Ded Borrińholmska Måled – The Bornholmsk Language
Bornholmsk has been classified in the past as a form of Scanian, but the island of Bornholm is has
been quite isolated from both Sweden and Denmark in more recent history, so it isn't the same
Scanian as was spoken on the mainland. Both Scania and Bornholm have an ancient history, this is
the part of Scandinavia where some of the first major Norse monuments appear and some of the
earliest Runic inscriptions, which might have been written in Scanian rather than an early form of
Danish or Swedish.
The Bornholmsk dialect evolved in isolation from Scanian on the mainland, so despite coming from
the same early Scandinavian dialect it shares some things in common with other Norse dialects and
has a recent Danish influence which Modern Scanian does not have. Bornholmsk is still different
enough to Riksdansk to make it hard to understand for Danes, owing some to say that Bornholmsk
is its own language. It would be more accurate to say that Scanian was its own language from the
earliest Scandinavian language period before Danish and Swedish existed, the original Scanian
language survives today as the Bornholmsk, Scanian, Blekinge and Halland dialects, which have
been influenced to different degrees by the standard languages. The Danish language was a later
development, and different from Scanian but coming from the same wider dialect area. Modern
Swedish was spoken originally in a totally different area, but both modern Swedish, Danish and
Norwegian Bokmaal have come together and were influenced by more formal medieval
Scaninavian speech coming from a centralized formal language.
Bornholmsk has different dialects and local variation which isn't surprising with the longevity of
Norse on this island. There is a kind of standard spelling system, invented by K.J. Lyngby in the
19th century and used in Espersen's dictionary of Bornholmsk.
Alphabet:
a, b, d, e, f, g, ǵ, h, i, j, k, ḱ, l, ĺ, m, n, ń, o, p, r, s, ś, t, u, v, w, y, ø, æ, â, å, ö, z
Pronunciation:
a – [a] [a:]
e – [e] [e:] [ə]
i – [i] [i:]
o – [o] [o:] [oːʊ]
u – [u] [u:] [uːʊ]
y – [y] [y:]
å – [ɔ] [ɔ:]
æ – [ɛ] [ɛ:]
ø – [ø] [ø:]
ö – [œː]
â – [ɑ] [ɑ:]
Consonants to note:
.ĺ, ń are palatalised [ʎ] [ɲ]
.r is [ʁ] as in Danish
.ś is [ʃ]
.ḱ is [tɕ]
.ǵ is [dʑ]
d is sometimes [ð] medially or finally
Basic sentences:
jâ e iń mań – I am a man
jâ hadde skreved ded – I had written it
mit huz/hûz e ønte på Borrińholm – my house is not in Bornholm
ded e dajlijt å/â vara på Borrińholm – it is beautiful to be in Bornholm
gomârn te jer – good morning to you
jâ kań læze ded Borrińholmska måled – I can read the Bornholmsk language
nu ska jâ ḱøre te huzed – I shall drive to the house now
aĺĺe di anra e uda på holmen – all the others are out on the isle
je e ønte/ente i skâwiń – you lot are not in the woods
vi hâ fåed ded – we have got it
vort sprâg hedder Borrińholmsk – our language is called Bornholmsk
jâ ska lewa på Borrińholm – I must live in Bornholm
ögan va ønte go – the week was not good
dæń mańńiń e ønte frâ Borrińholm – that man is not from Bornholm
i/ni ska ǵe dom nogged å læza – you lot will give them something to read
hań tæńte a ded końe vara bær – he thought that it could be better
vi finje iń goer bil – we got (received) a good car
hań e dæń śuene mańńiń, sâm jâ hâr sedd idâ – he is the seventh man, which I have seen today
dû e kommed jimm – you have come home
jâ hâr ḱøft maj en go bog – I have bought a good book
di behøva ed huz – they need a house
jâ hâr så mâjed å saja – I have so much to say
goer awtań, miń vænn – good afternoon, my friend
hon forstâr vort språg – she understands our language
vińteriń e ḱent – the winter is known
jâ ska komma jimm ætte – I will come home after
skâww - forest
dialect variation
Bornholmsk has a number of dialects, for example, the word 'not' can appear as: ønte, ynte, ikḱe.
.a can become æ for some speakers of the modern dialect. For example æĺe for aĺe.
.å can sometimes be â.
Numbers in Bornholmsk:
iń – 1
to – 2
tre – 3
fira – 4
fæm – 5
sajs – 6
śu – 7
åta – 8
ni – 9
ti – 10
A little grammar
Bornholmsk has three genders, as do most dialects of Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese. Adjectives
are also different depending on the gender, something which is quite unique for a Danish dialect.
For example
iń goer mań – a good man (masculine noun)
en go sol– a good sun (feminine noun)
ed got huz – a good house (neuter noun)
In the definite:
dæń goa mańńiń – the good man
dæn goa solen – the good sun
dedh/ded goa huzed/hûzed – the good house
Verbs:
In older Bornholmsk, distinctions were made between singular and plural verbs in the present tense,
for example:
jâ lewer – I live
vi lewa – we live
or:
jâ behøver – I need
vi behøva – we need
jâ fiḱḱ – I got
jâ ǵiḱḱ – I went
vi fińe – we got
di ǵińe – they went
