Abstract

In my talk, I will introduce Sapir & Lundgren’s (2024) hypotheses about Elfdalian (älvdalska) – the first one regards the emergence of Ancient Nordic in Dalarna between the 5^th and 8^th century CE as a result of trade connection between local hunter-gatherers in Dalarna and farmers in Uppland, a language that gradually evolved into Old Dalecarlian and Elfdalian, the second one regards the evolution of Upper Siljan Dalecarlian/Elfdalian through waves of influences from Norwegian regions, on the one hand, and Mälardalen in Sweden, on the other, until c. 1400, upon which the Upper Siljan varieties , especially ‛Classical Elfdalian’, remained relatively stable until the beginning of the 20^th century. Finally, I will depict the Elfdalian language situation since the beginning of the 20^th century, i.e. ‛Modern Elfdalian’, its current situation, as well as the attempts to revitalise it acquire an official recognition of it as an official language in Sweden. 

Links:

A Grammar of Elfdalian | UCL Press