Elfdalian - Sweden's Most Conservative Language

Lectures on Elfdalian (most in Swedish): video.ku.dk/ta...
Welcome All!
SpeechLeech is a series in which I learn one of 4 languages beginning with the same letter, according to the English alphabet, voted for by You, the audience!
It comes in 2 parts:
- the choices video (in which I briefly introduce the 4 languages of the letter)
- the results video (in which I talk about the language and the history and culture of the people who speak it a bit more in-depth, after which I briefly show what I've managed to learn after 2 weeks of studying by attempting to speak the language)
How it works:
o Based on English alphabet
o 4 languages per letter (A, B, C, D, etc...)
o Vote during the the first 24 hours after the video is posted
o Winner is announced the following day
Criteria for choices:
1) Must have enough online resources to learn
2) Must be written using one of the following scripts: Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew
Criteria for learning:
1) Be able to introduce myself
2) Be able to count, say today’s date
3) Be able to read a passage of text
4) Discuss something about the language/culture in question in said language
5) Talk about daily life (weather, food, activities, etc.)
6) Be able to ramble a bit off topic
The week in between the choices video and the results video, I will be posting an "Honourable Mentions" video, in which I talk about another language beginning with the same letter, as well as the history and culture of the people who speak it in-depth, which wasn't featured as one of the 4 learning choices.
If you’ve ever been curious to learn a language, no matter how ‘irrelevant’ or small, just do it!
Keep it alive, and pass it on to the next generation!
Let’s make the world a more colourful place!

[@stoferb876]

The "Elf" in the name has nothing to do with elves though. It's just that "elv" or "älv" (in norweigan or swedish spelling) is the scandinavian word for river. "Älvdalen" means literally "the river valley".

[@matswessling6600]

as in riverdale...

[@richard6196]

​@@matswessling6600 exactly!

[@SchmulKrieger]

Like the river Elbe in German.

[@rursus8354]

It has something to do with "elves", though: both words are believed to have originated from proto-Germanic "*albus" meaning "white" or "shining".

[@cgnovice2969]

@@SchmulKriegerThat is where the word ”älv” is believed to come from

[@emilekroth100]

As a Swede I can confirm that it is easier to understand Norwegian or Danish than this.

[@blacknight1641]

DEFINETELY.

[@viljaminieminen6925]

What about Finnish?

[@emilekroth100]

@@viljaminieminen6925 Puhun on vain vähän suomi.

[@emilekroth100]

Wouldn't say that Finnish is close at all to the other nordic languages tho.

[@viljaminieminen6925]

@@emilekroth100 but in terms of difficulty

[@johnlindberg5161]

I am a 2nd generation American, my grandfather came to America from Loka, a small village just outside Älvdalen, in 1881. My grandfather married twice in America, his first wife died in childbirth in June of 1893 and in early 1896 he married the girl who would be my grandmother. My grandfather taught all of his children the Övdalsk language and I feel very privileged and proud to have some strong memories of this language, which is my family’s mother tongue, from my childhood! A message from me for the Swedish parliament… it is not possible for Övdalsk to be a dialect of Swedish because the Övdalsk language is older than the Swedish language!! Ig ir ettling tä Waikingg fro Swerre, og eð ir guoð!

[@marz_mitzi]

hvað í fj varðst þú að segja þarrna síþazt

[@SIC647]

You should contact the Elvdalia language society,.

[@_loss_]

That's amazing

[@annabackman3028]

She said "I am a descendant of Vikings from Sweden" then the words "and oath is" and I guess "God". Something like "I swear to God"?

[@johnlindberg5161]

Og eð ir guoð = and it is good

[@victoriathorlacius874]

I am native Icelandic and Faroese speaker and also know some Danish/Swedish/Norwegian and while I feel this language sounds somewhat oddly familiar I only understood maybe about 20-30% of this sample. Edit: I just came back to it now two weeks later and I understood 80% immediately. I can tell I am relying on both the Icelandic and Faroese to make sense of this. Very interesting!

[@dan74695]

What about other Dalecarlian dialects like Orsamål? kzbin.info/aero/PLqiZ-ikph3Mn4biHT3XqM8XTPC3S-IQZ3 The other Dalecarlian dialects in Ovansiljan aren't that different from Elfdalian.

[@dan74695]

Heve du både islendskt og færøyskt som modermål?

[@marz_mitzi]

people bragging about speaking x x and x languages. its really a big thing on these vids

[@TheSabaton1]

its called sharing an interest: the info that he understood 80% is broadened by stating hes not a monolingual person @@marz_mitzi

[@SiPakRubah]

​@@marz_mitziThe guy in the vid literally asked them if anyone was from the Nordic region if they understood it, write it in the comment section

[@danielgustafsson9780]

Nice video. I'm an Elfdalian scholar and learing speaker from Sweden. Here is a list of characteristics describing archaisms and innovations in the language from wikipedia, of which some I have written: "Archaisms : Lack of syllable lengthening. Retention of voiced fricatives /ð/, /ɣ/ and /β/. Retention of nominative, accusative and dative cases. Retention of Proto-Germanic, Proto-Norse and Old Norse nasal vowels. Retention of Proto-Germanic voiced labio-velar approximant /w/: wattn ('water'), will ('wants'), wet ('knows'): compare English water, will, and wit and Swedish vatten, vill and vet. Innovations and unique developments More frequent assimilation of pre-Norse mp, nt and nk to pp, tt and kk, as in West Scandinavian dialects. Shift of a to o before Pre-Norse nk (but not kk). Shift of Old Norse ei, ey and au to ie, ä and o. Diphthongization of Old Norse long high vowels í, ý, ú to closing diphthongs ai, åy, au and of long rounded mid vowels ó, œ to opening diphthongs uo, yö. Vowel harmony (present also in other dialects of Central Scandinavia). Loss of h: compare Elfdalian aus with Swedish hus (or English house) and Elfdalian imil with Swedish himmel."

[@simontollin2004]

h being semi silent at the start of a word is characteristic for all dialects in dalarna, you can also see a similar thing in some English dialects (I'm not 'appy) and in Spanish

[@francisdec1615]

The [w] phoneme still exists in a few places in Västergötland and Bohuslän but is dying out here. It turns out that it was actually prevalent in some places in Göteborg just a few decades ago. It was a working class accent in places like Bagaregården. It also still exists among a tiny majority of old people in Orust, though there it usually only exists in words where the English cognate is spelled with 'wh'.

[@SchmulKrieger]

Also the genitive in Elfdalian is an innovation, formed from the abstraction of the dative case instead of the Germanic original genitive inflection. Second, syllable lengthening is a thing in Germanic. Or do you refer to a Swedish characteristic?

