Traditionally Scandinavian countries include Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Hearing the names of these countries, we immediately imagine the Vikings, medieval castles. Imagination draws us pictures of the most beautiful winter landscapes. It is also remembered that in the modern world the Scandinavian states are famous for their high standard of living. But here's the question: "What languages are spoken in Denmark, Sweden and Norway?". Many of us will have doubts when answering it. Well, let's figure it out.
Languages of Denmark
Let's plunge into the atmosphere of the Danish kingdom for a moment. Cute toy-like houses, good-natured residents with their peaceful hygge culture, as well as picturesque lakes, fresh sea air and beautiful Danish castles. Amazing!
On whatlanguage 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 Iceland. In total, it is spoken by about 5.7 million people.
What other language is spoken in Denmark? In addition to Danish, there are several official minority languages in the country. These include: German, Greenlandic and Faroese.
German is spoken in Southern Denmark - this territory used to be part of Germany, but in 1919, as a result of the Versailles Peace Treaty, it passed to the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenlandic is currently the only official language of Greenland (although this territory belongs to Denmark, it is autonomous). As for the Faroese language, it is the main language for the population of the Faroe Islands (which are also an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark).
Languages of Sweden
So we figured out what language is spoken in Denmark, and now we can move on to Sweden. The official language for this country is Swedish, which is considered native by about 90 percent of the state's population.
There are also several regional dialects here. These include the Elvdalian dialect (its other name is Dalecarlian), the Gutnish dialect (it is spoken by about 5-10 thousand people), the Jämtland dialects (although there is still debate whether they are dialects of which language - Swedish or Norwegian) and the Scanian dialect..
Languages of Norway
Having learned what languages are spoken in Denmark and Sweden, let's 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 "riksmol" ("state language").
At the end of the 19th century, in contrast to the classical Bokmål, another form was created called "lannsmål" ("country language" or "language of the country"), it is also often called "Nynorsk" (translated as "new Norwegian"). Nynorsk was formed on the basis of rural Norwegian dialects with an admixture of medieval Old Norse, its creator is the philologist Ivar Andreas Osen.
Both forms of Norwegian are now equal, although the first is much more popular and is considered the main one for 85-90 percent of the country's population. As you can see, the history of the Norwegian language is really confusing and ambiguous. And besides it, the state also has minority dialects, such as southern, northern, Lule Sami, Kven and Gypsy.
Do Scandinavian countries speak English?
Most Scandinavians are very familiar with English. Many of them actively watch 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, knowing English helps them a lot when traveling.
So if you want to chat with representativesScandinavian countries, it is not necessary to learn all the languages spoken in Denmark, Norway and Sweden for this.
