What becomes the identity of a people? Is it their skin color or their nationality? Maybe it is their culture or the language they have been speaking all their lives? But what if they learn a different tongue later or adopt a secondary culture in their mid-twenties? These are the questions that sociologists think about less than the people who are not sure about their identities. When they raise these questions in front of others, they might get answers like, ‘you can define yourself’. But in truth, there are a few things that will always be the identity of people.
A person of one ethnicity can start living with the people of another ethnicity, but that won’t change anything for them. They will continue to be what they were already. People who move to another country and settle down there for good are always known by their place of birth. Even their future generations, who may not have been to their parents’ birth place, will be associated with their country. The same can be said for languages. When you hear someone from Russia speaking English, you will be able to tell that their first language is Russian. People do have the power to define themselves, but that power is limited because of a few things that are not in their control.
We don’t decide which country we are born in or where are parents are from, and that’s something which will never stop being a part of our identity. However, as far as languages are concerned, the people of a few countries may never be able to get away from them. For instance, for a long time the British people were called the English and that was also the tongue they spoke. Even today, it is true for a lot of people. French, Spanish, and Russian are a few examples of that. But as far as identities go, a vernacular is not a bad thing to be associated with.
Denmark:
One of the best countries to live in the world is Denmark where the citizens enjoy freedom of expression, religious freedom, healthcare facilities, free education, and whatnot. The economic stability of the country is also remarkable and known worldwide. Income inequality, a problem that a lot of first world countries have not been able to solve, is non-existent in Denmark. It is also one of the least corrupted places on earth. If you talk to the people of third world countries, you will realize how big a blessing it is to live in a country where corruption is almost zero.
Denmark has produced some of the world’s best astronomers, authors, filmmakers, painters, photographers, and architects. Some of the best expressionist architecture can be seen in Denmark. The students of architect often want to visit Denmark for the sole purpose of studying these buildings closely. Danish speak painters have created beautiful artworks during different art movements. Meat, fish, and potatoes are the most eaten things in Denmark, just like the other Nordic countries.
The country also has peaceful and economically stable neighboring states like Sweden. If anyone tells you they want to move to Denmark, it shouldn’t come as a surprise because who wouldn’t want to? The place has it all from beautiful landscapes to high income jobs.
What Language Do the Danish Speak?
Sometimes, it can be difficult to understand for outsiders whether someone is referring to the nationals of a country or the tongue they speak. Take Denmark, for instance, although its citizens are called Danes, some people also refer to them as the Danish. So, it is justifiable that people would wonder about the name of Denmark’s official language.
However, the answer is not some big surprise. The official language of Denmark, which is spoken by the majority, is called Danish. It has almost 5.6 million speakers in the world. Many countries have small Danish speaking communities like Canada, Sweden, and Spain. It is also the most spoken vernacular in Greenland after Greenlandic.
The Danish language had its origins in the Old Norse and therefore shares a lot of similarities with other Nordic tongues. It is also mutually intelligible with Swedish and Norwegian. However, Danish is the one out of the three that has gone through the most changes in the recent past. The changes can be seen in the dialects. The younger generations have created more innovative dialects and older ones have gone out of use. They were called traditional dialects. The ones in use today are a lot different from each other and sometimes the speaker of one may have trouble understanding the speaker of another.
Danish is known among linguists for having 27 vowels. It is in high contrast with English which only has five. Due to the different pronunciations of the vowels, many consider Danish a difficult tongue. This fact is seconded by those children in Denmark who take some time to learn their own tongue despite hearing it at home since birth. However, despite its difficulty level, the Danes are still proud to be associated with their language and would not have any other language define them.
So, if you have been planning on visiting Denmark or wanted to learn more about the country and didn’t know about the language of the land, you have found your answer. However, English is widely spoken in the country so you won’t have trouble talking to the locals when visiting Denmark. But learning words like hello and thank you in Danish wouldn’t hurt.
