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This study investigates conditions for language use among Norwegian adolescents using the minoritized Norwegian written language Nynorsk. By combining survey data and focus group interviews, and deploying the framework of 'capacity', 'opportunity', and 'desire' as an analytical lens, the study explores some of the factors and forces that influence the adolescents' choice to maintain the use of this non-hegemonic Norwegian written language. The paper thus seeks to add to the body of research investigating language maintenance of minoritized languages. The findings illuminate the discrepancy between regulations and practices in the Norwegian language community. Still, even if the collective structures are not optimal, many of the adolescents display a willingness to keep using Nynorsk – a willingness which is partly rendered possible by the existence of these same collective structures. The study thus demonstrates the dialectic relationship between these structures and individual language choices. Moreover, the data show that under given circumstances, some of the same factors and forces that usually further language shift, may also promote language maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I denne artikkelen studerer vi om ein tekstforfattars generelle tilbøyelegheit til å gjere rettskrivings- og bøyingsavvik i nynorsktekstar kan estimerast ut i frå kunnskapar om forfattarens tilbøyelegheit til å gjere nokre spesielle feiltypar. Analysen indikerer at førekomsten av spesielt to feiltypar er gode indikatorar for den totale feilmengda i vårt tekstmateriale. Dei to feiltypane representerer begge avvik i vokalisme, der spesielt den eine tyder på påverknad frå bokmål som til dømes øke for auke, leke for leike, medan den andre også har innslag av munnleg påverknad som posetiv for positiv og virke for verke. Utgangspunktet er eit datasett om normavvik («rettskrivingsfeil») i studenttekstar, og vi nyttar generaliserte lineære modellar i analysen.

The article discusses the uproar which resulted from the decision to translate Henrik Ibsen’s drama Peer Gynt (1867) from one of the official written Norwegian languages (riksmål/bokmål) to the other (landsmål/nynorsk) in 1947/48 in connection with a theatre production which had its premiere in March 1948. Many Norwegians regard Peer Gynt as the greatest work of their national literature, and therefore many of them considered it close to sacrilegious to stage it in nynorsk, the language which Ibsen did not use and, in fact, strongly disliked. Some Norwegians protested vehemently against translating the drama to nynorsk, while others found the idea perfectly acceptable. The article thus offers an interesting example of a split between two language cultures within one nation.

Artikkelen analyserer munnlege og skriftlege språkpraksisar hos ein norsk femtenåring i lys av aktuelle teoriar knytt til kodeveksling, språk­skifte og transspråking. Primærmaterialet er skuletekstar på nynorsk og bokmål, samla inn i samarbeid med Normprosjektet (2012–2016) i perioden informanten var elev frå sjette til tiande trinn. I tillegg er det gjennomført eit sosiolingvistisk forskingsintervju og henta inn private tekstmeldingar. Informanten vekslar mellom dialektnær og standardnær skriving i tekstmeldingane. Ho har tidlegare vore bidialektal, men held seg no til ein dialekt. Ho hadde nynorsk som opplæringsmål på barnetrinnet, men skifta til bokmål ved inngangen til ungdomsskulen. Artikkelen drøftar om dei ulike språkpraksisane kan sjåast som symptom på språkskifte, eller som teikn på transspråkleg skrive­kompetanse. I konklusjonen blir det argumentert for at kjennskap til og veksling mellom ulike skriftspråklege varietetar bør sjåast i eit ressurs­perspektiv, og ikkje som tap av, eller mangel på, språkleg identitet.

