Norwegian Verbs | NorwegianClass101.com sign up with Facebook Norwegian Verbs There is no standard spoken form of Norwegian, though the language does have two official written forms, Bokmål and Nynorsk, as well as two unofficial forms. These written forms are independent from the spoken forms of the language, of which there is no one standard or official form as people speak their own dialects in virtually every circumstance. Research has indicated that the majority of people, when given the option and regardless of the dialect those people generally use when speaking, use Bokmål as their written form. Norwegian verbs from both official written forms are quite similar, and all forms are largely mutually intelligible from one another. Bokmål is the written version that is most frequently taught to those learning Norwegian as an additional language to their native tongue. Norwegian verbs are not conjugated for the purpose of indicating the person or number of the subject. Rather, these words are inflect to demonstrate tense and mood. Specifically, verbs within the Norwegian language are inflected to demonstrate past tense, present tense, indicative mood, and imperative mood.

In situations in which other moods or tenses must be demonstrated the verbs must be combined in the past participle or infinitive form with auxiliary verbs. In terms of conjugation and inflection, Norwegian verbs are rather simple. They can all be classified as either regular verbs or irregular verbs. When approaching a regular verb the conjugation will be reliant on how the verb stem ends. There are four classifications for the purpose of conjugating regular verbs. These are: • Those verbs in which the infinitive form ends in a stressed vowel. • Those verbs in which the verb stem ends in a diphthong. • Those verbs in which the verb stem ends in a single consonant. • Those verbs in which the verb stem ends in a series of more than one consonant. There are only a few verbs that can be conjugated into the subjunctive mood. In Bokmål, as well as Standard Østnorsk, there is an additional form of the infinitive and present tense. This is the passive form. The other official written form, Nynorsk, has only a passive infinitive and in this form of the language this verb form is used much less frequently.

In some spoken dialects of the language Norwegian verbs in the indicative form can also be conjugated into number, though there are no instances in which there is conjugation into person. mappling.com - blog - Teaching minority languages in schools: Bokmål versus Nynorsk Teaching minority languages in schools: Bokmål versus Nynorsk mark your location on our interactive map search Sunday, September 9, 2012 at 7:03PM Anne-Marte Denk Ravnestad Areas where Norwegian is spoken, including North Dakota (0.4% of the population speaks Norwegian there) and Minnesota (0.1% of the population) (Data: U.S. Census 2000).Norwegian (Norsk) is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway (but also in the USA, as the map on the left shows). Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants. Norway is unusual because the majority (and official) language, Norwegian, has two written forms that are equally recognised by law: Bokmål and Nynorsk (Lovdata, 1981).

The two forms have different geographical origins, and which form you use still depends a lot on where you live. I write Nynorsk which is only a majority language in four out of nineteen counties (Språkrådet, 2011). Nynorsk closely resembles my spoken dialect, and I feel comfortable using it for that reason. There are often strong links between identity and language, and this is crucial to the understanding of minority language users' feelings about their language situation. Although have no issue with being identified as “Nynorsk”, I’m still aware that, language varieties (…) can trigger beliefs about a speaker and their social group membership. (Garrett, 2010:33) In my case, the social group I am likely to be identified with is “uneducated country folk”, and while I might not feel that this is problem, I understand that other Nynorsk users may not feel the same way. A map of the official language forms (målform) of Norwegian municipalities as of 2007 Norwegian law requires that pupils learn both written forms of the language at school – and it has been hotly debated whether we should change this practice.

Bokmål users have claimed that it is difficult to include both forms in school. I believe – both as a teacher and a Nynorsk user – that we should maintain this practice, not only because we would lose some of our cultural heritage if we didn’t, but also because of the effect it would have on Nynorsk users’ self-esteem, potentially further weakening Nynorsk’s position in society. Teaching additional languages in school is both a challenge for teachers and an opportunity for them to think about their teaching methods. In the case of Nynorsk, it’s important for teachers to create awareness of this living language through showing examples of it in literature, newspapers and other media. In my opinion the most important thing, when it comes to government-regulated additional language teaching and learning, is the teacher’s attitude towards the language. This attitude will be reflected in the pupils' motivation to learn and will ultimately determine the success of their learning experience. I believe languages reflect the huge variety of people and cultures in the world, and I want to pass my enthusiasm for that variety on to my pupils. Bibliography: Garrett, P. (2010). Attitudes to language. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Lovdata Mållova (1981). Lov om målbruk I offentleg teneste [målbrukslova] (Law about language use in governmental services). [Internet] Oslo, Lovdata. [Accessed 21 October 2011]. Språkrådet (2011). Språkstatistikk – nokre nøkkeltal for norsk (Language statistics – some key numbers for Norwegian). [Internet] Oslo, Språkrådet. [Accessed 21 October 2011]. The Norwegian Language - Norskbloggen.no Norskbloggen.no In Norway we have three official written languages and a myriad of spoken dialects. Sounds complicated? Don’t worry, the reality is much easier, and it’s not considered to be more difficult to learn Norwegian than any other European language. And if you know the words “ski” and “fjord” you already have a head start. We have two official written Norwegian languages, Bokmål and Nynorsk. In addition the indigenous Sámi people have their own official written language. The majority (86%) of the people in Norway are using Bokmål.

