Modern Gutnish is the native language of the Gotlandic people on the island of Gotland

Gotland

Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...

 in present-day Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. It was both a spoken and written language until late medieval times. Today it exists as a spoken language, but is to some degree mixed with Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

, Danish

Danish language

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...

 and German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

. It is an open issue whether modern Gutnish is to be considered an independent language or a Scandinavian dialect. It derives, however, from Old Gutnish

Old Gutnish

Old Gutnish was the dialect of Old Norse that was spoken on the Baltic island of Gotland. It shows sufficient differences from the Old East Norse dialect that it is considered to be a separate branch...

, which is indisputably a separate branch of the Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 language family.

Knowledge of Gutnish is relatively weak both among Gotlanders (Gutes) and other Swedes

Swedes

Swedes are a Scandinavian nation and ethnic group native to Sweden, mostly inhabiting Sweden and the other Nordic countries, with descendants living in a number of countries.-Etymology:...

. It is spoken mainly in the southern parts of the island and in some parts of Fårö

Fårö

Fårö is a small Baltic Sea island north of the island of Gotland, off Sweden's southeastern coast. It is the second-largest island in the province. It has a population of fewer than 600 and has become a popular summer resort. The island has no banks, post offices, medical services or police...

. Gutnish exists in two variants, Mainland Gutnish and Faroymal on Fårö. The Faroymal is considered the more archaic of the two forms.

Some features of Gutnish include the preservation of Old Norse diphthongs like ai in for instance stain (Swedish sten, English stone) and oy in for example doy (Swedish dö, English die). There is also a triphthong that exists in no other Norse languages: iau as in skiaute/skiauta (Swedish skjuta, English shoot).

Comparison with other Germanic languages

English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...	Norwegian (Bokmål) Bokmål Bokmål is one of two official Norwegian written standard languages, the other being Nynorsk. Bokmål is used by 85–90% of the population in Norway, and is the standard most commonly taught to foreign students of the Norwegian language....	Norwegian (Nynorsk) Nynorsk Nynorsk or New Norwegian is one of two official written standards for the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. The standard language was created by Ivar Aasen during the mid-19th century, to provide a Norwegian alternative to the Danish language which was commonly written in Norway at the...	Danish Danish language Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...	German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....	Gutnish	Icelandic Icelandic language Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...	Swedish Swedish language Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...	Faroese Faroese language Faroese , is an Insular Nordic language spoken by 48,000 people in the Faroe Islands and about 25,000 Faroese people in Denmark and elsewhere...
eye	oog	øye	auge/auga	øje	Auge	auge/auga	auga	öga	eyga
hear	horen	høre	høyre/høyra	høre	hören	hoyre/hoyra	heyra	höra	hoyra
sleep	slapen	sove	sove/sova	sove	schlafen	sive/siva	sofa	sova	sova
evil	euvel (kwaad)	ond	vond	ond	Übel	aumbr	vondur	ond	óndur
ship	schip	skip	skip	skib	Schiff	skip	skip	skepp	skip
sing	zingen	synge	syngje/syngja	synge	singen	singe/singa	syngja	sjunga	syngja
high	hoog	høy	høg	høj	hoch	haug(r)	hár	hög	høgur/háur
right	rechts	høyre	høgre	højre	rechts	hygar	hægri	höger	høgra
boat	boot	båt	båt	båd	Boot	bat	bátur	båt	bátur
over	over	over	over/yver	over	über	yvar	yfir	över	yvir
shoot	schieten	skyte	skyte/skyta / skjote/skjota	skyde	schießen	skiaute/skiauta	skjóta	skjuta	skjóta

Gutnish

KERLAIKINS SKAVLGARD

Ja gikk til kerlaikins skavlgard

U sag va ja aldri hadde sét

A kýrko var der byggd

Der ja fýrr laikede pa de grýnu

U lukar til hissu kýrku var lukede

U ”Dú skalt inte”, ritet yvar duri

So ja vende mi til kerlaikins skavlgard

Sum so mange sýme blómar berde,

U ja sag hann fylldar me gravar

U gravstainar der blómar skulde vare

U prestar i svarte klédin, ganes síne rundar

U bindnes me napltynne, míne gledar u kéar

av William Blake

William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...

 (1757–1827)

English

THE GARDEN OF LOVE

I went to the Garden of Love,

And saw what I never had seen:

A Chapel was built in the midst,

Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this Chapel were shut,

And Thou shalt not. writ over the door;

So I turn'd to the Garden of Love,

That so many sweet flowers bore.

And I saw it was filled with graves,

And tomb-stones where flowers should be:

And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds,

And binding with briars, my joys & desires.

by William Blake

William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...

(1757–1827)

External links

• Gutniska / Gutamål
• Gutamålet by Bosse Carlgren