Editing Old Norse (section)

== Dialects ==
Most of the innovations that appeared in Old Norse spread evenly through the Old Norse area. As a result, the dialects were similar and considered to be the same language, a language that they sometimes called the Danish tongue ({{lang|non|Dǫnsk tunga}}), sometimes Norse language ({{lang|non|Norrœnt mál}}), as evidenced in the following two quotes from {{lang|non|[[Heimskringla]]}} by [[Snorri Sturluson]]:

{{Verse translation|lang=non|Móðir Dyggva var Drótt, dóttir Danps konungs, sonar Rígs er fyrstr var konungr kallaðr á danska tungu.
|attr1=''[[Heimskringla]]'', Ynglinga saga § 20. ''Dauði Dyggva''
|Dyggvi's mother was Drott, the daughter of king Danp, Ríg's son, who was the first to be called king in the Danish tongue.
}}

{{Verse translation|lang=non|...stirt var honum norrœnt mál, ok kylfdi mᴊǫk til orðanna, ok hǫfðu margir menn þat mᴊǫk at spotti.
|attr1=''[[Heimskringla]]'', Saga Sigurðar Jórsalafara, Eysteins ok Ólafs § 35(34). ''Frá veðjan Haralds ok Magnús''
|...the Norse language was hard for him, and he often fumbled for words, which amused people greatly.
}}

However, some changes were geographically limited and so created a dialectal difference between Old West Norse and Old East Norse.

As Proto-Norse evolved into Old Norse, in the 8th century, the effects of the [[Germanic umlaut|umlauts]] seem to have been very much the same over the whole Old Norse area. But in later dialects of the language a split occurred mainly between west and east as the use of umlauts began to vary. The typical umlauts (for example {{lang|non|fylla}} from {{lang|non|fullijan}}) were better preserved in the West due to later generalizations in the east where many instances of umlaut were removed (many archaic Eastern texts as well as eastern runic inscriptions however portray the same extent of umlauts as in later Western Old Norse).

All the while, the changes resulting in [[breaking (linguistics)|breaking]] (for example {{lang|non|hiarta}} from {{lang|non|*hertō}}) were more influential in the East probably once again due to generalizations within the inflectional system. This difference was one of the greatest reasons behind the dialectalization that took place in the 9th and 10th centuries, shaping an Old West Norse dialect in Norway and the Atlantic settlements and an Old East Norse dialect in Denmark and Sweden.

Old West Norse and Old Gutnish did not take part in the monophthongization which changed {{lang|non|æi}} ({{lang|non|ei}}) into {{lang|non|ē}}, {{lang|non|øy}} ({{lang|non|ey}}) and {{lang|non|au}} into {{lang|non|ø̄}}, nor did certain peripheral dialects of Swedish, as seen in modern [[Swedish dialects in Ostrobothnia|Ostrobothnian dialects]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://aveneca.com/westeast.html|title=The Old Norse dialect areas| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707195311/http://aveneca.com/westeast.html| archive-date = 7 July 2011| year =2009 | work = aveneca.com}}</ref> Another difference was that Old West Norse lost certain combinations of consonants. The combinations {{lang|non|-mp-}}, {{lang|non|-nt-}}, and {{lang|non|-nk-}} were assimilated into {{lang|non|-pp-}}, {{lang|non|-tt-}} and {{lang|non|-kk-}} in Old West Norse, but this phenomenon was limited in Old East Norse.

Here is a comparison between the two dialects as well as Old Gutnish. It is a transcription from one of the [[Funbo Runestones]] in Sweden (U 990) from the eleventh century:

{{interlinear |indent=2 |italics2=yes |italics3=yes
|Veðr ok Þegn ok Gunnarr reistu stein þenna at Haursa, fǫður sinn. Guð hjalpi ǫnd hans. |c1=(Old West Norse)
|Weðr ok Þegn ok Gunnarr ræistu stæin þenna at Haursa, faður sinn. Guð hialpi and hans |c2=(Old East Norse)
|Weðr ok Þegn ok Gunnarr raistu stain þenna at Haursa, faður sinn. Guð hialpi and hans |c3=(Old Gutnish)
|translation: 'Veðr and Thegn and Gunnar raised this stone after Haursi, their father. God help his spirit'}}

