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{{About|the history and evolution of the [[Danish language]]|the history of the Danish people|Danes|the history of the Danish culture|culture of Denmark}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Old Norse language map}}
{{Old Norse topics}}
The [[Danish language]] developed during the [[Middle Ages]] out of [[Old East Norse]], the common predecessor of Danish and [[Swedish language|Swedish]]. It was a late form of common [[Old Norse]]. The Danish philologist Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen divided the history of Danish into "Old Danish" from 800 AD to 1525 and "Modern Danish" from 1525 and onwards. He subdivided Old Danish into "Runic Danish" (800–1100), Early Middle Danish (1100–1350) and Late Middle Danish (1350–1525).{{sfn|Jørgensen|2016|page=82}}

==Runic Danish==
{{main|Old East Norse}}
Old East Norse is in Sweden called ''[[Runic Swedish]]'' and in Denmark ''Runic Danish'', but until the 12th century, the dialect was the same in the two countries. The dialects are called ''runic'' because the main body of text appears in the [[runic alphabet]]. Unlike [[Proto-Norse language|Proto-Norse]], which was written with the [[Elder Futhark]] alphabet, Old Norse was written with the [[Younger Futhark]] alphabet, which only had 16 letters. Due to the limited number of runes, some runes were used for a range of [[phoneme]]s, such as the rune for the [[vowel]] ''u'' which was also used for the vowels ''o'', ''ø'' and ''y'', and the rune for ''i'' which was also used for ''e''.

A change that separated Old East Norse (Runic Swedish/Danish) from Old West Norse was the change of the [[diphthong]] ''æi'' (Old West Norse ''ei'') to the [[monophthong]] ''e'', as in ''stæin'' to ''sten''. This is reflected in runic inscriptions where the older read ''stain'' and the later ''stin''. There was also a change of ''au'' as in ''dauðr'' into ''ø'' as in ''døðr''. This change is shown in runic inscriptions as a change from ''tauþr'' into ''tuþr''. Moreover, the ''øy'' (Old West Norse ''ey'') diphthong changed into ''ø'' as well, as in the Old Norse word for "island".

==Middle Danish==
{{Quote box |width=300px |align=left|quoted=true |
|salign=right
|quote=''Fangær man saar i hor seng mæth annæns mansz kunæ. oc kumær han burt liuænd...''.<br /> "If one catches someone in the whore-bed with another man's wife and he comes away alive..."
|source= Jutlandic Law, 1241 {{sfn|Pedersen|1996|page=220}}
}}
{{Quote box |width=300px |align=left|quoted=true |
|salign=right
|quote=''takær bondæ annær man mæth sin kunæ oc kumar swa at han dræpær anti mannen...''.<br /> "If a peasant takes another man with his wife and does it happen that he does not kill the man..."
|source= The Zealandic Law of Erik, approx. 1250{{sfn|Pedersen|1996|page=220}}
}}
{{Quote box |width=300px |align=left|quoted=true |
|salign=right
|quote=''hittær man annær man i siangu mæþ aþulkunu sinni ok dræpær bondæn horkarkl i sængu mæþ hænnæ...''.<br /> "If one finds another man in bed with one's wedded wife and if the peasant kills the whore-churl in bed with her..."
|source= [[Scanian Law]], approx. 1216{{sfn|Pedersen|1996|page=220}}
}}
From 1100 and onwards, the dialect of Denmark began to diverge from that of Sweden. The innovations spread unevenly from Denmark which created a series of minor dialectal boundaries, [[isogloss]]es, ranging from [[Zealand (Denmark)|Zealand]] to [[Svealand]].
In the medieval period Danish emerged as a separate language from Swedish. The main written language was Latin, and the few Danish language texts preserved from this period are written in the Latin alphabet, although the runic alphabet seems to have lingered in popular usage in some areas. The main text types written in this period are laws, which were formulated in the vernacular language to be accessible also to those who were not Latinate. The [[Codex Holmiensis|Jutlandic Law]] and [[Scanian Law]] were written in vernacular Danish in the early 13th century. Beginning in 1350, Danish began to be used as a language of administration and new types of literature began to be written in the language, such as royal letters and testaments. The orthography in this period was not standardized nor was the spoken language, and the regional laws demonstrate the dialectal differences between the regions in which they were written.{{sfn|Pedersen|1996|pages=219–21}} Throughout this period, Danish was in contact with [[Low German language|Low German]], and many Low German loan words were introduced.{{sfn|Pedersen|1996|pages=221–224}}

