Estonian Swedish

 ( Swedish Dialects ) 

Estonian Swedish (; ) are the eastern varieties of the Swedish language that were until the mid-20th century spoken in the Aiboland, the coastal areas and islands of western and northern Estonia which had been inhabited since the Middle Ages by the Estonian Swedes.

Until the evacuation of the Estonian Swedes near the end of World War II, both Swedish and Estonian were commonly spoken on the named islands. It is not clear if there are any native speakers left. After Estonia's independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Estonian Swedish experienced a revival, with courses in the language being offered on Dagö and Ösel.

Currently, the number of native speakers is unknown, but assumed to be low.

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Usage The Gammalsvenska dialect of Swedish spoken in Ukraine is an archaic dialect of Estonian Swedish, having been brought to the village of Gammalsvenskby in the late 1700s by settlers from Hiiumaa (Dagö).

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Writing system Noarootsi Swedish is written with the same letters as Standard Swedish with a few phonetic additions:

• Long vowels are indicated with a subscribed macron: .
• Long consonants are doubled : .
• The /d/ and /n/ R-colored vowel are denoted with a dot below .
• The voiced retroflex flap /ɽ/, called "thick L", is noted with a dot below .
• The voiceless postalveolar fricative consonant /ʃ/ is noted with a dot below .

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See also

• Swedish language
• Standard Swedish
• Finland Swedish
• Swedish dialects
• Gammalsvenska

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Further reading

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