About the Swedish Language

Around the world, approximately nine million people speak Swedish (Svenska). It is the national language of Sweden and the second official language of Finland. Other languages are also spoken in Sweden -- the 15,000 Laplanders who herd reindeer in the north speak their own ("Sami") language, and there is a population of Finnish-speaking Swedes along the Finnish border. It is also spoken in the United States, since nineteenth-century immigrants brought the language with them to Minnesota.

Viking warriors in the tenth century spoke a language that evolved into the current Nordic languages. What is today the Swedish language is a modern dialect of the original Viking language - similar to Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic. This group of languages belongs to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family, and its speakers understand each other (although Icelandic, which has changed very little since the Viking Age, presents difficulties for many Europeans).

Modern Swedish is considered to begin with a Swedish translation of the Bible that was published in 1526. Over the next hundred years or so, the modern Swedish language developed around the Svea dialect spoken in Stockholm.

Formal and informal address

Contemporary Swedes are reserved by comparison with their ancestors, and their avoidance of superlatives is a linguistic reflection of that fact. Although the formal pronoun ni (you) has now been replaced by the informal du in everyday conversation, people avoid using each other’s names when speaking, because it strikes them as overly personal. Given this aloofness, it might surprise an American to hear two Swedes greeting each other with "Hej!" (pronounced just like the English "hey!") in a formal situation. But it’s the polite way to say hello.

Swedish Vocabulary and Swedish Pronunciation

Many Swedish vocabulary words will be familiar to English speakers who attempt to learn Swedish: hand, finger, son, man, bank, radio, England, and so on. But don't let yourself be lulled into assuming that you know the meaning of every Swedish vocabulary word that looks like English! There are many false cognates as well. Barn means child; men means but; dog means died; dig is the object form of "you"; and god is good (a linguistic observation, not a theological one). False cognates are common when one attempts learning Spanish as well.

Another thing to be cognizant of is the pitch accent (or tone-accent) that gives Swedish pronunciation its characteristic singsong quality. The acute (high-toned) and grave (low-toned) pitches are not indicated in written form; they can only be learned by listening to the language.

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