Starting in the 12th century, [[voice_(phonetics)|voiceless]] [[plosive|stops]] become voiced when between vowels or at the end of a word, and in the 13th century these become [[fricative|fricatives]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Skautrup |first1=Peter |title=Det danske sprogs historie |date=1944 |publisher=Gyldendal |isbn=8700219517 |page=229 |language=da}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable floatright" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Examples of [[lenition]] in Danish
|-
! Danish
! Swedish
! Danish
! Swedish
|-
| gabe
| gapa
| skib
| skepp
|-
| gade
| gata
| fod
| fot
|-
| lege
| leka
| bog
| bok
|}

When following a short syllable and preceded by {{IPA|/j/}}, consonants (except fricatives) were lengthened.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Skautrup |first1=Peter |title=Det danske sprogs historie |date=1944 |publisher=Gyldendal |isbn=8700219517 |page=237 |language=da}}</ref> This must have happened before lenition since voiceless stops stay as such (e.g. ''setja'' → ''sætte''). This is a very similar process to the [[West Germanic gemination]] in neighboring languages.

{| class="wikitable floatright" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Examples of [[gemination]] by {{IPA|/j/}} in Danish
|-
! Danish
! Old Norse
! Danish
! Old Norse
|-
| sætte
| setja
| skønne
| skynja
|}

Starting in the 13th century, vowels are lengthened before certain consonant clusters, most commonly before ''rd'' but sometimes also ''nd'', ''ld''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Skautrup |first1=Peter |title=Det danske sprogs historie |date=1944 |publisher=Gyldendal |isbn=8700219517 |page=245 |language=da}}</ref> This lengthening was often later reverted in modern Danish, but not before long ''a'' [[roundedness|rounded]] to ''å'' (or ''o'', as in ''holde'').

{| class="wikitable floatright" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Examples of lengthening before consonant clusters in Danish
|-
! Danish
! Old Norse
! Danish
! Old Norse
|-
| skår
| skarð
| holde
| halda
|}

==Renaissance and Reformation==
With the [[Protestant Reformation in Denmark|Protestant Reformation]] in 1536, Danish also became the language of religion, which sparked a new interest in using Danish as a literary language. It is also in this period that Danish begins to take on the linguistic traits that differentiate it from Swedish and Norwegian, such as the [[stød]] and the voicing of many stop consonants.

The first printed book in Danish dates from 1495, "''Rimkrøniken''" (the Rhyming Chronicle), a history book told in rhymed verses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kb.dk/da/kb/nb/ha/virtuelt_bogmuseum/bogmuseum_danmark.html|publisher=Royal Danish Library|title=Bog Museum (Book Museum)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221182726/http://www.kb.dk/da/kb/nb/ha/virtuelt_bogmuseum/bogmuseum_danmark.html|archive-date=21 December 2014}}</ref> The first complete translation of the [[Bible]] in Danish, the Bible of Christian III, some parts translated by [[Christiern Pedersen]], was published in 1550. Pedersen's orthographic choices set the de facto standard for subsequent writing in Danish.{{sfn|Pedersen|1996|page=225}}

==Modern Danish==
The first translation of the Bible in Danish was published in 1550.

Some notable authors of works in Danish are [[existentialism|existential]] [[philosopher]] [[Søren Kierkegaard]], prolific [[fairy tale]] author [[Hans Christian Andersen]], and playwrights [[Henrik Ibsen]]<ref>Haugen, Einar (1979). "The nuances of Norwegian". Ibsen's Drama: Author to Audience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. p. 99. {{ISBN|978-0-8166-0896-6}}.</ref> and [[Ludvig Holberg]]. Three 20th-century Danish authors have become [[Nobel Prize]] laureates in [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature]]: [[Karl Adolph Gjellerup]] and [[Henrik Pontoppidan]] (joint recipients in 1917) and [[Johannes Vilhelm Jensen]] (awarded 1944).

