The Nordic Languages. Volume 2 (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science [HSK], 22/2) [1 ed.] 311017149X, 9783110171495

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The Nordic Languages HSK 22.2

Handbucher zur Sprach- und Kommunikations­ wissenschaft Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science Man ue1s de linguistique et des sciences de communication Mitbegriindet von Gerold Ungeheuer Ctl Mitherausgegeben 1985-2001 von Hugo Steger Herausgegeben von / Edited by / Edites par Herbert Ernst Wiegand

Band 22.2

Walter de Gruyter . Berlin ' New York

The Nordic Languages An International Handbook of the History of the North Germanic Languages

Edited by Oskar Bandle (main editor) . Kurt Braunmiiller Ernst Hakon Jahr . Allan Karker Hans-Peter Naumann· Ulf Teleman Consulting Editors: Lennart Elmevik . Gun Widmark Volume 2

Walter de Gruyter . Berlin· New York

@

Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the ANSI to ensure permanence and durability.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Nordic languages : an international handbook of the history of the North Germanic languages I edited by Oskar Bandle . . . [et al.].

p. cm. - (Handbooks of linguistics and communication science ; v. 22.2) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 3-11-017149-X (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Scandinavian philology - Handbooks, manuals, etc. navian languages - Handbooks, manuals, etc. 1926-

2. Scandi­

I. Bandle, Oskar,

II. Handbucher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissen­

schaft ; Bd. 22.2 PDl 519.N67

2005

439'.5-dc22 2005002214

ISBN 3 11 017149 X

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at .

© Copyright 2005 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH

&

Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin

All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in Germany Typesetting and Printing: Tutte Druckerei GmbH, Salzweg Coverdesign: Rudolf Hubler, Berlin

Preface 1 . State of Research and Aims of the Handbook In recent years and decades, interest in language history has increased in general and also within the field of Nordic studies. Therefore, it seems appropriate to investigate the current state of Nordic language history and, where applicable, to attempt to rewrite it. For this reason, the series editors of HSK expressed a desire to the publisher and the undersigned to publish a new handbook on the history of Nordic languages - an idea which was well-received and the results of which are presented to the public here in this work. Whereas a synopsis of Nordic language history was previously lacking to a great extent (with the exception of both descriptions by Einar Haugen), the aim of this new handbook is to provide an extensive overall picture of linguistic developments in Scandinavian languages, embedded in a broad culture-historical context under con­ sideration of all modern methods available today. In 230 articles written by renowned specialists and divided into 21 chapters, the Nordic language history is expanded in comparative descriptions vis-a.-vis previous studies on the subject and enriched through new methodical approaches. A glance at the Nordic language histories available today reveals different possibilities for describing language history. Despite their titles, most previous works (i.a. Wessen's standard work Svensk sprakhistoria) are actually historical grammars which provide a one-sided list of facts about the phonetic, morphological and, in some cases, syntactic developments. These works neglect important linguistic categories such as the lexicon and fail to touch upon the culture-historical context, i.e. external language history at all, and do not include any summarizing standpoints. The concept of the current handbook naturally rules out such a limited method of description as well as the stringing together oflanguage history in an isolated observation of individual language levels (as is the concept of Haugen's Scandinavian language struc­ tures), or the division of isolated observations in the individual national language his­ tories (as in Wessen's De nordiska spraken). Despite the problems in practice, the most suitable principle seems to be that of a division into periods, each being dealt with under various different viewpoints such as level of description, methodical approach, external linguistic aspects and culture-historical embedding. This also calls into question the relationship between the conveyance of individual data and the weighing ofsystematic viewpoints, in other words, the question of to what degree language history can be conceptualized as a systematic history. In this regard, a handbook such as the current one must strive for a compromise in which it combines the conveyance of a large amount of individual data with an accentuation of systematic viewpoints, i.e., diachrony with synchrony, longitudinal sections with cross-sections (with cross-sections especially in more or less clearly defined periods such as Early Nordic, Old Nordic and present-day languages), so that the description of single historical facts continually flows into sys­ tematic-structural discussions, just as systematic aspects must also be considered within the discussion of diachronic developments. Such correlations also contribute significantly to the explanation of language-historical processes.

VI

Preface

In a Nordic language history, the division into periods, which each attempt to combine diachronic and synchronic viewpoints, is complicated further by the fact that a com­ parative description of six languages (including Nynorsk) must be managed, and the conventional but also factually justified division of each language into periods deviates from that of the others at different points. For example, the period called OZddansk precedes the remaining Old Nordic, so that the period temporally corresponding with the rest of Old Nordic is often termed (A£Zdre) MiddeZdansk; the beginning of the 1 9th century is a much more drastic boundary for Norwegian than for the remaining Nordic languages, etc. Here, a middle course for all Nordic languages must be found by carefully weighing all relevant factors. In this, if possible, the special interests of individual readers must be taken into account by providing as consistent divisions as possible between individual languages, levels of description, etc., whereas more general, summarizing view­ points will be discussed at the beginning and at the end of the handbook. 2. Method The consideration of the various different aspects of the course of language history means that the linguistic facts are not only included in a culture-historical, but also in a broad scientific and science-historical context reaching from the positivist-comparative to sociolinguistics and text type linguistics, even to modern discourse analysis. The hand­ book is not committed to a certain method. The principle is method pluralism, in which the most important rule is simply to consider the most current state of research and which consists of an extensive search of methodical possibilities. This methodical ap­ proach results in an overall structure which is relatively loose, but at the same time, it also produces an overall picture which is illuminated from all sides, consciously taking certain overlaps between the articles into account. In addition to language-historical facts, this approach also necessitates a prominent meta-area which covers the relationship of Nordic language history to different linguistic theories in Chapters III-V, and which discusses the relationships to the various neighbouring disciplines ranging from archaeol­ ogy to literary and translation history and to text edition in Chapter VI. It is an un­ avoidable fact that a language-historical description is traditional to a certain degree (a retrogressive language history, for example, might be original, but it would not lead to any substantial new realizations). In the current handbook, however, more modern approaches are also considered, which are partly integrated into the historical description (not only structuralistic, but especially also language typological, sociolinguistic, contact­ linguistic or text-type-linguistic approaches), and partly into theoretical discussions about the relationship to language history (i.e., with regards to generative transforma­ tional grammar, pragmatics, phraseology, contrastive linguistics or computer linguistics). The basis of data of the present language history is also very extensive and stretches from all kinds of written records (inc!. poetic works) to present-day spoken languages (inc!. dialects, sociolects, etc.). Since the time allotted for preparing the articles was proportionally limited, the description had to support itself to a great extent on the scientific literature which was already available. Nonetheless, the articles in this hand­ book present their own research results in several areas which had not been carefully examined until now (i.e., translation history). Another important task of the current handbook is to point out existing gaps in research. As the exclusive use of English shows, this handbook is directed with regards to theory, method and terminology at an international readership with a scientific interest in the

Preface

VII

topic. However, care has also been taken to ensure that the content of the handbook is also accessible to interested laypersons and scholars from other disciplines. 3. Contentual Concept In accordance with the fundamental humane-scientific concept mentioned above, the contentual structure of the handbook is characterized by the attempt to combine internal and external language history as well as factual knowledge with theoretical consider­ ations: in a general sense, to understand language history as part of an extensively under­ stood cultural history. It seems sensible to divide such a structure into three parts: the central part of the individual language-historical description with the respective culture­ historical references is flanked by a meta-area in Chapters II-VI and a description of general topics with regard to period and region in Chapters XVII -XXI. An introduction providing initial information about the Nordic language area, the genetic relationship of the Nordic languages to other Germanic languages, the relationship between dia­ chrony and synchrony, the problems of the division into periods, and the basis of data on Nordic language history is followed by critical discussions of the research history until ca. 1950. The research history of the individual Nordic languages and the contri­ butions of Scandinavian researchers to the international development of linguistics are dealt with in separate articles; in article 1 4 the contributions of non-Nordic researchers to Nordic language history are treated. The relationship of Nordic language history to the methods available today (since ca. 1950) is examined in Chapter IV with regard to theoretical possibilities as well as to currently available research results. Chapter V dis­ cusses the relationship between language history and dialectology, which is very intense in the Nordic language region. In the meta-area, the links between Nordic language history and the various aspects of political, social and cultural history (archaeology, history of realia, legal history, history of ideas, religious history, literary and translation history) are then discussed systematically (Chapter VI). Chapters VII -XVI comprise the central part of the handbook, in which language-histori­ cal facts are described and analysed according to period and classified with respect to their historical and systematic contexts. This central part begins (Chapter VII) with a discussion of the relationship of the (Old) Nordic languages to the other Germanic languages and to other neighbouring languages, in which language contact plays an important role. The next chapter (Chapter VIII) presents an overview of Proto-Nordic, in which, in addition to the language system, lexicon, personal and place -names, special attention is paid to the question of its sources - hence also touching upon the origin and development of runic writing. As the use of the common term "Late Proto-Nordic" is avoided here, the period from the 6th century to Old Nordic (ca. 1 1 00), which is so important from a language-historical viewpoint, is dealt with summarily and is associated with historic and culture-historical relationships and developments from the Vendel/ Merovingian and Viking Ages, whereas special attention is paid to the sociolinguistic aspect already here (Chapter IX). In view of its long tradition, literary importance and its position as the starting point of all other language developments, three chapters are devoted to the period of Old Nordic (ca. 1 100-1 350). Chapter X begins with introductory descriptions of the cultural and historical conditions, as well as the distinction and struc­ ture of the term Old Nordic, followed by a discussion of its tradition with regards to the history of handwritten texts and the development of the Latin script. Chapter XI

VIII

Preface

covers various aspects of Old Nordic, from the phonological and grammatical system to the lexicon, text type structure and problems in translation. Chapter XII, entitled "The ecology of language", describes the most important problems of the general living conditions of Nordic languages during the Old Nordic period, from the relationship between written language and dialects to various language contact situations and the development of Nordic languages outside of what is known today as Scandinavia. The second part of the handbook begins in Chapter XIII with the transitional period between Old Nordic and Early Modern Nordic (ca. 1350-ca. 1 5 50), a complex and prob­ lematic topic of discussion which must be divided up into several individual aspects. The central part is a detailed description of language changes, especially those which greatly influenced the structure of mainland Scandinavian languages. This central part is preceded by a few sections covering historic and culture-historical aspects (i.a., on the relationship between handwritten texts and letterpress printing) and followed by a few sections dealing with special aspects such as text type inventory, the language of translations, development of oral and written styles, language contact, language loss and the loss of standard language (in Norwegian). Classifying those language developments which took place after the early modern period is problematic insofar that, with the exception of isolated cases such as 19th century Norwegian, no clear boundaries can be detected, at least not with respect to all Nordic languages. However, a cut-off in or at the end of the 1 8th century is justifiable, not only due to internal linguistic criteria (i.a., the emergence of logical syntax), but also because of the general living conditions of language (firm establishment of standard languages, increasing language cultivation and the efforts of grammarians). Chapter XIV, which covers this period, focuses on comprehensive descriptions of individual lan­ guages, which are supplemented by descriptions of sociolinguistic and dialectic variations with reference to a growing national standard language tradition. In contrast to the previous chapters, new findings are presented here in special sections about education and language cultivation and their importance for language development (i.e., gram­ marians). As a period with a character of its own, including such crucial developments as the establishment of the middle class, urbanization and (the beginnings of) industrialization, the 19th century receives special treatment in Chapter XV with a focus on specific occur­ rences and problems which characterize the 19th century: to some extent contradictory ideologies such as nationalism and Scandinavianism and their effects on language (the establishment of the independence of Norwegian, the beginnings of Finland-Swedish as an independent language, Icelandic purism, the establishment of Faroese as a written language / the interrelations between Scandinavian languages, i.a., in the exchange of loanwords between Danish and Swedish), expansion of the spectrum of text types, relationships between standard language and forms from colloquial speech, stylistic de­ velopments in poetry and literary prose, and development of a middle-class conversa­ tional culture. In Chapter XVI, which covers the 20th century, three events are in the forefront: a detailed description of the systems of modern standard languages in cross-sections, but taking into account the changes during the 20th century;

Preface

IX

- problems in linguistic layering: written language vs. spoken language in a survey of their main characteristics, their interrelations, and their development during the 20th century: interrelation and development of dialects and regional languages in Sweden, Norway and Denmark during the 20th century; social stratification in individual Nordic languages, language of the media such as radio and television; tendencies since World War II, including future prospects for the history of Nordic languages. In Chapters XVII -XXI, certain special aspects of historical development are discussed in summary within the scope of the entire Nordic language history. Chapter XVII de­ scribes the typological development, which led to the contrast between Mainland Nordic and Island Nordic and which affects phonology on the one hand, morphology and syntax on the other. In Chapter XVIII, the social stratification of the Nordic languages is analysed once again, this time from an overall perspective with regard to time and region. Chapter XIX describes the special languages which otherwise only receive brief mention in the previous sections: languages of socially correlating groups, such as students', soldiers', sailors', thieves' slang, etc., technical languages and jargons, such as craftsmen's language, miners' language, scien­ tific language, sports language, etc., slang. With regard to more recent language history, Chapter XX describes language cultivation and language planning in Scandinavian countries, also from an overall perspective. Chap­ ter XXI discusses the various aspects of language contact again in summary and in consideration of internal Nordic correlations, and according to minority languages in Scandinavia and Nordic emigrant languages, especially those which spread to America. 4. General Comments The overall concept of the current handbook is modelled after the volume Historical Linguistics (Sprachgeschichte) to a certain extent. It differs, however, insofar that the research-historical and theoretical-methodical parts are more strictly separated from the main empirical-historical part. The 230 articles were distributed among the editors as evenly as possible. Each of the editors focused on the approx. 40 articles which were allocated to them, whereas O. Bandle, as the main editor, reviewed all articles. The supervision of each article was allocated to one of the six editors such that the topics corresponded, where possible, to the individual linguistic-geographic affiliation and/or special area of interest and research of the editor. Finding enough authors with a certain interest in historical linguistics among the relatively small number of Nordic language experts seemed doubtful at first, especially since the editors were instructed not to allocate more than three articles to one author. Surprisingly, contributors were able to cover the entire work plan after all. Only later would some articles have to be omitted, partly due to failure to deliver promised manuscripts but also due to overlapping in content with other articles. Although the search for authors led for the most part to satisfactory results, it was not altogether unproblematic. Since linguistic research in Scandinavian countries is tradi-

x

Preface

tionally carried out within national boundaries, it was difficult in some cases to find authors for the articles on the entire Nordic region. It was therefore partly necessary to divide these articles up according to individual Scandinavian countries or language areas. In this sense, the article originally planned to cross-linguistically discuss the trans­ lation language of the 1 9th century for the Nordic region was divided up into five parts, namely 168-172. Allocating those articles dealing with internal and external language history, i.e., articles covering interdisciplinary topics (e.g., language and history, archaeology, etc.) also proved to be difficult. Finding suitable authors interested in working on the theoretical­ methodical articles was also not always easy. Following the death of the contributor Kristian Ringgaard, it was decided to print Article 33 in its unfinished state, partly in honour of the deserving author, but also because it would have been impossible to find another author on such short notice for such a large field as Nordic dialectology. It remains for the editors to thank several persons and institutions which have supported this work by active collaboration. Apart from the publishers' staff and the series editors (the professors Hugo Steger and Herbert Ernst Wiegand) this is above all Mrs Jean Hannah (Lausanne) who has carried out the control of the English language with un­ equalled perspicacity and in this way made the handbook easily readable for an English­ speaking public. It remains also to thank the assistants and students of the Scandinavian department of the University of Zurich: lic.phil. Christof Reiber, lic.phil. Sonja Gisler, lic.phil. Marco Bianchi, cand.mag. Eldrid Hagard Aas for their unselfish work in con­ nection with the production and control of the handbook, and Eldrid Aas and Kevin Muller for making the indexes. Last but not least the editors would like to thank the editor of the "Thurgauer Namenbuch" dr. Eugen Nyffenegger for good advice in com­ puter problems. The editors hope to have accomplished a comprehensive work which for a pretty long time to corne may serve as a substantial aid for linguistic research. Oskar Bandle Kurt Braunmuller Ernst Hakon Jahr Allan Karker Hans-Peter Naumann Ulf Teleman with the consulting editors Lennart Elmevik and Gun Widmark

Contents Volume 2

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

V

Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

XXII

XIII.

From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

1 19.

120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 1 30. 131. 1 32. 1 33. 1 34.

Per Ingesman, History of Scandinavia and sociocultural developments in the Late Middle Ages and in Early Modern Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patrik A strom, Manuscripts and bookprinting in Late Medieval Scandinavian and in Early Modern Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J0rgen Fafner, The development of metrics in Late Medieval and Early Modern Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Schulte, Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic I: West Scandinavian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allan Karker, Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic II: Danish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tomas Riad, Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic III: Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stig Eliasson, Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic IV: A typological and constrastive survey . . . . . . . . . Endre M0rck, Morphological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: Inflexion and word formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan Terje Faarlund, Syntactic developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erik Simensen, Lexical developments in the Late Middle Ages . . . . . Per-Axel Wiktorsson, The development of personal names in the Late Middle Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Staffan Fridell, The development of place-names in the Late Middle Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lars Lonnroth, From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of types of text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reidar Astits, From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations I: Icelandic and Norwegian translations Lars Wollin, From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations II: Swedish and Danish translations . . . Gun Widmark, From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of oral and literary styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1059 1067 1076 1081 1097 1 1 02 1 1 16 1 1 28 1 1 49 1 1 61 1 1 71 1 1 87 1 1 89 1 1 95 1201 1213

XII

1 35. 1 36.

XlV.

Contents/Volume 2

Kurt Braunmiiller, Language contacts in the Late Middle Ages and in Early Modern Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan Ragnar Hagland, Language loss and destandardization in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1222 1233

The development of the Nordic languages from the mid-16th century to the end of the 18th century

1 37. 1 38. 1 39. 140. 141. 142. 143. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148. 149. 1 50.

151. 1 52.

1 53. 1 54. 1 55.

Bernt Olsson, Historical and sociocultural preconditions of language in Scandinavia from the 1 6th to the end of the 18th century . . . . . . . Per S. Ridderstad, Manuscripts and bookprinting from the mid-16th century to 1 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J0rgen Fafner, The development of metrics from the mid-1 7th century to 1 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Magnus Petursson, The development of Icelandic from the mid-1 6th century to 1 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kent Larsson, The development o f Swedish from the mid-1 6th century to 1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hanne Ruus, The development of Danish from the mid-16th century to 1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oddvar Nes, The development of Norwegian local dialects and Dano-Norwegian from the mid-16th century to 1 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lena Ekberg, The development of the lexicon from the 1 6th to the end of the 1 8th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bente Holmberg, The development of personal names from the 1 6th to the end of the 1 8th century I: Denmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gudrun Vtterstriim, The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 1 8th century II: Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kristin Bakken, The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 1 8th century III: Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Guorun Kvaran, The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 1 8th century IV: Iceland and Faroe Islands . . . . . . Mats Wahlberg, The development of place-names from the 1 6th to the end of the 1 8th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gun Widmark/lnge Lise Pedersen/Helge Sand0Y, The development of the Nordic languages from the mid-16th century to the end of the 18th century: Sociolinguistic aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bo-A. Wendt, The development of the types of text in the Nordic languages from the 16th to the end of the 1 8th century . . . . . . . . . . . Lars Wollin, The significance of translations for linguistic developments from the 1 6th to the end of the 1 8th century: The case of Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stig O rjan Ohlsson, Language contact in the 1 6th, 17th and 1 8th centuries - the Kingdom of Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ingrid Markussen, The role of schools and education from the 1 6th to the end of the 1 8th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vlf Teleman, The role of language cultivators and grammarians for the Nordic linguistic development in the 1 6th, 1 7th and 1 8th centuries

1238 1244 1252 1258 1270 1282 1291 1 302 1314 1317 1 321 1 323 1 326

1 332 1 346

1 357 1 361 1 369 1 379

Contents/Volume 2

xv.

The Nordic languages in the 19th century

1 56.

174.

Kjell Ivar Vannebo, The impact of education and literacy on language development in the 19th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arnold Dalen, Sources ofwritten and oral languages in the 1 9th century J0rgen Fafner, The development of metrics in 1 9th century poetry . Arne Torp, The Nordic languages in the 1 9th century I: Phonology and orthography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hans-Olav Enger, The Nordic languages in the 1 9th century II: Morphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sven-Giiran Malmgren, The lexicon of the Nordic languages in the 19th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odd Monsson, Nationalism and Scandinavianism in the development of the Nordic languages in the 19th century . . . . . . . . . Tove Bull, Special linguistic developments in 19th-century Norway . Ann-Marie Ivars, Swedish in Finland in the 19th century . . . . . . . . . Per Ledin, The development of the types of text in the 1 9th century Gun Widmark, Standard and colloquial languages in Scandinavia in the 1 9th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lars Wollin, The language of 19th and 20th century translations I: Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orla Vigs0, The language of 19th century translations II: Danish . . Sylfest Lomheim, The language of 1 9th century translations III: Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Veturlioi O skarsson, The language of 1 9th century translations IV: Icelandic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geirr Wiggen, A sociolinguistic profile of the Nordic languages in the 1 9th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernst Hakon Jahr, Russenorsk: Language contact in Scandinavia in the 1 9th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birger Liljestrand, Stylistic developments in the Nordic languages in the 1 9th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olle Josephson, Conversational culture in 1 9th century Scandinavia

XVI.

The Nordic languages in the 20th century

175.

Kristjim Amason, The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century I: Icelandic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael P. Barnes, The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century II: Faroese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Ole Askedal, The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century III: Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vlf Teleman, The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century IV: Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erik Hansen, The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century V: Danish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernst Hakon Jahr, The special case of Norway in the 20th century: Language conflict and language planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 57. 1 58. 1 59. 160. 161. 162. 163. 164. 165. 166. 167. 168. 169. 170. 171. 172. 173.

176. 177. 178. 179. 1 80.

XIII

1 397 1406 1419 1425 1437 1443 1453 1468 1476 1483 1493 1 506 1513 1515 1518 1 523 1 538 1 542 1551

1 560 1 574 1 584 1603 1626 1635

XIV 181. 1 82. 1 83. 1 84. 1 85. 1 86. 1 87. 1 88. 1 89. 190. 191. 192. 193. 194. 195. 196. 197. 198. 199. 200. 201 .

Contents/Volume 2

Mikael Reuter, Swedish in Finland in the 20th century . . . . . . . . . . . Eva Lilja, Metrics in 20th century poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan Svensson, Types of text in the Nordic languages of the 20th century Kjell Ivar Vannebo, Written language and oral colloquial language in the 20th century: A survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Goran Hallberg, Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century I: Sweden and Finland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gunnstein Akselberg, Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century II: Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inger Ejskj"'r, Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century III: Denmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Guorun Kvaran, Written language and forms of speech in Icelandic in the 20th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bjorn Hagstrom, Written language and forms of speech in Faroese in the 20th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bengt Nordberg, Social stratification in the present-day Nordic languages I: Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gunnstein Akselberg, Social stratification in the present-day Nordic languages II: Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inge Lise Pedersen, Social stratification in the present-day Nordic languages III: Danish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Guorun Kvaran, Social stratification in the present-day Nordic languages IV: Icelandic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael P. Barnes, Social stratification in the present-day Nordic languages V: Faroese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan Svensson, The language of broadcasting and television in the 20th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan Svensson, Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 I: Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Henrik Galberg Jacobsen, Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 II: Danish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gunnstein Akselberg, Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 III: Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Svavar Sigrnundsson, Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 IV: Icelandic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hjalmar P. Petersen, Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 V: Faroese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vlf Teleman, Future perspectives for the history of the Nordic languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

XVII.

Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

202.

Helge Sand0Y, The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Ole Askedal, The typological development of the Nordic languages II: Morphology and syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

203.

1647 1657 1665 1682 1691 1707 1721 1742 1750 1759 1772 1780 1788 1794 1797 1 804 1815 1 823 1 832 1 839 1 843

1 852 1 872

xv

Contents/Volume 2

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

204. 205. 206. 207.

XIX.

Inge Lise Pedersen, Sociolinguistic structures chronologically I: Danish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mats Thelander, Sociolinguistic structures chronologically II: Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brit M",hlum, Sociolinguistic structures chronologically III: Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Helge Sand0Y, Sociolinguistic structures chronologically IV: Icelandic and Faroese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

...

1 887

...

1 896

...

1907

...

1923

Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages and languages for specific purposes

208. 209.

210.

XX.

Helge Omdal, Special languages and their social and functional dimensions I: Socially dependent varieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christer Lauren, Special languages and their social and functional dimensions II: Languages for specific purposes and institutional linguistic varieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tor Erik Jenstad, Special languages and their social and functional dimensions III: Slang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1933

1944 1950

Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

211. 212. 213. 214. 215. 216.

XXI.

Henrik Galberg Jacobsen, Language cultivation and language planning I: Denmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ulf Teleman, Language cultivation and language planning II: Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Einar Lundeby, Language cultivation and language planning III: Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kjartan Ottosson, Language cultivation and language planning IV: Iceland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael P. Barnes, Language cultivation and language planning V: Faroe Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kjell Venas, General tendencies in Nordic language cultivation and language planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.

1960

.

1970

.

1984

.

1997

.

2007

.

201 3

Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

217. 218. 219. 220.

Ulla Borestam Uhlmann, Interscandinavian language contact I: Internal communication and comprehensibility problems . . . . . . . . . . Bjorn Hagstrom, Interscandinavian language contact II: Linguistic influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dagfinn Worren, Interscandinavian language contact III: The Norwegian form of bilingualism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stig Eliasson, Language contact outside Scandinavia I: In the Baltic

2025 2032 2041 2048

XVI

221 .

Contents/Volume

Anders Ahlqvist, Language contact outside Scandinavia II: with Celtic languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Karl Inge Sandred, Language contact outside Scandinavia III: with England and Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martin Gellerstam, Language contact outside Scandinavia IV: with France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hans Helander, Language contact outside Scandinavia V: Loans from Latin and Greek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vibeke Winge, Language contact outside Scandinavia VI: with Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lars S. Vik0r, Bilingualism in Schleswig, Finland, North Sweden, Northern Norway, the Faroe Islands and Greenland . . . . . . . . . . . . Ole Henrik Magga, Linguistic minorities in Scandinavia I: Indigenous minorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kenneth Hyltenstam, Linguistic minorities in Scandinavia II: Immigrant minorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nils Hasselmo, History of the Scandinavian emigrant languages . . Vibeke Winge, History of foreign languages in the Scandinavian countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1

.

2058

.

2062

.

2074

.

2086

.

2096

.

2105

.

2115

. .

2120 2127

.

2141

Index of names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2149

Index of subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2 1 82

222. 223. 224. 225. 226. 227. 228. 229. 230.

Volume 1

1.

Introduction

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. II.

Lars S. Vik0r, The Nordic language area and the languages in the north of Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arne Torp, The Nordic languages in a Germanic perspective . . . . . . Oskar Bandle, Diachrony and synchrony in Nordic language history Kjell Venits, Previous attempts at establishing periods in Nordic language history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kjartan Ottosson, The data basis of a Nordic language history . . . .

1 13 25 31 38

Perspectives in research history I: From the beginnings to the middle of the 20th century

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Oskar Bandle, Previous attempts at writing a Nordic language history Stig O rjan Ohlsson, Outline of research on Nordic language history

49

before 1 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bente Holmberg, Research in Danish language history 1 850-1950. An overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lennart Elmevik, Research in Swedish language history 1 850- 1950. An overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Helge Sand0Y, Research in Norwegian language history 1 850- 1950. An overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

60 68 76 86

Contents/Volume 1 11. 12 .

III.

Kjartan Ottosson, Research in Icelandic language history 1850 - 1950. An overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bjorn Hagstrom, Research in Faroese language history 1850 - 1950. An overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

XVII

95 102

Perspectives in research history II: The contribution of Nordic research to historical linguistics (until 1950)

13 .

J0rgen Rischel, Nordic contributions to historical linguistics before

14 .

Oddvar Nes, Contributions to Nordic language history by non-Nordic linguists (until ca. 1980) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J0rgen Rischel, The contribution of the Nordic countries to historicalcomparative linguistics: Rasmus Rask and his followers . . . . . . . . . . . J0rgen Rischel, The contribution of Scandinavian neogrammarians . Claes-Christian Elert, The Scandinavian contribution to structuralism (until 1950) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15 . 16 . 17 .

IV.

108 1 16 124 133 148

Perspectives in research history III: Theoretical and methodological perspectives in current historical linguistic description (after 1950)

18 . 19 . 20 . 21. 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27 . 28 . 29 . 30 . 31. 32 .

Lars Heltoft, Nordic language history and structural linguistics Christer Platzack, Nordic language history and generative transformational grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Ole Askedal, Nordic language history and language typology . Marit Christoffersen, Nordic language history and research on word order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cecilia Falk, Nordic language history and research on universals and theories of linguistic change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bengt Nordberg, Nordic language history and sociolinguistics . . . . . Michael Schulte, Nordic language history and research on languages in contact and on multilingualism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birger Liljestrand, Nordic language history and research on styles and registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Niels Haastrup, Nordic language history and pragmatics . . . . . . . . . . Ole Togeby, Nordic language history and research on types of texts Katrin Luthi /Hans-Peter Naumann, Nordic language history and phraseology / idiomatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stig Eliasson, Nordic language history and historical contrastive linguistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wolfgang Ullrich Wurzel, Nordic language history: Semiotics and the theory of naturalness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anna Helga Hannesdottir, Nordic language history and (lexical) semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sture Allen, Nordic language history and computer-aided lexical research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

157 166 172 182 192 198 2 13 22 1 229 235 24 1 247 253 262 268

Contents/Volume 1

XVIII

v.

Perspectives in research history IV: The contribution of Nordic dialectology

33. 34. 35.

VI.

Kristian Ringgaard, General history of Nordic dialectology . . . . . . . Lars-Erik Edlund, The contribution of Nordic dialectology to language history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Helge Sand0Y, Nordic language history and current trends in dialectology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

272 282 304

Nordic language history as a part of social and cultural history

36. 37.

38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43.

44. 45. 46. 47.

48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55.

Allan Karker, Nordic language history and studies in general history Stefan Brink, Nordic language history and archaeology . . . . . . . . . . . Hanne Ruus/ Jonna Louis-Jensen, Nordic lexical items and the history of material culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oskar Bandle, Nordic language history and cultural geography . . . . Bo Ruthstrom, Nordic language history and legal history . . . . . . . . . Flemming Lundgreen-Nielsen, Nordic language history and the history of ideas I: Humanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erik Vive Larsen, Nordic language history and the history of ideas II: Rationalism and Enlightenment since the 1 8th century . . . . . . . . . . . . Frans Gregersen, Nordic language history and the history of ideas III: Nationalism, identity and democratic movements in the 19th and 20th centuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hermann Reichert, Nordic language history and religion/ecclesiastical history I: The pre-Christian period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hans Schottmann, Nordic language history and religion/ecclesiastical history II: Christianization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lillemor Santesson, Nordic language history and religion/ecclesiastical history III: Luther's Reformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sigurd Hjelde, Nordic language history and religion/ecclesiastical history IV: From Pietism to the present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dag Gundersen, Nordic language history and natural and technical SClences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allan Karker, Nordic language history and literary history I: Denmark Birger Liljestrand, Nordic language history and literary history II: Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steinar Gimnes, Nordic language history and literary history III: Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l>orleifur Hauksson, Nordic language history and literary history IV: Iceland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bjorn Hagstrom, Nordic language history and literary history V: Faroe Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frans Gregersen, Nordic language history and the history of philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flemming Lundgreen-Nielsen, The special case of Grundtvig: Poet, philosopher, politician, educator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

313

317 325 338 344 354 363

373

389 403

412 424 435 441 449 458 470

482 487 494

Contents/Volume 1

56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61.

VII. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68.

VIII. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74.

75. 76. 77. 78.

IX.

Niels Haastrup, Nordic language history and the history of translation I: Danish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lars Wollin, Nordic language history and the history of translation II: Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sylfest Lomheim, Nordic language history and the history of translation III: Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Guorun Kvaran, Nordic language history and the history of translation IV: Icelandic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Johan Hendrik W. Poulsen, Nordic language history and the history of translation V: Faroese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odd Einar Haugen. Nordic language history and philology: Editing earlier texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

XIX

502 511 518 527 533 535

Nordic as a part of Old Gennanic

Jiirgen Udolph, Nordic, Germanic, Indo-European and the structure of the Germanic language family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Piergiuseppe Scardigli, Nordic-Gothic linguistic relations . . . . . . . . . . Hans Frede Nielsen, Nordic-West Germanic relations . . . . . . . . . . . . Arend Quak, Nordic and North Sea Germanic relations . . . . . . . . . . Piergiuseppe Scardigli, Contact with non-Germanic languages I: Relations to the West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jorma Koivulehto, Contact with non-Germanic languages II: Relations to the East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ludwig Riibekeil, Scandinavia in the light of ancient tradition

544 553 558 568 572 583 594

Ancient Nordic ( 1st- 7th century)

Kerstin Cassel, The Ancient Nordic period. A historical survey Hans Frede Nielsen, Delimitation of Ancient Nordic from Common Germanic and Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Birkmann, A survey of ancient Nordic sources . . . . . . . . . . . Morten Axboe, The Ancient Nordic period: An archaeological survey James E. Knirk, Runes: Origins, development of the futhark, functions, applications, and methodological considerations . . . . . . . . Kurt Braunmiiller, The Ancient-Nordic linguistic system from a typological point of view: Phonology, graphemics, morphology, syntax and word order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Schulte, The development of Proto-Nordic lexicon . . . . . . . . Lena Peterson, The development of Proto-Nordic personal names . . Svante Strandberg, The development of Proto-Nordic place-names . Stefan Brink, Sociolinguistic perspectives and language contact in Proto-Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

605 615 619 626 634

649 657 664 671 685

From Ancient Nordic to Old Nordic (from the 6th Century until 1 1 00)

79.

Thomas Birkmann, From Ancient Nordic to Old Nordic: Definition and delimitation of the period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

691

Contents/Volume 1

xx

80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88.

X.

Stefanie Wurth, The sources of the transitional period between Ancient Nordic and Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bo Ralph, Phonological and graphematic developments from Ancient Nordic to Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martin Syrett, Morphological developments from Ancient Nordic to Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan Terje Faarlund, Syntactic developments from Ancient Nordic to Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan Paul Strid, Lexical developments from Ancient Nordic to Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lena Peterson, Developments of personal names from Ancient Nordic to Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Staffan Fridell, The development of place-names from Ancient Nordic to Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stefan Brink, Sociolinguistic perspectives in the transitional period between Proto-Nordic and Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Schulte, Language contact in the period between Ancient Nordic and Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

698 703 719 729 733 745 753 761 769

Old Nordic (from 1 1 0 0 to the mid-14th century) I: General survey, tradition

89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99.

Hilde Inntjore, Nordic history in the Middle Ages and the extension of Nordic: Cultural and historical preconditions of language . . . . . . Kjartan Ottosson, A definition and delimitation of the period . . . . . Sverrir T6masson, The history of Old Nordic manuscripts I: Old Icelandic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Magnus Rindal, The history of Old Nordic manuscripts II: Old Norwegian (inc!. Faroese) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jonas Carlquist, The history of Old Nordic manuscripts III: Old Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Britta Olrik Frederiksen, The history of Old Nordic manuscripts IV: Old Danish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odd Einar Haugen, The development of Latin script I: in Norway . Stefim Karlsson, The development of Latin script II: in Iceland . . . . Borje Westlund, The development of Latin script III: in Sweden . . . Herluf Nielsen, The development of Latin script IV: in Denmark . . Kari Ellen Gade, History of Old Nordic metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

XI.

Old Nordic II: Grammatical system, lexicon, texts

100.

Michael Schulte, The various Old Nordic dialects, their systems and their typology: A general survey of the classical Old Nordic of the High Middle Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Schulte, The phonological systems of Old Nordic I: Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tomas Riad, The phonological systems of Old Nordic II: Old Swedish and Old Danish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

101. 102.

778 787 793 801 808 816 824 832 841 850 856

871 882 896

Contents/Volume 1

103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 1 10. 111. 1 12.

Kristian Emil Kristoffersen, The morphology of Old Nordic I: Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lars-Olof Delsing, The morphology of Old Nordic II: Old Swedish and Old Danish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan Terje Faarlund, The syntax of Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erik Simensen, The Old Nordic lexicon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evert Melefors, The development of Old Nordic personal names . . . Staffan Fridell, The development of Old Nordic place-names . . . . . . Oliver Szokody, Old Nordic types of texts I: Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nils Jorgensen, Old Nordic types of texts II: Old Swedish and Old Danish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kirsten Wolf, Translation and interference by translation in Old Nordic I: Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lars Wollin, Translation and interference by translation in Old Nordic II: Old Swedish and Old Danish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

XII.

Old Nordic III: The ecology of language

1 1 3.

Jan Ragnar Hagland, Dialects and written language in Old Nordic I: Old Norwegian and Old Icelandic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Harry Perridon, Dialects and written language in Old Nordic II: Old Danish and Old Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kurt Braunmiiller, Language contact during the Old Nordic period I: with the British Isles, Frisia and the Hanseatic League . . . . . . . . . . . . Baldur Panzer, Language contact during the Old Nordic period II: with Eastern Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reidar Astas, Language contact during the Old Nordic period III: The impact of Christianity on Old Nordic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael P. Barnes, History and development of Old Nordic outside the Scandinavia of today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 14. 1 1 5. 1 16. 1 17. 1 1 8.

XXI

911 925 940 951 963 972 981 990 1000 1005

1015 1018 1028 1039 1045 1053

Abbreviations Abbreviations Languages AGmc Am.Sc./Scand. AN Ang!. AS AS!. Att. Av. B Balt.G BF Bm. Bulg. Ceo ChS!. Cant. Cymr. Dan. Dan.St. Du. E EGmc EN Est. Est.Sw. F Far. Fin!.Sw. Finn. Fr. Fris. FU G Gal!. Gmc Go. Got!. Gr. HG Hitt. Ice!. IE Ing. Ins.NFris. Ins.Scand. Ir.

Ancient Germanic American Scandinavian Ancient Nordic Anglian Anglo-Saxon Ancient Slavic Attic Avestan Baltic Baltic German Balta-Finnic (Baltic-Finnic) Bokmal Bulgarian Celtic Church Slavic Continental Cymric Danish Danish Standard Dutch English East Germanic East Nordic (if EN means Early Nordic, it should be written in full) Estonian Estonia Swedish Finnic Faroese Finland Swedish Finnish French Frisian Finno-Ugric German Gallic Germanic Gothic Gotlandic Greek High German Hittite Icelandic Indo-European (Indoeuropean) Ingveonic Insular North Frisian Insular Scandinavian Irish

XXIII

Abbreviations Languages

Ita!. Jut. Kare!' Kent. Lapp. Lat. Latv. LG Lith. Liv. Main!.NFris. Main!.Scand. MDan. MDu. ME MFar. MGu. MHG MIce!. MLG MNorw. Mod.Dan. Mod.E Mod.Far. Mod.G Mod.!ce!. Mod.!ns.Scand. Mod.!r. Mod.Main!.Scand. Mod.Nordic Mod.Norw. Mod.Scand. Mod.Sw. MSw. NFris. NG NGmc NHG Nord. Norw. NWGmc Nyno. OCe. OChS!. OCz. ODan. ODu. OE OEN OEur. OFar. OFr. OFranc. OFris. OGmc OGot!. OGr.

Italian Jutish Karelian Kentish LappishjLappicjLapponic Latin Latvian Low German Lithuanian Livonian Mainland North Frisian Mainland Scandinavian Middle Danish Middle Dutch Middle English Middle Faroese Middle Gutnish Middle High German Middle Icelandic Middle Low German Middle Norwegian Modern Danish Modern English Modern Faroese Modern German Modern Icelandic Modern Insular Scandinavian Modern Irish Modern Mainland Scandinavian Modern Nordic Modern Norwegian Modern Scandinavian Modern Swedish Middle Swedish North Frisian North German North Germanic New High German Nordic Norwegian Northwest Germanic Nynorsk Old Celtic Old Church Slavic Old Czech Old Danish Old Dutch Old English Old East Nordic Old European Old Faroese Old French Old Franconian Old Frisian Old Germanic Old Gotlandic Old Greek

XXIV OGu. OHG alee!. OInd. 0Ir. OLG ON ONorse ONorw. apr. ORuss. OScand. as!. OSw. OSx. OWN PB Pers. PF PGrnc PIE PN Po!. PreF Pre-Grne PreS PS PS!. Rrn. Russ. S Scand. SEN SGrnc S!. Sloven. Slowak. Sp. SrCr. Stand.Sw. Sw. SWNorw. Sx. WFinn. WGrnc WIE WJut.jWJ WN WSx.

Abbreviations Languages

Old Gutnish Old High German Old Icelandic Old Indian Old Irish Old Low German Old Nordic Old Norse Old Norwegian Old Prussian Old Russian Old Scandinavian Old Slavic Old Swedish Old Saxon Old West Nordic Proto-Baltic Persian Proto-Finnic Proto-Germanic Proto-Indoeuropean Proto-Nordic Polish Pre-Finnic Pre-Germanic Pre-Sa(a)rni Proto-Sami Proto-Slavic Riksrnal Russian Sa(a)rni Scandinavian South East Norwegian South Germanic Slavic Slovenian Slowakian Spanish Serbo-Croatian Standard Swedish Swedish South West Norwegian Saxon West Finnish West Germanic West Indoeuropean West Jutish West Nordic West Saxon

Abbreviations Periodicals, Dictionaries, Collections, Sources

xxv

Abbreviations Periodicals, Dictionaries, Collections, Sources Aarb0ger/Arb0ger ABiiG AfdA ALE Alvissmal AM ANF Anglia Annaler AphS Archiv AS AUU Bisk./Bysk. BNF DaSt DEPN DF DG DGa DgF DGK DGP Dr Dipl.Dan. Dipl.Sv. DKB DR DRA DS DSH EDD Et.gerrn. FL FO Fornvannen Frooskaparrit FS FUMS FVS Bidrag GB GG GHA GKS GRM IF IMAM Isl.Fornr. IT JbIG

Aarb0ger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie Amsterdamer Beitrage zur alteren Gennanistik Anzeiger fUr deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur Atlas Linguarum Europre Alvissmal Forschungen zur mittelalterlichen Kultur Skandinaviens Den Arnarnagnreanske Samling Arkiv far nordisk filologi Anglia. Zeitschrift fiir englische Philologie Annaler for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie Acta philologica Scandinavica Archiv fUr das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen Anthroponymica Suecana Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Philologiae Scandinavicae Upsaliensia Biskupa sagur (Elder Edition/Edition by Jon Helgason) Beitrage zur Namenforschung Danske Studier The concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names Danske Folkemiil Danske Grarnmatikere, ed. Bertelsen De la Gardie (collection at Uppsala university library) Danmarks garnle Folkeviser Danmarks gamle K0bstadlovgivning Danmarks garnle Personnavne Diplomatarium Islandicum (Islenzkt fornbrefasafn) Diplomatarium Danicum Diplomatarium Svecanum (also SD � Svenskt diplomatariurn) Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Copenhagen) Danmarks Runeindskrifter Dansk Rigsarkiv Danmarks Stednavne Det danske sprogs historie The English Dialect Dictionary Etudes gennaniques Fornsvenska legendariet Ordbok aver Finlands svenska folkmal Fornvannen. Journal of Swedish antiquarian research Frooskaparrit. Annales Societatis Scientiarum Faroensis Flensborg Stadsret Rapport fran Avdelningen far Forskning och Utbildning i modern svenska, Uppsala Finska vetenskapssocieteten. Bidrag till kannedom om Finlands natur och folk Guobrandsbiblia Johannes Br0ndum-Nielsen, Garnmeldansk Grarnmatik Gateborgs Hagskolas Arsskrift Gammel Kongelig Samling (Copenhagen) Gennanisch-romanische Monatsschrift Indogennanische Forschungen. Zeitschrift fUr Indogennanistik und allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft Islenskt mal og almenn malfr",oi Islensk Fornrit Islenzk Tunga Jahrbuch fUr Internationale Gennanistik

XXVI JEGPh JFT JL KB KLNM KUML KVHAA KZ/ZfvglSpr Lbs. LiLi LNU LuA Malting Med.Scand. Med.S!. MINS ML MM Mod.Spr. MS NdM. NdW. NG NIyR NJL NK NKS NLT NN NoB Noreen, Aschwed. NOWELE NRA NROB NS NT NTS NyS ODS OED ONP Orbis OS OSD PBB PHT PMLA PWRE Real!. Saga Saga-Book SAM SAML SAOB SAOL

Abbreviations Periodicals, Dictionaries, Collections, Sources

Journal of English and Germanic Philology Tidskrift utgiven av Juridiska foreningen i Finland Jyske Lov Kungliga Biblioteket Stockholm Kulturhistoriskt lexikon for nordisk medeltid/Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder Danish archeological periodical Kungliga Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Stockholm (Kuhns) Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung Landsb6kasafn (National Library) Reykjavik Zeitschrift fUr Literaturwissenschaft und Linguistik Landslaget for Norskundervisning Lunds Universitets Arsskrift Faroese periodical Mediaeval Scandinavia (Odense University Press) Medi",val Studies Meddelanden frim Institutionen for nordiska sprak Stockholm Modern Language. Journal of the Modern Language Association Maal og Minne Moderna sprak Medieval Scandinavia (Pulsiano, New York/London) Niederdeutsche Mitteilungen Niederdeutsches Wort. Beitrage zur niederdeutschen Philologie Oluf Rygh, Norske Gaardnavne Norges Indskrifter med de yngre Runer Nordic Journal of Linguistics Nordisk Kultur Ny Kongelig Sarnling (Copenhagen) Norsk lingvistisk tidsskrift Narnn og Nernne Namn och Bygd Adolf Noreen, Altschwedische Grarnmatik NOWELE. North-west European language evolution Norsk Riksarkiv Norsk Riksmalsordbok Nysvenska studier The New Testament Norsk tidsskrift for sprogvidenskap Nydanske studier og almen kornrnunikationsteori Ordbog over det danske Sprog The Oxford English Dictionary Ordbog over det norr0ne prosasprog Bulletin international de documentation linguistic Ord og Sag (Aarhus) Ordbok over Sveriges dialekter Beitrage zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur (Tiibingen/ Halle) Personhistorisk tidskrift (Sweden) Publications of the Modern Language Association of America Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyc10padie der c1assischen Alterturnswissenschaft Reallexikon der gennanischen Alterturnskunde Icelandic historical periodical Saga-Book of the Viking Society for Northern research Safn Arna Magnussonar Skrifter i Anvendt og Maternatisk Lingvistik, K0benhavns Universitet Svenska Akademiens ordbok Svenska Akaderniens ordlista

Abbreviations Periodicals, Dictionaries, Collections, Sources

SAS SBL Sc.!s!. Scand.St. SD SiN Skand. SKB Skj. SkrDAUM A. SkrKGAA SkrLAL SkrULMA A. Sml SMP SMPs SNF SNSS SO Sociolinguistica SoS SOU soA ss SS NF SSF SSOTT StEPh St.Is!. StNeoph. SvLm. Swe Teuth. l>jms. l>skj. Tvarsnitt uuA Varoin Wessen, Sprakh. WuS ZDL ZfdA ZfdMaa. ZfdPh ZfM ZfvglSpr ZGL

XXVII

Studia anthroponymica Scandinavica Svenskt biografiskt lexikon Scripta Islandica Scandinavian Studies Svenskt diplomatarium (see also Dip!.Sv.) SprogjSprak i Norden Skandinavistik. Zeitschrift fiir Sprache, Literatur und Kultur der nordischen Lander Stockholm Kungliga Biblioteket Finnur Jonsson, Den norsk-islandske Skjaldedigtning Skrifter utgivna genom Landsmals- och Folkminnesarkivet i Umea, A. Dialekter Skrifter utgivna av Kung!. Gustav Adolfs Akademien far folklivsforsk­ ning Skrifter utgivna genom Landsmalsarkivet i Lund Skrifter utgivna genom Landsmals- och Folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala, serie A. Folkmal Smalandslagen 1 3 50 Sveriges medeltida personnarnn Sveriges medeltida personnarnn, sarnlingar Studier i nordisk filologi Skrifter utgivna av Namnden far svensk sprikvardjSkrifter utgivna av Svenska spraknamnden Sveriges ortnarnn Sociolinguistica. Internationales Jahrbuch fUr europaische Soziolinguis­ tik Saga och Sed Statens offentliga utredningar (in Sweden) Sydsvenska ortnarnnssallskapets arsskrift Sprak och stil Sprak och sti!. Ny faljd Sarnlingar utgivna av Svenska Fornskrift-Siillskapet Scandinavian symposium on translation theory Studien zur englischen Philologie Studia Islandica Studia neophilologica Svenska Landsmal och Svenskt Folkliv The national project "De svenska dialekternas fonetik och fonologi ar 2000" Teuthonista l>joominjasafn (National Museum Reykjavik) l>jooskjalasafn (National Archives Reykjavik) Tviirsnitt. Humanistisk och sarnhiillsvetenskaplig forskning (Umea) Uppsala Universitets Arsskrift Faroese periodical Elias Wessen, Svensk sprakhistoria Warter und Sachen Zeitschrift fiir Dialektologie und Linguistik Zeitschrift fUr deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur Zeitschrift fUr deutsche Mundarten Zeitschrift fiir deutsche Philologie Zeitschrift fiir Mundartforschung see KZ Zeitschrift fUr gennanistische Linguistik

XXVIII

Abbreviations Linguistic terms

Abbreviations Linguistic terms acc. adj . adv. advl. app. attr. C com. compo d.f. dat. def. dem det dial. dim. duo fern. gen. Imp. indo indef. inf. instr. interrog. masc. N neut. nom. NP num. obI. part. pers. pI. poss. pp. pres. pret. prOD. refl. regst. reI. sb. sg. st. subj. sup. v vb. VP o

.

accusative adjective adverb adverbial apposition attributive consonant common gender, genus commune camparative definite form dative definite demonstrative determiner dialect diminutive dual number feminine genitive imperative indicative indefinite infinitive instrumental interrogative masculine noun neuter nominative noun phrase numeral oblique [case] participle person plural possessive preterite participle present tense preterite pronoun, pronominal reflexive regional standard relative (clause) substantive, noun singular standard subjunctive supine vowel verb verbal phrase

Other abbreviations

XXIX

Other abbreviations e. ca. ef./ep. i.a. ibid. i.e. id. op.com.

century ca., about confer or compare inter alia ibidem, previously quoted id est, that is the same opinio communis

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-1 4th to the mid-1 6th century) 1 19.

History of Scandinavia and sociocultural developments in the Late Middle Ages and in Early Modern Times

1.

6.

Introduction Political developments Economic and social developments Cultural developments Conclusion Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

2.

3. 4.

5.

Around 1 350 Scandinavia was struck by the Black Death. It killed perhaps 40 per cent of the population and resulted in a serious crisis, with many farms being abandoned. In the fol· lowing period this so-called " late medieval agrarian crisis" was overcome, but it caused a fundamental restructuring of society. As a result, by around 1550 the society was no lon­ ger medieval; early modern Scandinavia had been created. 2.

Political developments

The most important political development in Scandinavia in the Late Middle Ages was the formation of the Kahnar Union in 1 397. It brought Norway, including Iceland, Green­ land and the other North Atlantic isles, and Sweden, to which Finland belonged, into the hands of the Danish kings. The Union grew out of dynastic ties between the three Scandi­ navian realms, but it was also a response to increasing German influence in the Baltic, which reached its peak in the second half of the 1 4th c. At that time the Hanseatic League, with Lubeck as its leading power, held a key position in trade in the Baltic area, and thanks to that also exercised considerable political in­ fluence in Scandinavia. The leading figure in bringing the Kahnar Union into being was Danish Queen Mar­ grete. She was a daughter of King Valdemar Atterdag of Denmark (1340-1 375), but in 1 363 was married to the king of Norway,

Hakon VI (1343-1 380). On the death of Val­ demar in 1 375, Margrete's only son, five-year­ old Oluf, was chosen as king of Denmark. When his father, the Norwegian king, died in 1 380, he inherited the throne of Norway. Mar­ grete then tried to also win for her son the crown of Sweden, to which he could lay claim since his father had been king there until he was ousted by an uprising of the nobility lead­ ing to Duke Albrecht of Mecklenburg being chosen as the Swedish king (1 363-1 389). Be­ fore she could succeed, Oluf died suddenly in 1 387. Thus Margrete was entrusted with the task of reigning Denmark and Norway. In Sweden rebellious nobles, dissatisfied with Al­ brecht's rule, accepted her as regent in 1 3 88. The following year her troops defeated Al­ brecht in the decisive battle of Falkoping, and Margrete ruled over all of Scandinavia. To secure the dynastic succession, Margrete brought her sister's son Erik of Pomerania to Denmark. She had him recognized as king, first in Norway (1 389), then in Denmark and Sweden (1 396), and in the summer of 1 397 Erik was crowned king of the three Scandina­ vian realms at a meeting in Kalmar. At this meeting it was formally agreed how the king was to reign his three realms. The Kalmar Union had thus corne into existence. Margrete reigned over the Union until her death in 1412, when Erik took over. It had been laid down in Kalmar that each realm should be governed by natives according to its own laws and costums. Therefore Erik aroused anger in Sweden by appointing Danish bailiffs there and especially by intervening in the appointment of a new Swedish archbishop in 1432. In 1434 a rebellion broke out under the leadership of Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson. The revolt was fuelled by a strong nationalistic feeling and led to the expulsion of Erik in 1438. This made Erik's enemies in the other realms oppose the King, too, and in 1439 the Danish

1060

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Council of the Reahn ousted Erik and called for his nephew, Christopher of Bavaria, to be king (1440- 1 448). According to the Kahnar agreement, Christopher was also acknow­ ledged as king in Sweden and Norway. When Christopher died without heirs in 1448, it created a serious crisis for the Union. The Swedes chose a native nobleman, Karl Knutsson, as king, while a young German count, Christian of Oldenburg, who was a dis­ tant relative of the Danish dynasty on the dis­ taff side, was chosen in Denmark and later on also in Norway. Christian was a nephew of Adolf, Duke of Schleswig and Count of Hol­ stein, and by choosing him the Council of the Reahn hoped to solve the old problem of Schleswig, which was a fiefdom of the Danish Crown but was controlled by the German counts of Holstein. And that hope really was fulfilled as the nobility of Schleswig and Hol­ stein, on the death of Adolf, in 1 460 elected Christian to succeed him, thereby uniting Schleswig and Holstein with Dernnark in a personal union. In the Nordic Union, how­ ever, the schism of 1448 led to hostility and several wars between Sweden and Denmark. After the death of Karl Knutsson in 1470, Christian made an attempt to win Sweden by force, but was defeated in the battle of Brun­ keberg in 1471. A relative of Karl Knutsson, Sten Sture, was elected Governorofthe Realm (1471 -1 497). On the death of Christian in 1481, his son Hans succeeded him in Denmark and Nor­ way. His attempts to make the Swedes accept him as king were only successful for a few years, 1 497 to 1 50 1 . After that Sten Sture again took over as Governor of the Realm (150 1 - 1 503), to be succeeded later on by two other members of his family, Svante Nilsson Sture (1504-1 512) and the younger Sten Sture (1 512-1520). When Hans died in 1 5 1 3 , his son Christian 11 (1 51 3 -1 523) ascended the throne. He made an important political alliance when in 1514 he married Elisabeth of Habsburg, sister of the future emperor Charles V. His desire for the throne of Sweden was satisfied through the conquest of that reahn in 1520. Everything was lost, however, after the fatal Massacre of Stockhohn in November 1 520 where nearly 100 members of the Swedish ruling class, in­ cluding two bishops, were executed. After a couple of years the Danes were driven out in a national uprising led by a young relative of the Sture family, Gustav Vasa. In 1523 he had achieved the liberation of Sweden and was

made king. That signalled the final breakdown of the Kahnar Union, and afterwards Den­ mark-Norway and Sweden-Finland have in­ dividual histories. In Denmark, dissatisfaction with Christian II had been growing ever since his accession in 1 51 3 , and after the disastrous events in Sweden, hatred arose against the King and his advisors. In the autumn of 1 522, leading bishops and noblemen in Jutland asked the King's uncle, Duke Frederik, to become king instead of Christian. The rebellion found gen­ eral support among the nobility, and without fighting, Christian chose to leave Denmark in April 1523, with the purpose of seeking assist­ ance from his imperial brother-in-law to re­ gain his realms. During the reign ofFrederik I (1523 - 1 53 3), Denmark was in a very difficult situation. There was widespread social unrest among the peasants, to which was added religious unrest caused by the spread of evangelical ideas from the middle of the 1520s. Agents from the exiled Christian II - who went over to Lutheranism in 1524 - tried to exploit the unrest and pro­ voke uprisings against the new regime. How­ ever, when Frederik and his son, Duke Chris­ tian, converted to Lutheranism in 1 525, they removed much of the basis for Christian II's agitation. A peasant uprising in Scania in 1525, which Christian II supported actively, was defeated, and so was Christian himself when in 1 531 - 1 532 he finally had succeeded in financing an army to invade Denmark and Norway. He seized Norway, but was betrayed and taken captive, and afterwards was im­ prisoned until his death in 1559. After the death of Frederik I in 1 53 3 , the Catholic faction of the Council of the Reahn refused to elect his son, the Lutheran Duke Christian, as their new king, and a civil war broke out between the Duke's followers and those of the imprisoned Christian II. The lat­ ter were led by a young count, Christopher of Oldenburg - after whom the war took its name, the "Count's War" - and were sup­ ported also by Lubeck. Together with peasants who were also in revolt, Christopher's troops soon controlled most of Denmark, and the bishops and the nobility were forced to turn to Duke Christian for help. In 1 534 he was elected king at a meeting in Jutland and soon started reconquering the realm. In August 1536, Christian III stood victori­ ous in Copenhagen and immediately launched the Reformation there. In a real coup d'etat, the bishops were arrested, and their proper-

119. History of Scandinavia and sociocultural developments in the Late Middle Ages

ties, as well as those of the disbanded monas­ teries, were handed over to the Crown. After the formation of the Kahnar Union, Norway had slowly lost its political impor­ tance in Scandinavia. With the gradual dying out of the old Norwegian nobility by the end of the Middle Ages, the Norwegian Council of the Realm became more and more power­ less. To a large extent, Norway's political sov­ ereignty was upheld by the bishops who were ex officio members of the Council. That pro­ ved fatal when the old church fell in the 1 530s. In 1 536 the Reformation was introduced into Norway by Christian III, and at the same time Norway was declared to be no longer a realm in its own right, but rather a mere province of Denmark. The Norwegian Council of the Reahn was abolished, and its head, Arch­ bishop Olav Engelbrektsson, who had been the leading advocate of both Catholicism and Norwegian independence, left Norway, never to return. There was some popular opposition to the introduction of Protestantism, but no serious threats to the new regime. Only Iceland, which had been under the Norwegian Crown since 1260/62, saw a seri­ ous attempt to resist the introduction of the new religion. The Bishop of Rolar, Jon Arason, started a religious and political upris­ ing which went on for several years, until the bishop finally was captured and beheaded in 1 550. The reign of Christian III (1534-1 559) laid the foundations of the strong monarchy of early modern Denmark and Norway. Impor­ tant financial reforms were carried through, which made it possible to transfer much larger resources to the central administration than in the medieval period. The confiscation ofthe estates ofthe bishops and the monasteries dur­ ing the Reformation increased the size of the royal domains. By eliminating the Church as an independent institution in society, the Re­ formation also caused a decisive strengthening of the state politically and ideologically. In Sweden and Finland, the long reign of Gustav Vasa (1523 - 1 560) played the same crucial role in bringing about the early modern state as the reign of Christian III did in Den­ mark and Norway. In the Late Middle Ages, Sweden had endured heavy conflict among the aristocracy between a "unionist" and a "na­ tional" party, but now peace and prosperity finally came to the reahn. After a long period with a weak central government, Gustav Vasa built up a strong monarchy. Much of his ef­ forts concentrated, with great success, on im-

1061

proving the economic foundations ofthe state. Gradually a considerable army and a strong navy was created. As in Denmark, the Reformation contribu­ ted to strengthening the monarchy. Evangeli­ cal ideas had spread in the Swedish towns, es­ pecially Stockhohn, since the early 1 520s. In 1 527 Gustav Vasa persuaded the Diet of Viis­ teras to approve handing over the lands of the Church to the Crown and to support evangeli­ cal preaching. The organization ofthe Church was left intact in Vasteras, but was later re­ organized by the King in the 1 540s. Although officially a part of medieval Sweden, Finland had a semi-independent de facto status. Originally split into various tribes, in the course of the medieval period the Finns developed a sense of national unity. The Church played an important role in the unifying process since all of Finland con­ stituted one diocese, that of Turku (Abo). In addition, the Reformation furthered the cre­ ation of a Finnish national identity through the fact that the reformer Mikael Agricola, who brought the Lutheran faith from Ger­ many to Finland in the beginning of the 16th c., created a Finnish literary language to pro­ pagate the new faith. The semi-independent status of Finland endured until the beginning of the 17th c., when Finland was integrated into the Swedish kingdom, and the upper class gradually became Swedish-speaking.

3.

Economic and social developments

It was economic and social developments which were most directly influenced by the agrarian crisis during the second half of the 1 4th c. Within the economic field, the crisis led to a more specialized and market-oriented production. Denmark developed commercial agriculture, especially cattle breeding, to com­ ply with the growing demand for food in the urban centres of Western Europe. In Sweden it was especially the mining industry, which produced copper and iron, that gained in­ creasing importance up through the Late Middle Ages. Traditionally Norway's largest export product was fish, but from the 16th c. onwards the products of a growing timber in­ dustry became more and more important. The economic changes caused by the Black Death and the agrarian crisis had profound social consequences in all three Scandinavian countries. In Denmark, where the greater part

1062

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

of the arable land was owned by the gentry and nobility, the Church, and the Crown, the agrarian crisis was particularly hard on the secular landowners. It led to a widespread abandonment of manorial production in fa­ vour of a division of the land into mediurn­ sized peasant farms. A new class of peasants thereby came into being, the classical Danish copyholders. They paid rent and other dues to the landlords but enjoyed personal freedom and were often able to accumulate consider­ able wealth. Among the landlords themselves, the crisis resulted in fewer landowners with larger estates. As the lowest ranks of the gen­ try disappeared, the gap between the landown­ ing class and the other groups in society widened. In the Late Middle Ages the secular landowners still had to compete with the bishops and the other great ecclesiastical land­ owners, but as that group disappeared with the Reformation, the nobility and gentry stood forward as the unchallenged leading class in society. Norway, which lost approximately half of its population in the plague, seems to have been hit especially hard by the agrarian crisis. The landowners were deprived oftheir income and their labour force, and many nobles de­ scended into the peasant class. At the begin­ ning of the 16th c. the native aristocracy was virtually extinct, and a nobility existed only because Danish nobles carne to Norway, for instance to hold offices. The largest part of the Norwegian peasants owned their own farms. A characteristic feature of farming in Norway was that it often was combined with other forms of production such as fishing or forestry. The combination of farming and for­ estry in particular gave rise to a group of well­ to-do farmers from the beginning of the 16th c. who were later to develop into a native bour­ geoisie. Sweden had a social structure much like the Norwegian one, the majority of the peasants being freeholders. The nobility, however, played a much larger role than in Norway, and in spite of heated internal strife during the period of the Kalmar Union, it benefited from the absence of a king. To a certain degree the balance of power between the monarchy and aristocracy shifted when Gustav Vasa built up his new strong monarchy in the first half of the 16th c., but on the other hand no­ bility and gentry profited by the peace and by the improving economic situation. A new so­ cial class, which showed its importance in the late medieval uprisings against the Danes,

were the mine owners and working men from the Swedish mining districts. A characteristic feature of Scandinavia's trade in the late medieval and early modern period was that the native urban merchant class was so weak that foreign - especially German -merchants carne to dominate foreign and to a certain degree also domestic trade. This development started with the founding of Lubeck back in the 12th c., but it reached its climax in the second half of the 1 4th c. Thanks to the agrarian crisis, which meant a serious setback also to the towns, German merchants and the Hanseatic League gained "the most far-reaching influence ever in Scan­ dinavia" (Andren 1994, 140). The most important role was played by the German merchants in Norway, where they dominated international trade and to a large extent also domestic exchange. With the estab­ lishment of a Hanseatic trading-station (kan­ tor) in Bergen in the 1 360s, the Germans ac­ quired a stronghold in Norway itself, and here they lived segregated from the native town in­ habitants for centuries. In Denmark, the Ger­ man merchants held comprehensive privileges at the Scanian fair, whereas in the ordinary towns they had the status of "guests" . This meant that if they wanted to enjoy full com­ mercial rights, they had to settle down and become burghers. This happened in many Danish towns, for instance in Copenhagen, where as many as 25 per cent ofthe population may have been of German origin at the end of the 14th c. In Sweden, where German in­ terests concentrated on the mining and export of iron and copper, the German commercial engagement resulted in a much more inte­ grated settlement than in Norway. Particular­ ly in Stockholm and Vis by, the two most im­ portant Swedish towns, the Germans were the dominant group in town life. The creation of the Kahnar Union in 1397 was a turning point in the history of German economic and political influence in Scandina­ via. From 1400 onwards, royal efforts to pro­ tect national trade and develop the local cities gradually eroded the German trading mono­ poly. Royal legislation of a protectionist char­ acter attempted to ensure that all trade went by way of town burghers and that no crafts were practised in the countryside. Foreign merchants were prohibited from trading with the local peasants, except at the regular fairs. The Union monarchs also favoured foreign rivals to the Germans. In the 15th c., Dutch merchants began to fight their way into the

119. History of Scandinavia and sociocultural developments in the Late Middle Ages

Baltic area with the aim of taking over the key role in trade that the German Hanse had. After Lubeck's engagement on the losing side in the Count's War of 1534-1536, the Han­ seatics finally lost their leading role in Scan­ dinavian trade. It was a problem for the Dutch that they were subjects of Charles V and there­ fore in conflict with the new Danish king, Christian III, but that problem was solved when Christian came to terms with the Em­ peror in the Peace of Speyer in 1 544. This marked the beginning of Dutch commercial supremacy in the Baltic. 4.

Cultural developments

There can be no doubt that in the late medieval period the Scandinavian countries underwent changes within the cultural area which were just as profound as those within the political, economic, and social fields. Three important developments should be mentioned: (1) The rise of new social groups or the transformation of existing ones created new platforms for cul­ tural production and consumption in society. (2) The period saw a "nationalization" which we have touched upon when treating the poli­ tical and economic developments, but which can be seen also within the cultural field. (3) The changing role of the Church in society, and the new religion introduced with the Re­ formation, had a profound cultural impor­ tance. To a certain degree these three develop­ ments are intertwined, but we shall try to look at them separately. (1) We have seen that the late medieval agrar­ ian crisis caused the Norwegian nobility to dis­ appear, whereas in Denmark and Sweden the landowning class diminished in numbers but on the other hand became richer and more aristocratic. This development culminated after the Reformation when the powerful bishops and prelates of the late medieval Church disappeared as a competing social group alongside the secular aristocracy. The result was the further development of a dis­ tinct noble culture, different from - but also a model for - the culture prevalent among the other social classes. We can mention only a few of the cultural manifestations of this new noble upper class. In Denmark a prohibition against the building offortified castles by pri­ vate persons had existed since shortly before 1400, but it was abandoned in 1483. That ini­ tiated a new epoch of building noble manor houses. At the outset this was still concentrated

1063

on defence purposes, but after the end of the Count's War and the Reformation in the 1 530s, the process accelerated and became more peace-oriented, with emphasis on the representative functions of the manor houses and castles. A phenomenon of growing im­ portance, caused by the increasing nobleness of the aristocracy, was a new preoccupation with descent. Tombstones and buildings were decorated with the arms of the owners and their ancestors, and an increasing interest in no ble family history can be seen in the 1 5th, but especially in the 1 6th c. Thanks to their growing wealth, the nobility were able to act as benefactors and patrons of the arts. This was mostly religious in nature, but gradually we also find an interest in secular art, which originated from the concentration on repre­ sentation, for instance paintings of noble per­ sons. Both peasants and burghers improved their social and economic conditions in the late medieval period, and thanks to that they be­ gan to take part in cultural manifestations pre­ viously reserved for the clergy and aristocracy. Burghers, and to a certain degree also peas­ ants, began to play a role in religious life, as donators to the Church, as members of those guilds and fraternities which played such a great role in the social and religious life of the Late Middle Ages, and also as consumers of culture. Foreign luxury goods, for instance Flemish cloth, began to be bought by burghers and rich peasants. With regard to housing and living standards, burghers and rich peasants - at least in the most developed parts of Scan­ dinavia - in the 15th and 1 6th c. reached a level that we usually associate with later peri­ ods. And even as regards literature, burghers and peasants were in the market for cultural consumption: we know that from the end of the 1 5th c., book traders began to offer their goods for sale in the market towns of Scan­ dinavia. (2) In the period between 1 350 and 1550, there was enormous German influence on all aspects of Scandinavian culture, including also strong linguistic influence. However, at the same time - no doubt partly as a reaction - we also find an awakening of national consciousness in the Nordic countries. We have mentioned a late medieval "nationalization" in connection with the Swedish rebellions against and oppo­ sition to Danish dominance in the Kalmar Union. But a new national consciousness can be found everywhere in the Late Middle Ages,

1064

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

manifesting itself within the political as well as the cultural field. One ofits expressions was that the King and his administration became more "national". There was, for instance, a deliberate shift in the language used by the royal administration from Latin to the vernaculars around 1400. We may also mention royal interest in national saints. As part of their "propaganda" for the Kalmar Union, the Danish monarchs seem to have promoted a cult of the three national and royal - saints, Danish Knud, Norwegian Olav, and Swedish Erik, as a trinity. In con­ trast, the Swedish nationalist party, for in­ stance in the rebellion of the 1430s, invoked Erik as their special saint for incitement purposes. There was also a new interest in national history, which manifested itself in the writing of new chronicles in the 1 5th c. In Sweden we have, for instance, the so-called Engelbrekt's Chronicle and Karl's Chronicle, both charac­ terized by a strong nationalistic tendency, and in Denmark the so-called Rhymed Chronicle. The latter was one of the first books to be printed in Denmark, thus providing evidence that there was also a market for such national histories. Apart from that, however, li terature written in the vernacular was very sparse. This has to do with the fact that the Church and the learned world of the universities still used Latin after it had been given up as the normal written language by other segments of society. Therefore, it was primarily the Reformation that brought about a real expansion in literary production in the vernacular, starting with re­ ligious literature in various genres in the 1 520s and reaching its peak with the publication of complete translations of the Bible into Swedish (1541) and Danish (1550). In Nor­ way, on the other hand, a literary culture in the vernacular disappeared during the late medieval period, partly as a consequence of the extinction of the old Norwegian aristo­ cracy. In Norway the Reformation, therefore, did not mean a revival of vernacular language and literature but rather the introduction of Danish as written language. (3) The Church and the Christian religion played an enormous role in late medieval Scandinavian society. As an independent in­ stitution in society, the importance of the Church was, however, declining, and at the start of the Reformation the state took over its functions. This did not mean that religion

as such lost its importance, by no means, but rather that it underwent a fundamental change. Both these lines of development, in­ stitutional and religious, had profound conse­ quences for cultural life. In the Middle Ages, numerous aspects of cultural life took place within the setting of the Church. Education was given in monaster­ ies, and schools and universities were ecclesi­ astical institutions under the control of church authorities. The same can be said concerning much of what we call social welfare, such as aid for the poor and care of the sick. This be­ gan to change in the late medieval period. In the towns, lord mayors and town councils tried to gain control over church life, including schools, hospitals, and social welfare. This de­ velopment was completed by the Reforma­ tion. There was still ecclesiastical supervision of e. g. education and social welfare, but ulti­ mately everything was under the control of the secular authorities: the universities under the King, with schools, hospitals, and other social security institutions under the local secular authorities. There can be no doubt that the Black Death around 1 3 50 must have had an immense im­ pact on the predominant religious feelings. Fearing God's wrath, people became more preoccupied with their salvation. There was an increasing demand for means of assuring that salvation. To a large extent the Church fulfilled that demand and offered people means of expressing their new religious feelings through its cult of saints, its masses etc. But the Late Middle Ages also saw new forms of piety emerge which allowed everyone to have their own religious life outside the Church, e.g. the use of the rosary, which became wide­ spread from the end of the 1 5th c. Characteris­ tic elements of the new religious trend from the Netherlands and Germany, known as the devotio moderna, can be seen in Scandinavia, especially among the nuns in the Bridgettine monasteries. As part of this religious develop­ ment, a new religious vernacular language was created through the translation and circula­ tion of religious tracts and prayers. This allow­ ed lay people to express religious feelings and opinions in the vernacular, something which hitherto had been possible only for the clergy in Latin. This late medieval development within re­ ligion, with its incipient individualism and its greater stress on personal responsibility for one's salvation, was carried on and streng­ thened with the Reformation. It was now em-

119. History of Scandinavia and sociocultural developments in the Late Middle Ages

phasized that one could not rely on external props like rosaries, pictures of saints, or prayers and masses said by the clergy. Every Christian must be personally responsible for his own and - if master of the house - his family's life as sincere Christians. According­ ly, daily prayers, readings of religious and moral tracts, regular attending at services, the conduct of a more moral life etc., carne to play an important role in the daily life oflay people. This created the basis for new literary genres and for the spreading of religious literature. 5.

Conclusion

The period from 1 350 to 1550 saw the devel­ opment from medieval to early modern Scan­ dinavia. The fonnation of the Kahnar Union in 1 397 was partly a response to Gennan ex­ pansion into the Scandinavian economy, which reached its heyday in the period after, and as a consequence of, the agrarian crisis caused by the Black Death. Thanks to the Kal­ mar Union, Gennan dominance was gradual­ ly eliminated up through the 15th and early 1 6th c. Economically, the late medieval period saw a recovery after the crisis, which gave the Scandinavian countries their early modern po­ sition in the northern European economy: Den­ mark concentrated on the export of agrarian products to central Western Europe; for Sweden, mining and the export of iron and copper became increasingly important; and in Norway it was the traditional fish and the products of a new timber industry that were the most important export products. During the 200 years from 1 350 to 1550, Gennany exerted a great deal of influence on all aspects of Scandinavian culture. This fea­ ture of the period holds very great importance also for linguistic developments. There was, however, at the same time a gradual creation of national cultures, at least in Denmark and Sweden. This started in the late medieval pe­ riod but was strengthened after the Refonna­ tion with its new emphasis on the use of the vernacular and on every Christian's own re­ ligious responsibility. Onlyin Norwaywas this not so; here the Refonnation instead furthered the use of the Danish language. The back­ ground to this situation is that in the aftennath of the Black Death, the native aristocracy gradually died out, and during the Kahnar Union Norway lost its political independence. The Union period was characterized by heavy tension and several wars between Den­ mark and Sweden, and in 1523 the Kahnar

1065

Union finally broke apart. Out of the former union of three states grew two separate mon­ archies, Denmark-Norway and Sweden­ Finland. They were both characterized by strong national monarchies and by the new Protestant religion introduced with the Refor­ mation. But apart from that, they display im­ portant differences with regard to the political as well as the socio-economic structuring of society. These two early modern monarchies - which would soon begin to fight for hege­ mony in the Baltic area - were the outcome of the great transformations that took place in Scandinavia from 1350 to 1 550.

6.

Literature (a selection)

Albrectsen, Esben (1997), Rrllesskabet bliver til: Danmark Norge 1380 1814 1 . Oslo. Andren, Anders (1994), State and towns in the Middle Ages: The Scandinavian experience. In: Ci­ ties and the rise of states in Europe, A . D . 1000 to 1800 (eds. Charles Tilly/Wim P. Blockmans). Boul­ der/San Francisco/Oxford, 128 149. Arstad, Knut (ed.) (1998), Knnge, adel og oppr@r: Kalmarunionen 600 ar. Oslo. Benedictow, Ole J0rgen (1992), Plague in the late medieval Nordic countries: Epidemiological studies. Oslo. Bj0rkvik, Halvard (1996), Folketap og sammenbrudd 1350 1520. Aschehougs Norgeshistorie 4 (ed. Knut Helle). Oslo. Blom, Grethe Authen (1992), Norge i union pa 1300-tallet: Konged@mme, politikk, administrasjon og forvaltning 1319 1380 1 2. Trondheim. B0gh, Anders (2003), Sejren i kvindens hand: Kam­ pen om magten i Norden ca. 1365 89. Arhus. Dahlerup, Troels (1989), De fire stEnder, 1400 1500: Gyldendal og Politikens Danmarkshis­ torie 6 (ed. Olaf Olsen). K0benhavn. Etting, Vivian (1997), Margrethe denf@rste: En re­ gent og hendes samtid. 2nd ed. K0benhavn. Etting, Vivian (1998), Fra fEllesskab til blodbad: Kalmarunionen 1397 1520. K0benhavn. Fritz, Birgitta (1992), Hus, land och Ian: Forvaltnin­ gen i Sverige 1250 1434 1 2 (Stockhohn studies in history 16, 18). Stockholm. Grenhohn, Gunvor (ed.) (1993), Den svenska his­ torien 2 4. Stockhohn. Grinder-Hansen, Poul (ed.) (1996), Margrete 1. Nordens Frue og Husbond. Kalmarwzionen 600 ar. K0benhavn. Gustafsson, Harald (2000), Gamla riken, nya stater: Statsbildning, politisk kultur och identiteter under Kalmarunionens upplOsningsskede 1512 1541. Stockholm.

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XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Hamre, Lars (1998), 1513 1537. Oslo.

Norsk politisk historie

Harrison, Dick (1996), Uppror och allianser: Politiskt wild i 1400-talets svenska bondesamhiille. Lund.

Larsson, Lars-Olof (1997), Kalmarwzionens tid: Frim. drottning Margareta till Kristian II. Stock­ holm. Lindkvist, Thomas/Agren, Kurt (1990), Sveriges medeltid. Solna.

Haug, Eldbj0rg (1996), Provincia Nidrosiensis i dronning Margretes unions- og maktpolitikk. Trond­ heim.

Lindstrom, Dag (1991), Skra, stad och stat: Stock­ holm, Malmo och Bergen ca 1350 1622 (Studia his­ torica Upsaliensia 163). Uppsala.

Haug, Eldbj0rg (2000), Margrete den siste drorm­ ing i SverreEtten. Nordens fullmektige frue og rette husbonde. Oslo.

Linton, Michael (1997), Margareta: Nordens drott­ ning 1375 1412. Stockholm.

Henn, Volker/Nedkvitne, Arnved (eds.) (1994), Norwegen und die Hanse: Wirtschaftliche und kul­ turelle Aspekte im europiiischen Vergleich (Kieler Werkstucke, Reihe A. Beitrage zur schleswig-hol­ steinischen und skandinavischen Geschichte 11). Frankfurt a. M. H0rby, Kai (1989), Velstands krise og tusind baghold, 1250 1400. Gyldendal og Politikens Danmarks­ historie 5 (ed. Olaf Olsen). K0benhavn. Imsen, Steinar (1990), Norsk bondekommunalisme fra Magnus Lagab@te til Kristian Kvart 1 . Trond­ heim. Ingesman, PerjJensen, Jens Villiam (eds.) (1994), Danmark i Senmiddelalderen. Arhus. Ingesman, PerjJensen, Jens Villiam (eds.) (2001), Riget, magten og Eren: Den danske adel 1350 1660. Arhus. Ingesman, Per/Madsen, Per Kristian/Kja:r, Ulla et al. (eds.) (1999), Middelalderens Danmark: Kultur og samfund fra trosskifte til reformation. K0ben­ havn. Ingesman, Per/Poulsen, Bj0rn (eds.) (2000), Dan­ mark og Europa i Senmiddelalderen. Arhus.

Moseng, Ole Georg/Opsahl, Erik/Pettersen, Gun­ nar I. et al. (1999), Norsk historie 1 . Oslo. Nordberg, Michael (1995), I kung Magnus tid: Nor­ den under Magnus Eriksson 1317 1374. StockhoM. Poulsen, Bj0rn (1995), Kingdoms on the periphery of Europe: The case of medieval and early modern Scandinavia. In: Economic systems and statefinance (ed. Richard Bonney). Oxford, 101 122. Reinholdsson, Peter (1998), Uppror eller resningar? Samhiillsorganisation och konfiikt i senmedeltidens Sverige (Studia historica Upsaliensia 186). Uppsala. Rian, 0ystein (1995), Den nye begyrmelsen 1520 1660: Aschehougs Norgeshistorie 5 (ed. Knut Helle). Oslo. Schuck, Hennan (1994), Engelbrektskronikan: Till­ komsten ochforfattaren (KVHAA. Historiska serien 22). Stockholm. Skyum-Nielsen, Niels (1997), Fruer og Vildmxnd 2. K0benhavn. Wittendorff, Alex (1989), Pa Guds og Herskabs nade, 1500 1600. Gyldendal og Politikens Dan­ markshistorie 7 (ed. Olaf Olsen). K0benhavn.

Per Ingesman, Arhus (Denmark)

120. Manuscripts and bookprinting in Late Medieval Scandinavia and in Early Modern Times

120.

1067

Manuscripts and bookprinting in Late Medieval Scandinavia and in Early Modern Times

1. 2. 3. 4.

8. 9.

Background Paper, scripts and printing What is a book? Sources of the knowledge of book production Medieval book owners Authors and scribes The surviving books and book production in numbers Books and genres Literature (a selection)

1.

Background

5. 6. 7.

The Golden Age of Medieval Scandinavian literature traditionally is said to occur between the middle of the 1 2th c. and the middle of the 1 3th. During this period the sagas of Ice­ land and the provincial laws of the Scandina­ vian countries were written, and the Latin­ speaking culture was flourishing in the circles around the Danish archbishop Absalon in Lund. After this Golden Age, according to the same tradition, twilight set in during the 1 5th c., cuhninating in a total cultural night in the 1 6th c. This simplified view has been opposed in the last decades. If only the production of books is taken into consideration, particularly books in the vernacular, the picture is quite different. There are but a few remaining books or fragments of books in the vernacular from Iceland and Norway from the Golden Age and none from Denmark and Sweden. However, the production of books increased gradually in the two most populous Scandinavian coun­ tries, Denmark and Sweden, between about 1 350 and about 1550. During this period liter­ acy, the ability to read and write, spread to wider parts of society, and the cultural and educational monopoly ofthe Church was bro­ ken. At the end of this period the foundations were laid to standardize written language, greatly facilitated through the widely spread Bible editions printed in 1541 in Sweden and in 1550 in Dernnark (and 1584 in Iceland). Late medieval and early modern Scandina­ via went through political, economic and cul­ tural changes, which are reflected in the pro­ duction of books. The most important politi­ cal changes affected Norway and Iceland, which gradually lost their independence and finally became parts of Dernnark in 1 537. Du­ ring the 1 5th c. in particular, Norway grad-

ually built closer ties to Denmark, resulting in linguistic changes in Norway during the late Middle Ages. These changes caused Old West Nordic to become obsolete in Norway as a written language, thus severing the cultural ties with Iceland and Icelandic-Norwegian lit­ erature. The linguistic changes were so dra­ matic that e. g. texts of medieval law had to be translated into Norwegian in the 1 530s. From about 1 3 50 to about 1 550 the condi­ tions for bookmaking changed. First, paper began to be used on a larger scale. Second, new scripts were invented that made transcrip­ tion more efficient. Third, the art of printing with movable type was invented. Each of these changes reduced the cost of book production, and thus the written word became available to a greater number of people. Apart from these technical improvements, changes in other conditions contributed to the increase in book production. The ability to read had spread to social groups outside the clergy, initially to the nobility. The foundation of schools in a number of towns helped to ex­ tend reading and writing to the burghers. In Denmark and Sweden incomes improved for the lower classes, thus more people could af­ ford to buy books. Latin was replaced by the vernaculars in Denmark and Sweden as the language of of­ ficial publications. In Norway, the court, still the source of political power, continued to use the vernacular in the 1 4th c. as it had done earlier. In Sweden, Magnus Eriksson's com­ mon law from ca. 1 3 50 specified that certain legal documents must be written in Sw., thus establishing Sw. as the official language. In Denmark, Dan. replaced La!. as the language of governance by order of Queen Margaret (regent from 1387- 1412) at the beginning of the 15th c. The establishment of the vernacu­ lars as official languages changed the attitude toward the written word across a wide spec­ trum of society. The use of written documents and books was no longer the privilege of the clergy; also other groups began using written documents, for instance the burghers for their guild statutes. The first important steps were taken to change society from one with a pre­ dominantly oral culture to a society with a pre­ dominantly written culture.

1068 2.

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Paper, scripts and printing

Paper was invented in China and introduced into Europe by the Arabs. The first paper mills on the European continent were established in Moorish Spain before 1 100, but European paper production did not become significant until the 14th c. In Scandinavia papermaking was attempted at various locations, but with­ out lasting success, in the beginning of the 16th c. Continuous production was first established in Denmark in the 1 570s and in the 1610s in Sweden. The bulk of paper used in Scandina­ via in the 14th and 1 5th centuries was made in France and Italy, while most of the paper used in the 16th c. came from Germany. The new writing material soon carne to be used nearly as much in Scandinavia as in the rest of Europe, at least in Denmark and Sweden. Resolutions in the middle of the 14th c. by the Pope and the German emperor to allow paper documents had decisive impor­ tance for the use of paper in western and cen­ tral Europe. In Scandinavia, Queen Margaret played the same role at the end of the 14th c. when she requested that paper be used instead of parchment. However, when she formulated her request, paper had been in use for some time: the oldest existing or mentioned paper documents in Sweden are from the 1 3 30s, in Norway from 1364 and in Denmarkfrom 1367 (but Iceland not until 1433). Originally, paper probably was used primarily for drafts ofvari­ ous kinds. The so-called Birgittaautograferna (Cod. Hohn. A 65) are particularly famous. They consist of two drafts of Saint Birgitta's revelations probably made by her own hand in Italy in the 1 3 60s. One of the oldest paper mss. written in Scandinavia is the financial ac­ count for the years 1 365-1 367 by Raven van Barnekow made for the Nykoping fiefdom in Sweden. The oldest existing books in Scandi­ navia with literary text written on paper are from the years around 1400. By the end of the 1 5th c. paper was commonly used in Den­ mark and Sweden, and by the middle of the 16th c. paper had completely replaced parch­ ment. In Iceland and Norway, it appears that only parchment was used for books during the whole of the Middle Ages. The oldest existing Icel. paper book is from 1 542, and the oldest Norw. one from about the same time. Finally, it is worth noting that the choice of paper or parchment was independent of the language being used. Both Lat. and vernaculars are as frequent on paper as on parchment.

The period from about 1 350 to about 1550 started and ended with two important changes of script, each one leading to faster and more economic writing, which in turn led to less ex­ pensive books. The first change took place in the latter half of the 1 4th c. It was at this time that the Early Gothic script of the High Middle Ages was replaced by Late Gothic script. In books two major types of script were used during the 1 5th c., the Late Gothic tex­ tura, and the littera bastarda, a mixture be­ tween cursive and textura that soon became the most common script. This change in script spread through western and northern Europe and also to the Scandinavian countries, except Iceland. The other change, which originally started in Germany, was the replacement of the Late Gothic scripts by the New or German Gothic scripts. In all Nordic countries, this took place in the first half of the 1 6th c. At the same time the humanist scripts of the Italian renaissance also appeared in Scandina­ via, mostly for specific purposes, in particular for Lat. texts. The art ofprinting books by using moveable type was invented by the German Johann Gutenberg at the middle of the 1 5th c. After this it took only a few decades before the first printers established themselves in Scandina­ via. The first person to print books, in Lat., both in Denmark and Sweden was the Ger­ man Johann Snell. In Odense he printed "Denmark's oldest printed book", Guillehnus Caoursin's De obsidione et bello Rhodiano [On the siege of Rhodes] in 1482. In Stockholm he then published "Sweden's oldest printed book", Dialogus creaturarum optime morali­ zatus [The moral dialogue of the creatures] in 1483, followed by other works, i . a. Missale Upsalense [vetus] [Missal for the Uppsala dio­ cese] in 1484. (On the oldest prints in the ver­ naculars, see below). In Iceland, Jon Matthias­ son printed the first book, a breviary, in 1534 at Holar. In Norway the first book was printed as late as in 1643 in Christiania (now Oslo). In the years around the turn of the 1 6th c., a number of printing works were established; however their activities were to be short-lived. After the dissolution of the Kahnar Union and the Reformation (ca. 1 530) printing works were centralized, not the least in order to en­ able the king and government to control such activities. Only one printing shop was allowed to operate in Sweden after 1 526. This press was situated in Stockholm, except for the years 1540-1541, when it was removed to Uppsala to enable the archbishop to supervise

120. Manuscripts and bookprinting in Late Medieval Scandinavia and in Early Modern Times

the printing ofthe Sw. translation of the Bi ble. In Denmark, on tile other hand, there were a number ofprinting works until 1 556, when the activities were concentrated in Copenhagen and Slesvig. The difference between Sweden and Denmark partly relates to different de­ grees of royal tolerance, but also the political situation in Denmark was unstable, leading to a certain freedom of the press, which existed for some decades. 3.

What is a book?

Anyonewho tries to understand book produc­ tion, and particularly medieval book produc­ tion, sooner or later has to consider the ques­ tion: What is a book? The first and possibly only, or least disputable, definition is that a book is something made by a bookbinder. A book, then, is a number of leaves ofparchment or paper bound together and mostly fitted within some kind of cover. This kind of book is often known as a codex, as opposed to the scroll, another kind of item, which perhaps also may be called a book. (A few Danish and Swedish scrolls have been preserved). If one tries to define a book in any other way, one soon gets into great difficulty, since books, after all, may contain different kinds of texts as well as pictures, and some books have no such content at all. When it comes to medieval books. distinctions that may seem natural to us today may not apply, or it is impossible for us to judge if those distinctions are relevant. Today distinctions often can be made between books as a mass medium, and individual, private books with a strictly limited audience. To make such distinctions when it comes to the medieval book is not possible, in many cases. Great numbers of medieval books contain texts collected from different sources. The texts may have been written at different times. The book could have been compiled over a long period of time, during as well as after the Middle Ages. When dating such a book, one must consider the age of the different texts and also of the binding of the book, which may be much younger than the texts them­ selves. Other problems connected to dating and defining the medieval book wi ll be touched upon below.

4.

1069

Sources of the knowledge of book production

The knowledge of book production in medie­ val Scandinavia, and thereby indirectly the ex­ tension of literacy. is based on sources which reflect the existence of only a small portion of what once existed. The sources are of course the surviving books, but also books listed in various kinds of documents, such as testa­ ments and donation documents as well as in­ ventories of book collections and libraries. Books that have survived can have been saved for quite different reasons, and some kinds of books may have survived to a greater extent than others. Many a book was de­ stroyed in the Middle Ages through the nu­ merous fires that struck monasteries and other large book owners. But books were also de­ stroyed because they were worn out, and at times were reused as material for new books. The medieval mss. in Denmark, Sweden and Norway underwent much the same devasta­ tion after the Middle Ages. To a greater extent the Icel. mss. probably survived the Refortna­ tion era and then were preserved by more or less methodical collection, particularly during the 1 7th c. and in particular by the Icelander Ami Magnilsson (1663 -1730), professor at Copenhagen University. After the Reformation, catholic liturgical parchment mss. in particular were used as covers for records of different kinds, mostly financial accounts made by bailiffs for the ex­ chequer. But there are also examples of pro­ fane uses, from seal straps to cones for sweets or medicine, and more spectacular ones, such as wadding in guns and cannons. Finally, many books and medieval documents were de­ stroyed by three fires that occurred nearly at the same time, namely the Stockholm castle fire of1 697, the Uppsala fire in 1702, and most devastating, the Copenhagen fire of 1728. There is no great difference in the fate that befell medieval mss. and early printed books. There are very few complete books left, inde­ pendent of means of production. As is the case with many mss., many early printed pages, which were used as fillings of book covers or covers for records, have been retrieved. The reasons why so few printed works have been preserved are probably the same as for mss. (see below).

1070

5.

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Medieval book owners

Cathedrals and monasteries were the great book owners in the Middle Ages. The books owned by these institutions were mainly in Latin. From surviving documents, e. g. biblio­ graphies and testaments, it is clear that the majority of these books were to be used in religious services. Others are primarily collec­ tions of canon law and to a lesser extent "scientific" and "technological" works. It is not unusual that these libraries also contained some book of common law or some chronicle in the vernacular. Books in the vernacular can be estimated as comprising 10 per cent at the most of such collections in Scandinavia in gen­ eral, but with a somewhat higher percentage in Iceland. The book collections were with few excep­ tions moderate, and according to the surviving lists seldom included more than a hundred books. Bibliographies from religious institu­ tions are known from a number of locations. Testaments from all the Nordic countries bear witness to books owned by private persons. In most cases they list only solitary books, often a gentleman's law book and a lady's book of prayers. In some cases, though, we know of more comprehensive private book collections. Most of the surviving medieval religious mss. in Sweden stern from the monastic seat of the Birgittine order in Vadstena. The monas­ tery library was nearly intact until the closure of the monastery in 1597, and what was left was saved at the beginning of the 17th c. The library contained mainly religious literature in Lat· but also a number of mss. in Swedish. ' The books in Sw. represent different religious genres, i. a. St. Birgitta's revelations, saints' lives, monastery rules, sermons and prayer books made for the nuns' private use. Most of this literature consists of translations and adaptations of Lat. texts into Sw. The Vad­ stena library is an exception, though. Medi­ eval religious literature was seen as more or less corrupting and unsuitable reading after the Reforrnation (ca. 1 530). That explains why so few books remain from monasteries and cathedral chapters. A great deal of the medieval profane light reading no doubt became outdated and thus perished. There are few extantmss. containing profane texts from Denmark and Sweden, while there are many surviving mss. from Ice­ land with both Icel. and Norw. texts. The East Scandinavian mss. originate from different

sources; some were originally owned by priests, some by noble ladies and gentlemen, while the Icel. mss. could have had a wider provenance, even if many of them belonged to churches and monasteries. A very special category is books of common law, which pro bably survived because of their usefulness; the laws were in force long after the Middle Ages. The number of extant Nordic law books - more than 650 - seems very large when com­ pared to the other categories. These law books were owned by private nobles (who often were district judges) but also by clergymen and bur­ ghers, and by institutions, namely churches, monasteries and local district authorities (harad or herred).

6.

Authors and scribes

As a rule, the authors, editors and translators of medieval literature are unknown. Only a few Nordic authors in the late Middle Ages have been identified. The author who over­ shadows all others during the period is doubt­ less Birgitta of Vadstena (1302-1373). Her writings were spread in Sw., Dan. and Norw. mss. in both Lat. and in the vernaculars. Her Revelationes were printed in Lat. and also in G and Du. translations, but never in Sw. Nor were the works by the Birgittine translators, i. a. Jons Budde and Peder Mimsson (who died as bishop of Viisteras 1 534), printed. Two Dan. authors from the 1 5th c. have been identified. The first one is Peder R",v Lille about whom nothing is known except that he lived around the middle of the century. The other is a priest, Reverend Michael Nicolai (ca. 1450-ca. 1510) in Odense. Three of his works were printed in 1514: De creatione re­ rum, Jomfru Marias rosenkrans and Om aft menneskens levned. At the close of the 1 5th c. a few more Nordic authors can be identified, but anonymous authors during the 1 6th c. and even later wrote the majority of mss. and printed works. The question of authorship also raises the question of original mss. The few leaves writ­ ten by St. Birgitta herself, BirgittaautograJer­ na, were mentioned earlier. Another famous ms. is the so-called Karlskronikan (cod. Hohn. D 6) from the middle of the 1 5th c. This ms. contains changes and additions to the great Sw. rhymed chronicle (Stora rimkronikan). The translations by Jons Budde and Peder Mansson, mentioned above, are written in their own hands, as are two mss. by the Dan. catholic Petrus Helie (ca. 1480-1 534). Many

120. Manuscripts and bookprinting in Late Medieval Scandinavia and in Early Modern Times

other mss. may be originals, e. g. of collections of sermons, although it is impossible in many cases to separate an original fair copy from a scribe's copy. As is the case with authors, few scribes can be identified. Of the scribes who copied mss. in Dan. and Sw. vernacular, only about 1 0 per cent identify themselves. When it comes to the Icel. and Norw. mss. the number is even smaller. Scribes' notes, generally speaking, sel­ dom appear before the middle of the 15th c. A number of nuns at Vadstena monastery make themselves known ca. 1500, either ex­ plicitly or only by initials. In Denmark the situation is much the same as in Sweden. From the end of the 1 5th c. a number of industrious scribes are known. Fewer Icelandic and Nor­ wegian scribes are known. The scribal notes and the occasional owner's note show that the scribes often were monks or nuns. But students also appear as scribes, as well as town clerks who have copied law books and guild statutes. There are no definite signs of any scriptoria producing books on a large scale in the Nordic countries at this time. Whereas the scribes to a large extent are anonymous, most printers are known, al­ though their printed works are frequently anonymous. The first printer in Scandinavia was Johann Snell, a German who moved with his enterprise to different locations in differ­ ent countries. Such mobility was characteristic of the early printers. He worked in Denmark and Sweden for only a few years, then was replaced by other printers.

7.

Surviving books and book production in numbers

To form an idea of what book production looked like one must first take the surviving books into consideration. This applies both to the kinds of books produced and the num­ berofbooks. Atpresent the secondary sources found in different kinds of documents need further investigation before they can be used for this purpose. Efforts have been made to estimate the ex­ tent of the loss of medieval books. When it comes to Denmark and Sweden, and perhaps Norway, there is reason to believe that the losses are about the same as on the Continent. This means that between 90-95 per cent of medieval books have been lost. When it comes to Iceland, the high number of surviving Icel.

1071

mss., together with a great number of frag­ ments, indicate that the loss of Icel. mss. (or fragments) has been less than in the rest of the Nordic countries. In spite of the losses, what remains appears to be fairly representa­ tive of the production in general when it comes to the contents of the books. When providing an overview of the survi­ ving mss. a number of more or less difficult questions are raised. This article is not the place for discussing those problems in detail (see Frederiksen 1999), but a few must be ad­ dressed as they affect the reliability of the fig­ ures presented. The first problem is the dif­ ficulty in deciding whether a book which origi­ nated in the Middle Ages was a single book. If not, should it be counted as one book or more? For instance, several existing Swedish law books contain a calendar, which obvious­ ly is not part of the legal text. How did the calendar become a part of a law book? A per­ son ordering a book could have ordered the calendar from a scribe at a cathedral chapter, as each diocese used their own calendars. The law book proper could have been ordered from another scribe connected with the secular judicial authorities. Both the legal text and cal­ endar would then be bound together. This would ensure that the owner acquired the best possible versions of both texts. On the other hand, it might have happened that the would­ be owner had an old calendar "lying around" that he thought it wise to bind together with the newly copied law book. We do not know in such a case whether the book in question was originally one or two books. To solve the pro blem, a simplified definition of a book is proposed: it is a thing that in a library or an archive has a listing of its own today (cf. Astrom 1993; Frederiksen 1 999). This defini­ tion has certain consequences when it comes to dealing with fragments. First of all, frag­ ments in general are counted as books, but since fragments of different books at times are collected under the same title, the number of fragments is most likely underestimated. Another problem, closely connected to the example above, concerns the classification of books. The majority of surviving books are law books, so it seems reasonable that they have their own category. Assigning books to different categories or genres is interesting in general, but many books are compiled of dif­ ferent texts, and so the majority genre should determine the category of the book. (When categorizing law books this is less of a problem than for other categories). Another problem

1072

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

concerns the geographical provenance ofmss. OWN Norw. and Icel. mss. are often impos­ sible to distinguish as they share a common language. During the period from about 1350 to 1 550, Norw., Dan. and Sw. mss. can be im­ possible to separate from each other for the same reason. Finally, two things must be said about ms. dating. Most recorded dates cover periods of time that can vary from several dec­ ades up to a century or more. To make a sta­ tistical summary, all recorded dates must be comparable. Here the periods have been sim­ plified to centuries. Then the problem arises with mss. dated to a period around the turn of a century, such as "ca. 1400". In this inves­ tigation all mss. spanning two centuries have been placed in the youngest century (i. e. "about 1400" is counted as belonging in the 1 5th c.). The figures for the last period dealt with here, 1500 to 1550, are of course not di­ rectly comparable to the other periods, as it only spans half a century. The sources used may also have an impact on the figures, es­ pecially when it comes to the Danish material, as the last period formally only covers 1500 to about 1 5 1 5 . It should be noted that the ma­ jority of the mss. have been dated by 19th and early 20th c. scholars. If those datings were to be reconsidered today, they would probably turn out differently. The figures presented be­ low then perhaps would prove to be too low when it comes to Dan. and Sw. 14th c. mss. and too high when it comes to the 15th c. ones. The opposite would perhaps be found for the Icel. mss. - 14th c. figures would be too high and the 1 5th c. ones too low. There are approximately 1 040 Icel. and Norw. vernacular mss. and fragments remain­ ing from the period 1 100 to 1550. Of the mss. included here, about 170 are considered to be Norw., of which a possible 10 are from the 1 5th c. (a figure that probably is too low for various reasons) and none from the beginning of the 16th c. Approximately 240 Dan. and about 340 Sw. vernacular mss. have survived from the 1 3 th through the first half of the 16th c. Table 1 shows how they are distributed tem­ porally and geographically. (The numbers

have been rounded off here in general; for more exact numbers concerning Denrnark and Sweden see Frederiksen 1999 and Astrom 1993). These figures indicate a different intensity of book production between Iceland and Nor­ way, on the one hand, and Denmark and Sweden on the other. Icelandic-Norwegian book production cuhninates in the 14th c., and then falls drastically, particularly in 1 5th c. Norway. Though the Norw. figures are pos­ sibly too low, more correct figures would not change the general picture. Danish and Swedish figures indicate a different situation. After a slow start, the production ofvernacu­ lar mss. in both countries increased dramati­ cally during the 1 5th c. and continued to in­ crease during the 16th c. At present it is prac­ tically impossible to get a clear picture of how many 16th c. mss. survive, primarily because libraries for the most part lack proper cata­ logues, and mss. from this period are more dispersed than medieval ones. The production ofmss. continued long after the commencement of book printing. Medi­ eval texts continued to be reproduced by hand in the 16th c. and thereafter, especially in Ice­ land. But many mss. were also hand-copied containing texts written in the 16th c. and after. The great number of surviving 16th and 17th c. mss. of the Sw. chronicle written by Glaus Petri (1493 -1 552) are a good example of this. It is also worth mentioning that one medieval literary genre was nearly without ex­ ception orally transmitted to posterity, name­ ly ballads, for which many of the oldest mss. are from the second half of the 16th or the 17th c. The printed works of the late 1 5th and the 16th c. are documented in excellent biblio­ graphies and much attention is focused on the history of the art of printing (i. a. Collijn 19271938; Nielsen 1937). Consequently it is easy to get a good picture of the early production of printed books, as opposed to a great deal of the ms. production in the same period. The first printing works in the Nordic countries were established by the Church, primarilywith

Tab. 120.1: Approximate numbers of extant medieval Scandinavian vernacular mss. ca. 1 1 00 1550 per century (Sources: Frederiksen 1999; ONP 1989; Stonn 1885; Astrom 1993; 2003). Provenance

Period ca. 1100 1200 Icelandic/Norwegian 10 Danish Swedish

ca. 1200 1300 120 4 3

ca. 1300 1400 520 30 70

ca. 1400 1500 220 160 200

ca. 1500 1550 170 50 70

120. Manuscripts and bookprinting in Late Medieval Scandinavia and in Early Modern Times

the intention of supplying the local dioceses with missals and breviaries, books needed for the mass. Many such books were also printed on the continent, mostly in Germany. Church institutions among others also initiated the printing of other books in Lat. intended for an international audience. Only a few early books were printed in the vernacular. Out of about 20 books and leaflets printed in Sweden before 1500, only two are in Sw. The oldest Swedish printed work consists of only one leaf and contains Articuli abbreviati, a summary of a so-called papal crusade bull. The first and only book in Sw. printed before 1500 is a translation, Johannis Gerson Bock aff dyiiffwl­ sensfrastilse [Jean Gerson's Tractatus de diver­ sis diaboli temptationibus], printed by Johan­ nes Fabri (or Smedh) in Stockhohn in 1495. About 60 different Sw. books or leaflets re­ main from the period 1500-1550. Some com­ prise only one or a few pages. A number of these appeared in two or more editions. During the years 1482-1550 there were 186 titles printed in Denmark, some of which no longer exist. In the same period an additional 1 1 2 titles were printed outside Denmark for the Danish market, many on the initiative of Christiern Pedersen. In 1495 the first book in Dan., Then danskre Kr@nnickre [The Danish chronicle], was printed by Gotfred ofGhemen in Copenhagen with new editions in 1501 and 1 508. In Iceland the first book printed was the previously mentioned breviary, Breviarium Holense, printed in Ralar in 1534. In Norway there were no books printed in the 1 6th c., as mentioned before. But books for Norwegian consumption were printed in other places. The oldest Norw. books are considered to be the Breuiarium Nidrosiense and Missale Ecclesix Nidrosiensis, printed in Paris and Copenhagen respectively in 1519. Only a few copies each survive of many of these early printed works, and some of the copies have been restored from fragments of books found in different locations. Three frequently mentioned Dan. titles are examples of the rarity of copies of early printed books. Of the first edition of Karl Magnus kr@nike [Charlemagne's chronicle] from 1509 there is one copy, and of Giger Dan­ skis kr@nnicke [Rolger the Dane's chronicle] from 1 534 there are two copies. The "best­ seller", Parabole sententiose (or Peder Laales Grdsprog) was used as a schoolbook in Lat. and appeared in three editions within a few years. One copy remains of the first 1 506 edi­ tion, four copies survive from the 1508 second edition, and of the 1 5 1 5 third edition an ex-

1073

ceptional 14 copies have survived. The picture is the same for Sw. books. The only Sw. book forwhich a reasonably large number of copies remain is the Sw. translation of the Bible printed in 1541 . In this context it needs to be emphasized that printed books at least to some extent were copied by hand as mss. How many such copies were made is at present difficult, if not impos­ sible, to estimate. Sw. law books were copied from newly printed editions as late as the beginning of the 17th c. 8.

Books and genres

So far little has been said of the kinds of books produced. In general, books can be classified and ordered into different categories based on their contents. (For a survey of the text types of the period, see also art. 1 31). This allows us to talk of law books, missals, sermons, etc. A substantial number of books contain several texts, as mentioned before, but these books in most cases can be classified into a single category, as the texts have a specific function, for example prayer books. The discussion above shows that Lat. domi­ nated ms. production during the Middle Ages and continued to do so until the Reformation. This literature is predominantly religious; its subject matter was missals, rituals, theological treatises, legendaries and religious tracts, ser­ mons and collections of church laws and stat­ utes. The Lat. texts that were first printed were those that had been most copied by hand. Medieval books in the vernacular can also be divided into numerous groups. One category, however, law books, dominates the picture to an extraordinarily high degree. Law books copied before 1 500 comprise 70 per cent of all surviving books in Denmark, and about 60 per cent in Sweden from that period. Ac­ cording to the more uncertain sources avail­ able, the percentage of surviving Norw. law mss. approaches the Sw. one, while Icel. law mss. are somewhat of an exception, compris­ ing "only" ca. 20 per cent of all extant books from the 1 5th c. Production of law mss. in Denmark and Sweden declined during the first half of the 1 6th c. For Denmark, the obvious reason for this was that the Dan. provincial laws were printed in 1504-1505. In Sweden there seems to have been "pause" in the pro­ duction in the first half of the 16th c., but from the second half there are more than 1 80 sur­ viving mss. Law mss. undoubtedly were a very important part of medieval vernacular book

1074

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

production in Scandinavia, but to some extent the law books might have survived better than other books as the laws continued to be in force in Dernnark until 1683, in Norway until 1687 and in Sweden unti1 1734. The continuing validity of law mss. protected them from de­ struction, thus aiding their survival through the 16th c. Consequently, when the collection activities mentioned above began in the 17th c., many books were still in existence. Other remaining books in Scandinavia are very diversified. These books often contain collections of texts. Exactly the same collec­ tion seldom appears in different mss. Further­ more, the texts very seldom survive in more than one or two copies. From Iceland, copies (or at least fragments) of a far greater number of texts have survived, but these also very sel­ dom appear in books that have the same col­ lections of texts. The vernacular books, excluding law books, are perhaps best divided into four main cate­ gories. The largest and most diversified group contains religious books, written and used by the clergy. The second group is best described as administrative and judicial texts, used by various institutions and private persons. The third group consists of profane pure literature and fiction but also history. The fourth group is scientific and technological literature. Numerous distinctions can be made within the rich religious group; however, many ofthe subgroups are represented by just a few books. Three subgroups distinguish themselves. The largest religious subgroup surviving from Scandinavia is the prayer books. There are more than 40 such books left, most of which stem from either Denmark or Sweden, with the odd book from Norway. These books of­ ten have been made in a Birgittine monastery, either for the nuns or for ladies of the laity. Prayer books or songbooks were also among the first to be printed. From Vadstena mon­ astery in particular, such a great number of sermons survive that they deserve to form their own subgroup. A third subgroup is leg­ endaries, surviving from all Nordic countries. At the beginning of the 1 6th c. a new kind of literature appeared in connection with the Reformation. It was dominated by two figures above all, the Danish Catholic Paulus Helie and the Swedish Lutheran Glaus Petri. These two dominated the production of printed works during the Reformation period. After the Reformation, Peder Palladius (15031 560) carne to play much the sarne role in Den­ mark as Olaus Petri did in Sweden.

Judicial, administrative and economic texts were collected in books that were the least like­ ly to be copied. This group consists of land surveys and accounts made for landowners and copybooks containing deeds and testa­ ments proving ownership. Several kinds ofju­ dicial texts can be distinguished. One impor­ tant subgroup contains copybooks and regis­ ters of letters sent to and from church insti­ tutions. Another group consists of accounts of court proceedings such as a number of Dan. and Sw. "town books" and a few remaining judgement books recorded by local judges. The pure literature in prose or verse survives in a small number of Scandinavian books from the 1 5th c. Some of these books have several texts in common, e. g. the three so­ called Eufemia romances which were trans­ lated in the 14th c., but which only survive in mss. more than a hundred years younger. To this category also belong a number of histori­ cal chronicles with an element of fiction. Many of the Old Norse sagas that were written or translated in the 1 3th or early 14th c. only sur­ vive in mss. from the second half of the 15th c. and later. Medieval science and technology prevail above all in a number of collections that con­ tain medical texts and herbals. The works of the 13th c. Danish doctor and scientist Henrik Harpestreng appear in a number of mss. The oldest of these are also among the oldest Dan. mss. in the vernacular dating from the begin­ ning of the 14th c. The Sw. would-be bishop Peder Mansson translated and edited a num­ ber oftexts on different topics at the beginning ofthe 16th c. Christi ern Pedersen's production also contains medical books. As a final group in this overview, a small group containing a few works of special lin­ guistic interest should be mentioned. From Sweden there is a surviving Latin-Swedish dic­ tionary (Cod. Ups. C 20 from ca. 1460-1480). The first printed Latin-Swedish dictionary, Variarum rerum vocabula cum sueca interpre­ tatione, appeared in 1 538, and 10 editions were printed during the 1 6th and 17th centuries. Christiern Pedersen had earlier, in 1 510, al­ ready printed the first Latin-Danish diction­ ary, Vocabularium ad usum dacorum ordine lit­ terario cum vulgari eorum interpretatione. The surviving books and the picture they give of book production in Late Medieval and Early Modern Times reflect the course of de­ velopment from a primarily oral culture to­ wards a literate culture. Hopefully some ofthe richness and diversity that the use of the writ-

120. Manuscripts and bookprinting in Late Medieval Scandinavia and in Early Modern Times

ten language reached in this period has been illustrated. However, no one can express the change in mentality that the advent of a liter­ ate culture brought about better than these medieval voices from the Stockholm butchers' guild taken from the written introduction to the statutes from 1477: We the butchers guild and company herein Stock­ holm have kept and held good old customary laws for ages, without written statutes and regulations up to this day. But since some young men have joined our office lately, or might join it still, who will not be satisfied with that which has been of age and old, then the honest men, the mayors [. . .] with all the magistrates' confirmation have admit­ ted, allowed and commanded this statute and regulation that follows. (Translated from a 17th c. copy of the guild statutes in Skra-ordningar, ed. G. E. Kleuuuing, SSF 13, p. 47.)

9.

Literature (a selection)

Astrom, Patrik (1993), KaJlorna till den forn­ svenska sprakhistorien: en oversikt over det be­ varade bokbestlndet. In: Studier i svensk sprbkhis­ toria3. Forhandlingar vid Tredje sammankomstenfor svenska sprakets historia Uppsala 15 17 oktober 1992 (ed. Lars Wollin). Uppsala, 229 243. Astrom, Patrik (2003), Senmedeltida svenska lag­ bocker: 136 lands- och stadslagshandskrifter. Date­ ringar och dateringsproblem (Acta universitatis Stockholmiensis: Stockhohn studies in Scandina­ vian philology, new series 32). Stockholm. Boken i Finland: Utstiillning i Nationalmuseet i an­ ledning av bokensjubileumsbr 25. 8. 31. 12. 1998 (ed. Esko Hakli). Helsingfors.

1075

Collijn, Isak (1927 1938), Sveriges bibliografi intill ar 1600 (Skrifter utgivna av Sven�ka litteratursaJl­ skapet 10. 5 18). Uppsala. Dansk litteraturhistorie 1 (1990), Fra rWier til ridder­ digtning o. 800 1480. K0benhavn. Dansk litteraturhistorie 2 (1990), urdom og magi 1480 1620. K0benhavn. Frederiksen, Britta Olrik (1999), Dansksprogede b0ger fra middelalderen i t0rre og mindre t0rre tal. In: Levende ord & lysende billeder (see below), 154 162. Godel, Vilhehn (1916), Sveriges medeltidslitteratur: proveniens: tidenfore antikvitetskollegiet. Stockhohn. KLNM, s. v. Bibliothek, Bogtryk, Bokbind, Codex, Handskrifter. Larsson, Inger (2001), Svenska medeltidsbrev: om framviixten av ett offentligt skriftbruk inom adminis­ tration, forvaltning och riittsutovning (Runica et mediaevalia: Scripta minora 5). Stockhohn. Levende ord & lysende billeder: Den middelalderlige bogkultur i Danmark. Katalog (1999), ed. Erik Peter­ sen. K0benhavn. (English translation: Living Words & Luminous Pictures: Medieval book culture in Den­ mark. Catalogue). Levende ord & lysende billeder: Den middelalderlige bogkultur i Danmark. Essays (1999), ed. Erik Peter­ sen. K0benhavn. (English translation: Living Words & Luminous Pictures: Medieval book culture in Den­ mark. Essays). Nielsen, Lauritz (1937), Danmarks middelalderlige Haandskrifter. En sammenfattende boghistorisk oversigt. K0benhavn. Storm, Gustav (ed.) (1885), Norges gamle Love indtil 1387. Fjerde Bind, indeholdende Supplementer til de tre foregaaende Bind samt Haandskrifts-Beskrivelse med Facsimiler. Christiania.

Patrik Astrom, Stockholm (Sweden)

1076

121.

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

The development of metrics in Late Medieval and Early Modern Times

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

The verse of the Middle Ages Metrical forms of the folkevise The hymns The stichic rhyme verse Literature (a selection)

1.

The verse of the Middle Ages

With regard to the history of verse, the Nordic Middle Ages stretch from the end of the 12th to the beginning of the 1 7th c. This nearly SOO-year period constitutes the first epoch of the rhymed verse. The period is characterized by the shift from Old Nordic alliterated poetry to a brand-new principle of versification. There may be some connections between the ancient verse form and the new one, but for­ mally these connections are weak and do not justify a claim for continuous development. One question surrounding this concerns the origin of the new kind of verse: is it domestic or imported? Another concerns its structure. The verses occur in strophic or non-strophic (stichic) form. The strophic verses are used in songs, the ballad (folkevise) and the hymn (salme) being principal types. The stichic verses are mostly used for recitation with the chronicle (kr@nike) and drama as prevailing genres. The rhyme-verse is the legacy of the Church and Christianity to Western culture. Liberal education emanated from the Church. Among the artes liberales, especially ars rhetorica and ars musica came into focus. As regards versi­ fication, these two artes could pull in different directions: toward pith and brevity, which was an acknowledged rhetorical ideal, or toward expansion, because when sung the verses needed an appropriate number of syllables to complete the metre. The musical base for medieval man was the tunes of the liturgy. Their rhythm could be prosaic like the Gregorian chant, or metrical like the Arnbrosian hymns, which gradually became end-rhymed. Der europaische End­ " reim ist ein Geschenk der Kirche", says An­ dreas Heusler. It has to be remembered that in early times the modern distinction between prose and poetry was of no real importance. Poetry was closely related to rhetoric and was just a branch of the tree of eloquence. The root of the new poetry consequently has to be found in the early Christian art of preach-

ing, which took ancient rhetorical prose for a model, as suggested by Eduard Norden. He also points out the relationship between one of the most important figures of speech, paral­ lelism, and the end-stopped rhyme-verse. In authoritative language, parallelism often ap­ pears as motives with 2 or 2 + 2 stresses, thus in the proverbs: "Quot homines, tot sen­ tentire" (Terentius), "Summum ius, summa in­ iuria" (Cicero), "Man scal seedh f0lghe eller land fly" (Peder Laale). From Gorgias to Cicero the separate phrases, the kola, could be ornamented with rhyme and sound effects, homoioteleuta. In the early Middle Ages the use of Latin syllabic quantity as material for the metrical versification gradually was lost, and the new rhythmic verse, founded on ac­ cent, took the lead in a new vernacular poetry and in some late Latin poetry as well. In the carrnina rhythmica of the Middle Ages the rhyme was no longer a free ornament, e. g. a homoioteleuton, but a structural factor, con­ nected with metrical accents and marking the limits of verse. The new rhyme-verse appeared in Germany in the 9th c. in Otfrid's poetic version of the gospels but occurred a good deal later on Nor­ dic ground. The most important genre, the Scandinavian ballad, or folkevise, took shape during the literary advance in the time of the Valdemars, the main impetus coming from France. The chronicler Arnold of Lubeck in the year 1212 recounts how the sons of the Danish no blemen flocked to the French con­ vent and cathedral schools, especially in Paris, in order to receive training in the trivium: ars grammatica, ars rhetorica, and ars dialectica. From France the students also introduced into Scandinavia the lyric dance stanza and the epic dance ballad. About 1 170 Bishop Vilhehn had to intercede in the affairs of the friars of the Eskils0 convent, owing to the fact that they "ducebant choreas" , i. e. performed dance bal­ lads. We possess no contemporary manuscripts of the old ballads. A Latin version of the Nor­ dic ballad form is preserved in the famous stanza from the little German town of K6l­ bigk, where the young people in the year 1021 were punished with iudicium dei because of dancing in a chain in the graveyard on Holy Night, singing this carmen rhythrnicum:

1077

121. The development of metrics in Late Medieval and Early Modern Times

Equitabat Bovo per silvam frondosam, Ducebat sibi Merswinden formosam. Quid stamus? cur non imus? From a later period originate a couple of lyri­ cal ballad fragments showing some of the oldest end-rhymes in Danish, the Cologne ms. from ca. 1270: iac wet en frugha i wrerreldet wrere h",nna lif tha wil iac ",ra [. . . J . . . and the ms. of the Scanian Law (Codex runicus, ca. 1 3 00): Dr0mde mik en dr0m i nat urn silki ok ",rlik p",l (i. e. silk brocaded with gold) The second half of a supposed four-line stanza seems to have been lost. The fragment is writ­ ten with runes and with a melody in square notation inserted. This melody in the Dorian mode or, perhaps, in d-minor, has been adop­ ted as an interval signal by The Danish Broad­ casting. About 1200, we may say, the folkevise was current.

2.

Metrical forms of the folkevise

The Scandinavian ballad stanza has two main forms: the rhymed couplet, and the single rhymed four-line stanza, both of them with refrain, the couplet sometimes also with inter­ nal refrain. The stresses are respectively 4 + 4 (sometimes 3 + 3), and 4 + 3 + 4 + 3 (some­ times 3 + 3 . . .). The exceedingly free number of syllables is the chief trait of metrical style. Mostly the couplet is considered to be the older form, e. g.: Om en s0ndag af afften skured de derris spiud - under lide om en mandag at morgen rede de saa wrede ud!. - Der dagen hand dagis, och duggen den driffuer saa wide. If we take the liberty of omitting the refrains (indkvred and omkvred), the relationship of the couplet with rhetorical parallelism is obvious. It could be read this way: u u-u u-u-u u u uu u- u u -u u u u u-u-

a a

i. e. four-beat lines with masculine rhymes. Instead offour beats, three beats may occur, if so with feminine endings (A) and with the ordinary unrhymed (X) refrain connected:

Her Oluf hand rider saa vide, alt til sit bf0llup at byde. Men dandsen den gaar saa let gennem lun­ den, u-uu-uu-u A u-u-uu-u A u-u u-u-u u-u

X

The other main form, the quatrain, is bipartite as well, but consists of two long verses, each one with 4 + 3 (sometimes 3 + 3) metrical stresses: Skammel han bor sig n0r i Ty, han er baade rig og kaad; saa vrene har han S0nner fern, de to fores ilde ad. Fordi tr",der Ebbe mangen Sti vild. -u u-u-uu-uu-uu-u-u-uu-uu-u-

Skammels0n

saa

x a x a

u-u u-u-u-u-uu-

x

From stanza to stanza the number and placing of syllables is extremely free, the metrical structure finally depending on the tune as an integrated part of the ballad. The melody has to be considered a kind of melos or intonation, e. g. in "Ebbe Skarnmels0n" Gust quoted) the formula d-a-c-a-b flat - a-f, which by means of division and contraction ofthe notes was able to capture the irregularly changing syllables, keeping the time necessary for the dance. Later on the ballads, as it will be re­ membered, turned into "literature" for read­ ing or recital. In the Renaissance, the arts gained auton­ omy and a new lyric arose, independent of music. The connection between music and lyric now took another direction, especially through the growing influence of instrumental music. Particularly in the 1 8th c. the sense of fourfold measure strengthened, and the ballad verse was handled rather strictly. The verses seem often to have been recited with addition of a bar rest, a catalectic pause making every single verse a full eight-stress line. However, where the old dance tradition is still alive, as e. g. in the Faroe Islands, the old ballads (Ebbe Skamme/s@n or SjuroarkwelJi etc.) could be performed to seven-beat melodies. Even those few examples stated above may illustrate the two principal rules for genuine ballad style: (1) The rhyme words are placed

1078

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

at the corresponding metrical stress position, and (2) There is invariably coincidence be­ tween syntactic and metrical articulation, marked by the rhyme. This we describe as linje­ stil (end-stopped style), contrary to the bind­ ingsstil (run-on lines) of the ancient ode and the contrived poetry of the Renaissance. In other words: genuine ballad style demands a syntactic caesura between the two halves of the stanza. Adam Oehlenschlager's Norwe­ gian teacher, Edvard Storm, wrote a ballad in 1782 about the Scot Zinclair's shattering defeat in Gudbrandsdalen. The song became very popular, but the run-on lines and the al­ ternate rhymes (aBaB) are incompatible with genuine ballad style: Ei nogen levende Sirel kom hiem, Som kunde sin Landsmand fortrelle, Hvor farligt det er at bes0ge dem, Der boe blandt Norriges Fi",lde.

=>

Beside the two main forms, three rare ones can be found. The Liden Karin stanza occurs as a couplet but with so many weak syllables that it tends to slide into a quatrain form: Och kira mina hofman, j I stillen edert lag, mens jag far ga til kyrkan j att vacka upp min far. This stanza could be viewed as a kind of mis­ sing link between the couplet and the quatrain, changing between a heavy substituted di­ meter: u-u u u-u u-u u u- etc. or a reduced tetrameter (the brackets indica­ ting pause elements): u-u-u-u [-] u-u-u- [u-] etc. The suggested development of the Liden Karin stanza has been as follows: Icelandicj Danish tradition: Norwegian:

F0rste Terning paa Tavlbord randt Svenden tabte, Jomfruen vandt. F0rste Guldt",rning paa Tavle­ bord randt, Ungersvend tabte, sk0n Jomfru hun vandt. Danish (E): Den f0rste Gang Guldt",rning over Tavlebordet randt, Den Baadsmand han tabte, og Jomfruen vandt. Danish (C): Den f0rste Gang Guldt",rning Over Tavlbordet randt, Den liden Baadsmand tabte, Og den skj0n Jomfru vandt.

The outcome could be a metrical congruency with the German Nibelungen rhythm, but from a historical point of view the ballad is of a different sort. The basis for the develop­ ment of the Liden Karin stanza is the great linguistic changes in the early Middle Ages, which produced large quantities of unac­ cented particles and inflexional endings. Another form is the Stalt Elin stanza (named after the ballad Stalt Elins luevn), per­ haps made to fit a six-step dance imported from France and scarcely known outside Den­ mark and Iceland. Its two halves have 4 (some­ times 3) and 2 beats alternating, as in the bal­ lad Frestemanden i Graven (Aage og Else) : For huer en gang du greder for mig, din hu gi0ris mod: da staar min kiste for inden fuld med leffret blod. (Refrain: For hun haffuer troloffuet den rigel This form, one and a half dimeter, became the fashion during the Romantic movement. The third rare form is the gentagelsesstrofe (i. e. repetitive stanza), which recapitulates three quarters of each previous couplet: Hand sider offuer mit brede Bord: hand spotter mine B0rn met wh0ffsk Ord. Saa vide ganger der Ord aff. Mit brede Bord, hand spotter mine B0rn met wh0ffsk Ord. Hand giffuer dennem saa lidet Bf0d: hand spotter dem, for deris Fader er d0d [. . .] Saa vide ganger der Ord aff. The melody for this ballad, Hedebys Gjengan­ ger, in the Dorian mode, has been transmitted by the famous prosodist and theorist of music Hans Mikkelsen Ravn (Corvinus) in 1646. The repetitive stanza also made an incidental hit in the ballad poetry of the Romantic school. The survival of old ballad tunes is unfortu­ nately extremely rare. The famous song books from the 16th and 1 8th centuries (Hjertebog­ en, Langebek's Kvart, Karen Brahe's Folio, A. S. Vedel's Hundredvisebog 1 591, Peder Syv 1695 etc.) concerned themselves exclusively with the text. The extensive recording of the Scandinavian ballad tunes occurred during the Romantic movement. Important collec­ tions with melodies are AbrahamsonjNyerupj Rahbek: Udvalgte danske Viser fra Middelal­ deren I-V, 1 812- 14; E.G. GeijerjA.A. Af-

121. The development of metrics in Late Medieval and Early Modern Times

zelius: Svenska folk-visor fran forntiden I -III, 1 814-16; and M . B. Landstad: Norske Fol­ keviser, 1853. The scholarly main edition in Denmark is Svend Grundtvig: Danmarks gamle Folkeviser, 1 8 5 3 ff., whose vol. XI, eds. Thorkild Knudsen/Svend Nielsen/Nils Schi0rring, contains the musical tradition. The writing down of the melodies as a suc­ cession of intonations certifies from first to last that the normal ballad stanza consists of two rhyming halves followed by a refrain, and, fur­ thermore, that the distinction between two­ and four-liners is not important. Whether as a dance ballad or as a song ballad, the idea of a primordial Nordic four-measure verse (N. M. Petersen, C. Rosenberg) turns out to be an illusion. The ballad tunes very often con­ tain formations of 6 (4 + 2) or 7 (4 + 3) beats. The couplet and the quatrain of the fol­ kevise have a wide distribution in Scandinavia, with the exception of Iceland. From among Norwegian examples we should mention the great visionary poem Draumkwedet: Eg la' meg nea urn joleaftan sterkan svevnen fekk,. vaknao 'ki for um trettandagin folkia at kyrkja gekk. Fer manen skine og veginne felle sa viae. Different from the folkevise forms is the Nor­ wegian stev, in a narrower sense the nystev stanza, built of two couplets, AAbb, with a constant trisyllable (dactylus) at the second beat in each verse: Storagtig er hon, dea ser me alle, dea store moM kan hastig falle; storagtig er hon, deo gar me at, fer hon hev loftia sit fult mea mat. u-u I -u u I -u-u etc. The tunes to the heavily represented nystev may be archaic, or even pentatonic, or they may be metrically related to the mazurka rhythm (named polsk or springleik), which as a modern couple dance superseded the old chain dance of the ballad. While the ballad stanza was widespread in Denmark-Norway, it did not catch on in Ice­ land, as mentioned. Here another type of popular rhymed verse had developed, namely the rimur, including several metres, most of them trochaic. Peculiar to the form is the use of both the old alliteration and the new end­ rhyme:

1079

Kappinn geingur kongs it fund oc kvadde stilli m",ta: "Gipt mer friaa gullhlaas grund, geymir norora strreta!" The rimur stanzas have continued to exist as a popular form into modern times. They were imitated by the Romantic poets.

3.

The hyrnns

In the centuries on both sides of the Refor­ mation, the number of metrical forms in­ creased to a great extent. The prevailing lyrical genre is the hymn, and most of the stanza forms came to us through the Church. The most representative hymnbook from that peri­ od is Den danske Psalmebog, a distinguished collection of 268 hymns and 216 tunes in simple mensure notation, edited in 1 569 by Hans Thomiss0n. A few years later Hans Christensen Sthen (1 544- 1610), headmaster in Helsing0T, vicar in Mahno, published his hymns, mostly in ballad form, such as the couplet in Jeg stod mig op en Morgenstund, and the quatrain in Den m@rke Natforgangen er, both of them with refrain. Medieval free versification was still pro­ ceeding, but was now confronted with stanzas coming from the south, mainly Germany. Contrary to the ballad, they normally have end-rhyme in all verses, a southern trait. The most important new stanzas are the double couplet, aabb, inherited from the Ambrosian hymns. The Ambrosian stanza became one of Luther's favourite forms, and as such spread all over the North, also in the shape aaBB, as in the old song from before the Reformation, called Almuens gamle Sang [the old song of the common people]: Det hellige Kaarss vor Herre selff bar. An original liturgical stanza is furthermore the kr@nikestrofe [chronicle stanza], aaBccB, which seems to be an iambic descendant of the trochaic hexastich stanza, well-known from Church-verse, e. g. Stabat mater. The chronicle stanza was widespread in Christian poetry, thus in the Nordic trou­ badour Per Rrev Lille's Mariaviser (i. e. songs to the Virgin Mary) from the end of the 13 th c. Per Rrev complies with the rhetorical pre­ cepts for composition, as given in the manuals of his time, e. g. Geoffroy of Vinsauf in his Poetria Nova. The chronicle stanza is widely distributed, as in passages of Den Danske Rimkr@nike [the Danish Rhymed Chronicle]: Erchebisp leep som wor i lund hannum lod ieg gribe en morghens stund

1080

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

i frengsel lod ieg hannum srette Paa haghenschow som ligger i fyn Thz giorde ieg ick", mz goth forsyn thi kom ther aff lang tr",tte. More infrequent is the Dagvise stanza, aBaBxB: Den signede dag som wi nu see. The oldest such manuscript is Swedish (ca. 1 450). The metrical relationship with the Latin trip­ let, as used in the (trochaic) sequences, has been supposed, without being completely pro­ ved. The stanza also could be the result of the fusing of a ballad quatrain with a refrain of the same shape. Other longer forms appear to a great extent, e. g. the Luther stanza aBaBccX (Aus tiefer Not [. . . J, in Thomiss0n: Aff dyb­ sens n0d raaber ieg til dig). A famous example is Hans Tausen's satirical ditty against the pa­ pists, Om Logen og Sandhed (I Fordom tiid vor sandhed mechtig oc bold). In short: the stanzas of the Reformation Age continue in the popular free syllabic man­ ner, as do stanzas from the Catholic era, thus the strange Mariskjold, with its characteristic (Stalt Elin-like) shortening of the 2nd verse: Hielp oss 0 HERre Jesu Christ, Gud Faders S0n vor eniste frelsermand foruist oc altid h0r vor b0n (Refrain) saa vorde io Jesus vor skiold urerinde vaade, . . . consequently: 4 + 2 + 4 + 3 beats in the quatrain. An old popular form as well is the stanza with seven short lines, 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 , aaBBcccB, as in Sthen's Herre Jesu Christ, min PreIser du est, til dig haaber jeg alene [. . .J The model is taken from German popular songs as Ich weill ein Bliimlein [. . .J [. . . J, the division of verse in rhymed short lines (aggre­ gation) being a typical Renaissance trait. Common to all the new stanzas is their Lied-structure, set off by the note-to-note composition of the tunes. Both text and mel­ ody follow the "end-stop rule" of the popular ballad. 4.

The stichic rhyme verse

The predominant stichic form of the Middle Ages is the knittel, G Knuttel, consisting of 4 beats, and pair rhymes, the verses often phrased 2 + 2, sometimes with internal

rhymes as a special effect. The number of syl­ lables is free, but may be regulated, though without considering the metrical accents. In Den Danske Rimkr@nike the pair rhyme aa in some places could be replaced by the modern patterns aBaB, i. e. the ballad form with alter­ nate rhymes, and aaBccB, i. e. the chronicle stanza with "Schweifreim", as the Germans name it. A particularly rich development was the use of the knittel in the Swedish chivalric romances, Eufemiavisorna. Their expressive rhetoric appears in the modern run-on lines (bindingsstil). Verses like these, from the ro­ mance Hertug Prederik af Normandi, trans­ lated into Dan. ca. 1485: tha leffdhe ther effther hans tidh = ridder och swenne, the war", blidh [ . . .J are not the idiom of the common man but rather the courtly style, genus grande. In humanist drama, the knittel is the main verse. The prime era of the grammar-school plays stretches from about the middle of the 16th to about the middle of the 1 7th c. Luther and Melanchthon recommended this form. As dramatic art the outcome may have been mod­ erate, but the principal aim in fact was to portray Christian morals. The stage provided a setting for the rhetorical exercises in schools and universities, in Latin of course but after the Reformation also in the mother tongue: Skal danske Spil nogen sinde bliffue k",re Oc Danske maal faa veltalenheds ",re [. . .J . . . as the learned writer Niels Krag puts it in his preface to the playwright Peder Hegelund's Susanna (1 578). The prologue to this play in Stalt Elin verse - is a pretentious apology for the national eloquentia. During the Reformation Age the knittel verse in the school drama underwent a radical change compared to the metrically related bal­ lad verses, due to a new manner of acting. Here the ideal was ancient drama, and the vio­ lent gesticulation of Middle Age acting was replaced by a more stately form of declama­ tion. The lines often assume the character of didactic orationes. The rhetorical run-on style manifests itself to an increasing extent, as in the following little teichoskopia from Susanna: leg meente, ieg vaar i gaarden alene, Hisset seer ieg gennem de Grrene => En gaa spacere oc lude ned [. . . J

122. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic I: West Scandinavian

Animated features in the action or impas­ sioned speeches may lead to two-beat short­ line tirades with close rhymes, e. g. in Susanna: leg hid og did oc vijt omslaar, AMOR f0lger mig, huort ieg gaar. Idel lyst og K",de Gi0r mig hieml",de, Oc i slige tancker leg her om vancker; Den sk0niste Quinde I husit hiss inde Hun breris mig faar, Ihuort ieg gaar [. . .J The dramatic knittel maintains the prosody of the popular ballad, but breaks with the end­ stopped style and, furthermore, introduces a new expressiveness of the rhymes. When Goethe, and after him the 19th-c. Ro­ mantics, recreated the knittel verse, they inter­ preted it as a four beat line, resulting in subtle readings or even recitals with a large amount of "feet", pedes. In that respect the Middle Ages have been extremely liberal. The measu­ red recitation must have been common, of course, but primarily the delivery is supposed to have been rhetorically phrased. In humanist drama, strophic songs also were inserted, but more sparsely than the chorus in the ancient tragedies. The songs could be in various ballad forms, now and then also in an adapted form of the Horatian odes, especially the Sapphic stanza.

122.

6.

1081

Literature (a selection)

Arnholtz, Arthur (1952), Substituerede dimetre reducerede tetrametre. In: Festskrift til L. L. Ham­ merich. K0benhavn, 1 12. Reprint in Vers og Sang Festskrift til Arthur Arnholtz. K0benhavn 1971. Dal, Erik (1956), Nordisk folkeviseforskning siden 1800. K0benhavn. Fafner, J0rgen (1982), Tanke og Tale: Den retoriske tradition i Vesteuropa. K0benhavn. Fafner, J0rgen (1989), Digt og Form. Klassisk og moderne versla:re. K0benhavn. Heusler, Andreas (1956), Deutsche Versgeschichte 1 3. Berlin. Lie, Hallvard (1967), Norsk verslirre. Oslo. Mortensen, Karl (1901), Studier over Eldre dansk Versbygning. K0benhavn. Norden, Eduard (1971), Die antike Kunstprosa 1 2. Stuttgart. Recke, Ernst von der (1881), Principerne for den danske Verskunst 1 2. Kj0benhavn. Rosenberg, C. (1878 80), Nordboernes Aandsliv 1 2. Kj0benhavn. Sievers, Eduard (1893), Altgermanische Metrik. Halle. Steenstrup, Johannes (1891), Vore Folkeviser fra Middelalderen: Studier over Visernes fEsthetik, rette Form og Alder. Kj0benhavn.

J@rgen FaJner. Knlundborg (Denmark)

Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic I: West Scandinavian

1. 2.

4. 5.

Introduction Towards Early Modern Nordic: An outline of general phonological developments The Middle Scandinavian period: West Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese and Nom Conclusion Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

3.

The period between Old Nordic and Early Modern Nordic is a period of transitions and even radical changes. Many phonological in-

novations which affected the vowel system and the consonant system started in ON times con­ tinuing into the modern period (for ON, see arts. 100 f.). By the middle of the 16th c., a series of major sound changes was already completed. This applies to both Norwegian and insular Nordic (i. e. Icel., Far. and Nom). The following sketch of West Nordic vowel systems brings these developments into focus. The "Middle Scandinavian period", as it is sometimes labelled, is characterized by on­ going fragmentation and dialectal split. Thus,

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XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

the West Scandinavian languages, which shared many developments, shifted further away from East Nordic (cf. art. 100). It will be recalled that the East/West split goes much further back in time. Moberg (1944; 1978), for instance, argued that the West Nordic assimi­ lations /mp/ > /p:/, /nt/ > /t:/, /nk/ > /k:/ occurred as early as 650-850 A.D. (cf. art. 100). Another early differentiation within Scandinavian started in the middle of the 10th c. in Denmark, the so-called East Nordic mo­ nophthongization of /ei/ > /e:/, /ey/ > /0:/, /au/ > /0:/. For details about this develop­ ment, see Faarlund (1978). The mss. which provide our basic evidence for phonological change stand in need of thor­ ough philological evaluation. As a matter of fact, orthography tends to bemore or less con­ servative and may in many cases hide innova­ tions under the guise of stable spellings. For problems with Icelandic manuscripts, see 3.2.1. Among the most important transitions of the "Middle Scandinavian period" (12501 5 50) is the so-called "great quantity shift". This evolutionary trend affected not only the Scandinavian dialects but other Germanic and European languages as well (cf. 2.). In this ar­ ticle, the middle period of West Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese will be contrasted with the phonological system of early Old Ice­ landic, as outlined in art. 101. Here the main focus rests on the phonology of vowels, in­ cluding the stressed and unstressed subsys­ tems.

2.

Towards Early Modern Nordic: An outline of general phonological developments

The early OIcel. vowel system of the First Grammatical Treatise (FGT) represents that of classical Old Norse (Benediktsson ed. 1972; cf. art. 101). It is generally regarded as the point of departure for all the OWN varieties including ONorw., OIcel., OFar. and Nom. This standard system is reflected by the follow­ ing vowel chart: Early ON stressed vowel system: a) long vowels Front Back Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded Close /i:/ /u:/ /y:/ Mid /e:/ /0:/ /0:/ Open /re:/ /a: / /a:/

b) short vowels Front Back Unrounded Rounded U nrounded Rounded Close /i/ /u/ /y/ Mid /e/ /0/ /0/ Open /a/ /a/ c) inherited diphthongs /ey/ [oy] /ei/ [Ei]

/au/ [ajl]

Note that the phonetic manifestation of the three diphthongs varied as to tongue height (aperture) and lip-rounding of the first el­ ement, hence the spelling variants ,....., ,....., < ei > , ,....., < ei > , and < Qu > ,....., < au > . In any case, these variations were non-distinctive (cf. Benediktsson 1968, 288). The original distinction of long versus short vowels was based on quantity rather than quality. But although the distinctive feature of the old system was length, it correlated with the quality feature of tenseness just as in Mo­ dern German. Cf. G bieten 'offer' ['bi:tll] and Zug 'train' ['tsu:k] with long tense vowels, as opposed to bitten 'beg' ['b1tll] and Zuck 'jerk' ['tsuk] with short lax counterparts. This addi­ tional feature of tenseness involved a marked tendency of diphthongization and raising. Laxness, on the other hand, made short vowels susceptible to lowering. When the old quantity-based system broke down, a new quality-based system took over. Vowel length was no longer a distinctive feature but was now determined by word structure, being regulated by the following consonant(s). Con­ sonant length, on the other hand, remained distinctive (for MIcel., cf. Bandle 1956, 91 ff.). Note that vowel length is partly substituted by consonant length, e. g. Norw. r@mme as op­ posed to Icel. rjami (ON rjumi 'cream'). As a consequence of this shift, the four types of quantitative syllable structure were reduced to two (cf. Benediktsson 1968, 63- 65). Change of syllable structure: [VC] '" [V:C] --> [V:C] [VC:] or [VCC] --> [VC:] or [VCC] [V:C:] or [V:CC] ?' The quantity system altered radically with re­ gard to the distribution of length. Originally short syllables of the type [VC] were lengthened, whereas originally over-long syl­ lables of the type [V:C:] or [V:CC] were shortened. This development can be inter­ preted as an equalizing tendency to make all stressed syllables long. Note that earlier pro­ cesses of sporadic lengthening in initial posi-

122. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic I: West Scandinavian

tion and before [-IC, -rC, -nC] are presupposed by their further development along with origi­ nally long vowels, e. g. ON akr > Norw. dker, ON folk > Ice!. folk (Weinstock 1975). The disappearance of the quantity correla­ tion in vowels took place throughout the Nor­ dic area from the 13th and 1 4th c. on (for its impact on Old Nordic metrics, especially drbttkvrett, see Gade 1995). In Icelandic and Faroese, the shift was probably completed in the late 16th c. or earlier (cf. 3.2.1.; 3.3.1.). The qualitative and quantitative changes trig­ gered a complete remodelling of the Old Nor­ dic phonological system and entailed further changes. One of the most systematic and ef­ fectual changes of the vowel system is the "great vowel shift" (from a Swedish perspec­ tive, cf. Widmark 1998; Sand0Y 1999). It is sometimes said to involve a chain reaction (preferably a push-chain; cf. 3 . 3 . 1 .). As far as coalescences are concerned, the mergers of secondary rounded vowels jy(:), eyj with the primary nonrounded ones ji(:), eij are centra!' The partial loss of the feature 'rounding' in West Scandinavian meant a significant simpli­ fication of the old vowel system which had been enriched by a series of umlauts in AN times. These coalescences were part of the overall restructuring tendencies of West Scan­ dinavian phonological systems. The diphthong inventory of OWN had for­ merly been enriched by new rising diphthongs jia, io, iuj. Recall that the inherited ON diph­ thongs jau, ei, eyj (phonetic approximations lou, CI, trY]) had no length distinction, which sets them off from the other groups of diph­ thongs, i. e. the breaking diphthongs and diph­ thongs resulting from hiatus contraction (cf. art. 101). In the Middle Scandinavian period, long vowels were partly diphthongized, result­ ing in new diphthongs. The dialectal distribu­ tion is rather complex, but in general all the West Scandinavian languages share this evolu­ tionary trend (cf. Haugen 1982, 40ff.). In the unstressed vowel system, reduction went on. Icelandic is most conservative in that it continues the historically-based three-unit system of early Old Nordic (see 3.2.2.), where­ as Norwegian, Faroese and Norn tended to simplify it. But all of them retained unstressed jaj (cf. 3.4.). On the whole, the general trend of concentrating the word information in the stressed syllable continues at the expense of post-tonic syllables. In its wake, rules of vowel harmony typical of Old Norwegian cease to operate (for vowel harmony in ONorw., see art. 101). Furthermore, svarabhakti vowels

1083

with different underlying phonetic qualities were inserted in the West Scandinavian lan­ guages. The graphemic representation and phonetic value ofthese epenthetic vowels were partly tied in with general developments of the stressed vocalism, e. g. fronting juj > [Y] in Ice!. (cf. 3.2.1 .). 3.

The Middle Scandinavian period: West Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese and Nom

The following outline confines itselfto the ma­ jor phonological trends of Middle Scandina­ vian. Particular attention will be paid to the phonological developments of Faroese and Norn, which are brought into focus by mod­ ern research, e. g. Barnes (1998) and Braun­ mullerjJacobsen eds. (2001). For a more de­ tailed and comprehensive presentation of the Middle Scandinavian period, see the historical grammars and handbooks, e. g. Haugen (1982). 3.1.

West Norwegian

In contrast to Old Icelandic, Old Norwegian was characterized by considerable diversifica­ tion, forming a dialectal continuum between East and West Scandinavian (cf. arts. 10or.; for a research report on modern dialectology, see Bandle 1962; Hoff 1968; Ringgaard 1978; Sand0Y 1987). The modern dialectal situation of Norwegian may be said to correspond di­ rectly to late Middle Norwegian (cf. Pettersen 1975, 19). Our basic source for this period con­ sists in a huge stock of diplomas which still awaits systematic investigation (cf. H0dneb0 1971). The middle period in which Danish took over as a written language is most central for the language development of Modern Nor­ wegian. As might be expected, this transitional period was linguistically in flux, even though the final stage of disintegration of the Old Norw. language was not reached before 1450. As can be seen in the diplomas of that time, Danish exerts an increasing influence on Nor­ wegian. Similar to the situation of Middle Ice­ landic, the middle period of Norwegian, es­ pecially the timespan between 1450 and 1550, has been ignored by most scholars (for the lack of scholarly interest in MIce!., see 3.2.). As Indreb0 remarks, "it was a time without gla­ mour. Norwegians did not produce any ori­ ginal literature at that time" (1951, 3 1; trans!. mine). For instance, H"'gstad (1905-1942) in

1084

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

his Vestnorske maa/f@re jyre 1350 only occa­ sionally refers to Middle Norwegian, and Seip's Norsk sprakhistorie til omkring 1370 to­ tally excludes the period in question. To be fair, Seip (1934; 1 954) dealt with Middle Nor­ wegian in a series of articles, but the most care­ ful studies in this field are those carried out by Gf0tvedt (1969-1970; 1970) and Pettersen (1975). Unless the painstaking task of evalua­ ting all the (ortho-)graphic and morpho­ phonological variants in the diplomas is ac­ complished, there will be no basis for a com­ prehensive grammar of Middle Norwegian. 3.1.1.

The stressed vowel system o f Middle Norwegian

Due to wide dialectal variation, the linguistic situation in Old and Middle Norwegian has been more complex than in Icel. (cf. 3.2.). The following account therefore simplifies the mat­ ter in highlighting basic developments. In gen­ eral, the incipient trends of Old Norwegian continue into Middle Norwegian to be largely completed at the end of this period. This goes for the quantity shift which involves lengthen­ ing of short syllables: [SkIp] > [ski:p] or [Jj £p:] (cf. 2.). A basis change which affected the vowel systems of Old Norw. and the other West Scandinavian languages was back-rounding of /a:/ (G VerdumpJung), hence the merger with umlauted /0:/, spelled < Q > in nor­ malized ON (cf. Bandle 1973, 41 ; Halvorsen 1984). This change in quality is indicated by orthographic confusion between < 0 > and < a > (partly also [0:] > [0"/0"] > Icel. /au/ but Far. /oa/ (Kiispert 1988, 240 ff.; cf. 3.2.1., 3.3.1.). The evolutionary trend of diphthongization was a natural means of keeping the long and short set of vowels apart and thus maintaining pho­ nological oppositions (cf. Haugen 1970, 68; 1982, 38). Dialects following this trend not only include West Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese but also South Swedish and Gutnish (cf. art. 100). Rounding of /u, u:/ and un­ rounding of /y, y:/ were also tied in with these far-reaching restructurings. In diametrical op­ position to the long vowels, short vowels were susceptible to laxing and further lowering (cf. 2.; for exceptions, see Indreb0 1951, 222ff.). This series of changes which constitutes the

"great vowel shift" resulted in an entire re­ modelling of the old phonological system from the 1 3th c. on. Thus, when open /0:/ got close to /0:/, this in turn was raised to /u:/, /(f):/. As a direct result, long vowels differed in quality from their short counterparts, e.g. /a/ : /0:/ (cf. 2.). A point at issue involves the question of whether the whole development was based on a push-chain, a drag-chain, or neither of them (cf. art. 101). As far as u-umlaut of lal is concerned, the graphemic rendition in ONorw. was < 0 > , not < Q > as in Olcel. This back-rounded vowel /0/ coincided with /0/ due to raising. In MNorw., non-mutated forms (with both lost and retained I-ul) became more and more common, penetrating also into West Norw. manuscripts, e. g. hand for ON hQnd (cf. Wid­ mark 1959 and arts. 100 f.). It is a moot point whether these forms are phonologically or analogically based. On the other hand, u-um­ laut was spreading by way of analogy in para­ digms like Norw. voll, pI. vollar (ON vQllr. vell­ ir). As for other quality changes, both round­ ing and unrounding of high vowels are trace­ able in the Norw. manuscripts, e.g. mykill, firir (ON mikill,fyrir). Other developments in Norw. were clearly dialectally based, e. g. pro­ gressive j-umlaut in eastern Norw. (cf. jrejn gjeelda < ON jaJn. gjalda). For a detailed dia­ chronic study of West Norw. vowel systems, see Kiispert (1988, 21 4 ff.). ,

3 . 1 .2.

The unstressed vowel system of Middle Norwegian

Some Old Norwegian dialects already tended to simplify the standard inventory ofthree un­ stressed vowels toward a two- or one-unit sys­ tem (cf. Indreb0 1951, 241 f.). Vowel weaken­ ing (especially [a], [u] > ["'], [oj) is traceable in Norwegian manuscripts from the end ofthe 12th c. on (cf. Indreb0 1951, 1 1 8 f. ; S0rlie 1969, 26). In its wake, the morphological structure of the synthetic ON language fell successively into decline. For the role of lan­ guage contact in this shift, cf. art. 24. In the dialect of Trondheim as in other northern Norw. dialects, unstressed vowels were apocopated after a heavy syllable bearing pri­ mary stress (cf. bit, vis < ON bita vb. 'bite', visa 'stanza'). Epenthetic vowels are regularly inserted from the 13 th and 14th c. onward, although some earlier attestations are found in Norwe­ gian coin inscriptions from the 1 060s (cf. Seip 1955, 72). On the whole, svarabhakti vowels

122. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic I: West Scandinavian

are regularly represented in writing in the Middle Norwegian period. Owing to dialectal divergence, the rendition of such epenthetic vowels varies greatly in Norwegian in contrast to their uniform treatment in Icelandic and Faroese (cf. H"'gstad 1899, 9 1 f.; Noreen 1923, 1 40). West Norwegian south of Bergen shows < u > or < 0 > , and north of Bergen < i > or < e > , whereas East Norwegian exhibits < a > , < e > , < x > , e.g. WNorw. a/tur, -or, -ir, -er vs. ENorw. oftar, -er, -rer (ON aptr). Regressive assimilation partially adds to this mixed picture (e. g. in Barlaams saga heilagar 'holy', siikir 'such' < ON heilagr, siikr). As indicated by orthography, the regular intrusion of svarabhakti vowels in Norwegian starts in the 1 3th c., to be completed not before 1 400 in early Middle Norwegian (cf. art. 101). Orig­ inally monosyllabic words like Norw. hender, f@t(t)er, biter « ON hendr, j@tr, bitr) retain accent I in contradistinction to original bi- and trisyllabic words. Thus, within a structural framework word accent has attained toneme status at this stage (cf. 3 .1 .4.). When final Irl was lost in Norwegian, the svarabhakti was partly kept word-internally for euphonic rea­ sons, cf. in lento speech Norw. /@ttene mine 'my feet' from ONorw. f@t(e)rnar minar (see 3 . 1 . 3 .). Note that svarabhakti vowels occur word-finally in West Norw. in the present tense of strong verbs (kjeme < ON kemrl k@mr) and in South West Norw. in the adjec­ tive inflexion (ein snille gutt). 3.1.3.

Consonantal developments i n Middle Norwegian

A series of assimilatory processes left their mark upon Norw., e.g. 1m, rs, rll > In:, S:, 1:1 and Iptl > It I (cf. Norw. otter, etter < ON aptr, eptir; Indreb0 1951, 121, 1 38). Further­ more, Ildl, Indl, Imbl were assimilated to 11:/, In:/, Im:1 (cf. art. 101). Most of these processes are characteristic of South-East Norw., but they are attested in West Norw. as well, e. g. < hon> < ON hQnd (Indreb0 1951, 235). Some West Norw. dialects are linguistically close to the insular Nordic languages, sharing with them dissimilations such as /1:1 > Idlj, In:1 > Idnl (Indreb0 1951, 235; Seip 1938). Palatalization of Ig-, k-, sk-I triggered by a following front vowel also occurs in Icel. and Far. (cf. 3.2.3., 3.3.3.). It is clearly related to the 12th c. merger of ON 101 and 101 in the stressed vowel system, which provides a ter­ minus post quem non for its initial stages. Cf. ON k@r, kjQr ['kj 0r] 'election' vs. ON kQr ['k0r]

1085

'sick-bed' from AN * IkuRa-1 and * Ikaru-I (cf. 3.2.1 .). Another long-term process grounded in Old Norw. is consonant reduction (cf. Indreb0 1951, 236 ff.). In the orthography of Middle Norwegian, reduction and loss are only incon­ sistently reflected. The consonants affected by this trend are the dentals la, tl, the nasals In, ml, the velars Ik, yl and the liquid Ir/. Loss of Irj is traceable from the 13th c. onward with an increasing force, especially in West Norwe­ gian. Relevant grammatical categories include adjective inflection (Norw. spake < ON spakir masc.pl.), the suffixed article (Norw. prestane < ON prestarnir), the pronoun (Norw. dei < ON peir), and the verb (Norw. tei, d@me, kasta < ON teir, d@mir, kastar 3 sg.pres.). As for the nasals, loss of final I-nl is often accom­ panied by a marked lowering tendency (cf. Norw. skaia < ON skdlin, opa < opin adj.). Other consonants that underwent loss in final unstressed position were the bilabial nasal/m/ and the original plosives It, kl (> la, y/)o The disappearance of I-m/, especially in the dative ending ON I-urn/, is peculiar to Middle Nor­ wegian. Thus, West Norwegian shows the gen­ eralized form dei (ON peir. peim), whereas East Norwegian has dem (ON peim). The api­ cal spirants 18, 01 were also lost (Haugen 1982, 66). From the 14th c. on, the letter < a > is replaced by < d > and < dh > , later on also < p > by < th > . Phonologically, the voiced fricative /0/ either disappears or becomes a plosive Id/. The voiceless spirant 181 becomes Itj in stressed position (ON pungr, ping > tung, ting), but Idl in unstressed position (ON pu, pinn > du, din). By and large, these transitions pertain to the 14th and 1 5th c. The initial clus­ ter ON IhvI was subjected to two diametrically opposed developments in Norw. The West Scandinavian trend was differentiation of /hv/ > Ikv/, which probably started in the early 1 4th c. in West Norwegian (Indreb0 1951, 233 f.; Seip 1954, 182ff.). East Scandinavian on the other hand tended to drop initial Ihl, Southeast Norwegian being the core region of this development (Indreb0 1951, 23 3 f.; Seip 1954, 182ff. ; Hoff 1965). In principle, the distribution of Ikv-I versus lv-I today corre­ sponds to that of late Middle Norwegian. 3 . 1 .4.

Tonal accent

Modern Norwegian dialects have tonal dis­ tinctions between accent I and II that corre­ spond in principle to those of Swedish (and Danish). For their distribution in Mod.

1086

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Norw., see Kristoffersen (2000, 233-273). Standard works in this field are Kloster Jensen (1961), Garding (1977), and Liberman (1982), among others. The realization oftonal accents or tonemes basically depends on primary stress, and accent II usually requires bi- or trisyllabic words with at least one unstressed or secondary stressed syllable following the primary stressed one. In a diachronic perspec­ tive, the occurrence of accent I in monosyl­ labic words (including those with an epen­ thetic vowel and a suffixed definite article) sug­ gests that the tonal accents came into being before the regular intrusion of svarabhakti vowels and the suffixation of the definite ar­ ticle (for a new theory of origins of the ton­ al accents in Norwegian and Swedish, see d'AlquenlBrown 1 992). In Norwegian, sva­ rabhakti vowels are occasionally encountered from the 1 1 th c. on, although the regular de­ velopment is not completed before the end of the 1 4th c. (cf. 3 .1 .2.). The suffixed article oc­ curs in Old Nordic from 1040 A.D. onwards (cf. Seip 1958, 240). Incidentally, its reanalysis as a proper ending is signalled by forms such as Mod.Far. brunni 'bridge' (dat.sg. of brugv < ON bru) with non-occurrence of "sharp­ ening" (cf. 3.3.3.). Arguably, the phonetic basis of tonal dis­ tributional patterns in Scandinavian was al­ ready provided through syncope, when monosyllabic forms like ON b@ndr from AN *jbo:ndizj arose as tone-bearing units (cf. Kock 1901 ; Hamp 1959). Consequently, the tonal distinction between bitin (fem.sg., part. of bita 'bite') vs. bit-in (neut.pl. from bit 'mor­ sel' with suffixed article) can be traced back to the syncope period. It goes without saying that the rise of tonemes was complex since it was interlinked with other major processes of the Old and Middle Scandinavian period such as quantity shift (cf. 2.). Although any account of tonemicity has to be based on hypothetical reconstruction, it can safely be stated that the preconditions for toneme distinctions in Mod­ ern Norwegian go back to the Middle Ages (cf. Hansson 1983, 130 f.). The fact that such suprasegmental features were operative in most Norwegian dialects (as well as in Swedish and Danish) but not in Icelandic, Faroese and some west Norwegian varieties must be due to the non-distinctiveness of tonality in early Old Nordic and the process of dialect levelling (cf. art. 24; for the lack of lexical tone in the dialect area surrounding Bergen, see Jahr 1999, 1 3 5 f.). Thus, Haugen (1970, 54 f.) ar­ gues that subphonemic variations have been

eliminated in the peripheral areas of outer Scandinavia owing to foreign influence, whereas they became distinctive in an inner Scandinavian core region. Further references to the recent literature on tonal accents in Scandinavian are to be found in Liberman (1982) and Kristoffersen (2000, 233 ff.). 3.2.

Icelandic

Basic research on the historical phonology of Icelandic was carried out among others by Haugen (1958), Liberman (1971), Steblin­ Karnenskij (1958), and Benediktsson (1958) in his doctoral dissertation and in numerous sub­ sequent articles (see Benediktsson 2002). Works such as Jonsson (1901), Johannsson (1924) and l>orolfsson (1925) are clearly out­ dated but still useful as sources. It has been noted in art. 101 that several sound changes in Icelandic started in the late phase of clas­ sical Old Icelandic, i. e. from the 1 3th/14th c. on, and were completed only centuries later. Thus, Bandle (1956, 3) stresses the importance of surveying the middle period of Icelandic (1350-1600), which has largely been neglected by philologists and linguists. Among the works of the 16th c., the so-called Gui5brands­ biblia and the Nyja testamenti Odds Gottskalks­ sonar provide valuable evidence for Middle Icelandic language history (cf. Bandle 1956; Helgason 1929). 3.2. 1 .

The stressed vowel system of Middle Icelandic

The stressed vowel system of late 1 3th and early 1 4th c. Icelandic had undergone several mergers and neutralizations both in the short and in the long subsystems. As early as 1200 A.D., the nasality correlation, which was sub­ ordinate to the quantity correlation, had al­ ready disappeared (cf. art. 101). Further re­ duction of the vowel inventory was brought about by the mergers of short lcel (written < , > ) with lei, and short 101 (written < Q > ) with 101 (Jonsson 1919). These phonological neutralizations resulted in the following inter­ mediate system: Icel. short vowel system of 1 3th/14th c.: Front Back Close Iii IyI lui lei Mid 101 lal Open 101 In the long vowel system, the phoneme la:1 coalesced with 10:1 (written < Q » , and later

122. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic I: West Scandinavian

on in the 1 3 th c. j0:j (written < 0 » merged with j",:j (written < "' » . The feature of rounding was non-distinctive in the low back vowel [0:] (phonemically ja:j), hence the graphemic rendition < 3. > . In any case, lip­ rounding is presupposed by the subsequent diphthongization of jo:j > [0"] > jauj. For back-rounding of ja:j > jo:j in ONorw., see 3 . 1 . 1 . These two successive mergers of long vowels led to the following simplified structure: Ice!. long vowel system of 1 3thjl4th c.: Front Back Close ji:j jy:j ju:j je:j Mid jo:j j",:j Open ja:j [0:] �

This transitional stage conveys a considerable asymmetry between the long and short subsys­ tems and verges on Middle Icelandic. The old length distinction, still operative though, is about to break down (cf. 2.). Major sound changes such as diphthongization, unround­ ing of secondary vowels and the "great quan­ tity shift" were already under way, to be fin­ ished only centuries later. In his careful philological study of Guo­ brandsbiblia, Bandle (1956) points out that phonological processes like diphthongization and unrounding were not completed before the second half of the 1 6th c. As for the so­ called itacism, the unrounding of jy(:)j and jeyj, Bandle (1956, 71 ff., 88 f.) refers to the inverted spellings < y > for < i, i > (e.g. < lyst> for list) and < ey > for < ei > (e.g. < dreyfa > for dreifa). On the basis of partial orthographic confusion between < y > and < i > , he argues that unrounding was not completed before the beginning of the 17th c. However, if the conservatism of Icel. ortho­ graphy and the scribal traditions are consider­ ed, it may well be argued that the mergers of jy(:), eyj with ji(:), eij were carried out in most Icelandic dialects in the middle of the 16th c., even if the distinction remained longer in the peripheral region of the Northwest (cf. Bene­ diktsson 1961 j62, 98; Haugen 1982, 41 f.). In conjunction with unrounding, mention must also be made of fronting juj > [Y] (spelled < u » , which occurs both in stressed and un­ stressed position (cf. Mod.!ce!. suour ['sY:oYr] < ON suor 'south'), and similarly in the diph­ thong jauj > [0Y] > [0i] (spelled < au > ; cf. Mod.!ce!. brauo ['bf0io] < ON brauo 'bread'). Most of these changes were not reflected in the spelling. As a matter of fact, (ortho-)gra­ phy sticks to old word images instead of fully and consistently representing the underlying

1087

innovations. Hence, writing systems may mir­ ror older stages of the language, with the sounds having altered (cf. Werner 1996, 51). The same is probably true of diphthongi­ zation. From the 1 3thjl4th c. on, the non-high long vowels were diphthongized: ja:j > jo:j > jauj, jo:j > jouj and j",:j > jaij. Never­ theless, these diphthongs remained distinct from the three old diphthongs jau, ei, eyj, e.g. Mod.!ce!. laus ['lreys] 'loose' vs. las ['laus] 'bolt' from AN *jlaus-j : *jla:(m)s-j, and Mod.!ce!. geil ['gj eil] 'cattle track' vs. grela ['gj aila] 'wind' from AN *jgail-j : *jga:lij-j. The special transition of je:j via [e'] to jiej avoided the coincidence with original leil through the inversion of the two diphthongal components (cf. l>orolfsson 1929 a; Benedikts­ son 1959, 298). The intermediary diphthongal stage [ei] left its trace in spelling in 13 th and 1 4th c. manuscripts, e. g. for let (l>orolfsson 1929a; Benediktsson (1961j62, 96). With regard to sonority, the resulting sequence jie(:)j or jje(:)j (written < e > in Mod.!ce!. as it was in OIcel.) rises, whereas all the other West Nordic diphthongs are falling. As far as the other diphthongizations are concerned, orthography provides only scarce evidence for phonological change since the graphemic ren­ dering of jauj, jouj, jaij remained basically un­ changed, viz, < 3. > , < 0 > , < x > . Bandle (1956, 35 f., 76 f.) points to the occasional spellings < atla > (for retia 'intend') and < hvenar > (for hvenrer 'when'). Thesepresup­ pose a diphthongal stage jaij, since shortening of monophthongal j",:j would have yielded jej. Further indirect proof of diphthongization of j",:j > jaij is furnished by orthographic con­ fusion of breinn 'farmstead' (acc.sg. with suf­ fixed article) vs. baginn 'hardship' (nom.sg. with suffixed article). Due to diphthongization of jaj before [j] (graphemically rendered as < g > ) both words became homophonous the former frequently being spelled baginn and the latter breinn (cf. Benediktsson 1959, 298f.; 1961 j62, 85). As for the dating, it is reasonable to argue that Icel. diphthongization was large­ ly completed by the middle of the 1 6th c., even ifpoets partly stick to the old monophthongs in the Rimur. It seems plausible that the two processes of diphthongization and short syllable lengthen­ ing, [VC] > [V:C], which will be discussed next, were intertwined and occurred roughly contemporaneously. On the whole, qualitative and quantitative changes were tied in with each other, rather than motivated by linear serial developments (i. e. chain reactions such

1088

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

as push-chains or drag-chains; cf. art. 101). This leads us to another major development of the Middle Icelandic vowel system, viz. the breakdown of the old quantity correlation (l>6r6Ifsson 1929b; Benediktsson 1963; 1968; Gade 1995). This "great quantity shift" meant that vowel quantity now was automatically regulated by the syllable structure (cf. 2.). Hence, vowel length was allophonic rather than phonemic. When the distinctive feature of vowel length disappeared, the feature of tenseness compensated for this. As a result of the neutralization of the quantity opposition, the qualitative difference between [i:] : [I], and [u:] : [u], which had been present since early Old Nordic, was phonemicized. To put it dif­ ferently, the distinction between short vs. long /i/ and /u/ was replaced by a new phonemic contrast between lax /I, Y/ vs. tense /i, u/ (cf. Benediktsson 1959, 300 ff.). This shift meant a reinterpretation of distinctive features with no reduction of phonemic contrasts. It is im­ portant to note that the disappearance of the quantity correlation did not entail a merger of short and long vowels, since the long vowels were diphthongized. At this final stage, the vowel system of Mlcel. consisted of eight units, as seen in the following chart (for a distinctive feature analysis, see Haugen 1958, 66-69; Benediktsson 1959, 301-303). Standard vowel system of 16th c. Icel: Unrounded Rounded Close [i] < I > [u] < u > Close-mid [Y] < u > [I] < i > Open-mid [£] < e > [ao] < 0 > Open [a] < a > [0] < 0 > With regard to aperture, the position of the phoneme /0/ in this system is indeed striking. Following Benediktsson (1959, 296), /0/ had a marked tendency of lowering so that its dis­ tinctive feature constellation in the Icel. vowel system had significantly changed. The vowel chart above represents the standard system at the end of the Middle Icelandic period (16th c.). It remained basically unchanged until Mod.!ce!. times (cf. Braunrniiller 1998, 161 f.). The ongoing use of old quantity oppositions in Rimur of the 16th and 17th c. may be char­ acterized as archaizing and by no means ex­ cludes an earlier completion of this structural change (cf. also Karlsson 1 964). Incidentally, the fronting of short lax [u] to [v], which af­ fected both the stressed and the unstressed vowel system, was related to the unrounding of /y/ and consequently antedated the mid16th c. The long back vowel OIce!' /u:/, on

the other hand, retained its tongue-body fea­ tures [ + high] and [ + tense] (phonetically [ul) until Mod.!ce!. times. A simplified vocalism with confusion of [I] and [£], and [Y] and [ao] is found in the East, the Southwest and the western part of North Iceland. This variety is designated as jiamreli 'slack-jawed speech' as opposed to rettmreli 'correct speech' (cf. Benediktsson 1961/62, 84). Phonetically, it is characterized by the mergers of [I] with [e] and [y] with [0], respect­ ively (cf. Braunmiiller 1998, 159 f.). Thus, Ice!. viour 'wood' and veour 'weather', orjiugur (pI. of fiuga 'fly') and fiogur (p!. of fiaga 'flake') become homophones, their standard pronun­ ciation being ['vI:OYr], ['ve:oYr] and ['flY:yYr], ['fl0:yYr], respectively. This allows us to set up the following vowel chart of Ice!. with further reference to the Icel. articulation in the USA and in Canada (lowered variants of [I], [Y] are marked as [,], [yl): The Ice!. vowel system based Unrounded Close [i] Mid [,] < i , y, e > Open [a] < a >

on fial11Xli: Rounded [u] < u > [y] < u, 0 > [0] < 0 >

However, as the label jiamteli indicates, this dialectal speech is regarded as vulgar, and its origin among common fishermen accounts for the low social status of this specific feature. It has successfully been fought against and eradicated through education and language planning (Jahr 1989, 106-108). 3.2.2.

The unstressed vowel system of Middle Icelandic

Benediktsson (1962a) showed that changes of graphemic rendering, viz. < e > - < 0 > - < a > to < i > - < u > - < a > , had nothing to do with the unstressed vowels themselves but were oc­ casioned by interpretational shifts. For the OIcel.-ONorw. system of unstressed vowels, see the following chart: Early ON unstressed vowel system: Front Back /0/ Mid-high /e/ Low /a/ Phonetic rendition of ON unstressed vowels: Front Back [I] Mid-high [u] Low [a] This three-unit vowel system remained basi­ cally unchanged in Icelandic but was subjected

122. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic I: West Scandinavian

to further reduction in Norwegian and Faroese (cf. 3.1 .2., 3 .3.2.). As a result offront­ ing /u/ > [Y] in the Middle Ages, the distinc­ tive feature in the unstressed mid-high vowels was rounding rather than frontedness (cf. Haugen 1982, 42). Unstressed vowel system of Mlcel.: Unrounded Rounded [Y] Mid-high [I] Low [a] As regards svarabhakti intrusion, Icelandic in­ serts an epenthetic vowel [Y] into the conso­ nant cluster /-Cr(-)/. Occasional spellings such as rikur for rikr 'rich' indicate that the devel­ opment had started shortly before 1 300. Al­ though the regular orthographic representa­ tion < -ur > does not prevail before the sec­ ond half of the 1 6th c., it is generally believed that this epenthesis was complete in the late 1 4th c. (see porkelsson 1863; Noreen 1923, 14O f.). Examples with < u > are Ice!. dagur 'day' (ON dagr) or brekur 'books' (ON b@kr); very occasionally it is spelled with < 0 > , e. g. ockor og ockar B@rnum '(for) us and our children' (Bandle 1956, 69). In the 16th c. Guobrandsbiblia, epenthetic < u > before /-r/ is fairly regularly encountered (see Bandle 1956, 1 56 f.). As with the unstressed subsystem in general, the phonetic development of epen­ thetic [Y] is interlinked with processes in the stressed vowel system, especially laxing and fronting of /u/ to [Y]. 3.2.3.

Consonantal developments in Middle Icelandic

Changes in the Icel. consonant system are fewer than in the vowel system and are usually not reflected in the orthography. Basic changes include the West Scandinavian dis­ similations /1:/ > /dl/, /n:/ > /dn/, and /rn/ > /rdn/, /rl/ > /rdlj (cf. Sommerfelt 1952; Be­ nediktsson 1961 /62; for MIce!. spelling evi­ dence, see Bandle 1956, 91 ff.). A conspicuous feature of Ice!. (shared with Far. and some Norw. dialects) consists in preaspiration of geminates, e.g. Ice!. bakki ['pahkI] 'slope'. It is part of a systematic shift which involves: (1) devoicing of /b d g/ > [p Ii g]; (2) postas­ piration of /p t k/ > [ph th kh]; (3) preaspira­ tion of /p: t: k:/ > ['p ht hk] (cf. Steblin­ Karnenskij 1 960). Hence the old phonological distinctions between voiced, unvoiced and long plosives are maintained. Mention must also be made of palatalization of /g-, k-, sk-/ > [gj - kj -, skd before front vowels, which '

1089

went further in Far. (see 3.3. 3.). The transition of initial /hv-/ > /kv-/ with the reinforcement of both elements (differentiation) has already been discussed for MNorw. in 3.1.3. (cf. Einars­ son 1986, 33). While this particular process of consonant strengthening is datable to the 14th c. in Norw., it is attested much later in Icel., viz. not until the latter half of the 1 8th c. (Be­ nediktsson 1961/62, 105; Karlsson 1965). Chapman (1962) brings into focus particular parallel developments ofIce!. and West Norw. as mentioned above (cf. arts. 100 f.).

3.3.

Faroese

Unlike Icelandic, Faroese lacks a continuous manuscript tradition throughout the Middle Ages (cf. arts. 10O f.). OFar. is mostly recon­ structed on the basis of classical ON. Never­ theless, there are some ON mss. from the later Middle Ages which show specific traces of Faroese (cf. Kristensen 1925; S0rlie 1936; 1965; Helgason 1951-52). The period of Middle Faroese also remains largely unattes­ ted, since there are no reliable Faroese texts before 1600/1700. This means that the lan­ guage history of both Old and Middle Faroese relies heavily on comparative evidence and re­ construction. Moreover, Modern Faroese - in contradistinction to Modern Icelandic - is characterized by much dialectal divergence (Werner 1964/65; 1968b; Jorgensen 1973). As for the linguistic status, Werner (1966, 57) reckons with the possibility that "Old Norse on the Faroes around 1 200 was already a West Nordic dialect group, considerably distinct from (Classical) Old Icelandic." It is note­ worthy that linguistic reconstruction confirms a high age for several Faroese sound changes, which sets this variety clearly apart from OIce!' and MIce!. (cf. Hansson 1983; Werner 1 996). For a diachronic outline of Faroese phonology, partly based on minimal pairs and commutation tests, see Hansson (1983), Sn",dal (1986) and Rischel (1992). Werner (1987) provides a detailed survey of the dia­ chrony and dialect geography of Faroese; cf. furthermore his research reports (in Werner 1 964/65; 1991). 3.3.1.

The stressed vowel system o f Middle Faroese

As mentioned above, modern research aims at proving that particular Faroese develop­ ments go back to ON times. Thus, an ancient

1090

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Far.lIcel. split is based on u-umlaut of lal (cf. Hamre 1941; Werner 1996, 44). Before nasal consonants, the resulting 101 merged with 101, which is pronounced [0] in Mod.Far. and gra­ phemically rendered as < 0 > , e. g. Mod.Far. land 'countries' < ON IQnd [bnd] < AN */landu-I (cf. Werner 1996, 44). In other po­ sitions, 101 changed regularly to 101 in Far. (cf. Mod.Far. barn ['b0I1Jt] 'children' < ON bQrn ['born] < AN * Ibarnu-/). Interestingly, Faroese did not participate in the Old Nordic merger of 10:1 and 1"':1 (Mod.!cel. laiC:)]; cf. 3.2.). In Faroese, ON long 10:1 (orthographically < 0 » continued to be rounded. Since short and long 10(:)1 in Middle Faroese merged due to the operation of short syllable lengthening, the outcome was Mod.Far. 10(:)1 (phonetically [re, 0:]). This was further rendered as < 0 > ; cf. Mod.Far. d@ma ['d0:ma] 'judge', d@mdi ['dremdI] pret. 'judged' as opposed to Mod.!cel. dEma ['daima], dEmdi ['daimdI]. These chan­ ges permit us to set up the following vowel system for late OFar. (cf. Werner 1996, 45): Far. short vowel system of the 1 3 th/14th c.: Close Mid Open

Front Iii IyI lei /0/

lal

Back lui 101 101

Compared to contemporaneous Icelandic, Faroese possessed one more unit in its inven­ tory of short vowels, viz. 101. As regards the long vowels, the nasal correlation had disap­ peared early, so that the long nasal vowels were articulated orally (non-nasal). This loss of nasality pertains to an early stage of the OWN languages (cf. Hansson 1983, 1 42). In the 12th/13th c., a change affected all the Old West Nordic languages, viz. the back-round­ ing of la:1 > [0:] which caused yet another merger in the long vowel system (cf. Bene­ diktsson 1970, 108 and 3 . 1 . 1 .). !t is note­ worthy that northern Far. dialects lack this feature, as do Gutnish and Northswedish dia­ lects (cf. art. 100). This long rounded back vowel is rendered as < 3. > in Modern Faroese, as is the case in classical OIcei. (cf. Mod.Far. rao ['roa] 'advices' (nom./acc.pl.) < ON rQo ['ro:5] < AN * lra:5u/). These changes permit us to set up the following vowel system for late OFar. (cf. Werner 1996, 44 f.): Far. long vowel system of the Front Close li:1 ly:1 Mid le:1 10:1 I"':; Open

1 3 th/14th c.: Back lu:1 10:1 la:1 [0:] �

As with the short vowels, this system con­ tained one more unit than the corresponding Icel. one. The vocalism outlined above may be said to verge upon Middle Faroese. The next major steps of development were brought about by the following changes. The mid-high front vowel le:1 was lowered to 1"':/, written < "' > in Mod.Far. (e.g. Mod.Far.!re ['fca] 'cattle' < ON!e < AN */fehu/). Traces of the merger of le:1 with I"':; are found from 1400 onward (cf. Hamre 1 944, 21 f.; Amund­ sen 1964, 56 f.). !tacism, i.e. unrounding of ly(:)1 > li(:)1 and/0yl > loil [oi(:)], also occurs from the 1 4th c. on, partly paralleling the situ­ ation in Icelandic, e.g. Mod.Far. synir [lsI:mr] < ON synir 'sons' and may ['mJi] < ON mey 'maiden' (cf. H"'gstad 1917, 104; Hamre 1944, 32 f.). This development is complemented by fronting of originally long lu:1 > [r] in the wake of syllable shortening, e.g. Mod.Far. bUgv ['bIgy] < ON bU 'farm'. The diphthongization in Middle Faroese enriched the vowel system by producing nu­ merous additional diphthongs (cf. Rischel 1967/68). As in the case of Icelandic, this pho­ nological change did not by and large affect the orthography (cf. 3.2.1.). The diphthong­ izations of long vowels in Faroese were as fol­ lows (cf. Hansson 1983, 143): (1) la:1 > [0:] > loal loa] (rendered as < a > ; cf. Mod.Far. batur ['boatur] < ON batr 'boa!'); (2) 10:1 > loul lou] (rendered as < 0 > ; cf. Mod.Far. sOl ['soul] < ON sOl 'sun'); (3) lu:1 > Iyul [»u] (rendered as < it > ; cf. Mod.Far. hils ['h»us] < ON hils 'house'); (4) 1"':/, le:1 > leal [Ea] (rendered as < '" > ; cf. Mod.Far. mrela ['mcala] < ON mrela 'speak' and Mod.Far. !re ['fca] < ON!e 'cattle'); (5) li:/, ly:1 > luil [UY] (rendered as ; cf. Mod.Far. bita ['buyta] < ON bita 'bite' and kyr ['kUYr] < ON kyr 'cows'). Following mainstream re­ search, a date around 1 500-1 600 - close to the corresponding process in Icelandic - is proposed for these diphthongizations (for more detail, see Hansson 1983, 143 f.). Butthis view is challenged by Werner (1996, 51) on the basis of his new chronology of palatal­ ization and diphthongization processes: "A diphthongization similar to the present day pronunciation is thus to be postulated for a time before 1200". To conclude, the dating of diphthongization in Faroese is a moot point calling for further investigation. As in the case of Icelandic, old and new diphthongs were not confused in Faroese. Werner (1996, 54) argues that the Old Nordic diphthongs lei, ey, aul had undergone their

122. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic I: West Scandinavian

typical Faroese developments fairly early. ON laul changed to Far. leYI [£i(:)] with its onset triggering palatalization, e.g. Mod.Far. keypa ['tJ£ipa] < ON kaupa 'buy' parallel to genta ['d3£nta] 'girl' and skera ['Je:ra] 'cut'. ON leil continued as Far. leil laiC:)] (written < ei > ; cf. Mod.Far. bein ['bain] < ON be;n 'bone'). But it turned dialectally to [oi(:)] in the northern half of the isles (thereby merging with the con­ tinuation of ON ley/). ON leYI became Far. loil [oi(:)] (written is com­ mon to Far. and Icel., its sound value in Mod.Far. being [u], e.g. Mod.Far. batur ['boatur]. Forms such as systur, drettur (ON systr, dOtr) occur in Bnev um Skuvoyarsystrar­ nar and Diplomatarium Freroense from 1 400 A.D. (Hagstrom 1961 , 107). 3.3.3.

Consonantal developments in Middle Faroese

Velar palatalization of Ik-, g-, sk-I > [tJ-, d3-, S-] before front vowels is one ofthe most char­ acteristic processes in Faroese (Haugen 1982, 71; Werner 1 996). Palatalization and diph­ thongization are interlinked developments which Far. and Icel. have partly in common (cf. art. 100). However, there are severe prob­ lems as to the nexus between vowel shifts and

1092

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

palatalization, especially in conjunction with the three diphthongs lai, oi, aul inherited from ON (cf. 3 . 3 . 1 .). Apart from palatalization, a central devel­ opment in Far. (with ancient typological par­ allels such as ON tveggja and Go. twaddje) is the so-called "sharpening" (G VerschiirJung) resulting in the intercalation of /-g-/ in hiatus and word-final position, e.g. Mod.Far. siggja 'see' < AN * Ise:an-I (ON sja), trugva 'believe' < AN * Itru:an-I (ON trua), and brugv 'bridge' < AN * Ibru:-I (ON bru) (cf. Matras 1952; Zachariasen 1976). Other consonantal changes in Faroese may be listed as follows: (1) the dissimilations 11:1 > Idl/, /n:1 > Idn/, Irnl > Idn/, e.g. Mod.Far. hall 'hall' ['h01i1]; (2) consonant strengthening of Ihvl > Ikv/, e.g. Mod.Far. hvitur 'white' ['kvuYlur]; (3) loss of Ihl in the initial clusters Ihl-, hr-I, e.g. Mod.Far. leypa, reinur vs. Icel. hlaupa, hreinn; (4) I-ml > I-nl in final unstressed position in inflexional items, e. g. Mod.Far. honum ['honun] < ON honum dat. 'him'; (5) 18-1 > It-I in initial stressed position, e.g. Mod.Far. tu, telr < ON pu 'you', pelr 'they' (Hagstrom 1970); (6) consonant weakening of 18-1 > Ih-I predominantly in demonstrative pronouns, e.g. Mod.Far. hesln, hetta < ON pessl 'this', petta 'that', and in a few adverbs, e.g. har < ON par 'there' (for more examples, see H"'gstad 1917, 84); (7) assimilation of clusters, e.g. Mod.Far.Jylgdl ['frlgr] 'followed'; (8) loss of I-gl and I-51 (partly from ON I-t!) both in final and intervocalic position, often in con­ junction with intervocalic epenthesis, e.g. Mod.Far. vegur [Ive:vur] 'way' (for consonant reduction in Far., see RischeI 1972). Note that many evolutionary trends of Faroese are shared with the other West Scandinavian lan­ guages, and some conspicuous developments such as sharpening (intercalation of I-gv-/) and consonant weakening (/8-1 > Ih-/) also occur in Norn (see 3.4.). A central feature of insular Nordic is pre­ aspiration. In Mod.Far., the two stop series Ip t kl and Ib d gl are generally distinguished by preaspiration but are otherwise phoneti­ cally equal, thus ["p ht hk] vs. [I;> g g] (cf. Werner 1963). The former contrast of voiced vs. unvoiced stops is replaced by a contrast of non-aspirated vs. aspirated stops, or voiced vs. unvoiced nasals/liquids preceding the stops. This remodelling of the phonemic sys­ tem in Far. is paralleled by Icel. (see 3.2.3.). A survey of the consonant inventory of Far. is presented by Haugen (1982, 73) and Hans­ son (1983).

3.4.

The Norn language

Norn was spoken on the Orkney and Shetland Islands until the 17th/18th c. It provides a Nordic example of language death (cf. arts. 24, 88 and 100). Fragments of this idiom per­ tain to a period when it was no longer spoken (for the principal sources, see Barnes 1998, 16, 20). Note that there is considerable dialectal diversification in the late 1 9th and early 20th c. material (cf. Barnes 1998, 20 f.). Although the Norn fragments involve a number of in­ tricate phonological problems, it is possible to outline some major developments. With re­ gard to the linguistic status, Barnes remarks that "Norn shares a number of retentions and innovations with dialects of south-west Nor­ way" (1998, 17). There are two salient features of the vowel system as they appear in the records of the 18th c. (cf. Barnes 1984, 356ff.). First, there is some clear spelling evidence for West Scan­ dinavian back-rounding and subsequent diph­ thongization: ON la:1 > [0:] > [0", 0"], e. g. Norn , Mod.Far. a ['oa] < ON a 'on' in contrast to Norn < ro > , Mod.Far. rbi5 ['roa] 'advice' and Norn < fro > , Mod.Far.Jra ['froa] 'from' (cf. 3.3.1.). Second, referring to the unstressed vowel system, /a/ is retained as in the other West Scandinavian languages. Also note the following consonantal changes in Norn: (1) dissimilation of Irnl > Idn/, /n:1 > Idn/, 11:1 > Idlj (cf. 3.3.3.); (2) assimilation of Ifni > Imnl if a further consonant follows this cluster, e.g. 'equally good' (cf. ON jaJn-goor); (3) lenition of Ip t kl > Ib d gl in intervocalic and final postvocalic position; (4) intercalation of I-g-I as in Far., e.g. Norn < sheug > , Mod.Far. sjogvur (ON sjor) 'sea' (cf. 3.3. 3.); (5) I-ml > I-nl in final unstressed position, e.g. Norn < honon > , Mod.Far. honum ['honun] < ON honum dat. 'him'; (6) consonant weakening of 18-1 > Ih-I > 0 (zero reduction) in certain demonstratives and adverbs, e. g. Norn < ita > « * Ihitta/), Mod.Far. hetta < ON petta 'this'. Note that this kind of reduction occurs in various Scan­ dinavian dialects. For further developments, as evidenced in the late 19th and early 20th c. material of Norn, see Barnes (1988, 20). On the whole, the Norn language follows the gen­ eral trends of West Scandinavian, sharing in particular the innovations of Faroese: Everyday speech in Orkney and Shetland [ . .] ap­ pears to have developed in much the same way as Faroese and, to a lesser extent, the more con­ servative dialects ofwestern Norway: only limited

122. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic I: West Scandinavian Danicization is evident, while the essentials of the inflexional system seem still to have been intact in the sixteenth century (Barnes 1998, 16).

4.

Conclusion

As outlined above, many phonological devel­ opments of the West Scandinavian languages are grounded in the Old Nordic and particu­ larly the Middle Scandinavian period. Many of the changes in question were long-lasting, making their way into the language systems successively. Middle Norwegian faced a situ­ ation of particular diversity, abounding in (ortho-)graphic and morphophonological variants. To judge from the extant manu­ scripts, Middle Icelandic is clearly less diverse than Middle Norwegian, but there is still con­ siderable fluctuation in spelling (cf. Bandle 1956). Richness in spelling variants and ortho­ graphic confusion are characteristic features of a transitional period. To conclude, a series of evolutionary processes of the middle period is founded on late ON developments which were carried out in all the West Scandinavian languages, e. g. quantity shift, back-rounding of /a:/, diphthongization, itacism, palatali­ zation, consonant dissimilation and probably also preaspiration. The rise and phonologi­ zation of tonal patterns in Nordic, on the other hand, is restricted to continental Scan­ dinavian (cf. 3.1 .4.). But despite the parallel developments, the close Olcel.-ONorw. bonds outlined by Chapman (1 962) were partially broken in the middle Scandinavian period. (For the nature of interrelations between the different ON dialects, see arts. 100 f.). After this period, we face separate languages with divergent linguistic developments rather than dialects in close contact. The development of the Scandinavian languages from the 1 5th/ 1 6th c. on confirms this general trend of di­ vergence even within the West Nordic group consisting of Icel., Far. and West Norw. With regard to morphophonological reduction and the shift toward an analytic type of language, it is evident that Icel. and Far. provide exam­ ples of low-contact varieties which are static and conservative compared to their Norwegian counterparts (cf. Trudgill 1989 and art. 24). 5.

Literature (a selection)

d'Alquen, Richard/Brown, Kevin (1992), The origin of Scandinavian accents I and II. In: On Germanic linguistics. Issues and methods (eds. I. Rauch et al.). Berlin/New York, 61 79.

1093

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Michael Schulte, Kristiansand (Norway)

123. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic II: Danish

123.

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Introduction Vowel changes Consonant changes Conclusion Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

The majority of the phonological develop­ ments discussed in this article were well under way or even completed before the middle of the 14th c.; cf. art. 102. As no written source from the period in question (ca. 1 350-1 550) tells us explicitly how Danish was pronounced information must be deduced from the ortho � graphy, which was far from stable. For example, the occasional 1 5th c. spelling te! for the ODan. preposition til reveals the open vowel which is characteristic of Mod.Dan. speech, though it is still concealed by standard orthography; similarly, tal 'twelve' (ca. 1 375) demonstrates the omission of final /v/ after /1/ which IS common in the pronunciation of tolv nowadays as well, while the curious 1 5th c. occurrence hwalff must be interpreted as evi­ dence of the same fact, being an inverted spel­ ling of hwal 'whale' (Mod.Dan. hval). Among the phonological developments completed before the middle of the 16th c the opening of short vowels may be considered important on a par with the postvocalic weakening of stops and vocalization of voiced fricatives. The latter consonant change caused several new diphthongs to appear which are still part of standard Danish speech; cf. art. 179 where 1 1 such phonemes are accounted for. During the same time the ODan. mon­ ophthongs /e:/ and /0:/ (developed from ON ei. au. ey) as well as /0:/ underwent widespread dlphthongization. With a few doubtful excep­ tions, however, these new diphthongs were not accepted in what was, eventually, considered standard Danish; for their role in 20th c. dia­ lects, see art. 187. Without completely disregarding dialects this article will focus on phonological devel� opments preserved in later standard Danish. Examples, whether quoted from medieval mss. or from printed books (after 1 495), will be dated. Since it is impossible to establish the exact pronunciation at that time, phonemic rather than phonetic script will be used if necessary.

2.

Vowel changes

The mid-14th c. vowel system presented in art. 102 (Table 102.2.) was preserved as such during the next two hundred years (and up to the present, cf. art. 179), but many changes in the details took place over time. 2.1.

Opening

By and large, the characteristic Danish open­ ing of short vowels was completed by 1400. However, the original high vowel was often preserved before /g/, /k/ and (palatalized) /1/, as well as before /n/ in a few words, cf. Mod.Dan. pronunciation of e. g. gik 'went', skik 'custom', sild 'herring', skulle 'have to', kunne 'be able to'. On the other hand, opening was generally not indicated in the spelling, ex­ cept (1) when the vowel in question was lengthened, like /i > e:/ in leve 'live' and /y > 0:/ in kl@ve 'cleave'; and (2) before /5/, e.g. Jred 'peace', I@d 'complexion' (after stop weakening, cf. ODan. Iyt 'colour'). Neverthe­ less, contrary to the general tendency, the fol­ lowing variant spellings show the same vowel quality as in Mod.Dan. speech: ca. 1475 Jesk 'fish', ca. 1490 kleppe 'rock', ca. 1500 ansect 'face', 1530 bellede 'picture' with /i > e/, ex­ ceptIOnally even ca. 1480 Jrredh 'peace' with /1 > e > £/; 15th c. sand 'sin', 1451 stocke 'piece' with /y > 0/; 1 397 onder 'under', 1488 row (dialect for standard rug) 'rye' with /u > 0/, 1550 plaacke 'pick' possibly with /u > 0 > 0/; 1529 aaben 'open' with /0 > 0/. Opening of the long vowel /0:/ to /0:/ when followed by original /p/ or /k/ has normally been left unmarked in orthography up to the present. But the development is revealed by the following variant spellings: 1 5th c. klaagh 'intelligent', ca. 1460 raabe 'cry out', 1 496 baagh 'book', 1509 naaget 'something', cf. Mod.Dan. klag. rabe. bog, naget. 2.2.

Closing

The opposite development could take place especially in palatal surroundings, the most important change being /e > i/, e. g. 1 400 hilsre 'greet', ca. 1475 ild 'fire' (cf. Sw. hiilsa, eld). 'Yhile thiss[C 'these' occurred only occa­ sIOnally about 1300, thess[C was still current

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XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

after 1500, being superseded by disse only from ca. 1550 (cf. Sw. dessa). It is doubtful whether 1529 Jriste 'tempt', which is still standard spelling, has ever been pronounced with Iii; on the contrary, ca. 1300 Jrrestre. which seems to corne close to Mod.Dan. pro­ nunciation, shows opening of the original vowel le:1 (cf. Sw.Jresta), so Jriste may be an inverted spelling on the model offtsk etc. pro­ nounced with lei. The pronoun de Idil 'they' is a special case, probably developed in un­ accented syntactic positions; being highly fre­ quent, its traditional spelling remained the, later de, but the vowel change Ie > il is ap­ parent from the 1 5th c. spellings thy or thii. 2.3.

Rounding and unrounding

When ODan. la:1 was rounded to 10:1 well be­ fore 1300 (cf. art. 102), a new phoneme came into existence, the original phoneme !a! being simultaneously lengthened to la:1 (cf. Hansen 1962, 107 - 1 09). The distinction was made, however rarely, in written sources as early as ca. 1300, e.g. bathre 'to bathe' (cf. OWN bailask) vs. bothre 'both' (cf. OWN Milir). Only because the spelling for centuries wavered between, on the one hand, the tradi­ tional < a > or the increasingly frequent < aa > (the grapheme that was to prevail in modern orthography up to 1948) and, on the other hand, the sporadic < 0 > , is it possible to ascertain that there was a medieval !;):! in words which nowadays contain < 3. > , e.g. 1 5th c. boodh 'boat', hor 'hair', mOlJ1eth 'month', oore 'oar', po 'on', vopn 'weapon'. While < 0 > might be written in mondagh 'Monday' as late as 1 568, original la:1 in this word (cf. OWN manadagr, Sw. mandag) was widely shortened, resulting in Mod.Dan. man­ dag. Rounding of short lal took place after the labial consonant Iwl, attested by ca. 1300 woghxn 'carriage', woxx 'grow' and later by e. g. 1 5th c. wokthre 'watch, guard', opwognre 'wake up', swort ( > 1 506 sort) 'black'. Simi­ larly, lal was lengthened and rounded before Ir5/, beginning with ca. 1 300 worthre, a variant of warthre 'become' « wrerthre; note Iw-/), and continued in e. g. 1 5th c. gordh 'farm', horth 'hard'. But it is still a moot point whether rounding of lal before < ld > , < nd > , < ng > was also preceded by lengthening (cf. Hansen 1962, 1 3 5 f.). Round­ ing of lal was a general sound change before < ld > , e.g. 1387 holdIe 'hold', 1 5th c. kold 'cold', oldinghre 'old men' (except before

< ldr > : ca. 1 3 50 oldrigh remained dialectal for aldrig 'never') and was also completed be­ fore < nd > in e.g. 15th c. bond 'string', hond 'hand', while 1397 stonde 'stand' represents a dialectal tendency that was still at work about 1550. Though widespread, rounding of lal be­ fore < ng > , e.g. 1 5th c. Jongre 'catch', gonge 'go', mongx many', twongh 'compulsion', did not survive in standard Danish (unlike Sw. Janga, tvang etc.). Forms such as ca. 1475 hymmaerighre 'heaven' may seem to prove rounding of origi­ nal Ii!; however, scribal convention allowed < y > to represent Iii as well as Iy/. In many cases, therefore, the spelling is inconclusive. Rounding of Iii did occur, but it is recogniz­ able only if Iyl was subsequently opened to 10/, as in e.g. 1 5th c. m@ste 'lose' (Mod.Dan. miste), s@ljJ 'silver', t@mmer 'timber'; however, it cannot be ruled out that 101 was in fact the result of Iii having been opened to lei in the first place. Rounding of le:1 to 10:1 took place e. g. in ca. 1400 sw@pre 'wrap up' (cf. Sw. svepa). The opposite movement, unrounding of 101 to lEI, occurring rarely in the early 14th c., was completed only about 1 500 in e. g. gemmae 'hide, keep' and glremmre 'forget' (cf. Sw. gamma, glamma). 2.4.

Palatalization and depalatalization of pure vowels

Having begun before 1 300, palatalization of lui to Iyl before (palatal) Inl increased during the 15th c., e.g. ca. 1400 syndIer 'broken', ca. 1500 brynd 'well', 1510 tynd 'thin'. Further opening of Iyl to 101 (as in modern pronun­ ciation) appeared in ca. 1490 s@ndher. br@ndh, while tynd became standard orthography (th@nd in a 1601 manuscript seems to be unique); similarly, ca. 1300 tynnre 'barrel' be­ came 1403 tonne (cf. Sw. sander, but brunn, tunn, tunna). Depalatalization of 101 to 101 as in 1 3 50 ho­ ring 'hearing' remained almost exclusively dia­ lectal. One important exception is 15th c. OUIer 'over' ifit developed from contemporary @wer ( < yftr; cf. Sw. over); but the 101 may be in­ fluenced by cognate words like olna 'above'. 2.5.

Palatalization of rising diphthongs

The diphthongs concerned are ODan. Ija(:)1 and Iju(:)/. Palatalization started early, e. g. ca. 1250 birergh 'hill', ca. 1 300 fiys and Iys 'light' (corresponding to Mod.Dan. bjerg and Iys), but not until late 1 5th c. was com-

123. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic II: Danish

1099

Articulation of a long vowel may be accom­ panied by a more or less perceptible glide to­ wards a neighbouring vocalic quality, perhaps resulting in a definite change of the mon­ ophthong to a diphthong; traces of the ten­ dency seem to appear in 15th c. spellings like reis for pres. Iri?sl 'arises' or nyi for InY?1 'new'. While they are still a characteristic element in several dialects, such diphthongs never be­ came part of standard Danish. But written sources from the period in question show a clear tendency to diphthongize le:1 to ligl, e. g. 1 350 ien 'one', 1398 sye 'see', 1 542 Jramdielis 'furthermore', or to leil, e. g. 1 5th c. trey 'three', 1 524 beisck 'acrid'; also 10:1 to loul, e.g. ca. 1 460 skow 'shoe', 1524 stour 'big'; and (less often) ly:1 to 10i/, e. g. 1521 d@yne 'duvet'. However, the change of ca. 1 300 resre 'raise; travel' to ca. 1 460 reyse (Mod.Dan. rejse) was probably due to German influence. Nor is it indisputable that diphthongization of le:1 was at work when ca. 1250 hem 'horne' was changed to 1 5th c. hiem (Mod.Dan. hjem, pro­ nounced [j£II1?], unlike Sw. hem); insertion of Iii between initial Ihl and a short vowel took place, similarly, when ca. 1 300 i luel 'to death' became 1 5th c. i hiell (Mod.Dan. ihjel, paral­ lelled in Sw. ihjiil; cf. Hansen 1962, 21 7 f.). Whether Mod.Dan. Jortov 'pavement, side­ walk' proves diphthongization of 10:1 in 1 522 Jorthoo « 1 300Jorta) is equally dubious (cf. Hansen 1962, 226 f.).

before dental sounds, e. g. 1 393 daghin 'the day', 1422 stadhsins 'of the town', ca. 1 540 rerinde 'errand'; 1397 gen. Juennis 'her', 1416 Jramdelis 'furthermore', 1430 kallis 'is called', 1 550 aleniste 'only'; ca. 1450 Jolkit 'the people', 1550 naagit 'something', screffuit 'written'. In e. g. ca. 1400 g@num 'through', ca. 1475 emellom 'between', the notation of schwa was obviously influenced by the following la­ bial /m/ · In final position, schwa was subject to apocope, not only in Jutland dialects where this development was structurally inevitable, but optionally elsewhere too, e.g. 1506 then warm (instead of warme) srengh 'the warm bed', 1541 da weed han det ick 'then he does not know it' in Zealand texts, though alien to the written standard. Reduction of the nomi­ nal derivational morpheme -ere « ODan. -ari, as in domari 'judge'; cf. Sw. domare), which was still rare in the 14th c., occurred more often after 1400, e. g. 1 462 buntmager 'furrier', 1 477 ridder 'knight'; competing with the traditional morpheme over the following three centuries (e. g. 1784 mordere 'murderer' and bager 'baker' in one text), apocopated -er eventually prevailed. In unstressed syllables preceding the word accent, two opposite tendencies were at work. In compounds, original Iii could be opened to lei as in e. g. late 1 5th c. egien 'again', emod 'against', 1529 emel/em (cf. Sw. igen. emot. emellan); however, this development did not gain a lasting foothold, whereas closing of le:1 to Iii in the original adv. ODan. e 'always, for ever', as seen in e. g. 1 5th c. i hworre 'wherever', i nuedhen 'while', survives in Mod.Dan. ihvor, imens (unlike Sw. evar, emedan). Schwa was lost in ickre udhen 'not without' when contrac­ ted to 1 539 ickun (soon shortened to Mod.Dan. kun) 'only'.

2.7.

2.8.

pieted in standard usage, and < iu > remained the usual spelling well into the 1 7th c. While it is probable that e.g. 1496 hiarthe 'heart' covers dialectal lial, 1550 siugdom 'sickness' etc. is likely to conceal IYI, cf. late 1 5th c. syg­ dom beside siwgdom in one ms. 2.6.

Diphthongization

Vowel change in unstressed syllables

Early weakening of ODan. lal, Iii, lui in final syllables resulted generally in schwa represen­ ted in writing by and < t > was usually preserved in writing well into the 1 5th c., it is only the emergence of < d > about 1400 that may confirm this hy­ pothesis; in any case, the phonological end product in the words concerned was Id/. Examples, identical with their Mod.Dan. equivalents, are du 'you, cf. thou', de 'they', dem 'them', den & det 'it', der 'there', da 'then', fordi 'because' and others. 3.3.

Assimilations

Having begun well before 1300, assimilation of ODan. Ildl to 11/ and of ODan. Indl to Inl appeared frequently in 1 5th c. spelling, e. g. mwl 'mould', skiol 'shield', allerdom 'old age', beholle 'keep'; and bonlJ1e 'fanner', strannen 'the beach, cf. strand', vnnen taget 'except'. Loss of the derivational suffix -d in e. g. 1 350 neJn 'tribunal', 1 409 heJn 'revenge' (cf. Sw. niimnd, hiimnd) may be seen as part of this process. On the other hand, inverted spellings occurred, e. g. faldhx 'fall', quindx 'woman' (cf. Sw. Jalla. kvinna); growing increasingly frequent, unetymological < ld > and were finally to a great extent adopted by Chris­ tiern Pedersen, the founder of Mod.Dan. or­ thography, in the first half of the 16th c. (Skautrup 1947, 186). This trend also affected the earlier assimilations of Itll to III and of Itnl to Inl, the resulting words being written e.g. 1 550 kilde 'tickle' and vand 'water' (cf. Sw. kittia. vatten). 3.4.

Insertion

The morphological change of e. g. ODan. pret. wan 'won' (inf. winna) to ca. 1 460 vanth un­ doubtedly took place in phonological analogy with pret. want 'wound', in which the original final Idl (ODan. wand, inf. winda) had long ago developed to unvoiced Itl, cf. Mod.Dan. vandt. Apart from the example cited, this type of change, observable from the late 1 5th c., applied to e. g. fant 'found', vdrand 'ran out', Jait 'fell' and a few other words, cf. Mod.Dan. Jandt. udrandt. Jaidt. 3.5.

Palatalization

Occurring rarely from ca. 1250, palatalization of Igl and Ikl before front vowels was in­ dicated more frequently during the 15th c., e. g. gi@mte 'hide, keep', kienne 'know', skitegh

1101

'beard'. But not until after 1550 was this pro­ nunciation (which disappeared from the spoken standard during the 19th c.) consist­ ently indicated in writing. 4.

Conclusion

Evidently (cf. Skautrup 1947, 46), the absolute majority of the developments discussed above were in fact not innovations at the time; apart from the insertion mentioned in 3.4., they had all started during the previous period, some of them dating as far back as the 13th c. Skau­ trup was undeniably right when he stated (1944, 228 f.) that once it was registered in writing, a phonological innovation must have been perceptible in the spoken language; but without underestimating the influence of spel­ ling conservatism, this does not disprove the view held by Hald (1978, 150 f.) that the im­ portant phonological changes from Old to Modern Danish were very complicated pro­ cesses, implying great geographical and chro­ nological differences (cf. also Hansen 1962, 1 1 3). It is not impossible, therefore, that the developments discussed here, having begun somewhat or much earlier, were only com­ pleted during the period in question. A mo­ dern analogy may be found in the results pre­ sented by Lars Brink and J0rn Lund in their 1975 monograph Dansk Rigsmai § 134. 5.

Literature (a selection)

Bandle, Oskar (1973), Die Gliederwzg des Nordger­ manischen. Basel/Stuttgart. Br0ndum-Nielsen, Johs. (1928 32), Gammeldansk Grammatik i sproghistorisk Fremstilling 1 2 (2nd ed. of vol. 1, 1950). K0benhavn. Hald, Kristian (1978), Nogle hovedtra:k af det danske sprogs udvikling i middelalderen. In: The Frontiers of Human Knowledge (Skrifter r6rande Uppsala universitet, C: 38). Uppsala, 141 1 5 1 . Hansen, Aage (1962 1971), Den lydlige udvikling i dansk fra ca. 1300 til nutiden 1 2. K0benhavn. Haugen, Einar (1984), Die skandinavischen Sprachen. Hamburg (revised ed. of The Scandina­ vian languages, London 1976). Jacobsen, Lis (1910), Studier til det danske Rigs­ sprogs Historie. K0benhavn. Nielsen, Karl Martin (1975), Review of Hansen 1962 1971. In: DaSt 1975, 92 98. Skautrup, Peter (1944 1947, reprint 1968), Det danske sprogs historie 1 2. K0benhavn. Torp, Alf/Falk, Hjalmar (1898), Dansk-norskens lydhistorie. Kristiania.

Allan Knrker. Arhus (Denmark)

1 1 02

124.

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic III: Swedish

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The quantity shift The vowel shifts Balance and hannony II Lowering of short vowels The Swedish consonant system Literature (a selection)

The period discussed below is roughly 1350 to 1550, known in Swedish terminology as the younger Old Swedish period and incipient New Swedish period, perhaps better referred to as Middle Swedish. The major changes which characterize this period, the quantity shift and the Swedish and Gutnish vowel shifts, extend back into Old Swedish proper and forward beyond 1550. The same goes for vowel balance and vowel harmony II, which remain productive over a large dialect area into modern times, but have left very few traces in the modern standard varieties.

1.

The quantity shift

The quantity shift is a process which appears to aim at standardizing the weight of stressed syllables as heavy (bimoraic, flfl). Light syl­ lables (monomoraic, fl) lengthen and super­ heavy syllables (trimoraic, flflfl) shorten, so that more and more stressed syllables corne to have the canonical weight of two moras, as required by Prokosch's Law (Vennemann 1988, 30; Riad 1992; regarding moraic repre­ sentation of quantity, cf. e.g. Hyman 1985; Kenstowicz 1994, 293). This process has oc­ curred in all Germanic languages, but is car­ ried to different lengths in the languages de-

pending on structural factors (Riad 1995; LahirijRiadjJacobs 1 999). The quantity system of Germanic, Proto­ Nordic and Old East Nordic contained double distinctions at the segmental level. Thus, there were phonemic contrasts between long and short vowels as well as between long and short consonants. We can represent the distinction in terms of moras. (1) Segmental quantity distinctions ��

II

a [a:] ba:ter 'boat'

�

�

I

a [a] land 'land'

I

t [t] hit a 'find'

t [t] vita 'know'

The weight of a syllable is a function of the quantity of the segments it contains in the rhyme part ofthe syllable, i. e. what is left once the quantitatively inert onset consonants are discounted. The double segmental quantity system in (1) therefore predicts three different syllable weights, depending on the combina­ tion of vowels and consonants: light, heavy and superheavy, as illustrated in (2). Unlike traditional analyses, here we de­ scribe quantity in terms of the prosodic struc­ ture of the syllable itself rather than in terms of the segmental string. Traditionally, a word like gata is said to contain a light first syllable because the short vowel is followed by a single consonant (in the sequence -at-). That con­ sonant, however, belongs to the second syl­ lable (ga.ta). In syllabic terms, the first syllable of ga.ta is light because it contains only a short

(2) Old Swedish syllable weight monosyllabic words Light ev Heavy ev:(C)

evC(C) Superheavy

eve: ev:c:

polysyllabic words Light ev.ev Heavy eV:(C).ev Superheavy

eve.ev ev:c::v

examples bro: bOok na:t farp fal:

'bridge' 'book' 'net' 'trip' 'fall'

tnI:: ga:s skip mark kat

'wood' 'goose' 'boat' 'weight' 'cat'

na:t

'night'

so:t

'illness'

examples gata d0:ma ga:rber binda ra::ter

'street' 'to judge' 'yard' 'to bind' 'right'

va:va bry:ta

'to weave' 'to break'

fal:a do:ter

'to fall' 'daughter'

124. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic III: Swedish

vowel in the rhyme. Looking at monosyl­ lables, this line of description considers eve and ev: to be heavy syllables and captures the fact that (content word) ev monosyllables are missing, as in most languages. Description of quantity in terms of prosodic structure, e. g. moras, also allows the unitary description of heavy syllables, whether they contain a long vowel or a short vowel + consonant. (For fur­ ther discussion of the description of quantity, cf. Riad 1992, 236-246.) Kristoffersen (1993) has argued that eve monosyllabic words could have been distinct from CVC:, the main evidence being such a distinction in the present-day dialect of nor­ thern Gudbrandsdalen (Norway), where ev monosyllables also occur. Data include las [las] 'read (pret.)' and kid [ye] 'kid'. If this state of affairs can be substantiated for Old Swedish or Old Norwegian, it would entail a further subdivision of the group of heavy monosyl­ lables, or indeed manifest a new group oflight monosyllables. However, ev monosyllables are rare in northern Gudbrandsdalen and im­ possible to substantiate from written records of Old Swedish and Old Norwegian. The quantity shift entailed a simplification of the system in (2) in most Germanic dialects. As more and more vowels and consonants were lengthened, redundancies increased in the quantitative system, and it became logical for the languages to remove either distinctive vowel or consonant quantity. The different choices at this critical-road resulted in the typology below (Riad 1995, 165, 180; Lahirij RiadjJacobs 1999, 364ff.). (3) Quantitative typology Vowel quantity Consonant quantity Both V and C quantity

Danish German Dutch English

Swedish Norwegian Icelandic Faroese Gutnish

Old Norse west Nyland (Finland) Alvdalen (Sweden) northern Gudbrandsdalen (Norway)

In the languages which settled for consonant quantity, Prokosch's Law was generalized such that stress in a syllable would entail heavy weight. A stressed syllable would thus always be heavy either by virtue of containing a short vowel (ft) followed by a (lexically or position­ ally) long consonant (ft, together ftft) or by virtue of the lengthening of a single short vowel (ft > ftft). This state of affairs is known as complementary quantity, a somewhat mis­ leading name in view of the asymmetry of quantitative contribution between vowels and consonants shown in (1) above.

1103

Danish patterns together with the West Ger­ manic languages, all of which chose distinctive vowel quantity. When that choice was made, the distinction between long and short con­ sonants was neutralized, and as is well known, none of these languages exhibit long conso­ nants today. Neutralization was the direct source for the context-free process of de­ gemination (i. e. shortening) of all long con­ sonants that took place in Old Danish around 1 300 (Skautrup 1944, 254; art. 102). In the West Germanic languages, the whole develop­ ment took place at least a century earlier. De­ gemination brought the quantity shift to a halt in Danish and English. Full implementation of Prokosch's Law does not mesh well with distinctive vowel quantity, since it would wipe out the difference between long and short vowels (by length­ ening short vowels in stressed open syllables). Interestingly, Dutch and German appear to exhibit this state of affairs, where vowel quan­ tity distinctions are now by and large limited to closed syllables (which are heavy whether or not they contain a long vowel), in effect predominantly final syllables (because of word-internal quantitative and phonotactic restrictions). In Swedish, Gutnish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese - all consonant quantity lan­ guages - the quantity shift was carried to its logical conclusion during the period discussed, i. e. heavy weight was generalized in all stressed syllables. Old Swedish manuscripts indicate that the quantity shift began as vowel lengthening in eve monosyllables and became general after around 1 350 (Noreen 1904, § 13 0). Later it spread to evev polysyllables. Evidence for a split between eve monosyllables and evev polysyllables can also be studied in dia­ lects. Thus, in Alvdalen one finds sm[i:]6 'blacksmith', d[ a:]l 'valley', sn[o:]r 'snot', w[e:]v 'cloth', vs. sm[i]6ir 'blacksmiths', d[a]lir 'valleys', l [",]so 'to read', m[o]lo 'to grind', and so on. Beside this prosodic order, which is no doubt in part due to vowel balance (cf. 3 . 1 .), there were also tendencies relating to segmen­ tal quality. The parameters of change are known as Hesselman's Laws in the Swedish tradition. (4) Hesselman's Laws (Hessehnan 1901; 1902) (a) If the root vowel was fa! or !a:!, the vowel lengthened, irrespective of the following environment: tala > t[a:]la 'speak', lirsa > I [a::]sa 'read'.

1 1 04

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

(b) If the root vowel was !i, y, u, o!, the vowel lengthened: nidh > n[e:]d'down', kul > k[o:]l 'coal', unless [. . . ] (c) [. . . ] it was followed by a voiceless stop or !s!, (and sometimes !r!, cf. Pihlstr6m 1981), in which case the consonant lengthened: vika > ve[k:]a 'week', drupi > dro[p:]e 'drop'.

This pattern holds for the Central Swedish dialects. Further to the south, vowel lengthen­ ing is more general (v[e:]ka 'week', dr[o:]pe 'drop', etc.). Morphologically related forms tended to end up with length in the sarne seg­ ment: b[re:r]a ( < b[rer]a 'carry (pres.)" b['Ef]en « b[ur]in) 'carried (pret.part.)'; b[i:t]er 'bites (pres.)" b[i:t]en « b[it]in) 'bit (pret.part.)'; sm[e:d] « sm[i5]) 'blacksmith', sm[i:d]a « sm[i5]a) 'forge'. The segmental patterns also played a role in the order of implemen­ tation, such that the low vowels tended to lengthen relatively early on. The different stages of the shift are manifest in the dialects. Hesselrnan reports an instructive pattern from East Swedish, presented here in a slightly styl­ ized chart (Hesselman 1902, 73 ff.). (5) East Sweclish quantity. a R = syllabic sonorant.

�

{a, x}, i

�

Ii, y, u, oj,

CaC CaCCVC

CiC CiCCV

CVCV CVCR

(a) South Finland

t["'Jk n[a:Jglar

b[iJt vi[tJna

t[aJla v[iJta n[aJgI

(b) Baltic and Northern Finland

t["'Jk n[a:Jglar

b[i:Jt ve[tJna

t[aJla v[iJta n[aJgI

(c) Aland

t[a:Jk n[a:Jglar

b[i:Jt ve[tJna

t[a:Jla ve[tJa n[a:JgI

glosses: tak 'roof, naglar 'nails', bit 'bite', vitna 'bear witness', tala 'speak', vita 'know', nagl 'nail'

As can be seen, the south Finland dialects have lengthened the low vowels in monosyllables and in some disyllables with a heavy initial syllable, where the second consonant in the postvocalic cluster is a sonorant. Lengthening has also taken place in some derived forms (va:i-de 'chose', vre:g-de 'weighed'). In Baltic and Northern Finland Swedish, lengthening has taken place in the same structures but also with mid and high root vowels. It is unclear whether a real quantitative difference between vitna and vet:na can be established. The quali­ tative change of the root vowel at least indi­ cates a contrast with respect to canonical light roots (i. e. v[e]lna vs. v[i]ta). In Aland, as in peninsular Central Swedish, the lengthening has also included disyllables with a light root

syllable. The Middle Swedish quantity shift applied similarly in Middle Gutnish. Truly superheavy syllables are those which contain a long vowel as well as a long con­ sonant, adding up to three moras. Examples include OSw. do:t:er 'daughter' and so:t: 'ill­ ness'. It appears that the few examples of such (uninflected) forms invariably include a long /t:/ (Sturtevant 1932; Riad 1992, 245). Syl­ lables in which a long vowel is followed by a consonant cluster, like Mod.Sw. mo:ln 'cloud', vi:tna 'become white', te:st 'wisp', are no doubt overly heavy, but they are not neces­ sarily analyzed as trimoraic. Also, different conditions obtain in forms of different mor­ phological complexity. Thus, a putative unin­ flected word *gu:ltis impossible, while inflected , gu:i-t 'yellow (neutr.) is perfectly fine. The truly superheavy syllable type disap­ peared at a fairly late stage of the quantity shift, in line with the fact that superheavy syl­ lables do not directly offend Prokosch's Law the way light syllables do. Rather, the loss of this syllable type should be seen as a conse­ quence of the reanalysis of the quantity sys­ tem. When either vowel quantity or consonant quantity was dropped, long segments of that type could no longer occur in the underlying representation and were of course also unlike­ ly to occur by synchronic lengthening in al­ ready heavy syllables. The general prediction for e. g. Swedish and Norwegian, which opt for consonant quantity and shed vowel quan­ tity, is that superheavy syllables should retain the long consonant and shorten the vowel, cf. Sw. a[t:]a 'eight', do[t:]er 'daughter', Norw. a[ t:]e, sort:] 'illness'. This is not always the case, however (cf. d[u:]ter in some dialects, s[u:]t in Swedish). In English and Danish, the converse prediction (a long vowel) is not as strong, cf. E [ei]ght. d[o:]ghter, Dan. [o:]tte, but s[u:]t. The quantity shift introduced a new and more prosodically based quantity system. One example of how far-reaching this change was is the prosodic shape of outputs from various reduction processes in individual words of dif­ ferent types. 1.1.

Prosodic adjustment

Wessen (1969, 80ff.; also Lundahl 1929, 31 ff.) reports on a great many prosodic reductions in individual forms resulting in loss of syllables and segmental simplification. Reductions oc­ curred in place-names and various com­ pounds, as well as in derivational and inflec­ tional forms, indeed a motley collection of in-

124. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic III: Swedish

put forms. The stress structure of the output is indicated by "x" 'stressed' and " " 'un­ stressed' . (6)

Sve:arike > Sve:rike > Sverighe Sigwalstadhum > Siiuista Miidallosa loghar-dagher > logher-dagher liirikkia kunungin marskalken viiruldin

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

x

Sverghe 'Sweden' Siivsta place-name Miilsa place-name lordag 'Saturday' liirka 'lark' kungen 'the king' marsken 'the marshall' viirlden 'the world'

When we look at the input forms of the words that happened to undergo prosodic adjust­ ment, no obvious pattern emerges. Some words reduce, others don't. In (6) it is mostly a medial syllable that has been deleted, but the final syllable may also have disappeared, in trisyllabic forms, if the word had accent 1 : fotrine > fotren 'the feet' , mannine > mannen 'the men', solena > solen 'the sun', while ac­ cent 2 forms have generally escaped syllable loss or lost a medial syllable (jiskarar > jiskrar 'fishermen (pl.)'). Vowel weakening, however, was common in accent 2 trisyllables, too: has­ tane 'the horses (acc.pl.)', domara > domare 'judge'. Among the verbs we find regular shortening of trisyllabic preterites in many dialects (kastade > kasta 'threw', spottade > spotta 'spat'). Vowel weakening also affected disyllabic forms (gator > gater 'streets' ,jingo > jinge 'we got'), but no syllable loss took place in these forms. Sometimes reduction happened in definite forms resulting in restruc­ turing of the indefinite form (biskop-en 'the bishop' > bisp-en, retrograde indef. bisp). The choice of individual form may be influenced by morphological and segmental concerns (cf. e.g. Modeer 1946, 49 ff. , regarding strong feminines), but here we are concerned only with the prosodic adjustment. It is only when we consider the other end of the process, the output, that a pattern be­ comes discernible, and the interesting aspect of these changes in the present context is the fact that the shape of the output forms clearly signal that a new prosodic era has begun fol­ lowing the quantity shift. Prokosch's Law has generalized and the output of syncope pro­ cesses is no longer a monosyllable (more pre­ cisely a moraic trochee) as it frequently was in Proto-Nordic (viz. *sunuz > sunr 'son', *wurdo: > oro 'words'), but rather a disyllabic structure with stress on the first syllable (a so­ called syllabic trochee). The unifying feature, then, is the (arguably) unmarked prosodic tar­ get, not the lexical input,just as in the cognate,

1105

productive process of hypocoristics and nick­ name formation in Modern Swedish whereby input forms of various shapes invariably corne out as syllabic trochees: Katarina > Kattis, Bo > Bosse, marketenteriet > markan, etc. The prosodic adjustments are by no means regular, or indeed a single process. What is interesting about this tendency is that it re­ veals the change in prosodic ramifications that is brought about by the quantity shift.

2.

The vowel shifts

The quantity shift had implications for the Old and Middle Swedish vowel shift (better known, perhaps, as the Central Scandinavian vowel shift, Eliasson 1983; Torp 2000) affect­ ing the series of long back vowels, beginning with /a:/. Both shifts are responsible for major differences between present-day Danish and Swedish. The quantity shift affected both lan­ guages, but as seen in (3), they parted com­ pany at the critical crossroads. The vowel shift affected Swedish considerably but left the Danish vowel system nearly unaffected. Gut­ nish has its own vowel shift, which operates on a different set of vowels, and which appears not to have had a direct connection to the quantity shift. 2.1.

The Swedish vowel shift

The Swedish vowel shift began around 1250 in the southern dialects. The vowels /a:/, /0:/ and /u:/ were all involved. The first change, /a:/ > /0:/, is sometimes seen as a labialization. However, backing is a better phonological de­ scription, since rounding is not distinctive in the back series (cf. 3. in art. 102). As /a:/ be­ came a back vowel /0:/, it became redundantly rounded and slightly raised for phonetic rea­ sons. Examples include b[a:]ter > b[o:]t 'boat', [a:]r > [o:]r 'year', l[a:]ta > l[o:]ta 'let'. This change caused original /o:/ to be pronounced higher, viz. as /u :/, e. g. bl[o:]dh > bl[u:]d 'blood', sk[o:]gher > sk[u:]g 'forest', b[o:]nde > b[u:]nde (later b[u]nde) 'farmer'. Later on, raised /u:/ caused original high back /u:/ to shift forwards to a central vowel /ft:/, possibly as late as in the 16th c. Crucially, it did not turn into a front vowel. (For what it is worth, umlaut shows that fronted /u:/ becomes [y:]). Instead, /u:/ became a non-back but distinc­ tively rounded vowel /ft:/. Examples include h[u:]s > h[ft:]s 'house', s[u:]r > s[ft:]r 'sour', sl[u:]ta > sl[ft:]ta 'stop'. In (7), non-mergers

1 1 06

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

are marked by using adjacent but different phonetic symbols. (7) The Old and Middle Swedish vowel shift u: > lot-: partial fronting 0: > u : raising a: > J: backing a > a: lengthening 1300

1550

In theory, one could assume that what distin­ guishes /ft:/ from /y:/ is the type of rounding (sometimes called "in-rounding" vs. "out­ rounding"), rather than the degree of front­ ness. That makes for a more complex analysis, however, as it introduces a new feature. Also, the correspondence between [:a:] and short Mod.Sw. [0], a central rather than front vowel, is lost. There are corresponding short vowels from different sources for each long vowel, and moreover, a new vowel /s ,,-, s:/ is introduced (cf. 2.2.). 2.2.

Quantitative aspects of the vowel shift

For the present purposes, we may assume that a new long vowel /a:/ (from short /a/ by the quantity shift) was available at the time when the qualitative vowel shift began. The question arises whether the qualitative push-chain was actually set off by vowel lengthening [a] > [a:], as Widrnark (1998, 13) contends, or whether the vowel shift and the quantity shift were not related at the outset. There is no necessary connection, a fact that becomes clear when we look at corresponding shifts in other Ger­ manic languages. While the quantity shift was only a tendency in Old English, it is categorical in Old and Middle Swedish. At the same time, the Old English vowel shift applied to more vowels than in both Old Swedish and Old Gut­ nish. Thus, if one wishes to generalize across these obviously related but not identical devel­ opments, no simple and mechanical relation­ ship between the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the shift emerges. I t is sometimes assumed that the lengthen­ ing of /a/ > /a:/ must be later than the backing (and redundant labialization) of /0:/ > /0:/ (e. g. Haugen 1976, 206) since lengthened /a:/ does not undergo the change to /0:/. This rea­ soning, however, presupposes that a lengthened /a:/ ( < /a/) necessarily merged with extant /0:/ (different phonetic symbols are used only to register the different sources for

the long vowels). Labov (1994) clearly de­ monstrates that while such a phonemic merger is possible, it is by no means a necessary con­ sequence of this type of situation. Indeed, the rest of the vowel shift process exhibits the same respect for the boundaries of the pho­ nemic system, although those changes are temporally more clearly sequenced. It is there­ fore perfectly possible to entertain a hypo­ thesis such as Widmark's (1998), that length­ ening of /a/ to /a:/ is organically related to the vowel shift proper in Old Swedish. One might also note in this context that the change of /0:/ to /0:/ occurred in both Swedish and Danish. For Danish, the vowel shift ended there with added crowding of the back series as general effect. Swedish (along with Norwe­ gian) exhibits further qualitative changes to the rest of the back vowels. The first step of the vowel shift, then, can be understood as the consequence of the lengthening /a/ > /a:/. This hypothesis is not available for Old Gut­ nish, though (cf. 2.3.). Regarding chronology, it is usually claimed that the backing of /0:/ became general by the end of the 14th c. (Wessen 1969, 71) for Swedish, and somewhat earlier for Danish (Skautrup 1944, 246). This can be established via changes in orthography, in Danish roughly < a > > or sometimes < 0 > . In Old Swedish the tendency to write < aa > was weaker and largely confined to closed syl­ lables, while < a > was regularly used for the back and non-back low vowel. Sporadic mis­ spellings with < 0 > give the change away, however. Later on, the new graph < a > carne to be used (sporadically in the 1 5th c., regu­ larly after the influential royal printers used it in the 1 526 New Testament). In assessing the change, the substitution of orthographic signs, e.g. < 0 > for < a > , weighs heavier than geminate representation < aa > , since the latter could simply be used to signal a long vowel. This is particularly true of monosyl­ labic forms, where Latin orthography does not distinguish between V:C and Ve:. Loans before and after the change may also contribute to the dating (Wessen 1969, 71 f.). The argument is that forms like MLG lade 'box' and swager 'brother-in-law' take part in backing (Mod.Sw. ldda and svager), while al­ legedly later loans like laken 'sheet' and par 'pair' fail to exhibit backed and rounded vowel quality (Mod.Sw. lakan. par). However, there are several complicating factors that under­ mine the reliability of this argument, as noted by Seip (1915, 44) and Moberg (1989, 86 ff.).

1107

124. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic III: Swedish

There are two etymological sources for the long/a/- written < 3. > and < 3. > respectively (one pair of examples from each group has been used above) - and it is not clear that the two sounds had merged everywhere by the time these borrowings took place. Further­ more, there was a process of backing/round­ ing in Middle Low Gennan, too, which seems to have affected the two a-vowels differently. Also, the vowel quality in these loans in Swedish pattern in part to match the different vowels. There was also a western/eastern dia­ lect variation in Low Gennan at the time which might have influenced the pattern we see in present-day Swedish, and finally, some­ time vowel shortening appears also to bleed the backing rule in some Swedish loans (cf. further Moberg 1989, 91). While the long and short vowels were ge­ nerally kept apart, it should still be mentioned that some contextually conditioned fonns containing an originally short /a/ today ex­ hibit the back vowel /0/ or /0:/ (orthographi­ cally < 3. » . Word initial instances include OSw. [a]ker ( > [o:]ker 'field'), [alter ( > [o:]ter 'again'). Short /a/ before a voiced homorganic cluster beginning with a sonorant exhibits the same change: OSw. h[aro]er > Mod.Sw. h[o:cjJ 'hard', g[aro]er > g[o:cjJ 'yard', l[aDg]er > l[0D:] 'long', st[aDg] > st[OD:] 'bar'; [ald]in > [ol:]on 'acorn' , s[ald]i > s[ol:d]e 'sold'; forms from various dialects: bland] > b[on:] 'ribbon', s[and] > s[on:] 'sand', l[amb] > l[om:] 'lamb', k [amb] > k[om:] 'comb'. There was a stronger tendency for backing in the south (including Denmark) than in the Central Swedish area, on which the standard today is largely based. The participation of a short /a/ in the vowel shift is often taken to be due to lengthening and merger with /0:/ before the shift. For some fonns, one must therefore assume both lengthening and shortening, i. e. l[a]ng > l[a:]ng > l[a:]ng > l[o:]ng > l[o]ng. Support for this can be found in the dialects (Wester­ berg 1991 , 144). There were also cognate changes in West Germanic, viz. Mod.E s[o:]ld and l["':]mb. If one further considers the later process of backing in short post-tonic vowels (vowel balance, section 3 . 1 .) as phonetically cognate to the early backing discussed here, the lengthening-backing-shortening theory takes on a much more controversial form (Kock 1921, 1 9 3 ff.; Reitan 1910 [1983]; Kris­ toffersen 1990, 182ff.; Hessehnan 1948-53, 251, 256f.; Bergfors 1961, 22ff.; Riad 1992, 203 ff.). Possibly there are other available ways of explaining the process (cf. section 5.3.).

The view of these changes as primarily driven by phonetics (Labov 1 994) makes it confusing to try to capture the phonemic sys­ tem in the middle of the chain shift. The dis­ tinctions of the system were kept largely in­ tact, hence preserving lexical and phonemic structure. The only system change among the long vowels provided by the vowel shift was the addition of one new phoneme, right at the beginning of the shift, as a new /a:/ distinct from /0:/ was created by the lengthening of /a/. At this point, the long vowel system con­ tained 9 vowel phonemes (cf. art. 102, 3.). While the vowel shift continues along the path set out in (7), developments in the short vowel system (in part due to the quantity shift) give rise to a new vowel phoneme (the tenth), usually symbolized as /8 � 8:/ in the Swedish tradition. Phonetically the sound corresponds to IPA [B�B:], which is the symbol we shall use here. This is a mid central rounded vowel which is situated between [ao] and [0] in the vowel chart. The vowel system around 1 550 is given in (8). (8) After the vowel shift (Central Swedish ca. 1550) front

I I

rounded high

low

back

1 "-' 1 :

y�y:

'It"-''It:

u "-' u:

e"-'e:

0 "-' 0 :

(3 "-' (3:

J "-' J:

a: "-' a::

a "-' a:

The symbols used in the description of the vowel shift are retained but have been put in the same boxes as their predecessors, where relevant, to indicate that they are phonemi­ cally (and presumably phonetically) equiva­ lent. Regarding the short vowels, the following has happened. In the context of a following long consonant or a cluster, long /u:/ (from /0:/) and long /0:/ (from previous /0:/) shorten, without a change of quality (Pamp 1971 , 89). Examples are b[u:]nde > b[u]nde 'farmer' and [u :]st > [u]st 'cheese'. The shortened /u/ finds a natural place in the system. The shortened vowel is, however, distinct from the old short vowel /0/, e.g. gatt 'good (neut.)'. A short vowel /J/ as counterpart to /J:/ is created via shortening in forms like l[o]ng and st[o]ng. As mentioned above, these vowels typically orig­ inate as short /a/, and it is unclear to what extent there is lengthening before backing in each instance.

1 1 08

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Since the short vowels do not participate in the vowel shift, short 101 is now left without a long counterpart. This vowel is the result of lowered lui (k[u]l > k[o]l 'coal', dr[uJpi > dr[oJpe 'drop', ar!. 102, 3.2.) and of 10:1 shortened to 101 (gatt 'good (neu!.)'). The quantity shift now lengthens short 101 in the relevant positions, and the resulting vowel quality, in long as well as short vowels, is [B�B:], viz. g[B]tt, k[B:]1. The reason why the vowel gets slightly fronted is in all likelihood due to the crowding of the back series, caused by the increased number of distinctions and the raising of the vowel 10 � 0:1 relative to the low la�a:j. Later on, the new vowel, which incidentally occupies the same position as the unstable output of u-umlaut of lal (written < Q > in the Swedish tradition), merges with 10�0:1 in the central dialects. In e.g. Viister­ gotland it becomes a front vowel Ia: � a::1 (dis­ tinct from 10 � 0:/). This is also similar to the fate of the Q-vowel, which merged with lui, 101 or /0/ (Pamp 1971, 77). 2.3.

The Gutnish vowel shift

The Old and Middle Gutnish vowel shift is clearest for the long vowels, and it is question­ able whether changes in short vowels are at all due to the vowel shift, as Soderberg (1879) assumes. The general character ofthe Gutnish vowel shift was raising, just like the more fa­ miliar shifts in English and Swedish. The high vowels, which cannot be raised, underwent diphthongization, not unlike Old English. (9) Old and Middle Gutnish vowel shift front. unrounded front. rounded 1: > :01 e: >1: .:e: > e:

y: > roy 0: >y:

back, high u: > :>u

diphthongization rmsmg rmsmg

The shift had the character of a push-chain in the front series of long vowels. The surviv­ ing texts do not provide evidence for the in­ ternal developments except for the fact that the diphthongizations were later than the rai­ sing of the monophthongs. A reasonable re­ construction would, however, be that it started with low front 1"':1 raising to [e:] (OGu. m[e:]la vs. OSw. m[",:]la 'tell'). This would have triggered raising of le:1 (OGu. s[i:]r vs. OSw. s[e:]r 'sees'). At this point the shift gene­ ralized across the mid front vowels, so that 10:/, too, participated in raising (OGu. b[y:]n vs. OSw. b[0:]n 'prayer'). In Middle Gutnish, finally, the shift (diphthongization) general-

ized to include the back vowel lu:1 as well. Some examples are OGu. b[i:]ta > MGu. b[£i]ta 'bite', OGu. d [y:]ma > MGu. d [0y]ma 'deem', OGu. h[u:]s > MGu. h[w]s 'house'. This characterization of the vowel shift by­ passes la:1 and 10:/. We thus find b[a:]t 'boat', where most other Germanic languages have (or had at some stage) b[o:]t. The Gutnish la:1 is less back than in the other Old East Nordic dialects. Since la:1 was never backed in Old Gutnish, no back vowel shift was triggered. As a diachronic note, it might be added here that Middle Gutnish diphthongization seems to have taken place before the quantity shift. The reason is the absence of diphthongization of lengthened high vowels: l[u]t > l[u:]t 'lot', not l[w]t. However, this type of reasoning, which assumes a priori that lengthening of a short vowel must necessarily mean merger with a corresponding long vowel, may be flawed. As with vowel shifts, merger may or may not happen (Labov 1994). The short vowels exhibit a less clear picture. There is only one word representing the de­ velopment of short 101 to [y] in the Gutalagen: [0]X 'axe' > [y]x. Short 1"'1 and lei merged (if they were ever distinct), clearly a separate phe­ nomenon. These vowels appear never to have been phonetically distinct in Old Gutnish and were invariably represented by the same graph < e > , phonetically presumably [£] as in later stages of the language (Soderberg 1 879), just as in most Modern Swedish dialects. The short vowels 101 and lui both exhibit change. There was raising of 101 to [u] except before a tautosyllabic Ir/. Soderberg (1879) takes this change to be part ofthe vowel shift. However, there was also lowering of lui to [0] before tauto syllabic Ir/. The complementary segmen­ tal contexts make these processes look much more like a redistribution according to pho­ netic environment than part of a vowel shift. There are exceptions to both changes, and so there was no phonemic merger. The short high vowels seem to have been unaffected. Possibly the absence of lowering, otherwise a common development in the Nordic languages (cf. 4.), can be seen as an indirect reflection of the vowel shift. Old Gutnish Iii is original in forms like gikk 'went', mip 'with', nijxm 'down, be­ low', while this vowel has usually lowered in the rest of Scandinavia. The same goes for OGu. lui which is retained as such in all po­ sitions, except before a tauto syllabic Ir/: thus, we find b[u]pinn 'offer, bid (past par!.)" kl[ulfinn 'cloven' vs. [o]rp 'word' and t[o]rg 'square' .

1109

124. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic III: Swedish

Balance and harmony II

3.

Vowel balance belongs to the period preceding the full implementation of the quantity shift in the Central Swedish dialects. In the many northern and western dialects that did not im­ plement the quantity shift until much later, vowel balance persisted and gave rise to vowel harmony II (Sw. tilljiimning 'levelling'). Re­ garding vowel harmony I, cf. art. 102. 3.1.

Vowel balance

By vowel balance we mean a state where the quality of the vowel of the second syllable is related to the quantity of the initial syllable in polysyllabic (typically disyllabic) words. !fthe initial syllable is light, then the vowel of the second syllable has a more peripheral quality than if the initial syllable is heavy, in which case the vowel of the final syllable is relatively lax (cf. Kock 1921, 42f.; Bf0ndurn-Nielsen 1927 , 7 1 ff.; Hessehnan 1948-53, ch. 5; Wessen 1969, 45ff.). Vowel balance is in fact an um­ brella term for the situation obtaining when two processes affecting vowels - reduction and strengthening (the prosodic change that causes backing and pseudo-lengthening) combine with the prosodic distinction between words with light and heavy root syllables re­ spectively. In (10), vowel balance is illustrated by the pattern in A.lvdalen, an archaic dialect that has largely escaped the quantity shift and

(10) Vowel balance in A..lvdalen light root syllable (a) ak-i 'hook' (b) flak-. 'flake (datsg.)' (c) bik-re5 'pitched' (d) bik-o 'to pitch'

has retained both vowel balance and vowel harmony II (cf. 3.2.) into recent times. The members of each horizontal word-pair belong to the same inflectional categories of the same paradigms. The historically high vowels Iii and lui and the low vowel lcel have all become mid following a heavy root syl­ lable. The low vowel lal exhibits the etymo­ logical quality following the heavy root syl­ lable but has changed to [0] following a light root syllable. Thus, from a historical perspec­ tive, the alternation here goes the opposite way, and this is also valid in the synchronic analysis of A.lvdalen. In other dialects, lal may have reduced like the other vowels, as shown in (11). The chart is largely based on data from Geijer (1921). That the weakening and strengthening rules are distinct can be seen in the fact that the closed or open status of the second syllable matters for the weakening rule but not for strengthening. There are a variety of reduction patterns relating to vowel quality, the status of the second syllable as open or closed (so­ called complete or incomplete vowel balance, cf. (11» , whether reduction leads to apocope or not, and the position of the word in the clause context. (For discussion of these, cf. Hessehnan 1948-53; Riad 1992, 175-1 88). The prosodic connection to the quantity shift is somewhat problematic. On the one hand, a present-day dialect which used to have vowel balance inevitably has implemented the quan-

heavy root syllable stabb-e 'tree stump', 'stub' pa::r-o 'potato (dat.sg.)' swi:v-eb 'soared' SW1:v-a 'to soar'

alternation 1-e u-o ",-e o-a

(11) Vowel balance of /a/ in several dialects.

dialects (Old Swedish manuscripts)

light root syllable closed/open

heavy root syllable closed

open

(a) Nordm0re, Trondheim, dialects in Finland

a

a

0

(b) Medelpad, east Jamtiand, Angennanland (Kopparberg privileges 1347) (c) r.arts of Vasterbotten (d) Alvdalen (Cod. Holm B24, cf. Neuman 1918, 2) (e) inner Tmndelag, northern Hedmark (f) northeast Telemark (g) Houtskar (Finland) (h) Nas (western Dalarna)

a

'"

'"

a

'"

0 a 0;",

0 0 0 0

ce

a a a a a

'"

0 e

1110

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

tity shift. This speaks for an organic connec­ tion between vowel balance and stress, which is the main player in the quantity shift. An attempt at making this connection phonologi­ cally explicit is made in Riad (1992, chapters 4-6). On the other hand, vowel balance is con­ ditioned also by tonal accent (which, however, does not appear to be organically linked to the quantity shift). This becomes clearer when we look at vowel harmony II, which affects the light root fonns in persisting vowel bal­ ance systems (cf. 3.2.). The few accent 1 forms we find there tend not to take part in quali­ tative alternations (examples from AJvdalen, Levander 1909): Jugel 'bird (nom.)', bibel 'bible', styvel 'boot' rather than would-be balanced forms like *Jugil, *bibil, *styvil or *styvyl (Riad 1998; 2000). Since these forms escape vowel balance (and thereby vowel har­ mony II), light quantity of the root syl­ lable + stress cannot be sufficient to condition it. Vowel balance was very widespread in the Middle Ages. Neuman (1918) observed evi­ dence for this in manuscripts from a great many Swedish dialect areas of central Sweden, including southern dialects like Smaland and Ostergotland. He found that evidence for the strengthening of a > ;) emerges in the second half of the 1 5th c., by virtue of spellings like giffuo 'give', goro 'do, make', where the final < 0 > is used instead of < a > . The /0/ sound was often spelled with < a > in late Old Swedish, and it therefore seems fair to assume that manuscripts from this time contain a smaller than representative set of balanced forms of this type (Kock 1921, 1 9 3 ff.; Wessen 1969, §45; for Old Norwegian evidence cf. Borg 1973, 257).

erally has precedence over that of the second vowel (cf. (12) and (13» . Later on, most of the harmonic dialects - viz. a central Scandi­ navian subset of the vowel balance dialects (cf. maps in Sand0Y 1987, 86f.) - underwent the quantity shift. By that time, the erstwhile pro­ ductive vowel alternations had become lexicalized to variable extents. Thus, we some­ times find a wealth oftraces ofvowel hannony II in the older vocabulary, other times but few. Whether the dialects which underwent the quantity shift relatively early ever developed hannony we do not know, but this could pre­ sumably be established by careful philological research. If so, harmony disappeared in con­ junction with the quantity shift. In itself, this would not be unexpected, ifhannonywas syn­ chronically productive at the time. Vowel changes which persist after the loss ofthe con­ ditioning environment are a sign of lexicaliza­ tion (cf. umlaut). Vowel harmony II only affects light root fonns. The domain for harmony is the stress foot (the moraic trochee), viz. the initial two syllables of light roots. This prosodic configu­ ration is known as level stress (Sw.jiimviktsac­ cent), cf. Kristoffersen (1990); Nystrom (1991). We shall look briefly at data from two dialects which retained productive vowel har­ mony (and the requisite prosody) well into the 20th c. In (12), where the A.lvdalen (western Sweden) system is illustrated, the hannonic vowel is marked in boldface. Heavy root forms are added to highlight the contribution of vowel balance (data from Levander 1909; Riad 1998; 2000). (12) Vowel hannony II in Alvdalen light root (a) fot-os (a>o) 'to be wanting' (b) fret-a:s (a > a:) (pres.sg.) 'dip' (e) dypyl (i>y) /I

3.2.

Vowel harmony II

From the vowel balance stage, dialects have developed differently. Some underwent the quantity shift, typically the southern dialects and those that later formed the Central Swedish standard (in Modern Swedish, there are just a few lexicalized traces of earlier vowel balance, e. g. gatukorsning 'street crossing' vs. kyrkogard 'cemetery'). Other dialects remained in the prosodic bal­ ance stage for a while. These dialects devel­ oped vowel harmony II within the initial di­ syllabic domain. In this process, either vowel may change quality in assimilation to the other (nykyl 'key' < nykil, goto 'street' < gato), but adjustment of the first vowel gen-

heavy root (a) gambl-as 'to age' (pres.sg.) (b) gambl-es (e) pynd3e1 'bundle' /I

Harmony primarily applies in a regressive fashion within the foot, spreading features of the second vowel onto the first (12a, b). There is still some room for progressive hannony, however (1 2c). In A.lvdalen, harmony is the most extensive in the low vowels. This has to do with the phonological ramifications which pennit harmony only when extant features are respected. Thus, harmony takes place when (a) there is agreement in vowel height between the vowels, (b) there is no conflict in vowel

124. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic III: Swedish (13) Vowel hannony II in Elverum lexical form harmonic form (a) /bik-a/ brekB (b) /Ies-a/ lresB (c) /dyl-ja/ dceljB (d) /pos-a/ poso (e) /drup-a/ dropo (f) /rek-u/ ruku (g) /ev-ju/ iVJu (b) /gat-u/ gutu (i) /les-id lisi, lesi GJ /nykil/ nykyl

1111

spreading feature [low] 'to pitch' [low] 'to read' [low] 'to hide' 'bag' [round] [low, round] 'drop' [high, back] 'rake' [high] 'non-circulating water' [high, back] 'street' [high] 'read (sup.)' 'key' [round]

place. A further constraint is that (c) regressive harmony has precedence over progressive har­ mony. Since the prosodic conditioning is gone in most dialects that had vowel balance, the pro­ ductive stage can be quite difficult to recon­ struct reliably. Thus, the dialects that still ex­ hibit rich traces of harmony are very impor­ tant for our understanding of the phonology of this process, which is typologically quite exotic. For instance, unlike other harmonic processes, vowel harmony II can, in principle, spread any vowel feature. To see this, let us have a brief look at the Elverum dialect (eas­ tern Norway). In (13), the harmonic form is compared to the lexical form, and the spread­ ing feature is indicated (data from Hogstad 1906; cf. Riad 1998; 2000 for fuller discussion). In Elverum, by contrast to A..lvdalen, agree­ ment in vowel height will always be attained by (feature changing) height harmony. From this state, spreading of features takes place un­ der the same conditions as in A..lvdalen, that is with no conflict in vowel place and with pre­ cedence for regressive harmony. This concludes our brief discussion of bal­ ance and vowel harmony. We note that there are unresolved issues regarding prosodic con­ ditioning as well as the empirical scope of vowel alternations. As a methodological note, it could be added here that the often cited maps of the harmony area (Haugen 1970; Sand0Y 1987, 86f.) con­ tain a somewhat anachronistic mix of infor­ mation. These maps record dialects with (re­ cently) productive vowel harmony together with dialects with lexicalized traces of vowel harmony, without making the distinction. The harmonic dialect area is smaller than the vowel balance area, as it should, but in a way this is accidental since the maps only record dia­ lects containing traces of former vowel bal­ ance, as opposed to productive vowel balance at some specific time in history.

4.

Lowering of short vowels

In many Middle Swedish dialects the high vowels have lowered to mid: skip > skepp 'ship', vika > vecka 'week' ,fyl > }10:]1 'foal', ypin > oppen 'open', kul > k[o:]l 'coal', sum­ mar > sommar 'summer'. In the Svea dialects this lowering was in part controlled by quan­ tity (a light root syllable) and the quality of the following vowel. Thus, lowering did not happen in long root syllables (kUppa 'cut' ,fisk 'fish') or if there was a high segment in the following syllable (nykil 'key'). The high vow­ els in the second syllable were conditioned by the fact that the quantity shift had not yet taken place. Thus, we see here an effect ofwhat we could call indirect vowel harmony. The regular lowering rule was hindered from ap­ plying, even though no positive signs of vowel harmony are left in the eastern Svea dialects. Vowel lowering also appears to have taken place sooner in closed syllables than open syl­ lables. In the Gata dialects, however, lowering was more or less context-free (kleppa, fesk, nockel, medda 'dinner', etc.). The lowering process can be followed reasonably well in the orthography, and while the Svea dialect forms dominate, one can on occasion diagnose a scribe's Gata provenance from the spelling of individual words (Wessen 1969, 77). The ear­ liest examples of lowering are from the Old Swedish period, and they become increasingly cornman in the Middle Swedish period.

5.

The Swedish consonant system

At the end of the Middle Swedish period, the consonant system had undergone a few changes from the previous stage. The labiove­ lar glide had merged with the labiodental fricative lvi, and Iz � RI had merged with Ir/. The voiceless dental fricative 181 had been lost, and some other redistributions had taken

1112

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

place without affecting the system as such. An interesting new development was that of the lateral. It appears that we can talk of a period with two lateral phonemes in some dialects at least. The palatal voiceless fricatives ([1] and [,], cf. art. 102) have not been included in the scheme in (14), since they were as yet not fully developed, or at least still derivable by pho­ nological rule. (14) Middle Swedish consonant system (ca. 1 550) place

obstruents

manner

labial

coronal

dorsal

,top

pO bO

to

kO

continuant

sonorants

voiced

f v

h

6 � dO

sibilant

'0

retroflex lateral

'0 10

nMa!

VOlce

nO

mO

vocoid

y � gO

voiced

, n

j

We have assumed that the velar nasal jD:j should be considered a phoneme rather than the output of nasal assimilation, following the Old Swedish transition of [vayn] > [vaD :n] 'cart' (art. 102). This phoneme became more common as the jgj of jngj sequences ceased to be pronounced : la[Dg] > larD:] 'long', ri[Dg]a > ri[D:]a 'ring' (section 5.5.). For or­ thographic reasons, the latter transition is hard to pinpoint in time, and it still occurs in some peripheral dialects (Dalarna, Gotland, Kalix, and some East Swedish dialects). 5.1.

Weakening and orthography

Consonants in unstressed syllables tended to weaken, and are sometimes lost. To some ex­ tent this is reflected in the orthography. The orthographic sign < p > , which was formerly used for both [8] ping 'thing' and [0] ]Ju. mep was dropped well before 1400 and replaced by < th > in initial position (thu) and < dh > elsewhere (medh). Around the same time, the [8] phone, which by this time occurred only (15)

< P > everywhere [8] initial [6] elsewhere

in word initial stressed syllables (art. 102), turned into [t] (ting). The development of the relationship between orthography and pho­ netics for the dental fricatives can be schemati­ cally depicted as in (15), which only represents persisting fricatives, not those that change into stops. Initial [0] only occurred in unstressed forms and had already turned into a voiced stop [d] in Old Swedish. In medial and final position, we find weakening of stops into voiced frica­ tives, sometimes resulting in loss. Examples are skipi[t] > skipi[o] 'the ship', myki[t] > myki[o] 'much', and huvu[o] > huvu 'head', elska[o] > elska 'loved one'. The loss of the final segment is reflected in the orthography as uncertainty of correct spelling: huvut beside huvudh. elskat beside elskadh, etc. As men­ tioned in article 102, this type of weakening did not exclusively target the dental stops. However, that is where the weakening is the most visible, given the privileged status of den­ tals in inflection. The final -t was later resti­ tuted in many forms in many dialects, via the emerging written standard. In other dialects, notably Finland Swedish, the -t remains silent. Other weak final and medial consonants may well escape restitution, too, viz. Mod.Sw. hundra 'hundred', ta 'take', ska 'shall, will', from OSw. hundra15, ta[y]a « ta[k]a), skall. 5.2.

The voiced labial fricative [�] was lost at an early stage in Old Swedish. The dental and velar fricatives [0] and [y] were not lost until much later (end of the 17th c., Pamp 1971, 1 1 0), but their distribution became more and more circumscribed by phonological pro­ cesses. The velar fricative [y] was prone to change in most Swedish dialects when followed by a consonant (often [0]) by partially assimilating to vocalic context. Thus, after a non-high front vowel, [y] would become a palatal frica­ tive [j] as infrii [y]6 > fre [j]6 'reputation' and hii[y]6 > hii[j]6 'height'. [j] was also the result when [y] follows a liquid, as in Mod.Sw. iil[j] 'moose', var[j] 'wolf, and word-finally as in me[j] 'me', de [j] 'you'. In other contexts, [y] instead became a velar stop: bra [y]o > bra[g]o initial (sometimes < t »

< th > everywhere �

[8] initial [6] elsewhere

Voiced fricatives

--+

< dh > elsewhere (sometimes < d > ) [6] everywhere

124. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic III: Swedish

'fishing tool', dy [y]1l > dy [g]O 'virtue'. Before a dental nasal, [y] had become a velar nasal in early Old Swedish (cf. art. 1 02). The dental fricative changed in any cluster, most often into a stop. Most of the examples just given are of this kind, viz. Jrej [0] > Jrej[d], similarly hoj[d], brag[d], dyg[d] (Wessen 1969, 86), but the same process appears likely for gar [0] > gar[d] 'yard' (later ga[cjJ, cf. 5.3.). One interes­ ting context was [ok] where [a] could take either of two routes, becoming a stop, as in rna[ok]er > rna [tk] 'worm' and o [ok]n > o [tk]n > o [k:]n 'waste land', or rhotacize, as in rna [ok]er > rna[rk] 'worm' and bu [ok]er > bu[rk] 'can'. Rhotacism also took place in other clusters, e. g. rniii[om] > rnjii[rm] 'waist' and OGu. si[ol]a > si[rl]a 'late'. After these changes, [y] and [a] remained voiced fricatives in intervocalic position only, where they even­ tually became stops. 5.3.

Retroflection of Irl + coronal

According to Wessen (1969, 166), it is un­ known when r + anyone of the other coronal consonants merged into retroflex sounds, viz. [rd] > [cjJ, [rt] > [t], [rn] > [1\], [rs] > [,] and [rl] > m (cf. Eliasson 1986; Riad 1997). Part of the difficulty in pinpointing this transition in history is the limited number of orthogra­ phic reflexes. Generally, one has assumed it is a late transition belonging to the 1 7th c. Putative evidence for this are spellings like baren for Ibarnl 'child', which (unless it is simply a hypercorrect spelling for Ibarnj) would indicate that r + n had not merged at that time. However, baren at best shows that the specific context r + n had not merged. What we find already in the Old Swedish pe­ riod is orthographic < 1 > for phonological Irol, where < 1 > is usually taken to represent a velar [L] on analogy with present-day Central Swedish dialects. One example from the 1 6th c. Gustav Vasa Bible translation (GVB) is spool for Old Swedish Isporoerl 'fish tail'. This type of spelling was rare before the 17th c., the nor­ mal spelling being < rd > for similar words. The question of how Irol turns into [L] (or maybe [U) is not quite clear and would profit from investigation from a phonetic perspec­ tive. Usually it is tacitly assumed that the tran­ sition is direct from Irol to [L]. But this in­ volves the assumption that two segments merge into one at the same time as the articu­ latory gesture changes. This seems easier to accept for tautosyllabic Irol contexts (svara 'rind' > Mod.Sw. sval), than for heterosyl-

1113

labic Irol contexts like hin harae, Mod.Sw. hin hale 'the devil'. An alternative hypothesis would be to as­ sume that lateralization follows merger of Irol into a plosive [cjJ. This would amount to an argument for the fact that r + o, at least, was subject to a synchronic merger rule [ro] > [cjJ rather earlier than previously assumed. Spel­ ling in GVB does not contradict this, viz. ord 'word', board 'table' beside spellings with < dh > in positions where the pronunciation is unequivocally fricative (huvudh). The retro­ flex stop [cjJ would form input to the lateral­ ization [cjJ > [L] and, indeed, provide an ex­ planation for why the resultant [L] is a velarl retroflex rather than a dental. An earlier retroflection rule also carries im­ plications for some of the vowel lengthenings in Old Swedish. Wessen (1969, 56) puts them into three groups based on the chronology of vowel lengthening: first, before [ro] before 1 350 (gara 'yard', hara 'hard'), second before [rn] in the latter part of that century (barn 'child', kvarn 'mill'), and finally before [nd, nt, md, ld, It, In, rt, rl] after 1400 (vande 'adjusted', tamde 'domesticated', dolde 'hid', maIn 'cloud', karl 'man'). In view of the fact that the context here is before a consonant cluster, these lengthenings seem somewhat unex­ pected, and the question is whether we could connect some of them to the merger of r + co­ ronal by so-called retroflection. If so, length­ ening would be compensatory, in a manner of speaking, rather than spontaneous, sche­ matically [garo] > [ga:cjJ > [go:cjJ > [gO:L]. The connection with vowel lengthening is par­ ticularly intriguing for the voiced clusters [rd, rn, rl] since they never form a long retroflex sound in Modern Swedish; *[goQ:] and * [ba1\ :] are unthinkable words in Swedish. Thus, merger of [rd] entails, or presupposes, vowel lengthening. Where a voiceless consonant fol­ lows, a long sound is common (as long as both segments belong to the same morpheme, cf. kors [ko,:] 'cross' vs. borr-s [bor:s] 'drill's'). The late orthographic form baren could thus be ex­ plained as a case where the vowel has not lengthened (note its unrounded quality). If that does not happen, then the r + n will not merge, just as they do not in Mod.Sw. Satu[rn]us, ku[rd], fi[rn] 'type of snow', etc. Since the merger is not context-insensitive, we must reckon with its contexts when we recon­ struct the Old Swedish stage. A potential problem for the hypothesis is the fact that vowel lengthening and backing of 10:1 to [0:] takes place in the relevant vo-

1114

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

cabulary also in the southern areas where re­ troflection is unknown. (Instead there are other responses to r + coronal clusters, like r­ deletion, coronal deletion and vocalization). This shows only that vowel lengthening is not dependent on retroflection. One prediction, or at least expectation, that follows from the tra­ ditional assumption that r + o turns directly into [L], is that we should find forms like hin hdle (presumably with a dental [1]) in these re­ gions as well. The prediction, which is not borne out, relies to some extent on the as­ sumption that the distribution of apical Irl is more extensive than it is today (in itself a con­ tested topic, cf. Teleman 1985). The issue deserves further attention. In par­ ticular, it would be worthwhile investigating the development of the retroflection rule, per­ haps in terms of the different properties ofthe assimilating segments, both Irl and the (other) coronals. It might also cast light on the issue of backing of short jaj discussed in sections 2.1 . and 2.2. Apart from the word-initial po­ sition, a postvocalic sonorant favours backing (saldi 'sold', hand, etc.). Possibly, the sonorant forms a phonetically long segment together with the vowel, which thereby becomes subiect to the regular backing rule.

5.4.

Laterals

Through the lateralization process just de­ scribed - [r5] > [et] > [L] - the language ends up with two lateral phonemes, at least in prin­ ciple. Pamp (1971, 101) provides this minimal pair: hel1/e 'whole' vs. he/L/e 'shepherd'. The lateralization phenomenon is very wide­ spread indeed (cf. map in Pamp 1971, 96, based on Borgstf0m 1958). The period of two distinct laterals is mostly later than Middle Swedish.

5.5.

Cluster simplifications

The assimilation of [r] and a following coronal can be seen as a phonotactic simplification. Similarly, in the process of reduction discussed in section 5.1., the deletion of syllables often leads to segmental simplification:fra[ndk]ona > fra[Dk]a rather than *fra[ndk]a. Also, with no deletion, segmental simplification takes place. There are a few fairly regular phono­ logical patterns, e.g. ts > s: (ba[ts]ter > ba[s:]t 'best', gu[ts] > gu[s:] 'god's') and lk > k: (hvi[lk]en > vi[k:]en 'which', tho [lk]in > to[k:]en 'such'). A homorganic nasal+ voiced

stop cluster is also prone to assimilate totally, especially in final position: ba[nd] > barn:] 'band', la[mb] > la[m:] 'lamb', sta [Dg] > sta[D:] 'bar'. There is also loss of 15 � dl after 11/ or Inl (syncope cases excepted), e. g. ha[ld]a > hd [l:]a 'hold' ,ka[ld]er > karl: rcold', vi[ld]e > vi[l:]e 'wanted'. This reduction had already taken place in older Old Swedish according to Wessen (1969, 67). As can be seen, it inter­ acts with backing of vowel quality (section 2.2.). Other contexts for cluster simplification are [hi], [Ii], [di], [gj], and [hv] word-initially, where the initial consonant is lost. Most ofthese sim­ plifications became general during the 17th c., but scattered spellings indicating simplifica­ tion of [hi], at least, are found in Old Swedish, cf. jiirta for hjiirta 'heart', hiern for jern 'iron' and giordhgangh for hiordhgangh '(right to) pasture land' (cf. Wessen 1969, 166ff.). At other times, assimilation takes place in individual lexical items (e. g. conventionalized compounds), e.g. stafkarl > stakkarl 'poor wretch' (Mod.Sw. stackare), vadhmal > vam­ mal 'frieze' (Mod.Sw. vadmal), after > atter 'after' (Mod.Sw. efter). Often the pronunci­ ation has not affected the spelling, and the unassimilated pronunciation might then get restituted in the modern language. Roughly speaking, phonetic changes that took place be­ fore the printing of the Gustav Vasa Bible 1541 made a difference to the orthography, while later changes had a slighter impact on the or­ thography.

6.

Literature (a selection)

Bergfors, Erik Olof (1961), Tilljiimning a > a i dal­ maI Uppsala. Borg, Arve (1973), Jamning. In: Pra norsk malj@re­ gransking (eds. Olav Beito/Ingeborg Hoft), 251 277. Borgstrom, Carl Hjalmar (1958), Innf@ring i sprog­ videnskap. Oslo/Bergen/Lund. Brondum-Nielsen, Johannes (1927), Dialekter og Dialektforskning. K0benhavn. Eliasson, Stig (1983), Is sowzd change teleological? The case of the Central Scandinavian Vowel Shift. Ms. Talk given at the 6th International Conference on Historical Linguistics. Poznan. Eliasson, Stig (1986), Sandhi in peninsular Scandi­ navian. In: Sandhi phenomena in the languages of Europe (ed. Henning Andersen). Berlin, 271 300. Geijer, Hennan (1921), Nagra bidrag tillfragan om tilljiimningens ock apokopens utbredningsviigar (SvLmB. 18). Stockholm.

124. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic III: Swedish Haugen, Einar (1970), The language history of Scandinavia: A profile of problems. In: The Nordic languages and modern linguistics (ed. Hreinn Be­ nediktsson). Reykjavik, 41 86. Haugen, Einar (1976), The Scandinavian languages: An introduction to their history. London. Hessehnan, Bengt (1901), Skiss ofver nysvensk kvantitetsutveckling. In: SS 1, 10 25. Hessehnan, Bengt (1902), Stafvelseforlangning och vokalkvalitet: Undersokningar i nordisk ljudhistoria 1 . Uppsala. Hessehnan, Bengt (1948 53), Huvudlinjer i nordisk sprbkhistoria 1 3 (Nordisk kultur 3 4). Stock­ ho!m/Uppsala. Hogstad, Johan (1906), Elveromsmaalets gram­ matik. Kristiania. Hyman, Larry (1985), A theory of phonological weight. Dordrecht. Kenstowicz, Michael (1994), Phonology in genera­ tive grammar. Oxford. Kock, Axel (1921), Svensk ljudhistoria 4. Lund. Kristoifersen, Gjert (1990), East Norwegian prosody and the level stress problem. Ms. Tromso. Kristoifersen, Gjert (1993), Degenerate feet in Old Norse and modern Norwegian. Unpublished ms. Bergen. Labov, William (1994), Principles of linguistic change: Internal factors. Oxford. Lahiri, Aditi/Riad, Tomas/Jacobs, Haike (1999), Diachronic prosody. In: Word prosodic systems in the languages of Europe (ed. Harry van der Hulst) (Eurotyp 20 4). The Hague, 335 422. Levander, Lars (1909), ;Dvdalsmalet i Dalarna: Ord­ bojning ock syntax (SvLm. 105). Stockholm. Lundahl, Ivar (1929), Ett par bidrag till svensk sprakutveckling i belysning av ortnamn. In: NoB 17, 23 38. Moberg, Lena (1989), Lagtyskt och svenskt i Stock­ holms medeltida tiinkebocker (Acta Academiae Re­ giae Gustavi Adolphi LVIII). Uppsala. Modeer, Ivar (1946), Studier over slutartikeln i starka femininer (UuA 1946: 2). Uppsala. Neuman, Erik (1918), Utbredningen av vokalbalans­ en a:a i medelsvenskan CUUA 1917). Uppsala. Noreen, Adolf (1904), Altschwedische Grammatik; mit Einschluss des Altgutnischen. Halle. Nystrom, Gunnar (1991), Om jamviktsaccent och accent 2 i svenska mat, sarskilt dahnal. In: DF 33, 227 237. Pamp, Bengt (1971), Svensk sprak- och stilhistoria. Lund.

1115

Pihlstrom, Sven (1981), Kortstavighet och stavel­ seforlangning: Hur nagra av de gamla kortstaviga or­ den erhallit sin form i svenskt rikssprbk. Uppsala. Reitan, Jorgen (1910), Betoningsforhold i stadsbygd­ ens maalfore. In: MM 1910, 87 97. (Reprinted in: Prosodi/Prosody (1983), eds. Ernst Hakon Jahr/Ove Lorentz. Oslo, 40 50). Riad, Tomas (1992), Structures in Germanic pro­ sody: A diachronic study with special reference to the Nordic languages. Stockhohn. Riad, Tomas (1995), The Gennanic quantity shift. A typology. In: ABiiG 42, 159 184. Riad, Tomas (1997), Svenskt fonologikompendium. Stockholm. Riad, Tomas (1998), Balance and harmony in Scan­ dinavian dialects. In: Metaphony and vowel harmony in Romance and beyond (ed. Jose Ignacio Hualde). Thematic issue of Rivista di Linguistica 10.1, 233 276. Riad, Tomas (2000), Forestallningen om den ger­ manska betoningen. In: Studier i svensk sprbkhis­ toria 5 (ed. Lars-Erik Edlund). Umea, 380 401. Sandoy, Helge (1987), Norsk dialektkunnskap. Oslo. Seip, Didrik Amp (1915), Laneordstudier 1. Kris­ tiania. Skautrup, Peter (1944), Det danske sprogs historie 1. Fra guldhornene till Jyske lov (2nd ed. 1968). Kobenhavn. Soderberg, Sven (1879), Forngutnisk ljudlara. In: LuA 15, 1 48. Sturtevant, Albert Morey (1932), The lengthening ofvowels before -tt from *-xtin Old Norse. In: Lan­ guage 8, 215 216. Teleman, Ulf (1985), Till det nordiska r-fonemets historia. Ms. Lund. Torp, Arne (2000), Den nordskandinaviske kjedeforskyvinga av lange bakre vokaler enda en gang. In: Nordlyd 28, 248 261. Vennemann, Theo (1988), Preference laws for syl­ lable structure and the explanation of sound change. Berlin/New York/Amsterdam. Wessen, Elias (1969), Svensk sprbkhistoria 1. Ljud­ lara och ordhojningslara. 8th ed. (Reprinted as Ny­ tryck i nordiska sprak 4, 1992). Lund. Westerberg, Anna (1991), Utvecklingen av gammalt kort aframfor ld och nd i svenska dialekter (Skrifter utgivna genom Dialekt-och folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala, serie A: 19). Uppsala. Widmark, Gun (1998), Stora vokaldansen: Om kvantitativa och kvalitativa flrandringar i fornsven­ skans vokalsystem (Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi LXV). Uppsala.

Tomas Riad, Stockholm (Sweden)

1116

125.

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic IV: A typological and contrastive survey

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

Introduction The Danish stod The Great Scandinavian Quantity Shift Stable and unstable vowel systems The peninsular Scandinavian vowel shift Diphthongization Unrounding Vowel lowering Consonant dissimilation Initial palatalization Retroflex flap Cacuminalization (true retroflexion) and postalveolarization Conclusion Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

In the late Middle Ages, the Scandinavian lan­ guages underwent a series of changes that sub­ stantially altered their phonetic and phono­ logical character. To the extent that the devel­ opments are not reflected in the orthography or cannot be placed in time with the help of other changes, their exact dating is often dif­ ficult. In addition, many of the changes straddle several of the linguistic periods tra­ ditionally assumed in Scandinavian historical linguistics. With these provisos, this article will survey, from a typological and contrastive point of view, the most important sound changes that cuhninated in the Middle Scan­ dinavian period, approximately 1 350-1 550, sometimes - when necessary for a full under­ standing of their outcomes - extending the purview well into Modern Scandinavian times. Of particular importance will be the varieties of Scandinavian that form the basis of the modern standard languages, but since many of the typologically most striking changes have taken place in central Scandina­ via, especially on the Scandinavian Peninsula (cf. the "inner Scandinavian area" of Haugen 1970, 53), a natural focus will be on these. The developments discussed, which are generally unevenly spread geographically, involve pros­ ody (st0d, quantity), vocalism (vowel shift, diphthongizations, unrounding, lowering), and consonantism (consonant dissimilation, palatalization, the appearance of the retroflex flap, i. e. "thick /" , and postalveolarization). For details and discussions of additional changes, see the surveys by Haugen (1976, 254-285; 1982b, 40-56, 66- 86) and Bandle

(1973) as well as more specialized literature cited in these works. The resulting states in the modern languages are summarized in Braunmiiller (1999). 2.

The Danish st0d

2. 1 .

Synchrony and diachrony

Unique to Danish among the Scandinavian languages and typologically remarkable is the systematic utilization of st0d, phonetically la­ ryngealization (Laver 1994, 3 3 O f.), for phono­ logical purposes, i. e. for morpheme differen­ tiation and as a signal of morpheme and word structure (cf. e.g. Gf0nnum 2001 , 172-198). Most commonly, researchers assume that the st0d arose out ofthe Central Scandinavian ac­ cent 1 (acute accent) some time between 1 1 00 and 1500 (Fischer-J0rgensen 1989, 17). In con­ trast to short vowel lowering (see section 8.) or Old Scandinavian spirant and stop weaken­ ing (Karker 1996, 40-42, 44 f.), the spread of the st0d is entirely contained within present­ day Denmark, with a few non-st0d, partly to­ nal relic areas existing mostly on the southern periphery of the country (cf. Fischer-J0rgen­ sen 1989, 1 2 f.; Bandle 1973, map 1 5). As a structural entity, the st0d contrasts with its ab­ sence. In the same way the Swedish-Norwe­ gian accent 2 may be said to contrast with its absence (so-called accent 1), the Danish st0d then constituting a development out of a for­ merly unmarked state (lack of accent 2 in spe­ cific stressed word forms). An important pho­ netic property of the st0d, reminiscent of where vowel and consonant length is posi­ tioned in the other Scandinavian languages (section 3.2.), is its location within the stressed syllable: st0d on a long stressed vowel appears at the end of that vowel, whereas st0d in a short vowel + sonorant consonant sequence appears at the beginning of the sonorant (Fi­ scher-J0rgensen 1989, 8; but cf. also Gf0nnurn 2001 , l 72 f.). 2.2.

A cross-linguistic parallel: st0d in Livonian

Typologically, the Danish st0d is sometimes compared to the broken tone or st0d of Livonian, the endangered Fennic (i. e. Baltic­ Finnic) language of the northern Kurzeme

1117

125. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic IV

(Courland) peninsula in Latvia (e. g . Vihman 1971 , 248- 373; Fischer-J0rgensen 1989, 144-146; Wiik 1989, among the more recent works). Interestingly, in the scholarly litera­ ture, the existence of the Livonian st0d was first established by a native speaker of Danish (Vilhehn Thomsen, in 1 890). Phonetically, there are striking similarities between the st0ds of the two languages (Vihman 1971, esp. 293-299; Wiik 1989, 26-59, 1 14; Fischer­ J0rgensen 1989, 145). Phonologically, the Livonian laryngealization or st0d, like its Danish counterpart, enters into contrasts with forms without st0d (Vihrnan 1971, 96; Wiik 1989, 1 9 f. , 1 1 5). Historically, the st0ds in Danish and Livonian show both resemblances and differences. The Livonian st0d often arises through vowel loss (syncope or apocope) in the second syllable of a word (*valo > va'! , 'light' (n.); st0d), but it also replaces a lost preconsonantal or intervocalic *h (*raha > ra' 'money'; a [J]), reflects the gemination of a consonant between the first and the sec­ ond syllable (*kalai5a > ka 'llE 'fish'), results from consonant palatalization and velar­ ization turning into a separate vowel segment (*Ium' > lu';m 'snow'; [iD, and so forth (Kettunen 1938, XXI f., XXXV f., XXXVII f.; Posti 1942, 317- 324; see further Vihman 1971, 299 - 3 3 1 ; Wiik 1989, 1 3 - 18, 1 1 6 f.). Syncope or apocope as a cause of strong energy con­ centration in the stressed syllable and con­ comitant or eventual st0d has been proposed for Danish as well (Fischer-J0rgensen 1989, 143-145). In contrast to Danish, however, several other changes were involved in the cre­ ation of the Livonian st0d. Moreover, unlike its Danish counterpart, the Livonian st0d emerged only in originally short syllables (Wiik 1989, 1 1 6 f.). Finally, for Livonian, the question remains whether the development of its st0d, though in itself explainable by inter­ nal changes, was initially brought about by the Latvian st0d or broken tone (language contact), whether instead the Livonian st0d underlies the Latvian one (a Livonian substra­ tum in Latvian), or whether the two st0ds arose completely independently in each lan­ guage (cf. Kettunen 1938 XXXVIII; Posti 1 942, 325; Vihrnan 1971, 3 1 8 f.; Fischer­ J0rgensen 1989, 145). For Danish, on the other hand, the issue of possible influence through language contact does not arise: its st0d is clearly the result of a strictly language­ internal development. �

=

,

�

3.

The Great Scandinavian Quantity Shift

3.1.

Segmental premises of length

Typologically, quantity systems vary consider­ ably. They may be prosodic or segmental or represent a combination of both. Table 125.1 summarizes the cross-linguistically more or less typical segmental phonological bases of quantity. Table 125.1: A classification of intra-morphemic segmental structures carrying or underlying pho­ netic length distinctions C indicates identical seg­ ments; diphthongs and heterogeneous consonant clusters not included) A Vowel phone

B Consonant phone

Short

Long

Short

Long

I

;v;

;v;

;C!

;C!

II

;V;

;V;

;C!

;e;

III

;V;

;V,Vj

;C!

;C,Cj

Alternatives IA and IB involve a merely pho­ netic (phonologically non-distinctive) differ­ ence of length, introduced by a phonological rule and carried by a vowel and a consonant segment, respectively. In IIA and lIB, the long segments are underlyingly or inherently long (although case lIB is at best unusual). In IlIA and IIIB, phonologically double or geminate segments are realized phonetically as long seg­ ments. 3.2.

Synchrony

Synchronically, Ancient Scandinavian and the modern Scandinavian languages exhibit the overall quantity types indicated in Table 125.2. Table 125.2: Quantity types of the Scandinavian languages Language(s)

Length distinctions in V and C

Prosodic or segmental nature of quantity

Ancient Scandinavian

IIA+IIIB

Segmental

Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Swedish

IA+IIIB (complementary VIC length only)

Mixed prosodicsegmental

Danish

IIA

Segmental Oargely)

1118

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

In Ancient Nordic, intra-morphemic super­ heavy or overlong sequences consisting of a long vowel plus a geminate consonant, the type ON nott 'night', dottir 'daughter', were infrequent and generally involved double t (Sand0Y 1994; 1997, 276; Riad 1992, 245, cf. 266; Lahiri et al. 1999, 408, 338, 362). Pho­ netically similar overlong sequences arose in inflection by doubling, e. g. ON salt < /sa: + t/ '(you) saw'. In the modern North Scandinavian languages (here Scandinavian except Danish), length is triggered by stress ([ + stress] --> [ + long]). Largely contingent on the phono­ tactic complexity of the postvocalic consonant coda, either the vowel or the first postvocalic consonant is lengthened (cf. Eliasson 2001 , 45, 59). The situation is depicted in Fig. 125. 1 . (a) Phonologically

(b) Phonetically

,

V V V V

C, C,

,

C C, C,(C)

'V 'V

'V : 'V :

I

I

C C: C· I ceC)

Fig. 125.1: Placement of length in North Scandina­ vian (schematically, main cases only; 1 stressable vocalic nudes, 2 structural focus of lengthening (quantity peak), 3 post-core consonant(s), Ci = Ci, C, # C" half-length) •

In descriptions in terms of moras (structural time units), itmay be said that the North Scan­ dinavian languages impose a condition that every stressed syllable must contain exactly two moras (i. e. a long vowel [V:] and precon­ sonantal /ve,; each equal two moras, flfl). In Danish, on the other hand, long vowels may be viewed as underlying. However, its long vowels are restricted to stressed syllables, and morphological processes and stress shifts trig­ ger certain length alternations as in I [o:']ven 'the law' vs. f [o]v 'law' and gr[a]dere 'grade' (vb.) vs. gr[a:]d 'degree'.

3.3.

Diachrony

The main outcomes of the historical evolution of phonological quantity in Scandinavian are summed up in Fig. 125.2. (a) Ancient Scandinavian

VC

VC,C,

VC

Vtt

(b) Middle North Scandinavian

VC (c) Late Old Danish/Middle Danish (from about 1300/1350)

VC VC Fig. 125.2: The historical development of the major underlying quantity patterns in Scandinavian (het­ erogeneous consonant clusters disregarded; the underlying pattern (VCj in (b) is in stressed posi­ tions realized phonetically as [v:CD

Numerically severely restricted, the intra-mor­ phemic superheavy fltt combinations of Fig. 125.2 (a), together with their more fre­ quent heteromorphemic counterparts, were often eliminated early on. Furthermore, since length distinctions were restricted to stressed syllables, length might perceptually more and more have corne to be seen as an exponent of stress. Through the Great Scandinavian Quantity Shift, ca. 1250-1550 (Haugen 1976, 258), the remainder of the segmental quantity system of Ancient Nordic (Fig. 125.2 (a» was transformed into the North Scandina­ vian, partly prosodically based system (Fig. 125.2(b» with stress-triggered lengthen­ ing being generalized to light stressed VC sequences. In Danish - which normally kept its short vowels before a short final conso­ nant - the neutralization of consonant length rendered vowel length distinctive again (Fig. 125.2 (c» . Quantity shift in Scandinavian is related to similar developments on the European conti­ nent, particularly Middle Low German syl­ lable lengthening (cf. e. g. Amason 1980, 86 f.). A similar but apparently older change is found in South Sami (Bergsland 1983; 1992, 8; Kus­ menko/Riessler 2000, 216-218).

3.4.

The persistent complexity of the North Scandinavian quantity systems

Most languages that possess distinctive quan­ tity manifest it only in vowels; languages with distinctive intra-morphemic quantity in con­ sonants are relatively rare. Old Nordic was a language that possessed both, yielding an elaborate quantity system in stressed syllables

125. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic IV

similar to that of Modern Finnish, though Pinnish allows long vowels and consonants also in unstressed syllables. Although the North Scandinavian languages lost important distinctions through quantity shift, their quantity systems nonetheless remain typologi­ cally complex. Areally, moreover, they are em­ bedded into a larger North European (Sarnic, Pennic) context with sometimes quite intricate quantity systems (Eliasson 2000, 25- 28). Danish, on the other hand, radically reduced the original complexity of its quantity system at the cost of increased complications in its vowel system. 4.

Stable and unstable vowel systems

4.1.

Stable vowel systems

Cross-linguistically, vowel inventories vary considerably with regard to how stable they are over time. Aside from some reshuffling be­ tween its members, the Pre-Basque simple vowel inventory /i e a 0 u/ of some two thou­ sand years ago remains intact in almost all va­ rieties of modern Basque (Tovar 1957, 55; Trask 1997, 149 f.). Similarly, the five-vowel system /i e a 0 u/ of Proto-Austronesian more than four thousand years ago and Proto­ Oceanic from about 2000 B.C. began in Proto­ Polynesian (approximately 500 B.C.) to be supplemented with the phonetic feature length, turning it into the phonetic system [i e a 0 u i: e: a: 0: u:], which survives unchanged in all present-day Polynesian languages (cf. Benton 1991 , 3 ; Lynch 1998, 75 f. ; Biggs 1971, 482 f.). 4.2.

The pervasive turbulence in the Scandinavian vowel systems

The developments in Germanic and Scandina­ vian provide striking contrast to such para­ gons of stability. The starting-point seems simple enough. Departing from a straightfor­ ward Proto-Indo-European five-vowel system * /i e a 0 u i: e: a: 0: u:/ (Szemerenyi 1990, 37), Proto-Germanic, roughly contemporary with early Pre-Basque and Proto-Polynesian, had the partly asymmetrical system of simple vowels * /i e a u i: "': 0: u:/ (Antonsen 1975, 3), Proto- or Ancient Scandinavian the largely symmetrical system /i e a (0) u i: e: a: 0: u:/ (Haugen 1982b, 26 f.; but cf. Pamp 1971, 73). The subsequent changes, however, were dra­ matic. The first major period of turmoil in the vowel system was the umlaut/syncope period (cf. Haugen 1982b, 29-32). A second wave of

1119

major change reached its peak in Middle Scan­ dinavian, with Peninsular Scandinavian exhib­ iting the typologically most extreme results. We will primarily discuss the four partly in­ terrelated changes of vowel shift, diphthong­ ization, unrounding, especially itacism, and short vowel lowering.

5.

The Peninsular Scandinavian Vowel Shift

A classical case of a vowel shift, the displace­ ment of the long back vowels ii > 0, 0 > U, and u > if in Swedish and Norwegian is one of the most intriguing changes in Late Old, Middle and Early Modern Scandinavian (for details, see e. g. Wessen 1965, 71-76; Noreen 1903- 1924 III, 83, 1 3 3 , 251; Seip 1955, 147 f.; Skard 1967, 87 f.; Christiansen 1946-48, 121; Torp/Vik0r 1996, 6 1 f.; Skjekkeland 1997, 45-47; from a cognitive point of view, Elias­ son 1992, 292- 301). Also, a striking extension of the vowel shift is the development of the typologically unique articulatory gesture of outrounding (strictly speaking lip spreading in combination with rounding, Eliasson 2000, 34-36) characteristic of the vowels y and @, as opposed to the inrounded it (for the signifi­ cance of the opposition between y/@ and ff to universal phonetic theory, cf. Ladefoged/ Maddieson 1996, 294- 296). The change agrees well with the strong general phonetic tendency in vowel shifts for long vowels to rise and back vowels to move to the front (Labov's Principle I and Principle III, respectively, Labov 1994, 3 1, 116; for the Swedish/Norwe­ gian case, see ibid. 1 3 0 f.). Questions have been raised inter alia as to: (a) whether all the individual steps of the vowel shift are actually connected, (b) whether the shift represents a push chain, starting with the change ii > 0, or a drag chain, beginning with the change if > if (Torp 1982, 55) or per­ haps even a combined push/drag chain com­ mencing with the change 0 > u (cf. Storm 1 880, 348), (c) what caused the shift (cf. e.g. Torp 2000), and even (d) whether a shift of homogeneous long vowels took place at all (the latter issue is raised by Braunmiiller 2003, who, in the context of more general Nordic diphthongizations, views the shift as a change in prominence of the component parts of assumed diphthongal pronunciations, e. g. [0"] > [Ou], [u"] > ["*]; in contrast, Haugen 1970, 68f. saw in the vowel shift a "resistance" to diphthongization).

1 1 20

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Most scholars assume that the change is a shift of the push chain type triggered perhaps by lengthening through the Great Quantity Shift of Old Scandinavian short a. Evidence that has been taken to reflect a push chain ef­ fect includes: (a) the internal logic of the con­ stituent changes, in part in relation to other changes (Wessen 1965, 75 f.), (b) the varying geographical diffusion of the stages of the vowel shift, with ii > 0 being the most widely spread and the change of u and y the least (Larsen 1926, 10), (c) certain philological in­ formation suggesting a comparatively early age of the change a > 0, and (d) the unique structural exploitation of the articulatory ges­ ture of outrounding in the vowel phonemes /y, 0/ as opposed to /ft/ (note not just plain u-fronting in the sense of Hock 1986, 1 54 f.), whose emergence can be readily understood under a push, but not so easily under a drag, chain interpretation (Eliasson 1983; 2000, 3 3 - 36). Danish only shares the first stage of the change, a > 0 (Bf0ndum-Nielsen 1950, 227-229; Skautrup 1 944, 246f.; cf. also Bandle 1973, 41 f.). Besides, it should be noted that the rotation of the long back vowels is most advanced in Central Swedish, less so in Finland Swedish and Norwegian. In addition to the change of the long back vowels, in most environments, original short u in East Norwe­ gian and Swedish joined the development of the long vowel u into a high central vowel (Skjekkeland 1997, 54). 6.

Diphthongizations

Diphthongizations and/or diphthongs of other origins are common in European lan­ guages, particularly Germanic, Celtic and Fennic (on diphthongs in North European languages generally, see Eliasson 2000, 37- 39). Among the standard languages of Scandinavia, the Middle Scandinavian diph­ thongizations of long vowels (Haugen 1976, 254-257) have had a strong impact on the phonetic-phonological appearance of Far­ oese, Danish and Icelandic, whereas, as a con­ sequence of the earlier East Scandinavian monophthongization (Bandle 1973, map 14), Standard Swedish, unlike Danish, is left at the other extreme with no structurally significant diphthongs at all in its native vocabulary. Dia­ lectally, secondary diphthongs appear - geo­ graphically scattered -in Norway, Sweden, in­ cluding Gotland, and Swedish-speaking Fin­ land (Haugen 1976, 255 map; Christiansen 1946-48, 1 62-168).

Due to their varying manifestations in dif­ ferent dialects, Haugen (1976, 256) considers the miscellaneous long vowel diphthongiza­ tions not to have been caused by a single ten­ dency spreading over ever larger areas, but rather to constitute specific developments in­ ternal to each dialect, their common denomi­ nator being the need to keep the long vowels apart from short ones when the latter were lengthened through the Great Quantity Shift (see also Indreb0 1951, 225; Christiansen 1946-48, 166; Skjekkeland 1997, 48- 50). A special noteworthy feature of Icelandic and Faroese is the development of a distinc­ tion between short and long diphthongs. 7.

Unrounding

7.1.

Areal concentration of front rounded vowels

The Scandinavian languages belong to the large continuous central and north European area with front rounded vowels (Brosnahan 1961 , 104-106; Eliasson 2000, 3 1 - 3 3). Among the standard European languages, a high front rounded [y] also exists in Albanian. Outside Europe, front rounded vowels occur above all in North, Central and East Asia in Uralic, Altaic and Sino-Tibetan languages. Yet, on the whole, front rounded vowels are relatively uncommon (Maddieson 1984, 124). Moreover, being phonetically more complex than their unrounded front counterparts, they are often subject to delabialization or un­ rounding. 7.2.

!tacism

In Scandinavian, the unrounding of the high front y to i, so-called itacism, is especially char­ acteristic ofIcelandic as well as Faroese, where long /i:/ was subsequently diphthongized (A. Hansson 1983, 142f.), but it also occurs in Norway and occasionally in Swedish dialects. The change of /y, y:, ey/ into Ii, i:, ei/ in Ice­ landic may have started in northwestern Ice­ land in the 1 4th c. but did not become com­ mon until the end of the 16th c., with,possibly, some traces of rounding still found in isolated areas in the west until the 1 7th c. and in the east until after 1800 (Gunnlaugsson 1 994). In Norway, itacism of old longy, sometimes also of old short y, shows up in several dialects (Christiansen 1946-48, 1 3 , 121, 184; Skjekke­ land 1997, 48). (On unrounding in Danish, see Bf0ndum-Nielsen 1950, 229 ff.; on unround-

125. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic IV

1121

ing also of rounded front vowels other than y in Swedish dialects, cf. e. g. Lagrnan 1966, 63 f.).

'ship'), in Gotaland dialects also in most other cases (fisker > Gotaland dial. Jesk 'fish', Stand.Sw. fisk) (Wessen 1965, 76-79).

7.3.

8.3.

Itacism and vowel shift

Itacism in certain Norwegian dialects has of­ ten been seen as an extension ofthe Peninsular shift of long vowels (Larsen 1 886, 84; 1926, 10; Christiansen 1946-48, 121; Skard 1967, 88; Indreb0 1951, 1 16; cf. also Seip 1955, 1 47). The Norwegian dialects with itacism are, how­ ever, geographically scattered, and not all be­ long to the vowel shifting areas (cf. Chapman 1962, 76, 194 map XXXII; Skjekkeland 1997, 48). Moreover, Icelandic also exhibits itacism of y without vowel shift (Chapman 1962, 1 1 1 f.), the same being true of Faroese. In a wider Germanic context, whereas Low Ger­ man mostly kept its front rounded vowels, the majority of the High German dialects had al­ ready begun in the Middle High German pe­ riod to unround their umlaut vowels (Wiesin­ ger 1983, 1 1 03). Likewise, in the geographic vicinity of latter-day Scandinavian, the orig­ inal Fenno-Samic *y had in Samic been spon­ taneously unrounded to *i at a very early, probably Pre-Samic, date (Sammallahti 1998, 1 81). Like numerous other examples of un­ rounding, most instances of Scandinavian itacism are not related to vowel shift, although the cases cited by Larsen (1886, 1926) and Christiansen (1946-48) may still be. 8.

Vowel lowering

8.1.

Vowel lowering in general

The lowering of short vowels plays a particu­ larly important role in Danish, but Swedish and Norwegian are also affected (see e. g. Haugen 1976, 257; 1982b, 41 , 47, 49, 5 1 , 53). Here primarily the Swedish complex oflower­ ings will be focused upon because of its special typological interest. 8.2.

Swedish i-y-u lowering

In Swedish, even before 1 3 50 the short high vowels i, y, U had been lowered to e, 0, 0, re­ spectively, before rC and [r]C clusters (Wessen 1965, 55 f.; Pamp 1971, 87f.; r 'thick I', see section 1 1 .). More generally, beginning in Old Swedish and continuing into the Middle Swedish period, the same vowels in Central Swedish dialects were under certain conditions lowered in short root syllables (skip > skepp

Lowering of [0] to /s/

According to Wessen (1965, 79), the short 0, which had arisen through Ancient Scandina­ vian u-umlaut or the Old and Middle Scandi­ navian i.y. u-lowering, had an open [0] quality, which in many areas developed further into "a sound between Ii and 0, the 11 of the [Swedish] dialect alphabet" (my transl.; see also Pamp 1971 , 84, 89; Widmark 1998, 27, 37). Through multiple developments, a similar vowel also occurs in Norwegian dialects (Haugen 1980, 274-278). In printed texts re­ producing dialectal speech, the Norwegian sound is sometimes written (E or 0 (Haugen 1980, 273), the Swedish one commonly 6, e. g. western Swedish gorgott 'tremendously good, super' (neut.; gor 'visceral contents, sludge'). In several Swedish and Norwegian dialects, it appears to be a near low, weakly (in)rounded vowel, here denoted by the IPA syrnbola, with its place of articulation varying probably from central to front or back, depending on the dia­ lect (Geijer 1921, 84 f.; for the dialect of Opp­ dal, S0r-Tf0ndelag, Norway, cf. Haugen 1980, 273 f.; 1982a, 37). Its long variant is at least in some linguistic varieties discernibly lower than the short one, in the example given above perhaps ['g�:r,gst:] (differently, apparently, in the Oppdal dialect; Haugen 1980, 283). This "tenth vowel" (Haugen 1980) constitutes a special phoneme in the dialects that possess it. Late in the Modern Swedish and Norwe­ gian period, lei was, in the standard linguistic varieties, socially increasingly stigmatized and it merged with /0/ (Wessen 1965, 15 3 f.; Pamp 1971 , 93 f.). 8.4.

Swedish H lowering

In both Swedish and Norwegian, original Old Scandinavian short [u] had, like its long counterpart [u:], been moved to a high central position /tt/ (section 5.). In contrast to Norwe­ gian, though, an additional lowering [ttl > [e] took place in Swedish, as in h [e]nd 'dog' (Noreen 1903 - 1924 III, 30O f.; cf. ibid. 267; Wessen 1965, 15 5).

�

8.5.

The cumulative changes

The changes in the system of short vowels in Swedish just mentioned are summarized in Fig. 125.3.

1 1 22 i 1 e

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

y 1 o

..

1 a

6 Fig. 125.3: The combined effects of the Middle Scandinavian lowering of high short i y u, the New Swedish merger of /13/ with /0/, and the Swedish lowering of short tf: for the set of short vowels in Modern Swedish

Besides providing the lei phoneme - phoneti­ cally until now usually long - with short al­ lophones (cf. Widmark 1998, 10, 27; Pamp 1971, 87 f.), the ultimate consequences of these changes for the phonetic-phonological inven­ tory are a new phoneme /6/, and a new allo­ phone [a] from earlier high central Itt/. Typologically, the situation is noteworthy in at least two respects: (1) the near low, weakly inrounded /13/ constitutes an infrequent, defi­ nitely marked vowel phoneme, and (2) the ap­ pearance in the vicinity of 161 of the short mid central inrounded allophone [a] in spite of an unfilled gap in the high central region goes counter to general ideas of vowel dispersion. Like the complete fronting of the long allo­ phone of the high central Ittl (section 5.), the Swedish lowering of the corresponding short allophone produced a new unexpected crowding in the available vowel space. 9.

Consonant dissimilations

Assimilations and dissimilations of consonant clusters are particularly characteristic of Ice­ landic but also Faroese (Haugen 1976, 267 f.; 1982b, 68, 69, 71; on Norwegian, see Hoff 1978). Contrastively and typologically of special note is the dissimilation, partly contex­ tually constrained, of the clusters II > [iiI], nn > [lin], rn > [(r)lin], rl > [(r)lil] in Icelandic and II > [iiI], nn > [lin], rn > [gn] in Faroese (Bandle 1973, 45 f.; Haugen 1 982b, 68, 7 1 ; cf. also Sand0Y 2001 , 1 30 - 1 33). Even more strik­ ing is the development of preaspiration in pp, ft, kk, etc. found in Icelandic and Faroese and scattered Norwegian and Swedish dialects, which is globally an extremely infrequent fea­ ture (Maddieson 1984, 27), though in northern and western Europe it is also found in Samic (Sammallahti 1998, 54f.) and the north­ western dialects of Scottish Gaelic (Borgstrom 1974; MacAulay 1992, 1 54 f., map 1 56; see fur­ ther G. Hansson 2001). Similarly noteworthy is the preglottalization of voiceless geminate stops in West Jutland dialects of Danish, so-

called "vestjysk st0d" (Haugen 1976, 265; Ringgaard 1960; Liberman 1982, 80-90, 252-260; Andersen 2002, 23 -25; cf. also Braunmiiller 2003, 39). Although discussed by Haugen (1976, 265) in the context of Middle Scandinavian (i. e. 1 350-1 550), preglottaliza­ tion, like preaspiration, arose at least as early as the Old Scandinavian period (Ringgaard 1960, 107; note also Andersen 2002, 28). Gen­ erally, such postvocalic consonant dissimila­ tions seem to point to the special status of the second-mora position (cf. the placement of st0d, the localization oflength, and off-gliding in diphthongization).

Initial palatalization

10.

Cross-linguistically, changes designated by the cover term of palatalization are frequent (Bhat 1978). The Scandinavian palatalizations affect differing groups of consonants (velars, dentals) and operate in different positions (e.g. initially, medially) (Bandle 1973, 79-82 and map 17; Haugen 1970, 62-65; 1976, 268-274; 1982b, 69, 71, 74f., 77-79; Ralph 1978). Palatalization in word-initial position be­ fore a front vowel or j had the most conse­ quences for the standard languages. In initial position, Common Scandinavian possessed among others the cluster and phoneme oppo­ sitions in Fig. 125.4. sJ

/ "-

Ski

skj

"- / stj

(a)

ki

--

kj

"- / tj

(b)

gi -- g]

"- / dj

(c)

Fig. 125.4: Word-initial contrasts in Early Old Scan­ dinavian involving dental/velar obstruents and either j or a following front vowel C = before front vowel)

Yet, lexically, the contrastive potential of such structures as those in Fig. 125.4 was only mod­ erately exploited. The changes that occurred during subsequent centuries (and that are still in progress in non-standard varieties) form a scale from very moderate to radical. Consider­ ing only the standard languages, the end result in Danish stands out as the least advanced with palatalization followed by subsequent depalatalization (cf. Haugen 1976, 268); the Old Danish sequence Isjl eventually developed a realization that is today variously inter-

125. Phonological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic IV

preted as a cluster or m. Icelandic exhibits palatalized stops. In Faroese, the collapse of the oppositions (a)- (c) gave birth to three en­ tirely new affricate and sibilant phonemes II. iI, d31 (A. Hansson 1983, 1 5 O f.; Rischel 1992, 108). In Swedish and Norwegian, the abolition of the two sets of oppositions (a) and (b) (Nor­ wegian Istjl has been preserved, though) re­ sulted in two new sibilant phonemes III and 1r;/, the latter of these constituting a voiceless counterpart of the phoneme Ij/, either original or resulting from the set (c). Well after the Middle Scandinavian period, in Norrland Swedish and some varieties of Modern Nor­ wegian, m and the postalveolar [,l merged, in Norrland Swedish to [,l, in Norwegian to m In contrast, Modern Central Standard Swedish changed III into a dorso-palatal [ljl and 1r;1 into a predorso-alveolar [,l, thus dis­ sociating the latter phonetically from the pala­ tal (jj/) position. Disregarding still other changes, the overall outcomes are summarized in Table 125.3. Table 125.3: Smnmary of the overall development of word-initial dental/velar +j clusters and asso­ ciated contrasts in individual Scandinavian langua­ ges (simpli:fied, main patterns only) Common Scandinavian

Ski' skj, stj, sj

k" kj tj

gi' gJ , dj

Danish

sg, sill, sqj, sj

k, kj, tj

g, gj, okseJola 'ox, foal' , fern. humla.}luga (0bL -u) > humle.}lugu 'bumblebee, fly'). It is not possible to outline here the inflex­ ional classes of all the spoken and written va­ rieties, but one can get an impression of the spectrum of variation in the mainland dialects by the systems that can be described for early 16th c. written Dan. and Sw. (table 126.8). Dan. as usual has the simplest system. The more complicated system of written Sw. is rep­ resentative of many Sw. as well as Norw. dia­ lects - at least if we take into account the rare instances when the def.sg. of the strong fern. is marked in accordance with speech. If relic case forms had been included in this overview,

even weak masc. would constitute a separate class on the basis of the def.sg.acc. ending -an.

3.

Pronouns

3.1.

Personal pronouns

The changes in the system of personal pro­ nouns from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nor­ dic may be illustrated by the best attested lan­ guages, i.e. Icel., Dan. and Sw. (table 126.9). Modern Icel. shows both the inventory of Old Nordic forms and the new system that emerged through a reinterpretation of some of these forms during the centuries around 1500. Late Old Dan. and Sw. in the first part of the 1 5th and 1 6th c. show the main char­ acteristics of the simplification of the system that took place in most Mainl. Scand. varieties up to about 1500. One major deviation from Old Nordic is the merger of dual and pL that affected all Nordic languages. While the dual forms were quite simply lost in Dan., most of Sw. and some Norw. dialects, they took over the pL function in Icel., Far. and the remaining mainland dia­ lects. In Dan. the loss of the dual is preliterate. In OSw. dual forms are rare and soon disap­ peared completely. In Norw. the merger of dual and pL generally speaking took place during the 1 5th c. The Icel. data, however, re­ veal a long-term process: first the use of pI. instead of dual forms from the 1 3th c., then the other way around with dual for pL from the 1 5th c., and finally the complete loss of the dual versus pI. opposition some centuries later. In the insular languages - certainly at least in Icel. - a new category carne into being when the old pL began being used as distinct honorific pronouns around 1 500. The MainL

1135

126. Morphological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic

Table 126.9: Systems of pers.pron. illustrating the development from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic

Mod.Icel. Sg.

PI.

Honor.

ODan. Sg. PI.

1 . pers.

2. pers.

N A D G N A D G N A D G

eg mIg mer min vi5 okkur

pu pig per pin pi5 ykkur

okkar Ver Oss

ykkar per Ybur

Vor

Ybar

Subj. Obj. G Subj. Obj. G

iak mik mm

han hanum hans

oss var, varre

thu thik thin I ither ither, ithre

iagh migh

thu thigh

han

Vl

I idher

iagh migh

tu tigh I edher

Sw. early 15th c. Sg. N A D PI. N A D Sw. early 16th c. Sg. Subj. Obj. PI. Subj. Obj.

Vl

os

Vl

os

Scand. languages met the need for such forms by using the ordinary 1st pL for the pluralis majestatis and the 2nd pL for polite address. The other major change in the personal pro­ noun system is the transition from four cases to a subject and an object form, which has taken place only in the mainland languages. It seems that all the subject forms in the Early Modern mainland languages correspond to the old nom., while the object forms clearly have two origins: the acc. in 1st and 2nd sg. and 3rd ref I. and the dat. for other 3rd person pronouns. Acc. and dat. had merged in the 1st and 2nd dual and pL before Old Nordic times, and had done so even in the sg. in ODan. In Sw. the merger generally speaking took place in 1st and 2nd sg. and 3rd refI. during the 1 4th c. and in the 3rd non-ref!. during the 1 5th c.,

3. pers.

M

F

hann

hun hana henni hennar

honum hans

N

Ref!.

[dem.]

Sig ser sin

[demonstrative]

hun ha:nne

Sig ser sin

[dem.]

sik sm

[dem.]

sigh

[demonstrative]

honnom

hon hana ha:nne [demonstrative]

han honum

hon hanne the them

sigh

thet

sigh sigh

and a fair guess will be that the Norw. devel­ opment was more or less parallel. However, there are Sw. and Norw. dialects that have re­ tained the distinction between acc. and dat. up to modern times - a few of them in the 1st and 2nd sg., but most often only in the 3rd sg. So the merger of acc. and dat. was obvi­ ously well under way in the Early Modern mainland languages, but it was pro bably geo­ graphically less widespread than it is today. Even ODan. has examples of gen. personal pronouns functioning as independent NPs (e.g. til min/hans 'to me/him'), but the gen. in such phrases is often replaced by a formerly acc. or dat. form (til mik/hanum) and probably went out of use early. With the exception of fixed phrases, the replacement of the gen. in independent NPs was on the whole completed at the middle of the 1 4th c. in Sw. and a cen-

1 1 36

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Table 126.10: Interrog.pron. from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic ONorse

N A D G

M;F (hvar/hver 1)

N hvat

hveim

hvi

hvess

ODan.

OSw. M;F h(v)a(r) hvem (hvan) hvem (hvas)

N hvat hvi

tury or so later in Norw. Since the surviving gen. forms are then restricted to the ad­ nominal possessive function, they should in­ stead be classified as possessive determiners. Therefore we may conclude that personal pro­ nouns no longer had a gen. in Early Modern Scandinavian, although formerly gen. pro­ nominal forms still exist. The forms used to repair the lack of a 3rd pers.pron. in the neut.sg. and in the pL (ON pat 'it' and peir - prer - pau 'they') can best be analysed as a subset of the forms of a dis­ tant demonstrative determiner as long as there is no formal distinction between these forms in pronominal and attributive functions. In the insular languages, the word in question has retained its inflexion equally well in both func­ tions, and consequently no new 3rd pers.pron. can be said to have developed. In the mainland languages this determiner has lost most of its inflexion, and the reduction of case inflexion has proceeded more slowly in the pronominal than in the attributive function. Thus new 3rd pers.pron. came into being in the neut.sg. and in the pI. which were distinct from the demon­ strative determiner. Dan. seems to have reached this stage early in the 14th c., probably at the same time as or just after the loss of the gen. forms of the personal pronouns, and Sw. and Norw. followed a couple of centuries later, certainly after the loss of the gen. Since the 3rd masc. and fem.sg.pron. were still in general used even for reference to inanimate nouns in all the languages at the beginning of the 1 6th c., there was not at that time any real need to use the masc./fem.sg. form of the de­ terminer as a personal pronoun. It should be added that the ref!. forms most often are used only with sg. subjects in Dan. and not with pI. ones as is the case for the rest of the languages. 3.2.

Interrogative and reciprocal pronouns

Interrogative pronouns here will include all hv-words that can introduce direct and in-

M;F h(v)o (hvem) hvem (hven) hvem hves

Early Modern Mainl. Scand. languages N hvat hvi

M;F

N

hvem, h(v)o

hvat

hves

direct questions - not only those that are pro­ nouns in the proper sense: hvem 'who', h(v)o 'who' and hvat 'what' - but also those that are actually determiners: the demonstrative hvilken 'which' and the quantifier hver/hvar 'any, who'. In the following exposition most orthographic variations, e.g. between initial hv- and kv-, will be omitted. The masc./fem. forms hvem and h(v)o and the neut. hvat were used for all cases, except for the gen. form hves, about 1 500 in the mainland languages (table 126.10). The com­ petition in these languages between hvilikr and hvilkinn was won by the latter. The modern inflexion of this word - masc./fem.sg. hvilken, neut.sg. hvilket and pL hvilke - is found even in ODan. and by 1500 also in Sw. and Norw., though sometimes with a separate fem.sg. form like hvilka. The spellings hvar and hver reflect the orig­ inal distinction between hvarr 'any/which one of two', and hverr 'any/which one of several' as well as the alternative form of the latter hvarr. There are no traces of the dual versus pL opposition in ODan. and OSw.; this dis­ tinction was in general gone in Norw. at the middle of the 15th c., leaving only orthogra­ phic variation, and the two forms are often used interchangeably in IceL from 1500. Grad­ ually hver/hvar seems to recede to its central function as a quantifier used almost exclusive­ ly in the sg. An inflexion very close to the mod­ ern one - masc./fem. hver and neut. hvert is once again found in ODan. and by 1500 also in Sw. and Norw. However, there are some relic case forms, e.g. Norw. hverjom (masc.sg.dat.) and Dan. hvarje « fem.sg. hvarri or neut.sg. hvarju). The merger of dual and pL also applied to hver/hvar in its recip­ rocal function. The ON expressions hvarr annan and hverr annan 'each other' developed into the modern reciprocal pronoun when the first element was no longer associated with the subject but merged with the last element some­ what before or at the beginning of Early Mod­ ern times.

126. Morphological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic 4.

Determiners

4.1.

Demonstratives

and acc. during the last part of the Old Nordic period and the following century. This change led to the loss not only of the distinction be­ tween nom. and acc. - if they had not already merged for other reasons - but also of the dis­ tinction between masc. and fern. in these cases. Somewhat later this masc./fem. form and the neut.nom. and acc. form began being used for the dat. and gen. as well. As usual, Dan. led the way, but at the beginning of the 16th c. all the Mainl. Scand. languages had in general lost the inflexion for case with the exception of more or less lexicalized expressions like eptir thi sem 'in accordance with' and til thes at 'until'. The very first step in this develop­ ment, i. e. the replacement of nom. sa with acc. jJann in the masc., is found even in Icel. from the 1 4th c. In the pI., the gender distinction was lost in ODan., and the same happened during the 1 5th c. in Sw. and Norw. - following a period with an opposition between a masc./fem. form and a neut. one in some varieties at least. In the pronominal function, a distinction be­ tween a subject and an object form developed in most dialects as the dat. early on began to compete with the acc. and in the end became the only oblique form. In the attributive func-

From a morphological point of view the most distinctive demonstratives are the ones corre­ sponding to ON sa - sif - pat, sjil/pess; - sja/ fJessi - petta and the more peripheral hinn. The development in the mainland languages of the distant demonstrative sa - su - pat 'that', which was also used to complete the system of personal pronouns, has to be de­ scribed in rather general terms, concentrating on the reduction of case and gender distinc­ tions (tables 126. 1 1 - 1 2). However, two com­ ments should be made initially: The dat. has been lost more gradually than this overview will give impression of, and it is retained in some Sw. and Norw. dialects. The gen. forms, which still exist in all the languages, should be treated like the gen. forms of the personal pronouns, i. e. they should be classified as pos­ sessive determiners when they are no longer used in independent NPs, but were restricted to the adnominal possessive function some time during the transitional period leading up to Early Modern Nordic. In the sg., the masc.acc. form was put to use first as masc.nom. and then as fem.nom.

Table

126.11: Sg. fonus of the distant demonstrative from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic

ONorse N A D G

M sa pann peim pess

OSw. F su pa peir(r)i peir(r)ar

N pat

M pan

p(v); pess

pern pas

ODan. F pe, pon pa peri pera

N pat

M then

F the

N thet

py pas

them thes

?

thet/thy thes

Transitional period N A D G

M then

N thet jthere /(thera)

)

/thy lethes)

M/F

N

then

thet

126.12: Pl. fonus of the distant demonstrative from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic

ONorse N A D G

Mainl. Scand. languages 16th c. F then

/thern lethes)

Table

1137

M peir

l2a

F pa:r

OSw. N pau

peim peir(r)a

M peer) l2all2ern

F pa(r) fuem pern pera

N pon/pe

I

(bern

ODan.

Mainl. Scand. languages 16th c.

the

pron. use the

them therre

)

them

attr. use the

1138

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

4.2.

tion, however, the new genderless nom. was generalized during the transition to Early Modern Nordic. The stronger tendency to simplify the inflexion in the attributive func­ tion is manifest during the Old Nordic period and can also be seen in the history of the sg. forms. For the proximate demonstrative sja/pessi - sja/pessi - petta 'this', the incongruous and predominantly Icel. masc./fem.sg.nom. form sja on the whole fell out of use during the 1 5th c. In the Mainl. Scand. languages this demon­ strative underwent a simplification similar to the one just described, leaving masc./fem.sg. thenne, neut. sg. thette and pI. thesse as the only forms apart from relic case forms in the 16th c. Hinn, which is generally considered to be one word, should more correctly be analyzed as two in Old Norse: a distant demonstrative "the other" inflected like possessives and an article "the" with the same inflexion except for the neut.nom./acc.sg. hit instead of hitt. This distinction has been lost in all the lan­ guages with the exception of Icel. An Icel. in­ novation in the 1 4th c., which can still be found a couple of centuries later, are weak forms in -u, used especially in the pI.

Possessives

At all stages in the history of the Nordic lan­ guages from the Old to the Early Modern pe­ riod, there are attributive possessive forms corresponding to all cells in the semantic field expressed jointly by the existing personal pro­ nouns and the demonstratives that fill in the gaps in the system. For the description ofthese possessive forms, we may use Old Norse, Modern Icel., ODan., Early Modern Dan. and Early Modern Sw. as examples. Some ofthe attributive possessive forms are clearly possessive determiners in the sense that they are formally distinct from the gen. of per­ sonal pronouns and the demonstratives by agreeing with the word they modify (cp. for instance in Old Norse the pronoun in til min 'to me' and the possessive in til konu minnar 'to my wife' and til barns mins 'to my child'). The forms that do not have this characteristic can be considered inflected forms of the per­ sonal pronoun or the demonstrative as long as they are still used both as independent NPs and as attributes (e. g. ONorse til hans 'to him' and til konu/barn hans 'to his wife/child'). However, when they are limited to the attribu­ tive function only, they should instead be clas­ sified as possessive determiners. Broadly

Table 126.13: Systems of declined (in capital letters) and undeclined possessives and supplementing pron. and dem.gen. fonus (in brackets) illustrating the development from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic

ONorse Sg. Du. PI. Mod.Icel. Sg. PI. Honor. ODan. Sg. PI.

1 . pers.

2. pers.

MINN

M

F

PINN YKKARR YD(V)ARR

[hans

[okkar VOR

PINN ykkar] [Y5ar]

MIN

TIllN

VAR

ITHER

OKKARR

vARR MINN

3. pers.

N

Ref!.

hennar [peirra]

J2ess]

SINN

[hans

hennar [peirra]

J2ess]

SINN

[hans

ha:nne [therre]

thes]

SIN

Early Mod.Dan. Sg. MIN PI. vOR/vors

DI

N eders/EDER

hans

hennes theres

thets

SIN

Early Mod.Sw. Sg. MIN PI. VOR

TIllN

hans

hannas theras

thass

SIN

ETHER

1139

126. Morphological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic Table 126.14: Declined possesives from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic ONorse

Sg.

PI.

N A D G N A D G

M IIllnn minum mins mimr mina

NolW. ca. 1500 traditional system F min mina mmm minnar minar

N mitt

M min(n)

minu mins min

mmom mms mme

minum minna

speaking, this change took place during the Old Nordic period in Dan., towards the end of this period in Sw. and a century or so later in Norw. Naturally, the development of the posses­ sive determiners is in several ways parallel to the development of the cognate personal pro­ nouns. Once again, the major deviation from ONorse is the merger of dual and pL, by which the dual forms were lost in Dan., most ofSw. and some Norw. dialects, but took over the pI. function in Icel., Far. and other mainland dialects. While ODan. does not have dual pos­ sessives at all and OSw. exhibits only a few 1st dual forms, we can say that the merger of dual and pL generally took place during the 1 5th c. in Norw. In IceL, however, the merger does not even seem to have started until some­ what after 1500. Moreover, the old pL posses­ sives began being used as honorific forms in the insular languages, and the 3rd refl. posses­ sive was restricted to the sg. in Dan. Some ofthe original possessive determiners, which were inflected for concord in Old Norse, have lost this inflexion. In Dan. and Norw. this sometimes applies to the 1 st pI. possessive, but most often to the 2nd pL, and the loss of inflexion took place during the transition up to Early Modern times. In the insular lan­ guages both 1st and 2nd pL possessives be­ came undec1ined, as did the 2nd honorific form. For lce!., this process began in the 1 5th c. and was completed almost two centuries later. The undec1ined possessive determiners - the former gen. of the personal pronouns and the demonstrative as well as the possessives which lost their inflexion for concord - very often during the transition up to the Early Modern period acquired a gen. suffix -s by analogy if they did not already have this ending.

F mm mina/mine min(n)e mina/mine

NolW. ca. 1500 modern system N mitt m�no/mme mms mm

!

mmom min(n)e

) )

M

F

N

mm

mien)

mitt

mine

mme

minCe)

In the mainland languages the possessive determiners that did not become completely undec1ined acquired a more or less simplified inflexion for concord. This development took place first in ODan. and then in Sw. and Norw. up to about 1 500. It is difficult to discern definite stages in this simplification process, but from the variation during the transition we can extract a traditional system still quite similar to the Old Norse one competing with a new system with a two- or three-way gender opposition in the sg. and none or a masc.j fern. versus neut. distinction in the pI. Grad­ ually the older system yielded as the younger one gained the upper hand. For a change, Norw. may be used for illustration (table 126.14). 4.3.

Quantifiers

The numeral einn '1' was inflected like posses­ sive minn in Old Nordic. In the sg. it has gone through the same simplification process up to the Early Modern stage in the MainL Scand. languages, but the somewhat illogical pL forms are in the end hardly ever seen. As the result of this process, we often find only a masc./fem. form e (i)n and a neu!. form e(i)t in the texts, but undoubtedly the spelling of the former usually conceals a distinction be­ tween masc. and fern. of some kind: either a short versus a long vowel or a retained versus a lost final consonant. The development ofthe numerals tveir 'two' and jJrir 'three' may be illustrated by the forms of the former (table 126.15). With Old Norse as the point of de­ parture, OSw. shows the incipient generali­ zation of the masc.acc., while ODan. repre­ sents the situation even in most of Sw. and Norw. about 1500: In spite of instances offur­ ther mergers, these numerals tend to exhibit

1 1 40

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Table 126.15: The numeral 2 from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic ONorse N A D G

M tveir tva

OSw. F tva:r

N tvau

tveim tveggja

ODan.

M tve(r)/tva tva

F tva(r)

N tu

M/F tva

tvem tveggja

Dan. ca. 1500 N tu

M/F tva

N tva/tu tva

tva/tvem /tviggje

Table 126.16: Strong adj. forms from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic (disregarding relict case fonus) ONorse Sg.

PI.

N A D G N A D G

M -r -an

urn

-

-s

-If

-a

OSw. F -a

-n

-rar -ar -ar

N -t -t -u -s

urn

urn

-

-s -i(r) -a

-

-ra

M -e -e

F -a

F -a -(r)i -(r)a(r) -air)

N -t -t -u -s

-a(r) urn

-

M/F

a kind of systematic inflexion with a masc.j fern. versus neut. opposition in the nom. and acc. and separate dat. and gen. forms. At that time, however, Dan. was beginning to lose the distinct neut. forms and probably had lost the dat. and gen. The numeralJ76rir 'four' tended to lose its inflexion even more rapidly, and had on the whole become undec1ined in ODan. and also in Sw. and Norw. at the beginning of the Early Modern period. The descendant of ONorse Moir 'both' shows another state of flux in late ODan. and in Sw. and Norw. on the threshold of the Early Modern period. In this case the dominant fea­ ture is the spread of the old gen. begge to all non-possessive functions at the expense ofthe form bade, which was the result of an earlier merger « masc.nom. baair, masc.acc. baaa, fem.nom./acc. baaar and neut.nom./acc. Moi). As a consequence, the gender opposi­ tion is usually lost, although a neut. form bade(n) may still be encountered. The case distinction seems, however, to be somewhat more entrenched with a dat. badom and es­ pecially the analogical gen. begges.

-e

urn

-

-s -e -e

F -e -e -e -e -e

N -t -t -e -s

urn

-e

Early Modern Mainl. Scand. languages Standard system N -t

M -er -en

-

-(r)a

Complex system Sg. PI.

M -er -an

ODan.

N -t

Simple system All genders

The rest of the quantifiers were also in a transitional stage in ODan. and in Sw. and Norw. around 1 500 regarding both the form of the stern (which will not be taken into ac­ count here) and the inflexion. On the one hand the Modern Nordic forms- both standard and dialectal - tend to be used, while on the other hand there are relics of the old inflexion with case seemingly somewhat better preserved than for adjectives: ingen 'no(-body)' is fre­ quently the only form apart from neut.sg. in (k) tet 'no(-thing)'. Sometimes, however, we find the pI. form inge and a fem.sg. like inga. In addition there may be dat. forms, e. g. neut.sg. ingo. A masc./fem.sg. form nokon 'some(-body)' is usually the only one besides neut.sg. nokot 'some(-thing)' and pI. nokre, but the analogical fem.sg. noka can also be found. While dat. forms, e.g. masc.sg. nokrom, certainly have a basis in the spoken language in many places, a fair guess would be that the opposition between nom. and acc. in the sg. - masc. nokor versus nokon and fern. nokor versus nokra - and the gender distinction in the pI. - masc. nokre, fern. nokra, neut. nokor

1141

126. Morphological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic

Maini. Scand. languages have inflexion for gender only. The modern standard system with an opposition between a masc./fem. form and a neut. one in the sg. and no opposition in the pI. must have been widespread. But many Sw. and Norw. dialects certainly had a three-gender distinction in the sg. and/or in the p!. And probably there were already dia­ lects in Jutland without inflexion for concord. With reference to the weak inflexion of ad­ jectives (table 126.17), none of the distinctions in the Old Nordic system is preserved in ODan. Simplification had also began in OSw. and ONorw. - apparently only in the latter language in the positive and superlative, but in both languages in comparatives and pres. participles - and the inflexion for concord was often gone even in Sw. and Norw. by 1500. Occasionally, however, an opposition between masc.nom. -e and obI. -a is retained, and in the pI. the dat. -om can be encountered. More often there is a gender distinction in the sg. between masc. -e, which is usually restricted to animate nouns in Sw., and fern. and neut. -a. The ending -a is also transferred to the pI. in Sw. Even in Icei. the weak inflexion of ad­ jectives changed quite a lot. In the positive and superlative, use of the distinct dat.p!. began receding to the benefit of a general p!. form -u at the beginning of the 1 6th c. For pres.

- are most often relics of the old inflexion in the written language only. In addition, both of these quantifiers may have a possessive s­ suffix when they are used pronominally. 5.

Adjectives

In the strong inflexion of adjectives, the cat­ egory of case is in general lost and the gender oppositions more or less reduced during the transition from Old Nordic to the Early Mod­ ern stage in the Main!. Scand. languages (table 126.16). Comparing Old Norse, OSw., which is quite representative of late ONorw. as well, and ODan., we find a declining number of dif­ ferent formatives, but the distinctions in the system are upheld with the exception of a merger of nom. and acc.pI. in ODan. How­ ever, ODan. also shows clear indications of further simplification. Sw. and Norw. went through the same process of simplification a little later via a 15th c. stage somewhat similar to ODan., although with less vowel reduction. In the Early Modern Main!. Scand. languages the only inflexion for case is distinct dat. forms in some Sw. and Norw. dialects and sg.nom. -er and acc. -en, which are used mainly in writ­ ing, often as poetic forms and not only with masc. nouns. Apart from these remnants of the inflexion for case, the Early Modern

Table 126.17: Weak adj. fonus from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic (disregarding relict case fonus) ONorse Pos.jsup. Sg. N A/D/G PI. N/A/G D

M -1

-a

F -a -u -u -urn

Icel. early 16th c. Pos.jsup. N -a -a

ONorse Comp./pres.part. Sg. N A/D/G PI. N/A/G D

Sg. PI.

M

F

-1

-1

-a

-1 -1

N -a -a

M

-1

-a

F N -a -a -u -a -u -urn/-u

Icel. 15th c. Pres.part. M

F

-1

-1

-ai-i

-1

-urn

N -i/-a -ai-i

-i/-u -i/-um/-u

ONolW. Pos.jsup. M

-1

-a/-i

F N -a -a/-i -u -a/-i -u -u/-urn

Icel. early 16th c. Compo

OSw./ONorw. Comp./pres.part.

M

M

F

-1

-1

-ai-i

-1

N -a -a

-i/-u -um/-i/-u

-1

-ii-a

F

-1 -1 -1

N -i/-a -ii-a

-ii-urn

Sw. early 16th c. Monosyllabic ending

NolW. early 16th c. Monosyllabic ending

Sw.jNolW. early 16th c. Bisyllabic ending

ODan. All fonus

M -ei-a

M -e

All genders -e -e

All genders -e -e

F -a -e/-a

N -a

F -ei-a -e

N -ei-a

1 1 42

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

participles, the ending -i was beginning to be used outside its original domain from 1300 most frequently in neut.nom.sg. and dat.pl. and as a consequence these participles are most often undec1ined after 1500. For com­ paratives, however, the generalization of the ending -i did not affect the neut.sg. and was only beginning in the first half of the 16th c. The ending -u, which was sometimes transfer­ red from the positive and superlative to pres. participles and comparatives in Icel. during this transitional period, is probably restricted to writing. The levelling of the weak inflexion entails that the former distinction between, on the one hand, adjectives in the positive and super­ lative and, on the other hand, adjectives in the comparative and pres. participles partially or completely disappears. In Icel. the compara­ tives and the pres. participles split into two groups because the latter category was more apt to lose the inflexion for concord and some­ times even took the ending -is when being used as pure adjectives. In the Mainl. Scand. lan­ guages a more radical change took place, as a new distinction often arose between (1) ad­ jectives with a monosyllabic ending (i.e. posi­ tive forms and comparatives with the al­ lomorph -r-), which have some kind of inflex­ ion for concord in many varieties, (2) adjec­ tives with a bisyllabic ending (most compara­ tives and superlatives), which generally have become undec1ined with respect to concord, and (3) pres. participles with a new ending -es. This pres. participle ending came into being in the Old Nordic period in non-attributive positions and was later transferred to attribu­ tive participles as well and became increasing­ ly common. The most frequent comparative and super­ lative allomorphs -ar(-} and -ast(-} are re­ placed by the allomorphs -er(-} and -est(-} in Dan. and often also in Southeast Norw. dia­ lects. In the more rare inflexion with the allo­ morphs -r(-} and -st(-} and i-mutation, the comparative ending -r becomes -er through epenthesis (e. g. ONorse heldr > heller 'rather'). The original difference between ad­ jectives in attributive and predicative position which take inflexion for concord in addition to the comparative and superlative suffixes (ONorse vioari - vioastr 'wider - widest') and adjectives used adverbially which take in­ flexion for comparison only (ONorse vioar vioast 'further - furthest') is on the whole lost in the Mainl. Scand. languages. In the com­ parative the form with a final vowel is gener-

alized from the pure adjectival to the adverbial function in the standard languages and many dialects, while other dialects have lost the final vowel. In the superlative the loss of the formal distinction between the two functions is a con­ sequence of the loss of strong case inflexion.

6.

Verbs

6.1.

Person and number

The most striking feature of the development of the verbs in the Scandinavian languages is the gradual loss of inflexion for concord with the subject in the finite forms. The Old Nordic inflexion for person and number is generally speaking reduced to concord in number only up to Early Modern times, although there were still remnants of the inflexion for person. For the ind.sg. (tables 126.18-19), the most resistent person marker is the 2nd pers. ending -(s}t ofmodals in the pres. and of strong verbs in the past tense, which is still found quite often in 16th c. texts. At that time, however, the original ending -t had been ousted by the -st of sterns ending in -t in many strong verbs. Apart from this, the only inflexion for per­ son in the pres.ind.sg. in Dan. and Sw. can be seen in some early occurrences of the 1st pers. without -r. In these languages strong verbs normally lost the i-mutation in the pres. during the Old Nordic period. In Norw., too, all verbs except the modals carne to have uni­ form endings in the pres.ind.sg. as the 1st pers. during the last part of the Old Nordic period gradually acquired the sarne ending as the other persons. Icel. shows signs of the same development from the 14th c., but Far. went in another direction with a new generalized 1st pers. form -i, which is attested in 1 5th c. texts. In Old Dan. the old endings -ir and -ar had merged with the new ending -er « epen­ thetic vowel + r). In Sw. and Norw. too the ending -ir became similar to the ending -er (with an epenthetic vowel) during the transi­ tion from the Old Nordic to the Early Modern period, but there the ending -ar of the a-verbs has usually been unchanged. In the past ind.sg., Dan. and Sw. weak verbs were already invariable during the Old Nordic period. The substitution of the 3rd pers. for the 1st pers. in Norw. apparently began about 1200 in the past tense of the weak verbs, and the distinct 2nd pers. past ending of these verbs seems to have been lost in the last half of the 1 5th c. Even in Icel. the 3rd pers. began replacing the 1st pers. about 1300, the new

1143

126. Morphological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic Table 126.18: Ind.pres.sg. from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic ONorse 1. 2. 3.

OSw.

Mod.

St,/ja

iaje

-t

-r -r

-ll

-1

-ll

o

-a -ar -ar

Sw.jNorw. early 14th c. 1. 2. 3.

ODan.

Mod.

St,/ja -e(r) -er -er

-t

iaje -i(r)

Mod.

o

-a(r) -ar -ar

-ll -ll

-t

Sw.jNolW. early 16th c.

Other -e(r) -er -er

Dan. early 16th c.

Mod.

St,/ja

iaje

o

Mod.

St,/ja/ia/e

6

Mod.

Other

-t

-er

-ll

-ar

-/-t

-er

-ar

-/-t

-er

Table 126.19: Ind.past sg. from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic

1. 2. 3.

ONorse

Icel. early 16th c.

Sl

Sl

-(s)t

We. -a -ll -1

0

-1

-(s)t

Other -i/-a

-ll

-ll

-1

-1

ONolW. late 13th c.

ODan./OSw.

Mainl. Scand. languages early 16th c.

Sl

We.

Sl

We.

Sl

We.

-(s)t

-ll

-(s)t

-e

-/-(s)t

-e

-1 -1

)

Table 126.20: Ind.pres.pl. from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic ONorse 1. 2. 3.

1. 2. 3.

urn

-

OSw. urn

-

-m

NolW. early 14th c. urn

-

-i5 (-it) -a

-i6j-ir -a

-a

Sw. early 16th c.

NolW. early 16th c.

ODan.

-ej-omj-a -enj-aj-e -a/-e

-aj-ej-om -aj-ej-er -a/-e

-ej-um -e -e

ending was as frequent as the old one about 1450, and this substitution had been more or less completed in the two-syllable ending of the a-verbs at the beginning of the 16th c. Dan. had practically lost the inflexion for person in the ind.pL (tables 126.20-21) during the Old Nordic period. With the exception of a few formulas with the 1st pers. form -urn, the ending was always -e. As a consequence, the number distinction was lost in the past tense of weak verbs. Sw. and Norw. did not reach a comparable stage until the Early Mod­ ern period, but Sw. especially for some time had quite a lot of inflexion for person. The

Sw. early 1 5th c.

NolW. early 15th c.

-omj-a -en -a

-omj-a -erj-en -a

Dan. early 16th c.

)

-e

victorious 3rd pers. form frequently retained the original endings -a and -0 in the pres. and past tense respectively in the mid-16th c. in both Sw. and Norw. However, in late OSw. -a was sometimes used even in the past tense of strong verbs, but ultimately -e became the only alternative to the old 3rd pers. endings in both languages. The 1st pers. ending -om was also still in use in the mid-16th c., al­ though it began to be replaced by the 3rd pers. endings about 1400. In Sw., however, this re­ placement was soon checked in the present by a new ending -e, which became the dominant form towards the end of the 1 5th c. In the

1 1 44

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Table 126.21: Ind. past pl. from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic ONorse

1: 2. 3.

1: 2. 3.

OSw.

Sw. early 14th c.

NolW. early 14th c.

Sw. early 15th c. St. -oem) -en

St./We.

St./We.

St.

We.

St./We.

-

-

-

-

-

urn

urn

-u5 (-ut) -u

-In -u

NolW. early 1 5th c.

Sw. early 16th c.

St./We. -oem) -or!-en

St. -o(m)/-e -en!-o!-e -o!-e

-0

urn

-In -u/-a

urn

-In -u

We. -o(m)/-e -en!-o!-e -e

2nd pers. Sw. had acquired the ending -in very early on in the Old Nordic period, and this was still common in the form -en in the 16th c., but the 3rd pers. was sometimes used in­ stead even here. The 2nd pers. in Norw. changed when -;0 and -uo were supplanted by -ir and -ur in the pres. and past tense respect­ ively during the first half of the 1 4th c. Later these forms had to compete with the Sw. end­ ing in writing. After 1 500, however, most often the ending of the 3rd pers. was generalized to the 2nd pers.pL as welL In Sw. and Norw. too the weak verbs were more apt than the strong verbs to lose their distinct pI. forms in the past tense. In Sw. this is especially evident in the 3rd pers., where the a-verbs became identical to the sg. early on and the other weak verbs followed from the middle of the 1 5th c. Norw. weak verbs also tended to lose their pI. form, but had not yet done so completely at the be­ ginning of the 1 6th c. Sg. and pI. forms sometimes merged be­ cause of changes in morphology (cf. the sub­ stitution of -;r for -;0 in the pres.) and pho­ nology (e. g. sg. kallao; and pL kQlluOu > kal­ laoe in the past tense). In addition, it became gradually more common simply to use the sin­ gular instead of the plural. Therefore some dialects may have lost the inflexion for number quite early, although finite ind.pL forms were evidently more frequent and the dialect areas with number distinction were probably much greater in the Maini. Scand. languages in the mid-16th c. than today. Over the course of time the one-syllable pro­ totypical imperative form has expanded. One ofthe two exceptional cases for sg. imp. forms in Old Norse was the a-verbs with the stern suffix -a (kasta 'throw!'). Such verbs still seem

urn

-u6!-ur -u

-0

NolW. early 16th c.

ODan.

St. -o(m)/-e -o!-e -o!-e

St. -e!-um -e -e

We. -e!-om -e!-o -e!-o

6 -oem) -en -e

Other -oem) -en -0

Dan. early 16th c. We.

)

-e

St./We.

)

-e

to be used with an ending similar to the in­ finitive around 1500 in all the MainL Scand. languages. The other exception was the e­ verbs, which sometimes had the stern suffix -i (vak; 'wake up!'). This small group had al­ ready lost the ending in Dan. and Sw. during the Old Nordic period and had probably done so very early in Norw. too. The 2nd pLimp. was, however, still common in the mid-16th c. The Dan. ending is generally -er, i.e. differ­ ent from the pres.pL, although some texts show Sw. influence. In Sw. the ending -en was in competition with the Dan. one for a century or so around 1500, when it was also about to change into -al-e in the spoken language. As in the pres.ind., the Old Norse ending -;0 was replaced by -;r during the first half of the 14th c. in Norw. In the beginning ofthe Early Mod­ ern period -er is the most frequent form, al­ ternating with the Sw. -en and a new ending -e. Around 1500 1st pLimp. (e.g. ON gQngum 'let us go') was being replaced by the modern paraphrastic construction (tat ass gaa 'let us go') in Dan. and Norw., while Sw. seems to retain the old form to a greater extent together with the new construction. In the subjunctive Dan. always had the end­ ing -e even in the Old Nordic period. Sw. had lost the inflexion for person in the sg.subj. only at that time and did not begin to lose the dis­ tinct pLsubj. forms until the 1 6th c. In Norw. the sg.subj. 1st pers. ending was replaced by the 3rd pers. ending during the 13 th c., and the same process began in IceL about 1300. In the pL the subjunctive often acquired the indicative endings in the 1st pres. and in all persons of the past tense in both these lan­ guages at the end of the Old Nordic period. In Norw. there was also a transition from -iol

1145

126. Morphological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic Table 126.22: Subj.sg. from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic

1. 2. 3.

ONorse

Icel. early 14th c.

Icel. early 16th c.

Pres./Past -a

Pres./Past -a/-i

Pres.

-1

-1

-If

-If

-1

-If

Past -ii-a

Notw. late 13th c.

OSw.

ODan. and Sw./NOtw. early 16th c.

Pres.jPast

Pres.jPast

Pres.jPast

)

)

-1

-If

-1

-1

-1

-e

Table 126.23: Subj.pl. from Old Norse to Early Modern Nordic

1. 2. 3.

ONorse

Icel. early 14th c.

Notw. early 14th c.

Icel. early 16th c.

OSw.

Sw. early 16th c.

ODan.jNotw. early 16th c.

Pres./Past

Pres. Past -urn -ib -u5/-i5

Pres.jPast -urn -m

Pres./Past -urn -e(n)

-1

-1

Pres. Past -im/-urn -i5/ -i5/-u5/ -If -ir/-ur -1 -i/-u

Pres./Past

-ib

Pres. Past -im/-urn -ib -i5/-u5

-1

-i(n)

-e(n)

-

nn

-i/-u

-u6 to -ir/-ur in the 2nd pL like in the ind. at the same time. For Norw., the subsequent de­ velopment resulted in one single subj. form uninflected for person and number around 1 500. Simultaneously, the i-mutation in the subj. past, which ODan. and generally also OSw. lacked, is apparently lost even in Norw. In Icel. the new forms were still not universal althe beginning of the 1 6th c. The substitution mentioned above in the sg. was more or less completed in the pres. but not yet in the past tense. And the merger with the ind. in the pL was only completed in the 1st pers., while the 2nd pers. and especially the 3rd pers. retained some old forms even in the past tense. 6.2.

Tense

Since the endings that express person and number very often are the same in the pres. and past in Old Norse and the other Nordic languages that have this kind of inflexion, the two tenses must be said to be distinguished through the opposition between a mor­ phologically unmarked pres. tense and a past tense marked by the ablaut alternation of strong verbs and the dental suffix of weak verbs. Not until the last distinction for person and number was lost did the surviving endings become part of the tense marking system. As the development of the endings in the pres. from a means of expressing concord to pure tense markers has been dealt with above, the following description of inflexion for tense will concentrate on the formation ofthe past tense.

-i/-u

-e

)

The ablaut system of strong verbs is basi­ cally unchanged in all the Nordic languages in spite of various sound changes. The vowel alternation of the ja-verbs is also usually pre­ sent as before in Early Modern Nordic. The dental suffix ofweak verbs, -ao- in a-verbs and -6-, -d- or -t- in the rest in Old Nordic, changed when the endings marking person and number merged in the ending -e which should instead be considered an expansion ofthe suffix mark­ ing past tense. Although the dental suffix of the a-verbs is usually retained in writing up to modern times in the Dan. form -ede or the Sw. and Norw. form -ade, shortened forms came into being in the spoken language. Great parts of the Dan. speaking area seem to have -ed or -et in the 1 5th c. Central Sw. dialects developed a simple ending -a during the same century. In Norw. texts too, we find such one­ syllable endings. The earliest ones have been claimed to be from the 13 th c., but these end­ ings seem to become more frequent only in the last half of the next century, and they are still quite rare up to 1500. A more superficial change is the gradual loss of 6 leaving d and t the only dentals in the suffix of other weak verbs about 1500 (e.g. ONorse kraJ6i, frer6i > Mod.Norw. kravdeJ@rte 'craved', 'brought'). From a systematic point of view, however, most important is the appearance of a new class of weak verbs as the dental suffix became -dd- after sterns ending in a stressed vowel. This development is restricted to Sw. and Norw., and in both languages the new suffix is attested from the last part of the 14th c.

1 1 46

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Table 126.24: Inilexion of Danish verbs in the 16th c. Strong verbs

Pres. Ind.

Sg. 1 . , 3. -er 2. PI. -e Weak verbs

6.3.

[pres. stem] [pres. stem]

Pres. Ind.

Mod. Sg. 1 . , 3. 2. -(t) PI. -e

)

Subj.

Other -er -e

-e [pres. stem] - [pres. stem] -er [pres. stem] Imp.

All

6

Other

-e -er

-er

)

-e

Mood

Infinitives

Only Icel. has retained the distinction between the ordinary pres. infinitive (munu, skulu 'will, shall') and a past infinitive identical to the past ind. 3.pL (mundu, skyldu 'would, should'). The latter may have survived for some time in Far., but at least in the MainL Scand. languages, this category was probably lost well before the Early Modern period since in Old Nordic it was restricted to very few verbs and to the acc. + infin. construction. Icel. once more stands alone in retaining the two pres. infinitives in -u mentioned above. Even Far. has generalized the usual ending -a to these verbs, and it is reported that the verbs in question mostly already appear with the usual ending -a in OSw. More important are the various developments ofthe -ain the main­ land languages, which has become a central dialect criteria. As for the written languages, Dan. and Sw. contrast in having -e and -a re­ spectively from the Old Nordic period, while both endings are found in the less nonnalized Norw. texts. Texts in all these languages, how­ ever, provide evidence of more variation in

)

Subj.

[past sg. stem] -((s)t) [past sg. stem] -e [past pI. stem] -e [past pl. stem] Past Ind./Subj.

Subj.

In spite of extensive simplification of the in­ flexion for concord and some changes in the tense marking, the ind., subj . and imp. are still fonnally distinct in the mainland languages in the mid-16th c. As the various endings of the three moods have been accounted for above, here we shall only look at the inflexion of some sample verbs in Dan. to show how the mood distinction is marked in the most simple, and in that respect modern, verb system at that time (table 126.24). 6.4.

Past Ind.

Imp.

)

)

Other

6 -ede (-ed/-et)

-de/-te

the spoken language. Firstly, there are in­ creasing signs of the bipartition of the infini­ tive ending - namely reduction after long syl­ lables and preservation of some kind of un­ reduced vowel after short syllables - in the central Sw.-Norw. dialect area from the Old Nordic period and onwards. Secondly, the ending is sometimes omitted completely. Apocope is quite common in Jutish texts from about 1 300, but it apparently occurred later in the Tr0ndelag part ofthe vowel balance area where the ending of the infinitive has been lost today. In addition there is in all MainL Scand. languages a gradual extension of the class of verbs that end in a root vowel (bilG > bu/bo 'live', flyja > fly 'flee'). 6.5.

Participles

The present participle has always been repre­ sented by the allomorph -and- in most vari­ eties, but a new allomorph -end- developed through the general reduction of unstressed vowels mainly in Dan. Among the preterite participles the basic distinction between weak and strong verbs marked by reflexes of the suf­ fixes -0- and -in- respectively apparently on the whole continued up to the Early Modern period, although Dan. seems to have some new weak fonns of strong verbs (jorbryde 'commit an offence' -Jorbrudit/Jorbrut) before that and earlier than Sw. and Norw. Besides, the ja-class gradually acquired a mixed inflex­ ion of preterite participles from about 1200 in IceL The old weak forms are still most fre­ quent about 1500, but as time went by the new strong forms became more common in those cases where the vowel of the strong verb affix was not syncopated (e. g. masc.nom. of verja

126. Morphological developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic

'defend': sg. varour > varinn, pI. varoir - not varnir). The transition from -0- to -d- or -t­ depending on the consonantal environment has, however, been completed in the Mainl. Scand. languages, and the remains of the stem suffixes that sometimes preceded the dental suffix in Old Norse, have also often been changed. Most radical is the change for the most infrequent forms, verbs of the ja-class with -i- (verja 'defend' - varit) and verbs of the ii-class with -a- (lifa 'live' - lifat). With re­ spect to these verbs, Dan. and Norw. go to­ gether - not taking the more extensive vowel reduction of the former into account- as both doubtlessly had participles with such vocalic elements in the Old Nordic period and both lost the vowel later, probably by 1 500. Sw. stands alone by apparently having lost the vowel of the ja-verbs (varja - vart) earlier on the one hand and having retained the vowel of the ii-verbs (leva - levat/levt) on the other. Concerning the -a- of the frequent verbs of the a-class (kasta 'throw' - kastat), it has gen­ erally been preserved in Sw. and Norw., but once more been reduced in Dan. Usually the suffix ofthe strong verbs has also been reduced to -en-. 6.6.

Inflexional classes

During the period from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic, a considerable number of verbs changed inflexional class membership. Among all the individual switches, two main tendencies can be discerned: strong verbs be­ came weak more often than the other way round, and the a-verbs became even more dominant than before. Even so, these changes did not affect the system of inflexional classes - at least not as far as the major classes are concerned. However, the development of the endings described above has resulted in two changes in the organization of the weak verbs into classes. Firstly, the emergence of a dental suffix -dd- created a new class of weak verbs in Sw. and Norw. Secondly, as the e-verbs lost the ending in the sg.imp. and the suffix vowel in the past participle, they merged with the ia-verbs in Dan. and Norw. There might even be reason to consider the e-verbs to be variant forms among the ia-verbs in Sw. in spite of some special preterite participle forms. Theja­ verbs, which later have often been trans­ formed in various ways, still constitute a sep­ arate class in the mid-16th c., though mainly because of the vowel alternation.

6.7.

1147

Medio-passive

The description of the multifunctional mediopassive form will have to concentrate on the main forms, leaving aside some less im­ portant variants. So, for Dan. and Sw., it is sufficient to say that the ending -s is practically universal. In the other languages, -sk, the most frequent of the original endings, more or less fell out of use in the oldest sources. In Norw. -st took over during the 13th c. and became dominant in the last part of the Old Nordic period, but the rival ending -s, which followed the usage in eastern dialects and was sup­ ported by East Nordic writing, strengthened its position during the transitional period up to Early Modern times. In Icel. -z, which is also attested in OSw. and more often in ONorw., became the most common ending for some time in the 13 th c., but from about 1 300 -st gradually became more frequent, ending up as the only ending around 1450. This end­ ing also seems to be common in Far. about 1 300.

7.

Word formation

Compared to the inflexional morphology, the various aspects of word formation are more of a terra incognita, especially when the focus is on the transitional period from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic. Of course, some ob­ servations have been made, but mostly con­ cerning changes of a restricted scope. How­ ever, two well-known factors that have in­ fluenced compounding and derivation re­ spectively can be mentioned. One is the loss of case marking in the Mainl. Scand. lan­ guages, which has transformed the gen. markers of the first element of compounds into some sort of compositional formatives (cp. for instance ON land�maor 'compatriot', kirkjygaror 'churchyard', orogJag 'words', nattartio 'night time', hanggalan 'cockcrow' and Sw./Norw. land"man/-mann. kyrkQ-/kir­ kggard. ordQ-/ord!!Jag. nattftid. hanggiill/-gal). The other is the influx of Low German loan­ words, which is important with respect to word formation as these words introduced new suffixes and prefixes (e. g. -else, -het, -inne, -ske, an-, be-, /or-, unn-). Since prefixes were quite rare in Old Nordic, the borrowed ones strengthened a marginal pattern of word for­ mation. The Low German influence was strongest on the Mainl. Scand. languages but was also more visible in the insular languages before the purism of later times.

1 1 48 8.

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Literature (a selection)

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Larsson, Kent (1988), Den plurala verbbojningen i iildre svenska (Skrifter utgivna av Institutionen for nordiska sprak vid Uppsala Universitet 22). [Upp­ sala]. M0rck, Endre (1993), Utelatelse av subjektet i im­ perativsetninger i normnt, mellomnorsk og eldre nynorsk. In: Historical linguistics (eds. E. H. J ahrjO. Lorentz) (Studies in Norwegian Linguistics 5). Oslo, 414 426. Noreen, Adolf (1904), Altnordische Grammatik II: Altschwedische Grammatik. Halle. Noreen, Adolf (1923), Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisliindische und altnorwegische Grammatik (4th ed.). Halle. Ostergren, Olof (1901), Sammanfallet af och och aU. In: SS 1, 82 108. Pettersen, Egil (1991), Sprdkbrytning i Vest-Norge 1450 1550 II. Bergen. Reinhammar, Maj (1973), Om dativ i svenska och norska dialekter (Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi LIII). Uppsala. Seip, Didrik Amp (1934), Studier i norsk spriikhis­ torie. Oslo. Seip, Didrik Amp (1952), Omstridde sp@rsmiil i norsk sprdkutvikling. Oslo. Seip, Didrik Amp (1955), Norsk sprdkhistorie til omkring 1370 (2nd ed.). Oslo. Skautmp, Peter (1944, 1947), Det danske sprogs his­ torie I, II. K0benhavn.

Ha:gstad, Marius (1917), Vestnorske maalj@refyre 1350 II. Sudvestlandsk 2. Indre sudvestlandsk. FEr@ymaal. Islandsk (Videnskapsselskapets Skrif­ ter. II. Hist.-filos. Kl. 1916, No 4). Kristiania.

S0rlie, Mikjel (1936), FEr@ysk tradisjon inorr@ntmdl (Avhandlinger utgitt av Det Norske Videnskaps­ Akademi i Oslo. II. Hist.-Filos. Kl. 1936, No. 1). Oslo.

Hansen, Aage (1956), Kasusudviklingeni dansk. In: Festskrift til Peter Skautrup 21. januar 1956 (eds. S. Aakja:r/Kr. Hald/Aa. Hansen/N.A. Nielsen). Aarhus, 183 193.

Tylden, Per (1944), Me Vi. Ein studiefrd det gamal­ norske og mellomnorske brevriket (Skrifter utgitt av Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo. II. Hist.­ Filos. KL 1944, No. 4). Oslo.

Haugen, Einar (1976), The Scandinavian languages. London.

porolfsson, Bjorn K. (1925), Um islenskar ora­ myndir ri 14. og 15. old og breytingar peirra ttrforn­ mrilinu. Reykjavik.

Helgason, Jon (1929), MriliJ5 ri Nfja testamenti Odds Gottskrilkssonar (Safn Fra:bafjelagsins urn Island og Islendinga VII). Kaupmannahofn. Indreb0, Gustav (1951), Norsk mdlsoga. Bergen. Iversen, Ragnvald (1973), Norr@n grammatikk (7th ed.). [Oslol.

Vanning, L. (1862), Det jydske folkesprog. K0ben­ havn. Wessen, Elias (1955, 1965), Svensk spriikhistoria I, II (both 4th ed.). Stockholm.

Endre M@rek, Troms@ (Norway)

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127.

Syntactic developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Introduction Grammatical relations Word order Obligatory elements Subordination Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

Among the dialects of Old Nordic, the western dialects are the ones that are best documented and described. These dialects form the basis of the literary language called Old Norse. The Old Nordic material used in this article is all from Old Norse. I will therefore refer to Old Nordic with the conventional term Old Norse. When comparing the syntactic forms of Old Norse to those ofthe Modern Mainland Scan­ dinavian languages and dialects (henceforth referred to simply as Scandinavian), one can observe a series of striking differences. It is the purpose of this article to describe the most salient of those differences. The contrasts de­ scribed will be those between Old Norse and Scandinavian. The syntactic changes that have taken place in Icelandic and Faroese will not be dealt with separately here. Those languages have partly undergone the same changes as Scandinavian, partly different changes, and some changes have taken place in Scandina­ vian only, while Icelandic and sometimes Faroese have maintained the Old Norse rules. The most visible and most frequently cited syntactic difference between Old Norse and Scandinavian is probably the change from a "free" to a "fixed" word order, which has of­ ten been related to the loss of case inflection. More recently this change has also been re­ lated to the loss of person and number inflec­ tion on verbs. The loss of nominal and verbal inflection is treated in another article in this volume (cf. art. 1 26), and the possible relation­ ship between morphological and syntactic change is a complex and much disputed theo­ retical issue, which the scope of this article does not permit me to go into. (For dis­ cussions of this issue, see Faarlund 1990 and HohnbergjPlatzack 1995, with references). Describing syntactic changes between two specified past periods in the history of a lan­ guage is impossible in principle. One pro blem is, of course, the data itself, and in particular the lack of negative data. This is a well-known and unavoidable problem in diachronic syn-

tax generally. When the task is to describe changes within a limited period, the data pro b­ lem becomes even more precarious. When we compare, say, Old Norse to present-day Scan­ dinavian, we can observe differences, and we know that they have taken place at some point in time between "then" and "now". All we can do is 0 bserve when a given novel construc­ tion first appears in our material and hope that this is not too far from its actual birth. But there is no way of knowing when a given con­ struction disappeared from the language. The old and new form may coexist for a long time, and especially in a language spoken over a large area encompassing many different dia­ lects, as is the case with Scandinavian. For these reasons, this presentation will not be limited to the changes that happened to take place "from the mid-14th to the mid-16th c.". The changes described here represent syn­ tactic differences between Old Norse and Scandinavian, ignoring of course innovations that we know belong to the present period (such as e. g. the introduction of the "split in­ finitive"). Many of the observable syntactic changes from Old Norse to Scandinavian are reflexes of more general typological trends. Two such trends especially have left their impact on the history of Nordic. One is the move from re­ liance on morphology to syntax. This is the well-known drift from a synthetic to an ana­ lytic language type (cf. art. 203). In Nordic this has above all had consequences for the mark­ ing of grammatical relations. Some of the morphological marking in Old Norse has been replaced by fixed positions and the use offunc­ tion words in Scandinavian. This kind of change will be dealt with in section 2. The other main trend is the move from discourse function to grammar determining the sentence structure. In Old Norse the syntactic form of a sentence is, to a larger extent than in Scan­ dinavian, determined by discourse functions, more specifically by the information structure, the context, the pragmatic requirements and the semantic content ofthe utterance. In Scan­ dinavian, the syntactic form of the sentence is, to a larger extent than in Old Norse, de­ termined by the grammatical rules of the lan­ guage. This trend has led to changes in two syntactic domains. First, the word order pat­ terns are more rigid in Scandinavian than in Old Norse. Changes in word order will be

1 1 50

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

dealt with in section 3 . Second, the presence of certain categories in the sentence is obliga­ tory regardless of their information value. Changes in the obligatory expression of sen­ tence elements will be treated in section 4. Fi­ nally, certain changes that have to do specifi­ cally with subordination will be treated in sec­ tion 5. In what follows, Norwegian (nynorsk) will be used to represent all the Scandinavian languages. Examples from the other languages will be used where they differ from Norwegian.

2.

Grammatical relations

2.1 .

The subject

The subject in Old Norse can be defined as a referring NP in the nominative case. There have been certain claims that Old Norse, like modern Icelandic, has oblique subjects (e. g. Rognvaldsson 1995), but the data in support of such a claim is by no means conclusive (Faarlund 2001); therefore, for the purpose of this presentation, I will stick to the traditional subject definition based on nominative case. In Scandinavian, nominal case inflection has been lost except for some pronouns (which of the pronouns have actually kept the case distinctions differs from one dialect to the next within Scandinavia). Because of more rigid word order patterns, the subject may be de­ fined positionally in the following way: the rightmost NP which precedes (the position of) the non-finite verb is the subject. This means that the subject, when it is not topicalized, oc­ curs immediately to the right of the finite verb in main sentences. These two subject definitions seem to iden­ tify two very different kinds of things. There are, however, certain common properties which identify nominative NPs in Old Norse and positionally defined subjects in Scandina­ vian. Those pronouns that still distinguish the nominative from an oblique case invariably have the nominative in subject position. Fur­ thermore, the NP which is suppressed in in­ finitival clauses is always identical to the nomi­ native NP in Old Norse and to the positionally defined subject in Scandinavian. Finally, this is also the NP that expresses the agent in sen­ tences with action verbs in the active voice. There are, however, several important con­ trasts between Old Norse and Scandinavian subjects besides case marking and position. Some of these contrasts have to do with syn­ tactic properties, which will be treated at vari­ ous points in the following sections. Other

contrasts are related to discourse functions and semantic roles. In Old Norse, the nominative NP is not characterized by any particular pragmatic or contextual properties. In Scandinavian, on the other hand, the subject is typically definite in some (specifiable) sense (Faarlund 1 992). As an illustration, compare the Old Norse (a) sen­ tences below, where the nominative NPs are indefinite both morphologically and semanti­ cally, to the corresponding (b) sentences from a modern Norwegian translation (Yngre Edda, translated by Erik Eggen), where we see that the translator has used the expletive subject det instead of rendering the indefinite nomi­ native NPs of the original as subjects: (1) a. hvernig bxu cettir pai5an how grew-3.pl. families-nom. thereof 'How did families grow out of him' b. Korleis kom det [Ctter fra han how came there families from him (2) a. pa ox undir vinstri h(md honum maor ok kona then grew under left arm his man-nom. and woman-nom. 'Then a man and a woman grew up un­ der his left arm' b. Da voks det fram under den venstre ar­ men hans ein mann og ei kvinne then grew there out under left arm-the his a man and a woman As can also be seen from these examples, the Norwegian versions do not encode the pri­ mary argument as a subject. (The primary ar­ gument is defined as the argument carrying the primary role, that is the semantic role high­ est on the hierarchy of roles distributed by the verb in question. The role hierarchy is agent > rec pient i > patient, where recipient also includes experiencer and benefactive). Since subjects normally carry given information, non-topical arguments have to be removed from the subject role. The most common mechanism to achieve this is the use of the expletive subject det (cf. 4.3.). While some Old Norse subjects may corre­ spond to non-subjects in Scandinavian for pragmatic or discourse functional reasons, the opposite change may have taken place for syn­ tactic reasons. Old Norse has a number of verbs that do not take a nominative subject. The modern counterparts of sentences with such verbs may encode an original oblique NP as its subject. One such verb is dreyma 'dream', for which the person having the dream is in

127. Syntactic developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic

1151

the accusative. Compare the Old Norse (3a) to the Norwegian (3b):

'All his royal bliss could not save him from death'

(3) a. Ragnhildi drattning dreymdi drauma stora Ragnhild-acc. queen dreamt dreams­ acc. great 'Queen Ragnhild had great dreams' b. Eg dr@ymde ein stor draum I-nom. dreamt a great dream

The binding relations in (7) are impossible in Scandinavian, as well as in modern Icelandic. This means that the subject has become much more prominent as the antecedent of reflex­ ives.

For other verbs, the primary argument, usually a human experiencer, is in an oblique case while another argument is in the nomi­ native. A typical verb of this type is lika 'like, please'; (4a) is Old Norse, (4b) Norwegian: (4) a. sa kostr likar mer vel that choice-nom. likes me-dat. well 'I like those terms' b. Det vilkaret liker eg godt that term like I-nom. well Raising verbs like pykkja 'seem' (past tense potti) take a dative experiencer in Old Norse, with a nominative subject raised from the lower clause (cf. art. 105): (5) patti honum hon vel haJa gert seemed him-dat. she-nom. well have done 'She seemed to him to have done well'. In Scandinavian, the dative is reanalyzed as the subject, with the result that raising is no longer possible. The embedded clause there­ fore appears as a finite sentence with Norw. tykkja 'think, find' (past tense tykte): (6) Han tykte at ho hadde gjort det bra he-nom. thought that she had done well 2.2.

Reflexive binding

2.3.

The object

In Old Norse, all three oblique cases can occur as complements ofverbs, that is as objects (cf. art. lOS). The accusative is the unmarked case, assigned by virtue of its object function, while dative and genitive 0 bjects are lexically or sem­ antically determined by their governing verbs. After the case system was reduced, only pro­ nouns continue to maintain a contrast be­ tween nominative and accusative case. No other 0 blique cases remain in the standard lan­ guages. The dative and genitive objects either remain as unmarked 0 bjects, indistinguishable from original accusative 0 bjects, or they have been replaced by prepositional phrases. A da­ tive object with a recipient or patient role has been replaced by an unmarked NP object when it is the sale object of the verb. In the following sentence pairs, the (a) sentences il­ lustrate the Old Norse pattern with case mark­ ing, and the (b) sentences represent the Scan­ dinavian pattern without lexical case marking, but with possible case marking for pronouns: (8) a. O laJr konungr pakkaai henni vel O laf king thanked her-dat. well b. Kong Olav takka henne vel (9) a. hann ok heyjum sinum a yxni he transported hay-dat. his on ox b. Han k@yrde h@yet sitt med ein okse

The normal pattern in Old Norse, as well as today, is for a reflexive to be bound by the subject ofthe same sentence. In addition, non­ subjects can also serve as antecedents of reflex­ ives in Old Norse, as in (7). The reflexive pos­ sessive can even occur within the subject phrase, bound by an object, as in (7b).

The Old Norse dative object with an instru­ mental role has usually been replaced by a prepositional phrase with med 'with':

(7) a. O laJr konungr pakkaai hennii vel oro sini O laf-nom. king thanked her-dat. well words-acc. her 'King Olaf thanked her well for her words' b. eigi mattifrjalsa hannj fra dauoa Qll sinj konungleg stela not could save him-acc. from death all his royal bliss-nom.

The Old Norse dative object denoting a means of transportation has been replaced by either an unmarked object or by a prepositional phrase:

(10) a. egndi a Qngul uxa hQJai baited on hook ox head-dat. b. Han egnde kroken med eit oksehovud

(11) a. peim hesti reia Goagestr konungr that horse-dat. rode Godgest king 'On that horse rode King Godgest' b. (Fa) den hesten reid Kong Godgest

1 1 52

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

The Old Norse genitive object has usually been replaced by an unmarked NP (12), but some verbs have become intransitive and require a preposition (13): (12) a. naut hann po eigi lengi konungd6msins enjoyed he though not long kingdom­ gen. 'But he did not enjoy being king for long' b. Han naut ikkje kongemakta lenge he enjoyed not kingdom long (13) a. heraGsmenn leituGu hennar district-men sought her-gen. 'Men from the district looked for her' b. Mennene leitte etter henne the men sought after her Where Old Norse has two NP complements, in the same case orin two different cases, mod­ ern Scandinavian may also have two non-case­ marked NPs (or pronouns in the accusative). The respective semantic roles of the NPs are then determined by their order: recipient pre­ cedes patient, or animate precedes inanimate (recipients are typically animate). (14) a. bauo Porsteinn at geJa jJann Gunnlaugi offered porstein to give it-acc. Gunn­ laug-dat. b. Thorstein tilbaud a gje Gunnlaug han (15) a. konungr hj6 hann banahQgg king struck him-acc. death-blow-acc. b. Kongen hogg han banehogg (16) a. br60ir htt honum grioum brother promised him-dat. truce-dat. b. Broren lova han fred the brother promised him peace (17) a. hann skyldi lj6 honum Jresta til annars sumars he should lend him-dat. respite-gen. till other summer b. Han skulle lana han pengar til neste sommar he should lend him money till next summer In other cases one of the NPs is replaced by a prepositional phrase. (18) a. hon skyldi bera QI vikingum she should carry beer-acc. Vikings-dat. b. Ho skulle bera @l til vikingane she should carry beer to Vikings-def. (19) a. hon heftr mint mik jJeira hluta she has reminded me-acc. those things­ gen.

b. Ho har mint meg om dei sakene she has reminded me of those things Old Norse constructions with a dative reci­ pient and an accusative patient, as in (14a), were replaced by two alternative constructions in modern Scandinavian, one with two NP 0b­ jects, as in (14b), and one with the recipient role expressed by the preposition til 'to' as (18b). 2.4.

Passive

Old Norse passive constructions are formed with the past participle of the main verb. This participle is morphologically an adjective and agrees with the nominative subject for gender, number, and case. With the participle, an aux­ iliary verb is used. This is most often vera 'be', but verGa 'become' is also used: (20) a. senn varu hafrar heim um reknir soon were rams-nom. home driven­ masc.pl.nom. 'The rams were soon driven home' b. aJ jJvi varo ban hans heyro from that became prayer-nom. his heard-fem.nom. 'Therefore his prayer was heard' The nominative subject of a passive sentence corresponds to an accusative object of the ac­ tive counterpart. A lexical case can never change to nominative in the passive. If the verb does not take an accusative 0 bject in the active, the corresponding passive sentence has no nominative subject: (21) a. henni var vel jJakkat her-dat. was well thanked-neut.nom. 'She was thanked well' b. margra vikinga er getit many Vikings-gen. is-3sg. mentioned­ neut.nom. 'Many Vikings are mentioned' As a result of the loss of lexical case marking, objects in general became subjects in the pas­ sive in modern Scandinavian: (22) a. B@na hans vart h@yrd prayer his became heard b. Ho vart vel takka she-nom. became well thanked c. Her blir mange vikingar nemnde here become many vikings mentioned In double-object constructions, either of the two objects may now become subject in the

127. Syntactic developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic

passive (23a, b), and even the object o f pre­ positions may become subject (23c): (23) a. Medaljen bid overrekt henne the medal became presented her-acc. b. Ho blei overrekt ein medaije she-nom. became presented a medal c. Ho vart leitt etter heile natta she-nom. became sought after all night 'She was looked for all night' Constructions corresponding to (23b, c) are impossible in Old Norse. As can be seen in the Norwegian examples in (22) and (23), the auxiliary vera is now replaced by verta 'be­ come' or by its synonym bli, borrowed from Low German. In addition to this development of the peri­ phrastic passive, Scandinavian (especially Swedish and Danish) has developed an inflec­ tional passive on the basis of the reflexive c1i­ tic. In Old Norse, the reflexive pronoun can c1iticize to the verb, yielding reflexive verb forms. Through a gradual semantic develop­ ment, some of these reflexive forms have ac­ quired a medial function and then have be­ come pure passive forms, the original reflexive suffix serving as a passive morpheme (Ottos­ son 1992): (24) a. Old Norse OlaJr kallaoist konungr Olaf called-refl. king ' Olaf called himself king' b. Swedish OloJ kallades konung Olof called-pass. king 'Olof was called king' 2.5.

Adverbial phrases

In Old Norse various kinds of adverbials may be expressed by means of a NP in an oblique case. Such nominals in adverbial functions still exist in Scandinavian, but many types have been replaced by prepositional phrases - es­ pecially instrument, manner, and circum­ stance. Compare the Old Norse (a) sentences and the Norwegian (b) sentences in (25)-(29): (25) a. gekk konungrinn Jram hjalm a hQJoi. skjQld fyrir ser, en svero i hendi went the king forward helmet-acc. on head shield-acc. before himself and sword-acc. in hand b. Kongen gjekk Jram med hjelm pa hovudet the king went forward with hehnet on the head

1153

(26) a. konungr t6k hendinni til hQJuos henni king took hand-dat. to head her-dat. 'The king touched her head with his hand' b. Kongen tok med handa til hovudet pa henne the king took with the hand to head on her Sentence (26a) even offers an example of the possessive dative, which may also be replaced by a prepositional phrase. In sentences like (27a) there is an ablative dative in Old Norse, which has been replaced in Norwegian by a prepositional phrase: (27) a. peir fletta hann klreoi ok gripum they rob him-acc. clothes-dat. and property-dat. b. Dei r@va han i2..I... klede og eigedelar they robbed him for clothes and prop­ erty Certain place adverbials in the genitive have also now been replaced by prepositional phrases: (28) a. mun hann oss eigi lata brenna bteoi jJessa heims ok annars will he us not let burn both this world­ gen. and other-gen. 'He will not let us burn both in this world and the next one' b. Han let oss ikkje brenna bade 1. denne verda og 1. den neste (29) a. Ormr let Jara herQr JjQgurra vegna urn bygoina arm let go war-arrow four sides-gen. about the district 'arm sent war-messages in all four di­ rections around the district' b. arm sende meldinga i. aile retningar arm sent the message in all directions

3.

Word order

Generally, all possible word order patterns in Scandinavian are found also in Old Norse, while the reverse is not true. The variable or "free" word order of Old Norse can be ac­ counted for in terms of a series of optional movement processes. And the change into the more rigid word order pattern of Scandina­ vian can be described as the loss of some of these processes from the grammar. This way of looking at it may be no more than a de­ scriptive device, but it turns out to be a con­ venient one none the less.

1 1 54 3.1.

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century) The sentence head

By "sentence head" we mean the finite verb and whatever precedes it in main clauses. Both Old Norse and Scandinavian are "verb sec­ ond" languages, which means that the finite verb is in second position in main clauses, as exemplified in most of the previous example sentences. In Old Norse the topic position may be empty for various reasons. In question senten­ ces without a question word, it is often empty, but it may be empty in narrative sentences also, as in (28a). In modern Scandinavian the empty topic position is grammaticalized as a marker of interrogative sentences (cf. 4.3.). 3.2.

Subordinate clauses

In Old Norse, subordinate clauses have a word order pattern very much like that of main clauses. The complementizer or the interroga­ tive word introducing the clause is normally followed by one constituent, usually the sub­ ject, which in turn is followed by the finite verb. A sentence adverbial then follows the finite verb, as in main clauses: (30) a. vera kann pa. at ek haJa ekki varliga l11Xlt be may then that I have not cautiously spoken b. ek heft ekki varliga mrelt I have not cautiously spoken In the modern Scandinavian languages, main clauses and subordinate clauses normally fol­ low different patterns in this regard. In main clauses the pattern is still as in Old Norse, with the finite verb preceding a sentence adverbial, while in subordinate clauses the finite verb now follows the sentence adverbial: (31) at eg ikkje har tala that I not have spoken A very common pattern in Old Norse is for a non-subject to precede the finite verb in rela­ tive clauses where the subject is relativized and therefore missing: (32) peim b@. er at Laugarhusum heWr that farm which Laugarhus is-called This pattern now has the status of a relic in Scandinavian. 3.3.

Order in the verb phrase

The most frequent and urnnarked order in Old Norse is verb-object (Va), as in Scandinavian,

cf. (33) (the finite verb is fronted to second position): (33) a. Old Norse pa skal ek sjalfr veita peim lii5 then shall I myself give them-dat. help­ acc. b. Norwegian Da skal eg sj@lv gje dei hjelp However, in Old Norse a non-finite verb may follow its object or other complements or ad­ juncts (OV), as in (34). This order is impossible today in non-negated sentences. (34) eJ nokkurir vi!ji land hennar kaupa if some will land-acc. her buy A preverbal object NP or predicate adverbial in Old Norse may be interpreted in either of two ways. It may be a remnant of the older OV pattern of Germanic languages (cf. art. 83), or it may result from a movement of the object or adverbial to a position in front of the verb ("scrambling", cf. Haugen 2000). The latter is probably the most plausible analysis when unstressed pronouns are in­ volved. It also happens that some comple­ ments precede the verb while others follow: (35) pa matt pu nu mikit lii5 veita Njali then may you now much help-acc. give Njal-dat. In cases like this, again two analyses are pos­ sible. On the basis of an old OV structure, the dative object has been extraposed because it is focused; on the basis of a va structure, the accusative object has been moved in front of the verb. It would be consistent with a basic OV order for auxiliaries to follow the main verb. This is not the normal order, but it is not unusual: (36) ok munt pu ekki drauma raoa kunna and may you not dreams interpret can­ inf. 'And you may not know how to interpret dreams' A possible change that may have taken place during the Old Norse period is the reanalysis of the OV pattern from underlying OV to underlying va with a subsequent fronting of the object. The later change, whereby senten­ ces like the ones in (34) became ungrammati­ cal, represents a loss of the movement rule. The movement is still possible if the object is negated, especially in Swedish and Danish:

127. Syntactic developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic

(37) Swedish Jag har inga faglar sett I have no birds seen If the object is an unstressed pronoun, and there is no non-finite verb, object movement is now obligatory. This is seen whenever an unstressed object pronoun is placed before the sentence adverb. A similar position for a full NP (non-negated) object is impossible: (38) a. Eg slig dei ikkje I saw them not b. * Eg slig Juglane ikkje I saw the birds not What we see here is a movement rule which originally was optional for certain categories. Then it was made obligatory for one category, while it was lost for other categories. 3.4.

Rightward movement

Another movement process in Old Norse allows a constituent to be shifted to the final position in the sentence if it is long, complex or focused, without leaving a copy in its ori­ ginal position. Under such conditions the sub­ ject may occur at the end of the sentence, and the object may occur after an adverbial and thus further to the right than otherwise ex­ pected: (39) a. hlj6pu par ut myss ran there out mice-nom. b. P6r6lfr kastaai pa Jyrir bora Qndvegis­ swum sinum, peim er staOit hQfdu i hofinu Thorolf threw then overboard throne­ posts his, those that stood had in the temple In particular, subordinate clauses are moved to the right: (40) eigi er undarligt. at pu ser kaliaar O laJr digri not is strange that you are called Olaf stout 'It is no wonder that you are called Olaf stout' This kind of movement is still possible except for subjects. Movement of other elements de­ pends heavily on pragmatic or discourse struc­ tural conditions: (41) Han hadde med seg heim eit enormt digert egg he brought with him home an enormous­ ly large egg

1155

A subject can no more move to the right, how­ ever, unless it is replaced by an expletive sub­ ject in its original position. This process will be further described in section 4. 3.5.

Discontinuity

Old Norse exhibits certain occurrences of dis­ continuous phrases which are no longer per­ mitted. A discontinuous phrase occurs when one of the constituents of the phrase has been moved out of the phrase to some other posi­ tion in the sentence. An adjective or deter­ miner may thus be separated from its head, as in (42a), or a preposition from its comple­ ment, as in (42b): (42) a. ok eru paoan tettir komnar storar and are therefrom families come great 'And from there have come many great families' b. hQgg Pi! ill. tvter alnar hverju stortre cut you off two ells each big-tree-dat. 'Cut two ells off each large tree' The word order in (42a, b) would yield un­ grammatical sentences in all the Scandinavian languages today. The structure in (42b) has nothing to do with preposition stranding, of course, whereby the preposition is left in situ while the complement is moved. This is still common in Scandinavian: (43) Dette huset har eg butt i this house have I lived in 4.

Obligatory elements

The rather rigid grammatical structure of Scandinavian sentences requires certain gram­ matical functions to be filled even if their con­ tent is immediately recoverable from the con­ text. For example, whether or not an argu­ ment can be left out depends on sentence-in­ ternal structural conditions rather than on in­ formation structure and pragmatics. The more flexible sentence structure of Old Norse to a larger extent allows phrases to be omitted if they are recoverable. 4.1.

