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Scandinavian language -> English

Posted: 2007-07-12, 20:07
by Anaruk
Hi. Could you translate and transcribe this? Also, where is this speaker from? What language is this?

http://www.ax6.org/freeupload/730f98.wav

Posted: 2007-07-12, 20:32
by JaneFairfax
I think it’s the Lord’s Prayer in Danish.

Posted: 2007-07-12, 21:37
by Johanna
If it is Danish, the speaker is probably not from Denmark. I should be able to understand it pretty well since it's read very slowly but I can only make out bout 2/3 of it, but from that I'm think it sounds like badly pronounced Danish or rather a mix between that and some sort of Low German. Maybe it's in a dialect from the border between Denmark or Germany or something like that, but it still has a foreign touch to it. It's definitely not Rigsdansk in any case.

And not Swedish or Norwegian either, if it's not a very archaich and unusual dialect that is. Hard to tell since I didn't understand everything of it, or rather didn't hear the words.

And yes, it is the Lord's Prayer, that much I did understand.

Posted: 2007-07-12, 22:51
by Hunef
It's definitely not (Modern) Danish, neither Standard Danish nor any dialect of it. It's definitely Scandinavian, though. And the speaker is most likely not a native one, since if he were he'd be either Norwegian and Swedish and he clearly is neither.

This is how he says (using more or less a Swedish phonetical spelling here):
    Favir vår, du såm er i himmeln! - Father our, you which is in the heaven!
    lat ditt naun holdes häjlej; -
    let your name be held holy;
    lat ditt rike kåmma; -
    let your kingdom come;
    ditt vilja vill verda -
    your will will become (?)
    vi vill gera ditt vilja på jar såm i himmeln; -
    we will make your will on earth as in heaven;
    geu åss i däj vårt däjlej bröud; -
    give us today our daily bread;
    firgäv åss vår sjå, -
    forgive us our guilt,
    å vi firgäv vår sjåmän; -
    and we forgive our guilt-men
Is it conlang based on Norse, perhaps? Or Norn? Or some Norwegian dialect?
The only part I don't understand is vill verda (?) on the fourth line. Compare the text above with a nynorsk version from 1938:
    Fader vår, du som er i himmelen!
    Lat namnet ditt helgast;
    lat riket ditt koma;
    lat viljen din råda
    på jordi so som i himmelen;
    gjev oss i dag vårt daglege brød;
    og forlat oss vår skuld,
    som me og forlet våre skuldmenn;
(Source.) Pretty similar.

Posted: 2007-07-12, 23:32
by JaneFairfax
Well, I only supposed it to be Danish because I thought I could make out some glottal stops in the speech. :roll:

Posted: 2007-07-13, 4:48
by Anaruk
Interesting. So it is definitely not Danish at all then and it is rather difficult to understand. What is Norn, by the way? So where does the speaker sound like he is from if it is not a native speaker? In what ways does it sound archaic or unusual?

Posted: 2007-07-13, 8:09
by JaneFairfax
Anaruk wrote:What is Norn, by the way?

From what I understand, it’s an extinct (Scandinavian) language that was once spoken in Shetland.

BTW, here is the Lord’s Prayer in two Norn versions. Doesn’t look like this is the language we’re looking for. :?
http://wikisource.org/wiki/Fy_vor

Posted: 2007-07-13, 14:36
by Anaruk
No, it doesn't look like Norn.

Posted: 2007-07-13, 17:15
by Bjarn
Anaruk wrote:No, it doesn't look like Norn.


This is Norn.

* Orkney Norn:

Favor i ir i chimrie, / Helleur ir i nam thite,
gilla cosdum thite cumma, / veya thine mota vara gort
o yurn sinna gort i chimrie, / ga vus da on da dalight brow vora
Firgive vus sinna vora / sin vee Firgive sindara mutha vus,
lyv vus ye i tumtation, / min delivera vus fro olt ilt, Amen.


Taken from wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norn_language

Posted: 2007-07-13, 17:33
by Anaruk
Here's another file in the same set: http://www.ax6.org/freeupload/6a3ffb8.wav

Posted: 2007-07-14, 1:01
by Johanna
Hmmm... very badly pronounced Nynorsk?

Posted: 2007-07-14, 3:48
by Steli
Maybe very badly pronounced Icelandic? I think I hear some ð and þ.

Posted: 2007-07-14, 4:37
by Almar
No, it's not.


A quick Icelandic transliteration:

favivo dú som e í himmin
latt did nán hóls í heilei
latt did ríki komma
dji vilje vjo verda
ví vil gjere ditt vilje po ja
som í himmin
gev oss í dæ vo dælæ brá
fyrirgef oss vor sjú
o vívigje vosjúmm
Compared to the actual Lord's prayer in Icelandic:

Faðir vor, þú sem ert á himnum
Helgist þitt nafn, tilkomi þitt ríki
Verði þinn vilji, svo á jörðu sem og himni
Gef oss í dag vort daglegt brauð
og fyrirgef oss vorar skuldir
Svo sem vér og fyrirgefum
vorum skuldunautum


I'd say bad Nynorsk, but what do I know.

Posted: 2007-07-14, 5:46
by Steli
I meant the second link.

The first sample sounds Danish to me, but I'm of course not really qualified to give an opinion about that topic.

Posted: 2007-07-14, 10:16
by JaneFairfax
Perhaps it’s a newly constructed Scandinavian language – Nydansk? :lol:

Posted: 2007-07-14, 21:40
by Anaruk
JaneFairfax wrote:Perhaps it’s a newly constructed Scandinavian language – Nydansk? :lol:


lol. So where are the speakers from? Italy?

Posted: 2007-07-14, 21:59
by Hunef
Anaruk wrote:
JaneFairfax wrote:Perhaps it’s a newly constructed Scandinavian language – Nydansk? :lol:


lol. So where are the speakers from? Italy?

Not a Germanic speaker, indeed. And I think it's either a conlang or a pretty bad attempt to read a Norwegian dialectal version.

Posted: 2007-07-16, 11:42
by Aleco
Weird :lol:

Not a Norwegian dialect...
More like a foreign speaking Danish :roll:

Posted: 2007-07-16, 18:42
by Hunef
Aleco wrote:Weird :lol:

Not a Norwegian dialect...
More like a foreign speaking Danish :roll:

Does this look like Danish to you?
    Favir vår, du såm er i himmeln! - Father our, you which is in the heaven!
    lat ditt naun holdes häjlej; -
    let your name be held holy;
    lat ditt rike kåmma; -
    let your kingdom come;
    ditt vilja vill verda -
    your will will become (?)
    vi vill gera ditt vilja på jar såm i himmeln; -
    we will make your will on earth as in heaven;
    geu åss i däj vårt däjlej bröud; -
    give us today our daily bread;
    firgäv åss vår sjå, -
    forgive us our guilt,
    å vi firgäv vår sjåmän; -
    and we forgive our guilt-men
To me it looks like some Norwegian dialect. (Do you know any Danish dialect except Bornholmish which has -a as in e.g. "kåmma" 'to come'?) But obviously, the speaker is not native.

Posted: 2007-07-17, 17:33
by j0nas
vårt däjlej bröud

looks very danish
also notice the way he pronounces the d's, to me this sounds like some half-assed attempt on danish