Norrland dialects
Norrland dialects (Swedish: norrländska mål) is one of the six major
The border between Norrland dialects and Svealand Swedish runs through Hälsingland, such that the northern Hälsingland dialects are regarded as Norrland dialects and the southern ones as Svealand Swedish; an alternative delineation follows the southern border of Medelpad.[2]
The old northern border of the Swedish language in coastal Norrbotten largely followed the eastern and northern borders of the present-day Kalix and Överkalix municipalities. From there, a vaguely defined linguistic border ran through Lappland from the northernmost point of Överkalix parish in an arc to the south of Porjus, then followed the Lule River to the border with Norway.[3]
History
Norrland dialects arose from the combined influence of the
The strong West Norse influences can still be seen today in the toponymy of Norrland in placenames ending in -ånger (Swedish: vik, "harbour"). Parish names such Skön and Indal (both in Sundsvall Municipality) have West Nordic origins. The dialect of Norrbotten displays less West Nordic influence than other more westerly dialects.[5] The greatest West Nordic/Norwegian, or perhaps least East Nordic/Swedish, influence is found in Jämtland.[6]
As with other regiolects, it is difficult to clearly define a unique set of characteristics for the Norrland dialects. The distribution of different features of the dialect have differing boundaries (called isoglosses), which are described in the following summary of phenomena regarded as typical of Norrland dialects.[3] In Norrland, traditional local dialects are on the decline as in many other parts of the world. Aside from characteristic peculiarities in intonation, there are certain grammatical traits that still survive: the infinitive måsta (Standard Swedish: måste), present tense forms such as han gå (Standard Swedish: han går, "he goes") and han ropa (Standard Swedish: han ropar, "he calls"), and the uninflected predicative in a statement such as dom ä trött (Standard Swedish: de är trötta, "they are tired").[7]
Features
Vowel balance and apocope
Unlike present-day Standard Swedish, syllables in
Vowel balance is abundant throughout the grammatical system. Outside the infinitive of verbs, it is also found in the nominal system, where it affects for instance so-called weak masculines and weak feminines, e.g. Luleå dialect bääkk ‘hill’ (< OSw. oblique bakka; Mod.Sw. backe) vs. po:sa ‘bag’ (with lengthened root vowel, from OSw. pŭsa; Mod.Sw. påse); kḷookk ‘clock’ (< OSw. klokku; Mod.Sw. klocka) vs. lö:do ‘barn’ (< OSw. lăþu; Mod.Sw. lada).[9][10]
Vowel balance is found in a large contiguous area in Northern Scandinavia. In Sweden it occurs in the entire Norrland dialect area with the exception of northern
The north Scandinavian apocope has a similar geographical distribution pattern, but is found further to the north, prototypically covering
It has been suggested by Russian linguist
Vowel harmony
In a subset of dialects with vowel balance, a process known as
Vowel harmony has its center of intensity in
Retention of /a/ before /rð/
In most Norrland dialects,
Lexical exceptions exist to this rule, notably the word ‘farm’, which is gåḷ in most of Norrland (< OSw. garþer; Mod.Sw. gård), likely due to influence from the standard language.