[@Eugensson]

/í, ý/ > /ai, åy/ This is so similar to modern Dutch! /i:, y:/ > /ɛi, œy/

[@0mgskillz96]

/mp nt ŋk/ to /pp tt kk/ is the same change that happened in westernmore Sámi languages! Could this be related somehow to the changes in Älvdalska? Also, the /oo öö/ to /uo yö/ happened in northern Finnic languages (and earlier in Sámic).. suspicious 😂

[@Funken777]

I live in Älvdalen, and i speak and understand elfdalian. So Nice video

[@lunet1st488]

I want to see what the letters sound like.

[@dan74695]

@@lunet1st488 There are many recordings.

[@brockgan8941]

Teach your kids!!!!!!

[@Funken777]

@@brockgan8941 have no children, but will of course make sure they talk later

[@Funken777]

@@mal2ksc I am 26 years old, everyone in my family and relatives can speak and understand Elvdal.

[@larseikind666]

The Little Prince has been translated to a surprisingly large number of lesser known and/or endangered languages. That little book is a gem in more ways than just being a nice story.

[@ChristianConrad]

Another great work of literature that's been translated into a surprising amount of obscure dialects is also originally French: Asterix! Seen it in Plattdüütsch, Karjala, etc etc.

[@brucealanwilson4121]

Agatha Christie has been v translated into more languages than any other body of literaturexexcept the Bible.

[@GoodmansGhost]

@@brucealanwilson4121 She is not a single book though.

[@macsmartinmard8049]

An edd ulað bruk språtjeð so laindj an dug glåmå! (~Use the language for as long as you can speak!)

[@dan74695]

Ja. "Ånn edd för sku bruk språtje sö lendje ånn dug glåmå." edd e weri o ossmoli. I kum int fro Ossa, men fro Nordland i Nöri. Kum du fro Evdalem?

[@macsmartinmard8049]

@@dan74695 Ossmą̊leð ir liuo'tt grannt! Ig bruker råkås min diem upi Övdalim milumað. Ig byddjer dar mes ig arbieter, so nųfetiðn ir ig bar dar iessn i månaðim.

[@tonguesinc.8233]

Hella underrated languages channel.

[@nossekloff]

Thank you for spreading knowledge of our wonderful language, elfdalian. Keep up the good work! /proud elfdalian speaker

[@Kurdedunaysiri]

As a Kurd i can say that all states are using same ways to kill the other languages and the experiences of minority people are pretty similar ! People are ashamed to use their language after these things and if it can stay alive until a proud movement founded may can be survived . Long live all languages !!!

[@RoffeDH]

It's sad when languages are suppressed, but languages dying is, unfortunately, also a side effect of a more connected world. We don't speak to each other in Kurdish, or Swedish in my case, because we wouldn't be able to understand each other. So using a common, globally used language, makes a lot of sense for that. I often even speak English to Danes, despite us probably being able to understand them pretty well most of the time. What I'm getting at is that we need to preserve the languages. Not necessarily make sure people speak them, but make sure we have them on record at the very least.

[@neon-rust]

@@RoffeDH Pretty much yes. It's unavoidable that languages gradually gets left unused when different groups of people try to communicate. Wholeheartedly agree though, that these languages should at least be preserved in some way.

[@rasmuswigerstedt8331]

My experience is that at first glance it seems completly unintelligible to me, but after a second reading/hearing it makes sense and I can understand enough to get what is being said. It is probably easier if you yourself speak with a dialect. I feel like if you take other dialects of swedish and go thick enough you could get a similar (but not as extreme) effect. It is a really cool dialect/language and I really hope the locals keep it alive and thriving!

[@dan9521]

This is the truth of the matter, i tried reading it and it didnt make sense, but reading it out loud changed it. Understood at least 80-90 %

[@Thedeepseanomad]

I agree it is possible to understand a lot of it pretty quickly as a Swedish speaker, just take a bit of time getting used to.

[@annabackman3028]

I don't speak Jamska (the dialect of Jämtland), but I'm familiar with it. To some extent this has similarities, some words and the grammar too.

[@rateeightx]

Funnily enough Minecraft is actually the reason I know Elfdalian exists, One day I saw it listed there (I think I was actually looking at some place to contribute to the translations for the game and saw it there, not certain though), And was curious so I looked it up. Even though the Swedish government doesn't recognise it as its own language, At least we know their most popular video game does!

[@Zekee_]

I grew up about 70 km north of Älvdalen and now live 40 km south of it and I’ve spend a lot of time in Älvdalen as well, It’s really cool to see a video about elfdalian, thank you!

[@safwaanchowdhury8260]

I don’t know how you don’t have more followers? You seem to make great content, I followed you after I found your Breton language video which was very informative. I hope you keep going

[@swedishmetalbear]

A similar thing happened with the old Gutnish language. Spoken on the Island of Gotland. There are but a few speakers left. And it is the last remaining link to the now extinct Gothic language. I am not talking about Swedish with a gutnish dialect.. But the actual Gutnish language.

[@SchmulKrieger]

It has nothing to do with Gothic.

[@rursus8354]

Correcting both you and @SchmulKrieger here: there is no *_proven_* connection between Gothic and Old Gutnish. A few linguists *_have speculated_* that there might have been such a connection based on some few phonetic similarities, but it is probably impossible to prove such a connection.

[@SchmulKrieger]

@@rursus8354 correct, that's what I said. There is no proven connection between Old Gutnish and Gothic. So what's your point?

[@Jarnvargfenrirsson]

Gutniska och Gutamål❤

[@swedishmetalbear]

Men suck.... The leading theories as of now and as to where the origin of the Goths was.. Is the Island of Gotland in the Baltic sea. Or Götaland in Sweden. Gotland being the more likely candidate. (If you are going to say anything... Try to be informed properly about the subject..) They didn't just magically conjure themselves up at the north shore of Poland. So where did they come from? So when you claim Gothic has a completely separate origin from Gutnish that literally is not true. And the statement makes you stand out like an idiot that thinks they know something when they actually don't. Since Gutnish and Gothic are both Germanic languages and have the same origin (Mutually intelligible) that statement doesn't make sense. If you don't believe me.. Look it up. Anywhere... Even if they somehow happen to end up being on separate branches on the tree. Linguistically speaking.. The further back you go with related languages. The more related they are.. So embarassing... Didn't you learn that if you do not know anything of the matter maybe it is better to stay quiet.

[@vidardalmankarlsson1696]

That sentence as you gave as an example was almost impossible to understand as a Swedish speaker. But other sentences can be far more comprehensive. But that's also the case for other Germanic languages such as Dutch and Icelandic. It is a joke though that Elfdalian is regarded as a dialect when Norwegian and Danish is classified as separate languages from Swedish and is 98% understandable in written form.