Statistikken slår fast at mange sluttar å bruke nynorsk som hovudmål etter grunn­skulen eller i løpet av vidaregåande. Dette gjeld spesielt i område der nynorsken tidlegare har stått sterkt, og no er under særleg press frå bok­­mål. Kvifor vel så mange bort nynorsk? Dette er språkval som blir gjort av mange ulike individ som ein del av ein større samanheng. Den tospråk­­lege situasjonen i Noreg der dei to språka ikkje har same status i praksis, er sentral i forståinga av denne trenden. Tidlegare har det berre vore gjort geografisk avgrensa enkeltstudiar av slike språkbortval ved skular, medan føremålet med denne artikkelen er å sjå systematisk på eit samla data­grunnlag og dermed kunne seie noko generelt om prosessen. Artikkelen bygger på data frå sju enkeltstudiar om språkval i rand­soner. Materialet inkluderer ei undersøking av nynorsk som hovudmål gjort i Hordaland, Telemark og Rogaland, ein studie frå Valdres i Oppland, og fem master­oppgåver med data frå skular i Hordaland, Møre og Romsdal og Agder. Gjennom ein kvantitativ metaanalyse og ein kvalitativ diskurs­­­analyse freistar eg å identifisere årsakene til at så mange byter til bokmål, og tilby ei forklaring på trenden. For å svare på dette er både grunngjev­ingane til informantane kartlagde og kvantifiserte, og utsegner i intervju og spørje­undersøkingar analyserte. Svært mange elevar i desse områda oppgir mangel på kompetanse som ein grunn til at dei byter til bok­mål. I tillegg ser det ut til at stigmatiserande haldningar til nynorsk, og at ny­norsk blir sett på som mindre viktig, er sentrale faktorar bak desse vala.

Samandrag Norske litteraturkritikarar har hevda at Olav H. Hauge (1908–1994) tidlegare enn nokon annan omsetjar skal ha interessert seg for den nye modernistiske kanon. Denne artikkelen argumenterer for at dette biletet baserer seg på myten om Hauge som isolert, men verdsorientert diktarbonde i Ulvik, Hardanger. Artikkelen viser at Hauges praksis var solid forankra i ein serskild nynorsk attdiktingstradisjon. Dette er tydeleg langs tre liner: ei teoretisk, ei språkleg og ei litteratursosiologisk. Av notat i Hauges dagbøker kjem det fram at dei teoretiske og språklege refleksjonane hans om attdiktingskunst er nært knytte til forgjengarar i målrørsla, serleg Henrik Rytter (1877–1950). Den litteratursosiologiske tilknytinga blir tydeleg gjennom arbeidet med antologien Framande dikt frå fire tusen år (1968), som førde Hauge i kontakt med samtidige, meir etablerte attdiktarar og som stimulerte han til vidare attdiktingsarbeid. Artikkelen fokuserer på Hauges attdiktingar frå tysk.

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This paper examines the use of the two written Norwegian language standards, Nynorsk and Bokmål, by companies in Norway. By adopting a legal perspective on the language policy of Norway as stipulated by the Language Council of Norway (2005) and the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church (2008), the paper investigates how 492 of the largest companies in Norway measured by revenue comply with the language requirement of the Norwegian Accounting Act Article 3–4. The findings show that the use of Nynorsk is marginal, as only five companies presented their financial statements in Nynorsk for the financial year of 2015. The paper concludes that there is a gap between the objectives of the language policy and the linguistic reality in Norwegian business, and that the current language regulation fails to fully support the language policy goal of maintaining both Nynorsk and Bokmål as functional varieties of the Norwegian language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1924 the author Arne Garborg's summer house Knudaheio in Time, Rogaland, was turned into an authentic house museum, at that time the fifth author museum in Norway and the third dedicated to an author writing in Nynorsk. Three more Garborg museums opened in 1951, 1996 and 2012, also including his wife, the author and cultural worker Hulda Garborg. This study compares the Garborg narratives developed and displayed in the four museums. Quite traditional narratives in the two oldest museums differ from the narratives in the two younger where stronger efforts are made to show the relevance of Arne and Hulda Garborg's life and work today. The Garborg museums are used as a case to investigate what characterizes Nynorsk, and in more general, minority language author museums founded by cultural movements as tools in promoting a linguistic programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most Protestant countries, the Reformation was closely connected to the development of vernacular languages and literatures. In Norway under Danish rule, this was not the case. Only in the 19th century, during the nation-building period of independent Norway, a Norwegian ecclesiastical language was developed. Some authors claim that this completed the Reformation in Norway – a protracted Reformation indeed. Particularly important were the hymns of Magnus Brostrup Landstad and Elias Blix. This study examines the role of Luther in the Norwegian 19th century national discourse, suggesting a three-phase development: Luther as text, as inspiration, and as argument. The full-blown use of Luther as argument was taken up by proponents of a nynorsk ecclesiastical language only during the final years of the Swedish-Norwegian union, just before its dissolution in 1905.

