Estonian Swedish

Estonian Swedish (Swedish: estlandssvenska, Estonian: rannarootsi keel) describes the eastern dialects of Swedish that were spoken in the formerly Swedish-populated areas of Estonia (locally known as Aiboland) on the islands of Ormsö, Ösel, Dagö and Runö, and the peninsula (former island) of Nuckö, by the local Estonian Swedes.

Up until the evacuation of the Estonian Swedes near the end of World War II, both Swedish and Estonian were commonly spoken on the named islands. After Estonia's reestablishment of independence following the fall of the Soviet Union, Estonian Swedish experienced a revival, with courses in the language being offered on Dagö and Ösel.

Estonian Swedish comprises a number of sub-dialects, for example nuckömål and rågömål.

An example of the nuckömål dialect from the Nordisk familjebok, compared with standard modern Swedish:

Stick tälknin i stolpan o hälvtor stolpan topa kalkan, säte Halmen o Hälma färe kalkan o ker te Nuckö toka.

Standard Swedish:

Stick täljkniven i stolpen och vält stolpen på kälken, sätt Hjälmen och Hjälma för kälken och kör till Nuckö.

See also

• Swedish language
• Swedish dialects
• Standard Swedish

External links

• Den Andra Stranden: information on Aiboland and Estonian Swedish (Swedish)