Is there a Swedish language? Swedish - easy or difficult? Standard Swedish and its dialects

20.11.201927.05.2017

Sweden is one of the most interesting countries in Europe. In terms of territory, it is in fifth place among European countries, but in terms of population it is only fifteenth. And the majority of its 10 million people speak the official language, Swedish.

Throughout its history, Sweden has been the most ethnically and linguistically homogeneous among European countries. For almost the entire history of the country, this language was the most widespread here. Thanks to Sweden, we learned about Carlson, Moomintroll, ABBA and IKEA.

What else is the language of this Scandinavian country famous for?

The modern Swedish dialect is derived from Old Norse. The three languages, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish, were inseparable until the 11th century. During the Middle Ages, Swedish became very different from Danish due to the fact that it was more influenced by other Germanic languages. Also in the 18th century, it was greatly influenced by French - a large number of words were borrowed from there. Although due to close geographical location Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are still very similar, and the people of these countries understand each other easily.
Swedish is spoken throughout Sweden itself and is recognized as official in Finland, as well as the Åland Islands. Although in Finland the number of Swedish speakers does not exceed 10% of the population. There are about 10 million native speakers of this language, almost all of them live in Sweden.
The oldest written relic in Swedish is a rune stone dating back to 800 AD. Scattered throughout Sweden are these stones with inscriptions that were made when these places were inhabited by the Vikings. Rune stones often marked the graves of fallen warriors, so the records on them were appropriate.

Swedish does not have such an extensive vocabulary as, for example, English. This is due to the fact that it is distributed mainly in Sweden and does not have such an influx of neologisms and words from other languages.
Due to the paucity of vocabulary, one word in the Swedish language can immediately mean dozens of options. For example, “bra” means “good”, “normal”, and “wonderful”, and a lot of similar words in Russian.
Among young people in Sweden, a mixture of Swedish and Swenglish is common. This dialect is used almost equally with Swedish, but is not officially recognized.
In Swedish there is neither a masculine nor a feminine gender, but there is a neuter and a common gender. This feature appeared due to the fact that the formation of male and female gender were so similar that they gradually merged into one genus. There are also no cases in this language.
The Swedes don't have a word for "please", so you have to be polite in another way. Most often, a respectful tone of voice and the word “thank you” are used.
Despite the fact that Swedish has been spoken throughout the country for many centuries, it was officially recognized only in May 2009. Until this moment, Sweden did not have an official language. In 2009, Sami, Finnish, Yiddish, Roma and Meankieli received equal status.
Everything supposedly “Swedish” in Russia - the table, the wall, the family - exists only there. In Sweden there are no such concepts.

The letter W was a variation of V for many years, and only in 2006 was it included in the alphabet as an independent unit.
The writer Tove Jansson, who gave the world Moomintroll, wrote her books in Swedish.
In the Swedish language, it is not even pronunciation that plays a huge role, but intonation. There are two types of stress - dynamic and tonic. In the second version, the speaker's tone drops and rises, which to a foreigner sounds like singing.
Swedes do not like conflict situations, which is reflected even in their lexical features. They have a special interjection between “yes” and “no” - they use it when they need to express refusal or doubt.
Everyone says "you" or "Du" to each other. This custom has continued since the 1960s, when a language reform called du-reformen was introduced. The address "you" ("ni") is used only in relation to royalty. Therefore, in ordinary life, a resident of Sweden will be very surprised if he is addressed as “you”!
The Swedish alphabet consists of 29 letters, similar to Latin, but with the letters Å, Ö and Ä.
You can learn this language in courses offered by 200 universities from 43 countries.
Modern Swedish began to take shape in the 14th century under King Magnus II Eriksson. However, the colloquial language that is used now, nusvenska, appeared only at the beginning of the last century, with the development of radio broadcasting and television. It was then that Swedish became more homogeneous, and the differences in dialects became equal.

All dialects common in Sweden can be divided into six groups - Svealand, Gotland, Götaland, Norrland, Finnish Swedish, southern dialect.
With the adoption of Christianity, many Latin words came to Sweden. For example, "kyrka" ("church"), paradis ("paradise"), mässa ("mass"). In the 19th century, the vocabulary expanded to include words associated with industrialization, such as "bojkott", "jobb" and "lokomotiv".
Swedish has very few adjectives compared to Russian. Usually they are replaced by complex words from several roots. For example, "chokladdryck" ("chocolate drink"), "världshavet" ("World Ocean").
Among the population of Sweden, two types of speech are common - simple and complex. Most difficult words like designförändring (“design change”) are not used in everyday situations. The Swedes don’t even know the meaning of these words themselves!
The longest word in this language is "realisationsvinstbeskattning" - translated as "capital gains tax".
Most Swedish words begin with S, and the least with Q, Z, X.
Some words have been preserved since Viking times and are understandable even without translation. For example, "mörk" ("darkness"), "tre" ("three"), "ett torg" ("bargaining").

