Throughout
the semester I have spent a great deal of time researching the country of
Norway, specifically on their linguistic history. The Norwegian language is one
that does not have a very large scope with its speaking population being 5
million but holds a lot of historic and national value (Fennig, Paul, Simon's,
2016). In my first paper, I focused on how the language was formed from its
processor Old Norse to its official introduction after Norway's separation from
Denmark in the 1800s (Ager 2016). When it finally became time for Norway to
declare on a national language that the population was split over wanting to
speak a Norwegianized version of classic dutch and a language more largely
derived from the native dialects (Bull, 1992).
Rather than chose a single primary language Norway chose to make both
Nynorsk and Bokmål official languages (Ager 2016). Nynorsk is the Norwegian
language steamed for dutch while Bokmål is a language composed of the many
native dialects (Ager 2016). In my second paper I emphasized how these two
official languages differ. I also emphasized how class, region and education
play a large part in the how the speakers are divided. The concept of having
two national languages for such a small speaking population seemed confusing to
me at first, however people that speak Bokmål can understand the Nynorsk
language with ease and vice-versa. The Norwegian language is a combination of
the old germanic language Old Norse, with input from Dutch and the native
dialects.
Ager, S. (1998, November).
Norwegian (norsk). Retrieved September 13, 2016, from
Bull, T. (1992, January 01). Male power and language
planning: The role of women in Norwegian language policy. International
Journal of the Sociology of Language, 94(1), 155-171.
doi:10.1515/ijsl.1992.94.155
Lewis, M.P., Simons, G.F.,
& Fennig, C.D. (2016). Norway. Retrieved September 15,
2016, from
https://www.ethnologue.com/country/NO
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