Bornholm dialect

Last updated
Bornholmsk
Native to Denmark
Region Bornholm
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottolog born1251
IETF da-bornholm

Bornholmsk is an East Danish dialect spoken on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It was originally part of the East Danish dialect continuum, which includes the dialects of southern Sweden, but became isolated in the Danish dialect landscape after 1658, when Sweden annexed the eastern Danish provinces of Scania (Skåne), Halland and Blekinge. [3]

Contents

The language is more generally spoken than written, despite the existence of several Bornholmsk–Danish dictionaries and a regular Bornholmsk article in the local newspaper. Even words that are never used in Standard Danish are spelled according to the standard orthography.

The dialect is endangered, as the inhabitants of Bornholm have been shifting to standard Danish over the past century. [4] [5] [6] "Bevar Bornholmsk" is an organization whose purpose is to preserve Bornholmsk. Its main organization is KulturBornholm, the editor of books with CDs with the text in Bornholmsk.

Dialects

The small island has only about 40,000 inhabitants, yet the language is divided into five main dialects, not counting standard Danish. As an example, "eye" would be spelled iva in some regions, but elsewhere it would be øja, which is quite close to the Danish word øje and Scanian "öja-öjen".

The northern part of the island would have more influence by Swedish than the rest of the island, due to the relatively large number of Swedish immigrants on those shores closest to Sweden. The differences are actually large enough so that the north-Bornholm dialect is called Allinge-svensk ("Allinge-Swedish") in Danish – Âlinga-svænsk in Bornholmsk. However, most Swedish immigrants hailed from the Scanian provinces and spoke dialects that derived from East Danish.

Danish or Swedish?

Like in the case of the closely related Scanian dialect spoken in Southern Sweden, the question whether the dialect is Danish or Swedish cannot be separated from the political and ideological burden attached to language as an ethnic marker. Therefore, Danes from other parts of the country may accuse people from Bornholm of speaking Swedish as a kind of insult (using derogatory nicknames like reservesvensker, "auxiliary Swede").

From a linguistic point of view, the Scandinavian languages form a continuum, and the dialects of Skåne, Blekinge, Halland and Bornholm are a natural bridge between "sjællandsk" (the dialects of Zealand) and "götamål" (the dialects of Götaland). One may define "Danish" and Swedish" in two different ways:

  1. historically: Danish is the part of the dialect continuum that has certain sound changes in common like the weakening of plosives (see below) or certain innovations in the vocabulary.
  2. sociolinguistically: Danish is the part of the dialect continuum that has Standard Danish as its written standard (Dachsprache).

According to both criteria, Bornholmsk is indeed a Danish dialect (whereas modern Scanian would be Swedish according to the second one, although this was not so until 1680 when Swedish first became the language of the authorities and church in Scania).

Bornholmsk has indeed many phonetical features in common with Swedish (most of them archaisms, though, which are irrelevant for the classification of the dialect). Yet, in most cases where the vocabularies of Swedish and Danish differ, Bornholmsk stands with Danish. This is also reflected in its IETF BCP 47 language tag, da-bornholm.

Phonology

Sound system

An official standardised orthography of Bornholmsk does not exist since Standard Danish is taught in schools and is the language of all public communication. However, dialect texts use a simplified phonetical alphabet (invented by K.J. Lyngby in the 19th century and also employed in Espersen's dictionary of Bornholmsk):

Consonants
Labial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Alveolo-palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosives p[pʰ]
b[bʱ]
t[tʰ]
d[dʱ]
ḱ (kj)[tɕ]
ǵ (gj)[dʑ]
k[kʰ]
g[ɡʱ]
Fricatives f[f]
v[v]
t[θ]
d[ð]
s[s]
z[z]
ś (sj)[ʃ]
ź (zj)[ʒ]
r[ʁ]h[h]
Liquids l[l]ĺ (lj / jl / jlj)[ʎ]
Nasals m[m]n[n]ń (nj / jn / jnj)[ɲ]ng[ŋ]
Approximants w[w]j[j]
Vowels
Front Central Back
unroundedroundedunroundedrounded
Close vowel i[iː]
i[i]
y[yː]
y[y]
u[uː,uːʊ]
u[u]
Close-mid vowel e[eː,eːə]
e[e]

ø[ø]
o[oː,oːʊ]
o[o]
Mid vowel e[ə]
Open-mid vowel æ[ɛː]
æ[ɛ]
ö[œː]
å[ɔː]
å[ɔ]
Open vowel a[aː]
a[a]
â[ɑː]
â[ɑ]

A stressed syllable always contains either a long vowel or a long consonant (like in Swedish, but unlike Standard Danish, where there are no long consonants). Bornholmsk does not have the stød characteristic of most varieties of Danish, but on the other hand, it does not have the musical accent characteristic of Swedish and Norwegian either.

