Why not take a look at:
http://www.unilang2.org/wiki2/wiki.phtml?title=Dalecarlian
Includes some nice sound samples of this Mid Scandinavian dialect
group.
I hope you'll enjoy the pages (which are to be completed sometime in
the future - only some 40% done so far)
/Sjuler
--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, pdhanssen@... wrote:
>
> > I think what students need to understand about old pronunciation
is
> > this: there were many 'old norse' languages and just as many ways
of
> > pronouncing them. In Sweden, for instance, we had the Gautlandic
of
> > east and west, Swedish proper, Gutnish and others. In my opinion,
it
> > was the Old Gutnish that was the 'jewel of the east' -
conservative
> > like the oldest West Norse, but with a radically differing
phonology
> > and even usage. Danish was also markedly different in
pronunciation,
>
> Modern Faeroese has a very different pronunciation from Modern
Icelandic, and even differs a little from its spelling,
> but I am grateful that Hammershaimbs orthography became the norm -
it makes learning to read Faeroese much easier after doing the work
necessary to learn Modern Icelandic.
> I really wish that Ivar Aasen had done the same for NyNorsk,
> although I am also grateful for the work he did.
>
> > and to some extent in usage and vocabulary, from West Norse. The
way
> > I see it, one of the main advantages of old West Norse is that it
is
> > considered to have been very uniform (einsleit). Because Faroese
and
> > Icelandic were once the same language as West Norwegian, matching
on
> > vocabulary and usage as well, we can get a fairly good idea of how
> > it was pronounced by comparing the how these tongues are
pronounced
> > today and doing the math. Although it had the most complicated
vowel-
> > system (through more mutations) and the least speakers of any
nordic
> > tongue from the 9-10 centuries, West Norse is now by far the
easiest
> > tongue to reconstruct, as there is a firm basis for comparison.
This
> > is ironic, perhaps, given the numerical inferiority ;)
Fortunately,
> > West Norse was the most conservative branch, often markedly so.
Only
> > Gutnish equals its antiquity. Shamefully, Gutnish was neglected,
set
> > out to die and never used as a literary tongue. Our only book in
the
> > tongue was written in the early 14th century. Fortunately, it is
old
> > enough to give us some idea of the tongue in its golden age. I
think
>
> Bo Oscarsson has written a dictionary for the Jamska language of
Jamtland (in Sverige).
> It would be great if there was a Hammershaimb or an Ivar Aasen
> to do for Gutniska and the other Svenska dialects
> what has been done for Faeroese and NyNorsk.
> Especially, making the orthography resemble Modern Icelandic or Old
Norse where appropriate.
>
> > we are very lucky, on the other hand, that Old Icelandic was used
as
> > a literary tongue in the west as early as 1100-1130, when the
tongue
> > was only slightly changed from its golden age.
> >
> > Vesið ér heil (pronun.: uesið êr hæil (short æ+i - between ei &
ai ;)
> >
> > Konrad
> >
> > Regards,
> > Konrad
> >
> >
> > > Berglaug
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > A Norse funny farm, overrun by smart people.
> >
> > Homepage: http://www.hi.is/~haukurth/norse/
> >
> > To escape from this funny farm try rattling off an e-mail
> > to:
> >
> > norse_course-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >