This study focuses primarily on the inflection of singular place-names belonging to strong declensions and how their inflection developed in the Old Swedish period. It is based mainly on sources from Södermanland. Examination of the dative inflections of masculine and neuter place-names suggests that by and large place-names underwent the same course of development as appellatives, the dative having almost completely disappeared as a formal category by the end of the Middle Ages. In some cases dative endings were, however, retained in place-names: for example, certain name elements tended to keep the ending when they occurred as simplexes, but lost it in compound names. The dative may then have become the general form of such names. A special study was made of iō-stem place-names. Even in the nominative, forms ending in -e and -a predominate. The -e ending derives from the dative/accusative form, which may have become a new basic form at an early date. Reinterpretation of the dative/accusative resulted in someplace-names passing into the weak declension. Via the dative/accusative singular ending, place-names also adopted the generalized -a form which developed in plural habitative names. In the Middle Ages a mode of inflection peculiar to place-names appeared. In Latin texts, Swedish place-names occur in a generalized form, used regardless of case. A suitable form was chosen, often an accusative which had converged with the nominative. Generalized forms of this kind are found in both Latin and Old Swedish texts. The Latin scribal tradition was a contributory factor in their introduction. The author discusses whether place-names can be shown to have changed paradigm earlier than appellatives. Secondary -s genitives in particular, which occur earlier in place-names than in appellatives, suggest that they did. The fact that place-names exhibit secondary -s genitives in early sources may be partly due to their naming function. / <p>Doktorsavhandling vid Uppsala universitet.</p>

This thesis examines fragmentary Finnish in Late Old Swedish charters (c. 1350–1526) issued in the Finnish part of the Swedish realm, the diocese of Åbo. Consisting mostly of proper names, albeit occasionally displaying Finnish inflectional and derivational morphology, these fragments have previously not generally been regarded as representing actual written Finnish, but rather as onomastic loans or transcriptions of oral language by more or less monolingual Swedish scribes. This thesis attempts a description and analysis of the Swedish–Finnish language mixture, to see to what extent the embedding of Finnish segments in these Swedish-language charters can be said to reflect scribal proficiency in Finnish or a lack thereof. The thesis relies on theoretical and empirical findings in the fields of code-switching and historical sociolinguistics. To provide a socio-historical context for the linguistic analysis, sociolinguistic conditions in medieval Finland and the textual genre of medieval charters are outlined. The bilingual segments in the data are then described and compared with models of code-switching from modern studies, to see whether their form corresponds to patterns that could be expected of more or less balanced bilinguals. The choice between Swedish and Finnish linguistic variants is also considered in the light of textual and sociolinguistic factors, and a study is made of Finnish grammatical transfer in the scribal Swedish of medieval Finland. Although the scarcity of the medieval data does not allow definite conclusions, the tentative results reveal a language mixture that is mainly well formed, though limited in scope and with some instances of scribal errors that could be due to a lack of proficiency in Finnish. On the other hand, the insertion of Finnish segments shows a stylistic patterning that suggests a linguistic awareness on the part of the scribes, and the choice of Swedish prepositions in certain constructions differs quantitatively from the norm in non-Finnish parts of medieval Sweden, in a way that can partly be attributed to the influence of Finnish locative case semantics. While it is apparent that proficiency levels in Finnish must have varied somewhat among medieval scribes in Finland, the results point to a more or less bilingual proficiency, or at least extensive passive knowledge of Finnish.

No description available.

