Sweden Language
As compared to today in
the past, the country of Sweden occupied greater territory. Hence, from its
historic linguistic landscape the modern linguistic landscape of the country is
greatly different. Swedish treated as the official language of Sweden evolved
around the 14th and the 15th century from Old Norse. In various parts of the
country the language has several dialects that are spoken are spoken in the
whole country. There are some minority languages that are formally recognized
minority languages spoken in Sweden include Finnish, Meänkieli, Yiddish, Sami,
and Romani language. German language was the most important foreign language of
Sweden prior to the Second World War after which English replaced German as the
dominant foreign language spoken in the country of Sweden.
What is the official
Language of Sweden?
Sweden official language
The official language of Sweden is Swedish and is held in high
regard in the country. Nearly the entire population of Sweden country speak
Swedish language with most speaking it as a first language and the rest as a
second language. Swedish language is a North Germanic language that closely
resembles Danish and Norwegian. Swedish language is also given an official
status in the country of Finland where it is spoken by the ethnic Swedes of
Finland. It is also spoken in other countries by the ethnic Swedes. In the
United states of America, Swedish language is spoken by about half a million
people with a Swedish ancestry.
There are several different dialects of Swedish language are
spoken in various parts of Sweden. These include:
- Westrobothnian:
(spoken in coastal areas of Westrobothnia and Norrbotten)
- Dalecarlian: (primarily
spoken in the Älvdalen Municipality and other northern parts of the
Dalarna province)
- Modern Gutnish:
(that is spoken in Gotland and Fårö)
- Jamtlandic: (mainly
spoken in Jämtland but with scattered speakers throughout Sweden)
- Scanian: (that
is spoken in the province of Scania)
What are the minority languages spoken in Sweden?
There are 5 minority languages have been formally recognized in
Sweden country since 1999. They are as follows:
Finnish
The language of Finnish has been spoken for many generations of
ethnic Finns in country of Sweden. The fact that Finland was part of the
Swedish kingdom for centuries makes Finnish language one of the oldest minority
languages of Sweden country. About 5 percent of the population of Sweden
country comprises of Finnish and ethnic Fins is spoken by about 470,000
speakers in the whole country. A majority (approximately 16,000) of the Finnish
language speakers of Sweden reside in Norrbotten.
Meänkieli
The Meänkieli language is a Finnic language so closely related to
Finnish language that it is often treated as a dialect of Finnish language. In
the Torne Valley region of Sweden the language is spoken as a 1st language by
about 40,000 to 70,000 speakers. People who are living in this Valley are
called the Tornedalian people.
Sami
Sami people of northern Scandinavia speak these languages. And these
are the Uralic languages. The Sami languages feature a significant number of
loanwords from Germanic languages like Swedish, Finnish, etc. There are 3
different Sami languages are spoken in Sweden. These 3 languages are spoken by
about 9,000 people of the 15,000 to 20,000 Sami people living in the country of
Sweden. In Sweden the Sami language speakers are mainly found in the
municipalities of Arjeplog, Kiruna, Jokkmokk, and Gällivare.
Romani
The Romani
language is spoken by the Romani people. These people are a nomadic group
tracing their origins to northern India. The Romani is closely related to the
languages spoken in northern India and it is an Indo-Aryan language. Since the
Romani people have a nomadic lifestyle and they don’t live in a particular area
in Sweden. that is why there is no particular area can be designated
as a Romani-speaking region. The Romani language is, however, given a
significant importance in the country with the Swedish government promoting
plans to preserve the Romani language.
Yiddish
Yiddish language is a Germanic language. And it is spoken mainly
by the Ashkenazic Jews. Traditionally, The country of Sweden is served as the
home of the Sephardic Jews but the Ashkenazic Jews immigrated to the Sweden
after the 18th century and introduced the Yiddish language in the country. The
language is written using a variant of the Hebrew Alphabet. The government of
Sweden gives considerable attention to the preservation of this language in the
country. Most of the Yiddish speakers in the country are adults. 2,000 to 6,000
of the 20,000 strong Jew population in the country claim to have some knowledge
of Yiddish. Yiddish Culture and the Society of Yiddish in Sweden has been
established with the aim of promoting the use of the language in the country.
What are the immigrant Languages Spoken In Sweden?
Immigrant Languages Spoken In Sweden
Immigrants to the country speak their native languages. Sweden
attracts a large number of workers from all over the World but languages are
the maturity languages spoken in the country, especially from the Southern
Europe countries. Thus Bulgarian, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Turkish are some of
the most immigrant languages spoken by settlers in Swedish. These languages are
known as the immigrant languages of country.
What are the most Spoken Foreign languages in Sweden?
Foreign Languages Spoken In Sweden
German
For the period extending from the Middle Ages to the end of the
Second World War the German language was quite popular in the country of Sweden.
During this time, Sweden had close connections with Germany. Many Swedish
pioneering intellectuals were educated in the universities in the country of
Germany and they helped a lot spreading the knowledge of German in Sweden
country. However, all these close connections changed after World War II and
the defeat of the Germans. Now the country of Sweden attempted to maintain a
distance with Germany and the huge popularity of the German language in Sweden
was lost. Soon English language became a more popular foreign language of the
country. Currently, German language is no longer a compulsory 2nd language
taught in the schools of Sweden but is usually offered as an elective language
in educational institutions.
English
English is spoken by a large section of the Swedish population.
English language is most commonly spoken by the younger generations who were
born after the World War II. The strong American influence, the trade links of
Sweden with English speaking Nations overseas travel to English-speaking
countries, and cultural diversity have increased the popularity of the English
language in the country of Sweden. Since 1952, for all students in the country
studying English language has been made compulsory.
What are the other foreign
languages spoken in country?
Other foreign languages spoken in
Sweden
In the schools of Sweden French and Spanish are offered as
additional languages for learning to Students. And there are also plans to
introduce Mandarin language (China’s Official language) as an additional
language. Danish and Norwegian language is also taught on certain occasions to
native Swedish speakers in Sweden.
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