Medial palatalization
The Old Swedish initial velar consonants /ɡ/ and /k/, as well as the cluster /sk/ underwent palatalization before front vowels in almost all dialects of Swedish. In Norrland dialects unlike Standard Swedish, this change also took place in medial position, resulting in /ɡ/ > /j ~ dʑ/; /k/ > /tɕ/; /sk/ > /ʂ ~ stɕ/, e.g. Arnäs dialect (Ångermanland) rôjjen ‘the rye’ (< OSw. rŭgin; Mod.Sw. rågen); Älvsbyn dialect (Norrbotten) fåḷtje ‘the people’ (< OSw. folkit; Mod.Sw. folket); Burträsk dialect (Västerbotten) fissjen ‘the fish’[33] (< OSw. fiskin; Mod.Sw. fisken).[34][35]
Medial palatalization is especially common in the definite form of masculine and neutral nouns, as shown above. However, in many dialects the change unproductive and has been gradually reversed due to
The southern border for medial palatalization runs through Uppland, Västmanland and Värmland in Svealand. It is also found in Ostrobothnia and parts of Uusimaa (Nyland) in Finland, as well as parts of Norway. There are also indications that medial palatalization formerly reached even further south, into the archipelago of Södermanland and Östergötland.[35]
Stress in compound words
In many Norrland dialects, the primary
Use of the definite form
Norrland dialects are known for using the definite form for more grammatical functions than does Standard Swedish, where the corresponding form is often a
A primary use of the definite article is with
Furthermore, the definite form is also used in generic statements, i.e when a general statement is made about the entity the noun phrase refers to, e.g. beavers build dams or gold is expensive. This usage also includes “citation uses”, e.g. Ersmark dialect (northern Västerbotten) he kall ve fö sjanostn ‘this we call sand cheese’.[42] This usage of the definite form is even more widespread and apart from the areas listed above, it is also found in Värmland, southern Finland and parts of Norway.[46]
Dahl also lists a number of other contexts where the definite article is used, including after quantifiers, e.g. Sorsele dialect (southern Västerbotten) tre brödren ‘three brothers’ (Standard Swedish tre bröder); with so called “low referential” singular count nouns, e.g. Burträsk dialect (northern Västerbotten) vi hadd hästn ‘we had a horse’ (Standard Swedish vi hade häst). In cases like these, the referent is not important but rather the property of owning a horse. In addition, the definite is also often used in instrumental phrases, e.g. Bjurholm dialect (Västerbotten–Ångermanland transitional) ät såppa ve skea ‘eats soup with a spoon’ (Standard Swedish äter soppa med sked),[47] as well as a few other cases.[44]
Present tense of verbs
In the present tense of strong verbs, the ending -er is lost, e.g. han bit ‘he bites’ (Standard Swedish han biter); han spring ‘he runs’ (Standard Swedish han springer).[36] This is characteristic for all traditional Norrland dialects, and the southern border for runs through Hälsingland, so that northern Hälsingland has han bit, but southern han bite.[48] This feature is also found in northern Dalarna and Trøndelag in Norway.[49]
Adjective incorporation
While adjective–noun compounds are possible in all Scandinavian varieties, Norrland dialects tend to form compounds with adjectives more frequently,[36] and with a semantic difference. Contrasting den nya bilen ‘the new car’ with the compounded form nybilen in Standard Swedish, the compound may only have the reading “the recently fabricated car”, not “the car I just bought (in contrast to my old car)”. In Norrland dialect that employ adjective incorporation however, this is only true for the indefinite form, while the definite nybiln can also refer to a new car contrasted to the speaker’s old car.[50][51]
Adjective incorporation may also occur when the adjective represent a more occasional rather than inherent property of the noun, hence Nederkalix dialect (Norrbotten) litn artibåt ‘nice little boat’, lilfåtiståkkar ‘poor little thing’; Vilhelmina dialect (southern Västerbotten) tôkken gammstygggûbb ‘such an ugly old man’.[52][53]
Adjective incorporation is found in all Norrland dialects, as well as in northern Dalarna. It is also found to some extent in Ostrobothnia in Finland and in Trøndelag in Norway.[54][55]
Preproprial articles
A preproprial article is an article used before
In Norrland dialects, the form of the article is usually identical to the unstressed forms of the 3rd person
The preproprial article is used when the proper name functions as an argument and in identifying
The preproprial article is obligatory in all traditional dialects in Norrland except for the southernmost regions of Hälsingland and Gästrikland. It is also found in western Dalarna and in northern Värmland. It is also common in most parts of Norway, except the very south.[56]
Subgrouping
Below is a list of common subdialectal divisions of Norrland dialects, beginning in the north and ending in the south.[2][4]
Settler dialects
The so-called "settler dialects" (Swedish: nybyggarmål) comprise all the Swedish dialects in Lappland; Karl-Hampus Dahlstedt geographically defines this dialect to those inland parts of Norrbotten where the Swedish dialects do not fit in with any of the relatively more clearly defined dialects of the coastal regions, due to the patchwork ancestry of the Swedish-speaking settlers that populated the area. One typical "settler dialect" is found in Arjeplog, which arose from a blending of Standard Swedish with the Piteå and Umeå dialects. There is also Sami influence on these dialects, such as the absence of the "thick L", which is generally typical of Norrland dialects.[57] Another area in which a "settler dialect" is spoken is Malmfälten.
