The Swedish Viking town using a Scottish sound

The way Swedes say 'no' is slightly different in one isolated town in the south of the country, where many Vikings settled in the 10th century after returning from Scotland. The Local's Maddy Savage has been to Åkeby in Kalmar to investigate why a strange, Scottish-sounding phrase has stuck around for centuries.

Published: 1 April 2015 01:01 CEST
Updated: 1 April 2015 08:14 CEST

The Swedish Viking town using a Scottish sound

Åkeby is situated in south east Sweden. Photo: Shutterstock

Did you fall for our April Fool's Day prank?

This video from 'Åkeby' in southern Sweden was actually filmed in Stockholm.

While Professor Anders Eriksson from Stockholm University is a renowned expert in phonetics and linguistics who has been studying the Swedish language for 25 years, The Local invented the idea that people in one Swedish town say 'ach nae' (and sound Scottish) and he kindly played along with it.

The other stars of this film are students from the university and we are grateful for their brilliant sense of humour.

The Local's Maddy Savage interviews locals and a linguistics expert about the unusual language tradition in Åkeby.

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