The Languages of Scandinavia
Seven Sisters of the North
Ruth H. Sanders
- “A
- much-needed,
- comprehensive,
- and
- accessible
- overview
- of
- the
- interrelationship
- among”
- Danish,
- Norwegian,
- Swedish,
- Icelandic,
- Faroese,
- Finnish,
- and
- Sami
- (Ilmari
- Ivaska,
- Scandinavian
- Studies).From
- fjords
- to
- mountains,
- schools
- of
- herring
- to
- herds
- of
- reindeer,
- Scandinavia
- is
- rich
- in
- astonishing
- natural
- beauty.
- Less
- well
- known,
- however,
- is
- that
- it
- is
- also
- rich
- in
- languages.
- Home
- to
- seven
- languages,
- Scandinavia
- has
- traditionally
- been
- understood
- as
- linguistically
- bifurcated
- between
- its
- five
- Germanic
- languages
- (Danish,
- Norwegian,
- Swedish,
- Icelandic,
- and
- Faroese)
- and
- its
- two
- Finno-Ugric
- ones
- (Finnish
- and
- Sámi).
- In
- The
- Languages
- of
- Scandinavia,
- Ruth
- H.
- Sanders
- takes
- a
- pioneering
- approach:
- she
- considers
- these
- Seven
- Sisters
- of
- the
- North
- together.While
- the
- two
- linguistic
- families
- that
- comprise
- Scandinavia’s
- languages
- ultimately
- have
- differing
- origins,
- the
- Seven
- Sisters
- have
- coexisted
- side
- by
- side
- for
- millennia.
- As
- Sanders
- reveals,
- a
- crisscrossing
- of
- names,
- territories,
- and
- even
- to
- some
- extent
- language
- genetics—intimate
- language
- contact—has
- created
- a
- body
- of
- shared
- culture,
- experience,
- and
- linguistic
- influences
- that
- is
- illuminated
- when
- the
- story
- of
- these
- seven
- languages
- is
- told
- as
- one.
- Exploring
- everything
- from
- the
- famed
- whalebone
- Lewis
- Chessmen
- of
- Norse
- origin
- to
- the
- interactions
- between
- the
- Black
- Death
- and
- the
- Norwegian
- language,
- The
- Languages
- of
- Scandinavia
- offers
- profound
- insight
- into
- languages
- with
- a
- cultural
- impact
- deep-rooted
- and
- far-reaching,
- from
- the
- Icelandic
- sagas
- to
- Swedish
- writer
- Stieg
- Larsson’s
- internationally
- popular
- Millennium
- trilogy.
- Sanders’s
- book
- is
- both
- an
- accessible
- work
- of
- linguistic
- scholarship
- and
- a
- fascinating
- intellectual
- history
- of
- language.“Focuses
- on
- contacts,
- colonialism,
- conflicts
- and
- causes
- of
- friction,
- and
- the
- resulting
- language
- developments
- from
- a
- macro
- perspective
- .
- .
- .
- a
- refreshing
- and
- pleasant
- read.”
- —Verena
- Höfig,
- University
- of
- Illinois
- at Urbana-Champaign