Phonetic development

In the list, there is special emphasis on the developments that set Bornholmsk apart from Standard Danish. For the sake of convenience, Old Norse (i.e. Old Icelandic) forms have been quoted instead of Old Danish forms.

  1. postvocalic p > v[v]: kaupa "buy" > kjøvva[ˈtɕøvːa] (SD købe[ˈkʰøːbə], colloquial and in most dialects [ˈkʰøːʊ])
  2. postvocalic f > w or, seldom, v: grafa > grawa[ˈɡʁaːwa] (SD grave[ˈɡʁɑːʊ]), lefa "live" > lewa[ˈleːwa] (SD leve[ˈleːʊ])
  3. w > v, but w after s, k: vatn "water" > vann[ˈvanː] (SD vand[ˈʋænˀ]), but sverja "swear" > swæra[ˈswɛːʁa] (SD sværge[ˈsʋaːʊ]), kvenna "woman" > kwinnja[ˈkwiɲːa] (SD kvinde[ˈkʰʋenə]).
  4. postvocalic t > d[d]. In some words, we have [ð], though, and increasingly so due to the influence from Standard Danish: bīta "bite" > bida[ˈbiːda] (SD bide[ˈbiːð̩]).
  5. postvocalic ð > -, sometimes (especially in unstressed syllables and learned words) ð: nauð "need" > [ˈnœː] (SD nød[ˈnøðˀ]), but mánaðr "month" > månad (SD måned[ˈmɔːnð̩])
  6. postvocalic k > g after back-tongue-vowels. ēk, ek, ik, īk > æj or (before t, s) aj: kaka "cake" > kâga[ˈkʰɑːɡa] (SD kage[ˈkʰæːɪ,ˈkʰæːæ]); eik "oak" > æj[ˈɛːj] (SD eg[ˈeːˀɪ̯]), lík "corpse" > læj[ˈlɛːj] (SD lig[ˈliːˀ]), seks "six" > sajs[ˈsaːjs] (SD seks[ˈsɛɡs])
  7. postvocalic g > w after back-tongue vowels and j after front-tongue vowels: fogl > fâwl[ˈfɑːwl] (SD fugl[ˈfuːˀl]), lagr "low" > lâwer[ˈlɑːwəʁ] (SD lav[ˈlæʊ̯ˀ]), segja "say" > saja[ˈsaːja] (SD sige[ˈsiːi]), vegr "way" > vaj[ˈvaːj] (SD vej[ˈʋajˀ])
  8. k, g > kj, dj[tɕ,dʑ] before and after front-tongue vowels. tj and sj > kj[tɕ] and sj[ʃ]: keyra "run (a car)" > kjöra[ˈtɕœːʁa] (SD køre[ˈkʰøːɐ]), gess "geese" > gjæss[ˈdʑɛsː] (SD gæs[ˈɡɛs]), fekk "got" > fikj[ˈfitɕ] (SD fik[ˈfeɡ]), egg "egg" > ægj[ˈɛdʑ] (SD æg[ˈɛːˀɡ]).
  9. nn > nnj[ɲː] and nd > nn or (after i, y, u) nnj[ɲː]: þynnr "thin" > tynnjer[ˈtʰyɲːəʁ] (SD tynd[ˈtˢønˀ]), binda "bind" > binnja[ˈbiɲːa] (SD binde[ˈbenə]), but land "land" > lann[ˈlanː] (SD land[ˈlænˀ]).
  10. ll, ld > llj[ʎː]: oll "wool" > ullj[ˈuʎː] (SD uld[ˈulˀ]), kaldr "cold" > kålljer[ˈkʰɔʎːəʁ] (SD kold[ˈkʰʌlˀ])
  11. ŋ > nnj[ɲː] after e and sometimes i, y: lengi > lænnje[ˈlɛɲːə] (SD længe[ˈlɛŋə]), þenkja, þenkti "think, thought" > tænjkja, tænjte[ˈtʰɛːɲtɕa,ˈtʰɛːɲtʰə] (SD tænke, tænkte[ˈtˢɛŋɡə,ˈtˢɛŋdə])
  12. > y or, word-initially and after t, jy: ljós "light" > lyz[ˈlyːz] (SD lys[ˈlyːˀs]), jól "Christmas" > jyl[ˈjyːl] (SD jul[ˈjuːˀl]), þjórr "bull" > kjyr[ˈtɕyːʁ] (SD tyr[ˈtˢyɐ̯ˀ])
  13. y, ø > i, e, æ before w: daufr "deaf" > dæwer[ˈdɛːwəʁ] (SD døv[ˈdøʊ̯ˀ]), tjogu "twenty" > tjuge > kjive[ˈtɕiːvə] (SD tyve[ˈtˢyːʊ])
  14. unstressed a > a (like Swedish, but unlike the other Danish dialects): kalla "call" > kalja[ˈkʰaːʎa] (SD kalde[ˈkʰælə]), sumarr "summer" > såmmar[ˈsɔmːaʁ] (SD sommer[ˈsʌmɐ])
  15. long ō is preserved in closed syllables: bóndi "farmer" > bone[ˈboːnə] (SD bonde[ˈb̥ɔnə]), similarly hús > hōs "at (somebody)" > hos[hoːs] (SD hos[hɔs])
  16. ow, ōw, uw, ūw > âw[ɑw]: dúfa "dove" > dâwwa[ˈdɑwːa] (SD due[ˈduːu]), skógr > skâww[ˈskɑwː] (SD skov[ˈsɡʌʊ̯ˀ]), sofa "sleep" > sâwwa[ˈsɑʊːa] (SD sove[ˈsɒːʊ])

