Suzanne's Mom's Blog

Photo: Visit Dalarna.
One of the languages spoken in Älvdalen, Sweden, has the charmingly elvish-sounding name of Elfdalian. Älvdalen is part of Dalarna, the area best known for colorful wooden horses.

I’m always interested in learning about endangered languages, and the radio show The World introduced me to one tucked away in the Swedish town Älvdalen.

Älvdalen appears to be a part of Sweden that, for context, is closer to that Norwegian Olympic site Lillehammer than to better known Swedish towns.

Bianca Hillier reported at The World that “an organization called Ulum Dalska, based in a small Swedish town called Älvdalen, is on a mission.  For decades, members have been working hard to help save a language called Elfdalian, a remnant of Old Norse.

“ ‘We had our first meeting on the 1st of June in 1984,’ said press secretary Björn Rehnström. ‘And the biggest hall in Älvdalen was filled with people.’

“Elfdalian sounds nothing like the country’s national language, Swedish, which Rehnström said destabilized the language about 100 years ago. At that point, Elfdalian became stigmatized.

“Ulla Schütt, also a Ulum Dalska member, saw the impact firsthand while growing up in Älvdalen.

“ ‘My parents spoke Elfdalian with each other, and with my grandma and my aunts and uncles and everyone around,’ Schütt said. ‘But when they turned to me, they spoke Swedish.’

“Schütt said her parents spoke Swedish with her because that’s what was spoken in schools. Students were even discouraged to speak Elfdalian in the classroom. Now, there’s only about 2,500 speakers left. But people are getting creative in the fight to change that trend.

“The language is getting a boost on Minecraft. Musicians are releasing new songs with Elfdalian lyrics. Several children’s books were also translated into Elfdalian, including Le Petit Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

“Additionally, Rehnström helps run a popular Facebook group that offers courses in the Elfdalian language, where he posts lessons to the group’s 1,800 global members.

“ ‘[People are from] America, Australia, South America, Indonesia, Haiti, Cape Verde,’ he said. …

“The local government supports the teaching and preservation of Elfdalian. … The language is also recognized on an international level. In 2016, it was assigned an ISO language code, which helps the internet distinguish one language from another.

“But the national government of Sweden is a different story. They currently consider Elfdalian a dialect of Swedish, not its own language.

“Speaking in Elfdalian, Swedish MP Peter Helander recently asked Parliament why that’s the case. But before Culture Minister Amanda Lind could answer the question, the parliamentary speaker interrupted them both to say that only Swedish may be spoken in the chamber. Helander said the ‘only Swedish’ remark proves his point, that Elfdalian should be considered its own language. …

“Schütt said every time a language dies — which some research suggests is as often as once every two weeks — it is a sad moment. To her, losing Elfdalian would be an especially tragic loss. …

“Getting Elfdalian recognized as a language by the Swedish government, she added, is key to making sure that death doesn’t come.”

Read more about Elfdalian at The World, here, and at the blog Transly, here.

Dala horses come from the region where Elfdalian is one of the languages spoken.