Danish language, alphabet and pronunciation

Danish has always been associated with the great conquests of the Vikings. The great cultural heritage of the country is just such an unspoken name. A large number of dialects, as well as the discrepancy between spoken and written speech, on the one hand, makes it difficult to learn, and on the other hand, attracts more and more people who want to learn Danish. Despite the fact that it sometimes sounds monotonous and slow, the Danes are proud of it and consider it very soft and sensual.

Origin history

The language of Denmark was classified as Germanic and is official in the kingdom. It began to develop in the Middle Ages. In the process of its development, it combined many Scandinavian languages, and also fell under the influence of Low German dialects. Starting from the 17th century, he began to absorb words from the French language, and a little later from English. Danish has a rich past. It is believed that the origin occurred in the III millennium BC, this is evidenced by the ancient runes found later on in the country. Danish refers to the Old Norse languages. In the era when the resettlement of the Vikings began, it was divided into two parts: East Scandinavian and West Scandinavian. The Danish and Swedish languages ​​subsequently formed from the first group, and Icelandic and Norwegian from the second.

The Danish script is based on Latin, from which the language has incorporated some letters. Before it, runes were used, which became the first written monuments of this country. The word "rune" in translation from Old Norse meant "secret knowledge." It seemed to the Danes that transmitting information using symbols was in some way similar to a magical rite. The priests were almost magicians, since only they knew how to use them. They used runes in predicting fate and performing rites. This was possible because each rune had its own name, and it was given a special meaning. Although linguists have a different opinion. They suggest that this information was borrowed from Sanskrit.

Distribution area

The main places of Danish distribution are Canada, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The language is native to more than 5 million people and is in second place in the group of Scandinavian dialects. Until the mid-40s, it was official in Norway and Iceland. Currently studied by Icelandic schoolchildren as the second required. It will be much easier for anyone who knows any European language to learn Danish due to the huge influence of German dialects on him.

At the moment, a threat looms over Danish. Despite the fact that the Scandinavian languages ​​are very popular and such a large number of people speak them, English speech makes serious changes to their structure. As for Denmark, the fact is that many books here are printed in English. Products are also advertised in this language. Lessons in schools prefer to lead on it, and write scientific dissertations, too. On the territory of Denmark , the Danish Language Council operates, whose members are sounding the alarm. If no measures are taken, then in a couple of decades Danish will simply disappear.

General characteristics of the language

The Scandinavian language group includes Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish. The latter is more prone to change than the rest. It is thanks to this phenomenon that Danish is difficult to understand and study. It is very easy for Norwegians, Swedes and Danes to understand each other due to their common language. Many words in the speech of these peoples are similar, and many are repeated without change in meaning. Due to the simplification of the Danish morphology, its structure became similar to the structure of the English language.

Dialects

Around the year 1000, this dialect developed some deviations from the norm adopted at that time, and it was divided into three branches: Skoysky, Zeelandsky and Yutlandsky. The language of the Danes is a multi-dialect language. Danish combined a large number of island (Zeeland, Funen), Jutland (north-east, south-west) dialects. Despite its rich history, literary language was formed here only towards the end of the 18th century. It is based on the Zeeland dialect. Dialects are spoken by people mainly living in rural areas. All adverbs differ in both vocabulary and grammar. Many of the words spoken in dialects are unknown to people who have long been accustomed to the usual literary norm.

Alphabet

The Danish alphabet consists of 29 letters, many of them are not found in the Russian language, so their pronunciation requires some preparation.

Pronunciation

The Danes call it "the most melodic language." Danish is famous for its complicated sound due to the large number of soft vowels, which are sometimes pronounced too hard. As a result, the words do not sound at all the way they are written. Not everyone can hear the difference between vowels. They can be long, short, open and closed. “Push” is a very important feature that characterizes this language. Danish may not seem entirely logical because of this phenomenon. The fact is that push is absent in most languages. It is characterized by a short interruption of the air stream during the pronunciation of the word. On the letter he is not indicated in any way. In Russian, this phenomenon can be seen when pronouncing the word "not-a". The Danes themselves do not always use it correctly, and this makes the Danish language even more confusing.

Grammar

Not every nation can boast that it has a rich history. The great Scandinavian language has left its mark on the structure of some modern languages. Danish is in the structure of its article sentences. Many nouns can refer to two kinds at once, and their structure is completely unchanged. Adjectives are consistent with nouns in number and gender. Offers are usually two-part. The word order in a sentence can be either direct or reverse. The direct word order is used in narrative sentences, interrogative, where the interrogative word appears instead of the subject. The reverse word order can be used both in narrative sentences and in interrogative and incentive ones.

Morphology

Danish nouns have a gender, number and case, an article. The latter identifies the number and gender of the noun. He has a plural and singular, and the gender can be general and average. The adjective may be definite and indefinite. If the adjective is indefinite, it is consistent with the noun in number and gender. The verb has tense, voice and mood. In total, the Danish language has 8 time categories, 2 of which are responsible for the future tense, 2 - for the future in the past, present, present completed, past and long past.

Word formation of nouns involves endings and changing root vowels. Compounding is the most common way of word formation. It can also occur by adding suffixes to the root, removing suffixes, or conversion. In Danish, new concepts are easily formed.