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The Scandinavian countries are located in northern Europe and geographically include Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland. All states are characterized by the presence general history and cultures and periodically united into various unions and unions.

Everyone who is going on a trip to these “Viking lands” is interested in the question of which language he prefers to communicate with the locals, which dialect is most commonly used, and, if you choose between the two most common Northern European linguistic groups - Swedish or Norwegian, what will you study? easier and simpler.

Why you might need Swedish or Norwegian

As a rule, those who are seriously thinking about learning Swedish or Norwegian set specific goals for themselves, such as:

There can be even more reasons for learning languages, so there is sure to be a suitable method for each person. It is quite possible to achieve your goal and speak Swedish or Norwegian fluently; the main thing is to know the features of both languages and choose the right direction for mastering them.

Features of the Swedish language

Almost everyone who comes across spoken or written Swedish for the first time pays attention to a number of features characteristic of its grammar and word formation:

Features of the Norwegian language

The basis of the Norwegian language is Riksmål, a reformatted Danish that was spoken here during Danish rule. Modern Norwegian is divided into classical literary (in the country it is called “Bokmål”) and “Nynorsk” (which literally means “New Norwegian”). In both versions the Latin alphabet is used, and the letters in English three more are added - å, æ and ø. In total, just over 5 million people living directly in the country and about 60 thousand of those who have traveled beyond its borders speak Norwegian. The Norwegian language is considered average in difficulty, but those who know English will learn the language of the “land of fjords” faster.

You need to start learning Norwegian with Bokmål, then gradually add grammar rules and conversational features of Nynorsk. Linguists warn that even after studying a classic Norwegian textbook, you may not understand a person speaking a different dialect, so they take the dialect of the capital region and Oslo as a basis. The main features of the Norwegian language are the following:

Specific pronunciation of vowels, consonants and diphthongs. Despite the fact that in most cases words sound the same as they are written, some nuances still exist and you can become familiar with them while listening to live speech. At the same time, each area may have its own unique “tricks” in writing, sound or translation.
There are not as many verb tenses as in English, but all words denoting action do not change according to persons and declensions.
The noun has only three forms, there are no cases, and plural, unlike Swedish, is formed using the same algorithm.
There are only three genders for words denoting objects - masculine, feminine and neuter, while there are very few feminine words and they can always be replaced with masculine ones.

The paradox of the Norwegian language is that, despite all its ease, learning it on your own will be quite difficult. The presence of a large number of subtleties in the use of lexical units and phrases can frighten a beginner if he does not study the language with experienced teacher. Trust untested textbooks, online lessons or dubious sites that guarantee Fluency I can't speak my tongue for a month now. In Norway, the most advanced courses offer basic knowledge of the main dialects in at least six months. You need to start mastering language material from theory, then include practice, conversation, dialogues, then smoothly move on to writing, reading and retelling.

Options for learning Swedish or Norwegian

Some of the most common options for learning Scandinavian languages are the following:

Use of textbooks and phrasebooks. This method has a right to exist, despite a number of shortcomings. For example, difficulties in acquiring such literature, the inability to check pronunciation and ask for advice from knowledgeable person, which will also be able to point out errors.
Video and audio lessons. Modern Internet resources offer a huge amount of materials of any nature, depending on the person’s level of training, however, you will study on your own, without recommendations, advice or corrections, which will be a barrier to normal knowledge of Norwegian or Swedish.
Language group. Not a bad option, but inaccessible: firstly, there are few people willing to study such rare languages, and, secondly, the cost of training will be much higher than for French, German or Spanish.
Tutor. One of the most productive ways to learn a language, however, such a teacher may simply not be found in your area, and the hourly wage will be very high.

What's the best way to learn Swedish or Norwegian?

