TRANSLATE FROM / TO SWEDISH

Services of translation from / into Swedish in our translation agency are performed by certified professional translators of Swedish language.

We provide translation from / into Swedish for both enterprises, including state organizations, and for private individuals as well. Our services involve all types of written / oral translation from / into Swedish, including simultaneous interpretation.

SOME FACTS

Swedish language, member of the North Germanic, or Scandinavian, group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. It is the official language of Sweden and one of the official languages of Finland, and it is spoken by about 9 million people: 8,500,000 in Sweden and 500,000 elsewhere, chiefly in Finland, Norway, and Estonia. A descendant of Old Norse, the Swedish language falls into two major periods historically: Old Swedish, the early form of the language (usually dated from the 9th cent. to the early 16th cent.), and New Swedish, the modern form of the language (since the early 16th cent.). The Swedish language underwent many changes during the Middle Ages but began to be standardized in the 16th cent. as a result of such events as the throwing off of Danish domination, the Reformation, and the translation of the Bible into Swedish. In 1786 the Swedish Academy was established to oversee the development of the language. Swedish absorbed a number of words from Low German in the Middle Ages, from High German in the 16th and 17th cent., from French in the 18th cent., and from English in the 20th cent. On the whole, Swedish grammar is simple. The noun has only the singular, possessive, and plural forms. There are two genders for nouns, a nonneuter (or common) class and a neuter class. The former includes masculine, feminine, and common nouns; the latter, nouns for such categories as countries and substances and also many abstract nouns. Swedish is noted for its musical quality. This results partly from the use of pitch accents, which sometimes serve to differentiate the meanings of homonyms. There is considerable difference between the spoken and written forms of Swedish. For example, a number of inflections used in literary Swedish are not employed in the spoken language. Until the early 13th cent., runes were used for recording Swedish, but thereafter (as Christianity took hold in Scandinavia) they began to be replaced by the Roman alphabet, to which three symbols, a, a, and o, have been added.

SWEDISH: a language of Sweden
SIL code: SWD
ISO 639-1: sv
ISO 639-2: swe

Population 7,825,000 in Sweden, 93% of the population (1986), including 5,000 speakers of Gutniska (1998 Sven Hakansson). Gutniska has 10,000 second language speakers. Population total all countries 9,000,000 (1999 WA).

Region The Gota dialect group is southern, including parts of Smaland, south Swedish provinces, Varmland, Vastergvtland; the Svea dialect group is northern, including Halsingland, parts of Ostergotland and Uppland, and the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland. Southern Swedish is in Skaane, Blekinge, southern Smaland, southern Halland. Northern Swedish is from northern Halsingland and Jamtland and northwards. Eastern Swedish is in Finland, Estonia, and Gammalsvenskby, Ukraine. Gutnic is in southeastern Isle of Gotland and Faaroe. Nearly extinct in Estonia. Also spoken in Canada, Estonia, Finland, Norway, UAE, USA.

Alternate names SVENSKA, RUOTSI

Dialects NORTHERN SWEDISH (NORRLAND), EASTERN SWEDISH (FINLAND SWEDISH, ESTONIAN SWEDISH), SVEA, GUTNISKA (GUTAMAL, GOTLANDIC, GUTNIC).

Classification Indo-European, Germanic, North, East Scandinavian, Danish-Swedish, Swedish.

Comments 'Proper' Swedish is considered to be spoken in Svealand. Dialect investigation is needed of diverse varieties Gutniska, Overkalixmal, Norpes, Pitemal, provinces around the Bothnic Sea (Vasterbotten and Norbotten in Sweden, and Oesterbotten in Finland), and the island of Gotland. Gutniska is descended from Forngutniska (Old Gotlandic), which is ranked as a separate language. A mixed variety, with Turkish influence, Rinkebysvenska, is used among immigrants. There are, or were, Swedish varieties spoken in Estonia and Ukraine which are now more or less extinct. See separate listing for Skane, often called Southern Swedish. Investigation needed: intelligibility with Gutniska, Overkalixmal, Pitemal, Norpes, Skane. National language. Bible 1541-1999.

Also spoken in:
Finland Language name SWEDISH
Population 296,000 in Finland, 5.7% of the population (1997).
Dialects STANDARD SWEDISH, OSROBOTHNIAN, ALAND ISLANDS SWEDISH, SOUTHWEST FINLAND SWEDISH, UUSIMAA SWEDISH.
Comments Swedish Finns have a distinctive pronunciation compared to the dialect in Sweden, but no apparent difficulty in intelligibility. Some Ostrobothnian dialects are intelligible to others with difficulty. Perhaps 3/4 of speakers are fluent in Finnish, 1/4 are totally bilingual. National language. Bible 1541-1999.