Swedish came to the
Kalix
The Kalix dialects (Swedish: kalixmål) are spoken in the medieval Kalix parishes (present-day
The Kalix dialects are divided into
- Överkalix dialect (överkalixmål)
- Nederkalix dialect(nederkalixmål)
One difference between these two varieties is that the old consonant clusters mb, nd, and ng have been retained in Överkalix, but not in Nederkalix. For example, the Standard Swedish kam ("comb" or "crest") is kemb in Överkalix, but kap in Nederkalix. Furthermore, the Överkalix dialect has more influences from Sami languages and Meänkieli.[58][59]
Luleå
The Luleå dialects (Swedish: lulemål) are spoken in and around the mediaeval parish of Luleå (present-day Boden and Luleå municipalities). They are also spoken in the easternmost parts of Lule lappmark up to near Vuollerim.[57]
These dialects may be further subdivided as follows
- Lower Luleå dialect (in Lower Luleå parish)
- Upper Luleå dialect (in Upper Luleå parish)
- Råneå dialect (in Råneå parish)
The Luleå dialects are known for, among other things, a rich inventory of diphthongs. The Old Norse ai, au, and öy are preserved, as well as ei (e.g., stein for Standard Swedish sten, meaning "stone"), eo (e.g., heok for Standard Swedish hök, meaning hawk), and oi (e.g., hoi for Standard Swedish hö, meaning "hay"). These dialects also have a number of vowels that differ from Standard Swedish. For example, Standard Swedish i becomes öi (röis instead of Standard ris, meaning "rice"), while Standard u becomes eo or eu (heos instead of Standard hus, meaning "house").[7]
Piteå
The Piteå dialects (Swedish: pitemål) are spoken in the area of the mediaeval Piteå parish (present-day Piteå and Älvsbyn municipalities) as well as in the southernmost parts of Jokkmokk Municipality and in northern Arvidsjaur Municipality in Pite lappmark.[57] These dialects also preserve a number of archaic features, such as conserved diphthongs in words like göuk (Standard Swedish: gök, "cuckoo bird") and stein (Standard Swedish: sten, "stone"). The consonant clusters mb, nd, and ng are often retained, for example in kamb (Standard Swedish: kam, "comb"). Unique to the Piteå dialects is that Old Swedish long "a" (modern "å") has become short "a" before "n", but nowhere else. Thus, lan (Standard Swedish: lån", "loan"), but båt (Standard Swedish: båt, "boat").[60]
North and south Västerbotten
Northern Västerbotten dialects (Swedish: nordvästerbottniska mål) are spoken in the northern parts of Västerbotten, primarily the mediaeval Skellefteå parish (including Norsjö), together with a part of Pite lappmark (Malå and Arvidsjaur).[57] Just like the coastal dialects of Norrbotten, the Northern Västerbotten dialects preserve numerous archaic features. The dative case is still used, not only after prepositions but also after certain adjectives and verbs. Old Norse diphthongs have been preserved in many local dialects, but have developed in different, unique ways. For instance, Standard Swedish öra ("ear") can be ööyr, ääyr, or aajr in various local dialects of Northern Västerbotten.[61]
Southern Västerbotten dialects (Swedish: sydvästerbottniska mål) are spoken along the
Transitional dialects between Ångermanland and Västerbotten
These dialects, intermediate between the Southern Västerbotten dialects and the Ångermanland dialect, are spoken in Nordmaling and Bjurholm as well as Örträsk.[57] These dialects are similar to the dialect of nolaskogs, such as in the change of Old Norse hv- to gv- (gvit as opposed to Standard Swedish vit, meaning "white").[62]
