 2008 2008 in brief • Vehicle mileage has fallen by 0.9 per cent for passenger cars, but remained unchanged for heavy vehicles. • SEK 9 826 million was invested in the road network, SEK 1 251 million of which was invested in targeted measures to increase road safety on state roads. • Traffic flow was separated on another 230 km of the busiest roads. A total 4 000 km of roads now have traffic flow separation, 1 950 km of which are 2+1 roads. • 420 people (preliminary figures) were killed as a result of road accidents. About 3 730 people were seriously injured according to police reports. • Some 277 000 passenger cars were registered. • About 635 000 driving licences were issued. THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS CONSTITUTE THE SWEDISH ROAD ADMINISTRATION (SRA) ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT: Section Page Goals and results Environment 34 Business division activities Vägverket Produktion: Quality and the environment 58 SRA Consulting Services: Quality and the environment 59 SRA Ferry Operations: Quality and the environment 61 Environmentally related information in the SRA’s sustainability report. The SRA’s sustainability report includes all sustainability information in the SRA’s Annual Report 2008 and the SRA’s Sustainability Report 2008. Both documents need to be read to obtain a complete picture of the SRA’s work with sustainable development. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) register on the website vv.se can be used as guidance for certain GRI related information. (Only available in Swedish.) The Road Transport Sector Read more about developments in the road transport system and Sectoral Report 2008 SRA activities in The Road Transport Sector – Sectoral Report 2008.
    [Show full text]
  • The Social Costs of Alcohol in Sweden 2002
    The Social Costs of Alcohol in Sweden 2002 Pia Johansson Johan Jarl Antonina Eriksson Mimmi Eriksson Ulf-G. Gerdtham Örjan Hemström Klara Hradilova Selin Leif Lenke Mats Ramstedt Robin Room SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr 36 – 2006 SoRAD Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs Stockholm University Sveaplan SE-106 91 Stockholm www.sorad.su.se The Social Costs of Alcohol in Sweden 2002 Pia Johansson, Johan Jarl, Antonina Eriksson, Mimmi Eriksson, Ulf-G. Gerdtham, Örjan Hemström, Klara Hra- dilova Selin, Leif Lenke, Mats Ramstedt & Robin Room © Pia Johansson, Johan Jarl, Antonina Eriksson, Mimmi Eriksson, Ulf-G. Gerdtham, Örjan Hemström, Klara Hradilova Selin, Leif Lenke, Mats Ramstedt & Robin Room SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr 36 – 2006 The report is also available at www.sorad.se SoRADs rapportserie ISSN 1650-5441 ISBN 91-976098-5-4 Tryckt av Universitetsservice AB, 2006 ii Acknowledgements Thanks to Kerstin Damström-Thakker and Susanne Wicks (Stockholm Centre for Public Health) for producing Swedish prevalence figures of alcohol dependence for this study. We also thank Bengt Kron and Sylvia Larsson (Västra Götalandsregionen) for help with interpretation of outpatient and primary care data sets and to Torbjörn Hermansson at Region Skåne for inpatient care data set. Special thanks are due to a number of people who advised on the study. These included Dag Rekve, who served as the WHO-Euro liaison, and Patrik Nylander, the main liaison from the Swedish Department of Health and Social Affairs. Members of the international reference group for the study participated in two main advisory meetings, and several gave extensive and very helpful comments on two drafted versions of the report.
    [Show full text]
  • Pseudonymisation of Personal Names and Other Phis in an Annotated
    Pseudonymisation of Personal Names and other PHIs in an Annotated Clinical Swedish Corpus Alyaa Alfalahi, Sara Brissman, Hercules Dalianis Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV) Stockholm University Forum 100, 164 40 Kista, Sweden E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Abstract Today a large number of patient records are produced and these records contain valuable information, often in free text, about the medical treatment of patients. Since these records contain information that can reveal the identity of patients, known as protected health information (PHI), the records cannot easily be made available for the research community. In this research we have used a PHI annotated clinical corpora, written in Swedish, that we have pseudonymised. Pseudonymisation means to replace the sensitive information with fictive information for example real personal names are replaced with fictive personal names based on the gender of the real names and family relations. We have evaluated our results and our five respondents of who three were clinicians found that the clinical text looks real and is readable. We have also added pseudonymisation for telephone numbers, locations, health care units, dates and ages. In this paper we also present the entire de-identification and pseudonymisation process of a sample clinical text. Keywords: Protected Health Information PHI, Electronic Patient Records EPRs, De-identification, Pseudonym, Swedish. 1. Introduction Electronic patient records, EPRs, include valuable personal names and make the text coherent with respect information about the treatment of the patient. Patient to, for example, gender or records also often contain sensitive information family relations, phone numbers that are realistic, regarding the situation of the patient which may disclose locations that are geographically correct but not real, private information about the patient; i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • Compilation A...L Version.Pdf
    Compilation and Translation Johannes Widekindi and the Origins of his Work on a Swedish-Russian War Vetushko-Kalevich, Arsenii 2019 Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Vetushko-Kalevich, A. (2019). Compilation and Translation: Johannes Widekindi and the Origins of his Work on a Swedish-Russian War. Lund University. Total number of authors: 1 Creative Commons License: Unspecified General rights Unless other specific re-use rights are stated the following general rights apply: Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Read more about Creative commons licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 Compilation and Translation Johannes Widekindi and the Origins of his Work on a Swedish-Russian War ARSENII VETUSHKO-KALEVICH FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND THEOLOGY | LUND UNIVERSITY The work of Johannes Widekindi that appeared in 1671 in Swedish as Thet Swenska i Ryssland Tijo åhrs Krijgz-Historie and in 1672 in Latin as Historia Belli Sveco-Moscovitici Decennalis is an important source on Swedish military campaigns in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century.
