Latgalistikys kongresu materiali, III. 2011. - Latvijas Universitāte

Attempts to reverse the language shift in Älvdalen
Literacy
The most visible changes, as far as the preservation of Övdalian is
concerned, are related to literacy. Until the 1970-ies the vernacular had
been treated by its speakers mainly as an oral dialect, even though it has
some literature traditions dating back to 1622 when the oldest fragments in
Övdalian were written in Prytz' theatre piece En lustigh comoedia om
konung Gustaf then Första. Moreover there are wedding poems from the
17 th century and the translation of the Gospel of Luke from 1693 (Björklund
1956; Noreen 1881). Some of the runic inscriptions, which were not
actively used in Scandinavian countries already in the Middle Ages, were
preserved in Älvdalen until the end of 18 th century and on isolated objects
even until World War II (Gustavson & Hallonquist 1985).
The modern text canon consists of the translation of the Gospel of
John and the Gospel of Luke, grammar books, a Swedish-Övdalian/Övdalian-Swedish
dictionary with 21 000 entries, several books about
local phenomena i.e. birds names and place names, as well as a rich collection
of children’s literature. There are also two newspapers published in
Älvdalen although not entirely written in Övdalian: Dalskum 48 (since
1992) and Skansvakten (since 1916). Literacy in Övdalian has become
easier and more homogenous since the new orthography was formulated
by Råðdjärum. Älvdalska språkrådet ‘The Övdalian Language Council’
and accepted by Ulum Dalska (see below) in 2005. The Council has encountered
many difficulties, as there are 12 varieties of Övdalian spoken
within the municipality. The newly developed orthography is thus a compromise
between different Övdalian forms.
Awards
The usage of the local vernacular has been encouraged by granting a
language award Övdals-byönn ‘Övdalian-bear’ in 2007 in the amount of
1000 EUR. The award is granted to those (people, organizations, schools
etc.) who work actively for Övdalian’s preservation. Its aim is also “to
show good examples where through practical work one can contribute to
the preservation of Övdalian as a living language” (“ ‘Övdals-byönn’,
språkpris för Älvdalskan”, my translation). The first winner was the personnel
of a local kindergarten.
Since 2008 there has been also granted a scholarship Besparingsskogens
språkstipendium Ulum Dalska to those pupils who have finished 3 rd ,
48 Dalskum was published until 2008 under the title Ulum Dalska.
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