Native: 10 million (2012–2021)[1] L2 speakers: 3 million[1]
Language family
Indo-European
Germanic
North Germanic
East Scandinavian
Swedish
Early forms
Old Norse
Old East Norse
Old Swedish
Modern Swedish
Writing system
Latin (Swedish alphabet) Swedish Braille
Signed forms
Tecknad svenska (obsolete)
Official status
Official language in
Finland Sweden Åland European Union Nordic Council
Regulated by
Swedish Language Council (in Sweden) Swedish Academy (in Sweden) Institute for the Languages of Finland (in Finland)
Language codes
ISO 639-1
sv
ISO 639-2
swe
ISO 639-3
swe
Glottolog
swed1254
Linguasphere
52-AAA-ck to -cw
Regions where Swedish is an official language spoken by the majority of the population (Sweden, Åland, Western Finland) Regions where Swedish is an official language spoken by a minority of the population (Finland)
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Part of a series on the
Swedish language
Topics
History
Advanced topics
European language
Modern Swedish
Variants
Standard Swedish
Finland Swedish
Dialects
South Swedish dialects
Götaland dialects
Stockholm dialects
Svealand dialects
Norrland dialects
Eastern Swedish dialects: Finland Swedish and Estonian Swedish
Gutnish
Teaching
Swedish as a foreign language
Mandatory Swedish
Swedish for immigrants
Higher category: Language
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Swedish (svenska[ˈsvɛ̂nːska]ⓘ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland.[2] It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic countries overall.[3]
Swedish, like the other Nordic languages, is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish, although the degree of mutual intelligibility is largely dependent on the dialect and accent of the speaker.
Standard Swedish, spoken by most Swedes, is the national language that evolved from the Central Swedish dialects in the 19th century and was well established by the beginning of the 20th century. While distinct regional varieties and rural dialects still exist, the written language is uniform and standardized. Swedish is the most widely spoken second language in Finland where it has status as co-official language.
Swedish was long spoken in parts of Estonia, although the current status of the Estonian Swedish speakers is almost extinct. It is also used in the Swedish diaspora, most notably in Oslo, Norway, with more than 50,000 Swedish residents.[4]
^ abSwedish at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^"Svenska talas också i Finland". Svenska språket (in Swedish). 7 December 2018. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
^"Nordic Languages: What's The Difference?". Wordminds. 25 March 2019. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
^"Var tionde Oslobo är nu svensk" (in Swedish). Sverige-Norge Personalförmedling. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
Swedish (svenska [ˈsvɛ̂nːska] ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native...
Swedish is the official language of Sweden and is spoken by the vast majority of the 10.23 million inhabitants of the country. It is a North Germanic language...
Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish (Swedish: finlandssvenska; Finnish: suomenruotsi) is a variety of the Swedishlanguage and a closely related group of...
också officiellt språk i Sverige?" [Is Swedish also an official language in Sweden?] (in Swedish). SwedishLanguage Council. 1 February 2008. Archived from...
Swedish Sign Language (SSL; Svenskt teckenspråk) is the sign language used in Sweden. It is recognized by the Swedish government as the country's official...
The two main official languages of Finland are Finnish and Swedish. There are also several official minority languages: three variants of Sami, as well...
dialects Jämtland dialects East Swedish dialects Finland Swedish Estonian Swedish Dalecarlian language Elfdalian West Scandinavian Norwegian Bokmål (written)...
specifically: Swedishlanguage, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by the Swedish language...
of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish). In Sweden, both Finnish and Meänkieli (which has significant...
Finnish). The Swedishlanguage dominates commercial and cultural life in Sweden but did not officially become the country's main language until 2009, when...
Swedish Americans (Swedish: svenskamerikaner) are Americans of Swedish descent. The history of Swedish Americans dates back to the early colonial times...
The Language Council of Sweden (Swedish: Språkrådet) is the primary regulatory body for the advancement and cultivation of the Swedishlanguage. The council...
the currency is sometimes referred to as the Swedish crown, as krona means "crown" in Swedish. The Swedish krona was the ninth-most traded currency in...
[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...
there. The age of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland is strongly contested, but Swedish settlement had spread the language into the region by the...
Swedish is descended from Old Norse. Compared to its progenitor, Swedish grammar is much less characterized by inflection. Modern Swedish has two genders...
Finnish language for Swedish speakers in Finland is quite different from the meaning of the Swedishlanguage for Finnish speakers. In Sweden, the compulsory...
Swedes (Swedish: svenskar) are a ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and...
dialectal context. Finland Swedish has a slightly different phonology. Swedish has nine vowels that, as in many other Germanic languages, exist in pairs of long...
delimiters. The Swedish alphabet (Swedish: Svenska alfabetet) is a basic element of the Latin writing system used for the Swedishlanguage. The 29 letters...
by mainstream linguists. Yiddish had an influence on Jewish Swedish a dialect of Swedish used by Jews with loanwords from Hebrew and Yiddish. And Yiddish...
Old Swedish (Modern Swedish: fornsvenska) is the name for two distinct stages of the Swedishlanguage that were spoken in the Middle Ages: Early Old Swedish...
Swedish dialects are the various forms of the Swedishlanguage, particularly those that differ considerably from Standard Swedish. The linguistic definition...
cultural impact in Sweden as in the United States. In Sweden, the Swedish Chef's name was translated as Svenske kocken, meaning the "Swedish cook". A 2012...