==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|indent=yes|30em}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Ejskjær|first1=I. |year=1990|title=Stød and pitch accents in the Danish dialects|journal=Acta Linguistica Hafniensia|volume=22|issue=1|pages=49–75|doi=10.1080/03740463.1990.10411522 }}
*{{cite book|editor-last1=Gregersen|editor-first1=Frans|editor-first2=Anne|editor-last2=Holmen|editor-first3=Tore |editor-last3=Kristiansen| editor-first4=Erik |editor-last4=Møller|editor-first5=Inge Lise |editor-last5=Pedersen|editor-first6=Jakob |editor-last6=Steensig|editor-first7=lb |editor-last7=Ulbæk|title=Dansk Sproglære|publisher=Dansklærerforeningen|year=1996}}
*{{cite book |last1=Faarlund|first1=Jan Terje|author-link=Jan Terje Faarlund|chapter=3. Old and Middle Scandinavian|pages=39–71|editor1-last=König |editor1-first=Ekkehard |editor2-last=van der Auwera |editor2-first=Johan |title=The Germanic Languages |date=1994 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-28079-2 |series=Routledge Language Family Descriptions |chapter-url=http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415280792/ |access-date=26 February 2015}}
*{{cite book |last1=Haberland|first1=Hartmut|chapter=10. Danish|pages=313–349|editor1-last=König |editor1-first=Ekkehard |editor2-last=van der Auwera |editor2-first=Johan |title=The Germanic Languages |date=1994 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-28079-2 |series=Routledge Language Family Descriptions |chapter-url=http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415280792/ |access-date=26 February 2015}}
*{{cite journal |author=Thomas F. Shannon |date=July 1999 |title=Reviewed Work: The Germanic Languages |journal=Journal of Linguistics |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=430–436 |jstor=4176538}} 
*{{cite book|last1=Jespersen|first1=Otto |year=1906|title=Modersmålets fonetik|publisher=Schuboth|author-link=Otto Jespersen}}
*{{cite book 
|last1=Jørgensen |first1=Bent 
|editor1-last=Jacobsen |editor1-first=Henrik Galberg |editor2-last=Jørgensen |editor2-first=Bent|editor3-last=Jacobsen|editor3-first=Birgitte|editor4-last=Fahl|editor4-first=Laurids Kristian 
|title=Dansk Sproghistorie (vol. 1): Dansk tager form 
|date=2016
|publisher=Aarhus University Press |location=Aarhus 
|isbn=9788771841626 |pages=79–83 
|chapter=Sproghistoriske perioder
}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Kroman|first1=E|title=Debat: Stød-og accentområder og deres oprindelse|journal=Fortid og Nutid, 1.|year=1980}}
*{{cite book|last1=Torp|first1=Arne|chapter=Nordiske sprog i fortid og nutid. Sproglighed og sprogforskelle, sprogfamilier og sprogslægtskab |publisher=Nordens Sprogråd|title=Nordens Sprog med rødder og fødder|year=2006|chapter-url=http://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:700645/FULLTEXT01.pdf}}
*{{cite book|editor-last1=Gregersen|editor-first1=Frans|editor-first2=Anne|editor-last2=Holmen|editor-first3=Tore |editor-last3=Kristiansen| editor-first4=Erik |editor-last4=Møller|editor-first5=Inge Lise |editor-last5=Pedersen|editor-first6=Jakob |editor-last6=Steensig|editor-first7=lb |editor-last7=Ulbæk|chapter=Sprogsamfundets Historie|last1=Pedersen|first1=Inge Lise|title=Dansk Sproglære|publisher=Dansklærerforeningen|year=1996}}
*{{cite book|last1=Sørensen|first1=V.|year=2011|title=Lyd og prosodi i de klassiske danske dialekter|publisher=Peter Skautrup Centret|url=http://jysk.au.dk/fileadmin/www.jysk.au.dk/publikationer/centrets_publikationer/Lydogprosodi.pdf|access-date=16 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518194257/http://jysk.au.dk/fileadmin/www.jysk.au.dk/publikationer/centrets_publikationer/Lydogprosodi.pdf|archive-date=18 May 2015|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.um.dk/Publikationer/UM/English/FactsheetDenmark/Language/pdf/sprog_uk_03.pdf
 |title       = Language
 |publisher   = Royal Danish ministry of foreign affairs
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20061013041536/http://www.um.dk/Publikationer/UM/English/FactsheetDenmark/Language/pdf/sprog_uk_03.pdf
 |archive-date = 13 October 2006
}}
{{refend}}

{{Danish language}}
{{Language histories}}
{{Germanic languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History of Danish}}
[[Category:Danish language]]
[[Category:Old Norse]]
[[Category:Germanic language histories]]