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{{Short description|Variety of Swedish}}{{Original research|date=September 2007}}
'''''Rinkebysvenska''''' ("'''Rinkeby Swedish'''") is a common term for [[variety (linguistics)|varities]] of [[Swedish language|Swedish]] spoken mainly in [[suburb]]s with a high or very high proportion of [[immigrant]]s and immigrant descendants. [[Rinkeby]] in [[Stockholm]] is one such suburb, but the term ''Rinkebysvenska'' may sometimes be used for similar varieties in other Swedish cities as well.
{{Refimprove|date=January 2010}}
{{Swedish language sidebar}}'''Rinkeby Swedish''' ({{lang|sv|Rinkebysvenska}}) is any of a number of [[variety (linguistics)|varieties]] of [[Swedish language|Swedish]] spoken mainly in urban districts with a high proportion of [[immigrant]] residents which emerged as a linguistic phenomenon in the 1980s. [[Rinkeby]] in [[Stockholm]] is one such suburb, but the term Rinkeby Swedish may sometimes be used for similar varieties in other Swedish cities as well. A similar term is '''''Rosengårdssvenska''''' ("Rosengård Swedish") after the district [[Rosengård]] in [[Malmö]]. The one magazine in Sweden published in these varieties, Gringo, proposes ''''miljonsvenska'''' ("Million Swedish") based on the [[Million Programme]].<ref>Anastasia Nylund, [http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/salsa/proceedings/2009/13_TLS53_Nylund.pdf "'Our local dialect' or 'the slang of suburban boys'? Public discourses of sociolinguistic authenticity, community and place in multicultural Sweden"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727055324/http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/salsa/proceedings/2009/13_TLS53_Nylund.pdf |date=2011-07-27 }}, ''Texas Linguistic Forum'' 53 (2009), 121-30, p. 121 (pdf)</ref>


Different varieties of Rinkeby Swedish exist which are based on the [[Swedish dialects|regional dialects]], especially in the major urban centers of Stockholm (Svealand dialects), Malmö ([[Scanian dialects|Scanian]]) and [[Gothenburg]] (western Götaland dialects).
Opinions among linguists differ on whether to regard Rinkebysvenska as a [[sociolect]], [[dialect]], [[ethnolect]], or maybe a "multiethnolect". Since the number of involved influencing languages is rather large, and extremely few speakers are likely to be fluent in more than a two or three of these, the definition of [[pidgin language]] may appear more to the point than that of [[mixed language]]. They may also be characterized as a [[register (linguistics)|register]] for informal communication between peers, since the speakers often use them only in specific social contexts and switch to other varieties for instance at home or if interviewed for radio. The status of Rinkebysvenska can in some ways be compared to that of [[African American Vernacular English]] in the [[US]].


==Classification==
[[Professor]] Ulla-Britt Kotsinas, who is a scholar frequently cited on Rinkebysvenska, argues that these varieties primarily are spoken by [[teenager]]s from [[suburb]]s were immigrants and immigrant descendants are concentrated. According to her, these varieties are best to be understood as expressions of [[youth culture]]: The language is a marker of belonging to a certain [[subculture]] and at the same time opposition against a perceived mainstream non-immigrant culture that seems not to value the immigrant descendants anyway.
Opinions among linguists differ on whether to regard Rinkeby Swedish as a [[sociolect]], [[dialect]], [[ethnolect]], or maybe a "multiethnolect". Since the number of influencing languages involved is rather large, and extremely few speakers are likely to be fluent in more than a few of these, the definition of [[pidgin language]] may appear more accurate than that of [[mixed language]]. The varieties may also be characterized as a [[Register (sociolinguistics)|register]] for informal communication between peers, since the speakers often use them only in specific social contexts and switch to other varieties where appropriate.


==Use==
''Rinkeby Swedish'' and similar varieties thus express the belonging to the rather large group of youths that have grown up in [[post-industrial]] Sweden but have roots elsewhere. This post-industrial society is, among other things, signified by a drastically pronunced [[segregation]] and unproportionally high [[unemployment]] figures for youths with immigrant background. Except for the fact that the linguistic distance is greater, Kotsinas sees in principle no difference from the suburban and urban working class varieties that a century ago followed [[industrial revolution]] and [[urbanization]].
Professor Ulla-Britt Kotsinas, a scholar frequently cited on Rinkeby Swedish, argues that these varieties primarily are spoken by [[teenager]]s from [[suburb]]s where immigrants and immigrant descendants are concentrated, and can be interpreted as expressions of [[youth culture]]: The language is a marker of belonging to a certain [[subculture]] and at the same time opposition to a perceived mainstream non-immigrant culture that seems not to value the immigrant descendants.