But in areas in the Northwestern part of Norway and in the very south, Nynorsk is widely used. However, it should be noted that Bokmål and Nynorsk are not classified as two different languages where you have to learn the other as a foreign language. They are simply two different written norms. Thus, text written in Bokmål is perfectly understandable for a person using Nynorsk, and vice versa. Dialects Very few Norwegians, if anybody, speak the way a text is written, whether it’s in Bokmål or Nynorsk. Instead we make use of our local dialects. For Norwegians the dialect makes up an important part of their identity, and by listening to a person’s dialect we can in most cases determine with good accuracy from which part of the country he or she is from. Beginners to the Norwegian language might find some dialects hard to understand, but Norwegians are understanding and speak closer to the written language if they notice you don’t understand them. Norwegian – a Scandinavian language If you have a good command of Norwegian you’re not only able to communicate with Norwegians, but also with people in Sweden and Denmark.

The languages of the three Scandinavian countries are similar and in most cases you can speak in Norwegian to Danes and Swedes, and also read text written in Swedish and Danish. From Wikipedia: The Norwegian Language (norsk) is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants (see Danish language). These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language and Icelandic language, as well as some extinct languages, constitute the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages). Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form, because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them. As established by law and governmental policy, there are two official forms of written Norwegian – Bokmål (literally “book language”) and Nynorsk (literally “new Norwegian”). The Norwegian Language Council is responsible for regulating the two forms, and recommends the terms “Norwegian Bokmål” and “Norwegian Nynorsk” in English.

Two other written forms without official status also exist: Riksmål (“national language”), which is to a large extent the same language as Bokmål, but somewhat closer to the Danish language, is regulated by the Norwegian Academy, which translates it as “Standard Norwegian”. Høgnorsk (“High Norwegian”) is a more purist form of Nynorsk that rejects most of the reforms from the 20th century, but is not widely used. There is no officially sanctioned standard of spoken Norwegian, and most Norwegians speak their own dialect in all circumstances. The sociolect of the urban upper and middle class in East Norway can be regarded as a de facto spoken standard for Bokmål because it adopted many characteristics from Danish when Norway was under Danish rule. This so-called standard østnorsk (“Standard Eastern Norwegian”) is the form generally taught to foreign students. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Danish was the standard written language of Norway. As a result, the development of modern written Norwegian has been subject to strong controversy related to nationalism, rural versus urban discourse, and Norway’s literary history.

Historically, Bokmål is a Norwegianised variety of Danish, while Nynorsk is a language form based on Norwegian dialects and puristic opposition to Danish. The now abandoned official policy to merge Bokmål and Nynorsk into one common language called Samnorsk through a series of spelling reforms has created a wide spectrum of varieties of both Bokmål and Nynorsk. The unofficial form known as Riksmål is considered more conservative than Bokmål, and the unofficial Høgnorsk more conservative than Nynorsk. Norwegians are educated in both Bokmål and Nynorsk. A 2005 poll indicates that 86.3% use primarily Bokmål as their daily written language, 5.5% use both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and 7.5% use primarily Nynorsk. Thus 13% are frequently writing Nynorsk, though the majority speak dialects that resemble Nynorsk more closely than Bokmål. Broadly speaking, Nynorsk writing is widespread in Western Norway, though not in major urban areas, and also in the upper parts of mountain valleys in the southern and eastern parts of Norway.

Examples are Setesdal, the western part of Telemark county (fylke) and several municipalities in Hallingdal, Valdres and Gudbrandsdalen. It is little used elsewhere, but 30–40 years ago it also had strongholds in many rural parts of Trøndelag (Mid-Norway) and the south part of Northern Norway (Nordland county). Today, not only is Nynorsk the official language of 4 of the 19 Norwegian counties (fylker), but also of many municipalities in 5 other counties. The Norwegian broadcasting corporation (NRK) broadcasts in both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and all governmental agencies are required to support both written languages. Bokmål is used in 92% of all written publications, Nynorsk in 8% (2000). Norwegian is one of the working languages of the Nordic Council. Under the Nordic Language Convention, citizens of the Nordic countries who speak Norwegian have the opportunity to use their native language when interacting with official bodies in other Nordic countries without being liable to any interpretation or translation costs. Twitter What is "WOTY"? Or "årets ord"?