More than 9 million people speak Swedish, and almost 2 times less speak Norwegian. Swedish dialects are more complex than Norwegian ones, and lexical phrases are equally difficult to construct in both languages, so you can determine which language is better to study Swedish or Norwegian based on general information about the features of one or the other and depending on the need. In any case, the only correct solution would be to turn to special online schools that combine all methods of learning languages, including the Scandinavian group. The undeniable advantages of such training are:

What is taught at an online language school

The services of such portals are used by both beginners and those who already have certain knowledge in Norwegian or Swedish. Even if you have never had any idea about any language before, you will have the opportunity to learn it from the basics, which means mastering:

alphabet;
pronunciation and its specifics;
rules of grammar, knowledge of writing words and sentences;
colloquial speech;
information about the culture, characteristics, traditions and customs of the peoples of Norway or Sweden.

For these purposes, the following options are available to you:

mini-course via Skype (lasts 3-4 weeks);
basic course (from 20 weeks);
communication with a native speaker (minimum 10 lessons);
individual lessons (the program is tailored specifically to each person);
language marathon (competition with those who are learning the language at the same time as you).

For greater mobility and convenience, students can use any electronic device running IOS or Android, and the vast majority of training is free. After just a few months, you will be able to express yourself competently, construct sentences, perceive language by ear, correctly pronounce the most complex words, read and translate simple texts. For whatever purpose you need Norwegian or Swedish, and whichever one you choose, a convenient, affordable and effective online language school will help you achieve perfection.

Swedish is the official language of Sweden and the Åland Islands and the second official language Finland. This is one of the most beautiful languages - its sound is similar to the cooing of doves.

Origins

In the II-IX centuries. the tribes that inhabited the lands of modern Sweden, Norway and Denmark spoke the same language - Old Norse, and used runic graphics for writing. Graphics appeared before our era - runes were repeatedly mentioned in the works of the Roman historian Tacitus. Some terms and techniques of runic writing have been preserved in modern Swedish.

Traders and wars “exported” the Scandinavian dialect to Europe and the northeastern lands of what is now Russia.

The demarcation of the linguistic community of the Scandinavian tribes coincided with the beginning of the Viking Age, which was marked by the raid of Scandinavian pagans on the British island of Lindisfarne in 793. During the period of the 9th-11th centuries. the tribal system is replaced by feudal relations, Sweden, Denmark and Norway become separate kingdoms, and differences in languages become more and more significant.

Stages of language formation

Linguists consider the beginning of the history of the Swedish language proper to be 1050 and distinguish two main stages of its formation - the period of the Old Swedish language, which existed in the Viking and Middle Ages (IX-XVI centuries) and the period of the New Swedish language, which became dominant in the 16th century.

Several stages can be traced in the evolution of the Old Swedish language:

runic Swedish, which existed until approximately 1225, used runic graphics for writing;

Old Swedish classical (XIII-XIV centuries). The most famous manuscript monument of this era is the “Wesgoethic Laws” (1280) - written in Swedish using letters of the Latin alphabet;

Late Old Swedish (XIV-XVI centuries). There were no uniform writing standards yet - each school of scribes had its own spelling rules.

New Swedish is also usually divided into:

early modern Swedish (XVI-XVII centuries). Based on the central dialects of Stockholm, Uppsala and Södermanland, a modern literary language begins to take shape, the first Swedish university opens in Uppsala;

New Swedish (with early XVIII V.). The dialect foundation is being laid modern language, the basis of spelling traditions and pronunciation norms is formed.

Modern national language

Swedish emerged as a single national language at the beginning of the 20th century. Prominent scientists, public figures, and writers made a great contribution to the development of the updated Swedish language; special credit goes to the founder of Swedish literature, August Strindberg.

The language now spoken by the majority of Swedes, taught in schools and used in media mass media, linguists call "nusvenska" - literally - "now-Swedish".

Dialects

In everyday speech, numerous local dialects of Swedish are preserved, characteristic of some provinces, cities and even parishes. Sometimes they differ greatly in pronunciation and grammar, and are often incomprehensible to residents of other places. By the way, many journalists on television speak with strong regional accents.

Using one word to describe dozens of feelings, emotions and states is very Swedish. For example, the word bra, literally meaning “good”, can be translated as “wonderful”, “wonderful”, “normal”, “excellent”, “not bad” and so on, depending on the context. Word trå kigt – synonym for “bad”, “boring”, “tedious”, “difficult”, “difficult” (this list can also be continued). The degree of expression of emotion is entirely at the discretion of the speaker. The characters of film director Roy Andersson, repeating one after another: « Vad roligt att hö ra att ni har det bra!» (“How great/joyful/pleasant that everything is fine with you!”), this is exactly how the word roligt (“healthy/joyful/pleasant”) is used. They may not be happy or pleased at all, but the saving non-specific word does not sound false, and allows them to maintain decency.

