View source for Jämtland dialects

{{Short description|Language spoken in Jämtland, Sweden}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Expand Swedish|Jämtska|date=July 2018}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2022}}
}}

{{infobox language
| name             = Jämtland dialects
| altname          = Jamtish<ref name="Multitree">{{cite web|title=Jamtska|url=http://multitree.org/codes/non|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141226234002/http://multitree.org/codes/jmk|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 December 2014|publisher=[[Linguist List|LINGUIST List]]|access-date=5 March 2025}}</ref>
| nativename       = ''jamska'', ''jamtska''<ref name="Multitree"/>
| region           = [[Jämtland]]
| speakers         = 30,000
| date             = 2000
| ref              = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=jmk|title=Jamtska|publisher=[[Ethnologue]]|access-date=2025-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503083806/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=jmk|archive-date=2006-05-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| fam3             = [[Northwest Germanic]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/olde1239 |title=Older Runic |date=2022-05-24 |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last=Hammarström |first=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221113105941/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/olde1239 |archive-date=2022-11-13 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}</ref>
| fam4             = [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]]
| fam5             = West or East Scandinavian<ref>Dalen, Arnold (2005).  [http://www.sprakrad.no/Trykksaker/Spraaknytt/Spraaknytt_3_2005/Jemtsk_og_troendersk/ Jemtsk og trøndersk – to nære slektningar] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070318193458/http://www.sprakrad.no/Trykksaker/Spraaknytt/Spraaknytt_3_2005/Jemtsk_og_troendersk/ |date=18 March 2007 }}. Språkrådet, Norway. (In Norwegian). Retrieved 13 November 2007.</ref>
| fam6             = 
| fam7             = 
| iso3             = none
| linglist         = jmk
| lingname         = (retired ISO code)
| glotto           = jamt1238
| glottorefname    = Jamtska
| map              = File:Sverigekarta-Landskap Jämtland.svg
| mapscale         = 0.7
| mapcaption       = Jämtland in northern Sweden
| isoexception     = 
| ietf             = gmq-u-sd-sez
}}
{{Swedish language sidebar}}'''Jämtland dialects''' (endonym ''jamska'' {{IPA|mis|ˈjâmskɐ᷈|}}; {{langx|sv|jämtska, jämtmål}}) are a group of [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic dialects]] spoken in the [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[provinces of Sweden|province]] of [[Jämtland]]. In the eastern part of Jämtland the dialects are transitional to those of [[Ångermanland]]. The dialect group is commonly regarded and treated as a single entity. Some people{{Who|date=July 2022}} consider it a language separate from Swedish.

The dialects share many characteristics with [[Trøndersk]] — the dialect spoken to the west in Norwegian [[Trøndelag]], and has historically sometimes been considered to be Norwegian in origin.{{Sfn|Noreen|1907|p=112}} The current view in Scandinavian dialectology, however, is that they belong in either the East or West Scandinavian branch.

==Name==
The local name for the dialects is ''jamska''. There is, however, no common term for the dialects in English, and academic sources call them by various names, such as ''jamska'', ''jämtska'', ''Jämtish dialect'', ''Jämtlandic dialect'', ''Jämtland dialects'' or ''dialects of Jämtland''.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

The endonym ''jamska'' is technically a definite form; the indefinite form ''jaamsk/jamske'' is rarely used.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

== Characteristics ==
{{Original research section|reason=Many claims in this section appear to be conclusions that are inferred from the sources given by a second party.|date=July 2022}}

=== Vowel balance ===
Like all other central Scandinavian dialects (Trønder dialects, east Norwegian dialects, Norrland dialects, some Finland Swedish dialects), the most characteristic feature of the Jämtland dialects is vowel balance, an event that caused the vowel endings after heavy syllables to weaken and later even drop entirely in some dialects moving the tone over from ending to the root syllable, example Old Norse ''kasta'' {{IPA|[kʰɑ̂stɑ᷈]}} > {{IPA|[kʰɑ̂stə᷈]}} (> {{IPA|[kʰɑ̂.ɑ᷈st]}} "to throw"), while the endings after light syllables instead were reinforced, and even caused a type of umlaut or vowel harmony on the root vowel (example Old Norse ''lifa'' {{IPA|[liβɑ]}} > {{IPA|[liβɑˑ]}} > {{IPA|[le̞ʋa]}} > {{IPA|[lɐ̂ʋɐ᷈]}} "to live"). According to one theory, this phenomenon has its roots in influence from the neighbouring Saami languages in medieval times.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kusmenko|first=Jurij|title=The origin of Vowel Balance in Swedish and Norwegian dialects|year=2007}}</ref>

