Modern Gutnish Totally Explained

Everything about Gutnish totally explained

Modern Gutnish is the old language of the island of Gotland (in present day Sweden). It was used both as a spoken and written language until late medieval times. Today it still exists as a spoken language, but is to some degree mixed with Swedish, Danish and German. It is an open issue whether modern Gutnish is to be considered an independent language or merely a dialect of Swedish. It derives however its origin from Old Gutnish, which by no dispute is a separate branch of the Old Norse language family. The knowledge in Gutnish is pretty weak both with the Gutnish people and the Swedes. Gutnish is spoken mainly in the south-east parts of the island and in some parts of Fårö. Gutnish exists in two variants, Gutemal (mainland Gotland) and Faroymal on Fårö. The Faroymal is considered most archaic of the two forms. Gutnish isn't to be confused with Gotlandic, which is the local form of Swedish spoken by most Gotlanders today.
Some features of Gutnish include the preservation of Old Norse diphthongs like ai in for instance stain, Swedish: sten, English stone and oy in for example doy, Swedish dö, English die. There is also a triphthong that exists in no other Norse languages: iau as in skjaute, Swedish skjuta, English shoot.

Comparison with other Germanic languages

English	Dutch	Norwegian (Bokmål)	Norwegian (Nynorsk)	Danish	German	Gutnish	Icelandic	Swedish
eye	oog	øye	auga	øje	Auge	auge	auga	öga
hear	horen	høre	høyre	høre	hören	hoyre	heyra	höra
sleep	slapen	sove	sove	sove	schlafen	sive	sofa	sova
evil	kwaad	ond	vond	ond	Übel	aumb	vondur	ond
ship	schip	skip	skip	skib	Schiff	skip	skip	skepp
sing	zingen	synge	syngja	synge	singen	singe	syngja	sjunga
high	hoog	høy	høg	høj	hoch	haug	hár	hög
right	recht	høyre	høgre	højre	rechts	hygar	hægri	höger
boat	boot	båt	båt	båd	Boot	bat	bátur	båt
over	over	over	over/yver	over	über	yvar	yfir	över
shoot	schieten	skyte	skyta/skjota	skyde	schiessen	skjaute	skjóta	skjuta

Example

Gutnish ť KERLAIKINS SKAVLGARD

ť Ia gikk til kerlaikins skavlgard

   U sag va ia aldri hade seit ť A kýrko var der byggd

   Der ia fýrr laikede pa de grøynu ť U lukar til hissu kýrku var lukede

   U ”Deu skalt inte”, ritet yvar duri ť So ia vende mi til kerlaikins skavlgard

   Sum so mange søyme blómar berde, ť U ia sag hann fylldar me gravar

   U gravstainar der blómar skulde vare ť U prestar i svarte klédin, ganes seine rundar

   U bindnes me napltynne, meine gledar u kéar ť :av William Blake (1757–1827)

English ť THE GARDEN OF LOVE

ť I went to the Garden of Love,

   And saw what I never had seen: ť A Chapel was built in the midst,

   Where I used to play on the green. ť And the gates of this Chapel were shut,

   And Thou shalt not. writ over the door; ť So I turn'd to the Garden of Love,

   That so many sweet flowers bore. ť And I saw it was filled with graves,

   And tomb-stones where flowers should be: ť And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds,

   And binding with briars, my joys & desires. ť :by William Blake (1757–1827)

Further Information

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