Rinkeby Swedish and similar varieties thus express belonging to the rather large group of youths with roots in other countries that have grown up in immigrant neighborhoods in a [[post-industrial society]] and with a disproportionately high [[unemployment]] rate for youths with immigrant background. Except for the fact that the [[linguistic distance]] is greater, Kotsinas sees in principle no difference from the suburban and urban working class varieties that followed [[Industrial Revolution]] and [[urbanization]] a century ago.
Variants of Rinkeby Swedish are reported from suburbs of Stockholm, [[Malmö]], and [[Gothenburg]] with a large immigrant dominance. These variants tend to be based on the local town dialects, or on the variety of [[Standard Swedish]] tought in school. As [[pidgin]]s, these varieties can be described as having a somewhat simplified version of the Swedish [[grammar]] and a richness of [[loanword]]s from the languages the speakers' parents or grandparents originated in: mainly [[Turkish language|Turkish]], with traces of [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Farsi language|Farsi]], [[Assyrian Neo-Aramaic]], and to some extent Latin American [[Spanish language|Spanish]].


Many words from Rinkeby Swedish have now been incorporated into all kinds of other Swedish youth [[slang]] and are used by many young people without immigrant heritage as a marker of group solidarity and identity.<ref>Ellen Bijvoet and Kari Fraurud,[http://www.spraknamnden.se/sprakvard/innehallsforteckning/3_06/bijvoet_fraurud.pdf "Svenska med något utländskt"], ''Språkvård'' 2006/3 pp. 4-10, p. 5 (pdf) {{in lang|sv}}</ref>
Especially among younger speakers, the different varieties show a considerable variation in vocabulary and to some extent in grammar and syntax. They all share, however, some [[grammar|grammatical]] similarities, such as discarding the [[V2 word order]] of Standard Swedish, instead using [[Subject (grammar)|Subject]]-[[Verb]]-[[Object (grammar)|Object]] [[word order]] after an [[adverb]] or adverbial phrase (as in [[English language|English]], compare ''Idag jag tog bussen'' ("Today I took the bus") to Standard Swedish ''Idag tog jag bussen).''


==Distinctive traits==
Quite recently several novels written in a literary imitation of Rinkeby Swedish have been published in Sweden; ''Ett öga rött'' by Jonas Hassen Khemiri and ''Kalla det vad fan du vill'' by Marjaneh Bakhtiari.
{{unreferencedsect|date=April 2023}}
Variants of Rinkeby Swedish are reported from suburbs of [[Stockholm]], Uppsala, [[Malmö]], and [[Gothenburg]] with a predominantly immigrant population. These variants tend to be based on the local town accents, or on the variety of [[Standard Swedish]] taught in school. These varieties can be described as having a somewhat simplified version of the Swedish [[grammar]] and a richness of [[loanword]]s from the languages of the countries the speakers' parents or grandparents originated in: mainly [[Turkish language|Turkish]], with traces of [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Serbo-Croatian]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]], and to some extent Latin American [[Spanish language|Spanish]]. Many [[English language|English]] words and some English grammar are also used, due to a fairly widespread identification with [[African American]]s and the appreciation of rap and [[hip hop music]] and culture.

Among younger speakers, the different varieties show a considerable variation in vocabulary and to some extent in grammar and syntax. However, they all share some [[grammar|grammatical]] similarities, such as discarding the [[V2 word order|Verb-second word order]] of Standard Swedish, instead using [[subject–verb–object]] [[word order]] after an [[adverb]] or adverbial phrase (as in [[English language|English]], compare ''Idag jag tog bussen'' ("Today I took the bus") to Standard Swedish ''Idag tog jag bussen'' ("Today took I the bus").

==Sample vocabulary==
{{unsourcedsection|date=August 2012}}
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Phrase !! Translation !! Origin
|-
|aina
|police (singular and plural)
|Turkish ''aynasız'' (meaning mirrorless). Turkish undercover police cars used to not have side mirrors and could be identified that way.
|-
|axa
|go, leave
|Swedish ''accelerera'', "to accelerate"
|-
|baxa
|steal (Stockholm)
|Possibly Swedish ''baxa'', "to lug"
|-
|chilla (also ''softa'')
|(to) chill; take it easy; to be calm
|both variants from English
|-
|fet (adjective) <BR>fett (adverb)
|cool; nice; very
|Literally Swedish for "fat", used to emphasize a subsequent word. (noun)
|-
|flos
|money
|Arabic
|-
|gitta
|go; get going; run away
|Turkish (gitmek) ''git'' (go, imperative)
|-
|guzz / guss
|girl
|Turkish ''kız''
|-
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>ish/-isch
|common word ending
|
|-
|hajde
|hurry; get moving
|Turkish (haydi); also common in Balkan languages (hajde, ajde; often hajde bre)
|-
|jalla
|hurry; get moving
|Arabic (Swedish spelling of Arabic "yalla")
|-
|keff
|bad, negative, broken and similar
|Arabic (opposite meaning)
|-
|knatch
|small piece of cannabis
|possibly from dialectal Swedish ''knerts'', "small piece (of matter)"
|-
|len
|boy; bro; guy
|Turkish ''lan'' < ''ulan'' < ''oğlan'' (meaning ''boy'')
|-
|loco
|crazy
|Spanish
|-
|mannen
|familiar addressing, "hey, man; my man; friend"
|Swedish, possibly an English [[calque]]
|-
|para
|money
|Serbo-Croatian ''para'' or Turkish ''para''
|-
|sho
|greeting, can be used as "hello" or "goodbye" (means "what" in arabic).
|Arabic or Italian (''cf.'' [[:wikt:en:ciao|ciao]]), Swedish slang ''tjo'' pronounced "sho"
|-
|shuno, shunne, shurda
|guy; dude; bloke
|From the Swedish word person
|-
|soft (adj.) / softa (verb)
|cool, good, nice (or ''calm down'' if used as a verb)
|English
|-
|tagga
|get away
|synonymous with ''gitta''
|-
|wallah
|I swear to God
|Arabic
|-
|}

