Norwegian
Alternative name(s): norvégien (fr), Noors (nl), norsk (no), norska (sv)
Language family: Indo-European
Language Group: Germanic
Geographical use: Norway
Information: Just as other Scandinavian
languages, Norwegian is derived from an old common Scandinavian language
which can be reduced to the rune inscriptions
up to the 3rd century BC. During the Viking period (800-1050) several
dialects emerged, among which Old Norwegian. This language not only occurred
in Norway, but was also spoken in Iceland and other parts of the Atlantic
Ocean via migration.
With the rise of christianity the rune signs
were replaced by the Roman alphabet. In
the subsequent centuries Norwegian was influenced by Danish,
Low German and Swedish.
The Danish influence was very strong between
1380 and 1814 when Norway and Denmark were united under Danish crown.
Danish became the written language for Norwegian
in the 16th century. It was mainly spoken by the higher classes, while
lower classes and the countryside people spoke local dialects. In the
19th century spoken Danish developed into
a language called Danish-Norwegian. This language had a Danish structure
and vocabulary, but was pronounced in the Norwegian way. This language
was later called the Riksmål, the official language
of Norway. It was mainly used by literary people such as the poet Henrik
Ibsen.
Under nationalism and romanticism influence the linguist Ivar Aasen developed
a new language, called Landsmål, and based on the
Norwegian dialects without Danish influence. His attempt succeeded and
it became an important second language.
Under pressure of Landsmål advocates, the Riksmål underwent
radical changes (in 1907, 1917 and 1938) during which the Norwegian pronunciation
and spelling were underligned. Also the name of both languages changed:
the Riksmål became Bokmål (book language)
and Landsmål became Nynorsk (New Norwegian). Legally
both languages are equal and both should be educated in schools. Bokmål
is mostly used in the southeastern part of the country, which is the most
populated area and includes the capital Oslo, while Nynorsk rules in the
western part. Norwegian also has a lot of dialects (only in spoken language),
most of which are close to Nynorsk rather than Bokmål.
However, it should be noted that if non-Norwegian people talk about or
learn Norwegian, they always refer to the Bokmål
language.