[@imshawngetoffmylawn]

Yea, I realized I probably should have given a different sentence as an example, or at least maybe an extra few other phrases/sentences for more variety and context... Thank you for the feedback tho!

[@vidardalmankarlsson1696]

@@imshawngetoffmylawn It's still a separate language. You can get both very different and quite similar sentence between Swedish and English too. "Min hand är varm" "Vintern är kall" et cetera.

[@twinleaf3076]

I think the same about some dialects here in Norway. Like the setedal dialect/vallemål can at times sound completely unintelligible, and is very close to middle norwegian spoken about 500-600 years ago, also grammar wise.

[@dan74695]

@@twinleaf3076 "Ti' desse vèvæ eg vi' bigjynde mæ, vi' eg have a åkjatjugskjei." "Di kunn' liggje tvei å tvei å tvæ å tvæ, men alli tvau å tvau! Du æ den airi som kjæm'e å vi' selje lodd i kveld! Det félar tvau minutt på tvó." "'Er æ trí gúta, trjå jentu, å trjú bórd, i tréi klassi. Det æ tréi åri eg gjeng'e hèra på Honnès." "Eg hève fyr vetrefóra saui, å då fær eg kansi sjauttí lomb ti' våræ." "I vèt'e hèv' eg vòre fimta gongu på heií å henta vé'e." "Åttendi mai nittenfemmåfyr va' an stór'e dag'e i Nòrik." vallemal.no/ordliste/?type=Talord

[@SIC647]

​@@twinleaf3076Western Jutlandic in Denmark is completely unintelligible to rigs-Danish speakers. And old Bornholmsk too, being of course Scanian.

[@basketjocke4747]

After reading/listening a couple of times it actually starts making sense, as a Swede who knows some gutnish. It’s sound a bit similar to bondska, another one of those old dialects which aren’t widely spoke anymore, with the weirdest parts being some words and some of the grammar. I think the reason why most Swedes wont understand this is that the language has become so standardized during the last century that people not from the countryside have lost touch with the more traditional dialectical varieties of Swedish.

[@abyssstrider2547]

I speak German and English and i managed to understand a few words.

[@DerangedMallard]

3:22 For those wondering, Å Ä and Ö aren't part of those extra letters, they're used in all of Sweden 🙂

[@smalllanguagesrock2088]

Great outline. However, Elfdalian is as far from Swedish as Icelandic, but not more similar to Icelandic than to Swedish. Truely, it has a great deal of archaic features, but at the same time it has a great deal of innovative features, too. As a whole, Icelandic is more archaic e.g. when it comes to lexicon and morphology.

[@redazthegreat5518]

I believe elfdalain is more conservative to Germanic languages due to it keeping the proto Germanic nasal vowels

[@SchmulKrieger]

​@@redazthegreat5518phonology does not make a language closer to the ancestor language. It's the grammar that does do so.

[@twinleaf3076]

Norwegian here. "Autå te tegg ed", sounds a lot like "utan å ha togge det" which soundes even more similar in some dialects, like vallemål. "Sweg" and "svelji" or "svelger". "Ielt" and "heilt" or "helt". "Dier" and "dei". "Månadi" and "månader". "Såvå" and "søv" or "sover" even more similar in some dialects. "Åtå" and "et" also more similar in different dialects, people say "åt". "Sett ielt" and "i eitt sett". That's the similarities I found between alvdalsk and norwegian in the first text. If I hadn't read the translated text in english, I wouldn't have understood a thing, but i'm sure people speaking other dialects here in Norway would understand a lot more of it. Sounds like swedish though, with the only exception that it makes little sense to my ears.

[@HenrikBergpianorganist]

It might sound Swedish to a Norwegian, but not to a Swede...! The intonation is unique within Sweden, even within the region of Dalarna! Dalarna is famous for its sing-song melody, but Elfdalian is a totally different story...

[@dan74695]

"Buormer svelger byttet sitt helt, uten å tygge det."

[@dan74695]

@@HenrikBergpianorganist Det minner meg mer om islandsk. Også, hei!

[@SchmulKrieger]

Fascinating that *little* has the High Germanic sound shift from t > s as *lissl* .

[@dan74695]

Elfdalian actually isn't the only Dalecarlian dialect with nasal vowels and ð, Våmhusmål also has them. Elfdalian isn't as unique as people think, it's not that different from the other dialects in Ovansiljan.

[@Peter_1986]

I am from Älvdalen, and that village is super-friendly. I almost never hear of any problems here whatsoever, and people get along really well everywhere.

[@nathanaelsallhageriksson1719]

The elfdalians have fought to get their language recognized for years now. But there is only one party that have it on their agenda. I hope they are able to get the government to give it it's desserved language minority status. (Edit) For preferences, said party is only cooporating with the current government, not actualy apart of it. But this still means there is more hope for elfdalian than ever before. I don't even speak it myself, but losing this beautifull language would be such a shame, and as a swede I actualy have some ability to help influence this topic. I hope you get your support elfdalian, I really do.

[@emperorlelouch5696]

Wow, I literally just was curious about the QWERTY keyboard and then I stumbled upon the Elfdalian language. This is a really cool video by the way, and I really appreciate your work this. Thanks👍🏽.

[@Anakianaj]

The thing with the language and dialect thing is that linguistics and politics have very different opinions when it comes to the definitions. And while not exactly scientific Weinreich's quip kinda captures the essence of what reality (politics) looks like: "A language is a dialect with an army and a navy."

[@jm-holm]

I actually understand it pretty well. I speak an Ostrobothnian dialect. A dialect of Swedish spoken in Finland. Much of the vocabulary and pronunciation is identical to either my own dialect or other dialects in the region I grew up in.

[@Karin-fj3eu]

This randomly being in my recommended is so perfect :')

[@adhamhmacconchobhair7565]

You're the most underrated channel ever!

[@denniswrande6004]

Yup it is fascinating how different it is from Swedish and that the language had evolved differently and they have their own alphabet and its close to Icelandic and would love too learn it by any chance.

[@goranurengard]

I am Swedish and I was supposed to make my military service in Älvdalen. It was a total hellhole, cold, snowy and isolated. Horror movie material. Of 250 recruits 50 of us (me included) claimed reasons not to be able to perform their service. A bunch of us didn't even wanna wait for the army bus so we called a cab from Mora and payed 500 bucks a head to get out of there.