Ångermanland
The Ångermanland dialects (Swedish: ångermanländska mål) are spoken in Ångermanland (with the exception of Nordmaling and Bjurholm) and Åsele lappmark. The dialects of Åsele and Vilhelmina have largely retained their Ångermanland character while still developing into their own. One exception is Fredrika parish, which developed a speech closer to Standard Swedish as a result of lying near major immigration routes from Ångermanland. The dialect of Dikanäs in Vilhelmina municipality is a transitional dialect between Ångermanland and the dialects of Lycksele lappmark.[57]
The Ångermanland dialects may be further subdivided as follows:
- Dialects of Åsele lappmark
- Nolaskogs dialect
- Dialects of Ådalen
Jämtland
The Jämtland dialects (Swedish: jämtmål, jämtska) comprise the dialects of Jämtland, with the exception of upper Frostviken, where the so-called Lid dialect (Lidmålet) is spoken.[57] These dialects are to a greater extent than other Norrland dialects caught between eastern (i.e., Swedish) and western (i.e., Norwegian) linguistic influences. For example, the vowel u in words such as bu (Standard Swedish: bod, "hut"; cf. Norwegian: bu) and ku (Standard Swedish: ko, "cow"; cf. Norwegian: ku).[6] The Jämtland dialects, like other Norrland dialects, also retain the archaic diphthongs of Old Norse.[6]
Medelpad
The Medelpad dialects (Swedish: medelpadsmål) are spoken in
Hogdal
These dialects are spoken in Haverö and Ytterhogdal.[57]
Northern Hälsingland
The commonly accepted isogloss between Norrland dialects and Svealand Swedish runs through Hälsingland. This area, however, is a typical transition region. From A Svealand standpoint, there are reasons to define the isogloss as coinciding with the southern border of Hälsingland (through Ödmården). From a Norrland standpoint, there are alternative reasons to define it as coinciding with the southern border of Medelpad, which would fit with the southern limit of vowel balance.[57]
Included in the Hälsingland dialects are the Hassela dialect (Swedish: hasselamål) and the Forsa dialect (Swedish: forsamål).
References
Notes
- ^ "Norrländska mål". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-08-10.
- ^ a b c Dahlstedt 1971, p. [page needed].
- ^ a b Wessén 1967, p. [page needed].
- ^ a b Edlund & Frängsmyr 1995, pp. 319–320.
- ^ Holm 1987.
- ^ a b c Edlund & Frängsmyr 1994, pp. 274–276.
- ^ a b Edlund & Frängsmyr 1995, p. 78.
- ^ a b Dahlstedt & Ågren 1980, p. 240.
- ^ Dahlstedt & Ågren 1980, p. 242.
- ^ Nyström 1993, p. 37, 90, 109, 131.
- ^ a b c Dahlstedt & Ågren 1980, p. 241.
- ^ a b c d Bandle 1973.
- ^ Wessén 1969, p. 240f.
- ^ Wessén 1969, p. 52.
- ^ Dahlstedt & Ågren 1980, p. 244.
- ^ Kristoffersen 1992, p. 38.
- ^ Kusmenko 2007.
- ^ Delsing et al. 2009, p. 242.
- ^ Edlund 2011, p. 182.
- ^ Fridell 2019, p. 121–122.
- ^ Riad 1998, p. 233.
- ^ Riad 1998, p. 235f.
- ^ a b c Dahlstedt & Ågren 1980, pp. 234–236.
- ^ a b c Wessén 1969, p. 41.
- ^ Geijer 1921, p. 36f.
- ^ Lindgren 1940, p. 91, 123.
- ^ a b c Wessén 1970, p. 41.
- ^ Bogren 1921, p. 33.
- ^ Dahlstedt & Ågren 1980, pp. 256–257.
- ^ Dahlstedt & Ågren 1980, p. 257.
- ^ Söderström 1994, p. 391.
- ^ Hansson 1995, p. 28.
- ^ a b Lindgren 1940, p. 40.
- ^ a b c Dahlstedt & Ågren 1980, p. 260f.
- ^ a b Wessén 1969, p. 41–43.
- ^ a b c d e Wessén 1969, p. 43.
- ^ Pamp 1978, p. 134.
- ^ Ivars 2015, p. 286.
- ^ Ivars 2015, p. 180.
- ^ Pamp 1978, p. 47.
