Elfdalian (övdalsk / övdalską)

Elfdalian is a North Germanic language spoken by about 2,500 people in the Älvdalen Municipality (Övdaln) in Northern Dalarna in central Sweden. Elfdalian is considered to be a separate language by some linguists and by SIL International.

Elfdalian has developed in relative isolation since the Middle Ages and maintains a number of features of Old Norse not found in other Northern Germanic languages, not even Icelandic. As a result, Elfdalian differs markedly from Swedish and can be difficult for other Swedes to understand.

A runic alphabet known as Dalecarlian Runes was used to write Elfdalian until 1900. The Latin alphabet was also used to write Elfdalian from the 17th century.

Dalecarlian Runes

Dalecarlian runes

More information about Dalecarlian Runes

Until the 1950s some people in the Elfdalian-speaking region spoke nothing but Elfdalian until they went to school. At school children were discouraged or prohibited from speaking Elfdalian until the 1970s.

Since the 1980s efforts have made to preserve and promote the language, particularly by Ulum Dalska (The Organization for the Preservation of Elfdalian). Dictionaries and other books have been published, a standard orthography for Elfdalian was devised in 2005 by Råðdjärum (The Elfdalian Language Council), and an Elfdalian-medium kindergarten is due to open in 2016.

Elfdalian alphabet (Övdalsk-abiseð)

A a Ą ą B b C c D d Đ ð E e Ę ę
a ą bi si di e ę
F f G g H h I i Į į J j K k L l
eff gi i į ji ell
M m N n O o P p Q q R r S s T t
emm enn o pi ku err ess ti
U u Ų ų V v W w X x Y y Y̨ y̨ Z z
u ų vi wi eks y setå
Å å Ą̊ ą̊ Ä ä Ö ö
å ą̊ ä ö

C, Q, X and Z only occur in names and foreign words.

Elfdalian pronunciation

Elfdalian pronunciation

Download an alphabet chart for Elfdalian (Excel)

Information about Elfdalian pronunciation provided by Wolfram Siegel, with corrections by Yair Sapir

Sample texts

Undą̊ för undą̊ fuor ig föstå ur launggsamt du add eð, Lisslprinsn menn. Laindj i seð add it du noð eller uonå dig ą̊ eld kuogå ą̊ grannsuolniðgaunggą. Eð föstuoð ig um morgun fiuord da'n, mes du lit að mig: Ig tyttjer so mitjið um suolnið­gaunggą.

From the Lisslprinsn (The Little Prince)

Translation

Oh, little prince! Bit by bit I came to understand the secrets of your sad little life. For a long time you had found your only entertainment in the quiet pleasure of looking at the sunset. I learned that new detail on the morning of the fourth day, when you said to me: I am very fond of sunsets.

From The Little Prince

Samples videos in and about Elfdalian

Information about Elfdalian | Phrases | Numbers

Links

Information about the Elfdalian language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfdalian_language
http://elvdalsk.inss.ku.dk/om/english
http://virtuallinguist.typepad.com/the_virtual_linguist/2008/10/elfdalian.html
http://theconversation.com/fight-on-to-preserve-elfdalian-swedens-lost-forest-language-41642
http://news-en.fb-page.link/p/293556.html
http://alvdalen.se/upload/Dokument/kultur_fritid/%C3%84lvdalskan/alvdalsk_ortografi.pdf

The Little Prince in Elfdalian (Lisslprinsn ą̊ övdalska)
http://www.byonn.se/?page=lisslprinsn
https://youtu.be/GKIC7SJemZA

Germanic languages

Afrikaans, Alsatian, Bavarian, Cimbrian, Danish, Dutch, Elfdalian, English, Faroese, Flemish, Frisian (East), Frisian (North), Frisian (Saterland), Frisian (West), German, Gothic, Gottscheerish, Gronings, Hunsrik, Icelandic, Limburgish, Low German, Luxembourgish, Mòcheno, Norn, Norwegian, Old English, Old Norse, Pennsylvania German, Ripuarian, Scots, Shetland(ic), Stellingwarfs, Swabian, Swedish, Swiss German, Transylvanian Saxon, Värmlandic, Wymysorys, Yiddish, Yola, Zeelandic

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page last modified: 23.04.21

[top]


Green Web Hosting - Kualo

Why not share this page:

 

Conversations - learn languages through stories

If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.

 

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.

Get a 30-day Free Trial of Amazon Prime (UK)

If you're looking for home or car insurance in the UK, why not try Policy Expert?

[top]

iVisa.com