It is "the word(s) of the year". So Happy New Word in #norwegian by #norskbloggen … yesterday Learn more Background Norwegian NoW - NTNU Develop a new written language based on the Norwegian dialects. Norwegianize the Danish The first alternative was rejected. The two others were both set into practice. Ivar Aasen (1813-1896), a linguist and poet with rural background, developed Landsmål, as it was called, based on extensive research on rural dialects in western and central parts of southern Norway. In 1929 it was labelled Nynorsk – "New Norwegian" which still is used. Landsmål became an official norm in 1885. It later broadened its basis by including forms represented in East Norwegian speech. During the next 50 years the language was widely accepted, but did never obtain a position as the language for the majority. Knud Knudsen (1812-1895), a grammarian and headmaster, had the goal of altering Danish orthography until it reflected the informal speech of the educated classes in Norway.

Riksmål was established as a norm by a spelling reform in 1907. In 1929 this variant was labelled "Bokmål" – "Book language". During the 20th century a succession of spelling reforms led to the inclusion of forms related to lower urban class and rural speech in Bokmål. A selection of words was within both Nynorsk and Bokmål were presented with "main" and "alternative" forms. In this way the user was given the opportunity to choose forms that corresponded more with the speaker's dialect. The latitude of these options has been narrowed in recent years, but alternative forms still exist. It became a political goal to fuse Nynorsk and Bokmål into one form, Samnorsk (Common Norwegian). This idea was abandoned in the 1960s, Nynorsk and Bokmål have developed as two parallel written forms of Norwegian. Today Bokmål is dominating in all sectors of the Norwegian society as 85–90 % of the population are writing in Bokmål. The users are living in all parts of the country. To some degree Bokmål is used as a spoken language.

Some dialects are more similar to Bokmål than others. These dialects are found in the south Eastern parts of Norway with Oslo as a centre. Nynorsk expanded until World War II when it was used by about 1/3 of the population. Later it has declined, and today about 10-15% of the population are using Nynorsk. Its stronghold today is the central and western parts of southern Norway where the dialectal forms more or less overlap with the written forms. The difference between Nynorsk and Bokmål is sociolinguistically important. At present Bokmål "is often associated with urban culture and an urban way of life. It is also in most cases the language of advertising, pop music, fashion, entertainment and young people's culture. It is the language of weekly magazines and the big newspapers, and also of the commercial world and the world of technology. [...] Nynorsk is often associated with traditional and national values and with regional or local culture.

Writing Nynorsk might be a signal that your identity is more related to local values than to urban style, and that your local roots are of great importance to you." (Maagerø and Simonsen 2005). Nynorsk has a rather weak position in technology, economy and popular culture. On the other hand, these are the areas where Bokmål is most challenged by English. In primary education students choose either Bokmål or Nynorsk as their primary language form. In secondary education they also study the other language form. Spoken Norwegian Today dialects find significant support at all levels of Norwegian society from casual speech to teaching, broadcasting and parliament. Students freely speak their local dialects in school. Even the Education Act states that they have the right to do so. It states that the teacher "should pay due attention to the vernacular used by pupils, and that he or she should not attempt to make them abandon their home dialect" (Jahr 2007).

"While the actual pronunciation of Norwegian has played a fundamental role on the development of both norms, the existence of two competing written norm has on the other hand prevented the formation of an uncontroversial spoken norm" (Kristoffersen 2000). In other words, there is no standard spoken Norwegian. This is reflected by Maagerø (2005) who quotes the rhetorical question "Why should the Oslo way of speaking be better than any other dialect?" If a student of Norwegian as a second language wants to check the pronunciation of a certain word, such information is in general absent in the major dictionaries. They only provide spelling, definitions and grammatical information. The main dictionary of Bokmål, Bokmålsordboka (Wangensteen 2005), which indicate stress patterns, states that the information given only indicates a general Bokmål reading of words, but "[i]t has not been the editorial board's intention to make users avoid pronunciation which is different from the one given in the dictionary, but an inherent part of their dialect, nor in any way to state that such variants are inferior." The careful wording of this statement indicates the strong position of Norwegian dialects.

