Elfdalian

Elfdalian (Övkallmål / Övdalsk)

Elfdalian or Övdalian is a North Germanic language spoken by about
3,000 people in the Älvdalen Municipality in Northern Dalarna in
central Sweden. Elfdalian is considered to be a separate language by some
linguists, but many others believe it to be a dialect of Swedish.
It 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 the early 20th century, but a way to write it using the Latin alphabet
was also used from the 17th century. A new standard orthography for Elfdalian
was devised in 2005 by Råðdjärum (The Elfdalian Language
Council), and accepted by Ulum Dalska (The Organization for the
Preservation of Elfdalian).

Up to the 1950s Elfdalian was used as the medium of instruction
in schools in the Elfdalian-speaking region. Since then Swedish has been
used, however since the 1980s some Elfdalian has been reintroduced in
schools and there has been a revival of interest in and use of the
language.

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