In this article, I will give you a couple of important guidelines + the introductory lesson itself.
To get started you need define your goals. After all, as you know, if you just go “somewhere”, then you will come to some random point. I suggest you clarify your plans for Swedish with the help of.
When you have clearly decided what Swedish is for and how you will use it, it's time to find the right materials. This article will help you, which, in addition to textbooks, also touches on additional manuals.
At this stage, it makes sense to familiarize yourself with. I am not a supporter of hammering the rules of pronunciation to the stop and only after mastering them move on. Therefore, I divided all the information about pronunciation into 3 logical blocks, which I give to my students gradually. You can read before or after this lesson. The main thing - do not read all three at once, otherwise there will be porridge in your head.
In this first lesson, you will learn to talk about the languages you speak and talk a little about yourself and other people.
For this you need a few verbs. Verbs are generally the most important thing in the language from the point of view of a beginner, since it is with their help that the backbone of sentences is built - both simple and complex.
Talar- I say
Pratar- talking / talking
Heter- (my name is
Kommer(från) - I come; (I'm from) …
Ä r- I am, I am
Kan- can; I can; I know
Three ways to say that you speak such and such a language:
- Jag talar svenska - I speak Swedish.
- Jag pratar ryska. - I speak Russian.
- Jag kan engelska. – I know English / I speak English.
”Talar” and ”pratar” both mean “I’m talking / talking”, but the second word sounds more colloquial (about the difference between talar-pratar-säger is). It can also mean "talking". By the way, textbooks usually give exactly the variant with “talar”, while in colloquial speech the variant “pratar” dominates. If a Swede asks you “Do you speak Swedish?” he will most likely say: “ Pratar du svenska?”
Did you notice that the verb hasn't changed? Nice moment: if you know how to say “I say/know/food…”, then you know both “you say/know/go” and “we say/…”, “she says/…”. Convenient, isn't it? One verb form for all!
This works for all verbs with no exceptions. Not at all like in English, where it is difficult for a beginner to keep in mind that I have, but he has; She is, but you are and I am .
Another important thing(and nice too): Asking questions is very easy. You just need to swap “WHO” (you / you / she / me / your family, etc.) and the verb (“say”, “go”, “do”, etc.).
No troubles like “auxiliary verbs”, as in English (do, does, did) are needed, which is good news.
Kan du engelska?– Do/do you speak/do you speak English? Do you know English?
”Kan” basically corresponds to the English ”can”, but can also mean “I know” in the context of foreign languages. Interestingly, in English you cannot say “I know English” (although Russians often try to say this by analogy with their native language), but in Swedish you can - just like in Russian.
Have you already noticed that the three languages mentioned - svenska, engelska, ryska - all end in -ska? This is a typical ending for the names of languages in Swedish. By the way, the word "language" itself is ett språk, and "foreign language" is ett främmande språk.
Other language examples:
tyska- Deutsch
franska- French
kinesiska- Chinese
spanska– spanish
(Yes, the names of languages—and nationalities!—are capitalized. English speakers often try to capitalize them.)
I also want to note that words of Scandinavian origin are typically stressed on the first syllable, so if you are not sure, it is better to pronounce an unfamiliar word with stress on the first syllable.
Here is how the stress falls in the words above: tálar, prátar, éngelska, rýska, svénska, kinésiska…
You probably want to say "I Little I speak Swedish" or "I not I speak Swedish.
Jag kan lite svenska. – I speak a little Swedish.
Jag pratar bara lite svenska. I only speak a little Swedish.
Jag kan inte svenska. – I don’t know Swedish / I don’t speak Swedish.
Jag talar inte svenska. – I don’t speak Swedish.
OBS! Note! Unlike the Russian language, in Swedish the negation "not" (inte) put after verb!
Talar du ryska? – Nej, jag kan inte ryska. - You speak Russian? – No, I don’t know Russian.
Jag förstar inte svenska. – I don’t understand Swedish.
How to tell about yourself?
Swedes don't usually say "My name is..." (=Mitt namn är...), although it is possible. But the usual scenario is as follows:
— Vad heter du? - Jag heter ... (Margarita).
- What is your name? - My name is Margarita).
That is, literally - "I am called / called."
"Vad" = what.
Another important word for questions about a person is ”var” (=where).
Var bor du?- Where do you live?
Var ifrån kommer du?/Var kommer du ifrån? - Where you're from)?
Those familiar with English can easily recognize the English "from" in the word ifrån (i + från). There are many more similarities waiting for you.
What can be the answer to such questions?
Var bor du? – Jag bor i Sverige (I live in Sweden).
Var kommer du ifran? – Jag kommer/är från Ryssland (I'm from Russia).
The pitfalls here are pronunciation. Everyone strives to say [boron] and [sverige]. But no!
bor / [bu:r]
Sverige / [sverige]
By the way, how do you say “Can you speak Swedish?” Negra ideer? Any ideas?
Basically, you know all these words. Then maybe ”Kan du talar/pratar svenska?” In fact, this phrase will mean "You know how to speak ish in Swedish?
The correct option is ”Kan du tala/prata svenska?”
The catch here is this: Swedish has a verb form for the present tense (usually ending in –r), and there is an infinitive (for example, “deeds be ”, “chita be ”, “look be "). This form - the infinitive - usually ends in -a:
Present tense vs. Infinitive
prat ar prat a
tal ar tal a
komm er komm a
het er het a
ar var a
kan kunn a
forstå r forstå
Surely the last three lines have raised questions in you. You will find answers to them very soon, in.
In the meantime, I suggest you practice what you learned in this lesson, using an example different countries, peoples and their languages.
First exercise
Look, the first word in the line is the country, the second is the people/nationality, and the third is their language.
Till exempl(for example):
Finland-finnar-finska(Finland - Finns - Finnish)
You need to say: Finnar b o r i Finland. De pr a tar/t a lar finska. (Finns live in Finland. They speak Finnish).
Nu kor vi! Go!
USA-amerik a ner-engelska
Spanien-spanj o rer—spanska
Frankrike-fransman-franska
England/St o rbritannien-engelsman-engelska
Ryssland - ryssar - ryska
Sveri g e - svenskar - svenska
Ki na- ki neser- ki nesiska
no rg e - norrmän - no rs ka
Danmark-danskar-danska
—————————————————————————
Second exercise
Write short texts about people you know.
Use the following template:
Jag har en pojkvän.
Hanheter Alexander.
Han är ryss/Han kommer från Ryssland.
Hanär 28 (år gammal).
Han pratar ryska och engelska.
Pojkwan means "boyfriend" (like "boyfriend").
The following words may be helpful to you:
en flickvan– girl (as “girlfriend”)
en kompis- friend, friend (also girlfriend)
en arbetskamrat- colleague
en brevvä n- pen pal
Vi h ö rs ! (Let's hear on!)
The Scandinavian countries are located in the north of Europe and territorially include Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland. All states are characterized by the presence common history and cultures and periodically united in various unions and unions.
Anyone who is going on a trip to these “Viking lands” is interested in the question in which language it is preferable for him 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 he study lighter and easier.
What you might need Swedish or Norwegian for
As a rule, those who seriously think about learning Swedish or Norwegian have specific goals, such as:
There can be even more reasons for learning languages, so for each person there is sure to be a method suitable for him. 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 "riksmol" - reformatted Danish, which was common here during the rule of Denmark. The modern Norwegian language is divided into classical literary (in the country it is called "bokmål") and "Nynorsk" (which in literal translation sounds like "new Norwegian"). In both versions, the Latin alphabet is used, and three more letters are added to the letters of the English language - å, æ and ø. In total, just over 5 million people who live directly in the country and about 60 thousand of those who have left it speak Norwegian. Norwegian is considered medium in difficulty, but those who know English will learn the language of the "land of the 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 textbook of classical Norwegian, you may not understand a person speaking a different dialect, so they take the dialect of the capital region and Oslo as the 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 the words sound the same as they are written, some nuances still exist and you can get to know them while listening to live speech. At the same time, each area can have its own original "chips" in writing, sounding or translation.
- There are not as many verb tenses as in English, but all words denoting action do not change in persons and declensions.
- The noun has only three forms, there are no cases, and the plural, unlike Swedish, is formed according to one algorithm.
- There are only three genders in words denoting objects - male, female and middle, while the words female very few and they can always be replaced by men's.
The paradox of the Norwegian language is that, for all its ease, it will be quite difficult to learn it on your own. The presence of a large number of subtleties in the use of lexical units, phrases can frighten a beginner if he does not study the language with an experienced teacher. Trust unverified textbooks, online tutorials, or dubious websites that guarantee Fluency Language already for a month it is impossible. In Norway, the most progressive courses offer a basic knowledge of the main dialects for at least six months. You need to start learning the language material from theory, then connect 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 the right to exist, despite a number of shortcomings. For example, difficulties in acquiring such literature, the inability to put pronunciation and ask for advice from knowing 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 level of training of a person, however, you will conduct the training on your own, without recommendations, advice or corrections, which will be a barrier to normal knowledge of Norwegian or Swedish.
