In Norway, it wouldn’t be unusual to observe a family’s weeknight dinner and notice one parent ask a question in Swedish, the other reply in Norwegian, while the children bicker in a local Norwegian dialect. There is no translation needed and only a few misunderstandings. But just how does it work exactly and why is it so common?
The three Scandinavian languages, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish, are relatively similar when it comes to vocabulary and sound. While the three neighbouring countries aren’t shy to joke around, for example saying that ‘drunk Norwegians speak perfect Danish’, a speaker of one Scandinavian language can realistically communicate with a speaker of another, using what’s known as semi-communication.
Semi-communication is a form of ‘receptive multilingualism’, allowing Scandinavians to communicate effectively while speaking their own mother tongue. It works because Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish all come from Old Norse so they share highly similar vocabularies and grammatical structures. Norwegian serves as the in-between language between Swedish and Danish, as it sounds like the former but looks like the latter. Norwegian people also excel at understanding and interpreting what others say – the country has over 1,300 registered dialects – allowing speakers to be excellent listeners when it comes to semi-communication.
It isn’t perfect though. Norwegians generally understand both Swedish and Danish easily, while Danes often find it more challenging. There are also some ‘false friends’. For example, rolig in Swedish means funny; in Norwegian it means calm. Speakers adapt their dialects, slow down, and swap out localised words, to accommodate for these quirks.
If you’re a film buff, you may have noticed that during Oscar-winning Sentimental Value, Stellan Skarsgård was speaking Swedish while his co-stars Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas spoke entirely in Norwegian. Living in England, it is hard to even begin to comprehend how this works. Imagine going to school and having your teacher speak in Irish while being interrupted in Cymraeg! But, in Scandinavia and many other countries, this way of speaking is part of everyday life.
Ultimately, semi-communication in Scandinavia shows how being open-minded can help protect against the influence of the Anglosphere. By choosing to speak in their own languages, Scandinavians are preserving their cultural and linguistic identities, while simultaneously strengthening cross-border bonds. In the future, as young people in Scandinavia continue to switch to English naturally, the phenomenon of semi-communication is at risk of disappearing. But, with a little bit of patience and exposure, it can continue to be one of the most interesting parts about life in Scandinavia.
