The Languages of Scandinavia: Seven Sisters of the North

by 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 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

Genres: Linguistics, Language, Nonfiction, History

223 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 24, 2017

Reviews

[Diarmuid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good information but also some weird choices.
The decision by the author to describe the Sámi languages as 'variants' of one Sámi language is hard to swallow. That she mentions the decision by Sámediggi to emphasise their unity doesn't affect the fact that linguistically they are distinct languages.
I get that some simplification is needed for the sake of brevity, but in a book about languages it seems misleading and a bit dismissive, considering their history.

[Saru · Rating 2 out of 5]

More research was needed. She is an expert of germanic languages, not of scandinavian languages. She has NO IDEA of norwegian, finnish, icelandic, faroese or norn, especially from the point of view of language planning. And, gosh, treating Sámi languages as just one language with many variantes when in fact they are different languages?
Lack of research and knowledge.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

A lot of history of the languages/the region, which was good for me because I know very little about Scandinavia and now I have an overview of some broad historical strokes and how that impacts language development and change. Fairly readable, though nothing special.

[Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A re-read from a summer trip as a freshman to the U.K. It was interesting to be introduced to historical linguistics this way, at the time. I have been meaning to pick up all these languages, as well the German Runes, in the companion book "German : A biography". Recommended.

[Fabian Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating research driven deep dive on the history of the scandinavian languages.