- language group. A good option, but inaccessible: firstly, there are few people who want to learn such rare languages, and secondly, the cost of education 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 pay will be very high.
What is the best way to learn Swedish or Norwegian
More than 9 million people speak Swedish, almost 2 times less in Norwegian. Swedish dialects are more difficult than Norwegian ones, and lexical turns are equally difficult to build in both languages, so you can determine which language is better to learn 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 right way out is to turn to special online schools that combine all the ways of learning languages, including the Scandinavian group. The undeniable advantages of such training are:
What is taught in 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 an idea about any language before, you will have the opportunity to learn it from the basics, which means mastering:
- alphabet;
- pronunciation and its specifics;
- grammar rules, knowledge in the field 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:
- Skype mini-course (lasts 3-4 weeks);
- basic course (from 20 weeks);
- communication with a native speaker (10 lessons minimum);
- individual lessons (the program is formed specifically for 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 based on IOS or Android, and the vast majority of training is free. Within a few months, you will be able to speak correctly, build sentences, perceive the language by ear, pronounce the most complex words correctly, 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 excellence.
Sweden is one of the most interesting countries in Europe. In terms of territory, it ranks fifth among European countries, but in terms of population, only fifteenth. And the majority of its inhabitants, 10 million people, speak official language- Swedish.
Throughout its history, Sweden has been the most monotonous among European countries in terms of ethnicity and language. For almost the entire history of the country, this language was the most common here. Thanks to Sweden, we learned about Carlson, Moomintroll, the ABBA group and IKEA.
What else is the language of this Scandinavian country famous for?
- The modern dialect of Swedes is derived from Old Norse. The three languages, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish, were inseparable until the 11th century. In 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 inhabitants of these countries can easily understand each other.
- Swedish is spoken on the territory of 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. In total, 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 runestone dating back to 800 AD. These stones are scattered all over Sweden with inscriptions that were made when these places were inhabited by the Vikings. Runestones 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 scarcity of vocabulary, one word in the Swedish language can immediately mean dozens of options. For example, "bra" means both "good", and "normal", and "wonderful", and a lot of similar words in Russian.
- Among young people in Sweden, a mixture of Swedish and called Swenglish is common. This dialect is used almost on a par with Swedish, but it is not officially recognized.
- There is no masculine or feminine gender in Swedish, but there is a neuter and a common one. This feature appeared due to the fact that the formation of male and feminine gender were so similar that they gradually united into one genus. Also, there are no cases in this language.
- Swedes don't have a word for "please" so you have to be polite in a different 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 that moment, Sweden did not have an official language. Along with it, in 2009, the Sami, Finnish, Yiddish, Gypsy and Meankieli received the status.
- Everything allegedly "Swedish" in Russia - a table, a wall, a family - exists only there. There are no such concepts in Sweden.
- The letter W has been a variation of V for many years, and only in 2006 was included in the alphabet as an independent unit.
- The writer Tove Jansson, who gave the world Moomintroll, wrote her books in Swedish.
- In Swedish, not even pronunciation 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 sounds like singing to a foreigner.
- The 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 been preserved since the 1960s, when a language reform called du-reformen was carried out. "You" ("ni") is used only in relation to royalty. Therefore, in ordinary life, a resident of Sweden will be very surprised if they turn to him with "you"!
- The Swedish alphabet consists of 29 letters, similar to the Latin alphabet 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 spoken language that is used now, nusvenska, appeared only at the beginning of the last century, with the development of radio and television. It was then that Swedish became more homogeneous, and the difference in dialects evened out.
- All dialects common in Sweden can be divided into six groups - svealand, gotland, gotaland, 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, words related to industrialization were added to the vocabulary - for example, "bojkott" ("boycott"), "jobb" ("work") and "lokomotiv" ("locomotive").
- There are very few adjectives in Swedish compared to Russian. Usually they are replaced by compound words from several roots. For example, "chokladdryck" ("chocolate drink"), "världshavet" ("Ocean").
- Among the population of Sweden, two variants of speech are common - simple and complex. Most difficult words like designförändring ("design change") are not used in everyday situations. The Swedes themselves do not even know the meaning of these words!
- The longest word in this language is "realisationsvinstbeskattning" which translates to "capital gains tax".