The Germanic initial sound combination wr (e.g. in *wrītan 'write') has not been preserved in any standard language. In the Scandinavian languages the development of this sound combination has resulted in five different initial sounds or sound combinations, namely rw, r, w, br and vr. The aim of this study is to describe the occurrence of these sound combinations, and to explain their age and origin. A limited number of words, mainly from Swedish dialects, has been investigated. The Swedish material has been assembled in a collection that has largely also been mapped, and so has a collection of Norwegian dialect material. The result shows that br is frequent in the Swedish dialects and that it also occurs in Trøndelagen and Østlandet in Norway, and on Jutland. R is widespread in Norway and occurs in Sweden in some words in Norrland, Dalarna, Värmland, Dalsland, Uppland and on the island of Gotland. Rw has been documented in Upper Dalarna, and w in the same area, as well as in the Kalix dialect in northernmost Sweden. The author demonstrates that the Norwegian loss of w might have started already in the 6th century in western Norway. The loss on Gotland is independent and can be demonstrated in Old Gutnish. The metathesis rw is found in Swedish and Norwegian 13-14th century sources from Uppland, Västmanland, Östergötland and southeastern Norway. The developments wr &gt; r and wr &gt; rw probably have their roots in a difference between the west Norwegian wr and the east Norwegian and Swedish war which is documented from PrimScand times. W is a secondary development of rw. The change wr &gt; br can be dated by place-name material to the early 15th century. The change wr &gt; vr appears to have taken place at approximately the same time. The author demonstrates that the result, wr &gt; br or wr &gt; yr, is apparently governed by certain phonetic factors. The failure of the Germanic wr to survive depends on the combination being phonetically complex. The risk that w would be lost was therefore considerable. However, differentiating forces worked for its retention. All developments emanating from wr, apparently disparate, can be seen as features of a larger process where a general linguistic tendency towards a weakening of sounds is confronted by conservative forces, with the above results as a consequence. / <p>Doktorsavhandling vid Uppsala universitet 1991</p>

This study deals with the testing and grading of Swedish school leaving students’ oral proficiency in English, and with certain aspects of these students’ linguistic competence. The analyses and results are based on material drawn from an assessment project carried out at Gothenburg University in 1993. The 29 students taking part in the project were interviewed three times by three different interviewers in tests comprising three tasks, similar in structure but different in content. The interviewers were of three categories: school teachers of English, university teachers of English and native speakers of English. The student production was graded on a five-point scale according to a set of rating criteria. The interviewers assigned generally positive but often differing grades to the student performance. The grades were influenced by the students’ ability to communicate and speak with flow, and by gaps in vocabulary and by occurrences of grammatical errors. The students’ use of discourse phenomena and compensatory strategies was also of importance to the grades assigned. Many students were considered to have acceptable intonation and rhythm, but nevertheless an evident Swedish accent. The linguistic features studied comprised the verbal group, vocabulary, discourse markers and pronunciation. Differences could be observed between the members of the interviewer categories regarding the grades they assigned to student production. The school teachers seem to have paid special attention to grammatical accuracy, and the native speakers appear to have had a notion of communicative competence where accuracy plays a less important role. Differences in the grades assigned could also be explained by the order in which the interviews were made, by some students’ hesitant delivery, by the positive or negative effect of various fillers in the students’ speech, and by the interviewing methods used by the interviewers in the tests.

This thesis investigates control infinitives and ECM-infinitives in the history of Swedish. Both constructions are non-finite, based on infinitives with or without complements, but share some properties and functions with finite subordinate clauses. Control infinitives (to-infinitives) are headed by the infinitive marker att (which in some cases may be omitted) and have invisible PRO-subjects (“controlled” by, i.e. co-referential with, the subject or object of the matrix), whereas ECM-infinitives are headed by overt subjects, distinguished by their “exceptional case marking” (ECM) from the matrix verb, and never contain the infinitive marker. According to the proposed analyses, conducted within the theoretical framework of generative grammar, control infinitives are CPs, taking the infinitive marker as a non-finite complementizer in C, but lack the TP of the I-domain, whereas ECM-infinitives have no C-layer but, nevertheless, a (sort of) TP. The historical investigation shows that control infinitives have developed more clause like properties over time. In Old Swedish (1220–1526), they only rarely contained e.g. negations or auxiliaries. It is not until the seventeenth century that these elements have come into use in the same way as in modern Swedish. This is accounted for by assuming that the control infinitive in Old Swedish was a recent innovation that did not initially make any use at all of the I-domain. The ECM-infinitives, on the other hand, are taken to have the same structure and function in Old Swedish as in Modern Swedish, as their use and properties have not changed significantly. In addition, the status of the infinitive marker has changed through the history of Swedish. Etymologically a preposition, it is here analysed as a verb phrase element in Early Old Swedish, not as a (non-finite) complementizer as in Modern Swedish. In early Modern Swedish (1526–1732), the preposition till is used in much the same function as att giving rise to two new infinitive markers: till att and till. This development of new infinitive markers is also accounted for in the thesis.

