Lars on my greatgrandpappy and -mammy:
> They must have been registered in Stockholm when
> leaving, but have had their roots in other parts
> of Sweden (Dalekarlia or the west coast) to
> have had W when leaving.
Yes, I was thinking this too because I frankly don't
have a clue how my greatgrandparents lived. They
ended up farming in Minnesota so _perhaps_ they had
been farmers in Sweden too, but it's anyone's guess.
If they were farmers then I suppose they wouldn't
have been city people (duh! :P) and their original
residence wouldn't have been in Stockholm itself.
> It would be interesting though, if a special dialect
> in Minnesota had developed this pronunciation.
My grandmother could really only practice her Swedish
on her siblings. It was like an insider language :)
I never paid attention to whether my grandmother
was the only one doing it in my family but I somehow
doubt that she would have been conscious of the
"w-habit". So the choices seem to be:
1. She learned it from her parents and the
/w/ is from Sweden.
2. It was some kind of bilingualism-affected
Swedish in an English-speaking country.
3. It was her own affectation, idiosyncracy,
or what-have-you.
I'd be curious to know whether anyone would know
if /w/ was used in Sweden in some area during
the dawn of the 20th century. Maybe it would hint
at my origins :) Maybe I'm a Gypsy afterall :P
= gLeN
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