However, this does not preclude the existence of a spoken basis for Bokmål. The central eastern part of Norway is considered the centre of Norway as this is the location of the capital, Oslo. In general the formal middle-class urban speech in eastern parts of southern Norway is quite close to Bokmål, and as such it can be labeled as an unofficial norm of Norwegian. It is used in news readings on the radio and TV, when reading Bokmål aloud and in the teaching of Norwegian as a second language to adults. The spoken basis of Nynorsk is the rural dialects of western Norway. These dialects by themselves form a heterogeneous picture, and one cannot identify one dialect as the common denominator of Nynorsk. It is not correct to say that people speak Nynorsk even though they write Nynorsk. One may hear spoken Nynorsk in news readings and in stage performances. As Norwegians are exposed to the different forms of Norwegian from childhood on, they generally face minor problems in understanding different dialects. In school students are not taught how to speak Bokmål and Nynorsk.

In reading, dialectal prosody is used and the Bokmål or Nynorsk wording is not necessarily respected. The speech sounds can be an approximation to Central East Norwegian or the reader may use the sounds of his/her dialect. Adults usually speak the dialect of the place where they grew up, but of course, there are people who have changed the dialect of their childhood to another dialect or to a speech based on Bokmål. Consequently, when a Norwegian is approached by a newly arrived foreigner (who will speak the Bokmål learnt in class), the Norwegian most likely will answer using dialectal forms. As phonology, inflections etc. may differ radically from the Bokmål form, there is a great chance that the student of Norwegian as a second language will not be able to transfer the word spoken to its corresponding Bokmål form and thus will not understand what is said. This might happen due to different speech sounds, historical processes reflected in the dialect, different stress placement, various fast speech phenomena, different vocabulary etc.

Norwegian as a second language Adult students in introductory courses of Norwegian as a second language will most likely be taught spoken Bokmål in class, at times even in areas where Nynorsk is used. As most textbooks are written in Bokmål, teachers, irrespective of their dialectal background, adapt their way of speaking to Bokmål. Normally they maintain the prosodic features of their dialect. Thus spoken Bokmål will be found in several forms. Many of them will be different from Central East Norwegian. Students may experience several forms of spoken Bokmål, but since the ability to change from dialect to spoken Bokmål is a skill used by second language teachers, and not by dialect speaking Norwegians in general, the students of Norwegian as a second language will need some time and have to spend some effort in order to develop an understanding of the local varieties of the Norwegian language. Norwegian dialects There are several ways of grouping Norwegian dialects depending on how detailed a descriptions must be. On a macro level one can refer to an Eastern and a Western group. The Eastern group may be grouped into East Norwegian and Trøndsk, the Western group into Western and Northern.

Intonational patterns are different between Eastern and Western dialects. Eastern dialects are low tone dialects, that is stressed syllables in words get a low tone, western dialects are high tone dialects. Major cities within these groups are: Eastern Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand Tromsø, Narvik, Bodø One may subdivide the major dialect groups until one reaches a level of very fine detail. A different phonetic cue, word form or syntactic feature, even avery small one, may signal a dialectal differences that Norwegians are well aware of. Other languages in Norway National minorities Today about 20 000 individuals in Norway have the Sámi language as their mother tongue. Sámi is a member of the Finno-Ugric branch of languages, and its roots in Norway may extend as far back as Norwegian. North Sámi is an official language on a par with Norwegian in the some districts of in the two northern counties.

Groups with long-term attachment to Norway are defined as national minorities, that is the Kvens, who speak Kven; Jews (Jiddisch and modern Hebrew), the so called Forest finns (Norwegian has replaced Finnish); Rom or Gypsies (Rom), and the Romani people (Romani). Approximately 4 000 hearing impaired persons utilize Norwegian Sign Language. Foreign languages Most Norwegians aged 60 or younger studied English in school. Some of the elderly Norwegians will have problems communicating with foreigners in English, but not so for younger people. Today, English is Norway's most important foreign language for international use, followed by German and French. There is a large number of immigrants whose first language is not Norwegian as 10 percent of the Norwegian population are immigrants. Currently more than 120 different mother tongues are represented in Norwegian primary schools. The major immigrant languages besides Swedish and Danish are Urdu, Vietnamese, Somali, Persian and Turkish.

Olaf Husby, October 2010 Bokmål (Dano-Norwegian) and Nynorsk - The Two Official Forms of the Norwegian Language | One Hour Translation Bokmål (Dano-Norwegian) and Nynorsk - The Two Official Forms of the Norwegian Language Posted by Stacey on Sun, 05/12/2013 - 19:42 Norwegian is unique in having two official written forms along with two other unofficial written forms. The Recent Past From the 16th to the 19th century, Danish was actually the written language in Norway. These countries have long had a very close – sometimes uncomfortably so – relationship, and this is symbolised by the fact that for centuries the Norwegians simply used Danish to write things out, while speaking Norwegian, during the period when Denmark ruled the country. This began to change as Norway asserted its independence and a wave of nationalistic pride swept the country. The question was, how to replace Danish? One approach was to create a Norwegian script based on the Danish everyone had been using. This came to be known as Bokmål (Dano-Norwegian).

