History of Danish facts for kids

The Danish language is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Denmark. It grew out of an older language called Old East Norse during the Middle Ages. Old East Norse was also the ancestor of the Swedish language.

Experts often divide the history of Danish into two main parts: "Old Danish" (from about 800 AD to 1525) and "Modern Danish" (from 1525 onwards). Old Danish itself is split into "Runic Danish" (800–1100), Early Middle Danish (1100–1350), and Late Middle Danish (1350–1525).

Runic Danish: The Oldest Form

The earliest form of Danish is called Runic Danish. It's named "runic" because people wrote it using a special alphabet called runes. This was the same language spoken in both Denmark and Sweden until about the 12th century.

Instead of the 26 letters we use today, the Younger Futhark runic alphabet only had 16 letters. Because there were so few runes, one rune often stood for several different sounds. For example, the rune for 'u' was also used for 'o', 'ø', and 'y'.

During this time, the language started to change. Some sounds that were once two separate vowel sounds (like 'æi') became a single vowel sound (like 'e'). This was one of the ways Runic Danish began to differ from other Norse languages.

Middle Danish: A Language Takes Shape

Around 1100 AD, the Danish language began to become different from Swedish. These changes spread slowly across Denmark, creating small differences in how people spoke in different areas.

During the medieval period, Danish truly became its own language. Most official documents were written in Latin, but some important texts were written in Danish. The runic alphabet was still used by some people, but the Latin alphabet became more common for writing Danish.

Early Danish texts include important law books like the Jutlandic Law and Scanian Law. These were written in Danish in the early 1200s so that everyone could understand them. After 1350, Danish was also used for government papers and other writings, like royal letters.

The way Danish was spelled wasn't set in stone back then. Different regions had different ways of writing words. Also, Danish borrowed many words from Low German, a language spoken in northern Germany.

Renaissance and Reformation: A New Era for Danish

The Protestant Reformation in 1536 was a big moment for the Danish language. It meant that Danish became the language used in churches and for religious texts. This made people more interested in using Danish for writing books and other literature.

It was also around this time that Danish started to develop unique features that set it apart from Swedish and Norwegian. One example is the "stød" (a special kind of sound in Danish words).

The very first book printed in Danish was "Rimkrøniken" (the Rhyming Chronicle) in 1495. It was a history book told in rhyming verses. A major milestone was the first complete translation of the Bible into Danish, known as the Bible of Christian III, published in 1550. The way parts of this Bible were translated by Christiern Pedersen helped set the standard for how Danish would be written for many years.

Modern Danish: Famous Writers and Works

The first full Danish Bible was published in 1550, marking the beginning of Modern Danish. Since then, many famous writers have used Danish to create amazing works.

Some well-known Danish authors include the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, who wrote about life's big questions. There's also Hans Christian Andersen, famous for his many fairy tales, like "The Little Mermaid" and "The Ugly Duckling." Playwrights like Ludvig Holberg also wrote important works in Danish.

Three Danish authors have even won the Nobel Prize in Literature: Karl Adolph Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan (who shared the prize in 1917), and Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (who won in 1944).

See also

In Spanish: Historia del idioma danés para niños