The Scandinavian languages : an introduction to their historyEinar Haugen1976

Questions commonly asked about the Scandinavian languages are: Is Finnish a Scandinavian language? Are Danish and Swedish mutually intelligible? How many languages are there in Norway? How is Icelandic related to the other Scandinavian languages? What is Faroese?

It is the purpose of this book to clear up such questions for the general reader, and at the same time provide sufficient detail for the more specialized scholar. This first account in English of the history and status of the Scandinavian languages is the result of a lifetime of teaching and research. The first seven chapters provide an introduction in non-technical terms, describing the nature and functions of the six standard languages of today: Danish, Dano-Norwegian, Faroese, Icelandic, New-Norwegian, Swedish. The remaining five chapters provide a detailed account of the historical development of these languages and many of the spoken dialects from Germanic and more especially from the Common Scandinavian spoken at the beginning of the Viking Age. Each chapter opens with a historical section, and a discussion of the sources that reflect the language of each epoch. Sketches are provided of the alphabets used, the phonology, morphology and syntax, as well as the lexicon, followed by texts that permit the reader to sample the flavour of the language. The periods treated in this way are the Prehistoric Era, Ancient Scandinavia, The Middle Ages, From Medieval to Modern, and Modern Times.