Dalecarlian language

Varieties of Dalecarlian are generally classified geographically as follows: • Österdalarna dialects • Nedansiljan, south of the Siljan lake: sockens Boda, Rättvik, Bjursås, Ål, Siljansnäs, Leksand, Gagnef and Mockfjärd. • Ovansiljan, north of the Siljan lake: sockens Ore, Orsa, Våmhus, Älvdalen (Elfdalian), Mora, Venjan and Sollerön. • Västerdalarna dialects: • Lower Västerdalarna: sockens Malung, Äppelbo, Järna, Nås and Floda. • Upper Västerdalarna: sockens Lima and Transtrand. Floda and Mockfjärd dialects are sometimes considered a separate group, but are typically listed as subdialects. Dalecarlian proper (especially in Älvdalen, Mora and Orsa, to some extent also in Ore, Rättvik and Leksand), as well as western Dalecarlian varieties are markedly different from Swedish, and are considered to be distinct language varieties by linguists. Elfdalian is the Dalecarlian language that best preserved their older features. It attracted interest from researchers early on because of its major divergences from others Swedish dialects. In many ways, it is very archaic and reminiscent of Old Norse, though it has in other ways distinguished itself from the Norse branch and developed special features that are seldom seen in other dialects. Characteristic of the dialect group are its plentiful linguistic differences even between bordering varieties, often changing from village to village, or even within a single village. For other Swedish speakers, Dalecarlian varieties are virtually incomprehensible without dedicated language lessons. However, this does not apply to the Rättvik and Leksand dialects as much. They are more easily understood and can be considered to form a transitional stage between the Dalecarlian languages and a dialect of Swedish with Dalecarlian remnants. Such transitional varieties also include the Ål, Bjursås and Gagnef dialects. The Gagnef dialect is closer to western Dalecarlian varieties, which to some extent can also be regarded as transitional dialects, but which in many respects take on a more independent position, especially in the upper parishes. They may show similarities with neighbouring Norwegian dialects. There is a quite large difference between Gagnef and the Stora Tuna dialect, which belongs to the Dalecarlian Bergslagen dialects, a relatively uniform and fairly normal Swedish dialect complex that covers the entire southern Dalarna (Stora Kopparberg, Hedemora and Västerbergslagen). The most unique within this complex are the dialects of Svärdsjö and western Bergslagen, which are approaching Hälsingemål and Western Dalecarlian proper, respectively (via Grangärde and Floda). Dalecarlian Bergslagen dialects are also spoken in the northern part of Västmanland. The Dalecarlian Bergslagen dialects are quite closely connected with the neighbouring Svealand Swedish, perhaps most with the dialects of eastern Västmanland. ==Phonology==

As with most dialects in northern and central Sweden, the Dalecarlian dialects have retroflex consonants, which are most commonly allophones of consonants with a preceding supradental or . For example, rs is often realized as /sː/ (compare Dalecarlian koss, "cross" and Swedish ), while the cluster rn becomes in southern Dalarna, up to and including Rättvik, Leksand and Västerdalarna (compare Dalecarlian bar to Swedish , English '', or Dalecarlian björ, "bear" to Swedish ). In Dalecarlian proper, north of Gagnef, the consonant clusters nn, rt and rd are often preserved without assimilation. The sound is not usually supradental after and except in Dalecarlian proper, where has developed in its own direction and where it can even appear as partially supradental at the beginning of words, as it does in låta''. Dalecarlian has lost the -n and -t in unstressed suffixes. For example, the Dalecarlian definitive form sola or sole ("the sun") corresponds to Swedish '', and Dalecarlian gata ("the street") to Swedish . Similarly, Dalecarlian supine form biti ("bitten") has lost the -t suffix that is still present in Swedish . As with other Upper Swedish dialects, the Dalecarlian dialects often pronounce the sound in suffixes where Standard Swedish has . An example of this would be Dalecarlian funnin ("found") and Swedish , as well as Dalecarlian muli ("cloudy") and Swedish , Dalecarlian härvil ("yarn winder") and Swedish härvel. They also retain within the consonant clusters rg and lg, whereas Swedish has shifted to (Dalecarlian , Swedish , "wolf"). Dalecarlian also keeps long vowels in front of m in many words where Swedish does not, such as tîma (, Swedish timme , "hour"), tôm (, Swedish tom , "empty"), and after and in words such as äntja (Swedish , "widow") and bryddja (Swedish , "bridge"). As in the northern Svealand and some Norrland dialects, and have been softened to or even in medial positions of certain words, such as sättjin or sättjen (Swedish , "sack, bag"), botja or botje (Swedish , "the book") and nyttjil (Swedish '', "key"). These traits characterise all Dalecarlian dialects. The use of open and close is especially characteristic of the phonology of Lower and Upper Dalarna dialects, with the exception of Dalecarlian proper. In that respect, the dialects are significantly different from standard Swedish. The open can occur as long, while the close appears as short. For example, hara (Swedish '', "hare") features an open in the first, and a close in the second syllable. The words katt, bakka, vagn are pronounced with a closed, and skabb, kalv with an open . The open sound is often replaced by a sound between and . The u sound is similar to the Norwegian . The sounds ä and e are well separated. Low-pitched vowels often have a quality reminiscent of . Among the most interesting features of Dalecarlian proper (the dialects of Älvdalen, Mora and Orsa) is that they still largely retain nasal vowels as they previously appeared in all Nordic dialects. Furthermore, the long , and have fractured into diphthongs, usually to , and , such as in ais (Swedish , "ice"), knåyta (Swedish , "to tie"), aute (Swedish "out"). The consonant v is pronounced like the English . The standard Swedish l is usually omitted in front of , , and , for example in kåv (Swedish , "calf") and fok (Swedish , "people"). Initial h is omitted in the Älvdalen, Orsa and Mora dialects, as well as in Rättvik and parts of Leksand, such as in and (Swedish '', "hand"). A pair of Nordic diphthongs is still present in the western dialects of Lima and Transtrand. The diphthong , which shifted to in Swedish, is retained in these dialects as ôu, for example dôu (Swedish '', "death"). The old Swedish diphthongs ei and öy (which in Swedish became e and ö respectively) are pronounced as äi (for example skäi, Swedish , "spoon" and häi, Swedish '', "hay"). == References ==