Conjunction reduction

In Old Norse, when two sentences are con­ joined, any NP in the second conjunct which is coreferent with a NP in the first may be omitted (cf. art. 105):

1 1 56

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

(44) a. pa bra hann sverainu hart ok titt ok hljop i stoJuna then brandished he-nom. sword-dat. hard and often and [-] ran into the room (N-N) b. pa let OOinn bera inn i hQllina svera, ok varu sva bjQrt. . . then let Odin bring into the hall swords-acc. and [-] were so bright. . . (A-N) c. Einarr PambarskelfirJar mea liki Mag­ nus konungs ok mea honum allr Prrenda-herr ok fluttu til Niaar6ss Einar Thambarskelfi-nom. went with corpse-dat. Magnus King-gen. and moved [-] to Nidaros (D-A) 'Einar Thambarskelfi brought King Magnus' corpse to Nidaros' The letters in parentheses after each example indicate the cases of the NPs involved. In (44a) the subject is deleted in the second conjunct under coreference with the subject in the first conjunct; in (44b) the subject in the second is deleted under identity with the object in the first; and in (44c) the object in the second is deleted under identity with a dative phrase in the first. In Scandinavian, only the first pattern is possible. Corresponding to (44a) we may have the Norwegian (45a), while modern counter­ parts of (44b, c) are ungrammatical: (45) a. Han drog sverdet og sprang inn i stua he drew the sword and ran into the room b. >II< Einar drog med liket og frakta til Nidaros Einar went with corpse-def. and car­ ried to Nidaros For Old Norse it seems reasonable to posit an invisible pronoun (in the generative litera­ ture called pro) which replaces a real or overt pronoun under certain contextual conditions. In Scandinavian, this pro has been lost, or at least its domain is severely restricted. The con­ junction reduction that we see in (45a) is not an instance of pro in the subject role of the second conjunct, but simply the conjoining of two verb phrases with a common subject. The structure, therefore, is not as in (46a) but rather as in (46b):

(46) a. * [han drog sverdet] og [pro sprang inn i stua] b. han [drog sverdet] og [sprang inn i stua] A sentence like (44c), however, has a structure with pro: (47) [Einarr, far mea liki j] ok [pro, fluttu pro j til Nioarass]. 4.2.

Obligatory subject

As shown in the previous section, a missing subject in Old Norse may be interpreted as an abstract pro (cf. (47» . But a subject pro may also occur in other contexts than just conjunc­ tion. In most ofthese sentence types, the Scan­ dinavian counterpart has an overt subject, since the abstract pro is no longer available. The possibility of subjectless sentences is now limited to imperatives. In other types of sub­ jectless sentences, the missing subject has been replaced in one of the following three ways. (In the examples to follow, the a-sentences are from Old Norse, and the b-sentences from Norwegian, with the subject underlined). (i) An oblique NP has become subject, as with verbs that take only oblique NPs in Old Norse: (48) a. mik pyrsti me-acc. thirsted b. §..K var tyrst I-nom. was thirsty This also happens in passive sentences where the active counterpart has no accusative ob­ ject, since only accusative objects can become nominative in the passive: (49) a. henni var vel pakkat her-dat. was well thanked-neut.nom. b. Ho vart vel takka she-nom. was well thanked (ii) An expletive subject in the form of the neu­ ter pronoun det is used with avalent verbs: (50) a. snjovar pa a Jyrir peim snows then before them b. Det sn@r framf@re dei it snows before them Likewise, it may be used with regular transi­ tive verbs when they appear without an argu­ ment: (51) a. gerai myrkt made dark b. Det vart m@rkt it became (got) dark

127. Syntactic developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic

With certain verbs that take only oblique NPs in Old Norse, an expletive may also be used in Scandinavian. Besides det 'it', der 'there' is used in Danish and some dialects elsewhere in Scandinavia. Corresponding to the Old Norse (52a), both (52b) and (52c) may be used in Scandinavian: (52) a. Pik heftr mikla ugiptu hent you-acc. has great mishap-acc. hap­ pened b. Ei star ulykke har hendt deg a great misfortune has happened you­ acc. c. Det/der har hendt deg ei star ulykke it/there has happened you-acc. a great misfortune The expletive det or der has also been intro­ duced in subjectless passive sentences: (53) a. lesit er a hOkum read is in books 'One reads in books' b. Det vert lese i baker it becomes read in books This use of the expletive is an alternative to the promotion of the accusative 0 bject in tran­ sitive sentences. As an alternative to (54b), which is a modern version of (54a), we also find (54c), in which the object must be indefi­ nite: (54) a. kirkjan var gQrr a StiklastQaum the church-nom. was made at Stikle­ stad b. Kyrkja vart bygd pa Stiklestad the church was built at Stiklestad c. Det vart bygt ei kyrkje/*kyrkja pa Stiklestad it was built a/*the church at Stiklestad (iii) An unspecified subject may be left unex­ pressed in Old Norse; this has usually been replaced by an indefinite pronoun, such as man, ein 'one', or dei/de 'they': (55) a. ekki sa skipit not saw the ship-acc. b. Ein sag ikkje skipet one saw not the ship (56) a. pa skyldi brenna alia dauaa menn then should burn all dead men-acc. b. Da skulle dei brenna aile daude menn then should they burn all dead men

4.3.

1 1 57

Expletives

Old Norse was a verb-second language, and the Scandinavian languages have remained so until this day. A verb-second language is a lan­ guage where the finite verb can be preceded by at most one constituent in main clauses. This also means that the finite verb may be preceded by zero. Such verb initial sentences are found both in Old Norse and in Scandi­ navian: (57) a. leitar Einarr um allan haga searches Einar all over the grazing field b. Leiter Einar over heile hagen? The difference is that the Old Norse sentence (57a) is a declarative, while the Norwegian sentence (57b) is acceptable only as a sentence question or as a conditional clause. However, the structure in (57a) was also used for ques­ tions in Old Norse, but in the transition from Old Norse to Scandinavian, the verb-initial structure was grarnmaticalized as an interro­ gative structure. Old Norse has an interroga­ tive particle, hvart, which was used optionally to introduce sentence questions: (58) a. hvart elskar pu mik? ? love you me 'Do you love me?' When the empty preverbal position became an unambiguous marker of an interrogative or a conditional sentence, all declarative sen­ tences needed an element before the verb. This preverbal position is, however, also a topic po­ sition, which means that whatever occurs in that position has to have a specific discourse function. When no sentence element fulfills such a discourse functional requirement, an expletive topic is needed. In the modern Scandinavian languages and dialects, the expletive word is either der 'there' (Danish, southwestern Norwegian, southern Swedish) or the neuter pronoun Paa/taa/det 'it/that' (Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Swedish). During the 15th c. we find the first occur­ rences of the expletive word ther/der 'there' or det 'it' in existential sentences in Danish (Falk/Torp 1900): (59) a. ther kom ey een tijl lande hiem there carne not one to country horne 'Nobody returned to the country' b. thet war een man, hwilkren sam haffd:e twenne S@lJ1er it was a man who had two sons 'There was a man who had two sons'

1 1 58

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

For several centuries after that the expletive word only appears sentence-initially in Scan­ dinavian and is therefore not a subject. Con­ sider for example (60), from the work of the Norwegian-born Danish writer Ludvig Hol­ berg (1684-1754). (60) Derved er given Aniedning til de vidi@Jtige Reyser thereby is given opportunity for the extravagant journeys Another piece of evidence that the expletive word was not a subject is that it could co-occur with another subject in the sentence, as in (61): (61) a. Der har fire Mrend redet over Broen i dog there have four men ridden across the bridge today b. Det vii aile hava den beste it will all have the best 'Everybody wants the best one' (Aasen 1 864) This situation is still found in Icelandic and Faroese, where the expletive may precede the finite verb, as in the modern Icelandic example (62a), but it may not occur in subject position when some other element is fronted (62b): (62) a. Pao eru mys i baokerinu it are mice-nom. in the bathtub 'There are mice in the bathtub' b. j grer voru (*pao) mys i baokerinu yesterday were mice-nom. in the bath­ tub In the Scandinavian languages, there is now an obligatory subject requirement, cf. 4.2. Since the subject typically carries given infor­ mation, the nominal argument of an existen­ tial sentence is usually not suitable for subject­ hood. The introduction of the obligatory sub­ ject requirement thus created a similar prob­ lem to that of the obligatory topic in declara­ tive sentences. And the problem was solved in a similar fashion; there was already an ex­ pletive word available, and this word was re­ analyzed as an expletive subject. The result is modern Scandinavian sentences like the ones in (63), which are the modern Norwegian (bokmai) equivalents of (60), (61a), and (62b), respectively: (63) a. Derved er det gilt aniedning til de vidl@ftige reiser thereby is it given opportunity for the extravagant journeys

b. Det har riddfire menn over broen i dag it has ridden four men across the bridge today c. I gar var det mus i badekaret yesterday was it mice in the bathtub 'Yesterday there were mice in the bath­ tub' Note that in (63b) the expletive is still in the preverbal position, but now there is no NP in the subject position following the finite verb. The NP argument is now in object position, following the non-finite verb. The only pos­ sible subject in the sentence is therefore det. The origin of 'there' as an expletive word in existential sentences may be its use with a vague anaphoric reference to introduce new elements in the discourse. Consider the follow­ ing example from Barlaams ok Josaphats saga, a 1 3th c. Norwegian text: (64) [Ok ieiddu hann um ukunna staoi . . . j Par runnu ok sva skir vQtn and led him around unknown places there ran also so clear waters ' [And (they) took him to unknown places.] There was also such clear water running' The connection between par and the anteced­ ent may be so loose that par might easily be interpreted as a semantically empty filler of a topic position. (In (64) the dots represent about half a printed page). The use of the neuter pronoun 'it' as an ex­ pletive subject may have been reinforced by its use in extraposition constructions, where it originally was an anticipating pronoun re­ ferring to the sentential argument. In Old Norse such a pronoun was already very com­ mon in extraposition constructions (cf. 5.1 .): (65) er pat minn viii, at sva g@ri vCr allir is it my will that so do we all 'It is my wish that we all do so' The word pat is base-generated here as the phrasal head, and is thus not an expletive word at this point. This is shown by the fact that it may also immediately precede the clause (66a) and that it may be the head of a subor­ dinate clause which is not a subject (66b): (66) a. satt er pat. at mjQk er niorJallit riki Haralds ins harfagra true is that that much is declined power Harald's the hair-fine 'It is true that the power of Harald the Finehaired is much reduced'

127. Syntactic developments from Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic

b. pat hyggjum vcr. at hann kunni Jugls rQddu that think we that he knows bird's voice 'We think that he knows the speech of the birds' As the requirement for a lexically filled subject position became stronger, and eventually ab­ solute, the anticipating pat was reanalysed as an expletive subject. 4.4.

Complement noun phrases

As seen from (44c) in 4. 1 ., an object may also be deleted under identity in Old Norse. More generally, complement NPs may be omitted if they are recoverable from the context or if they are unspecified. This is the case with com­ plements of verbs (objects) and of preposi­ tions: (67) a. pa er pu skyldir leysa nestbaggann. pa haJoak bundit mea gresjarni when you should loosen the bag then had-I tied pro with spell-bound-iron 'When you wanted to untie your bag, I had tied it with spell-bound iron ropes' b. hon haJoi par gert i steinkatli she had made pro in stone-kettle 'She had prepared something in a stone kettle' c. Hjalti helt vQro a Hjalti held guard at pro 'Hjalti kept guard over it' The missing NPs in these sentences may also be analysed as pro. In Scandinavian an overt complement is needed, which again is consist­ ent with the loss of pro. 4.5.

Articles

There is an interesting parallel between the structure and development of sentences and noun phrases in Scandinavian. Both catego­ ries may have an element which identifies the contextual function ofthe phrase. In sentences this is the preverbal topicalized phrase, which typically refers to an element in the preceding context. In NPs, it is the article, which deter­ mines the referential and contextual role of the NP. As we have seen, the topic position is only optionally filled in Old Norse, while it is obligatorily filled in Scandinavian. The sarne change can be observed for articles. Where an article or another determiner is more or less

1 1 59

obligatory in referring NPs in Scandinavian, they can be absent in Old Norse. The indefinite article is missing altogether in Old Norse. In Scandinavian, singularindefi­ nite count nouns usually require an indefinite article when used as arguments. Compare the Old Norse (a) sentences to their Norwegian counterparts in (b): (68) a. Bjarni hi:t maar Bjarni was-called man 'A man was called Bjarne' b. Bjarne heitle ein mann (69) a. eptir pat setr hann upp hnegg mikit after that sets he up neigh big 'Then he neighs loudly' b. Etter det set han i eit stort knegg In the plural, however, and with mass nouns, the indefinite article may still be missing. Old Norse did have a definite article, but its use was more limited and more marked than it is today (Dyvik 1 979). In (70a) from Old Norse there are three noun phrases, all without an article or any other determiner. In the Norwegian translation (70b), all the nouns carry a definite article: (70) a. sat konungr ok dr6ttning i hasreti sat king and queen in high seat b. Kongen og dronning!!:. sat i h@gsetf..!.. As another illustration of the difference in the use of articles, compare the following two pas­ sages from chapter 5 of Hrafnkels saga: (71) a. hann tekr staJ i hQnd scr. beizl ok p6Ja he takes stick in hand himself-dat. bridle and saddlecloth 'He takes a stick in his hand, a bridle and a saddle-cloth' b. nil tekr hann hestinn ok slrer via beizli, Iretr p6Ja a bak hes tinum now takes he horse-def.acc. and puts on bridle, slips saddlecloth on back horse-def.dat. 'Now he takes the horse and puts on it the bridle, slips the saddlecloth on the back of the horse'. The words staf. beizl and p6Ja are introduced in the first sentence, and as expected they are used without an article. In the second sentence (70b), which is separated from the first by about half a page, the nouns beizl and p6Ja are repeated, and still without an article. In a modern version, one would expect the definite form in the second sentence.

1 1 60

5.

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Subordination

There have been certain important changes in the structure of subordinate clauses in the transition from Old Norse to Scandinavian. One such change, the position ofthe finite verb relative to a sentence adverbial, has been dis­ cussed in section 3.2. In this section we will look at changes in the complementizer system and at the development of accusative with in­ finite construction.

5.1.

Complementizers

The most common complementizers in Old Norse are at and er. They are used to introduce subordinate clauses with many different func­ tions, as described in art. 105. As early as the "classical" Old Norse period, er began to be replaced by sem 'as', which was previously used mainly in comparative constructions. In cases where the head of a clause intro­ duced by erjsem is an adverb, thus functioning as an adverbial, the complementizer has even­ tually been lost, whereby the adverb has as­ sumed the role of a complementizer. This has happened especially in temporal clauses. Compare the Old Norse (72a) to its Norwe­ gian equivalent (72b). (The complementizers at and er are glossed as 'c' here and further on). (72) a. pa er hann haJoi tekit Juglinn then C he had taken the bird b. do han hadde teke Juglen 'When he had caught the bird' A similar development has taken place in locative clauses, but here the complementizer is still permitted: (73) peir hrxddust, at uvinir mundu Ieita liksins par, er var they feared that enemies would seek corpse-def.gen. there C was 'They feared that the enemy would look for the corpse where it was' A modern Norwegian version of this would be der det var or der som det var. In Danish and Dano-Norwegian a wh-word can replace the complementizer in locative clauses: der hvor det var. Clauses with other adverbial functions in Old Norse are headed by an oblique case of pat 'that', sometimes governed by a preposi­ tion:

(74) Porsteinn tok via styrimanninum,/yrir pvi at hann beiddist pangat Thorstein took with the skipper-dat., for that-dat. C he asked-ref!. thither 'Thorstein received the skipper because he wanted to corne there' In such constructions, the preposition plus the pronoun has been merged and eventually re­ analyzed as a complementizer in Norwegian and Danish. Thus Jyrir pvi at became Jordi 'because'. Optionally, Jordi may still be fol­ lowed by at in spoken Norwegian and Danish. Nominal clauses introduced by at are often headed by the pronoun pat in Old Norse. The clause may or may not be separated from its pronominal head, cf. (66a, b) above. In the modern language, this is still possible, but much less frequent. Two other construction types have taken over. In one, the pronominal head is omitted, so that the at-clause by itself may function as a nominal argument in the sentence: Vi trur at han . . . [We believe that he . . .]. In the other, the pronominal head pat is reanalyzed as an expletive subject with an extraposed clause: Det er sant at . . . [It is true that. . . J, cf. 4.3. 5.2.

Accusative with infinitive

In Old Norse a complement clause after verba sentiendi and dicendi normally took the form of an accusative-with-infinitive construction. This means that the verb is in the infinitive and what would be the subject in a finite sen­ tence is in the accusative case: (75) a. opt heft ek heyrt yor pat mrela often have I heard you-acc. that say b. hann sagai Sigmund vera ub@ttan he said Sigmund-ace. be-inf. un­ atoned-ace. 'He said that Sigmund was not atoned for' If the subject of the subordinate clause has the same referent as that of the matrix sen­ tence, it is usually expressed as a reflexive clitic on the main verb: (76) taldist Magnus konungr eiga alia pa bygo said-refl. Magnus king-nom. own all that district 'King Magnus said that he owned all the district' In Scandinavian the accusative with infinitive after verba dicendi has disappeared and been replaced by a finite that-clause. With verba

1161

128. Lexical developments in the Late Middle Ages

sentiendi, on the other hand, it has been re­ analyzed as a direct object plus an infinitive complement (a "small clause" in generative tenninology). This is not surprising, since the accusative phrase after a verbum sentiendi can also be interpreted as the direct object of that verb, besides being the subject of the infinitive. This is not possible with verba dicendi. Note that I have often heard you is a complete sen­ tence, while *He said Sigmund is not. Old Norse verbs with a reflexive suffix, as in (76), have been reanalyzed as passive verbs, giving rise to the modern Scandinavian inflec­ tional passive in -s (t) (cf. section 2.4.). A sen­ tence of the same form as (76) nowadays there­ fore means 'King Magnus was said to . . . '

6.

Literature (a selection)

Aasen, Ivar (1864), Norsk Grammatikk. Kristiania. Dyvik, Helge J.J. (1979), Omkring fremveksten av artiklenei norsk. Spraklig markering av referensielle forutsetninger. In: MM 1979, 40 78.

Faarlund, Jan Terje (1990), Syntactic change: To­ ward a theory ofhistorical syntax. Berlin/New York. Faarlund, Jan Terje (1992), Norsk syntaks i funk­ sjonelt perspektiv, 2nd ed. Oslo/Bergen/Troms0. Faarlund, Jan Terje (2001), The notion of oblique subject and its status in the history of Icelandic. In: Grammatical relations in change (ed. J. T. Faarlund). Amsterdam, 99 135. Faarlund, dan Terje (2004), The Syntax of Old Norse. Oxford. Falk, Hjalmar/Torp, Alf (1900), Dansk-norskens syntax i historisk fremstilling. Kristiania. Haugen, Jens (2000), Old Norse word order and in­ formation structure. Trondheim. Hohnberg, Anders/Platzack, Christer (1995), The role of inflection in Scandinavian syntax. New York/ Oxford. Ottosson, Kjartan G. (1992), The Icelandic middle voice: the morphological and phonological develop­ ment. Lund. R6gnvaldsson, Eirikur (1995), Old Icelandic: a non­ configurational language? In: NO WELE 26, 3 29.

Jan Terje Faarlund. Oslo (Norway)

128.

Lexical developments in the Late Middle Ages

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Introduction External iniluences Intra-Scandinavian developments Native fonnations Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

1 . 1 . The lexical developments in this period can generally be characterized by (a) growing external influence, (b) influences from one Nordic language on one or more others, and partly as a result of the varying extent of these processes, (c) greater distance between the lan­ guages. The sources are mainly of the same kind as those of the ON lexicon (cf. art. 106, 1 . 1 .), but less varied, in so far as three genres dominate: law texts, charters and administrative docu­ ments, and religious literature. Within the to­ tal literary corpus, EN constitutes a greater part than before, since writing in the vernacu­ lar started later in the East than in the West.

1 .2. As far as Late WN is concerned, the pe­ riod is poorly covered by dictionaries. Pritzner (1886 - 1 896, 1972) goes as far as ca. 1450, CleasbyjVigfussonjCraigie (1957) somewhat further, but mainly for Icelandic sources. There is a glossary for law texts from the pe­ riod 1388-1447 (Johnsen 1912), and some lists of loanwords can be found in treatises by Hregstad and Gr0tvedt. Dictionaries of Middle Norwegian and Middle Icelandic are still lacking. Late EN is better covered lexicographically by the works of Kalkar (1 881-1918) (for Da­ nish) and S6derwall (1884-1918) (for Swe­ dish). 2.

External influences

2.1. A prominent feature of the period is stronger external influence, especially from Lat. and MLG. The influence from foreign (i. e. non-Nordic) languages affects more

1 1 62

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

(Dan., Sw.) or less (Ice1.) all Nordic languages, Norwegian occupying an intermediate posi­ tion in this respect. It is possible to distinguish between the continuation of earlier trends and the introduction of new elements. 2.2. The long-standing influence of Lat. in Scandinavia (cf. art. 106, 3.2.3., 3.3., 3.4. 1 . , 3.4.2.) continued to make itself felt through the institutions of the Church and higher learning, in commerce, and other forms of contact with foreign countries. A large part of these newer loans were introduced or at least first registered during the period of (Late Medieval) Humanism, the 1 4th and 1 5th c. As before, many loans are of Greek or Oriental origin, and quite a few were transmitted through MLG or other languages. 2.2.1. The following examples from Sw. are words denoting (1) jewels and metals, (2) plants, (3) commercial concepts and articles, and (4) terms related to the Christian church. (1) agat, alabaster, amatist, diamant, granat, jaspis, karbunkule, korali/korel/korl, kris­ tall, malmar (e), robin/rubin, smaragd. (2) kalmus, komillabloma, lavendel, lretikia 'lettuce', libbe-/lybbestikka ' Levisticum of­ ficinale', oliva, persika 'peach', rosmarin. (3) centner 'hundredweight' Jetalia 'victuals', pundare 'steel-yard', purpur. (4) deken 'dean, a monastery official', Wktare 'lectern', patena, postilla, prebenda 'bene­ fice', sakrament, sakrista, skaplare 'scapu­ lar'. (Cf. Hellquist 1930, ch. 12.) The verbal ending -era, ultimately Lat. or Ro­ mance, largely imported via MLG (cf. art. 106, 3.5.3.; 2.3.2. below), was very productive. Examples include: appellera, celebrera, form (er) a, * hiirbiirghera 'to lodge' (presup­ posed by hiirbiirgheran, hiirbiirgherare), iubile­ ra 'to rejoice', kommunicera ' to give the Cor­ pus Domini', konfirmera, martla/mart(el) era 'to martyr', ordinera 'to ordain', plant (er)a, poliera 'to polish', postulera 'to postulate, elect' , prakticera,purgera 'to purge, i. e. empty the bowels', reformera, regera ' to lead, direct', registrera, rostera ' to arrest', visitera 'to visit'. Corresponding verbal nouns end in -tie (-de, -ts, -tz), derived from the Lat. suffix -tio: appeliacie, konfirmatz, confirmatie(breff) , or­ dinantie, purgatz, reformatie; other examples of the same formation are collatz/collas, dis­ putatie, liiksie/liikze/liikza 'lesson, text', pesti­ lentia/pestilentie, sighlatz/seglats. Closer to Lat. are koliation(s bref) and konfirmation;

conforming with native patterns are disputer­ ing and ordineran. (Cf. Wessen 1958, 1 36 - 1 3 8, 142-144.) 2.2.2. The Lat. influence on Dan. appears, inter alia, in a number of direct loans in the vocabulary of higher learning: artikel, bibel, drkel, doktor, element, eremit, figur, form, glose, historie, kalente ' brotherhood of priests' , kantor, kompleks 'temperament', kon­ fekt 'product', kontrakt, konvent, kor, kreatur, materie 'matter', melankoli, orden 'monastic order', ornament, pagt, palads, part, person, plan, planet, plante (noun and verb), prrelat 'prelate', punkt 'point', regiment 'reign', ru­ brik, sekret 'the private seal of a sovereign', statut, studium, vikar, etc. Loan-translations (calques) include plant names like hundetunge 'Cynoglossum', hyrdetaske "Bursa pastoris'. (Cf. Skautrup 1947, 1 1 1.) Numerous derivatives based on Lat. pat­ terns were introduced, either directly from Lat. or transmitted through German Exam­ ples are words in -al ( < Lat. -alis): princ pal i (noun and adjective); -an « Lat. -anus through G or Fr.): kurtisan 'courtier'; -ans ( < Lat. -antia through G -anz): finans 'deceit, wiles', kvittans 'receipt', ordinans; -ant ( < Lat. present participle -ans, -antis): pnedikant 'preacher'; -at ( < Lat. -atus): advokat, legat, majestat 'dignity, grandeur', mandat 'com­ mand, order', pnelat; -ator (Lat. < -ator): prokurator 'agent, manager'; -ats ( < Lat. -atio through G -atz): disputats 'treatise', fundats 'foundation', kollats 'party', konfirmats, pro­ testats 'solemn statement', reformats 'im­ provement', resignats, visitats; -ens « Lat. -entia through G -enz): konsients (ie), pes­ tilens (e), sentens; -ent « Lat. -ens): skri­ bent(ere) 'writer', superattendent/-intendent 'Lutheran bishop', regent(e) 'ruler'; -es ( < Lat. -essus): reces 'resolution (passed by a meeting)'; -et « Lat. -eta, -etum): poete, seg­ net/signet 'stamp'; -Ie « Lat. -ia, Gr. -la): politi 'condition, state', popelsi 'apoplexy', sakristi; -in ( < Lat. -inus): kvintin 'a fifth (a measure)', termin 'area, region'; -ion « Lat. -io, genitive -ionis): resignation; -ist « Lat. -ista, Fr. -iste): evangelist, tenorist ' tenor singer'; -its « Lat. -itia, -itio, -itium, through G -iz, Fr. -ice): komposits 'composition'; -ment « Lat. -mentum): argument, instrument 'lit­ erary composition'; -on « Lat. -0, genitive -onis): fa (n)sun 'shape', prison, ranson 'ran­ som'; - (i)um « Lat. -(i)um): album 'a small coin', klenodium/kle (j)nod(ie). (Cf. Skautrup 1947, 238-239.)

128. Lexical developments in the Late Middle Ages

2.2.3. WN shows fewer Lat. loans from this period, most of them being direct loans be­ longing to learned and ecclesiastical vocabu­ lary. The majority are nouns: aoventa, amman­ dal 'almond' (cf. al(a)mandr etc., art. 106, 3.6.1.), antiphona (cf. anteJna etc., art. l06, 3.3.), atoma/atomr ' the smallest unit of time', baldakin '(piece of) baldachin; canopy, bal­ dachino', dekreta, elementi, gradal(l) ' hyrnn­ book', juristi, kanzellari 'chancellor' (cf. art. 106, 3.4.1.), kvartil 'a fourth (1/4)', litania, minuta/minucia 'minute (in various senses)', oratia 'prayer', partikula 'particle or part of a degree', plaga 'region', poeti, postilla, pre­ benda/pre venda 'prebend, benefice' (cf. prbven­ da, art. l06, 3.4.1.), prelali. registur. sakra­ ment, sekunda, subdupl 'square root', subtripl 'cubic root', tertia 'part of a second; a third part', uncia 'ounce, a twelfth part'. Verb: rasura 'to erase'. (ef. Fischer 1909, 67-75; Wester­ gard-Nielsen 1946, LXX-LXXIII). Many of these words (atoma/atomr, juristi, minuta/ minucia, partikula, plaga, prebenda/prevenda, sakrament, sekunda, subdupl, -tripI, tertia, uncia) are only known from Icelandic sources. Late Romance loans in WN were partly im­ ported directly from OFr.: korell/kurell/kurill 'coral', pjfltr 'pewter'; partly (and mainly) through MLG: braza 'brooch' ,jakka 'jacket', kabill 'cable', perla 'pearl', st@flll 'boot', and some verbs in -era (cf. art. 106, 3.4.2.): bas6nera 'to play a kind of wood instrument', dis­ ponera 'to dispose, ordain', konfundera 'to confound, confuse', korrigera, postulera 'to propose (somebody as a bishop)', traminera 'to walk around', hvitera 'to whiten' (esp. Nor­ wegian); via Middle English: kamarlin 'cham­ berlain'. (ef. Fischer 1909, 87). 2.3. The influence of MLG was far stronger than that of Lat. This is evident from the number of loanwords as well as from their dis­ tribution in the dialects and the productivity of MLG patterns in the formation of words (cf. also art. 106, 4.3.2.). Denmark's geographical position close to the German-speaking area helps to explain why Dan. imported more MLG loans, and at an earlier time, than the other Nordic lan­ guages. In general Dan. also served as a transit point for the MLG impact on Norw. and Icel., although direct contact must have been fre­ quent, esp. in the towns. (ef. Indreb0 1951, 171; Skautrup 1944, 183; Wessen 1954, 35, 37; 39; Westberg 1987, 10-15, 1 52). The early phases of this influence are dealt with in art. 106 (3.5., 4.3.2.).

1163 2.3.1. The majority of MLG loans are com­ mon to Dan. and Sw. and are cited in their Dan. form. Dan. forms are used for loans also occurring in Norw., although these are men­ tioned separately. The loanwords can roughly be divided into four main categories by se­ mantic content, viz. (1) handicrafts, trade, and shipping, (2) administrative and military mat­ ters, (3) plants and animals, and (4) more com­ mon words and words of fashion. (1) Examples from the sphere of handi­ crafts, trade and shipping (almost exclusively nouns) are: bartskrerer 'barber and surgeon', buntmager 'furrier', bregermager 'beaker­ maker', drejer 'lathe operator', glarmester 'glazier', harniskmager 'armour-maker', h@ker 'huckster', klejnsmed 'locksmith', klokkegyder 'bellcaster', kulbrrender 'charcoal burner', maIer 'painter', rebslager 'ropemaker', rem­ mesnider 'strapmaker', sadelmager 'saddle maker' , slagter 'butcher', snedker 'carpenter', svrerdfeger 'sword polisher', taskemager 'bag­ maker', teglslager 'tilemaker'; bi! 'broad ax', bolt, brille 'eyeglasses', brrendevin 'brandy', bukser 'pants, trousers', damask, degel 'melt­ ing pot', fetaije 'fare, provisions', flit 'felt', Joderdug 'a kind of woollen cloth', Jragt 'freight', glas 'glass', handel 'commerce', hvid 'a small coin', Juegte 'hook', h@vl 'plane', kappe 'cape, cloak', kegle 'cone', krede 'chain', k@benskab 'commerce', leidsk 'cloth from Leiden', lygte 'lamp', malle 'eyelet', perse 'press', sindal 'a kind of silk', skrue 'screw', spelt(e) 'a kind of wheat' , spi(d)seri 'spices', spiger 'spike, nail', svans 'tail'; shipping terms are ballast, galej 'galley', hyre 'job, wages', kogge 'Hanseatic merchant and war vessel', kravel 'car(a)vel', krejert 'a small merchant vessel', mast, nuers 'platform on a mast'. Also occurring in Norw. are skipper, skomager 'shoemaker', vrerkmester 'foreman', dusin 'dozen', lod 'counterweight', papir 'pa­ per', regnskab 'account', skilling 'a coin'. (2) Examples from administrative and mili­ tary matters (nouns and verbs) include: adel 'nobility', b@ddel 'executioner', dresel 'trea­ sury' ,fuldmagt 'proxy', Juegte 'prison', mregler 'broker, agent', rlldhus 'town hall', skaffer 'caretaker, manager', sise 'excise, tax', trenkebog 'city records, protocol', vregter 'watchman'; barfred 'fortifications', drabant 'yeoman of the royal guard, attendant, fol­ lower' ,fane 'banner' ,fe(j)de 'feud' ,felt 'field', forborg 'outwork, retaining wall', glavind 'sword', hofsinne 'courtier', klJ1egt 'fellow, sol­ dier', kogger 'quiver', krig 'war', kllrde 'rapier', lejde 'safe conduct', marsk 'leader of

1 1 64

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

an army', rytter 'horseman', sold 'pay', sprer 'spear', stekemes 'dagger', vagt 'guard' ;fele 'to give safe conduct', fregte 'to fight', kejse 'to choose' . Also in Norw. are: borger 'citizen; burgher', J@(r)ste 'prince', hellebard 'halberd', older­ mand 'foreman of a guild or council', orlog 'war', slot 'castle', underdan, undersatte 'sub­ ject, subordinate'; opbrere 'to earn, receive'. (3) Examples of words for plants and ani­ mals (nouns only) are: akeleje 'Aquilegia', Jen (ne)ke(l) 'Foeniculurn' , hirse 'Panicum', kl@ver 'Trifolium', kommen 'Carum Carvi', morbrertrre 'Morus', nellike 'Dianthus' , poppel 'Populus', purl@g 'Allium schoenoprasum', roe 'Brassica campestris', r@llike 'Achillea'; kamel 'camel', love 'lion', panter 'panther', papeg@je 'parrot', rotte 'rat'. (4) More common words and words of fashion (nouns, verbs, and adjectives) include: ajbrrek 'interruption', art 'kind, nature', baije 'tub', bole 'love', bove 'scoundrel', bugt 'bay', del 'part', dab 'baptism', elende 'misery', fare 'danger' , fart 'speed', farve 'colour' , fastelavn 'Shrovetide', fejl 'error', flid 'diligence', flugt 'escape', fromme 'benefit', grek 'fool', hast 'haste', herje 'whore', hoft 'hip', h@gfrerd 'ar­ rogance', jremmer 'wailing' , kreds 'circle', kro 'inn', jagt 'hunt', jreger 'hunter', kollats 'party', krybbe 'crib', kummer 'sorrow', kunst 'art', kurv 'basket', k@kken 'kitchen', lempe 'gentleness', love 'confidence', l@fte 'promise', middel 'instrument, means', om 'maternal uncle; relative', opr@r 'revolt', orghen 'organ (mus. instr.)', plan 'plain, flat land', pligt 'dis­ cipline; fine, punishment', pral 'boasting', prent 'print', pris 'praise; prize', privet 'privy', rendesten 'gutter', rov 'plundering', sagtmod 'meekness', selle 'fellow', sind 'mind', skab 'cupboard', skik 'custom', slev 'ladle', smag 'taste', smitte 'infection', spe 'derision', spids 'point, tip', sprog 'language', stads 'pomp', stank 'stench', strale 'beam, ray', tant 'non­ sense, twaddle', tiding 'information, news', tragt 'funnel', trappe '(flight of) stairs', trods 'defiance', trompet 'trumpet' , tvi( v)l 'doubt', vandel 'compensation', vog(e) 'wave', vunde 'wound', vresen 'stay, resort; conduct', vaning 'abode'; arbejde 'to work', bole 'to engage in fornication or prostitution', bruse 'to rush', Jatte 'to grasp', fire 'to celebrate', JorJordele 'to give somebody less than his/her fair share', Jrygte 'to fear' ,Juldbyrde 'to accomplish, com­ plete', grue 'to dread, be nervous about' , hykle 'to feign', indkrreJte 'to take by force', jrege 'to hunt', klinge 'to ring, sound', kruse 'to curl, cause ripples', krempe 'to fight', lure 'to lurk,

fool', lutre 'to purify', nalke 'to approach', nikke 'to nod', opreppe 'to repeat, rake up', opsk@rte 'to excite, fluster', passe 'to mind, watch', p@nse 'to ponder', ramme 'to hit; ob­ tain', redde 'to save', rabe 'to shout', skane 'to spare', slagte 'to slaughter', smage 'to taste', smykke 'to decorate', snakke 'to talk', spille 'to play', stoppe 'to stop', straffe 'to punish', strrekke 'to stretch', styrte 'to fall down, throw down', trenke 'to think', t@ve 'to tarry, wait', vandre 'to wander', vanke 'to ramble, rove', vove 'to dare, risk', vurdere 'to appraise, evalu­ ate'; bange 'afraid', blot 'bare, naked', bold 'brave', dapper 'brave', dol 'arrogant', from 'brave; gentle, meek; happy' ,f@je 'small', grov 'coarse', hadsk 'malicious', idel 'all, pure', klejn 'small, delicate, frail', kysk 'chaste', plump 'coarse, crude', pur 'pure', rask 'quick', ringe 'inferior, poor', rund 'round', sikker 'safe, secure', sk@n 'beautiful', slem 'bad', smal 'narrow', stille 'quiet', stiv 'stiff', stum 'dumb, speechless', sund'sound, healthy', svag 'weak', redel 'noble', regte 'genuine'. Also in Norw. are: arbejde 'work', bra(d)se 'brooch' , gunst 'favour', plads 'unrest', prang 'struggle, conflict', rygte 'rumour', skalk 'ras­ cal', sk@rlevned 'debauchery', snak 'talk', stempel 'pestle', svoger 'kinsman by marriage', vi/kar 'condition'; blive 'to stay; become', bruge 'to use' ,flilfly 'to order; give', klage 'to complain', kare 'to choose' , krrenke 'to violate; weaken', mane 'to exhort; demand', lJ1ere 'to feed, nourish', ske 'to happen', uforrette 'to mistreat', under vise 'to inform, instigate', ave 'to practice', abenbare 'to announce';fri 'free', ganske 'all', streng 'severe, strict', stredig 'firm, steadfast' . 2.3.2. In word formation, MLG affixes be­ came more frequent, partly by increasing use of affixes imported earlier (cf. art. 106, 4.3.2.), partly (and mainly) by importing new ones. Productive prefixes were an-. be- (bi-),Jor-, (to a smaller extent) over- and und-. An- occurs in nouns and verbs; anfald 'at­ tack', anfectingh 'attack; scruple', angreb 'at­ tack', anrab 'call', ansigt 'face', anskrig 'ru­ mour', anslag 'plan, plot'; anrigte 'to arrange, serve'. Also occurring in Norw. are andel 'part'; annamme 'to accept', anse 'to consider'. A highly productive prefix (except in Icel.) is be-, which occurs primarily in verbs, secon­ darily in derived nouns and adjectives (cf. FalkjTorp 1960, 56). Examples of verbs are: bebude 'to announce', bedr@ve 'to grieve, sad­ den', befalde 'to suit, please', befrygte 'to fear', befreste 'to confirm; fortify', begave 'to do-

128. Lexical developments in the Late Middle Ages

nate', behindre 'to hinder; bind; imprison', bekrreJt(ig)e 'to capture, subdue', bekumre 'to worry', belakke 'to defame', belange 'to con­ cern, refer to', bemande 'to man', bem@de 'to bother, trouble', bepligte 'to bind, put under obligation', berede 'to prepare; pay', ber@mme 'to praise', besinde 'to observe, understand', beskrive 'to describe', beskudde 'to protect', beskxrme 'to protect', beslutte 'to decide', be­ spise 'to feed', bes@ge 'to seek'. Examples of calques or loan-translations in­ clude bedrage 'to deceive', bespytte 'to spit on something', betage 'to catch, seize', betyde 'to announce, forebode'. Native formations (in Dan. and Sw.) are ex­ emplified by begabe 'to deride', bekrere 'to ac­ cuse', betrekke 'to cover, hide'. Also known from Norw. are bebinde 'to bind, conclude', bebreve 'to confirm through letter', bedrive 'to commit, practice', befale 'to command', befinde 'to find; experience, re­ ceive', begange, bega 'to bury', begribe 'to catch; strike; stipulate; encompass', begynde 'to begin', begrere 'to desire, request', behage 'to please', beholde 'to keep, retain', bekende 'to know; confess; declare etc. ', berette 'to in­ form, tell; administer the Lord's Supper', be­ segle 'to seal', besidde 'to sit on; possess', be­ stalde 'to besiege', bestande 'to stand; manage; claim etc.', bestille 'to stipulate', betale 'to pay', betragte 'to endeavour; consider', betyge 'to testify', bevare 'to keep', bevise 'to prove, show'. The few corresponding Icel. forms of­ ten have bi-, see below. Examples of nouns are: behold, bekender, bekostning 'expense', beskatning 'taxation', beskxrming, bevaring; also known from Norw. are behov 'need', belejlighed 'location; condi­ tion', beredning, berad 'deliberation', bestand 'condition, state; unanimity', betaling, be­ vis(n) ing. Examples of adjectives are: behagelig, behjreipelig 'helpful', bekvem 'comfortable', bevislig; also known from Norw. are belejlig 'situated; constituted; convenient', beske­ den (lig) 'explicit; sensible, honourable, wise', besynderlig 'special; important' . Variants with bi- (by-) are not uncommon. Examples from Dan. include: byJa1:e. by­ gynnre. byhaid:e; from Sw.: bikosta, bistanda; from Norw.: bireiding, bitala; from Icel.: hifala, bigera, biginna, bivara. Words with stressed bi- (corresponding to MLG bi-, HG bei-) are more rare: bifaide 'to assist, join', bista 'to assist'; bi/reldig (only Dan.?), bistrendig (only Dan.?); bifai (only Sw.?); bistand, bisprog 'proverb, saying'.

1165 Formations withJor- (Sw. also Jor-) are an older type (cf. art. 106, 4.3.2.; Westergard-Niel­ sen 1946, 72-74), but they expanded greatly in number and frequency. The majority are verbs: Jorbygge 'to build, etc. ', JorJatte 'to compose, etc. ', forfrere 'to frighten', forgrette 'to forget' ,forh@je 'to heighten, raise' ,forkaste 'to reject, destroy' ,forkynd (ig)e 'to announce, proclaim', formode 'to assume', fornemme 'to perceive', forrette 'to provide; decide; exe­ cute, etc.', forsage 'to give up, renounce', Jorskrrekke 'to frighten' , forsia 'to kill; drive away, etc.' ,forsvinde 'to disappear' ,fors@ge 'to try, examine; experience', fortabe 'to annihi­ late; perish', fortale 'to defame', fortryde 'to regret' , fortrelle 'to tell', fortrenke 'to remem­ ber', fort@rne 'to injure, insult', forvandle 'to change; sell; transport', forvanske 'to distort, corrupt' ,for@de 'to destroy'; also known from Norw. areJorbryde 'to forfeit' ,fordagtinge 'to defend, give peace', fordterve 'to destroy; per­ ish' ,forJaiske 'to counterfeit' ,forJ@ige 'to fol­ low; pursue; continue', forg@re 'to forfeit, spoil' ,forlige 'to conciliate, settle' ,forlrene 'to enfeoff' , formu(gh)e 'to be capable of doing', forn@je 'to pay', forsvare 'to attend to, take care of,fors@mme 'to obstruct; neglect', for­ tjene 'to deserve; earn', forvare 'to keep, pro­ tect; warn', forhverve 'to acquire', forvide 'to reproach', forvrerke 'to forfeit'. Examples of nouns are: fordel 'share; ad­ vantage', fornuft 'reason, sense', fortrred 'harm, injury'; also known from Norw. are foragt 'purpose, plan', forstander 'director', forvaring 'custody'. Examples of adjectives are: forgrengelig 'perishable', forsigtig 'careful', forsmredelig 'disgraceful', forsuffe t 'abated; despairing'. Icel. examples having Dan. and Sw. coun­ terparts: Jordi/d. JorJang 'skade', Jorstand 'mind, reason'; foreyoa, forsrekja, forjXna 'to deserve'; fordjarfanligur 'pernicious', forgen­ giligur. The prefix over- (Sw. generally ivir-, Norw. ofir-, 1cel. oJur-) is more sparingly used in WN. Norw. examples having Dan. and Sw. coun­ terparts are ofirdadighet 'impudence'; ofir­ ganga 'to be exposed to, suffer'; Icel.: ofurmakt 'superior strength', ofurvald 'power, force'; ofurgefa 'to hand over', ofurtrooa 'to break, violate'; ofurdaougur 'presumptuous, bold'. Und- (in Sw. and Norw. normally unt-) is generally prefixed to verbs, secondarily to cor­ responding adjectives and nouns. Examples are: undfalde 'to drop off; escape; fail, etc.', undfare 'to escape', undfly 'to flee from, get away from', undf@re 'to abduct, carry off',

1 1 66

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

undga 'to avoid, escape', undkomme 'to es­ cape', undl@be 'to run away from, escape', und­ lokke 'to allure, entice', undrykke 'to abduct, deprive of, undsige 'to threaten; denounce', undstikke 'to conceal', undtage 'to remove; deprive of, undvige 'to escape, flee'. In a few words und- is replaced by om- (um-): ombrere 'to lose, manage without', (Sw.) umgiilla ( undgrelde). Also known from Norw. are und­ fange/untfa 'to accept, receive', undgrelde 'to pay, suffer for'. Corresponding nouns are und­ Jangeise and untsegn (to undsige); undflygtig (to undfly). Productive suffixes were -agtig, -ande (Sw.), -bar, -else, -ere, -eri, -haftig, -hed, -ig, -inde, -ke(n) , -(e)Ug, -ner, -ske. The suffix -agtig (Sw. -aktig, -aktog) only occurs in adjectives: deelaetig 'involved', lifag­ tig 'lifelike', tjenstagtig 'serving, fit for service', varagtig 'durable, lasting', reragtig 'honour­ able'. It is often suffixed to native roots: brunagtig 'brownish', r@dagtig 'reddish', skilagtig 'in disagreement' . A suffix which occurs in verbal nouns only, -ande (Dan. -ende), is known from the prece­ ding period (cf. art. 106, 5.2.) and is mainly used in Sw.: byggande 'building', drickande 'drinking', ropande 'shouting', springande 'leaping' , sukkande 'sobbing'. The suffix -bar is restricted to adjectives: dyrebar 'precious', skinbar 'shining, clear'. The origin of -else (Sw. also -Use) (possibly asx. -isli, -isla > MLG -else, -sel; differently Korlen 1977, 291) has been disputed (see Lo­ man 1961, 197-268, 300-307; Moberg 1989, 217-222; both with further references), since many of the words in question have MLG counterparts with -nisse and -inge. It occurs in verbal nouns only. Some words correspond to MLG words with -nisse: bedr@velse 'grief, skikkelse 'order; form, shape'; also known from Norw. are begrengelse 'celebration; fu­ neral', beskrermelse 'protection', bestandelse 'support, benefit', forsmredelse 'contempt', fors@mmelse 'neglect'. Others correspond to MLG words with -inge: beskrivelse 'descrip­ tion', d@delse 'death; killing', Jorbindeise 'al­ liance', ford:ervelse 'destruction', abenbarelse 'revelation'. Some words with -else have dou­ blets with -ing: (Jar)bedrelse 'betterment', begrerelse 'demand, request', besfa::ermelse, be­ viselse 'proof, forvarelse 'custody', manelse 'admonition'. The suffix -else is also attached to native and other earlier known roots: fris­ telse 'temptation', husvalelse 'comfort, solace', omvendelse 'conversion', r@relse 'motion', ski­ belse 'order, arrangement', skrivelse 'letter, �

document', stadfrestelse 'confirmation', styrel­ se 'administration, government', velsignelse 'blessing', vildfarelse 'delusion, mistake'. Vlt. of Lat. or Romance origin (cf. art. 106, 3.4.2., 3.5.3.; 2.2.1. above), -ere (Sw. -era) is only suffixed to verbs: arrestere (Sw. rostera) 'to arrest' ,figurere 'to characterize with a pic­ ture' ,florere 'to decorate with flowers' ,fundere 'to found, establish', ornere 'to decorate', polere (Sw. poUera) 'to polish', probere 'to prove, accept', pulverisere 'to pulverise', reg(n)ere 'to reign, govern'. Carrying generally a pejorative meaning, -eri, ult. of Romance origin, only occurs in nouns: krremmeri '(small-scale) trade', skriveri 'office of a clerk', speceri (Sw. spi(t)seri) 'spices', tyveri 'stealing, theft'; also known from Norw. are fiskeri 'fishing', gresteri 'inn; hospitality; the obligation to provide lodgings for the king, the bishops etc.' . Lacking MLG parallels are grekkeri 'fraud, deception', klrerkeri 'clergy', kretteri 'heresy', skalkeri 'meanness' . The adjectival suffix -haJtig is mainly used as a variant of -agtig (deiafftig. thienstafftig). The nominal suffix -hed (Sw. -het, Norw. and Icel. -heit) is used to derive nouns from adjectives, partly from simplex words, partly from derivatives ending in - (I)ig, partly from participles and adjectives ending in -en. Examples are: barmhjertighed 'mercy', Jalsk­ hed 'falsehood, falsity', kyskhed 'chastity', retfrerdighed 'justice', sk@nhed 'beauty'. Also known from Norw. are JeUghed 'safety, safe conduct' ,frihed 'freedom', godhed 'goodness', h@jUghed 'height', krerUghed 'love', menighed 'community; congregation, etc.', mildhed 'mildness', rettighed 'right', salighed 'bliss, sal­ vation', skrellighed 'reason; moderation', trefoldighed 'trinity', vrerdighed 'reverence, honour', rerlighed 'honesty'. Native sterns oc­ cur in beskhed 'bitterness', fagerhed 'beauty', galenhed 'madness', grumhed 'cruelty', hel­ lighed 'holiness', miskundhed 'mercy'. For Icel. examples see 3.4.1. The adjectival suffix -ig (to be distinguished historically from the common Gmc suffix re­ presented in OWN hrooigr, kunnigr etc.) is ex­ emplified by: evig 'eternal', flygtig 'fleeing; winged', karrig 'miserly, stingy', myndig 'au­ thoritative', oprigtig 'trustworthy, reliable; sincere', overdadig 'excessive', smidig 'supple, flexible', tugtig 'modest, virtuous', udvendig 'outward', vederhreJtig 'dependable, reliable'. Also known from Norw. are felig 'safe, se­ cure', fornumstig 'sensible, wise', l@dig 'fine, pure, having full weight', menig 'common',

128. Lexical developments in the Late Middle Ages

1167

nuegtig 'powerful', pligtig 'obliged', retfrerdig 'just, righteous', samdrregt(el)ig 'agreed, un­ animous, consistent', stredig 'steadfast, firm'. In Sw. -ig replaced -ug in some native words: blodig 'bloody', skyldig 'guilty', stenig 'rocky', etc. The feminine noun suffix -inde (cf. art. 106, 4.3.2.) occurs also in newer loans: grevinde 'countess', kejserinde 'empress', mesterinde 'female teacher; female sovereign', vrertinde 'hostess'; it is also combined with native sterns: dronninginde 'queen', hovmesterinde 'wife of a seneschal' . Diminutives are denoted by -kern) : bindike 'ribbon, strip for decoration', fraken 'prin­ cess', hysken 'outhouse, privy', tallerken 'plate' . The suffix - (e)lig occurs in adjectives only: dejlig (Sw. diigheliker, Norw. d:egeliger) 'brave; delightful', dragelig 'tolerable, pass­ able', Jarlig 'dangerous', grres(s)elig 'dread­ ful, awesome', hemmelig 'secret', h@v(e)lig 'decent, proper'. Also in Norw. are: redelig 'clear; real; honest, etc. ', synderlig 'special'. Nomina agentis are denoted by -ner (Sw. -nar): kunst(e)ner 'artist', kremner 'chamber­ lain; treasurer', portner 'doorman', rejsener 'mounted warrior, knight', soldner 'mercenary'. The suffix -ske (Sw. -ska) turns masculine nouns into female ones: borgerske 'female citizen', brevviserske 'female letter carrier', d@rvogterske 'female door guard', kroerske 'woman in charge of an inn', synderske 'female sinner'. It is often suffixed to native sterns: brevf@rerske ( brevviserske), efterleverske 'female survivor', f@derske 'woman giving birth', midlerske 'mediatress'.

(0)siill/ (0)lycklig '(un)happy', vedhajjaga 'to hunt', vindogalfonster 'window', vana/hoppas 'to hope', opa/ropa 'to scream'. Closely related typologically and often hard to distinguish from such pairs are synonyms or near-synonyms showing different nuances of meaning or stylistic value (examples from Sw., native word first): anlete/ansikt 'face', glomma/Jorgiita 'to forget', grann/fin 'slender', giilda/betala 'to pay', gomma/bevara 'to keep, preserve', hjiilpa/bista 'to help, assist', kiira/ klaga 'to complain', leka/spela 'to play', lott/ del 'share', lov/loJte 'promise', mal/sprdk 'lan­ guage', rona/erfara 'to experience' , skifta/dela 'to share', skar/klar 'bright, sheer', skonja/be­ gripa 'to understand', sorg/bekymmer 'worry', sporja/Jraga 'to ask', siinda/skicka 'to send, pass', tarva/behova 'to need', trada/trada 'to tread', talja/rakna 'to count', vidga/erkanna 'to admit', vard/vakt 'guard; duty'. (Cf. Skau­ trup 1947, 102- 1 1 1 , 234-239; Wessen 1954, 14-26; Bergman 1970, 79-83; Fischer 1909, 27, 29 f., 35; Indreb0 1951, 169 f., 173; Seip 1955, 3 32).

2.3.3. MLG gave several native words new meaning(s). Examples from Dan. are: Jreste, hus 'castle, fortress', lejr 'camp', rad 'council', and possibly love 'to promise'; from Sw.: draga 'to carry', feg 'afraid, scared', mod 'courage', modig 'courageous, brave', rik 'wealthy', snild 'kind', stinka 'to stink, reek', vag 'wave, bil­ low'. These examples are also representative of Norw.

2.4.1. Examples from Dan. ofNHG loans are: digter 'poet' (also in Sw.), grrense 'district, re­ gion' ,profos 'officer ofthe court', stift 'bishop­ ric', vidue 'widow'; loan-translations: lands­ kruegt 'infantryman', statholder 'viceregent'; freer renditions are isensnider 'stamp-maker', pulvermester 'gunpowder-maker'; enbaren 'only begotten', retskaffen 'righteous; honour­ able' (also in Sw.). Bible translations intro­ duced many loan-translations: arsdag 'anni­ versary', agermand 'farmer', overtrredere 'tres­ passer, wrongdoer', syndflod 'deluge', urad 'extravagance'; begive sig 'to set out, start out', besp@rge sig 'to inquire', frygte sig 'to fear'; affreldig 'decrepit', blodskyldig 'guilty of mur­ der'. Cf. Skautrup 1947, 253-259; 21 1 - 212.

=

2.3.4. The MLG influence created many pairs of lexical doublets and/or loss - at least in fre­ quency - of one member of such a pair. The following examples from Sw. (native word first) are representative for Dan. and Norw. as well: arvodha/arbeta 'to work', biur/baver 'beaver', fjiira/ebb 'ebb', hiird/skuldra 'shoul­ der', hack, jata/krubba 'crib', kanna/lara 'to teach', let/farg 'colour', nav/nabb 'beak',

2.4. In connection with the Lutheran reforma­ tion, NHG influence began to make itself felt and eventually replaced MLG as a source of German loans. (Dutch loans, which are often difficult to distinguish from MLG ones, esp. in the area of nautical terms, are generally younger, i. e. from the late 1 7th c.) The NHG loans are mainly literary and technical in their character. Many belong to the sphere of re­ ligion, others to techniques and professions characteristic of post-medieval life. Cf. Hell­ quist 1930, 786.

2.4.2. Examples from Sw. of NHG loans are: Jeltweffuel 'sergeant', Jiinrik 'Second Lieu-

1 1 68

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

tenant', fux 'horse', glans ' gleam; splendour', gunst 'favour', inbrunst 'desire', spiesz 'spear'; apa 'to ape', hitza 'to stir, set up', skaffa 'to procure'. Loan-translations are numerous: husherre 'master of the house', modersmal 'mother tongue', otro 'infidelity', overskrift 'headline', provosten 'touchstone', rentome­ stare 'treasurer', skamfleck '(moral) blot, stain', skodhobrodh 'shewbread'; baktala 'to slander, defame', offuerskydda 'to protect', ut­ grava 'to dig out', vmfalla 'to fall over'; angenam 'welcome', enhallig 'agreed', frijwil­ jug 'voluntary', hemdgyrugh 'vengeful', lattsin­ nig 'cheerful', osyradh 'unleavened', scrifft­ lardh 'versed in the Scriptures, a scribe'. Preer renditions are forstling 'first (child)' , orontas­ zlare 'backbiter'; quistug 'twiggy'. Semantic loans occur in bitt 'bit, bridle' ,feste 'firmness'; vphiiffua sich 'to exalt onself. (Cf. Hellquist 1930, 708-790; Sjogren 1949, 48 f., 88, 106-108; Mockelmann 1968, 197-232). 2.4.3. In Icel., NHG loans, mostly calques, were generally transmitted through Dan.: hiisfaMr 'pater familias', meostrioari 'fellow­ fighter, comrade', ritningsmeistari 'a man well versed in the Scriptures'; bkrenkiligur 'inviol­ able, sacred'. (Cf. Westergard-Nielsen 1946, LXXX; O skarsson 2003, 165).

3.

Intra-Scandinavian developments

3 . 1 . A characteristic feature of the period is crosslinguistic developments, i. e. Nordic lan­ guages influencing or being influenced by one or more other Nordic languages. Many details concerning the course and underlying causes of this process are still unclear, but it seems probable that several combined factors have been at work. These are partly political (unions, foreign kings, the introduction of ad­ ministrators and officials from abroad), partly social and economic (decimation of the old Norwegian nobility, intermarriage across na­ tional borders, trade with the Hanseatic League, Holland etc.), and cultural (e.g. con­ tact with religious movements, esp. the Swedish Bridgittine Order). (Cf. Indreb0 1951, 208-209; Haugen 1976, 330). 3.2.1. Swedish influence on Norwegian, which has been studied to some extent by Hregstad (1902, 19, 27, 38, 48; 1915, 98-102; 1916, 24- 29); Indreb0 (1951, 174-1 85); Sandvei (1938) and Seip (1934, 240- 242; 1955, 224;

1959, 7- 22), seems to have trickled in mainly through two channels: the royal chancery (esp. in the period ca. 1 360-1 380), and the Bridgit­ tine movement (esp. in the first half of the 15th c.). In general, most of the Swedish influence appears in the form of Swedish variants of common lexemes such as, e. g., the verbs boo (WN biI), mugha (WN mega), vara (WN vera), etc., restricted to certain phonological and morphological features (for an overview cf. Hagland 1988, 65). Lexical loans are fewer. The spelling of the following examples is nor­ malised as in Pritzner's dictionary (if not en­ tered there, as in Soderwall's): ektamaor 'spouse', eyrnagat 'pillow', far 'sheep', hafa 'piece of property, possession', helgonamessa 'All Saints' Day', h@geligheit 'excellence', staogan 'regulation', steoarpeningr 'a Han­ seatic coin', svizare 'a kind of short sword', trug 'threat', tvedrakt 'disagreement'; the number and frequency of nouns in -else, -elsi, -Use (cf. 2.3.2.) is typical of so-called Bridgitti­ ne Norwegian ("birgittinernorsk"):Jorrreoeisi 'treason', forskyldelse 'guilt', forsnuedelse 'contempt' ,forsymelse 'neglect', hirtilse 'com­ posure, betterment', hughsilse 'idea; consider­ ation', inskiutelse 'impulse', liknilse 'likeness; parable', skipilse 'order, position, stand', um­ vendelse 'conversion', undirstandelse 'under­ standing', upnytilse 'waste, destruction', vexilse 'growth', aptirdomilse 'example, model' (cf. Seip 1952, 47-56; Moberg 1998, 12, 22); ater tappa 'to cover; lower', iaka 'to say yes to, approve of, ne(i)ka 'to deny', sjunga 'to sing', staoga 'to strenghthen, con­ firm', untretta 'to settle; pay', vreka 'to avenge'; Jriimadher (Norw.: Jrremende) 'alien', h6gr/h@gr 'high', h@gborinn 'highborn', m@ge­ ligr 'possible', tvekaligr 'dubious, uncertain'. 3.2.2. Danish influence on Norwegian has been much less studied and described. It is dif­ ficult to distinguish from Swedish influence, since many of the lexical items involved (e. g. loans from MLG) are common to EN, and throughout the period Norw. was more or less constantly exposed to influences from the South and East. In general, Danish influence seems to have started ca. 1390, growing slowly up to ca. 1450. From that time on, it increased rapidly, mainly because the Royal Chancery in Copen­ hagen then began to issue its documents con­ cerning Norwegian affairs in the Danish lan­ guage. The Danish influence accelerated dur­ ing the reign of King Hans (1483 - 1 5 1 3),

1169

128. Lexical developments in the Late Middle Ages

thereafter dominating official writing in Nor­ way for more than three centuries. Parallel to Swedish influence, much of the Danish influence shows up as Danish variants of cornmon lexemes, characterized by specific phonological features, such as lenition of con­ sonants, vowel reduction in unstressed syl­ lables etc. Lexical danicisms include begyn­ delse 'beginning', br@de 'offense', enighed 'unity; unanimity', gensvar 'response', h@grnxgtighed 'power, highness', tilliggelse 'appurtenance', tiltal 'claim, demand'; ed(e) lig 'under oath', n@g(e) agtig 'adequate, satisfactory', ydermere 'further, additional'. (Cf. Indreb0 1951, 186-212; Pettersen 1975, 71 -78). 3.3. Danish influence on Swedish has been studied particularly by Hellquist (1930). There seems to be few Danish loans from the actual period. Examples are: af areldom 'from time immemorial', bagare 'baker', balia 'scabbard', biigare 'beaker', driitsel 'treasury', kavring 'rusk', liikt(e) 'lath', korgher 'basket', krijgs­ man 'warrior', offerkista 'box for offerings', panelewerck 'panelling, wainscot' , spisel '(room with a) fireplace', stovel 'boot', tillredh­ ilsedagh 'Friday', viighbredha 'plantain, Plan­ tago major'; drabba 'to hit, strike' ,forlora 'to lose', foroliimpa 'to annoy'; vtstofferat 'deco­ rated'. (Cf. Hellquist 1930, 546-557; Sjogren 1949, 55, 73). 3.4. Ever since colonization (ca. 870-ca. 930), Iceland maintained cultural contacts with mainland Scandinavia. But although the country was subjugated by Norway (1 262) and later by Denmark (1380), it remained fair­ ly isolated. Unlike the other Nordic countries, it also preserved and developed further its own literary traditions (through copying its classi­ cal sagas, composing new fornaldarsQgur, rid­ darasQgur and rimur etc.). For these reasons Iceland imported much fewer linguistic loans, and those that eventually appeared in writing mainly carne in towards the end of the period, i. e. in the late 1 5th and early 16th c. Earlier loans, esp. in charters and administrative docu­ ments, are surveyed by O skarsson (2003, with further references). Here Dan. and Norw. partly functioned as transmitters of MLG loanwords, partly as channels for a more gen­ eral East Nordic influence. In both cases the results in Icel. were often loan-translations (calques), and it is not always possible to dis­ tinguish between direct loans and native for-

mations on foreign patterns (cf. Westergard­ Nielsen 1946, LXXXV). 3.4. 1 . Danish influence, which accelerated during the century of the Reformation, is best documented in religious (Lutheran) literature. It has been studied in depth by Westergard­ Nielsen (1946), from which the following examples are taken: aoskiijanleiki 'difference', bigering 'desire, lust'; evigheit 'eternity', gboheit 'goodness', krerligheit 'love', and some other -heit-fo rmations; herragarour 'estate, manor', hofmbour 'haughtiness', innbyggjari 'inhabitant', kjotmangari 'butcher', mishop 'despair', l11egelsi 'satisfaction', spursmal 'question', vanrykti 'discredit'; aflifa 'to put to death';forauka 'to increase' ,forblanda 'to fal­ sify', and many other words with for-; ga 'to go', hugsvala 'to comfort, solace', innbjboa 'to invite', sta 'to stand', umganga 'to deal with, treat', upplysa 'to illuminate, enlighten', utarma 'to impoverish', taka til naoar 'to re­ store to favour'; dandi 'fine, excellent', fa­ Jeng (ilig)ur 'powerless; vain, futile', hrein­ ferougur 'pure, immaculate', sannferougur 'truthful', spakferougur 'mild, quiet', tilbreriligur 'proper, suitable'. (Cf. Wester­ gard-Nielsen 1946, LXXXI - LXXXVII). 3.4.2. Norwegian influence is more difficult to demonstrate because Icel. and Norw. were fairly similar in this period. From the presence of synonyms or near-synonyms in the two lan­ guages (and even in Dan. and Sw.), one cannot infer that borrowing has taken place, even though the possibility cannot be excluded. (For lists of such words see Westergard-Niel­ sen 1946, XC f.) In the area of administrative and judicial language, Westergard-Nielsen re­ gardsforlika 'to reconcile' ,fororo 'agreement, condition', pantijpantur 'deposit, mortgage', skjal 'document', vikta 'to equal, make up (for)" rerligur 'honest, honourable' as loans from Norw., as well as some words with bi­ (biJala. bikenna. bivisa etc.; cf. 2.3.2.), which are all known from the language of Norwegian charters, and probably hat 'hatred' and lygn 'lie'. (Cf. Westergard-Nielsen 1946, XC f., XCIII).

4.

Native formations

4.1. Very little is known about internal lexical developments based on native linguistic ma­ terial, since they have not been studied much; consequently only fragmentary descriptions are available.

1 1 70

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

4.2. In Dan., the authors of Reformation lit­ erature created many new words, esp. in the area of ethics and morals, e.g. nidkrerhed'zeal', sk@desl@s(hed) 'careless(ness)', vanartig(hed) 'delinquent (-quency)', vederstyggelig(hed) 'abominable (-ation)" etc. Other new forma­ tions include: arbejdsdag 'working day', ar­ vedel 'share of an inheritance', blodstyrtning 'hemorrhage', luerskare 'host, legion', skov­ trold 'forest goblin', vildrede 'bewilderment, confusion', etc. (Cf. Skautrup 1947, 212f.). 4.3. In Sw., Bible translations (New Testa­ ment 1526, Gustav Vasa's Bible 1 541 , etc.) con­ tain many words from folk speech not pre­ viously used in writing, e. g. afflevor 'leftovers' , and 'harvest time', barns fenge 'birth', brudd 'sprout', drettesoxe 'ox trained to pull', dun­ kenhet 'humidity', diild 'meadow' , flok 'fool', forllit 'curtain', giording 'belt', nocka 'tap, bung', spodh 'fishing rod'; biebba emot 'to re­ tort', bladra 'to talk nonsense' ,fnysa 'to snort', genhoffta 'to refute, silence', giffua om 'to care, heed', sorIa 'to bustle, buzz', sprasla 'to squirm', streta 'to bristle, resist'; fllikot 'un­ wise', framfoos 'headlong, impetuous', hiipen 'appalled', masslig 'scabby', oworden 'heed­ less' , paltott 'ragged, torn', snedugh 'cunning', toghligh 'obedient, quiet', twiihoghse 'of two minds, irresolute', etc. (Cf. Sjogren 1949, 39-42, 70 f., 102f., 105). 4.4. Since the Lutheran reformation did not produce any Norwegian Bible translation, possible new native formations must be sought in the language of the charters and laws. What has been found so far seems to be words which may well have been created ear­ lier but which have not appeared in the preserv­ ed literature. H"'gstad (1917, 20- 24) has listed a number of such words from South-western Norway (many of which are also in Fritz­ ner's dictionary): akrferi 'narrow strip of land', aldingaror 'orchard', arJdeild 'partition of an inheritance', buxtrremunder 'the devil', framnueli 'delivery, presentation', frrendbarn 'child of a relative', handbila 'handax', husabbt 'repair of a house', landb6li 'tenant farmer', mann (a) dauoi 'the Black Death', pytting 'darn, embankment', saltketilsuppsat 'salt­ works', sj6jakill 'iceberg', sk61apiltr 'school­ boy';forfarast 'to decay' , pytta 'to stern', van­ heiorast 'to be disgraced'; beitlostinn 'moun­ ted, ornamented with metal', hagn.Y(tilig) r 'useful, advantageous', illheroskr 'obstinate, stubborn'.

5.

Literature (a selection)

Bergman, G6sta (1970), Kortfattad svensk sprbkhis­ toria. Stockholm. Cleasby, Richard/Vigfusson, Gudbrand/Craigie, William (1957), An Icelandic-English dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford. (Reprinted 1969, 1975). Falk, Hjalmar/Torp, Alf (1960), Norwegisch­ Diinisches etymologisches Worterbuch. 2nd ed. Heidelberg/Oslo/Bergen. Fischer, Frank (1909), Die LeJmworter des Altwest­ nordischen (palaestra 85). Berlin. Fritzner, Johan (1886 1896), Ordbog over Det gamle norske Sprog. I III. Kristiania. (Opptrykk Oslo 1954, 1973.) IV. Rettelser og tillegg (ed. F. H0dneb0, 1972). Oslo/Bergen/Troms0. Ha:gstad, Marius (1902), Maalet i dei gamle norske kongebrev (Videnskabsselskabets Skrifter. I. His­ torisk-filos. Klasse. 1902. No.1). Kristiania. Ha:gstad, Marius (1915), Vestnorske maalj@refyre 1350. II. Sudvestlandsk. 1. Rygjamaal (Videnskaps­ selskapets Skrifter. II. Hist.-filos. Klasse. 1914. No. 5). Kristiania. Ha:gstad, Marius (1916), Vestnorske maalj@refyre 1350. II. Sudvestlandsk. 2. Indre sudvestlandsk. Ru@ymaal. Islandsk. Fyrste bolken (Videnskapssel­ skapets Skrifter. II. Hist.-filos. Klasse. 1915. No.3). Kristiania. Ha:gstad, Marius (1917), Vestnorske maalj@refyre 1350. II. Sudvestlandsk. 2. Indre sudvestlandsk. Ru@ymaal. Islandsk. Andre bolken (Videnskapssel­ skapets Skrifter. II. Hist.-filos. Klasse. 1916. No. 4). Kristiania. Hagland, Jan Ragnar (1988), Svenske notarar i produksjonen av norsk dokumentsprak ca. 1360 80. Nytt syn pa ei side ved norsk/svensk sprakhistorie i unionsperioden. In: Studier i svensk sprbkhistoria, Studies in the history of Swedish (ed. G. Pettersson). Lund, 60 73. Haugen, Einar (1976), The Scandinavian languages: An introduction to their history. London. Hellquist, Elof (1930), Det svenska ordforradets al­ der och ursprung. II. Lund. Indreb0, Gustav (1951), Norsk malsoga. Utgjevi av Per Hovda og Per Thorson. 2nd ed. Bergen 2001. Johnsen, Oscar Albert (1912), Registre. In: Norges gamle Love. Anden r;rkke. 1388 1604. F@rste bind 1388 1447. b. Christiania. Kalkar, Otto (1881 1918), Ordbog til det Eldre danske Sprog (1300 1700). I V. K0benhavn. (Fotografisk optryk med a:ndringer) 1976. Korlen, Gustav (1977), Niederdeutsch-schwedische Lehnbeziehungen. In: Sprachwandel und Sprachge­ schichtsschreibung im Deutschen (Sprache der Gegenwart. Schriften des Instituts fur deutsche Sprache 41). Dusseldorf, 285 294.

1171

129. The development of personal names in the Late Middle Ages Loman, Bengt (1961), Fornsvenska verbalsubstantiv pa -an, -ning och -else. Stockholm.

Seip, Didrik Arup (1955), Norsk sprakhistorie til omkring 1370. 2. utgave. Oslo.

Moberg, Lena (1989), Lagtyskt och svenskt i Stock­ holms medeltida tiinkebocker (Acta Academiae Re­ giae Gustavi Adolphi 58). Uppsala.

Seip, Didrik Arup (1959), Svensk innilytelse pa norsk i slutten av middelalderen. In: Norsk og nabo­ sprakene i slutten av middelalderen og senere tid. Oslo, 7 22.

Moberg, Lennart (1998), Heliga Birgitta pa birgit­ tinnorska. Nagra sprakliga iakttagelser. In: Samlin­ gar utgivna av Svenskafornskriftsiillskapet. Serie 3. Smiirre texter och undersokningar 2 (ed. B. Tjader). Uppsala, 9 3 1 . Mockehnann, lochen (1968), Deutsch-schwedische Sprachbeziehungen: Untersuchwzg der Vorlagen der schwedischen Bibelubersetzungen von 1536 und des Lehngutes aus dem Deutschen in diesen Ubersetzun­ gen (Goppinger Arbeiten zur Gennanistik 3). Gop­ pmgen. Oskarsson, Veturlibi (2003), Om hansesprogets pavirkning pa islandsk administrativt sprog i sen­ middelalderen. In: Utnorl5ur. West Nordic standard­ ization and variation (ed. Kristjan Amason). Reyk­ javik, 163 178. Pettersen, Egil (1975), Sprakbrytning i Vest-Norge 1450 1550. Bergen/Oslo/Tromso. Sandvei, Marius (1938), Birgittinernorsk. In: MM 1938, 40 53. Seip, Didrik Arup (1934), Studier i norsk sprbkhis­ torie. Oslo. Seip, Didrik Arup (1952), Omstridde sp@rsmal i norsk sprakutvikling. Oslo.

129.

Skautrup, Peter (1944, 1947), Det danske sprogs his­ torie. I II. Kobenhavn. S6derwall, Knut Fredrik (1884 ver svenska medeltids-spraket. I ment by K. F. Soderwall, W. Ljunggren och E. Wessen 1953

1918), Ordbok of' II. Lund. Supple­ Akerlund, K. G. 1973. Lund.

Wessen, Elias (1954), Om det tyska infiytandet pa svenskt sprak under medeltiden (SNSS 12). Stock­ holm. Wessen, Elias (1958), Svensk sprakhistoria, Vol. II; ordbildningsliira. 3rd ed. Stockhohn. Westberg, Bertil (1987), Verbenpliiga och bruka: tva medellagtyska lanord i svenskan (Skrifter utgivna av Institutionen for nordiska sprak vid Uppsala universitet 20). Uppsala. Westergard-Nielsen, Christian (1946), Laneordene i det 16. arhundredes trykte islandske litteratur (Bib­ liotheca Arnamagna:ana VI). Kobenhavn.

Erik Simensen, Oslo (Norway)

The development of personal names in the Late Middle Ages

Preliminary remark: This survey is mainly based on Swedish material. If not otherwise characterized, the examples concern names from Sweden. 1. 2.

Sjogren, Gunnar (1949), Om spraket i de svenska bibelOversiittningarna 1526 1541. Akademisk av­ handling. Lund.

3. 4. 5. 6.

Sources The provenance of Late Medieval personal names lnilection Corrupted fonns Some local examples Literature (a selection)

1.

Sources

The sources for our knowledge about personal names during this period are mostly of three kinds: letters, landed property registers and account books, and other material. The extant

place-name material is connected with too many problems of interpretation and dating to be taken into consideration here as a source for personal name use.

1.1.

Letters

From about the middle of the 1 4th c., letters written in Swedish began to be produced in greater number. This was due to the often dis­ cussed prescription in the National Law Code of Magnus Eriksson (1347) that all letters con­ cerning the buying and selling of land and other property should be written in the ver­ nacular. Especially from the 1 380s we can see a rapid growth in the use of parchment letters. Important among the landed property letters

1 1 72

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

are the so-called faste-Ietters, where often twelvefastar 'witnesses' and two 'present men' are mentioned by name. In these name lists we find many male names from that time, but female names are completely missing. At this time letters were more and more removed from the old formula for diplomas and often were very simple in their construction (Lied­ gren 1958, 80- 82). From the 1 3 80s the letters to some extent began to be drawn up on paper. But we have to wait a century, until the 1480s, for letters on paper to become more numerous than parchment letters. An important group ofpa­ per letters is the Sture collection, which con­ sists of about 1800 letters from the first two decades of the 16th c. (Nygren et al. 1957, 234-236). But parchment letters were to a large extent produced during the whole pe­ riod. These developments were similar in all the Nordic countries. Some information concerning the use of personal names in ancient times can be ob­ tained through copies of letters. As far as Sweden is concerned, the copy books by Lars Eriksson Sparre (B 14-16) could be men­ tioned. 1.2.

Landed property registers and account books

A landed property register is a topographi­ cally ordered financial description of real es­ tate. For Denmark, the landed property reg­ isters for the Bishop of Roskilde and the chapter of Ribe can be mentioned. For Sweden, we have the landed property registers for the monastery of Vadstena (1447-1450, 1457, 1480 and 1 502) and for the different ca­ thedrals. For Finland, the landed property reg­ ister of Ivar Fleming from the middle of the 16th c. still exists. For Norway, we have the landed property register of Bishop Eystein (for the diocese of Oslo) and of Hartvig Krurn­ medige from the year 1456 (Rasmussen et al. 1962, 634-653). Account books were used both by the Church and the nobility. We have account books from the parishes of Funbo (1395- 1483), Hammarby (1478-1498), Kum­ la (1421 - 1 590), Visnum (1 510-1 562), Stade (150 1 - 1 534), Bolstad (145 1 - 1 578) and Hjiil­ sta (as a copy, 1458-1 538). From Finland we have the account book of Kalliala (Tyrvis) (1469-1 524) (Odehnan 2001 , 54; Andr", et al. 1964, 671 -675). Accounts of the nobility from the Swedish area have been edited, among

others, in an exemplary way by Evert Me­ lefors: Ivar Axelsson Totts rakenskapsbok for Gotland 1485-1487 (1991), and by Zeth Al­ vered: Gregers Matssons rakenskaper (1996), Gregers Matssons kostbok for Stegeborg 1487- 1492 (1999) and Tva medeltida riiken­ skapsbocker (for Folke Gregersson Lillie and Britta Hansdotter Tott) (2000), all in SSF (82, 83 and Smarre texter 3). 1.3.

Other material

This includes intercession lists issued in differ­ ent religious connections. For the Swedish area, such lists corne from Molltorp, Krack­ linge and Svinnegarn. Among smaller but valuable groups of sources should be men­ tioned the canonization processes (for St. Bir­ gitta and St. Katerina), inscriptions on tomb­ stones, and to some extent also Late Medieval runic inscriptions.

2.

The provenance of Late Medieval personal names

2. 1 .

Introduction

The development of personal names which be­ gan in the North during Old Nordic times (see art. 107) continued during the Late Middle Ages. First of all, the Old Nordic and dithe­ matic personal names, which arose through variation, continued to decrease in number. These were replaced by names from the Church. Even for parents who wanted to keep the old first names inherited through the fa­ mily it must have been difficult to do so, be­ cause the baptism ceremony, and through that the namegiving, took place under the aegis of the Church, with the parish vicar as the cele­ brant. Itmust have been much easier to choose from among the indeed relatively few names that the Church had to offer (see 2.5.). As a result of the law, mentioned above, that the vernacular should be used in landed property letters, we find in the written material personal names in their Nordic and not in their Latin form. In the period just after the intro­ duction of this change, there is great variation in vernacular forms, but little by little this phe­ nomenon decreases and the forms become pre­ dictable. The Latin forms were retained long­ est for people associated with the Church, mostly because these names appear in Latin contexts, but also here there was a change during the Late Middle Ages.

129. The development of personal names in the Late Middle Ages

By the end of the 1 3 th C . , German names appeared in German-speaking environments in the Nordic countries: towns and mining areas. This tendency then increased by de­ grees, and in the Late Middle Ages the per­ sonal names from German areas were nu­ merous, but the use of them on the whole was limited to merchants and miners. One ex­ ception to this has a historical cause: after his death, the patriot Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson was venerated as a saint, and pilgrimages were made in his memory to St. Nicolaus' church in brebro. It was only natural that this peas­ ant's sons were named after him, and Engel­ brekt in the Late Middle Ages became a com­ mon peasant name. In the study of personal names, just as with place-names, it is interesting to try to find out what the names mean. Crucial for this are, for example, the following circumstances: (a) The reason for the name must remain. The denotative connection between a place and its name usually continues for a long time. In contrast, a person exists for a rather short time, as does the lore about him or her, and so the connection between person and nickname becomes rather thin. An example would be the nickname Medstora benet 'the one with the big leg', which focusses on a physical feature. (b) The name must come from a word known to us: this is often the case with place­ names and also with personal names, both first names and bynames, e. g. the first name Karl ('man') and the byname Lange 'the tall man'. But often the word that the personal name is based on is unknown, e. g. the first name Gamme. 2.2.

First names

The difficulty in retaining the original meaning of a personal name must have meant that less importance was automatically attached to its meaning. The primary meaning of the name consequently faded away. Instead the name acquired a secondary meaning. This process is known as reinvoking names. The following groups of people during the Late Middle Ages must have been important sources from whom names were reinvoked: (a) Relatives: The grandparents on the fa­ ther's or mother's side were most often the source of first names, so these names con­ tinued through the family. Sometimes a child would be named after one of its pa-

1173

rents, e. g. a son might be given his father's name, if the father was dead when the son was born. (b) Religious names: biblical characters and saints (from post-biblical times); see be­ low. (c) Members of the ruling dynasty: A first name of this type which became wide­ spread during the Middle Ages was Inge­ borg, borne by e. g. the wives of Birger Jar! and Duke Erik Magnusson. From the Middle Ages we know of about 3,000 different first names in Sweden. This treasury of names was created gradually up to the end of the Middle Ages, e. g. in the fol­ lowing ways: (1) The names were borrowed from other countries and languages. Here the follow­ ing subgroups can be discerned: (a) Religious names: These include biblical names from the Eastern Mediterranean area, e. g. Johan < Johannes, Anders < Andreas. This group also includes saints' names, e. g. Karin < Katarina, Nils < Nikolaus. Ofthese names, most came from the Mediterranean area, but some also carne from Central Europe and England. (b) The names of missionaries, merchants and miners: Most of these names were Ger­ man, e. g. Henrik and Gerhard. However, a small proportion ofthe missionaries may have come from England. (c) The names of people who married into the ruling dynasty: Especially during the Late Middle Ages, many of the marital connec­ tions of the royal house were with the Slavic area to the east (Gillingstam 1981, 17ff.). In this way a considerable number of Slavic first names came into the Swedish language, e. g. Rikissa, and Svante < Svantepolk. From their position in the royal family, they later could be spread down into other layers of the population. (2) Native names: Here the following sub­ groups can be distinguished: (a) Original bynames, e. g. Bagge. Krok and Lindorm. Bynames were used to distin­ guish people whose names were the same. The most important function of personal names is to single out one person from as many others as possible, and the newly cre­ ated bynames served this purpose better than first names. It was natural that the byname not only complemented the first

1 1 74

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

name but subsequently replaced it. One example is the esquire Erik Jonsson, men­ tioned in 1419-1461, who for most of his life was called Fagel 'bird' Jonsson (his family arms included a bird). (Fagel is not a nickname here, because it is used in so many official documents). (b) Dithematic first names: These formed the dominant group among the native first names. Dithematic names were the result of the compounding princ ple i which had dominated the giving of first names during the Viking Ages and even earlier. There were many first elements, e. g. Arn-, Bot-, Fro-, Gud-, Holm-, Inge-, Ragn-, Sten- and Tor-, and second elements, e. g. -bjorn, -borg, -ger, -giird, -hild, -kil, -man, -mar, -mund, -sten, -vast and -vid, which could be combined ahnost freely with each other. Some second elements were used solely to create male names, e. g. -bjorn, -ger and -kil, or female names, e. g. -borg, -giird and -hild.

Livsten in Uppland, Farde in Norrland and Gervat and Gamme in Narke. They probably come from the names of local great men. 2.4.

Nikolaus '"

Niklas 1 Nigels 1 Nils 1 Nis 1 Nisse

Through these various combinations, not only a large collection of personal names were kept current, but the stock of first names could also increase. The creation of a single first or sec­ ond element could result in many new names. This namegiving principle became the basis for the amazing abundance of personal names in Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages, which to a large extent survived up to the end of the Middle Ages. (c) Derived first names: A small number of first names were created through deriva­ tion, e. g. through -ing (Hilding) and -e (Gumme). 2.3.

Local first names

It was characteristic during the Middle Ages that many personal names were limited to a smaller part of the country. The reason for this must often have been that when a child was given a name, it was called after some lo­ cally well-known person. Good examples of this are the saints who were locally venerated, e. g. Bryniolf and Elin in Vastergotland, Ingrid and Bjorn in Ostergotland, Botvid and Eskil in Sodermanland, Erik in Uppland, Holmger in Uppland and Gastrikland and Henrik in Finland. Such names still flourished in the Late Middle Ages. Engelbrekt was cornman as a peasant's name in e. g. Narke from the middle of the 1 5th c. and during the 16th c. Other first names with local connections were

Simplified first names

Something that separates the use of names to­ day from that of the Middle Ages is that long names at that time could easily be shortened or in other ways made easier to handle. This was possible because during the Middle Ages names were not yet fixed in writing. In par­ ticular, names adopted from other languages were often radically changed in the Swedish language, not least the first names, most often through simplification and shortening. This development took place during the last cen­ tury of the Middle Ages. For example, the fol­ lowing shorter name forms were in use throughout the Late Middle Ages:

2.5.

'"

Klaves 1 Klas

The most common first names

The practice of combining name elements meant that a great number of first names had come into use and at the same time prevented any first names from becoming totally domi­ nant. Over the course of the Middle Ages, this way of creating names decreased in impor­ tance, and conditions arose for certain names to become highly frequent. Two different sour­ ces in particular were behind this development: (a) The Church's influence on namegiving: The Church acquired this strong influence through baptisms, which took place in the church with the vicar as celebrant (see 2.1.). Certain religious names thus came to be more frequently used. (b) The lower classes preferred to take their first names from the upper classes: This meant that the personal names of the up­ per classes descended through the various strata of society and at last reached the lowest classes. In this way e. g. names

1175

129. The development of personal names in the Late Middle Ages

borne by members of the ruling dynasties could be spread. Some of these first names were used more often than others. The fol­ lowing lists show the ten most common male and female names in Swedish during the Middle Ages. Male names (1) Johan. Jons « Johannes) apostle (2) Peter. Per ( < Petrus) apostle (3) Olof, Olle Norwegian king and saint (4) Niklas. Nils « Nikolaus) 4th c. saint (5) Magnus king (6) Laurens, Lars, Lasse « Laurentius) 3rd c. saint (7) Benedikt. Bengt ( < Benedictus) 5th c. saint (8) Erik Swedish king and saint (9) Anders « Andreas) apostle (10) Karl king Female names (1) Katarina. Karin 4th c. saint (2) Kristina. Kerstin 4th c. saint (3) Margareta. Margit 4th c. saint (4) Ingeborg royal name (5) Birgitta. Britta « Brigida) Irish and Swedish saint (6) Elena. Elin (from Helena) 4th c. saint (7) Anna mother of Virgin Mary (8) Ingrid royal name (9) Cecilia. Sissa 3rd c. saint (10) Ingegiird royal name Among the ten most usual male names, there are eight Church names and two royal ones. The most common male name - Johan, Jons - is as much as fifteen times more usual in the medieval sources than the most common fe­ male name, Katarina, Karin. Among the ten most common female names, seven were Church names and three were royal. But these tables do not give a completely accurate pic­ ture of the first names during the Middle Ages, because most often it is people from the upper classes who appear in the written medieval sources. This is especially true for female names (Wiktorsson 1983, 1 -7). 2.6.

Male names in the 1 6th century

2.6.1.

Sweden

Ingwar Fredriksson examined the occurrence of male names in late 16th c. tithe lists (1 583-1 584) and gave the results in frequency tables. Below are lists of the top ten names for several areas.

Southeast Smaland (1) Per (2) OluJ (3) Nils (4) Jon (5) Lasse

(6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Anders Sven Hakan Mans Jons

Here Jon and Jons are considered different names. Compared with the list for all the country (see 2.5.), the names Sven and Hakan appear only here, and Mans (from Magnus) is less frequent in Smaland than in the nation as a whole. Among the names mentioned only once, we have the simple type, e. g. Klaper, Niiskung and Pik, the composite type, e.g. Botolf. Gudmund and Storbjorn, and the de­ rived type, e.g. Giving, Bude and Gise. The only borrowed name is Jeppe (see Fredriksson 1961 , 211). East Uppland (1) Erik (2) Per (3) OloJ (4) Mats (5) Lars

(6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Anders Nils Hans Marten Jons

Mats, Hans and Marten make an appearance here, but they do not belong to the ten most frequent names on the national list. Erik has a very strong position in Uppland compared with the national list. Among names men­ tioned only once we have the simple type, e. g. Sven, the composite type, e. g. Botvid, Gun­ mund and Livsten, and the derived type, e. g. Ture and Vaste. Among borrowed names here, we find only Engelbrekt, showing the con­ tinued influence in this area of the veneration for the patriot Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson (see 2.1. and Fredriksson 1961 , 228). South Angerrnanland (1) Per (2) OluJ (3) Erik (4) Nils (5) Jon

(6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Hans Lasse Anders Jons Pal

Pal is found in this area but not in the national list. As in Uppland, Erik is high on the list. Among names mentioned only once, we find no names of the simple type, but we do have some of the composite type, e. g. Gudlek. Seb­ bjorn and Asmund, and also derivations, e. g. Hemming, Fale and Vaste. Borrowed names are Abel. Albrikt. Evert. Isak. Israel. JoseJand Salmon (see Fredriksson 1961, 232).

1 1 76

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Some of Fredriksson's frequency lists also indicate something about the use of names in the other Nordic countries. 2.6.2.

Denmark (Scania)

(1) Peder (2) Niels (3) Anders (4) Jens (5) OluJ

(6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Laurits Jep Morten Hans Hogen

Compared with the list for Sweden as a whole, Jep, Morten, Hans and Hogen are new: Anders is much more usual here than in the national list. Among the names recorded only once, we find the composite type, e. g. Arved, Esbern and Timand, and derivations, e. g. Frende, Toste and Tyre. There are many borrowed names, e.g. Abraham, Filippus, Frants, Klaus, Strickert and Villum (see Fredriksson 1974, 17). 2.6.3. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Finland (O sterbotten)

OleJ Hendrik Per Jons Nils

(6) Lasse (7) Mats (8) Erik (9) Paval (10) Anders

Hendrik, Mats and Plival do not appear on the national list. Among names recorded only once we find the simple name Karl and the composite name Erland. Real derivations are missing. Borrowed names include e. g. Gor­ gonius, Kosmus and Sixtus (see Fredriksson 1974, 95). 2.6.4. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Norway (western Jiirntland)

OloJ Jon Per Niels Anders

(6) Erik (7) Lasse (8) Jons (9) Sven (10) Enar

Sven and Enar do not appear on the Swedish national list. OloJ has a very high frequency (17 per cent). Among names with only one mention are the simple type Bal ( Bard), Hok. Knut. Rag and Ulf. Among the compo­ site names we find Ambjorn, Torkil and Vigar. Derivations include Arne and Une, and Anto­ nius, Engebrikt, Geronimus and Seffring ( Severin) are borrowings (see Fredriksson 1974, 71). �

=

2.7.

Personal names and place-names

Personal names and place-names are often connected to each other. A personal name can be an integral part of a place-name, like the Old Swedish byname Ramn, from the appel­ lative ramn 'raven', which functions as the first part of the place-name Ramsta. On the other hand, a place-name is often an integral part of a personal name, either as an unchanged German pattern used as a byname, e. g. Sma­ land, Ostansjo, or as a byname formed on the basis of a place-name, e. g. Finne, Vastgote, Ostgote. 2.8.

Bynames

(A byname is a substitute for a family name, a nickname: the byname, as opposed to the family name, could never be inherited). We could also list the most usual bynames used during the Middle Ages. However, such a list would not be representative, because it would be dominated by the names of the noble fami­ lies, e. g. Sture and Trolle. Even though those names were borne by a rather small number of people, they occur in an enormous number of records. Brylla (1999, 12ff.) makes a formal division of the Old Swedish bynames. Gf the categories below, she counts 1 - 4 as secondary name compositions and 5-7 as primary ones: (1) non-human nouns: Flugha 'a fly', Spiut 'spear', Grytofoter 'pot foot'; (2) appellatives denoting a person: Klok­ karadnenger 'parish clerk man', Bagerska 'bakeress' , Alrending (e) 'man from Aland'; (3) adjectives placed before or after the name: Ganuel 'old', Lange 'tall man', Drukken 'drunken man'; (4) phrases: Nat ok dagher 'night and day', Dyrtk@p 'expensive purchase'; (5) derivations in -i/-e and -a: Diure, from 'animal'; Skregge, from 'beard'; Brosa from 'smile'; (6) sentential or phrasal names consisting of a verb and a direct object: Drengemef 'wal­ lop beak'; (7) compositions: Nyabonde 'new farmer', Rakaskalle 'shaved head', BlaJoter 'blue foot' . The Old Swedish bynames are quite different from newer family names. Categories 2 and 3 account for few modern family names, and 4 and 6 do not occur. Derivations (category 5) are important, but mainly forms with -ing

129. The development of personal names in the Late Middle Ages

(which also occurs among the bynames) and -er, and above all learned names rather than compositions with -e (Ryman 2002, 60). We have about 4,000 different bynames from the Swedish Middle Ages. At the begin­ ning, bynames probably were mainly tempo­ rary designations which distinguished be­ tween people so well that for practical reasons they were retained. The basis for a byname initially was some characteristic of the person concerned. The following characteristics in particular could generate bynames in the Late Middle Ages: (a) Physical attributes: e. g. Lille 'the small one', Lange 'the tall one', Svarte 'the black one', Skiilge 'the squint-eyed one', Med axlarna 'the one with the shoulders', Med vita haret 'the one with white hair', Med inga hiinder 'the one with no hands'. In this category perhaps also belong animal denotations such as Ramn 'raven', Bagge 'ram', arm 'snake' and Riiv 'fox'; such by­ names may have alluded to some aspect of a person's looks. Clothing and other such equipment could also be reflected in the bynames or nicknames, e. g. Med bla kappan 'the one with the blue coat', Med siicken 'the one with the bag' and Hand i slick 'the one with his hand in a bag' (see below). (b) Occupation: e.g. Bonde 'farmer', Djlikn 'scholar' (both of which became proper family names), Bagare 'baker', Berg­ brytare 'miner', Biiltare 'furrier', Fata­ burskvinna 'larder woman', Murmiistare 'mason' and Verkmiistare 'foreman'. Here we will also mention a type of "false" oc­ cupational designation. In the medieval sources a person's first name sometimes is complemented by an occupational name which is clearly not connected to the oc­ cupation of that person. For example, Gudmund Biskop was not a bishop - not even a clergyman, Peter Hertig was not a duke or a nobleman, Lasse Munkwas not a monk or even aman of the Church, Hans Prins was not a royal person. In these cases the occupational title has the quality of a nickname, e. g. the person resembled a bishop or a monk in dress or behaviour, or the byname could allude to some special event in which the person took part or to something that he or she said. (c) Origin: e.g. Finne. Smaland. Vlistgote. Oning 'from O land', Orebro, Ostansjo and Ostgote.

1177

(d) Social reputation: e. g. Horkarl 'fornicat­ ing man', Hand i siick 'thief. (e) Foreign bynames could be altered to more easily fit into the Old Swedish language's patterns, e. g. Viirmekyrka. Other names of this type are Odla(bonde), and perhaps Svinapape (Wiktorsson 1983, 7ff.).

2.9.

Family names

2.9.1.

Sweden

The use of family names in Sweden for the most part began in the 17th c. For Swedish use of family names before that time, see e. g. Hellquist (1912), Ebko (1947), Modeer (1989, 50ff., 96ff., 1 1 9 ff.) and Brylla (1999). The fa­ mily names ofthe medieval nobility have been discussed in Setterkrans (1957) and Gilling­ starn (1964; 1971). German and Dutch by­ names in Sweden up to 1 420 have been dealt with by Sundqvist (1957). Family names had already appeared spo­ radically in the North during the Middle Ages. They were more common among the burghers than the nobility (Gillingstam 1971, 208), but they were mainly used by townspeople of Ger­ man origin, although German bynames were also used by Swedes (Modeer 1989, 107, l l 1 f.). Examples of German-origin towns­ people's family names are Bekman and de Brakele, and noble family names include the German Brunkow and the Nordic Bonde and Kngg (Ryman 2002, 1 3). Families of medieval magnates to some extent used family names, but only a few of them are known (Gillingstam 1971 , 208). In medieval deeds it is usual that common first names were given a distinguishing at­ tribute. This was true mainly in towns. The practice was due to foreign influence (Modeer 1957, 141 f.). Family names were unusual; they were mostly used by the nobility and towns­ people (Brylla 1999, 1 1). We know of about 40 Swedish and about 40 immigrant (mainly German) noble families who bore family names for some generations during the Middle Ages. The medieval Swedish noble family names most often were hereditary bynames. Native family names of­ ten were used by families from Smaland and Vastergotland, on the frontier with Denmark, but there as well most noblemen had no family name even in the Late Middle Ages. Family names were uncommon in Svealand, and they did not exist before the German invasion in

1 1 78

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

1364-65. It was unusual for native towns­ people in Stockholm to use family names even during the Late Middle Ages (Hildebrand 1961, 1 8 8). Men from families with family names often only used patronyms or varied what byname they used. This happened more in families with a Swedish background than in immigrant ones. The use of family names increased dur­ ing the 16th c., starting with the higher no­ bility, although they often officially used a first name together with a patronym (Gillingstam 1964, 47 ff.). We can observe no social differ­ ence between families with or without family names during the Middle Ages (Ryman 2002, 50). During the Middle Ages women never used family names (Hildebrand 1961, 359f.; Gil­ lingstam 1971, 208), but family names could be inherited through women (Gillingstam 1964, 35 ff.; 1971 , 207 ff.). In the middle of the 16th c. there are examples of noble women who used or were referred to by family names (Ryman 2002, 55). In the Middle Ages, names denoting a per­ son's (Swedish) place of origin or residence were usually formed using the elements -bo (e) and -ing(e} (Modeer 1989, 99f.). Ekbo (1947, 277 ff.) states that some ing (e}-names repre­ sent an unchanged place-name, e. g. Old Swedish Hiimbling, Hambrunge, Flettunge and Hising. Although unchanged place-names are rare as bynames during the Swedish Middle Ages (Modeer 1989, 99 f.), other examples in­ clude Boberg. Kindaberg and Kyrkeby. Place­ names functioning as bynames are a typical German pattern. It is probable that the Swedish names of this type to a large extent arose due to German influence (Ryman 2002, 64). Bynames based on place of residence exist­ ed in Uppland during the 17th c. (Stahle 1946, 64ff.; Ryman 2002, 61). Sundqvist (1957, 3 8 5 ff.) discusses Nordic bynames up to 1420 with the element -man. He says that such names denoting place of ori­ gin or residence are very usual in the north German area but rather unusual in the North. The only relatively common Nordic bynames of this type are compositions with directional words, like OWN Austmaor and OSw. Vrest­ man. We cannot find any clearly Nordic names composed from place-names and -are before 1420. (There is a byname Romare, presuma­ bly alluding to the fact that the person had visited Rome, but the base is presumably borrowed). A small number of German by-

names of this type were imported to Sweden before 1420 (Sundqvist 1957, 394ff.; Ryman 2002, 91). According to Modeer, common simple names derived from place-names occur in the Middle Ages, but the medieval examples he refers to (99 f.) are compounds of simple place­ name elements, not ellipses like Beck from Viistanbiick. In a type of byname which Lind (1920, 304ff.) called a double byname, the first ele­ ment is often taken from a place-name, while the second mentions a separate quality of the person: e. g. Dalakollr is composed of 'from Dale' and 'bald'. Steenstrup (1927, 23 ff.) claims that the most common second ele­ ments: -neJ 'beak', -skalli 'head', -skregg(i} 'beard' and -kollr 'bald', must also have car­ ried a general meaning of 'person, man'. The high frequency of the most common second elements indicates that they most often have a common person-denoting meaning (Ryman 2002, 62). Hildebrand (1961, 213) states that names denoting occupations during the Middle Ages could be borne by people who did not engage in that occupation; instead they referred to the job of the father or some other relative (see also 2.8.b). Hildebrand states that some of the occupational names never were part ofthe sys­ tem of real names, while some became family names. Obvious occupational family names are few. Modeer (1989, 104f., 108 and 1 12) also discusses medieval occupational names borne by people who did engage in that oc­ cupation. In his opinion, there are no clear examples of occupational names from Old Swedish times becoming family names (Ry­ man 2002, 67). In contrast to later periods, during the Swedish Middle Ages family names usually were reflected in their coat of arms. Two cer­ tain cases are Gredda and Trolle (Gillingstam 1971 , 208). According to Utterstrom (2000, 36) the ear­ liest names of the Swedish nobility ought to have been of the simple type, e. g. Bagge 'ram', Lax 'salmon', Nacke 'back of the neck' (Ry­ man 2002, 90). Other simple names according to Modeer are original bynames, e. g. the com­ mon Krok 'hook'. Personal names were Latinized during the Middle Ages; this included patronyms but only in rare cases bynames (and never family names). In order to create idiomatic Latin texts, native proper names were adapted to the Latin inflectional and sound systems. This oc-

129. The development of personal names in the Late Middle Ages

curred whatever the person's status was. The Latinized names as a rule did not appear in vernacular texts (Ryman 2002, 93), and family names always were written in the vernacular. Later Latinization affected all names for the educated and upper social classes. Not until much later, when the Latin tradition of hu­ manism disappeared, was a combination like Peder Faber possible (Kousgard S0rensen 1980, 1 65). Tegner (1882, 37ff.) found that during the 1 6th c. it became usual among educated Swedes to add a Latinized adjective to their name which signalled their origin, e. g. Gothus, Angermannus, Bothniensis. At first these origin denotations were generally not hereditary and their forms often changed during the person's lifetime. After such Latinized bynames carne to be considered family names, the formation of new bynames had to have a different basis, Tegner argues. Names which referred to parish or village origins were more useful than those referring to a province (Ryman 2002, 94). Names formed with -e and -ing are very common in Old Swedish, both in primary and secondary name compositions. But Germanic derivations play no important role in the names of the Swedish nobility after 1626 (Ry­ man 2002, 108). 2.9.2.

Denmark

Danish townspeople and peasants in the Middle Ages usually were referred to by first names and patronyrns and did not bear family names. The bynames which occurred as a rule were not hereditary. Danish noble families adopted family names to a larger extent than in Sweden during the Middle Ages. German immigrant noble families contributed to this. In the year 1 526 an edict was promulgated saying that all noblemen should adopt family names. At that time about 85 per cent of the nobility already used family names (Ryman 2002, 38). From the Late Middle Ages there are isolated examples of Danish noble women bearing family names. This custom spread first in the Holstein family. During the 1 6th c. it became more common for no ble women to bear family names, following that we find the first examples among townspeople. Names of noblemen served not only to distinguish people from one another. The use of patro­ nyrns among the Danish nobility is considered by Kousgard S0rensen (1984, 200 ff.) to have been a matter of pride in one's birth status.

1179

In Denmark compounded patronyms were more usual and used earlier than in Sweden. Kousgard S0rensen (1997, 91) has some examples of noble families assuming patro­ nyms as family names in the 1 5th and 1 6th c. During these centuries some of the more prominent burghers began to use family names, including compounded patronyms (Kousgard S0rensen 1997, 81 f.; Ryman 2002, 66). Patronyrns in the form of the father's name in the nominative or genitive occurred among native Swedes during the Late Middle Ages (Modeer 1955, 49 ff.). This was especially the case in Denmark. Kousgard S0rensen (1997, 3 9ff.) suggests that, both in Sweden and Den­ mark, they arose through German influence. Modeer (1989, 1 32) referring to German influ­ ence on Swedish family names, writes that the "use of first names as family names is un­ known to Swedish name use" (Ryman 2002, 70). 2.9.3.

Finland

It is noteworthy that in the Middle Ages the Finns, especially the eastern Finns, already used family names (e. g. Paikkala 1995, 1 1 1 ff.), but this was of little importance for the Swedish use of family names (Ryman 2002, 50). 2.9.4.

Norway

Norwegian families who adopted family names from the 14th c. in general seem not to have belonged to the old nobility but to have acquired their social position. It is pos­ sible that in Norway it was for the most part the gentry who adopted foreign patterns of creating family names to mark their status (Halvorsen 1971, 204). This occurred later than in other areas (Ryman 2002, 50).

3.

Inflection

The simplification of word inflections which gradually appeared in Old Swedish, e. g. in substantive inflections, can also be observed in personal name inflections. At the beginning of the Late Old Swedish era, older inflectional forms are still used. We thus find strong mas­ culine nominative forms, e. g. Benedicter (1361), Benedictyr (1 357), Eriker (1359) and ErikIer (1378), but nominative forms without endings are also common, e.g. Arnvid (1419), Benedict (1403) and Erik (1352). In the geni-

1 1 80

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

tive, old forms remain, e. g. ArnwiPa (1359), Arnuiddha (1412) and Biornar (1348), but in spite ofthat, forms in -s are the most common, e.g. Arnvids (1384) and Bi@rnz (1466). Old dative forms in -i, -e still remain at this time, e.g. Arnuidhe (1361), Bendiete (ca. 1 3 50), Benete (1371), Biorne (1365), BiornE (13 84) and Erike (1371), but there are also datives without endings, e.g. Arvidh (1412), Benet (1431), Bi@rn (1404) and Erik (1363). In the weak masculine inflection the 0 blique forms as a rule end in -a, but at the end of this period the nominative form in -e, -x be­ gins to take over. Thus we find dative forms like Arne (1530) and Bonde (1480) and the ac­ cusative ArnE (1483, 1 515). Corresponding changes happened in the weak feminine forms. Here oblique forms in -u, -0 gradually were replaced by nominative forms in -a, e. g. the genitive Beneta (1454) and the dative Breneta (1415). In the strong femi­ nine inflection we can see a change in -0 and -io stems, which had the endings -u and -i in older times. In the Late Middle Ages forms without endings are the most common. 4.

Corrupted forms

One type of corrupted form involves a foreign name which cannot be directly connected with another name, e. g. when Alexander is written Halsand (1490; SMP 1 , 46). Another type oc­ curs when a foreign name simply is confused with a different name, e. g. Didrik Kraka (1457) instead of Dethard Kraka, or Dydhrik Pekko (1468) for Thideke Pekko(w) (SMP 1 , 593). It should be noted that such confusions always are isolated and occasional. Sometimes un­ usual native names are also confused, e. g. Bir­ gitta Gudloxdotter (1416) for Gyridh GudhleJs dotter, who was later known as Byrgitta (SMP 2, 3 3 8), and Gurdher j Sighwaldzstadhum (1399) for Gudhir (SMP 2, 243). It is mostly in patronyms that such con­ fusions appear. Patronyrns are relatively un­ stressed compared with first names and thus are more prone to being corrupted or confus­ ed, e. g. Erik Atteson (1489) for Otteson (SMP 1 , 200), Preder Bywrson (1506) for Biornson (ib. 412), Magnus Finson (1426) for Finvidsson (SMP 2, 59), Anders Godmansson (1491) for Gudhmund (ib. 342) and Nils G@tesson (1410) for G@tstaJsson (ib. 523). It must be stressed that all such cases con­ cern occasional corrupted forms, which either did not become permanent or constitute a very small proportion of all the onomastic ma-

terial. The only case when a change in the first name was intentional and permanent was when a man or a woman of the Church, often when entering a religious career, exchanged a native name for a Christian one, as in the case of Gyridh above who became Birgitta.

5.

Some local examples

5.1.

O rebro

5.1.1.

German- and Swedish-based names

In the German area, patronyrns as a rule were not formed using first names. Among German immigrants it seems as if the use ofpatronyrns gradually was taken up in the form that al­ ready occurred in Sweden. In the Orebro ma­ terial, we find patronyms formed from Ger­ man first names, e. g. Hansson and Henriksson. Obviously, it felt correct for naturalized Ger­ mans to begin to use this type of name which was so usual in their new homeland. We can also find other examples of German immigrants adapting their names to Swedish usage. In the Orebro material, we find the name Erik Hinsason. So here a German called Hinse gave his son the Swedish first name Erik. We can also study the most usual first names: All Sweden (1) Johan. Jons (2) Peter. Per (3) Olof. Olle (4) Nils. Nisse (5) Magnus (6) Lars. Lasse (7) Bengt (8) Erik (9) Anders (10) Karl

Orebro (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Johan. Jons Lars. Lasse OloJ Peter. Per Nils. Nisse Anders Magnus Erik Hans (German) Bengt

One difference between the two lists is that the Orebro one contains the German first name Hans at no. 9, while German first names are absent from the national list. But it is not unexpected that a German first name is found among the most common names in a town. Another difference between these two lists is that in the O rebro list (as in the following list for Ahnby - Langbro - Ansta), the name Lars comes second but is only sixth in the na­ tional list. Lars was such a popular first name in the Orebro area probably because St. Lars was especially venerated there. During the Middle Ages a Lars fair was held in the town on the 1 0th of August every year.

129. The development of personal names in the Late Middle Ages

The neighbour parishes to O rebro were Almby, Liingbro and Ansta. It is interesting to compare the most usual male names in these parishes with the list above from the town of b rebro: Almby - Liingbro - Ansta (1) Johan. Jons (6) Anders (2) Lars. Lasse (7) Erik (3) Peter (8) Magnus (4) Nils. Nisse (9) Hakon (5) OloJ (10) Bengt The lists differ from each other in that no Ger­ man first name appears among the most com­ mon names in the preserved material from Almby - Liingbro - Ansta. This is only to be expected in such a rural area. It is remarkable that the name Hlikan appears as high as no. 9 in this list. Finally, we will compare the names from O rebro and Arboga. Both were trade centers. The material here is taken from the court re­ cords of the town of Arboga: Arboga (1) Johan. Jons (2) Lars. Lasse (3) Peter. Per (4) OloJ (5) Nils. Nisse

(6) Anders (7) Erik (8) Magnus (9) Hans (German) (10) Henrik (German)

Like the b rebro list but unlike the national list, the name Lars comes at no. 2 in the Ar­ boga list. The explanation for this must be that St. Lars was especially venerated also in this town. We suppose that one of the churches in the town was consecrated to St. Lars. The main difference between the lists for b rebro and Arboga is that the Arboga list has two additional German first names: Henrik as well as Hans. From this we could be tempted to conclude that the German name element was greater in Arboga than in O rebro. How­ ever, if we look at the percentages for all the German names, this is not true: b rebro: the 1 5th c. all the Middle Ages Arboga Almby - Liingbro - Ansta

1 7 per 1 9 per 1 4 per 4 per

cent cent cent cent

The difference between O rebro and Arboga is not very great, but it still requires an expla­ nation. The slightly higher percentage for Ger­ man male names in O rebro, which can be as­ sumed to indicate a somewhat larger German element in the population there, ought to be

1181

connected with the fact that brebro had a castle, whose garrison must have been com­ posed of Germans. This had the effect that German merchants went to Orebro, and that members of the garrison remained and settled down in the town after completing their ser­ vice. O rebro differs from Arboga because of its wealthy surroundings. Even O rebro's neighbour parishes of Almby - Liingbro - Ansta have a small Ger­ man name element (4 per cent), which indi­ cates influence from the town of Orebro. Moreover, some of the German personal names in these parishes appear late in the sour­ ces. The oldest record mentions a Gertrud in Sorby (in Almby parish) in 141 5 (10/8; SD no. 2121), and the second oldest, from 1468 (31/10), mentions a Klas Albrektsson in Vallby (in Liingbro parish). If brebro during the Middle Ages had been a town with pro­ nounced German influence, established and controlled by Germans, the German name element in these neighbour parishes ought to have been considerably higher - as in the town itself (Wiktorsson 1983, 61 ff.). 5.1.2.

What uncommon personal names tell us

Uncommon personal names from the Middle Ages hint at special connections between dif­ ferent provinces at that time. In the O rebro material, a proportion of townspeople's names are typical for Arboga, e. g. the by­ names Born, Grubbe, Slaksida and Time. That O rebro's contacts with Arboga were intensive is also suggested by the fact that many people from O rebro are mentioned in the court re­ cords of Arboga. Common eastern names also appear in the O rebro material, e. g. the first names Holmsten and Viking, and the bynames Bang (mainly found in the eastern Old Swedish area), Bil and Fase. These names are known from Upp­ land or Sodermanland and indicate that the "face" of O rebro was turned to the east - to­ wards Lake Ma.laren. A natural element of this was contact with Stockholm. Typical Stockholm names in the Orebro material are the bynames Mliltid and Sasse. Orebro's con­ tacts with Stockholm are also evident from the fact that many Orebro people are mentioned in the court records for Stockholm. Personal names from Ostergotland also ap­ pear in the Orebro material, e. g. the bynames Grot (known from Linkoping), Slang and Slat. An analysis of the personal names in the juri-

1 1 82

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

dical district of Skollersta, to the southeast, shows an obvious element of Ostergotland personal names in the district (Wiktorsson 1978, 144ff.). The Tyloskog forest obviously was not a barrier to contact between Ostergot­ land and Narke but was easy to pass through. Such contacts are also indicated by the fact that many Ostergotland noblemen owned pro­ perty in the Skollersta district. On the other hand, it looks as if there are no direct Vastergotland traits in the medieval personal name material from Orebro. Neither Bryniolf nor Brynte appear, nor scarcely any names with the first element Tor-; all this is characteristic of Vastergotland personal names. We can suppose that this indicates few spontaneous contacts between Vastergotland and Narke. Probably the Tiveden area, diffi­ cult to travel through, was an obstacle to many such contacts. Of course this did not make it impossible for a no bleman with armed troops to easily reach Narke and Vastergot­ land. The castle of Orebro was also governed by some Vastergotland magnates like Ake Hansson (Tott), Bengt Gylta and Erik Abra­ hamsson (Leijonhufvud). In the Orebro material there are examples of names from the west, e. g. the first names Odin (a form of the Norwegian Aui5un), Redar (from Norwegian Reidar) and Tjiilve (from Norwegian Pjatvi). This indicates contacts to the west towards Varmland. We also know that during the Middle Ages the tax consign­ ments from Varmland passed through Orebro. However we find no indications in this ma­ terial of contacts to the north, towards the mining area - to the west ofVastrnanland and Dalarna - which is unexpected. The mining area's contact with the south probably did not pass through Orebro. Instead they went through the large towns on Lake Malaren Arboga, Laglosakoping and Vasteras. A final important element in the personal name material must be mentioned: the names typical ofNarke. These include the first names Algot and Styrbjorn, both of which are most frequent in this province. The town of Orebro must thus be considered together with its sur­ rounding area of Narke. The town grew out of a peasant village on the Narke plain. Its position provided good prospects for trade as well as defence, which led to its development into a town (Wiktorsson 1983, 64ff.).

5.2.

Jiirntland

On the famous Froso runic stone we find the personal names Ostman, Gudfast, Asbjorn, Tryn and Sten. A question that easily arises when we see these names is to what extent they represent a traceable Jarntland naming tradi­ tion. We see that three of the names are com­ pounds (Ost-man. Gud-Jast and As-bjorn) and that two are simple (Tryn and Sten). Among the compound names, Ostman is the most striking, as it surely originated as a byname of a person from the east. Many first names were originally bynames, e. g. Bjorn and Ulf. As time passed, some first names became heavily overrepresented. This is clear when you compare the following list of the most common male names in Jarntland during the Middle Ages with the national list, repeated here: All Sweden (1) Johan. Jons (2) Peter. Per (3) Olaf, Olle (4) Nils. Nisse (5) Magnus (6) Lars. Lasse (7) Bengt (8) Erik (9) Anders (10) Karl

Jamtland (1) OloJ (2) Johan (3) Peter (4) Erik (5) Nils (6) Anders (7) Lars (8) Sigurd (9) Bjorn (10) Pavel (3,200 people)

It is natural that OloJ tops the list for Jiirnt­ land, since there is a St. Olof cult in this area. It is striking that names like Magnus, Bengt and Karl from the national list are missing. These names first appeared in the royal fam­ ilies and from there slowly spread down through the other layers of society. This hap­ pened most rapidly in central Sweden, and Jiirntland and Harjedalen looked to the west. Instead we find here the names Sigurd, Bjorn and Pavel. Sigurd and Bjorn at that time were old Nordic peasant names, the former a com­ pound and the latter of the simple type. On the other hand, Pavel is a religious name, a native form of Paulus. We can only speculate about why these names seem to be so popular. It might have been enough that one or more churches in the area were consecrated to St. Paul. We can divide the Middle Ages into two periods, with the break at 1450, and com­ pare them for Jiirntland and Harjedalen. The ten most common male names before 1450 were:

1183

129. The development of personal names in the Late Middle Ages

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Johan OloJ Nils Sigurd Bjorn

(6) Erik (7) Anders Peter (9) Lars (10) Favel (1,300 people)

These names are the same as in the list for the whole medieval period in Jiimtland and Harjedalen. The only difference is in the rank order, mostly due to the popularity of the name Johan in the North and greater use of the peasant names Sigurd and Bjorn. After 1450 the following male names are the most common: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

OloJ Feter Johan Erik Nils

(6) Anders (7) Lars (8) Sigurd (9) Favel (10) Kiittil Sven (1,900 people)

The peasant name Bjorn has totally disap­ peared from the list for this period. Instead the names Kiittil and Sven appear. OloJ, the name of the king and saint, is the most com­ mon male name instead of Johan, and the name of the Swedish king and saint, Erik, also becomes more common. A further impression is that Church names - Peter, Anders, Lars and Pavel - have advanced very strongly at the expense of the native peasant names Sigurd and Bjorn. A comparable list can be drawn up for female first names: All Sweden (1) Kntarina. Knrin (2) Kristina. Kerstin (3) Margareta. Margit (4) Ingeborg (5) Birgitta. Britta (6) Elena. Elin (7) Anna (8) Ingrid (9) Cecilia. Sissa (10) Ingegiird

Jiirntland (1) Margareta (2) Kristina (3) Radgiird (4) Kntarina (5) Ingeborg (6) Birgitta Helga

(230 people) I t is not possible to go further down in the ranking because of the small amount of ma­ terial. It is of some interest that names like Elin and Anna, which were religious names, are missing from the Jarntland list. Instead the Nordic names Radgiird and Helga appear. A comparison between the two medieval periods shows that before 1450 the list of the

most common female names in Jamtland and Hiirjedalen looks like this: (1) Helga Kristina (3) Margareta (4) Ingeborg

(5) Gunhild Katarina Sigrid (80 people)

Compared with the list for the entire period, Radgiird and Birgitta are missing, but Sigrid appears. After 1450 we have the following list: (1) Margareta (2) Kristina Radgiird (4) Kntarina

(5) Birgitta Ingeborg (7) Anna (150 people)

Here the names Helga. Gunhild and Sigrid have disappeared, while Radgiird. Birgitta and Anna have replaced them. It is typical that the two religious names, Birgitta and Anna, grew more and more popular (Wiktorsson 2001, 1 1 0 ff.). 5.3.

Gotland

Agne Enekvist has examined the frequency of male first names in the Gotland countryside during the period 1570-1670. Here we will use some of his material and begin with the per­ sonal names in the Gotland land registry book from 1670, which produces the following top­ ten list. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Fer Lars OloJ Jakob Hans

(6) Tomas (7) Rasmus (8) Nils (9) Anders (10) Martin (1,510 people)

Most remarkable here is that the German name Hans comes as high as on the fifth place and that Jakob, which is not so common in the rest of Sweden, is fourth. The Danish name Rasmus is also highly placed. One hundred years earlier (1570), we can produce the following list from a source from Gotland: (1) OloJ (2) Fer (3) Lars (4) Jakob (5) Botolf

(6) Johan (7) Matts (8) Nils (9) Rasmus (10) Anders (1,536 people)

1 1 84

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

We can see that Jakob was very usual (fourth place) at that time, but also that the authentic Gotland name Botolf is ranked high (fifth). If we want to go further back in time, we can use a source from the first half of the 1520s, accounts for the castle of Visborg for 1523 - 1 524, which is also known as the ac­ count book of Soren Norby. This personal name material has not been examined before, as far as is known (Wiktorsson 1992). The ma­ terial scarcely amounts to half of what Agne Enekvist used, but it nevertheless gives us a certain amount of information concerning the most common names in Gotland in those days. The top-ten list of personal names in these accounts looks like this: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

OloJ Jakob Per Lars Botolf

(6) Nils (7) Johan (8) Matts (9) Hans (German) (10) Anders (673 people)

We can see that the name Jakob in the Late Middle Ages is the second most common one. Botolf is in fifth place, as in 1570. It is also noteworthy that the German name Hans is as high as ninth place. Going further back to the Gotland Middle Ages, in the Swedish Royal Library there is a deed B 99, containing the source Necro­ logium fratrum minorum, which shows names of the deceased who were connected in some way with the Franciscans in Visby and their church St. Karin. This source enumerates both men and women, priests and laymen, Gotland people from the countryside and Visby inha­ bitants of foreign origin. The following male names are the most common: (1) Johan (2) Henrik (3) Nils OloJ Peter

(6) Herman (7) Jakob (8) Gerhard (9) Tideman (10) Lars (466 people)

Here, too, the name Jakob comes rather high. This could be because the apostle Jakob was revered in Gotland, which in turn could be connected with the fact that the Solberga mon­ astery (founded in 1233) had a church conse­ crated to this apostle. The popularity of this name could thus be a sign of the strong po­ sition of the monastery, even in the Gotland countryside. It is also characteristic that in this list four names out often are German (Henrik, Herman, Gerhard and Tideman).

Now we can turn to the female names for the entire period: (1) Margareta (2) Elisabet Katarina (4) Kristina

(5) Gertrud Greta Halltiaud (8) Gerdika (169 people)

In spite of the fact that the material includes few female names, we can still draw some con­ clusions. It is striking that as many as three of the most common female names are Ger­ man (Gertrud, Greta and Gerdika). Moreover, the probably originally biblical name Elisabet has corne through German. But here we also find the Gotland name Halltiaud, very com­ mon in the Middle Ages (Wiktorsson 1992, 121 ff.). 5.4.

Dalsland

We can compile the following lists from the account book of the church of Bolstad (L 1:1 in the provincial archives of Gothenburg), the most important vernacular deed from the area: 5.4.1.

First names

Male names (including first names that appear in patronyrns): (1) Johan (2) OloJ (3) Lars (4) Nils (5) Anders

(6) Peter (7) Sven (8) Erik Hokan Magnus

When we compare this list with that for all the country, the most striking difference is that Lars has risen from sixth to third place. This is due to the fact that the church of Bolstad was consecrated to St. Lars. Names which ap­ pear here but which are not on the national list are Sven and Hllkan. On the other hand, Karl (10) and Bengt (7) are not on the national list. Female names (matronyms are absent from the material): (1) Katarina (2) Margareta (3) Ingeborg Kristina (5) Gunhild What differs here from the national list is that Gunhild has replaced Birgitta. Note that an

1185

129. The development of personal names in the Late Middle Ages

altar i n the church o f Bolstad was consecrated to S t. Katarina. Western influence: Some names have a diph­ thong, for instance the forms Torstein and Gautheson. We also find the western male names Hallvard and Tor/ak and the female name Gro. Among the bynames, Flosen and perhaps Rad are western. Latin influence appears in the written forms of some personal names. These seem most often to indicate people connected with the Church (18 names). Sometimes there are obvious cases of a previous Latin expression triggering Latin forms of the name (6 times). There are a further eight Latin forms, how­ ever, which can not be explained in these ways. German influence can be seen in the use of the first names Henrik (5 times), Kias (4), Ger­ trud (2), Didrik (1) and Adolf(l), and it is ex­ plicitly stated that 7 of these 1 3 people lived inside the borders of the parish (two bore by­ names). None of them is stated as living out­ side the parish. The name Gertrud has been known in Sweden since the 14th c. In the Late Middle Ages there were churches dedicated to Ger­ trud in Kahnar, Sigtuna, Skiinninge, Stock­ hohn, Visby, Viistervik, Abo and Oregrund. There were Gertrud gilds in Arboga, Jonko­ ping, Stockhohn and Vadstena. They were located in coastal towns and also in trade cen­ tres on the Ostergotland plain. In the Bolstad material there are 1 1 people with German bynames: Hertig (8), Garp. Prytz and Tyske (1 each). Two of these also bear a German first name. These German names pre­ sumably stern from trade contacts in this part of the country. The number of people with a particular name says nothing to us about the number of names used. In Bolstad there is an average of 4.4 people per name. The figure can be com­ pared with the corresponding figure for Jamt­ land: 5.3 until 1449, and 9.4 after 1450. Thus there were considerably more personal names to choose from in Dalsland than in Jarntland. For first names in Dalsland there are mythological first elements in 7 per cent of the names (but only Tor-), and in Jiirntland 6 per cent (As-. Fro-. Gud-. Oden- and Tor-).

5.4.2.

The position of the byname

Whatis placed after the first name, i. e. in what is normally the byname's position? The Bol­ stad material contains the following:

45 per cent first name + place statement, e. g. Arnolf i Arnot; 1 9 per centfirst name + patronyrn, e. g. Brynte Kettilsson (48 per cent for Jiimtland); 1 6 per cent first name + byname, e. g. Erik Hertig (for Jiirntland only 3 per cent) 5 per cent first name + patronyrn + place statement, e.g. Margareta Magnusdotter i Berg (a total of 5 men and 3 women); 1 8 per cent first name only, e. g. Arnund. In the material, 31 per cent of the bynames denote occupation. It is striking that so many of them are used in the definite form without any preceding first name. Many bynames assign origin. Here, too, there are differences between Dalsland and Jiirntland: German: Danish: Swedish: Norwegian: Eastern:

Dalsland Garp. Tyske Jute, Skaning Vastgote

Jiimtland Jute, ShIning Vastgote Hiiising (e) Jamt, Jamte, Jamtland, Trond Finne, Ryss

This description ofthe Nordic personal names during the Middle Ages takes us to the point, where the influence of the local personal names for the main part ends in favour of foreign and immigrant names. This tells us something important about the Nordic lan­ guages in a new world - they have corne into contact permanently with languages from far and near.

6.

Literature (a selection)

Andra:, Carl G6ran et al. (1964), Kyrkliga raken­ skaper. In: KLNM 9, 671 675. Bach, Adolf(1952 1953), Deutsche Namenkwzde 1: Die deutschen Personennamen 1 2. 2nd rev.ed. Heidelberg. Bakken, Kristin (1999), Personnavn i mellomnorske diplomer. Dialektfonn eller skriftnonn? In: SAS 17, 27 49. Brylla, Eva (1999), Anna Ma:dh inga ha:nder, Karl Da:ngena:f och Ingridh Thiuvafinger. Nagra exem­ pel pa medeltida binamn. In: Runor och namn. Hyll­ ningsskrift till Lena Peterson den 27 januari 1999 (eds. L. Elmevik/S. Strandberg et at.) (Namn och samhalle 10). Uppsala, 11 19. Danmarks gamle personnavne 1 2 (1936 1964) (eds. G. Knudsen/M. Kristensen/R. Hornby). K0benhavn.

1 1 86

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Ekbo, Sven (1948), Nordiska personbinamn under vikinga- och medeltid. In: Personnamn (ed. Assar Janzen) (NK 7). Stockholm/Oslo/K0benhavn, 269 284.

Kousgard S0rensen, John (1980), Danmarks "la:rde" sla:gtsnavne. In: Festskrift till Carl-Eric Thors 8. 6. 1980 (eds. O. Ahlback/L. Hulden/K. Zil­ liacus) (SNF 62). Helsingfors, 158 173.

Eldblad, Anita (1994), Johan, Jons och Hans tre medeltida namn med gemensamt ursprung. In: SAS 12, 51 74.

Kousgard S0rensen, John (1984), Patronymer iDan­ mark 1: Runetid og middelalder (Navnestudier udg. af Institut for navneforskning 23). K0benhavn.

Fredriksson, Ingwar (1961), Svenska personnamns­ studier (AUU. Studia Philologiae Scandinavicae Upsaliensia 2). Uppsala.

Kousgard S0rensen, John (1997), Patronymer iDan­ mark 2: Nyere tid og nutid (Navnestudier udg. af Institut for navneforskning 36). K0benhavn.

Fredriksson, Ingwar (1974), Svenskt dopnamnsskick vid 1500-talets slut (AS 7). Vanersborg.

Liedgren, Jan (1958), Diplom. In: KLNM 3, 80 82.

Gillingstam, Hans (1964), Den svenska adelns an­ tagande av slaktnamn. In: Historisk tidskrift 84, 35 53. Gillingstam, Hans (1971), Slektsnavn. Sverige. In: KLNM 16, 207 209. Gillingstam, Hans (1981), Utomnordiskt och nor­ diskti de aldsta dynastiska forbindelserna. In: PHT 77, 17 28. Gregers Mattssons kostbok for Stegeborg 1487 1492 (1999), ed. ZethAlvered (SSF 83). Upp­ sala. Gregers Mattssons riikenskaper (1996), ed. Zeth Al­ vered (SSF 82). Uppsala. Hiilsinglands iildsta skatteliingd. Hjiilpskatteliingden "Giirder och hjiilper» frm l b:r 1535 (1994), ed. S. Brink (Skrifterutg. genom Ortnamnsarkiveti Upp­ sala C2). Uppsala. Hald, Kristian (1974), Personnavne i Danmark 2: Middelalderen (Dansk historisk fa:llesforenings handb0ger). K0benhavn. Halvorsen, E.F. (1971), Slektsnavn. Norge: In: KLNM 16, 202 205. Hellquist, Elof (1912), Fornsvenska tillnamn. In: Xenia Lideniana. Festskrift tillagnad professor Evald Liden pa hans femtioarsdag den 3 oktober 1912. Stockholm, 84 1 1 5. Hildebrand, Bengt (1961), Handbok i sliikt- och per­ sonforskning 1 : Metodlara, medeltidsforhallanden, historiografi och bibliografi. Stockhohn. Hohn, Gosta (1997), Namnet Gustav. In: SAS 15, 73 75. Ivar Axelsson Totts riikenskapsbok for Gotland 1485 1487 (1991), eds. E. Melefors et aL Visby.

Lind, E. H. (1920), Nordiska personnamn. Strodda iakttagelser och tolkningsforsok. In: ANF 36, 300 326. Modeer, Ivar (1955), Personnamn i Kalmar stads tiinkebok (AS 1). Stockholm. Modeer, Ivar(1989), Svenskapersonnamn: Handbok for universitetsbruk och sjiilvstudier (eds. B. Sund­ qvist/C.-E. Thors et aLl (AS 5). Uppsala. Nygren, Ernst (1957), Breve, Sverige. In: KLNM 2, 234f Odehnan, Eva (2001), Kolegor, tavelpenningar och slaggelon glimtarur medeltida kyrkorakenskaper. In: Riseberga Rediviva III, 53 68. Paikkala, Sirkka (1995), Fran olika namnsystem till ett enhetligt slaktnamnssystem i Finland. In: Slekts­ namn i Norden. Rapport fra NORNAs tjuef0rste symposium i Oslo 17. 20. september 1992 (Ed. K. Kruken) (NORNA-rapporter 58). Uppsala. Peterson, lena (1992), Golin. In: SAS 10, 43 53. PHT

=

Personhistorisk tidskrift.

Rasmussen, Poul et al. (1962), Jordebog. In: KLNM 7, 634 654. Raven van Barnekows riikenskaper for Nykopings Jogderi 1365 1367 (1994), eds. B. Fritz/E. Odelman. Stockhohn. Ryman, Lennart (2002), Salanus, Tunstrom och Sporrong: Tillnamnsbruk ochframviixt av sliiktnamn i Uppland (AS 13). Umea. Schmidt, Tom (1992), Jetmund. In: SAS 10, 25 42. Setterkrans, Goran (1957), Nagra medeltida adels­ namn. In: Personnamn frm l medeltid och 1500-tal (ed. I. Modeer) (AS 2). Stockholm, 105 117. SMP = Sverigesmedeltida personnamn 1 (1968 ). S6derwall, K. F (1884 1918, suppL 1925 1973), Ordhok over svenska medeltidssprbket. Lund.

Janzen, Assar (1948a), De fornsvenska personnam­ nen. In: Personnamn (ed. Assar Janzen) (NK 7). Stockholm/Oslo/K0benhavn, 235 268.

Stahle, Carl Ivar (1946), Studier over de svenska ort­ namnen pa -inge. Uppsala.

Janzen, Assar (1948b), De fornvastnordiska person­ namnen. In: Personnamn (ed. Assar Janzen) (NK 7). Stockhohn/Oslo/K0benhavn, 22 186.

Steenstrup, Johannes (1927), Skornetal og Na:fgia:ld samt Tolkningen af nef, skalli, kollr som Navneled. In: ANF 43, 19 33.

Johannessen, Ole-J0rgen (2001), Var hann kendrvib m6bur slna. Metronymika, metronymikonbruk og metronymikonba:rere i norr0n middelalder. In: SAS 19, 31 80.

Strandberg, Svante (1995), Tidiga slaktnamn? Per­ sonnamn kring vastgotska hemmansnamn. In: Slekts-

Strandberg, Svante (1993), Personnamn i ortnamn. Kritisk oversikt. In: SAS 1 1 , 5 24.

130. The development of place-names in the Late Middle Ages namn i Norden. Rapport fra NORNAs tjuef0rste symposium i Oslo 17. 20. september 1992 (ed. K. Kruken) (NORNA-rapporter 58). Uppsala, 83 108. Sundqvist, Birger (1957), Deutsche Wid niederliin­ dische Personenbeinamen in Schweden bis 1420: Bei­ namen nach Herkunft und Wohnstiitte (AS 3). Lund. Tegner, Esaias (1882), Om svenska familjenamn. In: Nordisk tidskrift, 1 35. 103 143. Tva senmedeltida riikenskapsbocker (2000), ed. Zeth Alvered (SSP. Serie 3. Smarre texter 3). Uppsala. Utterstrom, Gudrun (2000), Svenska adelsnamn uppkomst och utveckling. In: SAS 18, 25 63. Wahlberg, Mats (1987), En ostgotsk skattelangd fran 13oo-talet. In: SAS 5, 31 42.

Widmark, Gun (1991), Fornviistnordiskaforleder i omljudsperspektiv (AUU. Studia Philologiae Scan­ dinavicae Upsaliensia 19). Uppsala. Wiktorsson, Per-Axel (1978), Sockenbor och ut­ socknes jordagare i bevarade medeltidshandlingar. In: Skollerstabygden I (ed. A.-S. Lindsten). Kumla, 144 162. Wiktorsson, Per-Axel (1983), Personnamn i det medeltida Orebro (Hogskolan i Orebro Skriftserie 30). Orebro. Wiktorsson, Per-Axel (1992), Botvi, Halltiaud och Sigref om medeltida personnamn pa Gotland. In: Gotliindskt arkiv, 121 130. Wiktorsson, Per-Axel (2001), Vad doptes barnen till pa medeltiden? In: Jiimten, 1 1 0 119.

Per-Axel W;ktorsson, Uppsala (Sweden)

1 3 0.

The development of place-names in the Late Middle Ages

1. 2. 3.

Desertion and continuity Place-name changes Literature (a selection)

1.

Desertion and continuity

!fthe early Middle Ages meant a continuation ofthe Viking Age agrarian expansion, the late Middle Ages on the contrary ahnost every­ where in the Nordic countries was a phase of regression in population, settlement and cul­ tivation (Sandnes 1981, 78ff.). The reasons for this late medieval agrarian crisis are debated, but the Black Death is at least one important factor. Starting around the middle of the 1 4th c. a lot of farms were being abandoned and deserted. Naturally enough it is marginal settlements that are hardest hit and in the first place deserted. In practice this means that above all new settlements from the expansion phase of the early Middle Ages are depo­ pulated. In terms of place-names the agrarian crisis implies that very few new settlement names are being formed and that some of the names that were formed in the early Middle Ages disappear. Since it is obvious that the land of many abandoned farms continued to be used, although more extensively (as pasture or for hayrnaking), from other neighbouring, non-deserted farms, and the names of the de-

1 1 87

serted settlements therefore to a certain extent continued to be in use, the loss of place-names was not as large as might perhaps be expected. In other cases the abandoned farms have been referred to with new types of names in­ dicating desertion. fZ1dhegardh(en) '(the) de­ serted farm' occurs as a place-name sporadi­ cally in large parts of the Nordic countries, while -auon > -aun 'deserted farm' (Sandnes 1975, 1 1 9 ff.) is frequent in Tf0ndelag in Nor­ way and in Jarntland in Sweden. Another oc­ casional pattern is that a deserted farm whose land was extensively used by another, occu­ pied farm assumes the name of the main farm preceded by Lilla 'little' (Framme 1985, 43 ff.). The phase of regression in the great part of the Nordic countries lasts roughly speaking to the middle of the 15th c., when some cul­ tivation of land again is taking place, but it is first at the beginning of the 16th c. that a new powerful agrarian expansion starts. The new settlements then being established are probably to some extent deserted farms that are anew corning into use, either with the old name of the farm continuously preserved or with a new name. Practically almost all of the early medieval place-name types (see article 108, section 1 .2.) continue to be productive also in the late Middle Ages. Exceptions are mainly names in -thvet (-pveit) and the Nor-

1 1 88

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

wegian names in -setr, which hardly have been formed after the early Middle Ages. Otherwise second elements denoting 'enclosure' (e. g. -lykkia. -haghi. -grerdhe. -kvi(a» or 'small house; shed' (e. g. -hus. -kat. -skale) are a stri­ king feature among the new late medieval place-names, reflecting new settlements at ear­ lier outlying land. Certain Swedish place-name types with da­ tings mainly to the late Middle Ages probably have a direct or indirect connection to iron making. This is true for names in -benning < -bygning 'smeltery' (Stahl 1956, 76 ff.) and -hytta 'smeltery' in central Sweden and -skruv 'hut; smeltery' in a limited area in southern Sweden (O deen 1927, 481 ff.; 1932, 151 ff.). 2.

Place-name changes

Place-names are not left unchanged over time. Changes can take place and actually do take place in principle during all historical periods, but it seems as if the linguistic novations in the eastern Nordic countries in the late Middle Ages, aiming at both pronunciation and mor­ phology, trigger or at least facilitate especially strong transformations or changes of the place-names. For that reason it can bejustified to make some comments on place-name changes here. Such transformations are of different types. Firstly, of course, the sound changes occurring in the general language also penetrate the place-names. Secondly some sound changes seem to occur more often and with greater force in names than in the other parts of language, probably because com­ pounded names show stronger lexicalization than appellative compounds (Bakken 1997, 27ff.), which property in turn assurnably is a function of the principally identifying nature of names. Typically, such sound changes that can be identified more often in names than in the general language are dissimilation, haplo­ logy, epenthesis and metathesis (Bakken 1997, 23 ff.). To the same general category also can be brought a tendency to shorten, simplify and reduce syllables in compounds and deriva­ tives, a tendency which is most clearly notice­ able in place-names (Widmark 1997, 287). Thirdly, names that, for some reason or an­ other (for instance change of pronunciation or that the words in the name have dis­ appeared from the language), have become semantically opaque for the speakers of the language can be consciously transformed in association with other, more familiar words or names (Dalberg 1991 , 1 5 ff.; 1997, 80ff.).

The conscious change can also mean an ad­ dition to the old name of a new word denoting locality, so-called epexegesis (Dalberg 1991, 47ff.). The result of epexegesis is, however, theoretically to be regarded as a new name. More unusual is that place-names consciously are transformed because they have corne to be associated with offensive or annoying words (Sahlgren 1947, 97ff.).

3.

Literature (a selection)

Bakken, Kristin (1997), Fonn and meaning. The basis for name-specific phonological development. In: You name it. Perspectives on onomastic research (Studia Fennica. Linguistica 7). Helsinki, 21 30. Dalberg, Vibeke (1991), Stednavne;rndringer og funktionalitet: Analogisk stednavneomdannelse, epexegetisk stednavnedannelse og stednavneskifte be­ lyst ved danske toponymer (Navnestudier udgivet af Institut for navneforskning 33). K0benhavn. Dalberg, Vibeke (1997), Some remarks on analogi­ cal reshaping of place-names. In: You name it. Per­ spectives on onomastic research (Studia Fennica. Linguistica 7). Helsinki, 80 85. Framme, Gosta (1985), Odegbrdar i Viitte hiirad (Skrifter utgivna av Dialekt- ortnamns- och folk­ minnesarkivet i Goteborg 1). Goteborg. Odeen, Nils (1927), Studier i Smalands bebyggel­ sehistoria: Ett bidrag till svensk ortnamnsforskning. Lund. Odeen, Nils (1932), 1amhanteringen och ortnamnen i Smaland. In: Studier rorande iildre svensk jiirntill­ verkning med siirskild hiinsyn till Smaland (ed. lohn Nihlen) (lernkontorets bergshistoriska skriftserie 2). Stockholm, 149 158. Sahlgren, loran (1947), Reaktion och korrektion. En sprakpsykologisk och sprakhistorisk studie. In: NOB 35, 97 126. Sandnes, 10m (1975), Navneleddet aWl, av eldre auan. Bidrag til en navnehistorisk studie. In: NOB 63, 1 1 9 128. Sandnes, 10m (1981), Settlement developments in the Late Middle Ages (approx. 1300 1 540). In: De­ sertion and land colonization in the Nordic countries c. 1300 1600. Comparative reportfrom the Scandi­ navian research project on desertedfarms and villa­ ges. Stockholm, 78 114. Stahl, Harry (1956), Om namnen pa -benning. In: NOB 44, 76 94. Widmark, Gun (1997), Om s.k. ordlangdsbalans i ortnamn och dess prosodiska forutsattningar. In: Ortnamn i sprdk och samhiille. Hyllningsskrift till Lars Hellberg (ADD. Nomina Gennanica. Arkiv for gennansk namnforskning 22). Dppsala, 287 295.

Staffan Fridel!. Uppsala (Sweden)

1 3 1 . From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of types of text

131.

1 1 89

From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of types of text

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

9. 10. 11. 12.

Introduction The change in poetry: The new poetics The Nordic ballad Icelandic narrative verse: Rimur East Nordic narrative verse: Late romances and rhymed chronicles The change in prose fonus The new religious prose Lygisogur and other kinds of prose entertainment Letters and legal texts Didactic literature What happened to "medieval" genres? Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

6. 7. 8.

During the late medieval period (ca. 13501 550) the Old Nordic genres, based on in­ digenous oral tradition, fell out of use and fi­ nally were no longer preserved anywhere, ex­ cept in Iceland. The old and traditional genres, which - at least in West Scandinavia - had been kept alive by scalds, storytellers, and saga-writers, encouraged by kings and local rulers, were replaced by new vernacular types of texts imported from abroad, especially from France and Germany and promoted by a new urban German-speaking bourgeoisie of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. West Scandi­ navia lost its dominance as a cultural centre to East Scandinavia when Iceland and Nor­ way became integrated as colonies in the Dan. state, and the import trade was taken over by the Low German Hansa. New cultural pat­ terns, including literary fashion, were no longer determined by rustic chieftains and farmers but by the nobility and its confed­ erates within the clergy and the merchant class. 2.

The change in poetry: The new poetics

The metric principles of ON poetry were ge­ nerally discarded during this period in favour ofLG or Fr. models based on accent and end­ rhyme. For narrative verse the simple doggerel (knittel) was most commonly used in Den­ mark and Sweden, while the Icelanders em­ ployed stricter accented metric forms, nor­ mally with both end-rhyme and alliteration. The kennings and other traditional poetic ex-

pressions, which had been used by Norse scalds and recommended in Snorri Sturluson's Edda, became unfashionable and were used only to a limited extent in Iceland and not at all in the other Scandinavian countries. The new poetics did not - as the scalds had done - emphasize metrical complication and her­ metic imagery but rather clarity, chivalric ele­ gance, a simple syntax, and a straightforward narrative flow in the poetic diction. If meta­ phors or symbols were used, they were based on Christian or chivalric imagery, not on pa­ gan Nordic mythology. Although the skaldic forms of poetry sur­ vived longer in Iceland than anywhere else, the new poetics is evident in the pioneering and very artful poem Lilja, a sort of modified drapa composed in honour of Saint Mary by the Icelandic monk Eysteinn Asgrimsson ca. 1 340-60. In this poem Brother Eysteinn speaks directly about the need to break away from 'Eddaic rule' (Eddu regia), i.e. from ob­ scure skaldic expressions like the kennings, in order to facilitate understanding. Later poets broke even more radically with the ON rules of verse making. The most interesting lyrical texts from the later Middle Ages were meant for singing. Very few songs in the vernacular seem to have been recorded in Scandinavia before the 14th c., mainly because religious songs were gen­ erally in Lat. while secular songs were not con­ sidered sufficiently serious or valuable to merit preservation. In addition, the ON metrical sys­ tern did not lend itself very well to melodic performance, even though some of the Eddaic poems had probably been chanted in some way or other. During the later Middle Ages, however, various types of songs, ballads and ditties in the vernacular became popular all over Scandinavia, even among the clergy, and some were even recorded, although this was still rather unusual. Among the best preserved and most remarkable are the Dan. Marieviser, religious and strongly emotional songs in honour of the Holy Virgin, composed es­ pecially by members of the mendicant orders. During the Union Wars between Denmark and Sweden, various political songs were also composed in order to recruit followers, for example the famous and still popular Frihets­ visan ('Song of Liberty'), attributed to the Sw. Bishop Thomas of Striingniis (died 1443).

1 1 90

3.

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

The Nordic ballad

The ballad was the most widespread and popular type of song introduced during this period. It is originally a dancing song fashion­ able among the aristocracy of France, where it was called carol, and it carne to Scandinavia either via Germany to Denmark or - as has been recently argued - via Britain to Norway. The songs rapidly spread from aristocratic circles to ordinary farmers and throughout all the Scandinavian countries, where they were eventually understood as "folksongs" of Nor­ dic origins. Their "authors" are not known and never mentioned in the tradition; it is thus an anonymous art. Each ballad consists of narrative stanzas, originally sung by the leader of the dance, plus a lyrical refrain which all the dancers were supposed to join in. The stan­ zas are either "ballad quatrains" with four plus three beats in each half and rhyme at the end of lines two and four (Type A), or couplets with four beats in each line (Type B). (Type A) Ebbe han tjener i konningens gaTd Ride for guld og fa:; Peder hans broder lader bygge et skib, Han rejser op sejletra: (refrain) Fordi trEder Ebbe Skammelsem sa mangen sti vild. (Type B) Der ganger dans udi kongens gaTd Under liden Der danser m0er med udslagen haT. Mig tykkes, der er tungt at ride.

The narrative as well as the lyrical language of the refrains originally reflects the world of chivalry and romance, but later ballads are of­ ten more rustic or religious in character, and some of them are based on ON myths and sagas. All ballads are, however, strongly for­ mulaic in style and often use incremental re­ petition, as in the following example: Det var unge hr. Svend Dyring, Han red den brud imod; Silke og det sindal sort Ha:ngte ned for hestefod. Det var unge hr. Svend Dyring Han red den brud igen; Silke og rod skarlagen Slog ned for hesteben.

With the help of such formulaic variation, new stanzas could easily be improvised by the leader of the dance, and the text could be either expanded or shortened, depending on

the mood of the dancers. After the Reforma­ tion, however, the ballads fell out of fashion as aristocratic entertainment, and they were no longer used for dancing, except in the Faroe Islands, where ballad dance is still common even today, but some of the most popular songs were preserved among the common people in other areas of Scandinavia as well until fairly recent times. The ballads are generally divided into the following categories: 1) chivalric ballads (rid­ derviser), usually about love, rivalry and re­ venge in aristocratic surroundings, 2) ballads of the supernatural (tryUeviser) about con­ frontations between noble knights and super­ natural creatures such as trolls or elves, 3) his­ torical ballads, dealing with historical battles and other real events but describing them in the style of chivalric ballads, 4) legendary bal­ lads (legendeviser) about saints and miracles, 5) jocular ballads (skremteviser), usually bur­ lesque stories about peasants, and 6) heroic ballads (krempeviser) based on Eddic poems and Norse mythical-heroic sagas. Categories 1 , 2 and 4 are most clearly based on foreign models while categories 3 , 5 and 6 seem to be of Nordic origin, but there are no distinct bor­ derlines between these various types of ballad texts. It should also be noted that some of the ballads changed considerably in the course of oral transmission and were sometimes trans­ formed from one mode or style to another as ballad singers adapted their texts to new melodies or to new social environments. The earliest written recordings of ballads were made at the end of the 1 5th c. in Dan. aristocratic circles, but the songs must have existed in the oral tradition since at least the 14th c. It is therefore very difficult to know exactly what the ballads were like when they were first introduced in Scandinavia. Most of the recordings are from much later periods, particularly the 1 9th c.

4.

Icelandic narrative verse: Rimur

Although ballads were also popular in Ice­ land, another type of narrative poetry, rimur, was introduced there around the middle ofthe 14th c. Like ballads, the rimur were sung by their performers, but in other respects they have more in common with the metrical ro­ mances of Britain and Germany. Most of them are long narratives with numerous stan­ zas in various intricate metrical forms, based on rhyme as well as alliteration and making

1 3 1 . From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of types of text

use of a simplified skaldic diction with for­ mulaic kennings and heW that are fairly easy to understand. Each rima is introduced with a mansongur, a brief lyric address in courtly fashion to the ladies of the audience, in some respects comparable to the refrain of the bal­ lad. Sometimes the rimur are combined in long narrative cycles, which are normally based on older sagas, usually prose romances (rid­ darasogur) or legendary sagas ifornaldar­ sogur). Unlike the ballads, the rimur are not anony­ mous but often known to have been composed by a well-known man or woman. Quite a few ofthe rima poets were in fact women, and their art lived on in both oral and written tradition for several centuries. Although most of these poems glorify chivalry and traditional Nordic saga heroes, there are also some interesting examples of burlesque travesty and satire, like Skioarima (late 15th c.), which makes fun of the mythical-heroic pantheon of the Edda.

5.

East Nordic narrative verse: Late romances and rhymed chronicles

The earliest verse romances, the so-called Eu­ Jemiavisor (see art. 1 10), had been written in the early 14th c. for the Swedish court at the instigation of a Norw. queen, and they were evidently meant to set a new standard of chiv­ alry and aristocratic elegance in literature. The same thing may be said about the first rhymed chronicle, Erikskronikan (see art. 1 10), written for the same kind of audience, an artful text describing recent historical events and the po­ litical rulers of Sweden in the same courtly style that the romances used to describe fic­ tional adventures and the knights of King Arthur's round table. As these genres became more widespread, however, and used for propaganda in the political wars of Sweden and Denmark in the later Middle Ages, the style became less courteous and the content more openly ideological. Thus in the beginning of the late Sw. ro­ mance Konung Alexander (ca. 1 380), which deals with the warfare and conquests of Alex­ ander the Great, the translator makes it clear that he finds this kind of protagonist vastly more important to write about than the chiv­ alric and lovesick heroes of earlier romances. The text - a free rendering of a Lat. original - has been read as a political allegory dealing with recent conflicts between Sw. rulers. Like­ wise, rhymed chronicles such as the Sw. Karls-

1191

kronikan (ca. 1 450) and the Dan. Rimkr@niken (ca. 1 477) are not only clearly political and propagandistic in content but also rather coarse in style with grotesque, satirical, and even obscene elements. It is obvious that these later texts are not only meant for the court or the highest aristocracy but also for town people, traders, and mercenaries in the service of military leaders.

6.

The change in prose forms

The narrative prose changed during the 14th c. in many different ways. The "objective" narrative prose of the classical sagas dis­ appeared and was gradually replaced by a more rhetorical style influenced by Latin syn­ tax and the chivalric vocabulary of foreign ro­ mances. For the first time prose writers also began to distinguish between "history" and "fiction", and also between narrative and pre­ scriptive (or didactic) forms of prose. It took some time before these distinctions were fully accepted, since true and objectively told sto­ ries about real events had always, in Old Nordic society, been considered the legitimate basis for narrative entertainment as well as for history, didactics, and law. Thus there was no word in ON for "fiction", although one could describe an obviously untrue story as "lying saga" (lygisaga or skroksaga) and occasionally admit - as King Sverrir is said to have done - that it could be quite entertaining to listen to such lying narratives. With the introduction of courtly romances and other kinds of foreign fiction, however, it became gradually accepted that some stories, for example the translated rid­ darasogur, could be legitimately told for sheer entertainment, while other stories, for example chronicles and annals, aimed prima­ rily at presenting facts. Thus the gap between fact and fiction became wider, even though some types of text retained a mixture of the two, for example traditional sagas about Nor­ dic kings and Viking heroes. The introduction of foreign law and various kinds of didactic literature, based on Lat. and scholastic learning, also tended to diminish the role of narrative prose as a basis for education. Instead of presenting exemplary legal cases in the form of rustic and concrete narratives, as the old provincial laws had done, the new law­ books, issued in the later Middle Ages, pre­ sented abstract rules and prescriptions. Within the church and within secular administration

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XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

wisdom was no longer primarily sought in ancient stories about holy men and venerable ancestors but in school education based on the trivium and quadrivium. To an increasing ex­ tent, the thinking and the textual production of the clergy were formed by the rules of gram­ mar, rhetoric, and logic (or dialectics, as the pet subject of scholasticism was also called). Narratives still played an important role when clerics preached to the lower classes, but even there the story itself often became subor­ dinated to an abstract ' 'moral" or allegorical "application" made explicit towards the end of the sermon. Thus the traditional oral com­ position was gradually replaced in the texts by the abstract and analytical composition of academic literacy. 7.

The new religious prose

The earliest religious prose preserved in Scan­ dinavia had either been in Lat. or consisted of fairly straightforward translations of hom­ ilies and short saints' lives. In the 14th c., how­ ever, large theological works were written in the vernacular, for example Sij6rn in Norway and Pentateukparafrasen in Sweden, both pre­ senting biblical texts with a learned interpre­ tative commentary. In Iceland, new and con­ siderably longer versions of earlier saints' lives were composed in a more florid rhetorical style, adding theological exegesis and philo­ sophical speculation. More subjective forms of religious testimonies were also introduced in this period, for example visions and reve­ lations, in which an individual related, often in highly emotional terms, supernatural ex­ periences in the form of visits to the "other world" or personal meetings with Christ and the saints. The Revelations of Saint Birgitta (died 1 373) - which were first written in Sw., then translated into Lat., and then in some cases retranslated from Lat. into Sw. - con­ stitute the most famous and influential example of such literature. Birgitta's reve­ lations were particularly appealing, because of their sensual mysticism, colourful images and graphic portrayal of pleasures as well as hor­ rors. Her visions of Christ and Satan and their entourage are sometimes sublime and some­ times horrifying or grotesque in a rustic sort of way, but they are always intensely fascina­ ting and dramatic, while her political condem­ nations of contemporary worldly rulers are, even from a modern perspective, amazingly bold. It is thus no wonder that her revelations became widespread and popular.

An even more influential type of text, how­ ever, was the exemplum, in the vernacular also called dremisaga or xfintyr. This was a short story used by preachers to illustrate or exem­ plify some particular point or religious moral. Such stories were originally often taken from the Bible or other sacred writings, but towards the end of the Middle Ages it became increas­ ingly common among preachers to borrow their exempla from secular fables, folktales, historical chronicles, or short story collections made for sheer entertainment. The narrative would then always be followed by an "appli­ cation", in which the moral or spiritual mean­ ing of the story would be explained. Collec­ tions of such exempla were made for the use of preachers both in Lat. and in the vernacu­ lar, and they were evidently meant to reach their audience primarily in oral form. New types of sermons were introduced by the clergy in the later Middle Ages and used in various kinds of new social contexts. Men­ dicant brothers and missionaries, when preaching to ordinary people outside the churches, would speak in a concrete and straightforward manner, spicing their teach­ ing with many popular exempla or miracles to catch the attention of their audience. A more learned, abstract and scholastic type of sermon would be used in clerical centres such as Vadstena in Sweden. Even before the Lu­ theran Reformation, liturgical sermons com­ menting on a particular passage in the Gospels were introduced as an element of the regular church service on Sundays. Towards the end of the period it also became common to as­ semble a large number of homiletic texts in a so-called postilla (collection of sermons), used particularly by the clergy but also by some lay­ men.

8.

Lygisogur and other kinds of prose entertainment

Old Norse saga-writing continued in Iceland but not in Norway. The preferred tyPes of sagas were no longer the classical Islendin­ gasogur or konungasogur, which claimed to present an "objective" account of past history, but more obviously fictional and non-realistic types of narrative, intended for sheer enter­ tainment. Most prominent among these types were, on the one hand, the riddarasogur (ro­ mances), originally based on translations from Fr. or LG, and, on the other hand, theJorn­ aldarsogur (legendary sagas), based on in-

1 3 1 . From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of types of text

digenous Nordic heroic poetry and oral prose traditions. Towards the end of the 1 3th C . , however, the borderline between these types became blurred, as Icel. saga-writers began to combine the quest structure, chivalric ideals and courtly style of the romances with the heroic motifs and Eddaic poetry of legendary sagas. Later on, in the 1 5th and early 16th c., more fictional elements were added from G chapbooks (Volksbucher) and other types of narrative entertainment. The result of such unorthodox combina­ tions was a hybrid which has, in modern times, often been referred to as lygisaga, 'lying saga'. This term was used only in the sense of 'untrue story' but never as a generic term by the saga­ writers themselves, and it is in fact misleading as a description, since it falsely suggests that earlier types of sagas contained nothing but the truth. It is true, however, that "lying sagas" represent an important step in the di­ rection of modern fiction and a radical depar­ ture from the principles of earlier saga-writing. As an example we may take Gongu-Hrolfssaga (late 14th c.), which features an enormous Norse saga-hero who conquers traditional berserkers as well as more exotic foreign vil­ lains in a series of wildly phantastic, some­ times burlesque adventures and finally marries a Russ. princess at a courtly wedding de­ scribed in the most flamboyant rhetorical style of Fr. romances. The constant shift between different styles, fictional worlds and points of view shows that Gongu-Hrolfs saga is indeed not a traditional saga but a new type of literary construction, in some respects similar to a modern popular novel. In East Scandinavia the writers of prose en­ tertainment were not as inventive or produc­ tive as the Icelanders. Their texts were gen­ erally simple translations from ON (for example Karl Magnus and Didrikssagan, both from the 1 5th c.), from Lat. (for example Sju vise miistare, 1 5th c.), or from LG (for example Namnlosoch Valentin, ca. 1 450). Some of these texts may also to some extent be described as narrative hybrids, based on a mixture of courtly romance, exempla, and other genres. The only masterpiece is a short but hilariously funny goliardic satire, Skiimtan om abbotar (15th c.), often regarded as the first example of "carnivalesque" humour in Sw. 9.

Letters and legal texts

As both the state administration and local ad­ ministration grew and became more impor-

1193

tant, the production of all kinds of legal docu­ ments in the vernacular increased. Official let­ ters were composed in accordance with the rhetorical rules and conventional formulas prescribed by the masters of ars dictaminis, medieval epistolary art. They were then tran­ scribed, often by professional scribes, careful­ ly sealed, normally read aloud at some public gathering, and finally collected in archives, where they often had the status of official and legally binding diplomas. Their language was often, both in Sweden and Denmark, in­ fluenced by the Lat. of clerics or the LG of merchants and other immigrants in the new towns and trade centres. Private letters were, on the other hand, still practically non-existent until the 16th c. The language, style and ideology of law­ books changed considerably during this per­ iod as a result of centralization and changes in the power structure. The old provincial laws, which regulated justice at the regional level by providing concrete examples of legal cases from local experience, were replaced by national laws such as the Sw. Magnus Eriks­ sons landslag (ca. 1 3 50) and Kristoffers lands­ lag (1442), where the law was presented in the form of decrees issued by the King. Only the towns preserved the privilege of having laws of their own, but these laws were also central­ ized and, to an increasing extent, influenced by German law. As a result, legal language became more abstract, bureaucratic and in­ fluenced by LG. The foreign influence is par­ ticularly strong in the town laws, since the administration of the towns was often dominated by German immigrants. This influence is also obvious in the so­ called tiinkebok (LG denkebOk), which was kept by the secretary of the city council in ma­ jor Sw. towns during the later Middle Ages as an official record oftrials, litigations, finan­ cial transactions and other events of major concern to the administration. Many of these texts are of great interest as sources of social and linguistic history, since they occasionally let us hear the voices of the common towns­ people as plaintiffs, defendants, or witnesses in court.

10.

Didactic literature

Most works written for educational purposes were still in Lat., but at the end of the Middle Ages quite a few didactic texts, intended for a large secular audience, were also written in

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XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

the vernacular, for example the Dan. Ludda­ rius ('Lightbringer'), translated from G about 1 3 50. Like many other didactic works from this period it is composed in the fonn of a dialogue between a teacher (magister) and his student (discipulus), and it aims at giving in­ struction about the world not only from a theological perspective but also from a more secular point of view: it thus contains a brief summary ofwhat was known at the time about astronomy, geography, zoology etc. A similar Dan. work in dialogue form from the end of the 1 5th c. is called Sydrak; in addition to gi­ ving instruction about God's creation of the world and its various inhabitants, it also pro­ vides practical advice about social conduct, winemaking and various other useful skills. Another didactic genre which also provided geographical instruction was the travel book, for example Mandevilles rejse, a Dan. trans­ lation from the 15th c. of Johannes de Man­ deville's fanciful account of his travels in Asia in 1 355-56. In Dan. and Icel. manuscripts there are also various brief geographical trea­ tises and itineraries for pilgrims to Rome, San­ tiago de Compostela or Jerusalem. Political literature is represented most bril­ liantlyby the Sw. Schacktavelslek ('The Chess­ game'), a very free translation from Lat. and LG which presents the game of chess as an allegory of contemporary society and lectures about correct political behaviour in much the same spirit as The King's Mirror and similar works. Medical treatises were also quite popu­ lar, for example the Dan. Kvinders urtegard 'The garden of women', a 1 5th c. text about childbearing and childbirth. Peder Mansson, a Sw. monk from Vadstena who lived for many years in Rome but died as Bishop of Viisteras in 1 534, was the most prolific writer of didactic works during the later Middle Ages. In addition to various works in Lat., he wrote separate treatises in Sw. about medicine (Liikebok), political edu­ cation (Barnabok), warfare (Krigskonst), farming (Bondakonst), metallurgy (Bergsbok), stone-cutting (Stenskararkonst), and several other useful subjects. Most of his texts are translations or adaptations from Lat. or Ital. but are written in an excellent Sw. style, spiced with observations of his own. Finally, an important but sometimes for­ gotten didactic genre is the proverb (ordsprak, ordsprog), a type of ultrashort text that was not only extremely popular in the Middle Ages but was used in many different social contexts by learned clerics and unlearned fanners alike.

A collection of such proverbs in Dan., known as Peder Lales ordsprog, was made in Den­ mark in the late Middle Ages and used as a textbook in the schools. All of these proverbs are presented together with their Lat. equi­ valents, and it is evident that quite a few of them were in fact originally translated from Lat. Some of them may, however, have origi­ nated in the oral tradition as genuine popular sayings.

11.

What happened to "medieval" genres?

The literary genres were radically transfonned again in the turbulent 16th c. as a result of the Reformation, the introduction of printing, and the activities of learned Humanists in all the Scand. countries. The monasteries lost their position as cultural centres. Catholic texts were officially condemned by the authorities. Some kinds of religious texts, for example saints' lives, disappeared altogether, and most kinds of chivalric literary entertain­ ment as well as academic learning declined for almost a century. The texts of the Bible and various simple hymns, on the other hand, be­ came available in printed editions, and the same is true of certain secular types of texts promoted by the Humanists and by Protestant governments in major cities such as Copen­ hagen and Stockhohn. Some types of medieval texts, however, sur­ vived the Refonnation by becoming part of an oral or unofficial tradition not controlled by the State or the State Church. This is par­ ticularly true of ballads, proverbs and Icel. rimur, which continued to provide popular en­ tertainment in outlying districts of Nordic so­ ciety. Even some stories about the saints were preserved as popular legends in local folklore. And in remote Icel. farmhouses, saga manu­ scripts and lawtexts were still being tran­ scribed and transmitted in the old medieval way. Even in less literate environments, such as Sweden, at least some fragments of medi­ eval texts were preserved and committed to memory. Thus, although "medieval" genres were generally submerged by Protestant culture, they could partly survive by becoming inte­ grated into popular subcultures, where they even gave rise to new and less "medieval" texts. It was not until the early 1 9th c., how­ ever, that they again became generally recog­ nized as "literature" by the educated elite.

132. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations

12.

Literature (a selection)

Andersson, Roger (1993), Postillor och predikan: En medeltida texttradition i filologisk och funktionell belysning. StockhoM. Clover, Carol J.jLindow, John (cds.) (1985), Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A critical guide (Is­ landica XLV). Ithaca/London. Clunies Ross, Margaret (ed.) (2000), Old Icelandic literature and society. Cambridge. Dahlerup, Pil (1998), Dansk litteratur: Middelalder I II. K0benhavn. Ferm, OUe/Morris, Bridget (eds.) (1997), Master Golyas and Sweden: The transformation ofa clerical satire. StockhoM. Friis, Oluf(1937 1945), Den danske Litteraturs His­ torie I, Pra oldtiden til reJUrssancen. K0benhavn. Glauser, Jlirg (1983), Isliindische Miirchensagas: Studien zur Prosaliteratur im spiitmittelalterlichen Island (Beitrage zur nordischen Philologie 12). Basel/Frankfurt a. M. Holzapfel, Otto (1980), Det balladeske: PortElle­ maden i den Eldre episke folkevise. Odense. Hardelin, Alf (ed.) (1989), Pran hymn till skrona: Medeltida litteratur i ny belysning. Uppsala. Jansson, Sven-Bertil (1999), Den levande balladen: Medeltida ballad i svensk tradition. Stockholm.

132.

1195

L6nnroth, Lars/Delblanc, Sven (cds.) (1987, 1999), Den svenska litteraturen I, Pranforntid tillfrihetstid. Stockholm. Mitchell, Stephen (1991), Heroic sagas and ballads. Ithaca, N. Y. Olason, Vesteinn et al. (1992 93), fslensk bbk­ menntasaga I II. Reykjavik. Pulsiano, Phillip (ed.) (1993), Medieval Scandinavia: An encyclopedia. London/New York. Rossel, Sven H. (ed.) 1992, A history of Danish lit­ erature. Lincoln/London. Skautrup, Peter (1947), Det danske sprogs historie II. K0benhavn. Stahle, Carl Ivar (1955), Medeltidens profana lit­ teratur. In: Ny illustrerad svensk litteraturhistoria I. Porntiden, medeltiden, Vasatiden, ed. E. N. Tiger­ stedt. StockhoM. Strayer, Joseph R. (ed.) (1982 1989), Dictionary of the Middle Ages 1 13. New York. Wanne, Lars (ed.) (1996), A history of Swedish lit­ erature. Lincoln/London. Wendt, Bo-A. (1997), Landslagssprak och stadslags­ sprak: Stilhistoriska undersokningar i Kristoffers landslag (Lundastudier i nordisk sprakvetenskap A 53). Lund.

Lars Lonnroth, Goteborg (Sweden)

From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations I: Icelandic and Norwegian translations

1. 2. 3. 4.

Definitions and problems Translations for a Norwegian public Icelandic texts Literature (a selection)

1.

Definitions and problems

Translation has been defined as the linguistic reclothing of a given idea (Wollin 1981, 2). It is from this vantage point that the relevant texts of the period are discussed. Translations into Norwegian and Icelandic from the period 1 350-1550 are, with few exceptions, of a re­ ligious nature. The Icelandic material is much richer than the Norwegian, although many important texts only survive in fragmentary fonn. We often have no knowledge of where

and how the translations were made and far from all of the original source texts have been identified. A number of translated texts are only found in older editions that are unsatis­ factory for modern research purposes. There are no known surviving examples of a number of 16th c. printed texts. Many texts only exist in copied fonn, and some of these may be co­ pies made at several removes from the orig­ inal. It can be difficult to establish with any certainty which features belonged to the orig­ inal text and which were the result of later im­ provements or additions. It can also be diffi­ cult to identify errors made in the process of copying texts. Much of the textual material of the period has not been satisfactorily researched. Ana-

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XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

lyses of vocabulary and style and the relation­ ship of these features to the original texts need to be made. Linguistic and social contexts need to be examined too.

2.

Translations for a Norwegian public

The language of the major part of remaining texts for Norwegians has been termed Brigit­ tine Norwegian. These texts are based on Swedish vocabulary and forms of expression which the copyist, aware of his readership, adapted by employing particularly Norwegian words and stylistic conventions. Norwegian also partly influenced the syntax. The ms. Skokloster 5 4", from around the beginning of the 15th c., contains 25 texts which were obviously intended to be a repre­ sentative sample of the Revelations of St. Bridget. Here are to be found copies perhaps only one intermediate link from the original texts which, with one exception, must be dated back to the 1340s. These texts are considered to be fundamental to an understanding of St. Bridget's way of expressing herself. They were pro bably copied by two scribes, the renderings of one of them being more "Norwegianized" than the other's. A little more than a fifth of these texts are precise retranslations from Latin of Brigittine material, which had previ­ ously been translated into Latin from Swedish. The remaining texts appear to have as their source non-extant Swedish material which consisted of or was directly copied from autographs. A legal ms. (Codex Hardenbergensis) writ­ ten in Bergen around 1400 contains a Norwe­ gian rendering of a Brigittine text in which Christ gives the Virgin Mary nine instructions for judges to follow. This text is very similar to the corresponding section in the Revelations oj St. Bridget. A ms. from around 1450, Swedish National Archive Folio series 156, attributed to the Minorite Johannes de Nidrosia, contains 6 longer poems in knittelvers, i.e. popular, rhyth­ mic, somewhat irregular end-rhymed couplets. These are essentially religious, and one of them is written by a woman. The poem "Quar­ rel between body and soul" draws from the same group of Latin mss. as the slightly older and somewhat longer Old Swedish version of the poem. However, we do not possess any further knowledge about the internal relation­ ship between these two Nordic versions of it.

The same ms. also contains four texts, in rhyming prose, that were used in memorial toasts. There are also two prayers and a sup­ plication to the Holy Virgin and St. Anna re­ spectively. A prose fragment of a translation of a medieval work entitled Speculum Missre is also present. In addition, there are some words of Pope Gregory the Great on the sub­ ject of purgatory, as well as a couple of warn­ ings against mortal sin. Most of the original sources for this material have not yet been identified. The second half of the ms. contains, in 3345 rhymed knittelvers lines, the first two­ thirds of the poem about Ivan the Knight of the Lion. It had been translated into Swedish from French in the year 1 303 under the influ­ ence of an about fifty years older Norwegian prose version of the tale. The first section of a late 1 5th c. ms., Codex Linkopensis T 180, includes a book of miracle sermons. The text has Swedish words and word forms, but is also clearly influenced by Norwegian vocabulary, word forms and syn­ tax. The book represents an East Nordic text tradition, connected with the Vadstena monastery. The textual sources appear to principally be Dominican literature, which would have been imparted through a number of intermediate links (Andersson 1993). Texts of other provenances are extant in a sorcerer's book from ca. 1500, Vinjeboka, con­ taining medical advice for humans and ani­ mals, salve prescriptions and magical for­ mulae as well as 1 1 hymns to Mary. There are a number of Norwegian words and spel­ lings that find their way into the predominant­ ly Danish text. A number of the hymns con­ tain expressions from the Roman Catholic liturgy, while some would seem to have a German background. Greater use of particularly Norwegian words and expressions, however, is found in an unpublished medical guide from the Hard­ anger region, most likely originating in the first half of the 16th c. This book drew upon the Harpestreng material, but other sources were the Danish medical books of Christiern Pedersen and Henrik Smid from the 1530s (Garstein 1993, 44). 3.

Icelandic texts

3.1.

Spiritual guidance, edification, ecclesiastical matters

In the middle of the 1 4th c., the Transitus Marire, an account of the carnal assumption

132. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations

ofSt. Mary, was translated into Icelandic. The translation is based on a 1 3 th c. version that is otherwise only found in a Late Latin ms. from Italy. The Icelandic translator closely ad­ heres to the literary and grammatical patterns of this ms. In the 1 5th c. a nnrnber of exempla, so­ called ./EvintYri, were translated into Icelandic from Middle English. Forty-six of these have survived. Not all of these were translated at the same time. The main sources were a Middle English translation of an extended ver­ sion of the Latin collection Gesta Romanorum and the poem of penitence known as Handlyng Synne. The Icelandic translator, however, pro­ duced a prose text, maybe because he used a Middle English prose version as his inter­ mediate link. The Icelandic collection also contains texts whose sources have not yet been identified. The style of the translated exempla is gen­ erally clear and simple, with short sentences. The translations contain many loanwords from Middle English, and a number of old Icelandic words are used to convey English meanings. A number of Anglicisms appear in the syntax. 15th c. mss. of a work entitled Speculum penitentis (Pedersen/Louis-Jensen 1985) have survived, and it is probable that the Icelandic translation is not much older. This work, which aims at providing ethical guidance, is a compilation of material from a number of sources. Central parts of the text consist of elements from the Dominican prior Hugo Ripelin's Compendium theologicae veritatis. The translation suggests that the translator worked from a Latin text rather than from previously translated sources. He drew freely on the material to be found in Ripelin's compendium. In some places there are con­ siderable omissions and abridgements, while in others the Icelandic text is more elabo­ rate than the Latin original. In some places the original material was reorganized (McDougall 1996, 149). Another work from the prolific pastoral theology of the 1 4th c., the English cleric Will­ iam of Pagula's handbook Oculus sacerdotis, was translated into Icelandic in an abbreviated version, in around 1 3 50. The author partly built on material from Hugo Ripelin's Com­ pendium theologicae veritatis, and his Icelandic translator collected supplementary textual material from the same source (McDougall 1996, 1 8 5). He not infrequently omitted el­ ements considered superfluous. His attempt to

1197

use common, idiomatic language is evident in his choice of vocabulary; e.g. skinntik 'bitch'. Alliteration gives colour to the lan­ guage, particularly where the translator made his own additions to the text. Edifying material is found in the Reyk­ jah6Iab6k, the largest collection of saints' le­ gends from medieval Iceland to be found in a single ms. The prominent landowner Bjorn porleifsson from Reykjah6lar, born between 1450 and 1475, is considered responsible for compiling, translating and writing this ms. (Loth 1969, XXIX). His main source was Low German. However, Bjorn porleifsson created new textual versions by combining material from various sources or by inserting addi­ tional material from different editions of saints' legends. The language of the ms. has a number of distinctive features. There is clear Norwegian or Danish influence, e.g. mann as the nomi­ native form instead of the Icel. maour 'man'. Many loanwords and variant word forms have undoubtedly come from Norwegian or Dan­ ish. The translator also employed a number offashionable words with prefixes such asfor-, til-, and ut-. The use of double determination shows Norwegian influence. There is also a lack of concord, as well as unusual uses of tense and mood. German influence is to be seen in syntactic imitation, not least in the use of inversion. The text in the fragments of two different translations of material from the 1 51 8 edition of Christiern Pedersen's Danish Book of mir­ acle sermons was probably produced between 1 520 and 1540. The smaller of the two texts, on one leaf, contains a copy of two sections concerned with the Christmas period. The translator slavishly followed the collocations, word order and sentence structure of the orig­ inal, which frequently leads to a lack of textual fluency. The larger fragment, on seven leaves, is probably a copy of a translation relating to the Passion in Christiern Pedersen's Book of miracle sermons. Here the translation is more independent of the original. The result is a more precise rendering of the original text. The reformer Oddur Gottskalksson trans­ lated the German Lutheran Antonius Cor­ vinus' Kurtze Auslegung der Euangelien. This work was intended for heads of families and poor priests who could not afford books. This text, printed in 1546, is a thorough and precise rendering.

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XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Also preserved are two handwritten ms. leaves of Oddur GottskaIksson's translations from the Latin of Justus Jonas' Catechismus pro pueris et iuventute (Karlsson 1991). This contained both sermons and Luther's Little catechism. The Icelandic translation was prob­ ably made in the 1 540s. Several features from Oddur Gottskalksson's translation of the New Testament can be recognized. In a 1547 pastoral letter in which he cam­ paigned against the worship of images and saints, Bishop Gissur Einarsson of Skalholt included a translation of a section of six ques­ tions and answers from Johannes Spangen­ berg's Margarita theologica of 1 540 (O lason 1922, 595). Whether he translated more than this fragment is uncertain. However, a different translation of the complete work was published by Bishop Gisli Jonsson in 1558. Gissur Einarsson also translated the Danish Church Ordinance into Icelandic. This render­ ing is clearly based on the Latin and Danish versions, although the text is somewhat abridged. The content, as well as the choice of vocabulary, is adapted to Icelandic social and ecclesiastical conditions. 3.2.

Scripture

In around 1570, a ms. from the 1 3th c., con­ taining Vulgate versions of a number of David's Psalms, was given an interlinear Ice­ landic translation, which was inserted into most of the text (Uecker 1 970). This inter­ linear version is a copy of a translation that may be traced back to around 1450. However, it is based on a different Latin version than the one in the ms. The interlinear translation contains very few Danish and Low German loanwords and so has an archaic quality. However, in some places, the vocabulary was modernized by the unknown author. It is a word-for-word translation, but the translator obviously did not feel obliged to follow the Latin word order. Several aspects of trans­ lation technique and practice are similar to other Nordic translations from the same time. What is special about this translation, how­ ever, is the rendering of Latin nouns by Ice­ landic adjectives. Another Psalter translation is extant as text in the right-hand column of a ms. (AM 618 4") containing the Vulgate Book o f Psahns. This is probably a copy of Oddur Gottskalks­ son's original translation (Westergard-Nielsen 1977, 803). Typical features of Oddur's trans-

lation technique, such as his choice of words, characterize the text. In 1545-46, Bishop Gissur Einarsson trans­ lated Proverbs and the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach into Icelandic. His original was the 1541 edition of Luther's German Bible. The translation, however, is only known through copied versions. The Icelandic ren­ dering of Proverbs is as close to Luther's text as is possible. When the translation departs from Luther, it draws from the Vulgate. The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach was non-canonical in Lutheran churches. Thus, Gissur did not feel obliged to consider the Vul­ gate, the only alternative he could use, and also drew upon the Septuagint text. He was also influenced by Justus Jonas' Latin reren­ dering of Luther's text. The extant Icelandic version also shows, in certain sections, very close similarities to Peder Tidemand's some­ what free 1541 Danish translation of Luther's text. However, the most impressive work of the Reformation was Oddur Gottska.lksson's New Testament of 1 540. Oddur principally based his version on Luther's translation, us­ ing the Vulgate as a control text. In addition, he benefitted from Erasmus' translation from Greek to Latin. Oddur translated word for word, and used an unusually high number of German loanwords. Many of these borrow­ ings, however, had already entered the lan­ guage. He made relatively frequent use of the adverbial suffix -na, as in eilifgana ('eternal'). His style could vary greatly, according to the style of his sources. However, if the source texts were monotonous, he attempted to cre­ ate variation. The influence of German or Latin syntax was strong. However, he could also produce simple, idiomatic everyday lan­ guage with few loanwords as well as terse, pithy modes of expression. Oddur Gottskalks­ son's language gives clear evidence of his at­ tempt to elevate the words of the New Testa­ ment over everyday language. A fragment of a ms. written by Bjorn por­ leifsson after 1540 (Loth 1 970) contains the Revelation of John 4,6b-5,8 and 6,10, with inserted explanations and commentary. This is probably a part of an edifying text based on an original that is yet to be identified. In places there are great similarities with the corresponding text in Oddur Gottska.lksson's New Testament, and it would seem that this fragment must partly derive from his text.

132. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations

3.3.

Poetry

In Iceland it was not unusual to produce ver­ nacular paraphrases of liturgical poetry, or to integrate elements of Latin ecclesiastical po­ etry in vernacular verse. Parts of the rhyming officium, Historia de Domina in sabbato, writ­ ten by the Swedish bishop and saint Brynjolf Algotsson (died 1 317), appear to have been used in various Icelandic poems. There are also translated prayers. Above all, homage to the Holy Virgin was central to Icelandic po­ etry before the ideas of the Reformation gained ground. However, in many cases it can be difficult to determine whether poems are translations or of Icelandic origin. After Ave Maris stella was translated into West. Norse in the early 1 300s, the priest Hal­ lur Ogrnundarson produced a new and end­ rhymed translation ofthe same hymn two cen­ turies later. He used his translation as the first 8 verses of the poem "Srelust sj6var stjarna" 'Most Blessed Star of the Seas' (Helgason II, 64, 1 - 8). A number of features in the poem were more precisely rendered here than was the case in the earlier translation. However, there were also omissions and a re-ordering of certain lines. A poem to Mary, "Mariu nafn mea gleoi og pris" [The name of Mary with joy and praise] appears to have come into Icelandic from East Nordic in a superficially adapted form. Written on an empty page, it was added to a ms. no later than circa 1500 (Helgason II, 199-203). From the same time we also find a somewhat superficially "Icelandified" macaronic song to Mary " Hvao skal mig pann salugi mann" [What shall I, a poor man, say?]. The author was Per Rrev Lille, a prominent Danish poet who cultivated the courtly lyrical tradition (Helgason II, 269-270). One of the exempla translated from English in the 1 5th c. was given a poetic version in the form of "J6natansrirnur", a verse cycle of 3 long songs with different versifications. The English source text shines through clearly. When the Reformation came to the Skal­ holt diocese in 1541, the acute need for new hymns was met by a collection of 3 5 translated psahns edited by Bishop Marteinn Einarsson, known in Iceland as the Marteinssalmar. Many of the texts were traditional church hymns, some of them based upon the Book oj Psalms of the Old Testament. 1 8 of the hymns were translated from German, several being authored by Luther or translated into German by him. One is of Danish origin while

1199

others are based upon Danish translations. One is translated from Latin. In fact, when Latin versions were available, the translator generally drew upon them. Marteinn's trans­ lations were relatively free, although he kept the original keynotes and themes. He followed native tradition by employing Icelandic versi­ fication. The results of his endeavours have been given a mixed reception. However, his translations are often superior to the originals as far as rhyme and rhythm are concerned. His choice of words reflects Icelandic tradi­ tions. 3.4.

Main features and tendencies

The translators belonged to influential social circles, the majority of them being clerics. They responded to needs felt by themselves or others. Their audience was the common people, but they also translated for the clergy. They introduced strong and permanent in­ fluences from the language they translated from. It seems most likely that the translations that were best received by the domestic reader­ ship were those characterized by expressive versatility. The best translators were creative and flexible, combining domestic tradition and foreign influences. A basic requirement was that their work be comprehensible, and translators strove to adapt texts to their pub­ lic. The translators wished to elevate the lan­ guage by creating greater variation and ten­ sion than they found in the material they worked from. Through drawing upon tradi­ tional forms and styles, they attempted to es­ tablish an emotional link between their public and the material they transmitted and pre­ sented. It was very common to include additional notes for the purposes of explanation and specification. Words and expressions were of­ ten inserted for the purpose of making the text more fluent and idiomatic. Such additions were usually only minor alterations to the con­ tent of the original. Sometimes, powerful modes of expression in the original might be considerably toned down. Translated texts often contain grammatical inconsistencies and innovations. One way in which the influence of the originals may be seen is the use of the present participle to ex­ press future time. Another feature is the non­ Icelandic use of the numeral einn 'one' as the indefinite article. It was not unusual to turn a noun phrase into a verb phrase, but trans-

1200

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

lators seemed reluctant to substantivize adjec­ tives. Ponderous and wordy modes of expres­ sion could be replaced by simpler and more concrete ones. Foreign sentence structure and word order might, especially with less gifted translators, be reproduced, even if such con­ structions seemed strange to Icelanders. They could often make changes to the meaning of the original so as to be able to express themselves more freely in the native tongue. To this end, they might change tenses, or replace abstract formulations with more concrete images. The translators brought about a consider­ able expansion of the native vocabulary through making use of calques and foreign words. Through the translations, loanwords that had entered the language at an earlier date had their position secured. However, a living domestic written tradition and the older estab­ lished vocabulary guided the translators' work, and this could give their language an archaic quality. The tradition inspired an up­ dating of the vocabulary stock and the new material could lead to words developing new or changed meanings. A calque and a native word could often form a word pair, in which the Icelandic word would follow and explain the foreign one. Many translators strove to find adequate native words. Good translators might well translate the same word in different ways, depending on the textual context. They could, for pedagogic reasons, produce word couplets by means of eoa ('or') or og ('and') to mark an alternative or a supplementary meaning respectively. We often find word pairs created by a coupling of an older and more modern Icelandic word. In using this technique, translators were at­ tempting to reach as wide an audience as pos­ sible. At the same time, they were transmitting knowledge of semantic territories. The translated texts could diverge from the originals in several ways. They could be more dramatic, annotations could be inserted, repe­ titions could be omitted and so on. However, a general feature of the material is its fidelity to the original texts. Material from liturgical and non-liturgical sources was adapted to local needs. In the ren­ dering of Latin religious poetry into domestic verse forms there was room for verbose para­ phrasing and additions to the original text. Reformation church songs were, through the work of the translators, given a domestic identity in Iceland. Thus was created an im­ portant precondition for the later flowering of

domestic Icelandic Lutheran ecclesiastical po­ etry. In the period's final phase, translations both preserved Roman Catholic elements and es­ tablished the Lutheran influence. In the service of the Reformation, Icelandic translators be­ came promoters of a new ecclesiastical termi­ nology. These scholars exerted considerable influence on the development of Icelandic. 4.

Literature (a selection)

Andersson, Roger (1993), Postillor och predikan:. En medeltida texttradition ifilologisk ochfunktionell belysning (SaJlskapet Runica et Media:valia. Scripta minora 1). StockhoM. Garstein, Oskar (ed.) (1993), Vinjeboka. Oslo. Hauksson, porleifur/Oskarsson, Porir (1994), fs­ lensk stilfr;;roi. Reykjavik. Helgason, Jon (ed.) (1938), fslenzk miOaldakwroi II. Copenhagen. Hennannsson, Halldor (1916), Icelandic books of the sixteenth century (Islandica IX). Ithaca N.Y. Jorgensen, Peter A. (1972), The Icelandic transla­ tions from Middle English. In: Studies for Einar Haugen. Presented by friends and colleagues (eds. E. S. Firschow et al.). Haag/Paris, 305 320. Kalinke, Marianne E. (1996), The Book of Reyk­ jah6lar: The last of the great medieval legendaries. Toronto/Buffalo N.Y./London. Karker, Allan (1988), Bibelske randnoter. In: Saga og kirkja. Afnudisrit Magnusar Mas Larussonar (eds. G. Karlsson et al.). Reykjavik, 159 166. Karlsson, Stefan (1970), Brudstykker af Christiern Pedersens Ja:rtegnspostil i islandsk oversa:ttelse. In: Bibliotheca Arnamagna:ana XXX (Opuscula IV). K0benhavn, 211 256. Karlsson, Stefan (1991), Brot ur barnapredikunum ipybingu 9dds Gottskalkssonar. In: Landsbbkasafn Islands. Arbbk 1989. Reykjavik, 43 72. Loth, Agnete (ed.) (1969), Reykjahblabbk: Islandske helgenlegender (Editiones Arnamagna:ana:. Series A. Vol. 15). K0benhavn. Loth, Agnete (1970), Et islandsk fragment fra re­ fonnationstiden. AM 667, X, 4°. In: Bibliotheca Arnamagna:ana XXX (Opuscula IV). K0benhavn, 25 30. McDougall, Ian (1996), Latin sources of the Old Icelandic Speculum Penitentis. In: Bibliotheca Ar­ namagna:ana XL (Opuscula X). K0benhavn, 136 185. Olason, Pall Eg�ert (1922), Menn og mermtir siOskip­ taaldarinnar a Islandi II. Reykjavik. Moberg, Lennart (1998), Heliga Birgitta pa birgit­ tinnorska. Nagra sprakliga iakttagelser. In: Smiirre texter och undersokningar 2. (ed. Borje Tjader) (SSF Serie 3). Uppsala, 9 3 1 .

133. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations II Olason, Vesteinn et al. (1993) (eds.), fslensk b6kmenn­ tasaga II. Reykjavik. Oskarsson, Porir (1990), Sundurgreinilegar tungur. In: BibliujJyl5ingar i sogu og samtiO (Studia theologi­ ca Islandica 4), 203 221. Pedersen, Knud Hohne/Louis-Jensen, Jonna (eds.) (1985), Speculum penitentis. In: Bibliotheca Arn­ magnEana XXXVIII (Opuscula VIII). K0benhavn, 199 225. Petursson, Einar G. (1976), Mil5aldaEvintyri pydd ur ensku (Stofnun Arna Magnfusonar a Islandi rit 11). Reykjavik. Seip, Didrik Amp (1934), Norsk bibelmal. In: Studier i norsk sprbkhistorie. Oslo, 237 264. Uecker, Heiko (ed.) (1980), Der Wiener Psalter. Cod. Vind. 2713 (Editiones Arnmagna:ana:. Series B, vol. 27). Kopenhagen.

133.

1201

Westergard-Nielsen, Chr. (1957), To bibelske vis­ domsb@ger og deres islandske over levering (Bib­ liotheca Arnamagna:ana XVI). K0benhavn. Westergard-Nielsen, Chr. (1977), Lidt om to psal­ terhandskrifter i islandsk milj0. In: Sjotiu ritgerl5ir helgal5ar Jakobi Benediktssyni 20. juli 1977 II (eds. E.G. peturssonjJ. Kristjansson) (Rit Stofnunnar Arna Magnussonar a Islandi 12). Reykjavik, 790 806. Wollin, Lars (1981), Svensk latinoversiittning I (Lun­ dastudier i nordisk sprakvetenskap serie A nr 34). Lund. Wollin, Lars (1991), Tva sprak och fiera skikt: Up­ penbarelsernas texttradition. In: Birgitta, hendes wrrk og hendes klostre i Norden (red. T. Nyberg). Odense, 407 434.

Reidar Astas, T@nsberg (Norway)

From Old Nordic t o Early Modern Nordic: The language o f the translations II: Swedish and Danish translations

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Introduction Translation as a modern concept The genres The iniluence of translation on the East Nordic vernaculars Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

Linguistic developments in the late medieval East Nordic countries were conditioned by several radical, connected and coherent cul­ tural changes, such as the centralization of power and the emergence of a modern eco­ nomy, based on trade and crafts, mainly under the protection of the Hanseatic League. A new and dynamic urban culture, strongly coloured by clever German immigrants, was gradually consolidated. A widening proportion of the population was literate, and Low German in­ fluence on most levels oflanguage was becom­ ing heavy. The Reformation and humanism finally concluded the medieval scene. The modern national state, demanding a prestig­ ious national language, was established in the early 16th c.: in Sweden by King Gustav Vasa, with methodical and ruthless centralizing

measures; in Denmark under King Christian III in analogous though far from identical cir­ cumstances. The establishment of a Lutheran state church in the two countries had similar effects. The use of paper gradually replaced the older parchment in the 1 4th c., and printing was introduced during the Reformation pe­ riod. Both innovations radically changed the conditions for written language, the latter par­ ticularly facilitating mass production of texts, which was systematically made use of by the state and the church, with the eager assistance of loyal Reformation writers and translators. Late medieval literature in the vernacular seems still - like in the preceding epoch (cf. art. 1 1 2) - to have been more extensive (though not necessarily more important) in Sweden than in Denmark. In the Vadstena Monastery in particular, the production of text was dramatically increasing, in Swedish as well as in Latin. The extant sources give the general, though perhaps deceptive, impres­ sion of a somewhat less dynamic development of such vernacular text production in contem­ porary Denmark. During the Reformation period, though, the picture is the reverse: be-

1202

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

sides the powerful achievements of Bible translation, the literary culture of 16th c. Sweden was poor, whereas Denmark enjoyed a relative cultural prosperity.

2.

Translation

as

a modern concept

Two fundamental innovations in East Nordic linguistic and literary culture took place dur­ ing this period. Both concern translation, and both are directly connected with the growth of vernacular writing mentioned above, i.e. they occurred within an interval of about one and a half centuries. The earlier innovation was the relatively sudden emergence in the later 14th c. of a translational norm directed at an (equally relative) equivalence between source and target texts. The latter was a revalu­ ation, brought about by the reformers, of the very purpose of translation, ending in the translators' deliberate endeavours - within the framework of equivalence - to write in an ade­ quate national language. 2.1 .

The norm of equivalence

The concept of translation is normally under­ stood today as the replacement of material in a given language with reasonably equivalent material in another language. Though always relative, this norm of equivalence principally demands the content, textual arrangement and linguistic form of the source text to be immediately discernible in the target text, at least on the level of, roughly, the grammatical sentence. Translation in this sense is conditioned by a relatively advanced stage of literacy . Histori­ cally, it often succeeds a former and different relationship between texts in foreign lan­ guages and vernacular writings more loosely or vaguely modelled on them. Certainly, pre­ faces of 1 3 th c. Swedish and Danish provincial laws offer examples of deviations following this modern spirit from the "paraphrase cul­ ture" then prevalent (cf, art. 1 1 2). But the real transition to a new phase of literacy did not take place until the beginning of the epoch dealt with here, in the monastically based lit­ erature of the early Union period - actually with the "Swedification" of St. Bridget's Rev­ elations. At least in a Swedish perspective, this break appears to have been strikingly abrupt. Once introduced, equivalent translation was rapidly consolidated, soon becoming estab­ lished as a basic and quite normal - not to

say a dominant - channel for the production of texts within a small linguistic area like the Swedish. This does not exclude, however, the occurrence of a certain lag for some types of text, and consequently a few instances of over­ lap between the two "cultures". Particularly in the legend genre, Latin sources were ren­ dered at least to some extent paraphrastically even during the late Union period. The centre of this important innovation in East Nordic literacy was situated in the pro­ vince of O stergotland in southeastern Sweden: the monastery of Vadstena, founded in the late 14th c. and inspired by St. Bridget's revo­ lutionary life-work. During the Union epoch, this institution enjoyed great prestige, based on rapidly growing economic resources. Throughout the Middle Ages it was a power to be reckoned with. Its literary activity was extensive, richly varied, stable and advanced, which is mirrored by some two thousand vol­ umes in the monastic library. The size of this book collection (the main part of which is still extant) was unique in contemporary Scandi­ navia, equalled by few libraries even in Euro­ pe. The literary work in the monastery was closely connected with the ordinary duties of the brethren: as preachers to the people, as confessors for the sisters and - not least - as translators of texts considered worthy of translation by those responsible (probably the abbess and the general confessor). During the entire Union epoch, Vadstena friars, who were skilled in Latin, translated into Swedish large quantities of religious literature almost exclu­ sively in Latin and within practically all genres prevalent at the time. This body of translation work was an important pioneering achieve­ ment in East Nordic literacy. In addition, it provided an example for similar activities in several subordinate Birgittine congregations, such as those at Nddendal outside TurkujAbo in Finland and Maribo on Lolland in Den­ mark. The concern for the spiritual needs of the sisters, who were unschooled in Latin, was probably a main driving force behind this in­ dustrious monastic translation. Another rea­ son may have been the demand for edifying reading among the more or less literate aris­ tocracy, which in different ways shared its in­ terests with the monastery: the nobility made substantial donations to the Birgittine Order, and a great many of its daughters were re­ cruited for the sisters' convent. The monastery ofVadstena was a dynamic text-producing in­ stitution, efficiently meeting the demands of an increasingly literate readership.

133. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations II

2.2.

The ideology of national language

Fundamentally, the historical linguistic im­ portance of the Swedish and Danish re­ formers' Bible translation, like that of corre­ sponding translations in other Lutheran coun­ tries, is not a question of ecclesiastical au­ thority but of language ideology. To Martin Luther himself, the Bible was not only a text unlike any other: as one of the great ideolo­ gists in the history of European translation, he even demanded that the biblical message should be rendered as faithfully as possible in spirit, though, and in content without slavishly adhering to the letter. Translating the Bible, said Luther, meant writing so that com­ mon, uneducated people could understand you. Employing modern terms, we might say that Luther aimed at "dynamic equivalence" in translating, not at "formal correspon­ dence" (Nida 1964). In Sweden and Denmark, this Lutheran translation doctrine was deliberately and en­ ergetically implemented. As in other countries touched by the Reformation, it had extensive, deep-seated, and lasting effects on the attitude to a national language, and with that indirect­ ly even on the national language itself. The reformers' translating achievements probably mark the definite settling up with the Vadstena community's tacit notion of a vernacular lan­ guage for everyday use which only imperfectly mirrored the magnificence of Latin. This idea was replaced with the deliberate endeavour to effectively use an adequate national language. From then on, translating no longer meant imitating, but rather writing afresh. 3.

The genres

Several more or less vernacular literary genres cultivated during this period in Sweden and Denmark are immediately of interest from the perspective oftranslation. They are treated be­ low according to their occurrence in the older (Union) and the younger (Reformation) pe­ riod. 3.1.

The Union period

The majority of texts translated into the late medieval East Nordic vernaculars falls within the religious sphere. The extensive and impor­ tant genres are: St. Bridget's Revelations; leg­ ends and biographies; sermons; the Bible; ec­ clesiastical and Christian didactic writing; mysticism and edification. Even secular genres

1203

occur, such as entertainment and didactics, as well as professional prose. The survey below refers to Swedish literature, and only when ex­ plicitly stated to Danish. 3.1.1.

St. Bridget's Revelations

St. Bridget, the dominant figure of medieval Sweden, had received her so-called Reve­ lations in the Swedish language and repro­ duced them orally or in writing. Only in some rare fragments has this original version been preserved (or at least copied). It may have looked like this: En kom til min doom, til hulkin min fadhir sagde: [One came to my judgement, to whom my father said:]

In the middle of the 14th c., St. Bridget's father confessors translated this into Latin - "im­ proving" it: Etvenit quidamiudicandus ante tribunal. Cui vox patris sonuit, dicens ei: [And came someone to be judged before the tri­ bune. To whom the father's voice sounded, saying hlln:]

The text has been embroidered, more stylisti­ cally than in content. In the 1 3 80s, this Latin version was translated (or retranslated) in Vadstena into Swedish. The resulting text very clearly links up with the Latin: Oc en kom fore min domstol, hulkin som skulle damas. Ok guz fadhurs rast liude sighiandhe honom: [And one came before my tribune, who should be judged. And God's Father's voice sounded saying him:]

This latter Old Swedish version ofSt. Bridget's Revelations is directly comparable to the Latin original, not always word for word but normally phrase by phrase. The text is the product of the oldest large-scale translation into Swedish ever made within the framework of the ' 'new" translation culture strictly based on the principle of equivalence. This type of Swedification of a comprehen­ sive, canonical text corpus was a pioneering achievement, leading to the founding of a school in the monastery. Over one and a half centuries, it was followed by translators of other important religious literature, mainly biographical, homiletic, biblical-historical and edifying. The Revelations seem to have been trans­ lated also into Danish; however, some frag-

1204

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

ments conserved as covers of contemporary manuscripts are all that remains of this. 3.1 .2.

Legend and biography

Medieval East Nordic legend literature has been handed down especially in the Swedish language, whereas very little has been preserved in Danish, although originally it was certainly abundant. During the Middle Ages, two great separate traditions of the Old Swedish legends were flourishing, each dealing with about one hundred saints. The tradition of Fornsvenska legendariet [The Old Swedish collection of legends, FL] was the older one, which had developed already in the preceding Folkunga epoch (art. 1 1 2) and continued throughoutthe Middle Ages. The younger - Birgittine - tra­ dition originated and was mainly cultivated at the monastery ofVadstena in the 1 5th and early 16th c. The legends of the FL tradition were written in a mainly narrative, "legendary" style, popu­ lar and straightforward, with relatively simple syntax. Such texts were obviously intended to entertain and addressed a broad public. The Birgittine audience, on the other hand, was exclusively monastic, which favoured a " hagio­ graphical", more abstract style, which was Latinate and complex. The difference is closely related to the divergent methods of transfer when rendering Latin source texts in Swedish: the new ideals of equivalence at Vadstena con­ trast with the loose norm system of the old paraphrase culture which still governed the FL tradition. The late medieval legend genre, then, appears stylistically split along two prin­ cipal lines, for which a clash in translation norms was part of the background. It is the Birgittine line that won out historically. Of the same biographical chararacter as the legend genre and partly overlapping with it are the often extensive collections of sundry omens and "exempla", translated mainly at Vadstena. Famous representatives ofthe genre are the so-called Jiirteckensboken [The book of portents], about two hundred stories of omens in a manuscript written in 1 3 85, and a Swedish version of the popular biographical work Vitae patrum. A compilation of, i. a., the former work and the high medieval Penta­ teuch paraphrase is Sixlinna thr@st [The soul's consolation], collected after 1 420, mainly fol­ lowing a Low German original. The Swedish version of Sixlinna thr@st was then translated into Danish; the resulting Danish text is still extant.

3.1.3.

Sermons

Preaching was one of the most wide-spread forms of public expression in medieval West­ ern Europe. Even in Sweden and Denmark, homilies belonged to the oldest, though not primarily written, genres. More than a thou­ sand mss. with a homiletic content are pre­ served today, the majority in Latin, a few dozen in the vernacular. The main portion of the latter is in Swedish, but two large mss. (Cod. Ups. C 56 and GkS 1390 4") contain sermons translated from Swedish into Danish. There is every indication that the preachers prepared their sermons in Latin and delivered them orally in the vernacular (Andersson 2001). Such a procedure of course included a considerable element of translation. This liv­ ing interplay between Latin writing and ver­ nacular speech within a central genre, culti­ vated extensively throughout the Middle Ages, was probably of significance for the de­ velopment of the preachers' own competence in their native tongue, maybe even for that of their audience - particularly within the partly abstract and exotic semantic spheres where preaching often moved. Fundamentally, the structure of the medi­ eval sermon corresponded to the classical pat­ tern: the day's text, normally drawn from one of the gospels, was read in full, after which followed an exposition on the same piece of text. The particular chapters of each gospel were selected according to a set system. The translation of these so-called pericopes was normally strictly equivalent, whereas the ex­ position rendered the Latin source texts more paraphrastically. 3 . 1 .4.

The Bible

The so-called Pentateuch paraphrase from the early 14th c. is the great biblical work in Old Swedish, still in a sense a piece of living lit­ erature (cf. art. 1 1 2). In the period treated here, the oldest Swedish text translated from the Bible is a version of the Acts of the Apostles, dated 1 385. From the late 1 5th c. or about 1500, seven translations of different books of the Bible have been preserved. The first six render some of the historical (partly apocryphal) books of the Old Testament which follow the Pentateuch and are at­ tributed to two well-known translators in the Birgittine tradition: the Vadstena friar Nico­ laus Ragvaldi, and a monk at a subsidiary monastery ofVadstena in Nadendal, Finland, Jons Budde. The latter was the most industri-

133. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations II

ous translator into Swedish in the Middle Ages - and one of the cleverest. The seventh of these late medieval Swedish biblical texts is an anonymous translation of the Apoca­ lypse. Thus, Old Swedish Bible translation was carried out over two centuries. It com­ prised books from the beginning and the very end of the Scriptures, homilies which include pericopes from the sections in between, as well as some scattered minor, liturgical material, but no books. The 1 385 version of the Acts is a paraphras­ ing rendering, whereas Ragvaldi and Budde in all their works unequivocally represent the new ideal of equivalence. With that, in the gen­ eration preceding the Reformation, Bible translation into Old Swedish had finally cast off the loose norms of the old paraphrase cul­ ture. In Danish, medieval biblical texts have been preserved in two major texts: a section of an early translation of Davids psalmer [The Book of Psahns] and the so-called /Eldste danske bi­ beloversrettelse [The Oldest Danish Bible translation] from the late 1 5th c., comprising the twelve first books of the Old Testament. Structurally, the latter text falls into a separate category, due to the translator's slavish ren­ dering ofthe Vulgate Latin (cf. Haastrup 1968, and sect. 4.1.). 3.1.5.

Church texts and Christian didactics

For the divine service as well as for basic edu­ cation in Christian faith, the church needed a comprehensive set of usable and reasonably intelligible texts. Throughout the Middle Ages, this kind of literature was produced mainly through translation and revision of continental originals in Latin, to some extent even by fresh renderings oftexts already trans­ lated into (very rarely written directly in) other European vernaculars. Breviaries were a genre cultivated in this way in both Sweden and Denmark. One extensive work is the Jungfru Marie ortagard [The Virgin Mary's garden], comprising the Vadstena sisters' liturgy, trans­ lated into Swedish in 1510 at the latest. An­ other prominent text in this genre is the dia­ logically composed textbook Lucidarius, the medieval precursor of the Catechism. Based on the famous Latin 12th c. version of Hono­ rius Augustodunensis, this work was para­ phrased in Danish from a Low German ver­ sion, probably in the middle of the 14th c. (it is preserved today in a late 1 5th c. ms. and in a print from 1 510; cf. 4.1.), as well as being

1205

translated into Swedish in two editions: one older, abridged, possibly contemporary with the Danish, and one younger, complete, by Jons Budde in 1487. The latter is a modern, equivalent translation. 3 . 1 .6.

Mysticism and edification

A particularly Birgittine genre comprised the texts of medieval Christian mysticism. Ten of these - some with a central position in con­ temporary Roman Catholicism (Hiirdelin 1998, 455 f.) - were translated into Swedish at Vadstena, most of them in the late 1 5th c. or around 1500. In two cases the translator is known: the Cistercian collection of revelations Liber spiritualis gratiae by St. Mechtild of Hackeborn and the tract Claustrum animi [Sjiilens kloster] were both translated into Swedish by Jons Budde, mentioned above. The other translations are anonymous; among them are works attributed (incorrectly) to St. Bernhard of Clairvaux and to St. Bonaven­ tura. Horologium divinae sapientiae [Gudeliga snilles vackare] by Henrik Suso was an impor­ tant book. The spiritual needs of the nuns, normally unschooled in Latin, may have been a vital 0 bject of this translating activity, which is suggested not least by the Swedish rendering of a comprehensive book of Benedictine piety: Speculum virginum [Jungfruspegeln]. This kind of literature was translated even into Danish. Major texts extant today are the Danish versions of the above-mentioned Horologium by Suso and of the four books of Thomas a Kempis, entitled De imitatione Christi. Further, fragments are preserved of texts translated into Danish and attributed to St. Bonaventura, as well as some individual revelations of St. Mechtild, comprised in breviaries; it has been considered, that both the latter text groups are based in some cases on translation from Swedish (which is guard­ edly confirmed for the Danish Mechtild prayers by Frederiksen 1 984). 3 . 1 .7.

Secular entertainment and didactics

Historical epic literature consisting of prose or rhymed chronicles is predominant in this genre. One of the oldest is the Konung Alexan­ der [King Alexander], written about 1 3 80, painting in more than ten thousand doggerel verses the life and deeds of Alexander the Great. The Swedish work is based on a Latin prose story from the 1 0th c. The anonymous translator worked independently, yet stayed close to the text, achieving a kind of balance

1206

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

between the older tradition of paraphrase and the younger attempts at equivalence that is typical of the translated literature within the genre. In some cases, this secular literature of the 1 5th c. Union epoch has West Nordic orig­ inals, based on older Low German material or on French chansons de geste. This is the background of two stories drawn from clas­ sical Germanic folk-tales: the saga of Karl Magnus (written about 1 400) and of Dideric oj Bern (ca. 1410). Possibly, and partly, based on a West Nordic original is the story of Barlaam and Josaphat (ca. 1440). The West Nordic St. OlaJ's Saga is the basis of an abridged and rhymed Swedish adaptation: Historia Sancti Olai (ca. 1450), glorifying the struggle against the Danes by St. Olav and the Swedish king Anund. The remaining translation within this genre is based directly on Latin or Low German originals. The chivalrous prose novel Namnlos och Valentin [Nameless and Valentine], ca. 1450, renders a versified Low German adap­ tation of a French original. An entertaining collection of short stories in the style of the Arabian Nights, Sju vise miistare [Seven wise masters] is extant in three mutually independ­ ent translations: two from Latin (both early 1 5th c.) and one from Low German. Another, similar collection is rhymed: Schacktavelslek [The play of chess], ca. 1465, a didactic poem about the duties of the social classes, allegori­ cally compared to chessmen; the principal source is a Latin tract from the late 1 3 th c., revised in a secondary Low German version. To the very last works of medieval Swedish translations belongs the Historia Trojana [Tro­ jan history], written in 1529, rendering a late 1 3 th c. revision in Latin prose of a French epic some hundred years older. An important text, traditionally dated to the late Middle Ages and praised for its sty­ listic qualities, is the famous little piece Skiim­ tan om abbotar [A joke on abbots], which, however, probably originated in the preceding epoch (cf. art. 1 1 2). The Danish medieval remnants ofthe genre are few. However, a version of the Karl Mag­ nus chronicle is preserved in a Danish ms. dated 1480. 3.1 .8.

Professional texts

The Birgittine friar Peder Mansson, who was later a bishop, occupies a special position. He was active in Rome in the early 1 6th c. in the

service of his order, translating - in a strongly paraphrasing manner - several Latin and Italian tracts on various subjects, such as the education of children (Barnaboken, by Eras­ mus Roterodamus), mining (Bergsbok), medi­ cine (Liikarebok), warfare (Stridskonst) and agriculture (Bondakonst, his most renowned work, by Columella).

3.2.

The early Reformation period

In both Sweden and Denmark, literary activ­ ity in the first decades of Reformation is to a very large extent - in Sweden more or less ex­ clusively - a question of translating the Bible into a current vernacular. The great inspira­ tion was, of course, Martin Luther. He was the leading ideologist, as well as the originator of the governing example: the High German Bible, which he continued to revise from the first translation of the New Testament in 1522 up to the final Wittenberg version ofthe entire Bible in 1545. The leading men of letters - and the most prominent translators - during this initial phase ofthe Scandinavian Reformation were Olaus Petri in Sweden and Christiern Pedersen, Poul Helgesen and Hans Tausen in Denmark. With the exception of Poul Hel­ gesen, they were all active as translators of the Bible as well as in other fields. In Denmark, Reformation literature was strikingly rich and varied - which is remark­ able compared not only to the relatively meagre Danish vernacular literature of the Middle Ages but also to the contemporary Swedish scene. In Denmark, too, the process was somewhat more drawn out and compli­ cated. Whereas the Reformation in Sweden was introduced officially through a resolution taken by the Viisterils Riksdag in 1527, the corresponding parliamentary decision in Den­ mark did not corne until 1536 in Copenhagen. Even the important work on a national Bible was faster in Sweden, where the main actors were fewer: the final result, the monumental complete Bible in the vernacular, was attained in Sweden with Gustav Vasa's Bible in 1541, whereas the Danish Christian Ill's Bible ap­ peared only in 1550. 3.2. 1 .

Bible translations

The Swedish reformers' very first translating achievement was the New Testament in 1526. The principal sources seem to have been the Latin version of the Renaissance edition by

133. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations II

Erasmus Roterodamus together with some versions of Luther's early translation; the lat­ ter seem to have been in Low German as well as High German (cf. Sjogren 1949; Evers 1 984). Obviously, these sources were impor­ tant in varying proportions in different sec­ tions of the text. The translation is probably the result of teamwork, headed by the two dominant figures of the Reformation in Sweden: the royal chancellor Olaus Petri and Archbishop Laurentius Andrere. This pioneering Reformation translation of the New Testament has numerous linguistic traits which testify to its being completed rapidly. Very soon after 1526, work on trans­ lating the Old Testament, as well as revising the 1526 translation, was begun. The aim was a complete, linguistically as well as politically adequate, Swedish Bible. Accessible parts of Luther's ongoing High German translation had presumably been used as sources for a provisional print-run offour books of the Old Testament (Davids Psaltare, Salomos ord­ sprlik, Salomos vishet and the apocryphal Jesu Syraks bok) which were published in 1536. As early as in 1534, however, Luther's first complete Bible had appeared in Wittenberg, some of it in a heavily revised linguistic form. Revision ofthe Swedish translation according to this more recent German original, as well as some stylistic polishing of the Swedish text, was probably part of the work resulting in 1 541 in the printing of the first complete Bible in Swedish, the monumental Gustav Vasa's Bible. In all probability, the text of the Vasa Bible is the product of a new team, now headed by Archbishop Laurentius Petri. Pre­ sumably, each parish in Sweden immediately acquired a copy of the new Bible. It has been proved that the Vasa Bible relates more closely and consistently with the (High German) Luther Bible than did the 1526 New Testament translation. In addition, it is more tangibly translated in a Lutheran spirit. This means that Luther's program for a common vernacu­ lar Bible, understandable even to ordinary people, was now realized more radically in Sweden. The first Reformation translation of the Bible into Danish - and into any Nordic ver­ nacular - is the so-called Christiern II's New Testament, printed in 1 524. The text is the product of teamwork, and the main sources used were Luther's 1522 New Testament and the Latin version of Erasmus Roterodamus. The translation seems not to have been very graciously received, and the way was paved

1207

for Christiern Pedersen, then a canon at Lund, to publish a new Danish version of the New Testament in 1529 in which, nevertheless, in­ fluences from the preceding work have been traced. Even then, however, the principal sources were Luther's 1522 version and the Latin text, this time in the Vulgate rather than Erasmus' version. In 1531 this New Testament appeared in a new edition, and in the same year Christiern Pedersen published a transla­ tion of the Psahns, based partly on the Vulgate and partly on Luther's High German trans­ lation of the Old Testament, which he had worked on during the period 1523-34. Peder­ sen's translation of the Psalms seems to have been quite independent of the Danish version of the same text which had recently (1 528) been translated by the Dutchman Frans Wor­ mordsen. Two further Danish translations ofparticu­ lar books or series of books of the Old Tes­ tament appeared in the 1 530s and around 1 540. The first one was the work of the Copen­ hagen preacher Hans Tausen and comprises the Pentateuch, printed in 1535. The transla­ tion is based on the Hebrew text, the Vulgate version, and Luther's 1 523 version of the Old Testament. Tausen's translation has been praised for its vigorous, bold and popular, strikingly vivid style, with rich, often genui­ nely Danish vocabulary; it has been judged as the most distinctive Danish Bible translation before modern times (Skautrup 1947, 1 52). The second Old Testament translation was carried out by the clergyman Peder Tidemand. It comprises the book of Judges, printed in 1 539, and the Proverbs and Syrach, printed in 1 541. The sources in both cases were the Vulgate and different editions of Luther's High German complete Bible; an important role (particularly in Judges) was also played by Luther's Low German 1534 version, in the Judges also by the Septuagint, possibly also by the Hebrew version. Tidemand received praise as a Danish stylist. After the Copenhagen Rigsdag meeting in 1 536, the extensive, apparently even rather complicated, preparations for the complete Danish Bible began. The detailed character of the process is disputed (Jacobsen 1913 - 14; Skautrup 1947; Molde 1949; Karker 1997). Obviously, however, two different versions of a complete Danish Bible existed in March 1 543, produced by, respectively, Hans Tausen and Christiern Pedersen; neither of these ver­ sions was printed. Instead, a Bible commission was set up by King Christian III in 1545, as-

1208

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

signed with the task of preparing and printing a complete translation of the Bible into good Danish, as closely adapted to the text of Luther as permitted by the Danish language. The work was concluded at midsummer in 1550 with the printing in Copenhagen of the second monumental work of Nordic Refor­ mation Bible translation: Christian Ill's Bible (the third was the Icelandic Guobrandsbiblia in 1 584). According to the modern view, the royal commission worked mainly with Chris­ tiern Pedersen's 1543 text, whereas Tausen's contemporary version has disappeared. Prac­ tically all conceivable sources have been traced behind the translation: Luther's last revised complete Bible, the 1545 Wittenberg edition, which as expected is dominant; the Vulgate; Erasmus (in the Latin version); the majority of the previous Danish Reformation transla­ tions; and the Swedish Vasa Bible of 1541 (Molde 1949). 3.2.2.

Other genres

Closely related to, and partly coordinated with, Bible translations was the vernacular rendering of other religious literature. Two collections ofsermons appeared in Danish: the so-called Jrertegnspostillen, a translation by Christiern Pedersen in 1 51 5 , which he later dis­ owned because of its Roman Catholic con­ tents, and a genuinely Reformation collection, translated by Hans Tausen in 1539. The first Reformation homiletic work in Swedish was a collection of sermons translated from Luther by Olaus Petri in 1 528. This book was suc­ ceeded by a partly original work by Glaus in 1530 (En lijten Postilla), which also included a Swedish version of Luther's Catechism (Bet­ buchlein); the latter text was translated into Danish (En ny Bedebog) in 1538. The first Danish hymnbook appeared in 1528, the Malm@salmebogen. with hymns mainly by Lu­ ther, translated by Claus Mortensen (soon re­ vised by Chr. Pedersen and Tausen). Even sa­ tirical literature, conditioned by contempor­ ary religious controversies, is represented by translations, such as the Danish Dialogus in 1533, which made fun of the Catholic mass. Sundry minor, popular books comprised translations, often anonymous, of secular lit­ erature. The industrious Chr. Pedersen, too, published, in the tradition of Harpestr",ng (cf. art. 112, 3.6.), a medical book (En n@ttelig Legebog) in 1533, with material drawn and translated from Latin and German sources. He also published some chronicles in 1 534:

Kong GIger Danskis Kr@nicke which he trans­ lated from a Latin version of a French orig­ inal, and Keyser Karlls Magnus Kr@nicke which he revised from an Old Danish trans­ lation of a Norwegian translation of a Latin original (cf. 3 .1 .7.). The didactic genre is re­ presented by a translation by Poul Helgesen of Erasmus Roterodamus' Een christen Furstis Wnderwiisning oc LEere [The erudition and tu­ ition of a Christian prince] in 1 522 (revised and printed 1534). As can easily be seen, literary culture flourished in Denmark at this time, but not in Sweden. This difference was accentuated in the further course of the Reformation epoch.

4.

The influence of translations on the East Nordic vernaculars

At the beginning of this period, a reasonably uniform Swedish - and, as far as can be judged, even Danish - written language had been established on the basis of the spoken language (the dialects) in each country, re­ spectively. This language developed in a mod­ ern direction during the Union period, not least within the framework of a new kind of translation. The revolutionary events of the Reformation once again changed the condi­ tions radically. 4. 1 .

The Union period

The new translation practice during the Union epoch, directed at equivalence between source and target texts, provided a catalyst for the target languages, with powerful and lasting ef­ fects. Initially, and in general, it meant that the grip of Latin on the formal linguistic struc­ ture became firmer. This late written medieval language was stiffer and heavier, in a sense less "genuine", than in the preceding epoch. The hypothesis was suggested in art. 1 1 2 that translators' use of paraphrasing, representing a formally independent treatment of foreign text sources, favoured the use of domestic el­ ements in the development of new termino­ logy. In contrast, a strict formal adherence to Latin source texts, as happened in late medi­ eval "equivalent" translation, had the oppo­ site effect, leading to increased preference for the adoption of loanwords as well as copying Latinate modes of expression. This is tentatively confirmed on the lexical level in the vocabulary of the religious sphere in Old Swedish in some modern studies (par-

133. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations II

ticularly Thors 1957). Though exact quantifi­ cation is not feasible here, the share of loan­ words pertaining to Christian and church vo­ cabulary seems generally to be far larger than was the case in the preceding epoch. Among words not recorded until late medieval sour­ ces, it is very easy to find direct loans from Latin (or Latinized Greek), such as diskant 'treble'; lector, hektar 'lecturer', Mod.Sw. lek­ tor; liikza, liikze 'lesson', Mod.Sw. liixa; (p)salmber 'psahn', Mod.Sw. psalm; ymna 'hymn', Mod.Sw. hymn, from, respectively, discantus, lector, lectio, psalmus and hymnus. Even the number of Low German loanwords had increased and was now significant, i. e. bekrenna(s) 'confess', Mod.Sw. bekiinna; bekxnnilse 'confession', Mod.Sw. bekiinnelse; stikt 'diocese', Mod.Sw. stift; xmbite 'office', Mod.Sw. iimbete, from, respectively, beken­ nen, bekantnisse or bekentnisse, sticht(e) and ambet or amt (or similar forms). Terms fab­ ricated on domestic, Nordic material are less frequent, though not absent, i.e. almiinneliker 'catholic, universal', Mod.Sw. allmiinnelig; haghmiissa 'high mass', Mod.Sw. hagmiissa; lofsanger 'song of praise', Mod.Sw. lovsang; upbyggia 'edify', Mod.Sw. uppbygga; upbyg­ gilse 'edification', Mod.Sw. uppbyggelse. With the exception ofthe third word, these are loan­ translations from their Latin equivalents: catholica (ecclesia), summa missa, canticus, aedificare and aedificatio. Most of the words above, though not all of them, are also recorded in Danish medieval sources (primarily the Lucidarius and the Old Danish Bible translation) with similar forms and meanings: legsx, Mod.Dan. lektie; psalm(e), Mod.Dan. salme; ymne, Mod.Dan. hymne; bekendelse, Mod.Dan. bekendelse; stigt, Mod.Dan. stift; embed(e), Mod.Dan. embede; almrennrelik, Mod.Dan. almindelig; h@gmesse, Mod.Dan. h@jmesse; lov(e)sang, Mod.Dan. lovsang; opbyggelse, Mod.Dan. op­ byggelse. Those not recorded until in some­ what later Danish sources (e. g. in Tausen's Bible translation), however, are frequent in modern Danish and probably were so even in the late Middle Ages. Some of these and simi­ lar Old Danish words have even been sugges­ ted as models for the Old Swedish equivalents (e. g. bekrennilse, possibly from Dan. beken­ delse, Thors 1957, 222). Though no extensive investigations have been made, there are some minor studies indicating that domestic words used in a particular mid-14th c. Danish trans­ lation (the paraphrasing version of Lucidarius, cf. 3 . 1 .5.) tend to be replaced by Low German

1209

loanwords. In a late 1 5th c. ms. of this text, compared to a still later revised and printed version (1510), we read, respectively, anbuth and retskap 'instrument' , vxme and deglege 'lovely', tluef and smag 'taste'; the former word in each pair is domestic, the latter a Low German loanword (Skautrup 1947, 97-101). We should bear in mind, though, that the evi­ dence is scanty and that the examples stem from a revision of a translation, not from the translation itself. Besides, even some counter­ instances have been adduced (Frederiksen 1993, 8). Nevertheless, it seems to be a reason­ able hypothesis that late medieval Danish translated literature is generally imbued with foreign, particularly Low German, elements in its vocabulary to the same extent as is con­ temporary Swedish. The monastic environment at Vadstena seems to have preserved some fundamental bases of this early translation. The brothers who were carrying it out obviously looked upon the Swedish target language - pro bably rather unreflectingly - as principally inferior to the Latin source language. This conception is very likely to have resulted in a general imi­ tation of the grammatical forms of the source language. On the morphological level, this kind of indirect Latin influence manifests itself in a conservative attitude, a relative respect for and "correct" use of the old grammatical system, which was rapidly breaking up in liv­ ing usage at this time. In any case, it is incon­ testable that Swedish writers within the Vad­ stena genres still, with a certain degree of con­ sistency, declined nouns using four cases (e.g. 'priest' nom. prxster, acc. prxst, gen. prxsts, dat. prxste; 'church' nom. kyrkia, oblique cases kyrkio), even observing the double in­ flection with the enclitic definite article (e. g. dat. prxstenom 'the priest', kyrkionne 'the church'), whereas the modern two-case sys­ tem, as well as single inflection in enclitic forms, prevailed in written Late Old Swedish within other genres (prxst, prxsten; kyrkia, kyrkian; Mod.Sw. priist, priisten; kyrka, kyr­ kan). There are no indications ofthe same con­ servative tendency in any contemporary genre of the Danish vernacular. To a considerable extent, Latinate patterns were obviously conceived of as exemplary even in syntax. This is reflected in the brief passage from St. Bridget's Revelations quoted sect. 3 . 1 . 1 . : guz fadhurs rast liude sighiandhe honom, where the present participle sighiandhe is the head of a predicative phrase (sighiandhe honom), loosely attached to the finite verb

1210

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Nude. This construction, modelled on the fre­ quent Latin conjunctive participle (here dicens ei), penetrated into the vernacular through late medieval translations in these and other stylistically more or less related genres, par­ ticularly charters and deeds (Hohn 1 967). As shown by M. Ahlberg (1942), the present par­ ticiple is used by late medieval Swedish trans­ lators in a great variety of grammatical func­ tions, often quite independently of Latin source texts. Similar observations have been made regarding more extremely Latinizing constructions with the copula warajware com­ bined with the present participle form, par­ ticularly in the Old Danish Bible translation: ath . . . ey een skal ware igeenbliffwende meth thik, 'that no one shall be remaining with you' - in this case actually rendering a future par­ ticiple construction in the Vulgate: quod . . . ne unus quidem remansurus sit tecum (Haastrup 1968, 37; cf. sect. 3 .1 .4.). In general, the style of late medieval East Nordic Latin translation (as well as that of certain principally contemporary domestic genres, particularly officialese) is highly Latinate in its modes of expression, though not necessarily copying actual source text ma­ terial. This manifests itself strongly in syntax: heavy nominal phrases, loaded with complex attributes; long, grammatically complex sen­ tences; a pronounced tendency to overload or extend the so-called fundament, i.e. the initial, prefinite section of the main clause, thus mak­ ing comprehension more arduous. Besides syntax, other qualities, such as a high degree of abstraction, sometimes even a lengthy or scholastically meticulous arrangement of argumentation, represent significant influence (Hohn 1967). In the long run, the heavy pressure exerted by foreign, continental influences on the East Nordic vernaculars turned out to be decisive in the development of a Swedish and Danish written language norm. Under the tight reins of Latinate stylistic patterns, variation de­ creased. A firmer structure matured in both languages, heralding younger epochs. 4.2.

The Reformation period

The Lutheran translation tradition, dynamic­ ally oriented to the audience, paved the way for a simpler, more straightforward, accessible and popular way of writing. It meant a return to the more fluent and natural presentation of the oldest, high medieval phase of literacy, dominated by paraphrasing in the translation

of texts, before stiffening in the attempt at equivalence. Quite consistently, both Olaus Petri and Christiern Pedersen have been judged by modern posterity as still easily read­ able writers in their vernaculars, unsurpassed up to, respectively, Dalin and Holberg (both in the 1 8th c.). However, this picture is am­ biguous, and it is not quite the same in Sweden as in Denmark. In both countries, the re­ formers' looser style in translating the Bible is always strictly within the limits of semantic equivalence, and it is never allowed to diffuse in paraphrase, as it was in the High Middle Ages. Swedish - unlike Danish - Reformation Bible translation, was, in addition, guided by conservative, on certain points possibly ar­ chaizing, stylistic ambitions. The model of this style was already given, as pointed out in 4.1 . , in the morphologically conservative Vadstena language. The language of the Swedish reformers' Bible translations has been rather thoroughly investigated, most recently by C. I. Stahle (1968, 501 -529). Their first great work, the New Testament of1 526, preserved in its choice of words a kernel of the lexical achievements of the old Vadstena language. This appears in inherited terms for central religious concepts, such as tro 'faith'; hopp 'hope, trust'; karlek 'charity'; odmjuk 'humble'; frestelse 'tempta­ tion'; synd 'sin'; anger 'repentance, compunc­ tion, penitence'; bon 'prayer'; bot 'penance'; battring 'improvement'; nad 'grace'; fralsa 'save, redeem'; fralsare 'saviour, redeemer'. However, the translators deliberately adapted to contemporary spoken language. Particular­ ly in urban milieus, such as Reformation Stockholm, this language was saturated with Low German elements. Though some of these words had been used sporadically in medieval sources as well, a great number of them were new, coined on Low German models, either taken over directly or formed with borrowed derivational material. It all gave a fresh, mod­ ern touch to the religious language of Sweden. Some examples: barmhartig, forbarma sig 'merciful', 'have mercy', LG barmhertich, sik vorbarmen, OSw. miskundsamber, miskunda sig; betyga 'certify', LG betugen, OSw. vitna; (vam) delaktig 'share', LG delhaftich. delach­ tich, Lat. particeps, OSw. luttakande; larjunge 'disciple', LG lerjunge, Lat. disc pulus, i OSw. kiinnesven; riittfiirdig(het) just(ness)', LG rechtverdich, rechtverdicheit, Lat. iustus, ius­ titia, OSw. normally riitvis(a). In syntax, the translators in 1 526 were much more strictly bound to the Vadstena tradition

133. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The language of the translations II

than they were in the lexicon. Particularly striking is the frequent use of the present par­ ticiple in a wide variety of functions, such as thet gafffruet vppgongandes oeh vppwiixandes ('it gave fruit upgoing and upgrowing'; Eras­ mus dabat fruetum emergentem atque cres­ eentem) and han war soffwandes, baakj skipet ('he was sleeping, behind in the ship'; Erasmus erat [. . .J dormiens). Even in morphology, the traditional four-case system was fairly well preserved - in contrast to ordinary contem­ porary usage, i.e. in the language used outside the religious sphere. The conservative Vad­ stena tradition had not entirely lost its grip on its - however reluctant - inheritors. On the other hand, the same tradition, now in accordance with the general goals of the new type of translation, favoured certain col­ loquial elements. One example of this (very common even in the Vadstena translations) is the insertion of a formally redundant pro­ noun, putatively facilitating quick compre­ hension: Herren han kenner them som hans iiro ('The Lord he knows those who are his'; Eras­ mus Nouit dominus, qui sint sui). In Gustav Vasa's Bible o f 1 541 , the language of the New Testament was revised and modified according to several principles. An overall ambition was the effort to accommo­ date the text to Martin Luther's authoritative example - which does not, however, imply slavish imitation of his own, continuously re­ vised High German text. Rather, quite logi­ cally, it meant formal independence from any foreign source texts, including Luther's. Ac­ cordingly, there is an 0 bvious, though far from consistent, tendency to replace loanwords in the 1526 translation, particularly the numer­ ous Low German ones, with domestic words. This is not, however, to be anachronistically regarded as an act of "purism"; rather, the reformers simply considered the foreign words less current, particularly for the rural majority ofthe population. Two examples are beniighen and eebriikirska (LG geneygt and ehebre­ chersche) from the 1 526 text, replaced by re­ dhoboghen and horiska (respectively, 'ready, prepared' and 'adulterous') in 1541. Neverthe­ less, the impact of Luther is heavy, e. g. in re­ placing the present participle constructions mentioned above by simple finites: thet baar frueht som vpgiek oeh wexte ['it bore fruit that went up and grew'; Luther [. . . J die da zunahm und wuchsJ and han soffbaakj skepet ['he slept behind in the ship'; Luther und schlieff [ . . .J]. Morphologically, the language policy reflec­ ted in the 1541 Bible is a complicated, partly

121 1

contradictory one, being neither simply "ar­ chaizing" nor entirely "modern". Suffice it to say that both systems of nominal inflection were used side by side, in a rather elusive pat­ tern. Most of the colloquial elements of the 1 526 translation were removed in 1541, e. g. in the pronominal instances adduced above: Herren kenner sina ['The Lord knows his [people]'; Luther Der Herr kennet die seinen]. It has been suggested (Stahle 1968, 520) that what ultimately governed the Reformation translators in 1 541 was the attempt "to bring power and concentration to the Word of the Bible, now heard from the pulpits in the lan­ guage of the country". This achievement was a lasting one. Reformation vernacular writing in Den­ mark presents an analogous general pattern of the interplay between tradition and inno­ vation. However, to a considerably larger ex­ tent than in Sweden, the innovative forces seem to have prevailed. The language and style of the Danish reformers' numerous Bible translations have not yet been thoroughly in­ vestigated (despite detailed philological re­ search on the sources, cf. 3.2.1.). The following is based upon Skautrup (1947, 210-216). Like their colleagues in Sweden, the Danish Reformation writers brought a large number ofterms for central religious concepts into the vernacular. Most of them were soon firmly rooted in biblical language. Some words, used in various Bible translations including the grand Christian III Bible from 1550, are: genl@se, genl@selse 'redeem', 'redemption'; helligg@re 'sanctify'; husvale 'comfort, solace'; langmodig 'patient' ; skriftklog 'scribe'; sk@desl@s(hed) 'neglectful(ness)'; undJange 'treat'; vanartig(hed) 'vicious(ness)'; veder­ styggelig(hed) 'abominable'; 'abomination'. Some of these words had only quite recently been formed, such as arbejdsdag 'working­ day'; arvedeel 'heritage'; blodstyrtning 'haem­ orrhage'; hxrskare 'host, army'; ordsproeh 'proverb' . No direct loans from Luther have been in­ disputably attested in the 1 550 Christian III Bible, though there are certainly several Ger­ manisms - loanwords as well as grammatical constructions. Many of these are found in the early Reformation translations as well, such as metlidig ('compassionate', Luther mitleidig, even in Christiern Pedersen); bl@d('weak', Lu­ ther blade, even in Tausen); the impersonal construction oss forlengis ('we long', Luther naeh dir verlanget mieh, even in Chr. Peder­ sen). Even without support in Luther, con-

1212

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

crete German loanwords occur in the 1550 Bible as well as in earlier translations, such as appelgyder ('coppersmith', LG apengeter. even in Tidemand); skorsten ('chimney', even in Chr. Pedersen). Furthermore, there are several instances of lexical and phraseological adherence to Ger­ man patterns (whether supported in Luther or not) that do not occur in the Danish Bible until 1550: aarsdag (,birthday', G Jahrstag, Chr. Pedersen f@dsels dag); syndflod ('flood, deluge', MHG sintfiuot, older Dan.flod); im­ personal mig t@rster (G mich durstet, Chr. Ped­ ersen and Christiern II's New Testament the personal ieg t@rster). Nevertheless, a certain tendency to avoid new loanwords in the 1550 Bible has been suggested (Skautrup 1947, 212), based on a great number of domestic words which were not replaced by German equivalents. So, the Danish Bible speaks about strid, not krig (G Krieg), hugorm, not slange (introduced by Tausen, G Schlange), at lege or pibe ('to play (the flute)'), not at spille (G spielen). Several non-established learned words of Latin origin are avoided, too, even though in some cases they were adopted by Luther, e. g. the use of the domestic words skock 'lot, heap', landskab 'nation, country' and skure 'polish' where Luther has, respect­ ively, Legion, Nation and poliren. Skautrup (ibid.) explains this alleged reluctance to use foreign lexical elements (speaking about "pu­ ristic" tendencies, though, would be as ana­ chronistic as for the Swedish Bible) in the work of the royal Danish Bible commission as having been due to the influence of Chr. Pedersen, in whose preliminary draft of 1543 it was already present. Chr. Pedersen's per­ sonal vocabulary seems to be fairly well mir­ rored in the language of the completed Bible text; obviously, he has left his mark on the language ofthe entire work, irrespective ofthe different source texts used. Like in Luther and to some extent in the Gustav Vasa's Bible, there are several everyday and popular words in the vocabulary of the Christian III Bible, such as draffuels mend 'rabble', slebret 'slippery' (of a road) and blabre 'chatter'. The vocabulary is very close to that of contemporary, ordinary vernacular prose, rather alien to the archaizing, solemn or poetic elements that add to the weightiness of the Swedish Reformation Bible. The same is true on the morphological and syntactic levels. The Danish Bible lacks the subtle bal­ ance between old and modern tendencies of the corresponding Swedish text: the Danish

translators and revisers almost completely eradicated all relics of, e.g., the four-case nomi­ nal inflection. Generally, their language is actually in a true Lutheran sense - genuine, current Danish. It has been maintained that the impact of the Reformation Bible on the development of Danish was rather insignificant, particularly in comparison with that of the pericopes of the gospels: these were inherited - even in Danish language (cf. 3 . 1 . 3.) - from medieval collections of sermons, which were much more familiar to the public at large (Skautrup 1947, 214 f.).

5.

Literature

Ahlberg, Marta (1942), Presensparticipet ifornsven­ skan: En syntaktisk studie. Lund. Andersson, Roger (1993), Postillor och predikan: En medeltida texttradition ifilologisk ochfwzktionell be­ lysning (Sallskapet Runica et Media:valia. Scripta minora 1). Stockhohn. Andersson, Roger (2001), De birgittinska ordens­ priisterna som traditionsformedlare ochfolkfostrare: En studie i svensk medeltidspredikan pa den 8:e son­ dagen efter trefaldighet (Sallskapet Runica et Media:valia. Scripta minora 4). Stockholm. Evers, Knut (1984), Studien zu den Vorlagen des schwedischen Neuen Testaments vom Jahre 1526 (Goteborger gennanistische Forschungen 26). Goteborg. Frederiksen, Britta Olrik (1984), En dansk Mechtild­ tradition? En unders@gelse af nogle gammeldanske b@nner. K0benhavn. Frederiksen, Britta Olrik (1993), Hvorledes dyden bliver mangfoldig. Om en leksikalsk ma:rkva:r­ dighed i Ghemen-teksten af Lucidarius. In: DaSt 1993, 5 27. Haastrup, Niels (1968), Infinitiv + skullende: Skolegrammatiske studier i den ..£ldste danske bibel­ oversEttelse. K0benhavn. Hardelin, Alf(1998), Kult, kultur och kontemplation: Studier i medeltida svenskt kyrkoliv. Skelleftea. Hohn, Gosta (1967), Epoker och prosastilar: Nagra linjer och punkter i den svenska prosans stilhistoria. Lund. Jacobsen, Lis (1914), Grundlaget for Christian den Tredjes Bibel. In: Nordisk Tidskrift for Filologi 4. Riekke 2, 151 163). Karker, Allan (1997): Omkring Christiern Peder­ sens Bibel. In: Ord, Sprog oc artige Dict: et overblik og 28 indblik 1500 1700: festskrift til Poul Linde­ gard Hjorth (eds. F. Lundgren-Nielsen/M. Akh0j

134. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of oral and literary styles

121 3

NielsenjJ. Kousgaxd S0rensen). K0benhavn, 1 1 5 126.

Skautrup, Peter (1947), Det danske sprogs historie 2. K0benhavn.

Molde, Bertil (1949), Kiillorna till Christian III:s bi­ bel 1550: Textjilologiska studier i reformationstidens danska bibelOversiittningar. Lund/K0benhavn.

Stahle, Carl Ivar (1968), Nagra drag i det svenska bibelsprakets historia 1526 1917. In: SOU 1968: 65, 501 567.

Nida, Eugene A. (1964), Toward a science of trans­ lating. Leiden.

Thors, Carl-Eric (1957), Den kristna terminologien i fornsvenskan (SNF 45). Helsingfors.

Sjogren, Gustav (1949), Om spraket i de svenska bi­ belOversiittningarna 1526 1541. Lund.

134.

Lars Wollin, Abo/Turku (Finland)

From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of oral and literary styles

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

1.

The meeting of orality and literacy in Scandinavia The spread of literacy and the relationship between speech and writing Characteristic differences between orality and literacy Orality and literacy in a genre perspective Concluding remarks Literature (a selection)

The meeting of orality and literacy in Scandinavia

The terms oral and literate, with reference to a text, can have two different meanings. They can refer to the medium in which the text be­ longs, but they can also characterize the text in a more figurative sense. In the latter case, we are generally concerned with a written text that has been placed at either end of a scale: one end of this scale, the oral, indicates sim­ plicity of syntax and vocabulary, while the other, literate, end indicates complexity. Quite naturally, in modern languages it is this use of oral and literate that is the more common. However, an oral text in the original sense, too, can vary between the extremes of " simple" and " complex" . A stylistic difference of a similar kind must have existed in the pre­ historic periods of the Scandinavian lan­ guages. Alongside straightforward, everyday speech, there were also complex texts, which have to some extent been preserved in the me­ dium of writing. Various forms of poetry were produced, and that of the scalds especially de-

manded a great deal from the reciter, who, using a varied vocal range, was probably able to structure the content more effectively than a modern-day reader is able to do. And then there is the R6k Stone, for example, which provides a taste of an artistically fashioned prose that appears to recount historical leg­ ends and may have had a ritual setting. No doubt less sophisticated prose also existed in the form of tales about interesting events and individuals. Two medieval prose genres have long been assumed to have more or less preserv­ ed oral traditions: the Icelandic sagas and old laws. This assumption is now disputed but probably contains an element of truth, al­ though it seems most likely that certain oral features were toned down when the texts were committed to writing (see the discussion in Widmark 2001). The sections of Swedish laws in which a legal provision is expressed in the form of a narrative with a popular epic struc­ ture are presumably very old (Stahle 1955, 47f.). A literate culture of a European character carne to Scandinavia with Christianity. It re­ quired settings which initially only the Church - but soon enough the highest secular authori­ ties, too - could offer. This literate culture could then be embraced secondarily by other, more secular groups in society. A detailed ac­ count of the process, as it unfolded in Sweden, has been provided by Inger Larsson (2001). To begin with, however, the functions of a written language were served to a greater or lesser degree by Latin itself. This was particu-

1214

XlII. From Old Nordic to Eady Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

larly the case in the East Scandinavian area, where Danish especially had difficulty assert­ ing itself against Latin (Skautrup 1947, 29 f.). The Latin-influenced culture that was intro­ duced encountered in the Nordic region an ad­ vanced, indigenous Gennanic culture with its own writing system in the form of runes. Fam­ iliarity with runes was probably quite wide­ spread (Meijer 1997, 8 3 f.), and to a certain extent it persisted into the Latin period - lo­ cally even into the 19th c. Runic writing, how­ ever, did not give rise to a literate society in the sense understood by Ong, for example (see section 3.). The mode of transmission of oral culture was such that mnemonic devices be­ came a characteristic feature of its texts. As Ong (1982, 34) explains: "Your thoughts must come into being in heavily rhythmic, balanced patterns. in repetitions or antitheses. in alliter­ alions and assonances. in epithetic and olher fonnulary expressions, in standard thematic settings [. . J, in proverbs which are constantly heard by everyone [. . .j." Such texts may have existed for a long time in oral tradition and would then have been transformed within that tradition in a manner typical of its particular culture (cf. Ong 1982, 57 f.). An orally trans­ mitted text could be rich in synonyms and for­ mulaic expressions for central concepts. and distinctive in other ways as well. Stahle main­ tains (KLNM 10, 174, "Lagsprak") that the language of the old laws was a carefully craft­ ed spoken language, not ordinary speech. It is quite natural that, in certain areas at least, the new Christian culture only slowly replaced the old, and that the stylistic patterns of the latter were able to set a more or less clear im­ print even on texts produced quite a long time after the introduction of Christianity. Fur­ thennore. literate culture was only accessible to an elite (see section 2.). For the great ma­ jority of the population, oral culture could re­ main alive, at least as long as it did not come into direct conflict with the Christian faith. A kind of cultural diglossia thus persisted, both in society as a whole and in individuals; it may have assumed different forms in different pe­ riods and in the different Scandinavian lan­ guages. The oral and literate cultures were not all that far apart, in that written texts also used to be read aloud. Stahle (1955, 76) in fact con­ siders it possible that the author of the Swedish Erikskrollikan 'The Chronicle of Erik' was illiterate, but had by persistent lis­ tening become so familiar with a literary genre that he was able to create his text by dictating it to a scribe. .

2.

The spread of literacy and the relationship between speech and writing

The early use of writing in medieval Swedish society has been described by Larsson (2001). In public documents, literacy spread via the legal system, where oral ceremonies gradually made way for written texts. With the introduc­ tion of Magnus Eriksson's national law codes around 1350, documents began to become part of the legal process (2001, 246). By the late Middle Ages, according to Sven Bertil Jansson (1994, 105 f.), Swedish society was lit­ erate to a not insignificant degree: a good many people with only a fragmentary know­ ledge of Latin were able to read, although writing was the preserve of those better versed in that language. As regards Denmark, Karen Schousboe (1989, 149 f.) has pointed out that, among the nobility. new economic structures created a need for scribes, but also required that noblemen themselves were able to super­ vise what was written, i.e. they had to be able to read. The towns employed increasingly large numbers of people who were able to write, forming the basis for a literate citizenry. The higher estates, however, mainly received texts as a listening audience. As late as 1472, it could not be assumed that all the members of the national council were able to read (Wendt 1997, 20 note). Although writing and above all reading skills were quite widespread in certain circles, they did not reach a majority of the population. In that respect, the new lit­ erate society differed from the oral one that had gone before. i n which everyone was able to participate personally in public business. The transition to a literate society presumably occurred in much the same manner through­ out Scandinavia, although it was able to begin sooner in the West Scandinavian area, where the indigenous language was accepted in writ­ ing at an earlier stage. Of the Scandinavian­ speaking countries, Iceland probably holds a unique position: its wealth of manuscripts in­ dicates that literacy became more widespread early on there. The relevant facts are sum­ marized and discussed by Lannroth (1991). One point that is probably important in this context has been made by Nordal (1953, 186). He argues that the Icelandic church was more open to the world around it than its counter­ parts in the other countries. Furthermore, the fact that Iceland had no nobility probably meant that there was a smaller gap between

134. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of oral and literary styles

the educated clergy and other sections of the population than in the other Scandinavian countries, and literate and popular culture may therefore have coexisted on more equal terms (cf. Widmark 2001, 65). Since writing was primarily associated with certain settings, tendencies towards orthogra­ phic standardization were able to assert them­ selves in those settings, for example on the basis of a regionally and/or socially deter­ mined form of speech. Skautrup (1944, 258 f., 265) notes that in Denmark there was, from early on, a tendency for a written language to be standardized in relation to the dialects (the main features of which may be assumed to have emerged as early as in the 12th and 1 3th c.). The centre for this standardization may have been the cathedral school at Lund, from where it subsequently spread to the chancery. However, according to Skautrup (1947, 190 f.), it was only after 1 500 that the first signs emerged of a national standard for the spoken language. In Sweden, Vadstena Abbey in par­ ticular was an important centre of writing throughout the late Middle Ages and into the 1 6th c., and played an independent and quite far-reaching role in the development of writ­ ten Swedish (see Carlqvist under section 4.). Through the Bridgettine houses in Norway and Denmark, the Vadstena norm may also have been of some significance in establishing standards across a wider Scandinavian area (see Gf0tvedt 1954, 203ff.; Skautrup 1947, 39 f.). Diderichsen (KLNM 1 1 , 125, "L",rd og folkelig stil") argues that Vadstena played an important part in the spread of the European stylistic patterns of the 1 5th c. in the Nordic region. Conversely, written Danish was able to exert an influence on written Swedish (Skautrup 1947, 36 f.). In Norway, standard­ ization of the written language was more frag­ mented. Detailed studies have been made of regional varieties of written Norwegian: by H"'gstad, in the case of the early periods, and by Gf0tvedt (1954) in particular as regards later phases. Gf0tvedt has described the writ­ ten language of 0stlandet (southeastern Nor­ way), including that of Oslo. He notes that Oslo had a special ecclesiastical language dur­ ing the period 1 3 50-1450 and argues that it existed not only in a written but also in a spoken form for use on solemn and ceremonial occasions (1954, 197 f., 225 f.). The language of secular settings (1954, 207 ff.), as recorded in the Oslo diplomas studied by Gf0tvedt, dif­ fers from this ecclesiastical variety. It is far removed from classical Old Norwegian in

121 5

terms of both form and style, and one is some­ times struck by its mixed Scandinavian char­ acter. This new Norwegian reflects the huge wave of linguistic change that swept through the three largest Nordic countries in the late Middle Ages. The process must have begun in the spoken language, as new circles of noblemen and burghers developed new kinds of speech communities, resulting in code mix­ ing and morphological simplification. In the Oslo diplomas, the language begins to change before 1400, and there appears to have been quite a sudden collapse of the existing system of norms in the 1 420s. Gf0tvedt (1954, 226) points to the possibility of a link with a break­ down of the spoken language used in elevated settings. Pettersen (1975) has studied subse­ quent developments over the period 14501 550 on the basis of diplomas from western Norway, which reveal a far-reaching disso­ lution of norms and, eventually, a more or less complete replacement of Norwegian with Danish. As for the changes affecting the writ­ ten language of Denmark, a detailed survey is provided by Skautrup (1947, ch. 39 and 40). He argues (1947, 28 f.) that the spread of lit­ eracy beyond clerical circles greatly under­ mined moves towards standardization, and that written Danish therefore became re­ markably diverse, especially in terms of ortho­ graphy and morphology. A desire to establish norms did, however, manifest itself in hyper­ corrections, some of which even became per­ manent features of the language (1947, 62). Within the chancery and the monasteries and scribal schools, a clear tendency to standardize can be observed. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden alike, el­ ements of spoken language can sometimes be found even in public documents. In records of testimony, for example, the language of the witness is not uncommonly reported in an oral form that is quite distinct from the surround­ ing literate-style text. (See Pettersen 1975, 69f.; Moberg 1989, 16, and Skautrup 1947, 64f., 208f.). The radical break with the norms ofthe old languages and the ensuing, essential similar developments in the three largest Nor­ dic countries had a political background: the countries formed a more or less coherent union, with considerable mo bility across their borders. The use of spoken varieties of a dif­ ferent character to the classical Old Scandina­ vian languages as the basis for writing repre­ sented at least a partial break with the Latin­ influenced literate tradition. In its place came another foreign influence, that of German.

1216

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

However, since written German was itself heavily influenced by Latin, the impact of Latin was to persist in literate genres, even as the Scandinavian languages took on more modern forms. The specific influence of Ger­ man is consequently most apparent in the lexi­ cal sphere, where it left its imprint on both the spoken and the written languages. Al­ though this influence was most marked in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, it can also be discerned in late medieval Iceland (see Bekker-Nielsen 1965, 141 f). As has been indicated, Gr0tvedt, among others, takes the view that an oral reading lan­ guage, based on the written language, existed in the Middle Ages. At any rate, such a variety was presumably established by the beginning ofthe 1 7th c., since there are reports from that period which can basically only be understood as implying that a writing-based pronunci­ ation was beginning to be common in certain settings at that time (see Widrnark 2000). It may be difficult to find clear evidence that a similar situation existed in the Middle Ages, but it is quite natural to assume that it did. After all, writing served as the pattern for pro­ nunciation in Latin, too. In principle, respect for writing-based pronunciation may have even survived the breakdown of the old writ­ ten language that affected most of Scandina­ via.

3.

Characteristic differences between orality and literacy

It is well known, and is a point frequently noted in scholarly literature, that characteristic dif­ ferences exist between spoken and written lan­ guage. A fundamental analysis of why and how such differences arise was undertaken more than a century ago by Gustaf Ceder­ schield in his work Om svenskan sam skrift­ sprak 'On Swedish as a written language', in which an important distinction is made be­ tween necessary and more accidental differen­ ces. The former are triggered by the fact that the basic contexts of speech and writing are totally different, while the latter have a purely historical explanation. Presumably mixed de­ velopments are also possible, when a not en­ tirely necessary but reasonable difference in­ teracts with a historically conditioned one (cf. below). In the case of modern Swedish, the differences between orality and literacy have been studied empirically by Jan Einarsson (1978) in To/ad och skriven svenska 'Spoken

and written Swedish'. G6sta Holm (1969) has presented a diachronic description of the syn­ tactic differences. In a usage manual like Erik Wellander's Riktig svenska 'Correct Swedish', first published in 1939, distinctions between speech and writing are one of the fundamental themes. When people began to write in Latin, the Scandinavian languages acquired, in a sense, dual codes: a spontaneous oral code and a carefully considered literate one. The latter aimed for explicitness, but at the same time compressed information into long, hypotacti­ cally structured sentences. Abstraction was fa­ voured at the expense of vivid concreteness. Nouns, often preceded by prepositions, were essential; verbs, especially those expressing tangible action, were less frequently needed. According to Ong (1982), there is, in principle, always a very clear difference between a so­ ciety dominated by orality and one dominated by literacy. The shift from orality to literacy involves a natural technological development of language, brought about by the interaction that naturally arises between human beings and their new tool, writing. In Cederschield's terms, such a change would be regarded as necessary. Ong (1982, 36) provides an inven­ tory of orally based characteristics, in contrast to those that have a basis in writing. The pole of orality is described as distinct from that of literacy in a number of important respects. It is: (1) additive rather than subordinative; (2) aggregative rather than analytic; (3) redun­ dant or "copious"; (4) conservative or tradi­ tionalist; (5) close to the human lifeworld; (6) agonistically toned: " situates knowledge with­ in a context of struggle"; (7) empathetic and participatory rather than objectively dis­ tanced; (8) homeostatic: "oral societies live very much in the present which keeps itself in equilibrium or homeostasis by sloughing off memories which no longer have present rele­ vance"; (9) situational rather than abstract. Ong himself describes his list as neither ex­ clusive nor conclusive, but merely suggestive. What he is trying to bring to light is in fact the difference between two cognitive worlds, one based exclusively on speech and another with the firmer foundation of knowledge and its processing which writing can provide. How far Ong's description can be applied to the Scandinavian languages is uncertain, butmost if not all of his points seem to be applicable to the Icelandic sagas (see the discussion in Widmark 2001). In a genre as special as the old laws, Ong's characterization is only partly relevant, but points 1 , 2, 5 and 9 clearly cap-

134. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of oral and literary styles

ture the features which distinguish the law texts of the past from those of the present. If Ong is right about point 4 - that oral culture is more conservative and traditionalist than literate culture - then that fact alone could be part of the reason why the latter became more open and varied than its oral predecessor. In linguistic terms, then, the new literate cul­ ture implied not only a direct, stylistic influ­ ence from Latin, but also a more indirect, cog­ nitive influence, prompted by a newly awakened need to express complex as well as more straightforward ideas. An influence of the first kind may be temporary, but the latter kind will presumably have more lasting re­ sults. A pioneer in research into the influence of Latin, with a particular focus on Icelandic, was Marius Nygaard (1905). He distinguishes between a popular style ( native, but not colloquial, cf. below) and a learned style ( modelled on Latin). Nygaard is especially interested in Latin's effects on syntax, and cites several syntactic constructions which ap­ pear to be calqued on Latin. The same types of Latin influence can be observed in Old Swedish (see Widmark 2001 , 39 f., and the lit­ erature referred to there). Most of the gram­ matical features concerned could admittedly have developed even without the help of Latin, but probably they were triggered or at least supported by that language. As for the most striking feature, the use of participial clauses, Latin influence is less significant than Nygaard imagined. Such constructions can sometimes be interpreted as the remnants of an older Ger­ manic usage, in which participles still had a more general function. Gerundive construc­ tions especially occur as late as the 16th c. in written texts of a fairly oral character, e. g. the writings of the Vadstena monk Peder Mans­ son, and are also found in modern-day dialects (see Widmark 2001 , 38 f., and the references cited there). Native participial constructions may have made it easier for foreign ones to make inroads. The use of the passive is prob­ ably modelled on Latin, but may also have been encouraged by the greater need in written language for general clauses not dominated by a specific subject (cf. Ong's point 9). Nygaard also mentions other features of what he calls the learned style: it has a richer vocabulary, with many synonyms; it contains longer sen­ tence complexes and more qualifiers, e. g. an abundance of adjectival epithets; and it uses more loanwords and borrowed word-forma­ tion elements. This highly ornamented literate �

�

1217

style was fashionable throughout Europe, and thus reflects a foreign rather than a learned influence. It is often referred to as the courtly or "florissant" style and has been described by Astas (1986), among others. Eventually it faded away, although it is uncertain when. Stahle (1955, 112) mentions Namnlos och Va­ lentin, from the mid-1 5th c., as an example of how the courtly epic still retained its power over the public at that time. Nygaard in fact does not regard the learned and popular styles as two entirely distinct sty­ listic varieties. The popular style can be colour­ ed by the learned, especially if the subject matter concerns lives of saints or is otherwise related to the church. In a purely narrative context, on the other hand, the popular style asserts itself even in learned works, particular­ ly if their subject matter is not argumentative, rhetorical or homiletic. As time passes, though, the learned style does gain something of an upper hand. To Nygaard, then, "lear­ ned" and "popular" represent the opposite ends of a literate stylistic scale, within which it is possible to roam relatively freely. In KLNM, under the heading of "Learned and popular style" , his survey is the subject of quite a detailed and discerning discussion by, among others, Paul Diderichsen and Eyvind Fjeld Halvorsen. Both these writers maintain that Latin cannot be regarded exclusively as a supplier of complex constructions, since there also existed a simple form of Latin that may have served as a pattern for the "popu­ lar" style. Basically, in other words, they are reluctant to link the popular style to a spoken Scandinavian language, although Fjeld Hal­ vorsendoes concede that such a link may exist. Diderichsen emphasizes that the popular style should not be defined in purely negative terms - as a variety lacking certain features asso­ ciated with the learned style - but also with reference to its own specific characteristics. Among these, he mentions anacolutha, pro­ nouns with unclear reference or none at all, irregular use of tenses, direct speech after at (,tha!'), repetition of words at the beginning of clauses ("and then he said . . . and then he went. . . "), double negatives and other super­ fluous repetitions, parataxis rather than hy­ potaxis, the use of special constructions (par­ ticularly impersonal ones) and particles, "low" language, and drastic metaphors, turns of phrase and proverbs. This list of examples is probably based on modern-day speech, but some of the features mentioned tally closely with Ong's basically timeless categories. To

1218

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

what extent they are to be found in extant texts in the Old Scandinavian languages has yet to be investigated, but they can hardly be com­ mon. The written languages of Scandinavia, then, cannot be built exclusively on the foun­ dations of speech. Many of the features that occur in speech, but are avoided in writing, are clearly what we regard as illogicalities. The tendency to reject such features in writing can presumably, as Diderichsen maintains (KLNM 1 1 , 1 1 9), be ascribed largely to the influence of Latin and teaching of grammar, an influence promoted, no doubt, by the use of punctuation. The emphasis on logic may also, to some extent at least, be due to the kind of intellectual processing which Ong claims literacy promoted. Such processing does not necessarily eliminate every trace of orality, however; there may still be a distinc­ tion between a literate and a more oral style. Carlqvist (1996, 199 f.) has found that Vad­ stena, as a place of writing, differs from other similar centres in its careful punctuation, but also in a richer use of sentence-initial adverbs and a wealth of subordinate clauses. The aim at Vadstena was to give the text a more literate form. In other words, the written language was endowed with more elaborate syntax, with wordier sentence constituents, compared the spoken variety. The first of the features distinguishing between orality and literacy which Ong mentions is the tendency to coor­ dinate or subordinate, and this difference is presumably fundamental (see Widmark 2001, 49 f. for further discussion). It is prob­ ably also a necessary condition for the written language to develop in a more analytic direc­ tion (cf. Ong's point 2).

4.

Orality and literacy in a genre perspective

Clearly, a fundamental subdivision of medi­ eval text genres can be based on whether the texts are orally transmitted or written. Both types are well represented. Purely oral genres are to be found throughout the Middle Ages, but their character changes. In Icelandic po­ etry, a break with the past occurs around 1300 (Helgason 1952, 160). Poetry in the Edda tra­ dition lives on in a handful of anonymous poems inJornyri5islag, based on folk tales and legends. Some works were composed in the form of skaldic poetry but retain little of its original character: the earlier kennings may be replaced with borrowed imagery, and the

subject matter may be coloured by the edifying literature of the church (Helgason 1952, 164-167). A new, pan-Scandinavian genre took the place of the earlier poetic forms: the ballad, which was performed and transmitted orally. Stylistically, ballads exhibit the kinds of features that result from oral transmission - formulaic phrases, stereotyped scenes, a rela­ tively fixed stock of vocabulary - and most of Ong's points can probably be applied to them. To some extent, they have managed to survive in popular culture down to modern times, indicating the considerable strength of that culture. This is particularly apparent in the Faroes, where ballads, supported by sing­ ing and dancing, are still performed and where they were until quite recently the only indige­ nous literary form. In terms of their content, the old poems lived on to some extent in the ballad. This is even more clearly the case with the rima, principally an Icelandic genre, which grew out of the ballad but also preserved fea­ tures of skaldic verse. To begin with, rimur were recited in the same way as ballads, and as a rule they drew their subject matter from prose texts (Helgason 1952, 170). Here, in other words, an oral culture lived in symbiosis with a literate one. A saga could be turned into a rima, but sometimes a rima could give rise to a new saga. Some Faroese ballads ex­ plicitly state that their material comes from Iceland, where it is written "i b6k so breioa" 'in a book so large'. Concerning Scandinavian ballads' links with literary texts, see O lason (1991) and Jonsson (1991). Written literature can be divided into differ­ ent genres on the basis of its subject matter, but within these genres the degree of literari­ ness can vary appreciably. This is true even in the case of old genres. Not all the sagas of Icelanders are written in a "saga style", some of them contain strong elements of a learned and "florissant" style. And the same saga can exist in stylistically different versions (see Wid­ mark 2001, 56 f.). The laws of Sweden, es­ pecially, have preserved a good many oral characteristics, but, according to Larusson (KLNM 5, 410 f.) and Nordal (1953, 185), the contemporary Icelandic Gragas is a more bookish product - a view which studies of its language confirm (see Widmark 2001, 55, and the literature cited there). On the basis of a repeatedly translated account of miraculous signs in Mariu saga, Ole Widding (1965, 13 2 ff.) identifies consistent stylistic differences between the different versions. The earliest version has a simple, "popular" form, even

134. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of oral and literary styles

though this is not an indigenous genre. A late translation differs completely from the earlier ones by its greater length and rich vocabulary. Here, the text has been adorned with emotion­ ally coloured adjectives and adverbs, graphi­ cally expressive word pairs and affected com­ pounds. Jonas Carlqvist (1996, 223 f.) discerns a corresponding development in the Old Swe­ dish legends of saints and distinguishes be­ tween a legendary and a hagiographic style. The former involves straightforward narrative and simple syntax, while the latter has a more complex content structure and more intricate syntax. Carlqvist ascribes these differences to differences of purpose and recipient. Legends with a complex style are aimed at an educated audience - churchmen and members of mo­ nastic orders; simple ones, on the other hand, are intended for uneducated folk. This expla­ nation can presumably be generalized to apply to other genres as well. Adapting a text to its subject matter and audience was of course part and parcel of classical rhetoric, and perhaps one of Latin's most profound influences on the Scandinavian languages was that it im­ bued them with its feeling for styles. Both Diderichsen (KLNM 1 1 , 1 1 8 f.) and Fjeld Halvorsen (KLNM 1 1 , 120 ff.) point out that quite a number of texts are written in an art­ less, ordinary prose, possibly modelled on non-literary Latin. If the latter could be located within a generally valid stylistic pat­ tern, Swedish writers may have attempted to fit their texts into a corresponding pattern. Presumably, as time passed, there was a slight stylistic shift in the direction of greater liter­ ariness. The late medieval development of Swedish legal language has been examined in detail by Wendt (1997). He has studied the dif­ ferences between the national 'land law' (lands­ lag) of Magnus Eriksson (ca. 1 3 50), his mu­ nicipal law (stadslag; roughly contemporary, but probably somewhat later), and the land law of King Kristoffer (ca. 1 440, confirmed in 1442). Compared with the municipal law, the land law seems more archaic, preserving a greater number of oral features. A clear trend in the language of these laws, evident already in the municipal law, is an increasing emphasis on generality. This may be due to the influence of foreign laws, but it may also be the result of cognitive development in the direction of more literate modes of thought (cf. Ong's point 9). The syntax also becomes noticeably, though not very markedly, more complex. Nearly all the linguistic changes that occur involve gradual rather than absolute dif-

1219

ferences. Clearly, in Sweden the genre of the law text exhibits a significant degree of con­ stancy while nevertheless evolving towards greater literariness. As for the other old Scan­ dinavian genre, the Icelandic saga, later sagas of various types exhibit highly literary, non­ popular features (see Nordal 1953, 267 f.). In the case of Denmark, a survey of where different genres can be placed in relation to the stylistic poles of oral ( popular) and lit­ erate ( learned) has been undertaken by Diderichsen (KLNM 1 1 , 123 f.). His con­ clusions are probably largely applicable to Sweden as well (cf. Ronge, KLNM 1 1 , 1 27). Diderichsen's study provides a relatively nuanced picture. The oldest language of the Danish laws is admittedly less oral than its Swedish counterpart, but it is largely free of Latinisms. In preambles, however - which serve a different purpose from the law text itself- it is possible to find rhetorical elements, and certain sections of the laws have the char­ acter of a legal dissertation, with a heavy and clumsy style. It is language of the latter type that is found in genres closely related to the laws, such as ordinances and diplomas. These documents reflect a strong Latin and German influence (cf. Skautrup 1947, 69; and Hohn's study of the language of Swedish ordinances, 1 969). Legal documents of this kind form the basis for the ponderous, complex mode of ex­ pression that carne to be known as chancery style. However, the record books (Sw. tiinke­ backer) ofthe towns can include clear elements of popular language in their more vivid nar­ rative sections (cf. section 2. concerning fea­ tures of spoken language in some legal sour­ ces). Private letters, which as a genre evolved from diplomas, retain some of the formality of their prototype, but in other respects have, not unexpectedly, a more oral style (see Skau­ trup 1947, 73, 209). That the dividing line be­ tween public and private was not particularly strict is made clear, in the case of Swedish, by Gustav Vasa's large collection of letters, in which obvious elements of chancery style co­ exist with personal and popular traits, such as pithy choices of words and imagery and an unsophisticated sentence structure, with straightforward att- ('tha!') and relative clauses (see Wennstrom 1941, 86 f.). According to Diderichsen, the medieval narrative style of Denmark may initially have been influenced by the rhetoric of the Latin sources, but it does avoid Latin participial constructions. In the 1 5th c., on the other hand, there is a tendency - in keeping with �

�

1220

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

European fashion - to use participles, even where they are absent in the original, and to make use of rhetorical figures. Another nar­ rative style - also influenced by foreign (in­ cluding Latin) literature - gives rise to realis­ tic, even dramatic, depictions which conform to a popular mode of expression. The oldest Danish chronicles are relatively free of Latin­ isms and rhetoric, and some include features of popular speech, especially in their dialogue. On the other hand, some are also clearly in­ fluenced by other languages. In Danish school dramas, attempts at a fairly realistic represen­ tation of the spoken word can be found (cf. Skautrup 1947, 159). Proverbs, with their folk wisdom, are admittedly often borrowed from Latin but have a syntax that sometimes devi­ ates from both Latin and ordinary speech and thus appears to be specific to this genre. In popular medical works and the like, according to Diderichsen, one finds a mixture of native and Latin syntax but rarely any marked Latin­ isms. Such works evidently represent an at­ tempt to write a specialized language for a wider readership. In Sweden, Peder Mansson may be mentioned as a stylistically more suc­ cessful representative of this mode of writing (see Stahle 1955, 120). In Denmark, the only genre that stands out as markedly literary is in fact the rather special one that Diderichsen refers to under the heading of "Mystics and prayers". Its uniformity of style may be due to the fact that these texts were intended for an exclusive group of devout individuals. Thus, while certain genres can reflect a strong foreign influence, others permit a wider choice of styles. Situations linked in some way to a more private and popular world may, tem­ porarily or more consistently, give rise to a corresponding style. More or less popular varieties of language, then, are by no means banished from written texts and sometimes even appear to be regarded as the most appro­ priate form to use. The two styles can, in other words, work in tandem (cf. Kellogg 1991, 90).

5.

Concluding remarks

Although a literate culture was something al­ together new in the Nordic countries, it did not entail a complete break with the old oral culture. The latter lived on, albeit in a modified guise, in the form of the ballad. Nor was it necessary to view every aspect of the new lit­ erate society as alien. To a certain extent, the two cultures could come together in a common

understanding of the fact that certain situ­ ations called for a more elevated variety of language than others - rituals and ceremonies had no doubt differed from ordinary speech since time immemorial. The long surviving practice of reading out the law at the Thing was seen as an act of basically the same type as reading aloud in church. The most impor­ tant, more overarching reason why a spoken indigenous language could become part of the literate culture, though, was presumably the fact that Latin and the native language lived quite naturally side by side (see Ziolkowski 1991). The introduction of Latin culture did not, per se, represent an attack on the native Scandinavian languages. The latter admitted­ ly had to operate on new terms, but they do not appear to have competed with Latin as media for writing. In some situations they were regarded as the natural vehicle for a writ­ ten account and, following a degree of stand­ ardization, they were accepted in writing. Orality and literacy, then, were able to meet and, to a certain extent, to be amalgamated. This process continued throughout the MiddleAges (cf. Kellogg 1991). That language of an oral character could not only survive but also serve in more elevated contexts is made clear by the Bible translations of the 16th c. Skautrup (1947, 156) refers to the fresh, popular oratory of the Reformers and charac­ terizes their Bible translations as quite unliter­ ary and accessible to ordinary people. Con­ cerning the Swedish translation of the Bible, Stahle (1970, 25) maintains that the syntactic pattern for its accomplished language was provided by proverbial sayings and law texts. It was not a matter of seeking to use archaic features, however; the translation quite simply employed all the resources of the language (1970, 14, 34 f., 42). Here, in other words, the spoken vernacular had become one resource, among others, of which the written language could avail itself as the need arose. This atti­ tude was to remain a characteristic of the lan­ guage of religion. In an archaizing form, the orally influenced legal style also survived. Equally, though, the learned, Latinized style held onto the domains it had claimed from early on, if the subject matter and audience were related to learned occupations or posi­ tions of power (cf. Holm 1967, e. g. 78 f.). Since it was above all on such occasions that written texts were needed, the foreign pattern of writ­ ing came to be generalized to some extent and set its imprint on the old native pattern, even where the new one was not entirely functional.

134. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic: The development of oral and literary styles

The written language thus became locked in a system of subordination and abstraction that was not necessarily always the most con­ summate means of expressing different modes of thinking. In a mild form, this influence of Latin can probably still be discerned today. 6.

Literature (a selection)

Astls, Reidar (1986), La:rd stil, h0visk stil og floris­ sant stil i norr0n prosa. In: MM 1986, 24 38.

1221

proaches to Viking studies (ed. Ross Samson). Glas­ gow, 3 10. Meijer, Jan A. (1997), Literacy in the Viking Age. In: Elandade runstudier 2 (Rumon 11). Uppsala, 83 110. Moberg, lena (1989), Lbgtyskt och svenskt i Stock­ holms medeltida tiinkebocker (Acta Academia: Regia: Gustavi Adolphi 58). Uppsala. Nordal, Sigurbur (1953), Sagalitteraturen. In: Lit­ teraturhistorie E.: Norge og Island (Nordisk kultur 8 B). Stockholm/Oslo/K0benhavn.

Bekker-Nielsen, Hans (1965), Islandsk senmiddel­ alder. In: Norr@n JortEllekunst. Kapitler aJ den norsk-islandske middelalderlitteraturs historie (eds. Hans Bekker-Nielsen/Thorkil Damsgaard Olsen/ Ole Widding). K0benhavn, 137 143.

Nygaard, M. (1905), Norr@n syntax. Kristiania.

Carlquist, Jonas (1996), DeJornsvenska helgonlegen­ derna: Kiillor, sti! och skriftmiljo (SSF haft. 262, bd 81). Stockholm.

Ong, Walter J. (1982), Orality and literacy: The tech­ nologizing oj the word. London/New York.

Einarsson, Jan (1978), Talad och skriven svenska: Sociolingvistiska studier (Lundastudier i nordnsk sprakvetenskap C 9). Lund. Gmtvedt, Per Nyquist (1954), Skriftsprbktradisjon ved Hallvardskirken og Mariakirken i Oslo 1350 1450 (Skrifterutg. av det Norske Videnskabs­ Akademi i Oslo II Hist.fil.kl. 1954, 3). Oslo. Helgason, Jon (1952), Norges og Islands digtning. In: Nordisk kultur 8 B, Litteraturhistorie Norge og Island. Stockhohn/Oslo/K0benhavn, 1 179. Hohn, Gosta (1967), Epoker och prosastilar (Lun­ dastudier i nordisk sprakvetenskap A 17). Lund. Hohn, Gosta (1969), Medeltida stadgesprbk (Lun­ dastudier i nordisk sprakvetenskap B 6). Lund. Jansson, Sven Bertil (1994), Attityder till literacy. Nagra exempel ur svensksprakiga texter fran sen­ medeltiden. In: Medeltida skrift- och sprbkkultur (ed. Inger Lindell) (Runica etmedia:valia, opuscula 2). Stockholm, 102 120. Jonsson, Bengt R. (1991), Oral literature, written literature. In: The ballad and oral literature (ed. Joseph Harris) (Harvard English studies 17). Cam­ bridge Mass.jLondon, 139 170. Kellogg, Robert (1991), Literacy and orality in the Poetic Edda. In: Vox intexta. Orality and textuality in the Middle Ages (eds. A. N. Doane/C. Brown Pas­ ternack). Madison, 89 10l. Larsson, Inger (2001), Svenska medeltidsbrev (Runica et media:valia. Scripta minora 5). Stock­ holm. Lonmoth, Lars (1991), Sponsors, writers and readers of Early Norse Literature. In: Social ap-

Olason, Vesteinn (1991), Literary backgrounds of the Scandinavian ballads. In: The ballad and oral literature (ed. Joseph Harris) (Harvard English stu­ dies 17). Cambridge Mass.jLondon, 1 1 6 130.

Pettersen, Egil (1975), Sprbkbrytning i Vest-Norge 1450 1550. Bergen/Oslo/Troms0. Schousboe, Karen (1989), Literacy and society in Medieval Denmark. In: Literacy and society (eds. Karen Schousboe/Mogens Trolle Larsen). Copen­ hagen, 149 170. Skautrup, Peter (1944 47), Det danske sprogs his­ torie 1 2. K0benhavn. Stahle, Carl-Ivar (1955), Medeltidens profana lit­ teratur. In: Ny illustreradsvensk litteraturhistoria 1 . Stockholm, 35 12l. Stahle, Carl-Ivar (1970), Svenskt bibelsprbk Jrm l 1500-tal till 1900-tal (SNSS 40). Stockholm. Wendt, Bo A. (1997), Landslagssprbk och stadslags­ sprbk: Stilhistoriska undersokningar i Kristoffers landslag (Lundastudier i nordisk sprakvetenskap A S3). Lund. Wennstrom, Thorsten (1941), Studier over sprbket i Gustav Vasas svenska brev. Lund. Widding, Ole (1965), Ja:rtegn og Mariu saga. Eventyr. In: Norr@n JortEllekunst. K0benhavn, 127 136. Widmark, Gun (2000), Hovspraket en talarts upp­ gimg och fall. In: SS NF 9, 21 34. Widmark, Gun (2001), Om muntlighet och skrift­ lighet i den isLindska sagan. In: Sc.Isl. 51, 31 68. Ziolkowski, Jan (1991), Cultural diglossia and the nature of medieval Latin literature. In: The ballad and oral literature (ed. Joseph Harris) (Harvard English studies 17). Cambridge Mass.jLondon, 193 213.

Gun Widmark. Uppsala (Sweden)

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135.

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Language contacts in the Late Middle Ages and in Early Modern Times

1.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Scandinavia during the era of the Hanseatic League (about 1200 1 550): Preconditions for and fonns of intensive language contact Aspects of multilingualism Function and domains of Latin Status, function and domains of Low Gennan The impact of High Gennan in Early Modern Times Conclusion Literature (a selection)

1.

Scandinavia during the era of the Hanseatic League (about 1200 - 1 5 50): Preconditions for and forms of intensive language contact

1.1.

Ristorical background

1 . 1 . 1 . The location of Denmark and the states of the Scandinavian peninsula on the peri­ phery of Europe meant that all new develop­ ments and innovations came predominantly from or via northern Germany. At the begin­ ning ofthe earliest contacts, the Jutlandic pen­ insula had already taken on a pivotal function not only in the political sphere (cf. the " Danevirke" , a wall against assaults from the south), but also in the economic history ofthe North and south-(west)ern Germanic area (cf. the role of the former Raithabu (near Schles­ wig) which was, together with Birka in Sweden, one of the main trading centres in the Baltic in late antiquity and in early medie­ val times). The most important economic, cul­ tural and linguistic contacts, however, de­ veloped during the era of the Hanseatic League or, more briefly, the Ransa (about 1200-1 550), which started in the Baltic with gradually taking over the control of pre-exis­ ting trading contacts between Scandinavians and merchants from Westfalia on Gotland from 1164 onward, and ended up presiding over a vast area of mighty economic (and in­ directly also political) influence, especially during the Late Middle Ages (14th and 1 5th c.). 1 . 1 .2. The name Hansa means 'guild, associ­ ation'. The Hansa's original purpose was to protect and enhance mutual trading activities and all kinds of commercial interests of their

members. In its early days, the Hansa consis­ ted of a loose network protecting the common interests of travelling merchants. In its hey­ day, the Ransa represented a mighty trading association, the structure of which, however, was still quite informal. In the 14th and to a certain extent also in the 1 5th c., the Hansa succeeded in executing a sometimes aggres­ sive, but in most cases still crude, protectionist policy at the expense of the local merchants and even the political forces behind them. The guilds of these Hanseatic merchants from the German Lowlands had offices not only in their home towns but also abroad. The biggest ofthem were situated at the outermost corners of the Hanseatic "empire", namely in London (for details see Lappenberg 1851 on the history of the so-called "Steel Yard"), in Bruges (Flanders), Bergen and Novgorod. They were called KDntore and represented in fact more than commercial enclaves, equipped with far-reaching privileges (cf. Brattegard 1932; 1963). Not only did coastal trading centres, towns and regional capitals all over the North Sea area, predominantly in the Bal­ tic, sooner or later become members of this very successful trading association, but so did many ancient towns along important rivers (the Rhine) and trade routes all over the Low­ lands in Germany (Cologne). The earliest routes extended from the traditional market places in northern France and Flanders (Bruges) to the northeast (Gotland/Sweden). Later, the merchants' activities comprised all commercial exchanges in northern Europe from the east (Russia, the Baltic countries) to the west (southern England, Bergen and T0nsberg in Norway) and from the north (Bergen, which was also the centre for trans­ shipment to the whole Polar region) to the south (e. g. Augsburg and the mighty cities in northern Italy such as Venice; see map 1 3 5.1). Finally, the Ransa comprised more than 85 towns spread all over northern Europe, not to mention the many affiliated towns and tra­ ding places there. Over more than three and a half centuries, Low German merchants exert­ ed not only a trade monopoly but functioned also as cultural and linguistic mediators be­ tween the southern parts of Europe and the Nordic countries (see Dollinger 1989, Zim­ merling 1984 and esp. Bracker/Renn/Postel 1998 for more detailed surveys).

1 223

1 3 5 . Language contacts in the Late Middle Ages and in Early M odern Times

]

�l

Map 1 3 5 . 1 : The area o f the Hansa; from Zimmerling (1 984, 1 34); with permission o f the Verlagshaus Goethe­ straJ3e, Munich (map : Jurgen Erlebach, Dusseldorf) .

1224

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

1 . 1 .3. Lubeck became not only one of the commercial centres but soon also the focal point of the Hansa due to its annual meetings (the "Hansadays") and its jurisdiction. The mighty status of Lubeck and its hegemonic po­ sition had considerable consequences: (a) Lubeck served as a juridical model for city charters in the whole Baltic (in connection with German colonial activities in eastern Europe). (b) It also occupied a crucial function in spreading its (now prestigious) linguistic variety of Low German all over the sphere of Hanseatic influence: Liibeck's northern Low Saxonian variety of Low German was increasingly used in direct/oral face­ to-face contact between the German mer­ chants and their Scandinavian trading partners. (c) The language variety of Lubeck became dominant and served as a model for all forms of written communication from the middle of the 1 4th c. onwards. It was then in so strong a position that it was able (d) to replace Latin as the traditional medium for protocols (e.g. the "Hanserezesse"), trading contracts, legal documents, laws. In other words, the dialect of Lubeck oc­ cupied since the height of the Hansa most of the functions of Latin in writing and, later, also in printing (cf. 3. and 4.).

1.2.

Preconditions for the linguistic success of Hansa's language

1.2.1. Low German was widely considered the prestigeous language for the upper classes in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages. Further­ more, it served an important mediating func­ tion for all kinds of trading and cultural con­ tacts between northern Europe and the con­ tinent, bridging obvious gaps in various fields, e. g. with respect to religious missionary activ­ ities, (formal) education, administration or book printing. The economic backwardness of Scandinavia with regard to continental Eu­ rope was especially obvious, so it is easy to understand why so many terms from all kinds oflanguages for specific purposes were readily taken over into the Scandinavian languages, and even into their dialects (see Andersen 1995 for Jutland, Brodin 1999 for Sweden, Skancke 1999 and Skjekkeland 1999 for northern/ southern Norway). The importation of new products and techniques was accompanied by the borrowing of new terms, which even suc-

ceeded in replacing inherited words (e. g. OSw. sutari 'shoemaker' was given up in favour of the new, borrowed LG term skomakare). 1.2.2. The main reason for this quite unprob­ lematic integration of Low German words was the close genetic and typological relationship between Middle Low German and the Main­ land Scandinavian languages: transfer pro­ cesses were easily carried out, since Low Ger­ man was the genetically closest (West) Ger­ manic dialect at that time. Furthermore, one could get the impression that there was not only typological convergence, especially be­ tween the North Saxonian/Lubeck variety of Low German on the one hand and Danish, Swedish and some Norwegian dialects on the other, but rather a kind of dialectal/diatopical continuum between these two branches of Germanic in contact. As we have shown elsewhere in detail (Braunmuller 1993; 1995; 1996; 1998a; Braun­ muller/Diercks 1993), there must have existed a scenario which was quite similar to the lin­ guistic situation in Mainland Scandinavia of today: merchants and other more or less educated people were at least able to under­ stand their neighbours directly, i. e. without using a mediating language (a lingua franca) or an interpreter, solely by means of their mother tongue, a phenomenon which also has been called "semicommunication". This kind of (receptive) mutual intelligibility is not only based on more or less obvious linguistic (genetic and typological) similarities between the respective languages in contact, there must also exist a strong common will, high motivation and/or vital mutual interests in interacting with each other without using a foreign language. This special case of passive multilingualism works best in face-to-face situations and in purposeful (e.g. trading) communication (cf. Braunrniiller 2000a for a comparison between trading on the basis of language mixing and by means of semicom­ munication). This is exactly the situation we are faced with in the Baltic during the High and Late Middle Ages: vital economic, tech­ nical, cultural as well as linguistic factors co­ incide in a nearly perfect constellation. The pursuit of economic interests and achieving profit is dominant on both sides and thus represents the main driving force in contact situati ons. The technical/cultural/linguistic benefit, however, was primarily on the Scandinavian side: Danish and Swedish (including their dia-

135. Language contacts in the Late Middle Ages and in Early Modern Times

lects) underwent dramatic expansion and re­ structuring processes, both in vocabulary and grammar, especially in word formation. Re­ garded from a West Germanic point of view, these very intensive contacts with Low (and later also with High) German had the side­ effect that all modern Mainland Scandinavian languages are quite easy to learn for all Ger­ man- (or even Dutch-) speaking people. In short, due to the Hansa contacts, the develop­ ment of the Scandinavian languages moved them closer to West Germanic. This means that West Germanic typological patterns now prevail in all modern Germanic languages; not only due to the predominant influence of Eng­ lish as the ubiquitous lingua franca today but also due to the many lexical and structural loans from West Germanic/German, which became a fully integrated part of the Scandi­ navian languages during the era of the Han­ seatic League and, further, during the Refor­ mation (Braunmiiller 2000b, 276 ff.).

1 .3.

Language contact or dialect contact?

The term "language contact" may have two different interpretations: (a) contact between two standard languages or (b) contact between two languages and not between two dialects or other linguistic varieties. 1 .3 . 1 . National standard languages in the modern sense of the term did not exist in northern continental Europe during the Middle Ages: Low German at no time in its history succeeded in developing a unified writ­ ten (national) standard norm, though the va­ riety of Liibeck became de facto more than a regional writing norm and was therefore by the end of the 14th c. in a position to replace (standardized medieval) Latin as the written language within the Hansa and, gradually, in its sphere of influence on the continent, too (cf. Peters 1988; Meier/Mohn 1 998). 1 .3.2. Standardized national languages were also quite unknown in Scandinavia at that time. Nothing more than regional varieties (e.g. Jutish) or some written forms restricted to specific domains (legal texts, e. g. ;adre Viistgotalagen, or Old Norse poetry) existed before the spread of the final, authorized Bible translations via bookprinting in the middle of the 1 6th c.

1225

1 .3.3. The emphasis in defining "language" was also due to genetic relationship/distance or mutual (un)intelligibility. As mentioned in 1 .2.2., Low German and the Mainland Scan­ dinavian languages were supposed to be mu­ tually intelligible. This can be documented by structural analyses, as shown in Braunrniiller (1993; 1995) and assumed by Seip ([1924]/ 1993, 145) in the early days of language con­ tact research in Scandinavia. Thus, we have reasons to believe that the contacts between Scandinavia and northern continental Europe involved dialect contact, not language contact (in accordance with Trudgill 1994, 1 3). 1 .3.4. Dialect contact means not only that standardized forms and norm-setting rules are lacking, but also that the individual has to be more flexible and tolerant with respect to other more or less closely related linguistic varieties. One has to be aware of and prepared to understand each other in spite of the oc­ currence of at least minor but sometimes even considerable deviances in inflectional mor­ phology or divergent (dialectal) lexical forms. On the other hand, dialect contact allows for communicative creativity, especially with re­ spect to word formation: if you once have ac­ cepted a new word formation pattern or a new derivational affix, e. g. the transitive verbal prefix be-, you hold a mighty key in your hands to create (or just to continue borrowing) more derivations of this type - OSw. betala 'to pay', bevara 'to keep', bevisa 'to prove' etc. In this way, dozens of new derivational and word for­ mation types entered the Scandinavian lan­ guages and their dialects, with the result that many thousands of new tokens carne into use, at least in casual speech. Modern Swedish counts e. g. hundreds of lexical items (verbs, nouns, adjectives) derived by means of the MLG prefix be-. 1 .3.5. The still ongoing discussion about de­ tails of the status and corpus planning in New Norwegian (Nynorsk) shows, however, the di­ lemma for nationally focused language culti­ vation in Scandinavia in a nutshell: On the one hand, the many Low German loans are typologically very well integrated and nearly indispensable even in the basic vocabulary, but on the other hand unrestrained borrowing may provoke strong counter-reactions when nationalism/purism is involved. The creator of New Norwegian, Ivar Aasen, and his followers have wished and still try to reduce the (frequent) use of Middle Low Ger-

1226

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

man words and especially derivational affixes (called an-be-heit-else-words) whenever and wherever possible in order to obtain (a) a clearcut distinction between the inherited Norwegian written language Dano-Norwe­ gian (Riksmal/Bokmal; in fact the former ver­ nacularvariant of Danish) and the new "more genuine" because dialectally based Norwegian written language LandsmaljNynorsk. But in certain e.g. southern regions of Norway, the Low German loans are so deeply rooted that it has turned out to be almost impossible to convince dialect speakers that they are using "improper", "non-genuine" forms in their speech (cf. the discussion in Skjekkeland 1999). 1 . 3 .6. The result of dialect contact phenomena in comparison to forms of language contact are obvious: dialect contact allows informal communication on equal terms, with the pos­ sibility of integrating items from other varie­ ties without offending norms (which did not exist). Furthermore, it represents a communi­ cative compromise between two related vari­ eties when common interests prevail. Lan­ guage contact, on the other hand, is normally bound to norms, and norm conformity, and is thus closely intertwined with the standard­ ization process of (written) languages. Bilin­ gual creativity will generally not be tolerated; deviances are marked as interference or just as errors indicating imperfect learning. Loans occur predominantly in one direction and will not be integrated unless there is a need for them or when the new words acquire a certain prestige. Language contact situations in this sense of the term are therefore characterized by the dominance of mainly one language. 1 . 3 .7. What kind of linguistic contact are we faced with in Scandinavia during the era of the Ransa? There can be no doubt that the basic character of this contact, as far as oral communication is concerned, was dialect con­ tact (as outlined in 1 .3. 3/4.). There are good reasons to suppose that the norms for everyday conversation as well as for goal-oriented (trading) communication were low; the focus lay primarily on the message itself and not on any stylistic or other formal conditions. (If, however, important contracts were to be signed, Latin was still available, as well as the help of professionals). In other words, oral communication across dialectal borders on the basis of receptive bilingualism/ semicommunication can be regarded as ad-

hoc, short-term contact, the linguistic status of which reminds us very much of spoken usage in communities with a wide range of identities, little standardization or codifica­ tion. Agreement on norms of usage are in both cases of minor importance (cf. Le Page/Ta­ bouret-Keller 1985). Full or partial accommo­ dation to the addressee's variety is, however, mandatory in order to facilitate information exchange and, in the case of negotiations, to obtain the best possible results (cf. the current advice for accommodating in Inter-Nordic meetings in Grunbaum/Reuter 1997, 9- 20). Written communication in the vernacular was restricted to certain domains, such as writ­ ing letters or bookkeeping (cf. 4.). So there was not yet any need for developing sophis­ ticated norms for the various styles and re­ gisters nor for any national codifications. Though Low German was more advanced in this respect (cf. the semi-official written norm of Lubeck mentioned in 1 . 1 .3.), the situation did not change fundamentally before Luther's Bible translations appeared and became distri­ buted nation-wide. The same applies pari passu also to the situation in Scandinavia. The main difference between the dialects/ languages involved lies, however, in their dif­ ferent social status. Low German as a highly prestigious language did not borrow Scandi­ navian words or other features from the Nor­ dic languages which would be worth mention­ ing here. Precisely the very opposite can be said about the Mainland Scandinavian lan­ guages and their dialects (cf. 1 . 3.4. and 4.): they became deeply restructured (especially with respect to word formation) and borrowed large parts of their present vocabularies. The linguistic parallels to the Anglo-Norman con­ quest of Britain in 1066 and its aftermath are striking; the only important difference lies in the predominantly economic versus the mili­ tary/political penetration ofthe respective tar­ get area. In both cases, the linguistic (and cul­ tural) consequences were obvious and chan­ ged the linguistic type of the "subjugated" lan­ guage(s) in contact fundamentally: English grew closer to a Romance (French) type of language, and the Scandinavian languages to a West Germanic (German).

2.

Aspects of multilingualism

Multilingualism and/or diglossia were the lin­ guistic default parameters both in Scandinavia and in northern Germany during the entire

135. Language contacts in the Late Middle Ages and in Early Modern Times

Middle Ages and in modern times (up to the first half of the 19th c.). 2.1. The situation during the 1 3th and the first half of the 14th c. was characterized by (1) functional multilingualism and (2) diglossia with respect to language medium: (1) A typical town in the Middle Ages was characterized by the parallel use of many different languages and dialects (diverse forms of Latin as well as various Germanic vernaculars/dialects, including Yiddish) which were used in different functions and often by special groups of the population. Latin was predominantly the language for specific purposes and documentation. The vernaculars were mostly applied in every­ day (face-to-face) communication, but soon became more and more common in poetry and in other formerly Latin do­ mains, too. (2) Latin was the (inherited) written language for all purposes in the various fields of documentation (see sec. 3.). But the ver­ nacular languages could also occur in writ­ ten texts, e. g. in notes, (private) letters, diaries, poems etc. The alphabet which was used was predominantly the Latin one, but we have - as far as Scandinavia is concerned - more than 450 runic inscrip­ tions on wooden material (mostly sticks) from the so-called "Tyskebryggen" (lit. "The German Wharf") in Bergen (Nor­ way) which include texts dealing with mat­ ters of everyday life (see Liest01 1964). Generally, it can be said that the vernacu­ larwriting tradition with runes was no lon­ ger in a position to occupy any vital or important functional role in communica­ tion through texts in Scandinavia (perhaps with the exception mentioned above): medieval runic inscriptions were normally not written on vellum, the new and rapidly expanding medium for writing, but still mostly on stone (erected stones, baptismal fonts, graves), wood or metal (scales, bells). Runic codes, as known from medi­ eval Iceland, are very rare in general and are totally unknown in eastern Scandina­ via. The only instances we sometimes come across are shorter bilingual texts with mixtures of a Nordic idiom (e.g. Swedish or Danish) together with a Latin formula (such as hic iacet 'here lies' or me fecit 'I was made (by)') in some runic in­ scriptions, e. g. in the grave inscription

1227

from Ukna church in Sweden (Sm 145) mc : IACET : TURGILLUS :

:

hrerrre :

gUNmuNd re : sun : gas [. . . ] (here lies Turgillus, son of Lord Gudmund Gas) (from about 1 300 A. D.). In all other in­ stances, the distribution of the function and the medium was obvious and quite clear-cut during the High Middle Ages: Latin for documentation and the vernacu­ lars for oral communication and casual writing. 2.2. The picture changed considerably during the Late Middle Ages (second half of the 14th c. up to the 1 520s), especially due to the do­ minant use of Low German by the Hansa in the Baltic. The vernaculars, primarily Low German but gradually also the Scandinavian vernaculars, took over more and more func­ tions within ahnost all domains of writing (even in documentation and bookkeeping). Furthermore, Old Nordic developed into a highly elaborated written language with all kinds of styles and registers, both in prose and in poetry. The first significant changes with respect to the evolution of a new written norm in an eastern Scandinavian language occurred in Vadstena monastery (Sweden) in the 14th and 1 5th c. The main domains there were translations of the Bible and other religious texts into Swedish, thus creating new textual norms for the vernacular (so-called Vadstena Swedish). But Latin texts were also written there, mainly the Revelations of St. Birgitta, the most important Swedish contribution to Latin medieval literature (Wollin 1987, 205 f.). 2.3. Most people were used to hearing (seeing and, in some cases, also reading) different lan­ guages, especially in towns/trading places, and when travelling around as merchants or wan­ dering craftsmen, and of course, as soldiers in wars. This does not mean, however, that the language of the Church (viz. Latin) was understood by everybody, but it was present even in villages due to the services on Sundays and in other religious celebrations. Towns and especially ports were, furthermore, places where different kinds of people met, exchang­ ing products and, not least, news from every­ where (cf. Cherubim 1987). It has sometimes been reported that letters, messages and documents written in Latin had to be translated in order to be understood by the general public. But no information has been found yet to suggest that Low German texts usually had to be interpreted in Scandi-

1228

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

navia in order to be understood. (Scandina­ vian texts, on the other hand, played no role in the German Lowlands). Generally, hardly any comments are to be found concerned with questions or problems ofmultilingual commu­ nities during this period. The only reasonable explanation for this remarkable fact seems to be that it was not worth mentioning because it was the normal or default situation: ifprob­ lems occurred, they must have been treated as the result of different points of view or an­ tagonistic interests but 0 bviously not by a fail­ ure of communication due to a multilingual! dialectal situation. Therefore, we have very good reasons to suppose that direct, inter­ dialectal communication worked quite well between genetically closely related languages/ dialects in the Hanseatic sphere (cf. 1 .2.2. on semicommunication). No other lingua franca (nor any pidgin lan­ guage) was used in the eastern part of the North Sea area or in the entire Baltic, besides (a) Latin for all kinds of writing but also - in a simplified form - when travelling as well as for transnational and scientific communica­ tion (cf. also Burke 1 989), and (b) Low Ger­ man. (Russenorsk, the only pidgin language of northern Europe, developed, as far as we know, after the beginning of the 1 8th c.; cf. Broch/Jahr 1984, 23 ff. and art. 172). Thus, there were three ways of communicating in northern Europe at that time: (1) by means of a lingua franca (Latin; later, increasingly Low German) or, more usually, by (2) using interdialectal (semi)communication. This does not, however, exclude the possibility that some people (especially merchants or town clerks, cf. Moberg 1989) became more and more bilingual in the course of time. Thus, (3) full multilingualism has to be considered the third way of direct communication (i. e. without translating). This form of balanced multilingualism arose, however, latest in the area of the Hansa.

3.

Function and domains of Latin

Latin has a much longer tradition in Scandi­ navia than any other non-vernacular lan­ guage. It was an 0 bvious choice as the medium of Christianity and religious missions, at the latest in the middle of the 10th c. (cf. the fa­ mous runic stone (2) of Jelling, which relates that King Harald decreed the conversion of the Danes to Christianity). The introduction of Latin gave rise to a new alphabet and new techniques for writing (with ink on vellum) in

the Nordic countries. The result was a com­ plementary distribution in language and lit­ erature between Latin, Christianity, classical! formal education and written literature (of various kinds) on the one hand, and the ver­ naculars, heathenism, runic writing (on vari­ ous materials) and predominantly oral poetry on the other. 3 . 1 . The synthesis of both traditions occurred in the western Nordic area not earlier than in the first half of the 13th c., when Snorri Stur­ luson wrote his compendium of Nordic poetry (called the Edda). This was the first vernacular "ars poetica" written in Old Norse, rendering Nordic mythology, literature and literary techniques (with surveys on metaphors and metrical feet) in the spirit of a 'translatio studii'. The situation in eastern Scandinavia, how­ ever, was quite different. Generally speaking, no documents of "heathen" oral poetry sur­ vived due to a very strict literary policy by the Church. The only extensive documents in vernaculars that we know of are regional col­ lections of indigenous laws from Denmark (the laws of Jutland, Zealand and Scania) and Sweden (among others, the laws of West and East G6taland). This separation between the Latin default writing medium and vernacular Nordic speech (and oral poetry) continued at least until the middle of the 13 th c., when Low German gradually became the other lingua franca in Scandinavia, and now also could be used in principle for all purposes of writing and documentation. 3.2. There can be no doubt that Latin played a very important role in all the Hanseatic bu­ siness contacts with Scandinavia right from the very beginning, i. e. the age of the Gotland merchants. It was the language of office books, bookkeeping, trading and other docu­ ments, especially legal ones, until Low Ger­ man took over most of these domains. Fur­ thermore, Latin was not only the traditional language of Christianity/the Roman Church, but also the medium for all kinds oflanguages for specific purposes (e.g. medicine or juris­ prudence), science, the arts, philosophy etc. and higher education in general. Without a more or less sound knowledge of Latin, formal education in monastery schools and convents, by private tutors, and later also in town schools was not possible nor imaginable: a good part of Latin teaching involved the sty­ listic imitation ofthe classical authors (in con-

135. Language contacts in the Late Middle Ages and in Early Modern Times

trast to the "ordo naturalis") and ridding stu­ dent's language of various kinds of linguistic interference from the vernaculars, sum­ marized under the headings of barbarisms, solecisms and metaplasms. In any case, medi­ eval Latin morphology, syntax and stylistics differ considerably from their ancestors in classical antiquity (cf. Stotz 1998). Therefore it was quite normal for a merchant, at least in the earlier days of the Hansa, to write let­ ters, account (sales, cash) books and other im­ portant records in Latin or, at least, using Latin tenninology. 3.3. Latin was also used in (trading) corre­ spondence with regions where Low German was not immediately understood or where re­ ceptive bilingualism/semicommunication ob­ viously failed, e. g. with England up to the 1 6th c. (Wriedt 1998, 16 f., 101). In the case of its enclave in Russia, Novgorod, the Hansa made use of their own interpreters (Low German­ Russian). There, and probably in other Slavic­ speaking regions, Latin was obviously not used in international communication, nor even in writing (cf. also Gernentz et al. 1988). 4.

Status, function and domains of Low German

4.1. Middle Low German had a twofold status in the (Late) Middle Ages: within its horne ter­ ritory, it was the native, colloquial language of all classes, from the upper class and the (ris­ ing) bourgeoisie down to the rural/coastal populations. Over the course of time, it be­ came the default written language for the bourgeois class, too, because it was much closer to the language used in their (orally based) trading activities than the traditional European written language Latin (cf. also Brennig 1993, 51). Outside its horne territory, Low Gennan gained considerable prestige, especially in the northern parts of Europe, corresponding to the increasing success and the reputation of the Hansa. Alongside their "colonization" of the eas­ tern coastal regions of the Baltic and beyond, the Low German linguistic communities deve­ loped a kind of supraregional variety, neu­ tralizing many local distinctions (' 'Ausgleichs­ sprache") - an importantprecondition for any standardization and for fonning a unified writing norm (cf. 1 .1 .3.: the variety of Lubeck and especially its position along the border to the east). The orthography of this language,

1229

however, was more or less archaic, obscuring minor differences in speech (Sanders 1983, 997; umlauts, e.g., were not generally marked). The expansion of Low Gennan took place not only in the east, i. e. the area of the Slavic/ Baltic languages, but also in the west, in this case at the expense of the Frisian language (and its dialects). For a short survey of the historical development of the Low Gennan language and its functions in society, see San­ ders (1982). 4.2. Differences along three parameters may account for the complexity of the linguistic si­ tuation: (1) oral/written, (2) style (or register) and (3) (social) group/class. One qualification, however, has to be made with respect to writ­ ing: only some segments of the middle class were fully proficient in reading and writing. The most influential documents we know of were of a judicial nature: e. g. Eike of Rep­ gow's Sachsenspiegel, a collection of territorial and feudal laws (translated from Latin), or the town laws (cf. Korlen 1951 on Lubeck). But forms of popular literature (such as the so­ called "Volksbucher") were also well-known in the Gennan Lowlands. A great many of these texts were later translated into Danish and then into Swedish (cf. Braunmuller/ Diercks 1993 on translations of popular readings into Scandinavian languages). To sum up with a quotation from Meier/ Mohn's survey (1998, 584): Die mittelnieder­ " deutsche Sprache der Hansezeit erweist sich [. . .J als ein funktional, medial, sozial und geo­ graphisch differenziertes Nebeneinander ver­ schiedener Varietaten, die teilweise von einzel­ nen Personen zugleich beherrscht wurden." 4.3. The most salient linguistic impact of Low Gennan on the Scandinavian languages concerned word formation (cf. sec. 1 . 3.4/5.; Diercks 1993) and vocabulary in general. On contrastive investigations in phonetics/pho­ nology and phonotactics, see Braunrniiller (1993). 4.3.1. Assumptions concerning the extent of the Middle Low German impact on the vo­ cabulary of the Scandinavian languages di­ verge considerably, however; the estimations vary between 1 5 - 50 per cent (and sometimes even beyond; cf. the MLG/MDu.-Sw. list compiled by Tornqvist (1977) as an important collection showing lexical transfer). Not only were technical expressions from various areas

1230

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

(trade, handicrafts etc.) borrowed, but also functional verbs (Sw. bliva / Dan. blive 'be­ come', 'get' (passive) < MLG blfwen), con­ junctions (men 'but') and particles Uo / Sw. ju � 'but, however'). These loans indicate that we are faced with a deeper influence from Middle Low German on the Scandinavian languages (in some instances equivalent to state 3: "More intense contact" on the bor­ rowing scale suggested by Thomason/Kauf­ man (1988, 50, 74 ff.), especially when word formation is fully included). Zeevaert's (1995) investigations show, however, that the extent of transfer depends on the domains of the vo­ cabulary we are talking about: in the core/ basic vocabulary, the loans from Middle Low German are very low, less than 2 per cent. This should not be surprising: there is obviously no need for intensive transfer between mu­ tually intelligible languages in the most basic and therefore most frequent part of the lexi­ con. In the periphery (especially as far as lan­ guages for specific purposes are concerned), the situation changes considerably. There, we meet up to 30 per cent loans from Middle Low German, where half of all instances are repre­ sented by verbs (cf. Rosenthal 1987, 191; Zeevaert 1995, 170 ff.). 4.3.2. The syntactic parallels between the two branches of Germanic under discussion were more salient than the areas of divergence. Fur­ thermore, both groups oflanguages have been equally influenced in their written/elaborated forms by the omnipresent international lan­ guage Latin. The main characteristics with respect to syntax are: (a) All these languages in contact are V2-lan­ guages. Only in poetry could two objects occasionally be placed before the finite verb. (b) The sequence of constituents in main clauses was identical in the so-called nexus field (v s a : finite verb-subject-(sentential) adverb). (c) The sequence of constituents in all types of clauses was quite free, though following communicative priorities in most cases (cf. the concept of "communicative dyna­ mism" of the new Prague School). There was, however, a rather strong tendency in Low German to place the non-finite part of (composite) verbal constructions late, in many cases at the end of the clause, which may be called "principle of dis-

tance" between v and V (cf. v . . . I . . . V). Scandinavian word order in such cases shows much more coherence between all parts of verbal constructions, which one may call the "principle of contact" (v I VSA). (d) Absolute final position for the finite verb in all German subordinate clauses was, however, not yet predominant nor the de­ fault position. For more details and examples, see e.g. Braurnnuller (1998b). 5.

The impact of High German in Early Modern Times

5.1. The language shift from Low to High German in northern Germany in the 1 6th c. had primarily two causes: (a) the decline of the Hansa, and (b) the Reformation and its spread over al­ most all German-speaking territories, fun­ damentally supported by the new medium of printing using the letterpress (e. g. Bible translations, broadsheets). The linguistic consequences were considerable for all re­ gions joining Luther's Reformation: the rapid expansion of (mainly) his version of a standardized, supraregional language, which was based on regional varieties from southern/upper Germany (used in chan­ celleries and printing offices) and which also contained intermediate forms from the area which was transitional to the Ger­ man Lowlands ("Mitteldeutsch"). This language shift was completed first in the most southern towns/regions (e. g. in Berlin, Magdeburg and Goslar, ca. 1 5101 570). Next came Braunschweig, Lune­ burg, Wismar, Stralsund and Riga (ca. 1510-1 640), and last were Munster (in Westphalia), Bremen, Hamburg, Lubeck and Flensburg (ca. 1530-1660). Cf. the map in Meier/Mohn (1998, 589) and fur­ ther Keller (1978, 348 ff.) for an overview of the history of the German language in English. 5.2. The following factors may be considered as having influenced the spread of High Ger­ man in Scandinavia during the first half of the 16th c. and later (cf. Braurnnuller 2000c): (1) The typological and structural differences between Low German, the older presti­ gious lingua franca in the Baltic, and the new one, High German, were not funda-

135. Language contacts in the Late Middle Ages and in Early Modern Times

mental but rather gradual: West Germanic patterns had already been introduced through Low German some hundred years before. So, contact with High German ac­ tually involved nothing more than a fur­ ther drawing nearer to West Germanic by integrating more and more words (in­ cluding many derivations and com­ pounds) from this related language. (2) Low German had always been permeable to loans from the south, i. e. from upper German dialects. It had never been a "closed system", a fact which also made the integration of High German forms/ words into other languages previously in­ fluenced by Low German easier because Low German was not at any time a puristic and/or normative language. (3) Along with the decline of the Hansa, the formerly pivotal and mediating function of Low German with respect to the Euro­ pean continent became more or less reduced to a kind of a "transitional variety" be­ tween the main areas which had undergone the Reformation and the entire Baltic. (4) High German replaced Low German both as a prestigious language as well as a lingua franca in the Baltic, though they actually represented nothing more than so-called "Ausbau" -languages with respect to each other. (5) The model of Luther's Bible translation(s) in the first half of the 1 6th c. contributed considerably to the development of stand­ ardized syntactic and textual norms for the national languages Danish and Swedish due to the widespread dissemination ofthe (authorized) national Bible translation (in Sweden the Gustav Vasa's Bible in 1541, and in Denmark the Bible of King Chris­ tian III in 1 550). (6) Scandinavian contact with High German started not with informal (trading) con­ tacts in face-to-face situations but with the impact of important texts (viz. written forms of a standardized language). Texts, in general, represent in most cases instan­ ces of formal communication bound to certain registers. They can, further, be read again and again, preserving and spreading their norms and (syntactic) structures. (7) Both languages, Low and High German, had been influenced equally by Latin writ­ ing and its stylistic tradition, especially with respect to sentential/textual complex­ ity and even the position of the syntactic constituents (cf. the verb-final (OV-) posi-

1231

tion of the finite verb in High German clauses). So it was quite natural that the Latin norms, in part also indirectly intro­ duced via Low German texts, continued to survive in a period when High German predominated. Latin and High German thus became a kind of stylistic backbone for the new national written languages in Scandinavia. 6.

Conclusion

The language contact situation during the era of the Hanseatic League is characterized by the following five points: (1) Receptive bilingualism/semicommunica­ tion occurred between speakers of these genetically closely related languages when­ ever possible and predominantly in face­ to-face situations. (2) The prevalence of oral linguistic varieties in many, especially in the earlier trading contacts in the Baltic and beyond. (3) Various forms of short-term interdialectal admixture and accommodation occurred between the speakers ofthe Germanic lan­ guages involved in contact (Middle Low German, Danish, Swedish and Norwe­ gian, but not English!). There were far­ reaching long-term consequences only for the Scandinavian languages and their dia­ lects (new word formation structures, ex­ pansion of the vocabularies). (4) There was a wide-spread absence of writ­ ten norms and forms of linguistic stan­ dardization for the Scandinavian vernacu­ lars up to the middle of the 1 6th c. (and until the end of the 1 4th c. for the partially standardized variety of Lubeck). (5) The gradual decline of the traditional lin­ gua franca Latin (primarily as the inherit­ ed language for documentation), first in the face of Low German as the new pres­ tigious lingua franca in the Baltic, and later in the 16th c., in favour of the Scan­ dinavian vernaculars in an increasing number of domains. 7.

Literature (a selection)

Andersen, Torben Arboe (1995), Niederdeutsche Lehnw6rter injutischen (westdanischen) Dialekten. In: BraunmUller (ed.) (1995), 181 223. Bracker, J6rgen/Henn, Volker/Postel, Rainer (eds.) (1998), Die Hanse: Lebenswirklichkeit und Mythos. 2nd ed. Lubeck.

1232

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

Brattegard, Olav (1932), Uber die Organisation und die Urkunden des hansischen Kontors zu Bergen bis 1580. In: Skrifter utgivne av Bergens historiske Forening 38, 237 303. Brattegard, Olav(1963), Niederdeutsch und Notwe­ gisch am hansischen Kontor zu Bergen in Notwe­ gen. In: Niederdeutsches Jahrbuch 86, 7 16.

Neuzeit (eds. D. Sch6ttker/W. Wunderlich). Wies­ baden, 97 1 1 8 . Diercks, Willy (1993), Zur Vetwendung pra- und postmodifizierender Morpheme im Mittelnieder­ deutschen undin den skandinavischen Sprachen. In: Braunmuller/Diercks (eds.), 161 194. Dollinger, Philippe (1989), Die Hanse. 4th ed. Stutt­ gart.

Braunmuller, Kurt (1993), Voraussetzungen fur die Ubernahme mittelniederdeutscher Sprachstruktu­ ren in die skandinavischen Sprachen. In: Braunmul­ ler/Diercks (cds.) (1993), 137 160.

Gernentz, Hans Joachim et al. (1988), Untersuchun­ gen zum Russisch-niederdeutschen Gespriichsbuch des Tonnies Fenne. Pskov 1607. Berlin.

Braunmuller, Kurt/Diercks, Willy (eds.) (1993), Niederdeutsch Wid die skandinavischen Sprachen I. Heidelberg.

Griinbaum, Catharina/Reuter, Mikael (1997), Att forsta varandra i Norden sprakrad till nordbor i nordiskt samarbete. 5th ed. Stockholm.

Braunmuller, Kurt (ed.) (1995), Niederdeutsch und die skandinavischen Sprachen II. Heidelberg.

Keller, R. E. (1978), The German language. London.

Braunmuller, Kurt (1996), Fonns of language con­ tact in the area of the Hanseatic league: dialect con­ tact phenomena and semicommunication. In: NJL 19, 141 154. Braunmuller, Kurt (1998a), Sprogkontakt i Han­ setiden en sammenfattende oversigt over Ham­ borg-projektet. In: Sprbkkontakt i Norden i middel­ alderen, sErlig i hansatiden (ed. E. H. Jahr). K0ben­ havn, 17 31. Braunmuller, Kurt (1998b), Wortstellungstypolo­ gische Untersuchungen zu den Kontaktsprachen der Hansezeit (Mittelniederdeutsch, Danisch, Schwedisch). In: Historische germanische und deutsche Syntax (ed. J. O. Askedal). Frankfurt a.M. etc., 3 1 5 334. Braunmuller, Kurt (2000a), On types of multilin­ gualism in northern Europe in the Late Middle Ages: language mixing and semicommunication. In: The Nordic languages and modern linguistics 10 (ed. Gubrun porhallsdottir). Reykjavik, 61 70. Braunmuller, Kurt (2000b), Was ist Gennanisch heute? In: Sprachwissenschaft 25, 271 295. Braunmuller, Kurt (2000c), Voraussetzungen fur die Ubernahme von hochdeutschen Sprachstrukturen in die skandinavischen Sprachen. In: Hochdeutsch in Skandinavien (eds. H.-P. Naumann/S. Muller). Tubingen/Basel, 1 19. Brennig, Heribert R. (1993), Der Kaufmann im Mit­ telalter: Literatur Wirtschaft Gesellschaft. Pfaf­ fenweiler. Broch, IngvildjJahr, Ernst Hakon (1984), Rus­ senorsk et pidginsprbk i Norge. 2nd ed. Oslo. Brodin, Lennart (1999), Ordsom vandrat: En studie over lagtyska lanord i svenska dialekter. G6teborg. Burke, Peter (1989), KUchenlatein. Sprache und Um­ gangssprache in der fruhen Neuzeit. Berlin, esp. 31 59. Cherubim, Dieter (1987), Mehrsprachigkeit in der Stadt der friihen Neuzeit. Am Beispiel Braun­ schweigs und Hennann Botes. In: Hermen Bote. Braunschweiger Autor zwischen Mittelalter und

Korlen, Gustav (1951), Norddeutsche Stadtrechte II: Das mittelniederdeutsche Stadtrecht von Lubeck nach seinen iiltesten Formen. Lund/Copenhagen. Lappenberg, J. M. (1851), Urkundliche Geschichte des hansischen Stahlhofes zu London. Hamburg. Le Page, Robert B./Tabouret-Keller, Andree (1985), Acts of identity. Cambridge. Liest0l, Aslak (1964), Runer fra Bryggen. Bergen. Meier, Jurgen/M6hn, Dieter (1998), Die Sprache im Hanseraum. In: Bracker/Henn/Postel (eds.), 580 590. Moberg, Lena (1989), Lagtyskt och svenskt i Stock­ holms medeltida tiinkebocker. Uppsala. Peters, Robert (1988), Zur Entstehung der lubschen Schreibsprache. In: Stadtsprachenforschung unter besonderer BerucksichtigWig der Verhiiltnisse der Stadt StrajJburg in Spiitmittelalter und fruher Neuzeit (ed. G. Bauer). G6ppingen, 149 167. Rosenthal, Dieter (1987), Uber den Umfang des niederdeutschen Einilusses auf das Schwedische. In: Ureland (cd.), 179 202. Sanders, Willy (1982), Sachsensprache, Hanse­ sprache, Plattdeutsch. G6ttingen. Sanders, Willy (1983), Die Sprache der Hanse. In: Dialektologie. Ein Handbuch zur deutschen und all­ gemeinen Dialektologie (eds. W. Besch et al.). Berlin/ New York, 991 1002. Seip, Didrik Arup (1924), Om vilblrene for neder­ tyskens innilytelse pa nordisk. In: Festskrift tilliig­ nad Hugo Pipping pa hans sextioarsdag den 5. no­ vember 1924. Helsinki, 472 477. reprinted in: His­ torisk sprakvitenskap/Historical linguistics (eds. E. H. Jahr/O. Lorentz). Troms0, 145 149. Skanke, Kaja (1999), Mellomnedertysk pavirkning pa nordnorske dialekter (hovedfagsoppgave i nor­ disk sprak). TromS0. Skjekkeland, Martin (1999), Tysk-danske lanord i nynorsk og i bydgemala. Kristiansand. Stotz, Peter (1998), Handbuch der lateinischen Sprache des Mittelalters IV: Formenlehre, Syntax und Stilistik. Munchen.

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Thomason, Sarah Grey/Kaufman, Terrence (1988), Language contact, creolization, and genetic linguis­ tics. Berkeley etc.

Wollin, Lars (1987), Birgitta, Erasmus und Luther. Lateinisch-deutsch-schwedischer Sprachkontakt im Spatmittelalter. In: Ureland (ed.), 203 229.

Tornqvist, Nils (1977), Das niederdeutsche und niederliindische LeJmgut im schwedischen Wort­ schatz. Neumunster.

Wriedt, Klaus (1998), Latein und Deutsch in den Hansestiidten vom 13. bis zum 16. Jahrhundert (Un­ published manuscript).

Trudgill, Peter (1994), Language contact and dialect contact in linguistic change. In: Dialektkontakt, sprbkkontakt och sprdkjoriindring i Norden (eds. U.-B. KotsinasjJ. Helgander). Stockholm, 13 22.

Zeevaert, Ludger (1995), Wie intensiv war der mit­ telniederdeutsch-skandinavische Sprachkontakt wirklich? In: Braunmuller (ed.), 145 179.

Ureland, P. Sture (ed.) (1987), Sprachkontakt in der Hanse: Aspekte des Sprachausgleichs im Ostsee- und Nordseeraum. Tubingen.

1 3 6.

Zimmerling, Dieter (1984), Die Hanse: Handels­ macht im Zeichen der Kogge. Dussseldorf/Wien.

KlIrt Braunmul!er, Hamburg (Germany)

Language loss and destandardization in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Introduction Ireland Greenland Orkneys and Shetland Norway Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

As has been pointed out in several articles in this handbook, varieties of Old Nordic were spoken in Scandinavia and several parts ofthe Northwest Atlantic area during the Early and High Middle Ages. The linguistic situation for some of the varieties spoken outside Scandi­ navia changed radically in the course of the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. Detailed knowledge about the chronology and the actual processes which took place is lack­ ing. But we know that the final outcome for Old Nordic in parts of this area was in fact language loss. In some parts of this linguistic area, i. e. the Orkney Islands and Shetland, this process was not fully completed till quite late - some time around 1 800 (cf. Barnes 1 996b, 169ff.). Even if we disregard the general change in the spoken language from a synthetic to an analytic structure (cf. 5.), the Norwegian lin­ guistic situation also changed during this pe­ riod, that is to say the Norwegian writing tra­ dition as we know it from the middle of the fourteenth century. On the other hand, Icelan-

dic and Faroese remained fairly, but not com­ pletely, unaltered. What distinguished Icelan­ dic and Faroese from Old Nordic spoken else­ where in the West Scandinavian area was, of course, the fact that those two variants were not, to the same extent as the others, exposed to the sort of language contact that could lead to language attrition and language loss.

2.

Ireland

In the Late Middle Ages it was still possible to count Greenland Norse, Orkney Norse and Shetland Norse among the varieties still in use in the North Atlantic area. In other areas, such as parts of England and Ireland, Dublin in particular, the assimilation of Norse into the surrounding "Matrix Languages" (cf. Myers­ Scotton 1998) seems to have been completed at a much earlier stage. Thus the scanty lin­ guistic evidence that exists from Ireland, for instance, suggests the presence of a Norse runic tradition in Dublin as late as ca. 1 125 since the preserved Irish runic inscriptions all seem to belong to the period ca. 950 - 1 1 25. The runic inscriptions from Ireland in many cases defy acceptable interpretation and thus leave us in some doubt as to the status of Old Nordic as a language in this area in the I 1 th/ 1 2th c. Nevertheless, possible evidence of loss of inflexions, lexical borrowings etc. from other languages does exist, even ifit is sparse. Loss of nominative -r is attested in IR 2 which

1234

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

contains the subject form Porgri(m) rather than the full form Porgrimr. probably also in IR 4 which has kirlak in citation form. as it were, apparently to be interpreted as Geirleik or Geirlak with no case ending. The personal name Domnall selshoJui5 'Domnall seal's head' in IR 1 - the inscription from Greenmount, County Louth, known since 1 870 - can be seen as a special case of lexical borrowing. It is in­ teresting to note the existence of the bilingual and digraphic inscription (IR 2) with a Norse text in runes (including a possible case of in­ flexional loss) and an Irish text in ogham. The Old Nordic runic text can be normalized as Porgrim[r} reisti kross penna 'Thorgrim erected this cross', whereas the text in ogham can be restored with reasonable certainty as BENDACHT FOR TOROQRIM 'a blessing on Thor­ grim' referring, it seems, to the same person in the two scripts. In addition there is an ogham inscription containing a possible name which could only be Norse, reading ACE/AQE/ AKE, which may be interpreted as the Old Nor­ dic man's name Aki (cf. Barnes/Ragland/Page 1997, 12, 19, 51 ff.). Although scanty, this sort of evidence may reflect a linguistic situation in which language attrition eventually leads to language loss. The lack of inscriptions in Old Nordic after the first quarter of the 12th c. may in itself indicate that the fate of Old Nordic in Dublin was sealed in the course of that century. 3.

Greenland

In Greenland, a Norse settlement existed for about 500 years, from ca. 985 to 1500. Our knowledge of how the Norse population died out is blurred by lack ofevidence. An extensive body of literature exists on the mystery of the disappearance ofthe Norse Greenlanders. The history of Old Nordic in Greenland is, never­ theless, an integral part ofthe history of Norse settlement in that particular area of the North Atlantic. By the end of the Late Middle Ages, then, the period of Old Nordic in Greenland had corne to a close. We also have little evidence available con­ cerning Greenland Norse which may inform us as to whether or not particular linguistic developments took place in the course of its 500-year-long history in the southwest of Greenland. The areas populated by Scandina­ vians are commonly referred to as the Western and the Eastern settlements. The only preser­ ved written sources in Old Nordic from Green­ land are, again, runic inscriptions. Not all of

them were necessarily carved by Greenlandic settlers, but even so the runic inscriptions are pro bably the closest we can get to primary sources of Greenland Norse. Some 80 inscrip­ tions are known so far, still unpublished as a corpus, but the number is increasing as new finds are constantly made in connection with archaeological excavations. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Western settlement was abandoned around the middle of the 14th c. Judging from the same kind of evidence, the Eastern settlement seems to have existed until ca. 1500. Dating the runic finds is rather uncertain as the use of stratigraphy in the ar­ chaeological sites has proved difficult. Thus it has been impossible to identify runic inscrip­ tions which are younger than ca. 1 3 50. The Greenland runic material, it seems, belongs in a West Nordic context, displaying few runological developments which can with cer­ tainty be identified as specifically Greenlandic. Also, the development of linguistic features specific to the Norse spoken in Greenland is difficult to prove on the basis of the runic material. A tendency to merge dental fricative consonants with the corresponding stops has been assumed from examples such as torir rather than }Jorir (personal name, masc. nom. sg.), tana rather than pana (dem. pron., masc. sg. acc. 'this'), tortarson rather than porparson (patronymic 'son of Thor�r') etc. This feature seems, however, to have parallels in West Nor­ wegian in the Late Middle Ages (for dis­ cussion, cf. Stoklund 1993, 528- 543). The available evidence, then, reveals nothing to suggest with any degree of certainty that there was language attrition of any kind towards the end of the Norse era in Greenland. The language seems to have disappeared together with the ethnic group who used it, but again the actual facts as to what happened are shrouded in darkness. 4.

Orkneys and Shetland

Apart from Icelandic and Faroese, the only variant(s) of Old Nordic which did survive in the North Atlantic area from the Late Middle Ages and into Early Modern Times was/were Orkney and Shetland Norn (for a discussion of the term, cf. Barnes 1996b, 1 70). Written sources documenting the linguistic develop­ ment of Scandinavian in these Northern Isles of Britain do not abound, and our knowledge about specific details is less certain than for other variants of Old Nordic in the period covered here. A thorough discussion of pro b-

136. Language loss and destandardization in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times

lems related to the sources for the history of Scandinavian speech in Orkney and Shetland is given by Barnes (1984; 1996a; 1996b; 1998). Contemporary reports from the period after ca. 1500 suggest that Nom was the first spoken language of most native Orcadians up to the end of the 1 6th c. In Shetland this situation continued until well into the 1 7th c. (Barnes 1984, 354 f.). It has been suggested that dia­ lectal differences existed between Orkney and Shetland Nom, but what these differences were cannot be established with certainty. Based on what limited written sources there are from the transitional period of the Late Middle Ages to the beginning of the Early Modern period of Scandinavian language his­ tory, Barnes (1996b, 182f.; 1998, 1 3 f.) has identified nine different features which, with due reservations, may be taken to reflect spe­ cific tendencies in the development of Norn by this time. Most of these features relate to the phonological level of the language and may be briefly summarized as follows: (i) raising of the unrounded front vowel lei in demonstratives, as in pitta for petta (neut. sg. nom. and acc. 'this'). (ii) raising of the rounded back vowel 101 in certain positions, such as landbular for landbblar (masc. pI. 'tenants'). (iii) a tendency towards monophthongization of laul, with forms such as ustan for austan (adv. 'from the eas!') being recorded. (iv) un­ rounding of the front vowels /y/ and /re/ as in nita for nyta vb. 'use, employ'. (v) voicing of /k/ in intervocalic position - luga for luka vb. 'pay'. (vi) confusion of < m > and < n > in word-final position, as in son for som (reI. particle 'who'), skyldem for skyldin (fern. nom. , sg. definite form 'the rent, deb! ), thenn for peim (dem. pron.) - a feature which may thus seem to reflect a linguistic reality rather than spelling mistakes. (vii) confusion of < h > and < p > in the cluster /hj/, thus < ipia> for ihia. (viii) loss of initial /h/ before a vowel, e. g. reita for heita (vb. 'are called'). In this rather restricted source material scattered occur­ rences of Scots influence on syntax, vocabu­ lary and orthography can also be observed (cf. Barnes' 9th point). As is convincingly argued by Barnes (1996b, 1 85), "the documents by and large reflect the changing written idiom of Norway". That is to say "a gradual Danicising of the language and a complete breakdown of the Old Norse inflexional sys­ tem" (Barnes 1998, 16). We shall return to this below. The spoken language of Orkney and Shetland, according to Barnes, seems ' 'to have developed in much the same way as Faroese

1235

or the more conservative western Norwegian dialects". The full picture of this development, however, remains rather obscure. 5.

Norway

Norwegian also changed considerably in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. During the period between ca. 1350 and ca. 1 525, traditionally known in language history as the Middle Norwegian period, spoken Nor­ wegian changed from a synthetic to an ana­ lytic type of language; the details of this development are discussed elsewhere in this volume. As for the written language, Norwe­ gian historians of language have claimed that the tradition of writing, developed in Norway from the twelfth century onwards, collapsed around 1 370, doomed to destruction by the Black Death in 1 349/50 (cf. M",hlurn 1998 for references). As a consequence, it was thought, more modern forms were gradually adopted from Swedish and Danish causing destan­ dardization, as it were, and eventual disinteg­ ration of the traditional written Norwegian "norm" which had become fairly consistent by 1 3 50. This change, metaphorically de­ scribed as a process of decay, was completed by the end of the 16th c. At that point in his­ tory, to quote Indreb0 (1951, 304) in trans­ lation, "the building which had once been an admired cultural artifact was razed to the ground and its site turned over by the plough". The change from a traditional and quite well-established written norm, as typified in official letters issued by the king's chancery, did not, however, proceed at such immediate speed as is inferred by standard Norwegian histories oflanguage. Well into the second half of the 1 4th c., ifnot to the end of it, the Nor­ wegian writing tradition proved to be power­ ful enough to be adopted and used to near perfection also by Swedish scribes (cf. Rag­ land 1988). Linguistic features which were for­ merly interpreted as originating in language contact with Swedish during this period can in most cases be traced back to professional Swedish scribes who worked in Norway and adopted the traditional Norwegian "norm" of writing. The written language produced by less trained Norwegian scribes from the end of the 14th c. onwards does, however, reflect changes in the phonological and inflectional system of the spoken language in different parts of the land. As the process of linguistic change proceeded at different paces in differ­ ent areas or regions, this may be described as

1236

XIII. From Old Nordic to Early Modern Nordic (from the mid-14th to the mid-16th century)

a destandardization process. No particular district or region had sufficiently prestigeous political, economic or cultural institutions to counteract this process. The most extensive study so far of Late Middle Age Norwegian was carried out by Egil Pettersen (1975-1991). The geographical area for his investigation was western Nor­ way, including the city of Bergen - from Roms­ dal in the northwest through Agder in the southwest. His material consists mainly of ca. 500 charters issued between 1450 and 1 550. The aim of Pettersen's study was to map changes which took place in the written form of West Norwegian during the last hundred years of the Middle Ages, or rather the tran­ sition period between "Middle Norwegian" and "Early Modern Norwegian", using tradi­ tional terms from Norwegian language his­ tory. Based on these written sources, the in­ vestigation nevertheless focuses more upon phonological, morphological, and morpho­ syntactic change than on the written language per se. Two main groups of charters constitute the investigated material: (a) charters which, on linguistic grounds, can be defined as Nor­ wegian; (b) charters which display Norwegian features to such an extent that only Norwegian scribes could have produced them. Even though this excludes charters written in what Pettersen regards as pure Danish or Swedish, a considerable number of documents from group (b), written in Danish mixed with Nor­ wegian linguistic forms (phonological and morphological) form part of his material. Judging from this material and other sources, it seems obvious that what may be termed a destandardization of the "classic" medieval Norwegian written "norm" depended on two main factors: (a) the structural changes which took place in the spoken language (described in previous articles); (b) influences from writ­ ten Danish. A fairly representative example of changes which took place within the wide range of va­ rieties of written language produced in Nor­ way during the last phase of the Middle Ages and the earliest phase of Early Modern Times is the change in the 1st pers. pI. indo verbal ending, from traditional -urn to -ale/x, which can be interpreted as a merger with the 3rd pers. pI. ending, a common feature in Danish sources from the late 1 4th C. onwards (cf. GG § 812; Pettersen 1991 , 660). In his study, Pettersen frequently subdivides the inves­ tigated charters into four chronologically defined subgroups: 1450-1475, 1476-1 500,

1501 - 1 525, and 1526-1550. Let us call them periods 1 , 2, 3 and 4 here. The historic devel­ opment of 1st pers. pI. verbal endings in writ­ ten documents from western Norway can be illustrated by the following table giving the number of documents in which the features occur: Tab. 136.1: -urn -a/eire Mixed

1 63 8 9

2 58 14 35

3 9 40 21

4 8 67 27

Total 138 129 92

This table may be seen as a paradigm of the process ofDanicization which took place over this period, the forms with -urn representing the traditional written standard and to some extent also the spoken language, those with -ale/x representing an adaptation mainly to the existing written forms of Danish (cf. GG § 812). The pattern of diffusion for this process of innovation can also be illustrated by the data provided by Pettersen. The process of change illustrated by Table 136.1 did not, of course, proceed at the same pace in all parts of the area covered by his investigation. The tendency to change to reduced forms ending in -x/-e rather than -urn appears to be signifi­ cantly stronger in the charters which can be traced to the city of Bergen than in the remain­ ing areas taken together. As illustrated by Table 1 36.2 below, the number and the per­ centage of all documents in which the tradi­ tional form -urn was kept is significantly lower in the material from Bergen than in the re­ maining part of the corpus. For the sake of simplicity, the period 1450 to 1550 is divided in two - period 1 (1450-1 500) and period 2 (1501 -1550). A rough geographical pattern of diffusion may thus be expressed as follows (the first entry in each column represents the ab­ solute number of documents with the tradi­ tional form, the second the total number of documents, and the third the percentage of documents with the traditional form): Tab. 136.2: Bergen

Period 1 1 8 : 34 (52.9 per cent)

Period 2 3 : 36 (8.3 per cent)

Remaining area

146 : 1 53 (95.4 per cent)

63 : 126 (50 per cent)

The numbers in these tables clearly demon­ strate how the traditional forms gradually

136. Language loss and destandardization in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times

gave way to the syncretic ones. This process proceeded at an increasing speed in the 1 5th and early 16th c., towards the end of which it had corne to completion. By this time the last consistent traces of the old Norwegian writing tradition were lost. No document in which this tradition is still dominant is known after the rnid-1580s, the last ones originating in the region of Telernark in 1583 and 1 584 (Indreb0 1951, 291). The history of written Norwegian, for several centuries after this pe­ riod, coincided more or less with that of writ­ ten Danish, the details of which can be found in more detail elsewhere in this volume. 6.

Literature (a selection)

Barnes, Michael (1984), Orkney and Shetland Nom. In: Language in the British Isles (ed. Peter Trudgill). Cambridge, 352 366. Barnes, Michael (1996a), Written language and dia­ lect in Scandinavian-speaking Orkney and Shet­ land. In: Mill i sikte. Studier i dialektologi tilliignade Lennart Elmevik (eds. Maj Reinhammar et at.) (SvLm. 1995). Uppsala, 29 36. Barnes, Michael (1996b), The origin, development and decline of Orkney and Shetland Nom. In: The origins and development of emigrant languages. Pro­ ceedingsfrom the Second Rasmus Rask Colloquium, Odense University, November 1994 (eds. Hans F. Nielsen/lene Sch0sler). Odense, 169 199.

1237

Barnes, Michael P (1998), The Nom language of Orkney and Shetland. Lerwick. Barnes, Michael P/Hagland, Jan Ragnar/Page, R. I. (1997), The runic inscriptions of Viking Age Dublin. National Museum of Ireland (Medieval Dublin Excavations 1962 1981. Ser. B, vol. 5). Dublin. GG = Bmndum-Nielsen (1928 1974), Gammel­ dansk Grammatik i Sproghistorisk Fremstilling I VIII. K0benhavn. Hagland, Jan Ragnar (1988), Svenske notarar i produksjon av norsk dokumentsprak ca. 1360 80. Nytt syn pa ei side ved norsk/svensk sprakhistorie i unionsperioden. In: Studier i svensk sprbkhistoria (ed. Gertrud Petterson). Lund, 61 73. Indreb0, Gustav (1951), Norsk malsoga. Bergen. Myers-Scotton, Carol (1998), A way to dusty death: the Matrix language turnover hypothesis. In: Endangered languages: Current issues and future prospects (eds. Leonore A. Grenoble/Lindsay J. Whaley). Cambridge, 289 316. Ma:hlum, Brit (1998), Svartedauden en skjellset­ tende sprakhistorisk begivenhet? In: NLT 16, 1 32. Pettersen, Egil (1975 1991), Sprakbrytning i Vest­ Norge 1450 1550, vols. I II. Oslo, Bergen. Stoklund, Marie (1993), Greenland Runes, Isola­ tion or Cultural Contact? In: The Viking Age in Caithnes, Orkney and the North Atlantic (eds. Colleen BateyjJudith Jesch and Christopher D. Morris). Edinburgh, 528 543.

Jan Ragnar Hagland. Trondheim (Norway)

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages from the mid-1 6th century to the end of the 1 8th century 137.

Historical and sociocultural preconditions of language in Scandinavia from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

1. 2. 3. 4.

The 16th century The 17th century The 18th century Literature (a selection)

1.

The 16th century

The population of the Nordic countries was small compared to those of the Continental countries, but how small is difficult to say. Den­ mark's population ca. 1 500 has been es­ timated at about 600000. Denmark was com­ paratively densely populated, while Sweden during the Reformation was a vast, sparsely inhabited country. Opinions differ as to the size of the Swedish population. An old esti­ mate mentions 750000 people for Sweden, not including Finland. Newer estimates give lower figures, between 380000 and 540000, but these figures are probably too low. One scholar speculates that there were 600000 inhabitants (Magnusson 1996). In the Nordic countries the vast majority lived in the countryside, partly in areas that were fairly isolated from one another. It is estimated that 80 per cent of the Danes lived in the countryside. Den­ mark had many towns, butrnost ofthern were unimportant. Copenhagen with 10-1 5000 in­ habitants was biggest. The Swedish towns were even smaller. Not even Stockholm had a big population. Its size has been estimated at 8000 people in 1582. Distances in Denmark were short, and the sea made contacts easy. Sweden was different. Vast forests divided the cultivated areas from each other. Certainly, the farmers went to the nearest towns to sell animals or grain. They carne from Bergslagen to sell iron and from Norrland to sell fish, hides and tar. But these journeys took place only a few times a year and did not lead to close contact. The townspeople did not lead the sarne iso­ lated life as the country people. A considerable

part ofthe urban population were immigrants from the countryside. The town merchants did business both in their own country and abroad. The travelling journeymen went on long peregrinations, often abroad, to com­ plete their training. In the towns there were schools, and some towns were diocesan capi­ tals with high clergy. During the 16th century we find social stratification increasing in the bigger towns of both Denmark and Sweden. In the Danish-Norwegian kingdom, Danish was spoken in Denmark, Norwegian in Nor­ way and Icelandic in Iceland. As Norway was governed from Denmark, and particularly as young Norwegians were forced to go to Copenhagen for higher studies, Danish set its mark on the Norwegian language, above all in the nearest towns. In Norway in the 16th century, unlike in Denmark and Sweden, there was not an educated class that cared about the domestic language. Therefore no written language grew out of the dialects, as was the case in Denmark and Sweden. Swedish was spoken in the largest part of the Swedish kingdom, but dialect differences were great. Isolation helped the dialects live on. It is highly unlikely that a man from O s­ tergotland and a man from northern Dalecar­ lia understood each other. In Finland and the northernmost part of what is now Sweden, Finnish was spoken and in parts of Norrland as well as Sami. There were few burghers, but many more in Denmark than in Sweden. They have been estimated at 10-12 per cent of the Danish population. In the towns, the Low German language was used as early as the Middle Ages because

137. Historical and sociocultural preconditions of language in Scandinavia

of German immigrants. The immigration of people with Low German as their mother tongue into Danish towns continued and was increased by the fact that Schleswig-Holstein was a part of the Danish kingdom. As many officers came from Holstein, the language of the military command in Denmark was Ger­ man. Many public officials also came from the Duchies. Their language was High German. At the royal court and noblemen's courts, the language was often German. In the late Middle Ages Germans made up about 1/3 of Stockhohn's population. A change took place at the beginning of the 1 6th century. It is estimated that only 20 per cent of the inhabitants were German in the 1 6th century. Because of German immigration, Low German had left its mark on the language of the towns. The language of the new mer­ chants and craftsmen spread through journey­ men, apprentices and servants. The 1 6th cen­ tury minute books show clearly how not only pewterers and goldsmiths but also their ser­ vants used a form of Swedish with many Low German elements. German miners immi­ grated to Bergslagen. Many German loan­ words came to characterize the special mining terminology. Just as in the Middle Ages, Latin was the language of scholars. When they used the do­ mestic languages, their language was also suf­ fused with Latin words and phrases. Apart from the already mentioned stratifi­ cation of the population, it is difficult to say that one social class in the 16th century used different language from the other. The no bility had great political influence, but there were few noblemen. The nobility in Denmark has been estimated at 0.25 per cent of the popu­ lation. In Sweden there were even fewer. The noblemen with estates in the countryside still had fairly close connections with farmers and peasants. It has long been supposed that the few landowning Swedish noblemen spoke the same dialect as their peasants. Danish lan­ guage historians (Skautrup 1 947) claim, how­ ever, that socially conditioned differentiation can be discerned as early as the 15th century, and lately also Swedish scholars have claimed to have found such differentiation. The Reformation meant "democratization', inasmuch as it was considered important that everybody could find his religious guidance. The sermon became important, and it was preached in the language of the people. Latin disappeared completely from the service. Hymns were written in the national language,

1239

so everyone could join in singing them. Taking a longer perspective, the idea was that every­ body should learn to read so that they them­ selves could improve their knowledge of the Christian religion. But this "democratization" did not last. Many powers in society worked against it. Then during the 1 6th century social differentiation took place, first and most dis­ tinctly in Denmark. The noble families adopt­ ed their own distinguishing surnames. Earlier, noblemen as well as peasants had used patro­ nymics. Actually, a Danish ordinance of 1 526 forced the nobility to use family names (Skau­ trup 1947, 261). The differentiation probably also caused the aristocratic noblemen to start speaking a different language from the peas­ ants. The high nobility began to show an in­ terest in Latin and foreign culture. The gentry, however, remained close to the peasantry. During the 16th century, the difference be­ tween a written elite culture and the oral cul­ ture of the peasantry became more and more evident. The aristocracy, the foremost burgh­ ers and the clergy constituted the written culture, while low burghers and peasants were left outside it. The written culture differenti­ ated itself more and more from the oral peas­ ant culture. The language of the elite was de­ termined by the written language and by con­ tact with foreign languages. Latin and High German features were usual. As early as the Late Middle Ages, the trans­ lation of the Bible into Danish and Swedish had started. With the Reformation, complete Bible translations were urgently needed. Work on this had already begun in the 1 520s. In 1 524 a Danish translation of the New Testament was presented, and two years later the New Testament in Swedish was completed. The lan­ guage in the Danish translation has not re­ ceived the same praise as the Swedish one. The language of the latter has its roots in Vadstena literature but is also coloured by the educated oral language of the early 16th century. In 1 541 came Biblia, thet iir, all then helgha scrifft pa swensko. Although Luther's German Bible had been its model, the language of this so­ called Gustav Wasa's Bible has a genuine Swedish character. As the translators be­ longed linguistically to eastern Svealand, this dialect came to characterize the written lan­ guage that developed using the Bible as its model. In Denmark it took longer for a complete Bible translation to appear. The so-called Christian III's Bible was complete in 1 550. No Norwegian Bible translation was made.

1240

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Anotherwritten language that also develop­ ed during the 16th century, the language of the chancellery, had quite different roots. Its foundation is Latin, but German made its im­ print upon the choice of words as well as syn­ tax. German influence was particularly great in Denmark, but it existed also in Sweden. During Gustav Wasa's reign, German immi­ grants were in charge ofthe chancellery. Thus, distinctive German language features such as verb placement in subjunctive clauses carne to characterize the official language. While priests and theologians had the Bible as their pattern when they wrote in Swedish, the noblemen used the language of the chancel­ lery, with which they felt more at horne. A work such as Per Brahe senior's Oeconomia (written ca. 1580, printed in 1677) is written in a style that has been characterized as "dansk-svensk kanslistil" (Danish-Swedish officialese). The Reformation isolated the Nordic coun­ tries from the European Catholic community. While students in the Middle Ages had gone to Paris or Prague, they now had to study at the German Lutheran universities in Witten­ berg and Rostock. The monasteries and nun­ neries were closed. The closing of Vadstena had particularly bad consequences for Sweden. Vadstena had been something of a cultural centre for Sweden in the late Middle Ages. 2.

The 17th century

During the first decades of the 17th century, Denmark continued to flourish economically and culturally. But after Christian IV's unsuc­ cessful participation in the Thirty Years' War it fell into a steep decline. Through the peace treaties in Bromsebro in 1645 and in Roskilde in 1658, Denmark lost large and influential provinces. The culture of the upper classes in particular suffered through this decline. The burghers, on the other hand, were strengthen­ ed, especially after their successful defence of Copenhagen in 1660. A few decades into the 1 7th century came the Swedish expansion that made the country a great power. Through the peace treaty of Stolbova in 1617, Kexhohn county and Inger­ manland became Swedish, which meant that all the land round the Baltic belonged to Sweden. In the truce with Poland in 1629, Liv­ land with the important city of Riga became Swedish. In the peace treaty of Bromsebro, Osel, Gotland, Jiimtland-Hiirjedalen plus

Halland were won from Dernnark for 30 years. The Westphalian peace treaty gave Sweden large provinces: parts of Pomerania with the islands ofRiigen, Usedom and Wollin and the important city of Stettin, the bishop­ rics of Bremen-Verden and the city ofWismar. Finally, the Roskilde peace treaty gave Sweden Scania, Blekinge and Bohusliin plus Halland for good. With this, Sweden became a multi-national country, a fact that was of importance for the Swedish language. Actually, the isolation of the 1 6th century had been lifted much earlier. Both Danish and Swedish noblemen went abroad to study at the European universities. It was not unusual for them to stay away for five years or more. In Sweden these sojourns received strong sup­ port from the state. Swedish ambitions dur­ ing Gustavus Adolphus' time led to the en­ couragement of extensive journeys. Swedes studied not only in Lutheran but also Catholic countries, such as France and Italy. The young students, mainly noblemen, learnt French and Italian. French began to set its imprint on their language. Increased social stratification created dis­ tance between a popular and a learned culture. This shows in many ways. Knittelverse had been a favourite metre in the 16th century. Now the poets took their models from ancient Rome. In his Hexaemeron (1661), Anders Ar­ rebo used hexameter - but rhymed - and alex­ andrine. Georg Stiernhiehn definitely sided with the antique authors when he chose un­ rhymed hexameter for Hercules. The sort of prose books that have later been called folk literature were despised by educated people who read the modern French heroic or pas­ toral novels. We find traces of this distancing in Stiernhiehn's Hercules (1658), when Fru Lusta wants to tempt Hercules to read the folk books but soon realizes that they are too simple. When the young nobleman "comes to higher wisdom" she introduces him instead to Rabelais and the picaresque novel. Taking a longer perspective, the increased ability to read helped to break down social distinction. It was important to the Lutheran church that everybody was able to get a profound knowledge of the Christian religion. The state was also interested in peasant children mastering elementary skills. But nei­ ther in Sweden nor in Denmark-Norway did the state do much to teach everybody to read. In contrast, many individual clergymen taught their parish children. New studies have shown that the ability to read was fairly common in

137. Historical and sociocultural preconditions of language in Scandinavia

1 7th century Sweden. A better education also made social changes possible. More children of simple burghers or farmers went to school and became priests or went into government service. Those in the court and the aristocracy who had influence on the government of Sweden strove for a pure Swedish language. Their pro­ nunciation was considered exemplary. This can be seen in the distinction that Urban Hiarne makes between bondska 'peasantish' and HoJ-Swenska 'court-Swedish'. In Den­ mark in the 1650s and 1660s S0ren Poulsen Goth"nder and Lavrids Kok held up the lan­ guage of Zealand, where the monarchy had its seat, as a norm for the Danish language. In his Prosodia Danica of 1650, Goth"nder stresses the difference between a language that has Greek and Latin as its models and " en grov og gemen bondetale" (a coarse and com­ mon peasant's speech). The elite culture that developed in the Nor­ dic countries manifested itself not least in the language. French influence surpassed the Ger­ man in the 1 7th century. Under the influence of the pastoral novel, young men and women of the nobility developed a refined language which could express feelings. If German words had been common earlier, the French words now took their place with the tide turning in the 1 640s and 1650s. In 1645-48 the Dane S0ren Terkelsen translated parts of the most popular pastoral novel, Honore d'Urfe's Astree. In Sweden, the alliance with France and Queen Christina's court contributed to the rapid change. The well-known letter­ writer Johan Ekeblad (1629-1697), whose let­ ters are full of French words and phrases, provides a good illustration of this, e. g. des­ agreable, tail, inclination, amoureux, com­ plaisance. On the other hand, his father Chris­ toffer Ekeblad's language is strongly in­ fluenced by German. On the whole it can be said that the development in the 17th century was towards a hierarchical society. With ab­ solutism being effected in Denmark-Norway in 1660 and in Sweden twenty years later, all power came to emanate from the king. Be­ cause of the king's position, he was addressed and mentioned with the highest forms of rev­ erence. All his titles had to be enumerated and his name surrounded with a number of epi­ thets, which contained compounds of highest­ or ever-: highest-praised, ever-gracious etc. It was the same lower down the social pyramid. The consequence was an artificial, circumlo­ cutory style of language. Even in private let-

1241

ters between old friends we find this new, dis­ tanced language. Peculiar to Denmark was that all the burgh­ ers who were attached to guilds in the be­ ginning of the 1 7th century were Germanized. The burgher culture can be called a Danish­ German cultural mixture. In Sweden as well, High German placed its imprint on the town culture. Many craftsmen, e. g. printers, were German immigrants. Erik Dahlberg writes in the 1660s about Stockhohn that the number of Germans "an diesem Orte so erwachsen Undt zu genommen, das man den dritten Theil! der Burger vor Teutsche heldt Wie dan die Teutsche Sprache Alhie fast so Gemein alss die Schwedische ist". It has also been said that (High) German loanwords were particularly usual in the 1 7th century.

3.

The 1 8th century

During the 1 8th century the Enlightenment penetrated the Nordic countries. This hap­ pened slowly, and the Enlighternnent reached only a thin layer of the population. Usually the ideas had also been diluted, and for Sweden it has been questioned whether it is right to talk of an Enlightenment at all. It is indisputable, however, that there were people in the Nordic countries who had been strongly influenced by Voltaire and The Encyclopaedia and who developed a completely secularized philosophy of life. The Enlighternnent was elitist. Its cham­ pions looked with disdain on the superstitious common people. It is true that they wanted to spread the Enlighternnent, but they con­ sidered it not only impossible but actually dangerous to disseminate it to the masses. This elitism also marked their language. The am­ bition was to achieve a cultivated, concise and clear form of language. The Enlightenment's contempt for the masses reached its highest point in both Dernnark and Sweden during the last few decades of the 1 8th century. By then the Enlighternnent had already become tainted by Pre-Romantic ideas, among them the worship of the common people that had started with Rousseau. Indeed, the Church, supported by the State, was responsible for the people's education. The goal set by the Church was that everybody should be able to read. Writing was not con­ sidered so important in the beginning. During the latter part of the 18th century, parish cat­ echetic meetings were introduced where the

1242 priests learned about the common people's ability to read, write and do sums. Yet, some distance remained between the re­ fined culture of the higher classes, which was a written culture, and the oral culture of the peasantry. Not until the latter part of the 1 8th century did the view on popular culture begin to change under the influence of Rousseau's ideas and the high regard for "popular" po­ etry of Herder's and others. But this hardly meant that the oral language of the higher classes converged with that of the peasantry or that the written language was enriched with dialect words. The distance was still too great. In Denmark, the German language still had a strong position. The language of the court was German, and the king spoke German, solely or by preference. Only with Frederik V was there a change. Now the service in the palace church was held in Danish, and the royal children were educated in Danish. In the chancellery and the central government, how­ ever, German lived on. German was now also generally used in the lower administration. A large part of the scientific literature that was produced in Denmark is in German. The cir­ cumstances in Denmark in the 1 8th century have decided the future. Danish still has many more German loanwords than Swedish. Although Fredrik I and Adolf Fredrik had both been born in Germany, German never became the language of the Swedish court. The Swedish administration used Swedish. It is true that the official language was still in­ fluenced by German, but the actual language was Swedish. Officialese, however, spread more and more in both Sweden and Denmark. The merchants imitated it when they drew up contracts or wrote letters. The language ofthe 1 8th century guides for letter-writing was or­ nate and took the official language as its pat­ tern. Although Sweden had lost most of the prov­ inces where German was used at the beginning ofthe 1 8th century, German retained a strong position in the big towns. We can see a reflec­ tion of this in Bellman's Fredmans epistlar (1790), where we often meet people who speak German or gibberish with German intersper­ sed. In the 1 8th century, however, the standing of German became lower. French was the re­ fined language. The nobility let their sons and daughters learn French, and the rich burghers did the same. Gustavus Ill's education was completely French-oriented, and he preferred to write in French. A letter-writing culture

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages grew up in the upper classes. While letters had earlier with few exceptions been impersonal, ornate communications, young noblemen and higher burghers and above all women began to express their thoughts and feelings in letters to their intimate friends. The language was French. Many wrote better French than Dan­ ish or Swedish. And if the mother tongue was used, it was very much mixed with French loanwords. This was snobbery and showed that the writer was educated. But through this many French words entered the Scandinavian languages. Some have disappeared again and others have lived on in a distorted form in the popular oral language. The social stratification makes it possible to talk of different languages within the Nor­ dic countries. It has been said that 18th cen­ tury Dernnark had four languages: Danish, which was spoken by the peasantry, was held in contempt and could only be understood within the country; German, which was spoken by the nobility and a large proportion of the burghers; French, which was the lan­ guage of the salon; and Latin, which was the language of scholars. In Sweden, German did not have the same position at all, but other­ wise the circumstances were similar. But the state of things was to change. From the middle of the 1 8th century, a reaction against both German and French arose in Denmark. Already Holberg had the practice of showing off by using French (Jean de France. 1724), although Holberg himself did not use pure Danish. It is difficult to find a similar reaction in Sweden until Romanticism arrived in the beginning of the 1 9th century, when all of French culture was rejected. The language of scholars in the 1 8th century was still Latin. But the national languages be­ gan to be used in teaching and speeches at the universities. The foremost scientists with sup­ port from other prominent people formed aca­ demies, partly in opposition to the universi­ ties, with the purpose of developing and spreading knowledge of the sciences. In 1739 Vetenskapsakademien i Sverige [the Swedish Academy of Sciences] was founded with Carolus Linnreus as its most famous member. In 1753 Sweden created another academy, Vit­ terhetsakademien [the Academy of Letters], founded by Queen Lovisa Ulrica. Denmark followed in 1759 with Selskabet til de ski@nne og nyttige Videnskabers Forfremmelse [the Society for fine Arts and useful Sciences]. And in 1786 Gustavus III founded Svenska Akademien [the Swedish Academy], whose

137. Historical and sociocultural preconditions of language in Scandinavia

main purpose was the cultivation of Swedish language and literature. Eloquence had an important place in these academies. At the academy meetings new members made their maiden speeches, but there were also speeches on different import­ ant subjects. Eloquence flourished as never be­ fore or after. The rhetoric in the speeches was, however, often very elaborate and distant from ordinary speech. Yet the academies were of importance for the national languages, not only by giving them increased prestige. The academy members were under an obligation to write pure and good Danish or Swedish. One reason was that what they wrote should be understood by all those who could read. It has been said (Lindroth 1978, 598) that "the Swedish high and ordinary prose, written and spoken at the middle of the Period of Liberty, is perhaps the purest and most beautiful in the history of our language" . In the 1 8th century the burghers enjoyed an increased importance. Authors began to write for the new bourgeoisie. In Sweden, Olof von Dalin's weekly magazine, Then Swanska Argus, edited 1732-34, was the most popular. I ts language is simpler and closer to the spoken language than was usual in most 1 7th century texts. But we can also notice a differ­ entiation in style whose beginning was only hinted at in the 17th century. It is possible to discern a low, an oral and a high style. The first type is found in the passages where Dalin has tried to write everyday or vulgar language. This style occurs mainly in dialogues but also in fictitious letters written by uneducated people. Oral style is typical of educated people, while high style is used only in specific situations. Gun Widmark (1969) has found a clear differentiation of style in Carl Gyllen­ borg's comedy Swenska spriitthoken (1737). An uneducated representative of the gentry uses popular speech, while the language of peers is close to written language and is prob­ ably identical with what was called "court lan­ guage". It might have been presumed that Ludvig Holberg also used such style differentiation in his comedies. But apart from the fact that Jean de France flaunts French expressions and of-

1243

ficers use German, there is no style differen­ tiation in Holberg. The reason is that he had little knowledge of the popular oral language in Denmark.

4.

Literature (a selection)

Brahe, Per sen. (1971), Oeconomia (eds. John Gran­ lund/Gosta Hohn). Stockhohn. Lager-Kromnow, Birgitta (1992), Aft vara stockhol­ mare pa 1560-talet (Monografier utgivna av Stock­ hohns stad 1 1 0). Stockhohn. Lindberg, Bo (1984), De liirdes modersmal: Latin, humanism och vetenskap i 1700-talets Sverige (Gothenburg Studies in the History of Science and Ideas 5. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis). Gote­ borg. Lindroth, Sten (1978), Svensk liirdomshistoria: Frihetstiden. Stockhohn. Lindstrom, Fredrik (1993), Adlig talspraksdifferen­ tiering under Vasatiden. In: Studier i svensk sprak­ historia 3 (Skrifter utgivna av Institutionen for nor­ diska sprak vid Uppsala universitet 34). Uppsala, 133 142. Magnusson, Lars (1996), Sveriges ekonomiska his­ toria. Stockhohn. Moberg, Lena (1996), Svenskt och tyskt i det medel­ tida Stockholm. In: Svenskan i tusen ar. Glimtar ur svenska sprakets utveckling (eds. L. Moberg/M. Westman). Stockholm. Ostman, Carin (1991), Om kortfonner i nysvenskt skriftsprak. In: Studier i svensk sprakhistoria 2. Goteborg, 255 272. Olsen, Olaf (ed.) (1989a), Gyldendals og Politikens Danmarkshistorie 1500 1600. K0benhavn. Olsen, Olaf (ed.) (1989b), Gyldendals og Politikens Danmarkshistorie 1600 1700. K0benhavn. Olsen, Olaf (ed.) (1990), Gyldendals og Politikens Danmarkshistorie 1700 1800. K0benhavn. Pettersson, Gertrud (1996), Svenska spraket under sjuhWldra ar. Lund. Skautrup, Peter (1947 53), Det danske sprogs histo­ rie 2 3. K0benhavn. Wessen, Elias (1948), De nordiska spraken. 3rd ed. Stockholm. Widmark, Gun (1969), Stildifferentiering i Swenska spratthoken. In: NS 49, 5 77.

Bernt Olsson. Lund (Sweden)

1244

138. 1. 2. 3. 4.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Manuscripts and bookprinting from the mid-16th century to 1800

16.

Introductory remark Printing in Denmark: 16th century Printing and the book market in Sweden Manuscripts in Sweden: 16th and 17th centuries Printing in Denmark: 17th and 18th centuries Printing and the book market in Norway: 16th to 18th century The book market in Denmark: 17th century Technology Printing: 18th century Printers and language standardization The book market: 18th century Reading: 18th century The manuscript tradition: 18th century Censorship On the threshold of the publishing and printing industry Literature (a selection)

1.

Introductory remark

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

The strong centralization of power that marked the new national states of Denmark and Sweden in the Early Modern Era is ap­ parent also in the attitude to communications. State control of the written and printed word in the 16th century was considered essential to secure the political aims of the kings on their still shaky thrones. However, printing from its beginnings has been a commercial ac­ tivity. The aim of its practitioners - most of them, anyway - is to earn money by reprodu­ cing texts and images for mass distribution. As we shall see, the development of printing in Scandinavia illustrates a shift of balance from state control to commercial freedom.

2.

traditional Latin education. Books in Danish were now explicitly published for readers who only understood that language, i. e. the laity, the common people, and some were even aimed specifically at women. This change be­ gan in the early 1 560s, which saw the emer­ gence of two Copenhagen competitors, Lo­ rentz Benedicht, active from 1 561 to 1601, and Mads Vingaard, active from 1562 to 1600. Their work gained support in 1 562 through a royal open letter. No import of Danish-lan­ guage books was allowed, and no Danish books were to be sold anywhere in Denmark unless printed in Copenhagen. The reason given was threefold: that correct usage of Dan­ ish was endangered, that censorship by the university should be facilitated, and that there were good printers in the capital. Though dominant Benedicht and Vingaard were not alone on the scene. The Danish national bibliography includes nearly 1400 items printed in the latter half of the 16th century. Of these, only two thirds were printed in Denmark, however. Even the vernacular market was subject to interna­ tional competition. A successful product from a Danish printer could corne up against re­ prints from Germany. The growth in printed books was characterized by a sharp rise in the number of octavo editions from the late 1 550s, followed in the late 1560s by an ahnost equal number of quartos. The end of the century saw a drift towards even smaller formats. Small books are mostly in Danish, large books in Latin. The increased production of small­ size volumes in the vernacular in the later part of the 16th century is seen by Horstb0ll (1999, 299) as mirroring a popular market with an interest in reading but little leisure time.

Printing in Denmark: 1 6th century

Printing in Denmark in the second half of the 16th century was splendidly inaugurated by the 1550 publication of the first translation of the entire Bible, referred to as King Christian Ill's Bible. A German printer, Ludwig Dietz ofRostock, had to be summoned for this large work. 3,000 copies were printed, and the price , for a bound copy was five "rigsdaler' . During the 1550s, after Dietz's return to Germany, only two printers were active in Denmark. But the market for printed works was growing. Through this medium it was possible to ad­ dress larger circles outside those who had a

3.

Printing and the book market in Sweden: 1 6th and 1 7th centuries

The monopoly of printing in Sweden enforced by Gustav I for the Royal Printer in Stock­ hohn persisted throughout the 1 6th century. It is apparent that strict state control and lack of competition is the reason for the low output ofprinted works in 16th century Sweden. Only with Amund Laurentsson active as the Royal Printer from 1543 to 1575, did Stockholm get a regular printing workshop. He produced some hundred works, large and small, besides

138. Manuscripts and bookprinting from the mid-16th century to 1800

about 70 official proclamations. The majority are religious texts in Swedish. A small but significant number are in Finnish for that part of the realm. Laurentsson's immediate suc­ cessors were shortlived, but German-born Andreas Gutterwitz, who moved there from Copenhagen in 1583, kept the press going into the next century. The number of Swedish im­ prints from the 1550-1599 period is only a little more than 300, and that is but one third of the contemporary Danish production. This was soon to change. The number of printing shops in Sweden rose from one in 1600 - the Royal Printer in Stockhohn with its single press - to nine by mid-century, six of them in provincial towns, which although small were university and cathedral towns. This was due to a conscious new government policy (cf. Ridderstad 1997). Both the educa­ tional system and the administration of the country had to be developed to meet the re­ quirements of a modern state. Trade and di­ plomacy demanded well-educated people. King Gustav II Adolf and his advisors saw clearly the need for more production units that could support national and local develop­ ment with printed books. But this policy also allowed a commercialization of the book market. Although there was no right to freely establish printing shops, the government allowed more than were commercially viable. Twelve printers had started production be­ tween 1600 and 1650. Seven were initially located in the capital, five of them through the state's initiative, but most of them moved to the provinces or went out of business. The story of printing in Sweden in the 1 7th century is one of development from a state­ controlled monopoly to a widespread semi-in­ dustry whose actors sought out niches - geo­ graphical or technical - or fought for domi­ nance within a profitable marketplace. The market for books in early 17th century Sweden was not large enough to afford spe­ cialization. The leading bookseller, Herman Suleke (d. 1611), published religious works in Swedish for popular reading and delivered im­ ported works to the royal court. His follower, Hendrik Diener, bought books from Leipzig to sell when travelling to markets around the country. Traditionally, publishing and book­ selling for the broader market lay in the hands of bookbinders. They were oriented towards religious works in the vernacular: hymnbook, prayer books and pious tracts. The structure of the Swedish book market from the 1630s to the middle of the following century was

1245

determined by a single factor. In 1630 the new Bookbinders' Guild in Stockhohn managed to obtain royal confirmation of statutes that gave them the sole right to trade in all bound books, imported as well as printed in Sweden, throughout the country. Most importantly, printers were thus not allowed to practise binding, nor to sell their products bound and from their own shops. The bookbinders fought every seeming intrusion on their rights. On the other hand, through another decree, after 1619 bookbinder-publishers were stop­ ped from having their publications printed abroad. The sales monopoly of the bookbinders does not mean that the printers were totally in the pocket of the binders. The latter seldom had the capacity to act as publishers. The most successful 17th-century Swedish printers were those who also turned into large-scale publi­ shers oflong-selling texts. Ignatius Meurer ran his printing workshop from 1613, when he married the former owner's widow, until his own death in 1672. His production spans every saleable genre. The majority are repeated edi­ tions of the common religious stock: psalters, hyrnnbooks, catechisms, homilies, the Bible. Even more important in his combined capac­ ities as printer-publisher-bookbinder-book­ seller was Henrik Keyser, active 1633- 1663. Keyser's publishing ventures were dominated by devotional books, Arndt and the likes in translation. This lucrative genre was a field where there were fierce fights about privileges. Seven editions of Comenius's Janua linguarum add to Keyser's status. In mid-17th century Stockhohn, which after the Continental wars was the capital of a sud­ denly affluent European power, the actors in the book market - printers, binders, sellers congregated in close vicinity to each other in the town centre. The commercial character of the Stockhohn printing shops is particularly clear in comparison with the provincial printers. In the 1 7th c. the latter did ahnost all their work for the officials and institutions which had established and somehow control­ led them: the church, school, university, gov­ ernor. Analyses of four sample decades by S. Hansson (1982, 165-1 75) give the following picture. Texts in other languages than Swedish, mostly Latin, account for ahnost 90 per cent of provincial book production. The printers in the capital, on the other hand, catered for a general market. Nearly half their production was in Swedish (one tenth was translations). The work translated into

1246

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Swedish, which in the early part of the century had a moral and educational purpose, seems at the end of the century to reflect more of a public taste for entertainment. The impact on the development of written language made through print largely reflects commercial factors. Being able to buy and read texts in other languages has its effects. Thus it is not only what was printed nationally that matters. The Nordic countries, with their relatively small populations and isolated lan­ guages, have largely relied on imported books. In the 1 7th c. many big booksellers in north­ ern Germany and Holland operated in the Swedish market. They availed themselves es­ pecially of the opportunity to sell books in foreign languages at the Michaelmas free mar­ ket in Stockhohn. A 1 647 royal resolution even allowed them to import their books free of duty. In the same year the Amsterdam firm ofJ. Janssonius was privileged to open a book­ shop and printinghouse in Stockhohn. In a second wave from about 1670 (described by Bennich-Bjorkman 1998, 2 3 ff.), several foreign booksellers settled permanently in the capital, which was now a city of European irn­ portancewith about 55,000 inhabitants. These entrepreneurs were faced with loud protests from the bookbinder-booksellers, but enjoyed silent or open support from the authorities. The rapidly growing educational system in Sweden also encouraged German booksellers to establish themselves in university towns. The structure of the book market in Sweden was thus to some extent split into two separate channels. Popular Swedish books, predomi­ nantly edifying literature, was handled by the bookbinder-booksellers. The trade in im­ ported books lay in the hands of representa­ tives offoreign publishing-bookselling houses. Conflicts between the two camps were com­ mon. The influx of literature in foreign lan­ guages - German, French and English - natur­ ally affected the spoken Swedish language, es­ pecially among the nobility and in the trades. When the 17th century ended, Sweden (in­ cluding Finland) had 1 8 printing offices in operation with at least 40 presses.

4.

Manuscripts in Sweden: 1 6th and 1 7th centuries

It would be easy to believe that the era of manuscripts was over. But just as oral culture was not replaced by written culture - both ways of communication continued to exist

parallel, used for different purposes - so the use of handwritten documents continued alongside print. The living legacy of medieval ballads were collected in private song-books by members of noble families. Manuscripts of academic lectures were transmitted from stu­ dent to student. Although the growth of the juridical system led to the printing of the old county laws and town law from 1607 onwards in several editions, legal jurisdiction could rely on manuscripts well into the 18th century. Law books owned by judicial officers in 17th c. Sweden often consisted of both printed and handwritten parts. Not until 1734 did the realm have a Common Law, first published in print in 1736.

5.

Printing in Denmark: 1 7th and 1 8th centuries

The leading operator in the Danish book mar­ ket in the early 17th c. was Henrik Waldkirch. Born in Germany, he came to Copenhagen and started as bookseller in the 1 580s. Later he added printing to his activities and regu­ larly travelled to the Frankfurt Book Fair. In all, 32 printers were active in Copenhagen dur­ ing the 17th c., but the market could not sup­ port more than three or possibly four at a time. Thus, most enterprises were rather short-lived and dependent on the capacity of a single in­ dividual. Danish printing was very much con­ centrated in the capital. During the 1 7th c. only four enterprises worked for short periods outside Copenhagen. The printing done in Helsing0r from 1603 to 1619 concentrated on popular books in Danish, and in Arhus from 1617 to 1651 on older Danish literature and religious works. The printers at the Academy of Som from 1641 to 1658 produced some 50 scientific and educational works and 1 3 5 smaller items. I n Odense, Bishop Thomas Kingo was equipped in the 1680s with a good printinghouse, primarily to produce his own book of hymns under royal privilege. There were five printing workshops in Co­ penhagen in 1634, which had doubled in num­ ber by 1728, when the great fire destroyed seven ofthem. Their total was quickly restored to nine, but not until the 1750s did they exceed ten. From the 1770s expansion was quick. Un­ like Sweden, where until 1810 government permission was needed to set up as a printer, establishing such a business was unrestricted in Dernnark up to 1799. This meant fierce

138. Manusclipts and bookprinting from the mid-16th century to 1800

competition and many bankruptcies and transfers of ownership. Printing in Denmark was dominated by holders of official positions as First University Printer and Royal Printer, who during most of this period were one and the same. The number of Copenhagen printers in 1799 had increased to 20, and they pos­ sessed about 75 presses. However, judging by an official investigation in 1808, only a little more than half of this capacity was fully or partly employed. The increase in production capacity effected an estimated fourfold in­ crease in print volume. At the same time, the number of provincial presses grew from two, both started in 1731, to nine (in eight towns) in 1799. The main part of their work was oc­ casional verse and a new feature in local life, the newspaper. As the population of the King­ dom of Denmark in the same period only in­ creased from abont 720,000 to 926,000, we may surmise that the growth in printed matter corresponded to rising demand and a spread of literacy.

6.

Printing and the book market in Norway: 1 6th to 18th century

Until 1 814, Norway belonged to the Danish Kingdom, Danish was its written language, and the Norwegian book market was part of the Danish market. Mostly itinerant book­ sellers, probably Germans, are mentioned as operating in Oslo and Bergen in the late 1 6th and early 17th centuries. Christian Cassuben sold his publications all over the country. In 1686 the government opened up book market­ ing, and the following decades witnessed a fierce competition between binders, printers and sellers. Most books were, however, print­ ed in Copenhagen. The first printer in Norway was Tyge Nilsson, who came to Christiania (Oslo) in 1643 but left the following year. Later attempts were unsuccessful too. In 1721 Bergen, then the largest town, acquired its first printing shop, and in 1739 printing reached Trondheim. Altbough the mid-18th c. shows a marked increase in literary activity in Norway, and the first three newspapers were started in the 1760s, the book trade was still unsatisfactory. Bookbinders were quite content to sell hymn­ books, tracts and almanacs, and the need of the learned readers for scientific and literary texts had to be filled by personal imports from agents in Copenhagen.

7.

1247

The book market in Denmark: 1 7th oentury

The book market operated through a variety of distribution channels. To a somewhat lesser degree in Denmark than in Sweden, bookbin­ ders dominated the commercial scene up to the late 18th c. Danish bookbinders, through their tightly organized guilds, controlled the trade in popular Danish books, selling them stitched and wrapped as well as bound. Trad­ ing in foreign books was, however, the exclu­ sive right of booksellers - although binders took their share by binding imported books. The Copenhagen bookbinders also acted as publishers. An important point made by H. Hertel (1983) is that although the state and the church nominally had total control of the Danish book market, from the end of the 16th c. it underwent a steady secularization. The printers made use of a commercial network of common tradespeople or itinerant book­ sellers for the sale of their books. The book­ sellers had originally offered their wares in or close to churches and universities. As their stock more and more consisted of worldly en­ tertainment, they moved their quarters to the general market centres of the towns. A royal decree in 1638 forbade the sale in churches of wanton and provocative books, and in Copen­ hagen the university in 1658 expelled the booksellers from their permanent shops in a church - new places were arranged in the Stock Exchange. H. Horstboll notes "a breakthrough for popular print in the first decades of the seven­ teenth century" (1999, 768). The early estab­ lished genres of devotional and instructive lit­ erature were supplemented by a variety of secular print: almanacs, housekeeping calen­ dars, news sheets, formula books, chapbook stories. These genre-groups in Danish and in small formats dominated the output of the emerging provincial workshops. Publishers in Denmark as well as in Sweden, whether book­ binders or printers, preferred relatively short print runs (500 up to 2,000 copies) even for known best-sellers. Tying up money in expen­ sive paper was avoided. Preindustrial printing is characterized by many small editions, whereas industrial printing strives for large print runs.

1248

8.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Technology

Printing technology did not change much be­ tween its mid-15th century inception and 1800. Pieces of type were picked by hand out of the case and ultimately locked up in the forme, which left its inky marks on handmade paper in the wooden handpress, which only from the 1 7th c. was somewhat strengthened with a few iron parts. The normal workforce for a single press consisted of one or two com­ positors and a press crew of one printer and a mate. Very few printing offices had more than two presses. Henrik Keyser had four presses working in Stockhohn in 1694 (of the nine he actually possessed). G. G. Burchardi in the same year worked two out of his four presses. Before 1728 only one Copenhagen printer is known to have operated three presses. Danish and Swedish printers were for a long time dependent on type supply from German and Dutch foundries. The first type specimen book in Denmark, issued by the appointed SOf0 printer Hantzsch in Copenhagen in 1653/ 1655, includes a good variety of Dutch type in Hebrew, Greek, Roman, Italic and Fraktur characters. As well as fostering new printing offices, the Swedish government under Gustav II Adolfwas anxious to secure a national type supply. The punch-cutter and typefounder P. van Selow was called to Stockhohn in 1618, originally to cut Cyrillic types. But he soon developed a trade in Roman and black-letter founts, supplying practically all printers throughout Sweden and Finland until his death in 1648. For the following 150 years, Swedish printers had to rely on imported founts, slowly trying to keep in touch with French and English fashion. Copenhagen had a successful type foundry run by J. G. Poetzsch from 1755 to 1783, which mainly used German matrices. The early established rule was to set Danish, Swedish and German text in Gothic type, mostly Fraktur, while other Modern Euro­ pean languages and Latin were printed in Ro­ man or Italic types, single words as well as running text. Only in the 1730s was the pri­ macy of Fraktur as "the Swedish Style" being questioned, and works of science, e. g. the Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, and belles lettres in Swedish were beginning to appear in Roman type. Not until the 1820s, however, did Roman typefaces overtake black-letter types as more common in Swedish book production. The Gothic tra­ dition persisted longest in religious works.

