Modern Gutnish

Gutnish
Gutamål/Gutniska
Spoken in	Sweden
Region	Gotland
Native speakers	~500?
Language family	Indo-European Germanic North Germanic East Scandinavian Old Gutnish Gutnish
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Linguist List	non-gut

Modern Gutnish is the native language of the Gotlandic people on the island of Gotland in present-day Sweden. It was both a spoken and written language until late medieval times. Today it exists as a spoken language, but is to some degree mixed with Swedish, Danish and German. It is an open issue whether modern Gutnish is to be considered an independent language or a Scandinavian dialect. It derives, however, from Old Gutnish, which is indisputably a separate branch of the Old Norse language family.

Knowledge of Gutnish is relatively weak both among Gotlanders (Gutes) and other Swedes. It is spoken mainly in the southern parts of the island and in some parts of Fårö. Gutnish exists in two variants, Mainland Gutnish and Faroymal on Fårö. The Faroymal is considered the more archaic of the two forms.

Some features of Gutnish include the preservation of Old Norse diphthongs like ai in for instance stain (Swedish sten, English stone) and oy in for example doy (Swedish dö, English die). There is also a triphthong that exists in no other Norse languages: iau as in skiaute/skiauta (Swedish skjuta, English shoot).

Comparison with other Germanic languages

English	Dutch	Norwegian (Bokmål)	Norwegian (Nynorsk)	Danish	German	Gutnish	Icelandic	Swedish	Faroese
eye	oog	øye	auge/auga	øje	Auge	auge/auga	auga	öga	eyga
hear	horen	høre	høyre/høyra	høre	hören	hoyre/hoyra	heyra	höra	hoyra
sleep	slapen	sove	sove/sova	sove	schlafen	sive/siva	sofa	sova	sova
evil	euvel (kwaad)	ond	vond	ond	Übel	aumbr	vondur	ond	óndur
ship	schip	skip	skip	skib	Schiff	skip	skip	skepp	skip
sing	zingen	synge	syngje/syngja	synge	singen	singe/singa	syngja	sjunga	syngja
high	hoog	høy	høg	høj	hoch	haug(r)	hár	hög	høgur/háur
right	rechts	høyre	høgre	højre	rechts	hygar	hægri	höger	høgra
boat	boot	båt	båt	båd	Boot	bat	bátur	båt	bátur
over	over	over	over/yver	over	über	yvar	yfir	över	yvir
shoot	schieten	skyte	skyte/skyta / skjote/skjota	skyde	schießen	skiaute/skiauta	skjóta	skjuta	skjóta

Example

Gutnish KERLAIKINS SKAVLGARD Ja gikk til kerlaikins skavlgard U sag va ja aldri hadde sét A kýrko var der byggd Der ja fýrr laikede pa de grýnu U lukar til hissu kýrku var lukede U ”Dú skalt inte”, ritet yvar duri So ja vende mi til kerlaikins skavlgard Sum so mange sýme blómar berde, U ja sag hann fylldar me gravar U gravstainar der blómar skulde vare U prestar i svarte klédin, ganes síne rundar U bindnes me napltynne, míne gledar u kéar av William Blake (1757–1827)

English THE GARDEN OF LOVE I went to the Garden of Love, And saw what I never had seen: A Chapel was built in the midst, Where I used to play on the green. And the gates of this Chapel were shut, And Thou shalt not. writ over the door; So I turn'd to the Garden of Love, That so many sweet flowers bore. And I saw it was filled with graves, And tomb-stones where flowers should be: And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds, And binding with briars, my joys & desires. by William Blake (1757–1827)

External links

• Gutniska / Gutamål
• Gutamålet by Bosse Carlgren