Nederkalix dialect (sometimes plainly ''Kalix dialect'';
endonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
: ''kölismåle'' ) is a traditional
Norrland dialect of
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
, spoken in the historical
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
es (Swedish: ''
socknar'') of Nederkalix and Töre in modern-day
Kalix Municipality
Kalix Municipality (, ) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Kalix.
In 1924 Töre Municipality was detached from Nederkalix Municipality, forming a municipality of its own. In 1967 the two units were r ...
in
Norrbotten
Norrbotten (), known in English as North Bothnia, is a Swedish province (''landskap'') in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland.
Administration
The traditional provinces of Swede ...
in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. The traditional Nederkalix dialect, like the other
Norrland dialects Norrland dialects ( sv, norrländska mål, links=no) is one of the six major dialect groupings of the Swedish language. It comprises most dialects traditionally spoken in Norrland, except for those of Gästrikland and southern Hälsingland, which a ...
, is very divergent from
Standard Swedish
Standard Swedish () denotes Swedish as a spoken and written standard language. While Swedish as a written language is uniform and standardized, the spoken standard may vary considerably from region to region. Several prestige dialects have develo ...
, containing both
archaism
In language, an archaism (from the grc, ἀρχαϊκός, ''archaïkós'', 'old-fashioned, antiquated', ultimately , ''archaîos'', 'from the beginning, ancient') is a word, a sense of a word, or a style of speech or writing that belongs to a hi ...
s and innovations in the
phonological
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
and
grammatical
In linguistics, grammaticality is determined by the conformity to language usage as derived by the grammar of a particular variety (linguistics), speech variety. The notion of grammaticality rose alongside the theory of generative grammar, the go ...
systems.
The Nederkalix dialect retains
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
diphthong
A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
s,
Old Swedish
Old Swedish (Swedish language, Modern Swedish: ) is the name for two distinct stages of the Swedish language that were spoken in the Middle Ages: Early Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1225 until about 1375, and Late Old Swedish (), spoken fro ...
light syllables, and many initial consonants lost in Standard Swedish. In terms of
morphology
Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to:
Disciplines
* Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts
* Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...
, the dialect has also preserved
plural agreement of verbs, as well as the
dative
In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a ...
case, which have been lost in Standard Swedish.
The Nederkalix dialect has innovated many diphthongs from older long vowels. It also displays features such as
vowel balance,
apocope
In phonology, apocope () is the loss (elision) of a word-final vowel. In a broader sense, it can refer to the loss of any final sound (including consonants) from a word.
Etymology
''Apocope'' comes from the Greek () from () "cutting off", from ...
(with preserved double-peak
pitch accent
A pitch-accent language, when spoken, has word accents in which one syllable in a word or morpheme is more prominent than the others, but the accentuated syllable is indicated by a contrasting pitch ( linguistic tone) rather than by loudness ( ...
), and
vowel harmony
In phonology, vowel harmony is an Assimilation (linguistics), assimilatory process in which the vowels of a given domain – typically a phonological word – have to be members of the same natural class (thus "in harmony"). Vowel harmony is t ...
, all common in many Norrland dialects.
Nasal consonant
In phonetics, a nasal, also called a nasal occlusive or nasal stop in contrast with an oral stop or nasalized consonant, is an occlusive consonant produced with a lowered velum, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. The vast majorit ...
s have been lost before a following
plosive
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases.
The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lips ...
, with subsequent
vowel nasalization
A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the soft palate (or velum) so that the air flow escapes through the nose and the mouth simultaneously, as in the French vowel or Amoy []. By contrast, oral vowels are produced wit ...
. Like many other Norrland dialects, it has also innovated an Norrland dialects#Use of the definite form, extended use of the definite form and a
Norrland dialects#Preproprial articles, preproprial article before
proper name
A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', ''Jupiter'', '' Sarah'', ''Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...
s.
The Nederkalix dialect is most closely related to other traditional dialects in Norrbotten, especially the neighboring
Överkalix dialect
Överkalix (; fi, Ylikainuu) is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Överkalix Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 975 inhabitants in 2010.
Climate
Överkalix has a subarctic climate with significant temperature differenc ...
in the north. The three parishes constituted one single Kalix parish until the mid 17th century, when Överkalix parish split from Nederkalix, and the two dialects diverged. The Nederkalix and Överkalix dialects are however often considered to be
mutually unintelligible
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...