The OEN original text above is transliterated according to traditional scholarly methods, wherein u-umlaut is not regarded in runic Old East Norse. Modern studies{{citation needed|date=March 2012}} have shown that the positions where it applies are the same as for runic Old West Norse. An alternative and probably more accurate transliteration would therefore render the text in OEN as such:
{{block indent|Weðr ok Þegn ok Gunnarr ræistu stæin þenna at Haursa, fǫður sinn. Guð hialpi ǫnd hans (OEN)}}

Some [[past participle]]s and other words underwent i-umlaut in Old West Norse but not in Old East Norse dialects. Examples of that are Icelandic {{lang|is|slegið/sleginn}} and {{lang|is|tekið/tekinn}}, which in Swedish are [[:wikt:slagit|slagit]]/[[:wikt:slagen|slagen]] and [[:wikt:tagit|tagit]]/[[:wikt:tagen|tagen]]. This can also be seen in the Icelandic and Norwegian words [[:wikt:sterkur|sterkur]] and [[:wikt:sterk|sterk]] ("strong"), which in Swedish is [[:wikt:stark|stark]] as in Old Swedish.<ref>{{citation | url = https://runeberg.org/svetym/0950.html | title = stark | page = 862 | work = Svensk etymologisk ordbok [Swedish etymological dictionary] | language = sv | year = 1922 | editor-first = Elof | editor-last = Hellquist | editor-link = Elof Hellquist | access-date = 1 March 2012 | archive-date = 8 March 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120308171445/http://runeberg.org/svetym/0950.html | url-status = live }}</ref> These differences can also be seen in comparison between Norwegian and Swedish.

=== Old West Norse ===
'''Old West Norse''' is by far the best attested variety of Old Norse.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last = König|editor1-first = Ekkehard|editor2-last = van der Auwera|editor2-first = Johan|title= The Germanic Languages|url = https://archive.org/details/germaniclanguage00koni|url-access = limited|date= 2002|publisher= Routledge|page= [https://archive.org/details/germaniclanguage00koni/page/n54 38]|isbn= 978-0415280792}} "Old Norse is by far the best attested variety of Old Scandinavian."</ref> The term ''Old Norse'' is often used to refer to Old West Norse specifically, in which case the broader subject receives another name, such as ''Old Scandinavian''.<ref name="auto"/> Another designation is '''Old West Nordic'''.

The combinations {{lang|non|-mp-}}, {{lang|non|-nt-}}, and {{lang|non|-nk-}} mostly merged to {{lang|non|-pp-}}, {{lang|non|-tt-}} and {{lang|non|-kk-}} in Old West Norse around the 7th century, marking the first distinction between the Eastern and Western dialects.{{sfn|Bandle|2005|loc = Ch. XVII §202 "The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology" (H. Sandøy) : ''Old East Nordic'', pp.&nbsp;1856, 1859}} The following table illustrates this:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! English !! Old West Norse !! Old East Norse !! [[Proto-Norse language|Proto-Norse]]
|-
| mushroom || {{lang|non|s(v)ǫppr}} || {{lang|non|swampʀ}} || {{lang|mis|*swampuz}}<!-- it seems, there is no language code for proto-norse. i'll use "mis" instead. -->
|-
| steep || {{lang|non|brattr}} || {{lang|non|brantʀ}} || {{lang|mis|*brantaz}}
|-
| widow || {{lang|non|ekkja}} || {{lang|non|ænkija}} || {{lang|mis|*ain(a)kjōn}}
|-
| to shrink || [[wikt:kreppa|kreppa]] || {{lang|non|krimpa}} || {{lang|mis|*krimpan}}
|-
| to sprint || {{lang|non|spretta}} || {{lang|non|sprinta}} || {{lang|mis|*sprintan}}
|-
| to sink || {{lang|non|søkkva}} || {{lang|non|sænkwa}} || {{lang|mis|*sankwijan}}
|}

An early difference between Old West Norse and the other dialects was that Old West Norse had the forms {{lang|non|bú}}, "dwelling", {{lang|non|kú}}, "cow" (accusative) and {{lang|non|trú}}, "faith", whereas Old East Norse {{lang|non|bó}}, {{lang|non|kó}} and {{lang|non|tró}}. Old West Norse was also characterized by the preservation of ''u''-umlaut, which meant that, for example, [[Proto-Norse language|Proto-Norse]] {{lang|non|*tanþu}}, "tooth", became {{lang|non|tǫnn}} and not {{lang|non|tann}} as in post-runic Old East Norse; OWN {{lang|non|gǫ́s}} and runic OEN {{lang|non|gǫ́s}}, while post-runic OEN {{lang|non|gás}} "goose".

The earliest body of text appears in [[runic inscriptions]] and in poems composed {{Circa|900}} by [[Þjóðólfr of Hvinir]] (although the poems are not preserved in contemporary sources, but only in much later manuscripts). The earliest manuscripts are from the period 1150–1200 and concern legal, religious and historical matters. During the 12th and 13th centuries, [[Trøndelag]] and [[Western Norway]] were the most important areas of the Norwegian kingdom and they shaped Old West Norse as an archaic language with a rich set of declensions. In the body of text that has survived into the modern day from until {{Circa|1300}}, Old West Norse had little dialect variation, and [[Old Icelandic]] does not diverge much more than the [[Old Norwegian]] dialects do from each other.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

Old Norwegian differentiated early from Old Icelandic by the loss of the consonant ''h'' in initial position before ''l'', ''n'' and ''r''; thus whereas Old Icelandic manuscripts might use the form {{lang|non|hnefi}}, "fist", Old Norwegian manuscripts might use {{lang|non|nefi}}.

From the late 13th century, Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian started to diverge more. After {{Circa|1350}}, the [[Black Death]] and following social upheavals seem to have accelerated language changes in Norway. From the late 14th century, the language used in Norway is generally referred to as [[Old Norwegian#Middle Norwegian|Middle Norwegian]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

Old West Norse underwent a lengthening of initial vowels at some point, especially in Norwegian, so that OWN {{lang|non|eta}} became {{lang|non|éta}}, ONW {{lang|non|akr}} > {{lang|non|ákr}}, OIC {{lang|non|ek}} > {{lang|non|ék}}.<ref>{{citation |title=Further Old Norse Secondary Formations |first=Albert Morey |last=Sturtevant |journal=Language |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=457–462 |year=1953 |jstor=409955 |doi=10.2307/409955 }}</ref>

==== Old Icelandic ====
In Iceland, initial {{IPA|/w/}} before {{IPA|/ɾ/}} was lost:<ref group="cv">{{harvnb|Cleasby|Vigfússon |1874|loc = p.&nbsp;481 "R"}}</ref> compare Icelandic ''[[wikt:rangur#Icelandic|rangur]]'' with Danish {{lang|da|vrang}}, OEN {{lang|non|wrangʀ}}. The change is shared with Old Gutnish.<ref name="TheNordicLanguages" />

A specifically Icelandic sound, the long, ''u''-umlauted A, spelled {{angbr|Ǫ́ }} and pronounced {{IPA|/ɔː/}}, developed around the early 11th century.<ref name="CleasbyA" group="cv" /> It was short-lived, being marked in the [[First Grammatical Treatise|Grammatical Treatises]] and remaining until the end of the 12th century.<ref name="CleasbyA" group="cv" /> It then merged back into {{IPA|/aː/}}; as a result, long A is not affected by ''u''-umlaut in Modern Icelandic.

{{IPA|/w/}} merged with {{IPA|/v/}} during the 12th century,<ref name="JohnsonEcyc" /> which caused {{IPA|/v/}} to become an independent phoneme from {{IPA|/f/}} and the written distinction of {{angbr IPA|v}} for {{IPA|/v/}} from medial and final {{angbr IPA|f}} to become merely etymological.

Around the 13th century, {{lang|non|Œ/Ǿ}} ({{IPA|/øː/}}, which had probably already lowered to {{IPA|/œː/}}) merged to {{lang|non|Æ}} ({{IPA|/ɛː/}}).<ref name="CleasbyAE" group="cv">{{harvnb|Cleasby|Vigfússon |1874|loc = p.&nbsp;757 "Æ"}}</ref> Thus, pre-13th-century {{lang|is|grœnn}} (with {{angbr|œ}}) 'green' became spelled as in modern Icelandic {{lang|is|grænn}} (with {{angbr|æ}}). The 12th-century [[Gray Goose Laws]] manuscripts distinguish the vowels, and so does the [[Codex Regius]] copy.<ref name="CleasbyAE" group="cv" /> However, the 13th-century Codex Regius copy of the [[Poetic Edda]] probably relied on newer or poorer quality sources, or both. Demonstrating either difficulty with or total lack of natural distinction, the manuscripts show separation of the two phonemes in some places, but they frequently confuse the letters chosen to distinguish them in others.<ref name="CleasbyAE" group="cv" /><ref>See [[Codex Regius]]</ref>

Towards the end of the 13th century, {{lang|non|Ę}} ({{IPA|/ɛ/}}) merged to {{lang|non|E}} ({{IPA|/e/}}).<ref name="CleasbyE" group="cv">{{harvnb|Cleasby|Vigfússon |1874|loc = pp.&nbsp;113–114 "E"}}</ref>

==== Old Norwegian ====
{{Further|Old Norwegian}}

Around the 11th century, Old Norwegian {{angbr IPA|hl}}, {{angbr IPA|hn}}, and {{angbr IPA|hr}} became {{angbr IPA|l}}, {{angbr IPA|n}} and {{angbr IPA|r}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://linguistics.byu.edu/classes/Ling450ch/reports/norwegian.html |title=Introduction – History of Norwegian up to 1349 |access-date=21 May 2023 |archive-date=31 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131064838/https://linguistics.byu.edu/classes/Ling450ch/reports/norwegian.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2024}}<ref name=Hagland2002>{{Cite book |last=Hagland |first=Jan Ragnar |title=The Nordic Languages: An International Handbook of the History of the North Germanic Languages |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2002 |isbn=3-11-014876-5 |volume=1 |location=Berlin |pages=1015–1017 |chapter=Dialects and written language in Old Nordic I: Old Norwegian and Old Icelandic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Faarlund |first=Jan Terje |title=The Germanic Languages |publisher=Routledge |year=1995 |editor-last=Konig |editor-first=Ekkehard |edition=1st |location=London |pages=38–71 |chapter=Old and Middle Scandinavian |doi=10.4324/9781315812786 |isbn=978-1-315-81278-6 |editor-last2=Auwera |editor-first2=Johan van der}}</ref> It is debatable whether the {{angbr IPA|hC}} sequences represented a consonant cluster ({{IPA|/hC/}}) or devoicing ({{IPA|/C̥/}}).

Orthographic evidence suggests that in a confined dialect of Old Norwegian, {{IPA|/ɔ/}} may have been unrounded before {{IPA|/u/}} and that ''u''-umlaut was reversed unless the ''u'' had been eliminated: {{lang|non|ǫll}}, {{lang|non|ǫllum}} > {{lang|non|ǫll}}, {{lang|non|allum}}.<ref>{{citation|author-link = Hans Henrich Hock| last = Hock | first = Hans Henrich | title = Principles of Historical Linguistics | year = 1986 |page = 149 }}</ref>

==== Greenlandic Norse ====
{{Further|Greenlandic Norse}}

This dialect of Old West Norse was spoken by Icelandic colonies in Greenland. When the colonies died out around the 15th century, the dialect went with it. The phoneme {{IPA|/θ/}} and some instances of {{IPA|/ð/}} merged to {{IPA|/t/}} and so Old Icelandic {{lang|non|Þórðr}} became {{lang|non|Tortr}}.

==== Text example ====
{{Further|Old Norse orthography}}

The following text is from {{lang|non|Alexanders saga}}, an [[Alexander romance]]. The manuscript, [[AM 519 a 4to]], is dated {{Circa|1280}}. The facsimile demonstrates the [[scribal abbreviation|sigla]] used by scribes to write Old Norse. Many of them were borrowed from Latin. Without familiarity with these abbreviations, the facsimile will be unreadable to many. In addition, reading the manuscript itself requires familiarity with the letterforms of the native script. The abbreviations are expanded in a version with normalized spelling like that of the [[Old Norse orthography|standard normalization]] system. Compared to the spelling of the same text in Modern Icelandic, pronunciation has changed greatly, but spelling has changed little since [[Icelandic orthography]] was intentionally modelled after Old Norse in the 19th century.