<p>This study deals with the testing and grading of Swedish school leaving students’ oral proficiency in English, and with certain aspects of these students’ linguistic competence. The analyses and results are based on material drawn from an assessment project carried out at Gothenburg University in 1993.</p><p>The 29 students taking part in the project were interviewed three times by three different interviewers in tests comprising three tasks, similar in structure but different in content. The interviewers were of three categories: school teachers of English, university teachers of English and native speakers of English. The student production was graded on a five-point scale according to a set of rating criteria.</p><p>The interviewers assigned generally positive but often differing grades to the student performance. The grades were influenced by the students’ ability to communicate and speak with flow, and by gaps in vocabulary and by occurrences of grammatical errors. The students’ use of discourse phenomena and compensatory strategies was also of importance to the grades assigned. Many students were considered to have acceptable intonation and rhythm, but nevertheless an evident Swedish accent. The linguistic features studied comprised the verbal group, vocabulary, discourse markers and pronunciation. </p><p>Differences could be observed between the members of the interviewer categories regarding the grades they assigned to student production. The school teachers seem to have paid special attention to grammatical accuracy, and the native speakers appear to have had a notion of communicative competence where accuracy plays a less important role.</p><p>Differences in the grades assigned could also be explained by the order in which the interviews were made, by some students’ hesitant delivery, by the positive or negative effect of various fillers in the students’ speech, and by the interviewing methods used by the interviewers in the tests.</p>

This dissertation investigates the links between Chrétien de Troyes’ romance Le Chevalier au lion from the late twelfth century and the Old Swedish text Herr Ivan, written at the behest of Queen Eufemia of Norway at the beginning of the fourteenth century. The study has two parts. The first sets out to determine the sources of the Swedish text: Was Le Chevalier au lion really the source text of Herr Ivan? The second part raises the question of what happened to the courtly ideals that characterize the French romance when they were transferred into Swedish. The analysis of the question concerning the sources of Herr Ivan confirms that Le Chevalier au lion was the translator’s main source, while the Old Norse version Ívens saga, from the middle of the thirteenth century, was used as a secondary source. The relationship between Le Chevalier au lion, Ívens saga and Herr Ivan is examined through a comparison of the three texts: the choice of verse or prose, the role of prologues and epilogues, and the use of the voice of a narrator and of direct and indirect discourse. Four specific passages are compared at a micro-level. By comparing Herr Ivan to its sources, it becomes clear that the Swedish translator wanted to stress certain courtly ideals by presenting a distinct and coherent interpretation of what Chrétien de Troyes refers to as courtoisie. This indicates that the function of the text was to present a set of ideological and aesthetic values. The analysis of the transmission of courtly ideals takes its point of departure in the uses of the French word courtois and the Swedish equivalent hövisker. As a next step, three elements intimately linked to courtliness are examined: aventure, gaieté and honneur. Also the different roles played by the lion are highlighted. Finally, it is shown how the courtly ideals of Herr Ivan can be read in the light of the other Old Swedish texts written at the behest of Queen Eufemia: Hertig Fredrik av Normandie and Flores och Blanzeflor.

