> > The Gotlanders themselves seem to prefer to call it "gutamål"
> > (see the web page I quote below).
>
> Yes, Gutamål is the what they call the language of today; however,
> this is far from being the same as the classical language of yore.
> Scholars use the term 'Gutniska' because it is the term they
believe
> an actual Viking Age Gotlander would have called his tongue.
This is what Propago writes:
"The Gutnish names for the language are ´gutnisko´,
´gutniske´, ´gutniska´ and ´gutamal´."
In Sweden "outside" Gotland, we usually refer to it as 'gotländska'.
I think that the scholars should use Old Gutniska (Forngutniska)
instead of Gutniska when speaking about Viking Age Gutnish, since
many gotlanders use the term Gutniska for the language they speak
today.
Today, 'gutnisk-' is probably most used as an adjective:
gutnisk-ar (masculine)
gutnisk- (feminine)
gutnisk-t (neuter)
gutnisk-e (plural)
Skål ta mej faan,
/Angjyt
--- In
norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "konrad_oddsson"
<konrad_oddsson@...> wrote:
> Heill Xigung!
> Heill Terje!
>
> --- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "xigung" <xigung@...> wrote:
> > Terje Ellefsen wrote:
> >
> > > I'm referring to the language of Gotland.
> > >(I think someone on this list called it gutniska)
>
> That would be I. Scholars refer to the classical language of
Gotland
> as Gutniska.
>
> > The Gotlanders themselves seem to prefer to call it "gutamål"
> > (see the web page I quote below).
>
> Yes, Gutamål is the what they call the language of today; however,
> this is far from being the same as the classical language of yore.
> Scholars use the term 'Gutniska' because it is the term they
believe
> an actual Viking Age Gotlander would have called his tongue.
>
> > When I entered "gutnisk" into the search engine, not
> > much came up. But when I entered "gutamål" lots of
> > pages came up.
>
> You can find a lot of modern things in Gutamål, but you will find
> only one surviving manuscript and some inscriptions in Gutniska.
>
> > Then I also realized that in Sweden they say "Gutasagan"
> > with an "n" at the end. In fact, when I entered it like that,
> > I did find it here:
> >
> > http://www.guteinfo.com/special/103.htm
> > (with Swedish text in paralell)
>
> The '-n' in 'Gutasagan' is the definite article (=the story of the
> Gutar). This text, as well as the longer 'Guta Lagh' from the same
> manuscript, are all that survive of Gutniska except for some runic
> inscriptions (which can also be found online). This manuscript is
> usually dated to the late 13th or early 14th century. The spelling
> is erratic and every bit as bad as the spelling seen in many West
> Norse manuscripts - the writer often spells the same word several
> different ways, much like in most West Norse manuscripts.
>
> > I'll advise all Old Norse fans to take a look at it.
> > Can you see much difference in comparison to ON?
>
> Linguists do classify it as the 'same' language as other Old Norse.
> I can read it with only occasional obstacles. However, as the most
> easterly recorded dialect of Scandinavian, Gutniska contrasts well
> with Old West Norse/Icelandic - it shows the greatest difference.
> Keep in mind, however, that the true language of Viking Age
Gotland,
> the language of the pre-Christian population, could hardly have
been
> exactly the same as the poorly-spelled and otherwise younger
version
> seen in this late 13th or early 14th century text. In reality, the
> language of Viking Age Gotland was almost certainly more rather
than
> less like the West Norse of the same period. Because the language
of
> Viking Age Gotland was the easternmost dialect, and because it is
> believed to have been a linguistic gem of comparable value to the
> most oldest and purest West Norse of the same period, many scholars
> have shown a keen interest in trying to reconstruct the language of
> Viking Age Gotland. This manuscript is invaluable for this purpose,
> as well as for having something important to say about the history
> and laws of the island. I hope you enjoy it.
>
> Regards,
> Konrad.
>
>
> > Best
> > Xigung