9.

Printing: 1 8th century

The growth of provincial presses is one of the most important features of 1 8th-century com­ munication history. It coincides with and is certainly an important part of the develop­ ment of township in the provinces, both in Denmark and in Sweden. The printing shop in a provincial town became a sort of com­ munication centre. Here the local newspaper was edited and sold, once or twice a week. It was often combined with a message-board ser­ vice, where notices of offers and needs were displayed. The printer could deliver diverse documents that furthered local and regional trade. Offices needed ruled ledgers and account books, in­ voices and letterhead stationery. Trade cards in copperplate or letterpress began to appear. Printed posters announcing theatrical per­ formances or sales appeared from the late 17th century, followed by printed tickets for admis­ sion to balls or concerts. Most common among the many small jobs at the printer's were occasional verses. The custom of cel­ ebrating any social occasion, weddings, fune­ rals, inaugurations, royal birthdays and, even better, royal visits to town, with printed verses and speeches, was extremely popular in 1 8th­ century Scandinavia. Printing these provided a steady source of income with a small but quick return for the average printer. The output of Swedish printers is only partly reflected in the national bibliographies. I. Collijn's bibliography of 1 7th c. works con­ tains less than 4,200 items, and for the 18th c. nearly 26,000 items are registered in the 1700-1 829 bibliographic database. To these numbers must be added law-case documents (ca. 1,900 in the 1 8th c., the majority from the 1760s and '70s), parliamentary papers (ca. 2,200 in the same century), academic disser­ tations and programmes, occasional verse and chapbooks. War and peace occasioned the printing of propaganda pamphlets and treaty texts. For the local and regional administra­ tors, the provincial printers produced ordi­ nances and proclamations. Less numerous as titles, but important as reading matter and mirroring current language, are the period­ icals. G. Jonsson (1991) has made a rough subject analysis of the 1700-1 829 national biblio­ graphic database. The registered production, which does not include certain large print cat­ egories just mentioned, rises from a total of some 500 items in the decade 1700-1710 to

138. Manuscripts and bookprinting from the mid-16th century to 1800

slightly over 4,000 in the last decade of that century. (The real increase comes after 1 800). The largest subject categories are theology, politics and literature. Theology rises steadily from about 200 items to about900 per decade. Politics, a subject dependent on the degree of censorship, numbered less than 200 items a decade up to 1760, then rises to 1,200-1 ,400 in the 1760s and '70s, falling again to under 400 items a decade in the hardening climate of the 1780s and '90s. Economics shows a curve quite similar to that of politics, and the utilitarianism was put into practice with hand­ books and pamphlets for "everyman" on agriculture, stock-raising, stove-construction, inoculation etc. Poetry and fiction open the century with 250 titles a decade, climbs suddenly in the 1740s to about 550, and reaches its peak in the '70s with about 900 items. However, as Jonsson points out, if the enormous number of printed leaflets in verse and prose for personal occa­ sions had been included, poetry and fiction would have dominated the statistics. This pro­ duction, which comprises most ofthe Swedish literary output of the era, is estimated to have numbered about 30,000 items between 1650 and 1720, with a further 31 ,000 up to 1 800 (cf. Ridderstad 1983). The average yearly output of the University Printer of Uppsala in the middle of the 1 8th century was 55 dissertations, 8 programmes, two books, and 43 occasional items. This is more than the ordinary Stockholm printers published; their production varied between 20 and 80 titles a year. And it is far more than the ordinary provincial printer published, who normally produced 10- 25 items a year, of which 80-90 per cent were occasional pieces. Every printing shop in Scandinavia in the 1 8th c. had to rely on piece work involving small items for a necessary quick turnover. The diverse yearly output of a small-town Danish printer, A. F. Just in Viborg 1 800, has been listed (Dal 1982, 87) and covers every­ thing from labels for a pharmacy and forms ofthe post office to theatre placards and maps of Europe. Whereas the text of printed books may mirror changes in literary language, the text of all kinds of commercial leaflets shows public communication usage. In all, the print­ ing business at the end of the 1 8th c. testifies of the rapid spread of a modern print culture, where the printing presses are used as vehicles to promote most commercial, social and cul­ t�ral activities. The scene had changed greatly SInce the 16th century, when printing in Scan-

1249

dinavia was primarily restricted to enforce re­ ligious unity and distribute royal decrees.

10.

Printers and language standardization

The importance of correcting and proof­ reading had always been recognized by the authorities. One of the reasons given for pro­ moting native printing of Swedish texts in the 16th-17th centuries was that foreign-print­ ed editions were full of mistakes and badly corrected. The statutes for the Society of Printers of 1752 imposed on a printer who did not correct proofs himself, a duty to use re­ liable proofreaders. When considering appli­ cations for the establishment of printing shops, government officials attached great weight to the educational level of the applicant. Although the instruction for the new office of censor librorum in 1688 stated that the cen­ sor did not have to correct faults in elabor­ ation and style, several censors came to see such considerations as an important part of their task. The concern of G. Benzelstierna, censor from 1737 to 1746, for the purity and clarity of the Swedish language shows in his emendations. Printing house compositors and proof­ readers have always had a strong influence, seldom recognized, on written language. Printing house rules prevail over authors. A special study has been made by L. Santesson (1986) of the linguistic usage of the Lars Sal­ vius press. Every text underwent orthographic scrutiny, which in some cases could be supple­ mented by special examination of grammar, syntax and vocabulary. The changes show that Salvius "decided between conflicting usages, thus actively contributing to a shift in the balance between variants" (Santesson 1986, 303). As his printing house was large (producing a third of Sweden's books in its time) and influential (including publications by Linnaeus and the Academy of Sciences), Salvius exerted a direct influence on the Swedish encountered by 1 8th century readers, not least in the matter of disputed spellings, which mostly carne to follow Salvius' prefer­ ences - and still do.

11.

The book market: 1 8th century

The march towards modernization of the Swedish bookmarket was lead by Lars Sal­ vius. As a young man in government service

1250 he had advocated in a private weekly a liberal economy and criticized the influence of Latin on the Swedish language, and as notary and member of the Academy of Sciences he sided with those wanting to use Roman type in its Transactions. In 1 742 Salvius married the widow of the Stockhohn printer Horrn and changed his career by taking over the printing house. He then used his governmental experi­ ence in a long and ultimately successful cam­ paign to remove 0 bstac1es to a modernized book market. The statutes for a new Society of Printers issued by the state in 1752 bear the mark of Salvius. His pioneering spirit and marketing ability was shown in scientific pub­ lishing and international bookselling. But not until the Patent Royal of 1787 was the printers' right to sell both unbound and bound books ultimately granted. The rapid development of the book market runs fairly parallel in the two Nordic realms. Periods of legislation pennitting great free­ dom to print, 1766-73 in Sweden, 1770-73 in Denmark, brought avalanches of printed matter, pamphlets, periodicals. Such texts were contributions to the current political, economic and cultural debate, and they dis­ cussed daily topics in a language which was moving rapidly away from the traditional heaviness of bureaucracy and academe. Al­ though political changes soon tightened the grip of what it was possible to say in print, the market continued to expand. The growth of new journals and newspapers, in Denmark especially notable from 1784 to 1799, also meant that printing shops multiplied and ex­ panded. This is also a time of intensified mar­ keting and pUblicity: subscription offers, ad­ vertisements, publishers' and booksellers' catalogues, trade cards etc. were commonly used. In the 17th-1 8th centuries, books and other printed works were disseminated through a variety of channels to many different markets. As a professional writer, Ludvig Holberg was representative of the Enlightenment but also of the emerging bourgeoisie in Denmark. The fact that he made a success out of being his own publisher and bookseller, producing his works by subscription and selling them in his own house and through a network of agents, was primarily because he was a shrewd businessman. Most other authors could not repeat this trick, and the need for publishers as middlemen grew. Few printers had a turn­ over large enough to amass the capital needed to finance long-term publishing ventures. It

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages was therefore out ofthe larger booksellers that Danish publishing houses developed, e. g. Gyl­ dendal which was established in 1770.

12.

Reading: 1 8th century

We know fairly well what people read at that time, which was not the monuments of print­ ing history nor of intellectual advance. Lext, who in a classic study charted available read­ ing matter in Gothenburg in the 1 8th c. using a. o. property inventories of the deceased, shows the dominance of devotional books (Arndt, Qvirsfeld, Scriver) and sermons. Secu­ lar fiction rarely was included, and then it was of an educational character (Fenelon). But he also stresses that the common people's reading matter for pleasure, chapbooks and such nor­ mally was not considered worth registering (Lext 1950, 230-235, 265-269). To understand the impact of printing on the development of language, we have to study the multitude of ephemeral printed documents which is the production base of the graphic industry. They show the language actually in use among people for practical purposes - not exactly the spoken language, of course, but the current vocabulary used to transmit a message, explain an event, or sell a cow. Func­ tional literacy is a necessity for those partici­ pating in a mercantile society. From then on, commercial and social messages were more and more often printed and read, not hollered and heard. At the outset this had nothing to do with the ability to read and absorb literary texts. But it is a fact that reading for pleasure - novels, travel accounts etc. - followed as a rapidly growing pastime in the bourgeois so­ ciety of the late 1 8th c. The late 1 8th c. witnessed the emergence of new outlets for reading matter. Lending librar­ ies appeared, first as adjuncts to bookshops (Salvius in Stockhohn in 1757, P. A. Pripp in Copenhagen in 1763), later as separate com­ mercial enterprises. The books available were, to begin with, mostly French and German, but their stock turned predominantly vernacular which, combined with the high rate of literacy in Scandinavia, made the lending libraries an important factor for contemporary reading culture (cf. Horstb0ll 1999, 341 f. and Bjork­ man 1991). In all the Nordic countries they were also supplemented by a variety of private reading societies and book clubs.

138. Manuscripts and bookprinting from the mid-16th century to 1800

13.

The manuscript tradition: 1 8th century

Professional librarians may have begun to sep­ arate manuscripts and printed books in their catalogues from the early 17th century. But the ordinary layman continued to mix hand­ written and printed documents on his shelves, and even in the volumes to be bound for him. This reflects the fact that the production and circulation of manuscripts continued through the 1 7th and 1 8th centuries alongside print. Collections of verse, songs and music were written and copied for private use. Manuscript copies were made of books printed in small numbers or out of print. Political pamphlets which simply could not be printed were widely circulated in manuscript fonn. From such traffic, a manuscript text often reached the market in an unauthorized printing, which might force the author to publish his correct version. The proliferation of texts in manuscript form is reflected in Carlsson's bibliography (1967) of the handwritten political literature of the Age of Liberty in Swedish history (1719-1772). He has registered more than 1 ,500 items, many of which occur in multiple copies in different archives and libraries.

14.

Censorship

Censorship was a fact in 16th- to 1 8th-century Europe. In Denmark, the 1 537 Church Ordi­ nance prescribed that certain categories of books should be censured, and the Danish Law of 1683 repeated older rules about uni­ versity censorship. Authors and printers could be punished. But - as has been pointed out by Dal (1982, 63) - no Danish printer actually lost his privilege and no author suffered seri­ ous punishment. The history of printing in 1 7th-century Sweden provides many examples of official admonitions and punishments of printers who had effected a printing order without the obligatory written approval of the Dean of the Faculty or of the Church consis­ tory. In most cases, however, the irritation of the authorities was primarily directed at the author, most often an academic or theological colleague with differing views. On the whole, there were few cases with serious consequences for the printers involved. Karl XI merged the Swedish statutes con­ cerning print into one law on the censure of all new works in 1684, and the office of censor librorum received its instructions in 1688.

1251

Booksellers had to show their catalogues and books to the censor, printers had to seek his approval before printing any book or other matter. Religious pieces should have written approval by the consistory when submitted to the censor. Academic works were the excep­ tion: their scrutiny was left to the universities alone. Gustav Benzelstierna, who held the of­ fice as censor librorum from 1737 to 1746 and whose diaries are preserved, apparently con­ sidered his main task to be editorial and edu­ cational, correcting and admonishing authors with regard to style, phrasing and facts. Nic1as Oelreich, who assumed the office in 1746, was - rightly it seems - accused by the book market of regarding his job only as a means to a high private income, squeezing the highest possible fees out of those applying for approval. Times were changing. In 1766 the Swedish govern­ ment, and in 1770 the Danish prime minister Struensee declared total freedom to print. These decrees were rather short-lived; subse­ quent rulers revoked them in part or step by step. The 1790s was a decade of suspicion and repression; the authorities feared the con­ tagion of the French Revolution, and several notable cases of banned books and authors entered history: P.A. Heiberg in Denmark and T. Thorild in Sweden are the best known.

15.

O n the threshold of the publishing and printing industry

At the end of the 1 8th century there were 14 printing offices active in Stockhohn, and 22 in 21 provincial towns. This means that the capital had strengthened its position as the centre of printing, but also that the printing had spread outside Stockhohn to more and more towns, even if there was only one printer in each; print culture was thus decentralized. The capacity of provincial printers grew too. Gothenburg, the second largest city, which in 1 720 had only one printer with one active press, had two printing shops in the 1790s working 7 and maybe 2 presses respectively. As we have seen, the number of Copenhagen printers in 1799 was 20, and the number of provincial presses in Denmark at the same time was nine (in eight towns). The development of really large printing houses in Sweden, joining publishing with printing, such as Lindh's in brebro, Nor­ stedt's in Stockhohn and Berling's in Lund, had to wait until the 1 9th century. On the Dan­ ish scene, several large booksellers towards the

1252

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

end of the 1 8th c. established themselves as publishers with their own printing presses. Personalities such as S0ren Gyldendal (from 1770) and J. F. Schultz (from 1783) inaugur­ ated the modern book market of the next cen­ tury.

16.

Literature (a selection)

Ahlen, Bengt (1986), Ord mot ordningen. Stock­ holm. Bengtsson, Bengt (1956), Svenskt stilgjuterifore ar 1700. Stockholm. Bennich-Bjorkman, Bo (1998), Eliternas gata och handeln pa broar och marknader. In: Bokens viigar. Stockholm, 13 66. Bjorkman, Margareta (1991), Circulating libraries in late eighteenth-century. In: Documentatieblad Werkgroep achttiende eeuw 23. Stockhohn, 191 199. Bring, Samuel E. (1962 64), Boktryckerierna i Upp­ sala, 1 2. Uppsala. Carlsson, Ingemar (1967), Frihetstidens handskrivna politiska litteratur. Goteborg. Collijn, Isak (1942 46), Sveriges bibliografi. 1600talet, 1 2. Uppsala. Collijn, Isak (1947), Svensk boktryckerihistoria un­ der 14- och 1500-talen. Stockhohn. Dal, Erik (1982), Danskprovinsbogtryk gennem 500 ar. Esbjerg. Hansson, Stina (1982), "Afsatt pa swensko. » Gote­ borg.

Hertel, Hans (1983), Den daglige bog: B@ger,formid­ lere og lirsere i Danmark gennem 500 ar. K0ben­ havn. Horstb011, Henrik (1999), Menigmands medie. K0benhavn. Ils0e, Harald (1992), Bogtrykkerne i K@benhavn og deres virksomhed ca. 1600 1810. K0benhavn. Jonsson, Gunilla (1991), "Luckan" pa tryck (1) eller trycketi "Luckan". In: Framsynthets ihugkommelse. En viinbok till Sune Lindqvist [ . . .] (Acta Bibl. Reg. Stockhohniensis 51). Stockhohn, 45 56. Jonsson, Gunilla (1996), Svensk text med antikva och kursiv 1700 1740. In: Nordisk Tidskrift for Bok- och Biblioteksviisen 83, 3 35. Lext, Gosta (1950), Bok och samhiille i Goteborg 1720 1809. Goteborg. Lindberg, Sten G. (1983), 1483 1983. Stockholm.

Svenska

bocker

Ridderstad, Per S. (1983), Tryckt for tillfallet. In: Den svenska boken 500 ar (ed. H. Jarv). Stockhohn, 234 258. Ridderstad, Per S. (1997), Tryckpressens makt och makten over tryckpressen. In: 1600-talets ansikte (eds. s.A. Nilsson/M. Ramsay). NyhamnsLige, 345 356. Rinman, Sven (1983), Forlagsverksamheten. In: Den svenska boken 500 ar (ed. H. Jarv). Stockhohn, 79 112. Rosvall, Jan (1975), Svenskforindustriell typograji. Goteborg. Santesson, Lillemor (1986), Tryckt hos Salvius. Lund. Schuck, Henrik (1923), Den svenskaforlagsbokhan­ delns historia, 1 2. Stockhohn.

Per S. Ridderstad. Lund (Sweden)

139.

The development of metrics from the mid-17th century to 1800

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

The prosodic refonn Arrebo The alexandrine Ethos of the metres The song stanzas Birth of the modern lyric Literature (a selection)

1.

The prosodic reform

The ideal of Renaissance metrics was a poetry based on rules modelled on the no ble strictness of ancient poetry but adapted to the nature of the mother tongues, of course. In Scandinavia

this aim was first achieved in the third decade of the 17th c., when the second era of the rhyme verse is said to begin. The Middle Age verse was officially dismissed and character­ ized as vulgaris, seu inartificiosuset imperfectus et novus. The widespread tendency of the baroque period towards order and centralization pro­ vided the setting for this prosodic revolution. A standard language developed which was not only for the government but was also well suited for poetry as an art. It is not possible to tell whether the standard language was cre-

139. The development of metrics from the mid-17th century to 1800

ated as an instrument for the new poetry or whether this poetry was created in order to demonstrate the hitherto unexplored scope of the mother tongue. The new artistic efforts presupposed a new prosody and a new rheto­ ric. By way of example, the beginning ofAnders Bording's (1619-1677) encomium ("AOre­ Digt") to Anders Arrebo (1587-1 637), father of the Danish-Norwegian Renaissancepoetry, may be quoted: Det er 0 Danske Mand uqvems Dig fremmed' Ord at laane, Fra Tybren, Seine, Rhijn oc Terns, Oc saa dit Sprog forhaane. En glatter Stiern oc deylig Hud Nock af sig self beprydis; Men sminckis den for meget ud, Da rynkis den oc lydis. Vor Moders Maal, saa fremt du dig Der i ret giorde mrectig, Af sin Natur er jo for sig Saa liflig rijg oc pr",ctig, At ingen der til belle t0r Udl",ndisk glands oc smycke, Som hende saa vanhreldig gi0r, At hun ey t0r opdycke. [. . . . . . . . . J This is in the strict (in some respects over-em­ bellished) style of the late Renaissance. The stichic arrangement hides a series of four­ liners, fit for reciting, not for singing. The free ballad metre of the Middle Ages (art. 121) has changed into a quite regular iambic quatrain, with alternate rhymes (aBaB for: xAxA) and a complete congruity of the two parts of the form. Two chief traits should be noted: (1) The rule of alternation: weak and strong syllables alternate regularly: u - u - u u - . . . . . . In the late 1630s the trisyllabic Buchner verse originating from (Italian) opera also was accepted: u - u u - u u u u - . . . . . . In the reform period ca. 16301800, the medieval mixed bars only were retained in conservative congregational singing and in popular poetry. The new written (strophic) poetry has more than 90 per cent bisyllabic and about 5 - 6 per cent trisyllabic verses, or, in other words, the strict versification amounts to no less than 95 per cent of the whole. After the break­ through of the Romantic movement (art. 158), the ratio of strict to mixed ver­ sification became three to one.

1253

(2) The insistence on rhetorical elegantia, which includes two artistic aspects. The first is the periodic style. The popular end­ stopped style (linjestil, art. 121) yields to eloquent run-on lines (bindingsstil) : . . . Dig fremmed' Ord at laane, => Fra Tybren . . . This is true rhetorical (even Ciceronian) style. The periods twine round the metrical frame like a vine on an espalier. Secondly, the sermo simplex, the plain wording of the ballad, turns into rhetorical ornatus or sermo artifex, using such figures of speech (colores rhetorici) as apostrophe, peri­ phrase, metaphor and so on. Metrically this strict versification is founded on two principles. The older one is the syllabic principle. Syllabic verse depends on the count­ ing of syllables, as in French poetry. The prin­ cipal rule is the syllabic congruity of corre­ sponding lines in the composition. The syl­ labic principle is common in German and Nordic Renaissance verse. But the syllabic knittel of Hans Sachs or Johannes Messenius (ca. 1579-1636) created difficulties when it was recited, which, after all, was the intended mode of performance. The verses could have been read in a scanning, unnatural way, or they could have been read with natural stress, in a rhetorical way, which seems more prob­ able. If so, the syllabic verses resemble un­ regulated popular rhythms, but the poets, of course, might have set their minds at ease through knowing that the rule was adhered to. So Messenius in 1611 alternates regularly between 1 2 and 10 syllable verses: Varer alla viilkomne til Ubsala by, och sa til thenna Comoedia ny, adel, Prester, Kiapman och Jungfruer skana, iirlighe Matroner, hvar skal rona [. . . J The decisive breakthrough was the discovery of the accent principle, the recognition that Germanic verses are built not upon quantity or syllable number but upon the syllabic stress. So the long and short syllables of the classical metre could be interpreted as stressed and un­ stressed elements. With this prosodic reform the verses gain their "rette Tal og Maal" [right number and measure]. In the European context, the German Mar­ tin Opitz, der gekronte Poet, has been credited with the discovery of the accent principle, which he formulated in the 7th chapter of his Buch von der Deutschen Poeterey (1624). But in Denmark the principle was launched about two decades before Opitz by the great scholar

1254

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Hans Stephanius in a letter (1606) to the chan­ cellor of Norway, Jens Bielke, an avowed syl­ lable counter. "The complete art", Stephanius says, "consists in prosody alone: artem omnem in sola npoamoux consistere". "Prosody" meant to Stephanius not "long" but "stres­ sed": "non in longarum et brevium syllabarum mensuratione, sed acutarum et gravium eleva­ tarum et depressarum pronunciatione ". The principle was taken up and elaborated by Danish prosodists like Peder Jensen Roskilde (Prosodia Daniele LingUE, 1 627), Hans Mik­ kelsen Ravn (Ex Rhythmologia Danica . . . 1649), Peder Syv (Nogle betenkninger om det Cimbriske Sprog, 1663), Henrik Gerner (Epi­ tome Philologire Danicre, 1690), and S0ren Poulsen Gotlrender Judichrer (Synopsis Proso­ dire Danicte, 1650, Prosodia Danica, Eller Danske Riimkunst, 1671). P.J. Roskilde did not know Opitz, and the influence of the latter on Judichrer is questionable. A special case is the eccentric Bertel Knudsen Aquilonius (Ad Poeticam Danicam Deductio, 1641), who wanted to transfer the Latin rule of quantity to his mother tongue with peculiar outcomes, such as this intended Sapphic ode: Ligesorn Moses der ulycke lenge Trengdejder velfertjder opholtjder helt langt Borte varjen Slange bedf0fuet ind i 0rken ophengde. In Sweden the accent rule was first formulated by Andreas Sparnnan in his medical work Sundhetzens speghel (1642), perhaps influenc­ ed by Anders Arrebo. Sparrman emphasized "at hvar och en Stafvelse vthi Scansion sin ratta Accent bekorner". The first more exten­ sive introduction to Swedish versification was written by Andreas Arvidi (Manuductio ad Poesin suecanam, Thet ar, En kart Handled­ ning til thef Swenske Poeterij, Versz- eUer Rijm­ konsten, 1651). The book reflects the view of the Stiernhielm school. Much fuss was made even about the Sapphic stanza. The aim was to produce a readable form, but it failed, owing to unreliable prosody. The poems occur as a medley of quantitative, accentuating and syllabic verses, both rhymed and unrhymed. There are some remarkable interspersed Sap­ phic songs in the humanist dramas (Tobire KDmedie, P. Jensen Hegelund's Susanna and others, cf. art. 121).

2.

Arrebo

The pioneer in the field of the new artistic po­ etry in Scandinavia was Anders Arrebo

(1587 -1637). In 1623 he published his version of Kong Davids Psalter in the new regulated song stanzas. The endeavours to adapt the scanning to the tunes are clear enough, but rough passages occur sporadically. They were adjusted in the second edition in 1627, which could be read with the correct metrical ac­ cents. Arrebo also was the master of the great Christian epic Hexaemeron Rhythmico-Dani­ cum, det er: Verdens F@rste Vges Sex Dages pnectige og rrIlrctige Gierninger [. . .J Paa Heroiske Riim-maade [. . . . . .J , written in the later years of his life, published posthumously in 1661 . The model was Du Bartas' creation ac­ count La Semaine. But Arrebo conducted a daring experiment. Stimulated by the new consciousness of art, he tried to imitate the classic hexameter, butin accentuated and mid­ and end-rhymed form: o Alrn",ctige Gud, al Verdens Skaber oc HErre, Prrectig du gaaer her ud, din Gierning ziirlig maa vrere! Herlighed er din dragt, oc Lius dit Kl",de­ bon hvide! Deilighed er din Pract, du skin som Solen hin blide!

More successful and more hexameter-like is Georg Stiernhielrn's (1598-1 672) allegory Hercules, written in 1638 and published in 1658. The Swedish sonorous inflectional end­ ings are better adapted to creating harmoni­ ous hexameter cadences: Herkules arla stod upp en morgon i forsta sin ungdom, fuller av angstoch tvik, huru han sitt leverne borja skulle, darav han pris kunde vinna med tiden och ara. I det han alltsa gar uti tankar och hogste bekymmer, trippar et artigt viv, dock latt av later och anseend, till honom an, blommerad i margfalsfar­ gade kliider, glirnrnand' i piirlor och gull och gnistrand' i dyrbare stenar, [. . . . . . . . .J Arrebo's hexameter utilizes the so-called pen­ themimeres caesura, which consistently recalls the alexandrine caesura. Only 72 per cent of Stiernhielm's hexameters have this caesura, and so they sound less monotonous and a little more authentic.

139. The development of metries from the mid-17th century to 1800

3.

The alexandrine

Arrebo lost his desire to continue struggling to use hexameters, and in the shift from the first to the second canto he changed to the French heroic verse, the alexandrine, but - re­ calling the hexameter! -with nothing but femi­ nine endings: LatoJUr dejlig Barn, Apollos Tvilling Syster, Diana melkend'-hviid, Dictynna nat-forlyster, Du Skof- oc Lunde-Gud, du h0je Bierge-render, Du S00-f0rstinde klar, du visse tiid-calender, S0fn-gifver, Senge-roo, oc Nat-ledsagerinde, o Maane Natte-Sool, hvad est du ond at finde?

Obviously this passage (from canto IV) is about the moon, depicted in the style of ele­ gantia (G Zierlichkeit, Dan. Sirlighed). The metrical [onn still is "the heroic way" (den Heroiske Maade), now the alexandrine, the main verse of the baroque period, which Ar­ rebo launched in Nordic poetry, not syllabic as in French, but iambic as in the Germanic languages. Thus Arrebo became the initiator of the alexandrine verse in Scandinavia. It dominated the period until about 1800, and in two shapes: the "elegiac" alexandrine (AbAb CdCd . . .) and the "heroic" alexan­ drine (AAbb CCdd . . .), as seen in the later major works of Danish-Norwegian poetry: Ludvig Holberg's (1684-1754) mock-heroic poem Peder Paars (1719) or Johan Herman Wessel's (1742-1785) Singspiel Kierlighed uden Str@mper (1772). Another prominent stichic form of the epoch was the madrigal mode, frequently iambic in rhythm with a free number of beats and free rhyming, used in the recitatives of oratorios, cantatas, pastoral dramas, and fables in the manner of La Fontaine's vers fibres. The masters ofthis form are J. H. Wessel and Jens Baggesen.

4.

Ethos of the metres

As mentioned before, the main types of verse, the bisyllabic and the trisyllabic, represent the new artificial mode. In the German and north­ ern baroque period they dominate in official poetry, metrically marking the true boundary between the Middle Ages and the Renais­ sance. With or without anacrusis, and com­ bined with the different endings (catalectic or acatalectic) etc., a large number of metres (iambic, trochaic, dactylic etc.) emanate from these two primary forms. Worth noting is the a priori attachment of certain feelings (passions, affects) to specific

1255

metrical forms. This idea of an a priori ethos of the metres originates from ancient poetics (especially Horace), but continued to be devel­ oped by German an Danish theorists. The the­ ory is impracticable, of course, but leaves its marks now and then, even in classicism and romanticism. In his tragic Singspiel Balders D@d (1773), Johannes Ewald combines "sor­ row" (Sorg) with trochaic metre, and "joy" (Glrede) with the dactylic ("Buchnerian") mode, as in these two arias: Taare, siig, hvorfor du rinder Paa den Stoltes blege Kinder Ved et ubesirelet Leer! Grumme, lad - lad af at gr",de! Ak, du spilder kun din Smerte! Det af Sorg besp",ndte Hierte, Som din Medynk skulde gl",de, Ak, det Hierte slaaer ei meer! [. . .

J

Venlige Klipper, I h0rte mig gr",de; H0rer mit Haab, og udbreder min Gl",de! Yndige Skove, besvarer min Fryd! Balder! forgieves skal Himmel og Skiebne Hrerde dens Hierte, du elsker, og vrebne Ki",mperens Arm med fortryllende Spyd. Dyden skal krone sin fromme Tilbeder! Skingrende, m"'gtige Gienlyd, udbreder Elskovs Triurnpf og den 10nnende Dyd!

5.

The song stanzas

Let us take a look at the first of these stanzas. Firstly, it is restrained by the rule of alterna­ tion: every single syllable has its fixed place in the (trochaic) metre. Secondly, the four­ stress measure makes the stanza a very solid structure. The prosodic reform produced many new stanzas. They have two main sources: the do­ mestic and the foreign tradition. The familiar four-liner (e.g. the ballad stanza) became doubled into an eight-liner - the baroque pe­ riod especially preferred the longer form to the shorter one. Later on these two archetypes could be extended by reduplication (or multi­ plication) of lines in various units of the stanza: aBaB --+ aaBccB, aBaBcDcD --+ aBaBccDeeD and the like. A common device in the (late) Renaissance is the division of the verse into short lines (four beats --+ two plus two beats etc). Metrically the cited verses demonstrate the three principal features of the whole period: a severe regimentation of the verse structure,

1256

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

the considerable expansion of the supply of stanzas, and the expressive (or simply illustra­ ting) use of metrical form. Primarily, the quoted stanzas by Ewald are a poetic creation, the music (by J. E. Hart­ mann 1726-1793) being added later. But nor­ mally the making of the poem went in the op­ posite direction: from melody to word. The majority of the songwriters in the 17th and the 1 8th c. took their stanzas from music: pas­ toral, Italian opera seria and buffa, opera cornique, Singspiel etc. Thus the great Danish hymn writer Thomas Kingo (1634-1703) made frequent use of the so-called technique of contrafacture, setting Christian words to a secular pastoral tune, e. g. this saraband popular all over Europe:

Den barske Vind, den m0rke Skye Maae fly; Vor Kakkel-Ovn saa eene staaer, Og hver Dags Kolde-Syge faaer; Den tykke Varns, den foeret Dragt Er alt hengt hen og reent foragt, Og Muffen er tillige giemt Og glemt; Man frygter ey, at Snee og Slud Skal m0de dem, som vii gaae ud; Thi lad os gaae at skue paa, Hvor smukt Naturen sig beteer og leer.

Sorrig og Gh"de de vandre tilhaabe, Lykke, Ulykke de ganger paa Rad, Medgang og Modgang hin anden anraabe, Soelskin og Skyer de f0lgis og ad! Jorderiigs Guld Er pr"'gtig Muld Himlen er Ene af Salighed fuld. Kingo chose the same tune for his love poem Candida. For another erotic poem, Chrysillis, du mit Verdens Guld (1669, the pastoral tune in Gabriel Voigtlander's Oden und Lieder, 1642) he created an imposing, richly varied 20-line stanza. The great hymn writer of the pietistic age, H.A. Brorson (1684-1 764) also resorted to the arias, here the typical da capo aria: Livet med sin Brude-Skare Drager ind ad Salems Bye. Luften syntes s0d, som Manna, Af hans F0lges Hosianna. Palmer gik med hine klare Jubel-Toner op i Skye. Livet med sin Brude-Skare Drager ind ad Salems Bye [. . .J . . . with the rhyme arabesque AbCCAb/:Ab:/, and with light (dipodic) trochees, relieved of any baroque heaviness. A contemporary of Brorson, the highly re­ puted Bishop of Ribe, was the seedy private tutor and poet Ambrosius Stub (1705-1 758). His aria stanzas could assume the visible char­ acter of a neatly formed rocaille: Den kiedsom Vinter gik sin Gang, Den Dag saa kort, den Nat saa lang Forandrer sig Saa lempelig;

Quite outstanding among the rococo minstrels was the great Swede Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795). His influence on Danish poetry is also considerable. In his native country he was rescued from obscurity by c .J .L. Alm­ qvist, in Denmark by Johan Ludvig Hei­ berg and others. The Danes took a great deal of their tunes from German tradition, the Swedes from France. French elegance had left its mark on Swedish culture and poetry since the time of the songwriter Olof Dalin (1708-1763). During the reign of Gustav III (1771-1792) the opera was made a shining centre of musical life. In Bellman's work, mu­ sic and poetry are the very same. He took his tuneful melodies from the opera, the Singspiel, the pastoral, and extensively from contempor­ ary dance music, which resulted in large, com­ pound stanzas according to the different fig­ ures of the dance. Bellman was a master of metrical composition. Very often he improved the model by means of refined rhyme patterns and easier rhythmics. A common pattern was the minuet, which was the favourite dance of the upper classes in the 17th and the 1 8th centuries. The sedate movement of the dance forms a strong con­ trast to the gaiety of the humble taproom, framing the picturesque gallery of characters (the clockrnaker Fredman, the charming woman of easy virtue, Ulla Winblad, the dancing corporal Mollberg with his carbuncle nose, and others). Bellman also liked the polonaise (Swedish Folska) introduced through Sweden's close re­ lations to Poland. Next to the minuet the rus­ tic (and Rousseauic!) country dance (Fr. contredanse) was most common. A popular tune was Le singe, 'the monkey', widespread also in Denmark, and employed in Fredman's Epistei No. 69, with the complicated rhyme pattern ABAc BDDc fEfE GGGc:

139. The development of metrics from the mid-17th century to 1800

Se dansmiistarn Mollberg, broder, i var krogerstuga, hur mot vaggen han sig stoder med en rod fiol! Konstigt har han liirt sig buga och med folen skrapa aldrig sag man storre apa i en kapriol. Hjiilp, himmel . . . nil . . . nu sprang han ofver disken burns i en sa, dar krogarmor har fisken. Himmel, ack, se pa hur luten dryper af syrtuten! Nasan, tat med blommor gjuten, skiner som en sol. In the last decades of the 1 7th c. a most im­ portant development of secular song versifica­ tion took place in the Norwegian-Danish clubs which emerged in Copenhagen following the English model. Most celebrated was Norske Selskab [the Norwegian Society], founded in 1772. The Dane P. A. Heiberg (1758-1 841) was exiled in 1 800 for rebelling against the absolute monarchy, but the revolu­ tionary attitude in the club songs was mainly a front for the cheerful gathering and unre­ served gaiety of the drinking sessions. The drinking songs continue with the strict struc­ ture of reform poetry, most of the stanzas are of mediurn length (6- and 8-liners and so on), and were written to popular tunes from the music halls and from current songbooks. So­ cial intercourse could be encouraged by use of divided stanzas, one part being sung by the magister bibendi, the other part by the fellows ofthe society. A great number ofthe club stan­ zas were introduced in the Danish Romantic period by Oehlenschliiger, who participated eagerly in the club life of his time.

6.

Birth of the modern lyric

Besides the song stanzas of the rococo and the enlightenment eras, the poetry of late 1 8th c. shows quite another face. A reaction against improper conduct and the rococo ornamenta­ tion took place. The poets discarded the wig and let their hair be blown in the wind - both in a literal and in a figurative sense. This is the era of the seraphic tone. This birth of modern expressive poetry is ruled not by sing­ ing but by recitation. The turning point in the history of metrics occurred in the mid-18th c. Lyrical poetry came into being as a modern independent branch of

1257

art, coinciding with the appearance of the quite new view of art as an autonomous human ac­ tivity side by side with science and religion. The watchwords of the time were natural­ ness (cf. the maxim revenons a la nature at­ tributed to Rousseau) and enthusiasm for an­ tiquity (Winckehnann's Edle EinJalt und stille GroJ3e). The metrical result was an apparent freedom, but governed by a hidden strictness derived from ancient poetry. The jingle of rhyme for a while was considered incompa­ tible with Roman grandeur. The prominent literary figure of the time was the German poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724-1803), admired by all and read by few. He created the outstanding metri­ cal pattern of the era of Empfindsamkeit: the new "ancient" ode. In the beginning he imi­ tated Horatian metres, but soon he began to invent his own ancient-sounding stanzas, us­ ing classical word figures ("WortfiiBe") in fixed patterns. At his zenith, when he finished his great Christian epic Der Messias, his work was connected with Danish literature. In the years 1751-1770 he received a government grant and settled in Lyngby near Copenhagen, where he may have inspired the first Danish Klopstock ode, the Norwegian P. C. Stener­ sen's Ode til Brudgom og Brud (1754), and, last but not least, the young genius Johannes Ewald. Like Klopstock, the Danish poet em­ ployed both older forms as e. g. the alcaic metre in Ode til Sielen and stanzas of his own making as in Ode til min Moltke (both 1780): Sv",rdets Hvinen og Skraldet af Skiolde Tvinger nogle til Sang, og din Vellyst, Biarkemaalet og Nornernes Hilsen, River der Aand i din brusende Virvel Krigerens Thor! As for the restoration of the hexameter another of Klopstock's achievements - Ewald did not succeed. The real Danish innovator with hexameter is Jens Baggesen (1764-1 826), whose bril­ liance even surpasses Stiernhielm's and Jakob Wallenberg's (1746-1778) euphonious Swe­ dish hexameters. Baggesen, too, was a success­ ful writer of odes, e. g. Paa Spidsen oj St. Got­ tard (1791), which I shall quote in extenso: St0Vet tav; og det sidste, det svageste Lis­ plen af B",kken Tabte sig under min Fod. Skabningen lytted til Skaberens Gang; med tilbedende Taushed Rullede Kloden i zitrende Hvirvel Under hans Fod.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

1258 "Hellig! Hellig! I Stjerner! 0 b",ver det med mig! men tier, Tier det evige Navn! Stammer det ikke! thi n",r er den Helliges festlige R",dsel. Hellig! 0 hellig! uendelig! evig! Hellig! -" Ordet d0de; men Aanden igienf0dt levende svang sig, L0st af Begrebernes Baand, Nrerrnere Gud i den voxende Glands. Den Eviges Ahnagt Favned i Glandsens omhyllende Straaler Ordenes Sie1. Passion has broken through the prosodic con­ ventions, and uniformity sees to have been cast aside. Everything is dissolved in shapeless enthusiasm, even the rhythm, avoiding the strict pattern of popular verse. The bars are unequal and blurred by the unrhymed run-on lines, typical of the ode style. But underneath this change lies a strict classical structure. The trisyllabic rhythm is slowed down by a bisyl­ lable at the beginning of each stanza. The three stanzas close with a choriambus (- u u -) , which only in the middle stanza has been in­ terrupted by the classical figure of speech called aposiopesis, not as a rhetorical orna­ ment, but expressing the subject and attitude of the whole poem.

Metrically the passionate rhythm of the Klopstock-Ewald period has to be judged as a first, pre-romantic rebellion against the pros­ odic reform. However, it has to be stressed that this concerns a limited but important part of the poetry of the time. Ewald himself, and Baggesen as well, were principally true to the strict prosody of the baroque era and of clas­ sicism. The proper rebellion took place with the Romanticists, who really set verse free.

7.

Literature (a selection)

Afzelius, Nils (1947), Bellmans melodier. Stock­ holm. Danske Metrikere I III (1953 60) (eds. Arthur ArnholtzjErik DaljAage Kabell). K0benhavn. Fafner, J0rgen (1982), Tanke og Tale: Den retoriske tradition i Vesteuropa. K0benhavn. Fafner J0rgen (1994), Dansk Vershistorie I: Fra kunstpoesi til lyrisk jrig@relse. K0benhavn. Krogh, Torben (1945), Bellman som musikalsk Dig­ ter. K0benhavn. Schoning, O. (1904), Bellmans Digtning og dens Ind­ fiydelse i Danmark. K0benhavn. Sylwan, Otto (1925 34), Den svenska versen jrb:n. 1600-talets barjan I III. Goteborg.

J@rgen FaJner, Knlundborg (Denmark)

140.

The development of Icelandic from the mid-16th century to 1800

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

General situation The sound system Morphology and vocabulary Syntax: Some important or characteristic syntactic features Conclusion Literature (a selection)

1.

General situation

The publication of the New Testament in Ice­ landic in the year 1 540 marks the beginning of a new era in the history of Icelandic. In this translation, which was made from Ger­ man by Oddur Gottskalksson (1500-1 556), a large number of loanwords and even syntactic

structures were transferred into Icelandic di­ rectly from the German original text (Helga­ son 1929). But the importance of this trans­ lation lies in the fact that from then on Ice­ landic became the language of religious ex­ pression in Iceland. The introduction of the Reformation in Iceland after the execution of Jon Arason (1484-1550), the last Catholic bishop, in 1550 secured the position of ver­ nacular Icelandic as the language of religious expression instead of Latin. The translation and publication of the whole Bible in Icelan­ dic, Guobrandsbiblia (henceforth abbreviated GB), in 1 584 by Bishop Guobrandur porlaks­ son (1542-1 627) confirmed this new domain of expression for Icelandic. Poets and psalm-

140. The development of Icelandic from the mid-16th century to 1800

ists, who wrote on religious matters, wrote their works in Icelandic and tried to use natu­ ral and simple language which could be under­ stood by the general public. The most impor­ tant of those psahnists is Hallgrirnur Peturs­ son (1614-1674), who wrote the famous Pas­ siusalmar in 1659. However, Latin remained the language of science and the arts and an indispensable tool of communication with scientists outside Ice­ land. Therefore the monumental ecclesiastical history of Iceland by Bishop Finnur Jonsson (1704-1789) was published in Latin in 1765. Arngrirnur Jonsson (1568-1648) hinn lreroi 'the Learned' published a work of general in­ terest in 1609 about Iceland, Crymogtea, in Latin, although on other occasions he de­ fended the Icelandic language as tool of ex­ pression (Benediktsson 1953). Learned per­ sons in Iceland during this period often used Danish or even Latin in their private corre­ spondence, e. g. the manuscript collector Arni Magnusson (1663 - 1 730) who more eagerly than anybody else was engaged in studying and collecting examples of Icelandic cultural heritage. Since Iceland belonged to the kingdom of Denmark, Danish merchants were actively en­ gaged in commercial activity in Iceland. To­ gether with their employees they mostly used Danish. Their influence was strengthened after the Danish government introduced a monopoly of commerce in 1602 which allowed only Danish citizens to be engaged in com­ merce in Iceland. Therefore Danish remained for the most part the language of commerce until the latter half of the 1 8th century, when Icelandic employees became more numerous. The use of Danish was important in other pro­ fessions as well. Danish officials used their lan­ guage, but outside the administrative and commercial centres it seems that their influ­ ence was rather limited. As there were no towns in Iceland until Reykjavik was founded in 1786, the entire population lived on farms scattered over the coastal areas and in the val­ leys and was only marginally subjected to the influence of foreign languages. From the period 1500 to 1800, a rather large number of works on the Icelandic language written either in Latin or Icelandic have been preserved. An ahnost complete overview is given by Margret Jonsdottir (1996) and an ex­ haustive list is found in Kristin Bjarnad6ttir et al. (1988-1989). The attitudes of Icelanders towards their own language have been thor­ oughly investigated by Arni B6ovarsson

1259

(1964) and Kjartan G. Ottosson (1990). Here it is only possible to mention the most impor­ tant works. In 1651 Runolfur Jonsson (1620-1 654) published the first grammar of the Icelandic language in Latin. This is the first complete grammar of any Scandinavian language, and it was also the most important contribution to the study of Icelandic until the publication of Rask's Vejledning in 1 8 1 1 . The work of Runolfur Jonsson has been analysed by Kvaran (1993) and thoroughly investigated by Ann Royal (1963). It was rather unfavourably received, but in several aspects it is a remark­ able synchronic description of the language. The influence of Latin grammatical tradition is notorious, and no clear distinction is made between letter and sound, but this was com­ mon in grammatical works of the time. An­ other interesting work on Icelandic grammar from the 1 8th century was published by Fin­ nur Jonsson (1933, 21-1 34). This grammar was written by Jon Magnusson (t 1738). It is a rather complete work which includes many interesting details. It contains a short descrip­ tion of letters and sounds, but it is ahnost en­ tirely concerned with morphology. Although it is strongly influenced by the Latin gram­ matical tradition, it contains some interesting insights. In the latter half of the 1 8th century, the influence of the newly developed natural sciences was felt in Iceland. The Danish gov­ ernment was interested in obtaining an exact knowledge of the resources of the country. During 1752-1757, the naturalist Eggert O lafsson (1726-1768) was charged with the mission of cataloguing the resources of Ice­ land and visiting all regions of the country. In his valuable reports, he wrote several inte­ resting observations on the Icelandic language (B6ovarsson 1951; 1 964), which according to him was purest in the east and southeast of Iceland and around Lake Mi'vatn in the north. In these parts of the country he observed some loanwords, principally of French or English origin, but in the south and in the west (Vest­ firoir) he observed many loanwords of Ger­ man, French and especially Danish origin. Eggert O lafsson made conscious efforts to write a "pure" language, but sometimes his style was overloaded with old-fashioned ex­ pressions which were already out of use at that time. Eggert Olafsson proposed to write the so-called broad vowels with a graphic accent G, i, 6 instead of the double aa, ii, 00 mostly in use until then.

1260

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

With the founding of LrerdbmslistaJi:lagii5 'The Society of Sciences and Arts' in 1779 in Copenhagen and the publication of treatises on various technical and scientific matters, the Icelandic language won additional domains of expression. As the Society tried to promote public instruction in Iceland, its publications had to be written in plain and easily under­ standable language. Many neologisms were coined in order to attain this aim rather than adopting loanwords. This can be considered as the beginning of Icelandic purism, which until the present day has been and still is a very important element of Icelandic language policy (Halldorsson 1 979). In 1794 LandsuppJrrei5ingaJi:lagii5 'The So­ ciety for Public Instruction' was founded. It published works and treatises on technical and scientific matters and helped strengthen the position of Icelandic in these areas. This period was also a time of considerable activity in compiling glossaries and diction­ aries (Margret Jonsdottir 1996, 108-11 1). The most important of these works is the Lexicon Islandico-Latino-Danicum by the Reverend Bjorn Halldorsson (1724-1794), which in fact is the first modern Icelandic dicitionary. It was published posthumously by Rasmus Kristjan Rask (Halldorsson 1 814; new ed. 1992). In 1735 Jon Olafsson fra Grunnavik (1705-1779) wrote a short treatise, still un­ published, which can be considered the first attempt to write a textbook of Icelandic for foreigners (O lafsson 1735). After the vellum manuscript tradition, Ice­ landic entered into the period of printed books in 1540 and continued to strengthen its posi­ tion as a tool of expression in all areas: reli­ gion, commerce, science and technology. From the time of the four grammatical trea­ tises (12th and 13th centuries) until the mid17th century, no information on linguistic ac­ tivity in Iceland has been preserved, but in the 17th century this activity resumed and has continued until the present day.

was the result of several changes, some of which may have begun already in the 1 4th cen­ tury, but which were completed in the 16th century or perhaps in some cases at the begin­ ning of the 17th century. In the following, the changes in vowels and consonants are treated separately, but changes in both systems prob­ ably occurred simultaneously. The result of all these changes was so drastic that it can be said that the sound systems of Old and Modern Icelandic are absolutely different. Ahnost everything changed.

2. 1 .

The vowel system

The changes in the vowel system are the result of two processes: The quantity shift (hlj6i5dvalarbreytingin): This change, which may have begun as early as the 14th century (Petursson 1975; Amason 1980; l>orolfsson 1925, 1929), was completed in the 16th century. As a result, the inherent segmental quantity of Old Icelandic was changed into syllabic quantity. At the same time most of the old long vowels were diph­ thongized and most of the old short vowels underwent a change in quality. As a result, vowel quantity lost its distinctive function and acquired a purely phonotactic status. Unrounding of [y: y]: the old round vowel [y: y] became [i I] (Gunnlaugsson 1 994). This vowel quality was therefore completely lost. The Old Icelandic vowel system is shown in table 140.1. All sounds are transcribed ac­ cording to the 1993 version of the Interna­ tional Phonetic Alphabet. As all Icelandic words including loanwords and compounds bear the accent on the first syllable, the accent is not indicated in the phonetic transcription.

2.2.

The Old Icelandic vowel system

Table 140.1: front high

2.

The sound system

As Bandle (1956) shows in his voluminous work, Icelandic has undergone important changes in its development from Old to Mod­ ern Icelandic. The sound system in particular has been completely changed. In the 16th century the sound system ofIce­ landic changed from the Old Icelandic sound system into that of Modern Icelandic. This

mid

y

back u

e

0

o

£

low

a �---� a:

Diphthongs: au, ei, ey [Jy]

All vowels were inherently long or short in­ dependent of the syllable structure. This sys­ tem underwent a drastic modification, which

1261

140. The development of Icelandic from the mid-16th century to 1800

was completed in the 16th century, but may have begun in the 14th century or even earlier. The following diagrams show the changes which finally result in the Modern Icelandic vowel system.

Tab. 140.4:

front

high

u

mid 2.3.

Development of the Old Icelandic short vowels

Tab. 140.2: front high

\'

1 mid

back

l/ y

u

Y

I

e 'I. 2

0

\Yce �

low

°ls

a

1 . [i] was lowered to [I] and [y] was unrounded and merged with the new vowel [I] (itacism) 2. [e] was lowered 3. [u] was fronted and lowered to [y] 4. [0] was lowered to [ee] and [J] was fronted and merged with [ee] 5. [0] was lowered Only short [a] remained unchanged.

back

e

Y

o

'------' a

low

Modern Icelandic has eight vowels and five diphthongs lei ai rei au ou]. Each of these vowels and diphthongs can be either long or short, depending on the syllable structure. The inherently long and short vowels of Old Ice­ landic were lost. From then on vowels and diphthongs were long in open syllables and before a short consonant, but short before a long consonant or a group of consonants. The syllables V:, v:e and ve:, vee became the only accepted syllable structures in Modern Icelandic. However, there is one notable exception. In Modern Icelandic the vowel remains long be­ fore the consonant groups whose first conson­ ant is

and whose second consonant is < v j r > . This is shown in table 140.5: Tab. 140.5:

2.4.

Development of the Old Icelandic long vowels

Tab. 140.3: front high mid

i:

+-

back y:

\ �

e:

0:

2

£: h ai

low

u:

1

is

0: 0:

au

4

a:

1 . [y:] was unrounded and merged with [i] (itacism) 2. [e:] was diphthongized to lie] 3. [£:] was diphthongized to [ail, and [0] was lowered and merged with [ail 4. [J:] and [a:] merged und were diphthongized to [au] 5. [0:] was diphthongized to [ou] Only [i:] and [u:] remained unchanged.

2.5.

The Modern Icelandic vowel system

The result of these changes is the Modern Ice­ landic vowel system which is shown in table 140.4:

(bird's name) 'incite' (name of mountain near Reykjavik) vekja [ve:ca] 'awake' vokva [vre:kva] 'to water' rakra [ra:kra] 'humid' (gen.pl.) hasra [hau:sra] 'hoarse' (gen.pl.)

vepja etja Esja

[ve:pja] [e:tja] [e:sja]

Note thatthe grapheme < kj > is phonetically a single palatal consonant [c]. From the pho­ netic point of view this is therefore no excep­ tion, but the rule is generally formulated ac­ cording to the graphic form. All Modern Icelandic short vowels are nor­ mally more open than the corresponding long ones (Petursson 1974). This would also have been the case in the 16th century. However, it is not expressed in the phonetic transcrip­ tion, which is normally a broad transcription. 2.6.

Correspondences between sounds and graphemes

Table 140.6 shows the correspondences be­ tween phonemes and graphemes in Old Icelan­ dic (before the 16th century) and Modern (normal) Icelandic:

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

1262 Tab. 140.6: Before the 16th century Grapheme Sound

[i'J

[iJ

["J

['J

[eoJ

[y'J

[yJ

[o,J

[oj

[aoJ

raj

[u'J

[uJ

[o'J

[oj

["J

['J

[ei:J



[oy,J [oy,J

Example sima rims limr Urns d ds

[si:maJ [ri:msJ [limrJ [lims] [dJ [e:lsJ

,oa enn fEh fEh nyta hyst fyrir Jyrr ooi oori moiva

[eba] [en:] [18:khrJ [18:ksJ [ny:thaJ [hptJ [fyrir] [fyeJ [o:6iJ [0:6riJ [molvaJ

'thread' 'rhyme' (gen.) 'limb' 'limb' (gen.) 'snow shower' 'snow shower' (gen.) 'or' 'still' 'brook' 'brook' (gen.) 'use' 'housed' (p. p.) 'for' 'before' 'madness' 'higher' 'break'

Jar Jars fa, Jars ndn rUms una undi bl hbis hal hois QSs

[fa:rJ [fa:rsJ [farJ [farsJ [ru:mJ [ru:msJ [unaJ [undiJ [o,IJ [ho:lsJ [holJ [holsJ [:xs:J

'danlage' 'danlage' (gen.) 'ship' 'ship' (gen.) 'bed' 'bed' (gen.) 'love' 'loved' (past) 'belt' 'hill' (gen.) 'cavity' 'cavity' (gen.) 'heathen god'

Q' Q,k heita heitt h,y auga augna

[:)fJ [:)fkhJ [hei:thaJ [hei:t:J [hoy'J [oy:gaJ [oy:gnaJ

'arrow' 'ark' 'call' 'hot' (n.sg.) 'hay' 'eye' 'eyes' (gen. pI.)

It should also be noticed that the monoph­ thongs before the consonants be­ came diphthongized: lengd [leiDkt] 'length' (Bandle 1956, 45 f.). Bandle (1956) also ob­ serves several changes in some phonetic con­ texts which we cannot enumerate here. Some of these changes were only short-lived, and none of them created new vowel qualities or influenced the quantitative structures. In this sense these contextual changes remained only marginal.

16th century and thereafter Grapheme Sound















2.7.

Example

[i'J [iJ [eJ [IJ ""J "'J

simi rims limur Urns d ,&

[si:mt] [rims] [h:mYr] [hms] udJ [jels]

["J ['J [,;,J [,;J [i'J [iJ [eJ [IJ [,;,J [,;J [re'J [reJ [au:J [auJ [aoJ raj ["'J [uJ [YOJ [YJ [ou:J [ouJ [o'J [oj [au:J [auJ

,oa enn iEku, iEk, nyta hyst fyrir Jyrr f.eoi f.eori oi moiva Jar Jars fa, Jars ndn rUms una undi 01 hbts hal ho& ill ill,

[e:6aJ [en:] [lai:kYrJ [lai:ksJ [ni:taJ [histJ [femJ [fIr:J [ai:6IJ [ai6nJ [re,IJ [mcelvaJ [fau:rJ [fau[sJ [fa:rJ [fa[sJ [ru:mJ [rumsJ [y:naJ [ynhJ [ou:IJ [houlsJ [ho,IJ [holsJ [au:sJ [aus:J

[re'J [reJ [ei:J [eiJ [ei:J [rei'J [reiJ

or ork heita heW h,y auga augna

[ce:rJ [rerkJ [hei:taJ [heihtJ [hei:J [cei:yaJ [ceiknaJ

'telephone' 'rhyme' (gen.) 'limb' 'limb' (gen.) 'snow shower' 'snow shower' (gen.) 'or' 'still' 'brook' 'brook' (gen.) 'use' 'housed' (p. p.) 'for' 'before' 'madness' 'higher' 'beer' 'break' 'danlage' 'danlage' (gen.) 'ship' 'ship' (gen.) 'bed' 'bed' (gen.) 'love' 'loved' (past) 'belt' 'hill' (gen.) 'cavity' 'cavity' (gen.) 'heathen god' 'heathen god' (gen.) 'arrow' 'ark' 'call' 'hot' (n.sg.) 'hay' 'eye' 'eyes' (gen.pI.)

The consonant system

Changes in the consonant system are very im­ portant: a) Loss of voiced stops: The old voiced stops [b d g] were devoiced and transformed into [p t k]. With this change the aspiration be­ came a distinctive feature of the stops in Icelandic. We cannot be absolutely sure that the graphemes < p t k > were aspirat­ ed stops in Old Icelandic, but there are se­ veral arguments which allow us to suppose that they were indeed aspirated in most contexts, except after fricatives: e. g. spara

140. The development of Icelandic from the mid-16th century to 1800

1263

Tab. 140.7: Graphemes

before the 16th century [ph th kh] [pho:tha] [thakha] [k�nd] [khal] [ b d g] bagi [bagel dag(uJr [dagr] g"" [g8:S] gat [gat] [p' t, k,] happ [hap'] pratta [8ra:t:a] bakki [bak:e] vikka [vi:k:a] [n: I: fn ft] brUrina [bru:n:a] villa [vil:a] efni [efne] [efta] 'fia '" < nn 11 > remain long after old short vowel Anna [an:a] brunna [brun:a] [pn pi tn tl 1m kl] opna [opna] kapli [khaple] vatn [vatn]



"' < nn ll>





< rp rt rk>

16th century and thereafter

[spa:ra] 'economize'. We therefore take it for granted that this was the case. Long voiceless stops were probably not aspirat­ ed. b) Rise of palatal stop consonants: Before [j] and old front vowels the old velar conso-

[pho:ta] [tha:ka] [chmt] [kha:l] [pa:jl] [ta:yYr] [cai:s] [ka,t] [hahp] [8rauhta] [pahcl] [vihka] [prutna] [VItla] [epm] [epla]

[ph th ch kh] 'point to' 'take' 'sheep' 'cold' (subst.) [p t e k] 'hann' 'day' 'goose' 'hole' [hp ht he hk] 'luck' 'discuss' 'bank' 'widen' [tn tl pn pi] 'bwwn' (gen.pl.) 'error' 'material' 'promote'

[an:a] [pryn:a]

Anna (proper name) 'fountain' (gen. pI.) [hpn hpl htn htl hkn khl] [ohpna] 'open' [khahph] 'horse' (dat.sing.) [vaht"IJ.] 'water' [aihtla] 'intend' [vahlma] 'awake' [hhklar] 'keys' (nom.pl.) [WP Wt] [chetp.pa] 'hero' [aitp.ta] 'cry' [vt pc gk] [vaIJ.ta] 'fail' [vaupcl] 'hesitate' (subj .) [vaulJka] 'hesitate' lip It Ik] [yaulpa] 'help' [�alt] 'salt' [faulcl] 'falcon' [0' rt rk] [vatpa] 'throw' [vatta] 'wart' [matka] 'mark' II V r y] 'run' [Joi:pa] [vu:tYr] 'knot' (subst.) [raht] 'rapidly' [ya:la] 'chat, speak'

nants [� k] were changed into palatal stops [c ch] (Amason 1978). or in some positions into [j]. c) Rise of voiceless phonemic nasals and liquids: Before old [p t k] nasals and liquids became voiceless phonemes (Petursson

1264

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

1973). The assimilation of the graphemes < hI, hr, hn> also gave the same results [) r \1]. d) Rise of [h] before some consonant groups and before old long voiceless stop conso­ nants which became short in this process: The rise of this [h] can be viewed as a con­ sequence of the devoicing of [b d g]. This has sometimes very misleadingly been called 'pre-aspiration', but its nature is completely different (Petursson 1972; 1973) from the aspiration of the aspirated stops. According to Liberman (1971) this feature can be considered as suprasegmental, al­ though it has a segmental extension. 2.8.

Correspondences between sounds and graphemes

Table 140.7 summarizes the most important changes in the consonant system of the 16th century: Another notable feature is the change of final -t after a vowel to -0: pat > pao 'it', tekit > tekio 'taken'. This change has become general in the modern language. The result of these changes is the Modern Icelandic consonant system, which has many more consonants than the Old Icelandic sys­ tem. The following tables show the systems before and after the change. 2.9.

The Old Icelandic consonant system:

2.10.

The Modern Icelandic consonant system:

Tab. 140.9: labial alveolar palatal velar glottal stops

unaspirated

p

t

c

k

stops

aspirated

p"

t"

c"

k"

nasals

voiceless

ill

"

D

,

nasals

voiced

ill

n

P

9

fricatives

voiceless

f

e ,

,

x

fricatives

voiced

v

,

]

y

lateral

voiceless

1

lateral

voiced

1

vibrant

voiceless

]

vibrant

voiced

,

h

It is well known that the Modern Icelandic consonant system is much richer than that of Old Icelandic. Voiced stops have disappeared in Modern Icelandic, and a complete group ofpalatal consonants has been fonned. Voiced nasals, laterals and vibrants now have their voiceless counterparts. These are phonemic in Modern Icelandic. As the orthography has only moderately changed, the relation be­ tween sound and grapheme is much more complex in Modern Icelandic than it was in Icelandic before the 16th century. The prin­ ciple of Icelandic orthography is essentially morphophonemic rather than phonetic.

Tab. 140.8: labial stops

voiceless

stops

voiced

nasals

p"

alveolar palatal velar t"

k"

b

d

g

ill

n

9

fricatives

voiceless

f

e ,

fricatives

voiced

v

,

lateral

1

vibrant

,

glottal

h ]

ex) ?

In Old Icelandic the correspondence between grapheme and sound was rather straightfor­ ward. This system was radically changed and enriched in the development from Old to Modern Icelandic.

3.

Morphology and vocabulary

The most important study on the morphology of the Icelandic language of the 1 6th century is the extensive work by Bandle (1956) on the language of Guobrandsbiblia (GB), the Icelan­ dic Bible published by Bishop Guo brandur porlilksson in 15 84. In his work, Bandle exam­ ines virtually all aspects of the language and takes into account all other studies on 16th century Icelandic. He compares his results with Old Icelandic data and also with devel­ opments which have taken place in later cen­ turies. We will rely heavily on Bandle's data and on his rich collection of examples, but we will supplement them with data from other sources whenever available. During the 16th century, many changes took place in Icelandic morphology, but most ofthem were minor, serving to simplifying and regularizing the paradigms. As we saw in sec-

1265

140. The development of Icelandic from the mid-16th century to 1800

tion 2., the phonetic changes were so funda­ mental that there was a complete change in the phonetic system during the 16th century. Nothing of this kind happened at the mor­ phological level. Only in this sense, namely that no fundamental changes occurred in the morphology, has it been possible to sustain the view that Icelandic shows a surprising dia­ chronic stability (Groenke 1983). 3.1.

Nouns

We will only give a few examples of nouns here. In the masculine a-sterns (Bandle 1956, 1 83 ff.) there were changes in the nom.sing. in which the long -rr and -nn were simplified. As a consequence, nom. and acc.sg. became identical: sg. nom. sg. nom.

hamarr pj6nn

sg. nom. acc. dat. gen.

[a6ir, foour [o6ur [o6ur [o6ur, foours

> >

hamar PJon

br66ir, broour br66ur, broour br66ur, brooir br66ur, broours/ brooir

'hammer' 'servant' m66ir, moour m66ur, mooir m66ur, mooir m66ur, moours

For brooir and mooir the fonns with vowel mutation "Umlaut" were eliminated in the singular (Bandle 1956, 265). The paradigms have thus been regularized to obtain the form of Modern Icelandic. The typical analogical fonns (in italics) remained, however, as alter­ native fonns. They are still characteristic of the spoken language today. 3.1.1.

Loanwords

In the 16th century and until 1 800, a large number of nouns were accepted as loanwords in Icelandic. These loanwords entered the lan­ guage with translated texts or with foreign products, but many of them probably never were part of the spoken language. In the 1 9th century, the purist movement eliminated many of these loanwords and replaced them with new Icelandic fonnations, so-called neol­ ogisms (Ottosson 1990, 51 ff.). We give here examples of loanwords taken from different languages: From Middle Low German: angist (MLG angest) 'fear'; armoo, arm;;eoa (MLG armOt, armode) 'poverty'. From German: hoffrakt (G HoJpracht) 'splen­ dour'. From Danish: grashoppa (Dan. grreshoppe) 'locust, grasshopper'; rist (Dan. rist) 'grate'.

From English: sapa (OE sape) 'soap'. From Latin: figura (La!. figural 'figure, shape'; historia (Lat. historia) 'history'; kapituli (La!. capitulum) 'chapter'. It is well known that numerous loanwords from the 16th and 17th centuries are ofMLG origin. This can partially be explained by the fact that many original works from which translations were made into Icelandic were written in Low Gennan. It depends on the degree of assimilation whether or not the loanword appears with Ice­ landic inflections. Many barely assimilated loanwords appear only with foreign inflection. Here are some examples: Articulus, Articulum 'article'; 1. dag Aprilis '1st day of April'; Jan­ uarius, 1. Januarij 'January, 1st of January'. 3 . 1 .2.

Proper names

The inflection of personal proper names de­ pends on the translator and the degree of in­ tegration. Ifthe names are completely integra­ ted, like Petur (Pjetur), Pat!, Jakob, Maria, Kristur 'Christ', they are inflected according to the Icelandic system, but in other cases they can remain either uninflected or partially in­ flected, e. g.: Synir Cham 'the sons of Cham' (uninilected) Chams bern 'Cham's children' (with genitive -s)

3.2.

Adjectives

In the adjective paradigms, many changes oc­ curred, but these changes were minor and aimed at regularizing the paradigms. We will only show the paradigm of laus 'loose, mov­ able' here: Masculine

Feminine

Neuter

sg.

nom. acc. dat. gen.

laus lausan lausum lauss

laus lausa lausri lausrar

laust laust lausu lauss

pI.

nom. acc.

lausir lausa

lausar lausar

laus laus

dat. gen.

I

lausum lausra

In the masc.sg. and neut. the final -s of the genitive was restituted, and in the fem.sg. dative and genitive -rwas restituted after -so This is also the case in the genitive plural for all genders. The paradigms thus regularized took the fonn found in Modern Icelandic. Similar

1266

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

adjustments occurred in other paradigms. An­ other notable feature in the GB is that many adjectives became indeclinable: vanmegna 'without force', eigin (n) 'proper'. Many of these adjectives remain indeclinable in the modern language. Numerous adjectives are loanwords, notably with the suffixes -ligur, -igur. -ugur (MLG -lik, -lig, -ich; Danish -ig, -lig). They are as a rule completely integrated in the Icelandic inflection. Examples are falskligur 'false', herligur 'magnificent', (6)m6guligur '(im)possible', kl6kligur 'cun­ ning' and many others. 3.3.

Pronouns

For the pronouns, several changes took place which are retained in the modern language. 3.3.1.

Personal pronouns

The 1 sg. form jeg 'I' (Modern Icelandic eg) appears together with eg and 1 pI. vcr together with vcrr 'we'. The 2 sg. pronoun Pi! 'thou, you' was often suffixed to the verb, particular­ ly in the imperative or in the preterite indica­ tive: gafstu 'you gave', skalltu 'you shall'. In the first and second persons, the dual forms via 'we two' and pia 'you two' which were used with the old meaning of dual in the 16th century began to lose this meaning in the 17th century and were subsequently used as plurals (Guomundsson 1 972). The old plural forms per 'you' and ver 'we' were practically eliminated until they were revived as pluralis majestatis in the 19th century following the Danish or German models. This change prac­ tically eliminated dual as a grammatical cat­ egory which, however, remains in the interro­ gative pronoun hvor 'which of two' vs. hver 'who' and in the rare indefinite pronoun hvor tveggja 'which of two' even today. 3.3 .2.

Possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns okkarr 'our', ykkarr 'your two' and ya(v) arr 'your (pl.)' were eli­ minated and replaced by the genitives of the personal pronouns okkar 'our' (gen. of via 'we') and ykkar 'your' (gen. of pia 'you'). The pronoun ya(v) arr 'your (pl.)' disappeared al­ most completely, but survives occasionally as pluralis majestatis. The genitives have no in­ flection, which simplifies the syntactic struc­ ture.

3.3.3.

Demonstrative pronouns

The old article -enn, the origin of which is un­ known (Bandle 1956, 3 54) was largely re­ placed by the demonstrative pronoun hinn 'the other' used as a suffixed article. The pronoun sa 'this' is often used as an article with sub­ stantives, probably due to German or Low German influence: sa fyrste Dagur 'the first Day' (Bandle 1956, 358). 3.3.4.

Relative pronouns

According to Bandle's statistics (1956, 360), sem is the most frequently used relative pro­ noun in GB. The interrogative pronouns hver 'who' and hvaa 'what' are also used as relative pronouns, and this use continued until the 19th century when it was abandoned under the influence of the purism (Halleux 1965; Halld6rsson 1 979). 3.3.5.

Indefinite pronouns

Ofthe several indefinite pronouns, the follow­ ing deserve to be mentioned: The old form nokkur 'some' was replaced by the modern form nokkur 'some', which was already the most frequent form in GB. The form einn (eirn) 'one, some' was often used as an indefi­ nite article. The substantive maaur 'man' was frequently used as an indefinite pronoun fol­ lowing the usage for Danish man or German man 'one'. During the 1 6th century this pro­ nominal use was particularly frequent with the plural form menno

3.4.

Verbs

Verb conjugation also shows the general ten­ dency to simplify and regularize the para­ digms. In this article we must limit ourselves to the most important changes: 1 . The 1st person indicative present often takes the form of the 2nd or the 3rd person: eg biaur (instead ofbia) 'I ask', like pu biaur 'you ask', hann biaur 'he asks'. 2. The 2nd person indicative preterite of strong verbs takes the ending -st instead of the older ending -t: Pi! komst 'you arrived' instead of the older pu komt. The ending -st is generalized and continues to be used in Modern Icelandic. 3. In the 1 sg. preterite of weak verbs and in the subjunctive mood the ending -i is gener­ alized and replaces completely the older

1267

140. The development of Icelandic from the mid-16th century to 1800

ending -a. The 1 pI. indicative ending -um is generalized and in the preterite plural the endings -uo, -u become general. We give the subjunctive of taka 'take' here: sg. 1 . 2. 3. pI. 1 . 2. 3.

pres. eg taki pit takir hann taki via tokum pia takio peir taki

pret. t",ki trekir t",ki t",kjum t"'kju6 t",kju

4. In the 16th century the present participle in -andi was still inflected (Bandle 1956, 389ff. for a rich collection of examples). In the 17th century it lost its inflection and be­ came completely uninflected as in the mod­ ern language: lifandi 'living', gangandi 'going'. 5. The older ending of the 1 sg. and pI. of the mediopassive (Ottosson 1992, 8 1 - 82; 219-227) -mk was completely eliminated: eg buoumk. via (ver) buoumk 'I (we) ask'. The mediopassive suffix -st (sometimes written -z or -zt) which replaced the older suffix -sk is generalized for all persons. 3.4. 1 .

Loanwords

A great number of verbs are loanwords. We give some examples here: From Middle Low German: bitala (MLG be­ talen) 'pay'; jaga (MLG jagen) 'hunt'; stikta (MLG stiften. stichten) 'found, establish'; vakta (MLG wachten) 'watch'. From Danish: aftifa (Dan. aftive) 'kill'; lukta. lykta (Dan. lugte) 'smell'; omaka (Dan. umage) 'disturb' . There are numerous verbs with the suffix -era, -era (MLG -eren): appeUera 'call'; handtera 'bustle about'; spassera 'walk about, stroll'; traktera 'strive for' (Bandle 1956, 51-53; 429) and many others. The majority ofthese verbal loanwords are of MLG origin, but there are also many of Danish origin. Many of these verbs have been completely integrated and are not felt as foreign anymore, but others were eliminated under the purism of the 19th cen­ tury. 3.5.

Conjunctions

Characteristic of the 16th century is the use of ]Jao as a conjunction due to the influence of German dass: sem Abram heyrde pad hans

Broder var Hertekenn 'When Abram heard that his brother was captured' (Bandle 1956, 453). During the 16th century, several conjunc­ tions were formed with the help of adverbs and relatives, e. g.: Pi! er ]Jegar er

'when'

po ao

'although'

sioan er sloan ao

'since'

par eo pvi ao

'because'

The formation of several conjunctions of this kind shows the vitality of the language. Con­ junctions continue to be formed in this way (Braunmiiller 1978).

4.

Syntax: Some important or characteristic syntactic features

In his important study, Faarlund (1990) shows that Modern Icelandic has moved far away from Old Norse syntactically "in that it has developed a grammatical function of subject which cannot be defined in terms of case­ marking only" (Faarlund 1990, 166). For the period from the mid-16th century to 1800, there are actually no specialized investigations on this subject, but it is evident that there was a strong tendency to develop configurative syntactic patterns in Icelandic. The influence of foreign models on Icelandic syntax is some­ times quite conspicuous. We mention some of these features here: 4.1.

The use of participal constructions

Participal constructions are often used instead of subordinate clauses: Moses . . . foor aptur til Egiptalandzjberande Gudz V@nd i sinne Hende 'Moses returned to Egypt carrying the staff of God in his hand' Og var eim myrkur Skystolpejvpplysande Nottena 'And there was a dark column of clouds which illuminated the night' (examples taken from Bandle 1956, 8) Such constructions are mostly transferred from Latin, German or Low German original in translated texts. They belong to the written language and have probably never penetrated into the spoken language.

1268 4.2.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages The use of the rnediopassive in the function of passive

The rnediopassive is rather frequently used in the function of passive. In some cases this was due to the influence of Latin deponent verbs, but in other cases it seems that this was a pure Icelandic development. The rnediopassive has been thoroughly investigated by Ottosson (1992, 195-227), who has collected examples from different sources. We cite here one example from GB: @nguar Agner skulu ydur giefast 'You will not be given anything' (Bandle 1956, 8)

4.3.

(b) With a substantive with the suffixed defi­ nite article: aJ pui hrredilegu Hungrenu 'Because of the terrible hunger' (Bandle 1956, 31 3) (c) With a possessive pronoun: afmijnumfrialsum vilia 'By my free will' fra pinne grimmre Reide 'From your great fury' (Bandle 1956, 3 14) (d) With the genitive of a substantive: Mannsins dyrrruett Lijf 'The precious life of man The precious human life' (Bandle 1956, 3 14) =

In Modern Icelandic all these construc­ tions would require the weak flexion ofthe adjective (Petursson 1 992). This use is not to be attributed to foreign influence. It shows that the use of the strong form of the adjective was different in the 1 6th cen­ tury compared to the prevailing use in later centuries, which has extended the use of the weak form to all these cases.

Position of the verb in a subordinate clause

The verb is frequently put at the end of a sub­ ordinate clause. This syntactic feature seems principally due to MLG influence: a jJeim Deige sem hann pad heyrer 'On the day on which he hears it' (Bandle 1956, 8) 4.4.

The use of the cardinal number one as an indefinite article

Icelandic has no indefinite article. However, in the 16th and 1 7th centuries the numeral einn (eirn) 'one' was frequently used in a very simi­ lar way to the indefinite article in Danish or German. This use was clearly inspired by foreign models and is unnatural in Icelandic. It did not survive the purism in the 19th cen­ tury. The following two examples are taken from GB: par gieck vpp ein poka aJ J@rdunne 'There arose a fog from the earth' So skickade Joseph peim ein L@g 'Then Joseph sent them a law' (Bandle 1956, 3 31) 4.5.

The use of strong adjectives

The use of the strong and the weak inflection of adjectives was not so strictly regularized as it is in the modern language (Petursson 1992, 71 f.). The following examples show this use: (a) After a demonstrative pronoun: peir g/repa Juller og synduger 'Those full of crimes and sins' (Bandle 1956, 31 3)

5.

Conclusion

The mid-16th century to 1800 was a period of enormous change in the phonetics and the phonology of the Icelandic language, during which it acquired almost the same form as in Modern Icelandic. At the same time it was a period of regularization and stability in the morphology, and this morphological stability has continued until the present day.

6.

Literature (a selection)

Ann Royal, Arthur (1963), The Icelandic language as described by Runolfur Jonsson in his "Gram­ maticae Islandicae Rudimenta" (1651). Chapel Hill (unpublished Dissertation). Amason, Kristjan (1978), Palatalization in Modern Icelandic: A case for historicism in synchronic lin­ guistics. In: Lingua 46, 185 203. Amason, Kristjan (1980), Quantity in historicalpho­ nology: Icelandic and related cases. Cambridge. Bandle, Oskar (1956), Die Sprache der Gul5brands­ biblia: Orthographie Wid Laute, Formen (Bibliotheca Arnamagna:ana Vol. 17, ed. Jon Helgason). Kopen­ hagen. Benediktsson, Jakob (1953), Amgrimur la:rbi og islenzk malhreinsun. In: Afrrurliskvel5ja til prof dr. phil. Alexanders Johannessonar haskolarektors 15. jitli 1953 fra samstarfsmonnum og nemendum. Reyk­ javik, 117 138. Bjamad6ttir, Kristin/Eyp6rsson, Abalsteinn/Ind­ ribason, porsteinn G. (1988 1989), Skra urn islensk

140. The development of Icelandic from the mid-16th century to 1800

1269

malfra:birit til 1925: Mart finna hundar sjer i holum. In: IMAM 10 1 1 , 177 257.

Jonsson, Runolfur (1651), Grammaticae Islandicae Rudimenta. Havniae.

Bobvarsson, Arni (1951), pattur urn malfra:bistorf Eggerts Olafssonar. In: Skirnir 125, 156 172.

Kvaran, Gubrun (1993), Grammaticae Islandicae Rudimenta: Islensk malfra:bibok fra 17. old. In: IMAM 15, 123 140.

Bobvarsson, Arni (1964), Vibhorf Islendinga til mobunnalsins fyrr og sibar. In: PEttir um islenzkt mid eftir nokkra islenzka mb1frEainga (ed. Halldor Halldorsson), Reykjavik, 177 200. Braunmuller; Kurt (1978), Remarks on the fonna­ tion of conjunctions in Gennanic languages. In: NJL 1, 99 120. Faarlund, Jan Terje (1990), Syntactic change: To­ ward a theory of historical syntax. Berlin. Groenke, Ulrich (1983), Diachrone Perdurabilitit, Sprachpfiege und Sprachplanung: Der Fall IsLin­ disch. In: Language Reform, History and Future 2 (eds. Istvan Fodor/Hagege Claude). Hamburg, 137 155. Gubmundsson, Helgi (1972), The pronominal dual in Icelandic (publications in Linguistics 2). Reyk­ javik. Gillllll augsson, Gubvarbur Mar (1994), Um afkring­ ingu a /y, y, ey/ i islensku. Reykjavik. Halldorsson, Bjorn (1992), fslensk-Iatnesk-donsk oraabbk. Reykjavik. (1st ed.: Lexicon Islandico­ Latino-Danicum, ed. Rasmus Kristjan Rask) 1814. Copenhagen). Halldorsson, Halldor (1979), Icelandic purism and its history. In: Word 30, 76 86. Halleux, Pierre (1965), Le purisme islandais. In: Et.germ. 20, 417 427. Helgason, Jon(1929), Maliaa Nyja Testamenti Odds Gottskb1kssonar (Safn Fra:bafelagsins urn Island og Islendinga, 7. Bindi). Kaupmannahofn.

Libennan,Anatolij S. (1971), Islandskajaprosodika: K fonologiceskoj xarakteristike sovremennogo is­ landskogo jazyka i ego istorii. Leningrad. MagnUsson, Jon (1737 38), Grammatica Islandica. In: Den Islandske Grammatiks Historie til o. 1800 (ed. Finnur Jonsson). K0benhavn, 21 134; New edition and translation by Jon Axel Harbarson (1997), Jon Magnusson, Grammatica Islandica islensk malfrEai. Reykjavik. Olafsson, Jon (1735), Kort Undervijsnijng om defor­ nemste Stycker til at lEse og tale det Islandske Sprog rett. K0benhavn (unpublished manuscript). Ottosson, Kjartan G. (1990), islensk malhreinsun: Sogulegt yfirlit. Reykjavik. Ottosson, Kjartan G. (1992), The Icelandic middle voice: The morphological and phonological develop­ ment. Lund. Petursson, Hallgrimur ([1659] 1996), Passiusalmar fra handriti til samtlOar. Reykjavik. Petursson, Magnus (1972), La preaspiration en is­ landais moderne. Examen de sa realisation pho­ netique chez deux sujets. In: Studia Linguistica 26, 61 80. Petursson, Magnus (1973), L'origine des phonemes nasals et liquides sourds et du [h] postvocalique de l'islandais moderne. In: Orbis 22, 335 342. Petursson, Magnus (1974), Les articulations de l'is­ landais a la lumiere de la radiocinematographie. Paris.

Henriksen, Carol/Hovdhaugen, Even/Karlsson, Fred/Bengt, Sigurd (eds.) (1996), Studies in the de­ velopment of linguistics in Denmark, Finland, Ice­ land, Norway and Sweden. Papers from the confer­ ence on the history of linguistics in the Nordic countries, Oslo, November 20 22, 1994. Oslo.

Petursson, Magnus (1975), Ie systeme vocalique de l'islandais: faits phonetiques et interpretation pho­ nologique. In: Lingua 35, 35 59.

Jonsdottir, Margret (1996), Linguistics in Iceland before 1800: An overview. In: Studies in the devel­ opment of linguistics in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden (eds. Carol Henriksen et al.). Oslo, 102 122.

Rask, Rasmus Kristjan (1811), Vejledning til det Is­ landske eller Gamle Nordiske Sprog. Kj0benhavn.

Jonsson, Arngrimur ([1609] 1985), CrymogEa. PEttir irr sogu islands (eds. Jakob Benediktsson/ Helgi. porlaksson). Reykjavik. Jonsson, Finnur (1765), Historia Ecclesiastica Is­ landiae. Havniae. Jonsson, Finnur (1933), Den Islandske Grammatiks Historie til o. 1800 (Den Kgl. Danske Viden­ skabernes Selskab, Historisk-Filologiske Meddelel­ ser 19,4). K0benhavn.

Petursson, Magnus (1992), l.ehrbuch der isliindi­ schen Sprache mit Ubungen Wid Losungen. 3rd ed. Hamburg.

Walter, Ernst (1976), Lexikalisches Lehngut im Alt­ westnordischen: Untersuchungen zum LeJmgut im eth­ nisch-moralischen Wortschatz der fruhen lateinisch­ altwestnordischen Ubersetzungsliteratur. Berlin. porolfsson, Bjorn K. (1925), Um islenzkar oramyn­ dir a 14. og 15. old og breytingar peirra ttrfornmrilinu, mea viJ5auka um nyjungar i oramyndun a 16. old og slOar. Reykjavik. porolfsson, Bjorn K. (1929), Kvantitetsomva:ltnin­ gen i islandsk. In: ANF 45, 35 8 1 .

Magnus Perursson, Hamburg (Germany)

1270

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

141.

The development of Swedish from the mid-16th century to 1800

1.

Standard Swedish as a result of an ongoing interaction between written and spoken Swedish Phonology and orthography Morphology and syntax Literature (a selection)

2. 3. 4.

1.

Standard Swedish as a result of an ongoing interaction between written and spoken Swedish

An important condition for the emergence of a standard language is the existence of a centralized administration. The political and ecclesiastical changes during the earlier part of the 16th c. provided the necessary founda­ tion for a common, standardized language dis­ tinguished from the different local and social varieties. From the age of King Gustav Vasa (1521 - 1 560), Swedish culture was emphasized by the central government and by the nation­ alistic currents that we associate with 'Gothi­ cism' (goticismen) and Sweden's period as a great power (Stormaktstiden 1 6 1 1 - 1 718). The art of printing and the gradually established educational system made it possible for chosen norms to become more widely spread and to define normal linguistic behaviour for a people concerned about culture and building a na­ tion. Society provided both the means for spreading a set of linguistic norms and the mo­ tivation for adhering to these norms. The va­ riety we call Standard Swedish could both be established and embraced by a growing speech community. This did not happen all at once but over a period of time and with gradual changes in the linguistic norms and rules. The translations of the Bible - the New Testament (1 526) and the so-called Gustav Vasa's Bible (1541) - laid the foundations for this. At the Riksdag session held in Viisteras in 1 527, it was decided that the word of God should be preached "purely", and through the art of printing the Bible reached all the parishes. We know that 2,000 copies of the New Testament were printed and distributed among all the churches. In the preface it is said with refer­ ence to St. Paul that in Christian congrega­ tions one must not speak in a way that is not understood. Some sermons had been given in Swedish during the Middle Ages, but Swedish was now obligatory for the entire service. Glaus Petri's collection of sermons (1530) was a clear guide. The Catholic priests gradually

became preachers of the Gospel: they read Swedish texts aloud and the congregation sang in Swedish. Glaus Petri himself published booklets containing hymns in Swedish. The translations of the Bible were above all distri­ buted as aids for priests preparing their ser­ mons, and as books to be read aloud by the priests at church. During the 16th c., literature in Sweden was dominated by religious texts. In other respects there was a cultural darkness: the activities at Uppsala University, which was founded in 1477, ceased the decade before the Reforma­ tion and were not resumed until after the session held in Uppsala in 1593 (Uppsala mote); churches and monasteries were devas­ tated and the schools were closed. Secular lite­ rature was strongly restricted and sparse du­ ring the 16th c. When elementary education started, the church provided it. In the first Swedish primers one was taught to read the Lord's Prayer and the Confession. When some people kept books in their homes during the 17th c., the important publications were the Catechism and the hymnbook. As a subject, Swedish was not introduced into secondary education until the 19th c. The first official curriculum (1571) followed established prac­ tice: the Swedish school remained a Latin school. Latin was the only language permit­ ted, even in conversations between pupils. Through the teaching of religion, Swedish slowly crept into the school. The first grammar of Swedish (by Tiiillmann) was published in 1696. The Bible remained for a considerable time the norm which illustrated how Swedish should be written. It had a double authority through the state and the church. The Bible from 1541 was not replaced by a new autho­ rized translation until 1917. In the light of these circumstances, it is obvious that the lan­ guage of the Bible has been important for the development of Standard Swedish. The other main source for what we today call Standard Swedish is the spoken language which developed in the leading circles as a re­ sult of spontaneous change and of adaptation to the idiolects of other speakers. In the area of Lake Miilaren in the central part of Sweden, language customs changed through a series of shifts in idiolects moving in the same direction. For a long time, the king and the people around him had, at least to some degree, pro­ vided the norm for the spoken language, but

141. The development of Swedish from the mid-16th century to 1800

it was not until the 1 7th c. that conditions existed for spreading this prestigious lan­ guage. Stockholm grew as a capital. The spoils of war were streaming in, trade and commerce were blooming, and cultural life was expand­ ing. Uppsala University was resurrected and became a centre for education and cultural life. Treasures plundered during the war in Europe were sent to Uppsala. In Stockholm an academy of knights was founded based on European examples for the purpose of train­ ing young noblemen for military service, and its language was Swedish, not Latin. The lan­ guage of Nykaping in Saderrnanland was mentioned at the time of Early Modern Swe­ dish as the prestigious variety - when he was a duke, King Karl IX had his court in Nyka­ ping. We do not know about the prestigious spoken variety of Swedish in any detail until the end of the 1 8th c. The source is a drama by A. F. Ristell written in 1787 (NagramilJrdn Stockholm). This variety of Swedish is, how­ ever, suggested in earlier texts which had no immediate literary ambitions (as in Agneta Horn's story of her life ca. 1657, and in letters written between 1639 and 1655 by Johan Ekeblad to his brother). At the court of Queen Kristina, a Swedish theatre arose. The plays from the latter part of the 17th c. are in many aspects close to the spoken language. Contem­ poraries provide us with some linguistic infor­ mation. Samuel Columbus wrote in 1678 that there was a "thick" (i. e. apico-palatal) I in Swedish (in words such as mal 'dialec!'), which foreign people could not pronounce, but, he continued, people at the court had a softer tongue and pronounced such words with a "clear" (i. e. apico-dental) I. (The apico-dental variant is now the normal pronunciation of /1/ in all positions in Standard Swedish. In re­ gional varieties of Standard Swedish, one of­ ten hears the apico-palatal /1/ in words such as mal, klocka 'clock'.) Sven Hof declared (1753) that the dialect of Uppiand in Sweden was considered the best. During the 17th c., the nobility gradually became civil servants, occupying the highest positions. Consequently, what was to become Standard Swedish was from the beginning a locally coloured, upper-class variety, spread through the administration. This variety was in many ways very different from present-day Standard Swedish; it was informal and far re­ moved from the written standard of the time. Nonetheless, this spoken variety seems to have carried a considerable cachet. It belonged to the nobility, while the written language was

1271

mainly Latin. Fiction was not written in Swedish to any great extent until the 18th c. Drawing-room culture now established itself, and dialectal speech became old-fashioned, was often ridiculed, and was considered boor­ ish. During the 1 8th c., a more reflective dis­ cussion about the Swedish language develop­ ed. According to its regulations of 1786, the first duty of the Swedish Academy was to pro­ mote the purity, strength and elevation ("ren­ het, styrka och haghet") of the Swedish lan­ guage. Standard Swedish is to a great extent the result of an ongoing interaction between the various written and spoken varieties, between "book Swedish" and conversational Swedish, and this process of interaction and reciprocal influence has taken on different characteristics at different points in time. The written lan­ guage is inherently conservative. Authors tend to adhere to the linguistic habits of an older age. The written language prefers what is ho­ mogeneous, and it contributes to reducing dia­ lectal variation. It holds together what the cen­ tral powers want to keep together. Everything genuinely Swedish had a certain appeal at a time when it was desirable to distinguish one­ self from the Danes and from what for a long time was called the Danish tongue. During the period when Sweden was a great power, ideas and ambitions of a pure national character abounded. A standard norm grew stronger, and stylistic and social varieties were estab­ lished within Standard Swedish and in con­ trast to the different dialects. The Modern Swedish period has seen the tendency develop towards homogeneity and orderly heterogen­ eity in both the written and the spoken lan­ guage. In many respects the written language has been the stronger, giving, part in this interaction, and this was emphasized when the Swedish language was fully established in the system of education, in the Late Modern pe­ riod. Writing made the individual more aware of his linguistic habits, supplied a prestigious norm and represented a strong force in the process of social correction applied to indivi­ dual linguistic forms. At the same time, writ­ ing itself interacted with and was influenced by the spoken language, i. e. the spoken varie­ ties of those who write and whose writing is distributed to and valued by society. In Sweden, reading aloud was for a long time im­ portantat church, before the court, in the fam­ ily, at school. In this way, written language was presented in a spoken form and interac­ tion was as a consequence facilitated. Right

1272

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

up to the 1 8th c. the language of learning and scholarship was, however, almost without ex­ ception Latin, and the syntax and style of writ­ ten Swedish was strongly influenced by Latin text patterns. During the 1 8th C., a new, more polished and light Swedish prose emerged. Traditionally, the year 1732 is recognized as the boundary between Early and Late Modern Swedish. In 1732, Olof Dalin published his moral weekly paper Then Swanska Argus 'The Swedish Argus', with Addison's and Steele's The Tat/er and The Spectator and the German Der Patriot among his principal in­ spirations.

2.

Phonology and orthography

In the 1 5th c. there were two written language traditions. One was the language ofVadstena and the monastery of Saint Birgitta which dominated the religious language during the Middle Ages. Syntactically, it was strongly in­ fluenced by Latin. Spoken Swedish was mar­ ked by a great reduction in the inflectional sys­ tem inherited from Old Swedish. Vadstena's written language remained conservative and gradually lost its contact with spoken Swe­ dish. The other written language tradition was that of the chancery, which in the Middle Ages had borrowed many of its characteristics from Danish and Low German. A new nonn was established in the translations of the Bible. In the chancery language of the 1 5th c., the un­ stressed vowels la, u, 0, il to a great extent were reduced to [g], written as e. One thus nor­ mally wrote kaste and tale instead of kasta 'throw' and tala 'speak', theres 'their' and emellen 'between' instead of theras and emel­ lan, wore 'were' and toghe 'took' instead of voro and togo, gater 'streets' instead of gator or gatur, ladhegard 'cow-house' instead of ladugllrd, llltet 'let' (supine or past participle) instead of latit etc. This reduction of un­ stressed vowels was a characteristic of the spoken language in certain areas (in O stergot­ land, the northeastern part of Smaland; in some parts of Sodermanland and Uppland the pronunciation likewise was talii, kastii etc.). The translations ofthe Bible into Swedish kept the old, sonorous vowels. They are still used in written Swedish and in polished spoken Swedish. Phonologically, this is what above all separates Swedish from Danish and the Norwegian bokmal (Book Norwegian). In the dialects of Gotaland and Central Sweden un­ stressed -or and -0 were commonly reduced to [oCr)] written as -e(r) during the period of

Early Modern Swedish: gater 'streets' ,flicker 'girls', de toge 'they took'. The present-day pronunciation in Standard Swedish using a closed lui has been influenced by the spelling: the name of the vowel sign < 0 > is lu:/. Ori­ ginally, it is a reading pronunciation. Plurals in -ur are found now and then in written lan­ guage from the 17th c. (gatur 'streets' , ladur 'barns'). The vowel /ttl written as u is some­ times preserved in other cases as well: pa denna gatun 'in this street' (Ekeblad), uti min Jrlln­ waru 'in my absence' (Karl XII). In present-day Standard-Swedish there are two different a-sounds which both originate in Old Swedish short la/: in man 'man' , fast 'firm', hatt 'hat' (a short low front vowel) and in stav 'staff', taga 'take', sak 'thing' (a long low slightly rounded back vowel). For a long time the pronunciation of both was probably close to European lal as in G Vater. Aurivil­ lius, who carne from Uppland in central Swe­ den, made no distinction between short and long lal in his book on Swedish orthography (1693). The back, medium high vowel written as a (e. g. in bat 'boat', sar 'wound') originates from Old Swedish long la/. At the end of the 18th c. the same sound was heard also in words where the vowel originally was a shortlol (e. g. kol 'coal', hal 'hole', bal 'trunk') in received pronunciation in Stockholm. For a long time the vowel in these words had been pronounced something in between that for a and o. Samuel Columbus wanted the spelling of this pho­ neme to be < oh > in words such as kohl, bohl, hohl. The two sounds which developed from Old Swedish long lal and short 101 merged in many dialects and were often mixed up with each other in writing. We now write bage 'bow', laga 'flame', hal 'hole', spar 'track', comparable to G Bogen. Lohe. hohl. Spur. The pronunciation of lui was originally probably like G Hund. Kuh. As a result of "the great vowel dance" (Widmark 1 998), Swedish es­ tablished two sounds written as u: a short, middle vowel (hund 'dog') and a long high front vowel (hus 'house'). When 101 in bok 'book', bonde 'farmer' (written as 0) was no longer pronounced like in G Sohn or E call but became a high back vowel like in G Kuh, Stuhl, the sound written as u was fronted. In Old Swedish the quality of the long vowel 101 (written as 0) was not altered by a following Ir/. In the 1 8th c. the vowel was, however, of­ ten lowered in this position. There was a quali­ tative distinction between the vowel in hora 'hear', gora 'do' etc. and in mota 'meet', soka 'seek' etc. The rule is variable even in present-

141. The development of Swedish from the mid-16th century to 1800

day Swedish, and the range ofvariation is con­ siderable. In Old Swedish, each of the initial conso­ nants were pronounced in words such as sked­ de 'happened' , stjarna 'star', hjarta 'heart', !jus 'light', djup 'deep', hvilken 'which'. In Early Modern Swedish Ig, k, ski were weakened be­ fore front vowels and became Ij, y, II. The manner of articulation was no longer plosive (as in G Gift. Kind. Skizze) but fricative (as in G Jahr. ich. schon). In present-day Swedish the spelling is still according to the old pro­ nunciation: giftig 'poisonous', kanna 'feel', skara 'cut'. In the 17th c., the III-sound is in­ dicated by < si > in e. g. Gud sie tak 'Thank God!' (by King Karl XI in 1676; the etymo­ logical spelling of the verb would be ske). The King also pronounced the word kiorkan 'the church' with an initial affricative or fricative sound. The original pronunciation of stj- was preserved longer. At the end of the 1 8th c., the reading pronunciation in formal style still was s-t-j-arna 'star', s-t-j-ala 'steal', etc. In present-day Swedish, the pronunciation of stj in words such as stjarna is lSI and coincides with the pronunciation of sj in sjo 'lake'. Even in the Middle Ages, hjarta could be written jarta in accordance with the pronunciation. In the 1 7th c., the spellingj instead of hjwas com­ mon. Agneta Horn even used the inverse or hypercorrect spellings hionkoping and hiakop for Jonkoping and Jakob. In the early 1 8th c., the initial consonant was not pronounced in words like djur 'animal', djup 'deep', djavul 'devil', djarv 'daring'. In more formal styles it was still heard for a long time after that. In 1 80 1 , Leopold stated that d and I in djup, !jus normally could not be heard in everyday speech in contrast to the more polished and formal varieties of spoken Swedish. In the cluster hv-, the initial h was dropped in the spoken language during the 17th c. (but not until 1906 in spelling). Inverted spellings are found in Karl Xl's writings: hwar and hwore for var 'was' and vore 'were' (1691). In spoken language the short Inl was drop­ ped after unstressed vowels: e, mi (instead of en 'en', min 'my'). In the enclitic article the -n was short in the definite feminine singular and in the neuter plural; in these forms the final vowel was nasalized and lowered at the same time. In this way, definite forms such as sola 'the sun', husa 'the houses' arose. Where Inl was long (in the masculine singular) it still re­ mained in the enclitic article. In spoken Mod­ ern Swedish, the masculine forms are gener­ alized: min fisk 'my fish', fisken 'the fish', etc.

1273

In central Swedish dialects, the vowel was dropped after dental consonants: batn 'the boat', staIn 'the chair', sten 'the stone'. In writ­ ten language, feminine definite forms in -a are rare in Early Modern texts. The neuter plural forms in -a are likewise not commonly used in writing, although Bellman writes Harpan mellan bena 'The harp between the legs' (Epistle 44). A compromise between the -a of spoken language and the traditional ending -en of written language is found in some texts. Agneta Horn wrote bokan 'the book', solan 'the sun', dorran 'the door', sangan 'the bed', warldan 'the world'. In the 17th c., the shorten­ ed forms in the masculine were common in the written language: son 'the son', man 'the man', hund [h.:an:] 'the dog' (for sonen, mannen, hunden). In the 17th c. there was still a distinc­ tion between the masculine and the feminine enclitic article. In 1678, Columbus wrote batn 'the boat', prastn 'the priest', smedn 'the smith', munn (for munnen 'the mouth'), winn (for vinden 'the wind') but natten 'the night', solen 'the sun', systren 'the sister'. In Modern Swedish the clusters Ird, rt, rn, rsl became homogeneous retroflex consonants (bard 'table', gjort 'done', barn 'child', fors 'rapid'). The word barn was no longer pro­ nounced b + a + r + n but b + a + rn [bo:!)]. In orthography, Gustav Vasa's Bible is above all characterized by its consistency. In Old Swedish the sarne word could be spelled in dif­ ferent ways in the same text. This Bible estab­ lished uniformity as a principle in spelling. Kinship between word forms was considered ("sarnhorighetsregeln"): the spelling is iagh 'I', migh 'me' and not iach, migh; hard 'hard' (non-neuter), hardt 'hard' (neuter) and not hard. hart. In its spelling the Bible does not consistently reflect the pronunciation of any individual region. The first book of Moses chapter 2: 7-9 reads as follows: Och HERREN Gudh giordhe menniskiona aff iordennes stofft, och inbListe vthi hans nasa en leffuande anda, och sa wardt menniskian een lef­ fuande sial. [ . . .] Och HERREN Gudh lat vpwexa affiordenne allahanda traa, lustugh til at see, och godh til at ata, och lijffzens traa mitt j Lustgax­ denom, och kunskapsens traa pa gott och ondt. [And the Lord God fonned man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil].

1274 In central Sweden, the cluster Ir51 had become a dark, apico-palatal Ill, often spelt < 1 > , e .g. jolenne as opposed to iordenne. Agneta Horn wrote bolet 'the table' , fiiilen 'the bay', malm­ gaIn 'the ore-yard', Anna Maria Lenngren used Djurgaln, priistgaln 'the vicarage', and Wallenberg (1771) wrote babol 'port', styrbol 'starboard' with I for older rdh. Under the in­ fluence of the written language, jrdj was rein­ troduced in the spoken language. In present­ day Swedish III and < 1 > are, however, in many cases used for the original cluster /r5/: i jjol 'last year', stet 'stiff', svlil 'bacon rind', utboling 'outsider', storvulen 'grandiose'. The Bible uses aff 'of, til 'to', widh 'at' where the pronunciation in central Sweden was G, te, wedh. Columbus explicitly stated that till and ok were read as if te and Ii. Agneta Horn wrote wedh. The present-day pronunciation aft, av, till, vid is due to influence from the written language. In the preterite the form wardt 'be­ came' is used in Gustav Vasa's Bible instead of the form wort that existed in the spoken language of central Sweden. In this Bible there is no sign of writing j where it was heard in contemporary spoken language after g in words such as gara 'do' (as an intermediate stage in the change towards the present-day pronunciation with Iii). The punctuation in Gustav Vasa's Bible fol­ lows the practical demands of reading: there is a full stop and a capital after the end of a sentence and not only after a longer section. In the writing ofthe time, this was not a matter of course. Metta Ivarsdotter's letters to her husband Svante Nilsson (regent from 150411) are not punctuated at all. The letters were dictated to different scribes. When Ebba Brahe wrote letters herself in the middle of the 17th c. to her son Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, page after page were written without full stops and capital letters. In print, the letter a was introduced in 1 526. The letters ii and a were used already in the first printed book in Swedish (1495), but in an alternative form: there was only one dot placed to the right above the letters a and o. In the New Testa­ ment (1 526) the dot was replaced by an e. Orthography was not discussed in any detail until the royal commission of 1695 and at the prospect of a new edition of the Bible (Karl XII's Bible 1703). Swedberg opposed marking length in vowels by writing them twice or adding an unnecessary h after d and g. In the law of 1734 (Sveriges rikes lag), the new spell­ ing system was used (e. g. dag 'day', lag 'law', sig 'himself). But in other cases also conser-

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages vative spellings were used as in then 'the' (non­ neuter), thet 'the' (neuter), thessa 'these', where < th > was pronounced Id/. A fixed or­ thographic norm was established by Carl Gus­ tafLeopold's treatise on the system ofspelling (AJhandling am svenska stafsiittet 1801). Ety­ mology was rejected as a spelling principle, but morphological kinship was still marked e. g. between god Igu:dl (non-neuter) and godt Igot:1 (neuter). The main principle in spelling was to reflect the prestigious pronunciation (which itself for a long time had interacted with the written forms). In accordance with contemporary written usage but in contrast to contemporary speech and present-day con­ ventions, however, Leopold still wrote hwem 'who', hvad 'what', hvar 'where', af 'or , hafva 'have', gjordt 'done' (instead of today's vem, vad, var, av, hava, gjort); der 'there', begge 'both', hjerta 'heart' (instead of diir. biigge. hjiirta). Foreign words were adapted to Swe­ dish. French c and -que became k (kaffe 'cof­ fee' , klass 'class'; bank 'bank' ,fabrik 'factory'), mute e was dropped in words such as princ p i 'principle', maxim 'maxim', French II became lj in biljett 'ticket', briljant 'brilliant', ch be­ came sch in affisch 'poster', mustasch 'mous­ tache' and ai, eu and ou now were ii, 0, u in affiir 'business, affair', mabel 'piece of furni­ ture', kusin 'cousin'. Leopold mentions forms used on the stage to imitate everyday speech (forms for "Scenen, da umgangestalet bar full­ komligen harmas"): mej 'me', dej 'you' (accu­ sative) instead of mig, dig; bol 'table', gal 'yard', fjiil 'bay' instead of bard. gard. fjiird.

3.

Morphology and syntax

The vowels of the inflectional suffixes are im­ portant in the morphological system. The preservation of the old unstressed a, u, 0 and i in the translations of the Bible consequently had an impact on inflection. The inflectional system of nouns had, however, undergone great changes during the Late Old Swedish period. In the spoken language there were as a result only two case forms by the end of the period, the common case and the genitive. Al­ ready in the Middle Ages we find the inflec­ tional system that is characteristic of present­ day Swedish, even though its development at many points was slow. In written language, relics of the old system were for a long time part of Modern Swedish. Early Modern Swe­ dish is, of course, also marked by changes of its own.

141. The development of Swedish from the mid-16th century to 1800

In Old Swedish there were three genders: the masculine, the feminine and the neuter. Modern Swedish has two types of gender: grammatical gender and semantic gender. In the grammatical gender system there are only two genders: neuter and non-neuter, neuter nouns ending in -t in the definite (huset 'the house'), non-neuter nouns ending in -n (dagen 'the day'). Semantic gender is reflected in the choice of personal pronoun. There are three semantic genders: masculine (kungen - han 'the king - he'), feminine (drattningen - han 'the queen - she') and inanimate where the choice between the pronouns det and den is decided by grammatical gender (neuter: vatt­ net- det 'the water - it' and non-neuter: saften - den 'the juice - it'). Grammatical gender is still inherent in the noun. Semantic gender tells us something about the referent. In central Sweden the final consonant -t was dropped in unstressed syllables as early as in the Middle Ages. In spoken language, the written forms litit 'little', thet 'it', hvat 'what', elskat 'loved' became lite, de, va, alska. In the definite neuter the development is husit > husedh > huse. Forms such as huse 'the house', tage 'taken' (supine) are rare in the written language, but Agneta Horn wrote barne 'the child', diure 'the animal', hwse 'the house', ware 'the weather'; koka 'boiled' (supine), brusti 'broken' (supine) without a final -to The old ending in -t is preserved in the written lan­ guage and - through the influence of written language - also in the spoken language. In present-day conversational Swedish, -t is nor­ mally heard in words such as huset 'the house', tagit 'taken'. From an investigation of the modern Eskilstuna dialect we know that in in­ formal interviews, well-educated people clear­ ly prefer the pronunciation with the final ItI (78 per cent). The range of variation is, how­ ever, considerable, working-class speakers being less inclined to use the form preserved through book Swedish (37 per cent). In the 1 7th c., the definite plural suffix of disyllabic neuters ending in -e is -na. The old ending -n was, however, still used as an alternative: forms such as dikena 'the ditches', rikena 'the states', styckena 'the pieces' vary with diken, riken, stycken. The form ending in -n gradually came to be perceived as the indefinite plural. Influenced by the spoken language of central Sweden, the New Testament (1 526) has all riken 'all kingdoms' (Matt. 4:8); Gustav Vasa's Bible changed to the conservative variant all rike. Columbus used indefinite plurals such as belaten 'idols', marken 'marks' , sinnen 'senses'.

1275

In the 17th c., monosyllabic neuters ending in a vowel (such as bo 'nest') took the suffix -na in the definite plural: bona 'the nests', knana 'the knees', trana 'the trees'. In some dialects also neuters ending in a consonant (such as hus 'house') took -ena in the definite plural: husena 'the houses'. Modern speakers in Es­ kilstuna (in informal interviews) still vary be­ tween husen 'the houses', barnen 'the children' and husena, barna, more educated people pre­ ferring the former alternative (64 per cent) and working-class speakers the latter (only 1 7 per cent husen etc.). During the 16th C. the inflection in the defi­ nite plural of masculine and feminine nouns with an indefinite plural in -ar, -er, -or varied a great deal: fiskane. fiskana. fiskanar 'the fishes'. The latler form clearly belongs to the written language: -r is analogically borrowed from the indefinite plural (jiskar) for the sake of uniformity. It is the form used in Gustav Vasa's Bible. In Karl XII's Bible (1703) -anar is changed to -arna. In the spoken language, there probably was no Irl in such forms. In the dialects of central Sweden both stenane and stenana 'the stones' were used. Columbus stated (1678) that one should write hiistarne 'the horses', drangiarne 'the farm-hands', but say hastane, drangiane. The ending -na for a long time alternated with -ne in both the writ­ ten and the spoken language. In the written language, -e was gradually restricted to the masculine: den starke 'the strong man', den sjuke 'the sick man'. In the spoken language of central Sweden, the masculine ending -a was already established at the beginning of the 1 8th c.: den arliga mannen 'the honest man'. In the Nordic languages, definiteness is marked in two ways: by a preposed article (den bestamdafristaende artikeln) and by an enclitic article (den bestamda slutartikeln). In present­ day Swedish the enclitic article is the normal equivalent to E the and G der. die. das (e.g. mannen- the man, der Mann). In Gustav Vasa's Bible, a preposed article is used before the name of a people (the Ramare 'the Romans'). Belhnan still wrote the Nybyggare pa Grona Lund 'the settlers at Grona Lund' (Epistle 22). In poetry the preposed article was used for some time: Hui are doch de timar sa kort? 'Why then are the hours so short?' (Thisbe), De hofman logo smadligt 'The courtiers smiled abusively' (FritjaJs saga). In Early Modern Swedish the enclitic article was often used with family names: Brasken, Cruusen, Akerblom­ men. In the Bible the enclitic article is found in nouns after the demonstrative pronoun

1276 denne: thenne mannen 'this man'. Bellman wrote denna parken 'this park', Kellgren denna dagen 'this day'. Samuel Columbus remarked that written language had denne gossen 'this boy', spoken language den har goss'n 'this boy'. In written Swedish this was changed to denne man in the middle of the 18th c., and at the beginning of the 19th c. the construction with the enclitic article was rare outside reli­ gious domains (Hirvonen 1987). The form without the enclitic article has spread from written to spoken language. However, in the south and west of Sweden denne wigen 'this way' still is used in spoken language. After demonstrative den Swedish, unlike Danish, uses the definite fonn: Del folket vann kriget 'That people won the war'. Already in Gustav Vasa's Bible both articles were used in noun phrases with preposed adjectival modifiers such as thef ena kindbenet 'the right cheek' and then tranga porten 'the narrow gateway'. In Old Swedish the normal forms of such definite noun phrases were gamli mannin and thxn gamli man. It has been suggested that the new construction is a blend of these two (Larm 1936). The construction den gamle man still played a role for most authors during the 1 6th, 17th and 18th centuries (Haska 1972). Bell­ man wrote de murkna plankor knarra 'the rotten planks creak' (Epistle 12), and Atter­ born used det skona land 'the beautiful coun­ try'. In modern Swedish the preposed article is normally obligatory in front of an adjectival modifier, but in some cases it can be left out, e. g. Roda havet 'the Red Sea', pa hogra sidan 'on the right hand-side', i sista minuten 'in the last minute'. The change in the old verbal inflections for person mainly occurred during the Early Modern Swedish period. In Old Swedish, the present indicative plural endings were -um/ -om, -in/-en, -a (e.g. vi alskom, I alsken, the iilska 'we/you/they love'), and the preterite in­ dicative endings of strong verbs -um/-om, -in/ -en, -u (vi burum, I burin, the buru 'we/you/they carried'). In Modern Swedish two systems de­ veloped, one in book Swedish with the plural ending -a in all three persons in the present tense (alska, bara) and -0 in the preterite of strong verbs (buro), and in conversational Swedish a second system with the singular form generalized (vi/I/de iilskar/biir/bar). The two systems existed side by side until well into the 20th c. The singular ending was frequently used with plural subjects in some dramas from the second half of the 17th c. (31 per cent in Darius, 27 per cent in Putzdrummel). In other

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages cases the singular and plural verb forms can coincide for phonetic reasons, as when r is sometimes dropped in the present singular or when the present singular and plural of the verb haJva 'have' are both reduced to ha. In dialogic wedding poems written in central Swedish dialects between 1695 and 1722, 42 per cent of all verbs with a plural subject are clearly in the singular. The competition between spoken Swedish and book Swedish can be seen to some extent in dramas in verbal inflections for person. In dramas written between 1 550-1614, the old ending -(o)m was still used to a considerable extent (26 per cent). Themost common ending for the first person plural was, however, -e (54 per cent). As late as 1747, Sahlstedt prescribed -e. For the first person plural present, -(eJr (from the singular) is rare in these texts. In dramatic texts from 1659-1688, the ending -a was frequently used (25 per cent to be com­ pared to 8 percent in the older texts). In Darius (1688), 26 per cent of all verbs with a first per­ son plural subject end in -a and 10 per cent in -(eJr. In 1 7 per cent of all cases, the verb ends in a consonant belonging to its root (Ty han wij intet dam 'Forwe did not reach them'). The ending -e is used only once. In the second person plural, the old ending - (eJn is frequent in plays from 1 550-1614: 38, 77, 59, 36, 28, 41 and 71 per cent respectively in seven dramas. In the plays from this period, -e is also used. It is the main alternative in Tobie Comedia from 1550 (57 per cent), in the secular Doktor Simon from the 16th c. (55 per cent) and in Thisbe from the beginning of the 17th c. (36 per cent). In Thisbe, -a is a strong alternative (20 per cent), as it also is in plays from the second half of the 1 7th c. Of the verbs with a second person plural subject, 7 per cent end in -(eJr. In dramas from the period 1737-1787, the main alternatives are -en and the singular. Ristell's Nagra mil Jran Stock­ holm 'A few miles from Stockhohn' (1787) is written in the everyday language of the no­ bility. The plural endings -en, -e and -a are not used at all. The dominant ending for the third person plural is -a in most of the dramas examined. In the older plays -e is, however, a strong al­ ternative, and is even the main alternative in HoloJernes and Judit (71 per cent). In Mes­ senius' Disa (1611), 48 per cent of all verbs with a third person plural subject end in -a and 36 per cent in -e. In Rondeletius' Judas Redivivus (1614), there are 69 per cent in -a and 1 5 per cent in -e. In dramas from a later

141. The development of Swedish from the mid-16th century to 1800

period, -e is no longer a strong alternative. In Darius, 30 per cent of the verbs with a third person plural subject end in -a, 16 per cent in -(e)r, 31 per cent in a vowel and 7 per cent in a consonant belonging to the root. In Ristell's comedy, -a is used only five times, e. g. "Forst komma gracerna en pas de Six . . . Nej fan! en pas de trois. DerpaJiilja les plaisirs et les amours". [First come The Graces . . . No, damn it! NextJollow . . .]' The main alternative is the singular: "Di menar va.! di dar Her­ rarna . . . Di ska atminstone fa be maj en stund." [They mean well, those Gentlemen . . . They shall at least have to ask me for a while]. However, in stage directions -a is used, illus­ trating the difference between spoken and written language: "De kyssa sin Far pa han­ derna och halsa god morgon." [They kiss the hands of their father and greet him good morning.] In the records of Arboga (Arboga stads tan­ kebok), the singular is quite frequently used as a plural ending in the 15th and 16th cen­ turies (21 per cent and 23 per cent respective­ ly). What we notice in some texts from the end of the 17th c. is a strong tendency to use singular verb forms with plural subjects. In the spoken language, the new system was al­ ready established. At the same time, plural verb forms, too, could be used in speech. The older system still existed, using weakened forms (-e. -a), which could easily be general­ ized to a uniform system with -a in all plural persons in the present tense. An alternative was, of course, loss of the weakened final vowel; the result was in some cases identical with the singular (gar 'does', tcil 'bears, en­ dures'). Some examples with -a in the second person plural are found as early as in the New Testament of 1 526. In the 1 7th c., they grad­ ually became more frequent. Tiiilhnann (1696) gives -a as the only alternative in the second person. During the linguistically conservative 1 8th c., the old inflection (I baren. skolen etc.) was often preferred in written language. At the same time, -0 was reintroduced (buro, stulo etc.) in the preterite 3rd person plural. During the great linguistic conflict in the 19th c., the main issue was whether the written language should be adjusted to the spoken or vice versa. The possibility of alternating between two sys­ tems in speech must by this time have been considerably weakened, and probably to a great extent lost. Up to the 1 9th c., written language seems to have had strong support from the spoken language, and conversely, written language seems to have contributed to

1277

upholding a spoken language with two differ­ ent inflectional systems, one with plural forms (-e or -a in the present), and another with sin­ gular endings. A new conjugation developed in Early Modern Swedish. Monosyllabic verbs ending in a vowel now formed the preterite with -dde (trodde 'though!'), the past participle with -dd (trodd) and the supine with -tt (trott). This third conjugation also developed in Norwe­ gian but not in Danish (troede). In Modern Swedish the auxiliary ha to­ gether with an invariant verb form called the supine are used in forming the perfect and the pluperfect: han har svarat 'he has answered', han hade skrivit 'he had written' (cf. brevet ar skrivet 'the letter is written'). In central Sweden unstressed i in the participle or supine of strong verbs remained before t but was changed to e before n in spoken language: de hade skrivit brevet, brevet ar skrivit but han ar skriven i Uppsala 'he is registered in Uppsala'. For a long time the choice between e and i was to a large extent decided by the following consonant, not by grammatical function (Plat­ zack 1981). In the 1 8th c. there was, however, a strong tendency to consistently mark the dif­ ference between the supine and the past par­ ticiple, e. g. han har skrivit brevet vs. han ar skriven, brevet ar skrivet. This also applied to weak verbs: han har skapat 'he has created' but allting ar skapadt 'everything is created'. Sven Hof remarked at that time: " Att alskat. tagit, hart, ment &c. aro supina darom twiflar wal ingen; men alskad och alskadt, tagen och tagit, hard och hordt m. fl. aro participia." [That loved, taken, heard, meant are supines, about that no one doubts; but loved, taken, heard etc. are participles.] (§ 3 56). In his second edition of Argus (1754) Dalin marked the dis­ tinction in the weak verbs. The Old Swedish written language was gradually but strongly influenced syntactically and stylistically by Latin. Vadstena produced mainly transla­ tions, usually from Latin. Characteristic of Latin texts are their complex sentences ("pe­ riods"), where different kinds of clauses and participle constructions are artfully combined to form long syntactic units. The Nordic lan­ guages originally preferred co-ordination of main clauses. Subordinate clauses were not so common, and some types even occurred with­ out a subordinating conjunction. Latin texts offered the Swedish written language sophis­ ticated examples to imitate. In the history of Swedish, it was a long and difficult process before a new and fluent Swedish prose could

1278 emerge as a result of an ongoing conflict be­ tween Latin and written and spoken Swedish. In the New Testament (1526), the influence of the translating tradition of the Middle Ages is obvious in the frequent use of present par­ ticiples in constructions foreign to spoken Swedish: "thet gaff fruct vppgongandes och vppwiixandes" 'did yield fruit that sprang up and grew' (Mark 4 : 8). (Gustav Vasa's Bible. however, has simpler syntax: thef baar frucht sam vpgick och wexte. (Cf. Luther: [. . .] die da zunahm und wuchs.» In 1753, Sven Hof still raised objections to sentences beginning with hafvandes man 'one having', varande sadant 'being such', kunnande jag ej finna 'me not being able to find' (§ 369). He also remarked that jag varder iilskande was not correct in Swedish as a substitute for jag skall iilska 'I shall love' (§ 354). In the New Testament, the future is paraphrased using varda: "Genom mitt narnpn wardha the vthdriffwande dief­ lanar, the warda talande rnedh nyia tungor, the wardafordriffuandes onnar." [In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak new tongues, they shall drive away serpents.] (Mark 1 6 : 17). At the sarne time, the syntax of the New Testament borrows from conversational Swedish. Subordinate clauses are often used where present-day written Swedish prefers nominal constructions. In subordinate clau­ ses, att is sometimes dropped: Herades sagh han war beswiken. [Herod saw [that] he was mocked.] (Matt. 2). In Gustav Vasa's Bible, the modern construction (skala 'shall' + infini­ tive) is often preferred: cf. "Genom mitt narnpn skala the vthdriffua diefl1ar. The skala tala medh nyia tungor, The skala Jordriffua ormar." (Mark 1 6 : 1 7). Compared to medieval religious language, the Bible offers less com­ plex syntax, with shorter sentences and fewer subordinate clauses, and compared to the New Testament of 1526, it is written in a more uni­ form style. For example, in the New Testa­ ment, the translation of Rom. 1 3 : 12 is "liit oss bortkasta the gerningar som morkret till­ hora, och cHidha oss vthi the wapn som liwset tillhora", while in Gustav Vasa's Bible it is "Hit oss bortkasta morkersens gerningar, och jkliidha oss liwssens wapn" [Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light]. Ekeblad's letters (from the middle of the 17th c.) are far from Kellgren's rapid factual style at the end of the Early Modern period and the quick and easy elegance of Tegner in the beginning of the 19th c. The principles of stylistic homogeneity and orderly heterogene-

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages ity were not established firmly until the Period of Liberty "Frihetstiden") (1 718-1 772), which witnessed not only the gradual victory of French classicism, with its demand for the proper word, but also the influence of British periodicals, a growing interest in the theatre, and the introduction of a new scientific lan­ guage: Swedish. King Gustav III (1771-1792) founded cultural institutions, e. g. the Royal Theatre and the Swedish Academy, and sup­ ported Swedish authors. In his opinion, the theatre should set the example of a noble and polished variety of spoken Swedish. From a French-classical point of view, one could say that Ekeblad's epistolary style repeatedly vio­ lates the rules of good taste: older norms and new forms stand side by side. In 1653, Johan Ekeblad wrote to his brother Claes: Forst fornimer iagh aff brors breff att bror haar arnat sigh ath oland, hwarest att bror matte haf­ fua en god expedition pa sina ahrande will iagh onska. iagh forstaar och att bror haffuer budit till att gora tore olson warhaftigh ['fit for military service'], man iagh rades thett ahr forgeffues, emedan som iagh hordt haffuer manga tillforene theras omak pa honum forlohrat haffua.

The sentences in this letter are not smoothly joined. The syntax even appears awkward. It is also foreign to spoken Swedish to put the finite verb in final position, although this is often done in the Bible: sam i stadhen skeedt war 'which had happened in the city'; sam intet , Jodt haffua 'that have not borne [children] (Luke 23). At the end of the 17th c. the aux­ iliary verb hava 'have' was often dropped in subordinate clauses. In 1716, Swedberg wrote that the word was then dropped too often, but rarely in times past. He added a stylistic com­ ment: the dropping was acceptable in court style, but it ought not to be tolerated in re­ ligious style. In present-day Swedish, the su­ pine in all kinds of subordinate clauses is often used without any auxiliary. This optional rule is valid not only in written but also in spoken language. A long time elapsed before the slight dif­ ferences in semantic relationships between Swedish clauses were expressed by different conjunctions. In the 16th c., the most common concessive conjunctions were an tha and en­ doch. Only gradually did ehuruJast andJastiin 'though' corne to be used in their present­ day functions. In Old Swedish, the temporal meaning of madhan, a madhan 'while' some­ times changed to causal 'because'. Gradually the strict distinction between temporal medan

141. The development of Swedish from the mid-16th century to 1800

'while' and causal emedan 'because' arose. The conjunction emedan belongs to written lan­ guage, as does its synonym enar. The causal eJter 'after' is now pure dialect, but in the 1 6th c. Peder Swart wrote: "Thet skedde j Clostredt vti conuente stugun, effter Slottet war icke an nu mycket reformerat." [It happened at the monastery in the convent house, because the castle was not yet properly restored.] In pre­ sent-day Swedish, eftersom must be used. The causal darfor att 'because' is likewise the result of a merging of words, creating a set expres­ sion: the prepositionJor (firi/Jore/Jor etc.) 'for' has merged with the determinative adverb dar 'there' and a conjunction at 'that'. Such an expression is rarely written as one word in medieval times: "ther Jore at gudh alskadhe Abels offer. tha hafdhe Kainmykla awnd widh honum." [because God loved Abel's sacrifice, Cain envied him a lot] (Fornsvenska legen­ dariet). In spoken language, such lexicalized word groups were gradually marked rhythmi­ cally as a unit. The sentence type Det ar han som har gjort det 'It is he who has done it' has spread from spoken to written Swedish. Columbus explicitly made spoken language his nonn, but he was not able to achieve this fully when it carne to syntax. In the following example he allows the syntactic nexus to be split up in a way peculiar to written language: "Carl den nij'nde, ehuru krigerisk han war, hade altijd ett mildt oga pit Studier." [Karl IX, though he was a soldier, always had a positive attitude towards studies.] In his Or­ deskotsel, Columbus remarked that a man of learning always relied on Latin as a model ("draar [ . . . ] ett oga pit Latinen, sam pit ett Monster"). In the medieval religious literature trans­ lated from Latin, the accusative plus infinitive construction gradually became more frequent: Konungen sagh han wara een froman man 'The king saw that he was a pious man' (Sixlinna thr@st), pe callapo Pik vara timbremanz son 'they called you the son of a carpenter' (Codex Bureanus). In 1753, Sven Hof opposed the construction as being Latin: jag pastar solen vara storre anjorden 'I claim the sun be bigger than the earth' in correct Swedish ought to be jag pastar att solen ar storre an jorden 'I claim that the sun is bigger than the earth' (§ 448). In present-day Swedish, the accusative plus infinitive construction is still used under certain conditions: Vi hade aldrig hart dem grala 'We had never heard them quarrel'. In Modern Swedish, many constructions with their roots in the old case system grad-

1279

ually were replaced. Prepositions carne to be used more frequently. In the Stockholm re­ cords o f 1 594 (Stockholms stads tiinkebok), we are told that a man had escaped from prison: "Han hade seden r)'mth sith fangelsse och sprunget slotzmuren." [Later he had escaped [from] prison and run [on] the wall of the castle.] In present-day Swedish, rymma 'es­ cape' and springa 'run' in examples like these require prepositional phrases as complements. Using an object designating the experiencer where present-day Swedish prefers a preposi­ tional phrase, Agneta Horn wrote " min . . . lyka wandes mig i en stor olyk" 'my happiness was turned me a great unhappiness', "thet skal slit dig felt" 'it shall go you wrong'. Cf. also "ala sam mig vnginges" 'all that got on [with] me'. Conversely, an old prepositional phrase has sometimes been replaced by a noun phrase in Modern Swedish. In older times, preposi­ tional phrases were more common in cases such as "han . . . brat sigh ther jn om natter­ tidh" 'he broke in there at night' (Arboga Tiin­ kebok 1491), "Dhil hann gick i Wacht" 'when he was on guard' (Stockholms stads Tankebok 1 593), "lopa iJara att" 'run the risk oj' (Ene­ man 1712). In present-day Swedish, there is no preposition in such expressions: nattetid, ga vakt, lop a fara att. The passive inflection (s-passivum) carne into existence through a merging of the verb and a reflexive object. The periphrastic con­ struction with vardha + present participle was preferred when the subject referred to a per­ son. When thes-fonn was used with inanimate subjects, the meaning could easily change from reflexive to passive with no active agent. The passive made it possible to avoid senten­ ces without a subject: instead of bot skal skipta 'a fine [one] shall distribute', the law could say Prasta arff skal sva skiptas 'the inheritance of priests shall thus be distributed' (Viistgota­ lagen II). In Latin passive constructions are frequent. Through translations, passives with an agent became common in written Swedish. Conversational Swedish does not use the s­ passive to the same extent. The less definite or specific the agency, the easier is it to use the s-passive in spoken language (Holm 1 967). In Old Swedish, many verbs were construc­ ted without a personal subject in the nomina­ tive: mik hungrar, literally 'me starves', thik bar, literally 'thee ought' etc. In Early Modern Swedish, this construction was used for some time. It is fairly frequent in Gustav Vasa's Bible: Migh angrar thet, literally 'me regrets

1280

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

that'; ass kommer j hogh at . . . , literally 'us re­ members that'; honom begynte misshaga, lit­ erally 'him began to displease'. In 1678, Co­ lumbus wrote: Sa tycker meg dad kunde waf taa's in i skrifwande, literally 'So thinks me it could be picked up in writing'. In 1753, Sven Hofrernarked that one should write according to the common variety of spoken language ("efter alhnanneliga talarten"): jag kommer ihog 'I remember' ,jag tycker 'I think' ,jag an­ grar 'I regret' instead of mig kommer ihog, mig tyckes, mig angrar. During the Early Modern period the phras­ al verb became firmly established as a lexical construction type. In these cases the verb and a particle form a lexicalized phrase: tala lorn 'tell' (the single tala means 'speak'), kiinna I till (the single kiinna usually means 'fee!'), skynda Ipa 'hurry up'. The particle sometimes makes it possible to use the verb in a transitive con­ struction (han talade om alit for mig 'he told me everything'). Many phrasal verbs are ter­ minative (koka upp 'corne to boil, bring to the boi!'), while the single verb is durative (koka 'boi!'). The law of 1734 (Sveriges rikes lag) clearly rests in the tradition ofthe old provincial laws. In syntax, it preserves much of the old sim­ plicity and clarity. The law was written to be read aloud in court. When Sven Hof in Swanska sprakets ralta skrifsalt [The correct writing of the Swedish language] (1753) gave advice to his readers, he mentioned two mo­ dels, both characteristically read aloud. The spiritual writer should turn to the Bible (and the hymn-book), the secular writer to the code of laws, because the law "has the smoothest and most reasonable mode of writing that I have found in any published book" (§ 452). The law was in some respects linguistically ar­ chaic. In addition to Dalin's Argus, it still marks the beginning of the Late Modern Swedish period. In 1753, Sven Hof did not consider the Uppland variety of spoken Swedish as the norm to follow in speaking and writing (§ 340). Instead, he referred to a com­ mon variety and a correct mode of speaking ("en alhnannelig talart och ett ratt tal"). By this time, Swedish society appears to have established a variety that truly deserves the name Standard Swedish. In volume 45 of Then Swiinska Argus (1733), Dalin wrote about the Swedish language. He illustrated many of the ideas and ambitions of the new era:

Ord och Meningar aro nu hogdragnare, an at de munteligen eller skriffteligen kunna uttydas pa Swenska; Derfore aro nu de Swenska sa owande wid Swenskan, at de rattnu intet stapla sa mycket nar de tala andra sprak, som nar de tala sitt Eget; [. . .] Mig tyckes, Mina Landzman, at wart Swenska Sprak, som nu blir sa lemmerligen forachtat, upspackat, forwant och wanrycktat, kunde ater snart hinna til sin naturliga Fagring om wi befiitade oss mer derom i wart dageliga tahl och skriffter, om wi utrensade de onodiga fremmande Ord, som et tokugt prunkande forst inplantat, Om wi atertogo de korta meningar, klara be­ grep och sinrika utlatelser, som detta Grund­ Spraket ager, hwarpa war gamla Lag, Konunga­ Styrelsen och mangfaldiga gamla Skrifter forelagga oss sa rena prof, Om skickeligt Folk, som dertil uppoffrat sig gufwo oss goda och til­ rackeliga ordabocker, hwaraf Fransoskan och fiera tungomal hamtat sa stora fonnaner, Om wara Larda eller de, som giora sig den modan, at gagna det alhnanna med sina wark, fiitigt skrefwo pa ren Swenska, och saledes banade dem enfaldigare wagen [. . .]

•

•

Wart Sota Modersmal blir dageligen bland oss sa misswardat, at det ar en omkan: De Swenskas

Our sweet language is so badly cared for by us daily that it is a pity: The words and sentences of the Swedes are now too haughty to be ex­ plained in Swedish orally or in writing; therefore the Swedes are now so unaccustomed to Swedish that they will soon stumble not so much in speak­ ing other languages, as in speaking their own. [ . . . ] I think, dear countrymen, that our Swedish lan­ guage, which is now so deplorably despised, larded, perverted and ill-famed, could soon reach its natural beauty again if we in our daily speech and in writing strove to acquire it; if we removed the unnecessary foreign words, that a mad urge to show off first introduced; if we reintroduced the short sentences, clear concepts and ingenious expressions, which this original language pos­ sesses and our old law, Konungastyrelsen and many old documents give us such pure examples of; if clever people devoted themselves to giving us good and sufficient dictionaries, from which French and many other languages benefitted so much; if our scholars or those who take pains to serve the community with their works, diligently wrote in pure Swedish, and thus paved the way for simple people [. . . ]

4.

Literature (a selection)

Columbus, Samuel (1678), En Swensk Ordeskotsel (ed. with introduction and comments by Sylvia Bo­ strom) (Nordiska texter och undersokningar 20). Stockholm 1963. Davidsson, Herbert (1990), Han hon den: Genusut­ vecklingen i svenskan Wider nysvensk tid. Lund. Falk, Cecilia (1993), Non-referential subjects in the history of Swedish. Lund.

141. The development of Swedish from the mid-16th century to 1800 Haska, Inger (1972), Studier over bestiimdhet i at­ tributforsedda nominalfraser. Lund. Hellquist, Elof (1902), Studier i 1600-talets svenska. Uppsala. Henning, Sam (1927), Ericus Nicolais Gerson-over­ siittningar: Ett bidrag till kiinnedomen om det sen­ medeltida Uppsalaspraket. Diss. Uppsala. Heuman, Bengt (1960), Tendenser till fastare me­ ningsbyggnad iprosatexterfrm l svensk stormaktstid: En stilhistorisk studie. Lund. Hirvonen, Ilkka (1987), Konstruktionstyperna denne man och denne mannen i svenskan (SNF 69). Hel­ singfors. Hof, Sven (1753), Swiinska sprakets riitta skrifsiitt. Med ordstatistik ochfiera register (ed. Mats Thelan­ der). Uppsala 1985. Hohn, G6sta (1951), Om uteLimnandet avhjaJpver­ bet hava i bisats. In: NS 30, 87 93. Hohn, G6sta (1952), Om s-passivum i svenskan: Foretriidesvis folkmalen och den iildrefornsvenskan. Lund. Hohn, G6sta (1967a), Epokerochprosastilar: Nagra linjer och punkter i den svenska prosans stilhistoria. Lund. Hohn, G6sta (1967b), Om s-passivum i svenskt tal­ sprak. In: Svenskt talsprak(ed. G6sta Hohn), Stock­ holm, 204 222. Hohnberg, Axel (1931), Studier over ja-verbens ny­ svenska formutveckling. Lund. Horn, Agneta (1959), Beskrivning over min vandrings­ tid. (ed. G6sta Holm). Stockholm. Johannisson, Ture (1945), Hava och vara som tem­ pusbildande hjiilpverb i de nordiska sprbken (LUA NF, Avd. l, VoL 41,6). Lund. Kagennan, Elisabet (1985), Plural av neutra pa obetonat -e: Obestiimd plural hos neutra med avled­ ningsmorfemet -e mellan omkring 1300 och 1750. Lund. Kock, Axel (1896), Om adjektivb6jningen i den aldre nysvenskan. In: SvLm. XI : 8, 9 17. Lann, Karl (1936), Den bestiimda artikeln i iildre fornsvenska. Stockhohn. Larsson, Kent (1988), Den plurala verbbOjningen i iildre svenska: Studler i en sprbklig foriindringspro­ cess. Uppsala. Lindblad, G6sta (1919), Abraham Sahlstedt och den svenska substantivbOjningen. Lund. Ljunggren, Karl Gustav (1942), Objekt och adverb­ ial: Studier i svensk syntax (LUA NF, Avd. 1, Vol. 38,3). Lund. Modeer, Ivar (1946), Studler over slutartikeln i starkafemininer CUUA 1946, 2), Uppsala.

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Ostman, Carin (1992), Den korta svenskan: Om re­ ducerade ordformers inbrytning i skriftspraket under nysvensk tid. Uppsala. Pihlstr6m, Sven (1981), Kortstavighet och stavel­ seforliingning: Hur nagra av de gamla kortstaviga or­ den erhallit sin form i svenskt rikssprak (AUU 16), Uppsala. Platzack, Christer (1981), Andelsevokalismen i supinum och perfekt particip av starka verb: en studie av vaxlingen it:et och in:en i aldre och yngre nysvenska. In: ANF 96, 107 136. Platzack, Christer (1983), Three syntactic changes in the grammar of written Swedish around 1700. In: Struktur och variation. Festskrift till Bengt Lo­ man 7.8. 1983. Abo, 43 63. Platzack, Christer (1985), Syntaktiska f6randringar i svenskan under 1600-talet. In: Svenskans beskriv­ ning 15. G6teborg, 401 417. Santesson, Lillemor (1986), Tryckt hos Salvius: En undersokning om sprakvarden pa ett 1700-tals­ tryckeri med siirskild hiinsyn till ortograji och mor­ fologi. Lund. Stahle, Carl Ivar (1970), Svenskt bibelsprak fran 1500-tal till 1900-tal (SNSS 40). Stockholm. Stahle, Carl Ivar (1979), Svaga maskuliner i nysven­ skan. Ett stycke svensk sprak- och sprakvardshis­ toria. In: Sprakform och sprbknorm. En bok tillBertil Molde (SNSS 67). 203 235. Svensson, Lars (1981), Ett fall av sprakvard under 1600-talet: Om historiskt a i iindelser i iildre ny­ svenskt skriftsprak med siirskild hiinsyn till reglering­ en i tryckta kanslihandlingar under Gustav II Adolfs regering. Lund. Teleman, Ulf (2002), )fra, rikedom och reda: Svensk

sprakvard Wider iildre nyare tid (SNSS 85). Stock­ holm.

Wessen, Elias (1965a), Svensk sprakhistoria. Vol. 3, Grundlinjer till en historisk syntax. 2nd ed. Stock­ holm. Wessen, Elias (1965b), Svenskt lagsprak. Lund. Wessen, Elias (1969), Svensk sprakhistoria. Vol. 1, Ljudliira och ordbojningsliira. 8th ed. Stockholm. Widmark, Gun (1970), Stildifferentiering i Gyllen­ borgs komedi Swenska spratth6ken. In: NS 49, 5 77. Widmark, Gun (1992), Boksvenska och talsvenska. Om sprakarter i nysvenskt talsprak. In: ss. NF 1, 157 198. Widmark, Gun (1997), Petrus Lagerl6f, den f6rste svenske sprakvardaren. In: SS NF 7, 59 83. Wollin, Lars (1983), Svensk latinoversiittning. Vol. 2, Forlagan och produkten. Lund.

Kent Larsson, Uppsa/a (Sweden)

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XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

142.

The development of Danish from the mid-16th century to 1800

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Geographical and social conditions Attitudes to Danish Reading and writing Orthography and pronunciation Morphology and syntax Vocabulary Variation and standardization Literature (a selection)

1.

Geographical and social conditions

1.1.

Loss of territory and power

The history of Danish in the period 1550 to 1800 is heavily influenced by the highly vary­ ing social conditions of the speakers, writers and readers of Danish. By 1550, Denmark­ Norway was the dominant political power of northern Europe, the power reigning over the Baltic Sea and the Arctic Ocean; by the end of the 1 8th c., Sweden, by acquiring large parts of eastern Denmark and part of northern Ger­ many through a series of wars, had become a strongly competing political power in the re­ gion, and Denmark had lost control of the Baltic Sea. From the middle of the 16th c. until approx. 1625, Denmark prospered; the few wars - the conquest of the Ditrnarshes in 1 559 and the wars with Sweden in the 1560s and in 1 6 1 1 1613 - were successful o r had n o consequences for the balance of power in the region. There was a profitable market for agricultural prod­ ucts, and the climate was tolerable. The fol­ lowing period brought hard times; most of Dernnark was conquered and plundered by Swedish armies several times, which eventual­ ly led to the loss of the Danish provinces east of the Sound in 1645 and 1658. In two wars in the 1670s and in 1709-1720, a reconquest of the lost provinces was attempted, but with no success. In the provinces, the official lan­ guage changed from Danish to Swedish in the course of a few decades when a massive Swedish effort was launched in the 1670s. The population of the reduced kingdom of Denmark suffered not only from the impov­ erishment caused by the heavy taxation needed to finance the wars, but also from the recedingmarket for agricultural products, and from a deterioration in the climate, bringing years of bad crops. Incidentally, the hard win­ ter of 1657-1658 assisted the Swedish con­ querors as King Karl Gustav led his troops

across the frozen Belts on his march from Hol­ stein towards Copenhagen. These hardships, accompanied by sporadic depopulation in the 1660s due to a plague and a serious agricultural setback in the 1 740s oc­ casioned by a cattle plague, caused the 90 per cent ofthe population living in the countryside to be politically further impaired whereas the town dwellers acquired greater power when the privileges of the nobility were restricted and town dwellers were given the right to take part in the administration of the state when the absolute monarchy was introduced in 1660. In the 1 8th c., commerce flourished in the still quite small towns and in Copenhagen, the capital; some commerce was based on the new­ ly acquired overseas colonies. But the prosper­ ity of the town dwellers was of little avail to the great majority of the speakers of Danish in the impoverished countryside. 1.2.

Multilingualism

The Denmark-Norway of the 16th, 1 7th and 18th centuries was a multilingual state; in the Atlantic provinces, Iceland and the Faroe Is­ lands, Danish was the language of jurispru­ dence and administration, and contemporary Icelandic and Faroese were of no great im­ portance in the development of Danish. In Norway, Danish dominated as the written lan­ guage in this period, being not only the lan­ guage of administration, but since the Lu­ theran Reformation also that of the church. Norwegians were educated by Danes, they studied in Denmark, and several individuals contributed to the development of Danish, most prominently the poet-scholar Ludvig Holberg. Another character from the north­ ern regions of Denmark who made a marked cultural impact was the antiquarian and manuscript collector from Iceland, Arni Mag­ nusson. In the southern parts of Jutland and in the major towns, many inhabitants were German­ speaking. In the latter half of th 16th c., High German superseded Low German as the writ­ ten language in the areas where Low German was spoken. The multilingualism of the town dwellers is reflected in the enormous success of Ludvig Holberg's comedies in the 1 720s. On the stage, Holberg's characters speak Da­ nish, Low German, High German, French, or

142. The development of Danish from the mid-16th century to 1800

a mixture of these languages according to their social status and ambitions, with great comic effect. The knowledge of languages varied over time and according to rank and class. From 1 559 to 1648, the main language of the court was Danish, the kings preferring their mother tongue. From 1648 to the 1780s the court pri­ marily spoke German; it was consequently much appreciated when Crown Princess Louise learnt Danish in 1743. Most of the people appointed to important political posts from 1660 to 1 800 were no blemen or citizens from the German-speaking parts of Denmark or immigrants from Germany. The male mem­ bers of the nobility travelled extensively abroad, and in addition to German and Latin, they acquired some knowledge of French, Italian and Spanish. Leonora Christina Ul­ feldt's Jammers Minde 'Memory of Misery', written about her captivity from 1663 to 1685 in the castle of Copenhagen, shows that she spoke Danish to her servant women, Low German to some of her warders, and High German to among others a visiting clergyman. The account of the inquiries into her knowl­ edge of her husband's treason shows that she corresponded with him in French, which was also the language of her official memoirs. The international language of theology, the arts, and the emerging sciences was Latin, which was taught in grammar schools fre­ quented by young boys who wanted to study. In the grammar schools, the boys were pun­ ished for speaking Danish. Commerce was mainly conducted with people from northern Germany and the Neth­ erlands, and in the towns, fluency in German was regarded as a matter of course. In the 1 7th and 1 8th centuries, the educated town dwellers joined the nobility in their interest in the French language and culture. In her autobio­ graphy from 1787, Charlotta Dorothea Biehl recounts as an accomplishment how she managed to learn French, but her fluency in German is taken for granted.

2.

Attitudes to Danish

In the 1 6th c., the attitudes to Danish moved from considering the vernacular as a means of furthering religious devotion of the com­ mon people to a Renaissance interest in the words and phrases of older Danish. The gram­ marians of the 17th and 18th centuries were working to develop and improve the language, and from the middle of the 1 8th c. onwards,

1283

authors referred to the Danish language as a tool for educating the people, and they ad­ vocated the cultivation of the mother tongue with the aim of civilizing behaviour and im­ proving morals. At the end of the 1 8th c., the Danish language came to be considered part of the emerging national identity, born partly out of German cultural dominance. For the Lutheran reformers in the first half of the 1 6th c., one important issue was that the language of the Church should be changed into the vernacular. Missals, the New Testa­ ment, collections of hymns and sermons ap­ peared in Danish. In the preface to his trans­ lation of the New Testament, Christiern Pe­ dersen thanks God "Ath han affsin ewige god­ hed, oc store miskwndhed haffuer nw vnth oss arme menniske, som bo nordest i werden. Ath wij mwe h0re, see, lrese, oc lrere. Hans hellige, sande rene ord oc Euangelia paa vaart eget twngemaall" [that he in his everlasting good­ ness and great mercy has now granted us, the poor people of the North, to hear, see, read, and learn his holy, true, pure word and the Gospel in our own language] (Det Ny Tes­ tamente Jhesu Cristi ord oc Euangelia, 1529, facsimile ed., Copenhagen 1950), and he ex­ plains why he made the translation: "leg haf­ fuer fordi nw Vdsett dette Ny Testamente och Euangelia paa reth Danske, Ath den menige almwe maatte diss bedre forstaa dem" [I have now translated this New Testament and Gos­ pel into correct Danish in order that the com­ mon people should understand it better]. A similar motivation is found in the royal pro­ mulgation of the first printed translation of the whole Bible, usually called Christian III's Bible, which appeared in 1550: "thennom som icke kunde forstaa Latine och Tydsk maal tijll beste, haffue ladett wdsette och prente then hele Bibel paa danske" [for the benefit of those who do not understand Latin and German, [we] have let translate and print the whole Bible in Danish] (quoted from the facsimile edition, Copenhagen 1928). In the latter half of the 16th c., the Renais­ sance interest in the history of Denmark, which led to the Danish translation of Saxo Grammaticus' medieval chronicle, is also re­ flected in the Saxo translator Anders S0rensen Vedel's edition of historical ballads. In his in­ troduction to Hundredvisebogen (1591, fac­ simile ed. 1993), he writes "der som ingen an­ den orsag vaar til at lrese disse gamle Poetiske Dict, vaar denne ene nocksom, for Sproget skyld: Det er, for de herlige gamle Danske Gloser oc Ord, for hin sk0ne Sprog oc runde

1284 Tale" [if there were no other reason for read­ ing these old poetic songs, this one would be enough, because ofthe language, i.e. the won­ derful old Danish phrases and words, the beautiful language and clear speech] (Bil). The antiquarian interest was also manifested in the compilation of lists of old words and phrases in the 16th and 17th centuries. In Johan Brunsrnand's preface to his collec­ tion of hymns, Aandelig Siunge-Lyst from 1676 (ed. and introduced by Vibeke A. Peder­ sen in DaSt 1998), the two attitudes to Danish are combined: he publishes his hymns in Danish for the honour of God and for the benefit of his neighbours, and his regard of older Danish is reflected in his exposition of his poetic praxis when he explains several rhymes with reference to quotations from Danish texts from the first decades of the 17th c. and from Vedel's Hundredvisebog. The grammarians of the 17th c. were in­ spired by the German language societies, for­ med after the Thirty Years' War as a reaction against the increasing dominance of the French language and culture. In his first work on the Danish language, Nogle betenkninger om det Cimbriske Sprog from 1663, Peder Syv gives as reasons for his work his love of the language and the need to describe the right way of cultivating the language by writing many books and translating many books from foreign languages; in accordance with "det Frugtbringende Selskab" (Danske Gramma­ tikere 1, 1979 (1915), 82, 1 1 3) - dieJruchtbrin­ gende Gesellschaft was founded in Weimar in Germany in 1617 - he also advises against the use of too many foreign words. This puristic tendency was accentuated in the 1 8th c. when the philosophical ideas of the Enlightenment were introduced in transla­ tions from German. In these works, many Latin and French loanwords were replaced by new Danish words and phrases coined on the basis of the German purism. The puristic movement was combined with an endeavour to use a simpler prose style. Jens Schelderup Sneedorff, the most important character in the discussions of Danish in 1761-1763, wrote: "Sprogets Dyrkelse har saa vigtig en Ind­ flydelse paa et Folkes T",nkemaade, S",der, Opdragelse, Love, Videnskaber, og paa alt det som kan bestemme og fOf0ge et Folkes Lyk­ salighed, at det fortiener Lovgiverens st0rste Opmerksomhed" [the cultivation of the lan­ guage has such an important influence on a nation's way of thinking, mores, education, laws, sciences and arts, and on everything that

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages may determine and increase a nation's happi­ ness that it deserves the legislator's greatest attention] (Den patriotiske Tilskuer, No. 7, 1761 , 54 f. quoted from Vibeke Sandersen, Essayet - filosofi og fiktion, 1977, 74f.) - in short, the cultivation of language will im­ prove all aspects of social life. The purists were opposed by more tradi­ tionally minded people who ridiculed the many new words. Among these critics was the author and translator Charlotta Dorothea Biehl, who wrote a comedy making fun of the purists and made more traditionally phrased translations to compete with those of the pu­ rists. The 1770s saw a short period of strong Ger­ man influence when the German Johann Friedrich Struensee, the physician to the men­ tally ill king, had seized power and reigned in German; he seduced the queen and was sub­ sequently sentenced to death for high treason and executed. In 1772, when the prince regent and his advisers took over, they issued all de­ crees in Danish. In the last decades of the cen­ tury, the promotion of Danish and speakers of Danish coupled with a strong opposition to speakers of German resulted in several ar­ dent literary debates. At the end of the 1 8th c., Tode in his Danish grammar for Germans distinguishes between four different kinds of pronunciation: first, Die feyerliche Sprache, wie bey geistlichen " und weltlichen Rednern, und wenn das Danische vorgelesen wird" [the solemn lan­ guage of orators inside and outside the church, and when Danish is read aloud]; second, die " Sprache hiibscher Leute im taglichen Um­ gange" [the language of educated people in everyday conversation]; third, die Aus­ " sprache des gemeinen Mannes" [the pronun­ ciation of the common people]; and fourth, das Danische anderer Deutschen" [the " Danish of other Germans] (quoted from N. A . Nielsen 1952, 34). He recommends the first two kinds and warns his readers against the third and especially the fourth; an imitation of the written language gives the highest de­ gree of social acceptability.

3.

Reading and writing

3.1.

The growth of literacy

In medieval Denmark, literacy was connected with specific professions and the majority of written sources were in Latin, the major sub­ ject areas of Danish being the law and legal

142. The development of Danish from the mid-16th century to 1800

documents - and devotional literature for the laity. After the Lutheran Reformation in 1536, Danish became the official language of the church, and all inhabitants were required to master the Lord's Prayer, the creed, and the Ten Commandments as a minimum for receiv­ ing communion and thus being a member of the Christian community. Most books printed in the 1 6th c. are reli­ gious: in the complete inventory of printed works in Danish and by Danes from 1482 to 1600 (L. Nielsen 1919-33), approximately half of the books are listed under theology. However, many other subject matters are re­ presented: law, history, educational books like ABC books and arithmetic books, ahnanacs with practical advice on agriculture, a book on fishing, another on the production of ink, chapbooks on Dr. Faustus and Griseldis, and collections of ballads and broad sheets with songs about disastrous events like the Turkish conquests in Persia. From the latter half of the 16th c., we know of 34 editions of small devotional books with hymns, Bible texts, prayers, the shorter cate­ chism, the Passion, and the story about the destruction of Jerusalem (L. Nielsen 1919-33, IV, 257). The great number of books indicates the growth of literacy. Recent investigations into the literacy of the peasantry in the 1 7th c. (Appel 1995; 2001) have shown literacy as a graded phenomenon. Basic literacy was the ability to read printed text; this was obtained by children through instruction in the basic texts of Christianity. Children were taught from the ages of five or six years. Because the number of texts that everybody had to know was growing constantly during the height of orthodoxy in the 1 7th c., a functional reading ability became necessary. The parish clerks had assistants teach the peasant children for a small fee, the lessons being concentrated in winter when the children were not needed for the tasks of farming. Basic literacy seems to have become a matter of course in the latter half of the century, whereas fewer people reached the more advanced levels of reading handwritten text and writing, the last step for practical purposes being arithmetic, enabling a person to keep accounts. Among the evi­ dence of advanced literacy are farmers' rec­ ords, keeping track of the family's births, mar­ riages, deaths, major events in the region like big fires, and some information about the cli­ mate and the crops and their value over the years. This habit seems to have started in southern Jutland, the oldest extant source

1285

Fladstenbogen (ed. in Bj0rn Poulsen/Inger Biehl Hansen, Med egen hand. Landbohis­ torisk Selskab 1994) starting in 1 592 and con­ tinued by the following generations until 1 809. Many books were kept and read throughout the centuries. An investigation into the pro­ bate deeds of two Zealand archives of the 18th c. (Heide 1918) revealed that books are men­ tioned and evaluated in 98 cases out of 1300; well-worn books and books of little value are grouped and no titles are given, while the titles of the more valuable books give information about reading in the countryside throughout the century. The majority of the books are re­ ligious: Bibles, hymn books, prayer books, and other devotional books; among these Brochmand's Huuspostil, published in 1635 and 1638 and reissued several times, is men­ tioned seven times in the deeds from 1727 to 1788. 3.2.

New genres and subject fields

With the advent of printing and loose type, the copying and distribution of written ma­ terial gathered speed. The 1772 items in Dansk Bibliografi 1482-1600 (L. Nielsen 1919-33), comprising books in Danish, Latin and Ger­ man, constitute a comprehensive library com­ pared to the few Danish sources from the Middle Ages. The continuing boom in writing and printing is illustrated by the 12 volumes of the complete dictionary of authors from Denmark, Norway and Iceland until 1 814 (Ehrencron-Muller 1924- 1935). From the 16th c. onwards, the individual authors of the texts become more noticeable; personal letters of the no bility, mostly dealing with practical matters, abound in the 1 6th c. The oldest extant autobiographies belong to the 17th c. Translations of the classical texts of Greek and Latin are accompanied by trans­ lators' introductions, e. g. when Birgitte Thott dedicates her translation of Seneca to the fe­ male sex in 1658. A major contribution to the development of Danish in the former half of the 1 8th c. was made by Ludvig Holberg, born in Bergen and educated by Danes and in Denmark and on journeys through most of Europe. After this comprehensive education, Holberg was appointed professor at the University of Copenhagen and set about cultivating the Danish language by writing interesting works in genres that had so far received only few con­ tributions in Danish. His most remarkable ac­ complishments are the comic epic poem Peder

1286

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Faars. his 33 comedies. partly inspired by Moliere, and his informative and argurnenta­ tive works on the history ofDenrnark-Norway and about many different moral subjects. At the end of the 1 8th c Danish was used in all social contexts: in primary education, administration, newspapers, public debates, and in literature and literary criticism; at the university, the first lectures in Danish about Danish were given by Jacob Baden in 1782 and 1783. .•

4.

Orthography and pronunciation

4.1 .

Orthography

In the first 50 years of printing, orthography varied with the printer. From the middle of the 1 6th c., the orthography of printed pub­ lications became fairly stable. The following traits characterize printed orthography in the latter half of the 16th c.: Capital letters are used after a full stop, in names, and irregularly after commas; a nasal stroke for n or m and round r are used occa­ sionally; the doubling of the letters s and Jis used at the end of words and occasionally at the end of syllables, e. g. huss 'house' , aff ' of , vnderuissning 'instruction', screffne 'written', and J is also doubled before -t and word-in­ ternally in -ffu-, e. g. effter 'after', giffue 'give', haffue 'have'; i is used for both the vowel and the consonant, after a vowel often written y, e.g. ling 'thing', ieg '1', siette 'sixth', eyedom 'ownership', @yen 'eyes'; vowels in inflectional suffixes ending in s are written i, e.g. aarenis 'ofthe years' ,forarmis 'become poor'; c is used in the conjunction oe 'and' and is combined with k and t, e. g. ieke 'not', noek 'enough', fruet 'fruit', foraetede 'despised'; q is used in combination with u, e. g. quinde 'woman', be­ quem 'suitable'; x is generally used for the later ks, e. g. voxte 'grew', Exempel 'example'; z is used combined with d or t, e.g.J@dzel 'birth', traadzer 'defies', Dantz 'dance', Finantz 'fi­ nance'; u, v, and w are used for the vowel and the consonant according to differing rules - a fairly common set of rules is that v is used word-initially for both the vowel and the con­ sonant, e.g. vnder 'under', vd 'out', vandre 'wander', ville 'will', vere 'be'; u is used non­ word-initially for both the vowel and the con­ sonant, e. g. huad 'what', suerd 'sword', inuor­ tis 'inward', omuende 'turn', skulle 'shall', op­ sluge 'devour'; w is used for the vowel in the negative prefix u- 'un-, in-', e.g. wsigelige 'in­ expressible', wrxt 'injustice', wtallige 'un-

countable', and in the pronoun wi 'we' (most examples in this paragraph are from Niels Hemmingsen, LijJsens Vey 1570 and Anders S0rensen Vedel, Predieken vdi . . . Johan Friisis begraffuelse 1 571). The orthography of the most important authors of the 17th c. is described in detail by Olsen (1947). In this century the first debate about Danish orthography took place. The opposing positions were: spell as the most estimated people speak - based on the phrase by the Italian Scaliger - versus spell as the best writers do - ultimately originating in the ideals ofQuintilian regarding classical Latin. Several of the above-mentioned traits were discussed, notably the use of capitals, the distribution of v and u, the use ofy after vowels, the abolition of foreign letters like e, q, x, and z, and the use of double vowels for long vowels. In the 17th c., the doubling of vowels became wide­ spread in printed texts, and the spelling ki and gi before e, x, and @ gained ground, e.g. skien­ delige 'disgracefully', begirerlighed 'desire', ski@tte 'consider'. A second orthographic debate took place in the 1 8th c. One of the issues in this debate was the introduction of a special letter for aa. An anonymous author, pretending to write on behalf of the Danish language, handed over the manuscript of his four books on Danish to the King in April 1727; here he recommends the Greek letter w and uses it throughout his text, e.g. "gili'lt in i de Danske sprrogs navn" [given in in the Danish language's name] (Hen­ riksen 1976, 129). In 1743, Jens H0ysgaard recommends writing aa as a like the Swedes, but he does not write a in his text; other gram­ marians in the 1 8th c. recommended a ligature of two a's, but the aa-spelling was kept during the 18th c. At the end of the 1 8th c., capitalization of nouns was the rule, word-final double conson­ ants had disappeared, u and v were distributed as in 20th-c. Danish, long e and i were often indicated by doubling, the marking of pala­ talization of k and g before e, x, and @ was the rule, and the y after vowels had been sub­ stituted by i. 4.2.

Pronunciation

According to Karker (art. 123), most of the sound changes from medieval to Modern Danish took place before 1 550. The descrip­ tions of Danish pronunciation from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries appear primarily as part of discussions of orthography, the oldest

142. The development of Danish from the mid-16th century to 1800

from 1586 being a general description of the p ronunciation of the letters by Jacob Madsen A rhus, De liter is libri duo, advocating a clear distinction between i and j. In the case of the grammarians from the 1 6th and 17th centu­ ries, it is often difficult to draw the borderline between letter and sound. The oldest rather comprehensive marking of vowel quantity is found in Moth's handwritten dictionary from the second decade of the 1 8th c. where all long vowels are accented. The anonymous grammarian of 1 727 men­ tioned above gives a description ofthe spoken standard of the learned circles in Copenhagen in the first decades of the 1 8th c.; an expla­ nation of his notation and sound system is found in Henriksen's introduction to the edi­ tion of the ms. Dansk rigssprog (1976). In Dansk rigssprog, the author indicates vowel quality and quantity by means of accents, and in the case of the consonants, he comments on their pronunciation, e. g. the difference be­ tween stops with indentical places of articula­ tion like p and b, t and d. The most important contribution to the de­ scription of Danish pronunciation in the 1 8th c. is found in the works of Jens H0ysgaard, who was the first to notice and describe the distribution of the Danish st@d. In his contri­ bution to the orthographic debate in 1743 and in his Accentuered og Raisonnered Grammatica from 1747, he developed a notation that cap­ tures vowel length and st@d, and he makes use of this notation in the whole text, yielding a wealth of pronunciation exemplification. He makes a distinction between four kinds of syl­ lables, one with a short vowel and no st@d, e.g. Stiid 'town', Trin 'step', Splirve 'sparrows', a second with a short vowel and a consonant with st@d, e. g. Sang 'song', Spurv 'sparrow', a third with a long vowel with st@d, e. g. Skrin 'chest', 13d 'let', and the fourth with a long vowel without st@d, e.g. Mo'r 'mother', l@'be 'run'. During the 1 8th c., several excercise books in Danish appeared for people with other mother tongues, notably German; they con­ tain directions for pronunciation geared to their respective readers; as sources for the pro­ nunciation of Danish, they add the complica­ tion of viewing Danish contrastively from German and French respectively, e. g. these extracts from Abrahamson's revised editions (1801 and 1 804) of Nicolai Bendix Lange's Diinische SprachlehreJur Deutsche (1787) and Johann Clemens Tode's Neue diinische Gram­ matikJur Deutsche (1797): "Wo der will hawe

1287

Kjiirnen, borr briide Skallen" [who wants the kernel, must break the shell], "Ihlen er in god' Tjaner, menn in unn Hussbunde" [fire is a good servant, but an evil master] (N. A. Niel­ sen 1952, 36, 39). In the descriptions of Danish pronunciation from the 1 8th c., varying pronunciations are registered, e. g. the letter b in postvocalic po­ sition may be pronounced as a b or as a half vowel written v, the latter pronunciation being described as uneducated (Henriksen 1976, 61). The b-pronunciations may be an instance of an influence from writing, a phenomenon of increasing importance in the following cen­ turies.

5.

Morphology and syntax

5.1.

Morphology

By the middle of the 16th c., the old four-case system had been reduced; the nouns had only two forms: a genitive form with an s-ending and a morphologically unmarked form used in the other cases; some of the personal pro­ nouns had kept three cases, the nominative, the genitive and the accusative/dative, either based on the old dative form, e.g. hannem 'him', hende 'her', hvem 'whom', or on the old accusative form, e.g. mig 'me', dig 'you', and the reflexive sig. Lars Heltof! (1997) describes how the regular use in the 1 6th c. of hvo 'who' as subject and hvem 'whom' in other gram­ matical functions changes into the use of hvem in all grammatical functions during the 17th c. The old case declension of both the noun stern and the affixed definite article is kept in the 16th c., e.g. Liffsens 'life's', Lousens 'the law's', Syndsens 'the sin's', Dieffuelsens 'the devil's'. In the 17th c., the declension is sim­ plified so that the genitive -s is affixed to the definite form of the non-genitive noun, e. g. Lovens, Syndens, Dievelens. Some common nouns change their plural endings from -e to -er, others from -er to -e; neuter nouns tend to change from a plural in -e to a plural with no ending like in the old language (Skautrup 1953, 203). The reduction of the gender system from three genders, masc., fern., and neut. recognizable in the use of the pronouns han 'he' and hun 'she' referring anaphorically to masc. and fern. nouns respectively - to two genders, the comm. and the neut., is completed in the written language around 1600. The re­ duction may be motivated by a change of the spoken language of Copenhagen, influenced by the contact with Low German (Pedersen 1999).

1288

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

The adjective declension had been highly simplified. The old masculine singular accu­ sative and nominative forms in -en and in -er are used rarely and irrespective of the noun's gender in the 16th C., e.g. en unger brud 'a young bride' (Niels Hemmingsen, Om Ecte­ skab 1 572), and survive only in fossilized forms used attributively with poetic con­ notation. Examples like sorten 'black' are found in 17th c. poetry, and the compound ungersvend 'young man' is found in Holberg; such forms were reintroduced by the Roman­ ticists at the beginning of the 1 9th c. The inflection of verbs has been simplified; remnants of the old person inflection are found in the second person sg. of the modal verbs kant. skalt. vilt. The plural of verbs is kept in the written language; the grammarians of the 1 7th c. are in favour of the plural forms, except for Henrik Gerner in his Orthographia Danica from 1678 (Olsen 1947, 1 1 4). The old past tense plurals of irregular verbs are dis­ appearing; in the 1 8th c. they have acquired a decidedly poetic connotation, e.g. Junde (sg. Jandt) 'found', and bunde (sg. bandt) 'bound'. Present participles in -es are found throughout the period; in the 1 8th c., the forms in -e domi­ nate the written language. 5.2.

Syntax

The syntax of written prose in the 16th c. is not too far from the academic prose of the 20th c.; among the few older traits are the sporadic final position ofthe finite verb in sub­ ordinate clauses, e. g. "AIle Danske oc andre som Dansk maal forstaa kunde, til salig vnderuisning" [all Danes and others who Danish language understand can, to blessed instruction] and "denne synlige Sol, om hun siunis i dr0mme for den som siug er, at forrn0rckis eller skiulis aff Skyer" [this visible sun, if it seems in dreams for the one who ill is, to darken or be hidden by clouds] (Niels Hemmingsen, LijJsens Vey 1 570). In the 17th c. and the first half of the 1 8th c., written prose is generally more complex, characterized by many non-finite construc­ tions used in subordinate clauses, such as the accusative plus infinitive construction used after verbs of communication and cognition, and constructions with present participles. A present participle construction and an accu­ sative plus infinitive are found e. g. in a sen­ tence in Birgitte Thott's dedication to the fe­ male sex of her translation of Seneca (1658): "Betenckendis der hos, dette . . . at were giort"

[considering hereby this . . . to have been done] (quoted from Karker 1993, 171). The verbal forms are often placed in final position, either finite verb plus non-finite verb or vice versa. The following example from 1656 shows how both finite and non-finite verbal forms occur in final position: "Oc om end ski0nt Landet saaledis baade folckrigt oc velbebygt er, saa forrnenis det dog i fordum Tjd mere bebygt oc fo1ckrigere at hajJve vorrit' [and although the region in this way both populous and well built over is, then it is assumed in the old days more built over and more populous to have been] (Arent Berntsen, Danmarckis oc Norgis Fructbar Herlighed. 1656, facs. ed. K0ben­ havn, 1971 , 1 29). In 1693, Leonora Christina by means of numbers corrected the word order of the first part ofJammers Mindewritten 1674 by indicating the order finite verb plus non­ finite verb instead of non-finite verb plus finite verb. Very long sentences are also widespread, and one sentence is often connected with the next by means of a hv- 'wh-' construction, e. g. "Saa oc hos Skagen hvorfra en stor Handel er aff atskillige Fiske, eftersom dessen Indbyg­ gere med Skuder beseigle Wester-S0en, hvor de ligge paa Duggerj efter slige Fiske, hvilcke de udi T0nder indsalte oc til fremmede St",der udf0re. Hvor ajJ er at slute at N0rre-Jydland offvergaar de andre Danrnarckis Lande med Fiskerj" [In this way also in Skagen from where a big trade is of many fish, as its inha­ bitants sail boats in the North Sea where they lie in drift for such fish, which they in barrels salt down and to foreign towns export. From which is to deduce that northern Jutland is su­ perior to Denmark's other regions in fishery] (Berntsen, op.cit., 1 28). The word order coor­ dinate conjunction followed by finite verb and subject in declarative sentences - connective inversion - is found throughout the period, e. g. "Oc gijJuer Dauid her faare fern ypperlige ting", [and presents David here five excellent things] (Niels Hemmingsen, LijJsens Vey 1 570) and "efter de vare flyttede for dem selv Lod han mig ofte hente og maattejeg da Ligge uden for hans Seng" [when they had moved he often let me fetch and must I then lie next to his bed] (Charlotta Dorothea Biehl, Mit ubetydelige Levnets Lob 1787). In the middle of the 1 8th c., Sneedorff and his followers use and advocate a simpler style inspired by French with fewer non-finite con­ structions. Frans Gregersen and Inge Lise Pedersen (2000) have investigated the development of the specific subordinate clause word order

142. The development of Danish from the mid-16th century to 1800

where the sentence adverbial is placed between the subject and the finite verb. This word order becomes gradually more frequent in the 1 6th c. and eventually prevails in the written lan­ guage. When the grammarians of the period, no­ tably Jens H0ysgaard in his Methodisk Fors@g til en Fuidstrendig Dansk Syntax from 1752 (Danske Grammatikere V), write about syntax, they describe dependencies between different parts of speech, valency and phraseology.

6.

Vocabulary

The oldest books about the Danish language are six Latin-Danish vocabularies from the 1 6th c., the first from 1510, the sixth from 1 594, meant for students of Latin. In the 1 7th and 18th centuries, several grammarians give directions for compiling a dictionary of Danish for Danes, e. g. Peder Syv (Om det Cimbriske Sprog 1663), who advises the collection of all words "Saa og de som have deris brug i loven, lregekunsten, viden­ skaber, handverker og andensteds med deris bemerkelser" [also those used in law, medi­ cine, sciences, crafts and elsewhere with their senses] (Danske Grammatikere I, 1 1 2). He warns against foreign loanwords and advo­ cates the reintroduction of words from older Danish because "hielpe de meget til Sprogets siirlighed, hvilket ikke beh0ver nogen fremmed sminke" [they add to the beauty of the lan­ guage, which needs no foreign make-up] (Danske Grammatikere I, 1 50). A very liberal attitude to vocabulary was manifested in the dictionary of Matthias Moth, who collected words from all over the country including Norway, and in the years 1697 -1719 compiled a dictionary of 60 hand­ written volumes, which were not printed. In the 18th c., the puristic movement was accom­ panied by the Academy principle for the com­ pilation of dictionaries: only correct and ac­ cepted words and phrases belong in the dic­ tionary. This was reflected in the plan for Videnskabernes Seiskabs Ordbog, the first comprehensive printed dictionary of Danish, from 1740. The first volume did not appear until 1793, and the dictionary was not com­ pleted until 1905 (cf. ODS I, XVI-XIX). The most controversial issue was the status of loanwords; until the 1770s, the criticism of foreign words was primarily directed towards French. In his re-editions, Ludvig Holberg re­ placed some of his loans from the classical lan-

1289

guages and from French by more local words, some of them of German origin. German was seen as the foreign language closest to Danish; Peder Syv illustrates the closeness with a list of parallel words in German, older Danish, and 1 7th-c. Danish (Danske Grammatikere I, 1 5O f.). A hundred years later, in 1766, Jacob Baden argues for the enrichment of Danish by replacing French-looking words by new words created from or imported from Ger­ man. In the puristic discussions in the later 1 8th c., the loans from German were also dis­ puted. But the importation of new words con­ tinued throughout the period; illustrative lists of High German loanwords from the period after 1550 are found in Vibeke Winge (2000, 80- 82). Many new words corne in with new techniques and customs, the basic vocabulary being fairly stable throughout the period (Ruus 1998); among the verbs, v�rde is re­ placed by blive in most texts from the begin­ ning of the 17th c. Modern dictionaries covering Danish from 1 550 to 1800 include Otto Kalkar's Ordbog til det reidre danske sprog (1300-1 700) (cf. Marie Bjerrum 1976) and Ordbog over det danske Sprog 1- 27 (1918-1956) covering Danish from 1700; a unique key to Danish in the first half of the 1 8th c. is the exhaustive description of Holberg's vocabulary in Hol­ berg-Ordbog 1 - 5 (1981- 1988). Other com­ plete vocabularies oftext collections are found in the scholarly editions of En REffue Bog 1 555 (1915-1923), in Danske Viser fra Adelsvise­ boger og Fiyvebiade 1530-1630, vol. VII (1930, reprinted 1978-1979), and in the elec­ tronic dictionary of 16th-c. ballads and songs accompanying Sv@bt i mar 3 (2001).

7.

Variation and standardization

The previous sections have focused on the ef­ forts to promote a common language stan­ dard. These endeavours were most successful in the printed language; in the handwritten sources of the period, the orthography varies with the person who was doing the writing, except for professional scribes because state and regional institutions had their local norms. In her studies of the modelling of linguistic rule formation, Dorthe Duncker showed that apparently simple changes in the handwritten orthography comprise a lot of competingvari­ ants. In the period 1 550-1630, the two most fluctuating orthographic sequences are word-

1290 initial d in front of vowels and word-final n after vowels; among the graphic variants d, t, and th, th becomes the dominant spelling in the 1 560s, and eventually d takes over; a simi­ lar development is found for final n, the com­ petition between n, nn, nd, nnd, ndt, nndt, and ndtt being dominated by nn in the 1560s, and n winning at the end of the period (Duncker 1999, 282 f.). The studies are based on the texts of 547 ballads and songs from the 16th C., electronically available on the CD-ROM accompanying Sv@bt i mar 3 (2001). In the handwritten letters of the nobility from the 16th c., the abundance of double and triple letters is a serious obstacle for the modern reader, but obviously did not impede reading for the addressees. The common standard, emerging at the end of the 1 8th c., was based on the language of Zealand and the capital Copenhagen. Boe! B0ggild-Andersen (1990) showed that a ten­ dency towards a regional nonn is found in handwritten and printed Jutlandic sources from the 16th and 1 7th centuries. Not all inhabitants of Copenhagen adhered to the recommended standard; in her work on the stage mechanic's records from the Royal Theatre from 1782 to 1785, Bojsen (1982, 39) drew attention to many remarkable word forms that are easily understood ifthe pronun­ ciation of the later lower standard language of the capital is taken into consideration, e.g. gord 'made' and ner 'down': "Naaer 5 Act be­ gander bliver drer gord marg i eller, naaer 4 Act er ude goer de forreste lamper ner" [when act 5 starts, darkness is made there or, when act 4 is out, the foremost lamps go down] (Bojsen 1982, 102). At the end of the 1 8th c., standardization of the orthography had officially succeeded, as can be seen from the school decree of 1775 mentioning the orthography of Ove Malling's forthcoming Store og gode Handlinger at Danske, Norske og Holstenere (1777) as nor­ mative for the instruction in spelling. The dif­ ferent pronunciations, the discussions of foreign words versus native words - whether reintroduced from the older language or newly coined purisms of the 18th c. - and the dis­ cussion of style in general in the 1 8th c. show how variation in pronunciation, vocabulary and syntax was the rule rather than the excep­ tion, although the debaters aimed for stan­ dardization. Linguistic variation is a prerequi­ site for the development of language, and so­ cial interaction is the force advancing stan­ dardization and introducing new variants.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

8.

Literature (a selection)

Note: Examples with brief or no source identifica­ tion in sections 4. and 5. are quoted from Dansk Sprog- og Stilhistorisk Tekstbase (2001). Appel, Charlotte (1995), "Kunne la:se udi B0ger Prent". Om la:sefa:rdighed og la:sning i 16oo-tallets landbosamfund. In: Eol og Ey, Landbohistorisk Tidsskrift 1995: 2, 18 49. Appel, Charlotte (2001), L::rsning og bogmarked i 1600-tallets Danmark. K0benhavn. Bertelsen, Henrik (ed.) (1915 1929/1979), Danske Grammatikere I-VI. K0benhavn. Bjerrum, Marie (1976), Otto Kalkar og hans ord­ bog. In: Otto Kalkar, Ordbog til det Eldre danske sprag (1300 1700) VI, 7 167. B0ggild-Andersen, Boel (1990), En unders0gelse af tra:k af sprogeti Skast herreds tingb0ger 1636 1640 sammenholdt med ortografien i a:ldre og samtidige jyske kilder og omradets nuva:rende dialektale for­ hold. In: Selskab for Nordisk Filologi, Arsberetning 1987 1989. Kobenhavn, 61 71. Bojsen, Else (1982), Fra Den StWldesl@se til Gorm den Gamle, Maskinmesteroptegnelser fra Det KgI. Teater 1782 1785. K0benhavn. Dansk Sprog- og Stilhistorisk Tekstbase (2001), cd­ rom med tekstha:fte udg. af Hanne Ruus og Dorthe Duncker i samarbejde med Vibeke A. Pedersen, Lars Heltoft, Inge Lise Pedersen, Niels Haastrup og Bente Liebst, Institut for Nordisk Filologi, K0benhavns Universitet. Duncker, Dorthe (1999), Sproget som selvor­ ganiserende system. Dynamisk modellering afsprog­ lig regeldannelse, Ph.d.-thesis, Institut for Nordisk Filologi, K0benhavns Universitet. Ehrencron-Muller, H. (1924 1935), Forfatter­ lexikon omfattende Danmark, Norge og Island indtil 1814 I XII. K0benhavn. Feldba:k, Ole (ed.) (1991), Dansk identitetshistorie 1 2. K0benhavn. Gregersen, Frans/Pedersen, Inge Lise (2000), A la Recherche du Word Order Not Quite Perdu, A methodological progress report. In: Textual para­ meters in older languages (eds. Susan C. Herring/ Pieter van Reenen/lene Sch0sler). Amsterdam/ Philadelphia, 393 431. Heide, Frits (1918), Bidrag til Sp0rgsmaalet om den danske Almues La:sning i det 18. Aarhundrede. In: DaSt 1918, 36 47. Heltoft, Lars (1997), Hvem opslugte hvo. Et bidrag til beskrivelsen af det danske kasussystems udvik­ ling. In: Ord, Sprog oe artige Diet. Et overblik og 28 indblik 1500 1700. Festskrift til Poul Lindegard Hjorth (eds. Flemming Lundgreen-Nielsen/Marita Akh0j NielsenjJohn Kousgaxd S0rensen). K0ben­ havn, 227 256.

143. The development of Norwegian local dialects and Dano-Norwegian

1291

Henriksen, Carol (1976), Dansk Rigssprog, en be­ skrivelse fra l700-tallet, GKS 789 fol., ed. with in­ troduction. K0benhavn.

Olsen, Ellen (1947), Retskrivningspraksis og Ret­ skrivningsteorier i Danmark i det 17. Aarhundrede. In: Sprog og Kultur XV, 66 120.

Karker, Allan (1993), Dansk i tusind ar: Et omrids af sprogets historie. K0benhavn.

Pedersen, Karen Margrethe (1999), Genusforenk­ lingen i k0benhavnsk. In: DF 41, 79 105.

Lundgreen-Nielsen, Flemming/Ruus, Hanne (eds.) (1999 2002), Sv@bt i mar: Dansk Folkevisekultur 1550 1700 1 4. K0benhavn.

Ruus, Hanne (1998), Viseord og Kerneord. Kon­ stans og variation i det centrale ordforrad. In: Sel­ skab for Nordisk Filologi, Arsberetning 1996 1997. K0benhavn, 136 145.

Nielsen, Lauritz (1919 1933/1996), Dansk Bib!i­ ograft 1482 1600 I II, III: Supplement ved Erik Dal. K0benhavn.

Skautrup, Peter (1947, 1953), Det danske sprogs his­ torie 2 3. K0benhavn.

Nielsen, Niels Age (1952), Abrahamsons og Todes oplysninger om rigsmalsudtalen omkring 1800, I. In: Sprog og Kultur XIX, 33 57.

143.

Winge, Vibeke (2000), Pebersvend og poltergeist: Tysk indfiydelse pa dansk. K0benhavn.

Hanne Ruus, Copenhagen (Denmark)

The development of Norwegian local dialects and Dano-Norwegian from the mid-16th century to 1800

1. 2. 3. 4.

Introduction The development of Norwegian local dialects Dano-Norwegian Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

In the middle of the 1 6th c. the use of the Nor­ wegian written language in a public connec­ tion had nearly corne to an end. Since about 1450 the Danish written language acquired an ever stronger position. Of vital importance for the victory of the Danish language was its use by the secular institutions and the introduc­ tion of the Reformation in 1 537 (in Norway), bringing with it services in Danish and shortly afterwards the translation and printing of the Bible in Danish in 1550 (the so-called 'Bible of Christian III'), together with other religious books (prayerbooks, hymnbooks). The judi­ cial system followed the national law of the Norwegian King Magnus Lagab0te until 1604, when the Norwegian Law of King Chris­ tian IV was printed. But from the 1 530s on­ wards several translations of the old law texts into Danish were undertaken (but not printed), due to increasing problems regarding the comprehension of Old West Nordic. The abrogation of the Norwegian State Council (in 1 536) and the introduction of an absolute

monarchy in 1660 (followed by an extension of the bureaucracy) were also important fac­ tors in confirming the supremacy of the Dan­ ish literary language in Norway. It may be mentioned in this context that the first printing office in Norway was established in the year 1643, while the first printing office in Denmark was founded in 1481 , in Sweden in 1483, and in Iceland in 1528. The mid-16th c. linguistic situation in Nor­ way can be summed up like this: The prevail­ ing written language was Danish, with Nor­ wegian literary language being practically ex­ tinct. As a consequence, the following expo­ sition deals with the development of Norwe­ gian local dialects and Dano-Norwegian. (Further information is given in Knudsen 1962, 1 ff.; Indreb0 2001 , 177ff., 292ff.; Skard 1977, 1 1 ff. ; Kolsrud 1921; 1922).

2.

The development of Norwegian local dialects

2.1.

Rural dialects

2.1.1.

Introduction

Extensive treatment of the development oflo­ cal dialects in this period is given only by Gus­ tav Indreb0, "Malbrigdingar (1525 til no­ tidi)" , in Narsk Mil/saga (2001, 330-79), pre-

1292

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

viously printed in only few copies from an un­ finished draft (Indreb0 1990, 23 - 84). How­ ever, the text has been accessible to the public since the 1950s: Per Hovda, one of the two editors of Indreb0's posthumous edition of Norsk Md/soga (1951), appropriated this part of Indreb0's manuscript and published it in three articles (see Hovda 1954; 1956; 1957 in the bibliography); cf. Indreb0 (2001, 1 3 - 1 6) and Schulze (1993; 2003). The sources which Indreb0 drew upon when writing the text in 1941 are ahnost the same as those available today. He borrowed unpublished vocabu­ laries by Bloch, Bork, Ramus and Rasch (cf. 2.1.2.) from the future editor Sigurd Kolsrud (cf. Indreb0 1990, 8). The (known) authors of dialect texts of all kinds (poems, vocabularies etc.) were all civil servants, chiefly clergymen, but also e. g. of­ ficers and judges. Most of the authors were born and grew up in another district (or coun­ try) with a dialect usually quite different from that which they purportedly reported on. Un­ fortunately, Indreb0's ( Hovda's) results are often untrustworthy because of the lack of critical appraisal regarding the dialectal back­ ground of the authors (who very often mixed the dialect of their adolescence and the dialect on which they reported). Examples are stri­ king observations in vocabularies by Bork (1956, B0 in Vesterillen, the author grew up in inner Tf0ndelag, cf. Nes 1986, 347 and Myr­ vang 1985-86), Ramus (1956, Ringerike, Bus­ kerud, the author was from Rornsdal and Tf0ndelag, cf. Nes in Indreb0 1990, 48 f., foot­ note), Rasch (1957, Kolsrud 1950, Stavanger, the author was from Dalane, 60 km south of Stavanger, with a quite distinct dialect, cf. Engen 1969, 28ff., Dybdah1 1989, 147 f.), the dialect text Sogndal 1734 (in Venas 1990, 1 32f., the unknown author reveals features from the distant Vest-Agder dialect), L0ten 1743 (Kolsrud 1915- 17, 95-101, Hedmark, the author J. Abildgaard was from Trond­ heirn). The rendering of dialect [OnTIS is more or less influenced by Danish orthographical customs. Consequently the language historian ought to be very cautious when expressing opinions about earlier dialect features (ef. Dalen/Hagland 1982). The description of the development of local Norwegian dialects within this period depends upon the supposed language situation respec­ tively in the 1550s and about 1800. Due to lack of space, reference to the situation during the transitional time from Middle Norwegian to Modern Norwegian is the discussion by �

Magnus Rindal (1993, 400 f., based upon Indreb0 1951, cf. Venas 1 972), and the current view among Norwegian language historians, namely that about 1 550 the Norwegian dia­ lects had reached their modern stage regarding the great dialect divisions (into East, West and North Norwegian, and Tf0ndelag, cf. e. g. Hoff 1968, 399; Skard 1977, 3 3 ; Dalen 1993, 43). The dialect situation ca. 1 800 must have been very similar to that of later times, de­ scribed by Ivar Aasen and his successors (e. g. Amund B. Larsen, Hans Ross, Hallfrid Chris­ tiansen, Sigurd Kolsrud, in surveys of Norwe­ gian dialects, not mentioned here). Some pre­ vious knowledge of Norwegian language his­ tory and Norwegian dialectology is helpful for the following exposition. 2.1.2.

Sources

A detailed survey of the sources is provided by Indreb0, Norsk Md/soga (1951, 3 3 1 - 56; 2001, 307-29). The 16th c. sources are very few, chiefly diplomas (charters) about legal matters (printed in Diplomatarium Norvegi­ cum 1 847- for the time up to 1 570); the last one, from Telemark in 1 584, is printed in In­ dreb0 (1951, 309; 2001 , 290). From the 17th and 1 8th c. many dialect texts have been pre­ served, both printed (from 1647 onwards) and in manuscript, most of them being occasional, mostly jocular poems. The standard editions containing nearly all texts ofthis kind are Ven­ as (1990) and Dalen/Hagland (1985). Dialect vocabularies printed in book fonn in this pe­ riod are Jens0n (1646), Pontoppidan (1749), Wilse (1780), and Hallager (1802). Historico­ topographical publications from the second part of the 1 8th c. also contain many short vocabularies. Vocabularies in manuscript form - many of them being results of appeals by central authorities in Copenhagen, by Chief Secretary Matthias Moth (1697-98, cf. Bloch, Bork, Harboe, Ramus, Rasch below) and the collection of "curious words" and per­ sonal names in 1743 (cf. Kolsrud and Hamre in the bibliography) - were not printed until the 20th c., viz. Thomass0n (1 9 1 1 , containing also a short grammar and about 300 sayings), Klim (1911), Leem (1923), Bloch (1956), Bork (1956), Ramus (1956), Rasch (1957), Harboe (1988), Kolsrud (1 915-17; 1920), Fine (1952), Hamre (1961), Wille (1975), Hagland (1980), and Schnabel (1784; 1934a; 1934b). Details about the number of entries in the different vocabularies are given by Nes, Norsk dialekt­ bibliografi (1986), which also contains infor-

143. The development of Norwegian local dialects and Dano-Norwegian

mation about other vocabularies not men­ tioned here.

2.1.3.