.
Documentation
The oldest preserved manuscripts in the Kalix dialect is an 1879 description of the area,
[KALIXforskarNYTT, no.3-2002, Kalixbygdens Forskarförening] a text which is used as a standard of genuinity. The Kalix dialect was first described by a thesis work
[Folkmålet i Nederkalix och Töre socknar av Hulda Rutberg, 1924, (174 pages)] by Hulda Rutberg, starting the year 1908 and ventilated at Uppsala University in 1924. The book contains many words and an extensive description of phonology and grammar. The language is also covered in later documentation,
[Dahlstedt & Ågren, Övre Norrlands bygdemål: berättelser på bygdemål med förklaringar och en dialektöversikt, utg. av Vetenskapliga biblioteket i Umeå 1954] and by many recordings from the 1960s.
The work of communities such as ''Föreningen Kalix Bygdemål'', founded 1992, has kept collecting words and expressions to an extensive word lexicon,
[ÅOLLEIST OPA KÖLISMÅLE, Föreningen Kalix Bygdemål.][Kalixmålet, sådant det talades på 1990-talet, Föreningen Kalix Bygdemål.] and is still active today.
Phonology
The Kalix dialect has, according to Rutberg,
18 vowel monophthongs, 10 vowel diphthongs, and 29 consonants.
Grammar
Noun gender
Three
grammatical gender
In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all nouns ...
s exist:
* Feminine: e.g. "ha:ta" (the hand), "nagla" (the nail), "å:dra" (the vein), "sköuldra" (the shoulder), "påp:a" (the father), "måm:a" (the mother), "kjat:a" (the cat). But also "kuno" (the woman), "stuo" (the cottage), "sögo" (the saga).
* Masculine: e.g. "ståoLn" (the stool), "fåotn" (the foot), "armen" (the arm), "armboan" (the elbow), "tåomen" (the thumb), "måon" (the mouth).
* Neuter: "öe"/"öge" (the eye), "öre" (the ear), "höure" (the head), "bene" (the leg), "feingre" (the finger), "kni:e" (the knee), "bån:e" (the child).
Basically, words that in their definite form end with an "n" are masculine, an "e" is neuter, and all vowel except "e" are feminine.
General ending for words following the nouns are in feminine "-ar", masculine "-en", neuter "-e" or "-t", and plural "-er". Ex.
* Feminine: "he jär menar stuo" (it is my cottage) "hö ha:ar eingar på:åp" (she had no dad), "hukar kuno?" (which woman?), "woLar viko" (every week)
* Masculine: "men ståoL" (my stool), "anworn da" (every second day), "in tuken fåot" (such a foot)
* Neuter: "i lätet bån" (a little child), "tuke schwammeL" (such bullshit), "i anne å:r" (another year)
* Plural: "tuker stäinto" (such girls), "huker då:a?" (which days?), "einger feingro" (no fingers)
Definite and indefinite nouns
The definite noun form is used in a broader sense than in other Scandinavian languages, widespread in all dialects spoken in northern Scandinavia.
Some examples: "je skå nå:åp i gröut ve bera" – I'll pick some (the)berries, "kunin jåra ät som kåran" – (the) women are not like (the) men. Definiteviness can be divided into four categories depending on the noun's plural form. Examples of usage with the feminine word "i fLa:ask" (a bottle / a flask):
* Enumerating indefinite, equal to singular or differs on accent only: "je ha:ar to fLa:ask" (I had two flasks), "i döusin fLa:ask" (a dozen flasks), "je ha fLe:r fLa:ask än di:" (I have more flasks than you), "ma:ak fLa:ask" (many flasks).
* Non-enumerating indefinite, "-o" ending: "he jär naer/einger/in del fLasko ini tjälaro" (there are some/no/some flasks in the cellar), "aar fLasko" (other flasks), "tuker fLasko" (such flasks), "he jär la:ka fLasko ini tjälaro" (there are long flasks in the cellar).
* Definite usage, "-en" ending: "he jär mytji fLasken ini tjälaro" (there are a lot of flasks in the cellar), "å:åll fLasken jåra bå:årt" (all flasks are gone), "höundratale å fLasken" (hundreds of flasks), "he var fLasken ållostans" (there were flasks everywhere), "whiskeyfLasken" (wiskey flasks), "we hå:å la:kfLasken å röundfLasken" (we have long flasks and round flasks), "di ha:ar snört fLasken ållostans" (they had thrown flasks everywhere).