- Most Swedish words start with S, and the least with Q, Z, X.
- Some words have been preserved since the time of the Vikings and are understandable even without translation. For example, "mörk" ("gloom"), "tre" ("three"), "ett torg" ("bargaining").
Like the article? Support our project and share with your friends!
Like a guest post.
You have been looking towards the Scandinavian languages for a long time, and now you have decided. But is Swedish really the best choice? In this article, you will find answers to your burning questions:
- Which of the Scandinavian languages is cooler easier / more interesting / more practical?
- What does knowledge of English/Russian give when learning Swedish?
- What is interesting about the Swedish language?
Which Scandinavian language to choose?
Swedish, Norwegian and Danish are very close to each other - perhaps, approximately like Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian.
They also have a lot in common with Icelandic, but Icelandic is much closer to Old Norse. (Let me remind you that the Finnish language stands apart, because it belongs to a different language group).
1. By the number of resources Swedish is the best choice. There are significantly fewer materials on Norwegian and Danish, and things are even worse with Icelandic.
2. By the number of carriers Swedish is back! There are twice as many speakers of Swedish as Norwegian and Danish (10 million versus 5.6 and 5 million). Icelandic stands modestly on the sidelines - it is spoken by only 300,000 native speakers.
3. By pronunciation Swedish and Norwegian are roughly on par - both are tonal languages, but don't be afraid of that. Mastering the tonic accent will make your pronunciation more beautiful and natural, but I would say that in the context it does not play a decisive role. This is not Chinese with its super-important tone system.
But Danish pronunciation is a real stumbling block for beginners. Firstly, the Danes do not pronounce words clearly (“as if they are talking with a potato in their mouth”, as the Swedes and Norwegians like to joke - they have a clear pronunciation!).
Secondly, in Danish, the spelling and pronunciation of words are very different (just like in English!). But in Swedish and Norwegian, the rules for reading are much simpler.
4. Grammar Norwegian and Danish is easier than Swedish. Swedish language retained archaic forms of endings. Icelandic is the most difficult of them (what do you want? It's almost Old Norse!)
5. C vocabulary everything is very interesting. Danish and Norwegian have the most English loanwords. Swedish is more distinctive in this regard, although it is common with English words still a lot. Icelandic, of course, is far from all the others.
But if you're learning Norwegian, you get the key to Swedish through spoken Norwegian, and to Danish through written Norwegian. Yes, spoken and written Norwegian are very different, they are practically two dialects.
6. Dialects available in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish. However, in Norwegian you must learn at least two - the very spoken and written languages. In Swedish, you learn "standard Swedish" and don't sweat it until you have to go somewhere in the countryside. Or in Skane:) the Skane dialect is similar in sound to Danish (not very beautiful and difficult to understand), and the Swedes do not like it.
Of course, when you learn a language for love, you don’t think about all these practical questions :) but it’s still nice to know that Swedish is a good choice: a lot of materials, melodic pronunciation, the language itself is not very complicated ...
Is it easy to learn Swedish?
Spoiler: Swedish is not very difficult. But for a newbie foreign languages whatever language you choose will seem difficult. First, the brain rewires, asking stupid questions like “why do they have such stupid grammar/pronunciation?”
But all this is just an illusion. Swedish is not at all complicated compared to the Romance languages, in which the verb has 5-6 different endings in EACH tense.
If you know English, you can easily get a quick start in Swedish. (And the German base means you already know a bunch of Swedish words.)
Based on the experience of my students, I can say that by exercising at least 5 hours a week, after 4-6 months you will feel tangible results. If you have an English base and a good memory, then there will be noticeable progress in 3-4 months.
What is useful English for beginners in Swedish?
1. Access to a mass of resources and materials;
2. Many words are easily stored in the head, because they are similar to English ( l å ng – long , r ö d – red , football – football , etc.);
3. understanding the logic of articles (although there are more articles in Swedish);
4. understanding the system of times (the logic is common, but there are only 5 Swedish times).
I will add that in Swedish easier to build questions– unlike English, no auxiliary verbs are needed!
But endings are harder than in English. Adjectives have three forms, i.e. three types of endings (for example, beautiful - beautiful - beautiful: vacker-vackert-vackra ).
The plural of nouns has 4 types of endings + no ending (yes, this is also a plural variant). There are also some exclusions.
Some will find it difficult, while others will interesting feature Swedish. To me, these endings give the Swedish language its charm. It's nice to know that these bits of antiquity that lost Norwegian and Danish still live on in modern Swedish.
