Tyssedal drew migrants from different parts of Norway, who spoke different Norwegian dialects. From these there developed a compromise dialect, what linguists call a
koiné language. Tyssedal and the nearby town of
Odda—which arose in the same time and socio-economic circumstances but from a more homogeneous population—provided valuable insights to linguists studying this phenomenon. Professor
Paul Kerswill conducted an intensive study of the Norwegian spoken in the two communities, relating them to very different geographical origins: The workers in Odda came predominantly (86%) from western Norway. In Tyssedal only about one third came from western Norway; one third came from eastern Norway; and the rest from other parts of the country. The dialects that evolved in these two communities were radically different from each other, though spoken at a short
geographical distance from each other. ==See also==