View source for Gutnish

{{Short description|North Germanic language}}
{{Redirect-distinguish2|Gutamål|[[Gotlandic]], the local Swedish dialect spoken on Gotland and Fårö, or [[Götaland dialects]], the dialects of Swedish spoken in the Götaland provinces}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Gutnish
| altname = {{flatlist|
* Gutnic}}
| nativename = {{flatlist|
* {{lang|gmq-SE|Gutiske}}<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.gutamal.org/ordlista/?ord=gotland&sok=S%C3%B6k&sprak=svenska&urval=start | title=Gutamålsgillets Årdliste / Ordlista | date=14 October 2012 | access-date=2 May 2022 | archive-date=19 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419102624/https://gutamal.org/ordlista/?ord=gotland&sok=S%C3%B6k&sprak=svenska&urval=start | url-status=live }}</ref>
* {{lang|sv|Gutamål}}}}
| states = [[Sweden]]
| region = [[Gotland]], [[Fårö]]
| speakers = ~2,000–5,000
| date = 1998
| ref = <ref name="archive.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.gutamal.org:80/gillet/faq|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120828130434/http://www.gutamal.org/gillet/faq|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 August 2012|title=Vanliga frågor (faq)|date=28 August 2012|access-date=18 February 2018}}</ref><ref name="UNESCO"/>
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| fam3 = [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]]
| fam4 = East Scandinavian<ref name=Konig2013>{{cite book |last1=König |first1=Ekkehard |last2=Auwera |first2=Johan van der |title=The Germanic Languages |date=16 December 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-79958-0 |page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVBdAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22gutnish%22+%22east+scandinavian%22&pg=PA5 |language=en}}</ref>
| ancestor = [[Old Norse]]
| ancestor2 = [[Old East Norse]]
| ancestor3 = [[Old Gutnish]]
| dia1 = {{ubl|Mainland Gutnish (Laumål)|[[Fårömål dialect|Fårö Gutnish]] (Faroymal)}}
| iso3 = none
| linglist = swe-lau
| glotto = gutn1238
| glottorefname = Archaic Gutnish
| glotto2 = laum1238
| glottorefname2 = Laumål
| map = Lang Status 60-DE.svg
| mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Gutnish is classified as Definitely Endangered by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]'' (2010).<ref name="Evans 2011">{{cite web | last=Evans | first=Lisa | title=Endangered languages: the full list | website=The Guardian | date=15 April 2011 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/apr/15/language-extinct-endangered | access-date=28 February 2023 | archive-date=27 November 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127015526/http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/apr/15/language-extinct-endangered | url-status=live }}</ref>}}}} 
}}

'''Gutnish''' ({{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|ɡ|uː|t|n|ɪ|ʃ}} {{respell|GOOT|nish}}),<ref name="MerWeb">{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Gutnish|access-date=10 May 2019}}</ref> or rarely '''Gutnic'''<ref name="MerWeb"/> ({{langx|sv|gutniska}} or {{lang|sv|gutamål}}), is a [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic language]] spoken sporadically on the islands of [[Gotland]] and [[Fårö]].<ref name=e18>{{e18|swe|Swedish}}</ref> The different dialects of Gutnish, while stemming from the [[Old Gutnish]] ({{langx|sv|Forngutniska}}) variety of [[Old Norse]], are sometimes considered part of modern Swedish. Gutnish exists in two variants, Mainland Gutnish (''Storlandsgutamål'' or ''Storlandsmål''), mostly spoken in the southern and southeastern portion of Gotland, where the dialect of [[Lau, Gotland|Lau]] became the standard form on the Main Island (''Lau Gutnish'' → ''Laumål''), and [[Fårömål dialect|Fårö Gutnish]] (Gutnish: ''Faroymal''; {{langx|sv|Fårömål}}), spoken on the island of [[Fårö]]. [[UNESCO]] defines Gutnish as a "[[List of endangered languages in Europe|definitely endangered language]]" as of 2010.<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite book |year=2010 |editor-last=Moseley |editor-first=Christopher |title=Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/atlas-of-languages-in-danger/ |series=Memory of Peoples |edition=3rd |location=Paris |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |isbn=978-92-3-104096-2 |access-date=11 April 2015 |archive-date=13 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213064456/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/atlas-of-languages-in-danger/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some features of Gutnish include the preservation of Old Norse diphthongs like ''ai'' in for instance {{lang|gmq-SE|stain}} ({{langx|sv|sten}}; English: ''stone'') and ''oy'' in for example {{lang|gmq-SE|doy}} ({{langx|sv|dö}}; English: ''die''). There is also a [[triphthong]] that exists in no other Norse languages: ''iau'' as in {{lang|gmq-SE|skiaute}}/{{lang|gmq-SE|skiauta}} ({{langx|sv|skjuta}}; English: ''shoot'').