==Literary use==
Novels written partially or completely in Rinkeby Swedish include
*''Till vår ära'' by Alejandro Leiva Wenger; ("To our honour")
*''Ett öga rött'' by [[Jonas Hassen Khemiri]]; ("One eye red")
*''Shoo Bre'' by Douglas Foley
*''Kalla det vad fan du vill'' by [[Marjaneh Bakhtiari]]. ("Call it whatever the hell you want")

==See also==
* [[Multicultural London English]]
* [[Toronto slang|Multicultural Toronto English]]
* [[Swedish hip hop]]
* [[Post-war Sweden]]
* [[Swedish dialects]]
* [[Kebabnorsk]]
* [[Perkerdansk]]
* [[African American Vernacular English|Ebonics]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite report|author=Ellen Bijvoet|others=Graphic design by Gellerstedt, Tone|title=Attityder till spår av andra språk i svenskan|trans-title=Attitudes towards traces of other languages in Swedish|url=http://www.isof.se/download/18.d7dd17917250a7462812a80/1590577623965/Attityder_till_sprak.pdf#page=45|format=PDF|language=sv|series=Rapporter från Språkrådet|publisher=Swedish Language Council|year=2020|chapter=3.4 Förortsindexerad svenska|pages=45&ndash;50|isbn=978-91-86959-64-7}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://hum.gu.se/institutioner/svenska-spraket/isa/projekt/sprakbruk_eng/ Language and language use among young people in multilingual urban settings] - a research project at [[Gothenburg University]]
*[http://hum.gu.se/institutioner/svenska-spraket/isa/verk/projekt/pag/sprakbruk_eng/ Language and language use among young people in multilingual urban settings]- a research project at [[Gothenburg University]] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060301172036/http://hum.gu.se/institutioner/svenska-spraket/isa/verk/projekt/pag/sprakbruk_eng/ |date=2006-03-01 }}


[[Category:Swedish language]]
{{Swedish language}}
[[Category:Language varieties and styles]]


[[Category:Swedish dialects]]
[[sv:Rinkebysvenska]]
[[Category:Swedish hip-hop]]

Latest revision as of 23:32, 13 December 2024

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Higher category: Language

Rinkeby Swedish (Rinkebysvenska) is any of a number of varieties of Swedish spoken mainly in urban districts with a high proportion of immigrant residents which emerged as a linguistic phenomenon in the 1980s. Rinkeby in Stockholm is one such suburb, but the term Rinkeby Swedish may sometimes be used for similar varieties in other Swedish cities as well. A similar term is Rosengårdssvenska ("Rosengård Swedish") after the district Rosengård in Malmö. The one magazine in Sweden published in these varieties, Gringo, proposes 'miljonsvenska' ("Million Swedish") based on the Million Programme.[1]

Different varieties of Rinkeby Swedish exist which are based on the regional dialects, especially in the major urban centers of Stockholm (Svealand dialects), Malmö (Scanian) and Gothenburg (western Götaland dialects).

Classification

[edit]

Opinions among linguists differ on whether to regard Rinkeby Swedish as a sociolect, dialect, ethnolect, or maybe a "multiethnolect". Since the number of influencing languages involved is rather large, and extremely few speakers are likely to be fluent in more than a few of these, the definition of pidgin language may appear more accurate than that of mixed language. The varieties may also be characterized as a register for informal communication between peers, since the speakers often use them only in specific social contexts and switch to other varieties where appropriate.

Use

[edit]

Professor Ulla-Britt Kotsinas, a scholar frequently cited on Rinkeby Swedish, argues that these varieties primarily are spoken by teenagers from suburbs where immigrants and immigrant descendants are concentrated, and can be interpreted as expressions of youth culture: The language is a marker of belonging to a certain subculture and at the same time opposition to a perceived mainstream non-immigrant culture that seems not to value the immigrant descendants.