[@dan74695]

Elfdalian is not as unique as people think, it's very similar to the other dialects in Ovansiljan, especially Våmhusmål. *Elfdalian:* ”Men uą, ukin wask!” saggd Mumun, fuost gaundjin ą̊ såg Masse. Eð war ienn morgun, straks etter juolę. Eð war liuotkollt og eð add snieð um ną̊tę. Mumun war ą̊ weg aut etter wiðim, og eð war dą̊ ą̊ fikk sją̊ ienn liuotmagran katt, so såt upą̊ baurstinnum. Eð war ann ą̊ kolld för ”wastjin”. Masse kuogäð ą̊ kelindję so kam og djikk yvyr gardn. Ann tainkt: ”Ir ą̊ farlin, truo? Eð ir fell best pass sig!” Mumun stelld frą̊ sig wiðåkordjin og byrd ą̊ glåmå min Masse: - ”Al du it kumå jųot so ig ną̊r að klå dig? Uą, ur kollt eð ir! Friuos du it? Eld du unggrun, kannstji?” *Våmhusmål:* "Men oj, oj, oj, ukin ienn wisäl!" sadd Mormor fuost gaundjin ą̊ så Missä. Eð wa ienn morgun tras että jölį. Eð wa rässklit kollt o eð add snitt undä nåtį. Mormor wa ą̊ weg aut että wiðn, dą̊ ą̊ fikk sjǫ̈ iena magra kattu, so såt upą̊ erberstinnä. Eð wa änä ą̊ kolld fe "wisäl". Kattą så ą̊ kelindsį so kam o djikk yvy gardn. Ą̊ taintjäd: "Ir ą̊ fallin, truo? Eð ir naug best te pass sig!" Mormor stelld frą̊ si wiðåkordjin o byrd ą̊ tålå wið Missä: - "Ska du int kumå jöt so ig fą̊ klå ði? Uff, ur kollt eð ir! Frjös du int? Ir du unggrun, kannstsi?" *Orsamål:* ”Men öj, öj, öj, ukön eländin stakkar!” sad Momo föst göndjön o såg Måssä. Ed war jenn mörgon trast ettör joli. Ed war räskli köllt ö ed add snitt um noti. Momo war o weg ait ettör widem, ö ed wa do o fikk sjå jenå färskretjeli mågra kattu, sö såt uppo ärbresbrun. Ed war onå o kölltä fär ”stakkarn”. Katta såg o kelindji sö kåm ö djikk evör gardn. Ånn tenktä: ”Ir o fallin, tro? Ed ir nug best te pass si!” Momo stelld fro si widåkördjön ö bird o tålå mi Måssä: - ”Ska du int kumå jot sö i fo kläi di? Uff, ur költ ed ir! Fros du int? Ir du unggrön, kånnstji?” *Moramål:* Men åj, uken wask!” sagd Mårmår föst gåndjen o såg Missan. Ä wa jenn mårgun trast ettär jole. Ä wa ljotkållt, å ä add snjogo upå nåte. Mårmår wa å weg åit ettär wirn, å ä wa då o fikk sjå jenn mågran katt, så såt upå erbresbrune. Ä wa ann o kålled fe ”wastjen”. Missan titted å dora kelindje, så kåm keklendes yvur gardn. Ann tenkt: ”E o falen, tro? Ä e full best pass se.” Mårmår stelled frå se wiråkårdjen å byrd å tålå min Missan: ”Ska int du kumå jon så I når a te klå de? Uj, ur kållt ä e! Frjos du int? E du unggrun, kannstji?” *Oremål:* ”Men åj, åj, åj, uken eländug stakkärä!” sa Mormor först gônjen o såg Katto. Ä wa jänn môrgun strast ättär jul. Ä wa wale kôllt ô ä add snjoga på nåte. Mormor wa på wäg ôit ättär wid ô ä wa då o fikk si jäna haskle magra katto, sum såt på härbrästrappo. Ä wa ännär o kôlled fô ”stakkärn”. Katta titted på kälinje sum kam ô gikk ywär gåln. O tenkt: ”E o farlen, tro? Ä e nôg bäst ô pass se!” Mormor ställd ifrå se widokôrjen ô byrd ô prata mä Katto: - ”Ska int du kumo jot sô i kann kläi de? Twi, wa kôllt ä e! Fros int du? E du kannstje hungrug?” *Sollerömål:* ”Men ååj, ukän varäls!” säjd Mormor fösst gåndjän o såg Missan. Ä va iänn mårrgån alldeläs ättär joln. Ä va ljotkållt, å ä add snjoga um nåti. Mormor va upå veg åit fö tä ta inn vid, å ä va då o fikk sjå ie magär katta, så såt upå ärrbäsbrun. Ä va on o kållät fe ”varäls”. Missan glonät å doda kelindji så kam krällnd åitär gardim. Ann tänkt: ”Må'sej um o e falin? Ä e full bäst tä pass si.” Mormor ställät frå si vidåkårrdjän å byrd å prat vi Missan: ”Sa int du kumå jån a mi ä, så i når tä kläj di? Uj, ur kållt ä e! Frjos int du? E du unggrån å, kannstji?” Here's some Dalecarlian dialects from Nedansiljan: *Rättviksmål:* ”Men åj, åj, åj, token eländu stakkârô!” sad Momor fåst gånjôn o såg katta. Ä va en mårgån trast ättôr jul. Ä va vådli kâllt å ä add snugâ på nattä. Mormor va på väg ut ättôr vôd å ä va då o fek si e asskli magôr katta, som såt på ârbrôstrappån. Ä va ônom o kalla får ”stakkârn”. Katta titta på tjärinjä som kåm å gek ivir gåln. Ân täntjô: ”Äro o farlin, tro? Ä ä nog bäst tä pass sä!” Mormor ställô frå sä vôdåkårjôn å bôrjô pratâ mâ kattån: ”Skâ dun´t kom it sô je kân kläj dä? Usch, vâ kâllt ä ä! Fris du´nt? Kânstje du ä ungrugin?” *Leksandsmål:* ”Men åjäjåj, ockän eländig kattstackär” sad Mormor, fôst gångjän o såg Missa. Ä va trast ätt jul. Ä va våli kâllt å, ä, a snöga på nattä. Mormor va på väg ut ätt vôd a, ä, va då o feck si i tôcka oskapli magär katta, som satt på ârbâsbrona. Å ä va o o kallä för kattstackâr. Missä koxä på gumma som kamm gåändäs yvär gåln. O tänkt: ”Äro falin tro? E nôg bäst tä pass sä!” Mormor ställd ifrå sä vôdkorjän å bôrd a språk vô'na. ”Skâ du'nt kom it sä je får klapp dä litä? Usch, varä va kâllt. Frys du'nt? E'nt du ungrug å?” *Bodamål:* ”Männ åj, åj, åj, tokin eländu stakkârô.” sad momor fåst gånjôn o såg katta. Ä va enn mårgån trast ättôr juḷ. Ä va vådli kâllt å ä a snugâ på nattä. Momor va på väg ut ättôr vôd å ä va då o fek si e asskḷi magôr kattâ, som såt på hârbrôstrappån. Ä va hônom som o kâllô får ”stakkârn”. Katta tittô på tjärinjä som kåm å gek ivir gåḷn. Ânn täntjô: ”Äro farlin tro? Ä e nog bässt tä pass sä!” Momor ställô frå sä vôdåkårjôn å bôrd å pratâ mâ kattån: ”Skâ du'nt kom hit sô je kânn kḷäjj dä? Usj, vâ kâllt ä e! Fris du'nt? Kânstje du ä hungru?” And here's two Dalecarlian dialects from Västerdalarna: *Nåsmål:* ”Hôss, hôrrênn kravil”, sa Morrmo fôsst gånnjên o såg kattn. Hä va enn môrrgo strâss ätt jul. Hä va utgåle kâllt, rent sviut, ô ä add snjögâ ômm nâtta. Morrmo va på väg ut ätt ve, ô ä va då o fekk si enn sô ohâsskle magêr katt sômm satt utå hârrbrästrappên. Hä va hânn o kâll fôr ”kraviln”. Kattn kokkst på gumma sômm kamm gåêndês ivir gåln. Hânn tänkt: ”E o farlen, tro? Hä e nog bässt pass sä!” Morrmo sätt frå sä vekôrrjân ô tog på tal ve kattn: ”Skâ'nt du kômm ina, sô je kânn klå dä? Fi snon, sô kâllt ä e! Fris du? E du hungru tro?” *Malungsmål:* ”Men ôj, ôj, ôj, hôkken stâkkâr” sa o Mormor fösst gannin o fikk sjå kâtta. Ä va en måro trâst ätt julâ. Ä va ogalä kâllt ô ä âdd snög mä nâttâ sô ä va âlldeles vitt. O Mormor va på väg ut ätt ve, ô ä va då o fikk sjå o da mager kâtta, sôm såt på härbästrâppôn. Ä va ho o kâl fö ”stâkkân”. Kâtta sågt på männistsa sôm kâm gaon yvvy gan. O tänkt: ”E o falä, tro? Ä e full bäst en pâss säg!” O Mormor ställd fro sä´ väkôrin ô tog te ô talô ve kâtta: ”Skâ´nt du kôm jåt, sô i får strök dä´ litä? Usch, sô kâllt ä e! Frös´nt du? Hän e du hungru kâsstsi?”