=== Prosody ===
The Old Norse phonemic contrast of light and heavy syllables is partly preserved in eastern Jämtland dialects,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Flemström|first=Bertil|url=http://www.jamtamot.org/dokument/dok.jamska/flemstrom-bertil.de-ostjamtska-malen.pdf|title=De östjämtska målen|access-date=April 23, 2021}}</ref> and to some degree in Western Jämtland dialects<ref>{{Cite book|last=Geijer|first=Herman|title=Tilljämningens ock apokopens utbredningsvägar|year=1922}}</ref> and in the Oviken parish in southwestern Jämtland.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Österberg|first=Karl Lorenz|title=Ovikens Bygdemål i Jämtland|year=1914}}</ref> In eastern Jämtland and in Oviken parish, short stressed syllables are preserved from Old Norse words like ''hǫku'' 'chin', ''lifa'' 'to live', which have evolved to {{IPA|[hô̞ke̞᷈]}} in Fors parish, {{IPA|[hɔ̂ke̞᷈]}} in Ragunda and Stugun parishes, {{IPA|[hɞ̂kɛ᷈]}} in Hällesjö parish,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vestlund|first=Alfred|title=Medelpads folkmål|year=1923|pages=24}}</ref> and {{IPA|[hôkɵ᷈]}} in Oviken parish,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Österberg|first=Karl Lorenz|title=Ovikens bygdemål i Jämtland|year=1914|pages=92}}</ref> while ''lifa'' has become [læ̂ʋa᷈] or similar in all of the parishes.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vestlund|first=Alfred|title=Medelpads folkmål|year=1923|pages=26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Österberg|first=Karl Lorenz|title=Ovikens bygdemål i Jämtland|year=1914|pages=15}}</ref> In western Jämtland, the short syllables are less stable, and are often lengthened to long or half-long in accent 2 words, but is preserved in accent 1 words: Old Norse ''svið'' 'burned' has become [sʋɛ̂] in Åre parish,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Geijer|first=Herman|title=Tilljämningens ock apokopens utbredningsvägar|pages=22}}</ref> while accent 2 words like Old Norse ''lofa'' 'to promise', ''duna'' 'to make noise', which have evolved to {{IPA|[lɔ̂ˑʋo̞᷈]}} or {{IPA|[lɔ̂ːʋɔ᷈]}}, and {{IPA|[d̪ɔ̂ːnɔ᷈]}} in Undersåker, Kall and Åre parishes.<ref name=":0" />

=== Primary and secondary diphthongs ===
Central- and southwestern Jämtland dialects have preserved the Old Norse primary diphthongs ''ai'', ''au'', ''ey'', usually with pronunciations like {{IPA|[e̞i̯]}}, {{IPA|[ɞɵ̯]}}, {{IPA|[œy̯]}}.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Westin|first=Hans|title=Landsmålsalfabetet för Jämtland och Härjedalen|year=1897|pages=73–79}}</ref> In the Offerdal parish in western Jämtland, ''ai'' and ''ey'' have monophthongized to {{IPA|[ɛː]}} and {{IPA|[œː]}},<ref>{{Cite book|last=Westin|first=Hans|title=Landsmålsalfabetet för Jämtland ock Härjedalen|pages=70–72}}</ref> while ''au'' is preserved as {{IPA|[æɵ̯]}}.<ref name=":1" /> Eastern Jämtland dialects (spoken in the parishes Borgvattnet, Ragunda, Fors, Stugun, Håsjö, Hällesjö) have no diphthongs, but have monophthongized ''ai'' to {{IPA|[e̝ː]}}, ''ey'' to {{IPA|[ø̝ː]}}, and ''au'' to {{IPA|[ɵː]}}, {{IPA|[ɞː]}}, {{IPA|[ʌː]}} or {{IPA|[o̞ː]}}.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marklund|first=Felix|title=Monoftongeringen i Sverige och Danmark|year=2018|pages=49}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Westin|first=Hans|title=Landsmålsalfabetet för Jämtland och Härjedalen|year=1897|pages=63}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Vestlund|first=Alfred|title=Medelpads folkmål|year=1923|pages=30}}</ref> Southwestern Jämtland dialects have not only preserved the original diphthongs, but also, similar to Icelandic and some dialects in Norway, diphthongized Old Norse ''á'' to {{IPA|[ɑu̯]}} in Myssjö parish, {{IPA|[ɔu̯]}} in Hackås and Oviken parishes, and {{IPA|[aɔ̯]}} in Berg and Rätan parishes.<ref name=":1" />