Many Gotlanders do not understand Gutnish, and speak [[Gotlandic]] ({{langx|sv|gotländska}}), a Gutnish-influenced Swedish dialect.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://urplay.se/program/218301-svenska-forklarad-gutamal-och-gotlandska|title=Svenska förklarad: Gutamål och gotländska &#124; UR Play|website=urplay.se|access-date=13 December 2020|archive-date=1 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001131256/https://urplay.se/program/218301-svenska-forklarad-gutamal-och-gotlandska|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are major efforts to revive the traditional version of Modern Gutnish and [[:sv: Gutamålsgillet|Gutamålsgillet]], the Gutnish Language Guild, organizes classes and meetings for speakers of traditional Gutnish. According to the guild's webpage, there are now 1,500 people using Gutnish on Facebook.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gotland.net/bo-leva/arkiv/gutamal-gutniska-gotlandska|title=Description of Gutnish on Gotland Tourism Website|access-date=24 May 2015|archive-date=14 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914124924/http://www.gotland.net/bo-leva/arkiv/gutamal-gutniska-gotlandska|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Phonology==
===Vowels===
The contrastive vowels in Modern Gutnish are {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, {{IPA|/ʏ/}}, {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/œ/}}, {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/ɔ/}}, {{IPA|/u/}}. Of these, all but {{IPA|/u/}} have a short and a long version. What is etymologically a long {{IPA|/uː/}} has been broken into the sequence {{IPA|[ʉu]}}.

A distinctive feature of Gutnish is the existence of a large number of sequences of vowel plus {{IPA|[ɪ]}} or {{IPA|[u]}} which form vocalic phonemes of their own. These sequences are the following: {{IPA|/eɪ/}}, {{IPA|/ɛɪ/}}, {{IPA|/œʏ/}}, {{IPA|/aɪ/}}, {{IPA|/ɔɪ/}}, {{IPA|/ʉu/}}, {{IPA|/eu/}}, {{IPA|/au/}}, {{IPA|/ɔu/}}.

Some of these sequences alternate with short vowels between different morphological forms of the same lexeme, cf. such pairs as "veit" {{IPA|/vɛɪt̪ʰ/}} 'white' (f.) ~ {{IPA|/vɪt̪ʰː/}} 'white' (n).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Jordan |first=Caspar |title=Documentation of Gutnish phonetics and phonology |year=2011}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
!rowspan=3|
!colspan=4| [[Front vowel|Front]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Central vowel|Central]]
!colspan=2 rowspan=2| [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-class=small
!colspan=2| [[Roundedness|unrounded]]
!colspan=2| [[Roundedness|rounded]]
|-class=small
! [[Short vowel|short]]
! [[Long vowel|long]]
! short
! long
! short
! short
! long
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|ɪ|ɪ}}
| {{IPA link|ɪ|ɪː}}
| {{IPA link|ʏ̫|ʏ}}
| {{IPA link|ʏː|ʏː}}
| {{IPA link|ʉ|ʉ}}
| {{IPA link|u}}
|
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
| {{IPA link|eː}}
|
| 
| rowspan="2" |({{IPA link|ə}})
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɔ}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɔː}}
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}}
|
| {{IPA link|œ|œ}}
| {{IPA link|œː|œː}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPA link|a|a}}
| {{IPA link|aː|aː}}
|
| 
|
|
|
|}

* {{IPA|/e, eː/}}, when preceding other vowels, {{IPA|/r/}}, or post-alveolar sounds, have a tendency to be more open {{IPA|[æ, æː]}}.
* {{IPA|[ə]}} can be heard after some elongated vowels.
* In Fårö Gutnish, {{IPA|/a, aː/}} are further backed {{IPA|[ɑ, ɑː]}}.
* {{IPA|/ɔ, ɔː/}} may be realized as more close {{IPA|[o, oː]}} when preceding a sonorant.
* {{IPA|/u/}} may be {{IPA|[ʊ]}} when unstressed.