[@dan74695]

1:14 No, it's not so different from the other dialects in its area.

[@Nomdeguerre]

I was born 40km from Älvdalen and I just wanted to say you made a very good video. Cheers.

[@mistercreatechannel6947]

I'm Swedish. I had no idea this was a thing that existed. Pretty cool! Thanks for covering this. I'll have to go read more about it.

[@CarpetHater]

As a norwegian, i understood a few words of elfdanian, but the general example sentence that you showed was nearly impossible, i have seen other videoes of elfdanian speech, and i understand around maybe 10 - 20% of it. Just as a sidenote, Selbu in Norway has (or atleast had untill very recently) nasal vocals, in words like: bygdã (bygda) and gã (gå)

[@tapijoz]

I am Finnish and know swedish quite well, and I understood way less than I would swedish, and some words I had to figure out, but eventually understood by comparison to swedish words. Also I love your channel so much, quite new here!!!

[@Roggapro]

My grandma, who passed away one year ago spoke grew up in Älvdalen and spoke Elfdalian. I don't live in Älvdalen but have visited family there and I really want to learn the language but there are no resources online to help me.

[@toveduritaaskham4584]

las eð 'read I' (las eg) ... Boa-uormar 'Boa-snakes' (Boa-ormar) .... sjæks månaði 'six months' (seks mánaðir) - ( ) = Faroese. So we would probably understand each other if we got used to each others language.

[@genericname108]

I am Swedish And I can make some sense of most of it mainly when listening to it because that sounds more similar to the Swedish word of today , (just gotta take my word for it when I say “I didn’t cheat” honest, on my grandmothers grave) But as I’ve been saying for fccc knows how long by now, is that it’s WAY easier for most people like me to understand most Norwegians and even Danes than some of the more northern Swedish dialects

[@dan74695]

Danish dialects can be hard to understand, even for Danes.

[@timkarlsson1750]

I live in the lower part of Sweden and i have never heard this before, i hope this dialect gets the recognition it deserves.

[@SchmulKrieger]

It should become standard Swedish.

[@antonpersson6496]

Im swedish and i only understand about every tenth word of elfdalian. Never knew this language existed, cool video!

[@thehaze1972]

We speak a similar language here in Överkalix even though it is going extinct, try to find a film called "Wir Bellum - en film om landet bortom" a film about Älvdalsmålet, Gotländska i När socken på sydöstra Gotland, Överkalixmålet and Träslövläge på halländska västkusten who share a similar language. An example of the similarities between Älvdalska och Överkalixmålet: Katn tytser int um dar ed rajner og snair. And in Överkalix we say: Kätta titts änt om da ne rajn å sni. The cat doesn't like when it's raining and snowing. 🙂 Interesting video, wonder why I have missed it? Hope your Estonian is getting better ;-)

[@BaardFigur]

6:52 I love how Norwegian Nynorsk is at 100% while Norwegian Bokmål is at 94%

[@dan74695]

Ja.

[@MagnusD]

I live in Göta Älvdalen, never heard of this language before and it makes perfect sense after some time to think and a third listen.

[@nelyrions1838]

I live in Southern Sweden. I was once in call with a dude from the northern part of Sweden. We spent like.. 10 minutes, laughing at each others dialect and the fact we didnt understand what we were saying to each other.. The amount and the depth of dialects in Sweden is pretty crazy. Especially the northern dialects are pretty extreme.

[@PQSTLL]

skånska (om det är det du pratar) är ju också ganska svår. jag är från skåne men fattar knappt dialekten själv haha

[@permarkusrisman6471]

There is a hilarious exchange in swedens parliament where an MP from the Center party speaks elfdalian, get’s reprimanded by the speaker (cause you are only allowed to speak Swedish is parliament) to which the MP answered that he is happy that the speaker agrees with him that elfdalian should be recognised as its own language.

[@eljestLiv]

I grew up in Sundsvall, and I went to summer camp in Älvdalen. I remember being really confused why all the road signs weren’t in Swedish and why some of the locals spoke in a way I couldn’t understand. I wish we’d have been educated about Elfdalian when I was there.

[@telavus920]

I understood "sleeping six months", and thats it, as a Norwegian. And also, "I read" in the beginning.

