Älvdalsmål (English: lit. "Älvdalen speech", also: Älvdalska, Övdalsk, English: Elfdalian) is a member of the Dalecarlian dialect, a group of Swedish. It is spoken in Älvdalen Municipality in Northern Dalarna (Dalecarlia) province. . It is considered to be a dialect by some Scandinavian linguists, but a separate language by others. Other Dalecarlian dialects are spoken around the Lake Siljan. The dialects are very distinct from Standard Swedish and have retained many archaic grammatical and phonological features, many of which have not changed considerably since Old Swedish, the form of Swedish spoken during the Middle Ages.

Recently there have been attempts to create a written standard language for Elfdalian through the establishment of the Ulum Dalska association with the help of the Råðdjärum (lit. 'Let us confer') group of Swedish linguists such as Östen Dahl. Älvdalska is highly endangered. However, it is possible that it will officially gain status as a minority language in Sweden.

External links

• Language Tree - Ethnologue report
• Borlänge Tidning - article on the establishment of the first spelling standard by Ulum Dalska (in Swedish)
• Älvdalska, det lokala språket. - homepage for the Älvdalen speech hosted by the Älvdalen Municipality

References

• Nationalencyklopedin, entry älvdalsmål

Dalarna | Swedish dialects

Älvdalsmål | Älvdalska