Københavnsk

Københavnsk ( German : "Copenhagenisch") is a regional dialect of the Danish language that is spoken in Copenhagen , the capital of Denmark . The standard Danish language developed from the variant of the Öresund sdialects Malmös and Copenhagen, spoken by the bourgeoisie , which was considered the norm for the rest of the country . The dialect is based on the Zeeland dialect and has influences from the Scanian language .

history

In parallel with the expansion of Copenhagen as a trading, training and administrative city, the importance of Københavnsk for the whole country increased. Since the Reformation , this has been true primarily for the written language , but to a large extent also for the colloquial language . More recently, virtually all developments in Danish pronunciation began in Copenhagen. However, the Copenhagen dialect did not directly influence the distant Northwest Jutian dialect, for example, but first spread in the larger provincial towns. Gradually it had an impact on the language in the smaller towns and villages by perpetuating the social differences of the Copenhagen dialect within the upper and lower classes.

18th and 19th centuries

Until the 18th century, the colloquial language of the upper class in Copenhagen was similar to the language of the lower class, apart from differences in vocabulary. But in the course of the 18th century the upper class avoided a number of characteristics in pronunciation that the lower class clung to: for example gajen instead of gaden (“street”), kyd instead of kød (“meat”), gek instead of gik (“ went ”), skodt instead of skudt (“ shot ”), bøjer instead of bøger (“ books ”), kerregård instead of kirkegård (“ cemetery ”), kessebær instead of kirsebær (“ cherry ”), gore instead of gjorde (“ tat ”), ner instead of ned ("down"), drone instead of drukne ("drown") or seve instead of sæbe ("soap"). In the 19th century, the writers Johan Ludvig Heiberg and Jens Christian Hostrup used such features to characterize social differences. So in 1841 Heiberg made a list of "language errors among the people of the lower classes" (Sprogfeil hos Folk af de lavere Classer) .

In the course of the 19th century, social differences worsened to such an extent that two distinct sociolects developed. The spoken by the lower class lavkøbenhavnsk ("Volkskopenhagisch") was particularly widespread among workers in Nørrebro and Vesterbro . The pronunciation of the højkøbenhavnsk ("Hochkopenhagisch") spoken in the upper class , however, was in mutual influence with the written language, which is why it was not regarded as a dialect, but assumed the status of a standard language . A number of changes in pronunciation occurred at different times in the upper and lower strata. The soft d in words like blad (“leaf”), sted (“place”), ude (“outside”), which previously weakened and tended towards j , stabilized early in the upper class to a ð . But otherwise it is mostly the lower layers that led the development of sounds , for example the a -sound in Danish: both the appearance of the long “bright” a as in gade (“street”) or fag (“subject”) and that Occurrences of the short a as in falde (“to fall”) or kaste (“to throw”) are features that come from this layer, as is the pronunciation of diphthongs , for example in mig (“me”), haj (“shark, crook “) Or vej (“ way ”) and the later development to a new dark a as in foreign (“ out ”) or græsk (“ Greek ”).

20th century until today

In the course of the 20th century, the two sociolects converged again. But there are still clear differences and the pronunciation of Københavnsk in the lower class is often viewed with reluctance by followers of the standard Rigsmål language , both in and outside Copenhagen. This applies to the rounded open back vowel [ɒ] in words like folk (“people”), komm (“to come”), the [ts] in words like Tivoli , tak (“thank you”) as well as to words with r followed by an unrounded one open back vowel [rɑ] as in Fremd (" vor ") or dræbt ("killed"). Maret instead of meget is seen as a characteristic of the lowest strata.

As the capital and largest city of the country, Copenhagen has a special linguistic status. At certain times, especially from 1850 to 1950, pronunciation in the royal theater was seen by many as the standard for the standard language and the state broadcasting corporation Statsradiofonien (now Danmarks Radio ) made it a priority from the start that their language should be exemplary. Later the norms became less rigid and radio and television programs were broadcast from regions other than the capital region. The electronic media were therefore not of decisive importance for the expansion of Københavnsk.

Social status

In rural areas, the Copenhagen dialect, which is close to standard Danish, is occasionally understood as a consequence of snobbery , and people use the term københavnerfint , which means “fine Copenhagen”. However, a study of the attitude of the Danes towards their dialects shows that the sociolect Højkøbenhavnsk enjoys the highest popularity. This is followed by dialects first west and then east of the Great Belt and the least prestige is found in Lavkøbenhavnsk , the Copenhagen language of the lower classes. The sociolect Lavkøbenhavnsk is often referred to in Danish comedies as tricky “villains”, while the police officers are portrayed as “peasants” with their Jutish dialect.

Another study differentiates between conservative and modern Københavnsk, where Københavnsk is equated with the standard Danish language. According to this, conservative Københavnsk is the traditional standard language in school or at work. Your speakers leave a more serious and reliable impression in contrast to modern Københavnsk, where you appear more independent and interesting and which is the standard language in the modern media public. It contains many English loanwords and is particularly preferred by the young population.

Subdialects

Actual dialect borders within Copenhagen could not be proven.

Web links

• dialekt.dk dialect research at the University of Copenhagen (Danish)
• Nye udtaler i københavnsk as PDF file Marie Maegaard at the Danish Language Commission (Danish)
• Københavnsk radio show Ud med sproget on Danmarks Radio (Danish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Søren Sørensen: Den danske litteratur begynder i Malmø ( Memento of the original from January 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 2.6 MB) In Norden Nu , p. 20, Foreningen Norden i Danmark, June 2008, accessed on August 23, 2010 (Danish) 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Den Store Danske Encyklopædi : København - sprog , accessed on August 18, 2010 (Danish)
3. ↑ ^{a b} Københavns University : Sproghistorie . In dialekt.dk , accessed December 12, 2011 (Danish)
4. ↑ Lisbeth Nyborg in Nordens språk med røtter og føtter: Farvel til dialekterne i Danmark ( Memento of the original from June 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , North, accessed August 18, 2010 (Danish) 
5. ^ Margrethe Heidemann Andersen in Nyt fra Dansk Sprognævn  : Fra ungdomssprog til Sprognævn. Om holdninger til brugen af ​​engelske lån i dansk , March 2003, accessed on August 18, 2010 (Danish)
6. ↑ Københavns Universitet, Center for Sociolingvistiske Sprogforandringsstudier (DGCSS): Sprogholdningsundersøgelserne  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on August 18, 2010 (Danish)