[@PotatoKing147]

As a Norwegian speaker from the west of our country (where we speak and write nynorsk, the more conservative form of Norwegian and the one closest to Old Norse), I understood maybe 1 or 2 words, and I wouldn't have had a slightest bit of chance if it was spoken, even with me being used to probably 1000s of unique dialects here in Norway. Even with Icelandic, I can definitely understand many of the words there, where sometime when I'm reading it, I can understand 90% of it, other times

[@3x4n.]

as a Swede it would take me an hour to try and decode one sentence, and still get 96% of it wrong

[@ange8299]

I do not speak it but most relatives on mom's side live there so I grew up with it and understand it perfectly. I should probably have learned to speak it but mom didn't want us to for some reason

[@gankino2]

For me as a Swedish speaking Finn it is interesting to notice that Elfdalian has preserved the 'kortstavighet' that is short vowel followed by short consonant in 2:55 'jätå', an Old Germanic feature that I thought was preserved only in Finland Swedish (fara, vara etc with short vowel). I heard this also in some other clips. That makes it sound really old.

[@dan74695]

Having short syllables is common in Dalecarlia and in Norrland.

[@baldrbraa]

There’s a clip on YT of Lena Willemark, a well-known Swedish folk singer and fiddler, reading the Christmas gospel in Älvdalska.

[@b.v2147]

I live in Linköping and speak Övdalska. My family is from Älvdalen. It should really be considered an own language.

[@Peter_1986]

Hey, that's cool. I am from Älvdalen myself.

[@MacDaniboi]

in 75% speed I understood about 1/3 of it. The word order and the word forms make it sound ancient.

[@mirunamihai6233]

the consonant "dh" (pronounced as "th" in the English words "there, this, these") is also present in Danish, not only Icelandic and Elfdalian. Also in Sweden there are Norwegian dialects to be encountered, for instance Tronderska (Trondheim dialect) which are classified as Swedish simply because they are spoken on Swedish territory.

[@cius96]

The danish "dh" isn't exactly the same sound as the English, Icelandic and Elfdalian one, which is a true dental fricative [ð]... the danish one isn't realized as a true fricative (there's no friction), it's actually an approximant since the tongue doesn't even touch the teeth nor the alveoli. I'll quote an extract from the wiki page about danish phonology: " /ð/ - the so-called "soft d" (Danish: blødt d) - is a velarized laminal alveolar approximant [ð̠˕ˠ]. It is acoustically similar to the cardinal vowels [ɯ] and [ɨ] ". IMHO the sound of the danish /ð/ is really close to the english "dark l" or "velarized l" in "milk" [ɫ]. So phonetically isn't really the same sound, even though the main IPA symbol is the same (ð is used for both voiced dental/alveolar fricatives and voiced dental/alveolar approximants, though the latter has also a diacritic) and this can be confusing at first sight.

[@mirunamihai6233]

@@cius96 Thanks for the info. IMO Danish "stod" is as weird and unnatural as the clics present in some of the African languages.

[@mirunamihai6233]

@@cius96 Speaking of IPA symbols. I remember reading in many Swedish-teaching course books that the vowel "e" in Swedish endings "-en", "-er" and also "-el" is to be pronounced schwa (like the same Dutch endings would be) when in fact it sounds closer to the short open "e" in German Brett (wooden board) (if I'm not mistaken).

[@ChristianConrad]

@@cius96: "the sound of the danish /ð/ is really close to the english "dark l" or "velarized l" in "milk" [ɫ]." -- you mean "tjockt l, som i älg"? (Referring to how "älg" i pronounced even in some southern Dalecarlian dialects.)

[@Tony-nn2bg]

Contains some words typical to österbotten in Finland. In southern Finland it is more the way of speaking that has been contaned, unfortunately also a lot of standard language.

[@davidkasquare]

That’s what I thought as well

[@JYHRO0]

Very nice video but I think the delivery is much too fast. I’m glad to learn about Elfdalian which I had never heard about

[@sevedbaathus]

Native Swedish speaker here. Couldn't understand a thing from the speech. From the writing it would have been possible to grasp what the text is about. Much like the situation with Danish actually. "Kamelåså!“ 😂

[@amrita97]

it was easy for me to understad since i understand the "gutamål" dialect. The grammar in both älvdalska and gutamål are similar, which is a remnant of old swedish

[@dan74695]

Elfdalian has cases, but Gutnish does not. Fårö Gutnish had the dative until the 1900s though.

[@nicholaswoollhead6830]

I visited not too long ago, and the area is BEAUTIFUL. Hope they manage to keep their langugage alive.

[@HeriJoensen]

Faroese speaker here. After reading the text 3 times I only got one word, buotjin, the book, because it's very similar to pronounced Faroese (not close to the written form). As for the rest, I wasn't able to decode one word before reading the translation.

[@dan74695]

"Buotjin(e)" is the dative form of "buotję"/"buotjį".

[@dan74695]

Å, du er Heri Joensen, han som er i bande Týr! Eg heve set å nokre av videoarne dine. Eg elskar færøyskt og metal.

[@alvboi4888]

As a swede, i literally can only understand a couple words from this. Its crazy that we dont get taught this, it should definititvly be a language

[@Jackejakobsson]

Norrbotten here, I can see some word choices here that are used by older speakers of "bondska", the old regional dialekt of the coastal communities of northern Sweden. Duga and kunna for example. Truly a charming language.

[@SakakiDash]

All the Scandinavian languages would be considered as one if they belonged to the same country or union

[@alvemaster]

One interesting thing to mention is that the Elfdalian people were never really your typical vikings. This is because they lived in one place for a very long time and there was enough room between the neighbors. And the outsiders were too far away. This meant they never really had any reason to either defend or attack someone and have basically lived like farmers since forever. They didnt really have access to water travel either even though they have an extremely long river. This is because the river is extremely rocky, it has a strong current and doesnt really break off. So if you went down the river it was hard to go back up again. And you wouldnt want to attack someone that has direct access to you because there is only one way you couldve come from. So Elfdalian basically just became a peaceful place with traders and farmers. This is also why their language never really changed as it was hard to leave and come back. So they didnt really have a lot of outside contact except for travelers. Source: Half my relatives are from there and they make up about 90% of my close relatives. And out roots go a bit too far back because i am related to way too many people from there. Good thing there isnt incest in atleast the last 3 generations.

[@andreasboe4509]

I'm a Swede living in Norway and I have experience from hearing many Swedish and Norwegian dialects. Älvdalsmål (=Elfdalian) is probably the hardest one I've heard and it reminds a lot of Icelandic, but it isn't unique, and I did get the gist of it even without knowing the context. The reason Swedes don't recognize dialects as official languages is that many problems would come as a result of it. Norway recognizes Bokmål and Nynorsk as official dialects with their own spelling and it's a nightmare for law and education. Sweden has many dialects, but only one official way of spelling things, so there are never any real quarrels about how to interpret a sentence in a legally binding contract, and that is simply better.