Denne artikkelen er ein grann omtale og gjennomgang av det fyrste bandet i verket Norsk språkhistorie, som er etla til det nye oppslagsverket for emnet. To sider ved framgangsmåten i denne boka vert kritiserte. For det fyrste vert språkendringar tekne for å vera målretta og heimevaksne i staden for å vera sjølvdrivne endringar som spreier seg gjennom sosial tilpassing. For det andre skil ikkje forfattarane mellom den norske og norsk-danske utviklingslina i språkhistoria, og dei tek norskætta og danskætta språktrekk for å gå ut på det same. Attåt vert ei rekkje andre misgrep i boka framlyfte og drøfte. Jamvel om gjennomgangen av den norske språkhistoria i det store og heile er god, kan ikkje denne fyrsteutgåva nå målet om å verta det nye oppslagsverket for norsk språkhistorie. Difor er det von om at ei ny og omvølt utgåve kan koma på marknaden.

The article discusses the uproar which resulted from the decision to translate Henrik Ibsen's drama Peer Gynt (1867) from one of the official written Norwegian languages (riksmål/bokmål) to the other (landsmål/nynorsk) in 1947/48 in connection with a theatre production which had its premiere in March 1948. Many Norwegians regard Peer Gynt as the greatest work of their national literature, and therefore many of them considered it close to sacrilegious to stage it in nynorsk, the language which Ibsen did not use and, in fact, strongly disliked. Some Norwegians protested vehemently against translating the drama to nynorsk, while others found the idea perfectly acceptable. The article thus offers an interesting example of a split between two language cultures within one nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most Protestant countries, the Reformation was closely connected to the development of vernacular languages and literatures. In Norway under Danish rule, this was not the case. Only in the 19th century, during the nation-building period of independent Norway, a Norwegian ecclesiastical language was developed. Some authors claim that this completed the Reformation in Norway - a protracted Reformation indeed. Particularly important were the hymns of Magnus Brostrup Landstad and Elias Blix. This study examines the role of Luther in the Norwegian 19th century national discourse, suggesting a three-phase development: Luther as text, as inspiration, and as argument. The full-blown use of Luther as argument was taken up by proponents of a nynorsk ecclesiastical language only during the final years of the Swedish-Norwegian union, just before its dissolution in 1905. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artikkelen drøftar kva som bør vere kunnskapsgrunnlaget for normeringa av det nynorske skriftspråket. Det blir argumentert imot at ein baserer den offisielle normeringa på teoriar om grammatiske strukturar i eit mogeleg I-språk, slik nokre grammatikarar innanfor det generative paradigmet har teke til orde for. I staden argumenterer artikkelen for at ein byggjer framtidig normering på kor-puslingvistiske studiar av det ein kan karakterisere som normberande tekstar innanfor den nynorske skriftkulturen, noko som då kan seie noko om kva for operative normer som eksisterer i dette språket. I forlenginga av dette argumen-terer artikkelen for at metoden statistisk korrespondanseanalyse er særleg ve-leigna til å granske om det eksisterer normklynger av ulike språklege former som kan la seg identifisere som meir eller mindre dominerande subvarietetar av det nynorske skriftspråket, slik som til dømes varietetar som ein kan karak-terisere som konservativ, moderat eller radikal nynorsk.