{| class=wikitable
! scope="col" | Digital facsimile of the manuscript text<ref name="MeNoTa14">{{citation | editor-first =Andrea de Leeuw | editor-last =van Weenen | title =(Manuscript AM 519 a 4to) "Alexanders saga" | at =fol. 1v, lines 10–14 | work =Medieval Nordic Text Archive www.menota.org | url =http://clarino.uib.no/menota/document-element?&cpos=558653 | access-date =4 September 2018 | archive-date =5 September 2018 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180905022912/http://clarino.uib.no/menota/document-element?&cpos=558653 | url-status =live }}</ref>
! scope="col" | The same text with normalized spelling<ref name="MeNoTa14" />
! scope="col" | The same text with Modern [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] spelling
|-
|
{{lang|non|italic=no|[...] ſem oꝩın͛ h̅ſ brıgzloðo h̅o̅ epꞇ͛ þͥ ſe̅ ſıðaʀ mon ſagꞇ verða. Þeſſı ſveın̅ aͬ.* ꝩar ıſcola ſeꞇꞇr ſem ſıðꝩenıa e͛ ꞇıl rıkra man̅a vꞇan-lanꝺz aꞇ laꞇa g͛a vıð boꝛn̅ ſíıƞ́ Meıſꞇarı ꝩar h̅o̅ ꝼengın̅ ſa e͛ arıſꞇoꞇıleſ heꞇ. h̅ ꝩar harðla goðꝛ clercr ⁊ [[Old Norse morphology#Hit|en̅]] meſꞇı ſpekıngr aꞇ ꝩıꞇı. ⁊ er h̅ ꝩͬ.xíí. veꞇᷓ gamall aꞇ allꝺrı nalıga alroſcın̅ aꞇ ꝩıꞇı. en ſꞇoꝛhvgaðꝛ u̅ ꝼᷓm alla ſına ıaꝼnallꝺꝛa.}}
|
{{lang|non|italic=no|[...] sem óvinir hans brigzluðu honum eftir því, sem síðarr man sagt verða. þessi sveinn Alexander var í skóla settr, sem siðvenja er til ríkra manna útanlands at láta gera við bǫrn sín. meistari var honum fenginn sá, er Aristoteles hét. hann var harðla góðr klerkr ok inn mesti spekingr at viti. ok er hann var tólv vetra gamall at aldri, náliga alroskinn at viti, en stórhugaðr umfram alla sína jafnaldra, [...]}}
|
{{lang|is|italic=no|[...] sem óvinir hans brigsluðu honum eftir því, sem síðar mun sagt verða. Þessi sveinn Alexander var í skóla settur, sem siðvenja er til ríkra manna utanlands að láta gera við börn sín. Meistari var honum fenginn sá, er Aristóteles hét. Hann var harla góður klerkur og hinn mesti spekingur að viti og er hann var tólf vetra gamall að aldri, nálega alroskinn að viti, en stórhugaður umfram alla sína jafnaldra, [...]}}
|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki> '''a''' printed in [[uncial script|uncial]]. Uncials not encoded separately in Unicode as of this section's writing.

=== Old East Norse ===
<!-- This section is linked from [[Rurik]] -->
[[File:Rökstenen.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|right|The [[Rök runestone]] in [[Östergötland]], Sweden, is the longest surviving source of early Old East Norse. It is inscribed on both sides.]]
'''Old East Norse''' or '''Old East Nordic''' between 800 and 1100 is called ''Runic Swedish'' in Sweden and ''Runic Danish'' in Denmark, but for geographical rather than linguistic reasons. Any differences between the two were minute at best during the more ancient stages of this dialect group. Changes had a tendency to occur earlier in the Danish region. Even today many Old Danish changes have still not taken place in modern Swedish. Swedish is therefore the more [[Linguistic conservatism|conservative]] of the two in both the ancient and the modern languages, sometimes by a profound margin. The language is called "runic" because the body of text appears in [[runes]].