[@andreasgundersen8026]

Bokmål and Nynorsk are not dialects, they’re written languages. No one “speaks” Bokmål or Nynorsk. Everybody in Norway should be able to understand and write both, though Bokmål is often favored. They’re not that different.

[@Spacemongerr]

There are never any "quarrels about how to interpret a sentence in a legally binding contract" in Norwegian either. Either the whole document is written in Bokmål, or the whole document is in Nynorsk. Even if switching languages between every sentence for some reason, it is easy to see which sentence is Bokmål and which is Nynorsk. Norway has 2 offial languages, Norwegian and Sami, of which Norwegian has variants Bokmål and Nynorsk, and Sami has variants North Sami, South Sami, Lulesami and a couple other ones with less than 100 speakers. Over 90% of Sami speakers speak North Sami. In addition Norway recognizes the follow languages as minority languages: Kven, Romani, Romanes, and Norwegian sign language. Sweden has only 1 main language, Swedish, but it does officially recognize several other languages: Sami, Mëankieli, Jiddisch, Romanes, and Swedish sign language. And as the other commentor said, Bokmål and Nynorsk are not dialects, noone speaks them, they are written languages only. Everyone speaks their own dialect, of which there are myriad.

[@andreasboe4509]

​@@Spacemongerr There is a nuance difference of the world "dialect" in the Scandinavian languages compared with English in which the difference is greater in English. The Scandinavian languages Swedish, Norwegian and Danish are so similar that they could just as well be viewed as different dialects of Scandinavian when studied by an outside observer. When I ask my Norwegian colleagues what's the correct way to write a sentence I typically get a soft answer: "That's okay. You can write it like that." The Swedish attitude to the written word is much harder simply because there is only one official written Swedish dialect.

[@dan74695]

Våmhusmål, Orsamål and northern Moramål are almost the same as Elfdalian. The other Ovansiljan dialects are also very similar to it.

[@dan74695]

@@andreasgundersen8026 One can say that people speak Bokmål, because Urban East "Norwegian" comes from it.

[@dennisemanuelsson8240]

You should do a video of "Närpesiska", an old swedish dialekt spoken i some villages in western Finland. It's not realated to finish at all but is not understandable for a Swedish speaker either.

[@alexkarlsson660]

Österbottniska i dess extremaste form lol

[@lolfelixlol]

As a Swede I can't understand it when spoken but it's close enough to be readable. If you consider translating a text word by word "readable".

[@SIC647]

My son speaks Danish, English, some Icelandic, and just started on German (now in 8th grade). He says it sounds oddly like Icelandic with some Swedish and a little German in it. He also said he didn't understand a single word. 😅

[@Lingiskhan]

Älvdalska(Elfdalian) is actually recognised as a language in Sweden. Also, its funny how in English, you translate älv, to elf. Sure, the swedish word "alv" and "älva", are related, and means "elf" and "fairy". However the words "älv", "å", and "flod", är swedish words for different types of rivers.

[@SIC647]

Unfortunately not. An appointed commitee recommended that it be. And Ulum Övdalska have applied to the European Commision for it to be recognised as a minority language, and it was then recommended from EC too. But Sweden has yet to do it.....

[@Twxvkvr]

Thanks! I'm trying to write my own fantasy novel something similar to A World of Ice and Fire, and I'm interested in learning rare languages to see if I can understand and create something very similar to them, then if the novels become popular, help bring more focus from the world,, towards the dying languages

[@herrbonk3635]

At first, I was blown away by a that very Swedish sounding melody being incomprehensible to me. With the help of the English translation, I found some of the embedded old style Swedish words (and one English!) though and could understand about half of it. Although that's cheating.

[@dan74695]

The other Ovansiljan dialects are very similar to Elfdalian, some of them being hard to distuingish from it. The intonation of the Elfdalian in this video is quite different from the intonation in other parts of Älvdalen and the rest of Ovansiljan. The rest of the dialects have an intonation that's similar to the stereotypical Dalecarlian intonation. I have a Dalecarlian playlist if you want to hear the different dialects. The Våmhus, Orsa and northern Mora ones are the most similar to Elfdalian.

[@andreaslindholm3605]

It could have been written in Elfdalian. My sister is married to an Elfdalian man and boy is it confusing to be around them when they "forget" that I dont speak it :D I have to have my nephews/nieces translate for me. And to trust that they translate it correctly :D

[@cristhianaldana9072]

Handsome, greetings from Colombia

[@basedswede7147]

I'm Swedish. I understood most of it if I got time to process the words, but I still understand Norwegian more than this. Definitely more than just a dialect.

[@LeaderofInternet]

FYI: Älv = River Dal = Valley Dalen = The valley Älvdalen = Riverdale Alv = Elf Älva = Fairy Elva = Eleven or 11 😉

[@dan74695]

4:02 Not true, the dialects of Våmhus, Skattungbyn in Orsa, and Bonäs in Mora have nasal vowels too. The Våmhus dialect and the dialect in Östnor in Mora also have ð.

[@IamScheming]

So i speak fluently Danish and understood like 60 or 75 % of that example from listening but the text looked like some lord of the rings fantasy

[@ole7146]

I’m Danish too and I understod some of the written Elfdalian, but spoken it sounds to me like a gibbirish form of Swedish/Dutch/Finnish mixture.

[@TobiasRemmers]

I thought I understood one word Åvenad thinking it meant turn, return, or turn back like Swedish vända or återvända. Then I jumped back and read the English text and nope I did not understand anything. Listening to it again in the context of the English text, I could pick out a few words that sounded similar to Swedish but it was so far off that I can not see how anyone would call this a dialect. Great video thank you.

[@smez]

This is the same for a lot of old dialects in Sweden. Where I live we had Westrobothnian (bondska) which I remember my great grandparents speaking and which I couldn't understand at all as a kid. This was also replaced by standard Swedish in schools, ridiculed as "bondska" (which basically means the language of farmers, as opposed to Swedish which was the language of the educated) and almost disappeared as a living dialect, as today most people here just speak standard Swedish where only pronounciation is somewhat influenced by Westrobothnian. There have been similar attempts to keep it alive in later years though, like students being able to take Westrobothnian classes in school. But in the end, it's more of a curiosity these days - you need standard Swedish for anything you do, so you can't really function in society speaking Westrobothnian. When you can't really use a language or dialect for anything in your daily life, sadly is seems like it's just a matter of time before it disappears as there are no real reasons to keep it alive (other than for its own sake, which isn't really enough of a reason for anyone other than those who are really interested in the language or dialect for its own sake).

