Swedish language: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	Svensk

Photos

Thematic map of Europe displaying the distribution of Germanic languages, with different colors indicating regions where English, German, Netherlandic (Dutch), Frisian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese are spoken. Striped areas mark regions where bilingualism is common, and language regions cover countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and parts of surrounding countries.

A family tree diagram shows the evolution of Germanic languages from Proto-Germanic, branching into West, North, and East Germanic groups. West Germanic splits into Anglo-Frisian (English, Frisian) and Netherlandic-German (Netherlandic, German). North Germanic divides into West Scandinavian (Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian) and East Scandinavian (Danish, Swedish). East Germanic is represented by Gothic.

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Topics

Svea dialects Old Swedish language Swedish literature Scandinavian languages Norwegian language Danish language Icelandic language Faroese language Old Norse language

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Scandinavian languages: Introduction

Key People

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Artur Lundkvist

Swedish writer and critic

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May Swenson

American poet

Olaus Petri

Olaus Petri

Swedish church leader

Petri, Laurentius

Laurentius Petri

Swedish archbishop

Buddhist engravings on wall in Thailand. Hands on wall. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, science and technology, geography and travel, explore discovery

Languages & Alphabets

Hand with pencil writing on page. (handwriting; write)

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