This article examines language policy in the virtual linguistic landscape (VLL) in Norway and its development over time. The analysis is based on diachronic website data and interviews with state employees concerning the presence or absence of different languages on the websites of three central state institutions. The article reveals a linguistic homogenization of the VLL of the public sector in Norway, which is mostly due to the removal of immigrant languages from state websites. The analysis also shows an increased linguistic presence of Nynorsk (the less used written standard of Norwegian), of the indigenous Sámi language, and of English, which performs a 'hypercentral' function. The virtual linguistic ethnography and follow-up interviews show that the websites of the three institutions in focus exist more or less fully only in two language versions: Bokmål (the more widespread written standard of Norwegian) and English. The translations into Nynorsk and Sámi are mainly done to comply with official regulations. Furthermore, immigration, rather than leading to an increased visibility of language diversity in the VLL, can also put pressure towards homogenization. One could perhaps even go so far as to see Norway as the harbinger of change: once multilingual provision has reached a notional peak, there is a chance that more and more state institutions will cut down on 'less than necessary' languages online, opting instead for 'commonsense' English together with the respective official language(s). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This position paper focuses on Nynorsk in the digital era and the need for research-based knowledge about it in school settings in Norway. The Norwegian language situation is exceptional because Norway has two written standards, Bokmål (majority variety) and Nynorsk (minority variety), and both the Education Act and the Norwegian Directorate of Education require that publishers provide parallel editions of all paper-based and digital learning aids for pupils. However, a national report by Skjær,Eiksund, Fretland, Holen & Netteland(2008) revealed that few publishers have developed and offered digital learning aids in Nynorsk. In 2015 the situation appears to be largely unchanged, even though the authorities, language organisations and “leadings lights” have taken several initiatives to encourage compliance with the Education Act; however, what is needed is further research into the situation of parallel editions of digital learning aids. This is of particular interest today since the pupils in the county with the highest rate (97%) of Nynorsk-pupils has consistently been at the top of the list as one of the best performing counties in Norway in national tests since 2006 (Directorate of Education 2015). In addition, Vangsnes, Söderlund & Blekesaune (2015) find that municipalities in Norway with more than 50% Nynorsk-pupils achieve better in National tests when compared to Bokmål municipalities. The main message in our position paper is that the digital revolution might have changed some underlying premises for how we understand and use language and dialects, and the need for parallel editions of digital learning aids in Bokmål and Nynorsk is no longer a question of economics or of political statements for or against Nynorsk, etc., but is instead a question of a more nuanced scientific understanding of learning and achievement in today’s digitized school. The achievements of Nynorsk pupils in national tests is one indicator of school performance, but to understand what causes this relationship further research is required and several indicators should be developed. In this case, it concerns Nynorsk pupils, but in a broader sense, it concerns pupils in general, and how they learn in school.

Analyses of nationalism in nineteenth-century Europe have demonstrated the importance of language in crystallising group identity. The century witnessed a continent-wide growth in the idea that language - especially regional linguistic differences from a hegemonic or imperial state language - could form the basis of a strong regional, or, latterly, national identity. This article explores the divergent trajectories which the language question took in Norway and Scotland during this period, and argues that differences in national identity, caused partly by the two nations' different constitutional histories, had a considerable impact on the development of Scots and Nynorsk in their respective national contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This position paper focuses on Nynorsk in the digital era and the need for research-based knowledge about it in school settings in Norway. The Norwegian language situation is exceptional because Norway has two written standards, Bokmål (majority variety) and Nynorsk (minority variety), and both the Education Act and the Norwegian Directorate of Education require that publishers provide parallel editions of all paper-based and digital learning aids for pupils. However, a national report by Skjær,Eiksund, Fretland, Holen & Netteland(2008) revealed that few publishers have developed and offered digital learning aids in Nynorsk. In 2015 the situation appears to be largely unchanged, even though the authorities, language organisations and "leadings lights" have taken several initiatives to encourage compliance with the Education Act; however, what is needed is further research into the situation of parallel editions of digital learning aids. This is of particular interest today since the pupils in the county with the highest rate (97%) of Nynorsk-pupils has consistently been at the top of the list as one of the best performing counties in Norway in national tests since 2006 (Directorate of Education 2015). In addition, Vangsnes, Söderlund & Blekesaune (2015) find that municipalities in Norway with more than 50% Nynorsk-pupils achieve better in National tests when compared to Bokmål municipalities. The main message in our position paper is that the digital revolution might have changed some underlying premises for how we understand and use language and dialects, and the need for parallel editions of digital learning aids in Bokmål and Nynorsk is no longer a question of economics or of political statements for or against Nynorsk, etc., but is instead a question of a more nuanced scientific understanding of learning and achievement in today's digitized school. The achievements of Nynorsk pupils in national tests is one indicator of school performance, but to understand what causes this relationship further research is required and several indicators should be developed. In this case, it concerns Nynorsk pupils, but in a broader sense, it concerns pupils in general, and how they learn in school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]