Wisconsin Walloon | |
---|---|
Native to | Wisconsin, United States |
Region | Door Peninsula |
Native speakers | <50 (2021) [1] |
Early forms | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Glottolog | None |
Wisconsin Walloon is a dialect of the Walloon language brought to Wisconsin by immigrants from Wallonia, the largely French-speaking region of Belgium. It is spoken in the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin, United States. [1]
The speakers of Wisconsin Walloon are descendants of the Belgian immigrants that came from the wave of immigration lasting from 1853–1857 that was recorded to have brought around 2,000 Belgians to Wisconsin. [3] It is sometimes referred to by its speakers in English as "Belgian". [4] Walloons in Wisconsin and descendants of native Walloon speakers have since switched to English, and as of 2021, it has fewer than 50 speakers. [1]