A Scandinavian language

The Swede   Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:21 am GMT
Have to say that when you translate a German word for example "die Landschaft" the correct translation is "landskapet" not "ett landskap" because that means "eine Landschaft".
And yes as ultrix said and the guest too many words from German and "Scandinavian" is very similar, and it is because during the history has Scandinavia "always" been influenced by the Germans and their seatrade they had during those days.
Walker, Texas Ranger   Fri Nov 11, 2005 12:37 pm GMT
Like The Swede pointed out, it should be:

Some nouns:
die Ursache = orsaken [u:r'sa:k] (the reason to sth)
die Gemeinschaft = gemenskapen (the community)
die Eigenschaft = egenskapen (the feature)
das Leben = livet (the life)
der Grabstein = gravstenen (the gravestone)
thomas (danish)   Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:07 pm GMT
hey, it's me from denmark. i haven't written anything in here because i've started at a new school. it is called bording school in english or something like that.

a swede wrote this
PS: Jag hoppas att alla nordbor skall tala deras språk så tydligt som möjligt när de talar med människor från andra nordiska länder. Detta gäller speciellt danskar, kasta potatisen (heter det 'kartoffeln' på danska?) ur munnen! ;-)

here is the danish version

PS: Jeg håber at alle nordboere skal tale deres sprog så tydligt som muligt når de taler med mennesker fra andre nordiske lande. Dette gælder specielt danskere, kast kartoffelen (hedder det "kartoffelen" på dansk?) ud af munden.

Also, a norwegian wrote something about the danish pronounce

in danish, we also use bønder and bønner. we do not pronounce them the same way.
Walker, Texas Ranger   Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:49 pm GMT
Hey, thomas. You should check out www.langcafe.net
Maybe you want to join?
ultrix   Mon Nov 21, 2005 12:50 am GMT
Eh, did you both miss the last line? :D

it said:
"note also that german articles der-die-das are definite whereas swedish en and ett are indefinite. i've used the "dictionary form" of the words in both languages, id est the nominative / infinitive forms."
Travis   Wed Nov 23, 2005 8:41 am GMT
>>Have to say that when you translate a German word for example "die Landschaft" the correct translation is "landskapet" not "ett landskap" because that means "eine Landschaft".
And yes as ultrix said and the guest too many words from German and "Scandinavian" is very similar, and it is because during the history has Scandinavia "always" been influenced by the Germans and their seatrade they had during those days.<<

It must be emphasized, though, that what influenced the East North Germanic languages, and indirectly the continental North Germanic languages together (due to Bokmål and especially Riksmål effectively being localized Danish, even though various Norwegian dialects may be more West North Germanic in character than it), was not that which most know of as German today, or its predecessor Middle High German at that, but rather was Middle Low Saxon (also known as Middle Low German). Consequently, the West Germanic words borrowed into the East North Germanic languages clearly show a low rather than high phonology, as shown by words like Swedish "betala" (Low Saxon "betahlen", "betohlen", German "bezahlen").
Sander   Wed Nov 23, 2005 1:45 pm GMT
The Netherlands and Sweden had a very lively and profitable wood/timber trade, so 'betala' just consider Dutch "betalen".And "landskapet" is 'landschap' but the 'sch' in Dutch is close to 'sk' , because of that Afrikaans uses 'landskap' for landscape.
Sander   Wed Nov 23, 2005 1:48 pm GMT
Edit

=>because of that <=

Delete that part and put 'even' in front of 'uses. :-)
Sander   Tue Dec 06, 2005 5:29 am GMT
Fredrik are you German?
Travis   Tue Dec 06, 2005 5:58 am GMT
>>The Netherlands and Sweden had a very lively and profitable wood/timber trade, so 'betala' just consider Dutch "betalen".And "landskapet" is 'landschap' but the 'sch' in Dutch is close to 'sk' , because of that Afrikaans uses 'landskap' for landscape.<<

Mind you, though, that there was heavier influence from the Hanse, which had Middle Low Saxon as its lingua franca, to the degree that there was significant settlement of Middle Low Saxon-speakers in urban areas of Sweden and Denmark, which had an effect upon Swedish and Danish like that of Old Norse upon English, except probably moreso (a very large amount of native Old Norse-based vocabulary was replaced or displaced by Middle Low Saxon-based vocabulary, and contact with Middle Low Saxon most likely helped greatly accelerate the movement towards analysis in Swedish and Danish).
Larry Kueneman   Sat Dec 17, 2005 4:57 am GMT
I am to act as Hans Christian Anderson in a "Dickens Festival" to promote literacy. I am looking for a recording of someone speaking English whose native language is Danish in order to get a feel for the accent.
Thanks for any help. L.kueneman@verizon.net
Valamar   Fri Jun 23, 2006 4:22 pm GMT
I know I'm new in here, but a friend of mine suggested...

Anyone here speak decent English with a Danish accent?
I am a writer and I often use spoken sentances to get the feel of the story. I really need a purky, energetic sounding Danish American girl sound to make the story flow better. Sound wav/mp3 would be fine in email.
Arthur   Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:47 pm GMT
Some questions on the North Germanic vowels,

When I was studying Swedish, I learned the contrast between short and long vowels. This contrast apart from being quantitative (length) is qualitative (sound).
So, the difference between short and long a, e, i, o, å, ä and ö is not just the length but it is also a different vowel sound as well.
But what I never identified was:
- if there was a qualitative difference between short and long u, y.
- if there was a difference between u and y at all.
I asked some Germans about the sound difference between ü (corresponding to Swedish u) and y, and they surprinsingly told me that they couldn't find some difference.

Anyone who can clarify this questions? for the second one, a German speaking person is welcomed too.

On the other hand:
- in an aproximative to a standard spoken Norwegian, is the same contrast valid as well, and for all the mentioned vowels?, for less?, for all?
- how about Danish? as far as I know it is much more complex than a parallel contrast... do long and short vowels exist as well or do they express the change in sound but not in length?
Arthur   Sat Aug 19, 2006 5:13 pm GMT
Är det ingen där ute som kan svara på min fråga?
HT, hur ser det ut hos dig?

Vi hörs,
Fredrik fra Norge   Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:55 am GMT
Arthur:
Spørsmålene dine er interessante, men ganske kompliserte. Men jeg håper å kunne svare på dem i løpet av det kommende semesteret, for nå skal jeg begynne å studere "nordisk" (= norsk).