Norrland dialects () is one of the six major dialect groupings of the Swedish language. It comprises most dialects traditionally spoken in Norrland, except for those of Gästrikland and southern Hälsingland, which are usually classified as Svealand Swedish, as well as those of Härjedalen and northernmost Jämtland, which are usually classified as Norwegian.
The border between Norrland dialects and Svealand Swedish runs through Hälsingland, such that the northern Hälsingland dialects are regarded as Norrland dialects and the southern ones as Svealand Swedish; an alternative delineation follows the southern border of Medelpad.
The old northern border of the Swedish language in coastal Norrbotten largely followed the eastern and northern borders of the present-day Kalix and Överkalix municipalities. From there, a vaguely defined linguistic border ran through Lappland from the northernmost point of Överkalix parish in an arc to the south of Porjus, then followed the Lule River to the border with Norway.
History
Norrland dialects arose from the combined influence of the Old West Norse spoken in Trøndelag to the west and the Old East Norse spoken to the south. The westerly influences were notably strong in the centuries leading up to the Viking Era. The shift to East Norse progressed through the Middle Ages. As Norrland gradually came to be more and more under Central Swedish influence in the Modern Era, many of the older West Norse characteristics disappeared.
The strong West Norse influences can still be seen today in the toponymy of Norrland in placenames ending in -ånger (, "harbour"). Parish names such Skön and Indal (both in Sundsvall Municipality) have West Nordic origins. The dialect of Norrbotten displays less West Nordic influence than other more westerly dialects. The greatest West Nordic/Norwegian, or perhaps least East Nordic/Swedish, influence is found in Jämtland.
As with other regiolects, it is difficult to clearly define a unique set of characteristics for the Norrland dialects. The distribution of different features of the dialect have differing boundaries (called isoglosses), which are described in the following summary of phenomena regarded as typical of Norrland dialects. In Norrland, traditional local dialects are on the decline as in many other parts of the world. Aside from characteristic peculiarities in intonation, there are certain grammatical traits that still survive: the infinitive måsta (Standard Swedish: måste), present tense forms such as han gå (Standard Swedish: han går, "he goes") and han ropa (Standard Swedish: han ropar, "he calls"), and the uninflected predicative in a statement such as dom ä trött (Standard Swedish: de är trötta, "they are tired").
Features
Vowel balance and apocope
Unlike present-day Standard Swedish, syllables in Old Swedish could be both light and heavy, and in the Norrland dialects the two syllable types developed in diverging ways, resulting in a number of phonological developments. In words with an original heavy syllable, the final vowel is often reduced or lost (apocope). The former is common in southern Norrland dialects, as in the infinitive ending of verbs ( > or ), e.g. kaste ‘to throw’ (Standard Swedish kasta). The latter is common in northern Norrland dialects as well as in Jämtland, e.g. kast or more commonly kaast, with preserved double-peak pitch accent (so-called “circumflex” accent). In words with an original light syllable, no such reduction is found, e.g. taḷa ‘to speak’ (< Old Swedish tăla; Modern Standard Swedish tala). This weight-conditioned ending system is known in Swedish dialectology as vowel balance (Swedish vokalbalans).
Vowel balance is abundant throughout the grammatical system. Outside the infinitive of verbs, it is also found in the nominal system, where it affects for instance so-called weak masculines and weak feminines, e.g. Luleå dialect bääkk ‘hill’ (< oblique bakka; backe) vs. po:sa ‘bag’ (with lengthened root vowel, from OSw. pŭsa; Mod.Sw. påse); kḷookk ‘clock’ (< OSw. klokku; Mod.Sw. klocka) vs. lö:do ‘barn’ (< OSw. lăþu; Mod.Sw. lada).