SAS1 9.The Languages of Sweden and Denmark
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18/04/2016 The languages of Sweden and Denmark April 15 th 2016 Splits in the North Germanic family 800: Split between East Scandinavian and West Scandinavian/Old Norse 1200: Split between South and North Post 1500: Deeper split between Mainland Scandinavian and Insular Nordic 1 18/04/2016 East vs. West Scandinavian/Old Norse • East Scandinavian = Old Danish, Old Swedish and Old Gutnish. • West Scandinavian/Old Norse = Norwegian, including the then Norwegian dialects Icelandic, Faroese and Norn (on Orkney and in Shetland) • Does not reflect a real dialect or language boundry: dialect continuum • Distinction /o:/ ( bro , tro , ko in ES) and /u:/ ( bru , tru , ku in WS) • ES acquired an initial /j/ in jeg /jag • WS preserved old diphthongs /ei/, /au/, /øy/ when ES simplified them to /e:/, /ø:/ ( stein /sten , laus /løs ) • Later distinction: ES only two gender: common gender and neuter South vs. North Scandinavian • Superseded the East-West division: represents a real language boundary • Split between Denmark and Norway/Sweden • South: – neutralization of unstressed vowels in inflectional endings > schwa: holde, timer, stjerner (Da.) vs. hålla, timmar, stjärnor (Sw.) – lenition (weakening of unvioced plosives following long vowels): ptk>bdg > frikatives – glottal stop (vs. tonem system in North) 2 18/04/2016 Mainland vs. Insular Nordic • Superseding the N-S division: deeper split • Far-reaching morphological simplifications in Scandinavia breaking down the case system in nouns and adjectives and reducing the conjugation of verbs. • No toneme system in IN. • Lexical development: Hansea=c league > virtual transformation of Scandinavian vocabulary Denmark 0unen Bealand "Da7map". 6icensed under Public Domain via (ikimedia Commons 7 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/0ile:Da7map.pngA/media/0ile:Da7map.png 3 18/04/2016 https://www.youtube.com/watchCv.s7 mOy8DEEFk Chronology • Old Danish 800G1100 • Early Middle Danish 1100G1350 – split Danish vs. orth Scandinavian, 1200 • 6ate Middle Danish 1350G1525 – influence of Low German reached its peak – morphological simplifications and phonological revolution • Early Modern Danish 1525G1700 – more stable period – standardi8ation of written language • Modern Danish 1700G 4 18/04/2016 Curious position • suppressing other languages as an imperial language in the Scandinavian union • had to assert itself at home against 6atin and German dominance (ritten Danish • 0irst 1law2text from 13 th C. 1most text written in 6atin2 • Certain dominance of Bealandic forms from the late Middle Ages • 0rom 14 th C. some more texts in different genres. • Orthographic standardi8ation began in 16 th CI printing and 6utheran Reformation important – The Fible of Christian ,,, 115502 with consistent orthography and KpureL Danish style – 6aw of Ming Christian D 116832 • 17 th C: 0irst Danish grammars, mainly based on upper7class Copenhagen speech. 5 18/04/2016 Fut: • German the prestige language of the court and the nobility 1the Oldenburg dynasty from 14502 • 0rench ac3uired a prestigious position in 17 th and 18 th C. KEach man who drank deeply of wisdom, On paper he only wrote LatinI With the ladies 0rench, and German with his dog, And Danish he spoke with his servantL Purism in 18 th century • A purist language movement wanted to make Danish more authentic and more intelligible to the general public. • This movement was inspired by Germans and directed its aggression primarily against 0rench and 6atin words. • Purist wave subsided after some decades, and Danish has been rather liberal in accepting loanwords ever since. 6 18/04/2016 • Dominance of German declined towards the end of 18 th C. • Orthographic standardi8ation largely completed before 1800, but discussions about spelling continued through most of the 1N th C. Standard variety • firmly based on upper7class Copenhagen speech • most of the traditional dialects have disappeared due to urbani8ation, communication and education • some regional variations 1Dik5r 2001: 1N12 7 18/04/2016 • Danish is the Scandinavian language where spelling and pronunciation have grown the farthest apart, so far that a spelling reform with completely phonological orthography would make the language unreadable Sweden http://www.e8ilon.com /maps/europe/sweden 7maps.html 8 18/04/2016 Chronology • Runic Swedish 800G1225 – runes used in everyday life until late Middle Ages even though the Roman alphabet was introduced in 11 th and 12 th C. • Classical Old Swedish 1225G1375 – 1225: Older 6aw of (est Guthnia written down using Roman characters G in Swedish – 6atin dominant written language • 6ate Old Swedish 1375G1526 – intensified use of Swedish from the latter half of 14 th C. – Firgittine order used Swedish heavily influenced by Danish and orwegian • Early Modern Swedish 1526G1732 – 1526: Swedish translation of the ew Testament 9 modern independent state with 6utheranism as its state religion • Modern Swedish 1732G Anti7Danish sentiments • Danish and German had exerted a strong influence on the written Swedish chancery style. • strong anti7Danish sentiments accompanied SwedenOs struggle for national liberation. • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmar_Enion • written standard, based on the speech of central Sweden and Stockholm, stressed its differences from Danish as much as possible 1inflectional ending 7a and different characters: ä and ö instead of æ and ø2 N 18/04/2016 The Gustav Dasa Fible • Published 1541 • Fased on the speech of the Stockholm district • Some degree of orthographic standardi8ation • Rather archaic style Chancery style • Sweden one of the most well7organi8ed states under the Dasa dynasty 11523G16542 • Chancery style dominant in the worldly sphere • Morphologically simpler and more modern than the Fible • Strongly marked by 6atin syntax • Many foreign words 10 18/04/2016 KSwedici8ationL • 6anguage policy by Swedish authorities after 1660. • ewly ac3uired southern provinces 1Scania, Flekinge and Halland2 where the population still felt Danish. • Succeeded after only one generation. Then Swenska Argus • 6inguistically influential and culturally important 4ournal • 1732 • ew and more oral and direct style, less 6atini8ed than the conventional style • ew code of law from 1734 supported this development. 11 18/04/2016 18 th Century • Purist tendency appeared, but with less intensity than in Denmark • Strong influence of 0rench • ,ncreasing preoccupation with the cultivation of the Swedish language Standard spoken Swedish • Fecame first visible in the 17 th C. • Main roots in the aristocratic speech of a wide area of central Sweden, particularly Stockholm. • ,nfluenced by spelling • Several accepted accents within the standard 12 18/04/2016 Swedish dialects The dialects have been retreating during the last several generations. They have been maintained better than in Denmark, but less well than in orway. Six ma4or dialect groups: – South Swedish 1in Scania and ad4acent areas2 – Guthnic dialects 1in Gutnia, northwest of Scania2 – Central Swedish – orth Swedish – Gutnish 1on Gotland2 – East Swedish 1in 0inland2 13.