Morphology

Nominal inflection

Bornholmsk has retained three distinct grammatical genders, like Icelandic or Norwegian, and unlike standard Danish or Swedish. The gender inflection exists not only in the definite article (like in Norwegian and certain Danish dialects), but also in the adjectives:

Born-
holmsk
indefinitedefinite
without adjectivewith adjectivewithout adjectivewith adjective
Singular
Masculineinj hæstinj go-er hæsthæst-injdenj goa hæst-inj"(good) horse"
Feminineen sâgen go sâgsâg-enden go-a sâg-en"(good) case / thing"
Neuteret huzet go-t huzhuz-edde go-a huz-ed"(good) house"
Plural
Masculinehæstago-a hæstahæsta-nadi go-e hæsta-na"(good) horses"
Femininesâgergo-a sâgersâgar-nadi go-e sâgar-na"(good) cases / things"
Neuterhuzgo-a huzhuz-endi go-e huz-en"(good) houses"
Standard
Danish
indefinitedefinite
without adjectivewith adjectivewithout adjectivewith adjective
Singular
Masculineen hesten god hesthest-enden god-e hest"(good) horse"
Feminineen sagen god sagsag-enden god-e sag"(good) case / thing"
Neuteret huset god-t hushus-etdet god-e hus"(good) house"
Plural
Masculine hestegod-e hesteheste-nede god-e heste"(good) horses"
Femininesagergod-e sagersager-nede god-e sager"(good) cases / things"
Neuterhusegod-e husehuse-nede god-e huse"(good) houses"

In adjectives, -er is the old ending of the masculine nominative still extant in German (-er), Icelandic (-ur) and Faroese (-ur), but lost in the other Scandinavian dialects (except for certain old phrases like Danish en ungersvend, originally en unger svend, "a young fellow"). In Bornholmsk, it is used in all cases (since the dialect has not retained the Old Danish case flexion).

Masculine nouns normally have the plural ending -a - and this is also the case when the singular ends in a vowel (where Standard Danish would have -er), e.g. skâwwa "woods" (sg. skâww), tima "hours" (sg. tima). Feminine nouns have -er. Neuter nouns have zero ending, and the definite article of the neuter plural is -en, e.g. huz "houses", huzen "the houses" (sg. huz)

Pronouns

Bornholmsk has an enclitic form of the personal pronoun that is unknown in the other Danish dialects, namely masculine -iń "him" and feminine -na "her". They originate from the old accusatives hann and hana still used in Icelandic, whereas the Scandinavian languages, apart from spoken Swedish in the Mälaren Valley, normally use the old dative form for the oblique case (Danish ham, hende, Swedish honom, henne). These enclitic forms also occur in spoken Norwegian, where -n is masculine and -a is feminine. Colloquial and dialectal Swedish has them as well: jag har sett'n/sett'na "I have seen him/her".