5. A moderately well-fed man in the prime of his life

Swedish has many words and expressions that have no literal equivalents in other languages. The main one is lagom– a real concentrate of Swedishness. Lagom(“in moderation, just right”) is the informal motto of most Swedes, expressed in the desire not to overdo it or abuse it. The Swede will use this word-mantra when answering how much sugar to put in tea, to what degree to fry the meat, what should be the temperature in the room. Lagom means that everything should be in moderation, never too much. Ending – om reminds of the times when Swedish had a case system and - further versions diverge - either everything had to be done “according to the rules/law” or “with the whole team” ( lag: “law” and at the same time “team”).

Whichever version is more accurate, judge for yourself: Carlson does not suffer from malnutrition, but calling him a glutton is bad manners: he is in moderation - lagom- a well-fed man in the prime of his life.

6. Cozy word

Another word that is difficult to find an exact analogue in other languages is mysigt. Literally translated, it means “cozy.” However, the Swedes use this word and its related mys(originally: “comfort”) most often in the meanings of “pleasant”, “beautiful”, “cute”, “comfortable”. If a Swede asks what you did over the weekend, and you describe to him a picture of a family idyll by the fireplace or tell him about dinner at your favorite restaurant, your interlocutor will most likely say as a sign of approval: Vadmysigt! (“How cozy/nice/cute/wonderful!”). Hence another untranslatable, purely Swedish concept - fredagsmys. Swedes love to lounge on the sofa in front of the TV and crunch on chips, popcorn or caramels, especially on Fridays (fredag). It is this ritual that is reflected in the word fredagsmys.

7. Swedish family – in Swedish

Many Swedes prefer civil marriage to official marriage (which does not at all imply laxity of morals, with which the crafty “Swedish family” is mistakenly associated).

S ambo– translated means “cohabitant”. This term is used when couples do not formalize their marriage, but share living space and household expenses. According to statistics, Swedish couples prefer status sambo and they’re not in a hurry to get married. The word is convenient and gender-neutral: suitable for a partner of any gender. Särbo- someone with whom a Swede is in a relationship, but lives separately. Exotic mambo means an adult still living with his mother. And if the relationship is exhausted and the time comes to leave, this, of course, is difficult, but in most cases, diverging partners will take turns caring for the children; Mom, no doubt, will be able to provide for herself economically, and then, most likely, will enter into a new union. And children are not a hindrance to this at all. Children's vocabulary will then include, for example, bonuspappa, bonus farm, bonussyskon(“bonus” dad, grandma, half-brothers and sisters). If mom's new boyfriend is so-so, then behind his back they can call him plastappa(“plastic dad”) But with the love with which the Swedes surround their children, relatives and adopted ones, most likely he will become pluspappa(“plus-dad”). Another dad is great.

8. Dialects – too many to count

On a global scale, Sweden is a small country, but it is enough to drive a hundred or two kilometers through it to notice that a gas station employee, a saleswoman in a cafe and a policeman suddenly speak differently. Within the country and in neighboring Finland (which was part of Sweden until the beginning of the 19th century), one can count a hundred dialects that are strikingly different from each other in both pronunciation and intonation. Standard Swedish, so-called rikssvenska, is based on the dialects of the Stockholm region. But no one is forced to use it: on the evening news of Swedish television, the anchor can speak in Stockholm, the reporter in Gotlandic, the meteorologist in Finnish Swedish, and the sports commentator in Skåne. Understanding the people of the southern province of Skåne is a challenge for Swedes from the central and northern regions. Skåne borders Denmark and, due to a common history, tends to have a Danish pronunciation. It is customary to joke good-naturedly about the Skonsky. The first thing the hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden say is: “Yes, we know what you’re thinking now – oh my God, those hosts from Skåne again!” At the national level, all major dialects are recognized as equivalent, and none is considered the only correct one. Long live diversity.

9. Inhale - exhale

A peculiarity of conversation in northern Sweden: during a conversation, the Swede suddenly sharply and quite loudly draws in air through his mouth. An inarticulate sound hangs in the air. The conclusion that the interlocutor is having an asthma attack is erroneous. Don't worry, he's with you. Among the taciturn northern Swedes, it is customary to express agreement in this way - without wasting unnecessary words.