Runic Old East Norse is characteristically conservative in form, especially Swedish (which is still true for modern Swedish compared to Danish). In essence it matches or surpasses the conservatism of post-runic Old West Norse, which in turn is generally more conservative than post-runic Old East Norse. While typically "Eastern" in structure, many later post-runic changes and trademarks of OEN had yet to happen.

The phoneme ''ʀ'', which evolved during the Proto-Norse period from ''z'', was still clearly separated from ''r'' in most positions, even when being geminated, while in OWN it had already merged with ''r''.

The [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] phoneme {{IPA|/[[Voiced labial–velar approximant|w]]/}} was preserved in initial sounds in Old East Norse (w-), unlike in West Norse where it developed into {{IPA|/v/}}. It survived in rural [[Swedish dialects]] in the provinces of Westro- and North Bothnia, [[Skåne]], [[Blekinge]], [[Småland]], [[Halland]], [[Västergötland]] and south of [[Bohuslän]] into the 18th, 19th and 20th century. It is still preserved in the [[Dalecarlian language|Dalecarlian dialects]] in the province of [[Dalarna]], Sweden, and in [[Jutlandic dialect]]s in Denmark. The {{IPA|/[[Voiced labial–velar approximant|w]]/}}-phoneme did also occur after consonants (kw-, tw-, sw- etc.) in Old East Norse and did so into modern times in said Swedish dialects and in a number of others. Generally, the initial w-sound developed into {{IPA|[v]}} in dialects earlier than after consonants where it survived much longer.

In summation, the {{IPAslink|w}}-sound survived in the East Nordic tongues almost a millennium longer than in the West Norse counterparts, and does still subsist at the present.

Monophthongization of {{lang|non|æi}} > {{lang|non|ē}} and {{lang|non|øy, au}} > {{lang|non|ø̄}} started in mid-10th-century Denmark.<ref name="FromOldNordic" /> Compare runic OEN: {{lang|non|fæigʀ}}, {{lang|non|gæiʀʀ}}, {{lang|non|haugʀ}}, {{lang|non|møydōmʀ}}, {{lang|non|diūʀ}}; with Post-runic OEN: {{lang|non|fēgher}}, {{lang|non|gēr}}, {{lang|non|hø̄gher}}, {{lang|non|mø̄dōmber}}, {{lang|non|diūr}}; OWN: ''[[wikt:feigr|feigr]]'', ''[[wikt:geirr|geirr]]'', ''[[wikt:howe|haugr]]'', {{lang|non|meydómr}}, {{lang|non|dýr}}; from PN {{lang|mis|*faigijaz}}, {{lang|mis|*gaizaz}}, {{lang|non|*haugaz}}, {{lang|non|*mawi-}} + {{lang|non|dōmaz}} 'maidendom; virginity', {{lang|non|*diuza}} '(wild) animal'.

Feminine o-stems often preserve the plural ending {{lang|non|-aʀ}}, while in OWN they more often merge with the feminine i-stems: (runic OEN) {{lang|non|*sōlaʀ}}, {{lang|non|*hafnaʀ}}, {{lang|non|*hamnaʀ}}, {{lang|non|*wāgaʀ}} versus OWN {{lang|non|sólir}}, {{lang|non|hafnir}} and {{lang|non|vágir}} (modern Swedish {{lang|sv|solar}}, {{lang|sv|hamnar}}, {{lang|sv|vågar}} ("suns, havens, scales"); Danish has mainly lost the distinction between the two stems, with both endings now being rendered as {{lang|da|-er}} or {{lang|da|-e}} alternatively for the o-stems).

Vice versa, masculine i-stems with the root ending in either {{lang|non|g}} or {{lang|non|k}} tended to shift the plural ending to that of the ja-stems while OEN kept the original: {{lang|non|drængiaʀ}}, {{lang|non|*ælgiaʀ}} and {{lang|non|*bænkiaʀ}} versus OWN ''[[wikt:drengr#Old Norse|drengir]]'', {{lang|non|elgir}} ("elks") and ''[[wikt:bekkr#Etymology 1|bekkir]]'' (modern Danish ''[[wikt:dreng|drenge]]'', ''[[wikt:elg|elge]]'', ''[[wikt:bænk|bænke]]'', modern Swedish ''[[wikt:dräng|drängar]]'', {{lang|sv|älgar}}, {{lang|sv|bänkar}}).