Verbal conjugation

Until the 20th century, Bornholmsk inflected the verbs in number, e.g. jâ bińńer "I bind" ~ vi bińńa "we bind", jâ bânt "I bound" ~ vi bonne "we bound". Spoken Danish gave up this inflection in the 18th century already, even though it was still practiced in the literary language until it was officially cancelled in 1900 (jeg binder ~ vi binde).

Bornholmsk also has special endings for the 2nd person, when a pronoun follows immediately after the ending, namely -st in the singular and -en in the plural:

såstu-na "did you see her" (SD så du hende)
gån i "are you going" (SD går I)
varren så goa "here you are" (SD vær så god, værsgo; lit. "be so good/kind")

Text samples

Literature

Beginning of a poem printed in Espersen's Bornholmsk Ordbog.

BornholmskDanishEnglish [7]

God awtan, liden Elna, gods fredd,
God awtan, min deilia rosa!
Ad gubbajn hajn vill freia, jâ vedd;
Men toustuijn, vastu jo tosa.
Te öfröl ded lakkar well snarara, du,
En konna, - ded bler nokk for sijlla;
Men jâ går å stjärnar på piblana nu,
Forr jâ e på nå nu så vijlla.
Hvad, liden Elna,
Hvad, min deilia rosa?

God aften, lille Elna, guds fred,
God aften, min dejlige rose!
At gubben vil fri, ved jeg;
Men tog du ham, var du jo en tosse.
Til gravøl lakker det nok snarere, du;
En kone - det bliver nok for silde;
Men jeg går og kigger på pigerne nu,
For nu er jeg næsten i stand dertil (til at gifte mig).
Hvad, lille Elna,
Hvad, min dejlige rose?

Good evening, little Elna, God's peace!
Good evening my beautiful rose!
That the old man will court you I know,
But if you took him, you would be a foolish lass.
To funeral ale it is drawing near (for him), do you see?
A wife-it is much too late (for that),
But I am going to peep at the girls now,
For I am almost ready (to marry).
What, little Elna!
What my beautiful rose!

Spoken language

Interview with a native speaker from Ibsker. The informant was born in 1906, and the text was recorded in 1973.:

BornholmskDanishEnglish

ˈlɛːjˌsteːniɲ...
ˈdeːsɔnˈstoːʁˈflɑːðɐˈsteːndɛɲeˈtʰʁeːˈɡɔŋːaˈstoːʁsɔmˈboːʁəðˈhɛːʁvɛl-ɔdɛɲˈlidʑəʁveːʁˈvɛːɲsɔmˈkʰɔmːəʁɔwːəʁfʁɔˈkʰliːnbyɔɡɔʁˈɔwːəʁimoðˈkʰoːdɑːltʰeː-ɔdɛːʁˈdʑikʰjoˈalsɔˈsawnəðiˈɡamlaˈdɑː-fɔʁˈkʰliːnbyˌboːʁnadiˈhøːʁəmeːtʰeˈibskəʁˈsɔwnɔˈibskəʁˈtɕɛʁkʰəˈnɔʁdiˈdœːdiˈskʰolːehɑːˈbɔːʁantʰeˈibskəʁˈbɑːʁdiˈdɛɲpʰɔˈsɔneˈbɛːʁiɲə-ɔˈviːlaðadiˈdɛːʁpʰɔ-pʰɔˈlɛːjˌsteːniɲ-ɔˈhɑːðdijoˈmɑːðiˈkʰɔʁːiɲ-ˈbʁɛɲevinsˌflaskəʁˈmeːsɛˈfølːi-diˈskʰolːəˈhɑdɔmenˈsyːpʰɔˈstɔʁtɕadɔmˈpʰɔːɔˈvɑːŋkʰaðːdiˈviːðəʁafɔʁdiˈmɔtʰːejoˈentʰəˈsɛtʰːaˈtɕiːstanpʰɔˈjoːʁən
-mæŋkʰujoˈtʰʁoːˀæd̥iˈɔnʌˌjoɐ̯ˀd̥isɡ̊əhʌlˈtˢepʰɔˈsʌnˈsd̥ɛːð̞ɐ...
jaːˈsɔ-deˈdʑoːʁədi-diˈɡamla,diˈtʰʁoːdəjopʰɔˈdedɛʁsɔm,jaˈdeˈdʑoːʁədi-ɔˈde-ˈʁakʰːaʁiɲhaɲˈboːdəjoˈaltʰidɛʁˈuːdə-deˈvajoˈhanːəmsɔmˈflɔːðədiˈsɛːlˌdœːˈkʰʁaːjtʰuʁnɔˈslajtʰaðaˈhɛstaɔˈsɑːnˈnɑːð-haɲˈmɔtʰːejoˈentʰəˈboːpʰɔˈiɲmaːʁkʰənhaɲˈskʰolːəˈboːpʰɔˈløŋiɲ-haɲˈhaðːəˈsɔnːənˈɡamːəlˈløŋɡˌhyːtʰadɛːʁˈuːde-ˈfɑʁhaɲkʰuɲeˈhɑwsa-əðˈsɑːhaɲ-ˈvestəˈvɔʁhaɲˈhaðːeˈboːtʰ-ɔ-ˈsɔnɔʁhaɲˈdʑikʰtʰeˈaltʰəʁsˈmɔtʰːəhaɲˈentʰəˈdʁekʰːa-ˈdɛɲˈɡɔŋiɲˈdʁɔkʰdijoidɔːˈsamːaˈbɛːɡəʁəðˈaʎːeˈjomɛnˈhaːɲskʰolːəˈdʁekʰːauːðaˈfoːdiɲpʰɔˈbɛːɡəʁəð-haɲmɔtʰːəˈentʰəˈdʁekʰːapʰɔˈdedɛːʁhaɲvaːjo...
ˈuˌʁɛːˀn...
ˈjahaɲvaˈuˌʁeːnˈja-ˈnɑːʁhaɲˈkʰɔmtʰeˈswɑːnikʰaˈɡɔŋɡɔskʰolːeˈhanla-ˈsɔ-ɔˈdɛɲˈɡɔŋɡiɲˈfitɕdijoˈdʑɛʁnˈaltʰienˈsnapʰsnɔʁdikʰɔmˈiɲtʰeˈtɕøˌmaːɲɔskʰulːeˈhanlaˈjoː-ˈkʰɔmjoˈdɛɲdɛːʁ-ˈsɔn-ˈʁakʰːaʁiɲˈɑwja-ɔ-ˈvadiʃɛːɲtʰejobɑːʁaideˈsamːaˈɡlɑːzəðtʰeˈaʎːəsamːənaˈjoː-ɔ-haːɲfitɕjoenˈsyːpʰɔskʰolːədɛɲˈnɛstaˈhɑː-ˈdɛfɔhaɲˈsɔːˈjɑskʰalvɛlˈdɛːwliɲˈitɕeˈdʁekʰːaidɔˈdeˈɡlɑːzeðsɔmˈhaɲhaˈdʁɔkʰːəðiˈdɔː

Ligstenen ...
det er sådan en stor, flad sten, den er tre gange så stor som bordet her, vel. Og den ligger ved vejen som kommer ovre fra Klinteby og går over imod Kodal til. Og der gik jo altså sagnet i gamle dage - for Klintebyboerne, de hørte med til Ibsker sogn og Ibsker Kirke, så når de døde, de skulle blive båret til Ibsker, så bar de den på sådan en bærer. Og så hvilede de dér på - på Ligstenen. Og så havde de jo mad i kurven, brændevinsflasker med, selvfølgelig. De skulle jo have sig en slurk at styrke sig på. Og så vandrede de videre, for de måtte jo ikke sætte kisten på jorden.
Man kunne jo tro at de underjordiske holdt til på de steder...
Ja - det gjorde de, de gamle troede på det der, som - ja det gjorde de. Og det – rakkeren, han boede jo altid derude. Det var jo ham som flåede de selvdøde kreaturer og slagtede heste og sådan noget - han måtte jo ikke bo på indmarken, han skulle bo på lyngen. Han havde sådan en gammel lynghytte derude. Far, han kunne huske det, sagde han - vidste hvor han havde boet. Og - så når han gik til alters, så måtte han ikke drikke - for den gangen drak de jo af samme bæger, alle sammen, men han skulle drikke af foden på bægeret - han måtte ikke drikke på det der, han var jo ...
uren ...
ja, han var uren, ja. da han kom til Svaneke en gang og skulle handle - så - og dengang fik de jo gerne altid en snaps når de kom ind til købmanden og skulle handle. Så kom der jo den der - sådan rakker og ja - og så - hvad, de skænkede jo bare i det samme glas til alle sammen. Og så - han fik jo en slurk, og så skulle den næste have. Derfor sagde han så: "Jeg skal fandme ikke drikke af det glas som han har drukket af."

