Åland dialects ( sv, åländska) are

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

s of Swedish language, Swedish spoken in Åland, an autonomous province of Finland. The Åland dialects have similarities to both Finland Swedish and the historical dialects of Uppland, but are generally considered to be part of Swedish dialects, Eastern Swedish (''östsvenska mål'', varieties of Swedish spoken in Finland and Estonian Swedes#Language, Estonia). Swedish is the sole official Languages of Åland, language of Åland,Självstyrelselag för Åland 16.8.1991/1144 - 36 §
Retrieved 10 Apr. 2009. and its status is protected in the , a law that guarantees the islands' autonomy within Finland.

Phonology

As in Finland Swedish, the pitch accent, tonal word accent that distinguishes certain minimal pairs is not present in Åland. Thus Central Swedish ('the duck') and ('the spirit') are both pronounced .Åländska ord och uttryck
''Bibliotek.ax''. Retrieved 10 Apr. 2009.

Characteristics

Certain expressions are typical of Åland dialects. For example, the double genitive in ("''Whose's'' girl/boy are you?" ( in Standard Swedish)) carries the implication that the asker might know the parents of the person asked, likely in a small society such as Åland. Another characteristic is the substitution of (not) with (no, nobody, none; in Standard Swedish a plural form): ("I have not been there"). A feature that Åland shares with Finland Swedish is the reduction of the words (not), (should) and (must) to , and respectively.

Vocabulary

The dialectal vocabulary of Åland Swedish is composed of words that are either characteristic of Eastern Swedish or have passed out of use (but are still understood) in the Swedish spoken in Sweden. Traces of Finnish, Russian and English can also be found in the dialect because of historical contact. Below is a selection of dialectal words and expressions used in Åland Swedish:

Differences between dialects in Western and Eastern Åland

The Western Åland dialect is characterized by its connection to the dialects of eastern Uppland (Roslagen). This applies especially to the municipality of Eckerö. There are several similarities between Eckerö's and Roslagen's dialects, including the initial h-drop whereby, for example, ', ', and ' are pronounced as "''us''", "''itta''", and "''alm''" and an ''h'' sound is atypically inserted before the words ' and ''eta'' ('), producing "''hösa''" and "''heta''", respectively. On the other hand, the Eastern Åland dialects share features with Swedish dialects in Åboland and southern Ostrobothnia (region), Ostrobothnia. Between the dialects of Western and Eastern Åland, there are also several distinctions in vocabulary. For example, in Western Åland, as well as in Uppland, the verb ' and the adjective ' are used. The corresponding words in Eastern Åland are ' and '.

References

Bibliography

*Andersson, Sven. ''Notlage, notlösare och notgår: ordens betydelse i åländska folkmål''. Part of ''Skrifter utgivna av Historiska samfundet i Åbo''. 1954. pp. 18–30. *Ramsdahl, Carl. ''Ryska lånord i åländskan''. 1976. *Sundberg, Eva. ''Dialekten i Ålands nordöstra skärgård''. Mariehamn 1993. *Svenblad, Ralf. ''Med åländska ord''. Mariehamn 1996. *Willandt, August. ''Åländskt bygdemål''. 1919.

External links

Ryska lånord i åländskan
(Russian loanwords in Åland Swedish)

Swedish language Languages of Finland Åland society, Swedish Finland Swedish {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2013