Traditionally, the states of Scandinavia include Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Hearing the names of these countries, we immediately imagine the Vikings, medieval castles. Imagination paints us with pictures of beautiful winter landscapes. I also recall that in the modern world the Scandinavian states are famous for their high standard of living. But the question is: "What languages are spoken in Denmark, Sweden and Norway?" Many of us will doubt when answering it. Well, let's get it right.
Languages of Denmark
Let's dive into the atmosphere of the Kingdom of Denmark for a moment . Cute houses, similar to toy houses, good-natured residents with their pacific hugge culture, as well as picturesque lakes, fresh sea air and beautiful Danish castles. Awesome!
What language is spoken in Denmark? The answer is obvious - in Danish, one of the Scandinavian languages. It is the official language of the state. It is also common in northern Germany and in Iceland. A total of about 5.7 million people speak it.
And what other language is spoken in Denmark? In addition to Danish, there are several official minority dialects in the country. These include: German, Greenlandic and Faroese.
German is common in southern Denmark - before this territory was part of Germany, but in 1919 as a result of the Treaty of Versailles passed to the Kingdom of Denmark. The Greenlandic language is currently the only official language of Greenland (although this territory belongs to Denmark, it is autonomous). As for the Faroe language, it is the main one for the population of the Faroe Islands (which are also an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark).
Swedish languages
So, we found out what language is spoken in Denmark, and now we can go to Sweden. Swedish is the official language for this country. About 90 percent of the state’s population considers it native.
There are also several regional dialects here. These include the Elvdal dialect (its other name is Dalekarlian), the Gutnian dialect (it is spoken by about 5-10 thousand people), Ötland dialects (although there are still disputes about which language they are - Swedish or Norwegian) and the Scan language .
Languages of Norway
Having learned what languages are spoken in Denmark and Sweden, we will move on to Norway. Here the situation is very unusual. The fact is that the official language of the state - Norwegian - has two forms at once. The most popular is Bokmål (from Norwegian - “book language”), its other name is Ricksmall ’(“ official language ”).
At the end of the 19th century, in contrast to the classical bohemian, another form was created under the name “lannsmall” (“rural language” or “country language”), it is also often called “Nynorsk” (translated “New Norwegian”). Nynorsk was formed on the basis of rural Norwegian dialects mixed with medieval Old Norwegian, its creator is philologist Ivar Andreas Osen.
Both forms of Norwegian are now equal, although the former is much more popular and is considered the main one for 85-90 percent of the country's population. As you can see, the story with the Norwegian language is truly confusing and ambiguous. And besides him, there are also minority dialects in the state, such as southern, northern, Lulesaam, Qwen and Gypsy.
Do Scandinavian countries speak English?
Most Scandinavians are very familiar with English. Many of them are actively watching American films and TV shows, while dubbing is not used. Also, residents of Norway, Sweden and Denmark love to travel and have many opportunities for this. Of course, knowledge of English helps them a lot when traveling.
So if you want to talk with representatives of the Scandinavian countries, learning all the languages that are spoken in Denmark, Norway and Sweden is not necessary.