Modern Gutnish

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Gutnish
Gutamål/Gutniska
Native to Sweden
Region Gotland
Native speakers
 500?  (date missing)[citation needed]
Indo-European
Early forms
Old Gutnish
  • Gutnish
Language codes
ISO 639-3 –
Linguist list
 swe-gut

Modern Gutnish, or Gotlandic, is the native language of the Gotlandic people on the island of Gotland in present-day Sweden. It was both a spoken and written language until late medieval times. Today it exists as a spoken language, but is to some degree mixed with Swedish, Danish and German. It is an open issue whether modern Gutnish is to be considered an independent language or a Scandinavian dialect. It derives, however, from Old Gutnish.

Knowledge of Gutnish is relatively weak both among Gotlanders (Gutes) and other Swedes. It is spoken mainly in the southern parts of the island and in some parts of Fårö. Gutnish exists in two variants, Mainland Gutnish and Faroymal on Fårö. The Faroymal is considered the more archaic of the two forms.

Some features of Gutnish include the preservation of Old Norse diphthongs like ai in for instance stain (Swedish sten, English stone) and oy in for example doy (Swedish dö, English die). There is also a triphthong that exists in no other Norse languages: iau as in skiaute/skiauta (Swedish skjuta, English shoot).

Comparison with other Germanic languages

English Dutch Norwegian (Bokmål) Norwegian (Nynorsk) Danish German Gutnish Icelandic Swedish Faroese Jamtish
eye oog øye auge/auga øje Auge auge/auga auga öga eyga aaug
hear horen høre høyre/høyra høre hören hoyre/hoyra heyra höra hoyra höör
sleep slapen sove sove/sova sove schlafen sive/siva sofa sova sova sava
evil euvel (kwaad) ond vond ond Übel aumbr vondur ond óndur ful
ship schip skip skip skib Schiff skip skip skepp skip skepp
sing zingen synge syngje/syngja synge/sjunge singen singe/singa syngja sjunga syngja sjoong
high hoog høy høg høj hoch haug hár hög høgur/háur höyg
right rechts høyre høgre højre rechts hygar hægri höger høgra höger
boat boot båt båt båd Boot bat bátur båt bátur båut
over over over over/yver over über yvar yfir över yvir omma
shoot schieten skyte skyte/skyta / skjote/skjota skyde schießen skiaute/skiauta skjóta skjuta skjóta skjuut

Example

Gutnish

KERLAIKINS SKAVLGARD
Ja gikk til kerlaikins skavlgard
U sag va ja aldri hadde sét
A kýrko var der byggd
Der ja fýrr laikede pa de grýnu
U lukar til hissu kýrku var lukede
U ”Dú skalt inte”, ritet yvar duri
So ja vende mi til kerlaikins skavlgard
Sum so mange sýme blómar berde,
U ja sag hann fylldar me gravar
U gravstainar der blómar skulde vare
U prestar i svarte klédin, ganes síne rundar
U bindnes me napltynne, míne gledar u kéar
av William Blake (1757–1827)

English

THE GARDEN OF LOVE
I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen:
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.
And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And Thou shalt not. writ over the door;
So I turn'd to the Garden of Love,
That so many sweet flowers bore.
And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tomb-stones where flowers should be:
And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars, my joys & desires.
by William Blake (1757–1827)

External links

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Related topics
North Germanic
West Scandinavian
East Scandinavian
West Germanic
Anglo-Frisian
Low Franconian
Low German/
Dutch Low Saxon
High German
Central German
Upper German
Yiddish
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