Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/23

 norræna mál, northern tongue, or dönsk tunga, Danish tongue, was spoken with little dialectic variation over the whole of Scandinavia, and was carried to Iceland by Norwegians in the latter part of the 9th century. The norræna mál developed into three distinct languages, Icelandic, Swedish, and Danish. While Icelandic retains the mother tongue almost unaltered, Danish has lost nearly all its distinctive features. Foreign elements were introduced into it principally in two ways: Anglo-Saxon, by the Danish invasions of England in the 11th century; German, in consequence of the warlike expeditions of the Waldemars (first, 1157-'82; second, 1202-'41; third, 1340-'75, &c.) and other Danish kings, of the wars and commerce with the Hansa, and in consequence of the rule of German dynasties (Eric VII. of Pomerania, Christopher of Bavaria, Christian I. of Oldenburg, 1448, and his successors). Its development was retarded by the use of German as the court language and of Latin as the language of literature, and in the 17th century by the inroads of French taste and phrases. In the 18th century it was again affected by the predominance of German culture, but the subsequent revival of ancient Norse studies and of a national literature developed the Danish into one of the richest and most refined European tongues. It is now not only the language of Denmark proper, but also of Norway, and of the northern part of Schleswig. It is also used in the churches among the Esquimaux in Greenland, and as a business language in the islands of Santa Cruz, St. Thomas, and St. John, in the former Danish factories in Guinea, and by well educated Icelanders. The Norwegians pronounce it a little harder than the Danes, dropping principally the soft d, but their literary language is entirely the same. The main difference between Danish and Swedish is that the latter has retained more of the ancient Scandinavian elements and embodied more French. Danish is also related to English and Dutch. Considering the smallness of the land in which it is spoken, it has given birth to a large number of dialects. The principal ones are: 1, the dialect of Seeland (sjællandske), which comprises the dialects of North Seeland (nordsjællandske), Copenhagen (kjøbenhavnske), which is the normal dialect and basis of the literary language, and the dialect of South Seeland, which includes again those of Laaland and Falster; 2, that of Fünen (fyenske), which is spoken in Fünen, Langeland, and several small islands; 3, that of Jutland (jydske), which is verbally and grammatically the most peculiar of all, and comprises the dialects of West Jutland (vesterjydske) and of East Jutland (østerjydske); 4, that of South Jutland (sønderjydske), also called the dialect of Schleswig (slesvigske), which makes use of many Anglo-Saxon and Low German words; 5, that of Bornholm (bornholmske), which has many affinities with Swedish; and 6, that of Schonen (skaanske), which is a mixture of

Swedish and the dialect of Seeland.—The alphabet numbers 28 letters, which are represented either in German or Latin characters. There are 9 vowels: a, aa, e, i, o, u, y, æ, and ø. A, e, i, o, u are pronounced as in German and Italian; y is sounded like the French u, and ø like the French eu in peu; aa, which is also a simple vowel, though written with two letters, has the sound of ou in brought; and æ corresponds to the German ä. They are generally long at the end of syllables and before liquids and labials, and otherwise short; e is, however, nearly always short at the end of a word, and becomes mute at the end of a syllable when preceded by a vowel; ee has the sound of a in late. De, the pronoun used in addressing a person, and corresponding to our you, is pronounced as if it were written di, in order to distinguish it from de, they. The consonants are the same as in English, with the exception of w, and are as a rule pronounced with a peculiar softness which a foreigner finds it difficult to imitate. When d is preceded by a vowel and stands in the middle of a word, it receives a pronunciation somewhat similar to th in bathe; it becomes mute when preceded in the same syllable by l or n, or by r after a long vowel, or when followed by sk, st, t, or s (if it is not the sign of the genitive); and it assimilates with the consonant that precedes it when it is placed between l and e or n and e, and frequently also when preceded by ds. When g stands between two vowels it is generally almost mute, and at the end of words it is sometimes as soft as an aspirate, and sometimes as hard as a k; eg is sometimes pronounced like the English i in lie, and øg like oy in toy. In the middle of a word, before j and v, and after t, the letter h is not sounded; it serves to lengthen the vowel that precedes. In the combinations gj, kj, and skj, when followed by e, æ, or ø, the j is frequently silent. N is nasal before g and k; in ps the p is mute in words derived from Greek, and the sound of v is lost at the end of a word when preceded by l or r. Diphthongs are: ai, ei, oi, ui, øi, au, eu, and ou. The first two are pronounced like i in lie; oi like the English oy; ui like the English e; øi very nearly like oy; au like ou in house; eu like the French eu, with a final sound of a v; ou as in brought. The accent rests mostly on the root syllable, except when the word begins with gjen, mis, sam, u, und, or ran, or ends in eri, inde, agtig, or ere.—Two genders are distinguished: fælleskjøn, common, and intetkjøn, neuter; only the personal pronoun of the third person and a few suffixes have separate forms for the masculine and feminine genders; four fifths of the nouns in the language are common, and only the names of countries, cities, metals, letters, languages, clothing material, and a few others, are intetkjøn. The definite article of a noun preceded by an adjective is den in fælleskjøn, det in intetkjøn, and de in the plural of both genders; thus: det skjønne Land, the fine country; den