by: Madeleine Berggren, Lucas Ersson, Viktor Granström, Linda Nilsson and Emelie Sun
Although Swedish is a relatively minor language, a growing number of non-Swedes around the world are learning it. Swedish has become hip. But how do young Swedes feel about their own language? Sweden.se asked a group of young journalists to find out.
Madeleine Berggren, Lucas Ersson and Emelie Sun are three of the reporters who have helped Sweden.se find out about young Swedes' relationship to Swedish. Photo: Cumulus
Like most languages, Swedish is constantly developing. In recent years, usage has changed as a result of new media such as mobile phone texting and net chatting, but Swedish has also been strongly influenced by the “world language” English.
Young Swedes generally like the Swedish language and feel it gives them an identity. Yet “Swenglish” is on the increase among today’s youth. Many feel that English has a broader vocabulary than Swedish, which makes it easier to absorb English words and expressions.
In this development, Swedes have been mainly influenced by the Anglo-Saxon culture. Many young people prefer English-language music to Swedish. Also, Swedes are constantly surrounded by English because, apart from some children’s films, English-language films and TV series are not dubbed in Sweden.
“I think English is going to become more common as a spoken language in the future, but the basics of Swedish will still be around, particularly in written language,” says Per, 17, and many young people agree with him.
Sofia, 17, adds: “Swedish is only commonly used in the Nordic countries, and in the future I think Sweden will become even more internationalized.”
“Swedified” English
Language professor Sture Allén agrees with this prediction, and argues that a command of English is important if Swedes are to communicate properly with the outside world, not least when doing business. Allén was formerly head of the Swedish Academy (Permanent Secretary), an institution that decides which words are to be formally incorporated into the Swedish language by issuing new editions of the Academy’s dictionary. The Academy also awards the Nobel Prize in Literature.
What language professor Sture Allén doesn't know about Swedish is not worth knowing. Photo: Mark Earthy/Scanpix
Allén insists there is no evidence that English is in the process of taking over the Swedish language. In the past, for instance, German in various forms has influenced Swedish, but it has nevertheless survived intact. The reason is that Swedes have preserved their inherited vocabulary while at the same time assimilating the new words both grammatically and in pronunciation.
So despite the fact that Swedish has undergone a natural change process, borrowed words have been adapted, or “Swedified.” Email, for instance, is often spelled mejl in Swedish, or turned into e-post, while bug has become bugg. But spoken Swedish has also drawn on English to create totally new words. Thus delete becomes deleta, scroll scrolla and peak peaka.
R U a txter?
In texting and so-called chat-speak, correct Swedish often loses out, because messages need to be short. Blogging, which is now very widespread, is also influencing usage.
Some think this is a favorable development in that it suits the young generation. “Texting is cool, well fairly, anyway,” says Moses, 17. But some young people are divided in their views on the “new language,” noting that while it may indeed spoil Swedish it is convenient and practical to use.
Lagom is a very commonly occurring Swedish word. A rough translation would be "moderate" — something characteristic of Sweden and the Swedes, perhaps? Illustration: Ana Esteban
Slang also affects language usage among young Swedes. ”I often mix in English words and slang expressions when I talk, but actually it sounds rather ugly,” says Per.
Today, young people tend to use slang when talking to one another but rarely with adults. “I believe that if you’ve learned Swedish in another country and then come here, it’s probably hard to understand the way many young people speak,” says Victoria, 16.
“Poorer quality of language”
Some teachers in Swedish schools are afraid that slang, texting and chat-speak will cause students’ written language to deteriorate, but most young people don’t agree.
Swedish teacher Åsa Sundin doesn’t believe that texting and chat-speak will change the language in any profound way. “As long as we teach the students what’s right and what’s wrong, I think they’ll adjust and know when they need to use a more formal style of language than when writing to their friends,” she says. “But you can see how certain abbreviations are sneaking into the students’ essays nowadays — e instead of är (to mean is), and de instead of det (to mean it), for instance.”
“These new media pose quite a danger,” says Professor Allén. “Books and printed newspapers become less important, and the language that young people use most — whether texting, chatting or blogging — doesn’t possess anything like the same linguistic quality.” He fears that in the long run this may weaken the Swedish language.
Viktor Granström and Linda Nilsson are part of the editorial team behind this article. Photo: Cumulus
To preserve or not to preserve, that is the question
Is, then, the Swedish language as we know it worth preserving? A new language law is expected in Sweden shortly. It will make Swedish the main language of Sweden, which — formally — it has not been up to now. The aim of the law is to maintain the status of Swedish in future years. Many young people think the language law is a good idea.
If Allén is right, the Swedish language would seem to be a large part of the Swedish culture and heritage. That’s why, he says, preserving it is tremendously important.
A slightly different opinion is offered by Fredrik Lindström, a popular linguist, who says: “Many believe that we have a responsibility to preserve the language, but it would be more correct to say that we have a duty to change it.” So in the final analysis, it depends who you ask.
You can hear some Swedish if you go to our Sidewalk Sweden films by clicking on the banner in the right column. How do you like the sound of it? Feel free to comment below!
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Related links
www.svenskaakademien.se — The Swedish Academy
www.sprakradet.se — The Language Council of Sweden
www.studyinsweden.se/learn_swedish — Studyinsweden.se: learning Swedish
www.si.se — The Swedish Institute: learning Swedish outside of Sweden
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Madeleine Berggren, Lucas Ersson, Viktor Granström, Linda Nilsson and Emelie Sun
All the authors attend the Åva High School in Täby outside Stockholm, where they are journalists on the school newspaper Cumulus, which won the “Little Journalist Prize” (Lilla Journalistpriset) 2008.
Madeleine Berggren has already lived in many parts of the world, but only five years in Sweden.
Lucas Ersson enjoys working with layout and design. The ugliest Swedish word he knows is korv (sausage).
Viktor Granström likes writing short stories in the fantasy genre, but also writes about language in Cumulus.
Linda Nilsson both takes photos and writes for Cumulus. Her passion is painting and drawing, meeting new people and trying to change things in society.
Emelie Sun is interested in languages and speaks Swedish, Chinese and English. Her favorite Swedish word is horisont (horizon).
www.cumulusweb.com
The authors alone are responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.
Translation: Stephen Croall
Classification: A274EN
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