Sociolinguistics: Case Study of Emergence of Present Scandinavian Languages

The focus of this academic work centers upon the emergence of present Scandinavian languages i.e. Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. The paper explains the notion of language and discusses various socio-cultural and political factors crucial with the help of different standardization stages of development of a standard language e.g. 'selection of norm', 'elaboration of function', 'codification' and 'acceptance'. The case study involves finding the oldest common language 'Proto-Scandinavian' or 'Proto-Norse' from which the concerning languages follow their respective course of development during the Middle Ages to their present existing forms.