[4] While rooted in Swedish, the dialect shows influence and borrowings from Estonian, German, Russian, and Ukrainian.
[5] Prior to 1929, Gammalsvenska remained the first language for the Ukrainian Swedes; however, the last generation of Swedish-first speakers were born just after World War II Sovietization policies.
[6] Since the 1950s a Russian-Ukrainian surzhyk has been the dominant language in the village, although some Standard Swedish is taught in schools where it is seen as economically advantageous for jobs in local tourism and other employment opportunities.
[1] In 2024 Sofia Hoas, chairwoman of Föreningen Svenskbyborna (Association of Gammalsvenskby settlers), stated that about 30 people in the village still speak swedish with varied proficiency.
Uttal och ordböjning i Gammalsvenskbymålet ("Pronunciation and morphology of the Gammalsvenskby dialect"), written in 1906 and published in 1953.
[9]: 91 In certain words, other diphthongs might appear as well, an example being [bai̯t] "after" (developed from bak-efter "back-after") Gammalsvenska usually places stress on the first syllable.