The plural ending of ja-stems were mostly preserved while those of OWN often acquired that of the i-stems: {{lang|non|*bæðiaʀ}}, {{lang|non|*bækkiaʀ}}, {{lang|non|*wæfiaʀ}} versus OWN {{lang|non|beðir}} ("beds"), ''[[wikt:bekkr#Etymology 2|bekkir]]'', ''[[wikt:vefr#Old Norse|vefir]]'' (modern Swedish {{lang|sv|bäddar}}, {{lang|sv|bäckar}}, {{lang|sv|vävar}}).

==== Old Danish ====
{{Further|History of Danish}}
Until the early 12th century, Old East Norse was very much a uniform dialect. It was in Denmark that the first innovations appeared that would differentiate Old Danish from Old Swedish ({{harvnb|Bandle|2005|loc = ''Old East Nordic'', pp.&nbsp;1856, 1859}}) as these innovations spread north unevenly (unlike the earlier changes that spread more evenly over the East Norse area), creating a series of [[isogloss]]es going from [[Zealand]] to [[Svealand]].

In Old Danish, {{IPA|/hɾ/}} merged with {{IPA|/ɾ/}} during the 9th century.<ref>{{citation | first = Tarrin | last = Wills | title = The Anonymous Verse in the Third Grammatical Treatise | url = https://sro.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/10765/54631 | year = 2006 | publisher = The Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Durham University | access-date = 4 September 2018 | archive-date = 4 September 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180904230041/https://sro.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/10765/54631 | url-status = dead }}</ref> From the 11th to 14th centuries, the unstressed vowels -''a'', -''o'' and -''e'' ([[Old Norse orthography#Normalized spelling|standard normalization]] -''a'', -''u'' and -''i'') started to merge into -''ə'', represented with the letter {{angbr|e}}. This vowel came to be [[epenthesis|epenthetic]], particularly before ''-ʀ'' endings.<ref name="TheNordicLanguages" /> At the same time, the voiceless [[stop consonant]]s ''p'', ''t'' and ''k'' became voiced plosives and even [[fricative consonant]]s. Resulting from these innovations, Danish has {{lang|da|kage}} (cake), {{lang|da|tunger}} (tongues) and {{lang|da|gæster}} (guests) whereas (Standard) Swedish has retained older forms, {{lang|sv|kaka}}, {{lang|sv|tungor}} and {{lang|sv|gäster}} (OEN {{lang|non|kaka}}, {{lang|non|tungur}}, {{lang|non|gæstir}}).

Moreover, the Danish [[pitch accent]] shared with Norwegian and Swedish changed into ''[[stød]]'' around this time.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

==== Old Swedish ====
{{Further|Old Swedish}}
At the end of the 10th and early 11th century initial ''h-'' before ''l'', ''n'' and ''r'' was still preserved in the middle and northern parts of Sweden, and is sporadically still preserved in some northern dialects as ''g-'', e.g. {{lang|non|gly}} (lukewarm), from {{lang|non|hlýʀ}}. The [[Dalecarlian dialects]] developed independently from Old Swedish<ref name=Kroonen>{{citation|last1=Kroonen|first1=Guus|title=On the origins of the Elfdalian nasal vowels from the perspective of diachronic dialectology and Germanic etymology|url=http://inss.ku.dk/ansatte/?pure=files/35220983/elfdalian.pdf|work=inss.ku.dk|type=Presentation|access-date=27 January 2016|quote=(Slide 26) §7.2 quote: "In many aspects, Elfdalian, takes up a middle position between East and West Nordic. However, it shares some innovations with West Nordic, but none with East Nordic. This invalidates the claim that Elfdalian split off from Old Swedish."|archive-date=6 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206012822/http://inss.ku.dk/ansatte/?pure=files/35220983/elfdalian.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> and as such can be considered separate languages from Swedish.