The corpse stone ...
it is like a large, flat stone, three times this table, I gather. And it lies on the road that comes from Klinteby and goes to Kodal. Well, there was this legend in old days – you know, the people of Klinteby used to belong to the parish of Ibsker and the church of Ibsker, so when the dead were going to be carried to Ibsker, they would carry it on such a carrier. And they would rest there on the Corpse Stone. And then they would have food in the basket – bottles of snaps. of course- After all, they would need a sip to strengthen themselves. And then, they would carry on, for they weren't supposed to set the coffin on the ground.
You'd think, the people of the underground would live in such places...
Yes, they did, the old ones believed in that stuff, yes, they did. And it – the horse butcher, he always lived there, you know. He was the one that skinned the self-dead cattle and butchered horses and stuff. He wasn't supposed to live in the in-field, you know, he had to live on the heath. he had like an old heath hut out there. Dad, he remembered it, he said, knew where he had lived. And – when he went to the communion, he wasn't supposed to drink – for at that time, they all drank from the same cup, you know, but he had to drink from the foot of the cup – he wasn't supposed to drink on it, he was, you know ...
unclean...
yes, he was unclean, he was. So once he came to Svaneke and went shopping – you know, they would always take a little snaps when they visited the grocer at that time. So, this, this butcher came and, then, what happened? They poured in the same glass for everybody, you know. And he had a sip, and then the next was supposed to drink. So, he said: "Damn it, I won't drink from that glass he drank from."

Notes

  1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (2022-05-24). "Older Runic". Glottolog . Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Archived from the original on 2022-11-13. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forke, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2020). "Bornholmska". Glottolog 4.3.
  3. Rendahl, A. C. (2001). "Swedish dialects around the Baltic Sea". In: The Circum-Baltic languages: typology and contact. Ed. by Östen Dahl and Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm. pp. 137-178.
  4. Mortensen, Marianne (n.d.). "Den bornholmske dialekt dør – og hvad så? - Om forholdet mellem dialekt og identitet i en bornholmsk-københavnsk kontekst" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-04-08. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
  5. Inge Lise Pedersen. 2003. Traditional dialects of Danish and the de-dialectalization 1900-2000. International Journal of the Sociology of Language. Volume 2003, Issue 159, Pages 9–28, ISSN (Online) 1613-3668
  6. Kristensen, K., & Thelander, M. (1984). On dialect levelling in Denmark and Sweden. Folia linguistica, 18(1-2), 223-246.
  7. J.D. Prince, Proceedings from the American Philosophical Society 63 (1924) p. 197.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danish language</span> North Germanic language

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schleswig, where it has minority language status. Minor Danish-speaking communities are also found in Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germanic languages</span> Branch of the Indo-European language family

The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, English, is also the world's most widely spoken language with an estimated 2 billion speakers. All Germanic languages are derived from Proto-Germanic, spoken in Iron Age Scandinavia and Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German language</span> West Germanic language

German is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also an official language of Luxembourg and Belgium, as well a national language in more than 20 countries, outside Germany it is also spoken by German communities in France (Alsace), Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary (Sopron).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwegian language</span> North Germanic language spoken in Norway

Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional varieties; some Norwegian and Swedish dialects, in particular, are very close. These Scandinavian languages, together with Faroese and Icelandic as well as some extinct languages, constitute the North Germanic languages. Faroese and Icelandic are not mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them. While the two Germanic languages with the greatest numbers of speakers, English and German, have close similarities with Norwegian, neither is mutually intelligible with it. Norwegian is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Norse</span> North Germanic language

Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements and chronologically coincides with the Viking Age, the Christianization of Scandinavia and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 8th to the 15th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swedish language</span> North Germanic language

Swedish is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic countries overall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Germanic languages</span> Languages of the Nordic countries

The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also referred to as the Nordic languages, a direct translation of the most common term used among Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish scholars and people.