* Definite "-en": "ta ve de fLasken då do gja öut" (take the flasks with you when you go out)
For masculine nouns, the four forms are e.g. "in bi:l" (a car) "to bi:il" (two cars) "naer bi:lo" (some cars), "mytji bi:lan" (many cars), and "bi:lan" (the cars). Neuter definitive plural ending is "-a". Non-enumerative words e.g. "i höus" (a house), "i gåLv" (a floor) are exceptions lacking the "-o" form.
Case
Dative
In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a ...
is separated from the
Accusative
The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb.
In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...
and
Nominative case
In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...
, e.g. feminine: "Din jär SkåoLa, je siti ini skå:oLn" (there is the school, I am sitting in the school), masculine: "je sei tjälarn, he lik na ini tjälaro" (I see the basement, it's something in the basement).
Several forms of
Genitive case
In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
s exists, e.g. "Je ha ons Enok bi:l" (I have Enok's car), "je fick bre:ve än Anna" (I got Anna's letter), "kLåk:a gran:o" (The neighbor's clock).
Verbs
Verbs are conjugated in singular and plural, unlike modern standard Swedish: "hån jär" (he is) but "di jåra" (they are), "hö löut se" (she leans herself) but "di lö:ut se" (they lean themselves), "je far" (I go) but "we fåra" (we go), "je vil" (I want) but "di vili" (they want). But there are irregular verbs which does not differ, e.g. "je liot fåra" (I have to go) / "we liot fåra" (we have to go).
Adjectives
Most
Adjective
In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Tra ...
s are equal in singular and plural, similar to English but distinct from many other Scandinavian languages, e.g.:
"dö:rn jär ipi" (the door is open) and "doran jåra ipi" (the doors are open), "bå:ne jär vötchin" (the child is awake) and "bå:na jåra vötchin" (the children are awake), "do jär wälkymin heit" (she is welcome here) and "di jåra wälkymin heit" (they are welcome here).
Other adjectives differs in singular and plural, and have two plural forms, e.g. "flaska jär rö:" (the flask is red), "rö:a flasko, so jåra rö:ö" (red flasks, that are red).
Adjectives can also be joined with nouns, e.g. "råLkafötren" (dirty feet), or serially joined, e.g. "lilvåckerstäinta" (the little beautiful girl).
Preproprial article
A
Norrland dialects#Preproprial articles, preproprial article is widespread traditional
Norrland dialects Norrland dialects ( sv, norrländska mål, links=no) is one of the six major dialect groupings of the Swedish language. It comprises most dialects traditionally spoken in Norrland, except for those of Gästrikland and southern Hälsingland, which a ...
and is also found in many parts of Norway. It functions as an obligatory article before proper names and kinship terms. In the Nederkalix dialect, it takes the form ''on'' or ''en'' in the masculine, and ''na'' or ''a'' in the feminine. There are also separate
dative
In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a ...
forms of the article: ''nu'' or ''u'' in the masculine, and ''en'' in the feminine, but the basic (nominative) forms are also used in the dative.
Writing systems
The Nederkalix dialect, like the absolute majority of Swedish dialects, lack a standard orthography. In early dialectological descriptions, the phonetic
Swedish Dialect Alphabet
The Swedish Dialect Alphabet ( sv, Landsmålsalfabetet) is a phonetic alphabet created in 1878 by Johan August Lundell and used for the narrow transcription of Swedish dialects. The initial version of the alphabet consisted of 89 letters, 42 o ...
was used to transcribe the dialect. In more non-scientific contexts, the
Swedish alphabet
The Swedish alphabet ( sv, Svenska alfabetet) is a basic element of the Latin writing system used for the Swedish language. The 29 letters of this alphabet are the modern 26-letter basic Latin alphabet (A through Z) plus Å, Ä, and Ö, in t ...
has been used, including the letters ⟨å ä ö⟩ and certain ad-hoc representations of sounds not found in Standard Swedish, e.g. a capitalized or boldface ⟨l⟩ for the
retroflex flap
The voiced retroflex flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r`.
Features
Features of the voiced ...
, a colon ⟨:⟩ for marking long vowels etc.
References
Notes
Bibliography
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{{Languages of Europe
Swedish dialects
Kalix