==== Text example ====
This is an extract from {{lang|non|[[Västgötalagen]]}}, the Westrogothic law. It is the oldest text written as a manuscript found in Sweden and from the 13th century. It is contemporaneous with most of the Icelandic literature. The text marks the beginning of [[Old Swedish]] as a distinct dialect.
{{Verse translation|lang=non|
Dræpær maþar svænskan man eller smalenskæn, innan konongsrikis man, eigh væstgøskan, bøte firi atta ørtogher ok þrettan markær ok ænga ætar bot. [...] Dræpar maþær danskan man allæ noræn man, bøte niv markum. Dræpær maþær vtlænskan man, eigh ma frid flyia or landi sinu oc j æth hans. Dræpær maþær vtlænskæn prest, bøte sva mykit firi sum hærlænskan man. Præstær skal i bondalaghum væræ. Varþær suþærman dræpin ællær ænskær maþær, ta skal bøta firi marchum fiurum þem sakinæ søkir, ok tvar marchar konongi.
|
If someone slays a Swede or a Smålander, a man from the kingdom, but not a West Geat, he will pay eight örtugar and thirteen marks, but no weregild. [...] If someone slays a Dane or a Norwegian, he will pay nine marks. If someone slays a foreigner, he shall not be banished and have to flee to his clan. If someone slays a foreign priest, he will pay as much as for a fellow countryman. A priest counts as a freeman. If a Southerner is slain or an Englishman, he shall pay four marks to the plaintiff and two marks to the king.
|attr1=[[Västgötalagen]]
}}

=== Old Gutnish ===
{{Main|Old Gutnish}}
Due to [[Gotland]]'s early isolation from the mainland, many features of Old Norse did not spread from or to the island, and Old Gutnish developed as an entirely separate branch from Old East and West Norse. For example, the diphthong {{lang|non|ai}} in {{lang|non|aigu}}, {{lang|non|þair}} and {{lang|non|waita}} was not subject to [[Assimilation (phonology)|anticipatory assimilation]] to {{lang|non|ei}} as in e.g. Old Icelandic {{lang|non|eigu}}, {{lang|non|þeir}} and {{lang|non|veita}}. Gutnish also shows dropping of {{IPA|/w/}} in initial {{IPA|/wɾ/}}, which it shares with the Old West Norse dialects (except Old East Norwegian<ref>{{cite book |last=Noreen |first=Adolf |title=Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik |url=http://www.arnastofnun.is/solofile/1016380 |page=211 (§ 288, note 1) |access-date=17 September 2018 |archive-date=2 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602093518/http://www.arnastofnun.is/solofile/1016380 |url-status=dead }}</ref>), but which is otherwise abnormal. Breaking was also particularly active in Old Gutnish, leading to e.g. {{lang|non|biera}} versus mainland {{lang|non|bera}}.<ref name="TheNordicLanguages" />

==== Text example ====
The {{lang|non|[[Gutalagen|Guta lag]]}} {{gloss|law of the Gutes}} is the longest text surviving from [[Old Gutnish]]. Appended to it is a short texting dealing with the history of the Gotlanders. This part relates to the agreement that the Gotlanders had with the Swedish king sometime before the 9th century:

{{Verse translation|lang=non|
So gingu gutar sielfs wiliandi vndir suia kunung þy at þair mattin frir Oc frelsir sykia suiariki j huerium staþ. vtan tull oc allar utgiftir. So aigu oc suiar sykia gutland firir vtan cornband ellar annur forbuþ. hegnan oc hielp sculdi kunungur gutum at waita. En þair wiþr þorftin. oc kallaþin. sendimen al oc kunungr oc ierl samulaiþ a gutnal þing senda. Oc latta þar taka scatt sinn. þair sendibuþar aighu friþ lysa gutum alla steþi til sykia yfir haf sum upsala kunungi til hoyrir. Oc so þair sum þan wegin aigu hinget sykia.
|
So, by their own will, the Gotlanders became the subjects of the Swedish king, so that they could travel freely and without risk to any location in the Swedish kingdom without toll and other fees. Likewise, the Swedes had the right to go to Gotland without corn restrictions or other prohibitions. The king was to provide protection and help, when they needed it and asked for it. The king and the jarl shall in return send emissaries to the Gutnish ''All-thing'' to receive the taxes. These emissaries shall declare free passage for the Gotlanders to all ports across the sea which belong to the king at Uppsala and likewise for everyone who want to travel to Gotland.
|attr1={{harvnb|Gutasaga|loc= § ''Inträdet i Sverige''}}
|attr2=
}}