What bonuses does knowing Russian give when learning Swedish?
Don't be upset if you don't know English. Even your native Russian will help you learn Swedish!
1. Swedish pronunciation is easier for Russian speakers than for the same English-Americans. Look at the following sounds:
- Very similar to Russian [sch]:tj ej, ky ssa, ki nesiska, k ö k
- Not as soft as Russian [l], but quite close: vill, kall, leva, följa
- Much closer to Russian [R] than to English [r]: bra, var, rod
2. The stress in borrowed words often coincides with Russian:
Apotek, bibliotek, university, Amérika, teater
Mámma, pappa, seriös, regissör, choklád
3. There are many words in Swedish that sound and are written almost like Russian! Of course, there are far fewer parallels between them than between Swedish and English, but it's still very nice that our languages have similar words. Here are some common ones with approximate pronunciation:
telefon[phone]
kontor[contour] - office, "office"
problem[problem]
university[univeshitet]
cultural[culture]
literature[literature]
courses[kush]
doctor[Doctor]
lakare[lekare] - doctor
chef[chief]
stol[chair]
kofta
tallrik- plate
tarta[cake]
smak- taste, relish
package- pack, parcel (cf. "package")
tablets- tablet
chances[chance]
hotell[fuck]
style[style]
maskin[machines] - a machine (washing machine, dishwasher, etc.)
choklad[shuklad] - chocolate
fest- holiday, party (cf. "festival")
gast[yest] - guest
flask[flask] - bottle (cf. "flask")
4. Some set expressions in Russian and Swedish are translated in the same way (and with English translation do not match!):
- björntjanst("bear + favor") = disservice
- hungrig som en varg= as hungry wolfhungry as a hunter )
- å ena sidan / å andra sidan= on one side / on the other side (cf. English more distant version:on one hand / on the other hand "on one hand / on the other hand")
- Att vanstra- "go to the left" ( vanster - left)
5. There are amazing similarities in word formation in Russian and Swedish!
- return suffix -s/-s(not available in English):
feel - feel Xia= känna – känna s
hug - hug Xia= krama – krama s
kiss - kiss Xia= kyssa - kyssa s
meet - meet Xia= träffa – träffa s (samemö ta – mö ta s )
decide - decide Xia= losa – losa s, and etc.
- Some words with prefixes are a mirror image of Russians:
Prev put = before+ set
Fore stella = fore+ stala
Explain ～ make clear, clarify + clarify
Fö r klara = för + klara
To accustom / get used to = at + learn
Vänja (någon) vid(vid = y, at)
Unlearn / unlearn = from + teach
Vanja av(av = from, from)
Swedish curiosities
We have smoothly moved from discussing bonuses from the Russian background to interesting features in the Swedish language. Want more? :)
1. There are a lot of long compound words in Swedish that are amusingly parsed “for parts”:
Telefonsamtal(phone + conversation) = telephone conversation
iscall(ice + cold) = icy
Morgonskaffe(morning+coffee) = morning coffee
Dromkvinna(dream + woman) = ideal woman
Tjuvlyssna(thief+listen) = eavesdrop
Stensä ker(stone + confident) = reinforced concrete confidence
Solklar(sun + clear) = clear as day
2. Swedish has a wonderful suffix -is. It makes the words sound cute, dismissive, or just informal:
Baby (from English) - bebis/ bä bis(baby)
Gratulerar (congratulations) - grattis(congratulations; lit. "congratulations")
Tjock (thick) - tjockis(fat, fat)
Känd (famous) - kä ndis(celebrity), etc.
3. Swedish has more flexible word order than English. It is not as free as in Russian, but it gives room for experimentation:
Jag har köpt den ringen for dig. I bought this ring for you.
Den ringen har jag köpt för dig. I bought this ring for you.
For dig har jag köpt den ringen. I bought this ring for you.
Swedish language(Swede. svenska [Svenska]) is the language of the East Scandinavian subgroup, which is spoken in, parts and autonomous. The most widely spoken language with over nine million speakers.
History
The languages now spoken in developed from the Old Norse language, which did not differ much in the current territory, and. Merchants spread the language throughout and in, making Old Norse one of the most widely spoken languages of its time. The three mainland languages (Swedish, and ) remained practically the same language for about a year, but then began to separate, being heavily influenced by .
