Norwegian: One language, two writing forms

               As we have discussed in class, language planning is a double-edged sword that can yield many different results depending on social, political, and linguistic contexts. The Norwegian language in use today provides an excellent example of how language policy and nationalism can do the opposite of what is intended, creating diversity from unity and ambiguity from clarity. This is most clearly reflected in the writing systems of the language, which has been a source of significant political tension in the past as well as a nexus of social change.

               Since the 1890’s, Norway has had two official written standards to reflect its single (though not officially regulated) spoken standard. These written standards, Bokmål and Nynorsk, reflect two different heritages of modern Norway: Bokmål is a compromise between Norwegian and the Danish introduced by colonists, whereas Nynorsk is an invented standard that represents a break from Danish altogether, giving precedent to the “true” Norwegian dialects spoken in rural areas (Jahr, 1989, pp. 33-34). While the original policy was to reform the two standards towards unification, this project has since been abandoned, leaving the two standards in use today (Jahr, 1989, pp. 34-35).

               Although measures have been taken to ensure that both written languages are of equal political standing, the sociolinguistic scene in Norway suggests that the two are far from equal. Because of its dominance in the commercial market, Bokmål has become “the de facto dominant language of the country in the people’s everyday experience and consciousness” (Özerk & Todal, 2013, pp. 297). Similarly, an egalitarian approach to language education means that all students become proficient in both and get to choose which to read and write (Özerk & Todal, 2013, pp. 287-288). With biliteracy the rule and Bokmål the clear favorite, should steps be taken to preserve Nynorsk?

                                                                    References

Jahr, E. H. (1989). Limits of language planning? Norwegian language planning revisited. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, (80), 33-35.

Özerk, K. and Jon Todal. (2013). Written language shift among Norwegian youth. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 5(3), 287-297.