[@mortenrl1946]

I would add, that that we do say the ð sound a lot in Danish, still - Like in "Ud" (out) or "Bad" (bath). But we don't have the letter, it somehow turned into a regular d!

[@bjornnord4456]

As a Swede, I would not survive for long if I had to communicate in this langauge. I understood no words (as I refrained from looking at the translation).

[@kludd5007]

My mothers side is from Älvdalen, Most of them speaks it (sadly not me and my sisters) and its something i hear every time i visit my grandma and its usually considered a mixture of English, Norwegian and Swedish borrowing some words here and there. Also on the part of the lang is dying out is very true, but its also now forced into schools now days in those areas to bring it back.

[@dan74695]

I haven't heard a single word from English in it.

[@kludd5007]

Take the word "alert" meaning "vaken", We also got the word Wait usually sounds a bit like White. @@dan74695

[@someopinion2846]

Danish doesn't have the letter ð, but it has the sound, pretty much in the same positions as Spanish does.

[@DerLiesl]

I can't find the video that you mention at 2:02 :(

[@edmondpiffard2771]

I speak Swedish and five other Germanic languages (High German, Mecklenburg Plattdeutsch, Flemish/Dutch, English, Danish) and can read and understand many dialects and historical forms (Old English, North and West Frisian, Swiss German, Middle Low German , Middle High German, Icelandic,Norwegian, Gotlanska). If you know the story of the Little Prince, and you know a few Germanic languages , you can understand Elfdalian… but it is not simply a “dialect” of Swedish. I cannot imagine any Swede off the street could understand much of it at all

[@dan74695]

The other Ovansiljan dialects are not that different from Elfdalian.

[@victorrock1997]

Faroese is also very close to Old Norse, if I may please add this to the video. Otherwise, very nice and good, informative, and educational video! All the best and plenty of success with your channel!

[@dan74695]

Faroese pronunciation is very far from Old Norse pronunciation.

[@victorrock1997]

@@dan74695 Hmm, interesting, thanks for letting me know. But in terms of vocabulary it is still very close because it is also very close to modern Icelandic. All the best and have an excellent December!

[@dan74695]

@@victorrock1997 Faroese pronunciation is closest to northern and western Norwegian. Have a nice december.

[@victorrock1997]

@@dan74695 Yes, that I know and also very close to the dialects from southwestern Norway. But Icelandic is also very close to the southwestern Norwegian dialects given the fact that the vast majority of Norse settlers in Iceland stemmed from southwestern Norway (and also from northern Norway). All the best and thank you for your wish! God Jul! Beste hilsener fra Romania!

[@dan74695]

@@victorrock1997 Yeah.

[@sgtepic4659]

Not sure where the "Elf" comes from in the English translation. It's "Älv-Dalska" from "Älvdalen" which basically translates to River-Dale or "River-Valley"

[@ivandinsmore6217]

This is fascinating. When I saw the word "Elfdalian" I thought it was something from Lord of the Rings not a real actual language.

[@ThW5]

Well, if you would tell your average anglophone that Tolkien's warg, is a somewhat generic predatory animal, in modern days in that very form understood as a wolf in Elfdalian and as a wolverine in the language of the Netherlands, I would doubt half of them would grasp you are talking about the use in the real world, instead of Middle Earth...

[@SIC647]

​@ThW5 Varg is still wolf in Norwegian. Tolkien was heavily influenced by various Norse traits when making LOTR.

[@ehalverson9323]

So as an Älvdalensk speaker it’s like we understand everyone and they don’t know us. I don’t understand. Lol.

[@Peter_1986]

The word "älv" has nothing to do with elves; the Swedish word for "elf" is "älva", and the Swedish word "älv" means "river". The name "Älvdalen" means "the river valley", and it refers to the fact that a long river runs through the middle of the village, which itself is a forest valley.

[@dandan8787]

Swede here. I understood 1 word. I think. Even the spelling is different, it looks like icelandic to me. Very cool.

[@dan74695]

It's quite different from Icelandic. The other Ovansiljan dialects are very close to Elfdalian, by the way.

[@magnusdanielsson2749]

The same could be said for many swedish dialects. I cant speak my regional dialect (no one can anymore) and I can only understad it in context not word by word. Someone outside that region dont understand anything. Some areas in the north can have several such dialects within a few 100 square km. Many that are more or less ”greek” to any not living there. But most dialects in Sweden are long gone now..

[@dan74695]

Finally someone who actually knows something.

[@AvrahamYairStern]

I haven't heard of Yair Sapir, but I can tell he's Israeli. I barely hear my name (Yair) in English-speaking circles

[@ChristianRichardBauer]

Maybe you might be interested to make a video about my own regional language „Low German“? Also about the Frisian language. Both are spoken in the North of Germany and people are trying their best to keep these languages alive.

[@ole7146]

Yeah, as a child in the 70 and 80 I spendt all my summers on the Danish island, Rømø where they spoke (speak) a dialect of Danish known as “Rømsk” and we often went to Sylt (north Frisian island) where they spoke German and North Frisian, my dad was fluent in German (Hamburg dialect) and could tell them apart, but to me the North Frisian basically just sounded like “Rømsk”. The border between Jutland and Germany has a rich languages history that goes way back in time.

[@ChristianRichardBauer]

@@ole7146 Yes, but Low German is not a dialect of German but a language of its own that consists of various regional dialects.

[@camelwars]

Im swedish and i did understand that he was talking about a snake eating then sleeping, mostly by piecing together a few words Boa-uormär (Boa-ormar in swedish), autå te tegg (utan att tugga) and såvå sjäks månadi (sova sex månader). The rest was really hard to understand and i doubt i could have a conversation with someone talking elfdalian and understand them.

[@RegebroRepairs]

Recognizing dialects of Swedish as languages would turn into a giant mess. There are more dialects that are incomprehensible to standard Swedish, and where do you then draw the line between dialect and language? No, a language is a dialect with an Army.

[@francisdec1615]

De flesta svenska dialekter har sedan länge inte pluralböjda verb, ackusativ och dativ etc. Det finns människor under 50 här i Västsverige som inte ens vet sådant som att 'lelle' är en dialektal form av 'lille' eller att ett rundstycke är en liten brödkaka. Älvdalska är väldigt annorlunda mot de urvattnade dialekter som finns kvar i större delen av Sverige.

[@tompatompsson]

@@francisdec1615 Det största problemet med att göra det ett offentligt språk skulle vara att alla lagliga texter skulle bli öppna för tolkning. Se: Norge.