===Consonants===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br>[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br>alveolar]]
! [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}} {{angbr|m}}
| {{IPA link|n̪}} {{angbr|n}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɳ}} {{angbr|rn}}
|
| {{IPA link|ŋ}} {{angbr|ng}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Stop consonant|Plosive]]/<br>[[Affricate]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}} {{angbr|p}}
| {{IPA link|t̪}} {{angbr|t}}
| {{IPA link|tʃ}} {{angbr|tj}}
| {{IPA link|ʈ}} {{angbr|rt}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}} {{angbr|k}}
|
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}} {{angbr|b}}
| {{IPA link|d̪}} {{angbr|d}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɖ}} {{angbr|rd}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɡ}} {{angbr|g}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|f}} {{angbr|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}} {{angbr|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} {{angbr|sj}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|h}} {{angbr|h}}
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|v}} {{angbr|v}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|
| {{IPA link|l}} {{angbr|l}}
|
| ({{IPA link|ɻ}} {{angbr|r}})
| {{IPA link|j}} {{angbr|j}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
|
| colspan="3" | {{IPA link|r̥}} ~ {{IPA link|ɹ̥}} {{angbr|r}}
|
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
|
| colspan="3" | {{IPA link|r}} ~ {{IPA link|ɹ}} {{angbr|r}}
|
|
|
|}

* Voiceless stops {{IPA|/p, t̪, k/}} may be aspirated {{IPA|[pʰ, t̪ʰ, kʰ]}}.
* {{IPA|/ɡ/}} may be heard as a fricative {{IPA|[ʝ]}} or as a fricative {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, when before palatal consonants or in palatal positions.
* {{IPA|/k/}} may be heard as palatalized {{IPA|[ç]}} when occurring before {{IPA|/v/}}. {{IPA|/v/}} is then heard as {{IPA|[ʋ]}}.
* {{IPA|/b/}} may be lenited as a fricative {{IPA|[β]}} randomly in word-initial positions.
* Sounds {{IPA|/l, n̪/}} may be heard as syllabic {{IPA|[l̩, n̪̩]}} when following consonants or especially in word-final positions.<ref name=":0" />

==Lexicon==
Gutnish has many words of its own that make it different from Swedish. The following is a small selection of Gutnish's everyday vocabulary:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutamal.org/ordlista/|title=Gutamålsgillets Årdliste / Ordlista|date=14 October 2012|access-date=16 February 2019|archive-date=18 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218143043/http://www.gutamal.org/ordlista/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope=col | Gutnish
! scope=col | Swedish
! scope="col" | Danish
! scope="col" | German 
! scope=col | English
|-
| {{lang|gmq-SE|päiku}} || {{lang|sv|flickan}} || pigen|| {{lang|de|das Mädchen}} || the girl / maiden 
|-
| {{lang|gmq-SE|sårken}} || {{lang|sv|pojken}} || drengen|| {{lang|de|der Junge / Knabe}} || the boy 
|-
| {{lang|gmq-SE|russe}} || {{lang|sv|hästen}} || hesten|| {{lang|de|das Pferd / Ross}} || the horse 
|-
| {{lang|gmq-SE|rabbis}} || {{lang|sv|kanin}} || kanin|| {{lang|de|Kaninchen}} || rabbit 
|-
| {{lang|gmq-SE|träsket}} || {{lang|sv|sjön}}, {{lang|sv|träsk}} (in proper names) || søen|| {{lang|de|der See}} || the lake / mere 
|-
| {{lang|gmq-SE|sjoen}} || {{lang|sv|havet}} || havet|| {{lang|de|das Meer / die See}} || the sea 
|}

==Status==
Gutnish is now under strong influence from the Swedish standard language, both through speaker contact and through media and (perhaps most importantly) written language. As a result, Gutnish has become much closer to the Swedish standard language. Due to the island's Danish and Hanseatic period there were also influences from [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Low German language|Low German]].<ref>Bengt Pamp: ''Svenska dialekter. Natur och Kultur'', Stockholm 1978, {{ISBN|91-27-00344-2}}, p. 76</ref> There are also many Gotlanders who do not learn the language, but speak a regionally colored variant of the standard Swedish (Gotlandic). This is characterized mainly by its intonation, but also by diphthongs and triphthongs, some lexical peculiarities as well as the infinitive ending ''-ä.''

