Do you speak Nordic?
Swedish is a North Germanic language and originally comes from Old Norse, the common language in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. Norwegians, Danes, Swedes and to some extent Icelanders often understand each other.
To further blur the boundaries, Swedish is one of two official languages in the fifth Nordic nation, Finland. Almost 300,000 people in Finland have Swedish as their first language. The Finns’ other official language, Finnish – spoken by some 200,000 to 250,000 in Sweden – is on the other hand a completely different language, with roots in the so-called Uralic languages.
When you read Swedish, you might recognise some words, because many words have German, French and English origin. Swedes often transcribe them to the Swedish spelling system, though.
Oh, and did you know that ‘Sweden’ is Sverige in Swedish?
*'Pratar du svenska?' means 'Do you speak Swedish?'.