Phonology

2.1.3.1. The so-called Great Quantity Shift (lengthening of all stressed syllables, OWN VC > V:C orVC:) was roughly speaking com­ pleted in the mid-16th c., but not until later in the period in Tf0ndelag (Indreb0 2001 , 342). Examples from Thomass0n (19 1 1 , 10), from Vest-Agder (e.g. bedden < OWN bitinn pret.part. 'bitten', v;;erra inf. < OWN vera 'be') render probable the existence of the OWN quantity system in (parts of) Vest-Agder in about 1625 (Skjekkeland 1978, 364f.). Leem (1923) provides material which makes it rea­ sonable to suppose that in the mid-18th c. the dialect of Sunnm0re had not finished this de­ velopment (Kolsrud 1951, 17). 2.1.3.2. The vowel phoneme systems were pre­ sumably like those ca. 1800, i . e. between 9 monophthongs + 3 diphthongs (in most dia­ lects) and 1 5 monophthongs + 3 diphthongs (described and discussed by Haugen 1 942). 2.1.3.3. Metaphony (i.e. a qualitative assimi­ lation between the stressed and unstressed vowels in vowel balance dialects, e. g. OWN lifa inf. 'live' > Mod.Norw. dialect /lovo /; OWN viku fem.acc. 'week' > Mod.Norw. dia­ lect /v"k" / cf. Haugen 1976, 261 f.) prevailed about 1700 in the dialects of Southwest Tele­ mark (Bloch 1956), Northeast Telemark and Vestfold (Schulze 1993, 62f.). Indreb0's asser­ tion (2001 , 352) that metaphony prevailed in North Norway and Ringerike, Buskerud ca. 1700 is a grave mistake, due to his failure to take account of the author's horne dialect, in these cases, Bork (1956) and Ramus (1956), cf. 2.1 . 1 . 2.1.3.4. Monophthongization "covering most of the present counties of Hedmark and S0r­ Tf0ndelag" (Dalen 1995, 385) of OWN ei > lei, ey > /0/, au > /6/ took place probably in the 1 6th and 17th centuries (Reitan 1933, 1 1 1). In the district west and northwest of Oslofjor­ den (Vestfold, Ringerike) the old au before st (aust 'east') was not monophthongized until the 1 8th c. (Indreb0 2001 , 343; cf. also Faar­ lund 1975). 2.1.3.5. U-umlaut (e. g. OWN mQrk fern. 'for­ est, wilderness') was more widespread in the

1293

1 6th and 17th centuries than ca. 1800. The de­ velopment was chiefly due to levelling, ana­ logizing tendencies in the Norwegian dialects (gen. marka[rJ, pI. marker), but also to Dan­ ish influence in the southeast (Indreb0 2001, 342, 360). 2.1.3.6. Unstressed vowels. It is difficult to ap­ praise the extent of variation as regards the unstressed vowels e, a (inf. and weak fern.). The apocope of the Tf0ndelag dialects (in words with OWN long, stressed syllables, e. g. OWN kasta vb. 'throw' > kiist (circumflex toneme) chiefly carne to an end about 1600 (Reitan 1 922, 104). 2.1.3.7. Medial palatalization ofvelar plosives was evidently present in the dialects on the west coast of Oslofjorden (Vestfold, lower parts of Buskerud) in the 16th c., cf. leggie < OWN leggja inf. 'lay', lengie < OWN lengi adv. 'for a long time' (R0yken, Buskerud, 1 560, see Indreb0 2001, 348). 2.1.3.8. The southern border of the dialects with palatal apico-dentals ([A], [)1]) was retreat­ ing in this period. "There is some evidence that at one time it extended down into the Oslo region" (Haugen 1976, 272; cf. Indreb0 2001, 3 50). 2.1.3.9. As to dn < OWN rn in stressed syl­ lables (e. g. hodn < OWN horn neu!. 'horn'), this consonant cluster was still alive in many local dialects outside the present dn-area until the end of the 18th c., cf. Baadn < OWN barn neu!. 'child', Fyresdal, Telemark (1698) (Bloch 1956, 1 1),Jadnedef. < OWNjarn neu!. 'iron', Tinn, Telemark (ca. 1 745) (Nes 1994, 1 47), Baadn 'child', Rollag, Numedal (1743) (Hoff 1953, 149). Very interesting are dn-forrns - up to now unnoticed - from the northernmost part of the West Norwegian dialect area: bodn < ON bQrn neu!.pl. 'children', Norddalen, Sunnrn0re (1698) (Harboe 1988, 16), bodn 'children', 0rsta, Sunnm0re (ca. 1810, from old people, born about 1700) (Aarflot 1949, 38), Revie Hodn. Revie hodn. Revjehodn (2 times), a mountain name in Selje, Nordfjord, close to Sunnm0re (1756) (Stf0m 1997, 40, 218). A general discussion of the problematic dn-development is treated by Amund B. Lar­ sen (1905; 1915, 7 ff.; 1926, 1 1 2 ff.), Indreb0 (2001 , 351), Schulze (1993, 60 f.), and Bakken (2001 , 1 90).

1294 2.1.4.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages Morphology

In Norsk Malsoga, Indreb0 (200 1 , 3 32) con­ siders the old inflections documented in writ­ ten sources from the 16th c. partly to be traces ofthe Norwegian writing tradition, but partly also traces of the spoken language. "There­ fore, in cross section the Norwegian and serni­ Norwegian written sources from the 16th c. do not perhaps contain much more of the old inflections than the spoken language" (Indre­ b0 2001, 332).

Grisledal forest', Vest-Agder (1557) (Indreb0 2001 , 3 33). For adjective + noun phrases there was a tendency in the 16th c. to use the dative only with one word, especially the adjective, cf. solde atternemdom Bi@rn [. . . j och hans br@dro 'the hereinafter named B. [ . . .J and his brothers sold' Hornnes, Aust-Agder (1557); here the noun has no dative while the adjective displays the inflection (Indreb0 2001, 334). 2.1.4.3. Pronouns

2.1.4.1. Declension of nouns Case (nom., acc., dat., gen.). The old nomina­ tive marker -r partly survived until the end of the 16th c., especially in proper names and the appellatives presler 'pastor', domer 'sentence' (with svarabhakti vowel), chiefly in the dia­ lects around Oslofjorden and Telemark (In­ dreb0 2001 , 332). The dative was much more widespread in the 16th and 17th centuries than ca. 1800. In South Norway the dative is documented as far south as the seashore in Vest-Agder (ca. 1625) (Thomass0n 1911) and Fyresdal, Telemark (1698) (Bloch 1956), both dialects lacking the dative after 1 800. The dative in B0, Vesterillen (1698) is a very doubtful attribution made by Indreb0 (2001, 3 3 3 f.), see 2. 1 . 1 . The syntactic domain in the early part of this period was wider, especially as regards the dative with verbs, e. g. takka einom < OWN pakka ein­ hverjum 'thank somebody'. The genitive in -s is very often a literary remnant in the documents, but Indreb0 (2001, 336) regards the situation in the 16th c . as having more genitives in -s than in recent days. An example of gen.pl. in this early stage is a proverb from Thomass0n (1 9 1 1 , 34), Snart Stidles. Sydskenne Vrejen (ca. 1625), Syd­ skenne < OWN systkinna gen.pI., 'relatives shall soon become friends' (literally: 'the wrath of the relatives shall be cahned down rather soon'). 2.1 .4.2. Declension of adjectives Case (nom., acc., dat.). The plural in -r may have survived in the dialects of Telemark and (Aust-)Agder in the 1 6th c., cf. aakierloussrer < OWN akrer(sl)ulausir adj .pl. 'blameless', Aust-Agder (1568) (Indreb0 2001, 333). The acc.sg. ending in -an (-en) is common in the early period, e. g. Peder scali haffua allan Grisledals skogen 'Peder shall have all of the

The OWN dat. fOnTIS mer, per, ser survived in many southern dialects until the 18th c., cf. mer, der, ser (1690s) (Klim 1911, passim), mehr (ca. 1625) (Thomass0n 1911, 22), skaae hem see < OWNskooaheimser 'look back atone's horne', Toten (1743) (Kolsrud 1915-17, 8 1 f.). The 1st person sg. e rg) T is ascribed to Rin­ gerike, Buskerud and L0ten, Hedmark by In­ dreb0 (2001, 3 3 8 f.). This is unlikely consider­ ing the dialect background of Ramus (Ringe­ rike) and Abildgaard (L0ten), cf. 2.1 . 1 . The Norwegian 1st person pI. me 'we' do­ minated in the Norwegian local dialects in the early parts of this period according to Indreb0 (2001, 339), but he is probably wrong, except regarding the dialect area of Vestfold - lower parts of Buskerud, cf. myd, vy, Sigdal, Bus­ kerud (1 549) (Tylden 1944, 95). 2.1 .4.4. Verbs The plural inflection of verbs was more wide­ spread in this period than after 1800, e. g. in Vest-Agder (ca. 1 625) (Thomass0n 1911), Sunnfjord (1646), (Jens0n 1 646), Sogndal, Sogn (1734): Dei aate aa Drukke 'they ate and drank' (Venas 1990, 1 38) Sigdal, Buskerud (1734): M@ ginge 'we went' (Kolsrud 1915 - 17, 69). The 2nd person sg. -t (-st) in strong verbs and preterite-presents was more widely used than later on, e. g. Kanstu 'can you', Sunnfjord (1646) (Jens0n 1646, 128), Saagst du 'did you see', Rogaland (1745) (Fine 1952, 1 3 8). The strong verbs ganga (pres. gjeng!er]), standa (stend!er]), Ja (jre!r]), and the weak verb hava (hev!er]) seem to prevail early in the period. The imported (Danish) forms ga (gar), sta (star), fa (jar), har pres. were less widely distributed than ca. 1 800, cf. Indreb0 (2001, 341 f.).

143. The development of Norwegian local dialects and Dano-Norwegian

2.1.5.

Syntax

Indreb0 (2001 , 366) states that syntactic stu­ dies of this period are nearly nonexistent, chiefly because of the inadequate sources. 2.1.5.1. Word order was less stable in the early period. The rule that the genitive comes before the governing word (kongens karl had not yet been completely carried out, cf. handebande tere manna < OWN handabandi jJeirra manna 'agreement of those men' (1561), Fyresdal, Te­ lemark. The verb was more often than later on postponed in relative clauses with som: saa m@git sompaa huanffell 'as much as fell upon each'. 2.1.5.2. Subjectless clauses were still current in many districts, cf. Meg brigdast inche stoert om deg 'I don't care much about you', Sunn­ fjord (Jens0n 1646, 16), me tykiys 'methinks' (1770-71), Gudbrandsdalen (Venas 1990, 240). Subjectless imperative clauses have been studied by M0rck (1993), based upon the ma­ terial printed in Venas (1990). He states that the subject is missing in 89 per cent of the im­ perative clauses (1993, 424). 2.1.5.3. M0rck has also studied more gene­ rally the characteristics of the subject in Nor­ wegian from OWN till ca. 1 800 based upon Venas (1990) as regards the time after the mid1 6th c. He finds a change of "distinctive sub­ ject characteristics" to have taken place in the transitional time from MNorw. to Mod.Norw. (mid-16th c.). At that time it becomes possible to distinguish between the subject and the ob­ jects on the basis of distribution, while the morphological indication of this distinction is maintained only to a small extent (M0rck 1995, 1 7). 2.1.5.4. Genitivus generis (e.g. OWN pusund vetra 'a thousand years') was much used in the 16th c. dialects, cf. ett pund maltz 'one pound of malt' (1552), Oslo (Indreb0 2001, 367).

2.1.6.

Lexicon

2.1.6.1. Many OWN words became extinct. Indreb0 (2001 , 368f.) mentions legal words like aakierloussxr (see 2.1 .4.2.) and handaband (see 2.1.5.1.), but also the conjunctions OWN ear 'or' and en 'but' which were in use in the 1 6th c., cf. ether (1576), Telemark. The con­ junction men 'but' < OWN meoan did not

1295

replace en until about 1600. Many inherited religious words were more widespread, e. g. skira < OWN skira 'baptize'. The preposition hja 'by' and the auxiliary verb verta 'become' were more widely used in this period than later, when hos 'by' and bli vb. 'become' ex­ panded (cf. Indreb0 2001, 369). 2.1.6.2. A great number of loanwords were adopted in the local dialects. The first Norwe­ gian 'lexicographer' complained in 1646 that the Norwegian language "med mange Tunge­ maal oc fremmet Sprog er bemenget oc daglig Dags mere tiltager" , i. e. 'is mingled with many tongues and foreign jargon is increasing every day' (Jens0n 1646, [VI]). Further complaints like this one are cited by Indreb0 (2001, 37Of.). Many loanwords entered into Norwegian through the army (founded in the 1640s and with foreign officers), the mining industry (from the early 17th c.), the shipping trade (the 1 7th c.), and merchants, e. g. in Bergen. The greater part of the loans carne from Low Ger­ man, High German and Dutch, but French and English also contributed to the increase in such words, cf. the numerous examples in Indreb0 (2001, 372ff.).

2.2.

Urban dialects

2.2.1.

Introduction

There were many towns in Norway during this period. In the mid-16th c. the so-called kj@psteder pI. '(market) towns' were small: Bergen was by far the largest town (5-6,000 inhabitants), Oslo and Trondheim had about 1 ,000 inhabitants each, while Borg, T0nsberg, Skien and Stavanger - together with Kong­ helle, Uddevalla and Marstrand in Bahuslen (lost through the treaty of Roskilde 1658) hardly numbered 500 inhabitants each (Flad­ by 1977, 54). In the mid-17th c. Bergen had 8-9,000 inhabitants (ca. 8,500 according to Fossen 1979, 293), Christiania (before 1624: Oslo) and Trondheim numbered ca. 4,000, while Christiansand (founded in 1641) accord­ ing to a census (in 1665) counted 1 544 souls, and the four last towns (Frederikstad, T0ns­ berg, Skien, Stavanger) had a far lower popu­ lation. But many ladesteder pI., i. e. villages without full urban rights, had a considerable population, e. g. Drammen with 2,400 inhabi­ tants in 1665 (Mykland 1977, 19Of.). It is of interest to note that the population in Bergen increased from 1 3 ,767 in 1769 to

1296

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

16,931 in 1801, i. e. by more than 3 ,000 in 30 years. In the same period 16,000 children were born in the town, while 19,000 persons died. That makes an excess of deaths of 3,000, and consequently a net increase of 6,000 outsiders corning from other parts of Norway and Den­ mark and other countries (Dyrvik 1978, 220ff.). According to Dyrvik every Norwegian town was dependent on people from the out­ side to survive. 2.2.2.

Sources

To the best of the present writer's knowledge, not a single text rendering (more or less) Nor­ wegian urban dialect from this period (rnid16th c. - 1 800) exists. The only (relatively) re­ liable information about urban dialect fea­ tures has been submitted by Hans Olufsen Nysted for the dialect of Trondheim (see be­ low). For the 'Stavanger' dialect stamp of Rasch's vocabulary and his sample of a Bible translation (Kolsrud 1950), cf. 2.1.1. 2.2.3.

The chief urban dialects

2.2.3 . 1 . The Bergen dialect is unique in Nor­ way by being very differentfrom the surround­ ing West Norwegian dialects as regards pro­ sody, phonology and morphology, e.g. vowel length in Old West Nordic short stressed syl­ lables: Bergen jdropej versus jdro:pej in the surrounding dialects; -e [0] in inf. and OWN weak fern. vs. -a; rnonophthongization in many words: Bergen j0:gej vs. jauej 'eye', jdf0mej vs. jdf0ymaj 'dream' vb.; two gram­ matical genders (common gender and neut.) in Bergen vs. three in all Norwegian dialects; pres. of strong verbs is lacking historical i-um­ laut in Bergen: tar vs. tek 'takes'; -et in pret. of weak verbs of the 1st conjugation: Bergen kastet vs. kasta 'threw'. In addition there is the so-called "Garp genitive" sin 'his, hers', i. e. the analytical fonn of the genitive to in­ dicate possession, being a loan from Low Ger­ man (originated in Bergen, but today spread into all West Norwegian dialects). Jahr (e. g. Jahr 1999, 124 ff.) mentions and explains these "unique features [. . .] as the result of the special language contact situation in Bergen at the time when the modern Bergen dialect was developing" (126). Nesse has written an important thesis (Nes­ se 2002) on language contact between Norwe­ gian and German in the Hanseatic period (1350-1750, according to Nesse 2002, 82) in Bergen, in which she discusses Bergen dialect

features in order to find out whether the unique features of the dialect may have deve­ loped as a result of the long language contact with Low German (2002, 72). She analyses five features: (1) the sin gen., (2) the inf. marker Ie 'to' , (3) the pret. in -el of weak verbs of the 1st conjugation (which S0rlie in St0rss0n 1962, XLI f.; 1966, and Pettersen 1957, 49 be­ lieve to be of purely Norwegian origin), (4) the merging of masc. and fern. to a common gender, and (5) the enclitic def. article in proper names. The results are as follows (Nesse 2002, 244f.): Ie (a loan) is possibly the youngest of the discussed features (18th c.?), the sin gen. and enclitic article in proper names (both loans) came into use "at the earliest in the late 1 6th c.", common gender as well as the pret. in -el developed in the 15th c., i.e. before our period (but cf. Heide 2003). It is probable that the above-mentioned fea­ tures of the Bergen dialect are results of the longlasting presence of Germans (and other foreigners, including Danes). But it may be added that the "replenishment" of people after four big epidemies (1600, 1618, 1629, 1637), killing ca. 12,400 persons (among them perhaps about 600 Germans) (Fossen 1979, 289ff.) most likely contributed to the levelled and simplified features of the dialect. The in­ troduction of uvular r [R] in the Bergen dialect (Nesse 2002, 246) as well as in the dialects of Stavanger and Christiansand about 1800 or shortly before is probably an import from Denmark (Copenhagen), where this pheno­ menon existed at least since ca. 1780, cf. e. g. Torp 2000. 2.2.3.2. The Trondheim dialect is the only ur­ ban one to have "apparently reliable infonna­ tion about [the situation] in the 1660s and 70s" (Arnold Dalen 1999, 294). In a manuscript dated 1727 (published and commented on by C. H. Henriksen 1976), the author, Hans Oluf­ sen Nysted (1664-1740, who lived in Trond­ heim 1664- 82) provides so many details about the dialect ofTrondheim that it can be asserted that in its main features it is the same dialect as the traditional urban dialect of Trondheim in recent time. It is a dialect which systematically belongs to the outer or western dialects ofTr0ndelag and in many phonological and morphological fea­ tures differs from the dialect of the surrounding district (Dalen 1999, 296).

Dalen states that the Trondheim dialect "adopted the western system partly because

143. The development of Norwegian local dialects and Dano-Norwegian

partially assimilated forms" like jlevaj 'live' vb. "were more acceptable in contact with people from other dialect areas, partly because it was different from the dialect of the neigh­ bouring agricultural district" (jlovoj 'live') (1999, 299; cf. Dalen 1993, 43 ff.). But the rea­ son for adopting "so many features from the outer dialects is, however, also due to the rela­ tive simplicity and acceptability of the dialect in comparison with inner dialects" (1999, 299). However, the dialect was not quite like the western ones, because of "a general ten­ dency in urban dialects to simplify the inflec­ tional systems" (1999, 300; cf. the case of Ber­ gen). In accordance with this tendency the dia­ lect acquired a new def.pI. of neutr. nouns: -an, e. g. oran 'the words' (in Nysted's ma­ terial), i. e. the same ending as in masc. and weak fern. nouns (in opposition to rural dia­ lects in Tf0ndelag: -a) (Dalen 1999, 300; cf. also Dalen 1993). 2.2.3.3. The Oslo (or Christiania) dialect is more complicated. Literary documents (dia­ lect texts) from this period are not known. However, the old, so-called vulgar dialect (cf. Larsen 1 907) did not deviate essentially from the nearby dialects; the chief differences being -a def.pI., e. g. kara 'the men', henda 'the hands' (from inland East Norwegian dialects) and -a in the pret. of weak verbs of the 1st conjugation, e. g. kasta 'threw' (from coastal dialects, inland dialects have -e, kaste). It is impossible to date exactly the deviations from the surrounding dialects, but presumably they belong to the 17th or 18th c. Another variety, the later so-called 'Riks­ mal' variety, grew up in the 17th c., being a Dano-Norwegianmixed language based upon the Danish literary language which was a pat­ tern of speaking among the civil servants and other government officials and the bour­ geoisie, resulting in e. g. two genders, common gender and neut., very few nouns ending in def. -a, pI. of nouns in -er, def. -ene, pret. of weak verbs ofthe 1st conjugation in -et (kastet 'threw'), 'thick' [rl seldom used, mono­ phthongs instead of diphthongs. This variety was chiefly used in western parts of Oslo. As to Seip's claims on a distinguished "spoken language of medieval origin", cf. 3.2. 2.2.3.4. Other urban dialects. No reliable texts are known (as regards Stavanger, cf. 2.2.1. and 2.2.2.). The relationship to the neighbouring dialects is evident. However, many common urban dialect features may be derived from

1297

earlier " ideals" , e. g. the common use ofstrong verbs in the present without i-umlaut: kommer 'comes' instead of kjem (Stavanger).

3.

Dano-Norwegian

3.1.

General

In the Introduction it is stated that from the mid-16th c. onwards the prevailing written language in Norway was Danish. There exis­ ted no official norm for how to write 'correct­ ly' at that time (the 16th and 17th centuries), individual writing being very inconsistent, and printed works usually were given their linguis­ tic shape (especially orthographically) by the typographers. The pattern of how to write Danish among the humanistic writers around 1630 was the language of the Danish Refor­ mation authors, representing the state of Danish of earlier generations, according to Iversen (1921, 294). This assertion is rightfully ques­ tioned by Seip (1922, 1 1 7 f.), but is unfortu­ nately overlooked in the standard surveys of this period, by Knudsen (1962) and Skard (1977). The early writers were quite free in their use of Norwegian language features, but during the 1 7th and especially the 1 8th c. the Danish written norm became firmer, and also the adherence of Norwegian writers to the Danish standard. It is no exaggeration to contend that ca. 1800 the command of the Danish written language in Norway had reached a high level. This fact is chiefly connected with obligatory education at the University of Copenhagen (from 1 660) for various occupations, the fixing by law of ecclesiastical confinnation in 1736 and the school ordinance of 1739, followed up by an official written norm in 1775, based upon Ove MaIling's Store og gode Handlinger aJ Danske. Norske og Holstenere (publ. 1 777) as an example of good Danish spelling. A special concern of Nw [Norwegian] linguists has been the tracking down of" Norwegianisms" in the Danish writings of Nw authors from the period of political or linguistic union with Den­ mark. [ . . .] This research was initiated by Didrik Amp Seip in his [1914] study of the poet Henrik Wergeland and continued in [his book] on [. . . ] Norwegianisms in Holberg [1954a; cf., however, severe objections raised by Aage Hansen 1954 and P. Lindegaxd Hjorth 1955, regarding 'Norwegian' rhymes]. Similar studies have been made in the writings of Petter Dass by Alfred Jakobsen (1953), Dorthe Engelbretsdatter by Egil Pettersen (1957) and Wessel by Trygve Knudsen (1942). Much of Seip's research was oriented toward

1298

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

showing that D[ano]N[otwegian], although be­ ginning as written Danish, had roots in Nw speech (Haugen/Markey 1972, 69).

Haugen's rather caustic comment on the (re)search of Norwegianisrns is not out of place. The results of the diligent (re)search on Norwegianisms show as regards (a) the pho­ nology, more use of (old) diphthongs (es­ pecially ei, e. g. stein 'stone', ein, eit 'one' ar­ ticle) and Norw. p. t. k instead of Dan. b. d. g in the early period, (b) the morphology, more -er in pI. of nouns (esp. in strong neuters, e. g. breffuer 'letters') and -et in pret. of weak verbs of the 1st conjugation in the same pe­ riod, and also, as to (c) the syntax, more use of the double definite (e. g. den st@rste parten 'the main par!') (cf. Lundeby 1965, 186ff.). The Norwegian lexicon is of course impor­ tant in this context, and as expected: special Norwegian words are used throughout the whole period, describing and depicting natural and social phenomena of various kinds and institutions not having a Danish equivalent. For example: Petter Dass, in a work com­ prising ca. 1 1 00 pages and writing more cor­ rect Danish than the writers in the preceding c. and his contemporaries, used nearly 500 dif­ ferent words of Norwegian origin, without any deliberate bent as to Norwegianization (cf. Skard 1977, 63; Jakobsen 1953, 108ff.).

3.2.

Spoken Dano-Norwegian

According to Seip (cf. 1 954b; 1 952a, 9 5 ff.) some important features regarding spoken Dano-Norwegian, the so-called h@yere tale­ mal ('cultivated standard speech') of the upper class and middle class, originated in the Middle Ages, e. g. -et in pret. of the weak verbs of the 1st conjugation (denied by Hellevik 1953, 21 f.; cf. Pedersen 2000, 1 7 ff. and Hansen 2001, 63 ff.), and retention of the pronunci­ ation [rn] < OWN rn. But Seip's contentions are not conclusive, cf. Tylden's (1954) dis­ cussion of Seip's theory. We may safely assume that the spoken lan­ guage among the predominantly Danish-born officials at the end of the 1 6th c. and the be­ ginning of the 17th c. was dialectically colour­ ed Danish. The relatively few Norwegian­ born officials in all essentials spoke their dia­ lect (Iversen 1921, 295). At the end of the 17th c. the language of the upper class began de­ veloping into a Danish-coloured sociolect (cf. Sand0Y 2002, 304). This situation is admirably

summed up by Haugen (1976, 407; based upon Indreb0 1951, 3 1 8 ff. 2001, 298ff.): �

There is no evidence that Norwegians actually spoke Da [Danish] except for some of the students who had lived a long time in Copenhagen. There was a predominance of Da speakers among the officials that ruled the country in the seventeenth century, and their prestige contributed to efforts on the part of the Norwegian-born (including the children of the Danes) to imitate Da speech. The new upper middle-class that grew into the aris­ tocracy of modern Norway created its own lingua franca in the form of a Da spoken with Nw tongues [. . .].

Indreb0 (1951, 319; 2001 , 299; after him Skard 1977, 70; Haugen 1976, 407) quotes from the vocabulary of Ramus (1698) "Knote: tale dansk, Danice loqvi. Hand har hert at knote" (Ramus 1956, 14), i . e. 'He has learnt to talk as a snob, about someone who tries to speak Da' (Haugen). The 'supralocal' (Haugen) va­ riety of Danish, especially in the administra­ tive centre, Christiania, was praised by a couple of Danes. Erik Pontoppidan, later a bishop in Bergen, where he wrote his vocabu­ lary (Pontoppidan 1749) lived for a time in Christiania in 1719 as a private tutor. In a de­ scription of Denmark, Theatrum Danile (1730), he writes: Man halt dafiir, dass die Danische Sprache zu Odensee in Flihnen, wie auch zu Christiania in Norwegen, nicht aber zu Copenhagen, am aller­ reinsten und Zierlichsten geredet werde (quota­ tion from Seip 1952b).

Fifty year later the Danish pastor in Spyde­ berg (ca. 45 krn southeast of Christiania), Jacob N. Wilse, published some works where he commented on spoken Dano-Norwegian (cf. Kolsrud 1974, 49), e.g. the often-quoted opinion in Norsk Ordbog [. . .]. The most refined and letter-perfect pronunciation is that of Christiania, and there is spoken the pret­ tiest Danish, except for the admixture of some provincial words. As to the prettiness I also con­ sider a euphonious accent. (1780, 3; the English translation chiefly by Haugen 1976, 407).

It may be of interest to note that Pontoppidan and Wilse were Jutlanders, representing a dia­ lect deviant from that of the Danish capital, Copenhagen, and, perhaps, the quotation "may serve as another example of the com­ mon notion that the "best" pronunciation is the closest one to the spelling" (Haugen 1976, 407). From the above-quoted opinions one may safely infer that (east) Norwegian pros­ odic and phonetic qualities formed the basis

143. The development of Norwegian local dialects and Dano-Norwegian

1299

of the Dano-Norwegian language, being ideally a letter-perfect pronunciation (cf. Seip 1959, 41; Kolsrud 1974, 7 3 ff.). An interesting person, Christian K0lle (1736-1814), born into Christiania upper class and educated in Copenhagen, may be mentioned in this context. His norm (as or­ thoepist) was the formal language:

lects. In: Lingua theodisca. Beitriige zur Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft: J. Goossens zum 65. Geburts­ tag (eds. Jose Cajot/Ludger Kremer/Hennann Niebaum). Munster, 385 393.

As a rule one ought to write the words with those letters which generally match the usual manner of speaking, being generally understood by all Danes and Norwegians. The general words to make use of are those which as a rule are heard in the pulpit or in other public speeches, or by noble or educated persons, when they talk intel­ lectually (quoted Seip 1916, 136).

Dalen, Arnold/Hagland, Jan Ragnar (1982), On evaluating older text as evidence for historical lin­ guistics. In: Papersfrom the Sixth Scandinavian Con­ ference ofLinguistics, R@ros, June 19 21, 1981 (eds. Thorstein Fretheim/Lars Hellan). [Trondheim], 274 283.

Seip's summary (1916, 145f.), after a study of K0lle, runs like this: (1) A spoken language carne into being althe end of the 1 8th c., based upon Danish literary language. (2) This dic­ tion did not correspond with Danish diction. Many local elements were present, both words and sounds; the language was more than Da­ nish writing pronounced with a Norwegian tongue. (3) Spoken Danish had nearly no in­ fluence. K0lle's spoken language conformed to the writing, especially when it corresponded better with Norwegian than with Danish. (4) Alongside this spoken variety, being chiefly a formal language, there existed an everyday form of speech among the Christiania upper class, a variety which was nationally stronger. (5) K0lle's language supports the opinion that Danish-coloured speech (and Danish writing) became more influential in the following de­ cades.

4.

Literature (a selection)

Aarfiot, Sivert (1949), Runetrolldom og ringstav: Pra etterleivde manuscript og prent. Ed. M. Aarfiot. Volda.

Dalen, Arnold (1999), Contributing factors in the making of the post-medieval urban dialectofTrond­ heim. In: Language change: Advances in historical sociolinguistics (ed. Ernst Hakon J ahr). Berlin/New York, 291 304.

Dalen, Arnold/Ragland, Jan Ragnar (eds.) (1985), "I det meest upolerede Bondesprog": Tekster pa tr@ndermal 1706 1856. Oslo/Bergen/Stavanger/ TromS0. Dybdahl, Kare Dreyer (1989), Romerbrevet pa ja:rrmil. In: MM 1989, 140 148. Dyrvik, State (1978), Norges historie. Vol. 8, Den lange fredstiden: 1720 1784 (ed. Knut Mykland). Oslo. Engen, Sigvald (1969), "Reis Da:g Britha . . . ". In: Stavanger Museum: Arbok 1968, 21 46. Faarlund, Jan Terje (1975), Monoftongering i nor­ disk. In: MM 1975, 169 189. Fine, Bendix Christian de (1952), Stavanger Amptes udf@rlige Beskrivelse. Med eit tillegg. Stavanger. Fladby, Rolf (1977), Norges historie. Vol. 6, Gjen­ reisning: 1536 1648 (ed. Knut Mykland). Oslo. Fossen, Anders Bjarne (1979), Bergen bys historie. Vol. 2, Borgerskapets by: 1536 1800. Bergen/Oslo/ TromS0. Hagland, Jan Ragnar (ed.) (1980), Ei norsk ordsam­ lingfra tida kring 1770 etter Biskop J. E. Gunnerus. Trondheim/Oslo/Bergen/Troms0. Hallager, Laurents (1802), Norsk Ordsamling eller Pr@ve af Norske Ord og Talemaader: Tilligemed et Anhang indeholdende endeel Viser, som ere skrevne i det norske Bondesprog. Kj0benhavn. Hamre, Hakon (1961), Vestnorske ordsamlingar fra 1700-talet. Bergen/Oslo.

Bakken, Kristin (2001), Fokk og fj0dd om utvik­ lingen av gammelnorsk I i Vest-Telemark. In: MM 2001, 183 209.

Hamre, Hakon (1972), Erik Pontoppidan og hans Glossarium Norvagicum. Bergen/Oslo.

Bloch, Thomas (1956), Glossemata Tellemarchica. Pyresdal 1698. Ed. S. Kolsrud. Oslo.

Hansen, Aage (1954), Om studiet afHolbergs sprog. In: DaSt 1954, 49 59.

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Hansen, Lise Hornemann (2001), Jysk -de-b@jning: En unders@gelse af svag prEteritumsb@jning. Upp­ sala.

Dalen, Arnold (1993), The emergence of an urban dialect. In: Proceedings of the International congress of dialectologists. Vol. 2, Historical dialectology and linguistic change; Linguistic atlases and dictionaries. Stuttgart, 42 49. Dalen, Arnold (1995), Monophthongization in our time. A recent development in some Norwegian dia-

Harboe, Knud Pedersen (1988), Dictionarium Danico-Norvegico-Latinum 1698. Ed. O. Nes. [Oslo]. Haugen, Einar (1942), On the stressed vowel sys­ tems ofNorwegian. In: Scandinavian studiespresent­ ed to George T Plom by colleagues andfriends (eds. H. Larsen/C.A. Williams). Urbana, Illinois, 66 78.

1300

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Haugen, Einar (1976), The Scandinavian languages: An introduction to their history. London.

Knudsen, Trygve (1962), Kapitler av norsk sproghis­ torie. Oslo/Bergen.

Haugen, Einar/Markey, Thomas L. (1972), The Scandinavian languages: Fifty years of linguistic re­ search. The Hague/Paris.

[Kolsrud, Sigurd] (1915 17), Gamalt austlandsmaal. Litlehamar. K[olsrud], S[igurd] (1920), Gamalt austlandsmaal: Upplandsmaal. Litlehamar.

Heide, Eldar (2003), Felleskj0nnet i bergensk. Re­ sultat av mellomnedertysk kvantitetspaverknad? In: MM 2003, 23 35.

Kolsrud, Sigurd (1921), Kringum maalskiftet. In: Norsk Aarbok 1921, 70 91.

Hellevik, Alf (1953), Omstridde sprbksp@rsmaI. Oslo.

Kolsrud, Sigurd (1922), Fraa maalskiftet. Nokre danske brev av nordmenn. In: MM 1922, 137 157.

Henriksen, Caroline C. (ed.) (1976), Dansk Rigs­ sprog!,] en beskrivelsefra l70D-tallet. K0benhavn.

Kolsrud, Sigurd (1950), Eldste nynorske bibeltekst: Jacob Rasch c. 1700. In: Syn og Segn 57, 97 1 1 1 .

Hjorth, Poul Lindegaxd (1955), Om "norske" rim hos Holberg. In: DaSt 1955, 1 1 5 1 1 8 .

Kolsrud, Sigurd (1951), Nynorsken i sine malj@re. Oslo.

Hoff, Ingeborg (1953), Augustinus Flors viser pa Numedalsmal og Numedalsmalet i dag. In: MM 1952, 123 153.

Kolsrud, Sigurd (1974), Rettskrivingsspursmalet i Danmark og Noreg 1775 til ikring 1814 (ed. Ingeborg Hoft). Oslo/BergenfTroms0.

Hoff, Ingeborg (1968), Norwegische Mundartfor­ schung. In: Germanische Dialektologie. Festschrift for Walther Mitzka zum 80. Geburtstag. Vol. 2 (ed. Ludwig Erich Schmitt). Wiesbaden, 398 458.

Larsen, Amund B. (1905), Om ordet barn i oldnorsk og de nynorske bygdemal. In: ANF 21, 125 1 3 1 .

Hovda, Per (1954), Ymist kring jamvektlovi. In: MM 1954, 109 114. Hovda, Per (1956), Nokre malbrigde i nynorsk tid (1525 ike. 1800). In: MM 1956, 45 74. Hovda, Per (1957), Ymist kring ordtilfanget i norsk i hundreaxa etter refonnasjonen. In: Heimen 10 (1955 57), 485 489. Indreb0, Gustav (ed.) (1934), Nokre eldre vestnorske bygdemalsskrifter. [Bergen]. Indreb0, Gustav (1951), Norsk Malsoga (eds. Per Hovda/Per Thorson). Bergen. Indreb0, Gustav (1990), Maalbrigdingar (1525 til notidi) (ed. Oddvar Nes) In: Eigenproduksjon 39, 3 85. Indreb0, Gustav (2001), Norsk Malsoga. 2nd ed., enlarged and corrected (ed. J.A. Schulze). Bergen. Iversen, Ragnvald (1921 32), Bolanal og talemal i Norge 1560 1630. Vols. 1 2. Kristiania, Oslo. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1999), Sociolinguistics in his­ torical language contact: the Scandinavian lan­ guages and Low Gennan during the Hanseatic pe­ riod. In: Language change: Advances in historical sociolinguistics (ed. Ernst Hakon Jahr). Berlin/New York, 119 139. Jakobsen, Alfred (1953), Norskhet i spraket hos Pet­ ter Dass. Svorkmo. J[ens0n], C[hristen] (1646), Den Norske Dictiona­ rium Eller Glosebog. Ki0benhaffn. (Facs. ed. by P. Thorson. Bergen 1946. Reprinted with commentar­ ies by T. Hannaas. Kristiania 1915). [Klim, David G0riss0n] (1911), Ordsamling fraa Robyggjelagetfraa slutten av 1600-talet (ed. Torleiv Hannaas). Kristiania. Knudsen, Trygve (1942), Norskheter i Wessels skriftsprog. In: Boken om b@ker 5, 45 84.

Larsen, Amund B. (1907), Kristiania bymal: Vulga:rsproget med henblik pa den utvungne daglig­ tale. Kristiania. Larsen, Amund B. (1915), Overgangsmaalene mel­ lem @stnorsk og vestnorsk. Kristiania. Larsen, Amund B. (1926), Om "undtagelser fra lyd­ lovene" i norske dialekter. In: MM 1926, 1 1 0 118. [lehm, Knud] (1923), Professor Mud Leems Norske Maalsamlingar fraa 1740-aari (ed. Torleiv Han­ naas). Kristiania. Lundeby, Einar (1965), Overbestemthet i norsk og de andre nordiske sprak. [Oslo]. M0rck, Endre (1993), Utelatelse av subjektet i im­ perativsetninger i normnt, mellomnorsk og eldre nynorsk. In: Historisk sprakvitenskap/Historical lin­ guistics (eds. Ernst Hakon J ahr/Ove Lorentz). Oslo, 414 426. M0rck, Endre (1995), Subjektets egenskaper i eldre nynorsk. In: NLT 13, 3 21. Mykland, Knut (1977), Norgeshistorie. Vol. 7, Gjen­ nom n@dsar og krig: 1648 1720 (ed. Knut Myk­ land). Oslo. Myrvang, Finn (1985; 1986), Jacob Laugesen Borch og b0malet hans. In: B@jjerding 85, 58 73; 86, 62 78. Nes, Oddvar (1986), Norsk dialektbibliografi. Oslo. Nes, Oddvar (1994), Ei ordsamling fra Tinn i Tele­ mark. In: Helsing til Lars Vassenden pa 70-arsdagen (eds. Johan Myking/Helge Sand0y/lvar Utne). Ber­ gen, 141 150. Nesse, Agnete (2002), Sprakkontakt mellom norsk og tysk i hansatidens Bergen. Oslo. Pedersen, Inge Lise (2000), Hvad er forklaringen pa forklaringerne? En diskussion af sammenha:ngen mellem dialektologiens selvforstielse og sproghis­ toriske forklaringer. In: Studier i svensk sprakhis­ toria 5 (ed. Lars-Erik Edlund). Umea, 1 24.

143. The development of Norwegian local dialects and Dano-Norwegian Pettersen, Egil (1957), Norskhet i spraket hos Dorothe Engelbretsdatter. Bergen. P[ontoppidan], E[rik] (1749), Glossarium Nor­ vagicum. Bergen. (Facs. ed. in Hamre 1972, 31 89). Ramus, Jonas (1956), Ordsamling. Norderhov 1698 (ed. Sigurd Kolsrud). Oslo. Rasch, Jacob (1957), Norsk ordsamling: Stavanger 1698 (ed. Sigurd Kolsrud). Oslo. Reitan, J0rg[en] (1922), Nytremdsk ordforkortning og betoning. Kristiania. Reitan, J0rgen (1933), R@rosmalet. Trondheim. Rindal, Magnus (1993), Norsk sprak 1350 1500. Gammalnorsk eller mellomnorsk? In: Historisk sprakvitenskap/Historical linguistics (eds. Ernst Hakon Jahr/Ove Lorentz). Oslo 1993, 395 404. Sand0Y, Helge (2002), Nordic language history and current trends in dialectology. In: The Nordic lan­ guages, Vol. 1 (Art. 35) (eds. Oskar Bandle/Kurt Braunmuller/Ernst Hakon Jahr et al.). Berlin/New York, 304 312. Schnabel, Marcus (1784), Prove paa hvorvidt det gamle Norske Sprog endnu er til udi det Hardan­ gerske Bonde-Maal. In: Nye Samling af Det Kon­ gelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab 1 . Kj0benhavn, 297 322. Schnabel, Marcus (1934a), Fortegnelse paa Endeel blant B0nderne i Hardanger sa:rdeles brugelige og der eegne Ord og Talemaader. In: Indreb0 (1934), 75 90. Schnabel, Marcus (1934b), Prove paa Hvorvidt Det gamle Norske Sprog endnu er til udi Det Hardan­ gerske Bondemaal. In: Indreb0 (1934), 91 1 1 5.

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Seip, Didrik Arup (1954b), Et h0yere talemal i mid­ delalderen. In: Nye studier i norsk sprakhistorie (ed. Didrik Arup Seip). Oslo, 192 217. Seip, Didrik Arup (1954c), Gjennom 700 ar: Fra dis­ kusjonen om norsk sprak. [Oslo]. Seip, Didrik Arup (1959), Norsk og nabosprakene i slutten av middelalderen og senere tid. Oslo. Skard, Vemund (1977), Norsk sprakhistorie. Vol. 2, 1523 1814. Oslo/Bergen/Troms0. Skjekkeland, Martin (1978), "Maalla:re og ordt0ke fraa Vest-Agder." Ei jamf0ring med Kvinesdals­ malet i dag. In: Fa leit etter ord: Heidersskrift til Inger Fr@yset fra medarbeidarar og studentar (ed. Ingeborg Hoft). Oslo/Bergen/Troms0, 359 379. S0rlie, Mikjel (1966), Preteriturn og preteriturn par­ tisipp pa -et av svake verber. In: MM 1966, 84 91. St0rss0n, Mattis (1962), Den norske kr@nike (ed. Mikjel S0rlie). Oslo/Bergen. Strom, Hans (1997), Annotations Boog over de Merk­ wrrdigheder som udi Syndm@rs Fogderie forefindes indrette[tJ Anno 1756 (eds. Ragnar Standal/K.ari AalbergiTerje Aarset). Volda. [Thomass0n, J0rgen] (1911), Maalla:re og ordt@ke fraa Vest-Agder fraafyrste helvti av 1600-talet (ed. Torleiv Hannaas). Kristiania. Torp, Arne (2000), Skarre-r ingen talefeil likevel? Teorier om opphavet til skarring og hvor langt skarringa vil gao In: Malbryting 4 (ed. Gunnstein Akselberg). Bergen, 63 88. Tylden, Per (1944), Me Vi: Ein studiefra det gamal­ norske og mellomnorske brevriket. Oslo.

Schulze, Johan Anthon (1993), Ein bolk i eit mat­ historisk verk. In: SvLm. 1 1 5, 57 70.

Tylden, Per (1954), Litt om leseuttale og lesesprak. In: MM 1954, 225 235.

Schulze, J ohan Anthon (2003), Ei framstelling urn jamvekt og jamning i tvo versjoner. In: MM 2003, 170 179.

Venas, Kjell (1972), Eit oversyn over dei viktigaste endringane i sprakstrukturen fra gammalnorsk til nynorsk. In: Mal og namn. Studiar i norsk mal- og namnegransking: Heidersskrift til Olav T Beito (eds. Hallvard Mageroy/Kjell Venas). Oslo/Bergen/ Troms0, 324 336.

Seip, Didrik Arup (1914), Norskhet i sproget hos Wergeland og hans samtid. Kristiania. Seip, Didrik Arup (1916), Om skriftsprog og norsk uttale f0r 1800. In: MM 1916, 129 146. Seip, Didrik Arup (1922), "Bokmal og talemal i Norge 1 560 1630." (Av et innlegg ved Ragnvald Iversens doktordisputas 6/10 1921.). In MM 1922, 1 1 3 136. Seip, Didrik Arup (1952a), Omstridde sp@rsmal i norsk sprakutvikling. [Oslo]. Seip, Didrik Arup (1952b), Den beste dansk i Chris­ tiania og Odense. In: Runer og rids. Festskrift til Lis Jacobsen 29. Januar 1952 (ed. [1. GlahderD. [K0benhavn], 91 93. Seip, Didrik Arup (1954a), Om norskhet i spraket hos Ludvig Holberg. [Oslo].

Venas, Kjell (ed.) (1990), Denfyrste morgonblb:n.en: Tekster pa norskfra dansketida. Oslo. Wille, Hans Jacob (1975), Norsk Ordbog som iSM indeholder en Samling af Norske Ord, som iSM bruges i Sillejord og fieere Stirder i Norge (ed. Jan Ragnar Hagland). Trondheim/Oslo/Bergen/Trom­ S0. Wilse, J[acob] N[icolai] (1780), Norsk Ordbog eller Samling af Norske Ord i Sirr de som bruges i Egnen afSpydeberg og viidere paa den 0stre-kant afNorge. Christiania. (Reprinted by S. Kolsrud. Kristiania 1919).

Oddvar Nes, Bergen (Norway)

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144.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

The development of the lexicon from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

8.

Introduction Overview: The enrichment of the lexicon Word fonnation The development of grammatical markers The vocabularies of the biblical translations Foreign iniluences The emergence of a scientific tenninology in the mother tongue Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

6. 7.

In this article the development of the lexicon in the Nordic languages from the 16th to the 1 8th c. is viewed from various perspectives. Due to the lack of Norwegian sources for the period, the presentation concerns only Danish, Icelandic, and Swedish. There was a continuous enrichment of the lexicon during the Early Modern Scandinavian era, in most cases ultimately depending on external factors (social changes, cultural and political influen­ ces, etc.), but also triggered by independent processes within the language system. This de­ velopment is outlined in section 2. Sections 3 and 4 deal with different structural processes leading to the emergence of new lexemes, viz. word formation and grammaticalization, re­ spectively. Section 5 focusses on the biblical translations into the Scandinavian languages, giving rise to an important subvocabulary at the beginning of the consolidation of Danish, Swedish and Icelandic as national languages. Section 6 gives both a chronological overview of foreign influences on the Scandinavian lan­ guages, and a more thematically structured ac­ count of the loanwords in Danish, Swedish, and Icelandic. Section 7, dealing with the emergence of a scientific terminology in the Scandinavian languages, illustrates the efforts of lexical development to meet the increasing demands on the mother tongue at the end of the 1 8th c.

2.

Overview: The enrichment of the lexicon

A range of internal and external social changes had repercussions on the structure and size of the vocabulary by the time of the Reformation and onwards: the expansion of book printing, specialization within handicrafts and indus-

try, and the emergence of scientific enterprise in the 1 8th c. With the establishment of the nation states (Denmark, Sweden) as a point of departure, more or less conscious efforts were made to enrich the lexicon of the mother tongue so that it would be an appropriate communicative means for all types of genres, pure literature as well as science (Teleman 2002). For instance, in establishing scientific terminology, word formation by way of deri­ vation and compounding was extensively used, as well as meaning transfer (the abstract concept Sw. yta 'area' originally had a con­ crete meaning (Nilsson 1992, 3 3 f.» . New lexemes also spontaneously arose out of other lexemes, both through the process of gram­ maticalization and through the (reversed) pro­ cess of lexicalization (see 3.). Also, the establishment of a domestic lexi­ cographical tradition during the 1 8th c. (for Sw. see Hannesd6ttir 1998) promoted the en­ richment of the lexicon, indirectly due to the existence per se of the codifications of the na­ tivevocabulary, directly through conscious at­ tempts by the authors of the dictionaries to extend the vocabulary. As an example, Ha­ qvin Spegel in his Swedish-Latin dictionary (1712) incorporated both obsolete words (OSw. or Icel.) and words from the dialects. Throughout the period, the most important source of lexical extension was the borrowing of new words and concepts from foreign lan­ guages (above all German, Latin, and French), including translation loans and foreign word formation elements. These strong foreign influences led to efforts to keep the mother tongue "pure" from foreign el­ ements. This purism did not, however, merely mean a reduction of the vocabulary - it also implied an introduction or revival of other sources oflexical enrichment, not least dialects and older stages of the languages (see Teleman (2002) for an overview of the lexical effects of language planning and puristic currents). In the remainder of this section, some illus­ trations will be given of the growth of the lexi­ con during the period - irrespective of the lin­ guistic means of growth. The Reformation in itself did not result in any immediate change in the vocabularies of the Scandinavian languages. The Catholic terms continued to be used, either referring to historical states of affairs (Dan. Sw. kloster

144. The development of the lexicon from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

'monastery', munk 'monk', Dan. nonne, Sw. nunna 'nun'), or with new meanings (e.g. Dan. messe, Sw. mressa 'mass', which after the Re­ formation no longer was used to refer to a Catholic but to a Protestant ritual, viz. Dan. h@jmesse,Sw. hogmassa 'morning service') (cf. Skautrup 1947, 246). In Denmark, the secularization of the mon­ asteries was accompanied by an increasing in­ terest in gardening by the nobility (who even­ tually came to own the monasteries). In the countryside, gardens were laid out, sometimes with the help of German gardeners (Dan. gart­ ner, Sw. gartner borrowed from German and first mentioned in Danish in 1585) (Skautrup 1947, 254f.). As an effect, the stock of plant names increased considerably. Several ofthese names were loans from Middle Low German or Latin, but there were also instances of do­ mestic formations, such as the names of the different types of gardens: Dan. have 'garden', urtegard 'herb garden' and abildgard 'apple garden'. Foreign names, borrowed together with the plants and fruits, include Dan. as­ parges 'asparagus' « Gr.), citron 'lemon' ( < ltal.), pastinak 'parsnip' « Lat.), radise 'rad­ ish' « Du.), salat 'lettuce', spinat 'spinach', tim ian 'thyme' (all directly or indirectly bor­ rowed from G). The expansion of book printing in the wake of the Reformation opened the door for the establishing of other text genres than religious literature, and new lexical fields were introduc­ ed. The almanac, which had become common at the end of the 16th c. in Denmark and Sweden, was the profane work most wide­ spread among the masses. The almanacs con­ tained information about the number of the year in relation to some point in history (e.g. year 1523 after Christ), predictions about the weather, and astrological information, among other things. The language of the ahnanacs from the 1 6th and 17th centuries (see Ljung­ gren 1 944) bears the stamp of the German masters, seen already in the oldest term for the almanac, viz. almanach, identical to the G term « Fr. almanach). Through the ahna­ nacs, a range ofterms for measuring time were introduced. Compare Sw. kvart (Dan. kvarter) 'quarter of an hour', and the finer measure­ ments oftime, Sw. minut 'minute', sekund 'sec­ ond', which all appear earliest in the almanacs (Ljunggren 1944, 39). The almanacs also exhibit a rich terminol­ ogy for different kinds of weather (Ljunggren 1 944, 99 ff.). Terms that were introduced in the 1 6th and 17th centuries include Sw. nederbord

1303

'precipitation', dunder 'thunder', aprilvader 'April weather', and majregn 'May shower'. The originally G suffix -aktig '-ish' shows up in a wealth of Sw. adjectives for weather conditions: blasaktig 'windish', dunderaktig 'thunderish', frostaktig 'frostish', regnaktig 'rainish', etc. Other common weather adjec­ tives are Sw. lustig 'pleasant', skon 'beautiful', and olustig 'unpleasant' (Dan. lystig, G lustig; Dan. sk@n. G schon). As to the rest of the vocabulary, there was a considerable increase especially within the realms of handicrafts and industry, concur­ rent with the rise in new specializations and professions in the 17th and 1 8th centuries. Technical vocabulary was enriched both with borrowed terms and native formations: cf. Dan. billedhugger 'sculptor', boghandler 'bookseller', groshandler (Fr. marchand en gros) 'wholesale dealer', hattemager 'hatter', inspekt@r « Fr.) 'inspector', isenkrremmer (MLG isenkramer) 'ironrnonger', kobbersmed 'copper smith', lygtemager 'lantern maker', silkevrever 'silk weaver' « G), postmester 'postmaster' (Skautrup 1947, 392). Also, dif­ ferent branches of industry (Dan. manufaktu­ rer < G) were founded, such as salpetersyderi 'nitric acid seethery', sukkervrerk 'sugar­ works' (or sukkerraffinaderi 'sugar-refinery'), and tobaksvrerk 'tobacco-works' (Skautrup 1947, 393). In the 1 8th c. the nascent scientific enter­ prises in particular had radical effects on the vocabulary, as well as an increasing interest in spreading new techniques and knowledge to the uneducated sector ofthe population (see 7.).

3.

Word formation

In the Scandinavian languages, words are mainly formed in two different ways: by deri­ vation or by composition. Words of all classes may be joined to other words to make com­ pounds; as a rule, the first element remains unchanged throughout the inflection, and the second element of the compound determines the word class. Compounding is a productive process in all the Scandinavian languages, and the conditions for word formation by com­ pounding have not undergone any significant changes since the Middle Ages. For that rea­ son, only word formation by derivation will be discussed in this section. Some of the MLG prefixes and suffixes, which had been borrowed into the Scandina­ vian languages in the Middle Ages, had in

1304 Early Modern times become productive in Dan. and Sw.; cf. be- and Jor-/Jor- in the do­ mestic formations Dan. bebrejde 'upbraid', belJ1egte 'deny' , besvare 'answer', Sw. beframja 'promote', begagna 'employ'; Dan. for/remme 'promote' ,forsinke 'delay', Sw.forbrylla 'con­ fuse'. However, the majority of the many verbs with be- and Jor-/Jor- were either loans (including translation loans, such as Dan. be­ grunde 'ponder over'), or formations based on a LG word, such as Dan. bearbejde, Sw. be­ arbeta 'work on' (Skautrup 1947, 234 f.; for the Sw. examples see SAOB). The prefixes be­ and Jor-/Jor- continued to be productive and frequent during the 17th c., both in new for­ mations and borrowed words. In Icelandic these affixes were not in general productively used, although words with bi- andJor- occur­ red abundantly during the 1 6th c. (Wester­ gard-Nielsen 1946, LXXVIII). Old domestic prefixes, still productive at the time of the Reformation, were thepolysernous gen-, with the meanings 'facing' (Dan. genpart 'opponent'), 'again' (Dan. gentage 'repeat') or 'reciprocity' (Sw. (i) gengiild '(in) return'), mis(s}- 'wrong' (Sw. missforstand 'misunder­ standing'), u-/o- 'not' (Dan. udansk 'un-Dan­ ish'), and van- 'bad' (Dan., Sw. vanartig 'vi­ cious'). Of these, gen- and mis- showed an in­ creasing usage in Dan. during the 16th and 17th centuries, and were still productively used in the 1 8th c. (Skautrup 1947, 232ff.). Throughout the whole period, adjectives were formed using the originally MLG suffixes -agtig/-aktig '-ish' (Dan. Jordelagtig 'advan­ tageous', Sw. gulaktig 'yellowish'; for Sw. see Nilsson 1993), -bar (Dan. mrerkbar 'notice­ able'), and - (e)lig (Dan., Sw. skriftlig 'writ­ ten', Dan. billedlig 'figurative', Jolkelig 'popu­ lar') (Skautrup 1947, 238 ff.). In the 1 8th c. a new German adjectival suffix turned up in Dan. and Sw., viz. -nuessig/-massig 'reminding of (Sw. professorsmassig 'professorial; re­ minding of a professor') (Skautrup 1953, 371 ; Soderbergh 1 964). The productive nominal suffixes were also originally Middle Low German (or influenced by a MLG form), cf. Dan., Sw. -ing/-ning (Dan. Jorveksling 'confusion', Sw. hushallning 'housekeeping'). Other suffixes used to form action nominals were Dan., Sw. -else and -ende/-ande (see Seip 1947; Loman 1961); the former was especially frequent in Dan. and the latter in Sw. (Dan. anseelse, Sw. anseende 'respect'). Compare also the nominal suffixes -er/-are/-ari 'agent' (Dan. garver 'tanner', Sw. tobakshandlare 'tobacconist', Icel. bakari

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages 'baker'), -eri 'activitity, place for the activity' (Dan. slagteri 'slaughtering', garveri 'tannery'), and -hed/-het 'abstract' (Dan. smitsomhed 'in­ fectiousness', Sw. fortrolighet 'familiarity') (Haugen 1976, 381; Skautrup 1947, 380, 392). During the 17th and 1 8th c. French deriva­ tions poured into Danish and Swedish (and with them a new accent type with the stress on the last syllable (but one» ; cf. Dan., Sw. nominals in -ade/-ad (Dan. marmelade, Sw. marmelad), adjectives in -al (Dan., Sw. Jatal 'fatar), etc. Of the verbal suffixes, -ere/-era (Dan. handtere. Sw. hantera 'handle') was very popular and opened the door for an almost un­ limited borrowing of French and Latin words into the Scandinavian languages (see 6.2.).

4.

The development of grammatical markers

During Early Modern Scandinavian, the lexi­ con was enriched not only with content words (see 2.) but with functional (grammatical) words as well. Above all, new grammatical markers arose through the process of gram­ maticalization, whereby a word with a rich lexical meaning developed a more abstract, schematic meaning with a grammatical rather than propositional function. For instance, the development of Sw. kommer aft 'comes to' into a future marker (i.e. 'going to') took place mainly during the 17th c. (see Falk 2002), as did the development of kan ske 'may happen' into a sentential adverb kanske 'maybe'. As the written language became more wide­ ly used, the syntactic complexity of written texts increased. This in turn "forced" the de­ velopment of the explicit marking of logical relations between parts of a sentence or be­ tween paragraphs within a text (cf. Svensson/ Teleman 1985, 1 2). Due to the lack of a com­ mon context of time and space, it also became (more) necessary in written language to ex­ plicitly denote the purpose of the speech act (cf. verbs such as Sw. insistera 'insist', i­ fragasatta 'question', which turn up during Early Modern times), or the speaker's evalu­ ation of what is being said (e.g. by the usage of adverbs modifying the truth value of the proposition: Sw. Jormodligen 'presumably', sakerligen 'certainly', troligen 'very likely'). The grarnrnaticalmarkers developed during the Early Modern Scandinavian era thus com­ prise complementizers, multiword preposi­ tions, and adverbs with an epistemic, textual, and metatextual function. The system of

144. The development of the lexicon from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

grammatical markers underwent changes that can be characterized in terms of both number and function. As regards the conjunction sys­ tem, it became more differentiated, involving the development of more explicit and/or more specific meanings and functions. For instance, Sw. medan 'while', which in OSw. had both a temporal and a causal meaning ('since'), lost the latter meaning and developed an adver­ sative meaning ('whereas') in addition to the temporal one. On the other hand, the orig­ inal temporal Sw. complementizer emedan 'while' and enar 'whenever; while' developed into causal markers ('since, because') (Haska 1988). A parallel development is attested for the original temporal Dan. da 'when; while' (ODS). This differentiation also includes the emer­ gence of new forms. The following Sw. forms are examples of new lexicalized causal and concessive complementizers which developed during Early Modern Swedish (Haska 1994): eftersom 'since', alldenstund 'inasmuch as', anda 'yet', fastan 'though', anskont 'even if. Abstract nominal phrases were also lexicalized into (and thus grammaticalized as) multiword prepositions, cf. Sw. i handelse av 'in the event of, pa grund av 'on account of, till Joljd av 'in consequence of, etc. (Teleman 1993, 1 58). On the other hand, the standardization of the language - initiated by the translation of the Bible - also led to a decrease in the number of grammatical markers, such as causal com­ plementizers (Haska 1988). Within the adverbial system, an adverb with a propositional meaning typically came to de­ velop textual and metatextual meanings, which subsequently became conventionalized. The period between 1650 and 1750 seems to have been especially dynamic as regards the development of new grammatical markers out of originally propositional adverbs. The fol­ lowing examples are taken from Lehti-Eklund (1990). Sw. emellertid, Dan., Norw. imidlertid 'however' originally had a temporal meaning (based on MLG middeler tft 'meanwhile'), which developed into a metatextual meaning (marking a new event in the narration) as well as a textual meaning, the adversative 'how­ ever'. The latter meaning may be due to a gen­ eral principle of asymmetry in linguistic be­ haviour, i.e. simultaneous events (or other­ wise symmetric events) tend to be perceived as polarized. Further, Sw. saledes 'conse­ quently', originally an adverb of manner, de­ veloped into a consecutive adverb around

1305

1630, and the same semantic development can be seen for Sw. alltsa, Dan. altsa 'accordingly' « G also), which developed from having an original sense of manner into a consecutive connective. As argued by Lehti-Eklund (1990, 164ff.) the meaning of consequence emerges as an inference of the meaning of summariz­ ing, which is included in the manner meaning of alltsa/altsa. New adverbs also arose as a result of the process of lexicalization. As an example, Sw. dessutom 'besides' developed from a syntagm (dess utom) into an adverb in the end of the 1 7th c., first with the propositional meaning 'except that (i. e. what has previously been mentioned)', and later also with metatextual meanings, such as 'in addition' and 'as to the rest' (the end of the 1 8th c.).

5.

The vocabularies of the biblical translations

5.1.

The Swedish Bible

The Swedish translation of the Bible (SB), which appeared in 1541, was primarily based on Luther's translation o f 1 534. Although the impact of German can be seen in both the style and the vocabulary, the foreign loans do not in general blur its Swedish character. In com­ parison to the translation of the New Testa­ ment in 1526, there was an endeavour towards a more comprehensible, popular language in SB, which led to the rejection not only ofmany foreign words (above all LG and Dan.) but also of old (domestic) words - in case they were considered difficult to understand (see Lindqvist 1929; 1941; Sjogren 1949; Stilhle 1 970). Older words exchanged for more mod­ ern ones were e.g.: arffue > arffu inge 'heir', doghse > dughelig 'capable', raffn > karp 'raven', tro (adj.) > troghen 'faithful' (Sjogren 1949, 101). On the other hand, Lindqvist (1929; 1941), among others, characterizes the language of SB as not only popular but also archaistic and attributes parts of the vocabulary specific to SB to older stages of OSw. (or even OWN). This opinion is not shared by Sjogren (1949), who argues that the " archaic" words in SB in fact were used in the spoken language at the time of the translation; cf. and 'harvest time', enlett 'of one colour', hardar 'shoulders' , kann­ ing 'knowledge', skum 'darkness', anne 'fore­ head' (Sjogren 1949, 105). In general, uncommon Low German loan­ words were replaced in SB by domestic or at

1306

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

least better established loanwords; cf. gantz, mansliighare, waning which were replaced by ganska 'fairly', mandrlipare 'murderer', boning 'dwelling' (Sjogren 1949, 88). Also LG word formation elements, such as the prefixes be­ and /or-, were, as it seems, more or less sys­ tematically discarded; thus be!iigligheet, be­ skicka, besali were replaced by liighligheet 'cir­ cumstance', skicka 'send', SaG 'sow', and /or­ binda,Jordriipa,Jortrost by binda 'bind', driipa 'kill', trost 'comfort' (Sjogren 1949, 92 f.). Words ofLO origin were, however, sometimes preserved in SB; cf. fremling 'stranger', nem­ ligha adv. 'namely', offuerheet 'the authori­ ties', stum 'dumb', resenar 'traveller', and re­ ligious terms such as saligh 'blessed', rettfer­ digh 'righteous', barmhertigh 'merciful'. There are even a few cases where new LG loanwords were introduced into SB, e.g. stand 'social class' and ordning 'order' (Sjogren 1949, 85). Together with the tendency to use fewer foreign words, the translators also strove to condense the language, leading e. g. to the shortening of nominals in -ande (ropande > roop 'call', stielande > staid 'theft'), and -heet (breedheet > breedd 'breadth', hogheet > hogd 'height') (Sjogren 1949, 93 f.). This en­ deavour also led to the shortening of function words such as prepositions and complement­ izers; cf. the forms from the translation of the 1526 New Testament with the ones appearing in SB: vppa > pa 'on', vthaff > aff 'of, vthi > j 'in', vthoffuer > offuer 'besides' (Lindqvist 1941, xxxj). 5.2.

The Danish Bible

The Danish biblical translation from 1550 (DB) had the Lutheran Bible of 1545 as its main source (see Molde 1949). Like the Swedish Bible, it had a clear national charac­ ter in its linguistic form - to such a degree that pure German loanwords seem to be non­ existent (Skautrup 1947, 211). In general, the language of DB was popular and colloquial, and was representative of the contemporary language. There are very few archaic, poetic or solemn expressions in DB, and the foreign scholarly words found are known also from other contexts. Morphologically and lexically the Danish Bible makes a more modern im­ pression than the Swedish one (Skautrup 1947, 21 1 ff.). Although the German impact on the vo­ cabulary is comparatively small there are, not unexpectedly, several examples of German­ isms, i.e. formations or constructions based

on German patterns: cf. Aarsdag 'birthday' (G Jahrstag), bordvenner 'table-friends' , (G Tischfreunde), overtrcedere 'transgressor' (G Ubertreter), blodskyldig 'guilty of man­ slaughter' (G blutsehuldig), det begav sig 'it came to pass' (G es begab siehl (Skautrup 1947, 211). In DB we also find specialized re­ ligious vocabulary, either taken over from the reformers or used here for the first time; cf. langmodig (Sw. saktmodig) 'meek', saligg@re 'make blessed', skriftklog (Sw. skriftliird) 'versed in the Scriptures' (Skautrup 1947, 212). 5.3.

The Icelandic Bible

In 1 540, the New Testament was translated into Icelandic by Oddur Gottskillksson. The German influence on the translation was ob­ vious. The biblical text included, e. g., several words with the G prefixesJor- ([organga 'per­ ish' , forheyra 'cross-examine') and bi- (bitala 'pay', biginna 'begin'). Other G loans were blifa 'stay', bruka 'use', ske 'happen'; slekti 'kind', and thesaur 'treasure'. Several of these loanwords also entered the general written language, and sometimes even the spoken lan­ guage (see Helgason 1929; Ottosson 1990, 16). The German impact continued in the trans­ lation of the Bible in 1584 (called "Guo­ brandsbiblia" (GB) after the translator/editor Bishop Guobrandur porlilksson). On the whole, GB is rich in loanwords and foreign words (see Bandle 1956 for a description of how these words were adjusted to the Icel. in­ flectional system). It is especially the Latin and German loanwords that leave their mark on the vocabulary of GB. The former are often reproduced in a form influenced by German or Danish (Westergard-Nielsen 1946, LXXIII). Of the originally Latin words, names of foreign plants, precious stones, and animals are especially worth mentioning: cf. demant 'diamond', safir 'sapphire', cypres­ sustre 'cypress tree', kassia 'cassia', myrra, mirra 'myrrh', balsam (also in the Lat. form balsamum) 'balsam', kanel 'cinnamon', man­ del (-el) 'almond', mynta 'mint', saffran 'saf­ fron', and further hyena 'hyena', kamelion or -!jon 'chameleon', leopardus (also in the Icel. form lepari5ur) 'leopard'. Examples of specifically biblical loans from German (primary or secondary) are bos(s)bum 'box' (MLG bossbom, Dan. buks­ born), dattel 'date' (G datte!, Dan. daddel, orig­ inally from Gr.), valnyt 'walnut' (MLG wal­ nut, -not, Dan. walnut, valn@d) (Westergard-

144. The development of the lexicon from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

Nielsen 1946, LXXXI). The Latin and High German loanwords generally had a literary character, as did the Danish loanwords which entered the Icelandic vocabulary through bib­ lical translations, cf. einiber 'juniper berry', malurt (or mdl-) 'wormwood', morber 'mul­ berry', grashoppa 'grasshopper', greifingur 'badger', moldvarpa 'mole', pindsvin 'hedge­ hog' (Westergard-Nielsen 1946, LXXXV!).

6.

Foreign influences

Up to the Reformation, the languages in Den­ mark, Sweden and Norway had been under a significant impact of Middle Low German for more than three hundred years. The MLG loanwords, as well as the borrowed elements of word formation, were often totally as­ similated into the structure of the language in question. Compare common words like Sw. ansikte 'face', skuldra 'shoulder', sprak 'lan­ guage', gava 'gift', duktig 'good', fri 'free', akta 'genuine', and Dan. ncegte 'deny', /:ere 'learn', bruge 'use', fors@ge 'try'. Functional words were also borrowed, such as the co-or­ dinating conjunction Dan., Sw. men 'but', the passive auxiliary Dan. blive, Sw. bliva 'be', the pronominal Dan., Sw. sadan 'such' and the adverb Dan. ganske, Sw. ganska 'fairly' (Wes­ sen 1970; Haugen 1976, 385). In Iceland, the situation was different: due to the geographical distance from other coun­ tries, the influence of MLG on Icelandic had been comparatively small. However, indirect­ ly - via the other Scandinavian languages, es­ pecially Danish - a considerable number of originally MLG loanwords did enter the Ice­ landic vocabulary. Thus in general, the loan­ words from MLG reached Icelandic later than the other Scandinavian languages. In the late Middle Ages, Latin had become the dominant learned language in the Nordic countries. With the Reformation, the number of Latin (and German) loanwords grew con­ siderably. In addition, the Renaissance carried with it words with a Latin or Greek origin, often mediated via German or French. The translations of the Bible in connection with the Reformation meant a consolidation of Swedish, Danish, and Icelandic as national languages. In Denmark and Sweden this pro­ cess was furthermore favoured by the rise of the nation states and the simultaneous de­ crease of Hanseatic power in the Baltic Sea area, which put an end to the overwhelmingly strong impact of Low German on the Scan­ dinavian languages.

1307

The role of Low German was from now on taken over by High German, partly due to the Reformation. German influence was especial­ ly strong in Denmark, where German was widely used within the court and the army, and where the nobility and a majority of the citizens understood (and sometimes also spoke) German (see Winge 1992). In several cases a HG loanword in Dan. corresponds to a LG loanword in Sw.; cf. Dan. erobre, Sw. erovra 'capture, conquer', Dan. fejre, Sw. fira 'celebrate', Dan. krebs, Sw. krafta 'crayfish', etc. (Hellquist 1930, 788). In Denmark, German immigrants could be found as civil servants in the central admin­ istration, as diplomats, as book printers, etc. In 1575, the German community in Copen­ hagen was big enough to constitute a congre­ gation of its own (Skautrup 1947, 1 3 3). In Sweden there was also an increasing stream of immigrants from Germany from the end of the 1 6th c. Throughout the 1 6th and 17th c. German mining specialists immigrated to Sweden, and German craftsmen settled down in the cities (especially in Stockhohn), which led to a considerable strengthening of the middle class. As a consequence of the Reformation, Ice­ land acquired its own book printing industry. The printed literature in the 16th c. consisted almost entirely of translations of religious publications from German and Danish, which led to the introduction offoreign style and el­ ements both in the syntax and the vocabulary (Westergard-Nielsen 1946, XLIX). The Refor­ mation tied Iceland closer to Denmark than to any other country. The Icelandic bishops were appointed by the Danish king, and the Icelandic administration was located in Copenhagen. From the mid-17th c. onwards, the influ­ ence of French on Swedish and Danish began to compete with German. In Iceland the in­ fluences of Latin, German and French in­ creased during the 17th c., and especially from the beginning of the 18th c. Puristic tendencies - in Denmark and Sweden seen already in the 1 7th c. - were fed by the overwhehning spreading of French loanwords into Danish and Swedish, and by the increasing foreign influence in general on Icelandic. In Iceland it was not until the end of the 1 8th c. that purism became a pervasive force. At this time, Danish, German, French, and Latin words were plentiful in legal docu­ ments. According to Eggert Olafsson (the initiator of purism in Iceland), even the spoken

1308

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

language began to be infused with foreign words, above all at the ports of trade (see Ottosson 1990, 30). In the 1 8th c. there was an increasing usage of the Scandinavian mother tongue in areas previously dominated by Latin, above all scholarship and science. Academies and learned societies were founded as a means of spreading the ideas of the Enlightenment, and the vocabulary grew rapidly as a result of the development of a technical language in the mother tongue (see 7.). With this the strong foreign impact on the Scandinavian languages was finally reduced. In the following presentation, loanwords from Latin and Greek, German (usually High German), and French are focussed on specific­ ally. As regards Icelandic, loanwords from Danish are also taken into account. Since the foreign influence on Danish and Swedish is very similar in nature, the two languages are dealt with together (see 6.1 .). As a conse­ quence, examples of loanwords may be given in either language (but not necessarily in both). The loanwords in Icelandic are dealt with separately (see 6.2.).

6.1.

Loanwords in Danish and Swedish

6.1.1.

Loanwords with a Latin or Greek origin

With Humanism, a wealth of Latin loanwords entered Danish and Swedish. In general, it is difficult to tell whether Latin loanwords from the time of the Reformation and onwards reached the Scandinavian languages directly, via literature and schools, or indirectly via German or French. Among the most impor­ tant subject fields of borrowing were designa­ tions of positions within the worldly and ecclesiastical administration, the educational system and academic life; cf. Dan., Sw. min­ ister 'minister', kandidat 'applicant for a po­ sition', kollegium 'association of colleagues'; Sw. pastor 'pastor', kardinal 'cardinal', kaplan 'assistant vicar'; Dan., Sw. universitet 'univer­ sity', professor 'professor', doktor 'doctor', student 'student', rektor 'headmaster'; Dan. lineal 'ruler', griffel 'slate-pencil'; Sw. disputa­ tion 'defence of a doctor's thesis', examen 'exam', klass 'class', seminarium 'training col­ lege', studium 'study'. During the entire pe­ riod, the language of science was Latin, and new scientific terms of Latin, or Greek, origin were continuously being borrowed. Compare

the originally Lat. mathematical terms such as Dan., Sw. addition 'addition', decimal 'deci­ mal', differens 'difference', and the originally Gr. terms Dan., Sw. diameter 'diameter', el­ lips (e) 'ellipse', logaritm (e) 'logarithm'. Be­ low, further examples are given from the fields of botany, medicine, philosophy, and linguis­ tics (see Skautrup 1947, 252ff., 391 ff. ; 1953, 395 ff.; Hellquist 1930, chap. 12). Botanical terms were borrowed throughout the period. Examples from the 16th c. of orig­ inally Latin words are Sw. cikoria 'chicory', isop 'hyssop', lavendel 'lavender', pomerans 'Seville orange', from the 17th c. Dan. liljekon­ val 'lily of the valley', lupin 'lupin', narcisse 'narcissus', tulipan 'tulip', and from the 18th c. Sw. geranium 'geranium', reseda 'mignonet­ te', spirea 'spiraea'. Latin and Greek loans within the field of medical science were gradually incorporated into the general language: cf. the Latin loans Sw. medicin 'medicine', recept 'prescription', fraktur 'fracture', infektion 'infection', inflam­ mation 'inflammation', liniment 'liniment', mixtur 'mixture', abnorm 'abnormal', ampu­ tera 'amputate', obducera 'perform a post­ mortem on'. Originally Gr. are Dan. diarre 'diarrhoea', epi/epsi 'epilepsy', reumatisme 'rheumatism', kronisk 'chronic' (ODS). The philosophical terminology developing during the 1 8th c. includes a number of nom­ inals in -ism (e) « Lat.), cf. Dan. ateisme 'atheism' , materialisme 'materialism', skep­ ticisme 'scepticism'. From the terminology of logic corne the Gr. loanwords hypotes(e) 'hypothesis', kriterium 'criterion' and the Latin loanword Dan., Sw. definition 'defini­ tion'. Finally, the bulk of the grammatical ter­ minology in the Scandinavian languages was borrowed from Lat.; cf. Sw. adjektiv 'adjec­ tive', artikel 'article', deklination 'declination', genus 'gender', kasus 'case', modus 'mood', preposition 'preposition', tempus 'tense'. 6.1.2.

German loanwords

Due to the immigration ofGermans who made their way into the court, the central adminis­ tration, the military, and crafts, the vocabu­ laries in Danish and Swedish were enriched with technical terms from various fields, but also with colloquial words from daily life: words connected with ways ofliving, eating etc. In Swedish, the words were taken directly from German, or were mediated via (in the first place) Danish, which was under an even stron­ ger impact from German during this time.

144. The development of the lexicon from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

From the 16th and 1 7th c. onwards, a range of words with the prefixes an-, be-, er-, Jor-/ for-, ge- entered the vocabularies of Danish and Swedish. (If no other reference is given, the Dan. examples are taken from Skautrup 1947, 252-260 and the Sw. ones from Rell­ quist 1930, chap. 5). Cf. the Sw. verbs and adjectives: bemastra 'master, overcome', er­ fara 'learn, experience', ersatta 'compensate, replace', forvalta 'administer, manage', er­ barmlig 'wretched, miserable', Jorliigen (here: 'obsolete'), Jortriijjlig 'excellent'. For suffix fonnations, adjectives in -ganglig (Sw.forgang­ lig 'perishable' oundganglig 'necessary, indis­ pensable', tillgiinglig 'available') were com­ mon, as well as nominals in -itat, -itet (Sw. antikvitet 'antique, curio', banalitet 'triteness', generositet 'generosity', kuriositet 'curiosity', religiositet 'religiousness, religiosity'). The lat­ ter words correspond to Fr. abstract nominals in -iti. which probably had acquired their Latin ending via G before they were incorpor­ ated into Sw. (Rellquist 1930, 765). Note also the feminine derivational suffixes borrowed from G: -inna/-inde and -ska/-ske, e. g. Sw. grevinna 'countess' (known already in OSw.), Dan. bagerske '(woman) baker'. In the 17th and 1 8th c. adjectives with the suffix -isk became common (corresponding to G -isch, and sometimes used to "reform" Fr. or Lat. words in -ique and -icus, respectively); cf. Sw. akademisk 'academic', botanisk 'botan­ ical', dogmatisk 'dogmatic', fysisk 'physical', jovialisk 'jovial', komisk 'comical, ridiculous', magisk 'magic', tragisk 'tragic(al)' (Rellquist 1930, 771; Nordfelt 1901 , 63). From the 1 8th c. originate Sw. likgiltig 'indifferent', mot­ spanstig 'refractory, obstinate', punktlig 'punctual'. Adverbs were also borrowed, e. g. Sw. ungeJiir 'about, roughly'. The specific subject fields which were en­ larged with Gennan loans include titles and occupations (including military ones, see be­ low); cf. Dan. adel 'no bel birth, nobility' ( < LG), ho!,court' (and formations based on a G pattern, like hoJmarskalk 'marshal of the court'), barber 'hairdresser, barber', billed­ snider 'picture carver', b@rstenbinder 'brush­ maker', digter 'writer, poet', gesandt 'ambas­ sador', skarpretter 'executioner'; Sw. arvfurste 'hereditary prince', baron 'baron', betjant 'man-servant, footman', jagmastare 'forest officer, certified forester', friherre 'baron'. Terms from military life (of which many were originally Fr.) were borrowed in a great quan­ tity: Sw. kompani 'company' , skvadron 'squad­ ron', ammunition 'ammunition' (originally

1309

from Fr.), gevar 'rifle' and granat 'shell, grenade'; Dan. landskl11egt 'footsoldier', oberst(l@jtnant) '(lieutenant) colonel' ,frendrik 'second lieutenant, ensign', kaptajn 'captain', I@jtnant 'lieutenant', soldat 'soldier'; Sw. dra­ bant 'bodyguard, halberdier', dragon 'dra­ goon', fanjunkare 'warrant officer', faltskar 'barber-surgeon', husar 'hussar', major 'ma­ jor'. Note also frozenmultiword constructions such as Sw. stracka gevar 'stretch rifle lay down one's ann', sla larm 'strike alann sound the alarm', fatta posto 'catch stand take one's stand', skjuta over malet 'shoot over the mark overshoot the mark'. To the field of mining belong Sw. gruva 'mine' (SAOB), hytta 'smelting-house', kobolt 'cobalt', kvarts 'quartz', pim(p )sten 'pumice­ stone', schakt 'shaft, pit', spat 'spar', zink 'zinc'. Tenns for varieties of stones are Sw. gnejs 'gneiss', gran it 'granite', harts 'resin, rosin', skiffer 'shale', kisel 'silicon, pebble­ stone' (all from the 1 8th c.). German loan­ words for different aspects of houses and housekeeping, goods, etc., are Sw. altan 'bal­ cony, terrace' (orig. Ital.), gardin 'curtain', lanstol 'armchair', madrass 'mattress', skank 'sideboard', springbrunn 'fountain', porslin 'china, porcelain' (orig. Fr.), palsverk 'fur', sobel 'sable', and Dan. bliant (some sort of silk material). Finally, terms for foreign veg­ etables, fruits, etc. include Dan. agurk 'cucum­ ber', daddel 'date', melon 'melon', morbter 'mulberry', ris 'rice', rosin 'raisin', valn@d 'wal­ nut', (vin)drue 'grape' (see also 2.). =

= =

=

6.1.3.

French loanwords

Up to the mid-17th c. the overwhelming majority of French loanwords had reached Danish and Swedish by way of German. Sweden had lively political and military rela­ tions with France during the second half of the 1 7th c., resulting in a direct influence of French on a small but culturally importantmi­ nority: the royal court and upper classes. Yet, loanwords and, not least, derivational el­ ements continued to pass via Gennan on their way to Sw. (and Dan.). A consequence of the strong French impact on Sw. was that OFr. and Lat. words with Gennanized fonns were replaced by their modern French counterparts (Stahle 1982, 16f.). The originally Fr. words Sw. losement 'lodgings', losera 'lodge' (with s), borrowed into Dan. and Sw. via LG, were replaced by the Fr. forms logement. logera (with g); and LG, Sw. mars 'march', marsera '(to) march'

1310 were replaced b y march(e), marchera. Other Fr. nouns ending in -age (courage, me(s)nage) were in competition with orig­ inally Romance nouns with a LG form in -asie, -atsie (laccasie 'leakage', pagasie 'bag­ gage'). By the end of the 17th c. social polar­ ization can be discerned: "the French fonn ending in -age is the educated one, the LG -as form is vulgar" (Stahle 1982, 17). A range of derivations with a stressed suffix entered the Danish and Swedish vocabularies during the 17th c. (Skautrup 1947, 3 8 1 ff. ; Rellquist 1930, chap. 9): cf. nominals in -adel -ad (Dan. maskerade 'masquerade', Sw. prome­ nad 'walk, stroll'), -age (Dan., Sw. bagage 'luggage'), -ancel-ans (Dan. alliance. Sw. al­ lians 'alliance'), -ant (Dan., Sw. garant 'guar­ antor'), and nomina agentis in -or/-or and -ist (Dan. inspekt@r 'inspector, surveyor', Sw. de­ serlor 'deserter', Dan. kapitalist 'capitalist'). There were also adjectives in -abel (Dan., Sw. kapabel 'capable'), -al (Dan., Sw. liberal 'li­ beral'), -ent (Dan., Sw. indifferent 'indiffer­ ent'), and -ell (Sw. eventuell 'possible, pro­ spective'). Finally, the verbal suffix -erel-era « Fr. -er) became productive and was used with both Fr. and Lat. sterns. Sw. examples from the 1 7th c. are: celebrera 'celebrate', de­ battera 'debate, discuss' , citera 'quote, cite' (orig. Lat.), Jacilitera 'facilitate', fixera 'de­ ceive', garantera 'guarantee', sortera 'sort, classify', servera 'serve' (Rellquist 1902, 231 ; Nordfelt 1901, 64ff.). Among the more important subject fields for words borrowed before 1700 are military life and administration (cf. German borrow­ ings in 6.1 .2.). The very first military terms entering the Swedish vocabulary include arme 'army', and order 'order' (both appearing in a Sw. context in 1615), and batteri 'battery', bataij 'battle', retirera 'retire, retreat', avan­ cera 'advance', mina 'mine' (all found in the plan for the assault on Riga in 1621, written by King Gustav II Adolf) (Stahle 1982, 8). Further examples of terms from military life and administration are Dan. adjutant 'aidede­ camp', kavalleri 'cavalry', korporal 'corporal', pistol 'pistol'; Sw. artilleri 'artillery' (around 1 5 50), attack 'attack', garnison 'garrison', gen­ eral 'general', infanteri 'infantry'; Sw. am­ bassador 'ambassador', departement 'depart­ ment', envoye 'envoy', president 'president', prins 'prince', residens 'residence', suveran 'sovereign' (Skautrup 1947, 391 ff.; Rellquist 1930, chap. 9). In comparison to the German loanwords, the French words in general reflect a higher

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages material standard and cultural refinement. Among the loanwords from the second half of the 1 7th c. are Sw. teater 'theatre', balett 'ballet', opera 'opera', bal 'ball', komplimang 'compliment', passion 'passion', visit 'visit', chok (0) lad 'chocolate', delikatess 'delicacy', gele 'jelly', byra 'chest of drawers', medaijong 'medallion', staty 'statue'. For Swedish, the French language had its second renaissance with the reign of Gustav III, when French influence was at its peak (contrary to the rest of Europe where French influence was declining). Above all it was the French-minded politics of Gustav III and the literary dependence on French taste by leading cultural personages that favoured the advance of French. French theatre companies visited Stockholm and enriched the vocabulary in the fields of drama, theatre, and arts in general ­ fields that already had witnessed a French wave at the end of the 17th c.; among the words that became part of the cultivated language were Sw. aktor 'actor', aktris 'ac­ tress', debutant 'debutant(e)', regissor 'direc­ tor', sufflor 'prompter', dramatik 'dramatic art', ensemble 'ensemble', fars 'farce', kuliss 'coulisse', kuplett 'comic song', operett 'musi­ cal comedy, operetta', pjas 'play', replik 'line, speech', rida 'curtain', rol! 'part'. During the 1 8th c. the commerce in French products increased, especially luxury goods for clothing and consumption in general; cf. the Fr. loanword Sw. lyx 'luxury', and terms for luxury food and drinks such as bigarra 'white­ hart cherry', champagne 'champagne', dessert 'dessert, sweet', glass 'ice cream', kotlett 'cutlet', krokan 'ornamented cake', likor 'liqueur', marang 'meringue', rulad 'roll', supe 'supper'. Further examples of French loans are terms for clothes and textiles: bahytt « Fr. bahyt) 'fancy-dress hood', batist 'batiste, cambric', blond 'lace', diadem 'diadem', etamin (a kind of wollen cloth), flanell 'flannel', Jras 'ruff, frill', galosch 'galosh', korsett 'corselet(te)', kostym 'suit', neglige 'neglige', paraply 'um­ brella', parasol! 'parasol', sandal 'sandal', tyl! 'tulle', vast 'waistcoat'. Loanwords denoting furnitures and fittings include divan 'couch, divan', ottoman 'couch, ottoman', soffa 'sofa' (all three orig. Arabic), alkov 'alcove, recess', fatoij 'armchair', garderob 'wardrobe', kan­ delaber 'candelabrum', pendyl 'ornamental clock', salong 'drawing-room, saloon', schas­ long 'chaise longue' (Rellquist 1930, chap. 9; Nordfelt 1940, 22). Finally, with the French revolution words of a different character were also incorporated

144. The development of the lexicon from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

into Sw., cf. kontrarevolution 'counter-revol­ ution', responsibilitet 'civic duty', and the pres­ ent participles alarmerande 'alarming', revol­ terande 'revolting' (Engwall 1994, 58). 6.2.

Loanwords in Icelandic

The major groups of loanwords which are re­ cognized in Icelandic in the 1 6th c. originated from German, the Scandinavian languages (especially Danish), and Latin. Of these the German language occupies a place apart; from the late Middle Ages onwards, words and word formation elements were borrowed either directly or indirectly from MLG. Through the biblical translations in the mid1 6th c. words from HG were also borrowed. Unlike the loans from MLG, these did not penetrate into the spoken language but re­ mained in the domain of the literary, religious prose. In most cases the German words were mediated via another Scandinavian language (Dan., Norw., and in some cases Sw.) (Wes­ tergard-Nielsen 1946, LXXIV).

6.2.1.

Latin loanwords

Most of the Latin words found in Icelandic had entered the language during the Catholic era. Examples of Lat. words borrowed during the Reformation are evangelionjevangelium 'gospel', papisti 'papist', kommimion (-on) 'communion', and religion 'religion' (Wester­ gard-Nielsen 1946, LXXI). The majority of the religious terminology, however, was Ger­ man in origin. 6.2.2.

German loanwords

Important semantic domains of borrowing from German were trade, handicrafts and technology; cf. sparlak 'bed-curtain' (via Norw.); krydd 'spices' , hrisgrjon 'grain of rice', rusin 'raisin'; glas 'glass', pappir 'paper'; dalur 'dollar', mynt 'coin, piece of money', kramari 'toyman', kaupslaga 'strike a bargain', as well as hand(a)verk 'handicraft', handverksmaour 'craftsman, workman', kokkur '(male) cook', skomakari 'shoemaker', malari 'painter', prentari 'printer', steinhoggvari 'stone-mason'; Jorgylla '(to) gild', mala '(to) paint', prenta 'print, write carefully'. Some of the borrowed words had an exclu­ sively literary character in that the designated phenomenon hardly existed in Iceland in the 1 6th c., cf. murmeistari 'master bricklayer',

1311

steinsnidari 'engraver', borgari 'burgher', rao­ hus 'town hall', and rikisdagur 'parliament'. However, several MLG loanwords pene­ trated into the spoken language, e. g. bliJa 'be­ corne', bruka '(to) use' ,falskur 'false' ,falskliga 'falsely' , fri 'free', fromur 'pious', gafa 'gift', klokur 'wise', krankur 'ill', lukka 'happiness', olukka 'unhappiness', makt, mekt 'power', mektugur 'powerful', rettferougur 'righteous', sinni 'mind', straff'punishment', strax 'direct­ ly, in a minute', undirvisa 'teach' (see 5.). Pre­ positional verbal compounds were borrowed in large numbers, cf. afsla 'refuse', inndraga 'draw in, withdraw', tilheyra 'belong to', upp­ leysa 'loosen', utdrifa 'drive out'. More gram­ matical words were also borrowed from MLG and integrated into the colloquial language, cf. likavel 'just as well', s(v) od(d)an 'such', tillika 'also', trats (trdOs) 'in spite of, in e.g. trats Jyrir 'in spite of the fact that' (Wester­ gard-Nielsen 1946, LXXIVff.). 6.2.3.

Danish loanwords

The Danish influence on Icelandic vocabulary is shown both directly, in loanwords which are originally Danish, and, more extensively, in the mediation of loans from other languages, above all from Middle Low German. Thus the MLG verbal compounds with bi- in general passed through Danish on their way to Ice­ landic (Westergard-Nielsen 1946, LXXXIV). Of the frequent for-verbs, some are (direct or indirect) loans from MLG (forakta 'despise', JorJalska 'falsify', Jorklara 'explain'), whereas others derive from Dan., cf. forauka 'increase', Jorblanda 'mix up', Jorgleyma 'forget'. (In still other cases, the prefix Jor- is old in Icel. (as in Sw. and Dan.), cf. nominal compounds such as foratta 'cause of forfeiture', forbeini 'fur­ therance', and adjectives such as formikill 'exceedingly great', forvitr 'curious'). It is often difficult to tell whether a specific word is mediated via Danish or Norwegian. Examples of words with a Danish origin found in the texts from the 16th c. include com­ pounds with -ferougur, such as hreinferougur 'pure and chaste', sannferougur 'truthful'; com­ pounds with -he it, such as bljugheit 'shyness', gooheit 'goodness', miskunnarheit 'compas­ sion'; and compounds with -mal, such as klogu­ mal 'complaint', spursmal 'question' (Wester­ gard-Nielsen 1946, LXXXIII). Grammatical words were also borrowed, cf. the preposition (I) bland 'among', and adverbial expressions such as til baka 'back, backwards', parJra 'from there' (Westergard-Nielsen 1946, LXXXIV).

1312 7.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

The emergence of a scientific terminology in the mother tongue

The scientific breakthrough took place in the 17th c., but it was not until the beginning of the 1 8th c. that science was practiced in the modern sense. (See Kukkonen 1989 for an overview of the growth of science from the 16th c. onwards). Along with the introduction ofnew scientific disciplines (such as economics and chemistry), already established ones were becoming more and more elaborated. The growth and differentiation led to the creation of both general scientific language and a range of more or less specialized varieties. The usage and meaning development of words such as Sw. kunskap 'knowledge', lara 'doctrine, the­ ory', and liirdom 'learning, erudition, scholar­ ship' may illustrate this phenomenon (Kuk­ konen 1989, 1 1 4 ff.). All three nominals are productively used in compounds denoting subfields of scientific commitment; cf. the fol­ lowing examples which date from the 1 8th c.: Sw. naturkunskap 'knowledge of nature', reli­ gionskunskap 'knowledge of religion', himla­ lara 'heavenly science astronomy', vishets­ liira 'wisdom knowledge philosophy', sam­ hiillsliira 'knowledge of society civics, socio­ logy', liirdomsdel 'branch of science', liir­ domshistoria 'history of learning'. The words Sw. vetenskap, Dan. videnskab with the older meaning 'knowledge' developed the modern sense 'science' during the 1 8th c. and are in this sense productively used in compounds and derivations; cf. Sw. liikarvetenskap 'medi­ cal science', naturvetenskap 'natural science', and vetenskaplig 'scientific'. Finally, several general scientific terms also date from this century, e.g. Sw. teori 'theory', metod 'me­ thod', metodik 'methodology', analys 'analy­ sis', experiment 'experiment' (Kukkonen 1989, 129, 147). The first half of the 1 8th c. witnessed an advance especially for the natural sciences. (One indication is that the earlier mentioned vetenskap began to be used as a term for the natural sciences specifically). Discoveries within medicine, engineering, botany, zool­ ogy, etc., along with attempts to systematize the knowledge gained, resulted in a great var­ iety of new terms, often based on or taken over from Latin (and often mediated via G or Fr.). As an example, Carl von Linne used Latin in his classification of the flora, and he preferred Latin in his strictly scientific publications. However, his popular production in Swedish was also considerable (Lindroth 1978, 228 ff.). =

�

=

At the turn of the 18th c., the position of Latin as the language of science and scholar­ ship was still strong. With the Enlightenment followed an ambition to use the national lan­ guages also in science. In Sweden and Den­ mark, Vetenskapsakademien and Videnskaber­ nes Selskab were founded in 1739 and 1742, respectively, with the purpose of reporting on new findings in the applied sciences in the mother tongue. The first Icelandic learned society, Hio islenzka Lxrdomslistafe!ag, was founded in Copenhagen in 1779. The by-laws stated that foreign words and phrases should not be used in the publications of the society. Instead ancient or medieval words should be employed, or, in case such words did not exist, new ones were to be coined (Hermans son 1919, 23). In Denmark, Christopher Dybvad pub­ lished an arithmetic book already in 1602 (printed in Leiden) in which he introduced a range of new mathematical terms in Danish, several of them translations from Dutch (e.g. deling 'division', vdkom 'product') (Nilsson 1974, 143ff.). Early, though unpublished, at­ tempts to introduce scientific terms into Swedish were made by Forsius (in physics) and Stiernhiehn (in geometry) during the 17th c. (see Nilsson 1974, 149ff.; Lindroth 1975, 141). One of the first textbooks in Swedish (published in Lund in 1718) was LijkreJnings­ , taftor ( Dissections') by Lars Roberg, where Swedish terms for anatomy were introduced. With the translation in 1 727 of a German astrology textbook, Jon Olafsson from Grun­ navik became a pioneer in the endeavour to introduce scientific terminology into Icelandic (Ottosson 1990, 44 f.). From the end of the 18th c. this task carne to rest on Hio islenzka Lrerdomslistafe!ag. In its publications one finds numerous new words of native origin concerning themes that had never or seldom been dealt with in Icelandic, such as the vari­ ous branches of natural science, medicine, mathematics, philosophy, and the like: cf. sjukd6maJnei5i 'pathology', uppskuri5arJnei5i 'anatomy', handlreknislist 'surgery', and bot­ anical terms such as sugudyr 'mammalia', lit­ hverfingar 'chameleons', mdlmm60ir 'ore' (Her­ mansson 1919, 25). In the 18th c., Swedish and Danish even­ tually began to be used at the universities, first in teaching and textbooks, and later also in dissertations. The usage of the mother tongue in academic life carne later in Denmark than in Sweden. By the end ofthe century, however, several academic lectures were held in Danish,

144. The development of the lexicon from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

and Swedish was generally used in teaching and in scientific debates within the country (see Kukkonen 1989, 63 ff.; Nilsson 1974, 99 f.; Skautrup 1953, 128 f.).

8.

Literature (a selection)

1313

Loman, Bengt (1961), Fornsvenska verbalsubstantiv pa -an, -ning och -else. Lund. Molde, Bertil (1949), Kiillorna till Christian III:s bibel 1550. Lund/K0benhavn. Nilsson, Gunvor (1993), Aktig-ordforr och nu: En historisk-semantisk studie av aktig-avledningar i svenskan. Uppsala.

Bandle, Oskar (1956), Die Sprache der Guobrands­ biblia (Bibliotheca Arnamagna:ana, Vol. XVII.). Kopenhagen.

Nilsson, Stig (1974), Terminologi och nomenklatur: Studier over begrepp och deras uttryck inom matematik, naturvetenskap och teknik. Lund.

Engwall, Gunnel (1994), Svenskt och franskt. In: Arv och lm i i svenskan. Sju uppsatser om ordforradet i kulturstrommarnas perspektiv. Stockholm, 51 63.

Nilsson, Stig (1992), Yta djupare sett: Ett begrepp och dess beniimningar i historisktperspektiv. Kahnar.

Falk, Cecilia (2002), HjaJpverbet komma. In: Stu­ dier i svensk sprakhistoria 6 (eds. Gunilla Harling­ Kranck/Hanna Lehti-Eklund) (Folkmalsstudier 41). Helsingfors, 89 98. Hannesdottir, Anna Helga (1998), Lexikografihis­ torisk spegel: Den ensprakiga svenska lexikografins utveckling ur den tvasprakiga. Goteborg. Haska, Inger (1988), Standardiseringen inom forn­ svenskans bestand av kausahnarkorer. In: Studier i svensk sprakhistoria (ed. Gertrud Pettersson). Lund, 86 103. Haska, Inger (1994), Ettordiga subjunktioner kan det bli nya sadana i svenskan? In: Sprbkbruk, gram­ matik och sprakforiindring. En festskrift till Ulf Teleman 13.1.1994. Lund, 279 288. Haugen, Einar (1976), The Scandinavian languages: An introduction to their history. London. Helgason, Jon (1929), Mdlio d Njja testamenti Odds Gottskdlkssonar (Safn Fra:6afjelagsins urn Island og Islendinga VII). Kaupmannahofn. Hellquist, Elof (1902), Studier i 1600-talets svenska. Uppsala.

Nordfelt, Alfred (1901), Om franska hlnord i svens­ kan. I. Inledande oversikt. In: Studier i modern sprakvetenskap 2, 55 72. Nordfelt, Alfred (1940), Om franska hlnord i svens­ kan. V. Frihetstiden och den gustavianska tidens fransk-svenska hlnord. Omkr. 1718 1809. In: Stu­ dier i modern sprakvetenskap 14, 3 48. Ottosson, Kjartan G. (1990), fslensk mdlhreinsun: Sogulegt yfirlit. Reykjavik. Seip, Didrik Arup (1947), Om suffikset -else i nor­ disk. In: Festskrift til Professor Olaf Broch pa hans 80-arsdag (eds. Chr. S. Stang et al.). Oslo, 209 242. Sjogren, Gunnar (1949), Om spraket i de svenska bibelOversiittningarna 1526 1541. Lund. Skautrup, Peter (1947 1953), Det danske sprogs his­ torie 2 3. K0benhavn. Soderbergh, Ragnhild (1964), Suffixet -missig i svenskan: En historisk-semantisk ordbildningsstudie. Stockholm. Stahle, Carl Ivar (1970), Svenskt bibelsprak fran 1500-tal till 1900-tal (SNSS 40). Stockholm.

Hellquist, Elof (1930), Det svenska ordforradets al­ der och ursprung II. Lund.

Stahle, Carl Ivar (1982), Foreign influence on the Swedish language in the 17th c. Social and profes­ sional stratification. In: NS 62, 5 17.

Hennansson, Halld6r(1919), Modern Icelandic. In: Islandica XII, 1 66.

Svensson, Jan/Teleman, Ulf (1985), Sprakforand­ ring. Nagra teoretiska overvaganden. Ms.

Kukkonen, Pirjo (1989), Fran konst till vetenskap: Begreppet vetenskap och dess sprakliga utryck i svenskan under 400 ar. Helsingfors.

Teleman, Ulf (1993), Historien och sprakhistorien. In: Scandia, 59: 2, 149 168. Teleman, Ulf (2002), )fra, rikedom och reda: Svensk

Lehti-Eklund, Hanna (1990), Fran adverb till mar­ kor i text: Studier i semantisk-syntaktisk utveckling i iildre svenska. Helsingfors. Lindqvist, Natan (1929), Bibelsvenskans medeltida ursprung. In: NS 8, 165 260. Lindqvist, Natan (1941), Inledning. In: Nya tes­ tamentet i Gustaf Vasas bibel under jiimforelse med texten av ar 1526. Stockhohn, vij lj. Lindroth, Sten (1975), Svensk liirdomshistoria: Stor­ maktstiden. Stockholm. Lindroth, Sten (1978), Svensk liirdomshistoria: Frihetstiden. Stockhohn. Ljunggren, K. G. (1944), Almanackorna och det svens­ ka ordforradet: Bidrag till svensk ordhistoria. Lund.

sprakvard och sprbkpolitik under iildre nyare tid. Stockholm.

Wessen, Elias (1970), Om det tyska infiytandet pa svenskt sprak under medeltiden (SNSS 12). Stock­ holm. Westergard-Nielsen, Christian (1946), Laneordene i det 16. arhundredes trykte islandske litteratur. K0benhavn. Winge, Vibeke (1992), Diinische Deutsche deutsche Diinen: Geschichte der deutschen Sprache in Diine­ mark 1300 1800 mit einem Ausblick auf das 19. Jahrhundert. Heidelberg.

Lena Ekberg. Lund (Sweden)

1314

145.

XlV. The development o f the Nordic languages

The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century I: Denmark

1. 2. 3.

Forenames Surnames Literature (a selection)

As the publication of Danmarks gamle Person­ navne (DGP), which ran from 1936 to 1964, was drawing to a conclusion, the idea of preparing a continuation ofthis work gradual­ ly developed. This proposed dictionary was re­ ferred to as Danmarks eftermiddelalderlige personnavneordbog, and the intention was for it to contain forenames and surnames (by­ names, family names) that are recorded in sources from between ca. 1500 and 1700. The post-medieval dictionary project has been de­ scribed in detail (Meldgaard 1985, 1 81) but unfortunately the plan did not corne to fru­ ition, and our knowledge about the personal names of Denmark in the period from 1500 to 1 800 is not therefore based upon a compre­ hensive lexical description but on individual studies of the material on names in various sources from different periods and different parts of the country.

1.

Forenames

1.1.

The composition and development of the corpus of names

Although many social and geographical vari­ ations can be demonstrated in individual fea­ tures, the corpus of forenames in Denmark remains relatively stable for the period be­ tween 1500 and 1800. The composition of the corpus is also the same as in the immediately preceding centuries, i.e. the vast majority of the names are of foreign origin, and old Nor­ dic names like Erik, Knud, Olaf, Bodi/, Inger and Ingeborg only make up a small proportion of the total. This composition of forenames remains constant until the beginning of the 19th c., when Nordic names again begin to gain ground in the wake of the interest shown by the Romantic movement in the nation's past. 1.1.1.

The old Nordic names

Random samples taken ofthe source material from different parts of the country show that the Nordic names which still formed the domi­ nant name-group around the year 1 200 lost

ground over the course of the medieval period and that around 1 500 they only make up 5-10 per cent of the total corpus of names (Raid 1974, 86). A study of the names of peasants in Zealand in the 1 6th c., however, reveals a higher survival percentage for the Nordic names (Jexlev 1 974), corresponding to that represented in a study of the names of peasant farmers recorded in King Christian Ill's Da­ nish chancellery records from 1 536-1 550. 16 per cent ofthe names are Nordic. The remain­ der are borrowed names, and about 80 per cent of these are names that were introduced into Denmark together with Christianity (Thomsen 1926, 13 7). Jexlev also includes specimen texts from the 1 5th and 1 7th c., and on this basis she reaches the conclusIOn that the decrease in the use of Nordic names was modest between ca. 1400 and ca. 1500 but that it took place more swiftly in the following cen­ tury. She claims that around 1600 it would hardly be possible to identify more than 1 3- 14 per cent Nordic names i n any source and that the decrease in numbers must be assumed to have continued after this (Jexlev 1974, 73). An examination based on the study of forenames in parish registers and court records from the 17th c. also shows a smaller percentage sur­ vival of Nordic names - from 3 to 1 1 per cent. In this study - unlike in those named above - a copious selection of women's names are included, and the lowest percentage survival is found among female names in Funen (Meld­ gaard 1982, 196). This result might be fortui­ tous but is probably not so, for the same per­ centage survival has been demonstrated in a different body of material containing women's names in Funen (Rohnberg 1999, 220). 1 . 1 .2.

The borrowed names

The most frequently occurring group of names in the period 1 500-1 800 is that consisting of the names which carne to Denmark in connec­ tion with the introduction of Christianity and which swiftly became popular in naturalized forms, such as Jens « Johannes), Niels « Nicolaus), Mads « Matthias), Karen ( < Katharina), Moren ( < Marina) and Mette ( < Margaretha). Several of these names were borrowed in a Low German form that also achieved great popularity in the Danish sec­ tion of the population. This is the case with

145. The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century I: Denmark

names such as Hans « Johannes), Claus « Nicolaus), Thies « Matthias) and Grethe ( < Margaretha). Among the borrowed names are also a number of German names which came in with the German nobility or with the German merchants and craftsmen who en­ tered Denmark in large numbers during the medieval period. These are names such as Henrik, Didrik, Bertel, Albrect, Konrad and KlIrt. A few of these names became popular even outside South Jutland (S0nderjylland) among the general population (Raid 1974, 22). There are several studies which seem to con­ firm that hardly any new names were bor­ rowed from abroad after the medieval period (Meldgaard 1982, 197 f.), although a few French names begin to appear in the corpus of personal names in Denmark in the 1 8th c. They include names such as Charles, Emil, Charlotte, Louise and Henriette. French names never came to play as significant a role in the Danish nomenclature as did the German names, however. It was among the wealthier classes in the towns that they acquired greatest popularity. 1 .1 . 3 .

The most popular names

A comparison between the Danish forenames of the medieval period, as seen in DGP, and the names found in parish registers and court records selected from different parts of the country in the 17th c. shows that the fore­ names that were common in the medieval pe­ riod are still the most popular ones in the 1 7th c. (Peder, Hans/Jens, Niels, Anne/Anna, Maren and Karen) (Meldgaard 1982, 197f.). In the case of the popular names there would not seem to be any considerable regional dif­ ferences either, although there are a greater number of different names in circulation in Copenhagen than in the remainder of the country. It is worth noting that female names appear to be a more homogeneous group than male names, since the names Anne/Anna, Maren, Karen and Kirsten would seem to head the top-ten lists in ahnost the whole of the country (Meldgaard 1982, 195 ff.). Between 30 and 40 per cent of all the women in the sources examined bear the most popular forenames, Anne/Anna and Maren, and court records from Odense show that two-thirds of all the women in the first half of the 17th c. have a name from the top-ten list (Rohnberg 1999, 220). It is also striking that there are far fewer different female names in the period 1500-

1315

1 800 than male names. This might suggest that the women's names reflect the workings of fashion to a greater extent than do men's, although it could also be because the tradition of naming babies after a member of the family was more restrictive for boys than for girls (Kj",r 1978, 147 f.). Most of the studies of personal names for the period 1 500-1 800 are concerned with names of the peasant classes. One examination of names from the 1 8th c. looks at the material from a sociological point of view, however, since it includes names from different social strata. This shows that the names employed by peasants, town-dwellers and the clergy re­ semble each other closely (St",t Andersen 1978, 120 ff.). It is only among the nobility that the selection of forenames is more esoteric, partly because it includes many names of Ger­ man origin, e. g. Frederik, Christian, Regitze and Vibeke. 1 .2.

Naming principles

Just as in the medieval period, the nomencla­ ture in the period 1500-1 800 is characterized by names that were introduced into Denmark together with Christianity. A natural and probable explanation for the frequent employ­ ment of these names is no doubt to be found in the Danish custom of naming babies after members of the family, so that the first child received the same name as its paternal grand­ father or grandmother, the next child that of its maternal grandfather or grandmother and so on. Originally, babies were only named after deceased relations, but later practice per­ mitted naming after members of the family who were still alive, and from the end of the period there are examples of children being named not only after relatives but also after people considered to be worthy of imitation (Meldgaard 1990, 1 85 ff.). From the end of the 17th c. it became com­ mon to give children more than one forename. This is a naming practice which was borrowed from Germany. From the Danish royal family and the nobility it spread quickly to other sec­ tors of the population. This practice meant that with the one forename the child could be called after a relation, while the second name could be the one that was normally employed (Meldgaard 1990, 1 42 ff.). Another novelty from the end of the 17th c. was the practice of forming female names from male ones, e. g. Christiane from Christian and Vilhelmine from Vilhelm. This practice can first be 0 bserved in

1316

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

the royal family. I t probably derives from the German princely houses, and it made possible the employment of the practice of naming after family members across the sex barrier (Meldgaard 1990, 160ff.).

2.

Surnames

In the period 1 500-1 800 the old Danish prac­ tice involving a forename and a genuine pat­ ronym (father: Jens Nielsen, children: Niels Jensen, Anne Jensdatter) was gradually re­ placed by a new naming practice consisting of a forename and a surname (father: Jens Lund, children: Christian Lund, Darthe Lund). Fixed, inherited surnames are evidenced as early as the 1 3 th c. in Denmark, first among the nobility, later among town-dwellers and the clergy. In the middle of the 1 8th c., how­ ever, the poorest people in the towns had still not acquired fixed surnames, and among the peasants names of this type do not become a reality until the 1 9th c. 2.1 .

The surnames of the nobility

The first Danish Law on names derives from the 16th c. and only concerns itself with the nobility. In 1526 Frederik I issued a decree to the effect that all members of the no bility who considered themselves as belonging to the same family on the father's side were to bear one and the same surname. At that time over half of the Danish nobility already had fixed surnames (Bille, Brahe, Friis, Juel etc.). The families which did not have a surname, how­ ever, had to find a suitable name, for instance from among older surnames which they had some kind of right to bear or surnames formed from heraldic devices, patronyrns, place­ names and so on (Hald 1971, 206). Among these names, it is only the surnames derived from heraldic devices that are peculiar to the nobility. These are names such as Gylden­ stierne, Huitfeldt, Rosenkrantz etc. 2.2.

The surnames of the town-dwellers

Among the academically educated Danish town-dwellers, it became fashionable in the 16th and 17th c. to employ Latinized by­ names. Most of these were formed from or­ dinary personal names with the addition of Latin declensional endings, e.g. Jensenius (Jensen) and Olivarius (Holgersen). Others were formed by translating place-names, e.g. Pantappidan (Broby) and Scavenius (Skagen),

or occupational terms, e.g. Fabricius ('smith', La!. Jaber) and Pnetarius ('reeve', La!. prae­ tar) and so on. This practice ceased after 1700 but some of the "learned" names came into use as surnames and they still form a part of the Danish nomenclature (Kousgard S0rensen 1980). In the 17th and 1 8th centuries the custom of bearing hereditary surnames spread to the remainder of the town-dwellers. The most important of the name-types that carne into use as surnames are place-names and occu­ pational terms, which sometimes occur in a Germanized form, e.g. Bredsdarff (from Bredstrup), Becker ('baker') and Schmidt ('smith'). In the period 1700-1750 it is only the very poorest of the town-dwellers who still bear -sen names but in the course of the cen­ tury patronyrns were converted into fixed, hereditary surnames and by about 1800 20 per cent of the population of Copenhagen had hereditary -sen names as surnames (Dansk Navneskik 1899, 1 1 1 ff.). 2.3.

The surnames of the peasants

Among the peasants, who before indus­ trialisation made up the largest part of the population of Denmark, fixed surnames first became a reality in the course of the 1 9th c. The peasants went on referring to themselves as before by forename and genuine patronyrn, but many of them also had an unofficial sur­ name in the form of a by-name that was some­ times handed down from father to son. This category of names is often described as popu­ lar by-names, and the types are manifold (Meldgaard 1984, 41 ff.). Some of these names allude to people's appearance, e.g. Grd ('grey') and Rask ('quick'). Others consist of terms for animals or birds, e.g. Hjart ('deer') and Ravn ('raven'), terms for inhabitants, e.g. Fynba ('native of Funen') and Vendelba (,inhabitant of Vendsyssel'), occupational terms, e. g. Fisker ('fisherman') and Skytte ('game­ keeper'). Other important categories of sur­ names are those made up of place-names and topographical terms. In the source material from this period there are several examples in which the popular by-name is added to the full name (Rasmus Hansen Skomager), but there are also examples of the more colloquial practice in which the by-name is employed in­ stead of the patronym (Rasmus Skamager). It was, however, rare for the by-name to acquire the status of a surname proper, and in 1771, at the suggestion of Struensee, a royal decree

146. The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century II: Sweden

was issued i n the Duchy o f Schleswig requiring that all children should henceforward receive a fixed surname at baptism. A similar decree was not issued in the Kingdom of Denmark until 1828. The choice of surname was entrusted to the parents in the 1771 decree, and no guidelines were given as to which surnames could or should be selected. At the suggestion of the priests, many parents in North Schleswig ( the present S0nderjylland) elected to convert their popular by-names into surnames. Else­ where parents chose to turn the patronym which the child would otherwise have received into a surname, and since this was not a sat­ isfactory solution for succeeding generations, a genuine patronyrn was sometimes inserted between the forename and the surname. It was in this way that such combinations as Lars Nissen Andersen arose, and these are consid­ ered to occur particularly frequently in S0nderjylland (Kousgard S0rensen 1997, 98). �

3.

Literature (a selection)

Dansk Navneskik (1899), Bet:a:nkning afgivenaf den af Justitsministeriet den 4. Maj 1898 nedsatte Kom­ mission ved Fredrik Nielsen/Axel Olrik/Johannes C . H . R. Steenstrup. K0benhavn. Hald, Kristian (1971), Slektsnavn, Danmark. In: KLNM 16, 205 207. Hald, Kristian (1974), Personnavne i Danmark. II: Middelalderen. K0benhavn. Hohnberg, Bente (1999), Kvinders navne i 1600-tal­ lets Danmark. In: Den nordiska namnforskningen. I

146.

1317

gar, i dag, i morgon. Handlingarfran NORNA:s 25:e symposium i Uppsala 7 9 februari 1997. Uppsala, 217 228. Jexlev, Thehna (1974), Sja:llandske b0nders navne i det 16. arhundrede. En oversigt. In: Festskrift til Kristian Hald 9. september 1974. K0benhavn, 57 76. Kja:r, Marianne (1978), Automatisk analyse af dansk personnavneskik i det 17. arhundrede. In: Wegener/Kj",r (1978), 93 248. Kousgard S0rensen, John (1980), Danmarks "la:rde" sla:gtsnavne. In: SNF 62, 158 173. Kousgard S0rensen, John (1997), Patronymer iDan­ mark 2: Nyere tid og nutid. K0benhavn. Meldgaard, Eva Villarsen (1982), Dansk fornavne­ skik i 1600-tallet. In: SNF 63, 186 210. Meldgaard, Eva Villarsen (1984), De danske sla:gtsnavnes historie i nyere tid. In: SAS 2, 39 53. Meldgaard, Eva Villarsen (1985), Rapport om Dan­ marks eftermiddelalderlige personnavneordbog. In: Stednavne i brug. Festskrift udgivet i anledning af Stednavneudvalgets 75 ars jubila:um. K0benhavn, 177 187. Meldgaard, Eva Villarsen (1990), Studier i k@ben­ havnske fornavne 1650 1950. K0benhavn. Sta:t Andersen, Erwin (1978), Navngivningsstruk­ tur i 1700-tallet. In: Sprog og Kultur 28, 107 122. Thomsen, Alfred (1926), Et Bidrag til dansk Nav­ neskiks Historie. In: DaSt 1926, 135 146. Wegener, Vibeke/Kja:r, Marianne (1978), To studier i danske fornavne. K0benhavn.

Bente Holmberg. Copenhagen (Denmark) Translated by Gillian Fellows-Jensen

The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century II: Sweden

1. 2. 3.

Baptismal names Family names Literature (a selection)

1.

Baptismal names

In the second half of the 1 6th c., a fairly meagre stock of personal names was in use in Sweden: throughout the kingdom, the seven most popular men's and women's names were Per. Olaf. Lars. Anders. Nils. Erik and Jon;

and Margareta, Karin, Britta, Kirstin, Anna, Elin and Ingeborg. Of these, only the saints' names Erik and Olof and the woman's name Ingeborg were Scandinavian. The five most common names were borne by 41.4 per cent of men and 57.5 per cent of women. Very few people had Scandinavian names (Fredriksson 1974, 1 53 , 165). In the 17th c., Stockhohn became a cultural and economic centre to which both Swedes and foreigners were drawn. The nomenclature

1318 o f the capital changed and was eventually to set the pattern for the country as a whole. This account will therefore focus on developments in Stockhohn. The decline of Scandinavian names conti­ nued, but Eric and OlaJwere still able to hold their own, alongside Carl and Gustaf Scandi­ navian women's names, on the other hand, al­ most entirely disappeared; very few, among them Ingeborg and Ingrid, remained. In the higher strata of society, Scandinavian names could survive as names that were inherited within particular families, in the lower strata as relics from remote districts. On the other hand, in Bohusliin, which became Swedish in 1658, Scandinavian names such as Tore, Bjorn, Borge; GunIa, Ragnilla and Sigrun were still common at the end of the 1 7th c. (Bratto 1992, 83). Strangely enough, the enthusiasm for ancient Swedish history that flourished in the 17th c. left no traces in the name stock. Not until the closing years of the 1 8th c. can the first signs of a renaissance for Scandinavian names be discerned in the capital (Utterstrom 1995, 51 ff., 58 ff.). The Reformation had not inspired a revival of native names, nor did it result in greater use being made of names from the Old Tes­ tament. Names of the latter type were, though, introduced by immigrant families. Eva, the name of the mother of fallen humanity, for instance, only became common in Swedish families in the second half of the 1 8th c.; Adam remained uncommon. Names such as Ab­ raham, Isak and Sara, however, which had been used as early as the Middle Ages, did become popular (Otterbjork 1979, 20 ff.). The name Maria, considered too sacred during the Catholic era, became increasingly common in Stockholm in the first half of the 17th c. and was by 1700 the most frequently used first name. Subsequently, that role was for a time assumed by Anna (Utterstrom 1995, 40 f.). Around 1800, the most frequent first names in the Swedish capital were Johan, Carl, Gus­ taJ, Pehr, Anders, Lars; Maria, Johanna, Sophia, Anna, Christina, Carolina and Lovisa; while the most common second names were Fredric. Wilhelm. Gustaf, Adolph. Eric. Petter; Charlotta, Sophia, Christina, Wilhelmina, Carolina and Gustava. However, there were differences between town and country and be­ tween regions, especially as regards girls' names; new trends took longer to reach rural areas. In the towns of southern Sweden, the most frequent girls' names at this time were

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages Anna, Maria, Christina, Johanna, Catharina, Brita and Charlatta (Svahn 1993, 1 1 , 14; how­ ever, that author does not distinguish between names in different positions). In the rural par­ ish of Tengene in Vastergotland, Brita, Maja, Maria, Cathrina, Kerstin, Annicka, Elin and Stina were the most common during the same period (Fredriksson 1982, 95). The use of more than one baptismal name, which can be regarded as a feature of the Ba­ roque period, reached Stockholm in the mid17th c. Following foreign and royal examples, parents began to give their children two names, and occasionally more. The practice was first adopted by the nobility, but rapidly spread to the other strata of society. As early as 1720, over half of all girls were given two names at their baptism, whereas it was not un­ til 1760 that the same could be said of boys. By the end of the 1 8th c., roughly the same proportions of boys and girls - around 90 per cent - bore two or more names (Utterstrom 1995, 29 f.). In southern Swedish towns, the corresponding figures at this time were just over 51 per cent of boys and 67 per cent of girls; in Tengene, they were 1.7 per cent and 3 .3 per cent, respectively (Svahn 1993, 28; Fredriksson 1982, 139). The length of the names used may also re­ flect the stylistic ideals of the Baroque period, although here the picture is not unequivocal. In the case of girls, the proportion of disyllabic names in first position did admittedly decrease in favour of trisyllabic ones in the 1 7th c., but really heavy combinations of names are a fea­ ture of the late 18th c., i . e. the Rococo and Pre-Romantic eras. Only then did -ilna forma­ tions such as Albertina, Carolina, Jacobina, Jaquelina and Ottiliana catch on. The French influence here is masked by Swedish spellings. As the use of more than one forename be­ came popular, monosyllabic names gained ground as first names for boys. In rhythmic terms, Swedish name-giving was subject to the Gesetz der wachsenden Glieder", the prin­ " ciple that shorter constituents should precede longer ones: the first name was normally shor­ ter than, or at least not longer than, the fol­ lowing one, e. g. Carl Gustaf The limited variety of names during the pe­ riod 1550-1650 was probably due to the cus­ tom of naming children after close relatives. In the 17th and 1 8th centuries, godparents began to have a significant influence, since children, and especially girls, were often named after them. A desire to have as distin­ guished godparents as possible for one's

146. The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century II: Sweden

children helped to spread names from the higher to the lower ranks of society. Royal names are of particular interest in this respect. In 1650, the future King of Sweden, Count Palatine Karl Gustav, was godfather to two boys, GastajJ Carl and Carl Gusto! This be­ came a tradition. In 1687, for example, Karl XI and his queen Ulrika Eleonora were spon­ sors to Carl Ulric. Throughout the 1 8th c., members of the royal house acted as god­ parents, even to artisans' children. The names Adolf, Carl. Fredrik. Gusto! Ulric; Eleonora. Fredrica, Hedvig and Ulrica all gained popu­ larity through the direct influence of the royal family (Utterstrom 1995, 29, 52f., 83 f., 98 ff.). The nomenclature of the capital set the pat­ tern primarily for central and northern Sweden. The conquered provinces continued to follow other patterns.

2.

Family names

In the 16th c., very few Swedes had family names. A patronymic, and in certain cases also a place of residence, might be added to a per­ son's baptismal name, e. g. Lars Persson i Smista. Members of the Swedish nobility first used family names in contacts with Danes (their Danish counterparts were required to bear such names from 1526 onward), when study­ ing abroad, and in letters written in Latin. In official documents in Swedish, only patro­ nymics were used (Gillingstam 1964, 45, 47 f.). In the charter of the House of the Nobility, granted in 1626, it was assumed that nobles already bore family names. In general, the earliest surnames used by no blemen were inspired by their armorial bearings. Names comprising a single element, such as Lillie and Ikorn, were highly regarded, but from early on there were also two-element names that enjoyed great prestige, e. g. Gyllen­ stierna and Leijonhufvud. Names of the latter type did not become really common, though, until the regency of Queen Christina, a period of mass ennoblement. They offered scope for variation, reflected the glory and elect status of the nobility, and were in keeping with the Baroque ideals of the period. Typical name elements included Gyllen- 'golden', Ehren­ 'honour', Lejon- 'lion', Silver- 'silver', Ridder­ 'knight'; -hielm 'hehnet', -skOld 'shield', -sparre 'rafter' and -stierna 'star'. During the later 17th and the 1 8th centuries, many of those who were to be elevated to the nobility already had family names which they

1319

wished to keep, either intact or with some modification. As a result, linguistic hybrids such as Rosencroell and Cuypercrona arose. Others retained their names unchanged, often simply adding von or, in the second half of the 1 8th c., oj as a prefix of nobility. As early as the 1 7th c., very prominent individuals could be ennobled with their patronymic, as was Lennart Torstenson, a famous general in the Thirty Years' War. In parallel with the nobility, men oflearning also assumed names, doing so first of all when they studied abroad. Names in -ander and -us were formed on the basis of a place important to the bearer, or sometimes his father's occu­ pation, e. g. Betulander (Bjorksta), Lexander (Leksand), Burreus (Burea), Fernelius (Fiir­ nebo) and Fabricius ('smith'). The -us names proved most popular. If someone who had in­ herited a name of this learned type became, say, an officer, he would often dispense with the suffix. In this way, derived middle-class names in -aI, -el, -an, -en and -in were created, e. g. Sundel. LaJden and Herdin. This name type was probably not the result of French influence, since it was productive as early as the 1 7th c. The burgher class had begun to take family names during the first half of the 1 7th c., first its higher stratum and later its lower ranks. Here, too, name taking and mobility went hand in hand, although in this case it was usually a matter of mobility within the coun­ try. As in the higher estates, the need for identification was coupled with a desire to mark one's social standing. Highly prestigious foreign names were the first to be used, along with single-element Swedish ones, e. g. Biur, Bure. German, but not Swedish, occupational designations were pressed into service as family names: Bager, but not Bagare; a dislike of trisyllabic middle­ class names perhaps had something to do with this. During the latter half of the 17th c., the characteristic two-element middle-class name type caught on. Like the noble type based on two elements, it was a creation ofthe Baroque period, but it also had other sources of inspi­ ration: learned names and German forma­ tions in -man. The two-element noble names were generally "heavier", and both their first and their second element could be disyllabic, e. g. Gyllenstierna, whereas burghers' names were expected to consist of monosyllabic el­ ements only, e. g. Rydstram (Utterstrom 1987, 239). In noblemen's names, the two elements

1 3 20 could fonn a semantic unit, e. g. Bjornram, but in middle-class names this was avoided. The second elements of the latter, -man, -berg, -strom, -gren etc., can primarily be regarded as suffixes, comparable to -ander and -us, but allowing for greater variation. The first el­ ements most commonly allude to place-names, as in learned names, e. g. Sundgren. Townspeople, at least in central and nor­ thern Sweden, seem to have accepted the prac­ tice of bearing a family name as early as the mid-18th c. At that time, some 90 per cent of the inhabitants of Uppsala and of coastal towns in northern Sweden used such names (Utterstrom 1998, 271). In the inland town of Skara, which was an important seat of learn­ ing, the practice appears to have established itself somewhat later (Svahn 1982, 9). Peasants made up a very large proportion of the population. In this section of society, too, a strict hierarchy prevailed, but land­ owning peasants retained their genuine patro­ nymics. Here, status was conferred by land ownership, not newfangled family names. By contrast, people with no land, such as farm­ hands and maids, seem to have been keener to take new names, usually of the same kind as were used by the burghers, although they sometimes adopted learned names in -ander and -us, despite not belonging to learned fa­ milies (Utterstrom 1985, 44). This tendency did not make itself felt until the second half of the 1 8th c. (Utterstrom 1998, 272f.). In contrast to baptismal names, family names were taken on the basis of the social standing of the first name bearer. They clearly reflect the society in which he lived.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

3.

Literature (a selection)

Bratto, Olof (1992), Personnamn i Bohuslan 1 : 1300 1700. Goteborg. Fredriksson, Ingwar (1974), Svenskt dopnamnsskick vid 1500-talets slut (Anthroponymica Suecana 7). Lund. Fredriksson, Ingwar (1982), Dopnamnen i dop­ boken for Tengene forsamling i Vastergotland 1688 1979. In: Fem artiklar om personnamn (An­ throponymica Suecana 9), Umea, 87 1 5 1 . Gillingstam, Hans (1964), Den svenska adelns an­ tagande av slaktnamn. In: Historisk tidskrift 1, 33 53. Otterbjork, Roland (1979), Svenska jornamn. 3rd ed. StockhoM. Svahn, Margareta (1982), Tillnamn i Skara stad 1644 1770. Umea. Svahn, Margareta (1993), 1700 1875. Stencil. Umea.

Svenska

dopnamn

Utterstrom, Gudrun (1985), Slaktnamn: Tillkomst och spridning i norrlandska stader (Kungl. skyt­ teanska samfundets handlingar 29). Umea. Utterstrom, Gudrun (1987), Roth och Berg, Mo­ berg och Bergroth, sa varfor inte Morot som slakt­ namn? In: NORNA-rapporter 34 (Nionde nordiska namnforskarkongressen, Lund 4 8 augusti 1985). Uppsala, 237 246. Utterstrom, Gudrun (1995), Dopnamn i Stockholm 1621 1810 (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Nomi­ na Gennanica 19). Uppsala. Utterstrom, Gudrun (1998), Slaktnamn och social identitet en studie i svensk standscirkulation. In: Personnamn och social identitet (KVHAA konferen­ ser 42). Stockholm, 259 276.

Gudrun Utterstrom, Stockholm (Sweden)

147. The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century III: Norway

1321

147. The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century III: Norway 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Introduction Sources Stability vs. Innovation Local variation Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

When speaking about the development of per­ sonal names, it is really the development of name inventories one has in mind. Personal names, as opposed to other lexical units, are very consciously chosen from a habitually rela­ tively closed set and bestowed upon their bearers in a formal act of naming. This is a fact that on the one hand seems to implicate that name inventories would be comparatively stable. On the other hand, personal names lit­ erally only last a lifetime, and therefore name inventories could potentially, at least, be very unstable. Stability or instability depend first on the size of the name inventories, i. e. if a society chooses its names from a very limited set, the potential for variation is accordingly limited. Secondly, the openness of the inven­ tories is a vital factor, and through time the degree of openness might vary. Thirdly, the cultural significance of the act of naming, as well as the social constraints connected to the naming situation, might vary through time. All these factors are integrally connected with the general cultural context of the time. It is against this backdrop of factors relevant to variation within name inventories that the de­ velopment of Norwegian personal names in the period 1 500-1800 must be understood.

2.

Sources

The sources where personal names are documented for this period are basically of three types (Kruken 1982, 44 f.): registers of citizens for purposes of taxation, censuses and church registers. In Norway the first type is the main source of personal names up to ca. 1650. In these taxation lists women are only rarely mentioned, and there is also a bias as to economic class. Censuses exist from the 1600s and sporadically onwards; the first com­ plete census to include all Norwegian citizens dates from 1801 (the earlier censuses only comprised adult men). For the period under discussion here, it is by far the most important

source. The oldest church registers date from the 1600s, but became general from ca. 1700. They contain lists of baptisms, confirmations, weddings and funerals. The baptismal records are particularly valuable sources of personal names. Other more peripheral or less acces­ sible sources supplement the one here listed. The accessibility of these sources varies enor­ mously. Handwritten records where names oc­ cur sporadically in the text, are obviously of less immediate value to the name researcher than the computerized census of 1663-66 and especially the one from 1801, which are both available for searches on the internet. The in­ tense activity of computerizing historical sour­ ces and making them available on the internet is a development from which the study of his­ torical personal names profits enormously (cf. bibliography). The sources from this period are all flawed by the discrepancy that existed between a basically Danish orthography and Danish name forms that go with this, and the great wealth oflocally developed name variants. The lack of orthographic standardization also proves to be a methodological challenge.

3.

Stability vs. Innovation

Compared to the centuries before (13001 500) and the century (1800) following it, per­ sonal names during the period 1500-1800 are fairly consistent. The most frequent names in the first and latter part of the period are to a large extent the same, although their rela�ive order might vary. Compare the top-ten lists below (as given by Kruken 1982). Note that the quantitative bases for the lists vary a great deal, and that especially the oldest lists are based on few sources. Men Ca. 1600-50 1801 1 . Ola 2. Lars 3. Jon

4. Per

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Anders Nils Eirik Knut Hans Sjurd

1 . Ola 2. Per

Women Ca. 1700

1801

1. Anna 1. Anne 2. Berit/Berte/ 2. Ingeborg Brita 3. Hans 3 . Marit 3. Kari 4. Anders 4. Kari 4. Marte 5. Lars 5 . Ingeborg 5. Karen 6. Nils 6. Mari 6. Marit 7. Jon 7. Marta/Marte 7 . Anna 8. Johannes 8. Gjertrud 8 . Berte 9. Knut 9 . Eli 9 . Mari 10. Eirik 10. Mali/Magla 10. Si(g)ri

1 3 22 The naming fashions seem to be fairly consis­ tent throughout the period. Compared to the period before, the most striking aspect of this inventory is the large percentage of names that might be labelled saints' names vs. the tradi­ tional originally Old Norse name stock. Among the oldest top-ten men's names, only four are of Gennanic origin (Gla, Eirik, Knut, Sjurd). Three of these are among the most fre­ quent in 1801 as well. 010, Eirik and Knut are names of popular Nordic kings who became saints and are thus also closely associated with the church. The same is true for the women's names. Only Ingeborg and Sirg)ri are not con­ nected to the church by way of biblical or saints' names of foreign origin. The fact that these names must have been introduced dur­ ing the Catholic period (before 1 536) and must have been well established in the Norwegian name inventory by 1600 is evident from the way the original Latin, Greek or other names had been phonologically adjusted by this time. (ef. Greek Petros > Latin Petrus > Norwe­ gian Per; Latin Laurentius > Norwegian Lars; Greek Aikaterine > Latin Katharina > Norwegian Kari or Karen). Lower down the lists than the top-ten names there are innovations, however. Although this development has not been mapped out on a national basis, all locally delimited studies with a diachronic focus confirm the same ten­ dency: the relative share of names of Old Norse origin gradually decreases within the in­ ventories as a whole. Two factors contribute to this development. First, the rigid rules of naming children after grandparents and other relatives made the frequent names even more dominant. Secondly, a new wave of biblical or saints' names were introduced into the name inventories. It might seem ironic that in those intolerant Protestant times, so many new saints' names came into use, but this is explained by the fact that these names to a large extent were introduced by way of pri­ marily Danish, secondarily German trends. Important influences on name borrowing came from the group of predominantly Dan­ ish professionals and clergy, and from Ger­ man tradesmen, miners and military men. It is worth noting that borrowing names was the dominant way of expanding the name inven­ tory during this period. The other possibility, i.e. creative name formation was only margin­ ally activated, a fact which contrasts with the formal creativity of the subsequent century.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

4.

Local variation

Undermining these simplified generalizations are rather radical local variations. Kruken (1982, 61) presents a regional comparison of the percentages that names oftraditional Nor­ dic origin constitute in the period 1781 - 1 800. Northern Norway is the least traditional with 17.9 per cent Nordic names, whereas the coun­ ties of Telemark and Aust-Agder in the south­ ern central part of the country have 55.1 per cent and 60.7 per cent such names. Certain parishes in these latter counties have even higher shares of traditional names. It is also worth pointing to the fact that the share of Nordic names is significantly higher among male name-bearers than among females. Thus there is local variation as to how open the name inventories were. In general the most open inventories were those in northern Nor­ way and in the coastal communities, which in­ cluded the few cities of any size. In these en­ vironments people seem to have been more exposed to foreign influences and less bound by traditional constraints on naming. The de­ gree of openness and the size of name inven­ tories are to some degree interdependent fac­ tors. One aspect of traditionalism is the rather rigid social convention of naming children after relatives in a fixed hierarchical order. As mentioned before, these conventions had the by-effect of making frequent names more fre­ quent, and this tendency was strengthened during the period. The name Gla, an extreme example, was borne by ca. 1 3 per cent of the nation's men throughout the period, and women's names were generally more conven­ tional than the men's. Kruken (1982, 58) men­ tions the parish of Nannestad in Akershus county, where 90 per cent of the women had one of the top-ten names. It seems obvious that this kind of name distribution would limit the size of the name inventories severely. It is therefore interesting to notice the connection between the degree of openness and the size of the inventories as implied by the share of people bearing frequent names (sect. 3.). The communities with closed name inventories also have the largest percentage name-bearers with frequent names. The reason why a great variety of tradi­ tional names nevertheless were kept alive throughout the period, is the local differences in name popularity. A traditional name like Gulbrand (Gudbrand) was not used at all in some areas, whereas it was among the top-ten names in Akershus county. Other examples

148. The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century IV

are Torkjell (rnasc., Vest-Agder), Amt (rnasc., Tf0ndelag), Mons (rnasc., Hordaland), Tone (fern., Telernark, Aust-Agder), Gj@a (fern., Sogn og Fjordane), R@nnaug (fern., Buske­ rud). Such marker names were found in al­ most every county and even in individual par­ ishes and families. They were strengthened lo­ cally by the practise of naming children after relatives. So even though certain names disap­ peared in some areas, they could be revitalized under the influence of name-bearers from other areas. As it turns out, the huge revital­ ization of Nordic names in the nationalistic 1 800s was not only inspired by saga literature, but was also made possible by the continuous existence of these names in some part of the country.

5.

Literature (a selection)

1323

Stemshaug, Ola (1981) (ed.), Norske personnamn­ studiar. Oslo. Tank, Roar (1910), Navneskik i det syttende aar­ hundredes norske byer. In: MM, 69 84.

Internet addresses http://129 .177.205.101 /egi-win/we/webeens.exe? slag = meny&kategori = l&emne = l&spraak= and http://digitalarkivet.uib .no/cgi-win/we/webcens. exe? slag = meny&kategori = l&emne = 2&spraak= 6 for the censuses of 1663-6 and 1801, http://www.dokpro.uio.no/dipl norv/diplom felt.html for computerized diplomas up to ca. 1600, http://www.genealogi.no go to Nettpublikasjoner and then Kilder og artikler for various sources made available to genealogists,

Halvorsen, Eyvind Fjeld (1955), Personnavnene pa Ringerike framellomalderen til 1666. In: MM, 1 53.

http://www.hf.uio.no/PNH/tbs-startside.html for computerized legal records from the 17th cen­ tury and onwards,

Halvorsen, Eyvind Fjeld (1975), Person- og slekts­ navntradisjoneri Norge. In: Norske stedsnavn/stad­ namn (ed. B. Helleland). Oslo, 157 174.

http://www.vigerust.net for records ofpersonal names in urban communities and

Iversen, Ragnvald (1950), Personnavn i Trondheim i 1548. In: ANF 65, 195 218.

http://www.rhd.uit.no/kirkebok sok.html to search for name fonns in those church registers that so far have been computerized.

Kruken, Kristoffer (1982), Fra refonnasjonen til den nordiske namnerenessansen. In: Norsk person­ namnleksikon (ed. O. Stemshaug). Oslo, 44 65.

Kristin Bakken. Oslo (Norway)

148. The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century IV: Iceland and Faroe Islands 1. 2.

4. 5.

Introduction Icelandic personal names in the 16th and 17th centuries Icelandic personal names in the 18th century Personal names in the Faroe Islands Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

3.

In the last two decades the interest in the study of personal names has been growing both in Iceland and in the Faroe Islands. In the book NoJn fslendinga by Kvaran/J6nsson (1991), all the names that the authors had corne across and which had been given to Icelandic people

through the ages were collected and written about for the first time. In the introduction the authors wrote about the history of Icelan­ dic names and developments from the oldest sources to this day. Palsson (1960) had pre­ viously published a book with a selection of names, especially those mentioned in the old literature. The most reliable sources for the study of names are censuses and church books as well as diplomas and annals, which can be impor­ tantfor the study of single names, even though it is random who is mentioned in such sources. For the period discussed here the censuses pro­ vide the best information.

1 3 24

2.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Icelandic personal names in the 1 6th and 17th centuries

Very few reliable sources are to be found for the study of names borne by Icelandic people in the 16th and the early 17th century. How­ ever, a great many names are mentioned in Annalar 1400- 1800, which has a very thor­ ough list of names. Diplomatarium Islandicum adds considerably to this, so that one can draw the conclusion from the names mentioned in these two works that Icelandic name-giving was mainly built on old traditions. The oldest essay on personal names known today was written by OddurOddsson who was the pastor in Reynivellir. It is preserved in Lands­ bokasafn (Lbs. 1199 4to), and the introduc­ tion is dated 13th of November 1646. The author had collected around 300 names which he explained etymologically. His grandson, Eyjolfur Jonsson who was the pastor in Vellir, added around 350 names to the essay in the year 1743. Jonsson's essay is preserved in the British Library (Add. 1 1 .202) but also in Ice­ land in a copy in Landsbokasafn (JS 410 4to). Jon Olafsson from Grunnavik worked on a large list of names in the years 1734-1735 and had collected around 750 names when he stopped temporarily. He later added to this list, so that in the year 1776 he himself claimed that he had collected 1 022 Icelandic personal names. The manuscript is preserved in the Ar­ namagn",an Institute in Reykjavik (AM 432 fo1.). Most of the names he had picked up were from the Icelandic sagas and other old Icelan­ dic literature, but many names were also from his own time. In the year 1703 the first census, covering the whole population, was taken in Iceland. It was published 1 924-47, and Larusson (1960) made a key to it, in which all the names were arranged alphabetically, first the male names and then the female names. Lafusson counted how many people bore each name in each administrative district and how many there were altogether in the country. The key shows that 387 male names and 3 3 8 female names were used by just over 50,000 inhabit­ ants. Only two bore two names, Axel Friorik and Sesseija Kristin, a brother and sister who had a Danish mother. The greatest proportion ofthe names were of Nordic origin, but a large number had also been taken up in the centu­ ries after the Christianization, for example Andres, Filippus, Perur, Pdll, Anna, Elisabet, Margret. Some Danish and German names were also in use, such as Jens, J6akim and

Klaus. The most common female names were Guorun (5410) and Sigriour (1614) and the most popular male names were Jon (5363) and Guomundur (1039). Almost everyone used a patronymic, and there were very few family names in the 17th century. The oldest known family name is Vidalin (after Vioidalur) while Thorlacius (from Porlaksson) is a little younger.

3.

Icelandic personal names in the 1 8th century

A census was also taken in the year 1801, and at that time just over 47,000 people lived in the country. It was published in 1978-1980. Magnusson (1993) made akey to it in the same way as Larusson did before so that compari­ son is easy. There were 445 male names in use at that time as first names or the first of two names, and only 1 6 were used just as second names. There were 370 female names used as first names or the first of two names, and only 27 just as second names. In the census there are therefore 858 different names to be found. Several changes can be noticed between the two censuses. Double names were increasing considerably. According to the 1801 census, 51 people had been given two names, fewer men than women (14). The custom came from Denmark and was spread around the country, although most of those bearing two names lived in the northern part. The most common first name of two was Anna (14), and for the second name Soffia or Maria. Astonishingly, no Guorim or Jon had two names. No one was registered with three names, but in the next 1845 census 30 people bore three names. It is obvious from the census that the use of family names was increasing. New names such as Briem, Grandal, Hitdal, Hjaltalin, Hjaltested, Moberg, Stephensen and Thoraren­ sen are to be found, and most of them are still in use. This growing interest can be explained by the fact that more people went abroad to study in Copenhagen, and it was easier to use names that followed the foreign custom. Old Icelandic names were still in a majority in the 1801 census. Guarim was still the most cornman female name (4460), but next to it came Sigriour (1965) and Margret (1272). The most cornman male name was Jon (4560), but Guomundur (1807) and Sigurour (1421) came next. The census 1801 included 1 3 3 new names, and many of them are of foreign origin, either

148. The development of personal names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century IV

Danish, German or biblical names such as Jael, Karlalta, Karolina, Marta, Jeremias, Na­ tanael, Sakkeus, Soren, but some ofthem were new Icelandic compounds like Guojon and Svanlaugur, Pj6i5laug and Friofinna.

4.

Personal names in the Faroe Islands

The oldest census in the Faroe Islands, cover­ ing the whole population, was taken in the year 1 80 1 . At that time 5265 people lived on the islands and 176 names were in use. There were 72 female names, but 104 male names. Jakup i Jakupsstovu made a key to this census and published it in 1977. Before that he had written six articles in Frooskaparrit 14-17 and 19-21 about names in the census in each ad­ ministrative district. Double names seem to have been more fre­ quent in the Faroe Islands than in Iceland. In 1 80 1 , 499 women bore two names and 10 women had three. Fewer men had two names (154), and only two had been given three names. This custom carne to the Faroe Islands from Denmark in the late 1 7th century. All those who had three names 1 801 were younger than 30 years old, which shows that the cus­ tom was relatively new and was taken up in the Faroe Islands about the same time as in Iceland. Biblical names or names chosen from old legends were relatively more frequent in the Faroe Islands than in Iceland. According to the research of Jakup i Jakupsstovu, seven out of ten personal names were biblical names. Abigail, Barba, Elsupa, Johanna, Maria, Adam, Andras, Gaprial, Lukas were of the kind, and if double names are also taken into account, only one out of ten had been given a name which did not have its roots in the Bible. Names of Nordic origin, on the other hand, were few, they consisted of 1 0 female names and 22 male names. Sigga (66) and O lavur (187) were by far the most frequent, followed by Inga (6) as a female name and Sjuri5ur (14) and Eirikur (11) as male names.

1325

If one looks at the most frequent names in the Faroe Islands in 1801, the most popular women's name was Anna as first name or the first of two names (552), followed by Ivltrin (292) and Marin (290). The most popular men's name was Jogvan (406), which corre­ sponds to the Icelandic name Jon, followed by Jakup (262) and Olavur (203).

5.

Literature (a selection)

Annalar 1400 1800 (1922 1998), I VII. Reykjavik. Diplomatarium Islandicum (1857 1972), Islenzkt fornbrefasafn. Reykjavik. Jakupsstovu, Jakup i (1965), F6lkan0vn i Suburoyarsyslu 1801. In: Fr615skaparrit 14, 59 89. J akupsstovu, Jakup i (1966), F6lkan0vn i Sandoyar syslu 1801. In: Fr615skaparrit 15, 9 30. J akupsstovu, Jakup i (1968), F6lkan0vn i Vaga syslu 1801. In: Fr615skaparrit 16, 23 44. Jakupsstovu, Jakup i (1969), F6lkan0vn i Streymoyar syslu 1801. In: Fr615skaparrit 17, 32 99. Jakupsstovu, Jakup i (1971), F6lkan0vn i Eys­ turoyar syslu 1801. In: Fr615skaparrit 19, 48 93. Jakupsstovu, Jakup i (1972), F6lkan0vn i Norboya syslu 1801. In: Fr615skaparrit 20, 9 42. J akupsstovu, Jakup i (1973), F6lkan0vn i F0royum 1801. In: Fr615skaparrit 21, 93 163. Jakupsstovu, Jakup i (1977), F6lkan@vn i F@royum: Afyrsta sinni sum @ll erugj@rd upp i senn. T6rshavn. Kvaran, Gubnin/J6nsson, Sigurbur fra Arnarvatni (1991), Nofn fslendinga. Reykjavik. Larusson, Olafur (1960), Nofn fslendinga dril5 1703. Reykjavik. MagnUsson, Bjorn (1993), Mannanofn d fslandi samkva:mt manntolum 1801 og 1845. Reykjavik. Manntal d fslandi 1703 (1924 1947), teki5 a5 til­ hlutun A..rna Magnussonar og Pats Vidalin. Reykja­ vik. Manntal d fslandi 1801 (1978 1980), Suburamt Vesturamt Norbur og Austuramt. Reykjavik. Patsson, Hermann (1960), fslenzk mannanofn. Reykjavik.

Guorun Kvaran. Reykjavik (Iceland)

1 3 26

149.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

The development of place-names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

1. 2. 3. 4.

5.

Settlement names Urban place-names Place-names in Finnish settlement areas in central Sweden and Norway Official spelling of place-names in Norway, The Faroes and in the provinces of Halland and Scania in Sweden Literature (a selection)

The most characteristic feature of the develop­ ment of place-names during the period 1 5501800 is the increasing influence of official authorities in name giving - especially notice­ able among urban place-names - and the regu­ larized naming of castles and manors and, to a less degree, of crofts and other minor settle­ ments. A noticeable foreign influence can be distinguished both as regards individual names and naming patterns.

1.

Settlement names

1.1.

Parish names in Sweden

The majority of the few new parishes which were established during the period were given names of the same types as earlier (cf. art. 108, sect. 2). Towards the end of the 18th century some new parishes in Sweden were named after members of the royal family, while others were renamed following the same pattern. Gustav Adolf, the name of two parishes in Vastergotland and Vannland, was coined in 1780 and 1791 respectively, in honour of crown prince Gustav Adolf, the son of King Gustav III, and the parish of Viby in Scania had its name changed to Gustav Adolf when the crown prince was baptized in 1778. An­ other parish name in Scania, Borringe, was changed to Gustav in 1781 (the old name was reinstated in 1931), and a new parish in Dalarna was named Gustafs in 1777, both names in honour of King Gustav III. Two parishes in Lappland in northern Sweden took their names Fredrika and Dorotea (earlier Bergvattnet) in 1799 from Queen Fredrika Vil­ helmina Dorotea (another Lappland parish had its name changed in 1 804 from Volgsjo to Vi/helmina). 1.2.

Names of castles and manors

In the 1 7th century several new country estates were established in Scandinavia, not least in

Sweden during the Age of Greatness (stor­ maktstiden). In Sweden such an estate, if it was owned by a nobleman, could under cer­ tain circumstances be classified as a so-called seiferi and thus be granted exemption from taxes. An old village or separate adjacent farms could constitute parts of such a new es­ tate, and the old name of the village or one of the fanns might well be chosen as a name for the new estate, e.g. Gronso and Hovsta in Sweden. Often, however, a new, more fashionable, name was created, in order to better reflect the position of the owners - in Sweden this was the era of mass ennoblement, when mem­ bers of the nobility acquired resplendent­ sounding surnames which were intended to ex­ press their elect status and unique position. These new country estate names are nonnally compounds, most often with the stress on the generic. Names ofthis kind are found not only in Sweden (Ejder 1950) butin Denmark as well (Steenstrup 1918; Wohlert 1986), and their popularity continued in the 1 8th century. Some Swedish and Danish examples from both centuries are given here. Common generics in these names are Dan./ Sw. -berg, Dan. -bjerg 'mountain'; Dan. -borg '(fortified) castle'; Dan./Sw. -dal 'valley'; Dan./Sw. -holm 'islet'; Sw. -hov, Dan./Sw. -lund 'grove'; and Sw. -niis 'headland'. Quite often these generics have a rather weakened meaning or have even assumed the character of a suffix. The word holm is common in names of medieval castles situated on an islet sur­ rounded by water. Since many of those castles belonged to the highest ranks of the nobility, names ending in -holm gradually acquired so­ cial status, and the element -holm eventually became used also in names denoting castles and manors not situated on islets (Mattison 1986; cf. also art. 108, sect. 5). The same goes for names with the generics -berg, -dal and -lund, which often refer to estates not situated on a mountain, in a valley or by a grove, and names in -borg referring to rather modest buildings. A castle or manor with a name in -niis, though, is nonnally located on a head­ land. A special generic is Sw. -hov, fonned on the pattern of German place-names ending in -hof ('farm; princely cour!'). German place­ names probably served as a model also for the other names in this category, cf. for -dal, Ro-

149. The development of place-names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

senthal, borrowed to Scandinavia as Rosendal in the Middle Ages, and for -berg, castle names like Herzberg. The generics mentioned above could be ad­ ded to the old name of the village or farm, e. g. Kipplingeberg (earlier Kipplinge) and Hiis­ selbyholm (earlier Hiisselby) in Sweden. The old name can also be used as the second el­ ement of the new name, as in Harbonas (earlier Niis) in the parish of Harbo, Sweden. Quite often, however, a totally new name was cre­ ated, where the first element as a rule is a per­ sonal name. This can be a man's name, refer­ ring to the owner, e.g. Eriksberg (Erik), Len­ nartsniis (Lennart) and Akeshov (Ake) in Sweden, and Frederikslund (Frederik) and UI­ riksholm (Ulrik) in Denmark, or a woman's name, mostly that of the owner's wife, e. g. Beateberg (Beata) and Margretelund (Marga­ reta) in Sweden, and Annebjerg (Anna) and Sophiendal (Sofia + the German juncture ele­ ment (-e)n-) in Denmark. Augustenborg, Den­ mark, was named after Augusta af Gliicks­ borg. Sometimes a man's or a woman's name can be added as the first element to the old name of a farm, e. g. Marielund (earlier Lund) in Sweden. In several names the first element is a sur­ name, e. g. Krusenberg (Kruse + the German juncture element (-e)n-) and Ribbingshov (Rib­ bing) in Sweden, and Billesborg (Bille) and Marsvinslund (Marsvin) in Denmark. Even two surnames can be combined, as in Brahe­ trolleberg, Denmark, named after Manderup Brahe and his wife Birgitte Trolle, who in 1667 became the owners of the estate, earlier called Rantzausholm (where the first element is the surname Rantzau). The word hus in the sense of'fortified house, castle', found in some medieval Scandinavian castle names, e. g. Hammershus in Denmark, Tavastehus in Finland, Akershus in Norway and Dalahus in Sweden (Mattisson 1 982), is reused in for instance Holstenshus (surname Holsten) in Denmark, and in the Swedish names Orbyhus (earlier Orby) and Johan­ nishus, where the first element refers to the founder of the estate, Hans Wachtrneister (Hans is a Swedish short form for Johannes). In the well-known Glimmingehus (earlier Glim­ minge) in Scania, Sweden, -hus was added only in the 19th century. Generics peculiar to Denmark are -feldt (from G Feld 'field'), as in LerchenJeldt (for­ med on the pattern of Lerchenborg, where the first element is the surname Lerche); -gave ('gift') as in Frederiksgave (a gift from King

1327

Frederik III); and HoJmansgave (a gift from Niels de Hofman to one of his relatives). 1 .3.

Names of crofts and villas

For the management of the many estates which were established in Sweden during the 1 7th and 1 8th centuries, a large number of workers were needed, and consequently thou­ sands of minor settlements were established on the grounds ofthose estates, a development which cuhninated in the 1 9th century. Very many of the names of those crofts (Sw. torp) bear witness to this growing part of the popu­ lation and their professions, e.g. Mjolnartor­ pet ('the miller's croft'), Smedstorp ('the smith's croft') and Skriiddarbo ('the tailor's settlement'). The names of these minor settlements are interesting in many ways, not least from the point of view of cultural history, but not much attention has been paid to this category of names in onomastic literature (several inter­ esting types of such names belong to the 19th century and are thus outside the period ofthis overview). The following examples are typical for central Sweden (for examples from north­ ern Sweden, cf. Hagervall 1986). Names ending in -bo are very common. The medieval place-name ending -bodhir, later -bodha (pI. of bodh 'shed') eventually develop­ ed into -bo and assumed the character of a suffix used for naming minor settlements (cf. art. 108, 1.2.1.), e.g. in Persbo (man's name Per) and Viisterbo (viister 'west'). Another common second element is torp 'croft', e.g. in Glasmiistartorp ('the glazier's croft') and Kiill­ torpet ('the croft by the spring'). A frequent name is Nybygget ('the new settlement'). Several names of crofts are original field names, e.g. Langiingen ('the long meadow') and Hagen ('the enclosed pasture') or original minor names, e. g. Karrback ('the marsh rivu­ let') and Trollberget ('the troll mountain'). In the 18th century, and even more in the 19th century, stereotyped names of a type charac­ teristic of castles and manors, with a personal name as the first element, became popular, e. g. Eriksdal and Petersberg (cf. 1.2.). The first el­ ement in these names as a rule refers to the owner or his wife. Several Swedish crofts were named after foreign places. In Scania, Sweden's southern­ most province, we find examples such as Bran­ deborg, Brunnsvik, Gottorp and Mickelborg (all known from the 1 7th century), named after Brandenburg, Braunschweig, Gottorp

1328 and Mecklenburg in Germany. These places had become familiar to the estate owners dur­ ing their careers as officers in the many wars, and there were also many Germans working for the administration in Scania at the time (Hallberg 1976, 5 5 ff.). Among the crofts be­ longing to the Munka-Ljungby estate in the northwestern part of Scania, we can mention Bender, Bukarest, Jassy and Poltava, all known from 17th and 1 8th century military history (Hallberg 1976, 73 f.). Foreign names of another character are bib­ lical names, such as Betlehern, Jeriko and Nasaret. These are found all over Sweden, the oldest dating back to the second half of the 17th century, and they often refer to remote minor settlements. In Norway quite a few crofts (Norw. hus­ mansplass) were established during the 1 8th and 19th centuries, the names of which still lack thorough investigation (cf. Aars 1983; Bugge 1919; Sandnes 1968). Common second elements are hus ('house'), plass ('place') and stove ('cottage'), and field-name elements such as gjerde ('enclosure; field'), hage ('enclosed pasture'), lykkje ('enclosed field') and sve ('burn-beaten area'). The names most often occur in the definite fonn. Dominant first el­ ements are the name or profession of the crofter, e.g. Petersplassen and Snekkersvea (snikkar 'carpenter'). Simple names such as Lykkja and Hagen are also common. Icelandic names of leasehold farms (Icel. hjaleiga) are discussed by Svavar Sigmunds­ son (1996). Some of these names are of medi­ eval origin, but the majority of them are younger. Common second elements in these names are kat ('small house'), gerai ('enclosed pasture or meadow'), sel ('house at the sum­ mer pasture area'), hils ('cattle house') and hila ('shed'). Among the kat-names, personal names turn up as first elements from 1570 on­ wards. In the 18th century, villas and summer houses belonging to the upper classes could sometimes be given foreign names, following the predilection of the time especially for French culture, e. g. Sw. Fl1jiingan, a transla­ tion of the French La Folie. Some villas north ofStockhohn, Albano, Frescati (now the name of the Stockhohn University campus), Mon­ tebello and Tivoli, borrowed their Italian names from places near Rome as a result of a journey to Italy made by King Gustav III and some noblemen in 1783-84.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

2.

Urban place-names

2. 1 .

Town names

Some Scandinavian towns founded in the sec­ ond half of the 1 6th century were named after members ofthe royal families, e. g. Fredrikstad (1567, Norway; stad 'town') after King Frederik II, and Knrlstad (1584, Sweden) and Knrlskaga (1589, Sweden; skag 'fores!'), both commemorating Duke Karl (later King Karl IX). When the powers of the State and royalty were consolidated in the 17th century, several new towns were founded, and very often they were named after the reigning king or queen or another member of the royalty, e.g. the Danish King Christian IV, who lent his name to Kristianapel (1600, now a village in Sweden; formed on the pattern of Konstantinople, the old name for Istanbul), Kristianstad (1614, now in Sweden), Christianshavn (1619, Den­ mark, now a part of Copenhagen; havn 'har­ bour'), Kristiania (1624, Norway, now Oslo) and Kristiansand (1641, Norway; sand 'sand' refers to its situation on a sand plain). Other examples are Kristinehamn (1642, Sweden; hamn 'harbour') and Kristinestad (1649, Fin­ land) after Queen Kristina, and Knrlskrana (1679, Sweden, formed on the pattern of the town name Landskrona, originally a German castle name; krona 'crown') after King Karl XI. Filipstad (1 6 1 1 , Sweden) took its name from Duke Karl Filip, the youngest son of King Karl IX. This naming pattern continued in the 1 8th century, e.g. Kristiansund (1742, Norway; sund 'sound'), commemorating King Christian VI. 2.2.

Street names

The street names which are known from medi­ eval Scandinavian towns seem to have arisen spontaneously. A large number of these spon­ taneously-created names fell out of use after the Middle Ages, partly because of the great changes in town plans which many towns in­ troduced. The predominant demand for or­ derliness of the 17th century caused the medi­ eval, sometimes confusing, street name system to give way to a system of more permanent, distinct street names. There was also a need for more street names in the growing towns. Ever since then the streets have in the main been named officially. During this period many Scandinavian towns had their medieval town plans consider­ ably changed, following the rectilinear grid

149. The development of place-names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

model of the Renaissance, making a regular street pattern with crossings at right angles and rectangular town blocks, in Swedish called kvarter 'quarters'. The consequences of such a great change to the town plan are par­ ticularly noticeable in Uppsala in Sweden. A resolution issued in 1643 by the regency of Queen Christina enjoined the authorities of the city to remodel the town plan totally, in order to create regularity, which should make the city look more beautiful and reduce the risk of fire. For the citizens this was a revol­ utionary plan. One of the projected new main streets was to cross right through all blocks of the eastern part of the city. Every building standing in its way had to be pulled down and moved, and the new street constructed and paved, all at the owners' expense (Wahlberg 1994, 5 4ff.). The new plan for Uppsala was carried out towards the end of the 1660s. Since the new streets in most cases did not correspond to the old ones, it was necessary to create new street names. For that reason, a Naming Committee was appointed by the borough administrators in 1669. The committee did excellent work. Only a few of the old names could be kept, but the majority of the 26 new names did have a local connection (Wahlberg 1994, 58 ff.). In the 1630s and the 1640s a new town plan was implemented in the northern part of Stockhohn, whereby two of the main streets were given the names Stora Konungsgatan (,Great King's Stree!'), later Drottninggatan ('Queen's Stree!'), and Regeringsgatan ('Gov­ ernment Stree!'), probably in honour of the infant Queen Christina and her regency (SG, 1 54, 176). These three names were also intro­ duced in Uppsala in 1669 (Wahlberg 1994, II1f.; 1 1 7). During the Middle Ages we do not find any King's Streets or Queen's Streets in Scandina­ via, but they exist occasionally in other parts of Europe, for instance in England: Cuninges­ strete (now Coney Street) in York (12th cen­ tury, Smith 1937, 285) and Kingesgate in Lon­ don (1295, Ekwall 1954, 191 f.). They first be­ came common at the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 1 7th century, when royal power was consolidated. The earliest Swedish example is lillngsgatan (1621, 'King's Stree!') 1621 in Gothenburg, probably named in honour of King Gustavus Adolphus, who founded the town in the same year. Nowadays we find KlIngsgatan and Drottninggatan in most Swedish towns. These names have corne to form part of the common street-name

1329

onomasticon (Langenfelt 1939, 28 ff.; Lind­ starn 1986, 188 f.). The street names Drottninggatan, Stora Konungsgatan and Regeringsgatan are also in­ teresting because they are instances of a new naming practice, whereby a district's street names all were taken from the same semantic category. This practice was most certainly borrowed from Amsterdam or Copenhagen. In Holland, grouped names of streets are found in 1596 in Delft, where some streets in a newly built district for textile workers were named after Flemish towns, and in 1614 in Amsterdam, where a number of new streets in the new district of De Jordaan were named after plants. This was a new kind of naming system, which focused on the street pattern, not on each separate street (Rentenaar 1995, 1 26). Thus, the systematic planning of a new town district also included the names of the new streets. A naming practice of the same kind is also found early on in Copenhagen in the district of Christianshavn, founded in 1618, where names such as Kongens gade ('King's Stree!'), Dronninggaden ('Queen's Stree!') and Prinsensgade (,Prince's Stree!') were introduced. In the district of Skipper­ boderne, which was laid out in the 1610s, were added Delfinstnede ('Dolphin Stree!'), Hum­ mergade (,Lobster Street'), Laksegade ('Sal­ mon Stree!') and St@regade ('SturgeonStree!') - these names are first recorded in the 1650s (J0rgensen 1970, 108). It is difficult to say whether Amsterdam or Copenhagen was the direct source of inspiration for the system of semantically grouped names in Stockholm and Uppsala. Copenhagen is, of course, closer to Stockhohn, but Holland and Sweden had quite a lively cultural exchange during the first half of the 1 7th century. In Amsterdam and Copenhagen this new system of naming af­ fected street names, in Sweden chiefly the new­ ly introduced names of street blocks (cf. 2.3.). 2.3.

Names of street blocks in Sweden and Finland

In connection with 1 7th century street regu­ lations in many Swedish towns, the word kvar­ ter 'quarter' carne to denote the small square block of buildings which arose as a result of the new rectilinear grid plans. Earlier, the word was equivalent to jjarding 'a fourth' the medieval Swedish towns were normally divided in four parts (Wahlberg 1986, 1 8 f.). As a result of regulating the street pattern for the northern part of Stockhohn in the 1630s

1 3 30

XIV. The development of the Nordic languages

and the 1640s. there were not only new street names created by the authorities; another in­ teresting innovation was the naming of these small street blocks, the kvarler (Rosell 1979, 33 ff.). Names of street blocks were introduced also in Uppsala by the Naming Committee of1669 (cf. 2.2.), most probably following the Stock­ holm model - Uppsala seems to have been the first town after Stockholm to introduce such names (Wahlberg 1994, 62ff.). Several naming principles were used. Most of the names have a local connection - the blocks Triidgarden ('The Garden') and Fagelsiingen ('The Bird Song') fonned parts of the old castle garden, and in the block Pistolen ('The Pistol'), a pis­ tol-maker had his house. Some of the names are examples of the above-mentioned naming practice whereby all names relate to a certain semantic category. a practice probably also borrowed from Stockholm (cf. 2.2.). In the old Admiralty parish of Stockholm there are 17th cen tury examples of block names such as Havsfrun ('The Mennaid') and Sjomallllen ('The Seaman') and other names connected with marine life (Rosell 1979, 37). In Uppsala quite a few blocks were given names desig­ nating animals, such as Lejonet ('The Lion'), Biivern ('The Beaver') and Niiktergalen ('The Nightingale'). Among these animals we also find JUlIgfrun ('The Maid'), certainly not an animal, but a constellation, as are some of the other animals. In The Old Town of Stockholm, no street regulation was carried out. Nevertheless, the old street blocks in this district were given names which are known from 1718. The oldest 86 names all refer to classical antiquity Ro­ man and Latinized Greek personal names and names of gods, e.g. Bacchus, Charon and Pyramus and Thisbe. Classical mythology was an important component in contemporary art and literature. The fact that a name category without any special connection to the district was chosen for The Old Town, in contrast to other parts of the town, has been interpreted as being a consequence of the lack of special topographical or architectural characteristics (Bystrom 1974). This uniquely Swedish custom of naming the small street blocks, which is still in use, did not follow any direct foreign pattern, and it did not spread outside Sweden with the ex­ ception of Finland (once Swedish), where names of street blocks are, however. no longer in official use (Blomqvist 1 999). -

3.

Place-names i n Finnish settlement areas in central Sweden and Norway

Ever since Finland became a part of the Swedish kingdom during the early Middle Ages, Finns have, for several reasons, moved to Sweden. During the Middle Ages we find them foremost in the towns and in the prov­ inces round Lake Ma.laren, often as seasonal workers, but some of them also settled as farmers or dealt with mining. Some place­ names in Finn- bear witness to their existence. From the 1570s to the 1650s a very large group of immigrants arrived from Savolax in the province of Tavastland. They made their way to vast and mostly uninhabited forest areas in central Sweden and Norway. With the aid of a large-scale burn-beating technique, which made it possible to utilize pine forests to grow corn, the Finns established new settle­ ments. Extensive Finnish districts, so-called finnmarker or finnskogar, developed, especial­ ly in the provinces of Viinnland, Vastman­ land, Dalarna, Giistrikland, Halsingland and Medelpad. Here Finnish culture and Finnish language survived well into the 1 9th century, and in northwestern Vannland and the adjac­ ent parts of Norway, Grue finnskog, until re­ cently. The account given here refers to Finn­ ish settlement areas in Sweden (Wahlberg 1991) but are valid also for the Norwegian areas (Eskeland 1994). The areas colonized by the Finns had been exploited earlier. Quite a few Swedish place­ names, mostly referring to lakes and rivers. testify to the fact that Swedes had utilized the grounds for hay harvesting, hunting and fish­ ing. Minor localities, though, probably did not have any names before the arrival ofthe Finns. Thousands of Finnish place-names for pools, rivnlets, bogs, mountains, hills and the like still give evidence of the mother tongue of the original settlers. The Finnish language spoken by the immigrants was an eastern Finnish dia­ lect, which differed a great deal from modern standard Finnish. Since the majority of these names have for a long time been used only by a Swedish- and Norwegian-speaking popula­ tion and are thus a part of the Swedish and Norwegian onomasticon, they have been adapted in different ways and to a varying de­ gree. They are therefore spelt according to Swedish and Norwegian orthography with the traditional locally used fonns of the names as the basis. The result is that several variants

149. The development of place-names from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

ofthe same name element can b e found. Some Swedish examples will be given here. The word for 'pool', standard Finnish lampi, as second element of a name occurs as -lamb, -lambi, -lamm, -lammi, -lamp and -lampa as in the common Paskalamm 'the dirty pool', Some other common second elements are -a, -ao 'old burn-beaten land used as hay-field or for pasture' (standard Finnish aho) as in Vattao 'the raspberry aho'; -so, -sa 'bog' (standard Finnish suo) as in Pickaso 'the long bog'; -mack, -magg, -mack, -magg 'mountain, hill' (standard Finnish miiki) as in Karomiigg 'the bear hill'; and -nick, -nit, -nite, -nitt, -nitti, -nitu, nity 'meadow' (standard Finnish niitty) as in Alanite 'the lower meadow'. The Finnish onomasticon can be divided into four categories: (1) full borrowings (often subject to sound substitutions, distortions and changes resulting from so-called popular ety­ mology), e. g. Paskaiamm 'the dirty poo!' (2) full borrowings with an added epexegetic ele­ ment, e. g. Paskalammstjarnen (Sw. tjam 'poo!'), (3) borrowings with the second el­ ement translated, e.g. Paskatjiirnen, (4) full loan-translations, e.g. Lorttjamen 'the dirty pool' from Paskalamm.

4.

Official spelling of place-names in Norway, The Faroes and in the provinces of Halland and Scania in Sweden

When Norway, together with The Faroes, be­ came a Danish province in 1 536, Norwegian and Faroese gradually lost ground as the of­ ficial languages for the administration and the church. The spelling of the Norwegian place­ names in official registers attained more and more a Danish character, and at the beginning of the 1 7th century the old Norse tradition as regards place-name spelling was broken (NOV 1983 : 6, 17-21). Words cornman to Norwegian and Danish or such Norwegian words which could easily be identified with corresponding Danish words were written ac­ cording to Danish spelling of the time, e. g. Haffue for Haga, Mouff for Mo, and Schouff for Skog. Thus there was a big difference be­ tween the written and spoken language. Some of those Danicized fOnTIS still exist, e. g. the Norwegian town name Halden (instead of * Hallen or * Halla). The former Danish provinces of Halland, and Blekinge and Scania were transferred to Sweden in 1645 and in 1658 respectively. The

1331

transition of the place-names in Halland and Scania from a Danish to a Swedish orthograph­ ic form has been discussed by Hallberg (1985) and Pamp (1985). As regards Scania, it turns out that (1) Danish forms which were not sup­ ported by both the dialect pronunciation and Swedish linguistic usage rarely became stand­ ard, (2) the dialect has a certain degree of in­ fluence on those name elements which cannot be related to Swedish linguistic usage, (3) Swedish influence is revealed in adaptations to Swedish words and name elements and to Swedish phonetic practice and phonotactics. In Scania the new norm in most cases had been established already a century after Scania had become Swedish, in Halland even earlier.

5.

Literature (a selection)

Aars, Ivar (1983), Fra Trilla og T0rrisplassen til Jova og hja Ivar sy. Urn plassenavn i Valdres. In: ArbokJor Vaidres 1983, 145 198. Blomqvist, Marianne (1999), Kvartersnamn i Fin­ land. In: Den nordiska namnforskningen. I gar, i dag, i morgon. Handlingar fran NORNA:s 25:e sympo­ sium i Uppsala 7 9 februari 1997 (Red. Mats Wahl­ berg) (NORNA-rapporler 67). Uppsala, 175 188. Bugge, Alexander (1919), Oprindelsen til dennorske husmandsstand og navnene paa husmandsplasser sa:rlig i Telemark. In: Historielaget for Telemark og Grenland. Aarsskrift 1919, 5 47. Bystrom, Tryggve (1974), Kvartersnamneni Staden mellan broarna (Staden) i StockhoM. In: Sankt Eriks arsbok 1974, 170 197. Ejder, Bertil (1950), Nagotom namnenpa vara slott och herrgardar. In: Ortnamnssallskapets i Uppsala arsskrift, 19 34. Ekwall, Eilert (1954), Street-Names of the City of London. London. Eskeland, Tuula (1994), Fra Diggasborra til Diggas­ bekken: Finske stedsnavn pa de norske finnskogene. Oslo. Hagervall, Claes Borje (1986), Studier over yngre nybyggesnamn i Vasterbottens lan, sarskilt i Vannas socken: Ett bidrag till en norrliindsk bebyggelsenamns­ atlas (Nordsvenska. Skrifter utg. av Institutionen for nordiska sprak vid Umea universitet 2). Umea. Hallberg, Goran (1976), Kring nagra skanska namn­ miljoer indelningsverk, herrgardskultur och upp­ kallelse efter utomskanska forebilder. In: sol 43 91. Hallberg, Goran(1985), De halLindska ortnamnens overgang fran dansk till svensk skriftspraksnonn. In: Stednavne i brug. Festskrift udgivet i anledning af Stednavneudvalgets 75 ars jubila:um (Navne­ studier udg. af Institut for Navneforskning 26). K0benhavn, 83 96.

1 3 32

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Jorgensen, Bent (1970), Dansk gadenavneskik (Nav­ nestudier udg. af Institut for Navneforskning 9). K0benhavn. Langenfelt, G6sta (1939), Namnproblem i de svenska stiiderna (Svenska stadsf6rbundet 18). StockhoM. Lindstam, Carl Sigfrid (1986), Goteborgs gatunamn. 3rd ed. Goteborg. Mattisson, Ann-Christin (1982), Elementet hus i medeltida nordiska borgnamn. In: SNF 63, 17 37. Mattisson, Ann-Christin (1986), Medeltida nordiska borg- och siitesgbrdsnamn pa -holm (Acta Univer­ sitatis Upsaliensis. Nomina Gennanica. Arkiv for gennansk namnforskning 17). Stockholm. NOV 1983: 6 = Stadnamn (Noregs offentlege ut­ greiingar. NOV 1983: 6). Oslo/Bergen/Troms0. Pamp, Bengt (1985), De sblnska ortnamnens over­ gang fran dansk till svensk riksspraksnonn. In: Stednavne i brug. Pestskrift udgivet i anledning af Stednavneudvalgets 75 ars jubila:um (Navnestudier udg. af Institut for Navneforskning 26). K0ben­ havn, 188 210. Rentenaar, Rob (1995), Den nederlandske gadenavn­ givnings historie. In: NoB 83, 1 1 9 38. Rosell, Carl Magnus (1979), Kvartersnamnen i Stockhohn och deras ursprung. In: Ortnamnssall­ skapets i Uppsala arsskrift, 33 43. Sandnes, J0m (1968), Stadnamn i Meldal. In: Meldal bygdebok. 1. Bygdesoga til ikring 1700. Pra andsliv til kulturarbeid gjennom tida (ed. Olaf Havdal). Meldal, 50 80. SG = Stahre, Nils-Gustaf/Fogelstrom, Per-Anders/ Ferenius, Jonas/Lundqvist, Gunnar (1992), Stock­ holms gatunamn. Under medverkan av BOrje West-

150.

lund/Lars Wikstrom/Goran Sidenbladh/Lars Cleve/ Carl Magnus Rosell. 2 utokade uppl. (Stockholms­ monografier utg. av Stockhohns stad 50). Stock­ holm. Sigmundsson, Svavar (1996), Namnmonster i is­ Lindska gaxdsnamn. In: Den ellevte nordiske nav­ neforskerkongressen. Sundvollen 19. 23. juni 1994 (Red. Kristoffer Kruken) (NORNA-rapporter 60). Uppsala, 413 427. Smith, A.H. (1937), The place-names of the East Riding of Yorkshire and York (English Place-name Society 14). Cambridge. Steenstrup, Johannes (1918), Sa:degaardes og Herregaardes Navne. In: De danske Stednavne. De­ res Tolkning og hvad de oplyser om vort Lands Be­ byggelse og Polkets Kultur gennem Tiderne. 2nd ed. K0benhavn, 57 65. Wahlberg, Mats (1986), Fran Fjardingen till Svart­ backen. Medeltida stadsdelsnamn i Uppsala. In: Ortnamnssallskapets i Uppsala arsskrift, 18 39. Wahlberg, Mats (1991), Ortnamnsforradet i de svenska finnmarkema. In: Ortnamnssallskapets i Uppsala arsskrift, 48 69. Wahlberg, Mats (1994), Ortnamnen i Uppsala Ian. 5 : 1 Uppsala kommun. Uppsalas gatunamn (Skrifter utg. genom Ortnamnsarkivet i Uppsala. Serie A: Sveriges ortnamn). Uppsala. Wohlert, Inge (1986), Lidt om herregaxdsnavne. In: Mange bEkke sma. Til JoJm Kousgard S@rensen pa tresbrsdagen 6.12.1985 (eds. Vibeke Dalberg/Gillian Fellows-Jensen) (Navnestudier udg. af Institut for Navneforskning 27). K0benhavn, 255 266.

Mats Wahlberg, Uppsala (Sweden)

The development of the Nordic languages from the mid-16th century to the end of the 18th century: Sociolinguistic aspects

1. 2. 3. 4.

Swedish Danish and Norwegian Icelandic and Faroese Literature (a selection)

1.

Swedish

1.1.

The sociolinguistic situation around 1550

The Swedish language as it was around the middle of the 16th c., had undergone far­ reaching changes in terms of vocabulary, mor­ phology and, not least, syntax in writing and

- itmust reasonably be assumed - to a varying degree also in speech. It had been transformed from a synthetic classical Germanic tongue into a more modern, analytic language. It was also strongly coloured by Low German. The more widespread the ability to read and write became, the more natural it was that the old written norm, nurtured above all by the church, should be broken down and make way for a modern language. It has traditionally been suggested that the impetus for the major changes affecting Swedish carne from Ger­ man. In the largest towns at least, and espe-

1333

150. Sociolinguistic aspects

cially the capital, bilingualism was no doubt commonplace. German influence was clearly in evidence in both public administration and trade. Moberg (1989) has given an in-depth account of the bilingualism of medieval Stock­ holm. She emphasizes that it must have been the result of intense day-to-day contact over a long period, but that this was not a question of a diglossic situation. Danish, too, exerted a significant influence: in the late Middle Ages, Sweden formed part of a union with Den­ mark-Norway, and a similar linguistic pattern prevailed in all three countries. At the macro level, the social development during this per­ iod can be seen as an adjustment to the feudal conditions prevailing on the continent, with a powerful nobility and an influential urban merchant class, together with a reasonably well-educated clergy spread fairly widely across the country - three groups which stood out from the great mass of the peasantry. A clear linguistic marker ofthe social differences was the use of the plural I instead of the sin­ gular du as the form of address for persons of higher rank. The common linguistic devel­ opment of the Nordic countries came to an end for Sweden when it broke free from the union in the 1 520s. With the new Bible trans­ lation of 1 541 , Sweden turned its back on the Danish-influenced language of the union peri­ od. It also laid a foundation for the linguistic unity of the country by providing much-need­ ed guidance on orthography. Beneath this relatively stable surface, how­ ever, there must have been an immense breadth of variation in the spoken language. The modern Swedish that emerged in the final centuries ofthe Middle Ages cannot have been in the repertoire of every Swede. Clearly it must have been coloured to a greater or lesser degree by different regional substrates, which are also discernible in OSw. texts. It has long been held that, as early as the Middle Ages, there were Swedish dialects which were rela­ tively similar to those that would be recorded at a much later date. Some modern-day rural dialects exhibit features that are otherwise known only from classical OSw., and which sometimes are even older than that. It is al­ most inconceivable that a modern language could have been superimposed on an archaic one without leaving traces in the form of social differences. Presumably, therefore, a broad spectrum of spoken Swedish existed, with the variety providing the basis for writing at one end and a very archaic form of speech at the other. Only to an extremely limited extent are

we able to follow this variation through his­ tory. However, from the beginning of the 17th c. onwards we do find samples of spoken dia­ lects of Swedish in written texts. As for later periods, evidence of social differences in speech can be found in grammars, and also in texts of an oral character, such as letters and comedies, although sources of these types must be approached with a certain amount of caution. Obviously, we also need to reckon with the influence of one social class on an­ other, or at any rate of higher classes on lower. 1 .2.

The sociolinguistic stratification of spoken Swedish according to Sven Hof

To find a solid foundation for a study of so­ cially determined linguistic differences, we must move on to the 1 8th c. Sven Hofs Sven­ ska sprakets ratta skrivsatt [On the correct writing of the Swedish language] from 1753 admittedly has as its primary aim the laying down of authoritative rules on orthography, but since it is Hofs contention that correct writing should be based on correct speech, his discussion also brings him onto the subject of variation in the spoken language and the so­ cial value of the different variants. Hof points out (§§ 1 1 7- 122) that considerable linguistic variation exists in Sweden. Every province has its own mode of speech, which is rarely uni­ form beyond a radius of a few tens of kilo­ metres. In addition to this regional diversity, there is also situational and social variation. One difference is that existing between the lan­ guage of the public and the private spheres. A typical feature of the speech variety of the public sphere is that it preserves the old, longer forms of words which in private speech are often abbreviated, giving rise to word pairs such as fader-far 'father', eder-er 'you, your', hava-ha 'have' and sade-sa 'said'. As Carin O stman (1 992) shows, occasional instances of the shorter forms can be found even in texts from the Middle Ages, but it would be a long time before they were fully accepted in writing. The spoken language of the private sphere en­ compasses a good deal of variation, and Hof divides it into two categories: umgangessprak - a language of (polite or educated) conver­ sation, used by the upper classes - and gemene mans sprak - the language of the common man, used by the great mass of other Swedes. Thus, even in a single place, variations in spoken language could occur. Hof describes the differences between the various styles of

1 3 34 speech in some detail, quoting numerous examples. In particular, he sheds light on the relationship between Uppland speech and public speech (see especially §§ 336- 345). Uppland speech, in the form used by the com­ mon man or woman, is, he says, completely out of place in the public sphere. The only form of it that is deemed acceptable is the variety used in more fashionable circles in Stockhohn and the neighbouring provinces. (Roughly the same geographical demarcation had previously been proposed by Arvidi and Columbus. See Widmark 1992, 165.) This higher variety of Uppland speech, according to Hof, is the one that enjoys most prestige, but as a rule its forms are still not accepted in the context of public speaking. The polite conversational fonn dahar 'this', for example, must be replaced in more demanding situ­ ations with datta. To Hofs way of thinking, then, the norm-defining position of public speech is virtually uncontested. A command of it also required a good command of the written language. According to Hof (§ 189), both sexes were generally able to read, and a good number of men and women could also write. In addition, he mentions (§ 3 3 8) that, among the well-read especially, the language of public speaking sometimes replaced the lan­ guage of conversation, a practice which he views as unnatural. Thus, to Hof, a good rnas­ teryofthe language meant a firm grasp of both public speech and an educated language of conversation. Hofs categorization of the varieties of Swedish makes it clear that we are concerned here with three different levels of speech, each of which must be described and taken into ac­ count if we wish to capture the changes oc­ curring in the language. In certain cases this tripartite division is particularly clear (see Widrnark 1991). In public speech, the old -en form of the definite article of strong feminines and the neuter plural was retained. In the local dialects of central Sweden - which are of no concern to Hof - the same ending can appear as -a or -i. In addition, Hof mentions a com­ pletely different form, -an (§ 338), associated with the polite colloquial language of Stock­ holm. According to Stahle (1979, 210, 215, 226; also Lindstrom 1993, 1 36 f.), there is evi­ dence of this form already in the late Middle Ages, and it is quite common in the 1 6th and 17th c. By Hofs day it was presumably on the decline. It was probably a hybrid form based on the -en of more elevated speech and the usual dialectal form -a. Neuter plurals

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages could also assume another form in the lan­ guage of conversation, -ena. According to Wessen (1965, 200), this variant arose in the 17th c. under the influence of the informal pro­ nunciation ofthe definite plural of non-neuter nouns. Innovations in educated colloquial speech were, in other words, able to compete successfully with developments in more for­ mal language. As late as the beginning of the 20th c., a form such as husena 'the houses' could be identified as a "form of the future". Today, though, it is losing ground, displaced by the old form husen, although it has gained something of a foothold in the dialects. The language of polite conversation thus appears to have fought an at times successful, at times losing battle against the language of public speaking. To a certain extent it was also adopted by the common people. Its downward diffusion must presumably have been medi­ ated primarily by the large servant class, and above all in the towns. A linguistic influence in the opposite direction would hardly have been natural. Stahle suggests (1979, 210) that the form solan 'the sun' may have been chosen as a hypercorrection of the dialectal sola. In the same way, although much later, husena may have declined in use because it had also become common among the broad masses of the people. When solen, husen finally also dis­ placed the forms found in aristocratic speech, it was not because they actually existed to some extent in the dialects, but rather because of the prestige associated with writing and public speaking. 1.3.

