North Germanic languages

The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also referred to as the Nordic languages, a direct translation of the most common term used among Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish scholars and people. The term North Germanic languages is used in comparative linguistics, whereas the term Scandinavian languages appears in studies of the modern standard languages and the dialect continuum of Scandinavia. Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are close enough to form a strong mutual intelligibility where cross-border communication in native languages is very common, particularly between the latter two. Approximately 20 million people in the Nordic countries speak a Scandinavian language as their native language, including an approximately 5% minority in Finland. Besides being the only North Germanic language with official status in two separate sovereign states, Swedish is also the most spoken of the languages overall. 15% of the population in Greenland speak Danish as a first language. This language branch is separated from the West Germanic languages to the south, like English and Dutch. It is also distinct from Finnish just to the East which belongs to a completely different language family: the Uralic languages. The modern languages and their dialects in this group are: East Scandinavian Danish Jutlandic dialect North Jutlandic East Jutlandic West Jutlandic South Jutlandic Insular Danish Bornholmsk dialect Swedish South Swedish dialects Scanian Göta dialects Gotland dialects Svea dialects Norrland dialects Jämtland dialects East Swedish dialects Finland Swedish Estonian Swedish Dalecarlian language Elfdalian West Scandinavian Norwegian Bokmål (written) Nynorsk (written) Trønder dialects East Norwegian dialects West Norwegian dialects North Norwegian dialects Faroese Icelandic Gutnish The Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups: West, East and North Germanic.

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North Germanic languages

English language

English is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family. It originated in early medieval England and, today, is the most spoken language in the world and the third most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. English is the most widely learned second language and is either the official language or one of the official languages in 59 sovereign states. There are more people who have learned English as a second language than there are native speakers.

Norwegian language

Norwegian (norsk ˈnɔʂːk) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional varieties; some Norwegian and Swedish dialects, in particular, are very close. These Scandinavian languages, together with Faroese and Icelandic as well as some extinct languages, constitute the North Germanic languages.

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