4 - The rise and fall of an immigrant language: Norwegian in America

Summary

In my study of the Norwegian language in America (Haugen 1953 [1969]) I surveyed the language usages of Norwegian immigrants in the United States from the beginnings of immigration in 1825 to the 1950s. I devoted two chapters (10 and 11) to the use and gradual disuse of the language over the more than a century in which it played a significant role in American life. I entitled the first chapter “The struggle over Norwegian” and the second “The triumph of English”. In the present article I shall (1) briefly summarize my findings in the book for the benefit of readers who may not be familiar with it; (2) present some personal data gathered in my fieldwork; and (3) provide a short account of what has happened in the intervening quarter of a century.

Norwegian America: the rise

My point of departure is an 1898 quotation from an eminent Norwegian-American educator: “Now the question no longer is: how shall we learn English so that we may share in the social life of America and partake of her benefits; the great question is: how can we preserve the language of our ancestors here in a strange environment and pass on to our descendants the treasures it contains? (Bothne 1898:828; cit. Haugen 1953:238). It is significant that this question was posed at the turn of the century. By that time Norwegians had been pouring into America for two generations, settling for the most part in the upper Midwest, from Illinois to North Dakota.

More than a half-million Norwegians had changed countries in these years, seeking opportunity in the rural Midwest.