Importance of Scandinavian Languages

There are a whopping 7139 languages spoken around the world. They are categorized according to their regions. People living in  Northern Europe speak  Nordic languages. Similarly, people living in  Scandinavian countries speak Scandinavian languages.

Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Faroese are called  Nordic languages. 19 million people on a daily basis speak this language. The most widely used language is Finnish. Moreover, people  speak several minority languages .

Not to forget English is a lingua Franca and people living in Scandinavian countries speak it widely. Nordic languages are divided into two categories which are North Germanic and Finno-Ugric.

The North Germanic category of languages includes Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Swedish, and Norwegian. The Finno-Ugric category includes Finnish.

The unique thing about the Finnish language is that it is entirely different from other Scandinavian languages. A person that can understand other Scandinavian languages cannot understand the Finnish language.

Worry not. If you are unable to understand this language then you can take the assistance of Finnish translation services. The three languages like Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are mutually intelligible. This is because Norway was under the rule of Denmark from the 14th to 19th century.

Swedish language

The Swedish language is from the East Scandinavian group of languages that involves the Danish language too. It is the national language of Sweden and Finland. The Swedish language is written as the Danish language.

Swedish, Danish and Norwegian are mutually intelligible and if we assume these languages as sisters then the Swedish language will be the eldest of them.

Danish Language

Do you know that Danish is the official language of Denmark? Approximately five million speakers speak this language. You will be amaze to know that Danish is the second official language of the Faroese islands and Greenland.

The Danish and Swedish languages are written in a similar pattern. However, their lexicon is entirely different. Danish and Swedish people feel great difficulty while communicating with each other. They can mitigate the communication barrier while going for Danish translation services.

Icelandic language

Icelandic is the only Nordic language that is mutually intelligible with Old Norse. Moreover, it is spoken by the Vikings. It is the least spoken North Germanic language. Only three hundred and fifty thousand native speakers speak this language.

Do you know that Eddas, Sagas, and Skaldic poems were written in this language in the Middle Ages? Therefore, during that work, several dialectal characteristics are develope that differentiate Icelandic from Norwegian.

Finnish language

At present, 5 million people speak the Finnish language. It is not mutually intelligible with other Nordic languages. People use this language  in politics and media.

The ordinary people speak a colloquial version of the Finnish language.  If you are unable to understand the Finnish language in Scandinavian countries then don’t   fret. You can go for Finnish translation services.

Faroese Islands speak this language

People of Faroese Islands speak this language. Moreover, people living in Denmark and Iceland also speak this language. The Faroese language has a very enriched culture and history.

When they came to the Island, they brought with them this language. Thus, governments give great importance to this language. It is mutually intelligible to Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian and it shares grammatical structures.

Greenlandic

Around 60,000 people that live in Greenland and Denmark speak this language. The other name of this language is Eskimo-Aleut language. Greenlandic has three main dialects which are East Greenlandic, West Greenlandic, and North Greenlandic. 

In schools people use West Greenlandic. Approximately ,53,000 people that live in the areas of Kangerlussuaq, Nuuk, and Sisimut speak this language. 3,000 people speak East Greenlandic  in Tasiilaq. Moreover, 1,000 people speak North Greenlandic in Nord and Qaanaaq.

Norwegian population speak the Nynorsk language?

Do you know that 12 percent of the Norwegian population speak the Nynorsk language? Nynorsk is  an official language according to one-fourth of Norwegian communities. 

It includes Hordaland, Rogaland, More og Romsdal and Sogn og Fjordane. These areas are present in the Western part of Norway.

Sami/Saami languages

People living in Mid-Southern Norway and central Sweden speak the Saami languages. Approximately, 25,000 to 35,000 people speak 10 types of Saami languages in these regions.

People write 10 languages in written form.  People use  six  languages as standard languages. Therefore, people get to know about this language in that area.

Meankieli

40,000 to 70,000 people in  Northern Sweden speak this language. Therefore, it is mutually intelligible with the Finnish language. Moreover, the Swedish language has a great impact on its vocabulary.

However, people don’t use this language  outside the schools  named  Tornedalen, Mean Kieli, and MTI.

Northern Norway speak the Kven

People of Northern Norway speak the Kven language. It is from a Finnic language. The Kven language is a mixture of Norwegian and old Finnis. Therefore, it has taken many loan words from these languages.

You will be surprised to know that only 1500 to 10,000 people speak this language and these people are over the age of 60. Therefore, Linguists think that this language will be extinct soon.

Are Scandinavian languages Mutually Intelligible with German? 

You might be thinking that these languages are mutually intelligible. Therefore, Scandinavian and Germans can understand each other easily.  The important thing to note is that although these both are Germanic languages they are not mutually intelligible languages.

They share common words; the grammar structure and the grammatical rules of Scandinavian languages and German are entirely different. Moreover, the German language is difficult to learn as compared to the Scandinavian languages.

Wrapping Up

People want to migrate to Germany because it is a tech-savvy country, and to Scandinavian countries to raise the quality of life. If you are unable to understand the similarities and differences between these languages, then no worries, you can hire a professional translation agency.

People want to migrate to Germany because it is a tech-savvy country, and to Scandinavian countries to raise the quality of life. If you are unable to understand the similarities and differences between these languages, then no worries, you can hire a professional translation agency. They can provide you with impeccable German translation services and translation of Scandinavian languages at fast turn-around time and affordable rates.view more