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Greenlandic Norse

NameGreenlandic Norse
RegionGreenland; Western Settlement and Eastern Settlement
Extinctby the late 15th century (16th century at the latest)
FamilycolorIndo-European
Fam2Germanic
Fam3North Germanic
Fam4West Scandinavian
Linglistnon-gre

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Greenlandic Norse is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in the Norse settlements of Greenland until their demise in the late 15th century. The language is attested through some 80 runic inscriptions, many of which are difficult to date and not all of which were necessarily carved by people born in Greenland.

It is difficult to identify specifically Greenlandic linguistic features in the limited runic material. Nevertheless, there are inscriptions showing the use of t for historical þ in words such as torir rather than þorir and tana rather than þana. This linguistic innovation has parallels in West Norwegian in the late medieval period. On the other hand Greenlandic appears to have retained some features which changed in other types of Scandinavian. This includes initial hl and hr, otherwise only preserved in Icelandic, and the long vowel œ, which merged with æ in Icelandic but was preserved in Norwegian.

Greenlandic Norse is believed to have been in language contact with Kalaallisut, the language of the local Inuit people, and to have left loanwords in that language. In particular, the Kalaallisut word Kalaaleq (older Karaaleq), meaning Greenlander, is believed to be derived from the word Skrælingr, the Norse term for the people they encountered in North America. It has also been suggested that the word kona, meaning woman, is of Norse origin.

The available evidence does not establish the presence of language attrition, the language most likely disappeared with the ethnic group that spoke it.

Greenlandic Norse Video


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Arctic: our modern-day Thule needs protecting - Greenpeace UK (blog) Tweet this news
Greenpeace UK (blog)--As a child I grew up reading about the -Norse- myths, tales of Thor, Heimdall, Loki and, above all, the sinister Frost Giants who lived in the frozen lands of Jotunheim. I remember daydreaming about watching the aurora dancing and fl - Date : Wed, 25 May 2011 12:46:06 GMT+00:00
New study finds rapid changes in Greenland climate last 5000 years - Media Newswire (press release) Tweet this news
Media Newswire (press release)--The fossil organisms revealed a succession of temperature shifts that roughly coincide with changes in human occupation of the area, including the Saqqaq people ( 4500 to 2800 years ago ), the Dorset ( 2800-2000 years ago ) - Date : Fri, 03 Jun 2011 03:09:43 GMT+00:00
Denmark's royal twins christened Vincent and Josephine - AFP Tweet this news
AFP--In recent months, everyone from royal commentators to experts in old -Norse- have had opinions on what the twins would be called, with Valdemar and Knud seen as favourites for the boy and Ingrid and Astrid for the girl. Copenhagen mayor Frank Jensen - Date : Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:45:00 GMT+00:00
(#pharyngula on irc.synirc.net) - ScienceBlogs (blog) Tweet this news
ScienceBlogs (blog)--In 1127, the -Norse- farmers of -Greenland- sent the King of Norway a live polar bear. He sent them back a bishop. By 1500, the only people living in -Greenland- were the Inuit seal hunters. All that remained of the -Norse- settlement - Date : Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:43:27 GMT+00:00
Boat talks, classes abound here - EastBayRI.com Tweet this news
EastBayRI.com--He will show a 30-minute video of his 2010 cruise to South -Greenland-, home of some of the world's most dramatic fjords, as well as -Norse- settlements of the Middle Ages. The sixth Marine Industry Career Day, will be held on Saturday - Date : Wed, 16 Feb 2011 13:34:05 GMT+00:00
The Lewis Chessmen - Journal of American Medical Association (subscription) Tweet this news
Journal of American Medical Association (subscription)--The -Norse- seafarers of the Middle Ages, also known as the Vikings, explored -Greenland- and North America, plundered towns and monasteries along the coasts of Europe (JAMA cover July 7, 2010), and - Date : Tue, 15 Feb 2011 21:46:40 GMT+00:00
Ask a climate scientist: was Greenland actually green? - Crikey (blog) Tweet this news
Crikey (blog)--Near the year 1000AD the -Norse- Vikings established farming settlements in -Greenland-. Subsistence farming would have been impossible in -Greenland- in 1900AD, ... - Date : Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:53:48 GMT+00:00
Dansk - restaurant review - The Vine (blog) Tweet this news
The Vine (blog)--The -Norse- answer to the lamb roast ($37) features three pinkly perfect backstrap medallions, although the accompanying sweetbreads are overcooked and have ... - Date : Sat, 18 Dec 2010 21:42:19 GMT+00:00
René Redzepi: The greatest chef on earth - Independent Tweet this news
Independent---...- that its staff and suppliers were dedicated to finding new or long-forgotten ingredients from all over the -Norse- regions, from Bornholm to -Greenland-, ... - Date : Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:02:25 GMT+00:00
Michael Savage: Not a smart man - Media Matters for America (blog) Tweet this news
Media Matters for America (blog)--Today we know that North America was by far the largest and most valuable North Atlantic land discovered by the -Norse-; even the tiny fraction of it that the ... - Date : Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:11:49 GMT+00:00


Germanic languages * Germanic philology

Language subgroups
North * East * West
North * East * Elbe * Weser-Rhine * North Sea
Reconstructed
Proto-Germanic
Historical languages
NorthProto-Norse * Old Norse * Old Swedish * Old Gutnish * Norn * Greenlandic Norse * Old Norwegian
EastGothic * Crimean Gothic * Vandalic * Burgundian
WestOld Saxon * Middle Low German * Old High German * Middle High German * Old Frankish * Old Dutch * Middle Dutch * Old Frisian * Middle Frisian * Old English * Middle English * Early Scots * Middle Scots * Lombardic * Yola
Modern languages
Afrikaans * Alemannic * Danish * Dutch * English * Faroese * German * Gutnish * Icelandic * Limburgish * Low German * Luxembourgish * North Frisian * Norwegian * Saterland Frisian * Scots * Swedish * West Frisian * Yiddish
Diachronic features
Grimm's law * Verner's law * Holtzmann's law * Sievers' law * Germanic substrate hypothesis * West Germanic gemination * High German consonant shift * Germanic a-mutation * Germanic umlaut * Germanic spirant law * Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law * Great vowel shift
Synchronic features
Germanic verb * Germanic strong verb * Germanic weak verb * Preterite-present verb * Grammatischer Wechsel * Indo-European ablaut
Language histories
English (phonology) * Scots (phonology) * German * Dutch * Danish * Icelandic * Swedish



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