by Anja Emerson

Created on: October 29, 2009

Danish is a Scandinavian language belonging to the Germanic group of the Indo-European language branch, with around 5.5-6 million speakers mainly in Denmark and a few other countries such as Greenland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Argentina and the U.S.

Danish used to be the official language of Norway until 1830 and of Iceland until 1944. Though it is not mandatory in Icelandic schools anymore, it is often the second language that is taught. It still holds official status in the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, since these are autonomous constituents of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Along with other related North Germanic languages (Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic), Danish diverged from the common Scandinavian language, Old Norse. This language began to change in the 8th century, thus dividing into two dialects: Old West Norse (that later ramified into Norwegian and Icelandic) and Old East Norse (that ramified into Danish and Swedish).

Danish began gaining its separate identity and distinguishing itself from Old East Norse around the 11th century, due to natural changes occurring in the language, fueled by socio-economical and historical events.

Though Danish wasn't used as a literary language until the 16th century, the earliest Danish written work dates back to around 1200 and is called Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes") by Saxo Grammaticus. It is the greatest written work in medieval Denmark and it represents an important source of information about the Scandinavian countries and their situation in the Middle Ages. The sixteen books that make up Gesta Danorum depict an accurate image of the political affairs of Denmark and Scandinavia in general, and present historical events from their perspective.

In the 15th century, Gesta Danorum was subsequently translated from Latin to Danish by Christiern Pedersen (in 1540), Jon Tursons (in 1555) and Anders Srensen Vedel (in 1575). Christiern Pedersen also published the first translation of the New Testament in 1531. These works had a significant impact upon the literature that followed them.

Starting with the 17th century, the spelling and pronunciation of Danish reached a common ground, though there are still dialectal differences remaining between different regions of the country. However, the period of modern Danish truly begins around the beginning of the 18th century.

Throughout its evolution, Danish was strongly influenced by Low German during the 12-15th centuries, a fact that is reflected in all areas of the language. During the 17-18th centuries, French and Italian have also left their print on the language. More recently, starting with the 19th century, an increasing number of English loanwords are being included in Danish vocabulary.

Modern Danish is characterized by a unique pronunciation that defines an identity of its own. Despite sharing many similarities with Norwegian and Swedish, it manages to maintain its individuality as a language and entice polyglots around the world.

Learn more about this author, Anja Emerson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.