There are some areas of Sweden where the Swedish language hasn\u2019t really been affected very much by the standard language and which still can be traced back to what is often referred to as Old Norse. In Swedish these dialects are usually called sockenm\u00e5l or bygdem\u00e5l.<\/p>\n
This is a documentary made quite a few years ago, judging by the clothes, fashion and the quality of the filming. It is also in Swedish, which won\u2019t be any problem for those of you who understand a faster tempo, and might be good practice for those of you almost there. The documentary is about different Swedish dialects and possible reasons for them. All in all a very interesting perspective on language.<\/p>\n
\u00a0http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9T-NTI5Ql7Y<\/a><\/p>\n The Swedish dialects have been divided into six or seven main groups. These groups don\u2019t have strict geographical borders, they are mainly divided into groups for pedagogic reasons.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1000 years ago the Swedish language didn\u2019t exist. Everybody in Scandinaiva, from Iceland in the west to Gotland in the east spoke what is in Swedish called Fornnordiska, in English Old Norse. Big natural obstacles like lakes, seas, forests or mountains prevented people from traveling very far and so just like the whispering game, where one person starts off saying a word, and their neighbour whispers what they heard to their neighbour the original word gradually changes. The exact thing can be said for the language in different areas around Scandinavia. This was sort of reinforced by the fact that different villages and areas had different laws. There were no boundaries, official leaders or languages which meant that dialects were just different, there wasn\u2019t a right or a wrong.<\/p>\n However, when Sweden was united to one country people started feeling slightly more belonging to their country instead of their village as was the case before. It was also at this time that something called Rikssvenska started coming about. Rikssvenska literally means Rikets Svenska, the kingdom\u2019s Swedish. And was spoken where the leader ruled from. Many years of differentiating between “correct” Swedish meaning Rikssvenska and “incorrect” Swedish (many of the dialects) and during some periods even forbidding anything but what was spoken in Stockholm.<\/p>\n If you are interested in hearing the differences between dialects and their speakers then you should definitively check out this site<\/a>. Recordings of 4 different people speaking the same dialect have been made as a part of a research\/conservation project. Recordings in over 100 different dialects all recorded with an older woman, older man, younger woman and younger man speaking.<\/p>\n \u00a0Go for it people!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are some areas of Sweden where the Swedish language hasn\u2019t really been affected very much by the standard language and which still can be traced back to what is often referred to as Old Norse. In Swedish these dialects are usually called sockenm\u00e5l or bygdem\u00e5l. This is a documentary made quite a few years…<\/p>\n\n