Another approach was the create a written form based on Norwegian dialects, and incorporating a complete opposition to Danish influence. This came to be known as Nyorsk. The Modern Day As a result, in Norway today there are two official written forms of the language – and two additional unofficial forms! For someone with an American background this is difficult to get your brain around. There is actually a government agency (The Norwegian Language Council) that regulates the two written forms. In modern Norway people speak their regional dialect wherever they happen to be – there is very little regulation of the spoken language at all. These dialects are perfectly mutually understandable, so there’s no problem there. When it comes to writing, Norwegians are educated in both Bokmål and Nyorsk. Bokmål is used in writing by about 86% of the population, with the rest either using Nyorsk or using a mixture.

This is further complicated by the fact that there are two other unofficial written forms: Riksmål, which is very similar to Bokmål but somewhat closer to the original Danish, and Høgnorsk, which is a more ultra-purist form of Nyorsk that rejects many modern reforms and attempts to represent what its users consider a purer form of traditional Norwegian. As you can see, there are two basic approaches to writing out Norwegian, and each example represents a level of extremity along those two lines. Tags: Which language is more prevalent in the Norwegian media - Nynorsk or Bokmål? - Quora Specific Languages Which language is more prevalent in the Norwegian media - Nynorsk or Bokmål? For example, if I watch a TV show on NRK, which language would it be in? What language were Norway's Eurovision songs in, such as Elisabeth Andreassen's songs? Written Jan 10, 2015 Bokmål is by far the most common. There are regional differences, with Nynorsk used mainly in rural areas and small towns on the west and south coast and in some valleys inland.

Bokmål dominates the more populous east and middle country and also northern Norway, which was settled from the eastern valleys. The Sami minority that are aboriginal to northern Norway have their own language, but use Bokmål when speaking Norwegian. The recent immigrants also tend to learn Bokmål, and we have a lot of immigration. So Nynorsk is dwindling as a percentage, I would estimate it is down to around 10% now. The National Broadcasting was supposed to have 25% Nynorsk (reflecting a much earlier proportion) but rarely reached this target even when there was political support for it. Edit to add: Elisabeth sings in Bokmål when representing Norway. She is also a much loved singer in Swedish. Very few pop songs in Norway use Nynorsk, although Odd Nordstoga has some. Instead, many artists from outside the capital sing in their regional dialect, which can be quite hard to understand for foreigners. 387 Views · View Upvotes · Answer requested by Quora User Written Jan 10, 2015 Bokmål, without question.

NRK, the state owned broadcaster (and largest by far, compare with BBC), has a mandate to use Nynorsk 25% of the time. All the major newspapers and other broadcasters use Bokmål almost exclusively, but do print letters in the form they're written. Notice, however, that the difference is slight, about the same as the difference in spoken British vs US English. For broadcasted material, the distinction is a bit different: Strictly, Nynorsk and Bokmål are only considered written forms of Norwegian, and the dialectical differences are another matter, but there's much overlap. I can't think of a famous Nynorsk Eurovision song, but I'm not entirely sure. Since we were allowed to sing in English, most have, anyway. 253 Views · View Upvotes · Answer requested by Quora User Quora User, Student, Norwegian University of Science and Technology Bokmål is definitely the most used in the media. If giving a number I would guess 90% or more. Interestingly, the Norwegian broadcast agency are required to have about 10-20% of all their news in Nynorsk.

Parrot Time - Language Conflicts - Bokmål vs. Nynorsk Bokmål vs. Nynorsk March / April 2014 | The language conflict of Norway is a rather odd one. Other conflicts usually arise because of two different spoken languages. In this case, the spoken language is agreed upon, what we call "Norwegian", although you will still have local dialects, like most major languages. The conflict is actually between the two written forms of the language: Bokmål and Nynorsk. Norway has both Bokmål and Nynorsk as "official" languages, with both being used by the government, schools, and the media. Those only slightly familiar with Norwegian might not even know there is a struggle. My own books on Norwegian don't explain which version they are using to represent the spoken tongue. Unless otherwise noted, it should probably be assumed Bokmål is being used. History To understand how this conflict arose, and how two written languages could exist for one language (and we are speaking about two different written languages, not merely using two different alphabets), we must look a few hundred years into history.

