The Origin of the American Accent

[D H]

I don't think I've ever heard a Norwegian rock band

They do polka.
They apparently also have a rock thing going on, in Norway of course.

seen a Norwegian movie

Many of Henrik Ibsen's plays have been adapted to the screen.

Fargo (not Norwegian, of course, but Frances McDormand absolutely nailed the accent).

or even heard the language spoken.

Fargo (not really).

Or food. A good sense of humor is in order if one is going to a lutefisk dinner at the local Sons of Norway lodge.

Speaking of humor, google "Ole and Lena". Even though I haven't been back to Minnesota for decades, I can quickly recover the accent simply by recalling a silly Ole and Lena joke.

 

[Janus58]

Ahem. Norwegian. Those of Norwegian ancestry outnumber those of Swedish ancestry by more than 2:1 in the upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, and the upper peninsula of Michigan).

Actually, it depends on what part of the state you live in as far as Minnesota. I originally hail from from the Mesabi range area, and we had our own distinct accent, the "Range Accent", different from the stereotypical "Minnesota accent". Yes, I grew up in "Da Rang' "

The accent is distinctive enough that once, when I tuned into the middle of a "Dirty Jobs" episode on leech farming, I noticed that the people he was working with had, what sounded to me like, a range accent.
They finally mentioned the name of the lake they were "farming", and sure enough, it was within miles of where I used to live.

 

[D H]

Hey! That's where half of my family comes from, spread from Cloquet to Marcell. Your probably a dumb Finlander, eh? (I'm mixed up: Finn+Norwegian+French Canadian.)

That accent is distinct. It's a lot closer to the Yooper accent than that of the rest of the state.

 

[Janus58]

Your probably a dumb Finlander, eh?

Yep, And damn proud of it. You know the type, always taking saunas; actually pronounces "sauna" correctly.

I lived in a rural community between Virginia and Hibbing.

 

[quadraphonics]

I don't think I've ever heard a Norwegian rock band, seen a Norwegian movie

There's an entire sub-genre of Heavy Metal centered on Norway:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_metal

 

[D H]

Yep, And damn proud of it. You know the type, always taking saunas; actually pronounces "sauna" correctly.

Well, kippis! Other than haluta kupin kahvia (it sounds so funny), suomalainen, and of course sauna, that's about all the Finnish I know. ("Bottoms up" or "cheers" of course being one of the key phrases in any language).