- ^ a b Delsing 2003, p. 15.
- ^ a b Dahl 2015, p. 49.
- ^ Dahlstedt & Ågren 1980, p. 281.
- ^ a b Dahl 2015, p. 49f.
- ^ Dahl 2015, pp. 55–61.
- ^ Dahl 2015, pp. 45–46.
- ^ Dahl 2015, pp. 83–87.
- ^ Pamp 1978, p. 124.
- ^ Dahlstedt & Ågren 1980, p. 245.
- ^ Dahl 2015, pp. 127–128.
- ^ Sandström & Holmberg 2003.
- ^ Dahl 2015, pp. 130–131.
- ^ Rutberg 1924, p. 141.
- ^ Delsing 2003, p. 49.
- ^ Dahl 2015, pp. 140–147.
- ^ a b c d Delsing 2003, p. 20–22.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Dahlstedt & Ågren 1954, p. [page needed].
- ^ Edlund & Frängsmyr 1995, pp. 187–188.
- ^ Edlund & Frängsmyr 1996, p. 409.
- ^ Edlund & Frängsmyr 1995, p. [page needed].
- ^ a b Edlund & Frängsmyr 1996, pp. 331–333.
- ^ Edlund & Frängsmyr 1996, p. 370.
- ^ Edlund & Frängsmyr 1995, pp. 138–139.
Bibliography
- Bandle, Oskar (1973). Die Gliederung des Nordgermanischen. Beiträge zur nordischen Philologie, 99-0102922-8 ; 1 (in German). Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn.
- Bogren, Petrus (1921). Torpmålets ljud- och formlära. Skrifter utgivna genom Dialekt- och folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala, A:23 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt.
- ISBN 978-3-944675-57-2.
- Dahlstedt, Karl-Hampus (1971). Norrländska och nusvenska: tre studier i nutida svenska (in Swedish). Lund: Studentlitt. ISBN 91-44-07961-3. LIBRIS7276064.
- Dahlstedt, Karl-Hampus; Ågren, Per-Uno (1954). Övre Norrlands bygdemål: berättelser på bygdemål med förklaringar och en dialektöversikt (in Swedish) (1st ed.). Umeå: Vetenskapliga Biblioteket.
- Dahlstedt, Karl-Hampus; Ågren, Per-Uno (1980). Övre Norrlands bygdemål: berättelser på bygdemål med förklaringar och en dialektöversikt (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Umeå: Johan Nordlander-sällsk.
- Delsing, Lars-Olof (2003). "Syntaktisk variation i nordiska nominalfraser". In Vangsnes, Øystein Alexander; Holmberg, Anders; Delsing, Lars-Olof (eds.). Dialektsyntaktiska studier av den nordiska nominalfrasen (PDF). Oslo: Novus. pp. 11–64. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-10.
- Delsing, Lars-Olof; Edlund, Lars-Erik; Hallberg, Göran; Platzack, Christer (2009). "Litteraturkrönika 2008". Arkiv för nordisk filologi (in Swedish). Eslöv.
- Edlund, Lars-Erik; Frängsmyr, Tore, eds. (1994). Norrländsk uppslagsbok: ett uppslagsverk på vetenskaplig grund om den norrländska regionen. Bd 2, [Gästr-Lantz] (in Swedish). Umeå: Norrlands univ.-förl. ISBN 91-972484-0-1. LIBRIS1610872.
- Edlund, Lars-Erik; Frängsmyr, Tore, eds. (1995). Norrländsk uppslagsbok: ett uppslagsverk på vetenskaplig grund om den norrländska regionen. Bd 3, [Lapp-Reens] (in Swedish). Umeå: Norrlands univ.-förl. ISBN 91-972484-1-X. LIBRIS1610873.
- Edlund, Lars-Erik; Frängsmyr, Tore, eds. (1996). Norrländsk uppslagsbok: ett uppslagsverk på vetenskaplig grund om den norrländska regionen. Bd 4, [Regio-Övre] (in Swedish). Umeå: Norrlands univ.-förl. ISBN 91-972484-2-8. LIBRIS1610874.
