Oregon
Languages
Place-names such as Umatilla, Coos Bay, Klamath Falls, and Tillamook reflect the variety of Indian tribes that white settlers found in Oregon territory.
The midland dialect dominates Oregon English, except for an apparent Northern dialect influence in the Willamette Valley. Throughout the state, foreign and orange have the /aw/ vowel, and tomorrow has the /ah/ of father .
In 2000, 2,810,654 Oregonians—87.9 of the population five years old or older—spoke only English at home, down from 92.7% in 1990.
The following table gives selected statistics from the 2000 census for language spoken at home by persons five years old and over. The category "Other Indo-European languages" includes Albanian, Gaelic, Lithuanian, and Rumanian. The category "Other Slavic languages" includes Czech, Slovak, and Ukrainian. Samoan. The category "Other Asian languages" includes Dravidian languages, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, and Turkish. The category "Scandinavian languages" includes Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish.
| LANGUAGE | NUMBER | PERCENT |
| Population 5 years and over | 3,199,323 | 100.0 |
| Speak only English | 2,810,654 | 87.9 |
| Speak a language other than English | 388,669 | 12.1 |
| Speak a language other than English | 388,669 | 12.1 |
| Spanish or Spanish Creole | 217,614 | 6.8 |
| German | 18,400 | 0.6 |
| Vietnamese | 17,805 | 0.6 |
| Russian | 16,344 | 0.5 |
| Chinese | 15,504 | 0.5 |
| French (incl. Patois, Cajun) | 11,837 | 0.4 |
| Japanese | 9,377 | 0.3 |
| Korean | 9,185 | 0.3 |
| Tagalog | 6,181 | 0.2 |
| Other Indo-European languages | 5,945 | 0.2 |
| Other Slavic languages | 5,630 | 0.2 |
| Other Pacific Island languages | 4,331 | 0.1 |
| Other Asian languages | 4,109 | 0.1 |
| Arabic | 3,723 | 0.1 |
| Scandinavian languages | 3,276 | 0.1 |
| Italian | 3,104 | 0.1 |