The ''Gutamålsgillet'' association, which has been working for the preservation and revitalization of Gutnish since 1945, estimates that Gutnish is spoken today by 2,000 to 5,000 people.<ref name="archive.org"/> How many are still passive, is not specified. However, an interest in Gutnish seems to be present: From 1989 to 2011, the radio show ''Gutamål'' ran in Radio Gotland,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sverigesradio.se/gutamal|title=Alla avsnitt – Gutamål|first=Sveriges|last=Radio|website=sverigesradio.se|access-date=16 February 2019|archive-date=7 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407094829/https://sverigesradio.se/gutamal|url-status=live}}</ref> which regularly reached about 15,000 to 20,000 listeners,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutamal.org/gutamalsgillet/historia/|title=Historia|date=9 October 2012|access-date=16 February 2019|archive-date=26 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126160600/http://www.gutamal.org/gutamalsgillet/historia/|url-status=live}}</ref> and in 2008 [[Gotland University]] offered their first course in Gutnish. Gutamålsgillet collects writings of authors and poets who write their texts in Gutnish, and maintains a Swedish-Gutnish dictionary and an ever-growing list of Gotlandic neologisms.

In 2022, a citizen of the island of Gotland asked to use her surname with the Gutnish ending ''-dotri'' (instead of Swedish ''-dotter''). The authority appealed against the positive decision of the administrative court in Stockholm,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/skatteverket-darfor-overklagar-vi-beslutet-om-gutniska-efternamnet|title=Skatteverket: Därför överklagar vi beslutet om gutniska efternamnet|first=Katarina|last=Hedström|newspaper=Sveriges Radio|date=10 January 2023|via=sverigesradio.se|access-date=14 January 2023|archive-date=14 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114142734/https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/skatteverket-darfor-overklagar-vi-beslutet-om-gutniska-efternamnet|url-status=live}}</ref> but in the end, the Court of Appeal ruled that she was allowed to use a Gutnish surname.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/vandningen-julia-far-heta-andersdotri-i-efternamn|title=Vändningen: Julia får heta Andersdotri i efternamn|first=Patrik|last=Annerud|newspaper=Sveriges Radio|date=9 February 2023|via=sverigesradio.se|access-date=2 March 2023|archive-date=2 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302153859/https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/vandningen-julia-far-heta-andersdotri-i-efternamn|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Examples==
{{Poem quote
|text={{lang|gmq-SE|Nätt'l för manfolk u kungvall för kune.
Neie slags örtar för ymsedere.
Svalk di bei saudi, styrk di me dune
um däu jär djaupt i naudi nere!
Vävald pa raini, rindlaug i hagen
täusen sma kluckar gynnar ljaude.
Die aimar fran marki u rydmen av dagen
slucknar langum för livnes u daude.}}
|sign=Gustaf Larsson
|title={{lang|gmq-SE|Um kvälden}}
|source=<ref>Herbert Gustavson: ''Gutamålet – inledning till studium.'' 3.&nbsp;überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Barry Press Förlag, Visby 1977, S.&nbsp;62.</ref>}}
{{Poem quote
|title={{lang|gmq-SE|Staingylpen}}
|text={{lang|gmq-SE|Staingylpen gärdä bryllaup,
langhalu bigravdä läik,
tra torkä di däu sigderäivarä
va fyrä komst däu intä däit?}}
|sign=Nach P.A. Säve
|source=<ref>Herbert Gustavson: ''Gutamålet – inledning till studium.'' 3.&nbsp;überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Barry Press Förlag, Visby 1977, S.&nbsp;73.</ref>}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

===References===
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.gutamal.org/ Official site of the Modern Gutnish Guild]

{{Germanic languages}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Gutnish| ]]
[[Category:Gotland]]
[[Category:North Germanic languages]]
[[Category:Endangered Germanic languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Sweden]]
[[Category:Culture of Scandinavia]]
[[Category:Germanic languages]]