In the Swedish/Danish TV series Bron/Broen (aka "The Bridge"), when Saga (from Sweden) and Martin (from Denmark) are together, what language do they speak? How about other characters? We don't speak either language and watch with English subtitles so we have no way of telling for sure.
-
2This is intriguing! I'm an avid watcher of "The Bridge"....simply marvellous! A Swedish colleague at Opera North told me Danes & Swedes can understand one another; rather, she said, as Spaniards & Italians can, when speaking their own languages. That's something I can relate to, being fluent in both those languages! In fact, I often come out with Spanish when talking Italian & vice versa. Edward Thornton.– user7809Commented Jan 28, 2014 at 13:11
-
I was hoping for a comment from someone who has actually watched the show, just to be certain. The existing answer says, "I have no idea about the other characters as I haven't seen anything of the show myself."– MarkCommented Jan 28, 2014 at 14:22
-
Swedes and Danes think we can understand each other, but there are a lot of misunderstandings and 'false friends' in the languages. Some words have the same roots but completely different meanings. However, most Scandinavians can at least read the other two languages. People in Copenhagen is usually rather good at understand Swedish and tries to speak in a way that Swedes would understand. Counting words are the biggest challenge.– user2821Commented May 29, 2015 at 15:38
Add a comment
|
4 Answers
They both speak their native language. Saga speaks Swedish and Martin Danish.
I have no idea about the other characters as I haven't seen anything of the show myself, except for trailers, but they are most likely speaking their native language. So, whoever you can identify as a Swede would most certainly be speaking Swedish, and all the Danes would most likely be speaking Danish. Most Swedes have a bit of a hard time understanding Danish, though, so don't be surprised if they start speaking English all of a sudden.
When Martin speaks to a Swede, he articulates every syllable and softens the glottal stop characteristic of Danish (stød), moving his speech toward something you could call a toneless Norwegian, thus much easier for a Swede or Norwegian to understand. When he speaks to another Dane, it's regular conversational Danish. The Swedes simply speak Swedish.
Swedish and Danish (and Norwegian) are mutually intelligible. You can compare them to Serbian and Croatian. The danes in the series speak danish and the swedes speak Swedish.
I watched the first two seasons. I enjoyed the reality that they spoke three languages just like many in those countries would. The Danes speak Danish and the Swedes speak Swedish. Also, when they are on the phone to someone in a country other than Denmark or Sweden, they drop to English just as many would in real life. This really added to the show and it came out great.