10. You, you, you

As in most other languages, in Swedish there is a form of addressing your interlocutor as "you" ( du) and you ( ni). At the same time, in practice, the Swedes turn to you ( du) to almost everyone, regardless of age and social status. This is a legacy of the language reform carried out by the socialists in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Appeal to you ( ni) will make the interlocutor wary: are they hinting that I am very old? are they ingratiating themselves and wanting something from me? emphasize distance? or is this a joke? It is not appropriate to use the formal address only for members of the royal family. But they are also addressed not in you, but in the third person: “Would the king like to try some venison?”, “Can I take a photo with the queen?” The king and queen react to an erroneous “you” without irritation: their subjects regularly make mistakes.

Sweden is amazing country, which gave the world Carlson, the ABBA group and a computer mouse. It has strong trade unions and the longest life expectancy in Europe. Well, the Swedish language fully reflects the worldview of the Swedes themselves - it is democratic and very interesting to study.

1. Swedish language- representative of the northern group of Germanic languages. It is state-owned in Sweden and the second state in Finland. Swedish has a lot in common with languages such as Norwegian and Icelandic. It is noteworthy that the Swede can easily read books and the press in Danish, but does not understand the spoken language of the Danes at all.

2. Some words are written and sounded the same in Swedish and Danish, but have different meanings. For example, the word “by” means “village” among the Swedes and “city” among the Danes.

3. Many young Swedes speak the so-called Swenglish, which is a peculiar mixture of Swedish and. In fact, English in this country is used at the same level as the state language, although it does not have official status.

4. The Swedes were not afraid of borrowing from other languages before. So, back in the 14th century, along with the Hanseatic Trade Union, many words related to trade, construction, crafts and more came to Sweden. They continue to be actively used to this day.

5. There are a huge number of dialects of the Swedish language. In their formation, they managed to avoid the influence of traditional Swedish, and therefore they sometimes have almost unique grammatical and phonetic properties. And although linguists conditionally divide Swedish dialects into six main groups, in reality their number exceeds several hundred.

6. Historically, Swedes are not used to addressing each other as “you”. Regardless of the status and age of the interlocutor, they use the pronoun “you” when addressing him. The only exceptions are members royal family, which are usually addressed by title or in the third person.

7. Until the 60s of the twentieth century, third person address was also used in relation to other interlocutors of high status. But then this tradition was abolished, as it made communication very difficult.

8. Swedish lacks masculine and feminine. But there is general and average. The fact is that the forms of the masculine and feminine genders were so similar to each other that over time these two genders merged into one common one.

9. Swedish phonetics is very complex compared to Russian. Some Swedish vowels simply have no analogues in Russian. The meaning of words among Swedes often depends on the length or frequency with which individual sounds are pronounced.

10. In the Swedish language there are practically no sounds “Z” and “C”. They are found only in borrowed words, and even then the Swedes pronounce them in their own way.

11. Swedes do not like adjectives and prefer to complicate nouns instead of using them. So, phrases such as “horsepower”, “chocolate drink”, “air pollution” and “design changes” are translated into this language in just one word.

12. Unofficially, the Swedish language is divided into two subtypes - simple and complex. Most people do not use words such as “objective”, “execution”, “review”, “consistency” in their everyday speech and often do not even know their meaning. Therefore, in order to be considered an erudite person, you just need to add them to your vocabulary.

13. In the Swedish language there are absolutely no such familiar concepts as a Swedish wall, a buffet and a Swedish family. Moreover, modern Swedes have never even heard these expressions. They call a buffet a frame with crossbars, a sandwich buffet, and what we call Swedish family, is so rare in Sweden that it doesn’t have any name at all.

14. The Swedish language has a unique letter - “å”. It originated in the 16th century, when, as the Swedish language developed, the long “a” began to be read as an “o”. To make everything very clear, this phenomenon is reflected in the letter in the form of a small “o” placed above the letter “a”. Neighboring peoples, including the Norwegians and Danes, did not accept the new product and began to designate the long “a” as follows: “aa”. And although in the 20th century linguists nevertheless introduced the letter “å” into these languages, the old norm is still found in the names of some settlements. And one example of this is the Danish city of Aalborg. By the way, ignorance of Swedish phonetics was the reason that many Swedish names, surnames and place names entered the Russian language with an error. For example, the Swedish physicist Anders Jonas Ångström, whose name is pronounced Andesh Jonas Ångström, in Russia unwittingly became Anders Jonas Ångström.

15. The @ symbol, which we call a “dog,” is called “elephant” or “trunk” in Sweden.