=== Voiceless L ===
The Jämtland dialects, like Icelandic, Faroese, and other northern Scandinavian dialects, have both a voiced {{IPA|[l]}} and voiceless {{IPA|[ɬ]}} l-sound. This sound comes from a voiced l that has been partly assimilated by either a preceding ''s'' or ''t'', or a following ''t'': Old Norse ''kirtilinn'' 'gland' has become {{IPA|[tɕʰɑ̂ːɬ̠l̠n̠᷈]}}, {{IPA|[tɕʰɑ̂ɬ̠ːl̠n̠᷈]}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Westin|first=Hans|title=Landsmålsalfabetet för Jämtland och Härjedalen|pages=21}}</ref> or similar, Old Norse ''slíta'' 'to struggle, to pull' has become {{IPA|[ɬlît̪e̞᷈]}}, {{IPA|[ɬlîi᷈ːt̪]}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Westin|first=Hans|title=Landsmålsalfabetet för Jämtland och Härjedalen|year=1897|pages=40–42}}</ref> or similar, and Old Norse ''allt'' 'all' has become {{IPA|[aɬt]}} or similar.<ref name=":2" />

== Orthography ==
There have been attempts to standardize the orthography of the Jämtland dialects. The attempt that has been the most popular is ''Vägledning för stavning av jamska'' (1994 and 1995) which is the work of the committee ''Akademien för jamska'' consisting of Bodil Bergner, Berta Magnusson and Bo Oscarsson. The most prominent application of this orthography has been to prepare translations of parts of the [[Bible]] into the dialect, resulting in the book ''Nagur Bibelteksta på jamska''. An excerpt:

'''[[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 1:26–27''':
:<sup>26</sup>''Å Gud saa: 'Lätt oss gjära når mänish, nager som e lik oss. Å dom ske rå öve fishn derri havan å över foglan pyne himmela, å öve tamdjura öve heile jola, å öve all de djur som kravl å rör se på jorn.' ''

:<sup>27</sup>''Å Gud skapa mänishan å gjool som n avbild ta se själv. Te kær å kviin skapa n dom.''
The book does not fully follow ''Vägledning för stavning av jamska''. For example, using ''Vägledning för stavning av jamska'' one would spell ''gjæra'' v. 'do; make', not "gjära". Another spelling convention in ''Nagur Bibelteksta på jamska'' is the use of the digraph "sh", in e.g. "mänish" n. 'human being' and "fishn" n. 'the fish', with the same pronunciation as English 'sh' in 'shoe'. Properly using ''Vägledning för stavning av jamska'', this would be spelled ''sch''; see § 26 in the external link below.
People writing Jämtland dialects commonly use the letters of the [[Swedish alphabet]], with the addition of '''æ''' and '''ô'''.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} The letters '''c''', '''q''', '''w''', '''x''', and '''z''' are usually not used.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

== References ==

=== Notes ===
<references/>

=== Bibliography ===
{{cite book |last=Noreen |first=Adolf |title=Vårt språk: nysvensk grammatik i utförlig framställning. Bd 1 |year=1903–1907
|publisher=Gleerup |location=Lund |language=Swedish |ref=CITEREFNoreen1907}}

* ''Dä glöm fäll int jamska'', published by Margareta Persson (red.),  1986
*{{cite book
|first=Vidar
|last=Reinhammar
|isbn=91-85352-59-4
|url=http://www.ssp.nu/nyheter/gustavadolf/folklivsbygd/hammerdal.htm
|title=Hammerdalsmålet
|date=January 2005
|publisher=Swedish Science Press
|access-date=2006-02-01
|archive-date=2007-09-27
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213539/http://www.ssp.nu/nyheter/gustavadolf/folklivsbygd/hammerdal.htm
|url-status=dead
}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/Publikasjoner/Spraaknytt/Arkivet/2005/Spraaknytt_3_2005/Jemtsk_og_troendersk/ Jemtsk og trøndersk – to nære slektningar] by Arnold Dalen
* [http://www.jamtamot.org/dokument/dok.jamska/akademien_vagledning-for-stavning-av-jamska.html Vägledning för stavning av jamska] by ''Akademien för jamska''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070319105744/http://www.syre.se/jengel/nagur.asp Publisher's webpage about ''Nagur Bibelteksta på jamska'']

{{Swedish language}}
{{Languages of Sweden}}

[[Category:Jämtland]]
[[Category:Swedish dialects]]
[[Category:Languages of Sweden]]