Kalix dialect

Kalix (kjœɭɪsmɔːɭɛ / kölismåle) is a divergent Swedish dialect spoken in the Kalix Municipality along with Sami, Finnish, Meänkieli and the national standard language Swedish. Like other Scandinavian languages, the Kalix dialect originates in Proto-Norse and dialects of Old Norse, spoken by immigrating Germanic settlers during the Viking Age. It has three grammatical genders, two plural forms of indefinite nouns, and broad usage of definite nouns. Nouns are also inflected differently in dative and accusative case, and there are three forms of expressing genitive. Most verbs are conjugated differently in singular and plural, while most adjectives are not. Some adjectives can though be serially joined with nouns and some have two plural forms. A pleonastic article is also always used before people's and pet's names.

While Sami cultures have been present around Kalix for several thousand years, the Kalix dialect is a development from Germanic speaking settlers, arriving along the coast of the Scandinavian peninsula. The Kalix river is called 'Gáláseatnu' in the Northern Sami language and "kölis" in Kalix (spelled "Chalis" by Olaus Magnus in 1539). The name similarity strongly suggests that it is of Sami origin, and that the first arriving Germanic speaking settlers thus were in contact with Sami people, already present in the area.