The language of polite conversation

As has already been indicated, Hof makes it clear that the language of (polite) conversation embraced a good deal of local variation, but that the Stockholm variety enjoyed the most prestige. The age ofthis type of conversational language is difficult to determine. It probably played a socially differentiating role and evolved over a long period, from the Middle Ages onward. In the 17th c., it strongly coloured the writings of aristocratic women, such as Agneta Horn's handwritten autobiography or Beata Rosenhane's letters to her family. When their contemporary Johan Ekeblad penned letters from the court in Stockholm to his brother in Vastergotland, he too used an in­ formal kind of Swedish, with quite a strong Stockholm flavour, but its stylistic level is markedly higher than that of the two noble­ women. It may probably be assumed, then,

1335

150. Sociolinguistic aspects

that gender differences existed in such linguis­ tic usage at the time. Excellent documentation of the speech of the more distinguished circles of Stockhohu society towards the end of the 18th c. is pro­ vided by a short divertissement by A. F. Ristell, Nagra mil ifran Stockholm [A few miles from Stockhohu], performed in 1787. The author was keen to ensure that the inexperienced ac­ tors used realistic conversational language and therefore consistently wrote their lines in that form. A detailed description ofhis speech­ imitating text is given by Grip (1901). To the modern reader, the upper-class speech which it reflects seems quite dialectal. Other sources give a similar impression. See Hilhuan (1974), regarding the second half of the 1 8th c., and Widmark (1970), concerning the first half of that c. Socially differentiated speech is also to be found in the school dramas of the 1 7th c. Comedies like Carl Gyllenborg's Svenska spriitthoken [The Swedish dandy] and Olof von Dalin's Den avundsjuke [Thejealous man], both from the end of the 1730s, offer an insight into sociolinguistic rules which required con­ siderable differentiation of the spoken lan­ guage. A striking illustration of this is the varying use of second-person pronouns which we find in such texts. In the salons of the high­ est circles, the plural I is used between equals and to address ladies. In the coffee-house, in all-male company, ni - a variant that had de­ veloped in the spoken language - is used as a marker of everyday informality. Between in­ timate female friends, l or du is used, depend­ ing on the setting. In an emotional utterance, a speaker may suddenly address someone as du, the pronoun otherwise being mainly re­ served for children and subordinates. Ser­ vants, in the presence of their masters, tend to speak informally but correctly; in other contexts they are allowed to use their normal "low" language - which in the 19th c. at least could be referred to as "maid's language" (see Stahle 1981). The conversational language of Stockholm in its pure form, then, was only spoken by a relatively small group of people, but it was this group who set the standard in and around the capital. Dalin, with roots in the province of Halland, appears to have used the same in­ formal style of speech in his comedy as the Stockhohuer Gyllenborg. However, at least as far as pronunciation was concerned, Stock­ hohu Swedish seems to have had only a mod­ est influence on other local conversational varieties. According to Hof (1772, 80 f.) the

Lord's Prayer sounded different i n Vastergot­ land speech than in that of Stockhohu. 1 .4.

Public speech/court language

It is clear from Hofs account that the impor­ tant stylistic variety he refers to as 'public speech' (offentligt tal) was based essentially on the written language. At the same time, he in­ vokes this form of speech as a model for or­ thography - a seemingly circular argument. It should be noted, though, that Hof sees pub­ lic speech primarily as a spoken language, but points out that it has preserved word forms which in everyday speech have been de­ graded or changed in other ways. In other re­ spects, too, it differs so much from private speech that it can provide the basis for " cor­ rect speech". This normative variety is no doubt the same one that is referred to else­ where as 'court language' (hovsprak). Hof himself does not use the latter term, but it was employed by earlier writers of grammars (Tiiilhuann; Hiiirne; Swedberg), along with the variants 'court Swedish' and 'court style'. Other grammarians, too, mention the lan­ guage used at court as special in some way. Columbus, for example, points out that cour­ tiers do not use the flap I of everyday speech. Petrus Lagerlof (1691, 76) argues that correct spoken Swedish should be guided by the writ­ ten language, but makes an exception for the language of the court, which he says can also be used in writing. Clearly, around 1700, 'court language' was a variety that was re­ garded as exemplary, and the term appears to have been so familiar that it required no ex­ planation. Evidently, court speech had strict rules of pronunciation - cf. Columbus' as­ sessment of flap l. Swedberg asserts that omission of the auxiliary verb har, hade 'have, had' in subordinate clauses is a feature of this speech style, but not of religious language. He thus makes it clear that the term 'court lan­ guage' refers to more than just pronunciation but does not encompass written Swedish in all its forms. Hiarne contrasts the language of the court with what he calls bondska, 'rustic speech', and it is mentioned as the antithesis of Dalarna dialect as recently as the early 19th c. Evidently, what we are concerned with here is a subdivision of the language into public and private (see Widmark 2000 for further dis­ cussion). The heavy emphasis placed on court language as the ultimate standard presumably has something to do with the discussion, above all in the 17th and 1 8th centuries, about

1 3 36 "the best language". A perception of what constituted correct language and where it could be found appears to have emerged at an early date (see art. 166). In Sweden, the town of Nykoping has for centuries been cited as the place where the best Swedish is spoken. Its reputation in this regard can be traced back to the 17th c. and hence linked to the court, which at the beginning of that century often resided in the town and may be assumed to have more or less set its stamp on it (see Wid­ mark 1992, 165.) The court of the 16th c. has been described as a large and distinctive institution, a society within a society (Hellner 1966, 195 f.). It ac­ companied the king from one castle or palace to another and had numerous functions, both military and administrative. It attracted noblemen from different parts of the country. Sons of noble families could complete their education there. Service at court could be con­ sidered necessary for anyone wishing to 0btain special privileges or favours. It also provided foreign contacts, since foreigners could fonn part of the court and also visit it. On the oc­ casion of such visits, which would be sur­ rounded by much ceremonial, noblemen would be summoned to assist in entertaining the guest and securing trade. It is easy to see how, in this special environment, a high degree of linguistic formality could also come to be required. The public variety of speech confer­ red status and may, for reasons of mutual comprehensibility alone, have been a natural vehicle of communication. The private lan­ guage that must presumably have existed even among courtiers may have been restricted to purely domestic settings. The careful pronun­ ciation which was such a strict requirement of court speech seems to have had its basis in the written language, though chiefly in the guise it assumed when read aloud: in the Middle Ages at least, this was how people most commonly encountered the written word. Even in medieval times, it would have been perfectly natural for reciters of texts to avoid the slipshod pronunciation of everyday speech in favour of distinct, careful forms closely reflecting the spelling. What was new about the language of the court was primarily that careful speech variants began to be used more widely, spreading into all forms of speech bordering on the public, or at any rate those of a non-private character. For this to happen, the court variety must presumably, to begin with at least, have been universally associated with considerable social prestige

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages and viewed as superior to all forms of private speech. The reason Hof makes no mention of it may be that it had by then lost its specific link to the court but retained a sense of "for­ mal speech". Such a variety could still enjoy high status in official contexts. Its uniform character enabled it to serve as a national standard and, for dialect speakers, it provided access to a larger speech community (see 1.5.). 1 . 5.

Sociolinguistic changes

As has been indicated, the state of affairs de­ scribed by Hofwas presumably established or at least becoming established in the 1 6th c., and it subsequently persisted in all essential into the 20th c. This apparent immutability, however, conceals a succession of major up­ heavals. One change which, to some degree, affected the whole of Sweden was that the pre­ dominant foreign influence since the Middle Ages, of German, now gave way to French, a change that is clearly reflected in the lexicon. Stahle (1984) provides a fuller picture of this process. The generations around 1600 were still brought up on a basic diet of German and Latin. Sometimes the wave of French influ­ ence would later catch up with them, and sometimes it would not. From court circles, French loanwords spread across the country (cf. Hallen 2001). Those that had previously entered Swedish in a German guise would, in more refined circles, often reassert their Frenchness, whereas in the dialect the old German variants would survive. In syntax, a Latin-German pattern was gradually super­ seded by a French one (see Stenfors 1994). Phonology was also affected: it has been sug­ gested that a special IJI-sound, common in Stockholm and especially among women, has French roots (see Widmark 1983 and the liter­ ature cited there). The exercise of public office presumably offered less scope for embracing the latest linguistic fashions, which may ex­ plain why women appear to have made a greater effort than men to adopt a refined manner of speech. Among the highest eche­ lons of society, French could take the place of Swedish in conversation, informal writing and cultural debate. A new salon culture had evolved, with stringent rules of social inter­ course. Thus, in the 1 8th c., upper-class cul­ ture appears to have made a radical break with traditional values. This turning away from the old also had a profound and complex impact on court lan­ guage. The first indication that the latter was

1337

150. Sociolinguistic aspects

beginning to be held in less esteem came to­ wards the end of the 17th C . , when the young noblemen of the capital attempted to substi­ tute their own conversational language for the court variety as the basis for the written lan­ guage, thereby introducing a more phonetic system of spelling. Probably it is a programme of this kind that we find in Samuel Columbus's En svensk ordeskotsel [On the cultivation of Swedish] from 1678, a work that was never quite completed and that was not printed until much later. It is written in a Swedish so co­ loured by speech that it has been suggested that it is based on the local dialect of the author's childhood, but this seems unlikely, given Columbus' background as a well­ educated and fastidious poet (see Widmark 1991). One reason why the new orthography of the later 17th c. in fact proved to be a blind alley in the development of the language may be that a simple, oral style was perceived as alien in the polished, norm-bound culture of the 1 8th c. Equally, though, the idea of cling­ ing to the old court language held little ap­ peal. Socially, it had declined and attitudes to it had therefore changed. Paradoxically, the reason for its devaluation was the fact that it had become a kind of national standard. In a geographically and socially mobile society, it was becoming increasingly important as an auxiliary language, since the dialects were ill suited to this purpose, being either socially stigmatized or incomprehensible. Because of this auxiliary function, the language of the court also began to be used as the language of polite conversation. Hofs verdict on this practice - a view he shared with other writers - was that it was unnatural: one of the basic sociolinguistic rules of the time was thatpublic and private should be kept apart. "Court lan­ guage" thus came to be associated increasing­ ly often with a lack of education, no doubt also because many of those with only a little learning had a less than perfect command of this style of speech. This new attitude persis­ ted, and what had once been the language of the court eventually became a despised "schoohnaster's Swedish" (see art. 1 66). The encounter between old and new is illustrated quite well by the two earlier-mentioned come­ dies by Carl Gyllenborg and Olof von Dalin from the end of the 1730s. Both demonstrate very clearly how speech was differentiated on the basis of sociolinguistic rules, but they differ in their treatment of the highest stylistic var­ iety. Gyllenborg seems to have used an un­ rhythmical chancery style of a German type

as his model (see Widmark 2001), while the much younger Dalin draws more on the rhe­ torical vigour of French in his serious passages of speech. The old system of speech styles, as it had developed or was developing at the beginning of the modern period, was thus still alive around 1800, but its use had changed, and in some respects dramatically. Least affected was the speech of the broad masses, who generally found their natural geographic speech com­ munity in their parish and its immediate vi­ cinity, sometimes resulting in a high degree of local linguistic differentiation and the develop­ ment of mutually unintelligible dialects. The increasingly important urban varieties emer­ ged from a dialectal substrate, which, accord­ ing to social class, was modified to varying degrees, primarily on the pattern of the court language and, to a lesser extent, on that of the conversational language of higher Stock­ hohn society. Most affected by the changes, not least in terms of attitudes, was the highest stylistic variety, which in its original form of a court language became outdated - though not without leaving enduring traces in Swedish. The feature which Jesper Svedberg mentions as correct in court language, the omission of the finite auxiliary verb har, hade in subordinate clauses, is still alive and well in written Swedish and sometimes, even now, occasions comment from the standpoint of good usage.

2.

Danish and Norwegian

In Denmark-Norway the period from the Re­ formation to the Enlightenment and patriot­ ism presents a common story of literacy, standardization of the written language and an embryonic spoken language, except that both Danes and Norwegians became literate in Danish, and Danish was the only oral ver­ nacular used for public affairs alongside Latin and German in both countries. 2.1.

The socio-cultural development of the period

The Reformation led to a regionalization of Europe. The former Latin Christian unitary culture of western Europe was split, and Den­ mark-Norway became part of the culturally German-dominated Lutheran region. Being Lutheran meant that great importance was at­ tached to literacy, and reading skills in thever­ nacular were common about 1700. Writing

1338 skills were more restricted and more related to the market economy, i.e. more men than women could write, and more townspeople than peasants; the oldest known Danish peas­ ant diary is from an area in Schleswig where the market economy had already been intro­ duced in the 1 6th c.; the Reformation also re­ sulted in an orientation towards German and Germany, where the Lutheran universities and scholars were situated. In other words: German language and culture had a great im­ pact throughout the whole period, especially in Danish towns. With the Reformation, Norway was reduced from a kingdom in a personal union with Den­ mark to a part of Denmark. Accordingly, only one written language (Danish) was cultivated and standardized, and therefore the Reforma­ tion led to domain expansion in Denmark but strengthened the ongoing development with loss of domains and written language shift in Norway. During the 17th c. the Danish kingdom con­ tracted a great deal, but it was still a multi­ national state until 1814, stretching from Hol­ stein to the North Atlantic. Politically, the early modern period led to a stronger polity and more emphasis on education, and the last part ofthe period was characterized by general standardizing efforts, from weights and mea­ sures to law and language. Demographically, Denmark changed from a rather static country of villages and diminu­ tive market towns to a more mobile society with many scattered freeholds and small­ holdings and expanding towns at the end of the period. Copenhagen was the only large city, in 1801 10.8 per cent of the population lived in the capital, where government and administration, commerce and all institutions of higher education were situated. Because of Danish hegemony and the cen­ tralization of institutions and commerce in Copenhagen, the Norwegian towns remained small. The vast majority of the Norwegian population lived in the countryside, and the peasants seem to have been more independent and to have suffered fewer economic burdens than their Danish counterparts. Culturally, the period can be seen as a pro­ cess of civilization, finally resulting in a cul­ tural split into a high and a popular culture. During the whole period, there was a strong impact from German, to which must be added some French influence from the last half of the 1 7th c. In 1776 a Danish right of citizen­ ship was introduced, according to which all

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages individuals born within the reahn of the Dan­ ish king had certain rights, irrespective of whether their mother tongue was Danish, Norwegian or German. 2.2.

Which domains were Danish?

Danish gradually gained more domains from Latin and German, as can be seen from the distribution oflanguages in different text types and genres from different periods. As an illus­ tration of the perceived difficulties in using Danish for scholarly writing, the grammarian Peder Syv, and enthusiastic advocate of Dan­ ish, wrote in the preface to his Danish gram­ mar (1685): "In some places a whole clause will be given in Latin to make it more intel­ ligible." Towards the end of the period, all imagina­ tive literature in all genres was written in Dan­ ish, and the central administration ofthe king­ dom was conducted in Danish (whereas the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were ad­ ministered in German). As regards spoken language, the language of command in the army changed from Ger­ man to Danish 1773 (whereas it had always been Danish in the Navy), and Latin was re­ placed by Danish as the language of instruc­ tion in secondary schools, but the last bastion, the University of Copenhagen was not con­ quered until 1830. Among the elite we find extrovert, interna­ tional language attitudes and a tendency for highly cultured individuals to demonstrate their sophistication not by their Danish ac­ cent, but rather by mastering several foreign languages and being able to switch to the ap­ propriate language, be it Latin, French, Ger­ man or Italian, depending on the situation and interlocutor. At the Danish Court, for long periods German was the rule more than the exception, and French was also in use, and we know from autobiographies that German was used very much as the colloquial language in many urban milieus, from the commercial patrician class to plain artisans. Many ordi­ nary citizens knew some German, especially Low German. Only the rural population tended to be monolingual, apart from Schles­ wig, where many were bilingual and where the border between spoken Danish and spoken German gradually moved towards the north - a fact that passed rather unnoticed.

1339

150. Sociolinguistic aspects

2.3.

Written Danish, 1550-1 800: a process of standardization

The basic standardization of orthography took place in print during the 16th c., with the 1550 Bible as a first monument. The spell­ ing was not orthophonic, and some late me­ dieval changes were not expressed, for in­ stance the lowering of short vowels and weak­ ening of final consonants. It was a conserva­ tive or even restitutional orthography - an ad­ vantage, we may suppose, for the Norwegian readers. Variation in spelling, so common at the be­ ginning of the period, decreased, the spelling of consonants was simplified, and regularity increased both in print and in written texts. As a result the orthography was rather close to modern orthographic norms by about 1700. Morphology lagged behind in the standard­ ization process. Neither the plural of nouns nor verbal inflexion were fixed until the end ofthe period. Numeral inflexion was preserved in writing (but not in speech), whereas the distinction between masculine and feminine gender was dropped. This gender simplifica­ tion was registered by Copenhagen scribes early in the period, and could probably be per­ ceived as a result of koineization processes in the rapidly growing city. Syntactically, several changes took place, from an old word order depending on topical­ ization or pragmatics to a new one with the distinction between primary and subordinate clauses as the governing principle. As a result we find a lot of syntactic variation, including verb-second and German type verb-final con­ structions. At the end of the period, we find a topologically based distinction between main clauses and subordinate clauses in writ­ ten texts, like modern Scandinavian written language.

2.4.

Lexical changes

The largest changes took place within the lexi­ con. Early in the period there was an archa­ izing tendency to try to revitalize obsolete or dying words, and the grammarians of the 1 7th c. encouraged linguistic cultivation and en­ richment to a large extent through expansion of the lexicon, primarily by introducing com­ pounds. In practice, the Danish lexicon in­ creased very much through lexical transfers. Throughout the whole period, transfer from German took place (but High German had taken over from Low German). The impor-

tance of French rose during the 1 7th c., but the French impact was mostly an upper-class phenomenon and never strong, whereas Ger­ man influence was felt very much at all societal levels. Many Danish equivalents of Latin or French words have German parallels, and it is impossible to decide whether they are Dan­ ish formations or calques. Puristic tendencies were directed against Latin and especially French loans, not German ones; more com­ prehensive purism and anti-German language attitudes belong to the 1 9th c.

2.5.

Stylistic changes

Many lexical changes were caused by changes in stylistic ideals from a broad and partly Latin-influenced humanistic prose to a more gallant French-inspired style. The notion of "Ie bon usage" where "Ie lan­ gage de la cour" was the standard, had al­ ready been imported by the grammarians of the 1 7th c., but most of the realizations of these ideas belong to the 1 8th c. This was sig­ nalled both in writing and in speech in the emergence of a more sophisticated style where lucidity and brevity replaced the former prefer­ ence for redundancy, proverbs and popular locutions, creating a style with shorter sentenc­ es and a smaller, "purer" lexicon (cf. art. 1 92). This sophisticated, pure style is known from written texts, but it is a matter of conjecture how widespread it was in speech: the Danish milieus of this type of speech were few and small.

2.6.

Spoken Danish, 1 550 - 1 800: Dialects and registers

The standardization of written Danish during this period can be followed in the extant texts. Our knowledge of the developments within spoken Danish is more fragmentary, but there is every reason to believe that both conver­ gence and divergence occurred, and that the variation within spoken Danish might have become larger, since the extension of the do­ mains of spoken Danish is likely to have pro­ duced register differences to substitute for the use of different languages for different pur­ poses (Latin, French, High German and Low German). The contemporary grammarians distinguished between three ways of speaking: that of the ordinary, illiterate man, the educated citizen's colloquial speech and public style.

1 3 40

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

The above-mentioned cultural development produced a more refined style within the elite groups which diverged from the ordinary man's way of speaking. Throughout the peri­ od we find negative statements claiming that the simple man's dialects were corrupted, but we cannot quote instances of this leading to dialect convergence. The large majority of the population were urban or rural dialect speak­ ers, and there was a radical differentiation between geographic areas. The social condi­ tions for rural dialects were optimal, due to curtailed regional rnobility of young peasants, which helped to maintain local dialects. Add to this the fact that many market towns had been founded and were self-contained and big enough to establish their own dialects, and that as time went on, increasing social strat­ ification in these towns would allow for emer­ ging social dialects, too. The linguistic and socio-cultural distinction between town and countryside was very sharp, but social and lin­ guistic differentiation was growing within the towns, too. The educated citizens' colloquial speech was not perceived as the " best" language by con­ temporaries. The best language was the ortho­ graphic pronunciation that was used when speaking in public, in lectures, sermons and orations. Syv (1663) commented that educated Zealandic men spoke in a neat [Dan. sirlig, G zierlich] manner in public. There was a distinct functional differentiation between this public style and the refined colloquial style used by the same speakers in private. The refined col­ loquial style was a forerunner of the modern spoken standard language, but it does not meet the standard definition of "maximum variation in use" (i. e. of being appropriate in a maximum of different domains). According to the categorization by contemporary gram­ marians, the situation in both the 17th and the 18th c. must be characterized as a sort of diglossia, with one type of Danish used in pub­ lic situations and another in private, parallel to the choice between Danish and some for­ eign language (Latin, German etc.). 2.7.

Spoken language in Norway, 1550-1 800

In writing, Norwegian was replaced by Danish about 1500, followed by the same shift within many public domains of spoken language. The language of command in the army was Ger­ man until 1773 (from then on it was Danish), in the navy it was Danish, in church everything

was in Danish, and from 1604 the old Nor­ wegian law was replaced by a Danish law. Teaching was in Danish or Latin, and since there was no university in Norway until 1 8 1 1 , members o f the civil services and the educa­ tional elite on the whole were Danish or had been educated in Denmark. The Danish writ­ ten language spread and expanded along a ver­ tical social axis in the Norwegian community, as did spoken Danish (cf. art. 203). This banal colonial situation differs from most others of this type because of the inti­ mate genetic relationship between Danish and Norwegian, i. e. the Danish-Norwegian con­ tact situation is one of dialect contact rather than of language contact. Added to this is the fact that the general usage pattern was the same as in Denmark, with a distinct functional differentiation between two codes, a public versus a private colloquial one among educated people, with a vast majority of the population being monolingual dialect speak­ ers. Public, formal Danish spoken by Norwe­ gians was a Norwegian-based pronunciation of written Danish. It seems to have been held in high esteem also in Denmark, in so far as contemporary Danish grammarians must have had this variety in mind when they men­ tioned Kristiania (now Oslo) among the towns where the best spoken Danish was found. A parallel line of development led to the emergence of an educated colloquial language ("den dannede dagligtale") that became the mother tongue during the 1 8th c. for the educated and well-off citizens. This variety is an amalgamation of Danish and Norwegian. It was influenced by (written) Danish, but its specific Norwegian base was by far more prominent than within public language, and varying degrees of dialectal substrata seem to have represented a central component in the individual variants (cf. art. 206). Apart from public domains such as the church and the courtroom, spoken Danish never gained ground outside towns. This means that spoken Norwegian was main­ tained in the shape of both rural and urban regional dialects during a period of nearly 400 years without a written Norwegian. Towards the end of this period, a Norwe­ gian national identity emerged among Norwe­ gian students in Copenhagen. They founded Del norske Selskab [The Norwegian Associ­ ation], but their Norwegianness did not result in any efforts to create a Norwegian written language, which belongs to the next period.

1341

150. Sociolinguistic aspects

2.8.

Copenhagen dialect and the emergence of spoken Danish

Copenhagen was the only city by European standards; it was where educational and cul­ tural institutions were located and, as the seat of the absolute monarch from the mid 1 7th c., it was also the location of central adminis­ tration, the commercial aristocracy and no­ bility. The language of the Court cannot have played any important role in the emergence of a spoken standard Danish, since the Court was German-speaking during the greater part of the period, but the concentration of pres­ tigious elements present in Copenhagen pro­ vided the local colloquial speech with much prestige, and it might be characterized as an embryonic spoken standard. At times Copenhagen grew very fast, and not surprisingly we find striking examples of simplifications like the reduction of genders from three to two, common and neuter (as in modern standard Danish), during the 16th c., while the surrounding dialects maintained three genders until the early 20th c. (Pedersen 1 999). Regarding phonology, the Copenhagen dialect has a simpler vowel system than the Zealand dialects, which have many diphthong­ izations, as well as simplifications in the con­ sonant system, where n, nn and nd have merg­ ed in Copenhagen but only partly in the rural dialects. In these details standard Danish fol­ lows the old Copenhagen dialect. In many other cases this is not true, e.g., the pronun­ ciation of V + as diphthongs in colloquial Copenhagen dialect. It is a matter of discussion whether it is rea­ sonable to speak of spoken standard Danish before the 19th c., when colloquial Copen­ hagen dialect merged with the public variety, but it is clear that the Copenhagen dialect had become a prestige dialect and had gradually gained ground or even replaced the other dia­ lects. This is also connected with cultural changes during the 1 8th c., when polished manners among educated people caused many lexical changes, e. g. abandoning improper and rustic words for more elegant expressions, which widened the gap between rural and ur­ ban, especially Copenhagen, populations and dialects. At the end of the period, about 1800, written standard Danish was well-established and was used in all genres. The next step in literacy was to be general writing skills. In spoken Danish the emergence of a proper standard language was just around the corner, and the

prestige of the Copenhagen dialect indicated the basis of the future spoken standard. In Norway, the Danification of the public sphere was carried through, and colloquial speech among the educated was a compromise be­ tween Danish and Norwegian, but the com­ mon man had maintained his Norwegian dia­ lect. This gives an indication of the linguistic battle of the 19th c. between Dano-Norwegian and New Norwegian.

3.

Icelandic and Faroese

3.1.

Icelandic

3.1.1.

Linguistic status

In morphology and syntax very few changes have occurred since medieval times in Icelan­ dic, whereas several phonological changes took place especially during the 13 th and 14th centuries, cf. art. 202. The vowel mergers were in part followed up in the spelling tradition, whereas the other phonological changes were so systematic that they did not cause any need for orthographic changes; their consequences were only some new (subconscious) reading rules (e. g. "rn always pronounced as dn" etc.). The written language could therefore retain its conservative features without causing dif­ ficulties for the users. 3 . 1 .2.

The social situation

The Icelandic community was strictly c1ass­ stratified, even though it did not have any for­ mal social hierarchy. Around 1800, a few fam­ ilies dominated as owners ofthe farms, where­ as 95 per cent of the population were proper­ tyless tenants (Gustafsson 1985). Officers of the Crown were often Danes, but some Ice­ landers held such powerful posts as well, and these Icelandic officers were normally mem­ bers of landowning families. From the early Middle Ages, Danish had developed more and more in a different direc­ tion from Icelandic, so that the Danish rulers and their Icelandic subjects could not under­ stand each other's languages any longer at the beginning of the new era. The Icelandic population 0[ 30,000-50,000 persons was scattered on isolated farms along the long coast of the island. The only tenden­ cies to urbanization centered on some fishing villages, especially on the Sn",fellsnes penin­ sula, and these had a concentration of people first and foremost when the farmers stayed

1 3 42

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

there during the fishing season. Only a few people lived exclusively from fishing. From early in the 1 6th c., the Danish king aimed at controlling trade, first by licenses and later by a royal trading monopoly, and this led to a concentration of trade in 21 harbours in 1602 (I>orsteinsson/Jonsson 1991). As ships could not cross the ocean during wintertime, export­ ing and importing were exclusively summer­ time activities; these harbours were not, there­ fore, much of a basis for permanent settle­ ment. A ban on tradesmen staying in Iceland during wintertime and on their investing money in the country was in the interest of the Icelandic fann owners, and this ban pre­ vented a bourgeoisie from arising. For this reason Iceland remained a non-urbanized community until the last decades of the 17th c. This social situation certainly favoured the peculiar conservatism in the Icelandic lan­ guage. Reykjavik was founded about 1760 (I>or­ steinsson/Jonsson 1991) and around 1800 had a population of300 people. In 1787 the trading monopoly was dismantled, thereby creating the conditions for an Icelandic bourgeoisie to arise. There are no reports or traces from this period that indicate any systematic social dif­ ferences in spoken language - except in vo­ cabulary - despite the obvious class distinc­ tions. 3.1.3.

Social contact and foreign influence

In Icelandic grammar there are hardly any traces of foreign influence after the ties to Nor­ way disappeared about 1400. However, as a result of the cultural influence and contact with foreign tradesmen and fishermen, quite a lot of words were borrowed, albeit fewer than in the Scandinavian countries. Most loanwords were Danish and German. The first complete translation of the New Testament, by Oddur Gottskalksson in 1540, features many German loanwords, not least since Lu­ ther's German Bible was used as the source for the translation. It is assumed that many of these words were used in colloquial speech as well, e. g. Jorganga, bliJa, biginna 'perish, become, begin' (Ottosson 1 990). Quite a lot of the loanwords had the G prefixJor-. Some have survived in the spoken language up to modern times, and so many of them were for­ med with the suffix -heit that this particular suffix could be considered a productive one in Icelandic until recently (cf.Jriheit 'freedom' and g6i5heit 'quality', which are still known).

If this was the case, it is the only instance of a grammatical change in Icelandic caused by foreign influence. During the 16th c. contact with Germans was more usual than with Danes, both because German tradesmen and fishermen carne to Ice­ land, and because Icelanders often went to German towns in order to study. In 1 542 there were 45 German fishing boats with Icelandic crews along the southern coast (porsteinssonj Jonsson). In 1602 the royal monopoly was established, and from then on Danish influ­ ence increased. The trading harbours were mostly in the south-western part of the coun­ try. Throughout the 1 7th c., however, this in­ fluence was moderate because until 1777 the Danish tradesmen stayed in Iceland only during the summer months, and before 1700 the Danish administration in Copenhagen did not involve itself much in local Icelandic matters. From 1736 judges had to study law in Co­ penhagen, and there they were trained in Danish and Latin law, not in Icelandic. Dur­ ing this century, foreign influence on the lan­ guage increased considerably, first and fore­ most in documents, which now contained foreign (Danish, German, French and Latin) words to such an extent that they were hardly understandable to ordinary people. Some words diffused into colloquial speech as well. An interesting description of the language situation can be found in a travelogue written by Eggert Olafsson during the period 17521757. He considered the spoken language in Austurlandio and Vestfiroir to be most ar­ chaic, whereas in the southwest it was mixed with foreign words, especially along the coast­ line. In his opinion this situation was the effect of commerce with the Germans around the time of Reformation, of influence from foreign tradesmen and civil servants, of a modern trend spreading from the Alpingi where young people adopted many foreign expressions, and of the gymnasium (latinusk6linn) at Skal­ holt. During the last half of the 1 8th c., Danish tradesmen and government officials increased in number, and they spent more time on the island. The district magistrates (syslumenn) had to use Danish in all contacts with the authorities. In 1774 there were 3 8 Danish tradesmen spread all over the island; in 1787 the number was 108. From then on the Danes had an increasing influence on daily life in the trading harbours. A play from 1799 empha­ sizes that Icelanders working in the Danish

1343

150. Sociolinguistic aspects

trading houses were starting to use Danish words (Ottosson 1990). The usage of loan­ words in Reykjavik was so extensive that Ras­ mus Rask, when visiting the island in 1 8 1 3 , doubted that the Icelandic language could sur­ vive. However, this was certainly a highly lo­ calized tendency. 3 . 1 .4.

Language, culture and ideology

During medieval times Icelandic was a part of the West Nordic tongue, which at that time was referred to as norr@na. During the 1 6th c., however, a new language ideology or aware­ ness arose in several European countries regarding the vernacular languages. In Den­ mark, the building of a new centralized state after the Reformation caused language stand­ ardization by which "the Danish language" became a more highly-focused concept through the introduction of the terms "cor­ rect" and "best Danish". Danish and conti­ nental cultural life certainly influenced Icelan­ dic scholars, and the Icelandic humanists of the last decades of the 16th c. formulated an ideology that Icelandic was a language in its own right and took pride in the Old Icelandic literature. Whereas the above-mentioned 1 540 translation of the New Testament was in norr@na, we observe that in 1555 the term 'Ice­ landic' was used for the first time in a religious book (Ein Kristilig handbag Islenskud aJHerra Marteine Einar syne). During the next decades this term was used alongside norr@nt, until the first decades of the 1 7th c. From then on 'Ice­ landic' was the only term. For the Icelandic humanists it was obvious­ ly important to convey the view that Icelandic was the same as the original common Nordic language. This pride is expressed, for example, in Guobrandur porlaksson's translation ofthe Bible (1584). In a comment on its language in 1589, he said that "this West Nordic lan­ guage is superior to many other tongues" be­ cause of its historic and aesthetic qualities, and it is therefore unnecessary to borrow words from other languages. This is the first evidence for an Icelandic purist ideology, and in his texts Guobrandur porlaksson replaced many of the words previous translators had used. However, until the latter half of the 1 8th c. the dominant style in religious literature fea­ tured German and Latinized sentences. The humanist scholar Arngrimur Jonsson, a contemporary of Guobrandur porlaksson, formulated this ideology more clearly, and both his interests and views were certainly in-

fluenced by the widespread Danish interest in Old Icelandic texts. Modern active purism was introduced in the 1760s by Eggert Olafsson (1726-1765) and some of his contemporaries, who eagerly studied the old literature and were keen on using archaic words. His commitment to lan­ guage cultivation is expressed in the poem Solt og dauoi islenskunnar [Sickness and death of the Icelandic language]. A legitimization of his purist ideology was the claim that nations which changed their language had become "unstable and without energy". Icelandic scholars, as well as Danish ones, were inspired by German linguistic purism in forming and spreading Icelandic neologisms to replace loanwords. In 1779 the Lrerd6mslis­ taJelagio [Academy of Science and Scholar­ ship] (with Copenhagen as its working centre) was established in the spirit of the Enlighten­ ment and with purism as one of its aims. Lterdomslistafelagioedited an annual publica­ tion with articles on practical and scientific matters, and therefore had to use Icelandic for the first time in new areas. Under its regula­ tions the authors were directed to use Old Ice­ landic words or to create Icelandic neologisms that were easy for ordinary people to under­ stand. Despite the efforts to replace loanwords, style and syntax were still complex and di­ verged from the colloquial and old style. How­ ever, during the last decades of the 1 8th c. Ice­ landers enhanced their consciousness of their mother tongue and thus paved the way for the enforced purism of the 19th c.

3.2.

Faroese

3.2. 1 .

Linguistic status

By the time of the Reformation many of the characteristic Faroese linguistic changes were established. However, the great quantity shift was still spreading at that time, and prior to that change many long vowels were diphthong­ ized and the old diphthongs took part in a chain movement. Quantity shift caused some mergers and was followed by the development of several dialectal features in the vowel sys­ tem, with variants sensitive to quantity and the adjacent sounds. The 1 6th c. therefore seems to have been an intense period of lin­ guistic change; even sharpening (e. g. oyin > oyggin 'the island') arose then, and soon after­ wards 0 and post-vocalic g were dropped. All

1 3 44

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

things considered, the Faroese language changed character in this period, with the effect that, e.g., a word could demonstrate much phonological variation in its various in­ flected forms (cf. article 202). 3.2.2.

The social situation

Because of the Faroe Islands' subordination to Norway, its mother tongue ceased to be used in writing, and Danish became the dorni­ nantwritten language; the islands were admin­ istered in that language. Whether Danish and Faroese were mutually intelligible at that time is doubtful but is an open question. The population of the islands was about 5000- 7000, and a few rich families dominated its economic life. Some ofthern had properties also in Norway and in the Shetlands, and some Faroese were sailors and tradesmen with their own ships. However, most of the inhabitants were poor people living as crofters or fann workers. The best off were the crown tenants (k6ngsb@ndur), who lived on the farms that be­ fore the Reformation had belonged to the church. In contrast to the Icelanders, the population of the Faroe Islands was more concentrated, i. e., in 40- 50 small villages scattered on 1 8 islands. These villages represented a different type of social life and different conditions for language change than the pattern of settle­ ment in Iceland. The considerable dialect­ splitting in Faroese certainly has its roots in this situation. During the period 1 535- 1709, the king rented out the commercial monopoly to for­ eign governors and companies, and the islands suffered heavy economic oppression. Trade was reorganized in a royal monopoly in 1709, and the situation for the people improved dur­ ing the 1 8th c., but the trade monopoly was not dismantled until 1856. Historical sources do not give us any infor­ mation about any social differences in the lan­ guage during this period; we know, however, that priests and civil servants used Danish, which held a superior status. 3.2.3.

Social contact and foreign influence

The Faroe Islands had more contact with the outside world than Iceland had, and the Faroese people themselves sailed to Norway. From the mid-16th c. to 1620, the islands be­ longed to the county and bishopric of Bergen. Bergen was an influential trade centre which

Faroese sailors often visited, and many Faroese people lived there for a period. In 1620 the king subordinated the islands to Copenhagen directly, and all trade and admin­ istrative ties shifted from Norway to Den­ mark. From then on all linguistic and cultural influence was Danish. During the 1 7th c., the islands were very isolated, and few Faroese were allowed to travel abroad. On the other hand, Danish tradesmen, priests and civil ser­ vants settled on the islands, especially in the village ofT6rshavn, with the effect that Danish became the colloquial speech ofthe social elite there, and many Faroese people acquired a command of it. Bilingualism became a char­ acteristic oflife in Torshavn. This is mentioned in the Dane Jens Lauritzs0n Wolff's 1651 de­ scription, where he commented on the reading of and teaching in Danish and the fact that Faroese people understood Danish as well as Norwegians did, whereas among themselves they spoke an "unintelligible language" (Ras­ mussen 1987). Faroese and Norwegian have some struc­ tural changes in common, which bear witness to Norwegian influence on the islands (before 1620). These are, for instance, past forms of the type naddi ( < naoi) 'reached' and restric­ tions in passive meaning of verbs ending in -st to the infinitive form. Faroese has borrowed quite a lot of Low German words, but whether these words were borrowed via Norwegian or Danish is difficult to decide, as most of them are common to all three languages. After 1620, almost all loan­ words are 0bviously from Danish. Interesting­ ly, some loanwords are English, and these may be the result of the illegal and extensive com­ mercial contact with English ships during this period. An example from the 16th c., i . e. be­ fore sharpening, is beiggi 'brother' < boy. Other well-known Faroese loanwords from English are tw:etl 'nonsense' < twaddle and fittur 'pretty' (-ur being the masc. suffix) < fit. 3.2.4.

Language, culture and ideology

Faroese was looked upon as a Norwegian dialect, a fact documented in a description by the priest Lucas Debes from 1673. The first intellectual person to focus on Faroese cul­ ture and language was Jens Christian Svabo (1746-1824), who in a report from 1781 - 82 described the language, especially in Tors­ havn, as very much in decline because of con­ tact with the Danes. He considered it unreal­ istic to restore the language; it would be more

1345

150. Sociolinguistic aspects

reasonable for the Faroese to switch to Dan­ ish. Svabo collected Faroese words and bal­ lads (cf. Svabo 1939 and 1 966), and he was the first Faroese writer to reflect an awareness of Faroese history and cultural antiquities. After his death, his work became a rich source for the incipient interest in Faroese language and culture.

Widmark, Gun(1983), " . . . utlandskt . . . omdu vill" . In: Struktur och variation. Festskrift till Bengt Lo­ man. Abo, 89 98.

4.

Literature (a selection)

4.1.

Swedish

Widmark, Gun (2000), Hovspraket en talarts upp­ gimg och fall. In: SS NF 9, 21 34.

Grip, Elias (1901), Ett bidrag till kinnedom om svenskt talsprak i slutet pa 1700-talet. In: SS 1, 145 164. Hallen, Karin (2001), Franskt i svensk tappning: Studier overfranska ldnord i svenska dialekter (Skrif­ ter utg. av Sprak- och folkminnesinst. Dialektavd. A: 28). Uppsala.

Widmark, Gun (1991), Taldifferentiering ochsprak­ historia. In: Studier i svensk sprdkhistoria 2 (eds. Sven-Goran Mahngren/Bo Ralph). Goteborg, 230 238. Widmark, Gun (1992), Boksvenska och talsvenska. Om sprakarter i nysvenskt talsprak. In: SS NF 1, 157 198.

Widmark, Gun (2001), Svenska spratthoken som stilkalla. In: Galler stam, suffix och andelse. Fest­ skrift till Martin Gellerstam. Goteborg, 446 461. O stman, Carin (1992), Den korta svenskan: Om re­ ducerade ordformers inbrytning i skriftsprdket under nysvensk tid. Uppsala.

4.2.

Danish and Norwegian

Hellner, Brynolf(1978), Hogadelns liv pa gardarna och vid hovet. In: Den svenska historien 4. Stock­ holm, 186 193.

Bertelsen, Henrik (ed.) (1915 29), Danske Gram­ matikere 1 6. K0benhavn.

Hilhnan Rolf (1974), Johan Henrik Kellgren och det samtida teateruttalet. In: NS 53, 63 89.

Pedersen, Karen Margrethe (1999), Genusforen­ klingen i k0benhavnsk. In: DF 41, 79 105.

Hof, Sven (1753), Swanska sprdkets ratta skrifsatt. Stockholm.

Skautrup, Peter (1944 68), Det danske sprogs his­ torie 1 4. K0benhavn.

Hof, Sven (1772), Dialectus Vestrogothica. Stock­ holm.

4.3.

Lagerlof, Petrus (1691), Collegium angdende wart Swenska sprdks cultiverande (eds. Hans Ronge/ Borje Tjader/Gun Widmark) (Nordiska texter och undersokningar 27, 1999). Uppsala. Lindstrom, Fredrik (1993), Adlig taldifferentiering under Vasatiden. In: Studier i svensk sprbkhistoria 3. Forhandlingar vid Tredje sammankomsten for svenska sprdkets historia (ed. Lars Wollin). Uppsala, 133 142. Moberg, Lena (1989), Ldgtyskt och svenskt i Stock­ holms medeltida tiinkebocker (Acta Academia: Regia: Gustavi Adolphi 58). Uppsala. Stahle, Carl Ivar (1979), Svaga maskuliner i nysvens­ kan. Ett stycke svensk sprak- och stilhistoria. In: SprlIkJorm och spraknorm (SNSS 67). 203 235. Stahle, Carl Ivar (1981), Om "pigsprak" i 1800-ta­ lets Stockholm. In: Stockholmsnamn och Stockholms­ sprdk. Stockhohn, 120 137. Stahle, Carl Ivar (1984), Foreign iniluence on the Swedish language in the 17th c. Social and profes­ sional stratification. In: NS 62, 4 17. Stenfors, Juhani (1994), Svenska pdfranskt mane,: Om syntaktiska gallicismer i 1700-talets och det tidiga 1800-talets svenska (Acta Wasaensia 36, sprakvetenskap 3). Vasa. Wessen, Elias (1965), Svensk sprdkhistoria 1. Ljud­ lara och ordbildningslara. Stockhohn. Widmark, Gun (1970), Stildifferentiering i Gyllen­ borgs komedi Swenska spratthoken. In: NS 49, 5 77.

Icelandic and Faroese

Debes, Lucas (1673), RrrOE et FEroa reserata. Det er: FEr@ernis oc FEr@eske Indhyggeris Beskrifvelse. K0benhavn. Gustafsson, Harald (1985), Mellan kung och all­ moge ambetsman: beslutsprocess och infiytande pa 1700-talets Island. Stockhohn. Ottosson, Kjartan (1990), fslensk midhreinsun: Sogulegt yfirlit (Rit I slenskrar malnefndar 6). Reyk­ javik. Rasmussen, Petur Martin (1987), Den fEr@ske sprogrejsning med sErligt henblik pd kampen om fEr@sk som kirkesprog i national og partipolitisk be­ lysning (Annales Societatis scientiarum fa:roensis. Supplementum XIII). Torshavn. Svabo, Jens Chr. (1939), FEr@ske visehaandskrifter (ed. Chr. Matras). K0benhavn. Svabo, Jens Chr. (1959), Indberetningerfra en Reise iFEr@ 1781 og 1782 (ed. N. Djurhuus). K0benhavn. Svabo, J ens Chr. (1966 70), DictionariumfEroense. FEr@sk-dansk-latinsk ordbog (ed. Chr. Matras). K0benhavn. porsteinsson, Bjorn/Jonsson, Bergsteinn (1991), fs­ landssaga til okkara daga. Reykjavik.

Gun Widmark. Uppsala (Sweden) (1) Inge Lise Pedersen, Copenhagen (Denmark) (2) Helge Sand@y. Bergen (Norway) (3)

1 3 46

151.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

The development of the types of text in the Nordic languages from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Introduction Texts of the secular authorities Ecclesiastical texts Educational texts Private texts Public texts of civil society Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

The 16th c. was accompanied by radically changed conditions for text production in Scandinavia, with the corning of printing, which was developed in Germany by Johann Gutenberg in the mid-15th c. Because texts could now be mass-produced, they could be widely distributed in a way that could hardly have been imagined in the days when each new copy of a text had to be painstakingly pro­ duced by hand. The potential for the rapid spread of new texts on a large scale by simple means was thus a sudden and radical improve­ ment. The new technique also created the poten­ tial to ensure the uniformity of a text: it was now (virtually) identical copies of a text that were disseminated, no longer different manu­ scripts with individual, more or less divergent characteristics. Over time, this must have led to a somewhat different perception of text. A text thereby became a uniform phenomenon which in one sense was superior to the indi­ vidual copies of it, and in another sense was nevertheless expected to be rendered exactly the same in each single copy. Before printing, on the other hand, it must have been more natural to regard each manuscript as a text in itself. (No such change was seen, of course, in the large amounts of text that were still not intended to be reproduced: handwritten mi­ nutes, accounts, letters, etc.). From the 16th c. onwards, texts to a greater extent ceased to be anonymous, and this is possibly also - at least in part- a consequence of printing. Compared with the Middle Ages, we now know much more often who the author of a text is, and, among other things, this naturally makes it easier to judge it as a linguistic source. In Scandinavia, printing came into use in earnest in conjunction with the Reformation, which was actually made possible in part by the potential to spread the message quickly

and efficiently in printed works. If printing meant a radical change in the material condi­ tions for text production, the Reformation of course brought an important change to the non-material circumstances. Ecclesiastical types of text had occupied a central position even in the Middle Ages, but now they were reformed in keeping with the doctrinal change. One condition for text production which would be as important in the long term was the emergence of centralized nation states and - in Sweden in particular - a much stronger central government. Admittedly, this did not entail such a degree of change from the medi­ eval (text) traditions as had happened with the renewal of the church (which interacted close­ ly with the building of the nation states), but it led to a considerable growth in the amount of public text production, which was more ef­ ficient and above all more uniform. Printing not only created an opportunity for the effective dissemination of information by the state and the newly established national church; it also involved a threat to the authori­ ties. This invention had been used against the Catholic church, and it could of course be used against the Crown or the Evangelical church. Right from the start, printing presses were therefore placed under strict royal control in Scandinavia, most obviously so in Sweden with its monopoly situation, and with com­ paratively efficient censorship operating throughout virtually the whole period. The 18th c. saw a slight relief in the pressure of censorship in practice, but it was not until to­ wards the end of that century that both Sweden and Denmark experienced brief pe­ riods with freedom of the press. (See also ar­ ticle 138, sect. 14.). It was likewise not until the 18th c. that a commercial book market in the true sense be­ gan to be established, thanks to enterprising printers (cf. article 1 38, sect. 1 1 .). According to Collijn's bibliographies, the number of book titles in Sweden in the 16th c. was around 450, in the 17th c. around 4,600. The estimated figure for the 1 8th c. is 45,000, not counting a large number of pamphlets and booklets (Svensson 1985, 61). Although the 17th c. could already boast ten times more titles than the previous century, the real explosion in book production undoubtedly did not corne until the 1 8th c., particularly the second half.

1 5 1 . The development of the types of text in the Nordic languages from the 16th to the end .

Above all, the production of non-ecclesiastical books increased heavily. The following presentation begins with the two central text spheres mentioned above: texts from the secular authorities (sect. 2.) and from the church (sect. 3.). This is followed by an account of text types in other spheres: vari­ ous kinds of communication of knowledge (sect. 4.), the private sphere (sect. 5.) and non­ state (civil) society activities (sect. 6.), the last of which are found almost exclusively in the 1 8th c. The more or less belletristic texts are dealt with in special articles on literary history (49-53) and will therefore not be considered in any detail here. The focus here is on Denmark (together with Norway, which from 1536 was formally a subordinate part of the kingdom of Den­ mark) and Sweden, while Iceland will be treated only marginally. Iceland was also a part of Denmark but, unlike Norway, suc­ ceeded in retaining its own written language. Texts from the 1 6th and 17th centuries are examined in greatest detail. For text types during the latter part of the 1 8th c., see also article 165, where they are presented as a back­ ground to the textual situation in the 19th c.

2.

Texts of the secular authorities

After the breakup of the Kahnar Union, two nationally based and centralized kingdoms were established. The vigorous growth ofstate administration was most evident in Sweden, which now founded an independent central administration based on a strong king. In Denmark, the central country in the old union, there was already a well-developed state ad­ ministration, and if anything there was a weakening of royal power in the 16th c., when the country entered what is usually known as the age of noble power, succeeded by an au­ tocratic monarchy only in 1660. By and large, however, public administration shows the same steady growth in both countries during the period. The majority of official text production still continued to build on a comparatively well­ established medieval tradition; the majority of text types were already in existence in Scan­ dinavia when the 1 6th c. began. What hap­ pened afterwards was that the flow of judicial and administrative texts increased as the state and local administrative apparatus grew in scope, stability, and efficiency, and as the new printing technology was adopted, although to begin with this took place to a much lesser

1347

extent than in the church. The bulk of texts still consisted of handwritten letters, minutes, accounts, etc. As regards the development of the written language, public texts were par­ ticularly important in providing the opportun­ ity to regulate and standardize individual lin­ guistic features by means of express rules, with immediate effect in a large number of texts. 2.1.

Laws and ordinances

In Denmark, the medieval provincial laws were printed at a very early stage: the Law of Jutland in 1 504 and Erik's Law ojZealand and the Law oj Scania in 1 505. There were, with the exception of Jyske Law, no later reprints, however; instead, hand copying was resumed from the 1 530s and continued into the 17th c. In Sweden, King Carl IX had the National Law printed in 1608 (along with some pro­ vincial laws), Gustaf II Adolf printed the Urban Law in 1618 (with renewed royal sanc­ tions); before this the laws had been tran­ scribed by hand in an unbroken tradition from the Middle Ages. In the 1 7th c. the laws were then reprinted several times. Sweden had acquired a law which applied to the entire country in the Middle Ages, but Denmark had not. In practice, however, the royally ratified Law oj Jutland was valid throughout the kingdom, but attempts were also made to introduce a truly national law as well with Christian II's never-printed Land­ ret for the country and Byret for the towns from 1521 -22. Various spheres of society were gradually regulated by means of special new laws, for example the Church Ordinance of 1 539 (translated from the Latin original), a Maritime Law of 1561 and a (Royal) Court Law of 1562. The majority were printed (and often reprinted in new editions as well). At the start of the 17th c. a couple of recesses or decrees were issued, the Little Recess in 1615 and the Great Recess in 1643, but it was not until 1683 - after the introduction of royal ab­ solutism - that a united national law was issued: Christian V's Danish Law. It was com­ pleted after twenty years ofpreparatory work, led from 1669 by Professor Rasmus Vinding. The law was chiefly based on the provincial laws, especially that of Jutland, but also on later legislation such as the above-mentioned Church Ordinance, the Maritime Law, and the Great Recess. The law was thus a compilation, with some parts incorporated unchanged and others more or less revised; the law neverthe­ less gives a fairly uniform impression, partly

1348

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

thanks to the simple, far-sighted orthography (Skautrup 1947,273 f.). In 1687 a national law was issued for Norway too. The legislative work of the absolute monarch continued in the 1 8th c. with a series of ordinances of vary­ ing scope and notices, resolutions, and the like for special situations. It thus took a long time before Denmark formally replaced the provincial laws with a national law, but when this did corne it applied to town and country alike. In Sweden, Carl XI approved a Church Law in 1686, which was significant for national unity and valid for an astonishingly long time (it was finally repealed towards the end of the 20th c.). In contrast, the National Law and the Urban Law (from 1442 and ca. 1350 respectively, and in print in the 17th c.) were not replaced with a single general national law until 1734, after pro­ tracted work by a commission which was led in its decisive phase by Gustaf Cronhiehn, Councillor of the Reahn. Unlike the Danish law, the Swedish law was to be regarded as a completely rewritten text. It is nonetheless a clear continuation of the earlier tradition, as a final offshoot of the language of medieval law - for better or worse. It is unaffected by the complexity of contemporary officialese, but it also suffers from insufficient textual and expressional stringency (Pettersson 1992, 1 5 9 f.). The language of this law was thus utterlydifferent from previous, contemporary, and subsequent ordinances, decrees, and no­ tices which, as in Denmark, poured from the royal chancellery throughout the period, regu­ lating matters large and small, and usually issued in print. Certain legal texts on public law, itis true, such as the important Instrument of Government of1634, belong to the tradition of chancellery language, but otherwise general laws and ordinances belonged to distinct sty­ listic traditions in Sweden. The situation was somewhat different in Denmark, where the language of law (which had admittedly been valid ever since the Middle Ages) was much less conservative than its Swedish counterpart, although it retained a clarity and freedom of foreign influence which was completely differ­ ent from the chancellery language. 2.2.

Judicial documents

The large quantities of documents continu­ ously produced by institutions for the admin­ istration of justice, everything from district courts and town courts at the local level to royal courts at the national level, were unique

manuscripts, sometimes duplicated in pre­ served drafts and occasional copies but never intended for printing. (Parts of this huge body of material have, however, been published in modern times). As a consequence of their mainly documentary function, they probably did not play a major role in the development of written language as a whole, despite their large numbers. Within each genre, however, fixed, partly formulaic, writing traditions did develop. As text types, both minute books and title deeds and the like had a solid medieval back­ ground, and it is only the amount of material - particularly the degree to which it is preserved - that increased palpably from the 16th c. onwards. In Denmark the records ofthe royal court are preserved relatively completely from around 1 540, whereas the gaps in documents from the lower courts are of course much greater, especially for the 16th c. and for rural Denmark. Sweden continued the medieval tradition in the towns of writing tankebocker ('memorandum books', from a Low German word) throughout the 16th c. These contain records of various urban matters, mainly of a judicial and fiscal nature - not least the lively accounts of civil cases. These display a blend of syntactic complexity, narrative style, and everyday folk idiom in quoted statements. This stylistic mixture is, naturally enough, also found in the corresponding Danish docu­ ments. 2.3.

Administrative texts

Texts from the political and administrative work of state authorities can mainly be divided into three categories, one without any medieval tradition to speak of, and two going back to the Middle Ages but occurring in ris­ ing numbers from the 16th c. onwards. In the former case the texts are various kinds of documentation ofpolitical discussions and de­ cision making (above all in Sweden), while in the latter case there are, on the one hand, documents and letters relating to the exercise of power by the king and the state adminis­ tration and, on the other hand, the internal economic-administrative documentation of the civil service in lists, accounts, and so on. In each case the texts mainly were never in­ tended for duplication and therefore exist only as manuscripts. There are exceptions, particu­ larly in the form of open letters and announce­ ments (often with varying elements of argu­ mentation) intended for citizens in general,

1 5 1 . The development of the types of text in the Nordic languages from the 16th to the end .

which increasingly tended to be printed to en­ sure their dissemination. The 1 8th c. saw the start of the general publication of public docu­ ments, both historical and contemporary, in continuous series such as the Swedish Utdrag utur aile ifran den 7 Dec. 1718 utkomne puh­ lique handlingar (from 1 742 onwards). For modern historians, it is significant that, from the start of the 17th c., Sweden started to document the political decision-making process, sometimes with rather detailed re­ cords of discussions by the Council of the Reahn (the oldest example being from 1621). When they were written, of course, these texts were intended solely for internal use, and it was not necessary to stick so rigidly to the of­ ficial style. In Denmark, only the actual deci­ sions were recorded, not the preceding dis­ cussion, in the Council's report to the king. The stamp of officialese was all the more noticeable in the writings of the authorities in this period. Alongside the many ordinances and the like, it was above all here that the chancellery style was passed on and cherished. It was essentially an impersonal, stiff, and in­ tricate style. Nevertheless, the highest people in power could also permit themselves a more personal tone in letters from their own hands, chiefly in the first half of the period. For example, it has been said of the Swedish king Gustav Vasa that he managed the kingdom as ifit were a large estate, and this occasionally set a decidedly personal (and colourful) stamp on his exhortations to bailiffs and other offi­ cials. In Denmark, right from the time of King Hans (1481 -1 513), books were kept with co­ pies of all the letters sent by the royal chan­ cellery, albeit mostly just in summary (from 1 550 assembled in Kancelliets brevb@ger). This has its counterpart in Sweden in the establish­ ment of Gustav Vasa's registry in 1521. Gen­ erally speaking, an increased awareness arose of the importance of well-ordered central ar­ chives, which had an extremely favourable ef­ fect on the state of the sources. Letters to the authorities from private individuals are also preserved in these archives. Economic-administrative documentation grew during the period to an overwhelming extent. In virtually all cases the texts had a very limited audience: lists in the form of court housekeeping accounts, tax rolls, customs ac­ counts, cadastres, etc. - from a linguistic point ofview mostly oflexical interest for their often rich and down-to-earth vocabulary (Skautrup 1947, 142). More coherent text can, however, be found in the Danish land registers (mat-

1349

rikelb@ger) from the 17th c., particularly with their accurate topographical descriptions of the country (for taxation purposes). Similar documents, besides purely cartographic ma­ terial, were also produced in Sweden by the Land Survey Office, founded in 1628. In this connection we may also mention accounts, cadastres, and similar documents outside the official administration, kept by noble estate owners; these were especially common in Den­ mark with its more feudal character.

3.

Ecclesiastical texts

The Reformation led to the establishment in Denmark of a state church that was wholly incorporated in the public administration (without a head of its own) and in Sweden of a national church that was more independent but nevertheless very closely tied to the state (retaining an archbishop as its head). The ec­ clesiastical administration and hierarchy were gradually organized with the same stringency and efficiency as the secular authorities; the church became yet another public authority with the power belonging to such an authority, which meant that it could enforce its ortho­ doxy (particularly in printed texts) - an ortho­ doxy that was an important part ofthe nation­ al identity, above all in the 1 7th c. A number oftypes of ecclesiastical texts had been central - not to say basic - to medieval written culture, but the set of text types was partly reshaped in the 16th c. in connection with the doctrinal changes of the Reformation. Some disap­ peared, such as legends ofthe saints, while new ones arose, such as complete translations of the Bible, catechisms, hyrnnbooks, and orders of service in the mother tongue, and others survived with more or less altered content and structure, such as collections of sermons and other edifying literature. By far the greatest importance for the lan­ guage as a whole, both during this period and for posterity, were of course the new transla­ tions of the Bible into Swedish, Danish, and Icelandic, which are presented in detail in ar­ ticle 46. They were much less widespread than, say, hyrnnbooks and catechisms, but with the support of their uniquely authoritative posi­ tion they served as a fundamental stylistic model, which in part set the norms even out­ side the sphere of ecclesiastical texts. Along­ side the big biblical translations there was also a series of different text types of an ecclesias­ tical character. From the age of the Reforma­ tion proper we have a number of polemical

1 3 50

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

works, by Reformers but to some extent also by Catholic apologists. Many of them were printed and sometimes disseminated in both Denmark and Sweden. At the same time - and on an ever increasing scale especially later there carne evangelical (through time both or­ thodox and pietist) edificational literature, di­ dactic literature and hymn composition, in Icelandic as well. Some of this ecclesiastical literature consisted of translations above all from German, but quite a lot of works were native originals (sometimes later spread to the neighbouring Scandinavian countries). These other types of ecclesiastical texts are likewise considered in more detail in articles 46 and 47. All that need be said here is that the ec­ clesiastical texts predominated among printed works at the start of the period. It was only later that they encountered serious competi­ tion from a number of other secular text types. It is true that the ecclesiastical literature still predominated in the 1 8th c. in terms of the number of copies printed, especially because of the best-selling hyrnnbook and catechism, but the total number of non-ecclesiastical titles was now for the first time much greater than the number of ecclesiastical titles. Material of an administrative character is naturally also found within the church. Of particular interest here is a new type of text which first arose in South Jutland towards the end of the 16th c., and which was chiefly part of the church's pure exercise of authority: the parish registers with their extremely valuable personal particulars. They carne into general use during the 17th c. In Denmark they were made compulsory throughout the kingdom from 1645-1 646, in Sweden with the Church Law of 1686. A completely different kind of ecclesiastical text type which also contained significant elements of personal data was the funeral sermon. When the deceased was im­ portant (or wealthy), this was often subse­ quently printed to serve as edifying literature and a memorial to the deceased. In printed form they occur in Denmark from the middle of the 1 6th c. until around 1730, in Sweden from around 1600 and virtually until the end of the period, and in Iceland during the 1 8th c.

4.

Educational texts

Alongside the organized dissemination of in­ formation and knowledge within the educa­ tional system - which did not become wide­ spread until towards the end of the period -

knowledge was also spread in books intended for an often unspecified general public and produced either on official or purely private initiative. Partly with roots in the Middle Ages, these texts include instructions or guides (section 4.1.) and accounts of (national) his­ tory (section 4.2.). Later there carne various kinds of geographical descriptions (section 4.4.). Textbooks in the educational system are treated in section 4.3., and finally scholarship which was eventually written in the mother tongue instead of Latin in section 4.5. 4. 1 .

Practical handbooks

Even in the Middle Ages there had been nu­ merous texts with a practical or instructive purpose, and with the aid of printing it now became possible to spread them to a wider var­ iety of groups in the population. This hap­ pened with medical books, which had a solid tradition since the Middle Ages. Their content and textual patterns are recognizable from their medieval predecessors (see article 1 1 0). By far the widest dissemination in Denmark was enjoyed by Henrik Smith's medical book, first published in 1536-1557, then in one vol­ ume in 1577 and subsequently in new (some­ times abridged) editions right up to the 20th c. In Sweden, Benedictus Olai's medical book from 1578 was the oldest and for a long time the most detailed. Some handbooks with more general, partly moral, rules of conduct and the like (with the nobility as the main target groups) appeared from the presses in the 17th c., such as Een skoon och hiirligh jungfru spegel adapted in a Swedish trans­ lation in 1601. A type of text with at least some grounding in the Middle Ages was written guidance for farmers. One was compiled in Denmark by Morten Andersen Horsens in 1601, partly translated from Latin, but it was never printed. In Sweden, Per Brahe the Elder's Oeconomia eUer Huuszholdz-book, for ungt adels-Jolck from 1581 was spread in manu­ script copies before it was printed in 1677 through the auspices of his grandson. This also contained detailed instructions for a noble upbringing (cf. above). The practically and economically minded Enlightenment saw the printing of instructive agricultural works of highly varied kinds (in the latter half of the 18th c. also in Icelandic) - as an expression of the new utilitarian science of economics, in which the boundary between scientific theory and practical application was not particularly

1 5 1 . The development of the types of text in the Nordic languages from the 16th to the end .

clear. There were also a number of other works on the economy. Content of this kind could also occur in periodicals (cf. sect. 6.). In Sweden, Urban Hiarne was an early author of works about testing water, mining for iron ore, and other topics at the end of the 1 7th c. A comprehensive collection of various in­ structive texts appeared in Ake Rilamb's am­ bitious Adelig dJning, which was planned to consist of 20 parts, six of which appeared in 1690-91. The content of this was also theor­ etical and the ambition almost encyclopaedic, and as such it was a path-breaking venture for Scandinavia. The farmer's ahnanac (bondepraktikan), translated from German, was also in its way a kind of agricultural guidebook, although it was not so practical in aim, being mostly con­ cerned with all kinds of (weather) predictions. The oldest known Danish edition appeared in 1 597, the oldest Swedish one (almost entirely a translation of the Danish edition) in 1662. This book, which was widely spread in many reprints, was in a sense a perpetual calendar as well. Calendars and almanacs in the true sense may also be considered guidebooks. Cal­ endars were included in many hymnbooks, but from 1 570 onwards separate almanacs were printed in Denmark. The first Swedish almanacs appeared even somewhat earlier, the oldest known example being from 1540. Alongside the hymnbook and the catechism, these were books for everyone, with print runs which were impressive for their day. Apart from purely calendrical data they also con­ tained historical notes, health advice, and not least of all - predictions of various kinds (in a prognostikon). The Danish almanacs were also used in Iceland. When the Academy of Sciences in Sweden was given a monopoly on the publication of almanacs, an essay for the benefit of the general public was included in the publication from 1749 onwards, when different editions for different horizons also started to be published. A new type of instructive texts was the cook­ ery book which began to appear in both coun­ tries in the 17th c. In 1625 a Koge-Bog was printed in Danish, but it had a wider scope than just cookery, with instructions on brew­ ing beer and distilling spirits as well; a com­ plete cookery book, Fuldkommen Knage-Bog, was issued in 1675. The oldest printed cookery book proper in Swedish appeared in 1650, Een lijten kockebook. Its recipes are presented in a strictly instructive manner, addressing the reader with imperatives. Towards the end of

1351

the 1 8th c., however, a more impersonal tone with morphological passives began to gain ground (Jiiderberg 1996, 94 ff.). At the end of the 17th c., military instruc­ tion books appeared in Swedish, including several exercise books, the oldest from 1669. In Denmark, books of this kind were exclu­ sively in German (the command language of the armed forces) well into the 1 8th c. The oldest Swedish instructions intended for pri­ vates came, typically enough, during the En­ lightenment in 1769. There does not appear to have been any Danish-language equivalent as early as this. 4.2.

Historical works

Historical texts as an overall type were an in­ heritance from the Middle Ages. Apart from more or less specifically annalistic presenta­ tions, a more contemplative historiography arose, with clearer expression of the author's evaluation of the course of events. In the new age of nation-state building, a national his­ toriography became important. It was essen­ tial to establish (a perception of) a country's shared history, preferably presented in a uni­ fied work. As early as the 16th c., therefore, some historians were working by commission to the king. In Denmark, the rhymed chronicle first printed in 1495 appeared in new editions dur­ ing the 1 6th c. (and incidentally led to a pol­ itically motivated reply from Sweden by Peder Swart, printed in 1 558). Otherwise the Danes concentrated on translating and supplement­ ing Saxo's Gesta Danorum; the result came off the presses in 1575, entitled Den Danske Kr@nicke, som Saxo Grammaticus screff half­ fierde hundrede Aar Jorleden, translated and adapted by the national historian Anders S0rensen Vedel, a massive work that was to serve as a model for future Danish historio­ graphy. However, Vedel never managed to bring the history up to recent times. This was instead completed as a private undertaking by the nobleman Arild Huitfeldt in his Danmar­ ckis Rigis Kr@nicke (first published in 15951604, then printed under that title in two vol­ umes in 1652). It is a highly heterogeneous work with long excerpts from historical docu­ ments and earlier accounts. Seventeenth-cen­ tury Danish historians mainly wrote in Latin, despite their nationallymotivated mission, but occasional works did appear in the vernacular. In Sweden, too, there was a corresponding officially encouraged interest in national his-

1 3 52 tory in the 16th c. There was no Saxo to pro­ ceed from there. For that reason, the accounts were most detailed as regards the later centu­ ries, particularly the most recent period. With this emphasis on contemporary history, the content also became more sensitive from a pol­ itical point of view, and Olaus Petri's to some extent source-critical history of Sweden, En swensk croneka, never reached the printer in his day. Nor was Peder Swart's chronicle of GustafVasa printed, despite its pro-royal ten­ dency. The Swedish Crown later continued to concentrate on an official historiography as part of the consolidation of the nation-state, but in Sweden, too, there were not many his­ torical works in the mother tongue. Some translations (from German and Latin) did ap­ pear, particularly by the extremely industrious royal translator Eric Schroderus, chiefly con­ cerning foreign history, but also Johannes Magnus' Swea oeh Gotha Cronika (translated in 1 620). This era also saw the appearance of Erik Joransson Tegel's compilatory work on GustafVasa's history (1622). In an age when there was a high appreciation for the ancient Nordic past, there was a nascent interest in documenting runic stones and other monu­ ments, yet this endeavour left few traces in ver­ nacular texts, at least not printed ones. On the other hand, some medieval manuscripts were printed by the pioneering antiquarian Johannes Bureus, whose works in Swedish in­ cluded books about runes. At that time Old Icelandic was regarded as being identical with the ancient common language of Scandinavia, and great interest was shown, in both Den­ mark and Sweden, in the Icelandic sagas and Snorri's historical works, which were now translated. For instance, the Norwegian priest Peder Clausen Friis translated Heimskringla, published in 1633, which was to be the basis for the description of the earliest history of Norway for some time to corne. A Swedish translation appeared for the first time in 1670. It was not until the 1 8th c. that national Danish history was written mainly in Danish, particularly manifested in Ludvig Holberg's Dannemarks Riges Historie in three volumes (1732-35), an accessible and lively account up to 1670. In the 1 8th c. Sweden also acquired a well-formulated - soberly source-critical presentation of the history of the fatherland up to the start of the Age of Greatness in Olof von Dalin's four-volume Svea rikes historia (1747-62), a publication commissioned by the Swedish diet. That century saw the growth of history as an academic discipline, with texts

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages written in the native language in both Scan­ dinavian kingdoms (cf. section 4.5.); in Sweden the methodologically outstanding professor in Lund, Sven Lagerbring, led the way in this. 4.3.

Textbooks and dictionaries

The language of school, despite the Reforma­ tion, remained almost exclusively Latin. Oc­ casional textbooks nevertheless did appear in the vernacular - in Denmark an Abed bogh paa Danske (1 529) of which no copy survives, and in both countries quite a few arithmetic books, often translations (the oldest Icelandic example not until the 1 8th c.). J.A. Comenius' famous textbook Janua linguarum appeared in a Swedish translation in 1640 (and later), in Danish in 1667, and his illustrated encyclo­ paedic work Orbis sensualium pietus towards the end of the century in both languages. It was not until after the reform of the Danish school system in 1739, with the establishment of elementary schools in the towns, that text­ books began to be written on a large scale in Danish. In Sweden, popular education from the 1 7th c. was carried on within the horne under the supervision of the clergy, when the catechism and other religious books were no doubt used for teaching reading, although some special readers were also published. Lo­ cal schools started to appear, but no decisive steps towards organized national elementary schooling were taken during the 1 8th c. For higher education, the 1 8th c. meant that more and more textbooks were written in the mother tongue, especially in the growing natu­ ral and social sciences. What was needed even in the old Latin­ based grammar-school, however, were dic­ tionaries from Latin into the vernacular. A Latin-Danish dictionary was printed as early as 1510, Voeabularium ad usum Daeorum by Christiern Pedersen, later reprinted in several editions of value to historical linguistics by vir­ tue of its large Danish vocabulary (Skautrup 1947, 148). Yet another couple of Latin-Dan­ ish dictionaries were printed during the 16th c., including a thematically arranged one which is a translation of Sweden's oldest printed dictionary, Variarum rerum voeabula cum Sueea interpretatione from 1538, issued in an expanded edition in 1579 and later. Bi­ lingual dictionaries continued to be published, and the 1 8th c. saw the appearance for the first time of dictionaries of languages other than Latin, including some with Swedish as

1 5 1 . The development of the types of text in the Nordic languages from the 16th to the end .

the source language. Interest in the mother tongue was slowly aroused, and towards the end of the 17th c. the first work began on dic­ tionaries describing the vocabulary, and also the grammar, of the native languages. During the 1 8th c. several lexicographic and gram­ matical works appeared as part ofthe increas­ ingly lively discussion of language planning and usage and of the emergent scientific study of language, instead of being primarily geared to the educational needs of school. 4.4.

Geographical descriptions

As part of the consolidation of the nation­ states, interest gradually arose in describing not just the history of the country but also its topography, independent of the purely fiscal purposes that occasioned these descriptions at an early stage (see sect. 2.3.). Later on, a grow­ ing interest in foreign countries gave rise to more exotic travel accounts. Partly connected with this was the expansion and growing eco­ nomic significance of world trade, which in­ cluded the foundation of East India com­ panies and the like. For the earlier part of the period there are only occasional geographical descriptions, consisting of rather impersonal documentation of the country's topography and similar matters, such as Arent Berntsen's Danmarckis oc Norgis fructbar Herlighed (1656) in Danish, and some more personal travel narratives and the like such as Nils Mat­ son Kioping's Swedish account of distant travels (published in 1667). Both types did not really gain ground until the Enlightenment. The former type tended to take on a more or less scientific character (cf. 4.5.), particularly as the great contemporary interest in natural science and economics could be naturally combined in conscientious inventories of the country's (potential) assets. The most ambi­ tious work in Denmark was Erik Pontoppi­ dan's Den danske Atlas in eight stout volumes (1763-81). In Sweden, Carl von Linne (Carolus Linnaeus) wrote accounts of the journeys he undertook as a public commis­ sioner, from his youthful trip to Lapland (which was not printed until the 1 9th c.) to his tour of Scania (published in 1751). His account is at once full of life and scholarly exactitude. Local economic and topographi­ cal descriptions, usually of the individual author's native district, appeared in large numbers in the latter part of the 1 8th c. De­ scriptions of travels in foreign countries like­ wise often acquired a distinct scientific ambi-

1353

tion in the 1 8th c., particularly manifested in the reports by various disciples of Linnaeus from distant countries, for example Pehr Kahn's En resa til Norra America (1753-61). Here the orientation was primarily zoological and botanical, partly also ethnographic. 4.5.

Scientific texts

Quite a few of the early texts mentioned in 4.2. and 4.4. above, and to a certain extent also those in 4.3., were in some sense (pre)scientific, but before the 18th c. true scien­ tific communication and discussion of know­ ledge, as pursued at the comparatively insig­ nificant Scandinavian universities, took place exclusively in Latin. With the Gothic renais­ sance (goticism), attempts had already been made to break the monopoly of Latin in Sweden in the 17th c., but they enjoyed little success. Of great symbolic value was the fact that Glaus Rudbeck the Elder had his learned work A tlantica - with its chauvinistically Swedish content - issued (1675-98) in Swed­ ish (with a parallel Latin translation), but he published his other works in Latin. The 18th c. saw the first serious debate about the use of Latin in society, but it took a long time for Danish and Swedish to gain ground at the ex­ pense of Latin. Its receding position in the 1 8th c. should therefore not be exaggerated, especially not as regards scholarship. It was chiefly in works intended (also) for other readers than scholars that the mother tongue was employed - it was in keeping with the utili­ tarian spirit of the time that research findings should be of use. This was particularly true in the fashionable science of economics, where dissertations could have a distinct practical orientation. In Sweden this was the only sub­ ject in which treatises were permitted to be in Swedish. Otherwise Latin retained its grasp on this type of text. Monographic texts with a more general target group, on the other hand, were often written in the vernacular. In the latter half of the 1 8th c. the flow of practical economic works became extremely abundant. In more abstract or theoretical sciences, how­ ever - where Sweden (in striking contrast to Denmark) produced a number of scholars with a global reputation in the natural sciences, such as Linnaeus and Celsius - com­ munication still took place to a large extent in Latin, the international languageofthe day. Linnaeus wrote all his weightiest scholarly works in a concise and serviceable Latin, which, together with his pioneering findings

1 3 54

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

in botanical (and zoological) systematics, if anything strengthened the position of Latin. In theology the dominance of Latin was un­ shaken. Under the auspices of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, founded in 1739, however, many works of scholarship, including the natural sciences, were success­ fully published outside the universities in Swedish. Some ofthese attracted such interest that they were translated into Danish - and Latin. It is obvious that the scholarship of the day in the mother tongue reached a fairly large audience in an age of optimism about prog­ ress. A factor of crucial significance for the development of the written language was that the foundation was thereby laid for several of the varieties of technical language that were to be so essential for the future.

5.

Private texts

There are a number of texts from the period which are of a more or less private character, intended only for the author's own use or for a narrow circle of readers. To the extent that they have been preserved at all, it is as unique manuscripts, and if they have been printed it is only in recent times. They consist of letters, diaries, memoirs, and so on. Private letters were written as early as the late Middle Ages, and to some extent the larger quantity of ex­ tant examples from the 1 6th c. onwards is due to better preservation conditions. Mostly, however, it is due to an actual increase in the scope of letter writing. The organization of a postal service, which through time became in­ creasingly reliable, was of course an important factor, while another is the spread of literacy, chiefly within the nobility. The majority of the letters from the 16th and 17th centuries were written by (and to) nobles. In Denmark, it was not unusual for women from the high aristoc­ racy and royal family to write as early as the 16th c. In this case the letters were clearly pri­ vate, and the same is of course true of many male letter writers, such as the Swede Johan Ekeblad, whose extensive correspondence within the family circle has been preserved. Men with a position of power in society, how­ ever, probably did not always make a distinc­ tion between private and public in their letters. These only semi-private letters consequently bore the stamp of public language. In the learned world, correspondence was almost ex­ clusively in Latin well into the 18th c. (obvi­ ously so when the letter was to a foreigner).

Yet it was during this period that letter writing (in the vernacular) spread among the bour­ geoisie, and towards the end ofthe period also attained status as a literary genre. This meant that some of the purely private character of the letters disappeared, even if they certainly were not meant for the public. Among diary literature there are private travel journals and records by young Danish and Swedish noblemen from the 17th and 18th centuries (cf. sect. 4.4.). Danish noblewomen compiled handwritten pedigrees as a basis for family trees. Many autobiographies and memoirs were also written solely for private use. From the 1 7th c. Denmark and Sweden each have a female autobiographer who has become by far the most famous in the genre in their respective countries, and who have also been important for subsequent historical linguists as a source for the spoken language of the times, both noble and popular. The Danish writer was Leonora Christina, whose Jammers Minde was committed to paper in 1674 and later, while the Swedish one was Agneta Horn, whose Beskrivning over min vandringstid was probably written around 1657. The former was the daughter of Chris­ tian IV and the wife of the royal seneschal Corfitz Ulfeldt, who was later convicted of high treason in both Denmark and Sweden. Her text was intended for her children and did not become generally known until 1868. Agneta Horn was the daughter of General GustafHorn and the granddaughter of Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. Both women thus be­ longed to the leading stratum of society, al­ though they were decidedly different in rank. They give historically interesting insights into their times, interesting not least since they record a female perspective that is rarely seen in other sources. Leonora Christina uses sev­ eral stylistic levels, from that of the official language - as befits a king's daughter - to that of everyday speech, with many direct quota­ tions (Skautrup 1947, 3 13 f.). It is of course the latter above all that is of value for histo­ rical linguists. The same is true for Agneta Horn's importance to the study of the history of Swedish, as she mainly writes in a brisk everyday style. This is sometimes interrupted by an ahnost biblical style in her sighs of lamentation to God. Mainly following a French model, it became common in the 1 8th c. for people from the upper classes to write exhaustive memoirs, with scope for a broader description of the times.

1 5 1 . The development of the types of text in the Nordic languages from the 16th to the end .

6.

Public texts of civil society

Outside the authorities, written information and debate about society existed only to a small extent before the 18th c., and it was only gradually that this gained ground in the cli­ mate of censorship in the Scandinavian king­ doms. Some news was published at an early stage; from the start of the 16th c. in Denmark, printed newsletters were issued under the aus­ pices of the Crown or the church when they wanted to spread information about some special event (often abroad). These were writ­ ten sometimes in German, sometimes in Dan­ ish. In Sweden comparable publications ap­ peared towards the end of the 1 6th c. Proper newspapers carne into being during the 1 7th c., but still under strict state control. The press was established somewhat differently in the two countries. In Denmark the king issued a charter in 1634 giving a private printer the right to publish a newspaper. The oldest sur­ viving example, still without a fixed name, is from 1644. The charter was renewed in 1657, this time as a duopoly involving two different publishers. These earliest newspapers in Den­ mark were, however, in German. Between 1666 and 1672, a Danish-language monthly newspaper in alexandrines was issued along­ side the two chartered newspapers by Anders Bording by order of the king, but it was only in 1672 that a version of the ordinary char­ tered newspapers appeared in Danish. It was not until around 1750 that the Danish-lan­ guage version had a broader range of contents than the German-language one. In Sweden, on the other hand, a regular newspaper was established entirely on the initiative of the authorities themselves; in 1645 the Postmaster General, Johan von Beijer, was commissioned to publish Ordinari Post Tijdender every week. In both countries the news was dominated by foreign events. The Swedish newspaper even completely ceased publication during the years of peace, 1652-55. Apart from official announcements there was virtually no domes­ tic news at all, since it was not in the interest of the authorities that such news should be spread. From an early stage, however, there were advertisements in the newspapers in both countries. Periodicals other than newspapers also be­ gan to appear, with occasional short-lived ef­ forts in Sweden towards the end of the 1 7th c., often translations from German. The first learned journal in Denmark came in 1720, with Lrerde Tidender, published by Joachim

1355

Wielandt (who at that time also had one of the two charters to publish newspapers). It mostly consisted of book reviews, especially of scholarly literature. Specifically literary or cultural journals began to appear in the sec­ ond half of the 1 8th c., but in general the Dan­ ish newspapers at this time contained a great many literary contributions - not least as a consequence of censorship. Publication of"es­ say papers" in journals, following the English model, also gained ground in Scandinavia; in Sweden Olofvon Dalin's (anonymously pub­ lished) weekly Then SwiinskaArgus (1732-34) was by far the most successful example. It had a very large circulation for its day, and it in­ troduced a fluid, entertaining, and everyday style of journalism which had many imitators. Other types of periodicals followed the new style of the lighter, essay-like ideal, such as economic journals following the pattern of English journals, including ones about agri­ culture. Lars Salvi us' Liirda Tidningar, pub­ lished 1745-73, was a journal with learned content, but this was combined with news journalism style. In the middle of the 1 8th c. the stock of newspapers was broadened by degrees. The first newspapers outside the capital cities be­ gan to appear - mainly in diocesan and county seats where there were already printing 1? resses: in Denmark, in Odense in 1735 and A lborg in 1767 (still in existence); in Sweden, in Goteborg in 1749, Karlskrona in 1754, Norrkoping in 1758 (still in existence), and in the Finnish part of the kingdom, in Abo in 1771 . In Norway, a newspaper was published in Bergen as early as 1721, but it was quickly stopped after the intervention of Joachim Wielandt. The next Norwegian newspaper did not appear until 1763. Iceland acquired a monthly newspaper in 1773, but only in Dan­ ish. With more local newspapers, local and re­ gional news also started to appear in them, although not without resistance. In Stock­ hohn, a newspaper specially devoted to do­ mestic news was started in 1760, Inrikes Tid­ ningar. The first daily newspaper also ap­ peared in Stockhohn, Dagligt Allehanda from 1769. It soon had a daily competitor in Stock­ holms Posten (1778), although this concen­ trated more on cultural articles. Denmark did not have a daily newspaper until 1803. These newspapers were printed in modest numbers, often just a few hundred, but they were read by many more people. The news­ papers circulated in public places such as the emerging coffee houses, and people took out

1 3 56 collective subscriptions to them. They were therefore an important foundation for a bur­ geoning amount of public debate, indirectly through the dissemination of news, but to­ wards the end of the period also directly through providing a forum for publishing opinions. In Sweden, the latter occurred main­ ly in the Age of Liberty, which had its first l openly political journal in En ; rlig Swensk ('an honest Swede'), published by the Hat Party in 1755-56. Freedom of the press was introduced in Sweden in 1766, leading to a steady flow of political pamphlets and bro­ chures, which were of highly varied character as regards language (Gustafsson 1998, 55 ff.). Denmark acquired freedom ofthe press at the same time, in 1770, through J.F. Struensee's reform program, with an ensuing flood of free­ speaking pamphlets. This freedom was soon restricted, and unlike in Sweden, the freedom of the press did not mean that public debate or political commentary acquired any great foothold in the newspapers. In Sweden, the freedom of the press was circumscribed in 1774 after Gustaf Ill's coup d'etat and was further restricted later on, but it proved more difficult to curb the political debate and satire that had by that time become established in the press. There was even a daily newspaper called Dag-Bladet: Wiilsignade Tryck-Frihe­ ten, which was provocative in its very title, 'the blessed freedom of the press'. Although the 1 8th c. in both Denmark and Sweden ended with tightened state control of the free word, then, several of the text types that were to have a central position during the next period were established in public life, be­ coming increasingly essential for political de­ velopment - and for the development of the written language.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

7.

Literature (a selection)

Bruun, Chr. V. (1961 1963), Bibliotheca Danica: Systematiskfortegnelse over den danske litteraturfra 1482 til 1830 I V (reedited with supplements by Det Kongelige Bibliotek). K0benhavn. Collijn, Isak (1927 1938), Sveriges bibliogrqfi intill ar 1600 I III. Uppsala. Collijn, Isak (1942 1946), Sveriges bibliografi. 1600talet. Bidrag till en bibliografisk forteckning I II. Uppsala. Diderichsen, Paul (1968), Dansk prosahistorie I, 1 . K0benhavn. Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise/Skolander, Bjorn (1991), Facksprbkens framviixt: termer och ordforrad 1. Projektpresentation och materialbeskrivning (FUMS rapport 1 54). Uppsala. Gustafsson, Anna (1998), Politiska pamfietter i det fria ordets slyngelalder: En textanalys av fem inliigg i den politiska offentligheten Wider tryckfrihetstiden (1766 1772) (Svensk sakprosa 18). Lund. Hohnberg, Claes-Goran/Oscarsson, Ingemar/Tor­ backe, Jarl (2000), Den svenska pressens historia I (eds. K. E. Gustafsson/P. Ryden). Stockhohn. Jaderberg, Lars (1996), Matrecept fran tre sekel en genrestudie. In: SS NF 5, 1995, 93 119. Melander, Bjorn/Olsson, Bjorn (eds.) (2001), Verklighetens texter: Sjutton fallstudier (Svensk sakprosa empiri). Lund. Pettersson, Gertrud (1992), Lagsprak och samhiills­ utveckling: Studier over svenskt lagsprak efter 1734 (Lundastudier i nordisk sprakvetenskap A 46). Lund. Skautrup, Peter (1947 1953), Det danske sprogs his­ torie II III. K0benhavn. S0llinge, Jette Drachmann (1998), Nyhedsfonnid­ ling, aviser og journalistik i Norden indtil l720. In: Perspektiv pa Post- och Inrikes Tidningar (Sylwan 1). G6teborg, 27 47. Svensson, Jan (1988), Kommunikationshistoria: Om kommunikationsmiljon i Sverige Wider fem sekler. Lund. Svensson, Lars (1985), Om 1700-talets bokproduk­ lion. In: Teleman (ed.) 1985, 61 78. Teleman, Ulf(ed.) (1985), Det offentliga sprakbruket och dess villkor i Sverige under 1700-talet (Nordlund 7). Lund.

Bo-A. Wendt. Lund (Sweden)

152. The significance of translations for linguistic developments

152.

1357

The significance of translations for linguistic developments from the 16th to the end of the 18th century: The case of Swedish.

1. 2.

4.

Introduction Translation and genres in a changing literary system The iniluence of translation on the Swedish language Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

3.

Printing was introduced in Sweden in the Re­ fonnation period, changing radically the con­ ditions of written language. Mass production oftext became possible and was systematically made use of by the State and Church, with the prompt assistance of loyal refonnation writers and translators. Nevertheless, besides the powerful achievements of Bible transla­ tion, the literary culture of the 1 6th c. in Sweden was poor. Sweden emerged from the Thirty Years' War as a major European power in the 1 7th c. The new great power's ambitions for cul­ tural prestige increased dramatically the pro­ duction of printed text, setting a distinct mark on a vernacular that was gradually beginning to stabilize as the language of a modern na­ tion. After the death of King Charles XII in 1718, the collapsed great power, now a small, peaceful border state in northern Europe, con­ tinued developing and refining its national language in peace and quiet, cultivating it through all relevant types of text and most literary genres of Western Europe at the time. The international outlook of the educated classes was becoming wider and deeper, and an increasing dominance of the French lan­ guage in Swedish culture reached its peak in the reign of King Gustavus III (1772-92).

2.

Translation and genres in a changing literary system

Vernacular writing during this period was mainly original. In the 1 7th c., only one book in Swedish out of six was a translation - a sharp contrast to conditions in medieval as well as in modern periods. On the other hand, Latin was still a predominant language in the total production of printed text, nearly as well represented as Swedish itself (Hansson 1982, 57). As a source language of translation, though, Latin was now reduced to second po­ sition. Out of the relatively few printed book

translations into Swedish that were actually made in the 1 7th c. (the total amounts to ca. 340 titles), the majority (ca. 200 titles or 60 per cent) were translations from religious edi­ ficatory texts in Gennan, intended for the broad public. A quarter (ca. 80 titles) have Latin originals. Other source languages ac­ count for 1 5 per cent oftitles translated. From "Gothic", i.e. Old Icelandic, 10 titles were translated. Modern languages except Gennan are represented in low frequencies (from French there are 14 titles translated, from English I I , from Danish, Spanish, Dutch and Polish only a few titles; Hansson 1982, 29 f.). Very indicative of the cultural ambitions of a new great power is the 17th c. Swedish trans­ lating of medieval Icelandic sagas. The usur­ pation of West Norse classical literature as "Gothic", in Olof Rudbeck's grandiose spirit fantastically implying "Swedish", was an act of patriotic forgery, justified by royal sanc­ tion. This piece ofliterary heritage was eagerly exploited as venerable memorials of an alleged glorious past. However fictitious, it was hot stuff to a Swedish great power that was pain­ fully short of prestigious remnants from the Golden Ages of national history. However, the majority oftranslation in 17th c. Sweden concerned religious literature in Gennan, such as devotional manuals and col­ lections of sermons. This kind of books was systematically made use of by the State Church in anti-papist popular education, marked by severe Lutheran orthodoxy. The translators were nonnally clergymen. From Latin originals even didactic literature of a more worldly character was translated - by people outside the clergy - and, above all, his­ torical and political works of different kinds, many of them in a patriotic and pedagogic spirit. Among the translators of this latter litera­ ture we find two professionals, easily surpass­ ing the others in quantitative tenns: Petrus Johannis Gothus (1536-1616) and Eric Schroderus (ca. 1575-1647). The former translated some sixty works, all of a religious character: Christian edification and consola­ tion, but also dogmatic and polemic tracts. The latter genre in several cases dated back to the Swedish Reformation, the strictly Lu­ theran views of which Johannis Gothus shared and preached. His translations were widely

1 3 58 known in contemporary Sweden. This is also true of Schroderus, whose production has a somewhat more varied, and even more world­ ly, scope. Schroderus was a figure very typical of his time. Appointed in 1612 as the "trans­ lator regni" of King Gustavus II Adolphus and holding for some decades this authorita­ tive and princely salaried position, he made some forty, in several cases large-scale, trans­ lations from Latin, many of them important contributions to the literary culture of con­ temporary Sweden. Best known are his ren­ derings of Johannes Magnus' History of Sweden (1620) and of Livy's Roman History (1626). These two extremely productive profes­ sional translators alone are responsible for about a fifth of the total bulk of printed trans­ lations (counted in titles published) in 17th c. Sweden. The other translators of this century - ca. 150 persons - were mainly practising sev­ eral other professions, just sporadically ap­ pearing as translators; some ninety were clergymen. Five of them translated between five and ten works each, the others just a few works (Hansson 1982, 1 4 f.). Towards the end of the 1 7th c. there are some indications of the beginning of a tran­ sition into a new era of Swedish translation culture, flourishing during the succeeding cen­ turies up to the present day. The role of the State as the employer and ultimate guarantor of translating enterprises gave way to increas­ ing commercial powers, affecting the choice of literary material for translation as well as the professional identity ofthe translator him­ or herself. The former meant greater openness to mundane and extravagant topics, which are attractive to a broader readership, the latter a separation of the translator's role from that of the practising of the office with which, up to this very time, it had been normally com­ bined. The professional translator, employed on a commercial basis in a system dominated by the market, appeared during the 18th c. as a normal actor in the literary system, not as a rare exception like Johannis Gothus or Schroderus in the previous century. As yet no statistical information is available and hardly any research has been done on translating activity in general, and even less on individual translating achievements, in 1 8th (and early 19th) c. Sweden. What we do know could be summarized just in very general terms. In the first half of the 1 8th c. a more col­ loquial and everyday style was developed by

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages Olof von Dalin using an elegant light prose, later on frequently employed particularly in private epistolary language. The creation of two learned academies in Sweden - the Acad­ emy of Sciences (Vetenskapsakademien) in 1739 and the Swedish Academy in 1786 - was the manifestation of a sober-minded and utili­ tarian view of language and literature, typical of the Age of Enlightenment. Along with the development of natural sciences, inspired partly by the illustrious example of Carolus Linnreus, a Swedish scientific prose was estab­ lished in the middle of the century. It was mainly supported by the Academy of Sciences. Severe French-classical demands on style and linguistic form set their mark on the language of solemn academic speaking, governing liter­ ary writing in genres based upon it. In a quantitative sense, translation was probably rather insignificant during the per­ iod, as it was in the preceding century - until, possibly, in the Gustavian epoch, in the last decades of the century. Two new fora for lit­ erary translation then emerged. One of these was fostered by King Gustavus III himself: the stage. It expanded rapidly under his pro­ tection and was established by degrees as the modern Swedish National theatre. It gave rise to a renewed dramatic genre, involving new important demands for literary translation. The other forum, conditioned rather by pol­ itical and economic factors, is prose fiction, intended as cultivated entertainment for the bourgeois middle class that had grown reason­ ably numerous in 18th c. Sweden. The major­ ity ofthis a-la-mode literature was translation, commercially produced by private profes­ sionals. French seems to have dominated among the source languages in the beginning, later challenged by German. The dissemina­ tion of these books was based to a consider­ able extent on circulating libraries; there was a handful of them in Stockholm in 1800 (Bjorkman 1992).

3.

The influence of translation on the Swedish language

In the centuries immediately succeeding the Reformation, written Swedish slowly but steadily strengthened its position as a civilized language of the European community. The standard for spelling and inflection was grad­ ually getting firmer in the 17th and 1 8th cen­ turies. The orthography was authoritatively

152. The significance of translations for linguistic developments

standardized in an influential treatise by the Swedish Academy in 1 80 1 . Swedish had emerged from the Middle Ages in a lexical and grammatical state which was generally quite modern: the term New Swedish (nysvenska) refers to this very historical fact. Certainly, remnants of the medieval gram­ matical system - particularly the four case nominal inflection - survived in the sanctioned biblical language, where it created over four centuries a powerful and lasting, in certain as­ pects living, monument to a linguistic stage that had passed long since. The Reformation Bible even offered the natural basis of linguis­ tic debate in the older New Swedish period, providing the guiding principles for all official endeavours to regulate and formally cultivate written language. However, the conservative impact of this biblical language should not be exaggerated: in the long run the adaptation of Swedish to the needs of communication within a gradually more and more complex society proceeded on its own terms. Transla­ tion from predominant foreign languages was apparently one of the driving forces in this process. However, its importance is hard to judge, particularly because of its relative insig­ nificance in this period. Probably the impact of translation was mainly indirect. The development of the Swedish lexicon in the Old New Swedish period has been little investigated. What we have is the reasonably well-documented overall picture of a strong influx of High German loanwords during the entire period and of Romance, particularly French and (to a lesser extent) Italian, in the late 1 7th and 1 8th c. Some typical 17th c. bor­ rowings from French that became short-lived areJacilitera 'facilitate' (Mod.Sw. underlalta), Javera 'favour' (Mod.Sw. gynna), fixera 'cheat, deceive' (Mod.Sw. lura, bedraga), in­ tent 'intention' (Mod.Sw. avsikt) and lucrera 'win' (Mod.Sw. vinna). Others still (ortho­ graphically modernized) belong to living Swedish usage, like affect 'emotion', brawera 'boast', celebrera 'celebrate' ,florera 'flourish' and vthstoffera 'dress up'. Most ofthese words are of Romance origin, though adopted into Swedish through German mediation (Hell­ quist 1902, 23 1 f.). We know, too, that Latin and to a certain extent Greek loanwords en­ riched Swedish vocabulary in more abstract spheres and professional terminologies par­ ticularly in the 1 7th and 18th c. This general picture has gained partly new clarity through recent research concerning the history of Swedish lexicography (Johansson 1997; Rog-

1359

strom 1998; Hannesd6ttir 1998). To what ex­ tent, if any, such lexical innovations were in­ troduced by translators or through other channels has not been examined yet. As for the state of syntax, we are somewhat better informed. The patterns of complex clause and sentence structure introduced into the Swedish vernacular by medieval transla­ tors from Latin were simplified by the authors of the succeding epoch - though incompletely. A certain looseness in syntax remained even in late 16th and early 17th c. writers: reading Swedish literature produced in this period, one often gets the impression that the authors did not always master the grammatical structures ofthe technically advanced constructions that they attempted. Research on the history of Swedish prose style (particularly Heuman 1 960) has documented a tangible change in this respect in the later 17th c. Particularly from the 1660s, the writers seem to be more successful in knitting the syntactic network with the degree of firmness that is character­ istic of Renaissance Latin and contemporary European languages. Obviously this marks an important step forward in the development of Swedish prose, taken in the middle of the Great Power period. A type of complex sentence structure loose­ ly kept together, inherited from the Middle Ages, is signalled by the "pleonastic" use of an anaphoric pronoun after the insertion of a subordinate clause in a grammatically domi­ nant structure. This phenomenon is still fre­ quent in Andreas Pahncron (Sparman) in a medical work from 1642: Konung Antigonus ! nar han i Siukdomfoll ! sade han . [King Antigonus, when he fell in disease, he said

1

(Quoted from Heuman 1960, 58).

From the 1660s and onwards, this half ana­ coluthon construction decreased rather rapid­ ly. At the same time, however, the frequency of the same clause insertions without a pleo­ nastic pronoun increased: Herr Ewerdt Horn ! ehuruwal han ingen sold hal­ wer bekommit . . . ! tager doch medh sigh . [Sir Ewerdt Horn, although he has received no pay . . . , yet takes with lllm . . .] (Widekindi 1671, quoted from Heuman 1960, 61).

What was changed in a modern direction, then, was not the syntactic complexity in itself, but just the specific technical devices applied by writers in older periods in order to facilitate the readers', maybe even their own, concep-

1360 tion and grasp of intricate grammatical struc­ tures. This development - in a certain sense towards a more pronounced autonomy of written language - is emphasized by the sim­ ultaneous increase of grammatically well­ controlled insertion of secondary subordinate clauses within dominant ones: . . . hwilken ! effter han war en kloker . . . Karl . ! bleff . . . sand til Swerige . [ . . . who, since he was a sensible . . . fellow . . ", was . . . sent to Sweden . . . ] (Widekindi 1671, quoted from Heuman 1960, 61). Hwar til kommer och, at bemilte Isidorus, ! ehuruwiil han bodde i Spanien, ! har likwaJ waret en G6the. [To which comes also, that the said Isidorus, al­ though he lived in Spain, has yet been a Goth.] (Petrus Lagerl6f 1696, quoted from Heuman 1960, 65).

Even these quite modern types of sentence construction increased rather dramatically in the later 1 7th c. A development like the one hinted at here strongly contributed to the stabilizing of Swedish prose style in modern forms, a process which seems to have been rather rapid during the Caroline epoch. It con­ tinued in the following century. Swedish prose style then, maturing in the developing scien­ tific prose, even achieved a state of certain rhe­ torical overripeness in the stylistic cultivation of official speech. Particularly the syntax was elaborated with exquisite refinement, calqued on prevalent French models. This tendency reached its peak in a very specific genre, which was fostered by the Swedish Academy and flourished during the first decades of its activ­ ity, about 1 800: the historical and patriotic panegyric. The development described here refers to the language of genres mainly reproduced, as stated, by original writing, not translation. The importance to be attached to the relatively few contributions of translators actually working in the period is hard to judge. The frequency of specific devices within a complex, hierarchical syntax in translations from Latin, German and French in the Great Power per­ iod has been compared on a minor scale to that of contemporary original writing within the same genres and stylistic layers (Heuman 1960, 88ff.). The use of the devices in question certainly tends to be generally stimulated by their abundance in the language of the source texts: particularly in some works of a Latin translator like Schroderus and in a translation made by J. Runius in 1709 of a French pic-

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages aresque novel, strikingly higher frequencies of advanced insertion constructions are attested than in the original Swedish works. However, this seems to be "restricted within the frame­ work of the forms already accepted in the lan­ guage" (ibid. 93). The implication is that no innovative force is to be ascribed to the trans­ lators. Neither is the frequency ofthis complex syntax observed to be considerably higher in the common devotional and edificatory litera­ ture translated from German - a type of text where such syntax, on language typological grounds, might be expected to be predomi­ nant. In the 18th c., though, it may be reasonably assumed that translation played an essential role in the development of modern Swedish scientific prose. It has been remarked (latest by Fries 1996) that Carolus Linn",us himself in his numerous contributions to the Acts of the Academy of Sciences used a rather uni­ form, dry and matter-of-fact style, composing a type of Swedish prose that is formally more strictly elaborated and syntactically complex than that of his famous travel reports - a genre where his Swedish style is otherwise most closely studied (latest by Hillman 1970). In the travel reports it certainly happens quite often that Linnreus - in complete accordance with general contemporary usage in this kind of writing - breaks into pure Latin in the middle of his running Swedish discourse (Hillman 1970, 43 ff.). In his academic Swedish prose this never occurs. However, it seems obvious that, in these writings, he was frequently trans­ lating from some Latin text extant to him (Fries 1996, 98ff.). Apparently he did so in deliberate accordance with the Academy's puristic ideals for the Swedish language, i.e. in a lexically relatively "pure" Swedish. At the same time, though, he was tangibly influenced by the syntax of his Latin originals, probably also by their textual formation (Gunnarsson 1987). It is a reasonable though as yet untested hypothesis that Linnreus' style of writing is typical of this pioneering stage of Swedish scientific prose, and, consequently, that mod­ ern professional language - like so many other Swedish genres - first imitated Latin gram­ matical and stylistic patterns. Direct transla­ tion from versions previously written in Latin, maybe intended for international dissemina­ tion, may very well have been a predominant mode of production among the authors of the older Acts of the Academy of Sciences. In other genres, the abundant inflow of sty­ listic influences from continental literature on

153. Language contact in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries

1 8th c. Swedish probably mainly carne through original writing. This is to a high de­ gree the case in the solemn rhetoric, particu­ larly the academic panegyric mentioned above. This genre is deeply affected by the leading French ideals of the epoch - although its unparalleled Swedish master, Magnus Lehnberg, in the view of posterity seems supe­ rior to his most renowned French example A.L. Thomas (Hilhnan 1962, 253). A genre like this, aimed at glorifying the heroes of the nation, is possibly reproduced by imitators, hardly by translators.

4.

Literature (a selection)

Bjorkman, Margareta (1992), Liisarnas noje: Kom­ mersiella 11mbibliotek i Stockholm 1783 1809 (Avdelningen for litteratursociologi vid Litteratur­ vetenskapliga institutionen 29). Uppsala. Fries, Sigurd (1996), Uirdomsspraket under frihets­ tiden. In: Svenskan i tusen ar. Glimtar ur svenska sprakets utveckling (eds. L. Moberg/M. Westman). Stockholm, 88 103. Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise (1987), Textmonster i VaT aldsta vetenskapliga tidskriftsprosa. En analys av medicinska ron i Vetenskapsakademiens Hand­ lingar 1750 1769. In: NS 67, 155 180.

153.

the Kingdom of Sweden

1361

Hannesd6ttir, Anna Helga (1998), Lexikografihis­ torisk spegel: Den ensprakiga svenska lexikografins utveckling ur den tvasprakiga (Meijerbergs arkiv for svensk ordforskning 23). Goteborg. Hansson, Stina (1982), Afsatt pa Swensko: 1600-tal­ ets tryckta oversiittningslitteratur. Goteborg. Hellquist, Elof (1902), Studier i 1600-talets svenska: Anteckningar. Uppsala. Heuman, Bengt (1960), Tendenser till fastare me­ ningsbyggnad i prosatexterfran svensk stormaktstid. Uppsala. Hilhnan, Rolf (1962), Gustaviansk retorik: Stil­ studier i Svenska Akademiens med stora priset be­ IOnade iireminnen 1786 1803. Stockhohn. Hilhnan, Rolf (1970), Svensk prosastil under 1700talet.· Dalin Linne Gustaviansk talekonst (SNSS 42). Johansson, Monica (1997), Lexicon Lincopense: En studie i lexikografisk tradition och svenskt sprak vid 1600-talets mitt (Meijerbergs arkiv for svensk ord­ forskning 21). Goteborg. Rogstrom, Lena (1998), Jacob Serenius lexiko­ grafiska insats (Meijerbergs arkiv for svensk ord­ forskning 22). Goteborg.

Lars Wollin. Abo/Turku (Finland)

Language contact in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries the Kingdom of Sweden

1. 2. 3. 4.

Language contact in the upper classes a survey Areal contact between Swedish and other languages Danish and Swedish language contact in the province of Scania Literature (a selection)

There were as many opportunIties for lan­ guage contact during this period as in the Middle Ages or earlier, especially if we take into account language contact established by the higher social classes: the aristocracy, burghers with international business contacts, and university-educated people. In section 1 . a survey of such contacts is presented.

The main focus of this article is to draw at­ tention to a few cases where either the contact with foreign languages was quantitatively of the highest importance to all - or most of the population in a region, or where at least the language contact situations can be seen as typical for the area. The most important con­ tact situations between Danish and Norwegian and other languages during the period have been treated in previous articles. The tempor­ arily successful efforts of the Kingdom of Sweden to obtain a dominium Maris Baltici during the period opened up possibilities for new language contact, especially in the east of the Baltic. This article is thus mainly devoted to language contact where Swedish is involved.

1362

1.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Language contacts in the upper classes - a survey

During the Middle Ages it was quite normal for young men from the Nordic countries to visit international European centres in order to study, as part of a religious or a civil career: as monks, priests, law experts and so on. Uni­ versities (Copenhagen in Denmark, Uppsala in Sweden) existed in the Nordic countries be­ fore the 16th c. Four new universities were established under Swedish rule during the period: (a) Dorpat/Tartu in Livonia in 1632, (b) Abo in Finland in 1640, (c) Lund in the province of Scania after it had been conquered by the Swedish Kingdom in 1658-60 - the uni­ versitywas established in 1668, (d) Greifswald in Mecklenburg, originally established in the Middle Ages, but operating under Swedish rule from the Thirty Years' War and up to 1809. Even so, Scandinavian students attended almost all continental universities for shorter or longer studies during these centuries. The theological faculty of Wittenberg, but also other Protestant universities, were important for the first generations of Lutheran theology students in Sweden/Finland and Denmark/ Norway during the 16th and up to the 1 7th c. The education of the aristocracy became less military and more literate. During this period it was quite normal for sons of the higher aristocracy to travel for a year of edu­ cation to a series of European universities and cultural centres. But these young noblemen were often accompanied by a supervisor for their studies, a student of lesser means who then had the opportunity to take advantage of such visits and also study himself. During the 17th c. a visit to France, and acquisition of the French language and culture, became compulsory in this connection, but on their way to and from France, perhaps also to Italy and Spain, the young men usually had to visit universities in Germany and the Netherlands as well. As English became a more and more im­ portant language in connection with the scien­ tific revolution in the second half of the 17th c., visits to Europe often also included some time in London, Oxford or Cambridge. Du­ ring this period, however, Latin remained the international language for higher studies, and French was the main language for culture, science and politics. Some command of Ger­ man was normal for educated persons from the Nordic countries. In the 1 8th c. knowledge of English became necessary for people with

ambitions in the sciences. Italian was mastered by some scholars, influenced by Renaissance ideas. Ofthe other major European languages, Russian, Spanish, Polish and Greek were cer­ tainly on the whole mastered only by very few specialists (see Hovdhaugen et al. 2000). Hebrew, as one of the Biblical languages, was studied by future priests, but probably just a few specialists had a more profound knowl­ edge of it, or of Koine Greek. Low German, and later increasingly High German, was certainly the most widespread contact language for the burghers and mer­ chants. In court records from the 17th c. one may find quotations of sentences in German, showing that this language had not stopped being a very familiar part of daily life - at least in the cities.

2.

Areal contacts between Swedish and other languages - an overview

2. 1 .

Norwegian, Swedish, and Sami/Finnish

Few studies have been devoted to the nature of linguistic contact between the Sami popu­ lation and the Norwegian- and Swedish­ speaking colonists in the northern parts of what is now Norway and Sweden during this period, because of lack of documentation. A special group of Finnish language users from this period has to be mentioned here: kwenerne. They were Finnish-speaking colon­ ists, farmers who settled down in Finnmark, in northernmost Norway. The name 'kvrener' goes back to one of the tribes in Finland Kainuu, who populated vast areas north of Sa­ volax and Egentliga Finland. It has been sug­ gested that they colonized northern Finland from Vakka Suomi (Sw. Egentliga Finland), south of Osterbotten (see Vilkuna 1969). They may have been there before 1600 - there are recorded place-names such as Lemmijoki (1 594) - and this population still exists. Early detailed documentation about the na­ ture oflanguage contact is missing for the peri­ od. About 1800, however, northern Norway with its mixed population of Norwegian, Sami and Finnish speakers is described as being to a large extent multilingual. At least some of the kvrener quite naturally switched between Finnish, Sami and Norwegian, according to a witness who met "a quite simple man" with this ability: "Det er overhoved i Finrnarken ikke sjeldentat tr",ffe Personer, afbegge Kj0n, som forstaae og tale flere af de gjrengse Sprog.

153. Language contact in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries

Finnerne og Qvrenerne udmerke sig meest i denne Henseende" (B. M. Keilhau, Reise i gst­ og Vest-Finnmarken - 1827 og 1828; quoted from Bull 1994, 133). Later on, Finnish is known to have acquired the position of the lingua franca in the north (Andreassen 1994, 141). Whether this is also valid for earlier times is impossible to say. 2.2.

Swedish, and Fenno-Ugric languages to the east

To the east, the border during the period from 1 500 to 1800 must be characterized as very changeable. This is partly due to military and political expansion to the east by Swedes dur­ ing this period until the second decade of the 1 8th c., when the Russian tsar Peter finally defeated Karl XII, the last Swedish king who presided over Sweden as a Great Power. Peter reconquered both a small part of Finland and all the Baltic provinces. These had been ruled by Swedes, partly from the end of the 16th c., when Reval and the four northern provinces of Estonia asked for protection by the Swedish king Erik XlV. The political change after 1710 put an end to ambitious plans for Swedifica­ tion of the provinces in the Baltic region. However, changes in political power did not change the linguistic contact possibilities with the east during this period much. Finland was still a part of Sweden, with a rural Swedish-speaking population primarily along the northwestern and southern coastal areas, and with a Swedish-speaking popula­ tion in smaller cities as well as in AbojTurku, the unofficial capital of Finland. There was also a small Swedish-speaking rural population in Estonia under Russian rule, with an estimated maximum of 8,000. They had settled there by the early Middle Ages (if not earlier), concentrated in the north­ western coastal area and the islands, some of which were totally Swedish speaking (Ormso, Nargo, Runo). They continued to speak their Swedish dialects - also under a Russian gov­ ernment where the majority of neighbouring farmers spoke Estonian but the ruling classes spoke German (Ohlsson 1999; Piirimiie 2002; Schonberg 2002; Beyer 2002; Kiirk-Reemes 2002; Piildvee 2002). One group of those farmers, Gammalsvenskby-borna, has become famous for keeping their Swedish mother tongue and culture even after they were forced to emigrate from Dago (Hiiumaa) to Ukraine in the 1780s and up to the present (see Karl­ gren 1929; HedmanjAhlander 1993). It is well

the Kingdom of Sweden

1363

known from later periods that many of the Swedish-speaking population were bi- or multilingual, but there is very little evidence for this from before 1855, when the German Carl Russwurm published EiboJolke- oder die Schweden an den Ki1sten Ehstlands und auf Runo. As a counterpart to the earlier quotation about the linguistic skills of the Norwegian kvrener, we can refer to writings by the most famous Swede who travelled in his own coun­ try during this period, Carl Linnreus, from his early Journey to Lapland, undertaken in 1732. When he arrived at Sangis, close to Tornea, it is obvious that he was crossing a cultural and linguistic border: "Nar jag miste Zangis miste jag och mitt modersmahl; i Seiwis war pura finnar, dem jag eij forstod." Based on this text, Fjellstrom (1997) states that Linn",us was travelling through an area of the King­ dom of Sweden where he still used his eyes for observations but could not really get much information using his ears. It would not be wise to draw too many sociolinguistic conclusions from these con­ trasting quotations. From other sources it is quite clear that Finns mastered Swedish, more or less perfectly, e. g. in a (comic) tragedy from 1647, Alia Bedlegrannas spegel. Elier En yn­ keligh och bedroJweligh Tragoedia om Jungfrw Margaretha (see Lilius 1997 and Edlund 1 996). In this play, many suitors compete for Margareta, and the Finn wins - and kills her. Before that he delivers many laughter-evoking replies in a mixed language, such as: "Mino plii Tockhohnis fara" - 'I often go to Stock­ hohn'. It is interesting that the author could count on his (probably not very sophisticated) audience to understand such mixing. In the absence of detailed documentation, it can only be assumed that Swedish-speaking people were quite used to hearing imperfect Swedish with interference from Finnish. There is not much linguistic literature or many descriptions using modern analysis methods about language contact between Swedish and Finnish before 1 800 - linguists in Finland have concentrated on analysing contemporary language contact between Swedish and Finnish. Even in a recent publi­ cation, Viborgsfyra sprak under sju sekel (Tan­ defelt 2002a), the detailed study of contact phenomena has to rely mostly on evidence from a later period. Nevertheless, the case study of the multiethnic and multilingual city of Viborg (Russian since 1944) can be recom­ mended for insights into the linguistic situ-

1364 ation during earlier as well as later periods. The four languages in contact in Viborg were Swedish, Finnish, Russian and German. Tan­ defelt shows how political and economic changes over seven centuries meant that these four languages became sometimes mainly re­ cipients and sometimes donors in this multi­ lingual society (see also Tandefelt 2002b). From an earlier scholar (Wallen 1932) there is a study about Sprakgriinsen och mi­ noriteterna i Finlands svenskbygder omkring 1600- 1865. Wallen tries to delineate the lan­ guage boundary between the Swedish-speak­ ing and Finnish-speaking population from very early times as well as its later fluctuations, concentrating on the period dealt with in this article. Under headings such as "Sprikgran­ sen i borjan av 1600-talet" (I), "Forskjutnin­ gar av sprakgriinsen" (II), "Folkmiingden inorn det svenska bosattningsornridet intill 1865" (III), the changes in the language bor­ ders are followed from parish to parish in the southern and western part of present-day Fin­ land, mainly Viistra and O stra Nyland, and Osterbotten. This is shown on a map at the end of the book. His sources are court and church documents from these periods, and al­ though Wallen emphasizes how difficult it of­ ten is to rely on and interpret these documents thoroughly, he certainly has managed to col­ lect a large amount of demographic informa­ tion from them, including insights into the re­ lationship between the two language groups in daily life. Factors that may have caused the language borders to change over the centuries include war and years of bad harvests, immi­ gration and emigration - between Estonia and Finland, but mainly between this area and the Swedish mainland on the other side of the Bal­ tic and Gulf of Bothnia. On the whole, Wallen finds only small changes in the language bor­ der during this period. (For some critical re­ marks on Wallen's work, see Lonnqvist 2001, 153). The fluctuations in the border between Finnish and Swedish, both in this area and, in a wider perspective, outside today's Fin­ land, are also due to a not so spectacular and probably less well-known cultural difference connected to farming, the main occupation during this period. Within Finland, the inhab­ itants of Savolax in particular expanded their territory in different directions, not least to Ingria south of the Gulf of Finland, through their special agricultural technique: svedjebruk 'slash-and-burn cultivation'. This was a kind of nomadic farming, where forest was burnt

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages and a special kind of grain was sown in the ashes. The combination was very successful. For a few seasons the harvest was overwhelm­ ingly rich. After that the farmers had to move their activities to new forests and repeat the procedure. In the 1 6th c. the Swedish king Karl IX and members of the Swedish aristocracy had such high regard for this kind of farming that they encouraged Savolax Finns to settle down and farm in central Sweden, beginning in the prov­ ince of Sodermanland where Karl was duke before he was crowned. From there the colon­ ists spread to the western parts of Sweden, and even to the other side of the border with Nor­ way (Hedmark county). They also spread to the northern forest areas, Helsingland, Jarnt­ land and so on. The linguistic effects of this colonization by a Finnish-speaking population during the period (and later) have been little studied by linguists so far. Toponym studies of course mention the resulting place-names like Finn­ rodja, and in Varmland and Dalarna the con­ cept of Finnskogarna, and the folklore about this special culture, has been vivid up to pres­ ent times. Even if little can be said about lan­ guage contact in this connection, or about the large group of Finnish-speaking immigrants to the Swedish capital Stockholm during this period, it is important to note that the popu­ lation of Sweden was not as homogeneous as perhaps both the Swedes themselves and 0b­ servers from abroad usually claim. Finnish was probably used for sermons ear­ lier for the Finnish congregation in Stockholm than in Finland. The young Erik, son of Gus­ tav Vasa, later Erik XIV, had a tutor for Fin­ nish on the recommendation of Martin Luther himself. This was not Mikael Agricola, but an­ other student in Wittenberg from Finland. After Agricola (1510?-1 557), who translated the New Testament into Finnish, although Swedish was at least his father's language, there are numerous examples of bilingual Swedes and Finns in Finland. The priests of­ ten had to hold services for both Finnish- and Swedish-speaking members of their congrega­ tions. (For an overview of the history of the Finnish population in today's Sweden, see Tarkiainen 1990). To understand the structure of this migra­ tion, both towards the east and from the east, it may be helpful to look at the population structure on the eastern side of the Baltic, south of the Gulf of Finland, where for cen­ turies, at least from the early Middle Ages and

153. Language contact in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries

probably much earlier, people speaking quite different languages and with quite different cultures lived close to each other in neighbour­ ing villages, but where the language contact was minimal. Ingria (Ingermanland), between Narva and St. Petersburg, seems to have been such an area, where one village could be Rus­ sian-speaking and villages nearby be inhabited by Savolax-Finns, Ingrians, Votic- or Vepsic­ speaking people. The reason why this situ­ ation could have occurred is that, for example, the specialized type of farming (svedjebruket) practiced by the Savolax in Middle Sweden never really came into conflict with the existing farming methods or other activities. There was space enough for their culture in the forests. In fact, these immigrant farmers could supply workers in the mining districts with charcoal. When general education became compulsory in Sweden, however, it was clear that Swedish would replace their mother tongue eventually. In Finland the situation was different, but in both cases such processes mainly belong to a later period than the one discussed here. 2.3.

Swedish and German in the Baltic countries, and in Pomerania

Jiirgen Beyer (2002) has studied the use of Swedish in written sources in Estonia and Livonia, mostly in competition with German, in the 17th and 1 8th centuries. One difficult issue is to what extent the Swedish presence influenced the Estonian language. The pres­ ence of German-speaking inhabitants in the Baltic countries was an important feature dur­ ing the whole period. Just as for the contact situation between Danish-speaking people in southern Jutland and their German-speaking neighbours, or the situation in the Norwegian Hansa city Bergen, the general replacement of Low German or Plattysk by High German (at least in written communication) must have had some affect on the nature oflanguage con­ tact. However, German in its different variants was so familiar at least to educated people that even the leading theoretical linguists of the time regarded Swedish and German as just two dialects of the same language. Georg Stiernhielm (1598-1672) describes this rela­ tionship: " According to German words and sentences, daily used by us, these two lan­ guages, German and Swedish are like sisters, born by the same mother, the ancient first Japhetic-Scythic Mother. In the kinship there is no difference, although they appear a little different in their dresses and dialect." (From

the Kingdom of Sweden

1365

"Poretalet till Baculus Carolinus", 1663, manuscript. See Ohlsson/Olsson 2000, passim, full quotation in Swedish on p. 211. See also art. 7). Stiernhielm took this characteristic as an ar­ gument for suggesting that many words from German might be borrowed into Swedish, with just some adaptation to Swedish lan­ guage rules. He was a Swedish official, work­ ing in Livonia (Dorpat/Tartu) in the middle of the 17th c. (about 1630-1656) as a judge at the High Court of Livonia, so his contacts with the dominant German-speaking aristo­ cracy were numerous (Wieselgren 1966). As was quite typical for upper-class Swedes in the area, his descendants, the Stiernhielm family living at Vasula manor outside Tartu, became totally Germanized. After 1920, when they had to leave the newly independent Estonia, they were not able to understand the old Swedish documents in their family archive written by Stiernhielm and his contempora­ ries. The language contact situation in the Ger­ man province of Pomerania, under Swedish rule from 1648-1815, was quite different from that in Estonia/Livonia. There was a univer­ sity in Greifswald which had been founded earlier. It thus had a much longer history than Dorpat/Tartu, and its affiliation to Sweden continued for more than a hundred years long­ er. Onnerfors (2002) gives a short overview of the presence of Swedes and the Swedish lan­ guage in the province, the importance of the province and the university for competent bi­ lingualism, which resulted in an impressive dictionary in three volumes by J. G. P. Moller (1729-1 807), and translation activities in both directions. Much work remains to be done in order to map and analyse Swedish-German language contact in this province under Swedish rule. 2.4.

Wallonian immigrants to Sweden

Compared to other groups of immigrants to Sweden during the period, few have been the subject of so much folklore as the valloner, French-speaking Belgian miners who were en­ couraged to immigrate in the 1 7th c. (see Ploren/Ternhag 2002). They were few in number, less than 1 ,000; 250 of them settled together in L6fsta bruk, where Louis de Geer lived, and for several generations they were not assimilated but kept their language and culture. According to the folk tales, however, there is scarcely a family with members who

1366

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

have dark hair and dark eyes that does not claim to have Walloons as their ancestors.

3.

Danish and Swedish language contact in the province of Scania

From a dialectological point of view, the whole area of Nordic language-speaking in­ habitants can or rather could be regarded as a continuum, where all dialects were almost totally comprehensible to the neighbouring dialect speakers. However, from a synchronic point of view, this is nowadays doubtful to some extent. Research during the last half cen­ tury has revealed limits to sernicornrnunica­ tion between the Nordic countries. In particu­ lar, the border between Denmark and Sweden at the Sound, which now divides the countries - although recently a bridge has been built be­ tween Malmo and Copenhagen - has been pointed out as being a real language border as well. This certainly was not the case in earlier days, but is mainly due to the fact that the King of Sweden conquered the former Dan­ ish provinces on the Scandinavian peninsula - Halland along the southwestcoast, Scania to the south, and Blekinge to the southeast. Together these provinces form the traditional administrative area of Skaneland, and in tra­ ditional dialectology the dialects were called '0stdansk'. Nowadays '0stdansk' is only ap­ plied to the dialects of the island of Bornhohn, originally also belonging to the conquered area, but after just a couple of years it was brought back to the Kingdom of Denmark, where it has remained. Skimeland comprised roughly a third of 17th c. Denmark before 1658, and was per­ haps the wealthiest part. Culturally it had also been a real heartland of the Danish Kingdom, with Lund as the seat of the mighty archbish­ opric. In the early Middle Ages, the arch­ bishop of Lund was the clerical leader of the entire Nordic area, until Sweden established its own archbishopric in Uppsala. Still, in the 16th and 17th centuries, Lund and Mahna were important political and cultural centres in Denmark. The first Danish book-printers had their offices here. The cities along the Scanian westcoast at the Sound - Helsing­ borg, Landskrona, Lund-Mahna, Skanar­ Falsterbo - formed a tight commercial net­ work with Elsinore, Copenhagen and Drag0r on the Zealand side of the Sound. From a lin­ guistic point of view, this means that the cities

around the Sound were the places where the spoken roots of the written and spoken Dan­ ish standard language are to be found. With the nationality shift in Skimeland, this situ­ ation changed totally during the period after the first conquest. Initially, Swedish rule was thought to be temporary, but after new wars in the 1670s and finally a last attempt by the Danish king to reconquer the area around 1710, it was clear that the political map of the area had changed forever. After 1675, a Swedish "uniformity pro­ gramme" was devised and carried out. Ac­ cording to the peace treaty, the citizens of Skaneland were guaranteed their old rights and traditions concerning "religion, laws and language". The uniformity programme was a diplomatic masterpiece: the aristocracy, the clergymen and the burghers of the cities were convinced that they should themselves ask to be integrated into the Kingdom of Sweden in order not to violate the conditions ofthe peace treaty. The no bility were offered places in the Riddarhus in Stockholm with full political rights through the Riksdag, and similar polit­ ical representation in the parliament was in turn offered to the clergymen and the burgh­ ers. Partly owing to changes in the Danish power structure, with the establishment of an absolute kingdom in 1660, the Swedish offer was one that the leading groups in Skaneland could not refuse. The majority of the popu­ lation, the farmers, were not asked about their opinion but just integrated after the other three categories had accepted the situation. The most important names behind this suc­ cessful assimilation programme were its orig­ inator Johan Gyllenstierna (owner of Krap­ perup castle in Scania), the governor general of the province of Scania, Rutger von Asche­ berg (an aristocrat of Baltic origin), and the appointed Swedish bishop Knut Hahn in Lund, born in Ronneby in Blekinge. We shall concentrate here on the Swedifica­ tion of the language of the province. Ohlsson (1978; 1979; see also 1998) tried to obtain an overview of the Swedification process for the written language by sampling short texts from the primary court records of some cities and rural court districts of Scania every fifth year from about 1650 to 1710. By classifying the consecutive morphemes as non-Danish, non­ Swedish, common, or neither, an overall view of the process was 0 btained. There were some tendencies to use Swedish morphemes in the city records even before the uniformity process started. The point of time when the non-Dan-

153. Language contact in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries

ish elements became more frequent than the non-Swedish was similar in all the investigated sources: between 1680 and 1685. This corres­ ponds very well with the time when the uni­ formity process had been carried out fully. Fi­ nally, after 1685 the cases where there were more non-Swedish morphemes than on aver­ age were mostly to be found in the city records. After 1700, such a rough method of measuring the mixed nature of the language does not help much. It can be said that from the first decades of the 1 8th c. the official written language of Skaneland was Swedish, after an interesting gradual process of change which can be ex­ pressed as a typical S-curve. At the beginning of the period there are just a few cases of Swedish elements, around 1680 the process is very rapid, and at the end just a few Danish elements can be identified. It is possible to fol­ low such a gradual process, of course, because at least half of the morphemes are common to both Swedish and Danish, and during these times variation in written language was so large that a written mixed language could be easily understood and accepted in official documents. Can some parallels be drawn between this change in written language use and the spoken language in Skaneland? In my opinion it con­ firms the view presented above that the cities of Scania were quite Danish at that time. The traditional view of dialectologists has been that the nationality shift did not affect the lan­ guage spoken in Scania much. Before as well as after, the old Scanian dialects were spoken in the province. They differed from the dialects in the rest of Denmark - they were East Dan­ ish. I will not challenge that picture much of course, but I am still firmly convinced that to the citizens along the coast of the Sound the nationality shift meant a change also in lin­ guistic behaviour, including bilingualism or bidialectalism. The commercial or cultural connections with the former capital Copen­ hagen were forbidden for a long time - it was even forbidden to import books from the other side of the Sound - and many immi­ grants from northern parts of Sweden now added their accent to the daily life in the cities of Scania. There is no doubt that the real Swedification ofthe language spoken in rural areas ofScania came much later - actually it was a similar process to the gradual disappearance of very specific dialect features all over the Nordic countries. A regional variety of Swedish be­ came dominant in southern Sweden, which is

the Kingdom of Sweden

1367

as easy to recognize as the variety of Swedish spoken in Finland. In my and others' opinion, some of the characteristic features of southern Swedish go back to the language spoken in Lund and other cities during the first gener­ ations of Swedish rule as a result of language contact between Swedish and Danish in this area. Other parts of Scandinavia where changes in nationality occurred through Swedish con­ quest during the 17th c. include Gotland, Hal­ land, Blekinge, Bohusliin, Hiirjedalen and Jarntland. There may have been similar pro­ cesses which remain to be discovered, but there have not been larger scale studies carried out yet. Another parallel is, of course, contact between Danish and Norwegian in Norwegian language history, but this will be treated in detail elsewhere. The efforts expended by the Swedish author­ ities to assimilate these southern parts of what is now Sweden seem to be unique for their time, and they had no counterparts in the Bal­ tic countries under Swedish rule, at least not from a linguistic point ofview. How this could happen in a period when "nationalism" had not yet developed is a question to which even historians still have no clear answer.

4.

Literature (a selection)

Andreassen, Irene (1994), Kontakt med norsk og samisk i kvendialekter. In: Kotsinas/Helgander (eds.), Dialektkontakt, sprbkkontakt och sprbk­ foriindring i Norden, 140 150. Astrom, Anna-Maria/Lonnqvist, Bo/Lindqvist, Yrsa (2001), Griinsfolkets barn. Finlandssvensk mar­ ginalitet och sjiilvhiivdelse i kulturanalytiskt perspek­ tiv (Folklivsstudier 21). Helsingfors. Beyer, Jlirgen (2002), Om anvendelsen af det svenske sprog i Estland og Livland i 1600- og 1700tallet. In: Lagman/Ohlsson/Voodla (eds.), 59 80. Bull, Tove (1994), Sprakskifte og sprakbevaring blant norske kystsamar. In: Kotsinas/Helgander (eds.), 129 139. Edlund, Lars-Erik (1996), Kudh forbanne tigh tu Horakaxa. In: Svenskan i tusen ar (SNSS 81), 70 87. Fjellstrom, Phebe (1997), Carl Linnes resa i Oster­ botten 1732 ur ett etnologiskt perspektiv. In: Ord och nagra visor tilliignade Kurt Zilliacus, 68 71. Floren, Andreas/Ternhag, Gunnar (eds.) (2002), Valloner jiirnets miinniskor. Stockholm. Gronholm Maija (1988), Ruotsalaiset lainasanat Turun murteessa. Abo. Gronholm Maija (1994), De finlandssvenska dia­ lekternas fonologiska ochmorfologiska sardrag hos

1368 svenska hlnord i de sydvastfinska dialekterna. In: Kotsinas/Helgander (eds.), 201 209. Hikkinen, Kaisa (1994), Hur Agricola varpaverkad av svenskan. In: Folkmalsstudier 35, 57 82. Hikkinen, Kaisa (2002), Svenska och finska sida vid sida i tusen ar. In: Svenskans beskrivning 25 (eds. M. Sundman/A.-M. Londen). Abo, 24 33. Hedman, J.;Ahlander, L. (1993), Gammalsvenskby: Historien om svenskarna i Ukraina. StockhoM. Hovdhaugen, Even/Karlsson, Fred/Henriksen, Carol/Sigurd, Bengt(2000), The history o/linguistics in the Nordic countries. Helsinki. Kark-Remes, Vile (2002), Fran svenska till svenska i Estland. In: LagmanjOhlssonjVoodla (eds.), 1 1 1 130. Karlgren, Anton (1929; 1953), Gammalsvenskby: land och folk. Gammalsvenskby: uttal och bojning i gammalsvenskbymalet. In: SvLm. B27; SvLm. B 56. Uppsala/Stockholm. Kotsinas, Ulla-Britt/Helgander, John (eds.) (1994), Dialektkontakt, sprdkkontakt och sprdkforiindring i Norden: Foredrag frdn ett forskarsymposium (MINS 40). Stockholm. Lagman, Svante/Ohlsson, Stig O rjan/Voodla, Viivi­ ka (eds.) (2002), Svenska sprbkets historia i oster­ sjoomradet(Studier i svensk sprakhistoria 7/Nordis­ tica Tartuensia 7). Tartu. Lehtimiki, Pekka (ed.) (1999), Sprachen in Finnland und Estland. Wiesbaden. Lilius, Pirkko (1994), Sprdkval och ordval i tillfiil­ lesdiktningen i Finland 1700 1749. (Diss. Helsing­ fors) (SNF 73). 56 70, and passim. Lilius, Pirkko (1997), lungfru Margaretha och Fin­ nen. Sprakliga synpunkter pa en 1600-talstragedi. In: Ord och ndgra visor tilliignade Kurt Zilliacus, 163 168. Lonnqvist, Bo (2001), Sprakgransen som kulturellt och ideologiskt fenomen. In: Astrom/Lonnqvist/ Lindqvist (eds.), 149 160. Onnerfors, Andreas (2002), Svenska sprakets stall­ mng i den tyska Ostersjoprovinsen Pommem 1648 1815. In: Lagman/Ohlssen/Voodla (eds.), 81 97. Ohlsson, Stig Orjan (1978), Skb:n.es sprdkliga for­ svenskning 1. Inledning. Om skriftsprdket under Skb:n.es overgdngstid (Lundastudier i nordisk sprak­ vetenskap A 30). Lund.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages Ohlsson, Stig Orjan (1979), Skb:n.es sprdkliga for­ svenskning 2. Blandsprdksanalyser (Lundastudier i nordisk sprakvetenskap A 31). Lund. Ohlsson, Stig Orjan (1998), Quantitative and qua­ litative methods in philology. Some refiexions con­ nected to the process of language change in Skane. In: Festschrift in honour of Juhan Tuldava, Sonder­ band von Journal of Quantitative Linguistics. Vol. 5. No 1 2, 67 80. Ohlsson, Stig Orjan (1999), Schweden und Schwe­ disch in Estland. In: Lehtimaki (ed.), 137 154. Ohlsson, Stig brjan/Olsson, Bernt (eds.) (2000), Stiernhielm 400 dr (KVHAA 50; Nordistica Tar­ tuensia 4). Stockhohn 2000. Ohlsson, Stig brjan/Tuldava, Juhan (eds.) (2002), De skandinaviska liinderna och Estland (Nordistica Tartuensia 5). Tartu. Piirimae, Hehnut (2002), Hur fria var de svenska bondema i Estland under 1700-talet och i borjan av 1800-talet? Kuid vabad olid rootsi talupojad Eestis 18. sajandil 19. sanjandil algul? In: Ohlsson/ Tuldava (eds.), 63 98. P5ldvee, Aivar (2002), Sprak, identitet och de fria svenska bondema i S:t Mathias och Kors socken pa 1600-talet. In: Lagman/Ohlsson/Voodla (eds.), 49 56. Schonberg, Alar (2002), Estlands svenskar Eesti roots lased. In: OhlssonfTuldava (eds.), 57 63. Tandefelt, Marika (ed.) (2002a), Viborgsfyra sprdk under sju sekel. lyvaskyla. Tandefelt, Marika (2002b), Svenskan i Viborg vid detsvenska sprakets ostgrans. In: Lagman/Ohlsson/ Voodla (eds.), 131 146. Tarkiainen, Kari (1990), Finnarnas historia i Sverige: 1. Infiyttarna frdn Finland under det gemensamma rikets tid. Helsingfors. Vilkuna, Kustaa (1969), Kainuu Kviinland: ettfinsk­ norsk-svenskt problem (Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi 46). Uppsala. Vilppula, Matti (2000), Svenskan och de finska dia­ lektema. In: Folkmdlsstudier 39, 457 464. Wallen, Holger (1932), Sprdkgriinsen och minorite­ terna i Finlands svenskbygder omkr. 1600 1865. (Diss.). Abo. Wieselgren, Per (1966), Breven till Georg Stiernhielm (Skrifter utg. genom Vetenskapssocieteten i Lund). Lund.

Stig Orjan Ohlsson, Tartu (Estonia)

154. The role of schools and education from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

154.

1369

The role of schools and education from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

1. 2.

4. 5. 6.

Introduction Popular language teaching carried out by the Church Schools and education after the Refonnation Language teaching Conclusion Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

3.

The role of schools in the development of the Nordic languages and the acquisition by the general population of reading and writing skills during the period in question has so far not been systematically investigated. How­ ever, important initiatives were taken in the 1980s. At the Nordic Historians' Congress in Jyvaskyla, Finland in 1981, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Danish scholars, after reporting on the existing research con­ cerning the time before the emergence of the Nordic primary schools (JolkeskolenjJolk­ skolan), established a group of researchers who discussed various aspects of the theme at two subsequent meetings in 1984 and 1987. This work concluded in 1991 with a special issue of the Scandinavian Journal of History entitled "The development of reading and writing ability in the Nordic countries in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries". A se­ cond initiative was taken by the Nordic Lan­ guage Secretariat (Nordisk Spraksekretariat) which, in the 1980s, arranged a series of sym­ posiums on the development of the Nordic written languages in the 19th c., including the importance of schools and of the ability to read and write, reported in De nordiske skriftsprakene pa 1800-tallet 1 - 3 (Oslo 198486). Swedish scholars took the third initia­ tive at the end of the 1980s in a project funded by a governmental research council in 198892 and entitled "Barnaundervisning fore folkskolan: 1 812 ars uppfostringskommittes enkat", which resulted in several volumes in the series ALPHABETA VARIA. Album Re­ ligionum Umense (Lindmark 1 994). At the same time a research project connecting edu­ cation and knowledge with 1 8th c. economic changes in agriculture was carried out by the department of historical economics at the university of Lund, Sweden, focussing es­ pecially on the writing ability of the peasant-

ry (NilssonjPettersson 1990; NilssonjSvard 1993). The role of schools in development and standardization of the vernacular has been treated by Skautrup (1947 -53) and Diderich­ sen (1968). Several monographs and doctoral dissertations (i. a. Vannebo 1984; Steinfeld 1986; Sandin 1986; Markussen 1988, 1995; Tveit 1990; Lindmark 1993, 1994, 1995) touch on the matter, and ABC books have been ana­ lyzed by Wilke (1965) and Skjelbred (1999), but none of these focus on the theme of the present article.

2.

Popular language teaching carried out by the Church

In 1 817, on the occasion of the 300th anniver­ sary of Martin Luther's split with the Catholic Church, the importance of language in the re­ fonnation of religion and society in the 16th c. was taken up, e. g. in a sennon published under the following title: Underviisning til den danske Almue om de fortrinlige Velgierninger, som Kirkeforordningen har skienket os [Infor­ mation to the Danish populace about the out­ standing benefits granted us by the Church Or­ der; note that in this article 'populace' will be used to cover the implications of the Scandi­ navian words almuejallmu (g)ejallmoge]. The sermon summed up what in 1817 was con­ sidered the main points of Protestant educa­ tion of the people after the introduction of evangelical services, viz. singing vernacular hymns and hearing the Word read and ex­ plained in vernacular sennons, i. e. services ap­ pealing to both intellect and heart and con­ ducted by appropriately educated spiritual ad­ visers: Der synger du, christne Medbroder, aandelige Psalmer i dit eget Modersmaal, som du forstaaer, og ved hvilke dit Hierte op10ftes til Gud; der h0rer du Guds Ord la:se, forklare og anvende i Pra:dikener, som er et uundva:rligt Hielpemiddel til at gaae videre frem i Kundskab, til at opbygges og styrkes i det Gode [ . . . ] Din Gudstieneste er altsaa indrettet baade for din Forstand og dit Hierte, og dine Sieles0rgere ere dannede til at kunne forvalte den overeensstemmende med den­ ne velgi0rende Hensigt.

It was, thus, essential for the clergy after the Refonnation to be taught how to communi-

1370 cate the message of the Church in such a way that the Protestant idea of man's responsibil­ ity for his own salvation might be fulfilled. Since this so-called "general priesthood" called for systematic education of the people, church and school became closely connected in Protestant education during the following centuries. The vernacular was given a central role. After the Refonnation the authorities in all the Nordic countries decided to link acquisi­ tion of reading ability with the Catechism taught by the Church. Therefore Luther's mi­ nor Catechism was soon translated into the Nordic languages and used as a kind ofpopu­ lar Bible. The parish clerk, meeting once a week with the peasant children and adoles­ cents, was to impress on them the teachings of the Catechism. However, the education thus initiated by the Refonnation acquired a secular as well as a religious dimension: Through the religious texts the young people and their parents were exhorted to accept the Lutheran understanding offaith and to adopt a positive attitude to the exertion of govern­ mental and ecclesiastical authority. This popular education was based on the "three­ estate doctrine", referring to the governmen­ tal, educational and household realms. The supreme authority of the governmental estate was the king, who was responsible for other estates accepting Lutheran doctrines. Clergy­ men, parish clerks and schoolmasters repre­ sented different ranks of teachers within the so-called educational estate, and the head of the family was responsible for religious in­ struction in a household. The linguistic foun­ dation of this system was the mother tongue, including concepts developed by working with the language. However, the need for teaching language skills differed locally as well as so­ cially. When assessing the opportunities and de­ mands of the education aiming at general ac­ quisition of reading and writing skills, one must take the surrounding society into con­ sideration, since societal factors are decisive for the aims and content of such language teaching. There were, indeed, societal factors other than the upbringing administered by the government and the Church. The opportuni­ ties and demands of the school should match the needs and the economic resources of the populace. It has long been a matter of dispute in Nordic research on literacy whether eco­ nomics or religion was the primary incentive behind the growth of reading and writing

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages ability among the general population (Oden 1975a, 1975b; Johansson 1975; Sandin 1986; Nilsson/Pettersson 1990; Nilsson/Svard 1993; Lindmark 1 994). When trying to define the role of schools in the development of literacy skills, it is important to state more precisely the type of school in question, e. g. whether the majority of the children had no other choice than the public elementary school (if they went to school at all). After the Refor­ mation, no one was left totally without lan­ guage education - the Church saw to that. But alternatives were available in private second­ ary schools.

3.

Schools and education after the Reformation

3.1.

Introductory remarks

The foundation of the public educational sys­ tems in the Nordic countries was laid in the 1530s. First to be organized was the grammar school system in the towns. No schools in the rural districts are mentioned in the Church Or­ ders of either Sweden-Finland (1527), Den­ mark-Norway (1539) or Schleswig-Holstein (1 542). In themarket towns of Denmark, how­ ever, so-called "Danish schools" existed, which took their name from the language used in teaching Gust as the grammar schools were usually called "Latin schools"). The Danish schools carne close to being prohibited in 1 542, but they lived on in the shadow of the gram­ mar schools where the future clergy received their primary education. For Sweden, it is no­ table that the earliest traces of a systematic vernacular education are not to be found in schools but in the Protestant church service with its stronger emphasis on Bible reading, preaching and community singing in the mo­ ther tongue. The Word alone and the idea of the general priesthood formed the basis for this new order. 3.2.

Language teaching in the grammar schools

Although the Protestant Reformation chang­ ed the ideological foundation of the convent and cathedral schools which had existed in the Nordic countries throughout the Middle Ages, many ideals and principles of teaching survived. Even before the Reformation the existing schools had been strongly influenced by Renaissance humanist endeavours to re­ vive the ideals of antiquity, with classical liter-

154. The role of schools and education from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

ature having been given priority as the model of a new attitude to life which emphasized hu­ man, individual and subjective qualities. The humanists attached great importance to Latin and Greek, using the classical languages for their in-depth Bible studies. They continued, after the Reformation, to inspire the grammar schools whose objective was to further wise and eloquent piety (sapiens atque eloquens pietas) combined with dignified conduct. While the oratorical ideal stems from Quin­ tilian, Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466 -1 536) was the most influential contemporary hu­ manist (Jensen 1982). His ColloquiaJamiliaria (151 8), which he wrote in order to improve the training of students, prescribed that Latin should be taught in connection with well­ known 0 bjects and events. Colloquia was used in the grammar schools of Denmark along with another book by Erasmus which was wide­ ly used in all the Nordic countries, De civilitate morum puerilium (1530). This book, in which Erasmus expressed his view that the goal of education was not merely language acquisi­ tion, but learning how to behave courteously as well, became the model for one of the ear­ liest pedagogical essays in Danish, B@rne­ Speige/ by Niels Bredal (1568). The purpose of grammar schools was to teach the pupils how to speak and write Latin, and therefore their use of the mother tongue was repeatedly banned by the authorities, who would impose sanctions in the form of fines or even threaten lashings if the pupils broke the rule (Steinfeld 1986). However, many sources show that the vernacular was already used in the second half of the 16th c. when dictating exercises to be translated from e. g. Danish into Latin in the lowest forms. A new system introduced in 1604 even obliged the Danish grammar schools to increase the use of the mother tongue in order to facilitate the teaching of Latin, especially in the lowest forms. When the schoolboy learnt the alpha­ bet in both the Roman and the Gothic version, the "Danish" (i. e. Gothic) letters were given priority, as prescribed in Pro SchoUs Puer­ orum. Danish was also to be used when reading a primer called Donatus, seu tabula decUna­ tionum comparationum cum Danicis una, of which no copy has been preserved; it was pro bably a collection of paradigms and ele­ mentary concepts of grammar (Jensen 1982). Using Danish as an aid in the first fonn, the teacher would thus coordinate Latin text read­ ing with introducing the pupils to the elements of grammar.

1371

During the 1620s the role of the mother tongue in Danish grammar schools was strongly emphasized by Bishop Jens Dinesen Jersin (1 588-1634) who, after a heated debate, was granted a ten-year royal monopoly to print Latin grammars for the second and third grammar school fonns. Presupposing that the schoolboys had learnt to read Danish, Jersin's Epitome Grammaticte Latinte was remarkable for being almost completely written in Danish. In a scathing criticism of traditional teaching he asserted that the pupils,just like the "mass­ makers" in the old days, were trained to read Latin with no understanding whatsoever and just mumble prayers, treating the distinction between e. g. mulus 'mule' and famulus 'ser­ vant' as a trifling matter; but perhaps, he wrote, rules of grammar taught in Latin are supposed to be just as efficient as the prayers of the Catholic Church (Jensen 1982, 1 33). However, reading Danish was not to be a goal in its own right but a means to facilitate teach­ ing Latin. This pedagogical idea was con­ firmed in a 1631 school reform planned to make transition to the university less problem­ atic. Following the new order, the first form pupils, progressing from the familiar to the unknown, would begin with learning to read Danish letters and after that Roman letters. In the second form they would learn how to write both Danish and Roman letters, and along with studying Luther's minor Cate­ chism in Danish they would start learning de­ clensions and conjugations from a Latin pri­ mer (called a Donat in Danish, after the 4th c. grammarian Aelius Donatus). Moving away from traditional Latin gram­ mar, which was organized systematically ac­ cording to logical divisions, Jersin launched a Latin primer in which the various parts of speech were introduced in a sequence deter­ mined by pedagogical principles. He set aside, to a great extent, the Latin logical tenns in favour of explaining and exemplifying crucial points in Danish, which is why his grammars were somewhat condescendingly called "prac­ tica" . It is not known how widely Jersin's books and his educational principles were accepted in the grammar schools of Denmark-Norway. Some scholars think that the university Latin­ ists almost conspired to repress them (Stein­ feld 1986, 43). But we know for certain that Jersin's books were used in Copenhagen, Horsens, Randers, Arhus and, as a matter of course, in Ribe, his episcopal residence. Still, one must conclude that the use of Jersin's

1372

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

grammar did not become as widespread as an­ ticipated. In 1628 he published a Donat con­ sisting of tables ofparadigms accompanied by a brief account of the syntactic properties of each word class, i. e. a compendium reminis­ cent of his own Epitome, though abbreviated, and not to be mistaken for the Ars minor by Donatus. This Donat, partly written in Danish like his Epitome, became far more widely used than the Epitome and is nowadays consider­ ed the prototype of all later known Donats. Per Degn, the typical Danish parish clerk in Ludvig Holberg's 18th c. comedy Erasmus Montanus, was not a scholar; he had only studied Jersin, not the Roman Donatus (Jen­ sen 1982, 136). 3.3.

Language teaching for the nobility

The Reformation was important for the upper classes, too, opportunities for advancement within the Church being fewer and no longer attractive. The nobility, therefore, made vary­ ing use of grammar school education during the following centuries. Sons of noblemen would generally attend grammar school for a few years only, if at all, whereas private tuition was frequent and some short-lived academies for noblemen were established. But the books used in the education of the aristocracy were often those of the grammar school. Several texts adapted for educational purposes by Erasmus of Rotterdam were used both in grammar schools and in the private tuition of noblemen's children during the 16th and 17th centuries. Most frequently boys would corne across Erasmus' books in Latin lessons, while German translations were presumably studied by noblemen's daughters, as suggested by Bibliotheca Rothkirchiana Eqvestris, a cata­ logue compiled in 1650 by the private tutor of the noble Wenzel Rothkirch family. Besides the books by Erasmus used in teaching, this catalogue gives a comprehensive account of how both boys and girls were taught, written in Latin for the boys and in German for the girls, which seems to reflect the distinct use of the two languages in teaching. Throughout the period in question, modern languages played a central part in the educa­ tion of young noblemen who wanted to make a career for themselves at court, in diplomacy or in central administration. Consequently, modern languages were given a central posi­ tion when the Academy of Sor0, Denmark, was established in 1748, including the mother tongue, which had prominent advocates

among the staff, e. g. the essayist J. S. Snee­ dorff (1724-64) and Ove H0egh-Guldberg (173 1- 1 808), who in his capacity as secretary of the King's Cabinet enacted the 1776 Na­ tionality Law. Although proficiency in Danish was not given special attention in the education of the no bility, the fact that the grammar schools up­ graded the mother tongue during the 1 8th c. became important for the nobility as well. Es­ pecially after 1776 the position of the mother tongue was strengthened thoroughly both in education and in everyday writing and speech. 3.4.

Military schools

During the period in question, elementary lan­ guage teaching was available for the children of soldiers and sailors whose sons would often later join the army or the navy. Reading, writ­ ing and arithmetic were important in the bar­ racks schools as an integral part of basic mili­ tary training. To begin with, the language of instruction in these schools was German, but during the 1 8th c. the mother tongue was given higher priority, and from 1772 the language of military schools in Denmark was Danish only (Norrie 1 966). It has been widely over­ looked that basic military training, by having a beneficial effect on the elementary reading and writing skills of the young recruits, be­ came indirectly important for reading and writing abilities in general, especially after the military duties for the male population in­ creased with conscription during the 19th c. In Denmark officers were trained in either of two military academies established in 1713 (Landkadetakademiet, for army officers) and 1728 (S@kadetakademiet, for naval officers), where Danish lessons were given at a level that presupposed previous elementary training. While textbooks have not been preserved, the correspondence of the naval academy in the 1750s shows that copying was used as a peda­ gogical aid, the administrators being of the opinion that the slowness of copying would strengthen recollection of what was to be learnt. Copying whole textbooks is indeed likely to have improved the handwriting of the students as well as their proficiency in Danish (Seerup 2001). 3.5.

Private tuition

Private tuition took place in the houses of wealthy town-dwellers and of urban as well as rural officials. Very little is known about

154. The role of schools and education from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

this kind of teaching, e. g. which books were used and the number of children involved. The syllabus of the grammar schools was probably followed in families aiming at an official career for their sons. But it is likely, too, that the edu­ cation of both middle-class and upper-class children included useful skills like proficiency in the mother tongue, writing, accounting, arithmetic and mathematics, as well as modern languages - German, French or possibly Eng­ lish. Although only a minority, a fraction in­ deed, of the population had private tuition, this fraction together with the grammar school students constituted the corning elite of readers and writers who set the standards for the linguistic development of their country. Private tuition also occurred among the peasantry. Until recently it was commonly thought in the Nordic countries that Swedish children generally had been taught at horne until the 1 842 law established numerous pri­ mary schools all over the country, whereas Danish children already attended schoolin the 1 7th and 1 8th centuries. This picture has been considerably modified in recent years (Nilssonj Petterson 1990; NilssonjSvard 1993; Lind­ mark 1994). In certain parts of Denmark where trade and industry was widespread (e. g. lace-making in Schleswig), a network ofparent­ managed schools outside any ecclesiastical control developed during the 17th c. In these peasant schools, teaching was vocationally orientated, including i. a. writing and arithme­ tic (Japsen 1968). Throughout the 1 8th c. pri­ vate tuition or private school training provided alternatives to the village schools on the island of BornhoIm and in some other parts of Den­ mark (Biskop Balles Visitatsbog 1999; Appel 2001). Further refinement of this picture emerges from the fact that throughout the 1 8th c. many Swedish children were taught in schools, especially those living in the southern­ most parts of Sweden which had been under Danish rule until 1658. 3.6.

Populace schools

After the Reformation, so-called writing and arithmetic schools were widespread, especially in the market towns of Scandinavia. Recent Danish research has shown that since the 17th c. ambitious peasant families would also send their sons to these schools in order to extend their tuition (Appel 2001). In the southern bor­ der region of Denmark, the German language was among the subjects which parents felt that their children needed to know.

1373

Over the course of time, writing and arith­ metic training became available to rural chil­ dren as well, though as an additional opportu­ nity which their parents had to pay extra for. However, few village school pupils in Denmark were trained beyond reading and learning the Catechism until the end of the 1 8th c., when the educational level of the fanners needed to be raised to meet the challenge of the great agri­ cultural reforms. Beginning in the 1790s, there­ fore, writing and arithmetic training was taken up systematically in all Danish schools. A diary kept by Bishop N. E. Balle in con­ nection with his visits of inspection to churches and schools in 1799-1 807 shows the impor­ tance attached not only to reading but also to writing in the schools of Denmark, as well as his commitment to developing the literacy skills of the common people (Biskop Balles Visitatsbog 1999). After that time, the Danes made remarkable progress in their ability to write. According to Vannebo (1984) and Tveit (1990), the Norwegian people took a much longer time to reach the same level. But in both countries, being able to write was promoted first and foremost by the schools: While read­ ing might be learnt privately, with the assist­ ance of parents, the ability to write was not equally easy to acquire at horne. The populace school in Denmark-Norway (the predecessor of folkeskolen, cf. 1 .) was a public institution designed for parents who could not afford a different kind of education for their children. Its legal foundation was the 1708 Poor Relief Order, which was superseded by the 1739 School Order for rural districts in Denmark and Norway. No similar educa­ tion order was issued in either Sweden-Fin­ land or Iceland. Populace schools became vitally important to the rural population, especially after the 1736 Confirmation Order, because they en­ sured the minimum reading ability and know­ ledge of the Catechism required for confirma­ tion and first Communion. It may be, how­ ever, that the 1736 Confirmation Order up­ dated an almost century-old practice, as shown by Appel (2001): An ecclesiastical cam­ paign to promote the ability to read and know­ ledge of the Catechism was already underway in the mid-17th c., with the orthodox move­ ment demanding that access to first Commu­ nion be conditional on a higher level of know­ ledge. But it is true that the 1736 Confirmation Order was far more effective than earlier pro­ visions. Confirmation, mandatory after pri­ vate as well as public education, served as a

1374

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

kind of final examination under ecclesiastical management. Because confirmation, more­ over, became a precondition for betrothal and marriage as well as for leasing or buying a fann etc., it is obvious that dissemination of reading ability and knowledge of the Cat­ echism was virtually enforced by the authori­ ties (Markussen 1988; 1995). A similar development is seen in Sweden­ Finland. Swedish research (Johansson 1972) has shown that in a societyrnore or less devoid of schools, women were preferred as teachers of children at horne, whose reading, know­ ledge of the Catechism and understanding of religious concepts was carefully controlled by the clergy. In both countries control was taken over by the government at the end of the 17th c., with King Karl Xl's 1686 Ecclesiastical Law ordering reading to be taught universally, though not necessarily in schools. The imple­ mentation of the law was controlled by means of annual local examinations, the so-called husforhor, and the records of these in minute books called husforhorslangder are now a unique source material. Each village was di­ vided into smaller districts, and the parishio­ ners had to appear once a year at one of the big farms where the rector, after examining everyone, old or young down to 4 or 5 years of age, would record his evaluations in the hus­ forhorslangd. The result of this campaign was that generally the population of Sweden and Finland acquired the ability to read long be­ fore learning how to write (Johansson 1 972). A Scotsman travelling in Sweden in 1808 wrote that "It was a pleasing circumstance that all could read. Indeed, this may be af­ firmed of all the northern Protestant king­ doms; you seldom meet one above ten or twelve who cannot read, and most of them write their own language" (quoted in Johans­ son 1981 b, 194 f.). Although this Swedish type of control has never existed in Denmark-Nor­ way and Iceland, the ability to read was ob­ viously widespread in the Nordic countries about 1800 (cf. the above quotation), accord­ ing to some scholars even as early as the se­ cond half of the 1 7th c. (Appel 2001).

4.

Language teaching

4.1 .

Reading and memorizing

After 1739 (cf. 3.6.) the populace schools in the rural districts of Denmark and Norway were primarily responsible for teaching the children how to read and for introducing them

to the Catechism. The teacher's task, accord­ ing to the School Order, was to teach all children at hese reeligt og reent i B@ger [to read flawlessly from books]. Besides elementary ABC books and Luther's minor Catechism, this included Erik Pontoppidan's explanatory commentary Sandhed til GudJrygtighed (1737), the Psalter and the New Testament, in some schools also Dennye Psalme-Bog (1740), a hymn book edited by Pontoppidan. What had earlier consisted only ofmemorization un­ der the guidance of the parish clerk was now changed into reading fairly familiar religious texts silently or aloud. In a Danish school register preserved from 1778-93, which makes it possible to follow the phases of learning over the school life of each child, the expressions indenadshesning and udenadshesning frequently occur, as in al­ most all other records of school teaching. The contemporary definition of indenadshesning is, however, not easy to grasp. It seems that read­ ing ability was not considered to be of inde­ pendent value but rather to be a step on the children's way to udenadshesning 'memori­ zing', i. e. acquisition of a text to the degree that they might be able to recite it with full understanding of its meaning and without glancing at the book (Markus sen 1984a). This is presumably how we should understand the term indenadshesning used in the register. But that does not exclude the possibility that a child could have become a functional reader already at this level. Reading, then, was an aid to acquiring the fundamental truths of the Christian faith. In­ denadshesning meant reading some fairly fa­ miliar printed text fluently, most often aloud; how this could be done "flawlessly" by dialect­ speaking peasant children is hard to imagine. Udenadshesning 'memorizing' meant that a text might be retrieved in answer to a question asked by the teacher, the parish clerk or the rector, as an integral part of catechization, viz. the questions and answers learnt from the Cat­ echism and commentaries. In addition to this the children were supposed to learn several hymns by heart. These were minimum de­ mands applied to all pupils. The school register offers a striking example of how an eight-year-old girl would learn to read in her first year. Once a month her level of achievement was evaluated, expressed in brief formulas which I summarize as follows (the Danish adverbial terms indenad and udenad referring to the notions above): "She knows letters; spells in the ABC book; reads

154. The role of schools and education from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

in the ABC book; spells the first command­ mentin the Catechism; spells bordhesning 'say­ ing grace' in the Catechism; spells maxims in the Catechism; reads indenad short questions in the Catechism; reads udenad the third article in the Catechism; reads indenad the text for the day after Christmas Day; reads udenadthe fifth prayer in the Catechism; reads indenad the text for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany; reads udenad the fifth part of the Catechism and indenad the text for Maundy Thursday; reads udenad the fifth part of the Catechism and indenad the text for the 1st Sunday after Easter; reads udenad the second part of the Catechism and indenad the text for the 4th Sunday in Advent" (Markussen 1997). 4.2.

Language in education: Danish books in Norwegian schools

Since Norway was part of the Danish mon­ archy, Norwegian children had the same edu­ cational obligations as children in Denmark. Erik Pontoppidan, author of the official Cat­ echism commentary (cf. 4.1.) and appointed bishop in Bergen in 1738, became one of the driving forces in the implementation of the 1739 School Order in Norway. As all texts to be read and learnt by Norwegian children were printed in Danish, the question arises: How did Norwegian parents react to this? Some scholars think that Norwegian parents had reason to be dissatisfied (Johnsen 2000, 92). Though surprised by the differences be­ tween West Norwegian speech and written Danish, Bishop Pontoppidan never tried to Norwegianize his text, which is remarkable from a methodological point of view, because it was important to him that a child must not learn anything by heart before understanding the content of text. But for a couple of cen­ turies Norwegian children had to read and learn the Catechism in a language quite dif­ ferent from their own speech. Pontoppidan's attitude should probably be seen in the light of Danish ideas of a common national language (Johnsen 2000). No doubt his disregard for Norwegian children's diffi­ culties in learning to read Danish has to do with the Danish policy on liturgical and school language which had prevailed since the Refor­ mation. The priority of the mother tongue over Latin was certainly a decisive factor be­ hind this ideology, but several deviantvariants were spoken in the extensive Danish King­ dom, e. g. in Iceland, in the Faroes and in Schleswig (Vannebo 1984, 92; Jahr 1987, 66;

1375

Skjelbred 1999, 96). It is questionable, then, to what degree written Danish was felt to be alien in 1 8th c. Norway. It is a fact that after the 1739 School Order, any elementary school in Norway was called a "Danish school". Not until after 1814, when Norway separated from Denmark, did the awkwardness of the term "Danish school" and the use of "Danish" to designate a subject in Norwegian timetables become obvious, and after that the two terms were changed to almueskole 'populace school' and "mother tongue" or "Norwegian" re­ spectively (H0verstad 1918). However, this does not necessarily signal dissatisfaction with Danish as the language of textbooks. Recent historical research has established that lan­ guage was not part of early Norwegian ident­ ity: "Norwegian language" was felt to be the language of the Bible and of royal laws and orders - all written in Danish (Feldb",k 1998). The importance of language is also appar­ ent in the readers introduced at the end of the 1 8th c. as central teaching aids, which sup­ ported the attempts at having everyone ac­ quire a spoken Danish standard. But these readers had to some extent been anticipated by the numerous ABC books which over the 1 8th c. had been Norwegian children's intro­ duction to reading. They were probably printed in Danish, providing the basis for reading Danish religious texts. Recent re­ search has shown that about eight ABC books were printed in Norway before 1777. But they were not necessarily written in Norwegian, and hardly any of them became influential in school teaching (Skjelbred 1 999). Reading aloud presented a major problem in Norwegian schools. One option was to imi­ tate Danish pronunciation, modelled on the speech of Norwegian-born officials educated in Denmark; but this might easily lead to what was derogatorily labelled klokkerdansk, liter­ ally 'bell-ringer's Danish'. The alternative was to imitate the everyday speech of higher officials and members of the urban upper classes, based on the written standard but characterized by an approximately systematic admixture of Norwegian phonological and morphological elements. As an increasing number of school teachers endeavoured to use it, this upper class pronunciation was prob­ ably imitated by their pupils as well (Skjelbred 1999, 99). The speech of the peasantry was definitely deemed unsuitable for educational purposes.

1376 4.3.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages Language in education: Denmark

There were language issues in Denmark too. From 1772, Ove H0egh-Guldberg (cf. 3.3.) addressed himself to strengthen the position of the mother tongue. Danish was made the official language in all matters concerning Den­ mark and Norway; German used as the lan­ guage of command in the army was replaced by Danish; and in the grammar schools, Danish was made a subject in its own right from 1775. The culmination of these efforts was the 1776 Nationality Law. Behind H0egh­ Guldberg's initiatives was the increasing criti­ cism of the fact that Danish was looked down on by the elite, who preferred to speak French or German. Given priority, the Danish lan­ guage, like the lower classes who used it, was supposed to reach a higher cultural level. During the subsequent decades, linguistic education of the lower classes became a high­ priority task. By means of a series of ABC books and readers, the children were to be made conscious ofthe structure of Danish and to have their vocabulary increased far beyond what was needed to read religious texts and develop religious concepts. Inspired by Ger­ man educational theory (F. E. von Rochow), several encyclopedic readers were introduced, which contained practical knowledge about rural daily life. In addition to this, the linguis­ tic education of the lower classes was indirect­ ly influenced by a newly established teacher training programme (likewise inspired from Germany) in which the speech of the prospec­ tive teachers, who were often of peasant ex­ traction, became more or less standardized. By then the children were also taught how to write and to read handwritten letters. In 1784 an engraver, Professor Terkel Kleve, was granted a twenty-year royal monopoly for printing model handwritten samples to be used in the training of urban artisans. His models were used in a few advanced primary schools as well. After his monopoly expired, a stream of such models were published, show­ ing the great contemporary interest in writing. As printed and handwritten letters were both usually Gothic (German), while Roman letters were used only for foreign words and names, a school child was in fact 0 bliged to learn no less than eight different types ofletters: Gothic script to start with, capital and lower-case printed letters and capital and small hand­ written letters; afterwards the corresponding types of Roman script. The language training programme of Danish schools seems to have

gained general acceptance about 1 800. In or­ der to promote writing ability, both teachers who made a special effort and pupils who made remarkable progress in this skill were adwarded prizes, e. g. in connection with Bishop Balle's visits of inspection (cf. 3.6.). One objective of language training was to standardize usage. In his Haandbogfor Lcerere (1804), which became a much used manual in the new teacher training programme, Bishop Frederik Plum emphasized that a teacher must correct the bad language learnt at horne, which he considered to be in general so faulty and so different from what the children heard at school that they might any time misunder­ stand their teacher unless he corrected their speech well in advance. In order to have a chance of understanding a sermon, a useful book or the laws which applied to the farmers, and to protect themselves against many pos­ sible misconceptions in their future daily deal­ ings with people, e. g. in trade, the children must necessarily be acquainted with the cor­ rect standard; otherwise their intellect would be at a standstill " because the brain cannot think without the right signs". A teacher should know the lower-class language well enough to be capable of correcting it in time (Plum 1804, 1 3 5). The language training programme present­ ed by Plum was reasonably clear, presuppos­ ing the existence of a correct standard and a great amount of incorrect usage. However, the issue was not quite so simple as maintained by Plum. Taking what was vaguely described as "outstanding Danish authors" for their models, school teachers were not yet guided by a well-established standard, cf. the tradi­ tional advice of a contemporary school-gram­ mar: " Man b0r skrive, ligesom man taler, naar man taler ret, og derimod, hvad som er ret skrevet b0r og lreses, som det er skrevet" [Writ­ ten language should copy speech if speech is correct; on the other hand, what is written cor­ rectly should be read in the same way] (Mar­ kussen 1984a, 28). In Plum's days those who searched for the core area of the spoken Dan­ ish standard felt it must be around Roskilde ' Zealand. The language education programme in both Norway and Denmark may be said to have exposed the peasantry of the two countries to "acculturation" as defined by the French his­ torian Muchembled in his theory of how French popular culture succumbed to elite cul­ ture under l'ancien regime (Muchembled 1985). According to this theory, the school

154. The role of schools and education from the 16th to the end of the 18th century

was instrumental for the government in an ac­ culturation process in which the Church played the practical organizing role while gov­ ernmental authorities were the driving force. With some reservations, Muchembled's theo­ ry is applicable to the similar role of schools in the cultural and linguistic development that took place in Denmark and Norway during the 1 8th and 19th centuries (Henningsen 1993). But compared to France, the Church remained highly influential in the Nordic countries, so that during most of the 18th c. religious texts prevailed as models for the written standard used in education.

5.

Conclusion

The influence of school and education on the development ofthe Nordic languages from ca. 1 550 to 1 800 took two courses, viz. (1) the increased use of the mother tongue as an aid to acquisition of Latin in the grammar schools, where the vernacular, according to new 1 7th c. pedagogical ideas, was supposed to ensure a deeper conceptual understanding, and (2) exclusive use of the mother tongue in the Lutheran Church and in the populace schools as a means to convey to all citizens the deepest possible understanding of religious texts and sermons. In both cases the innova­ tion - objectifying the language of education - increased the linguistic consciousness of the people. Over the 1 8th c. the importance of the mother tongue for national identity was in­ creasingly recognized, which strengthened the language training in the grammar schools in the first place and, at the end of the century, in the newly established urban secondary schools as well. About the same time, the read­ ing matter of the populace schools was secu­ larized, and writing as well as reading hand­ written samples was added to the general lan­ guage training, which was gradually made available to both boys and girls. At the close of the period in question, the ability to read was common in the Nordic countries, while the ability to write became widespread only over the course of the 19th c.

6.

Literature (a selection)

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1377

skrive (ed. Institut for Dansk Skolehistorie, Dan­ marks La:rerh0jskole). K0benhavn, 75 82. Appel, Charlotte (2001), L::rsning og bogmarked i 1600-tallets Danmark 1 2. K0benhavn. Biskop Balles Visitatsbog 1799 1807 (1999), ed. Christian Larsen. K0benhavn. Diderichsen, Paul (1968), Sprogsyn og sproglig op­ dragelse. K0benhavn. Feldb",k, Ole (1982), [Gyldendals] Danmarks his­ torie 4: Tiden 1730 1814. K0benhavn. Feldb",k, Ole (1998), Danmark-Norge 1380 1814 4: Na:rhed og adskillelse 1720 1814. Oslo/K0ben­ havn. Fet, Jostein (1995), Lesande bender: Littera:r kultur i norske allmugesamfunnf@r 1840. Oslo. Fet, Jostein (2003), Skrivande bender: Skriftkultur pa Nord- Vestlandet 1600 1850. Oslo. Gad, Finn (1981), La:se- og skrivekyndigheden ind­ til 1814, belyst ved det gmnlandske materiale. In: Ur nordisk kulturhistoria. Liiskwznighet och folk­ bildning fore folkskolviisendet. Jyvaskyla, 73 85. Gad, Finn (1985), La:se- og skrivekyndigheden i 1700- og 1800-tallet indtil 1880. Gmnland. In: Da menigmand i Norden krte at skrive (ed. Institut for Dansk Skolehistorie, Danmarks La:rerh0jskole). K0benhavn, 20 30. Guttonnsson, Loftur (1981), La:sefa:rdighed og fol­ kedannelse i Island 1540 1800. In: Ur nordisk kul­ turhistoria. Liisning och folkbildning fore folkskol­ viisendet. Jyvaskyla, 123 192. Guttonnsson, Loftur (1985), Skrivefa:rdighed i et skole10st samfund. In: Da menigmand i Norden krte at skrive (ed. Institut for Dansk Skolehistorie, Dan­ marks La:rerh0jskole). K0benhavn, 49 65. Guttonnsson, Loftur (1990), The development of popular religious literature in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In: Scandinavian Journal of History 15, 7 35. Helgheim, J. (1980), Allmugeskolen pa bygdene. Oslo. Helgheim, J. (1981), Allmugeskolen i byane. Oslo. Henningsen, Peter (1993), Niels Juel og almuen pa Tasinge 1714 66: Elitekultur og folkekultur i Dan­ mark i det 18. arhundrede. Svendborg. H0verstad, Torstein (1918), Norsk skulesoga: Det store interregnum 1739 1814. Kristiania. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1987), Sprakutviklinga etter 1814. In: Vart eget sprdk 1 . (ed. Egil B. Johnsen) Oslo, 66 137. Japsen, Gottlieb (1968), Det dansksprogede skoleva:sen i S@nderjylland indtil 1814 (Skrifter udgivne af Historisk Samfund for S0nderjylland 40). K0benhavn. Jensen, Kristian (1982), Latinskolens dannelse: Latinundervisningens indhold ogformdlfra reforma­ tionen til eneva:lden. K0benhavn.

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Riising, Anne (1981), Gudsfrygt og oplysning: Odense 1700 1789. Odense bys historie 5. Odense.

Tveit, Knut (1985), Skrivekyndighet i Norden i det 18. og 19. arhundre. Norge. In: DamenigmandiNor­ den krte at skrive (ed. Institut for Dansk Skolehis­ torie, Danmarks La:rerh0jskole). K0benhavn, 66 74.

Sandersen, Vibeke (1984), Om den faktiske skrive­ fa:rdighed i Danmark i det 19. arhundrede. In: De nordiske skriftsprbkenes utvikling pa l800-tallet 1 (Nordisk spraksekretariats rapporter 4). Oslo, 107 128. Sandin, Bengt (1986), Hemmet, gatan,fabriken eller skolan. Folkundervisning och barnuppfostran i svenska stader 1600 1850 (Arkiv. Avhandlingsserie 22). Lund. Seerup, Jakob (2001), S@kadetakademiet i oplys­ ningstiden (Marinehistoriske Skrifter 21). K0ben­ havn. Skautrup, Peter (1947 53, reprint 1968), Det danske sprogs historie 2 3. K0benhavn. Skjelbred, Dagrun (1999), "De wnistelige B@ger. » En studie av den tidlige norske abc-tradisjon (Acta humaniora 63). Oslo. Skovgaard-Petersen, Vagn (1985), Da menigmand i Norden la:rte at skrive. Indledning. In: Da menig­ mand i Norden lif7"te at skrive (ed. Institut for Dansk Skolehistorie, Danmarks La:rerh0jskole). K0ben­ havn, 5 7.

155.

Tveit, Knut (1987), Rapport til den 20. historiker­ kongres, Island (unpublished). Tveit, Knut (1990), Allmugeskolenpa austlandsbyg­ dene 1730 1830 (Studier i jura og samfunnsviten­ skap 6). Oslo. Underviisning til den danske Almue om defortrinlige Velgierninger, som Kirkeforordningen har skienket os (1817), K0benhavn. Vannebo, KjeH Ivar (1984), En nasjon av skrivef@re: Om utviklinga fram mot allmenn skriveferdighet pa l800-tallet (Oslo studier i sprakvitenskap 2), Oslo. Wagner, K. D. (1977), Sprog og skole: Et opg@rmed et par myter fra fer og nu. K0benhavn. Wilke, Ingeborg (1965), ABC-Bucher in Schweden: ihre Entwicklung bis Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts und ihre Beziehungen zu Deutschland. Stockholm.

Ingrid Markussen. Oslo (Norway) Translated by Allan Knrker

The role of language cultivators and grammarians for the Nordic linguistic development in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries

1. 2. 3. 4.

Standardization theory and practice Standardization of orthography Standardization of inflection Literature (a selection)

The establishment and development of the Scandinavian standard languages during the early modern period was to some extent ac­ companied by linguistic research and public debate on language planning. Activities of in­ dividuals or specific groups and sometimes even measures taken by official bodies were aimed at realizing language planning goals. This article is concerned with the standardi­ zation and regularization of Swedish and

Danish as national languages, i. e. the efforts of grammarians and others to minimize indivi­ dual, social and geographic variation in ortho­ graphy and morphology (esp. inflection). pri­ marily in the written form of the two lan­ guages. (For overviews of linguistic work and activities during the period, see Noreen vol. 1 (1903); Skautrup voL 2 (1947) and 3 (1953); Hovdhaugen et aL 2000). For an extensive presentation and discussion of language cul­ tivation in the early modern Swedish period, see Teleman (2002) and for orthography. Weiss 1999. On the cultivation of Danish in the 1 8th c see Nielsen (1950). .•

1 3 80

1.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Standardization theory and practice

The rise of standard language is to a great ex­ tent a spontaneous process in a language com­ munity, i.e. it need not be directly or con­ sciously initiated and controlled by the cul­ tural or political elite. On the whole its out­ come is determined by demographic, eco­ nomic, cultural and political conditions. How­ ever, this does not exclude the possibility of the process being influenced in some respects through explicit advice or prescription by citi­ zens or institutions with the relevant prestige and authority. The aspects of language which can be influenced in this way are those which are or can be consciously monitored by the language users. This means that the target of active standardization primarily is the written language and primarily those aspects which can be described by the language cultivators and easily understood and memorized by the language learners. Such areas are orthography and morphology (inflection), while e. g. syntax normally is too difficult to understand and the meaning of words too difficult to describe unambiguously (cf. Teleman 1991). In a standardized language, a word or an inflected form of a word is always spelled in the same way. But the spelling or inflection of the standard language as a whole need not be very regular as long as the same form of the same word is always written in an identical manner. A language with a rather irregular spelling system such as English can be as stan­ dardized as a language with a regular one such as Finnish. On the other hand, regularization of rules can make the learning of the language more successful, and ifthe learner acquires the language more easily, his language use will conform more with the standard and thereby strengthen it. To regularize rules means e. g. that the sound-letter correspondences or the morphological structure are reflected more consistently in spelling. The desirability of standardization was very seldom questioned in the early modern Nordic period. It was as self-evident a goal as was the purification and enrichment of vocabu­ lary. It needed no explicit justification - per­ suasive metaphors were enough. The non­ standardized language was compared to a field overgrown with weeds, a ship without a com­ pass or a board that had not been planed. Per­ haps the idea of a stable relation between ex­ pression and content is at the very heart of what language users perceive to be the essence

oflanguage. With the invention of the printing press, the lack of uniform orthography and morphology became more visible. This may be a sufficient explanation for why standard­ ization was seen as an important and self-evi­ dent task by the language cultivators. The standardization concept fits very well into all the dominant ideologies of the period. Orthodoxy and absolutism were natural pa­ rents of standardization: one nation, one king, one law, one army, one church - and one lan­ guage. The myth of Babylon could be used to interpret linguistic uniformity as a sign of God's grace. Another idea was that the glory of a language depended on its regularity and uniformity. When the grammarians discov­ ered that their mother tongue was as regular as Latin and Greek, this was also an inspira­ tion to continue standardization. The ration­ alism and utilitarianism of the 1 8th c. turned out to be as good a basis for standardization as were the earlier ideologies. The linguistic work on the standardization of spelling and inflection was similar in Sweden and Denmark during the early mod­ ern period. It started somewhat earlier in Denmark than in Sweden. In both centuries the Reformation Bibles were important mile­ stones in the development of standard written languages. Each translation used a rather uni­ form orthography which formed the basis of the spelling and its cultivation in the two coun­ tries. The Swedish Bible translation, however, had a more old-fashioned morphology than its Danish counterpart. This became a prob­ lem for the Swedish grammarians, who had to handle the highly prestigious but outmoded biblical morphology with great care - for re­ ligious reasons. 1.1.

The principles of standardization

In both countries, linguists discussed the prin­ ciples of standardization, especially as a basis for the establishment of spelling norms. Many of these principles had a classical origin (e. g. Quintilianus) and had been revived by renais­ sance linguists (like Scaliger). The following principles were often referred to and some­ times discussed in detail: (a) The alphabetic principle: wrItmg should comply with speech, i. e. the eye should see what the ear hears, the ear should hear what the eye sees. (b) The usage principle: writing should com­ ply with (written) usage.

155. The role of language cultivators and grammarians for the Nordic linguistic development

(c) The etymology principle: writing should reflect the etymology of the word, i. e. its relation to other words of the language. (d) The genius lingu", principle: writing should not violate the general structure of the language. (e) The disambiguation principle: writing should minimize ambiguity. Other goals were also mentioned: economy (few letters, short words), beauty (euphony, ornamental spelling), ease of writing (letters with no dots), closeness to other languages etc. The weakness of these principles was first that they were rather vague and second that their relative strength or their order of appli­ cation was seldom specified. 1.1.1.

The alphabetic principle

The alphabetic principle was generally formu­ lated: "Write as you speak" (after Scaliger; cf. also Quintilianus vol. 1 , 144). Spoken language was considered as basic and writing as a re­ flection or portrait of it by most of the authors like Columbus, Lagerlof, Salberg, Tiiillmann and especially Hof in Sweden and by Pontop­ pidan, Syv and H0ysgaard in Denmark. The principle was difficult to apply, since the spoken language varied individually, sty­ listically, socially and geographically. Writing should of course be based upon the "best" spoken language, but which was the best? Most cultivators agreed that it was to be found geographically in the capital (or at least in towns), socially in the court and the royal chancery and stylistically in careful, public speech. H0ysgaard (1747) and others main­ tained that writing should first reflect those features of pronunciation where all dialects agreed and otherwise the pronunciation ofthe best dialect. (Cf. Widmark 1992; Weiss 1999). The original meaning of the slogan "Write as you speak" was that speech should be the norm for writing. This is the way it was under­ stood by most cultivators, perhaps most fully by Hof (1753): the object was captured by the meaning, the meaning by the sound expression and the sound expression by the written ex­ pression. But the principle could also be in­ terpreted symmetrically: good speech and good writing should be each other's norm (e. g. Columbus, 75; Lagerlof, 19; Tiiilhnann, 17). Since pronunciation varied individually and geographically the canonical expression ofthe meaning of a word had to be fixed in spelling, and after that the sound should ideally be ad-

1381

justed according to the standard orthography. In Denmark Gerner (1678-79, 63) claimed that pronunciation should comply with spell­ ing and H0ysgaard thought that his accent system would make it easier for everybody to speak Danish correctly (1743b, 231; 237). Another problem was that many of the grammarians had difficulties with the distinc­ tion between writing and speech, even if most of them were theoretically aware of the differ­ ence between letters and sounds. Not until Hof and H0ysgaard were the two forms of lan­ guage systematically kept apart and related to each other in a principled way. What made the distinction so difficult to observe was the fact that no independent phonetic alphabet was yet available. The basis for Swedish and Danish spelling was Latin orthography and its ideological su­ perstructure. Many of the controversial issues were more or less artifical problems reflecting structural differences between Latin and the Nordic languages (cf. Jellinek 1913 vol. 1 , 2I f. on the corresponding problems in the devel­ opment of German grammars). 1 . 1 .2.

The usage principle

The strength of usage was asserted as early as by Pontoppidan - "Usus erit prrecipuus magister" - and nearly all other cultivators during the period had to admit that spelling reforms which went against usage were hazardous. The word "usage" was ambiguous: it could refer either to spoken or to written usage. Since the alphabetic principle was normally seen as referring to spoken usage as a model for writing, "usage" without any qualification generally meant only written usage. Written usage had to be specified in the same way as for speech (as the basis of the alphabetic prin­ ciple). Some authors pointed to the same geo­ graphical and social milieu for writing as for the best spoken language: the capital and in particular the royal chancery, although some cultivators mentioned also the writings of learned men and the royal academies as exemplary (e. g. Hof, 4; Sahlstedt 1759, 1 1 0, 1 30). The main difficulty, especially in Sweden, was to delimit how far back in time to look for a model. Should the language of the Bible count as a norm for contemporary language? It was also the case that the culti­ vators, to make their task easier, simply re­ commended language users to follow the example of certain texts or authors.

1 3 82

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

1 . 1 .3. The etymology principle The word "etymology" at that time meant either the morphological structure ofthe word (the inflection part of contemporary gram­ mars was often called "etymology") or its his­ torical background and relation to other words. The boundary between the two mean­ ings is and was vague. In its first synchronic sense, the principle is mostly used to provide arguments for spelling a word in the same way when it is a stern in derivations as when it is used as an indepen­ dent lexeme. Syv (1663, 1685) refers to deri­ vation and inflection in the same breath, and H0ysgaard (1747) recommends that deriva­ tion and composition as well as inflection should be heeded in spelling. Laurel (1750) also tried to spell certain inflectional suffixes uniformly in spite of phonetically bound vari­ ation in pronunciation. In this sense, the ety­ mology principle can barely be separated from the genius lingu", principle (1 .1.4.). In its second diachronic sense, the principle was used to spell a word or a sound differently depending on its purported origin. If in Swedish a word with a short a-sound was sup­ posed to be derived from a word spelled with < a > or < 3. > , it should be written with < a > , otherwise with < e > , according to the etymology principle (cf. also Schulz, 52). Many authors warned against uncritical use of doubtful etymologies and recommended that only clear cases of a relationship between easily recognized contemporary words should be paid attention to (e. g. Sahlstedt 1759, 125). The etymology principle was at first popular for antiquarian reasons, since the old spellings were regarded as signs of an older more glori­ ous period for the nation. A hundred years later it was attractive to those authors who were inspired by French and English conser­ vative orthography. Botin (1777) rated it even higher than the alphabetic principle.

1 . 1 .4.

The genius lingu", principle

The nature of language, a rather vague notion, was invoked by nearly all Swedish and Danish authors as a nonn for standardization. For those who had a reasonably clear idea of its meaning (e. g. Leopold 1801) it corresponded approximately to the basic grammar of the language, i. e. the set of general rules that could be extracted from language usage. Doubtful spellings and word forms should be standardized in accordance with these general

rules. (ef. Quintilianus on analogy as a basis for correct language, vol. 1 , 1 1 2 f.). Syv main­ tained that correct writing was writing in ac­ cordance with "the rules and the qualities" of the language (1663, 128 f.) and his adversary and friend Gerner (1678-79, 60 f.) claimed that Danish should be written according to the rules of language ("for the language is older than us"). If the genius lingu", principle is the system of rules that can be derived from usage, it is obvious that it is difficult to separate it from usage itself. In practice, though, " usage" was often interpreted as the established irregular­ ities of language, spellings and inflections which were in conflict with the general rules or with the alphabetic principle, while genius lingure comprised only the general rules. Sometimes even quite bold proposals (like Laurel's) were legitimized by reference to an underlying form of usage which was quite real albeit not directly visible. Hof (28) considered genius lingure to be those aspects of usage where most language users agree, especially concerning inflection. Since genius lingure was generally used to defend morphological spel­ ling according to general rules, it is often im­ possible to distinguish from the etymology principle in its synchronic sense. Some writers gave genius lingure amore spe­ cific meaning comprising the special, charac­ teristic features ofthe language. Such features were more important than others, and they were often interpreted ideologically as signs of strength and masculinity. The definite and indefinite articles were typical examples (e. g. Salberg, quoted by Andersson, 14; Tiiilhnann, 39 f.). 1 . 1 .5.

The disambiguation principle

That different meanings should be expressed by different expressions is a reasonable maxim. That words which were pronounced differently should also have different spellings followed from the alphabetic principle, so what the disambiguation principle meant in practice was that homophones should be given different spellings, such as Sw. Iro 'belief and troo 'believe' or hal 'court' and hal 'bag net'. Lagerlof(61 f.), who was perhaps the most ar­ dent Swedish advocate of the principle, said that obscurity and ambiguity are the worst faults of the human language and that they are in conflict with the basic task of language. The principle was very tenacious, although it was often applied without enthusiasm both in

1383

155. The role of language cultivators and grammarians for the Nordic linguistic development

Sweden and Denmark. Pfeif did not accept disambiguation as a goal: he considered it bet­ ter if two things could be said with one Swedish word, where other languages had to use two, especially if this made the orthogra­ phy on a whole more economic (95). 1 .1.6.

The relative strength of the principles

The cultivators often seem to have used the maxims in a rather unprincipled way, only to legitimate the choices they had already made intuitively. Their proposals would no doubt have been more interesting and compelling if they had for instance applied the principles in a fixed order or if they had decided to choose the alternative that satisfied the highest num­ ber of principles. Even from the beginning of the language cultivation debate, there was a tug-of-war be­ tween those who suggested that the alphabetic principle should be paramount and those who assigned the highest rank to written usage as norm. In Denmark, Syv (1663, 83) pointed to a conflict between usage and reason, where he tended to favour reason ( the alphabeticprin­ ciple!), while Gerner (1678-79, 62 f.) gave pre­ eminence to written usage. Lagerlof assigned a high rank to the disambiguation principle, and Tia.llmann emphasized the importance of the genius lingu", principle. Holberg did not present a coherent orthographic system but ranked his norms nevertheless: etymology came first, followed by speech (i. e. the alpha­ betic principle), disambiguation and finally analogy (approximately the genius lingu", principle). Hof. like his Danish contemporary H0ysgaard, stressed reason as the necessary guideline for standardization. To Hof this meant a strong adherence to the alphabetic principle: spelling which was faithfully model­ led on speech made learning to read easier for those who could not spare too much time for the task (32). But he was realistic enough to recognize the strength of stable usage; he some­ times tried to find workable compromises or had to conclude that reason sometimes must give in to the power of usage. The Uppsala professor Alstrin (his rules were written in 1733 and published in Sahl­ stedt 1753) was the first to rank his principles explicitly (with the alphabetic principle as number one and the etymology principle as number two), but it is doubtful whether he felt bound by his own ranking. (In Germany, Freyer had already published his ordered set of spelling principles a few years earlier in �

1 722; cf. Jellinek vol2, 59 f.). Ihre (1745) seems to have chosen usage as his highest norm and Botin (1777) in his influential grammar made the same choice. The ranking of usage as the basic norm may be due to the fact that spelling and inflection had reached a rather stable state in 1 8th c. Swedish. It may also have reflected French ideological influence. The Swedish Academy treatise on orthography (Leopold 1 801) declared that stable written usage should never be changed. Only if usage was unsettled should the genius lingu", principle be applied. 1 .2.

