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=== Understand Where You Have Checked === | === Understand Where You Have Checked === | ||
Evaluate what you have already checked. This is a lot easier if you have documented your sources during your research activities. Keep a good research log. | Evaluate what you have already checked. This is a lot easier if you have documented your sources during your research activities. Keep a good research log. List your search objectives i.e. "Find the marriage license application of Magnus Swansson to try and find place of birth in Sweden." List the types of record searched, the time period the record covers AND the time periods searched in that record, which may be very different from the time span it covers as a whole . Note any anomalies in the record such as, "pages 10-13 unreadable - ink spilled," or "edges of index pages burned off," "male indexed only," and so forth. <br> | ||
Record the film number, fiche number, book number, CD number or Web address of the site where informaiton was obtained, along with book, page, and entry number where applicable. | Record the film number, fiche number, book number, CD number or Web address of the site where informaiton was obtained, along with book, page, and entry number where applicable. The person following your tracks to get to that same information should need just a few minutes to do that, if you've done a good job of documenting.<br> | ||
=== Think Phonetically === | === Think Phonetically === | ||
You may have information from family or other sources on the name(s) | You may have information from family or other sources on the name(s) of the place(s) in Sweden where your ancestor lived or came from. However, when you try to find that in a place list such as the parish listing for Sweden, or, a gazetteer, it doesn't show up. What then? Remember that an "American language" ear heard what your Swedish ancestor was trying to say in his/her "Americanized Swedish," | ||
There are letters beyond "z" in the Swedish alphabet, which are also used in the middle of words, and in people and place names. | There are letters beyond "z" in the Swedish alphabet, which are also used in the middle of words, and in people and place names. Their sounds must be taken into account when trying to figure out what people and place names really are. Those letters are Å å Ä ä, Ö ö, ocurring in both upper and lower case. Each of them represents a vowel that we do not have in English. | ||
The Å å or two a's together make a sound that is extremely similar to a long english "o" sound, but there is a subtle difference. Shape your mouth like you are going to make a long A and then make the sound of a long "o". It sounds almost like en English "o" but is slightly different. The Ä ä is pronounced like "eh." The Ö ö is pronounced like an "oo" that is more forward in your mouth. The Y is pronounced even more forward. Shape your mouth like you want to make a long E but then try to say "oo." The difference between U, Ö, and Y is slight and may be difficult for an English speaker. If you just say "oo" for all of them, people will still be able to understand you. In older usage, the Ä ä might have been replaced by "E e" i.e. Elfsborg County instead of Älvsborg. | The Å å or two a's together make a sound that is extremely similar to a long english "o" sound, but there is a subtle difference. Shape your mouth like you are going to make a long A and then make the sound of a long "o". It sounds almost like en English "o" but is slightly different. The Ä ä is pronounced like "eh." The Ö ö is pronounced like an "oo" that is more forward in your mouth. The Y is pronounced even more forward. Shape your mouth like you want to make a long E but then try to say "oo." The difference between U, Ö, and Y is slight and may be difficult for an English speaker. If you just say "oo" for all of them, people will still be able to understand you. In older usage, the Ä ä might have been replaced by "E e" i.e. Elfsborg County instead of Älvsborg. | ||
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The above letters' placement in a personal or place name also affects the pronunciation of what is said and consequently, what is heard. | The above letters' placement in a personal or place name also affects the pronunciation of what is said and consequently, what is heard. | ||
A good case in point follows: | A good case in point follows: A patron wrote saying their ancestor came from, "S''haista, Jonskoping lane, South Smoland, Sweden.'' Neither their "Google" search, nor a Swedish place name search brought satisfaction. | ||
Given the pronunciation of the above letters, and after rolling the names around on the tongue for a while, the places turn out to be the following: | Given the pronunciation of the above letters, and after rolling the names around on the tongue for a while, the places turn out to be the following: | ||
'''Skärstad, Jönköping län, South Småland, Sweden'''. | '''Skärstad, Jönköping län, South Småland, Sweden'''. The "Skär-" would be pronounced as ''"share-" ''or could also be heard as ''"shire. ''The''-sta ''is''"stad" ''with a very soft and/or dropped off "d." Roll those sounds around on your tongue, and you can easily see how the family and/or the American record keeper heard what they did. | ||
The ''"-kö-" ''in "Jönköping is pronounced with a "sshh" sound. | The ''"-kö-" ''in "Jönköping is pronounced with a "sshh" sound. Again, rolling that around on the tongue easily comes up with the family spelling. | ||
Län | Län could sound like "Len" with a little uplift at the end for the "lane" sound. | ||
As indicated, the | As indicated, the ''å ''(or two "a's" together)is pronounced with a long "o" sound, so "Smoland" is perfect for the phonics listed. | ||
To help you learn a little more about the sounds, go online and find a Swedish/English dictionary, with pronounciation marks. | To help you learn a little more about the sounds, go online and find a Swedish/English dictionary, with pronounciation marks. And, always, always roll names of people and places around on your tongue and see what you come up with. Many times, you'll get it right! | ||
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