Standard Swedish
Standard Swedish (called "sovereign" by the Swedes - rikssvenska - or, sometimes, "high" - högsvenska) is the most common variant of the Swedish language, which grew out of dialects and its area and settled to the beginning. It is broadcast (although quite often journalists speak with a strong regional accent), it is taught in schools, and almost all Swedes understand it, although some local dialects of Swedish can differ so much in both pronunciation and grammar that they are incomprehensible to those who do not know. Most Swedes in Finland also speak standard Swedish. Many regional variations of the standard language, specific to geographic areas of different sizes (regions, cities, towns, etc.), are heavily influenced by dialects of Swedish, but their grammatical and phonological structure remains close to the dialects of central Sweden.
Most Swedes, unfamiliar with linguistic terms, as well as differences between local dialects and the historical background for the emergence of these differences, consider these regional variations of standard Swedish as "dialects".
Dialects
Pronunciation
Letter
Morphology
The article is an indicator of gender, number, as well as the definiteness and indefiniteness of the word in the context. The indefinite article, which is placed before a noun, for the general gender - en, and for the middle gender - ett, for example: en flicka (girl), en dag (day), ett hus (house), ett regn (rain).
The definite article in Swedish is used differently than in most other European languages. It is attached to the end of a word as a suffix. This happens according to the scheme: noun + indefinite article en / ett, for example:
Dag + en= dagen , hus + ett= huset .
If a noun with a definite article has a definition, then another type of article is used in front of them - this is an unstressed "free-standing article". It has the following forms: den(singular common genus), det(singular h. cf. gender), de(pl.), for example:
den långa dagen - long day, det långa bordet - long table, de långa dagarna/borden - long days/tables.
There are two types of adjective declension in Swedish - strong and weak. The strong declension is used in a construction consisting of an adjective and a noun with an indefinite article. In this case, the form of the adjective depends on the gender of the noun. An adjective defining a neuter noun gets the ending -t, for example: en vacker flicka - beautiful girl, ett wacker t hus is a beautiful house.
The weak declension of the adjective is used in the construction with definite article or with a noun in plural, while the adjective gets the ending -a regardless of the gender of the noun being defined, for example: den dyr a bilen - this expensive car, dyr a bilar - expensive cars, de dyr a bilarna - those expensive cars. (However, sometimes the ending -e to refer to one male person: den ung e mannen - young man)
The difference between the perfect and the simple is preserved in Swedish, new forms with the meaning of progressive (similar to the tenses of the series Continuous). The perfect is formed not with the help of a passive participle, but with the help of a special form, the so-called. The personal verb has been lost. In addition to the analytical liability with an auxiliary Blive common synthetic passive on -s.
Political status
Sweden is one of the most ethnically, religiously and linguistically homogeneous countries in the world, which gives Swedish speakers a sense of the preservation of their language. Swedish was the dominant language for almost the entire modern history Sweden. Linguistic minorities, such as , were very small and often marginalized, during and early centuries even suppressed. Although Swedish has been in use in administration and worship since the turn of the century, making it official has never seemed necessary.
Regulatory institutions
There are no official regulatory institutions for the Swedish language. The Swedish Language Council (Svenska språknämnden) has a semi-official status and is funded by the Swedish government, but does not try to exercise control over the language in the same way that the Académie française does with respect to. Among the many organizations that make up the Swedish Language Council, the Swedish Academy (founded in) is considered the most influential. Her main instruments are Svenska Akademiens Ordlista and Svenska Akademiens Ordbok, as well as various books on writing, spelling and style guides. And although dictionaries are sometimes used to clarify the "reference" of the language, their main purpose is to describe the current state of the language.
In Finland, a special department Finnish Language Research Institute has official status as a regulatory institution for the Swedish language in that country. Among his top priorities is maintaining rapport with the language spoken in Sweden. The Institute has published Finlandssvensk ordbok, a dictionary of differences between Swedish in Finland and in Sweden.
Modern Swedish
The language spoken in Sweden today is referred to in linguistics by the term nusvenska ( "Modern Swedish", lit. "now Swedish"). With the advent of the period in Sweden and in the second half of the century, a new generation of writers left their mark on Swedish literature. Many writers, scientists, politicians and other public figures had a great influence on the emerging new national language, of all of them (1849-1912) is often called the most influential.
Swedish-speaking minorities in the former USSR
Previously, there were Swedish-speaking communities in, in particular, on the islands of the coast. Swedish-speaking minorities were represented in Parliament and had permission to use their mother tongue in parliamentary debates. After the loss of the Baltic territories by Sweden at the beginning of the century, about a thousand Swedish-speaking residents were forced to march in
