Danish or Swedish - Scandinavian detectives?

[Mad Doug Biker]

So if I learn, say, Swedish, I would in theory understand Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic??
That sounds like value for money to me!!

What about the likes of Greenlandic though, seeing as it was ruled by Denmark for umpteen years, would it be similar, or is it different like Finnish?

 

[Proto]

Blimey, Dayvo fantastic answer, thank you.

I don't know why, but I had assumed that Danish would be more akin to German than Swedish/Norse.

Your comment about accents rings very true to me. I was buying coffeee and a burger from a van in Portrush, Antrim (went over for the NW200), and I became increasingly embarrassed as the woman serving kept asking me something over and over and over again. No idea what she was saying. Not a clue. Eventually another customer took pity on me and told me she was asking if I wanted sugar in the coffee.

 

[Norm]

So if I learn, say, Swedish, I would in theory understand Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic??
That sounds like value for money to me!!

In much the same way that learning Latin will help you with English, French and German.

 

[User169]

So if I learn, say, Swedish, I would in theory understand Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic??
That sounds like value for money to me!!

What about the likes of Greenlandic though, seeing as it was ruled by Denmark for umpteen years, would it be similar, or is it different like Finnish?

Greenlandic and Danish are very different:

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Just looked it up (like I should have done in the first place) and I see that it is an Eskimo/Aliut language. Now to see where Suomi comes from....

 

[User169]

Is it derived from the Eskimo/Inuit/whatever its called languages??

Yep! (I looked this up a couple of weeks ago having watched the Bruce Parry program where he spent some time with Greenlanders in Qaanaaq).

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Having just looked up Suomi (Finnish), I see it part of a family which includes Hungarian, Estonian and various others spoken in Russia. There are some languages there I have never heard of.

I had always thought Suomi sounded vaguly Japanese, but hey, what would have been the likely hood of that?

 

[gbb]

This topic just reminds me of a Danish trait...so i'm told.
I worked with a Dane for 8 years, the guy i worked with was very ..whats the word...certain of himself.
One guy at work brought him a present...a fridge magnet with the words...'You can always tell a Dane...but you can't tell em much'

Seemed quite appropriate really, and there must be something in it, for someone to manufacture the fridge magnet.