Standard Swedish

Also known as rikssvenska (national Swedish), it derives from the dialects spoken in and around Stockholm, the Swedish capital city. Standard Swedish has some regional varieties, that are influenced by geographical dialects as well. As the Standard dialect, it is understood by virtually all language speakers, both in Sweden and Finland, where it is an official language, it is also the dialect taught to students of the language.

Norrland

Dialect of the Norrland region in the north of Sweden. In this region, several sub-dialects can be found, especially because there are many small villages and towns throughout the region. The Norrland dialect and its several sub-dialects have in common the differences they possess from Standard Swedish. An example of these differences is the drop of the suffix -er in the present tense of some verbs. For instance, han springer (he runs) in Standard Swedish, becomes han spring. This dialect also compounds certain adjectives and nouns. For example, the word långehåre in the Norrland dialect, was originally det långa håret (the long hair) in Standard Swedish.

Svealand

Svealand, like Norrland, is both a region in Central Sweden and the name given to the dialect spoken there. The Svealand dialect is then divided into sub-dialects: East Central Swedish, Middle Central Swedish, and the dialects of Dalarna. Unlike in most Swedish dialects, diphthongs are not found in any of the Svealand’s dialects.

Gotland

Also known as Gutnish, this dialect is spoken in the island of Gotland, Sweden’s largest island. The dialect derives from Old Gutnish, and not from Old Norse, like all other Swedish dialects. Gutnish is mainly spoken in southern Gotland and in Fårö, another island belonging to the Gotland Province. The most remarkable difference between Gutnish and Standard Swedish is the preservation of Old Norse diphthongs like ai. For example, in the word stain (stone), sten in Standard Swedish. Additionally, the dialect features a triphthong that does not exist in any other Norse language, iau, used for example in the word skiaute/skiauta (shoot), skjuta in Standard Swedish. It is still uncertain whether it is a dialect of Swedish or an independent language.

Götaland

Dialect of the central southern region of Sweden, namely Västergötland, Dalsland, Östergötland and the north of Halland and Småland. This dialect differs from Standard Swedish in vowel reduction: i becomes e and y becomes o. For example, flicka (girl) in Standard Swedish becomes flecka, and stygg (naughty) becomes stögg. Additionally, some plural endings differ from Standard Swedish. It is the case of husen (houses) in standard form, that becomes husa in Götaland, or flicker (girl), that becomes flecker.

South Swedish or Scanian

This dialect is spoken in Scania County, at the southernmost tip of Sweden. Due to the proximity of the area to Denmark, it is highly influenced by Danish in pronunciation and vocabulary. An example of this is the word elling (duckling) in South Swedish that is most similar to the Danish word æling than to the Swedish version andunge. What also sets this dialect apart is its jarring r sound and the changes of p, t, and k to b, d, and g, respectively: köpa (buy) becomes köba, prata (talk) becomes prada, and peka (point) becomes prega.

East Swedish or Finland Swedish

Swedish is one of the official languages of Finland, alongside Finnish. Finland Swedish is obviously influenced by the Finnish language and it has its own phonological and lexical rules, as the sentences order may change. Some Finnish loanwords have been adopted into the dialect and the vocabulary also differs from that of Standard Swedish.10 Additionally, there is a lack of intonation and melody, that is present in Swedish’s tonal characteristics.