Scanian dialect

Scanian (skånska^ⓘ) is a closely related group of dialects spoken in Skåne (Scania). By most Scandinavian linguists it is considered a dialect of Swedish, but is classified as a separate language by SIL International (ISO 639-3:scy) and is considered to include not only the dialect of Skåne but also that of Halland (halländska), Blekinge (blekingska) of Blekinge and the Danish island of Bornholm (bornholmsk). This larger definition coincides with the extent of Skåneland (Terra Scania), a term with considerable regionalistic overtones. The reason Scanian is considered a separate language is mainly historical. It does not fulfill most generally accepted criteria for being a language separate from Swedish, as it is mutually intelligible with almost all variants of Swedish and is not regarded as a separate language by Swedes or a majority of Scanians.

Many of the genuine rural dialects are in decline subsequent to the industrial revolution and urbanization in Sweden. Scanian regionalist debaters however express the view that Scanian is a suppressed minority language and as such should be considered a an official minority language.

Scanian is one of the most distinguishable dialects in Sweden. In an internet poll in which more than 30,000 people have voted on the website of a major newspaper, Scanian is currently considered in second place for most beautiful dialect, but also the dialect most people consider ugly.Template:Fn

History

Before the 18th century, Scanian can be characterized as a dialect of Danish. Immediately following the Swedish acquisition of the Danish districts Skåne, Blekinge, and Halland (collectively known as Skåneland) in 1658, a process of Swedification took place, including a switch of language used in churches. A similar change occurred within other newly acquired provinces along the west coast and along the border with Norway. Bornholm was once part of Skåneland, but it was lost by Sweden in 1659. The dialect remained there as a functioning transitional stage between Scanian and Danish. The transformation became more successful during the 20th century with the rising dominance of Swedish language radio and television as well as an increase in travelling from other regions in Sweden. The gradual language transition from Danish to Swedish resulted in a mix between these two languages.

Scanian has clearly acquired mostly Swedish characteristics since the 18th century. The result of this slow shifting is a slightly different pronunciation and minor details of grammar and vocabulary differing from Standard Swedish. The degree of contrast in this respect between Scanian and Swedish is compareable to the differences between American and Australian English.

The characteristic Scanian diphthongs, which occur in neither Danish nor Swedish, are believed by some to have originated as a result of the efforts of Scanian natives to attempt to copy the Swedish pronunciation. However, linguists reject such explanations for sound change; at present, there are no universally-accepted theories for why sound changes occur. There is some evidence supporting the assertion that Scanian was a distinct dialect even before the Swedish acquisition of most of old Skåneland. One part of that evidence is a letter from the 16th century, where the Danish Bible translators were advised not to employ Scanian translators since their language was not proper Danish. Denmark proper was considered to consist of three parts, one on Jutland in the west, one on Zealand, and the last being Terra Scania in the east (of which today only Bornholm remains), with each having its own Danish dialect.

It has been proposed that the Scanian dialect once possessed many unique words at that time, but this has not been documented. There did, however, exist many original Scanian words in the 19th century, which is documented by several Scanian dictionaries that have been recently published. However, this is probably the situation of every remote location. The words and pronunciation differ around Scania, as they were sometimes only spoken by a small number of people in remote villages. Villages close to the sea, for example, such as Falsterbo and Limhamn, had many unique words connected to fishing. Most of these words no longer have any use in the spoken language.

Modern history

A general interest in the Scanian dialect was first established in the early 19th century, when an interest in folklore emerged. However, according to Helmer Lång, the Scanian dialect and its folk stories were not given proper attention, because the Swedes considered them Danish, and the Danes, on the other hand, avoided dealing with this area which they had painfully lost.

In the end of the 19th century, new interest in Scanian arose. An early spokesperson was Henrik Wranér (1853-1908) who wrote books on the Scanian dialect, for instance Kivikja Snackk..." (1901). His contribution was manifested with his Selected Works (Valda Verk) which was published in 1922-23). His main successor was Axel Ebbe (1869-1941), who in Scanian wrote Rijm å rodevelske and even a witty translation of the Bible (Bibelsk historie, published in 1949).

Scanian was not well known north of Skåneland and its adjacent districts until the Scanian movie actor Edvard Persson sang his way into the Swedish nation during the 1930s and 1940s. More recently, radio voices Kjell Stensson and Sten Broman popularized the dialect.

Artists Mikael Wiehe and Björn Afzelius kept their accents as they were traveling and singing around the country. It helped popularize the genre, and other artists followed. Philemon Arthur and The Dung was the satirical name of a made-up band in the early 70's, whose satire lay in making the worst possible music — singing in Scanian.

Today

There is still a number of singers and other celebrities that have an unmistaken Scanian dialect. Hans Alfredson has been a popular showman, singer and performer during the last 50 years, making shows, writing books, directing moves and recording songs, with an unmistakable Scanian accent.

Thomas Öberg, singer of Swedish rock group bob hund is a notable speaker of Scanian and sings in a distinct Scanian accent. Of notability was also the rock band Kal P. Dal, considered cult in some groups, rock artist Peps Persson and the band Joddla med Siv. Furthermore, the folk-singer Danne Stråhed is very popular in some regions, not the least due to his trademark song När en flicka talar skånska ("When a girl speaks Scanian").

Recently there have been published Scanian dictionaries, though generally humorously written. As there is no Scanian language standard, it is always debated which words should be included.

Sounds

Scanian realizes the phoneme /r/ as a uvular trill, [ʀ] in clear articulation, but in everyday speech more commonly as a voiceless, [χ] or voiced uvular fricative, [ʁ], depending on phonetic context. This is in contrast to the alveolar articulations and retroflex assimilations in most Swedish dialects north of Småland. The realizations of the highly variable and uniquely Swedish fricative /ɧ/ also tend to be more velar and less labialized than in other dialects. Though the phonemes of Scanian correspond to those of Standard Swedish and most other Swedish dialects, long vowels have developed into diphtongs which are unique to the region. In the southern parts of Skåne many diphtongs also have a pharyngeal quality, similar to Danish vowels.

Vocabulary

While the general vocabulary does not differ considerably from Standard Swedish, a few specifically Scanian words exist and are known in all of Scania, occurring frequently among a majority of the speakers.

påg , "boy" (Standard Swedish: pojke)
rullebör, "wheelbarrow" (Standard Swedish skottkärra)
pantoffel/pantoffla, "potato" (Standard Swedish potatis)
rälig, "bad" (Standard Swedish dålig)

References

Nordisk familjebok (1917) article Skåne, page 1309
Helmer Lång, Skånska språket (Klippan 2002)

External links

the Scanian Institute - a Scanian regionalist organization advocating the rights of Scanian as a separate language

Notes

Template:Fnb Internet Poll in the tabloid Aftonbladet's www-edition (In Swedish)