During the Middle Ages, Old Norse was the language of Norway, and it had a rich literary tradition. During the 14th century, however, there were several demographic and political changes, and Norway was united with Denmark in 1380. As a result, Danish became the written language of Norway, while the people continued to speak their various Norwegian dialects. Written Old Norse became abandoned. After over 400 year of Danish rule, Norway finally seceded from Denmark in 1814. Danish remained the written language, however, since they had no other. Because Norway was now its own nation again, there was a feeling that it also needed a written language that was its own. To help with this, the linguist Ivar Aasen conducted extensive research for five decades into the spoken Norwegian language. He gathered material from the different dialects and made a comparison of their linguistic structures. From this, he created a new language for written Norwegian, which was called Landsmål, or "National Language". However, others were working to revise their current written Danish language by incorporating words that were more descriptive of Norwegian scenery and folk life.

They modified the spelling and grammar to better fit as well, and this new written language was adopted by the Norwegian parliament as Riksmål, or "Standard Language" in 1899. Reforms Now Norway had two different written languages to work with, neither one being strictly "original", since both were adaptations and the original had been abandoned over 500 years ago. In 1929, Riksmål was officially renamed Bokmål (literally "Book language"), and Landsmål to Nynorsk (literally "New Norwegian"). The names "Dano-Norwegian" and "Norwegian" lost by a single vote in parliament, and any reference, even today, to "Danish" is very unpopular among Bokmål/Riksmål users. Through reforms in 1917, 1938, and 1949, both Bokmål and Nynorsk were made closer as a result of a state policy to merge them into a single language, called Samnorsk (Common Norwegian). However, this resulted in massive protests, and was basically dropped after 1960, and was officially abandoned in 2002.

Users of both written languages resented the efforts to dilute the distinctness of "their" written language. Now, if you have managed to keep up with all this so far, you have done well. But it is about to get even more confusing. Meeting of the Noregs Mållag, the main organisation for Norwegian Nynorsk During the reforms to bring Nynorsk and Bokmål closer, others opposed the changes and decided to maintain the originals. One group kept the name Riksmål as their own unofficial form of Norwegian, and ignored the spelling and grammar changes of the Samnorsk movement. Riksmål and conservative forms of Bokmål have been the standard written language of Norway for most of the 20th century. Large newspapers, encyclopedias, and a significant proportion of the population of Oslo, along with surrounding urban areas and much of the literary tradition use them. After the reforms of 1981 and 2003, the official Bokmål can be adapted to be almost identical with modern Riksmål. Today, the differences between Riksmål and Bokmål are minimal. There were also opponents to reforming Nynorsk.

An unofficial form of Nynorsk exists, called Høgnorsk, which discards the post-1917 reforms and is closer to Ivar Aasen's original Landsmål. It is not, however, in widespread usage. Support Each form has its own supporters. The Noregs Mållag is a major promoter of Nynorsk, with over 10,300 members, while the Norwegian Academy handles Bokmål. So how come neither one has managed to become dominant? In general, despite efforts to keep both languages as "official", Bokmål is by far the more common. The main reason why Bokmål hasn't managed to become the norm for all Norwegians is due to the Nynorsk language and the popular organizations fighting for it. There is a level of national pride that wants to embrace a written language that wasn't forced upon the population. So why hasn't Nynorsk become more dominant? Because it is the newer language, which is being pushed to replace one that has been basically in place for centuries. No living citizen of Norway actually experienced the "true" written Norwegian. Documents open to the public can be published in either language and are sometimes written in both.

Each municipality is free to elect to name Nynorsk, Bokmål, or both as its working language. Even private authors are free to write and publish in whichever form they prefer. Primary schools may teach in Bokmål or Nynorsk as the major language, but according to the statistics I have found, approximately 85% of the pupils in primary and lower secondary schools in Norway receive education in Bokmål, while about 15% receive education in Nynorsk. From the ninth grade on, pupils are required to learn both. A Norwegian troll. “Troll” is one Norwegian word that has made it into English. Although educated in both Bokmål and Nynorsk, around 86-90% of all Norwegians use Bokmål as their daily written language, while only 10%-12% use Nynorsk as theirs, even though most of the spoken dialects resemble Nynorsk more closely than Bokmål. More broadly speaking, Bokmål and Riksmål are more commonly used in urban and suburban areas while Nynorsk in rural areas, particularly in Western Norway.

However, I am sure that others may dispute these statistics, and I personally have no method of verifying them. I learned long ago that "statistics" are not accepted as "facts", and are often debated. Differences Mainly, the differences between Bokmål and Nynorsk are in the key words of their vocabularies. In general, a Bokmål word normally closer to Danish while the same word in Nynorsk is closer to Swedish. We can look at these simple phrases, written in English, Bokmål and Nynorsk: What’s your name? - Hva heter du? - Kva heiter du? Are you coming? - Kommer du? - Kjem du? I love you. - Jeg elsker deg. - Eg elskar deg. The name of the country of Norway is spelled Norge in Bokmål and Noreg in Nynorsk. When shopping, you will probably find milk packaged as either melk (Bokmål) or mjølk (Nynorsk). As a further comparison, here is the Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English, Bokmål and Nynorsk.

English Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 1 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Bokmål Verdemserkæringen om mennesker ettighetene Artikkel 1. Alle mennesker er fød frie og med samme menneskeverd og menneskerettigheter. De er utstyrt med fornuft og samvittighet og bør handle mot hverandre i brorskapets ånd. Nynorsk Norwegian - Language Information & Resources Home » Resources » Languages » Norwegian Norwegian The Norwegian language has a difficult history which continues to affect the language's status in Norway today. Due to Norway's complex political history and former union with Denmark, the contemporary Norwegian language exists in two rival forms: Dano-Norwegian, also known as Bokmal or Riksmal, and New Norwegian, or Nynorsk. Classification and Early History of the Norwegian Language The Norwegian language is classified as part of the West Scandinavian branch of the North Germanic language family. The Scandinavian languages we know today, including Danish, Swedish and Norwegian, developed from the Old Norse language of the Vikings.

Based on a runic alphabet, the Old Norse language did not undergo the significant changes that resulted in the development of a modern Norwegian language until the 14th century. At that time, the Old Norse languages began to differentiate from one another. It is believed that Norway was first organized as a unified area under King Harald Fairhair in 872. In the 11th century, Christianity came to Norway. Thanks to this development, the Latin alphabet also was brought to the region. The first Norwegian scripts containing Latin characters can be dated to the early 12th century. Union with Denmark: From Old Norwegian to Dano-Norwegian The union of Norway and Denmark in 1380 had a profound effect on the development of the Norwegian language. With its university, Copenhagen became the cultural and intellectual capital of Norway and Denmark, as well as the official capital of the union. From the 16th to 19th centuries, standard Danish was the official language of Norway. The Danish language was adapted somewhat during this time, as it was modified to accommodate Norwegian pronunciation, resulting in Norwegian Bokmal, or Dano-Norwegian.

Dano-Norwegian finds its origins in the written Danish language which was developed from 1380 to 1814, during the union of Denmark and Norway. After Norway won its independence in 1814, a linguistic union between Norway and Denmark persisted. This union, however, was colored by both practical and political difficulties. Post-Independence Linguistic Problems Although linguistic connections between Norway and Denmark were maintained after Norway gained independence in 1814, a number of difficulties arose in the use of the Dano-Norwegian language which had been developed during the two countries' former union. For one thing, in its spoken form, Dano-Norwegian was very different from Danish. While the elite classes had adopted a more standardized version of the language, lower classes had maintained the use of more Norwegian dialects, which brought difficulties to the education system. Coupled with post-independence political considerations, this linguistic dichotomy between classes proved especially problematic. The ideals of national romanticism led many newly-independent Norwegians to demand a national standard language shared by all of Norway's inhabitants.

Introduction of a Standardized National Language: Norwegian Nynorsk In 1853, a self-taught Norwegian linguist named Ivar Aasen personally addressed Norway's need for a national standard language. Combining western and central dialects, Aasen developed a standard Norwegian language which he called Landsmal. This is what we know today as Norwegian Nynorsk, or the New Norwegian language. The New Norwegian language was based on the Old Norwegian traditions, and was meant to expel the Danish language from Norway. Aasen presented the New Norwegian language in a number of linguistic texts, including grammar books and dictionaries, as well as in a number of literary texts. His endeavors proved successful, and New Norwegian was recognized as the second official national language (in addition to Dano-Norwegian) in 1885. An Alternative to Aasen's New Norwegian Language Until the mid-19th century, a standard norm of spoken Norwegian based on Dano-Norwegian was maintained in newly independent Norway. It was not until the 1840s – over 15 years after Norwegian independence – that a policy of linguistic reform was introduced.

The linguist Knud Knudsen developed a spoken Norwegian language that would more closely parallel the written Dano-Norwegian language primarily used in the country at the time. Being less radical in nature, Knudsen's proposed reforms promised change without the significant linguistic disruption which Aasen's New Norwegian promised. Dano-Norwegian vs. New Norwegian: The Role of Norwegian Literature Most scholars agree that distinctly Norwegian literature can be identified only after Norway separated from Denmark in 1814, making the body of Norwegian language literature relatively young. Still, Norway's writers have produced an impressive body of work, including multiple Nobel Prize for Literature Laureates. Knud Knudsen's less radical development of a modified Dano-Norwegian written form was largely supported by the Norwegian writers of the 19th century, and the enormous Norwegian literary movement of the late 19th century contributed greatly to Knudsen's success in disseminating the modified Dano-Norwegian language he had developed. Still, Aasen's New Norwegian language has remained an active part of the country’s literary scene. Many Norwegian authors have made use of the New Norwegian language's earthy poetic quality, helping to maintain its significance in modern Norwegian culture.

