Jämtland dialects

Like all other central Scandinavian dialects (Trønder dialects, east Norwegian dialects, Norrland dialects, some Finland Swedish dialects), the most characteristic feature of the Jämtland dialects is vowel balance, an event that caused the vowel endings after heavy syllables to weaken and later even drop entirely in some dialects moving the tone over from ending to the root syllable, example Old Norse kasta [kʰɑ̂stɑ᷈] > [kʰɑ̂stə᷈] (> [kʰɑ̂.ɑ᷈st] "to throw"), while the endings after light syllables instead where reinforced, and even caused a type of umlaut or vowel harmony on the root vowel (example Old Norse lifa [liβɑ] > [liβɑˑ] > [le̞ʋa] > [lɐ̂ʋɐ᷈] "to live"). According to one theory, this phenomenon has its roots in influence from the neighbouring Saami languages in medieval times.[4]

The Old Norse phonemic contrast of light and heavy syllables is partly preserved in eastern Jämtland dialects,[5] and to some degree in Western Jämtland dialects[6] and in the Oviken parish in southwestern Jämtland.[7] In eastern Jämtland and in Oviken parish, short stressed syllables are preserved from Old Norse words like hǫku 'chin', lifa 'to live', which have evolved to [hô̞ke̞᷈] in Fors parish, [hɔ̂ke̞᷈] in Ragunda and Stugun parishes, [hɞ̂kɛ᷈] in Hällesjö parish,[8] and [hôkɵ᷈] in Oviken parish,[9] while lifa has become [læ̂ʋa᷈] or similar in all of the parishes.[10][11] In western Jämtland, the short syllables are less stable, and are often lengthened to long or half-long in accent 2 words, but is preserved in accent 1 words: Old Norse svið 'burned' has become [sʋɛ̂] in Åre parish,[12] while accent 2 words like Old Norse lofa 'to promise', duna 'to make noise', which have evolved to [lɔ̂ˑʋo̞᷈] or [lɔ̂ːʋɔ᷈], and [d̪ɔ̂ːnɔ᷈] in Undersåker, Kall and Åre parishes.[12]

Central- and southwestern Jämtland dialects have preserved the Old Norse primay diphthongs ai, au, ey, usually with pronunciations like [e̞i̯], [ɞɵ̯], [œy̯].[13] In the Offerdal parish in western Jämtland, ai and ey have monophthongized to [ɛː] and [œː],[14] while au is preserved as [æɵ̯].[13] Eastern Jämtland dialects (spoken in the parishes Borgvattnet, Ragunda, Fors, Stugun, Håsjö, Hällesjö) have no diphthongs, but have monophthongized ai to [e̝ː], ey to [ø̝ː], and au to [ɵː], [ɞː], [ʌː] or [o̞ː].[15][16][17] Southwestern Jämtland dialects have not only preserved the original diphthongs, but also, similar to Icelandic and some dialects in Norway, diphthongized Old Norse á to [ɑu̯] in Myssjö parish, [ɔu̯] in Hackås and Oviken parishes, and [aɔ̯] in Berg and Rätan parishes.[13]

The Jämtland dialects, like Icelandic, Faroese, and other northern Scandinavian dialects, have both a voiced [l] and voiceless [ɬ] l-sound. This sound comes from a voiced l that has been partly assimilated by either a preceding s or t, or a following t: Old Norse kirtilinn 'gland' has become [tɕʰɑ̂ːɬ̠l̠n̠᷈], [tɕʰɑ̂ɬ̠ːl̠n̠᷈][18] or similar, Old Norse slíta 'to struggle, to pull' has become [ɬlît̪e̞᷈], [ɬlîi᷈ːt̪][19] or similar, and Old Norse allt 'all' has become [aɬt] or similar.[19]

Noreen, Adolf (1903–1907). Vårt språk: nysvensk grammatik i utförlig framställning. Bd 1 (in Swedish). Lund: Gleerup.

• Dä glöm fäll int jamska, published by Margareta Persson (red.), 1986
• Reinhammar, Vidar (January 2005). Hammerdalsmålet. Swedish Science Press. ISBN 91-85352-59-4. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-02-01.