    [Show full text]
  • FIRST NAME CHOICES in ZAGREB and SOFIA Johanna Virkkula
    SLAVICA HELSINGIENSIA 44 FIRST NAME CHOICES IN ZAGREB AND SOFIA Johanna Virkkula HELSINKI 2014 SLAVICA HELSINGIENSIA 44 Series editors Tomi Huttunen, Jouko Lindstedt, Ahti Nikunlassi Published by: Department of Modern Languages P.O. Box 24 (Unioninkatu 40 B) 00014 University of Helsinki Finland Copyright © by Johanna Virkkula ISBN 978-951-51-0093-1 (paperback) ISBN 978-951-51-0094-8 (PDF) ISSN-L 0780-3281, ISSN 0780-3281 (Print), ISSN 1799-5779 (Online) Printed by: Unigrafia Summary This study explores reasons for first name choice for children using a survey carried out in two places: Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, and Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The outcomes of the analysis are twofold: reasons for name choice in the two communities are explored, and the application of survey methods to studies of name choice is discussed. The theoretical framework of the study is socio-onomastic, or more precisely socio- anthroponomastic, and the work explores boundaries of social intuition. It is argued that parents’ social intuition – based on rules and norms for name choice in their communities that they may not even be consciously aware of – guides them in choices related to namegiving. A survey instrument was used to collect data on naming choices and the data were analysed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study explored in detail five themes affecting reasons for name choice. These themes were: tradition and family, international names, aesthetic values and positive meanings, current names and special names. The process of naming is discussed in detail, as are the effects of the parents’ education and the child’s sex on name choice.
    [Show full text]
  • Sweden: Another Awkward Partner?
    2444Ch16 3/12/02 2:06 pm Page 369 16 Karl Magnus Johansson Sweden: another awkward partner? Introduction: reluctant yet faithful Scholars of the European Union must lift the lid off the ‘black box’ of domestic politics to understand the behaviour of Member States in the integration processes. In this chapter, we will move inside the Swedish polity by analysing domestic constraints and institutional characteristics. The overarching aim is to capture the fundamentals of Sweden as an EU member, thereby identifying the primary actors involved in the policy- cycle. Joining late, Sweden has faced strong pressures of adaptation both at the state and societal levels. As the Union has advanced and become an increasingly complex organisation, countries seeking membership and new Member States are faced with a more difficult and steeper learning curve than the founding members. At the same time, latecomers are in a position to learn from the experiences of others. Sweden joined the Union in January 1995. The decision to seek membership can be seen as a logical consequence of the interdependence between the strongly export-reliant Swedish economy and the West European economies.1 Although officially neutral, Sweden has since long been strongly associated with West Europe, both economically and polit- ically.2 Swedish economic forces actually joined the Common Market before membership was formally and politically approved. Just like in Britain and Denmark, membership has been justified primarily by the political elites on economic grounds, which provided the rationale for requesting membership in the first place and provoked unrealistic expec- tations of economic benefits and thereby continued to haunt the elites, broadly in favour of membership.
    [Show full text]
  • An Empirical Examination of Surname Change and Earnings
    The Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies (SULCIS) Giving Up Foreign Names: An Empirical Examination of Surname Change and Earnings Mahmood Arai and Peter Skogman Thoursie SULCIS Working Paper 2007:1 ISSN 1654-1189 The Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies (SULCIS) SULCIS is a multi-disciplinary research center focusing on migration and integration funded by a Linnaeus Grant from the Swedish Research Council (VR). SULCIS consists of affiliated researchers at the Department of Criminology, the Department of Economics, the Department of Human Geography, the Department of Sociology and the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI). For more information, see our website: www.su.se/sulcis SULCIS Working Paper Series 2007:1 Arai, M & Skogman Thoursie, P., “Giving Up Foreign Names: An empirical Examination of Surname Change and Earnings” Giving up Foreign Names: An Empirical Examination of Surname Change and Earnings Mahmood Arai and Peter Skogman Thoursie ∗ December 20, 2006 Abstract In this paper we compare the earnings development for a group of immigrants that changes their names to Swedish-sounding or neutral names with immigrants who retain their names from the same region of birth. Our results indicate that name-changers are apparently similar to name-keepers and the earnings before the name change is essentially the same for both groups. However, an earnings gap after the name change is observed. The earnings gap corresponds to on average ap- proximately 26 percent. Our understanding of the data and our results is that the groups are similar before the name change and that the earnings gap after the name change should be attributed to the name change.