Uppsatsen behandlar konstruktionsmönster vid de bitransitiva verben sända och giva i äldre forn­svenska, yngre fornsvenska och äldre nysvenska. I uppsatsen undersöks dels för­del­ningen mellan de fyra konstruktionsalternativen DAT-ACK, ACK-DAT, PP-ACK och ACK-PP för sända respektive giva under var och en av de undersökta perioderna, dels vilka se­mantiska och informationsstrukturella faktorer som ligger bakom valet av en viss kon­struk­tions­va­riant vid ett visst verb under en viss tidsperiod. Resultaten visar att för verbet sända fö­re­lig­g­er inga sig­nifikanta skillnader i för­delningen av konstruktionsalternativ mellan de tre tids­pe­ri­oderna. Verbet konstrueras med ACK-PP i över hälften av fallen under alla tidsperioderna, me­dan DAT-ACK genomgående står för ungefär en tredjedel av beläggen. Verbet giva upp­vi­s­ar däremot en signifikant minskad användning av ACK-DAT mellan yngre fornsvenska och äl­d­re nysvenska, medan bruket av ACK-PP ökar under samma period. Mellan äldre forn­sven­ska och yngre fornsvenska ökar bruket av DAT-ACK, medan ACK-PP blir ovanligare. Båda des­sa tendenser beror dock på en specifik användning av ACK-PP i Fornsvenska legendariet, och speg­lar förmodligen inte utvecklingen i språket som helhet. Vad gäller de informationsstruktu­r­ella fak­torerna påverkar dessa valet av konstruktionstyp i stort sett som väntat, i så måtto att kor­t­a­re, pronominella och definita led (dvs. informationsstrukturellt tematiska led) ofta pla­ce­ras fö­re längre, icke-pronominella och indefinita led (informationsstrukturellt rematiska). Ana­lysen av de semantiska variablerna visade att DAT-ACK vid båda verben gynnas av ani­ma­ta m/m-ar­gument (mottagare/mål) och abstrakta p/t-argument (patient/tema), medan ACK-PP å andra si­dan gynnas av inanimata m/m-argument och konkreta p/t-argument. Vid verbet sän­da kon­stru­eras DAT-ACK enbart med animata m/m-argument, medan verbet giva i äldre och yngre forn­svenska endast konstrueras med ACK-PP om m/m-argumentet är inanimat. En se­mantisk ut­vidgning av ACK-PP vid verbet giva uppstår emellertid i äldre nysvenska, där kon­struk­tions­varianten blir kompatibel även med animata m/m-argument. ACK-DAT är vid verbet gi­va vanligare när p/t-argumentet betecknar någonting konkret, vilket indikerar en se­man­tisk upp­delning inte bara mellan dubbelobjektsvariant och prepositionsvariant utan även mel­lan de bå­da dubbelobjektsvarianterna DAT-ACK och ACK-DAT.

The aim of this thesis is to shed light on language variation and language change in judicial protocols from the municipal court in Stockholm during the period 1476−1626. These documents provide a unique insight into late medieval and early modern use of written vernacular. The main material consists of 700 courtroom notes from seven different periods of time, a hundred documents from each year: 1476, 1499, 1525, 1550, 1575, 1600, and 1626. The study draws theoretically on functional linguistics; more specifically, it utilizes Halliday’s systemic-functional grammar, Ulf Teleman’s (1985) theoretical model of language change, as well as dialogism. The results are presented in four analytical chapters. In the first of these, the aim is to systemize the somewhat heterogeneous material, and the corpus is divided in two different ways: one due to judicial content (‘categories of matter’), and one due to textual structure (‘discourse levels’). These systemizations also serve as a methodological foundation for the lexicogrammatical analysis in the following chapters. A main result is that multi-party cases over time develop a functional need for new communication strategies, while unilateral cases already from the beginning seem to bear a more deep-rooted textual stability. In addition, there is a significant increase of discourse level 3, representing communicative events outside the courtroom, in multi-party cases found in texts from 1600 and 1626. In the two following chapters, lexicogrammatical resources of ‘personal reference’ and ‘time and tense’ are analysed. The texts realize different patterns of anaphora, where individuation explains much of the variation: texts with high degree of individuation (criminal cases) materialize a high degree of pronouns, whereas texts regarding property issues materialize low individuation with few pronouns and many full NPs. Regarding the use of tense, the past tense is the most common tense. Still, the study shows an diachronic increase in the use of present tense. The last analytical chapter examines the use of three lexical features: judicial pronouns; word pairs; and nominalizations. The results show that judicial pronouns and word pairs typically occur in registrations matters; nominalizations occur throughout the genre. In the last chapter, the results and implications of the thesis are summated and discussed. The results point towards a pragmatic use of the written language. Although the lexicogrammatical resources are the same during the period, the usages vary. Hence, linguistic variation and change are highly motivated by an intercommunion of contextual factors such as a more solid administrative literacy, a changing litigation, and an increase of legal demands for linguistic precision and documentation. It is argued that the language variety in the genre can be understood as instantiations of different registers.