(lit. 'townsfolk language') was an early 18th-century Swedish-based

pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified form of contact language that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn f ...

in the Swedish portion of

Sápmi is the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sámi people. Sápmi includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia, stretching over four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Most of Sápmi lies north of the Arctic Circle, boun ...

(specifically, the

Lule River Lule River (, , ''Luleälven'') is a major river in Sweden, rising in northern Sweden and flowing southeast for before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Luleå. It is the second largest river by watershed area and length in Norrbotten County (afte ...

region), used seasonally between the rural

Sámi Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

and Swedish-speaking merchants and other inhabitants of the towns. The vocabulary was largely Swedish, and the grammar was simplified, making it a predominantly

analytic Analytic or analytical may refer to: Chemistry * Analytical chemistry, the analysis of material samples to learn their chemical composition and structure * Analytical technique, a method that is used to determine the concentration of a chemical ...

language. From the limited data that has been preserved, it is not obvious to what extent was a stable pidgin, as opposed to an ''ad hoc'' trade jargon. However, German

Linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

believes there is enough evidence to conclude that was a typical pidgin with a stable grammar. There was apparently some grammatical influence from local

Sámi languages The Sámi languages ( ), also rendered in English language, English as Sami and Saami, are a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Indigenous Sámi peoples in Northern Europe (in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and extreme northwest ...

, such as conveying Sámi grammatical aspectual distinctions through the use of different Swedish words (that is, with

lexical aspect In linguistics, the lexical aspect, situation type or Aktionsart (, plural ''Aktionsarten'' ) of an event is part of the way in which that event is structured in relation to time. For example, the English verbs ''arrive'' and ''run'' differ in ...

). Specifically, several verbs are recorded for 'to give', which seem to differ in the type of action. For example, 'you give me my skins and I'll give you your alcohol' uses three different verbs for 'give', , , and . (from Swedish 'to prick') apparently indicated a momentary action; ''sätt'' (from Swedish ''sätta'' 'to set') an

inchoative Inchoative aspect (abbreviated or ), also known as inceptive, is a grammatical aspect, referring to the beginning of a state. It can be found in conservative Indo-European languages such as Latin and Lithuanian, and also in Finnic languages or Eu ...

action (the onset of giving); and ''kast'' (from Swedish ''kasta'' 'to throw') a subitive action (to give suddenly). In addition, ''släpp'' (from Swedish ''släppa'' 'to release') appears to have been

causative In linguistics, a causative (abbreviated ) is a valency-increasing operationPayne, Thomas E. (1997). Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 173–186. that indicates that a subject either ...

(to let give). These corresponded to grammatical distinctions required by Sámi languages, but not by Swedish. Only about 13% of the words in Borgarmålet appear to come from Sámi languages.

Examples

Five sentences were recorded by , a Swedish linguist and missionary at

Gällivare Gällivare (; ; or ; or ; ) is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010. The town was founded in the 17th century. Together with nearby towns Malmberget ...

and

Skellefteå Skellefteå (, locally ) is a Cities in Sweden, city in Västerbotten County, Sweden, with a population of 36,388. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 77,322 inhabitants in 2024. The city is historically industrial, with mining ...

, which he published in 1747: :Du stick uti mäg din skin, så ja sätt uti däg min bränwin. (Borgarmålet) :''Du ger mig dina skinn, så ger jag dig brännvin igen.'' (''Swedish'') :"You give me your skins and I'll give you spirits in return." ("English") :Du släpp din räv uti min wåm, så få du din bak den pelsomesak. :''Du ger denna rot eller rova åt min mage, så ger jag dig tillbaka detta muddskinn.'' :"You give me this root or turnip for my stomach and I'll give you ou'll getback this reindeer skin." :Den lapman kast sin renost bak i den borgar. :''Lappen ger renosten åt borgaren.'' :"The Sámi gives the reindeer cheese to the townsman." :Som du wara rätt stin. :''Du är mycket dyr.'' :"You are very expensive." :Hur sit din heit? :''Vad heter du?'' :"What's your name?"

References

{{authority control Pidgins and creoles Extinct languages of Europe Languages of Sweden Sámi languages Languages attested from the 18th century Pidgin and creole language stubs