    [Show full text]
  • The Vikings and Their Victims: the Verdict of the Names
    THE VIKINGS AND THEIR VICTIMS: THE VERDICT OF THE NAMES By GILLIAN FELLOWS-JENSEN READER IN NAME STUDIES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN The Dorothea Coke Memorial Lecture in Northern Studies delivered at University College London 21 February 1994 PUBLISHED FOR THE COLLEGE BY THE VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH LONDON © UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 1995 REPRINTED IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM 1998 ISBN: 0 903521 39 3 THE VIKINGS AND THEIR VICTIMS: THE VERDICT OF THE NAMES N the Dorothea Coke memorial lecture delivered in 1986, Professor R. I. Page, that silver-haired master of silver- I tongued vituperation, had to admit that he had been at a loss as to how to translate without resort to obscenity one of the many more or less obscene descriptions employed by the late tenth- century English chronicler Æthelweard of the late ninth-century Viking invaders.1 The rather colourless result arrived at: A most vile people, was included in the title of his lecture on the radi- cally differing views about the Vikings that were held by early historians. It is not, of course, surprising that the victims of Viking attacks considered their aggressors to be pagan barbarians, capable of every kind of deed of shame, nor that inscriptions on rune- stones in Scandinavia raised to the memory of Vikings who had died in action in the west praise the dead men as models of valour, liberality and loyalty. Among the many inscriptions commemorating Swedes who died in England discussed by Professor Sven B. F. Jansson in his Dorothea Coke memorial lecture in 1965, for example, is that on the stone at Transjö in Småland, which was raised in the eleventh century by Gaut to his son Ketil, who is said to have been ‘among men the most un-dastard’ (SRSm 5).2 Ketil’s English enemies may not have shared the opinion of his father but there certainly were Englishmen in the eleventh century who 1 R.
    [Show full text]
  • A Case for the Danish Element in Northern
    A CASE FOR THE DANISH ELEMENT IN NORTHERN AMERICAN by HOWARD BRUCE WOODS B. Sc:. Miami University (Ohio) , 1961 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of Classics Division of Linguistics We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April, 1969 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and Study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Classics Division of Linguistics The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date April 30, 1969 11 ABSTRACT Less than four decades ago it was thought that there was no substratum influence on the English language spoken in America. It had been noted that the Indians gave a few words to English and that there were small "pocket" colonies formed by the Germans in south-eastern Pennsylvania, the French in south-eastern Louisiana, the Spaniards in the Southwest, and ethnic groups in the large cities.^" Only more recently have scholars begun to see the important role that the speakers of continental Germanic languages have had in forming the speech patterns of American English. More than fifteen million immigrants whose mother tongue was a Germanic language other than.English have settled in what is now the North American Mid• land, Northern, and Canadian dialectal regions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Lindbergh Colony
    THE LINDBERGH COLONY TODAY IN MINNESOTA even the chUdren of immigrants have only a vague idea of how their relatives reached this country. Few diaries were kept and fewer still give details about minor but interesting facts, such as steamship condi­ tions and rates, landing difficulties, the hopes and fears of the men and women leaving their homelands forever, rail­ road routes and rates in America, and other minutiae that have real meaning for later generations. So it Is pleasant to find one group that came to Minnesota for whom there Is a fair amount of data, not only on the topics listed above, but also for the difficulties put in their way in their native land in an endeavor to prevent their mi­ gration. This was a company of Swedes who settled near Big Lake in Sherburne County. For them there remain rather detailed narratives of the entire procedure by which they were enlisted for the enterprise, and how they assembled in Sweden, crossed to England, went thence to Canada, jour­ neyed to St. Paul, and then sought homesteads. The ex­ planation of the survival of details in this instance — whereas they are so noticeably absent for other colonies — lies in the personality of their leader. He was Mans Olsson Lindbergh, the eldest son of Ola Mansson, a well-known leader of the agricultural estate In the Swedish Riksdag, or parliament, in the fifth and sixth decades of the nineteenth century. Ola Mansson migrated to Minnesota in 1859, just as the superior court of Sweden was convicting him of embezzlement In his capacity as one of the directors of the loan office of the Bank of Sweden at Malmo.
    [Show full text]