Nynorsk is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (Landsmål), parallel to the Dano-Norwegian written standard known as Riksmål. The name Nynorsk was introduced in 1929. After a series of reforms, it is still the written standard closer to Landsmål, whereas Bokmål is closer to Riksmål and Danish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Low German</span> Developmental stage of Low German

Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225/34 (Sachsenspiegel). During the Hanseatic period, Middle Low German was the leading written language in the north of Central Europe and served as a lingua franca in the northern half of Europe. It was used parallel to medieval Latin also for purposes of diplomacy and for deeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scanian dialect</span> Dialect of southern Swedish

Scanian is a Scandinavian speech variety spoken in the province of Scania in southern Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwegian dialects</span>

Norwegian dialects (dialekter) are commonly divided into four main groups, 'Northern Norwegian', 'Central Norwegian' (trøndersk), 'Western Norwegian' (vestlandsk), and 'Eastern Norwegian'. Sometimes 'Midland Norwegian' and/or 'South Norwegian' are considered fifth or sixth groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comparison of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish</span> Comparison of Scandinavian languages

Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are all descended from Old Norse, the common ancestor of all North Germanic languages spoken today. Thus, they are closely related, and largely mutually intelligible, particularly in their standard varieties. The largest differences are found in pronunciation and language-specific vocabulary, which may hinder mutual intelligibility to some extent in some dialects. All dialects of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish form a dialect continuum within a wider North Germanic dialect continuum.

Jutlandic, or Jutish, is the western variety of Danish, spoken on the peninsula of Jutland in Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Sweden</span> Overview of the languages commonly spoken in Sweden

Swedish is the official language of Sweden and is spoken by the vast majority of the 10.23 million inhabitants of the country. It is a North Germanic language and quite similar to its sister Scandinavian languages, Danish and Norwegian, with which it maintains partial mutual intelligibility and forms a dialect continuum. A number of regional Swedish dialects are spoken across the country. In total, more than 200 languages are estimated to be spoken across the country, including regional languages, indigenous Sámi languages, and immigrant languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danish dialects</span>

The Danish language has a number of regional and local dialect varieties. These can be divided into the traditional dialects, which differ from modern Standard Danish in both phonology and grammar, and the Danish accents, which are local varieties of the standard language distinguished mostly by pronunciation and local vocabulary colored by traditional dialects. Traditional dialects are now mostly extinct in Denmark, with only the oldest generations still speaking them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nederkalix dialect</span> Norrland dialect of Swedish

Nederkalix dialect is a traditional Norrland dialect of Swedish, spoken in the historical parishes of Nederkalix and Töre in modern-day Kalix Municipality in Norrbotten in Sweden. The traditional Nederkalix dialect, like the other Norrland dialects, is very divergent from Standard Swedish, containing both archaisms and innovations in the phonological and grammatical systems.

Norrland dialects is one of the six major dialect groupings of the Swedish language. It comprises most dialects traditionally spoken in Norrland, except for those of Gästrikland and southern Hälsingland, which are usually classified as Svealand Swedish, as well as those of Härjedalen and northernmost Jämtland, which are usually classified as Norwegian.

South Swedish dialects is one of the main dialect groups of Swedish. It includes the closely related dialects spoken in the formerly Danish but since 1658 Swedish traditional provinces of Scania, Blekinge and southern Halland, as well as in the southern parts of Småland, which are the remains of an old dialect continuum between Danish and Swedish. The phonology of South Swedish dialects is influenced by Danish. Examples are the use of a uvular trills and "softening" of certain consonants.

The distinction between rhoticity and non-rhoticity is one of the most prominent ways in which varieties of the English language are classified. In rhotic accents, the sound of the historical English rhotic consonant,, is preserved in all pronunciation contexts. In non-rhotic accents, speakers no longer pronounce in postvocalic environments: when it is immediately after a vowel and not followed by another vowel. For example, in isolation, a rhotic English speaker pronounces the words hard and butter as /ˈhɑːrd/ and /ˈbʌtər/, but a non-rhotic speaker "drops" or "deletes" the sound and pronounces them as /ˈhɑːd/ and /ˈbʌtə/. When an r is at the end of a word but the next word begins with a vowel, as in the phrase "better apples," most non-rhotic speakers will pronounce the in that position since it is followed by a vowel in this case.

East Danish refers to dialects of the Danish language spoken in Bornholm in Denmark and in Blekinge, Halland, Skåne and the southern parts of Småland in Sweden. After Scania, Halland and Blekinge came to Sweden in the 17th century, the dialects are under Swedish influence. Most residents now speak regionally influenced Standard Swedish. The original dialects are still considered to be part of the East Danish dialect group by many researchers, so they can be considered AS both East Danish and South Swedish dialects.

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