Norwegian Language Dialects It is generally agreed that the diversity of Norwegian dialects makes it impossible to determine a clear number of dialects. Grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation vary across different areas, and in some cases a dialect can be so unique as to be unintelligible to those Norwegian unfamiliar with it. Although there have been trends toward regional classification and standardization of Norwegian dialects, many Norwegians prefer to maintain distinct local dialects. The Norwegian Language Today The Norwegian language is the official language of Norway, which has an estimated 4,644,457 inhabitants. A dichotomy remains between New Norwegian (Norwegian Nynorsk) and Dano-Norwegian (Norwegian Bokmal) to this day. Norway recognizes both Norwegian Nynorsk and Norwegian Bokmal as official languages, Norwegians are taught both Bokmal and Nynorsk in school, and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) broadcasts in both languages. Although both Bokmal and Nynorsk remain active today, only about 20 percent of Norway’s population uses Nynorsk as their primary written language.

Bokmal is primarily used for written purposes, while the majority of spoken Norwegian language dialects maintain closer ties to Nynorsk. Get Your FREE Quote Nynorsk - definition of Nynorsk by The Free Dictionary Nynorsk - definition of Nynorsk by The Free Dictionary Related to Nynorsk: Bokmål , Bokmal Ny·norsk [Norwegian : ny, new (from Old Norse nȳr; see span-new) + norsk, Norwegian (from *noregsk, from Old Norse Nōregr, Norway).] Nynorsk (Norwegian ˈnyːnɔːsk; English ˈniːnɔːsk) n (Languages) one of the two mutually intelligible official forms of written Norwegian: it also exists in spoken form and is derived from the dialect of W and N Norway. Also called: Landsmål Compare Bokmål [Norwegian: new Norse] (ˈni nɔrsk, -noʊrsk; Norw. ˈnüˌnɔʃk) n. a literary form of Norwegian devised in the 19th century, largely on the basis of W Norwegian dialects. Compare Bokmål.

[< Norwegian: literally, new Norwegian] Norwegian - a Scandinavian language that is spoken in Norway Translations nynorsk novo norueguês Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content . Link to this page: QUIZ OF THE DAY Nynorsk and Bokmal are the official written ANSWERS: 1 Sophie Tucker; 2 The crow; 3 Norwegian; 4 Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan; 5 Switzerland and Italy; 6 North Dakota (Bismarck); 7 Keith Fletcher; 8 Clockmaking; 9 Midnight in Paris; 10 Veal in a ragout or stew of white sauce. Background note: Norway The other cultural cleavage, which centers around the issue of language, has left Norway with two official languages--the more Danish riksmal, spoken mainly in Oslo, and the multi-dialect nynorsk, compiled from many isolated rural speech habits.

Emotion, rationality, and the European union: a case study of the discursive framework of the 1994 Norwegian referendum on EU membership Just as likely as it was for the conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth to be chosen to create the monument of Champollion, the Frenchman who solved the hieroglyphic code based on the Rosetta Stone, it was natural for Lislerud to be called upon during the search for an artist to create the memorial to Ivar Aasen, the father of Nynorsk, one of Norway's two official languages. Quest for fine, little-known music leads to Norway 1919), whose first novel was published in 1941, has produced over a long life some sixty novels, plays, and children's books, mostly set in the Norwegian West Country and written in Nynorsk ("new Norwegian," an arguably somewhat retrograde, countrified variant of Norwegian). Johannes Heggland. Tusen varar.

1: Sigrid Jonsdotter In Europe for instance, there is a renaissance in local cultures the Scots now have their own parliament; in Switzerland, Romansch grows in importance with a thriving literature; and even in Norway, with its tiny population, Nynorsk and Samisk are official languages, as well as the orthodox Riksmal (AR September 2001). REGIONALISM: TIME TO REVIEW AND RENEW annual report in Norwegian BokmENl and English (printed, pdf and web) as well as Nynorsk (pdf), approximately 60-100 pages; 2 interim reports in Norwegian BokmENl and English (pdf), approximately 10 pages each; brochures, product sheets, 1-10 pages (pdf, partially printed); PowerPoint presentations.

Question: What language has two written forms: Bokmål and Nynorsk?
Answer: Norwegian