- Edlund, Lars-Erik (2011). "Aktuell litteratur om svenska dialekter: En krönika sammanställd av Lars-Erik Edlund i samverkan med medarbetare vid Dialekt- och folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala, Institutet för språk och folkminnen" (PDF). Svenska landsmål och svenskt folkliv (in Swedish). Uppsala: Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien/Swedish Science Press.
- Fridell, Staffan (2019). "[Review of] Norsk språkhistorie 2. Praksis". Maal og Minne (in Swedish). Oslo: Bymålslaget.
- Geijer, Herman (1921). "Några bidrag till frågan om tilljämningens ock apokopens utbredningsvägar" (PDF). Svenska landsmål och svenskt folkliv (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt.
- Hansson, Åke (1995). Nordnorrländsk dialektatlas (in Swedish). Umeå: Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet.
- Holm, Gösta (1987). "Språkgrupper i forntidens Norrland". Bebyggelsehistorisk Tidskrift. 1987 (14). Uppsala : Swedish Science Press, 1981-: 57–60. 3251578.
- Holmberg, Anders; Sandström, Görel (2003). "Vad är det för särskilt med nordsvenska nominalfraser". In Vangsnes, Øystein Alexander; Holmberg, Anders; Delsing, Lars-Olof (eds.). Dialektsyntaktiska studier av den nordiska nominalfrasen (PDF). Oslo: Novus. pp. 85–98. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-10.
- Ivars, Ann-Marie (2015). Dialekter och småstadsspråk: Svenskan i Finland - i dag och i går 1:1 (PDF). Skrifter / utgivna av Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, 0039-6842 ; 798 (in Swedish). Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland.
- Kristoffersen, Gjert (1992). "Cirkumflekstonelaget i norske dialekter, med særlig vikt på nordnorsk". Maal og Minne (in Norwegian). 1992. Oslo: Bymålslaget: 37–61.
- Kusmenko, Jurij (2007). "The origin of Vowel Balance in Swedish and Norwegian dialects". In Bull, Tove; Kusmenko, Jurij; Rießler, Michael (eds.). Språk og språkforhold i Sápmi. Berlin (PDF). Berliner Beiträge zur Skandinavistik. Berlin: Nordeuropa-Institut. pp. 235–258.
- Lindgren, Jonas Valfrid (1940). Ordbok över Burträskmålet (PDF). Skrifter / utgivna genom Landsmåls- och folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala. Ser. A, Folkmål, 99-0353353-5 ; 3 (in Swedish). Uppsala: Lundequistska bokh.
- Nyström, Jan-Olov (1993). Ordbok över lulemålet: på grundval av dialekten i Antnäs by, Nederluleå socken (PDF) (in Swedish). Umeå: Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet.
- Pamp, Bengt (1978). Svenska dialekter (in Swedish). Stockholm: Natur o. kultur.
- Riad, Tomas (1998). "Balance and harmony in Scandinavian dialects" (PDF). Rivista di Linguistica. 10 (1): 233–276.
- Rutberg, Hulda (1924). "Folkmålet i Nederkalix och Töre socknar" (PDF). Svenska landsmål och svenskt folkliv (in Swedish).
- Sandström, Görel; Holmberg, Anders (2003). "Ett polysyntetiskt drag i svenska dialekter". In Vangsnes, Øystein Alexander; Holmberg, Anders; Delsing, Lars-Olof (eds.). Dialektsyntaktiska studier av den nordiska nominalfrasen (PDF). Oslo: Novus. pp. 99–112. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-10.
- Söderström, Sven (1994). Arnäsmålet: Ordbok över en ångermanländsk dialekt. På grundval av Ella Odstedts samlingar (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Dialekt- och folkminnesarkivet.
- Wessén, Elias (1967). Våra folkmål (in Swedish) (8th ed.). Stockholm: Fritze. LIBRIS 459860.
- OL 20307246M.
- Wessén, Elias (1970). Våra folkmål (in Swedish) (9th ed.). Stockholm: Fritze.
External links
- Listen to some Norrland dialects (in Swedish)
- Text samples of traditional dialects from northern Norrland (in Swedish)