Rinkeby Swedish and similar varieties thus express belonging to the rather large group of youths with roots in other countries that have grown up in immigrant neighborhoods in a post-industrial society and with a disproportionately high unemployment rate for youths with immigrant background. Except for the fact that the linguistic distance is greater, Kotsinas sees in principle no difference from the suburban and urban working class varieties that followed Industrial Revolution and urbanization a century ago.

Many words from Rinkeby Swedish have now been incorporated into all kinds of other Swedish youth slang and are used by many young people without immigrant heritage as a marker of group solidarity and identity.[2]

Distinctive traits

[edit]

Variants of Rinkeby Swedish are reported from suburbs of Stockholm, Uppsala, Malmö, and Gothenburg with a predominantly immigrant population. These variants tend to be based on the local town accents, or on the variety of Standard Swedish taught in school. These varieties can be described as having a somewhat simplified version of the Swedish grammar and a richness of loanwords from the languages of the countries the speakers' parents or grandparents originated in: mainly Turkish, with traces of Kurdish, Arabic, Greek, Persian, Serbo-Croatian, Syriac, and to some extent Latin American Spanish. Many English words and some English grammar are also used, due to a fairly widespread identification with African Americans and the appreciation of rap and hip hop music and culture.

Among younger speakers, the different varieties show a considerable variation in vocabulary and to some extent in grammar and syntax. However, they all share some grammatical similarities, such as discarding the Verb-second word order of Standard Swedish, instead using subject–verb–object word order after an adverb or adverbial phrase (as in English, compare Idag jag tog bussen ("Today I took the bus") to Standard Swedish Idag tog jag bussen ("Today took I the bus").

Sample vocabulary

[edit]
Phrase Translation Origin
aina police (singular and plural) Turkish aynasız (meaning mirrorless). Turkish undercover police cars used to not have side mirrors and could be identified that way.
axa go, leave Swedish accelerera, "to accelerate"
baxa steal (Stockholm) Possibly Swedish baxa, "to lug"
chilla (also softa) (to) chill; take it easy; to be calm both variants from English
fet (adjective)
fett (adverb) 		cool; nice; very Literally Swedish for "fat", used to emphasize a subsequent word. (noun)
flos money Arabic
gitta go; get going; run away Turkish (gitmek) git (go, imperative)
guzz / guss girl Turkish kız
-ish/-isch common word ending
hajde hurry; get moving Turkish (haydi); also common in Balkan languages (hajde, ajde; often hajde bre)
jalla hurry; get moving Arabic (Swedish spelling of Arabic "yalla")
keff bad, negative, broken and similar Arabic (opposite meaning)
knatch small piece of cannabis possibly from dialectal Swedish knerts, "small piece (of matter)"
len boy; bro; guy Turkish lan < ulan < oğlan (meaning boy)
loco crazy Spanish
mannen familiar addressing, "hey, man; my man; friend" Swedish, possibly an English calque
para money Serbo-Croatian para or Turkish para
sho greeting, can be used as "hello" or "goodbye" (means "what" in arabic). Arabic or Italian (cf. ciao), Swedish slang tjo pronounced "sho"
shuno, shunne, shurda guy; dude; bloke From the Swedish word person
soft (adj.) / softa (verb) cool, good, nice (or calm down if used as a verb) English
tagga get away synonymous with gitta
wallah I swear to God Arabic

Literary use

[edit]

Novels written partially or completely in Rinkeby Swedish include

  • Till vår ära by Alejandro Leiva Wenger; ("To our honour")
  • Ett öga rött by Jonas Hassen Khemiri; ("One eye red")
  • Shoo Bre by Douglas Foley
  • Kalla det vad fan du vill by Marjaneh Bakhtiari. ("Call it whatever the hell you want")

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Anastasia Nylund, "'Our local dialect' or 'the slang of suburban boys'? Public discourses of sociolinguistic authenticity, community and place in multicultural Sweden" Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine, Texas Linguistic Forum 53 (2009), 121-30, p. 121 (pdf)
  2. ^ Ellen Bijvoet and Kari Fraurud,"Svenska med något utländskt", Språkvård 2006/3 pp. 4-10, p. 5 (pdf) (in Swedish)

Further reading

[edit]
  • Ellen Bijvoet (2020). "3.4 Förortsindexerad svenska". Attityder till spår av andra språk i svenskan [Attitudes towards traces of other languages in Swedish] (PDF) (Report). Rapporter från Språkrådet (in Swedish). Graphic design by Gellerstedt, Tone. Swedish Language Council. pp. 45–50. ISBN 978-91-86959-64-7.
[edit]
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