Language History
Swedish is one of the three Scandinavian languages to emerge from Old Norse – the language of the Vikings. Dubbed a ‘North Germanic language’, there was much Danish influence on Swedish before 1525 when King Gustav I Vasa gained power. He famously gave rise to Modern Swedish after ordering a Swedish translation of the Bible. This led to Swedish being spoken and written uniformly among the people.
Swedish eventually gained influence from other languages such as Low German, especially in the 17th century. As one of Europe’s main languages, French also had an impact over the evolution of the Swedish language in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was after the 19th century when a sense of national identity brought about the popularity of the Swedish language, when figures like August Strindberg, encouraged the standardisation of its grammar and vocabulary.
[/vc_pangea_service_desc_block][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1621878485274{background-color: #f1f2f0 !important;}” el_class=”bg-grey”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1558445967850{margin-top: -90px !important;margin-bottom: -70px !important;}”][vc_pangea_custom_block layout=”center” button_color=”#d15f45″ content_font=”Open Sans” button_popup_form=”” button_text=”Get in Touch” button_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fportal.stg-wpml.pangea.global%2Frequest-quote%2F|||”]According to Babbel, there are around 10.5 million people who speak Swedish around the world. Approximately 9 million of these people are native Swedish speakers, with 8.5 million living in Sweden.
[/vc_pangea_custom_block][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1557920359208{margin-bottom: -50px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1557920302161{margin-top: -50px !important;margin-bottom: -30px !important;}”][vc_pangea_custom_block layout=”center” heading_font=”Futura Std” content_font=”Open Sans” title=”Where is Swedish Spoken?”]Swedish is the official language of Sweden and one of the two national languages in Finland. It is also a common language in other countries around the world including Estonia, Ukraine, and other Scandinavian countries like Denmark and Norway. The U.K, U.S, Germany, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands also have a large number of Swedish speakers.
[/vc_pangea_custom_block][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”benefits-container” css=”.vc_custom_1621878490389{background-color: #f1f2f0 !important;}” el_class=”bg-grey”][vc_column width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1565164342902{margin-bottom: 50px !important;}”][vc_pangea_custom_block layout=”center” background_color=”” content_font=”Open Sans” css_custom_id=”text-near-bubble” title=”FACT” background_image=”5847″]The three Scandinavian languages to emerge from Old Norse are Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. The languages are so similar, that Swedish speakers can understand both Danish and Norwegian.[/vc_pangea_custom_block][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1573479286687{margin-top: 25px !important;}”][vc_pangea_custom_block layout=”center” background_color=”” content_font=”Open Sans” css_custom_id=”text-near-bubble” title=”Did you know?” background_image=”5847″]Did you know that Swedish has the highest number of speakers compared to all the North Germanic languages?[/vc_pangea_custom_block][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1565163610673{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1573204267691{margin-top: -40px !important;margin-bottom: -50px !important;}”][vc_pangea_custom_block layout=”center” content_font=”Open Sans” title=”Swedish Dialects”]Swedish can be categorised into six dialect groups, although
there are said to be a few hundred out there.
• Norrland • Svealand • Gotland • Götaland • South Swedish
• East Swedish (Finland Swedish)
| Swedish | English |
|---|---|
| God morgon | Good Morning |
| Hur är det? / Hur har du det? | How are you? (How are you feeling?) |
| Välkommen! | Welcome! |
| Hur gammal är du? | How old are you? |
Sweden Population:
10,053,135
Internet Users:
9,653,776
Penetration:
96.0%
As of 2019. Source:
www.internetworldstats.com
| Swedish | Translation | Wrong Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| prick | dot | dislikeable person |
| bad | bathing place | something unpleasant |
| dog | to die (past tense) | animal |
| glass | ice cream | shiny object |
• Remember rules of word order in Swedish – the finite verb appears in second position in a declarative main clause.
• “K” is used instead of “Q” (except in proper names) and “W” is replaced with “V” (except in proper names).
• There are no case endings in nouns except for the possessive “s”.
• The Swedish language has only two genders – neuter and common.
[/vc_pangea_custom_block][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1621878524472{background-color: #f1f2f0 !important;}” el_class=”bg-grey”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1558438241711{margin-top: -50px !important;}”][vc_pangea_custom_block layout=”center” content_font=”Open Sans”]Are you looking for professional Swedish translation services? Get in touch with Pangea Global! We’ll hook you up with one of our professional linguists who will provide you with accurate and reliable Swedish localization services, copywriting, voice overs and more![/vc_pangea_custom_block][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1621878530238{margin-bottom: -100px !important;padding-bottom: 80px !important;background-color: #f1f2f0 !important;}” el_class=”bg-grey”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1557924920503{margin-top: -30px !important;margin-bottom: 40px !important;}”][vc_pangea_cta_button button_text=”Get In Touch” button_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fstg-wpml.stg-wpml.pangea.global%2Fquote%2F|||”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