Specification and implementation

The impact of the cultivators' writings de­ pended among other things on the quality of their message and its presentation. In the early part of the process, some texts were written in Latin, which reduced the possiblity of reaching anyone other than the learned lan­ guage users (e.g. Pontoppidan, Aurivillius, Lagerlof, Graberg). Some texts were never published (e.g. Kock, Columbus, Aurivillius' grammar, Salberg's grammar, the anonymous writer ed. by Henriksen 1976) but may still have reached colleagues or friends as manus­ cripts and played a role through them in con­ temporary discussions. Some of the texts were unpedagogical and badly organized, while others were masterpieces of style and organi­ zation. The standardization efforts of Sahl­ stedt and the Swedish Academy of Science were effective because they managed to pub­ lish a combination of a dictionary and a gram­ mar which was necessary for defining the standard. The works of the cultivators were part of wider activities which influenced language, and their possible impact on language devel­ opment was in general indirect rather than di­ rect. The following chart sketches the agents of language cultivation: treatises, handbooks, articles public debate

authorization

censorship

schools

influential authors

printers

public writing practice Public discussion made people aware of the demand for standardization and of the im-

1 3 84 portant issues involved in it. In Sweden as well as in Denmark there seem to have been at least two periods of public debate on standardi­ zation. In Denmark, the first publications of Syv (1663) and Gerner (1678-79) created an interest in standardization problems, and in Sweden the question of the orthography for a new hymn book and a new edition of the Bible had the same effect around the turn of the century (Hernlund 1 883). Half a century later, standardization was discussed again in Denmark when H0ysgaard wrote his first ar­ ticle on spelling in 1743. When language was debated in the second half of the 1 8th c., e. g. by Sneedorff, other issues were focused on (Lollesgaard 1925). In Sweden, a lively public discussion of standardization took place in the decades after the foundation of the Academy of Science 1739. The approval of specific rules or handbooks by the authorities or by any prestigious organ­ ization could be important. The role of the Swedish Academy of Science in the success of Sahlstedt's dictionary and grarnrnarwas prob­ ably great. Leopold's treatise on orthography (1801) would never have been so influential if it had not been backed up by the Swedish Academy. Sweden had a national censor until 1766, but he controlled above all the contents of manuscripts to be printed and left language and style to others. When the censor Ornhielrn tried to introduce a rather radical phonologi­ cal spelling at the end of the 1 7th c., he was effectively stopped by influential members of the royal chancery (Hernlund 1 883). A few decades later, a proposal was submitted to the Swedish parliament that spelling should be regulated by law, but it met with no success (Wiberg 1939). Many of the cultivators were aware that the schools could be an effective channel for the standardization of written language and that the introduction of a rational spelling system could only be implemented by means of public education. But unfortunately, the grammar schools in both countries had practically no teaching in the mother tongue and very few pedagogical textbooks were written to teach standard orthography and inflection. Printing houses were very important agents of standardization. In some cases they decided on the orthography in their publications rather than the authors (e.g Skautrup e.g. vol. 2, 178; vol. 3, 30; but Karker 1987). Am­ bitious publishers like Salvius in Stockhohn obviously had a consistent standardization policy (Santesson 1986).

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages Influential intermediaries between the culti­ vators and the general public were the pres­ tigious authors. Through them a standardized writing system could be established as a model for others. Successful writers or texts could define an attractive norm on their own, with­ out being dependent on previous advice from language cultivators. Good examples are the Bible translations, the Danish national law (1683), the Swedish national law (1734), and popular writers such as Holberg in Denmark and Dalin in Sweden. In Denmark, the lan­ guage and style of Sneedorff was much ad­ mired, and a historical reader by Malling was recommended by the authorities as a nonn for spelling in schools. The writings of members of the academies - although they did not al­ ways follow the norms of their own organiza­ tions - may also have served as models of standard orthography.

2.

Standardization of orthography

2. 1 . 1 .

Sweden: The spelling cultivators

The fairly uniform spelling of the Reforma­ tion Bible (Lindquist 1929) may have been based upon explicit rules, and the decision to change the infinitive suffix from -e to -a in the royal chancery in the beginning of the 17th c. was probably an effect of deliberations ex­ plicitly on the topic within this milieu (Svens­ son 1981). There may even have been ortho­ graphic discussions in the chancery and court circles leading to a few general changes in or­ thography in the middle of the 17th c. (San­ tesson 1988). Such discussions can only be in­ ferred, though, from the spelling in the texts. Bure's notes from the beginning of the 17th c. (Lindroth 191 1 - 12) also indicate incipient deliberations on orthography and grammar. The first Swedish grammar to be published in Sweden included a section on orthography. It was written by TiaJlrnann, a clergyman in Stockholm, in 1696. At the same time two Uppsala professors, Aurivillius (1693) and La­ gerlof (1694), wrote dissertations on Swedish orthography. (Cf. also the manuscripts from Lagerlofs 1691 seminar in Swedish on the cul­ tivation of Swedish in Ronge et al. 1999). Three interesting works were never completed or published by the authors: a book on Swe­ dish language cultivation by Columbus (ca. 1678, ed. by Bostrom 1963) and two gram­ mars, by Aurivillius (1684, ed. by Stiernstrom 18 84) and Salberg (1696, see Andersson 1 884). Tiiilhnann like Columbus was inspired by Syv,

155. The role of language cultivators and grammarians for the Nordic linguistic development

and Salberg by Gerner (cf. 2.2.1.). Tiiillmann's book is not very well organized but contains some interesting information and ideas. Auri­ villius' grammar (cf. Wollin 1 984) and ortho­ graphywere excellent for their time. Lagerlofs dissertation is well written, but his analysis of orthography is less consistent and profound than the one by his colleague. Around the turn of the century, Sweden had its bellum grammaticale. One ofthe two adver­ saries was the royal physician Hiarne, affiliated to the king's chancery, who wanted the Bible (of 1618) to be the spelling model for contem­ porary writing and set himself the task of find­ ing the rules underlying its orthographical prac­ tice and standardizing them. His most energetic opponent was Bishop Swedberg. The object of their struggle was above all the gemination of vowels, which Hiiirne defended and Swedberg rejected. The struggle had raged for some time before their publications appeared (Hiiirne 1717 - 1 8; Swedberg 1716 and 1 722). (On their battle see esp. Hernlund 1883; Ohlsson 1 992). The cultivation of orthography entered a new phase with the foundation of the Swedish Academy of Science, which decided to publish its acta in Swedish. The most influential lin­ guist at the time was Professor Ihre at Upp­ sala. He published some lectures on Swedish in Swedish (1745), and his pupil Grilberg de­ fended a lucid thesis on orthography (1742). At the same time Laurel, an eccentric profes­ sor from Lund, started a lively debate with two contributions (1748, 1750), and an epoch­ making treatise on phonetics and orthography was written by Sven Hof (1753), a lecturer in Skara, who investigated the relationship between speech and spelling in depth in order to establish a firm and "rational" basis for Swedish orthography. A few years later Ljungberg, the dean of Striingniis, published a grammar (1756) where he reinvented Tiiill­ mann's idea that the boundaries between stern and suffix should be considered syllable boundaries, a proposal which allowed spelling rules to be much simpler. Ljungbergmay have taken the idea from Ekholm who elaborated it in an essay a little later (1758). The Swedish Academy of Science author­ ized Sahlstedt's grammar (1769) and dictionary (1773), a combination which turned out to be very successful as a standardization instru­ ment. Another influential grammar was writ­ ten by Botin (1777). The authoritative works by Sahlstedt and Botin seem to have cooled the standardization discussion in Sweden. Most of the remaining problems were solved

1385

in the treatise on orthography published by the Swedish Academy (Leopold 1801), where the author effectively and consistently regu­ lated the spelling of the short a- and a-sounds and the use of geminated consonants by means of the syllable concept of Tiiillmann and Ljungberg. The book also included a compre­ hensive section where a modified spelling of French loanwords was recommended. The spelling rules of the Swedish Academy prevail­ ed, partly because they were taught through an excellent short textbook for Swedish schools written by the famous Swedish author C. J. L. Almquist in the first half of the 19th c. (On Leopold 1 801 see Loman, 21 f.). 2.1.2.

Sweden: Some standardization issues in orthography

In the second half of the 17th c. the spelling in Swedish texts was quite irregular. Some of the unsettled issues discussed by the cultiva­ tors were the following: (a) The designation of vowel quantity in stressed syllables: some preferred to mark long vowels (especially by gemination), while others used to geminate consonants after short vowels in word­ final position. (b) The spelling of /v/ in various positions: initially « u> , or in words like wara); after an initial consonant and before a stressed vowel « u > , or in words like swart, where the pronunciation in some dialects was probably still a fricative); before an unstressed vowel « fw > , , , or in words like hafwa); or in final position ( < f> , or in words like haf). (c) The spelling of jj/ in various positions: initially ( or in words like ju); after an initial consonant and before a stressed vowel ( or in words like biOrn). (Notice that historical spellings with mute , < g > , or < 1 > in front o f < i jj > were hardly ever questioned.) (d) The spelling of /c/, /fjl and Iii in words with orig­ inal /k/, /sk/ and /g/ before front vowels (in words like kiira/kiiira, skiira/skiiira, gedda/ giedda); the pronunciation may in some dialects have still been an affricate. (e) The spelling of /d/ and /g/ after a stressed long vowel before another vowel or word finally « d > or , < g > or in words like ledh(a), wiigh(a) ; the pronunciation in some dialects may have still been a fricative. (t) The spelling of Iktl « kt> , , in words like vakta, jagt, achta). (g) The spelling of short /'J/ and long /0) ( < 0 > or < a > in words like maste, post; kal, kol), where the pronunciation in some dialects may have still distinguished between two phonemes, e. g. inhov 'court' and hav 'bag net'.

1 3 86

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

(h) The spelling of short/E! ( or < a > in words

lika iilska, heller). (i) The spelling of och 'and', ock 'also' « och > , , < ok > , , or in words like tu, then, ther, db) where for some of the words a pronun­ ciation with It! might also have been in use.

Other issues to be discussed were the use of mute < h > after < t > and the "superfluous" letters < C > , < q > , < x > and < z > . A spe­ cial question was the choice between Roman and German scripts (which also to some extent influenced the choice of < v > or < w > for Iv/). Nobody discussed the possibility of re­ presenting stress and tonal accent - except Hof, who considered it unnecessary. Perhaps the most interesting issue was the designation of quantity. After the loss of stressed short syllables in most dialects, the stressed syllable types were the following (the examples are spelled as in Mod.Sw.): (1) v:e (svaD (3) v:ev (svala) (5) v:ee !fult. svalt) (7) V: (se)

(2) VC: (svalD (4) VC:V (svalla) (6) vc:e !fullt. svalt)

Pfeif (1713) argued - for reasons of economy - that quantity should not be designated at all (cf. stress and tonal accent) except for type (3) vs. (4), but the others agreed that quantity ought to be reflected in monosyllables like (1) vs. (2). Nobody questioned the consonant gemination in words of type (4), where the gemination was traditional and originally taken over from Latin spelling (as in vallis). An obvious problem was then the distinction between types (1) and (2). Most cultivators re­ jected vowel gemination. One argument was that a syllable (like in Latin) should never have more than one vowel - a typical example of how phonetics and orthography were often confused. The decisive argument was in ac­ cordance with the genius lingure principle: a stern should be spelled uniformly in the para­ digm: hat because of hatet, halt because of hat­ ten. hattar. Hiiirne (1717-18), on the other hand, considered vowels to be inherently short and concluded that they had to be marked specially if they were pronounced long: graan 'spruce', gran 'dazzling', vagran 'refusal'. REirne was the only one who recommended vowel gemination instead of consonant gemi­ nation (although his spelling rules had many exceptions, including words of type (3) and (4» . Several other cultivators accepted vowel

gemination to avoid homonymy, as in tro 'be­ lief vs. troo 'believe'. At the end of the 18th c. the remaining problems were (a) which ex­ ceptions should be allowed in the spelling of type (2) words (e. g. at or ott. til or till) and (b) whether and when a consonant should be geminated in front of another consonant in type (6) words (e. g. tekna vs. teckna, eid vs. elid, staid vs. stalid). Leopold's rules (1801) corne close to the spelling of Mod.Sw.

2. 1 . 3 .

Sweden: Effects o f cultivation on spelling practice

It is difficult to estimate the effects of the dis­ cussion and recommendations on language development. Unfortunately, failure is easier to verify than success. Let us look at three of the issues that were treated by the cultivators. The recommendations concerning gemina­ tion (2.1.2.) did not depart radically from con­ temporary usage. Leopold (1801) formulated into comprehensive rules what the cultivators had agreed upon during one hundred years of discussion, and he defined the standard for some aspects where usage still had not been settled completely. One conclusion is that the cultivators at the most helped the standard­ ization process run more smoothly and swiftly than it would have done without their support. Most cultivators until the middle of the 18th c. recommended that Ivl before an unstressed vowel be spelled with the same letter in all po­ sitions. Tiiilhnann (1696) preferred as in final position (haJa), the others < w > or < v > (hawa or hava depending on their choice for initial position). Many of them wanted the same letter in final position. This was contrary to contemporary usage, and their recommen­ dations- which were rejected also by Sahlstedt (and the Academy of Science), Botin and Leopold (and the Swedish Academy) - failed completely. The third case is more complicated, since it was associated with an ongoing phonological change in the relevant dialects: the spelling of fricatives with < k > or < ki > , < sk > or < ski > , < g > or < gi > . Most of the early cultivators preferred < k > , < sk > and < g > . For them the etymology and the obvious re­ lation between words like skara 'cut' (infini­ tive) and skar 'cut' (past), kdk 'kitchen' and koka 'cook' may have offered a subsidiary argument. Others may have noticed similar letter-sound-correspondences in other lan­ guages such as French, Italian and English.

155. The role of language cultivators and grammarians for the Nordic linguistic development

Only Lagerlof (1694) and Swedberg (1716) defended < ld > and < gi > . Among the 1 8th c. linguists, Hof (1753) was the only one to advocate a spelling system which differenti­ ated between stops and fricatives. He sugges­ ted the digraphs , < gi > and < sch > . Santesson has shown (1986) that the spelling of such words varied in the first half of the 1 8th c. A few decades later the spelling was quite unifonn, with < k > , < sk > and < g > . I t is a reasonable guess that the fairly unani­ mous attitude of the grammarians in favour of this spelling did influence the standardiz­ ation process.

2.2.1.

Denmark: The spelling cultivators

A public discourse on linguistic matters started in the second half of the 17th c., but as early as in the 1 6th c. Jacob Madsen Aar­ hus, in his treatise on general phonetics, claim­ ed that Danish < i > and < u > should repre­ sent vowels and and < v> consonants. He also denied that Danish had any diph­ thongs and recommended that the final el­ ement of jauj, jaij etc. be written with < v > and (cf. Skautrup vol. 2, 189). Pontoppidan, the bishop ofTrondheim, was the author of a Danish grammar in Latin which was published in 1668 but which had been written two decades earlier. Its section on orthography was the basis for a lively dis­ cussion of Danish spelling at the end of the 1 7th c. The publications of Peder Syv (1663, 1685) were important. He was even made philologus regius, which gave a special weight to his views. His friend and opponent was Henrich Gerner (1678-79, 1 690). (See Olsen 1 947 for other less important contributions of the time). The difference between Gerner and Syv is interesting. Syv is generally described as progressive, while Gerner is regarded as having been more conservative. This may be appropriate in some respects but not in others. Syv recommended < v > for intervocaljvj and and < v > for the end of the "diph­ thongs" , and < es > instead of < is > in suf­ fixes, while Gerner backed the wrong horse in these cases. In other respects the orthogra­ phic developments agreed with Gerner's sug­ gestions, such as when he - opposing Syv objected to gemination of vowels and wanted to abandon plural fonns of verbs. In the 18th c. no less a person than Holberg took part in the discussions (Skautrup vol. 3, 13, 31 f.). At the same time, an anonymous

1387

writer had prepared a large manuscript on Danish orthography and grammar which was never published at the time (ed. by Henriksen 1 976). An echo of the Syv vs. Gerner debate is found in Schulz (1724). He supported the use of mute < d > but recommended also in opposition to most other Danish cultivators - gemination of final consonants after stressed short vowels in monosyllables. An original contribution of his was to use the graphic dif­ ferences between the final and non-final allo­ graphs of < s > in German typography to in­ dicate morpheme boundaries in inflected words (55 f., 127 f.). The second spelling debate was initiated by von Hauen's orthographic dictionary in 1741 which advocated among other things gemina­ tion of final consonants, use of capital letters only in proper names, and abandonment of plural verb forms. He was heavily attacked by Clitau (cf. Bertelsen 1926, 6 5 f.; Skautrup vol. 3, 1 3 f.; Boberg, 19 f.), and their quarrel prompted H0ysgaard to write his excellent treatises on phonetics, orthography and gram­ mar (1743a; 1743b; 1747; 1 769). In the first article (1743a) he supported Madsen Aarhus and Syv concerning the spelling of diphthongs and took sides with Gerner on the issue of plural verb fonns after a comprehensive dis­ cussion. He could not accept Syv's and Gerner's views, though, on the representation of quantity. In his second article (1743b) he presented a brilliant analysis of quantity and st@d in Danish and suggested a system of ac­ cents to represent them in writing. This idea was further developed in his first treatise on grammar (1747), where he also described the Danish vowel system and introduced a new letter in order to render the phonological dif­ ference between dar 'dies' and dar 'door' in writing. His accent system as well as his pho­ nological spelling of the vowels were rather utopian from a practical point of view, but he hoped to be able to implement them with the help of school instruction. At the end of this period, Professor Baden tried to settle the remaining orthographic issues in his lectures on the Danish language (published in 1785). He still supported vowel gemination to avoid homonymy and the use of mute < e > in verbs like < troe > , but otherwise his proposals were in line with the future direction of Danish orthography. (For other participants in the standardization dis­ cussion of the 18th c., see Boberg, 25 f.).

1 3 88 2.2.2.

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages Denmark: Some standardization issues in orthography

The orthography of 17th c. Danish was rea­ sonably stable, based on the spelling of the Reformation Bible, but there was still a sig­ nificant degree of variation among printers, authors and different genres as well as within single texts. Usage was unsettled for instance in the fol­ lowing respects (some of them the same as in Sweden), which were also to some extent dis­ cussed by the grammarians and cultivators of the period: (a) The designation of vowel quantity in stressed syllables: some preferred to mark long vowels (especially with gemination or with mute < e » while others rejected this. (b) The spelling of falling diphthongs, e. g. fail with or , and !au! with < u > , or . (c) The spelling of some short vowel phonemes as /iI and Ie!, !y! and /0/. Cd) The spelling of hi esp. between a consonant and a stressed vowel (as in bjerg vs. bierg). (e) The spelling of words with original /k/, /sk/ and /g/ before front vowels (as in k:J:re vs. ki::rre, sk:J:re vs. ski::rre, gedde vs. giedde); the pronun­ ciation may in some dialects have still been an affricate. (t) The spelling of!kt! « kt>, or , instead of < 11 > , instead of , amalgamation of < a > + < a > to a new single letter instead of < aa > . (h) The spelling of og 'and, also' « og > , < och> or , < q > , < x > and . U) The use of capital letters.

Some of these spelling variants disappeared in the first half of the 1 8th C . , while others survived into the next c. (Olsen 1947; Boberg 1895). The designation of quantity was touched upon by several Danish grammarians. The model of Danish spelling was Latin, and the gemination of consonants intervocalically after short stressed vowels was never ques­ tioned. Danish was different from Swedish in­ sofar as it had still short stressed syllables and length was interwoven with st@din an intricate way. A specific problem was that < aa > was already used as a sign for (long) /0:/. Most Danish cultivators did not want to abolish vowel gemination. This was true e. g. of Pont0ppidan (38 f., 60 f.), Syv (1663, 1 30 f.) and Marsl0v (3 f.). Even H0ysgaard preferred

vowel gemination to consonant gemination if he had to choose. His reasons were for econ­ omy: short vowels were according to him five or six times as frequent as long vowels (1747, 379). In Danish, unlike in Swedish, mute < e > was used after some vowels instead of gemination, to designate length. On top of that, mute < e > was used after sterns with a final vowel to make inflection look more sys­ tematic. As in Sweden, vowel gemination was also (above all) a technique to avoid homo­ nymy. Gerner (1678-79) and Schulz advocated in­ stead consonant gemination (i. e. not only be­ tween vowels). Gerner considered most vowels to be long by nature (except < e > and < i > which had to be doubled if they designated long vowels). Schulz accepted < ld > and < nd > as substitutes for and < nn > , and he considered gemination in monosyl­ lables to be obligatory only in declinable words (as inparr(et). viss(e) , but notin words like at. til). H0ysgaard (1743a) regarded vowel and consonant gemination as ineffective and insuf­ ficient for representing quantity. In H0Ys­ gaard (1743b) he presented a full description of the length and st@d of Danish words. He distinguished between four prosodical types ("tones") of stressed words: long vowel with st@d, long vowel without st@d, short vowel with st@d, short vowel without st@d. A nota­ tion with accents was proposed to differentiate between the four types, which would have made gemination unnecessary. He proposed regulating the use of < ld > vs. < 1 > and < nd > vs. < n > by connecting the former alternatives with st@d. In his grammar (1747, 402ff.) he presented long lists of words with different tones. With the exception of H0ysgaard, the dis­ cussion of how to represent quantity was rather unsystematic in Denmark. At the end of this period, consonant gemination (except between vowels) seems to have lost its attrac­ tion. Baden (1785; 1799) did not adopt H0YS­ gaard's accent notation but still recommended vowel gemination and mute < e > to reflect vowel length, although only in listed words that would otherwise be homonyms. 2.2.3.

Denmark: Implementation and effects

The writings of Syv and Gerner seem to have aroused public interest in orthography in the second half ofthe 17th c. and a new wave arose

155. The role of language cultivators and grammarians for the Nordic linguistic development

around the middle of the 1 8th C . , but after that the elite's linguistic interest was concentrated on vocabulary and style. Unfortunately the cultivators often did not agree or their rules were too vague and incomplete to be of any practical value. Many areas where the ortho­ graphy varied were hardly ever discussed by the cultivators in any principled way (such as the spelling of words with short stressed vowels or words like here vs. kitere). H0Ys­ gaard's ideas on representing st@d and quan­ tity were obviously not regarded as realistic. It was often stressed that dictionaries were as important as grammars, but the orthographic dictionaries of von Hauen and Baden were not accepted by the public. The extensive Danish dictionary based on Matthias Moth's material could have been an important instrument of standardization if it had been published in the 1 8th c., but it was not. In the light of these facts it is not surprising that the norm for Danish spelling was not es­ tablished by reference to grammars and dic­ tionaries but to the texts of famous authors. Even Jaco b Baden in a grammar of Danish for Germans defined correct Danish as the language of Sneedorff (Skautrup vol. 3, 165). H0ysgaard (1747, 253, 277) had hoped to have his orthography officially authorized and taught in schools. But neither his nor any other rules were accepted as the definitions of the standard norm for Danish. Instead, the regulation for grammar schools in 1775 chose a forthcoming school reader ("Great and good deeds" by Malling) as the orthographic model. As late as 1 800 the royal chancery ad­ vised the universities and the bishops to follow the best classical (though unspecified!) authors (Skautrup vol. 3, 162 f). If the two dominant cultivators of the late 1 7th c. are compared, it can be noticed that Gerner's views on the representation of quan­ titywas rejected by the public, while Syv's pro­ posals, which were more in line with usage, were accepted. When vowel gemination was abandoned in the 19th c., this had hardly any direct connection with Gerner's writings. Syv, on the other hand, could not persuade his con­ temporaries to use in the spelling of fal­ ling diphthongs. They stuck to the traditional < y > (defended by Gerner) or < i > . Neither did they accept in words like stjerne as was recommended by Syv (and Aarhus) but continued to use the traditional stierne. Syv was luckier with his recommendation for < v > in falling diphthongs, but that may be due to the fact that this spelling was used in

1389

the prestigious Danish law text (1683). When Syv claimed that capital letters should be used only in proper names, he met with no success. The public followed Schulz (1 724), who was in favour of the German use of capital letters for all nouns. H0ysgaard's strict phonological spelling of vowels was not accepted. Neither was his no­ tation for representing "tones" with accents taken up by the writing community. At the end of the early modern period, the falling diphthongs were still spelled with < i > or < y > , and < i > was still used in initial con­ sonant c1usters. Mute < d > usually remained in words where it was supposed to have ety­ mological support, while it had been gradually abandoned in words like han, den, kan, man in accordance with the recommendations of the cultivators. Gemination of vowels ( < ii > , < ee > , < uu » was still in use, and some writers even spelled long vowels like < 0 > , < 0 > and even < a > with a mute < e > . (For an account of orthographic practice in the 1 8th c. and afterwards, see Skautrup vol. 2, 320 f; vol. 3, 161 f; Olsen (1947); Boberg (1895» . On the whole, the cultivators seem to have failed to convince the public to use their re­ formed spellings - at least in the short run unless their rules coincided with dominant trends in contemporary usage. What they possibly achieved was to legitimate and strengthen aspects of written usage, but they were not able to persuade the writing commu­ nity to adopt new - however rational- spelling practices.

3.

Standardization of inflection

The distinction between orthography and morphology (inflection) is traditional but somewhat illogical. A systematic taxonomy ought to distinguish between uninflected lexi­ cal roots and the inflection of words on the one hand and between the form of spoken and written expressions on the other. Orthography is understood here as the spelling of lexical sterns, while inflection is the spelling (and pronunciation) of words as members of in­ flectional paradigms. Variation in the system of inflections in writ­ ten language as well as in the spelling of sterns can reflect the geographical, social and stylistic variation in contemporary spoken language, but it can also be a purely orthographic mat­ ter, i. e. it can be based upon different spelling

1390

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

principles or simply reflect the spoken lan­ guage of different periods. The principles of etymology and genius lingure were more prominent in the regulation of inflection than in the standardization of orthography. The grammarians often felt tempted to disregard the alphabetic principle in favour of morphological transparency. Their ambition often went beyond the stand­ ardization ofthe inflection of individual words towards a simplification and regularization of morphology, i. e. to reduce the number of different paradigms. A typical example is the Danish spelling of verbs like sy 'sew', fro 'be­ lieve' with a mute < e > in the infinitive and the present tense: sye, syer 'sews', troe, troer 'believes' (by analogy with elske 'love'. elsker 'loves'). 3.1.1.

Sweden: The inflection cultivators

Inflectional paradigms were presented by Au­ rivillius (ms. probably written in 1684, ed. Stiernstrom 1 8 84) and Salberg (ms. probably written in 1696, see Andersson 1 8 84). Their texts were well-organized and well written, but they were never completed and published at the time. The first grammar to appear in print was Tiiilhnann (1696), unfortunately not so well organized and not so clear as the gram­ mars of Aurivillius or Salberg. Swedberg's grammar (1722) gave a short and very conser­ vative picture of Swedish inflection. More up­ to-date was a concise grammar by Sahlstedt (1747; with comments and addenda in 1753 and 1759). At the same time Laurel (1748; 1750), too, attracted attention with his sugges­ tions of morphological spelling. The first Swedish grammar with a full range of para­ digms for the inflection of nouns, adjectives and verbs was Ljungberg (1756). Sahlstedt's second grammar (1769) and dictionary (1773) could be used together as an effective defini­ tion of standardized inflection. (Earlier bilin­ gual dictionaries offered some information on inflection, but this information was meant for foreigners, and it is unlikely that it had any influence on the standardization of Swedish). Botin's lucid and typographically attractive grammar (1777) was held in high esteem by the writing community of its time. Inflection was commented upon also by other writers who were primarily interested in orthography, e.g. by Hof(1753) and Leopold (1801). This was the period when Swedish gram­ marians step by step gained a fairly complete understanding of inflectional morphology,

while the knowledge of syntax was still incom­ plete or distorted. Aurivillius had already given a good description of definite and indefi­ nite forms of nouns (dag, dagen, dagar, dagarna) and adjectives (lang. langt. lange. langa). Aurivillius and Ljungberg (1756) based their description of noun declensions on the plural forms. The morphological distinction between active and passive was also correctly described from the beginning, but the system of conjugations was more difficult to grasp, and a classification reflecting the basic regu­ larities was not published until Sahlstedt (1747; one strong and two weak conjugations) and Ljungberg (1756; one strong and three weak conjugations). (Bureus had experiment­ ed with various classifications and one ofthem was clearly ahead of its time; cf. Lindroth 1911 -12, 56). The standardization of inflection was more complicated in Sweden than in Denmark, since the translators of the Danish Reforma­ tion Bible had chosen contemporary morpho­ logy, while their Swedish colleagues decided to use a more conservative inflection, inspired by the religious language ofVadstena monas­ tery in the 1 5th c. The Swedish Bible text had then on the whole been left unchanged in later editions. Its grammar was taken over into other religious texts, e. g. Luther's cathechism, which was widely read and used as a textbook for reading instruction. The inflection system of the Bible differed greatly from non-religious language at the end of the 17th c. One of the grammarians, Bishop Jesper Swedberg, never­ theless recommended (1722) the Bible inflec­ tional system as a model for the standard lan­ guage. Although other grammarians (like Aurivillius and TiaJhnann) considered this an impossible and inappropriate solution, the prestige of the language of the Bible was so high that they had to present the old and new inflections side by side in order not to be judged as irreverent by the church. Starting with Sahlstedt (1747), only contemporary in­ flection was recorded, sometimes with a few notes on older forms. 3 . 1 .2.

Sweden: Standardization issues concerning inflection

Among the issues involving inflectional varia­ tion in written Swedish were the following: (a) -e or -a in the sg. of fonner weak masc. nouns: backe or backa (b) -ne or -na in the def.pl. of nouns: hiistarne or hiistarna

155. The role of language cultivators and grammarians for the Nordic linguistic development (c) -0 or -n in pl.neut. nouns: stiille or stiillen (d) -it or -t in neut. fonus of adjectives ending in -lig: fulkomligit or fulkomligt (e) -e or -a in def. and pl. fonus of adjectives: store or stora (f) -ja or -a in the infinitive of certain verbs: sittia or sitta, hiingia or hiinga. (g) -e, -a or -om in 1. pl.: (vi) kasta, kaste or kastom (h) -it or -etin the supine or past part. neut. of strong verbs: tagit or taget. (i) -t or -dt in the supine or past part. neut. of weak verbs: iilskat or iilskadt, kiindt or kiint, sett or sedt G) -nde or -ndes in pres.part.

The grammarians were hardly aware of the fact that masculine and feminine grammatical genders were on their way out (cf. Tegner 1892; Davidson 1990). Likewise, the tendency to use singular verbs with plural subjects (cf. Larsson 1988), rejected in passing by Sahlstedt (1759, 320), received very little attention from the cultivators. A special case was Laurel, who wanted to replace the plural suffix -or with -er and to spell all past suffixes in weak verbs with -de. We shall look at what the grammarians have to say about some of the above issues. In early modern Swedish, neuter nouns ending in a short vowel (mostly -e as in dike) in some dia­ lects began to take -n or -r in the indefinite plural: dike-n or dike-r. The suffix -n was not used in the southern dialects of Sweden. (Cf. Kagerman 1985). The use of the suffix -r de­ creased gradually in the 17th c., and the gram­ marians took hardly any notice of it. The grammatical treatment of indefinite n-plurals varied (definite plurals are disregarded here): Aurivillius: Tialhnann: Swedberg: Sahlstedt: Hof: Ljungberg: Botin:

separate declension for n-plurals n-plurals not mentioned separate declension for n-plurals n-plurals mentioned as an exception separate declension for n-plurals n-plurals not mentioned n-plurals mentioned as an exception

In quite a few cases the vowels -a and -e varied in inflection, as is shown in the list above of standardization issues. The background to this variation is the loss of grammatical dis­ tinctions as well as phonological weakening (in some dialects) of the vowel in unstressed inflectional syllables. The cultivators' difficul­ ties can be exemplified by their handling of the adjective suffixes -e and -a as plural or defi­ nite markers. Aurivillius used case and number - but not gender - to differentiate between the endings. Tiiilhnann (1696) recommended -e everywhere

1391

except in the neut.sg. and the gen.pl. But he added that one could use -a as the only alter­ native instead if one did not fancy the "Ger­ man or Danish" -e. Ihre (1745) seems to have favoured using -e and -a to distinguish cases, and Sahlstedt (1747) presented a bewildering paradigm with six cases, where the choice of vowel was de­ termined by a combination of case and gender (but not number)(cf. also Sahlstedt 1 759). For Hof (1753), gender should determine the vowel: case and number were explicitly reject­ ed as determining factors. Ljungberg (1756) obviously had the same view. In his second grammar (1769) Sahlstedt had simplified his description, but he still had case as a deter­ mining factor. Botin (like Hof and Ljung­ berg), however, considered -e to be a mascu­ line suffix, while -a was used as the default form, in other genders and also optionally in the masculine plural. Like Tiiilhnann, he sug­ gested that -e could be abolished completely and replaced by -a everywhere. Leopold (1801) reserved -e for animate masculine refer­ ents but recommended a certain flexibility for the sake of euphony and rhyme. The term "supine" was not used until the middle of the 1 8th c., but already the early grammarians had a clear idea ofthe functional distinction between the active supine and the passive past participle. Platzack (1981) has shown that the variation between -it and -et in strong verbs was influenced by many factors at that time: the quantity of the stern (an echo of vowel balance), the final consonant of the suffix (-n vs. -t), the vowel quality of the stern syllable (a kind of vowel harmony) and the final consonant of the stern. The functional distinction supine-past participle already ac­ counted for some of the variation at the be­ ginning of this period but ended up as the sole factor in the 19th c. Sahlstedt (1747 and 1 769) was the first grammarian to recommend a differentiation between supine and participle in strong verbs, a rule that he may (according to Pahner 1919) have deduced from the text of a contemporary biography of Charles XII. Ljungberg did not comment upon the contrast explicitly, but his paradigms followed Sahlstedt. Botin, who es­ tablished his system of conjugations on the basis ofthe supine forms, gave -it as the supine suffix and -et as the past participle neuter suf­ fix (84, 101, 141). For Leopold, the supine form -it was beyond dispute, but he recom­ mended that this suffix should be optionally available also for participles, in order to fa-

1392

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

cilitate rhymes between supines and parti­ ciples. It has been maintained that the distinction beween the supine and the neut.sg. participle of strong and weak verbs was a purely ortho­ graphic phenomenon, but Hesselman (1919) claims that there was a contrast in expression between the two functions at least in some cen­ tral dialects of Sweden, approximately the fol­ lowing: the weak a-verbs end in -a (without -t) in the supine and -at in the participle, the strong verbs end in -i or -e (without -t) in the supine and -et in the participle. Interestingly enough, the grammarians recommended the orthographic distinction for weak verbs from the beginning (although they did not do so for the strong verbs until later): iilskat supine, iilskadt part. Hof could not make up his mind: at first he followed the principle of mor­ phological transparency (genius lingu",) like his colleagues (94), but a few pages later (98) he suggested that the mute < d > should be suppressed in participles (according to the al­ phabetic principle). 3.1.3.

Sweden: Implementation and effects on inflection practice

Very few studies have explored the possible effects of standardization efforts on inflec­ tional practice. One exception is Lindblad (1919), who investigated the impact of Sahl­ stedt's dictionary (and grammar) upon later dictionaries. His conclusion was that Sahl­ stedt's rejection of a hybrid declension (sg. backa, plur. backar), which was frequent in some central dialects, had been successful and that his choice of declension (e:ar or a:or) for these nouns was to a significant degree accept­ ed by his successors. Santesson (1986) de­ monstrated how some inflected forms were systematically removed and replaced by others in Salvi us' printing house when a text was re-edited there. Without a thorough in­ vestigation, we can only speculate about the possible outcome of the standardization ef­ forts (3.1.2.). Kagerrnan (1985, 125) showed a steady rise of the indef.pl. in -n in neut. nouns ending in a vowel. It was used in 80 per cent of the rel­ evant positions in material from 1700-1750. In the early grammatical publications, the n-plural was not noticed by TiaJImann. Later grammarians (with the exception of Ljung­ berg) mentioned it, some of them only as an exception to the chief paradigm for neuters and often with considerable uncertainty con-

cerning the definite form. It seems safe to con­ clude that the cultivators have had little influ­ ence on this matter. Botin's account (1777) is the only one which agrees with the prevailing standard inflection, but that may be a conse­ quence of usage (which had stabilized itself) rather than vice versa. The definite or plural forms of the adjective attracted the interest ofthe grammarians from the beginning, but as we have seen, their re­ commendations did not agree. Some of them wanted to generalize one variant, while others tried to differentiate between the variants in various ways. Leopold (1801) gave up stand­ ardization and suggested that both variants should be accepted. With such a wide range of views, it is not surprising that the grammar­ ians failed to influence language practice. The difficulties of the cultivators are understand­ able. Santesson (1986, 192 f.) has shown that other factors determined the choice of vowel in contemporary usage more strongly than the ones that the cultivators were aware of. Thus, past participles favoured -e (compared to ad­ jectives) as did the syntactic predicative func­ tion (as opposed to attributive). That -e sur­ vived as a marker of (animate) masculine sin­ gular in 19th c. Swedish against these two other strong factors may be due to the recom­ mendations of Botin and Leopold, who tied the morphological distinction to a conspic­ uous semantic condition (i. e. male vs. non­ male sex instead of masculine vs. non-mascu­ line grammatical gender). The third case was different. The distinction between the supine and the past participle was recognized by the grammarians from the very beginning, and their recommendations were almost unanimous for weak verbs. Sahlstedt (1747) proposed a similar distinction for strong verbs, a recommendation which was re­ peated by his colleagues. Sahlstedt himself may have considered this to follow relevant usage - he said that the ending -et did not sound good "in his ears" - but as a matter of fact usage had not settled yet. The rule he pro­ posed was undoubtedly, though, related to one of the factors that effected the statistical dis­ tribution of variants in contemporary usage. We can guess that the cultivators in this case may have made a significant, perhaps decisive contribution to the standardization process. 3.2. 1 .

Denmark: The inflection cultivators

Most of the writers who contributed to the discussion of Danish orthography also took

155. The role of language cultivators and grammarians for the Nordic linguistic development

part in the discussions about morphological standardization, although their contributions in general were more modest in this field. Among the 17th c. writers, Syv made a few remarks on inflection (1663) and included a short section on word classes and inflection (1685). Gerner (1678-79) offered three short chapters on inflection. The early short gram­ mar by Laurids Kock (ca. 1660) was never published at the time. The most important contribution was Pontoppidan's grammar (1668, probably written in the 1640s) with a large section (290 pages in the original edition) on word classes and inflection. For its time it was a good work, still very much in the tra­ dition of Latin grammar, though, and heavily influenced by German grammarians like Schottel. Pontoppidan gives fairly accurate descriptions of specifically Nordic phenomena like the enclitic definite article, the gender sys­ tem and the s-passive. In the 1 8th c., Schulz included a section on inflection with explicit recommendations on the form of inflected words. He especially em­ braced the maxim of morphological transpa­ rency: spelling should preserve the form of the root as well as the suffix throughout the para­ digm (47 ff.). Even Holberg committed himself on a few issues where usage had not stabilized. An anonymous manuscript (from 1727) with a section on inflection was never published at the time (Henriksen ed.). The most talented grammarian of the century was H0ysgaard, and although his best contributions concerned phonology/orthography (1743b; 1747) and syntax (1747; 1769), his treatment of morpho­ logy (1747) is also a remarkable achievement. The inflection of nouns and adjectives is lu­ cidly accounted for and the section on verbs, too, is good, although the presentation is in some respects still too much marked by tra­ ditional Latin translational grammars (with a wealth of periphrastic constructions corres­ ponding to Latin subjunctive verb forms). (On H0ysgaard, see esp. Bertelsen 1926; Hovd­ haugen et al. 2000). H0ysgaard's writings were too original and too much ahead of his time to influence the general public directly, but he was read by his colleagues who took up some of his ideas. Among his successors, Baden (1785 [1792]) produced a description of Dan­ ish inflection where he commented upon many disputed issues. Later he published a dictio­ nary (1799) which systematically accounted for gender and plural forms of nouns and in­ formed readers about the crucial inflected forms of verbs. His grammar and dictionary

1393

could have been a workable handbook for the Danish inflectional standard if it had been acknowledged as such by the writing commu­ nity. 3.2.2.

Denmark: Some issues concerning inflection cultivation

While the discussion of orthography focused on a limited number of issues which were com­ mented upon by most cultivators, the situ­ ation was different in morphology, where there was no general agreement concerning the pro blems to be discussed. Among the cases of variation that attracted the interest of at least some of the cultivators were the follow­ ing. Some linguists like Pontoppidan gave rules for the use of -es (instead of -s) in the genitive of nouns. According to him (1668, 146 ff.) -es should be used after vowels and k. p. s. t. (and x) . Gerner (1678-79, 126) recommended -es for nouns ending in a long vowel (where he supposed that a "sleeping" < e > was already attached to the stern) or -is for nouns ending in s or x. Schulz (73 f.) recorded only -s in his text, but he had a paradigm with et huses. H0YS gaard (1747) recommended -es where the stern ended in -s or a cluster with s or else where -es was easier to pronounce! Baden (1785; 1792) gave the sarne rule as Pontop­ pidan. Another issue was whether the old plural forms should be used (in the present or in the past tense of strong verbs). Pontoppidan (201, 205) and Syv (1663, 1 33; 1685, 237) were in favour of the plural forms, while Gerner (1678-79, 128, 13 2) wanted to abandon them. Schulz (84) mentioned that -r was sometimes "deleted" in the plural; he recommended such a unified tense form which he considered to be more clear. H0ysgaard (1743a, 200 ff.) took sides with Gerner after a careful and intelligent investigation. His strongest argument was that contemporary public speech used only singu­ lar forms. Number was unnecessarily indicat­ ed twice, if it was signalled not only by the subject but also by the verb. H0ysgaard con­ sidered it a drawback that the plural verb forms in -e neutralized a useful distinction be­ tween the indicative and the subjunctive (cal­ led imperative by him). However, plural verb forms were still used in written language and Baden (1 792) regarded them as optional. A long-lived matter of dispute in Danish or­ thography has been the spelling of the infini­ tive (and pres.pI.) and the past tense of the

1394 verbs kunne. skulle. ville. The alphabetic prin­ ciple implies that < nn > . < 11 > should be used in both forms. while the principle ofmor­ phological transparency (genius lingu",) would favour a spelling of the past tense with < nde > , and infinitives with < nne > , < lle > since < de > is the prototypical marker of the past tense. All the cultivators who took a stand on this issue (such as Pon­ toppidan. Schulz. Holberg. H0ysgaard and Baden) were generally in favour of a distinc­ tion in spelling between the infinitive and the past tense. In another case, too, some of the grammar­ ians rejected the alphabetic principle. Even those who were against the marking of long vowels with a mute < e > recommended a spelling with mute < e > (after sterns ending in a long vowel) to make the inflection of verbs more regular: gaae 'go', gaaer, troe 'believe', traer. This is Gerner's opinion (1678-79, 8 1, 109), who also suggests - using a rather du­ bious line of argument- that the singular defi­ nite fonn of nouns with sterns ending in a long vowel should be written with an extra < e > in order to create a more regular inflectional system. The recommendation of a mute < e > in verb inflections was repeated also by Schulz (42). H0ysgaard (1747, 374) considered the mute < e > as optional in verbs, and Baden (1792, 165) recommended it after i. a. aa where lei was pronounced in other verb forms, e. g. troe, traer (cf. troede 'believed') and gaae, gaaer (cf. gaaet 'gone'). Other matters of dispute were the choice be­ tween -es and -is, e. g. in the genitive or in the passive, the neuter form of adjectives and par­ ticiples in -en (-et or -ent), and the ending of present participles (with or without -s). Disagreement on some issues among the Danish cultivators made it difficult for them to influence the practice of the writing com­ munity. One example of this was the use of plural verb forms, which continued to be fre­ quent in the 1 9th c. (Skautrup vol. 3, 209). Neither did the grammarians agree on the con­ ditions for the use of < es > as a genitive suf­ fix, and general usage seems to have found its own way when finally < es > was restricted to sterns ending in lsi. The neuter forms of adjectives and adjectival words in -en were also standardized gradually, although not be­ cause of the grammarians' recommendations: -et came to be used in participles and -ent in adjectives (Skautrup vol. 3 , 205). In other respects the grammarians were more united and their recommendations more

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages clear and specific - and perhaps also more in line with trends in contemporary usage. In such cases theymight have stabilized or acceler­ ated the standardization process. Such issues were the rejection of -s for present participles (Skautrup vol. 3, 205), the use of -es instead of -is in inflectional forms and differentiation between the infinitive and the past tense for verbs like kunne (cf. Skautrup vol. 3, 1 79).

4.

Literature (a selection)

References to contemporary authors available in modern editions are made by the pagination of these editions.

4. 1 .

Contemporary Swedish writers

Aurivillius, Ericus (1693), Cogitationes de Lingwr SvionicE, qualis hodie maxime in usu est, recta scrip­ tura, & pronunciatione [ . . .]. Uppsala. Aurivillius, Ericus (1884), Grammatica: suecallE specimen (ed. Gustaf Stiernstrom). Uppsala. Botin, Anders af (1777), Svenska spraket i tal och skrift. Stockholm. Columbus, Samuel (1963), En swensk ordeskotsel (ed. Sylvia Bostrom). Uppsala. Ekholm, Erik (1758), Det Ratta Stafningssattet i Svenskan. Stockhohn. Graberg, Olof (1742), Specimen Academicum, quo Orthographi::r SveCaJJir usus simplicior [. . . ] ex­ hibetur. Uppsala. Hiarne, Urban [1717 18], Orthographia Svecana El­ ler den Retta Swenska Bookstafweringen. HoI, Sven (1753), Swanska Sprakets Ratta Skrifsatt

Med Sina Bewis Forestalt. Stockholm, ed. Mats

Thelander (1985). Uppsala. Ihre, Johan (1745), Utkast till forelasningar ofwer Swenska Spraket och thes narmare kannedom. Upp­ sala. Lagerlof, Petrus (1694), Dissertatio de LingUE SveCaJJir Orthographia. Stockhohn. Laurel, Lars (1748), Forslag til Suenske Skriv-La­ gen. Stockhohn. Laurel, Lars (1750), Inledning til Rirtte fmrstimdet om mit av Kongl. Suenske Vetenskaps Academien Til AIIJ113:nn Prmvning Utgivne Fmrslag Til Suenske Skriv-Lagen. Lund. Leopold, Carl Gustaf af (1801), Ajhandling om Svenska Stafsattet. Svenska Akademiens handling­ ar ifran ar 1796. Forsta delen. Ljungberg, Carl Fredrik (1756), Svenska sprakets redighet. Strangnas. Pfeif, Johannes Jacobus (1713), De Habitu et In­ stauratione sermonis Svecani. Stockhohn.

155. The role of language cultivators and grammarians for the Nordic linguistic development

1395

Sahlstedt, Abraham (1747), Forsok Till en Swensk Grammatika, Efter Det nufor tiden brukeliga sattet at tala ok skrifwa. Stockhohn.

Hoysgaard, Jens Pedersen (1752), Methodisk Fors@g til en FuldstEndig Dansk Syntax. In: Bertelsen ed. (1915 1929) voL 5, 1 506.

Sahlstedt, Abraham (1753), Anmarkningar Ofwer Swenska Spraket. Jamte Et Bihang af Swenska Or­ thographien. Stockholm.

Kock, Lavrids, Introductio ad Lingvam Danicam. In: Bertelsen ed. (1915 1929) voL 1, 35 74.

Sahlstedt, Abraham (1759), Critiska Samlingar. Stockholm. Sahlstedt, Abraham (1769), Swensk Grammatika Efter det nufor tiden I Spraket brukliga sattet. Upp­ sala. Sahlstedt, Abraham (1773), Swensk Ordbok. Stock­ holm.

Marslov, Erik Olsen (1678), Nogle BetEnkninger og RegIe om Skrive-Rictigheden udi ded Danske Sprog. In: Bertelsen ed. (1915 1929) voL 3, 1 10. Pontoppidan, Erik Eriksen (1668), Grammatica Danica. In: Bertelsen ed. (1915 1929) vol. 2. Schulz, Peder (1724), Danskens Skriverigtighed. In: Bertelsen ed. (1915 1929) voL 4, 1 153.

Swedberg, Jesper (1716), Schibboleth. Swenska Sprakets Rycht och Richtighet. Skara.

Syv, Peder Pedersen (1663), Nogle betenkninger om det Cimbriske Sprog. In: Bertelsen ed. (1915 1929) voL 1, 75 272.

Swedberg, Jesper (1722), En kortt Swensk gram­ matica. Stockhohn. Tialhnann, Nils (1696), Grammatica Suecana ;fller:

Syv, Peder Pedersen (1685), Den Danske Sprog­ Kunst eller Grammatica samt et Tilheng om dette Sprogs Skrive-rigtighed. In: Bertelsen ed. (1915 1929) voL 3, 147 250.

En Svensk Sprdk- Ock Skrif-Konst. Stockhohn.

4.2.

Contemporary Danish writers

Aarhus, Jacob Madsen (1586), De literis libri duo (Basel, ed. Franz Blatt). In: Acta Jutlandica 3 (1931), 99 249. Baden, Jacob (1785), Forela:sninger over det danske Sprog, eller resonneret dansk Grammatik (2nd ed. 1792). Kobenhavn. Baden, Jacob (1799), Dansk ortografisk Ordbog. Kobenhavn. Bertelsen, Henrik, (ed.) (1915 1929), Danske Gram­ matikerefra Midten af det syttende til Midten af det attende Aarhundrede, vol. 1 6. Kobenhavn. Gerner, Henrich Thoma:son (1678 79), Orthogra­ phia Danica Eller Det Danske Sproks Skriffveric­ tighed. In: Bertelsen ed. (1915 1929) vol. 3, 1 1 146. Gerner, Henrich Thoma:son (1690), Epitome Philologi::r DaniCE. In: Bertelsen ed. (1915 1929) voU, 251 317. Hauen, Niels von (1741), Et lidet orthografisk Lexi­ con Eller Ord-Bog. Kobenhavn. Henriksen, Caroline C. (ed.) (1976), Dansk rigs­ sprog, en beskrivelse fra 1700-tallet. Kobenhavn.

4.3.

Other references

Andersson, Aksel (1884), Om Johan Salbergs Gram­ matica svetica: Ett bidrag till kannedomen om 1600talets svenska. Uppsala. Bertelsen, Henrik (1926), Jens Pedersen H@ysgaard og hans Forfatterskab. Kobenhavn. Boberg, V. (1895), Den danske retskrivnings historie i de sidste 200 ar. Kristiania. Davidson, Herbert (1990), Han hon den: Genusut­ vecklingen i svenskan under nysvensk tid. Lund. Hernlund, Hugo (1883), Forslag och dtgarder till svenska skriftsprdkets reglerande 1691 1739 jamte en inledande ofversigt af svenska sprdkets stallning under den foregdende tiden. Stockhohn. Hessehnan, Bengt (1919), Ortografiska refonner i sprakhistorisk belysning. In: SS 19, 121 149. Hovdhaugen, Even et al. (2000), The history of lin­ guistics in the Nordic countries. Helsinki. Jellinek, Max Hennann (1913 14), Geschichte der neuhochdeutschen Grammatik von den Anfangen bis auf Adelung 1 2. Heidelberg.

Holberg, Ludvig (1726), Orthographiske Anmerk­ ninger. In: Bertelsen ed. vol. 4, 155 184.

Kagennan, Elisabet (1985), Plural av neutra pa obetonat -e: Obestamd plural hos neutra med avled­ ningsmorfemet -e mellan omkring 1300 och 1750. Lund.

Hoysgaard, Jens Pedersen (1743a), Tresfaciunt col­ legium. In: Bertelsen ed. (1915 1929) vol. 4, 185 215.

Karker, Allan (1987), Samtid og sa:rpra:g i sproget. In: Fem Reformationsskrifter trykt afHans Vingaard i Viborg 1528 30. Kobenhavn, 278 295.

Hoysgaard, Jens Pedersen (1743b), Concordia res parvE crescunt. Kobenhavn. In: Bertelsen ed. (1915 1929) voL 4, 217 248.

Larsson, Kent (1988), Den plurala verbbOjningen i aldre svenska: Studier i en spraklig forandringspro­ cess. Uppsala.

Hoysgaard, Jens Pedersen (1747), Accentuered og Raisonnered Grammatica Som viser Det Danske Sprog i sin naturlige Skikkelse. Kobenhavn. In: Ber­ telsen ed. (1915 1929) voL 4, 249 488.

Lindblad, G6sta (1919), Abraham Sahlstedt och den svenska substantivbojningen. Lund. Lindquist, Natan (1929), Bibelsvenskans medeltida ursprung. In: NS 8, 165 260.

1396

XlV. The development of the Nordic languages

Lindroth, Hjahnar (1911 12), J. Th. Bureus, den svenska grammatikens fader. (SSF 42). Lund.

tryckeri med siirskild hiinsyn till ortografi och mor­ fologi. Lund.

Lollesgaard, lohs (1925), Sprogfilosoferen og Sprog­ forsken i Danmark ved det 18. Aarhundredes Midte. K0benhavn.

Santesson, Lillemor (1988), Nagra forandringar i svensk ortografi under 1600-talet. In: Svenskans be­ skrivning 1 6 : 2, 401 414.

Loman, Bengt (1986), "En inrattning, agnad endast til Sprakets forhittring". In: Svenska Akademien och svenska spraket. Tre studier. Stockholm, 1 141. Nielsen, Niels Age (1950), Dansk sprogrensning i 1700-tallet In: ANF 64, 246 278. Noreen, Adolf (1903), Vart sprbk. Nysvensk gram­ matik i utforlig jramstiillning, vol. 1 . Lund. Ohlsson, Stig Orjan (1992), Sprbkforskaren Urban Hiiirne. Lund. Olsen, Ellen (1947), Retskrivningspraksis og Ret­ skrivningsteorier i Danmark i det 17. Aarhundrede. In: Sprog og Kultur 15, 66 120. Palmer, lohan (1919), Till mlgra regler i Sahlstedts grammatika. In: SS 19, 31 41. Platzack, Christer (1981), Andelsevokalismen i supinum och perfekt particip av starka verb. En studie av vaxlingen it:et och in:en i aldre och yngre fornsvenska. In: ANF 96, 107 136. Quintilianus, Marcus Fabius, Institutio oratoria 1 4 (ed. and translated by H. E. Butler). Cambridge (Mass.)/London. 1920. Ronge, Hans/Tjader, Borje/Widmark, Gun (eds.) (1999), Petrus LagerlOfs collegium 1691 angaende wart swenska spraks cultiverande. Uppsala. Santesson, Lillemor (1986), Tryckt hos Salvius: En undersokning om sprakvarden pa eft 1700-tals-

Scaliger, J.J. (1584), De causis lingva: latinE libri tredecim. Apud Petrum Santandreanum. Skautrup, Peter (1947 1953), Det danske sprogs his­ torie, vols. 2 3. K0benhavn. Svensson, Lars (1981), Eft fall av sprakvard under 1600-talet. Lund. Tegner, Esaias, d. y. (1892), Om genus i svenskan. StockhoM. Teleman, Ulf (1991), Om nonnforestallningars fodelse. In: Studler i svenska sprakets historia 2 (eds. S.-G. Malmgren/B. Ralph). G6teborg, 214 229. Teleman, Ulf (2002), )fra, rikedom och reda: Svensk

sprakvard och sprbkpolitik under iildre nyare tid. StockhoM.

Weiss, Peter (1999), Ordning i bruket, skiil till vanan: Orthographische GrWldpositionen bei schwedischen Grammatikern des 18. Jahrhunderts. Saarbriicken. Wiberg, Albert (1939), Ett forslag till en svensk sprakv3xdande akademi av ar 1741. Carl Mauritz Lilliehoks memorial vid 1740 41 ars riksdag. In: NS 18, 210 225. Widmark, Gun (1992), Boksvenska och talsvenska. Om sprakarter i nysvenskt talsprak In: SS 1, 157 198. Wollin, Lars, (ed.) (1984), Tiiillmannstudier (Nord­ lund 4). Lund.

Ulf Teleman. Lund (Sweden)

xv. The Nordic languages in the 1 9th century 156.

The impact of education and literacy on language development in the 19th century

1. 2. 3. 4.

The Nordic literacy model The impact on the written language The impact on the spoken language Literature (a selection)

1.

The Nordic literacy model

Literacy research in recent years has usually pointed to a specific Nordic model as far as the development of reading and writing abili­ ties are concerned. In its broad features this model is characterized by an early develop­ ment of general reading ability in the old agrarian society and by a far later develop­ ment of general writing skills in the modern industrial society. What is special about the Nordic model compared to other countries, is the time lag between the development of the two abilities. One of the pioneers in Nordic literacy research, the Swedish pedagogue Egil Johansson, speaks of two different literacy campaigns: the first was a campaign overseen by the Church ca. 1700, where the focus was on reading and learning religious texts by heart, and the second was a school-based cam­ paign from about 1850, where the focus was also on writing and where the aim gradually shifted from not only being able to read re­ ligious texts but also secular texts from "real" life (cf. Johansson 1998 [1977; 1988]). During the first campaign a large part of the instruc­ tion took place at horne, whereas during the second it mainly occurred at school, which in­ cluded not only the Latin schools and other special educational institutions but also the ordinary elementary schools. The higher so­ cial classes, which were educated in the former institutions, had learned both to read and write at an early stage, but for the general population, which attended the ordinary ele­ mentary schools, the ability to write - and to some degree also to read - was not only de­ ficient - but to a large extent absent. Even late in the 19th century we have official testimonies which confirm that writing was considered an

unnecessary skill for common people. In Be­ retning om Almueskolewesenets Tilstand i Christiansands Stift [Report on the state of the elementary school in the diocese of Christian­ sand] published in Norway in 1861, it is stated " . . . that instruction in writing and arithmetic is considered as it were useless or superfluous, especially as far as the young girls are con­ cerned" . The fact that women learned to write later than men reappears in several investiga­ tions from the Nordic countries (cf. Anders­ son 1986; Markussen 1984; 1990; Guttorrns­ son 1984; Vannebo 1 984). In Norway it was not till the school law of 1 860, which intro­ duced mass education initiated by the State, that it was officially recognized that writing ability is among "the knowledge and the skills, that every member ofthe society ought to pos­ sess" (cf. Slagstad 1998, 45 f.). According to Johansson (1977) and Vannebo (1984), we cannot speak of widespread reading and writ­ ing ability in Sweden and Norway until the 1 880s. The same general pattern is also found in Denmark, but with one difference being that the Church there took the initiative to pro­ mote writing as early as the 1 8th century (cf. Markussen 1990). We also find a similar pat­ tern in Iceland, but there reading as well as writing instruction was given at horne under ecclesiastical supervision until the 20th cen­ tury (cf. Guttorrnsson 1984). To this general but somewhat simplified pic­ ture of the Nordic literacy model, we should add that there are clear regional and social differences within the Nordic area. Recent re­ search has also documented fairly widespread reading ability from the second half of the 17th century not only in Swedish agrarian society, but also in the Danish and Norwegian ones (cf. Appel 1995; Fet 1 995). To sum up, it may be said that - in spite of the fact that many could read - a conse­ quence of their inadequate writing ability was that the culture of the common people in the Nordic countries must have remained mainly

1398

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

oral until late in the 19th century (cf. Steinfeld 1986, 205; Thavenius 1981, 70). For a large part of the population, mastering the written language did not really start till after the middle ofthe century. New social classes came to acquire the art of writing, and it was the responsibility of the State to impart these skills to them. During the 1 9th century we thus wit­ ness a thorough change from predominantly oral societies to those mainly based on written language. The question posed below is whether this change had any consequences for the development of the language itself and - if so - what these were. However, like other questions about the interrelations between so­ cial and linguistic development, it is far from easy to give clear answers to questions of causation. Moreover, it is difficult to discuss causes of the linguistic development, "when you scarcely know how the language devel­ oped in this period" (Gregersen 1984, 167). Nevertheless, we are now going to look at some areas where it may be assumed that progress in education and the development of reading and writing skills have been of import­ ance to linguistic developments. First, we will consider the impact of education and literacy on the development of the written language, and then we will look at its impact on the spoken language. In the following description we will mainly concentrate on developments in the mainland Nordic countries.

2.

The impact on the written language

The French linguist Antoine Meillet once said that most languages in Europe "sont des lan­ gues traditionelles, crees par des elites pour des elites . . . " (Meillet 1928, 175). The national written languages in the Nordic countries, which existed at the beginning of the 19th cen­ turymay be said to have originated in the same way. (The written standards of Faroese and Nynorsk. which were established in the middle of the 19th century by V. U. Hamershaimb and Ivar Aasen respectively, are obvious excep­ tions to Meillet's statement. Aasen in particu­ lar stressed that the new written language was created out of consideration for the common people). The official written standards devel­ oped within the higher social classes, and com­ mand of the written word made it possible for these classes to maintain their educational pri­ vileges and thereby their leading position in society. One goal of the lower social classes

and their political and pedagogical advocates was to obtain a share of these privileges, and the road to that goal encompassed the con­ quest of the written language, which in turn also implied a desire to influence the written standard in a more democratic direction. From this followed the struggle for spelling reforms as well as the introduction ofthe Latin script. And even the change in style that took place during the 19th century, may be seen as a consequence of the fact that new social classes, with a different educational back­ ground, had obtained access to the written word. 2. 1 .

The spelling reforms

During the 1 9th century, demands for firmer regulation of the written language were ad­ vanced in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. This led to conflicts between conservative groups, who adhered to older, established norms, and progressive groups, who worked for new norms based on the colloquial lan­ guage. In Denmark, Rasmus Rask 1826 con­ stituted the opposite norm to the traditional, established one. The conflict between the two groups was continued by N.M. Petersen's modified edition of Rask's orthography in 1837, and the conflict especially intensified after 1845 when Petersen published a new thesis on orthographic reform. In Norway, Rask's programme had Ludvig Kr. Daa as its foremost advocate. Rask's principles for phonemic spelling were referred to as "ortho­ phony" in Norway, and the "orthophonic movement" gradually carne to be of greater importance to the development of the written language in Norway than in Denmark, owing to the fact that a consequence of phonemic spelling was that Norwegian - not Danish pronunciation must constitute the basis for spelling. This is most clearly manifested in the works of the language reformer Knud Knud­ sen. It is interesting to note that both Daa's and Knudsen's argumentation was based on pedagogical and democratic considerations. Both stressed that the new spelling would make it easier for the general population to learn the written language. Daa clearly real­ ized, however, that his democratic argument was not generally accepted; some of the "educated" citizens would argue against this, because it would no longer be possible to dis­ tinguish between them and the "uneducated". Up till then, it had not been necessary "to care about the meaning of what they wrote,

156. The impact of education and literacy on language development in the 19th century

because you could still see what kind offellows they were" (cf. Lundeby 1986, 214). And in a famous article Retskrivning ogfolkedannelse [Orthography and general education] from 1900, Professor Moltke Moe stressed that the orthographic question had only been of liter­ ary interest as long as people lived in a society with only a small group of educated men, whereas quite different demands were made on orthography in a society built on local autonomy and general education: What was possible for a small oligarchic and re­ stricted group with lengthy school training, will be distressing for the lower classes in a democratic society. The more necessary it is to be able to read and write in a decent way for almost every one in this country, the more people there will be who suffer from the discouraging struggle be­ tween "sight" and "hearing", between speech and writing (Moe 1900, 94).

In Sweden, the written language norm had been codified in Leopold's Ajhandling am svenska stafsattet [Thesis on Swedish spelling] from 1 80 1 , which was sanctioned by the Swedish Academy. It formed the basis of Ahn­ qvist's Svensk Rattstafnings-Lara [Swedish or­ thography]. which appeared in as many as nineteen reprints between 1829 and 1 88 1 , and which consequently came to be the dominant model for Swedish spelling during the greater part of the century. Some people had early on advocated a more orthophonic spelling, but a more intense conflict between supporters of traditional spelling and of a new spelling did not arise until the decades after the Nordic orthographic meeting in Stockhohn in 1869. The incipient interest in pronunciation and spelling towards the end of the 1 9th century is usually explained as a result of the Neo­ grammarian movement with its strong focus on the spoken language (cf. Lindstam 1946, 1 4 f.). But in my opinion we may ask if this interest did not also arise from practical peda­ gogical needs. It is interesting to note that the demands for a more phonemic spelling system was a recurrent theme at meetings of the school teachers, and we witness an increasing demand for spelling reforms as it became the school's task to teach everybody to read and write. In 1 884, for example, a request carne from Sveriges allmannafolkskollarareforening [The Swedish Common Association of School Teachers], founded in 1880, to the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, asking for the prepara­ tion of "a suitable norm" for Swedish ortho­ graphy. And the creator of the Swedish pho-

1399

netic alphabet, J.A. Lundell, who was a pho­ netician and a Neogrammarian himself, ar­ gued in a series of lectures in Uppsala and Stockhohn for phonemic spelling because above all he felt this was necessary for peda­ gogical and social reasons (Lundell 1 886; cf. also Tarschys 1955, 84; Stahle 1970, 17). Spelling was thus not only a scientific prob­ lem, but to a high degree also a practical and social one, which was assigned to the schools to solve (cf. also Andersson 1986, 102 f.). This was generally recognized towards the end of the century, when official standards were es­ tablished for orthography in the schools. Both in Denmark and Sweden this was carried out through official decisions in 1889, and the or­ thography in the schools was thus for the first time made a responsibility of the State (cf. Spang-Hanssen 1970, 41; Stilhle 1970, 21). As for the situation in Denmark, Ingrid Markus­ sen says: For the first time the schools became part of the linguistic movement, which showed the way for the authorities as regards the codification of lin­ guistic nonns in the schools, which even became nonnative outside the school (Markussen 1984, 36).

In Norway, this had already been stated as a principle in 1862, as the Ministry of Ecclesi­ astical Affairs in a circular to the schools had accepted some of Knudsen's proposals for a new spelling system. Later orthographic chang­ es were regulated through J. Aars' Retskriv­ nings-Regler til Skolebrug [Spelling Rules for the Schools] in 1866, and subsequent editions. The orthographic question in Norway was especially topical in the 1 890s, when the Min­ istry introduced many new orthographic forms in a reader for the public schools. The spelling problem was not solved with that, but the principle of a governmental spelling policy was finally established.

2.2.

The Latin script

In the 1 9th century there was also a change from the Gothic to the Latin alphabet, and this change was in part directly connected with the orthographic question. Together with Ger­ many, Denmark and Norway were among the European countries that longest adhered to the Gothic script. Being the old traditional script type in these countries, it was often re­ ferred to as respectively "Danish" or "Norwe­ gian" script - in contrast to the "foreign" Latin script which had already been introduced

1400 in some places early in the 1 9th century. The Gothic script was also the traditional alphabet in Iceland, where it was commonly used in all printed religious books till about 1850. In Sweden, the Gothic script had been abolished in handwriting before 1850, and it was also rare in print after that time. One ofthe keenest opponents of the Latin script, Stockholms Dagblad, converted to using it in December 1871, thus conforming to the recommendation of the Stockholm meeting of 1869. By then all the press in Stockholm had changed to the Latin script, although it was still used in the local press and in almanacs, hymnals and Bible editions. In the preface of a Norwegian primer from 1 854, the pupils were informed in the following way about the relationship between "Norwegian" and "Latin" script: We live in Norway, and we speak the Norwegian language and use the Norwegian letters for writ­ ing [. . . ] These letters are also used by the Danes and the Gennans; but in other countries most of­ ten the so-called Latin letters are being used, and these letters are now also often used by us, and therefore you have to learn those too. The closest neighbours to our country are the Swedes; they use this Latin script (Sch0nheyder 1854).

The situation in the Norwegian elementary school about 1850 consequently was that the pupils had to learn both the Gothic and the Latin script. In the printed primers the Gothic script was almost universal until the middle of the century (cf. Bjarvin 1950, 87). About 1850, however, the necessity of learning Latin script was often called attention to, and the school teachers in particular asked if it was convenient to maintain two different script types, which the pupils had to learn not only to read but also to write. In several articles the school teachers emphasized the difficulties of teaching two alphabets to children in situ­ ations where there was little hope that they would learn to write at all. And it was a peda­ gogical pro blem because instruction in writing took place for both script types not only in the same week, but on the same day, and part­ ly even in the same lesson! (Cf. Knudsen 1 869, 180. Knudsen was an outspoken advocate for the Latin script. In his opinion the demand for "one script" and for "orthographic changes" were two sides of the same coin. In a notice in Christianiaposten 18/5/1 849, he claimed that if you could abolish "the silent -e" , " the doubled vowels" , " the initial capi­ tals" and "the two alphabets", which "steal endless time in our schools" , much would have

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

been done to promote writing ability). More­ over, the Latin script had long ago been in­ troduced in the exclusive grammar schools, so there was a risk that a class distinction would develop surrounding the use of the two script types. In 1849, Anthon Bang, who later founded Dagbladet, wrote that if they did not change to the Latin script in the elementary school, " the common people will in a few years be alone using the Norwegian script, which is growing rare among the other social classes" (Bang 1 849). The risk of a class distinction arising had also been voiced in Iceland after a primer with the Latin alphabet had been printed in Copenhagen as early as in 1830. Op­ ponents of the Latin script maintained that the new script would widen the division be­ tween the elite ("heldri menn") and the com­ mon people (cf. Guttorrnsson 1984, 48). The danger of a social distinction being established on the basis of the script type was emphasized in Norway by Ivar Aasen as late as in 1872. Aasen used that as one of several arguments against the introduction of the Latin script. Aasen and Knudsen were thus adversaries even in their opinion on the Latin script (cf. Vannebo 1984, 107 ff.). In Denmark, Rask had - in his orthogra­ phic proposal - argued for the Latin script in handwriting as well as in print. The demand for a change from Gothic to Latin script was also a separate item at the Stockholm meeting in 1869. In a declaration from the Ministry in 1889, it was decided that the Latin script should be used in the Danish elementary schools, while Latin as well as Gothic script should be used in the grammar schools and at the teachers' seminaries (cf. Markussen 1984, 3 5 f.). Behind this gradual transition to the Latin alphabet as the only script, we find the same forces as those behind the orthographic cam­ paigns: an expanding educational sector and an increasing number of people from various social classes who could write led to a demand for simplification and standardization of the written language norm. And as the school was the institution which should teach everyone how to read and write, it became the task of the school - and of the teachers - to solve the pedagogical problems connected with it. This also meant that the State became part of the language movement by the fact that it had the ultimate responsibility for the codification of the language norms in the schools - norms that gradually also became guidelines outside school.

156. The impact of education and literacy on language development in the 19th century

2.3.

The change in style

The officially codified nonns were limited to morphology and orthography. But during the 1 9th century a substantial change in style also took place. Briefly, this change meant that the Latin-inspired style which dominated at the beginning of the century yielded to a more col­ loquial and simplified style in the last half of the century. This thorough change is closely connected with the fact that the relatively small governing class which was in charge of the written language at the outset of the cen­ tury had acquired all its linguistic and stylistic nonns from studying in the Latin schools, whereas the new classes which started to use the written language in the second half of the century and which were educated in quite dif­ ferent types of schools, gradually emancipated themselves from the Latin tradition. In Denmark-Norway, the classical intro­ duction to stylistics was K. L. Rahbek's Om den danske Stiil [On the Danish Style] (1st ed. 1 802). This book includes Horace's: "Antiquo me includere ludo" as a motto and is based on the classical devices of purity and logic, symmetry and balance. Rahbek postulated a set of nonns in order to make the pupils dis­ tinguish between what was beautiful and ugly, what was appropriate and improper. Having acquired these norms, the pupils should be able to find the right expression, to write with "the purity, correctness, clarity and appro­ priateness". In the book SlegtenJra 1814 [The Generation of 1814], by the Norwegian art his­ torian Carl W. Schnitler, we find one of the most sweeping attempts to look at language as an integrated part of the mentality and the cultural history of the time. According to Schnitler, the language was "the finishing touch" in the "world of classicism" : "In its attitude and rhythm we witness the imprint ofthe Roman ideal in a more perfect way than in the buildings, in the domestic utensils or in art" (Schnitler 191 1 , 417). Among the classi­ cal, Latin-inspired characteristics of the style from this era, he mentions the direct use of Latin words and expressions, of allegory, of fables and dreams in order to moralize and satirize, the use of direct address with rhetori­ cal questions and exclamations in the middle of a text, and the use of a flourishing figurative language, relying on symbols instead of refer­ ences to the real thing. In addition there were, of course, the classical requirements as regards the framing ofthe sentence and ofthe periods, including the use of tropes and figures.

1401

At the start of the century, this classical, rhetoric style was so predominant both in fic­ tion and in papers, letters, diaries, official documents, small notices etc., that it seems justified to speak of a period style. New sty­ listic ideals were gradually to appear, but the Latin-inspired style lasted for so long partly due to the facts that the teachers of Latin also became guides in the stylistics of the native languages (Hohn 1967, 1 10), and the teaching of the native languages in the Latin schools was strongly influenced by the teaching of Latin (Steinfeld 1986, 133). It has been as­ serted that the "delatinization" in educational politics became more radical in Norway than in Sweden and Denmark (Slagstad 1998, 98). The Norwegian school law of 1 860 initiated a period of refonn within education, which resulted in the primary school law of 1 889 establishing co-educational schools for all so­ cial classes, and in the reform of 1896 which definitely "delatinized" grammar schools. Norway was the first country in Europe to abolish the Latin requirement for admission to the University. This "delatinization" pro­ cess within the educational system may be looked upon as a reaction against the old gov­ erning class and its cultural standing. The problem remains, however, how close the con­ nection was between educational "delatin­ ization" and linguistic "delatinization". Present research seems to indicate a clear weakening of the Latin stylistic ideal in the second half of the century in fiction as well as in drama, poetry and non-fiction. The eman­ cipation from the Latin tradition probably proceeded at a different pace within different writing milieus and different genres, and there were great individual variations among the different authors. Nevertheless, it seems pos­ sible - as stated by the Norwegian style his­ torian Olaf 0ysleb0 - to speak of a turning point about 1860- 70, when the classical, rhet­ oric style gave way to a more simplified style using elements from colloquial language. (Although the developments in the written language were in the direction of a more sim­ plified style using colloquial elements, this does not mean that these colloquial elements were adopted at the same time in Norwegian, Swedish and Danish. One of the most often debated morphological features in these lan­ guages was the disappearance of the plural in­ flection with verbs in the spoken language. In Norway and Denmark, the plural forms had mainly fallen out of use both in fiction and in non-fictional prose in the second half of the

1402

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

century. In Norway, plural inflection was maintained in the school grammar rules till the 1870s, but it was finally abolished in Aars' spelling rules from 1877. In Denmark, the plu­ ral inflection was still compulsory in the spel­ ling rules of 1889 and 1892, and at this time it was still used in more fonnal language. At the request of the Danish school teachers, the obligatory use of these forms was officially abolished through regulations in 1900 and 1902 (cf. Skautrup IV, 90). In Sweden, this change took place much later. Some Swedish authors (e. g. Selma Lagerlof on advice from Adolf Noreen) started to use the singular form just after 1900; but many authors held on to the plural forms, and only after 1945, when Tidningarnas Telegrambyra [The Swedish Wire Service] started to use the singular forms, did these gradually become universal in Swedish prose. However, it was not until the 1960s that the singular form was generally used in all types of the official Swedish language (cf. Hohn 1967, 1 59 and Alfvegreen 1984» . In Norway, this development might even have been influenced by the growth of Ny­ norsk, but the essential features of this devel­ opment - the simplification of the style and of the sentence construction - seem to be the same in the other Nordic countries. Sven Eng­ dahl speaks of a modern breakthrough in non­ fictional Swedish prose at about the same time, and Allan Karker of a parallel "demo­ cratization" of the sentence construction in Danish, due to a continually expanding circle of readers (cf. 0yslebo 1984; Engdahl 1962; Karker 1984). So it seems reasonable to con­ clude that the general change in style in the last decades of the 1 9th century, was at least partially motivated by the fact that by then new classes with quite a different educational background had 0 btained access to the written world.

3.

The impact on the spoken language

What did the spread of writing ability and or­ ganized school education mean for the devel­ opment of the spoken language? Although the orthographic reforms had a unification of the written and spoken language as its goal, there were obvious differences between the two modes of expression. And even if general writ­ ing ability and the increased use of the written language in many activities in life naturally had as a consequence that the written lan-

guage also came to serve as a model for the spoken language, its influence varied to a large extent, depending both on what kind of spoken language we are dealing with and which language users and communicative situ­ ations we are referring to. And there were also clear internal differences between the Nordic countries - especially between Denmark and Sweden on the one hand and Norway on the other. 3.1.

The spoken language in the schools

As mentioned above, the State acquired the final responsibility for the codification of the written language norms in the schools. As for the spoken language, the situation was differ­ ent. In Norway a resolution was passed by Parliament in 1878 which in fact ahnost had the opposite aim - namely to protect the ver­ nacular of the children so that it should not be subject to any regulation at school. This stated that "the instruction in the elementary school as far as possible should be in the childrens' own spoken language". Behind this resolution were national, social and pedagogi­ cal arguments, and among other goals, it aimed to prevent the use of a formal, stilted language - the so-called "parish clerk Danish" -, which had often been used in the middle of the century, and which many teachers in the elementary schools had acquired at the sem­ inaries (cf. Jahr 1984). In Denmark and Sweden, there were no par­ allel official decisions regulating the spoken language in the schools. An official spoken standard - based on the written language had developed there very early. The influence from the written language may best be ob­ served from several occurrences of reading pronunciation, where letters and letter combi­ nations which no longer corresponded to the sounds in the common spoken language were pronounced in accordance with the written forms. Examples are the pronunciation of -t in neuter and supine forms ending in -et and -it in Swedish, and the non-palatalized pro­ nunciation of initial k-, g- in words like kobe, gerning in Danish. (For these and other examples of pronunciation based on the writ­ ten language, cf. Teleman 1979, 41 ff.). The main characteristics of this development was that, during the 1 9th century, the offical spoken standard approached the written stand­ ard. However, this development was not the same for all social classes. As pointed out by Peter Skautrup, in Denmark it was

156. The impact of education and literacy on language development in the 19th century limited to the higher social classes and to those strata of the population who were interested in and susceptible to literature, above all in Copenhagen. The lower classes did not partici­ pate, and their language, which was preserved more or less unchanged until the present time, was therefore, as the distinction between the two language strata became sharper, regarded as dia­ lectal or vulgar, although it actually represented the common stage of departure (Skautrup III, 1953, 182).

And although the official spoken standard achieved a stronger position at the end of the century as new classes were included in public life, and although it was associated with social prestige, we have many testimonies of the use of dialect, not only as an everyday language in private life, but even in more official situ­ ations (Skautrup III, 1953, 216).

3.2.

Changing relations between the speech varieties

In Denmark, Sweden and Norway it had been a tradition in the 19th century and earlier to distinguish between three different varieties of the spoken language. The first one was the of­ ficially spoken language, which in the 1 8th century primarily had been used in the church and in the courtroom; the second was the pri­ vate colloquial language of the higher social classes; and the third was the dialect, which was the usual language ofthe common people. Whereas the first two were based on the writ­ ten language, the third was a pure oral variety. Because the first two were used within differ­ ent domains, the situation has been charac­ terized as diglossic (cf. Widmark 1991, 175; Pedersen 1997, 241 f. An interesting descrip­ tion of these varieties in Norway from the sec­ ond half of the century is provided by Johan Storm, cf. Hanssen [forthcoming]). As new classes carne to take part in public life in the 1 9th century, the domain of the official spoken language was enlarged to partly comprise the educational institutions and political life. School teachers, who were usually born of peasant stock, and politicians, who came from the peasantry and gradually also from the new working class, could try to learn the official spoken language and the reading language, but they had far fewer opportunities to acquire the private colloquial language of the higher social classes. And it was particularly when using the official spoken variety outside the of­ ficial domain, that they were criticized for their language. The designations "school teacher

1403

Swedish" in Sweden and the previously men­ tioned "parish clerk Danish" in Norway were both used derogatorily for these varieties. When the official spoken language at first be­ came a norm for the spoken language of these groups, this was also due to the fact that this variety was directly based on the written lan­ guage and that the prestige of the written lan­ guage was especially high as long as it was only mastered by a limited elite. Towards the end of the 1 9th century, how­ ever, there seems to have been a split between the two varieties based on the written lan­ guage. This development has not been clari­ fied in detail, but it probably varied from one Nordic country to the other. In Denmark, spelling followed pronunciation more closely as the official spoken language carne to be used as a colloquial language. According to Inge Lise Pedersen, a standard spoken language seems to have developed at the end of the cen­ tury, which from a sociolinguistic view may be described as a result of hypercorrection by the middle classes (Pedersen 1997, 244). Ac­ cording to Gun Widmark, something of the sort also took place in Sweden. After an earlier period with some mutual influence among all three varieties, written forms from the official variety were to an increasing degree adopted in the colloquial language of the higher social classes. The earlier colloquial language variety thereby lost ground, but at the sarne time the internal relations between the varieties were changing, owing to the fact that at the end of the century several oral features were gradual­ ly adopted in the official spoken language (Widmark 1991, 1 96). This last development - beside heralding a more general change in style and social conventions - may presum­ ably also be seen in association with the fact that by this time the written language had be­ come general property, and that it thereby al­ ready might have lost some of its earlier pres­ tige as a norm for the spoken language. The Norwegian norm situation differed from the Danish and Swedish by the essential fact that the dominant written language norm was originally foreign. The colloquial lan­ guage of the higher social classes - the so­ called educated everyday speech - was also based on the Danish written language, but the pronunciation was in accordance with Norwe­ gian phonetic rules, e. g. the use of [pj,[tj,[kj after a long vowel in words like skib, pude, bog, and [,j and [j] instead of < k > and < g > before high, front vowels in words like kobe, give in the written language. This made the

1404 relationship between speech and writing very complicated, and it led to extensive pedagogi­ cal problems in the Norwegian schools at the end of the 19th century, as pupils from all so­ cial classes had to learn not only to read, but even to write on their own. With the increasing demands for reading proficiency and compre­ hension, the first variety (the officially spoken language), which was based directly on the written language, became almost impracti­ cable, and the result was that the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, in a circular from 1 887, decided that educated everyday speech should constitute the nonn for reading aloud in the schools: "The nonn for pronunciation and reading aloud is 'the educated spoken lan­ guage', i. e. the pronunciation that is usual in every part of the country in people's careful, but unaffected everyday speech" (quoted after Jahr 1984, 60). In cases where the pronunci­ ation vacillated, one should choose the forms that were "most" Norwegian. In contrast to the situation in Sweden and Denmark, the educated everyday speech var­ iety was thus established as an official norm for reading pronunciation in Norway. (There is no corresponding official regulation of the pronunciation in Denmark and Sweden, but in Sweden the written language was estab­ lished as a norm for the pronunciation in the 6th reprint of SAOL as well as in B. J : son Bergqvist's Viilliisningsliira, which both ap­ peared in 1889, cf. Tarschys 1955, 95). With the 1 887 circular, the earlier existing norm based directly on the written language - al­ most disappeared, and instead a new long­ range language policy was launched with the aim of establishing a new norm for the Dano­ Norwegian written language on the basis of the educated everyday speech. This norm was even to adopt several central features from the Norwegian dialects, e. g. diphthongs and a­ endings. However, this development belongs to the 20th century. To sum up the developments in the 19th century, we may conclude with the following main points: - The development of general wrItmg and reading ability led to greater familiarity with the written language for all social classes. Combined with great improvements in the educational system, this had as a re­ sult that the influence of writing on speech generally increased. - However, this influence was not the same throughout the whole century, and the re-

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

lations between the three dominant speech varieties changed. In Denmark and Sweden the first, official variety expanded by adopt­ ing forms from the colloquial variety, and in a way these two varieties may be said to have merged. In Norway, however, the first, official variety ahnost completely disap­ peared towards the end of the century, whereas the second variety, based on the private colloquial language of the higher so­ cial classes, was established as a norm for reading pronunciation in the schools, and gradually also for the regulation of the writ­ ten language (i. e. for the Dano-Norwegian variety which is the basis of modern Bok­ mal). As for the spoken language in the schools, we have reason to believe that the official variety, which was based on the writ­ ten language, had a relatively strong posi­ tion in both Sweden and Denmark. The of­ ficial decision in Norway that the instruc­ tion should be in the pupils' own spoken language, may not always have been lived up to in practice, but it meant that the use of dialect - besides being legally protected - also was accepted outside the private sphere.

4.

Literature (a selection)

Aars, J. (1866, 1877), Retskrivningsregler til Skole­ brug (1st ed. 1866, 4th ed. 1877). Kristiania. Alfvegreen, Lars (1984), Vi gingo och vi gick: Frm l pluralis till singularis i verbbojningen (SNSS 72). StockhoM. Andersson, Inger (1986), Liisning och skrivning: En analys av texter for den allmiinna liis- och skrivun­ dervisningen 1842 1982. Umea. Appel, Charlotte (1995), { CjV in words like kiende 'know' > kjende; Stierne /stjerne/ 'star' > Stjerne (cf. Stierne /sti:erne/ 'the paths'; a much quoted minimal pair). The first official orthographic difference be­ tween Denmark and Norway arose in 1862, when the Norwegian Ministry of Education passed a moderate phonetic spelling reform (cf. 4.4., items a3, b1 , b2). In 1 889 and 1892 the Danish Ministry of Education passed regulations which introdu­ ced as official Dan. spelling all the suggestions from the 1869 Stockholm conference with the exception of items a2 and a4 in section 4.4. By the end of the 1 9th century the official school orthography had thus become a gov­ ernmental affair both in Denmark and Nor­ way. 3.2.

Swedish

In 1786 The Swedish Academy was founded, on the model of!'Academie franl'aise. In 1 801 the Academy published an essay on Sw. or­ thography (Ajhandling om svenska staJ­ sattet) by the poet Karl GustaJ oj Leopold (1756-1 829). Due to the authority of the aca­ demy, this orthography dominated written Sw. during most of the 1 9th century. Leopold's leading principle was tradition: if general usage was unanimous, he followed it; normative prescriptions were generally limited to cases of variation. In one instance Leopold did not stick to his generally traditional practice, viz. in the treat­ ment of the numerous Fr. loanwords, which were radically adapted to native Sw. spelling rules; e.g. affiir, byra, direktor, sas, cf. Fr. af­ faire, bureau, directeur, sauce. However, Fr. consonant spellings were preserved in cases where Sw. pronunciation had the phoneme /I/; e. g. charm, jurnal, geni, kurage, nation, mission. Nevertheless, Leopoldian orthogra-

1428

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

phy no doubt contains the most radical re­ spelling of foreign words ever suggested and generally accepted at one time in any Nordic language.

4.

Orthographic discussions in the Scandinavian countries

The arguments about orthography within the established languages were mainly based on one or more ofthese three principles (cf. Vik0f 1994, 143ff.): (1) The phonetic principle. A much quoted slogan formulated by the great Swedish 1 8th century grammarian Johan Ihre (1707 -80) runs like this: Hwad orat horer, bor ock agat se [what the ear hears, the eye should also see]. However, the preferred pronunciation (except in Norway after the middle of the 1 9th cen­ tury) was always the so-called public style, which in several details was heavily de­ pendent upon the traditional spelling. (2) The traditional principle, based on prior or contemporary written usage. (3) The etymological-analogical principle, i. e. older forms and morphophonological al­ ternations. Orthographic reformists naturally preferred (1), and traditionalists (2). Etymological-ana­ logical arguments would also in most cases speak in favour of (2). However, despite their phonetic argumen­ tation, practically all reformists also paid con­ siderable attention to traditional orthogra­ phy. This is obvious e. g. in the case of Rasmus Rask, who seems to have taken it for granted that the spelling of very frequent words should be left unchanged despite their unphonetic shape (e. g. pronouns like jeg T , det 'it', de 'they'; cf. Bredsdorff's examples (1), (3) and (4) in 2.1.).

4.1 .

The Rask-Petersenian spelling reform program for Danish

The most influential advocate of a spelling re­ form in the Dano-Norwegian area in the 19th century was no doubt Rasmus Rask, whose work was supported and continued by Niels Matthias Petersen (1791-1 862), the first pro­ fessor of Nordic languages at Copenhagen University. The outcome of their joint efforts was the so-called Rask-Petersenianspelling re-

form program, whose main elements were in­ corporatedin the suggestions for Dano-Norw. at the Stockhohn conference in 1869 (cf. 4.4.). In Norway the spelling reform program ac­ quired several fervent adherents, among them the author Mauritz Christopher Hansen (1794-1 842), who also published several school books. In the 1 837 edition of his Dano­ Norw. grammar, he introduced what he called an "orthophonic" spelling, i. e. an orthography in accordance with the guidelines of Rask and Petersen. This also included respelling non­ phonetic foreign orthography, which was car­ ried out with great consistency; e. g. Aabersj, Angballasje, Karanguene, Sjurnal; cf. Fr. au­ berge, emballage, quarantaine, journal. 4.2.

The Knudsen spelling reform program for Dano-Norwegian

Because of the different pronunciation, a pho­ netic reform program in Norway could poten­ tially also produce differences in spelling be­ tween Dan. in Denmark and Dano-Norw. However, during the entire 19th century, Dan. in Denmark and Dano-Norw. were regarded as one and the same language, despite some minor differences, particularly in lexicon and syntax. Since the inherited written standard of Nor­ way indisputably had a Dan. origin, the pro­ ponents for orthograpic reform in Norway could use national arguments in their propa­ ganda. Broadly speaking, the Dano-Norw. public style around 1800 was in fact closer to written Dan. than was the corresponding Dan. pronunciation (cf. Vinje 1978, 62 f.). This was especially the case with short vowels, where the Norw. pronunciation had a considerably less confusing relationship between the graphemes ilelre and yl@ and the correspond­ ing vowel phonemes. However, in educated casual style ("den dannede Dagligtale") there were also notable phonological differences between written Dan. and the spoken language, e. g. in the distribution of voiced and unvoiced post­ vocalic stops. The decisive step away from Dan. was taken by the reformist Knud Knudsen (1812-95) who made the Norw. casual style the basis of his reform efforts. Because educated casual Norw. deviated from Dan. in several respects, Knudsen's reform program went far beyond the orthographic and phono­ logical levels. Knudsen did not live to see very much of his reform program implemented in official

159. The Nordic languages in the 19th century I: Phonology and orthography

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Dano-Norw. The greatest success in his own day was probably the rather limited 1 862 pho­ netic reform (cf. 3 . 1 .). However, in the 20th century substantial parts of his reform pro­ gram have been officially adopted, the out­ come of which has been a separate Dano­ Norw. standard - Norw. RiksmaljBokmal clearly distinct from Dan.

The efforts of the society were mostly fruitless until 1906, when one of its members (Fridtjuv Berg) in his position as Minister of Education managed to pass some of the reforms sugges­ ted in the 1880s (hv. Iv. I > v; dt > t).

4.3.

Because of the commonly known mutual in­ telligibility of the Scand. standard languages, the idea carne up in the wake of Scandinavi­ anism (cf. 1.) that it might be possible to fur­ ther facilitate reading the neighbour language by removing "unnecessary" graphic and ortho­ graphic differences between Dano-Norw. and Sw. In order to achieve this, 4 Danes, 4 Nor­ wegians and 9 Swedes convened in Stockholm on July 25-30, 1869. The conference resulted i. a. in several re­ form suggestions, most of which are listed be­ low along with some comments on their prior history and later fate. It should be emphasized that the conference did not recommend the elimination of all graphic and orthographic differences between Dano-Norw. and Sw. Among the graphic discrepancies in the 19th century were the Sw. characters a, a and ii, of which only the first was suggested for Dano­ Norw., although a seldom and ii never have been used in Dan. and Norw. instead of@ and x. Neither did the conference suggest any change in the rules for consonant gemination in final position, where Dan. had (and still has) a rule of consistent degemination; e. g. Dan. katte 'cats' : kat 'cat', but Sw. kattar 'cats', katt 'cat'; the Sw. ck instead of geminate k was also left unchanged: Sw. backe: Dano­ Norw. bakke 'hill'.

Swedish orthographic discussion in the late 19th century

Partly because of the general satisfaction with Leopoldian orthography from 1801 and part­ ly because of the authority of the conservative Swedish Academy, Sw. orthography remained practically unchanged until 1906. However, in the wake of growing interest in the spoken lan­ guage during the last decades of the 19th cen­ tury, a group of Swedish linguists and teachers in 1 885 followed the example of their col­ leagues in several other countries and founded a society for orthographic reform (Riittstav­ ningssiillskapet), whose president was the re­ nowned professor of Nordic languages, Adolf Gotthard Noreen (1854-1 925). Here is a speci­ men of the radical phonetic orthography propagated by the society, along with the con­ temporaneous (Leopoldian) and the modern (post 1 906) orthography: Riittstavningsliira 1886: Detta statssjikk var bestiimt jenom de fyra grundlagarne: rejeringsfarmen, riksdags­ ardningen, suksesjonsardningen samt trykk­ frihetsforardningen. Diirtill maste liiggas de s.k. konstitutsjoniilla stadgarne, varibland riddarhusardningen, iivensom riksakten emellan Sverge ok Norge. Contemporaneous: Detta statsskick var bestiimdt genom defyra grundlagarne: regeringsformen, riksdags­ ordningen, successionsordningen samt tryck­ frihetsforordningen. Diirtill maste liiggas de s.k. konstitutionella stadgarne, hvaribland riddarhusordningen, iifvensom riksakten emellan Sverige och Norge. Modern: Detta statsskick var bestiimt genom de fyra grundlagarna: regeringsformen, riksdags­ ordningen, successionsordningen samt tryck­ frihetsforordningen. Diirtill maste liiggas de s.k. konstitutionella stadgarna, varibland riddarhusordningen, iivensom riksakten emellan Sverige och Norge.

4.4.

The Scandinavian Orthographic Conference in Stockhohn in 1869

(a) Graphic changes (1) Substitution of the Gothic (fraktur) char­ acters with Latin characters Gothic characters had been in use in all Nordic languages up until about 1800, but were largely abondoned in Sw. (and also in Icel.) from the beginning of the 19th cen­ tury. Latin characters gradually took over also in Dan. and Norw. from around the year 1900. (2) Abolition of initial capitals in common nouns in Dano-Norwegian The tradition of writing all nouns with an initial capital letter had been taken over from German, where it is still practiced (the only language using the Latin alpha­ bet to do so). In Dano-Norw. the usage

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xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

seems to have become general in the first half of the 1 8th century. Rasmus Rask argued in favour of it, because of the possibility to distinguish between homo­ nyms (Have 'garden' : have 'have', Sand 'sand' : sand 'true' etc.; Rask 1826, 127). However, N. M. Petersen later abandoned his master's view on this issue, and lower case for nouns thereby became part of the Rask-Petersenian orthography. Initial capitals were mostly given up in Norway during the last decades of the 19th century (legalized in schools from 1 877); in Denmark they remained until the re­ form of 1948. (3) Abolition of q and x in native words

hardly because of the Stockholm confer­ ence, since the 1906 reform also changed hv to v, which was not suggested in 1869, since it increased the orthographic dis­ tance from Dan. (cf. (old and modern) Dan. and Sw. before 1906, hvem, hvad 'who, what' > Mod.Sw. vern, vad).

Dano-NolW. Sw. Qvinde > kvinde qvinna > kviJma 'woman'

This was implemented in Norway in 1 862, Denmark in 1 872, and in Sweden in 1889 (obligatorily in 1900). Dano-NolW. Lax > lab

Sw. lax > laks

'sahnon'

This was implemented in Norway in 1 862, Denmark in 1 889, and never in Sweden. (4) Introduction of a for aa in Dano-Norw. The character Ii had been used in Sw. since the reformation, and was propagated by the Dan. grammarian Jens P. H0YS­ gaard (1698-1773) and used by orthogra­ phic reformists both in Denmark and Nor­ way since the days of Rasmus Rask, who strongly advocated it. Its use was made ob­ ligatory in Norway in 1938 (recommended from 1917), Denmark in 1948. (5) Abolition of J and Jv as symbols for the sound v in Sw. In medieval Scand. the letter J sym­ bolized both voiced and unvoiced labial fricatives, which were complementary allo­ phones: In initial position J was [I], me­ dially and finally it was [v]; e. g. OWNJara, la/a, ha/'travel', 'promise', 'ocean'. In 19th century Sw. these words were written/ara, loJva, haJ; i. e. [v] was writtenJv in medial and J in final position. In Modern Dan. one word, viz. the preposition a/ 'from' retains this spelling, which otherwise was generally abandoned in the 1 8th c. in Dan. The spellings < fv > and < f> for [v] were done away with in Sw. in 1906, but

(b) Phono-graphemic changes (1) Abolition of vowel gemination in Dano­ Norw. Gemination of vowels had been used earlier to indicate vowel length both in Sw. and Dan., but the practice was given up in Sw. at the beginning of the 1 8th century. However, in Dano-Norw. the practice continued in the 19th century, perhaps partly because of the Dan. orthographic principle of consistent non-gemination of final consonants whereby vowel gemina­ tion could serve to distinguish minimal pairs like vis 'certain' and viis 'wise'; cf. Sw. viss : vis, where the shortness of the preceding vowel is shown by the geminated following consonant. However, vowel gemination was not carried out in any systematic or consistent way; it was dependent both upon the qua­ lity of the vowel and the following conso­ nant as well as syllable structure (gemina­ tion only in closed syllables; e. g. Steen 'stone' : Stene 'stones'). The system was therefore criticized for being complicated and inconsistent. This reform was implemented in Nor­ way and Denmark at the same time as (a3). (2) Abolition of so-called silent e in Dano­ Norw. This orthographic habit consists of add­ ing " silent" e after another vowel. Like the gemination it was primarily a way of indi­ cating vowel length, especially after vowels that were not geminated, e. g. a andy (boer, 'lives', syer 'sows' pres.), and naturally after a, where the geminate aa had the function of showing a different quality, a (cf. (a4» . The silent e was partly used to distin­ guish words that otherwise would have been homographs (e.g. vaer 'keen' : var 'was'; saae 'saw' (past) : saa 'so, then' ; /oer 'travelled' : Jar 'for' prep.); in other cases its use was argued on the basis of analogy, e. g. in infinitives ending with a root vowel like boe 'live', d@e 'die', (cf. e.g. l@be 'run') or in corresponding inflected adjectives like den troe tjener 'the true servant'; cf. den onde tjener 'the evil servant'.

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159. The Nordic languages in the 19th century I: Phonology and orthography

The reform was implemented in Norway and Denmark at the sarne time as (a3). (3) Replacement of i with j as the latter com­ ponent of diphthongs in Dano-Norw. This reform entails the change from e. g. hai 'shark', nei 'no', b@ie 'bow' to haj, nej, b@je (cf. Sw. haj, nej, baja). It was argued for mostly on an etymological basis: Since diphthongs in nearly all native words in Dan. (and Sw.) had their historical origin in the sequence V + /g/, the use of a con­ sonantal symbol for the latter element was felt to be natural. This view was only re­ luctantly supported by the Norwegian sec­ retary at the conference (Jakob L0kke), because several words that were used in Dano-Norw. in Norway had their origin in OWN diphthongs; e. g. grei 'nice', hei 'hill' < OWN greior. heior. This recommendation was adopted in Dan. in 1872 but has never been accepted officially in Norway, although it has been practiced by some individual writers (i. a. the reformist Knud Knudsen and the au­ thor Henrik Ibsen, who were both Norw. representatives at the Stockholm confer­ ence). The main reason for this is no doubt the historical argument, old native diph­ thongs being regarded as a vital part of the particular Norw. linguistic heritage. (4) Omission of j after initial k and g before all front vowels in Dano-Norw. In practically all forms of Nordic, pala­ talization of k and g has taken place before front vowels; cf. Icel./Far. kenna [kjm:a]/ [tJm:a] 'teach', gem [gjE:ra]/[je:ra] 'do'; Norw./Sw. kjenna/kiinna [I'm:a] 'know, feel', gjera/gam [jE:ra]/[jre:ra] 'do'. The tra­ ditional Dan. orthography (kjende, gj@re) as well as numerous Dan. dialects testify that palatalization once prevailed also in Dan. In modern standard Dan., however, depalatalization has taken place, so that the corresponding forms in contemporary Dan. have initial k and g with no palatal element. This phonetic development seems to have taken place in the Dan. standard language during the 1 8th and 1 9th centu­ ries. The situation in the 1 9th century was then paradoxically such that the only Nor­ dic language without the palatal pronun­ ciation - viz. Dan. - was at the same time the only Nordic language which marked the palatals in writing before non-high front vowels. The acceptance of this reform in Den­ mark and Norway is rather parallel to the

preceding item: 1 889 in Denmark, never in Norway. However, the reasons for this may be different in the two countries: The omission ofj was a phonetically motivated reform in Dan., while in Norw. the argu­ ments for omission would have to be more or less purely etymological. (5) Replacement of e with ii/re in certain words Both Dano-Norw. and Sw. had a rather inconsistent marking of non-high front un­ rounded vowels. The conference recom­ mended the extended use of the standard symbol for the low vowel, ii/re, instead of the mid-high vowel e used in several cases in both languages; e. g. Dano-NolW. Hjelm > hjElm Jern > jif7"n

Sw. hjelm > hjiilm 'helmet' jern > jiirn 'iron'

This reform was implemented later (1889) in Sw., but not in Dan., where the distribution of e and x has remained more or less un­ changed. In Norway, on the other hand, the use of x has been dramatically reduced in the 20th century in RiksmaljBokrnal as compared with Dan. ( cf. Dan. srette. /regge etc.: Bokmal sette, legge 'set', 'lay'; in LandsmaljNynorsk e has always been more frequent than in Dan. and Sw.: selja, /eggja).

5.

Icelandic

5.1.

The spoken language

The phonetic and phonological changes that characterize Mod.Icei. as compared with OWN had on the whole taken place before the 1 9th century, including the rather small dialectal differences. A standard pronunci­ ation hardly exists even today, and the pho­ nological and morphological restitutions which can be found in contemporary Icel. are mainly a product of 20th century develop­ ments. 5.2.

The orthography

Icel. has a continuous tradition as a written medium from the introduction of the Latin alphabet in the 1 1 th century up to the present day. However, something like a standardized orthography did not exist until 1762, when the scientist and author Eggert Olafsson (1726-68) wrote a treatise on orthography. His orthography was largely historically oriented, distinguishing e. g. between OWN i

1432

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

and y. between ", « OWN I"':!) and (}? ( < OWN 10:/), and between nn andn in unaccent­ ed syllables (e.g. bakk + inn 'the hill' masc.: sol + in 'the sun', fern.). Eggert O lafsson also initiated the systematic use of the acute accent to distinguish OWN long vowels from short ones (e. g. hoi [ho:l] : hal [houl] 'hole' : 'praise'). These distinctions are also characteristics of Mod.!ce!. orthography, with the exception of '" : (}? > Mod.!ce!. "'. Rasmus Rask (ef. 1 .) had a decisive influence also on Ice!. orthography through his studies of Ieel. and his text editions and a primer for children. His general viewpoint (which later proved erroneous) was that Mod.Icel. was phonetically very close to OWN, and that more or less the same orthography could therefore be regarded as phonetic for both stages. He kept the acute accents in accor­ dance with Eggert Olafsson, but he also intro­ duced a grave accent for OWN le:/, 1:, which has not been adopted by many others, the usual practice since then being to use either phonetic je or etymological Ii, the latter of which is the modern alternative. Rask used z as a morphophonemic notation for lsi (from earlier Id, 5, tl + lsi) in words like vonzka « vond + ska, 'evilness'), and he generally omitted the so-called svarabhakti vowel u (sterkr hestr ( OWN) 'strong horse' Mod.!ce!. sterkur hestur). Rask's most salient contributions to Mod.!ce!. orthography are probably the char­ acter 6 (for OWN /0/ and 10/) which had hitherto been little used in Ice!., and the "re­ storation" of 0, which had rarely been used since medieval times. Most elements ofRask's orthography were soon widely accepted, part­ ly because it was being used in the editions of The Icelandic Literary Society (Hio islenska b6kmenntaJe!ag) and also in other publica­ tions by its long-time president, the influen­ tial historian and politician Jon Sigurosson (1 8 1 1 -79). The orthography that deviated the most from Rask's rules was the one used in the literary periodical Fjolnir during the years 1836-43. Its inventor and propagator was the philologist Konrao Gislason (1808-91), who was much more radical in orthographic mat­ ters than Rask. His two main deviations were the consistent elimination of OWN Iyl, in­ cluding respelling of the diphthong leil (e. g. Mod.!ce!. sjma 'show' : sina 'hislherltheir' (ref!. poss.); byl 'snowstorm' (acc.): bi! 'while'; gleyma 'forget' : heima 'at horne' > sina, sina; bi!. bi!; gleima. heima) and graphically marked �

palatalization of k and g before all (OWN) front vowels (kjissa 'kiss', kjrer 'dear', gjera 'do' > Mod.!ce!. kyssa. k"'r. gem); cf. 4.4. (b4). The most influential and widely used ortho­ graphy during the latter half of the 19th cen­ tury was the so-called school orthography "sk6Iastafsetningin", which was initiated by Halldar Kr. Frioriksson (1 819-1902), teacher of Ice!. at the Learned School in Reykjavik for nearly half a century (1848-95). Its main deviations from Rask's rules were on the one hand, more phonetic spellings likeje (not Ii or 1:) and -ur (sterkur hestur), and on the other hand, more etymological ones, distinguishing (like Eggert Olafsson) between ", and (}? and using (mostly) obsolete vowel qualities before ng and nk; cf. Rask langr. laung. leingi Clong' masc., fern., adv.): langur, long, lengi. The School orthography dominated in print­ ed Ice!. texts during the latter half of the 19th century, with the exception that the distinction between re and ff never became general.

6.

Faroese

6.1.

The spoken language

Despite its limited geographical area and the small population Far. is - unlike Ice!. - divided into several distinct dialects. However, the dia­ lectal differences are mostly confined to the phonetic level; phonological differences are rather rare, as are differences in morphology and syntax. The most conspicuous phonologi­ cal difference is the coalescence of the OWN diphthongs ei and ey on the northern islands; e. g. OWN reyna 'try', bein 'bone' > modern written Far. royna ( Iroina/), bein ( mostly Ibainl, northern islands Iboin/). With the absence even of a written standard (cf. 6.2.), there of course was no spoken stand­ ard in the 19th century. �

6.2.

�

The creation of written Faroese

Jens Christian Svabo (1746-1 824) was the first who tried to write Modern Far. His main lin­ guistic contribution is several collections of Far. words, comprising ahnost 8000 different lexical items and a collection of 52 Far. bal­ lads. Svabo's orthography was phonetic, prima­ rily based on his own Vagar dialect. Here is a specimen from a ballad, compared with modern standard Far. orthography (cf. Djupedal 1964, 1 54):

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159. The Nordic languages in the 19th century I: Phonology and orthography

Svabo 1782

Hammershaimb 1891

Kajsarin situr uj Gulsteuli tdilar vi sujnar Drajngjir Kvdir vitun tear mujn Ovurman tea heavi Ee hugsa lajngji.

Keisarin situr i gullstoli talar via sinar dreingir: "Hvar vitia f s (han, in, men, van etc.), as well as the phonetic spelling of loanwords like biljett, butelj, byra, mabel, sas etc. (cf. French billet, bouteille, bureau, meuble, sauce etc.). An intense public debate in newspapers, periodicals, books and pamphlets from the late 1860s onward centred on the principle of phonetic spelling which was a distinguishing trait of Leopold's spelling reform, and which had even been discussed in a smaller number of articles during the 1840s. The first inter­ Scandinavian language meeting in Stockholm in 1 869 had given the phonemic principle a definite boost. The national teachers' associ­ ation (Sveriges allmannafolkskolelarareforen­ ing) which was founded in 1 880 made a more phonetic spelling system one of its primary goals and claimed there was a need for an of­ ficial decision in that direction. The point was also driven horne by a recently established spelling society (Rattstavningsselskapet) in conjunction with the establishment of pho­ netics as a science in a positivist spirit. Thus, the demand for a spelling system which cor-

1531

related with spoken language ("phonetic spell­ ing") is connected with the establishment of general and popular education in Sweden as clearly as elsewhere in the Nordic region. The primary school teachers succeeded, at least partially, in getting a modification to Leopold's norm in the 6th edition of the Acad­ emy's spelling list in 1889 which introduced more phonemic spellings, and this was ac­ knowledged by a royal note as a school norm (it was not kept in the 7th edition in 1900, though). With regard to morphology, throughoutthe 1 800s, a considerable number of amateurish as well as specifically pedagogically oriented textbooks on language use and style were pub­ lished. Up to the mid 19th century, very few advocated formal morphological unification, and remarkably many encouraged variation. The latter (inc!. Almqvist) were actually in agreement with Leopold, who in his 1 801 the­ sis was positively disposed towards accepting variations in spelling the same morpheme, es­ pecially with the needs of fictional prose in mind. There is a noticeable correspondence between unification and conservatism on the one hand and between variation and radical­ ism on the other, since the alternative forms mainly reflected newer, spoken forms. This ap­ plies mostly to the first and middle part of the century. Textbooks from the 1860s, 1870s and 1 880s were predominantly conservative and consequently took little notice of the univer­ sity radicalism of the day. However, the most influential were the spelling lists published by the Swedish Academy from 1 874 onwards, and all the editions during the 1800s include dual forms, usually without any stylistic re­ strictions. Together with Leopold's original 1 801 thesis and a grammatical textbook by Lars Magnus Enberg (1836 etc.), these spelling lists contributed the most to fixing the written morphology of Swedish during the 19th cen­ tury, and all of them allow a considerable amount of formal variation. While both the Danish and Swedish written language standards were being established, we should note that there was relative stability during the first half of the 19th century and a move towards reflecting spoken language more closely in the spelling from the 1860s on­ wards, especially after the Scandinavian lan­ guage meeting in Stockhohn in 1869. The gen­ eral turning towards spoken language norms may also be seen in the syntax of these two written languages during the latter half of the century. In written Danish, a stylistic shift

1532 took place in non-academic prose texts during the 1 870s with the abandoning of some rather rigid Latin- and German-based syntactic pat­ terns in an attempt to approach contemporary everyday language styles. In written Swedish, too, syntactic simplification along with a na­ tionalized lexicon characterized new literary styles in Swedish drama and fictional prose after the middle of the century. Typically, however, the modification of written Swedish to bring it into line with spoken language in orthography, syntax and vocabulary occurred earlier and more radically than for Danish. This also applies to the influence of purism on the Danish and Swedish written languages: for Danish, puristic innovations were left to private and subject-specific initiatives. After 1864 strong resentment against excessive use of German loanwords re-emerged, especially compounds with the prefixes an-, be-, er- and ge-, and many established loans of this kind were expunged. Nonetheless, German re­ mained the first foreign language for most Danish throughout the 19th century and con­ tinued to put its stamp on the Danish lan­ guage, while the number of loanwords from French continued to diminish. In Sweden, a purist attitude to foreign loans, primarily Ro­ mance ones, later and to a lesser degree even Germanisms, was noticeable for several dec­ ades. From the 1870s onwards, however, the new trendsetters in language politics (the uni­ versity professors Esaias Tegner jr., Marten Richert and Adolf Noreen) broke with the pu­ rist tradition of the Academy and its sup­ porters. Purism continued to influence the wider public, though, through long-term ef­ fects on school teaching and popular writing far into the 20th century. Let us now look at the different impact of contemporary ideologies on the main lines of development of written Danish and written Swedish. Romanticism and nationalism pro­ ved to be of lesser importance to the develop­ ment of language norms, practices and atti­ tudes in Sweden than elsewhere in the Nordic region during the 1 800s (Hellberg 1986 and Sellberg 1986, passim). A main actor in the arena of language, especially during the first half of the century, was the Swedish Academy (Svenska Akademien), which had been estab­ lished in 1786 in the spirit of rationalist (utili­ tarian) enlightenment as a parallel to the French Academy. But even later the authority of the Academy made a difference, e.g. in its normative publications on spelling. The most noticeable expression of contemporary Ro-

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

manticism that made an impact on Swedish language (use), not least in the critical writings of P. D. A. Atterbom and the younger Johan Erik Rydqvist, was the purist attitude to foreign loans, primarily Romance ones. The pro-German sentiments of the Romanticists even led some to exchange Romance words with German ones. But the purist attitude in 19th-century Sweden might just as well be understood as a prolongation of the Gus­ tavian stylistic tradition that admitted only few Romance loans into the preferred high style used for literature. Thus, the rationalist 1700s had left a purist heritage that was main­ tained and encouraged by the academies (Ve­ tenskapsakademien, Vitterhetsakademien and Svenska Akademien) as much for utilitarian reasons as for patriotic ones: The increasing amounts of printed matter should be practi­ cally useful and should therefore be written in a simple and directly understandable Swedish. It was the literary practice of new generations of authors that carried the day for a purism motivated above all by utilitarian purposes - of an 18th century patriotic-stylis­ tic cast at first, then more of an instrumental character - and only parenthetically by ideo­ logical Romanticism. And for several of the romantically oriented purists, patriotic and historicist motives were united with the demo­ cratic ideal of writing intelligibly. Such a democratism also mingled with the utilitarian­ ism of late century agents like Tegner and Noreen. Nationalism and Romanticism are closely connected 19th-century phenomena. In Sweden both played an equally marginal role. The nationalism which existed there was less influential than elsewhere in the Nordic re­ gion, and it was of a different character than in the formerly or still dominated language communities (viz. markedly rightist and non­ democratic). More than elsewhere, the moti­ vation for it lacked. For one thing, national­ ism is usually defined by its relationship to someone "other". In Finland, for example, (linguistic) nationalism ("Fennomania") was motivated by opposition to what was per­ ceived as Swedish and Russian. In Norway, it was nourished by opposition to Danish and Swedish characteristics. In Iceland, Norway and (later) Denmark served as contrastive cul­ tures. Since Denmark and Sweden had never been totally subdued by any other rule or cul­ ture, nationalism there had to be motivated by something else. During the 1 800s, though, Danish nationalism found a motivating

171. A sociolinguistic profile of the Nordic languages in the 19th century

"other" in Prussia/Gennanywhich threatened its southern Jutland border. Moreover, Den­ mark had suffered great and uncompensated losses of land (to Sweden) for generations. Furthermore, nationalism served an ideologi­ cal function in stemming potential internal so­ cial conflicts by motivating people to become good, productive members of society during a period when societal order was radically transformed from one of reign by inherited rank to one of rule by popular support. The pedagogical task of harmonizing the individ­ ual's concept of her-/himself and of the world with society's needs in this turbulent situation, so that the individual might recognize and consent to those needs as something congenial to individual success, was placed on the shoul­ ders of the new bourgeois intelligentsia. In Denmark this class was to a noticeable degree not engaged in State or Crown positions or services, although many eventually gained teaching positions as the educational system was developed. Many were thus "free", left to fend for themselves with their pen and tongue. All of this conditioned the nationalist rhetoric that went with the Romanticism of the time in Denmark more than in Sweden. National Romanticism did play a role in Denmark, where the transition from utilitar­ ian rationalism to the dominating mentality of idealistic and individualistic Romanticism around 1 800, followed by the upsurge in com­ mon national and political interests during the 1 830s (which, however, suffered an irretriev­ able set-back in 1 864) were felt at the time as developmental leaps. In the rationalistmental­ ity up to 1800, for instance, one could pass as a good Danish patriot without speaking the native language. Later, with the Romanticism of the early 1800s, Dan. itself became the core of "nationalism" or "popular solidarity"; cf. the Humboldtian thesis of a national genius (German Volksgeist) and a natural language of a people (German Volkssprache), which is evident in particular in N. F. S. Grundtvig's stance and influence. The Grundtvigian folk high schools became important institutions for forming national sentiments and respect and enthusiasm for the individual's mother tongue as well as being recruitment bases for the teacher training institutions and the na­ tional language movements in Denmark and beyond (especially the Faroe Islands and Nor­ way). And, no doubt, lexical purism in Den­ mark was driven by Romantic, pro-Dan. mo­ tives, too, though to some degree even by Scandinavianist considerations. Pedagogical

1533

or other utilitarian considerations were as little a part of Rask's phonemic ("ortho­ phone") spelling proposal during the 1 820s as it was of Leopold's nationalization of Sw. spelling in 1801 (Lundeby 1984, 203). Such considerations came to the fore only with so­ ciety's need for general education and mass literacy during the second half of the 19th cen­ tury, as witnessed by the Danish teacher or­ ganizations' partial victory in the 1 888/89 re­ form ofwritten Danish and by the 1889 reform of written Swedish. In Sweden, which gained compensation for its losses of land in Finland and on the Con­ tinentby the recovery of its southern and other territory (Scania etc.) as well as its union with Norway, almost all academics were engaged in highly-esteemed positions in civil and mili­ tary administration and, as such, were more or less loyal mouthpieces for the State and Crown. So, 19th-century Sweden distin­ guishes itself as the Nordic society with the least need or precondition for a national self­ assertion; instead, in the self-opinion of the Swedish political and intellectual establish­ ment, reason and rationality should rule. With the firm political control of the new well­ educated class as well as of the citizens guided by it, there would be less need to whip up na­ tional sentiments in order to create good, pro­ ductive members of society. So, the seemingly paradoxical situation arose in the two dominant Nordic states and societies during the 1800s, Denmark and Sweden, that linguistic purism and national­ ization were most radically implemented and most widely accepted where the nationalist and Romanticist rhetoric in favour of it was the least noticeable, whereas it was the least implemented and accepted where nationalism and Romanticism were more loudly sup­ ported. For Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, the situation was different. There, nationalism and Romanticism were no doubt important for the linguistic changes that took place dur­ ing the 19th century. The standardization and codification processes fed into nation-building efforts through helping to establish separate national self-identities. During the first half of the century, they remained restricted partly to antiquarian initiatives, partly to program­ matic discussions and academic deliberations. The establishment of the national language standards themselves (Far. and Norw. Lands­ maal) only appeared in the middle of the cen­ tury, parallel to the establishment of school

1534 systems that had full literacy as a main cur­ ricular goal, and these new national standards - along with the Danish variety that was writ­ ten in Norway - would have to face criticism and various kinds of modifications towards the norms and forms of contemporary spoken language until the end of the century and be­ yond. The backwardness of the institutional development and modernization process in Iceland contributed to making that society a special case before the 1900s. Modern Faroese was first written for anti­ quarian purposes (mostly folk songs, folk po­ etry and traditional legends) from the 1770s till the 1 840s in a phonetically based and dia­ lectally varying orthography in the tradition of Jens C. Svabo and his follower Johan H. Schwter. Not until 1 846 did another ortho­ graphic strategy appear, when the theologian Venceslaus U. Harnmershaimb published a series of Faroese texts. In collaboration with acknowledged linguists ofthe time, Hamrners­ hairnb consciously aimed at establishing a general written Faroese nonn which was dia­ lectally based, but marked by heavy archai­ zation. Hamrnershairnb himself justified his etymologizing strategy by claiming it to be nicer to look at, easier for foreigners to read, and helpful to the Faroese in drawing on what is common with the neighbouring Danish and Icelandic languages instead of isolating them­ selves by allowing "distorted" dialectal forms to be expressed in writing. Thus, for instance, the ON form Jotr was chosen instead of the earlier Vagar renderingfeutur and the Sandoy rendering Joudur, and the ON letter < 0 > was reintroduced although /0/ was extinct in contemporary dialects. After having tried his own standard in varying texts during the years 1846-55, Harnmershaimb published a pre­ scriptive grammar using this system in 1 856, Frer@isk Sprogl:ere, establishing the orthogra­ phy and grammar of written Faroese which, with few changes and despite repeated criti­ cism of the difficulties caused by the distance between pronunciation and spelling (especial­ ly by Jakob Jakobsen during the late 1 800s), has been maintained to this day. In our context, it is worth noticing that Hammershaimb's standardization strategy was first published in 1 846 as a result of con­ troversies over Faroese education, resulting in the implementation of the so-called "Danish compulsory schools" from 1 845/6, which im­ posed Dan. as the mother tongue subject as well as the means of instruction for the rest ofthe 1 9th century. Moreover, the appearance

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

ofHammershaimb's prescriptive grammar co­ incides with the abolition of the Danish trade monopoly on these islands (1856), which re­ sulted in deep economic and social change in Faroese society through renewed internal mo­ bility on the islands, the establishment of ocean fishing as a new profession (from the 1 870s), and frequent contact with the outer world. In Iceland during the centuries of Den­ mark's absolute rule (1662-1 874) and trade monopoly (1602-1786), Icelandic had been heavily influenced by Danish, especially in the judicial and administrative domains for which the academic education in Copenhagen pro­ vided only Danish terminology, but also in lit­ erary activities even by German and Latin. Al­ though new administrative and judicial insti­ tutions were situated in Reykjavik in 1800, the use of Danish was maintained in those con­ texts until the 18 50s. During the first decades of the century, moreover, the local Icelanders looked on their native Icelandic with consider­ able self-contempt, and Rasmus Rask found their Icelandic so heavily saturated with Dan­ ish and German loanwords and idioms that he felt sure the Icelandic language had no fu­ ture in Reykjavik. From the 1830s onwards, however, the use of Danish and Danish loan­ words met increasing criticism from the young nationalist language movement, which found its ideological and intellectual support in Ro­ manticism and the works ofRasmus Rask and its linguistic sources in the old saga literature and in contemporary rural Icelandic. Most Icelanders simply did not understand Danish and their native tongue remained quite unin­ fluenced by it. It is noteworthy that the Danes had not imposed their language on the Icelan­ ders through any kind of public schooling (cf. sect. 2). That happened only in the 20th cen­ tury. By the 1850s, the Icelandic language move­ ment had corne far in standardizing the writ­ ten language orthographically, stylistically and lexically, characterized by (a) an archai­ zing style, (b) the marking of vowel quantity with accents, (c) the use ofminuscles in nouns etc., (d) the reintroduction of the letter < 0 > (on the initiative of Rasmus Rask, accepted by 1835) and not least, (e) a rather radical pu­ rism in lexical formation, where new words/ terms were being coined through compound­ ing of or derivation from Old Icelandic lexical roots, not simply by way of loan translations or revival of extinct words (as in the first pu­ ristic attempts by Icelandic students in Copen-

171. A sociolinguistic profile of the Nordic languages in the 19th century

hagen during the late 1700s). (ef. Jonsson 1985 and Kristjansson 1986). Norway was separated politically from Denmark and forced into a new but far weaker alliance with Sweden (until 1905) in 1814. The wish to have a separate national language was aired within the small number of educated elite (cf. sect. 2). At first, however, this consisted of nothing but academic discussions about whether to call the ordinary book language "Norwegian", though it was as Danish as in Denmark. A new round of public discussion began during the 1830s between members of the same elite about the normative basis of an eventual Norw. standard (noteably by Jonas A. Hiehn, Henrik Wergeland and Peter A. Munch, though Ivar Aasen wrote privately about this too) and - parallel to Aasen's dia­ lectological studies - antiquarian interest in folk tradition (through collections of legends, ballads etc.) grew during the 1 840s. All of this fitted well into the predominant national Ro­ manticism ofthe day within upper-class circles without challenging their use of Danish in reading and writing. But they constituted barely more than 2 per cent of the total popu­ lation at the beginning of the century (Van­ nebo 1984, 178). The first real challenge to the Danish written language came with Aasen's grammar and dictionary of Norwegian dia­ lects in 1848 and 1850, followed by his prac­ tical experiments in various literary genres with potential standard forms based on those scholarly works during the 1 850s and, finally, his prescriptive grammar and dictionary in 1 864 and 1873, respectively. Still, only a few enthusiasts had shifted to using Landsmaal during the late 1850s, and by 1860, when the new primary school law which was to make a difference to general literacy took effect, little more than half the population was able to read unknown, secular texts, and only a minority was able to compose free texts in writing (cf. sect. 2). Only then, with the demands and effects of greater literacy, together with societal changes towards industrialization, urbanization, division of labour, and the im­ proved communication and social as well as geographical mobility that went with it, did real changes in and challenges to the use and status of traditional written Danish appear. These changes and challenges certainly had a national, i.e. ideological, motivation (Jahr 1986 passim). For Aasen, however, the nation­ al Romantic notion of (re-)establishing a truly national language for the expression of the Norwegian spirit went together with social

1535

and pedagogical considerations. While estab­ lishing beyond doubt the historical connection between contemporary spoken Norw. and its Old Norse origin, thus bridging the gap between the old and the new Norway, he underlined that he created Landsmaal as a means of facilitating the path to literacy for ordinary people. I shall not go into the recent attempts by younger historians with associ­ ation to the Nynorsk movement to reinterpret Aasen's ideology as less national Romantic and more in line with rationalist enlighten­ ment (e.g. Apelseth 1996). The point here is his unambiguous socio-pedagogical motive. An alternative cultural position viewed Nor­ way as a young nation born with the 1814 con­ stitution. That position would necessarily have to acknowledge the spoken and written language of the upper class (civil servants) that created that constitution, viz. DanishjDano­ Norwegian, as being good enough for a na­ tional language. Knud Knudsen came to be a prominent representative of that position. His proposal was for a national written lan­ guage to be adjusted to the spoken norm of the educated classes; this was basically Nor­ wegian, but with the continued cultural orien­ tation of the upper class towards Denmark after 1 814, their speech had become more and more tinged with Copenhagen features up to the 1 850s. The nationalist aspect of Knudsen's Dano-Norw. strategy, then, required this speech variety to be purified of its Danicisms and to establish this purified educated Norwe­ gian instead of Danish as an accepted norm (e.g. in the theatre). During the 1860s and 1870s, however, I find it plausible to see the national(ist) motives of written language changes, though continuous­ ly expressed in the political rhetoric, surpassed by other considerations created by the new so­ cial order (including the change of power structure through the introduction of parlia­ mentarism in 1884, but primarily the new economic-political realities created by con­ temporary industrialization etc.), viz. the practical pedagogical ones aiming at imple­ menting full general literacy as efficiently as possible. Thus, while disagreeing with the na­ tionalist strategy of the Landsmaal position, its antagonists in Parliament were not able to reject its pedagogical arguments, viz. that it was democratically and didactically moti­ vated to have the written language reflect the spoken language of the majority of the people as closely as possible. So there was no Parlia­ mentary opposition to the use of dialects when

1536

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

in 1878 they were granted unrestricted use at school. (Disagreement remained, however, on what written standard represented the varying dialects best and, not least, on the character ofthe urban speech varieties (Jahr 1984)which grew ever more important as the towns and villages increased from 10 per cent of the population in 1 8 1 5 to 25 per centin 1 875 (Van­ nebo 1984, 179» . By then, the orthography and grammar of written Dan. in Norway had already begun to change in line with Rask's phonemic principle ("orthophony"), sanc­ tioned first by the Ministry of Church and Education in 1862. From 1866 new changes were adopted gradually in J. Aars' textbook Norske Retskrivnings-Regler, which appeared in several revised editions over the rest of the century, e. g. eliminating initial rnajusc1es in nouns and plural forms of verbs. And when a new, secular reader for primary education was published in 1892 with quite a radically Norwegianized orthography and morpho­ logy, the government immediately (in 1893) accepted it. Since the 1 870s, Aasen's Lands­ maal standard had also been challenged to ad­ just more to contemporary spoken dialects, both programmatically (by O. Fj0rtoft) and in practical textbook applications. On the death of Knudsen in 1895 and Aasen in 1 896, initiatives were taken by the government to have both Landsmaal and "Det ahuindelige bogsprog" [the ordinary book language] Dan./Dano-Norw. revised according to con­ temporary spoken language standards. As in Dernuark and Sweden, the primary school teachers were among the most eager to have the written language standards revised on the basis of spoken language (Lundeby 1986, 216). The revisions and alternatives to the tradi­ tional written language standards in Norway as well as in Denmark and Sweden occurred during the second half of the 1 9th century and especially during its last three decades, the Nordic language meeting in Stockhohn in 1869 being important to them all. The reforms were supported by the new insights into the relationship between spoken and written lan­ guage as expounded by contemporary linguis­ tics, and they were strongly advocated and supported by the teaching profession. There can be no doubt that they all aimed at facili­ tating the path to full literacy for the corning generations. The establishment of national written standards for Faroese and Icelandic during the 19th century, on the other hand, rested more heavily on (national Romantic) �

ideology than on practical pedagogical con­ siderations. But ordinary schooling and regu­ lar teaching of writing (and even reading of unknown printed texts) did not generally take place at the end of the 19th century in Iceland. And as for the Faroese schools, while Danish reigned supreme throughout the 1 800s, Ham­ mershaimb's etymologically based written standard suffered intense criticism towards the end of the century for its pedagogical disad­ vantages, leading the well-esteemed philol­ ogistand linguistJ. Jakobsen to propose a new phonemically based orthography for Faroese in 1889 explicitly for pedagogical and demo­ cratic reasons, but also for linguistic ones (Hagstrom 1978, 34).

4.

Concluding remark

No matter which ideological motivations lay behind the actors in the language arena in the various Nordic language communities, or whether the written practices were originally established by use (cf. the advice to follow the spelling of Ove Malling's reader Store og gode Handlinger from the late 1700s in Denmark) or by private initiative (Leopold's and The Swedish Academy's 1 801 standard in Sweden), normative reforms of the written standards occurred only during the latter half of the 19th century, well after the heyday of national Romanticism, and especially after 1870 with the transformation of the respective societies by industrialization, urbanization, economic sectorization and widespread mo­ bility, the same formative forces that made full literacy a primary educational aim. Despite the quite different national contexts, the re­ forms (or, for Faroese, the reform proposals) in all the language communities had the same direction, viz. that of shifting the normative focus from the written language tradition to contemporary spoken language in order to make the written standards better reflect the latter explicitly in order to facilitate full and general literacy. The thesis ofthis article is that the reforms, whether modest or radical, were primarily an answer to the basic social and individual needs for more widespread and advanced skills in reading and writing, not the result of successes or failures of certain ideol­ ogies. Nor were these reforms a chance reflex of a contemporary linguistic vogue, viz. that of phonetics, although the insights of that science helped promote them. For the pressure and arguments for reform came first and fore-

171. A sociolinguistic profile of the Nordic languages in the 19th century

most from the profession that had been ap­ pointed by society to establish the literacy skills in question: the teachers. So, the newest linguistic insights of the time and the practical pedagogical experience of the teachers carried the same message: As close a correspondence as possible between the primary spoken mother tongue of the individual and the sec­ ondary medium of its representation in writ­ ing would greatly help the vast majority to achieve and maintain skills in reading (beyond known texts) and writing, especially the latter. This insight held true for most people throughout the 20th century as well, for which attested and widespread functional illiteracy as well as studies into the nature of written language acquisition (of orthography and morphology) have proven that individual skills in reading and writing never achieved independence from the spoken language norms of the individual except for an elite mi­ nority within each language community (cf. references in Wiggen 1982; 1985; 1992).

5.

Literature (a selection)

Apelseth, Arne (1996), Ein europear sa god som nokon? In: Syn & Segn 102: 1, 33 47. Appel, Charlotte (1995), {

RN ja/jes

'and'

The Russenorsk impact on Norwegian dialects

The only traces today of RN (and/or the Vard0merchants' reduced Russian) in Norwe­ gian are a few originally Russian words that must have entered into the local northern dia-

1541

lects via RN, e.g. kraie (RN krallom, Russ. krast', past tense krai), vb. 'steal'; kireba (RN kireba, Russ. chieb), n.fem., 'bread' (cf. Broch/ Jahr 1981, ch. 6).

8.

Conclusion

The Arctic pidgin RN was in use in northern Norway for about 150 years in connection with the seasonal barter trade between Nor­ wegian fishermen and Russian buyers of fish. Its main period of use was the entire 19th c. Onto a stabilized grammatical and lexical core, a core that was transmitted from gener­ ation to generation, a great variety of lexical items was added when the situation called for it. In order for the parties to understand each other outside the realm of direct bartering, they had to rely on whatever knowledge they had of words from each other's language. RN was thus a restricted, but stable pidgin lan­ guage. It had a core grammar of its own, con­ structed in accordance with pidgin grammars as they are found all over the world, and with certain grammatical features and rules not di­ rectly derivable from or paralleled in Norwe­ gian or Russian. In addition, RN had a core vocabulary oriented around the barter busi­ ness, including words for fish, prices, goods of different kinds and words connected with a limited range of social intercourse.

9.

Literature (a selection)

Bakker, Peter (1987), A Basque nautical pidgin: a missing link in the history of fu. In: Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 2, 1 30. Bakker, Peter (1989), A French-Icelandic nautical pidgin. In: Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 4, 129 132. Broch, Ingvild (1996), Solombala English in Arch­ angel. In: Language contact in the Arctic: Northern pidgins and contact languages (eds. Ernst Hakon Jahr/lngvild Broch), 93 98. Broch, IngvildjJahr, Ernst Hakon (1981), Rus­ senorsk et pidginsprbk i Norge (Troms0 Studies in Linguistics III). Oslo, 2nd revised ed. 1984. Broch, IngvildjJahr, Ernst Hakon (1983), Rus­ senorsk: the Russo-Norwegian pidgin. New find­ ings. In: Proceedings ofthe Xlllth International Con­ gress ofLinguists, August 29 September 4, 1982, To­ kyo (cds. S. Hattori/K. Inoue). Tokyo, 792 796. Reprinted E. H. J ahr/0. Lorentz (eds. 1990), Troms@ Linguistics in the Eighties (Troms0 Studies in Lin­ guistics 11). Oslo, 62 68. Broch, IngvildjJahr, Ernst Hakon (1984), Rus­ senorsk: a new look at the Russo-Norwegian pidgin

1542

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

in Northern Norway. In: Scandinavian language contacts (eds. P. Sture Ureland/Iain Clarkson). Cambridge, 21 65.

Jahr, Ernst Hakon/Broch, Ingvild (eds.) (1996), Language contact in the Arctic: Northern pidgins and contact languages. Berlin-New York.

Broch, Olaf (1927), Russenorsk. In: Archiv for slavische Philologie XLI, 209 262.

Kotsinas, Ulla-Britt (1996), Aspect marking and grammaticalization in Russenorsk compared with ImmigrantSwedish. In: Language contact in the Arc­ tic: Northern pidgins and contact languages (eds. Ernst Hakon JahrjIngvild Broch), 123 154.

Broch, Olaf (1930), Russenorsk tekstmateriale. In: MM, I 1 3 140. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1996), On the pidgin-status of Russenorsk. In: Language contact in the Arctic: Northern pidgins and contact languages (eds. Ernst Hakon Jahr/Ingvild Broch), 107 122. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (2000), The Russenorsk prever­ bal po construction reconsidered: can pragmatics help decide whether po is a TMA particle? Paper read at the 7th International Pragmatics Confer­ ence, 9 17 July 2000, Budapest. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (2003), The emergence of a TMA grammatical device in a stable pidgin: the Rus­ senorsk preverbal po construction. In: Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 18, 121 130.

Laakso, Johanna (2001), Reflections on the verb suffix -om in Russenorsk and some preliminary re­ marks on 'docking' in language contact. In: Unnepi konyv Keresztes Laszlo tiszteletere (eds. S. Maticsak et al.). DebrecenjJyvaskyLi, 315 324. Lunden, Siri Sverdrup (1996), The Vard0 mer­ chants' reduced Russian. In: Language contact in the Arctic: Northern pidgins and contact languages (eds. Ernst Hakon JahrjJngvild Broch), 99 105.

Ernst Hakon Jahr, Kristiansand (Norway)

173.

Stylistic developments in the Nordic languages in the 19th century

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Introduction Poetry Drama Prose Concluding words Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

In this article, epochs of style in Swedish, Dan­ ish and Norwegian literature in the 19th cen­ tury are presented. As was the case earlier, Nordic literature reflects European literature in general but is also characterized by national features. This is particularly the case for Nor­ wegian literature after 1 814, when Norway was liberated from Denmark and a Norwe­ gian literary language began to be created. However, Nordic literature has many features in common as regards both subject matter and style because of lively cultural contacts be­ tween the Nordic countries. For the greatest part of the 1 8th century, classicism prevailed in Europe. It stressed rea­ son, utility and pleasure and demanded adap­ tation to strict rules based on ancient ideals. Romanticism was a reaction to this classicism.

Imagination and emotion were advanced against reason; freedom and creativity against rules; variety and individuality against uni­ formity. The Romantics were absorbed in re­ ligion and philosophy and dreamed about dis­ tant times and countries, above all Nordic an­ tiquity and medieval times. The 18th century was a relatively uniform century stylistically compared with the 19th, when several epochs of style succeeded one an­ other at short intervals. Generally speaking, the development in the Nordic countries was similar: the various movements merged into one another, but not at quite the same time in the different countries. Romanticism in the Nordic countries flourished in the first decades of the century (ca. 1800- 30), with poetry as its main genre. Romanticism gradually ac­ quired more and more traits of realism and changed into so-called poetic realism (ca. 1830- 50), where prose began to compete with poetry. During and after this period, imitative lyrics and comedies dealing with everyday life were written. In realism (ca. 1870- 80), prose dominated completely, describing different as­ pects of society in a down-to-earth manner and without any aesthetic ambitions. Three

173. Stylistic developments in the Nordic languages in the 19th century

different strands of realism are usually distin­ guished: realism proper, naturalism and im­ pressionism. Realism proper developed into naturalism, the characteristics of which were detailed, often negatively revealing descrip­ tions. As a reaction against this technique, im­ pressionism arose with its scenic technique and conscious selection of details. At the end ofthe century, a new wave of romanticism op­ posed the realistic wave and reintroduced beauty and imagination, mainly in lyric fonn. The literature of the 19th century is thus in­ troduced and concluded by a romantic trend. This survey of 19th-century Swedish, Danish and Norwegian literary language as used by important authors in leading genres is first divided into the main genres of poetry, drama and prose, then chronologically, and finally in terms of the different countries (AIbeck 1967; Dahl 1969; Svanberg 1936).

2.

Poetry

Nordic romanticism was a golden age of poetry. The poets abandoned the classicistic genres and wrote lyric poetry, cycles of poems or epics in verse. They mastered many metrical fonns, e. g. hexameter, the sonnet and can­ zone. In longer texts, several different metrical fonns were represented. Rhythm and sound gave the poetry a musical quality. A varied selection of subject matter from many do­ mains, for instance Nordic antiquity, demand­ ed an extensive vocabulary which included concrete words, words for sensory impressions and words for varied emotions. These words were often highly poetic, "beautiful" words, and sometimes occurred together with collo­ quial elements, causing a breach of style ("ro­ mantic irony"). New compounds, which were unusual during classicism, were coined in great numbers, and Romance loanwords were introduced. In addition, a great number of Nordic archaisms, drawn from older texts, were used as well. In Sweden, some poets appeared in this pe­ riod whose diction represented both a com­ mon and an individual mode of expression. The most romantic variety was found in Erik Johan Stagnelius' work. He used colour words in a concrete as well as in ametaphorical sense, among them words for precious stones and metals, so-called ornamental words, e. g. smaragd 'emerald' (for green: smaragdetufvan 'the emerald hillock') and purpur (for red: pur­ purfjari/ 'purple butterfly'). guld 'gold' and sil­ ver occur frequently: kvallens gullmoln 'the

1543

golden clouds of evening', silfvervag 'silver wave'. A flower like the lily, lilja, symbolized innocence: liijans hjerta 'the lily's heart'. Ac­ cording to Stagnelius, the human soul was im­ prisoned in materiality, referred to as oken 'de­ sert', fangelse 'prison' or grus 'gravel'. His choice of words also indicates a view, typical of the period, of the unity between man, na­ ture and the cosmos (Mahnstrom 1961). Many such elements are also found in contemporary poets, e. g. flower symbols in P. D.A. Atter­ bom. Esaias Tegner preserved a great deal of the style of classicism but was also inspired by Old Norse texts, for which the Danish poet Oehlenschlager provided a model with Helge. Tegner's epic Frithiofs saga on an ancient Nor­ dic theme, in different metrical forms and characterized by pithy language, became fa­ mous. The ballad genre inspired Erik Gustaf Geijer as can be seen in poems like Vikingen 'The Viking'. Old Norse words like odalbonde 'yeoman', jarl 'earl' and bi/tog 'outlaw(ed)' were incorporated into the poetry. This inter­ est in ancient times is called gothicism and has a parallel in the later emerging linguistic science, which also took an interest in dialects. Grammatically the lyric language of the time deviated noticeably from the standard lan­ guage, most conspicuously with regard to word order and morphology (Berg 1903). In this way an older stylistic verse tradition was continued, not to be broken until the 1890s. The Danish poet Adam Oehlenschlager wrote cycles of poems and epics in verse using various metrical fonns and highly poetic lan­ guage with numerous words for sensory per­ ceptions. Oehlenschl3.ger favoured colour words and words denoting light. He coined new compounds and unusual collocations, creating an expressive metaphoric language by means of his associative imagination, mostly in the fonn of similes and genitive metaphors. In his language there are Old Norse words and syntactic loans from the ballad (e. g. salten hav 'salty sea' and liden Gunver 'little Gunver'). Oehlenschl3.ger thus in all respects confonned to the description of a romantic. He renewed motifs, fonn and language in Danish poetry, offering inspiration to the whole of Scandina­ vian romanticism. Another poet who offered inspiration was N.F.S. Grundtvig, who is re­ garded as the greatest hymn writer in the Nor­ dic countries. He was a very talented writer of verse with a rich romantic and religious vo­ cabulary. His often antithetical style also com­ prises concretizing metaphors and nominal neologisms.

1544 Lyric poetry in Norway also went through a romantic period with Henrik Wergeland and Johan Welhaven. However, this period began later (ca. 1830) than in the other Nordic coun­ tries as the intellectuals were occupied with political questions, which were often debated in the form of poetry. In Wergeland's poetry, the ideas of the time are to be found in a strongly emotional fonn, but his poems also show love for nature and for woman. He crea­ ted an imaginative rnetaphorical language, of­ ten in the fonn of parables. In his choice of vocabulary there are numerous colour words and words for flowers used in both a concrete and a metaphoric sense, just as in contempor­ ary Swedish poetry. Welhaven was no creator of images, but he described nature in a con­ crete manner and utilized nature symbols in his rhythmically and musically sonorous poet­ ry. Over the years his language (like Ibsen's later on) reflects a successive transition from Danish to Norwegian. Of great importance for the language of Norwegian poetry was the first large collection of Norwegian folk songs, Norske folkeviser 'Norwegian folk songs' (1852-53). After Swedish romanticism proper, two great poets appeared who stimulated a literary renewal and who were both romantics and realists: Carl Jonas Love Ahnqvist and Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the latter from Finland. Almqvist wrote prose almost exclusively while Runeberg was primarily a lyric poet. Almqvist's only collection of poems, Songes 'Dreams', romantic both in content and lan­ guage, are with regard to form and style in­ novative. The poems reflect motifs from dif­ ferent ages in an imaginative way and were to be performed accompanied by pictures and music. Almqvist shunned rhetorical tradition and established metrical forms. In his short poems he created an apparently artless lan­ guage, composed of simple, religious and ro­ mantic words. Symbolical colours and flower words and exotic names occur frequently, as do novel compounds. The sentence structure is simple, with brief main clauses, but the word order deviates considerably from that of spoken language. An important feature is the varied technique of repetition. Some poems have realistic content and language, which heralds future stylistic developments (Wenner­ strom 1937). Runeberg's style shows, depending on the subject matter and the genre, two dominant tendencies: one highly poetic but sober and clear, the other realistic with a choice of words

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

close to everyday life. In his epic Kung Fjalar 'King Fjalar', Runeberg shaped the language to suit metres that he had created himself. His rhetorical technique is characterized by for in­ stance parallelism, apostrophizing and geni­ tive metaphors. His vocabulary contains neo­ logisms, alternating with archaisms, chosen with consideration for alliteration and asson­ ance. Runeberg avoided hackneyed forms of expression and created a new synthesis of dis­ parate elements (Mjoberg 1961). Almqvist and Runeberg expanded literary language by leaving room for realism and sim­ plicity in lyric poetry. Runeberg's realism can be studied in cycles of poems like Fiinrik Stills siigner 'The Tales of Ensign Stal' and Idyll och epigram 'Idyll and Epigram' and in epic hexa­ meter verse. In Idyll och epigram Runeberg was inspired by Serbian popular poetry and its scenic technique where dialogue, triads, parallelism and repetition are dominant features. The choice of words is simple, as is the unrhymed form of the verse with its brief sentences. By alternating between a poetic and a colloquial language, Runeberg has given im­ portant inspiration to future poets. In Norwegian lyric poetry, Aasmund Vinje adopted an independent attitude from the contemporary language norms of written text. In his poetic realism he came close to the spoken language with its elements of dialect, drastic expressions and lexical innovations. He can be regarded as a Norwegian counter­ part to Ahnqvist and Runeberg. The time oftransition between romanticism and realism occurred in Swedish literature roughly between 1830 and 1850. After thatfol­ lowed a period, when the great poets were imitated and nothing new was created. In Swedish literature, Viktor Rydberg is the single exception. Rydberg built on the roman­ tic and rhetorical tradition but in an independ­ ent way. His vocabulary is much wider and more varied than that of the romantics but was limited by the fact that Rydberg was a purist who energetically fought against loan­ words in the Swedish language. Rydberg was a contemplative poet who favoured words for thoughts, longing and mysticism but not for sensory impressions. He was fond of coining words, and many of them have first elements typical of Rydberg, e. g. ande- 'spirit-, spiri­ tual'. The level of style is lofty, even when "un­ poetic" words are incorporated, a novel tech­ nique in imitation of Runeberg. The Danish lyric poet and portrayer of na­ ture Holger Drachmann created an indepen-

173. Stylistic developments in the Nordic languages in the 19th century

dent lyrical language. This implies that he varied different themes, levels of style, metres and rhythms in his poetry with the utmost freedom. During the period of realism, prose became the main genre and lyric poetry was seen as an expression of an older aestheticizing epoch. During this period two Swedish poets wrote lyric poetry into which they introduced new motifs and a new language in freely manipu­ lated verse: August Strindberg and Ola Hans­ son. Strindberg had earlier dissociated himself from lyric poetry but published poems in which he broke conventions by using collo­ quial diction, an "unpoetic" choice of words and new metaphorical elements based on tech­ nology and science. Ola Hansson created a scientific metaphorical language with meta­ phorical elements referring for instance to pro­ cesses in human beings (Hallberg 1 982). Naturalism's prose, social engagement and realistic trend aroused opposition at the end of the 1 880s among poets who wished to bring back imagination and a wealth of colour and harmony into literature. The poets who ac­ complished this aim in Sweden were, above all, Verner von Heidenstam, Gustaf Froding, Erik Axel Karlfeldt and Sehna Lagerlof. Heidenstam wrote poetry and prose, Froding and Karlfeldt nothing but poetry, and Lager­ lof nothing but prose. Side by side with ro­ mantic language they preserved the precision of 0 bservation and language characteristic of realism. Like the early romantics they were fascinated by past ages and foreign countries. In addition to this they had a strong feeling for Swedish history and Swedish scenery. These authors wished to avoid the stereotyped poetic language that had developed, and they played on a broad register of language using dialect words and neologisms as well as words from the Bible and from older literature. They mastered the style of various epochs and of various stylistic levels ranging between every­ day colloquial language, highly poetic lan­ guage and archaic language. Part of the tech­ nique was to use simple words in poetic con­ texts and in this way renew and "poeticize" the language. The poets had complete mastery of various metres, rhythms, sound effects and rhyming techniques, but they also had their distinctive individual characteristics. Heiden­ stam made his debut with a collection of poems which described oriental environments in colourful language. The collection also in­ cluded very short and terse poems. This style reappeared in Heidenstam's late poetry, which

1545

has inspired a younger generation with its compressed, simple language. The greatest versifying virtuosos were Froding and Karl­ feld!. Froding created a synthesis of colloquial and poetic words and simple syntax with na­ tural word order. The language was varied in accordance with the content, which partly concerns nature and the life of the people in Vannland, animated by the insertion of dia­ logue, and partly conveys feelings and atmos­ phere. Froding was a master of pastiche and imitated the styles of various epochs. In his last poems he, like Heidenstam, attained sim­ plicity without rhetorical effects (Svanberg 1934). Karlfeldt hailed from Dalarna, which accounted for his language. His style is artfully worked out with rich rhetorical elaboration. He took his linguistic inspiration from older poetry and scriptural texts but also from the dialect of his native district. His language has, therefore, strong archaic features but is also rich in neologisms. His vocabulary is exten­ sive, for instance in the field of botany. Karl­ feldt was also a master of pastiche. The poets of the 1890s created a new and rich metaphorical language (Hallberg 1982). They developed further Strindberg's tech­ nique of taking metaphorical elements from "unpoetic" domains while at the same time modernizing traditional spheres of imagery. A common feature was that they made more and more use of images as symbols, which gave their poems a pervading symbolic meaning. The development of Norwegian lyric poetry parallels the Swedish, also as far as the timing is concerned. New poets appeared, but also established prose writers like Garborg and Kielland showed an interest in the neo-roman­ tic wave. Imaginative, colourful and subjective elements appear in motifs and in the language, not only in lyric poetry but also in prose (e. g. in diary novels and short stories) and in drama, in which more effort was made to es­ tablish atmosphere and moods. From the standpoint of the history of style, this meant that the repertory was enlarged, chiefly as re­ gards the choice of words and metaphorical language. Important names in lyrical poetry are Nils Collett Vogt and Sigbj0rn Obstfelder. The latter wrote poems in free and musical verse with a simple and symbolic choice of words. Later he even wrote prose poems. His technique has impressionistic characteristics with, for instance, a frequent use of apposition which modulates and varies conceptual words (0ysleb0 1976).

1546

3.

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

Drama

Of the Swedish Romantics, Atterbom and Stagnelius were the only ones who wrote dra­ mas. These were written in verse and primarily meant to be read, not performed, so-called closet dramas. In Atterborn's fairy tale drama Lycksalighetens a 'The Isle of Bliss' we find what is called romantic irony: highly poetic language interspersed with colloquial words and phrases. The drama is written in various metrical forms, chiefly blank verse. Stagnelius wrote several dramas which are, however, considered to be "dramatic poems", using ro­ mantic language and various metres, e. g. Backanterna 'The Bacchantes'. Both Atterborn and Stagnelius were in­ fluenced by Adam Oehlenschlager's dramas, especially by the fairy drama Aladdin, a pre­ cursor of Atterborn's drama. Daily life in the Orient, properties and people are described in Aladdin in a varied language. Aladdin is a closet drama with a lively gallery of charac­ ters, where ordinary citizens speak an every­ day language while imaginary characters ex­ press themselves poetically. In the language of the main character, the choice of concrete words indicates the course of action. Different metres are used, but mainly iambic blank verse. In the poet's dramas on an Old Norse theme, e. g. Hakon Jarl 'Earl Hakon', the lan­ guage is inspired by older texts. In Danish ro­ mantic drama, Johan Ludvig Heiberg's Elver­ hoi, with its elements of musical comedy and lyrical drama, should be mentioned as well. Heiberg also launched the vaudeville genre with great success. It was a comedy genre in which music and contemporary motifs were mixed. The language of the dialogue flows easily and is modelled on the colloquial lan­ guage of the capital. Vaudeville (or variety) became a popular genre in the Nordic coun­ tries and appeared in both translated and orig­ inal fonn. Romantic closet dramas were also written in Sweden by Ahnqvist, e. g. Ramido Marinesco and Signora Luna, which among other things show the poet's predilection for names of an exotic character. During the post­ romantic period, the Swedish stage was dominated by two quite different drama genres. One was comedy, either composed in Swedish or translated French. Comedies and vaudeville are interesting from the standpoint of the history of style, since they represented an endeavour to render contemporary collo­ quial language in different social environ-

ments. The other genre was the historical drama, which was at its height in the 1 860s. According to the rules, enforced by the Royal Theatre, the historical drama had to be dig­ nified, present historical characters with due respect and portray conflicts of ideas, all on an elevated linguistic plane, preferably in verse. Several authors were inspired by the contemporary restoration of Shakespeare and utilized different levels of style in verse and prose. A great number of plays were written and showed traces of CA. Hagberg's trans­ lations of Shakespeare into Swedish, using for instance a few selected archaisms. In some cases, Bj0rnson's dramas modelled on the terse use of language in the Icelandic sagas, served as a model, for instance to the young Strindberg. The three great Scandinavian dramatists during the second part of the 1 9th c. are Au­ gust Strindberg in Sweden and Henrik Ibsen and Bj0rnstjerne Bj0rnson in Norway. In his first dramas, Strindberg followed the pattern of contemporary verse drama but was also in­ fluenced by the dialogue of Bj0rnson. In his youth drama Master Olor Master Olof, writ­ ten in colloquial prose, he broke radically with tradition. In his later dramatic works, Strind­ berg developed a realistic and dramatically effective prose language. In his historical dramas written about the turn of the century, he used contemporary language but inter­ spersed it with discreet archaisms (see later). In his epoch-making Ett dromspel 'A Dream Play' he alternated between linguistically economical colloquial language, surrealistic dialogue and poetry in free verse. In Norwegian drama, comedies were writ­ ten describing contemporary life and portray­ ing contemporary language, just as in the rest of the Nordic countries. Like Strindberg, Ib­ sen and Bj0rnson started offwith a traditional form of language but then utilized colloquial language in the spirit of the period more and more. Ibsen's language reflects a general de­ velopment in the history of Norwegian style: from romanticism to realism and a transition from Danish to Norwegian (Seip 1934). In his youthful dramas (e. g. Catilina), Ibsen used poetic language which deviated from spoken language with regard to the choice of words and word order. There are many Danish fea­ tures but no characteristic Norwegian ones. Ibsen then adopted the idea that literature should reflect Norwegian society through the Norwegian language. He wrote a series of dramas which were based on Norwegian his-

173. Stylistic developments in the Nordic languages in the 19th century

tory and popular poetry, e.g. Gildet pa Sol­ haug 'the Feast at Solhaug'. In Hrerl11Xndene pa Helgeland 'The Vikings of Helgeland', a historical tragedy, Ibsen imitated the language of the folk tale with its brief turns of speech. The verse dramas of the 1860s, Brand and Peer Gynt, represent a light but at the same time pregnant style with typically Norwegian, even dialect elements. Modern Norwegian prose dialogue with its individualized turns of speech is introduced in De ungesforbund 'The League of Youth'. During the 1 870s, Ibsen be­ gan to write dramas which reflect the pro blems of contemporary society. His language took on more realistic, individualized and charac­ teristically Norwegian features at all levels, e. g. in Et dukkehjem 'A Doll's House' and En Jolkefiende 'An Enemy of the People'. Bj0rnson's dramas show a linguistic devel­ opment similar to Ibsen's. In Mellem Slagene 'Between the Battles' he combined the style of the folk tale with natural spoken language, while in Halte-Hulda 'Limping-Hulda' he was inspired by Oehlenschlager. In his later dramas, e. g. EnJaliit 'A Bankruptcy' and Over xvne, f@rste stykke 'Beyond our Power' I, he wrote a realistic dialogue like Ibsen, based on contemporary Norwegian spoken language.

4.

Prose

Romantic prose in Sweden, with the exception of C. J. L. Alrnqvist's works, cannot be said to be of any particular stylistic importance. But in the rare prose works there are tenden­ cies which point forward. Romantic prose re­ ceived inspiration from German romanticism, where Jean Paul showed the way to a new type of metaphorical language (Hallberg 1982). New spheres of metaphor, for instance based on technology and military life, were absorbed into the romantic vocabulary. One of the ef­ fects was a clash between imagination and re­ ality. The writer who followed Paul most faithfully was Clas Livijn in the novel Spader Dame 'The Queen of Spades', in which meta­ phoric language free from cliches is a leading principle of his style (Wieselgren 1971). Compared with Swedish prose of the ro­ mantic period, Danish prose is rich and varied. This is connected with the fact that Danish writers began to have a wider circle of readers and developed their narrative technique in or­ der to reach new readers. Several writers, such as Oehlenschlager, Grundtvig and Poul M01ler, found their motifs and language in Old

1547

Norse and other old texts (Rubow 1 923). For instance Carsten Hauch's novel Thorvald Vidf@rle was based on Old Norse sagas as re­ gards both content and language. On the other hand, Bernhard Severin Ingemann, who wrote historical novels for a wide circle of readers, used Walter Scott as an important model, as far as both narrative technique and language are concerned. To a varying extent the authors used pastiche technique. However, Steen Steensen Blicher refrained from such a tech­ nique. His work represents what is called po­ etical realism, above all in Brudstykker af en Landsbydegns Dagbog 'Fragments of the Diary of a Parish Clerk'. He based this on an authentic diary, using simple language and re­ stricted everyday vocabulary which indicates the historical period. The diarist is a clergy­ man who inserts some Latin and scriptural words as well as French loanwords into his writing. Although the language is not ste­ reotyped, the text gives a strong impression of the year 1700 (Rubow 1923). Among the Danish writers of the Romantic epoch, Hans Christian Andersen has been of the greatest importance to Scandinavian and international literature. He created the literary fairy tale (Dan. eventyr), a genre based on the folk tale but developed in an individual and stylistically more sophisticated direction. In the oral folk tale something is recounted that is or can be conceived of as real, while the eventyr is a purely fictional story with an ex­ citing and often unreal plot and standardized characters, not always human beings. What is characteristic of Andersen's literary fairy tales is that their plots can be grasped by children while at the same time they have a deeper significance that can only be under­ stood by adults. Andersen has adapted con­ cepts, action and language to children; he comments on the events and creates natural transitions between imagination and reality. His style seems simple and obvious but is the result of a development from French classical style (foreign words, expressions and syntax belonging to written language and demanding metaphorical language) to a style based on colloquial language. His mature prose style is close to spoken language, far from the Latin­ influenced contemporary style. He avoided difficult words - loanwords, foreign idioms and metaphors - using instead everyday ex­ pressions. His many repetitions conform to those of spoken language, and his many par­ ables are drawn from his environment. Some favourite words are often repeated, e. g. dej/ig

1548 'nice, pleasant, lovely'. Andersen inserted ex­ clamations, questions, interjections, ono­ matopoetic elements, rhyme and sound ef­ fects, which make the tales lively and dra­ matic. The dialogue often occupies consider­ able space, not only as direct but also as in­ direct speech. Main clauses dominate and the sentence rhythm has been adapted to the con­ tent (Jensen 1929; Skautrup 1953). Andersen's style has been admired and imitated, not only in Scandinavia. It has pro­ vided a model for Danish prose, e. g. for that of H. Bang (see below); it has also inspired non-Danish authors like Strindberg, who e. g. in his Sagor 'Legends' has consciously used Andersen as his model, and Hjalrnar Soder­ berg, who provided a stylistic model for prose in Sweden at the turn of the century. The romantic era in Norway did not pro­ duce any classic prose texts. The first Nor­ wegian novel of importance is Camilla Col­ lett's Amtmandens D@ttre 'The Commodore's Daughters' from the 1850s. It is a pioneering work as a novel with a tendency and a descrip­ tion of the social setting, but the narrative technique and language are traditional, except for the dialogue, in which Collett's language is near to spoken usage. The foremost prose writer in Sweden before Strindberg is Carl Jonas Love Ahnqvist. His major works are dominated by romantic novels, e. g. Amorina and Drottningens juvel­ smycke 'The Queen's Jewel'. Ahnqvist experi­ mented with different genres in the same text: epic, letters, drama and poetry. The shift from one genre to another is matched by a change in diction. Ahnqvist mastered different levels of style: highly poetic, archaic Nordic, and realistic. He imitated different styles, e. g. sen­ timental style, male and female letter-writing style and official jargon. He was a pioneer of the realistic popular tale (e. g. Grimstahamns nybygge 'Grimstahamn's New House'). In narrative passages his language is typical of the ordinary language of the 1 9th century, while the dialogue is individually formed (e. g. displaying differences between men and wo­ men) and represents spoken language at dif­ ferent levels, also dialect. The sentence struc­ ture, especially in the brief realistic novel Det gar an 'It will do', reflects the irregularities of authentic spoken language, e. g. interruptions and slips of the tongue. Ahnqvist's vocabulary reveals great factual knowledge, e. g. when he describes in detail the operation of a mill run by water-power (Skiillnora qvarn 'The Skiill­ nora Mill').

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

The interest in history shown by 19th-cen­ tury poets manifested itself linguistically in different ways: as accomplished pastiche or as selected archaisms typical of various epochs. Pastiche is mainly restricted to Denmark. The technique of using well-placed archaisms can be studied for instance in works of Zacharias Topelius and Viktor Rydberg. In Topelius' Fiiltskiirns beriittelser 'the Tales of a Barber­ Surgeon', the author hints at the imprint of an older period by inserting Latin or French words into the speech of certain characters, while he recounts the sequence of events in the language of his own time and allows com­ mon men and women and often children to use ordinary everyday language. In Singoalla, Rydberg has chosen words that reflect medi­ eval times in a poetically suggestive manner. After the mid-1800s, Swedish prose devel­ oped in a more and more realistic direction. The circle of readers grew as a result of the authors also publishing their texts in the fonn of series of booklets and as serials in period­ icals. Several authors described Swedish so­ ciety from various perspectives. Fredrik Cederborgh's and August Blanche's realistic novels and short stories are regarded as pre­ decessors of Strindberg. Precise descriptions of reality widened the vocabulary, and the ability to create vivid dialogue developed no­ ticeably. A group of female authors introduc­ ed partly new, female aspects into their novels. Their language can be characterized as fluent and realistic ordinary prose. Here two names will be mentioned, Fredrika Bremer and Emilie Flygare-Carlen. Bremer described everyday life (Grannarne 'The Neighbours') and the dialogues in Flygare-Carlen's novels used the dialect of the province of Bohusliin (Rosen pa Tistelon 'Rose of the Thistle-island'; cf. Skram below). A novelty in the history of Swedish style is that the main character in one of her novels speaks dialect (Janzen 1946). The development of Norwegian 19th-cen­ tury prose has been described by Willy Dahl (1969). In the main, the stylistic development was the same in the whole of Scandinavia: from the classical-rhetorical to the realistic or colloquial. The prose writers of the romantic period did not produce any concrete descrip­ tions of nature but only showed what impres­ sions and emotions nature can evoke. On the other hand, descriptions of nature could be found in lyric poetry. The romantics also lacked the ability to write realistic dialogue. In the poetic realism that followed, there is a tendency towards precision both in the de-

173. Stylistic developments in the Nordic languages in the 19th century

scription of the social setting and in the dia­ logues, which become more and more individ­ ualized. In Norway the peasants, their language and social life played a more important part than in the other countries. That is why Asbj0rnsen and Moe's publication of Norske Folkeeventyr 'Norwegian Folk Stories' (1841-44), followed by Norske Huldreeventyr og Folkesagn 'Nor­ wegian Tales of the Sirens of the Woods and Popular Myths' (1845-47), was important to Norwegian literature. The publishers aimed at a popular, terse and matter-of-fact style with paratactic, non-Latin sentence structure and syntax, few adjectives and many genuine Nor­ wegian words. This narrative style was related to the classical saga style with scenic plots, economical descriptions of setting and ample dialogue. Turns of speech were also portrayed in the form of free indirect discourse, a tech­ nique that was to be frequently used by the impressionists and Knut Hamsun. In 1 857 Bj0rnstjerne Bj0rnson's little novel Synn@ve Solbakken was published, a rustic story in a new Norwegian prose style. The sentence structure is paratactic, and logical relations are often expressed in main clauses, lined up one after the other. At the same time, certain subordinate clauses (e. g. relative clauses) are frequent, as in spoken language. Short incom­ plete sentences and elliptic constructions dominate. Bj0rnson's many parables are drawn from the popular environment, and his choice of words contains many characteristic Norwegian words. Bj0rnson's style had a great impact on Norwegian prose which, like Bang's on Danish prose, continued far into the 20th century. The novel is the main genre in Scandinavian literature at the end of the 19th century. In Sweden, Strindberg created the modern breakthrough with Rijda rummel 'The red room' (see art. 50, 6.3.), written in ajournalistic and partly documentary style, followed by other novels of social criticism. Four great Danish prose writers belong to the realistic movement: J. P. Jacobsen; Herman Bang, Henrik Pontoppidan and Johs. V Jensen. Their prose is characterized by a varied choice of subject-matter and the language of different social classes, as well as their use of dialect, which has widened the literary language, especially regarding vocabulary. Their narra­ tive technique and language are individually distinctive, but they show a common tendency towards more colloquial language. They had an extensive circle of readers and have prob-

1549

ably influenced the general development of the Danish language (Skautrup 1968). Like Strindberg, J. P. Jacobsen paid great attention to details and their denominations. He was extremely careful with his language and shaped his 17th-century Fru Marie Grubbe 'Mrs Marie Grubbe' as a pastiche, having studied the language of 1 7th-century texts. The vocabulary of the novel is extensive, the language being scriptural and poetic, with West Jutland dialect and Romance and Ger­ man words. In his later prose, especially in Niels Lyhne, Jacobsen displayed a more im­ pressionistic side. His rich vocabulary reflects form, colour, movement and sensory impres­ sions; it also contains neologisms. His senten­ ces are often long and hypotactic with many attributive modifiers, but his language also contains elements of popular tales. Herman Bang is the chief representative of Danish im­ pressionism. Bang has a scenic technique that makes the reader see and hear the characters, their behaviour and speech, and in which dia­ logue plays a central part. His in-medias-res technique with its strategic choice of details forms a contrast to the careful descriptions of naturalism. The turns of speech are individual­ ized, and direct, indirect and free indirect dis­ course are interlaced. The dialogue renders the spontaneous and associative speech of the characters with interruptions and slips of the tongue. Bang's language is not rich in words and he coins few new ones. Syntactically his language is reminiscent of Andersen's, with its predominance of main clauses and nominal clauses, often loosely linked, and with par­ ables drawn from nature and man. Bang is a writer who takes great care of his language, which is seen for instance in his metalinguistic comments (M0ller Kristensen 1965). Pontoppidan's style has, on the whole, a characteristic profile of written language as re­ gards choice of words, sentence structure and syntax. But there are also impressionistic el­ ements, as in the in-medias-res technique, a wealth of dialogue and nominal sentences. Images and parables are frequent. Pontop­ pidan's style can be described as realistic or­ dinary prose style. Johs. V Jensen has few neologisms. In his sentence structure he fa­ vours colloquial, asyndetic main clauses. Words for sensory impressions of all kinds are frequent, and nouns prevail. His style is mark­ edly personal and shows a striving for exact­ ness and compression. There are a great num­ ber of metaphors and parables which, in the novel Kongens Fold 'The Fall of the King', are

1550 fundamental to the meaning of the text. The verb metaphors create an active style and con­ cretize abstract phenomena (Hallberg 1 982). With his personal style, Jensen abandoned this so-called normal style. He is thought to have contributed to the emergence of the free col­ loquial style that developed in Danish prose at the end of the 19th c. Danish impressionism has nothing corre­ sponding in Swedish prose, even if there are impressionistic features in the works of several writers. In Norway this narrative technique caught on in the 1 880s with Jonas Lie (Fami­ lien pa Gilje 'The Family at Gilje') and Alex­ ander Kielland (Skipper Worse). Arne Gar­ borg and Amalie Skram are regarded as natu­ ralist writers. Garborg wrote in New Norwe­ gian (Bondestudentar 'Peasant Students') with elements of the impressionistic technique, in­ dividualized language (also dialect) in the dia­ logue, a frequent use of free indirect discourse and colloquial syntax (Dale 1950). Using pre­ cise and realistic language, Skrarn described people on the outskirts of society. In the dia­ logue, she rendered dialect with an accuracy which has been substantiated by researchers (in Sjur Gabriel; cf. E. Flygare-Carlen above). Among Swedish prose writers of the 1890s, Verner von Heidenstam and Selma Lagerlof are the great names (Hohn 1 967). With regard to motifs and language, they are nevertheless quite different. In Heidenstam's autobio­ graphical novel Hans Alienus, long hypotactic sentences dominate with subordinate clauses typical of written language and archaic syn­ tactical features. In his historical prose, ar­ chaic words, word order and formal structures play a more important part. Less marked are the archaisms in the short stories collected in Karolinerna 'King Charles's Men', which is set in the 1 8th century and has strategically se­ lected old words, word order and rhythm. Heidenstam exhibits an increased degree ofar­ chaism in texts dealing with medieval matters. The style is simple and clear, and medieval words have been employed with a historically exact sense of culture. Even in accidence and syntax, archaic features are to be found; still, it is not a question of strictly accomplished pastiche (Moberg 1936). Sehna Lagerlof had not learnt Latin. She found her stylistic ideals in oral tales and leg­ ends. An exception is her first novel, Gosta Berlings saga 'The Gosta Berling saga' (1891). The style is vivid and rhetorically effective, with parables and metaphors, animation of nature and landscapes and a narrative tech-

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

nique involving repetition, exclamations and rhetorical questions (Hallberg 1982, 212ff.). The model for Jerusalem, however, is the Ice­ landic saga: objective, scenic, based on action and dialogue. In a reader for the elementary school, Nils Holgerssons underbara resa 'The wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson', she used a colloquial style in which for in­ stance the verb in the dialogue was always in the singular, which speeded up the corre­ sponding development in the general lan­ guage. Subsequently, Lagerlof created a lan­ guage which is close to that of the folk tale with paratactic sentence structure, formulas inspired by the fairy tale, colloquial features, and sometimes a choice of dialect words and syntax. Almost at the same time as Lagerlof, the Norwegian Knut Hamsun made his debut with Suit 'Hunger'. He is above all a prose writer of international status but has also writ­ ten lyric poetry and dramas. His lyrical prose is marked by both matter-of-fact and evoca­ tive romantic language with a rich vocabulary which represents different fields, including geographical (e. g. the Norwegian language of Northern Norway), neologisms and imagery (Pan. Markens Gr@de 'The Growth of the Soi!'). Among the suggestive features of his style, his technique of repetition should be mentioned.

5.

Concluding words

Describing the stylistic development of Swedish, Danish and Norwegian literature in the 19th century from a comparative perspec­ tive is difficult because of the lack of research. This development was partly determined by the general European development and took place almost in parallel in the different coun­ tries, not in clearly delimited phases but grad­ ually. Norwegian literature exhibits its own in­ dividual development, determined by the country's political history, with a gradual dis­ sociation from the Danish language and a transition to a national language of its own, also including its dialect variants. The different literary movements (romanti­ cism, poetic realism, realism, naturalism, im­ pressionism, neoromanticism) can be seen in motifs, narrative technique and language. The development was similar in the three Nordic countries. The classicism of the 1 8th century had limited the expressive potentialities of the language, while the development during the

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174. Conversational culture in 19th century Scandinavia

1 9th century integrated the spoken language more and more including dialects, with lan­ guage representing various periods and sec­ tions of society, e. g. various types of language for special purposes. This has been a driving force leading to an increasingly rich language which has influenced the standard language and created the foundation of the literary lan­ guage in the 20th century. Rhetorical devices have been extensively used during the different epochs of style right up to the present day.

Karnell, Karl-Ake (1962), Strindhergs bildsprbk. Stockholm. Mahnstrom, Sten (1961), Studier over stilen i Stag­ nelius' lyrik. Lund. Mjoberg, Josua (1961), Verskonst och ordkonst. Lund. Moberg, Lennart (1936), Alderdomliga ord och ut­ tryck i Heidenstams Folkungatriidet. Uppsalaj Stockholm. M0ller Kristensen, Sven (1965), Impressionismen i dansk prosa 1870 1900. K0benhavn. 0ysleb0, Olaf (1964), Hamsun gjennom sti!en. Oslo.

6.

Literature (a selection)

Albeck, UUa (1967), Dansk Stilistik. 6th cd. (7th cd. 1973). K0benhavn. Berg, Ruben G:son (1903), Om den poetiskaJriheten i 1800-talets svenska diktning. Goteborg. Berg, Ruben G:son (1910), Svenska studier. Stock­ holm. Dahl, Willy (1969), Sti! og struktur. Oslo. Dale, Johs A. (1960), Studiar i Arne Garborgs sprak og sti!. Oslo. Gullberg, Helge (1939), Beriittarkonst och sti! i Per Hallstroms prosa. Goteborg. Hallberg, Peter (1982), Diktens bildsprbk. Stock­ holm. Hohn, Gosta (1967), Epoker och prosastilar. Lund. Janzen, Assar (1946), Emilie Flygare-CarIen: En studie i 1800-talets romandlalog. Goteborg. Jensen, Anker (1929), Studier over H. C. Andersens Sprog. K0benhavn.

0ysleb0, Olaf (1976), Dikteren heter. Oslo.

Rubow, Paul W. (1923), Saga og Pastiche. K0ben­ havn. Seip, Didrik Amp (1916), Stilen i Bj0rnsons bon­ defortellinger. In: Edda V, 1 21. Seip, Didrik Amp (1934), Henrik Ibsen og spraket. In: Studler i norsk sprakhistorie. Oslo, 228 236. Skautrup, Peter (1953 1968), Det danske sprogs historie 3 4. K0benhavn. Svanberg, Nils (1934), Verner von Heidenstam och GustaJFroding: Tva kapitel om nittitalets sti!. Upp­ sala. Svanberg, Nils (1936), Svensk sti!. Stockholm. Wennerstrom, Ewa (1937), Stilstudier i Almqvists "Songes». Stockholm. Wieselgren, Anne Marie (1971), Carl-Johans-tidens prosa. Lund.

Birger Liijestrand, Umea (Sweden)

174.

Conversational culture in 19th century Scandinavia

1. 2.

4.

Background Contexts of conversational culture in the 19th century National characteristics of Denmark, Norway and Sweden Literature (a selection)

1.

Background

3.

The slow transformation of the Scandinavian societies during the 1 8th and 19th centuries from agrarian, feudal, mainly illiterate com­ munities to semi-industrial, liberal, literate ones, as well as technical innovations of the

og sprakets mulig­

1 9th c., brought new modes of communica­ tion. A number of communicative settings were created: the semi-public "salon"; the bourgeois family; the public meeting; clubs and associations for the purpose of religion, politics, absolutism or education; representa­ tive political institutions; reformed schools and universities etc. These settings demanded new communicative patterns and rules, for practical and ideological reasons. Thus, the 1 9th c. saw the rise of new communicative cul­ tures, partly divided between a bourgeois and a popular culture, partly uniting each of the

1552

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

Scandinavian nations on the ground of a com­ mon communicative culture. This article will concentrate on conversation and roughly out­ line the developments by focusing in turn on six different types of communicative settings. It primarily describes public and semi-public conversation; the conversational patterns in the bourgeois family, the agrarian household or the working class horne will only be hinted at. The recurring questions will be the classical ones of the ethnography of communication: Who spoke? About what? How? The Scandi­ navian countries will not be dealt with separ­ ately throughout the whole article. I shall fo­ cus on Denmark and Sweden, but I will at­ tempt in the end to distinguish some national characteristics. 1.1.

What is conversational culture?

The term conversation will be used here in a more restricted sense than is common in con­ temporary sociolinguistics, but wider than the normal sense of the word konversation in Scandinavian languages. First, conversation requires relatively well-defined settings to take place. Thus, it is possible to characterize the conversational rules of the salon, of the aca­ demic seminar etc. There are no obligations to state these rules explicitly, though parts of the norms are sometimes found in manuals and statutes of diverse kinds - documents which today could be used as sources together with literature, plays, memoirs, letters etc. Second, conversation requires equality and symmetry between participants, at least ap­ parently. There is no given hierarchy in a con­ versation. On the contrary, the Enlightenment idea that every individual, by right of his words, wit and arguments only, deserves at­ tention and merit, lies behind the concept of conversation. Conversation favours the indi­ vidual and rational argumentation, logos. However, both these claims must be modi­ fied. During the 19th c. the conversational style of specific settings spread to norms of talk in general. Thus the condemnation of dia­ lectal or insulting speech to a certain extent is the result of the conversational norms of the bourgeois salon or the revivalist meeting. There are also specific, explicit roles for some ofthe participants in many conversational set­ tings: the hostess of the salon, the professor as seminar leader, the chairman of the club meeting etc. There may be further delimitations of the term conversation. Burke, in his essay on con-

versation in early modern Europe, also men­ tions that conversation is informal and spon­ taneous and non goal-oriented (i.e. an example of kommunikatives Handeln" in the " sense of Habermas; cf. Julius Lange: " . . . a conversation; we use this expression about talk whose only motivation is that two persons happen to be in the proximity of each other without explicitly having looked for each other in order to deliberate upon any special subject" (quoted ODS 1 1 , 73» . But these cri­ teria, doubtful already for the disciplined talk in the bourgeois salon, do not hold true for many settings that are essential to the devel­ opment of Scandinavian conversation style, such as the general discussions in the folk high school or political club meetings. 1.2.

The 1 8th century precursors

A starting point could be set in the 1770s. Be­ fore that, there were embryos and precursors: The Bernstorff salon in Copenhagen starting in the 1750s, dialogues in moral magazines ­ the Swedish Argus (1732), the Danish Den Pa­ triotiske TUskuer (1761-63) - dialogues in comedies by Holberg and other playwrights. But the language of the Bernstorff salon was French or German, and the dialogues of magazines and comedies conformed to the framework of the feudal hierarchy with typical stereotypes of different social classes com­ municating in typical ways. Very few printed manuals appeared, only one in Danish, Een kort Anviisning til Conver­ sere-Klinsten, eUer den saa kaldte Conduite (1749) (Fjord Jensen 1983), and one in Swedish, Compliment-Bok, Eller: At Hofligen och Wiil kunna Tala och LeJwa (1741), both translations from German. The former one is mostly a letter-writing guide, the latter one as the title indicates - a guide to compliments. A compliment was a suitable phrase to be ut­ tered in specific situations: "the supplication to a distinguished nobleman to become town secretary", "thanks to a distinguished gentle­ man for a horse" etc. Phrases were structured according to patterns of ancient rhetoric, for example Insinuatio, Antecedens, Propositio, Laudatio, Recommendatio and Consequens. However, the second part of this manual is titled 'On Conversation, or Communication with Women' (am Conversation, Eller Om­ gange med Fruentimmer), thus indicating that conversation implies female participants. These conversations occur in special settings; the manual enumerates weddings, baptisms,

1553

174. Conversational culture in 19th century Scandinavia

gardenparties (,'Triidgards-Forlustningar" ), operas and promenades ("Spatser-Gilnger"). I t also gives examples of elaborated male and female compliments, though not structured on the pattern of rhetoric. There is a slight anti­ rhetorical tendency, and the author, Hunold, often prefers to give advice in general to word­ for-word replies.

2.

Contexts of conversational culture in the 19th century

2.1.

Clubs, associations and political settings

There were different kinds of political clubs in Stockholm and Copenhagen from the 1760s (Fafner 1982, 421 -41, in his chapter on pol­ itical speech in Denmark during the 19th c. outlines the history). They favoured the idea offree opinion, but it is doubtful whether they were fora of debate and discussion. Alcohol and rituals often played an important part in the activities. Public speaking hardly existed; until 1830 this was the task of clergyrnen, uni­ versity teachers and officials attached to the court. The situation changed in Denmark in the 1830s with political reforms and Grundt­ vig's lectures in 1838. However, the common man was not trained well enough to take an active part in the debates. From the 1 840s, a somewhat broader readiness to speak in pub­ lic is reported, Denmark probably being some decades in advance of the other Scandinavian countries (cf. Lundgren-Nielsen 1993, 13). The 1 840s and 1850s witnessed a rapid devel­ opment of the public mass meeting, often in­ itiated by students - by that time at their peak as political actors - and centred around a char­ ismatic speaker such as Orla Lehmann or Au­ gust Blanche (cf. JohannessonjMeidaljSten­ kvist et al. 1987). Popular participation in these events was often limited to the role of a passive audience or a rioting crowd. How­ ever, this was a political culture of events and speeches, not of debate and conversation. In Sweden as late as the 1870s, it was considered somewhat scandalous of a candidate to the parliament to engage in public debate (Esaias­ son 1 990). In reading societies - associations for the distribution of books and journals and coffee houses in the capitals, some debate occurred; but as contexts for political dis­ cussions they were perhaps more important in provincial towns (Aberg 1987).

2.2.

Theatre

The 1 9th c. is the epoch of theatre in urban culture. It has been estimated that as much as ten percent of the total population of a small provincial town could attend a single perform­ ance (Aberg 1987, 1 16), and amateur theatre flourished. Beside historical drama, comedies and melodramas in different settings, from the aristocracy to the petty bourgeoisie and arti­ sans, had a strong position in the repertoire. Most seem to have been translations from French and German (e.g. Kotzebue, Pixerecourt, Scribe), but there were also plays by Scandinavian writers (Heiberg, Hertz, Blanche), which sometimes mirrored contem­ porary social life. However, it is hard to say whether the often very stereotyped dialogue was modelled on or represented conversa­ tional patterns. I t is pro bably more important that the actors mediated stylistic norms of pro­ nunciation as they toured around the country. Their usage was closer to a spoken standard language than the local audience. And it seems that a moral stylistic differentiation existed in their plays: the good characters spoke more standard than the bad ones. 2.3.

The salon and bourgeois intimacy

The culture of the salon can be traced back to 1 7th c. France, at least. But when it became an important part of the cultural life of the elite in Scandinavia around 1 800, probably in­ spired by the salons of Berlin, it repres �nted an important step towards a conversatIOnal culture characterized by intimacy, spontaneity and individualism (although to a limited ex­ tent through today's eyes). The Enlightenment idea of the rational individual and the emo­ tional culture of romanticism were combined as a reaction to formal ritualism. The setting of the salon is private, the house of an aris­ tocrat or wealthy bourgeois citizen. There seems to be no principal distinction between the bourgeois and aristocratic salon at the end of the 1 8th c. but there were, of course, dif­ ferences in resources and scale. Salons with a dozen participants as well as one hundred are reported; in the latter case the participants sometimes had the choice of several salons by the same host, e.g. between discussions of lit­ erature or politics (Louis de Geer 1 892). The participants claimed to be friends of the host and hostess, and the central person was the hostess who planned the evening and guided the conversation. This female leadership was a clear signal of the anti-rhetorical and inti-

1554 mate character of the assembly; at the same time it gave some women a possibility to have a semi-public life (e. g. Kamma Rahbek, Malla Silfverstolpe, Martine Collett); especially in Norway this seems to have been a great change from having social life monopolized by men. Performances of music, recitations, reading aloud, verbal games such as bouts rimes or charades etc. alternated with free conversa­ tion, the latter being the central genre which could not be excluded. The salon was an im­ portant part of cultural life during the first part of the 19th C . , in the cities as well as in provincial towns (cf. Olsson 1994, 63-69). Then it seems to have been gradually replaced on the one hand by the private family, which became the essence of bourgeois life, and on the other hand by clubs, associations and pub­ lic meetings and performances. Friedrich Schleierrnacher outlined in 1799 a sort of theory of salon conversation in Ver­ such einer Theorie des geselligen Betragens: Die Geselligkeit ais K1.Inst (Klitgaard Povlsen 1998, 31). The ideal conversation was free from any objectives and special interests; it should be the expression of the individual. In principle, there were no preferred topics, but actually art, literature, aesthetics, nature and music were to be highlighted as they were the best expression of personal emotions. Accord­ ing to Schleiermacher, a woman was best suited for leading the conversation, not being occupied by the duties of public life and thus free in her choice of conversational themes. Schleiermacher criticized the widespread manual of Adolph von Knigge, Ueber den Um­ gang mit Menschen (1788), translated from German to Danish as well as Swedish. It is not a true manual, but rather a very careful and systematic microsociology of German so­ ciety at the end of the 18th c. From the per­ spective of a male critizen ofthe higher classes, Knigge scrutinized almost countless asymmet­ ric interactions and how to behave during them: parents, neighbours, farmers, Jews, men of court, artisans etc. His general advice con­ demns all sorts of ostentatious behaviour (flat­ tering, wittiness) and also excludes a lot of conversational topics: religion, anecdotes, personal economy, truisms, physiognomy. Knigge preaches modesty, "laconism", re­ spectability and naturalness, but the result of all his warnings must be a very disciplined, impersonal and cautious man: "If in society you want to tell your friend anything about anyone who is present (though it will always be indecent, like whispering), try at least to

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

be considerate and polite enough not to direct your eyes to the person in question" (trans­ lated from Swedish edition 1 804). Knigge was also heavily criticized, not only by Schleier­ macher, for advising especially the girls to be superficial and hypocritical. There are reasons to believe that the influ­ ence of the elaborated salon conversations on bourgeois conversational culture in Scandina­ via was limited. The absence of explicit rules for how to conduct salon conversations in combination with high demands for wit and emotional expressiveness restricted the possi­ bilities of widespread diffusion. Salon conver­ sations served mainly to separate out a cul­ tural and intellectual elite, on a local or na­ tional level. Most ofthe aristocracy and bour­ geoisie learned conversation through board­ ing schools, governesses, tutors, guides to let­ ter-writing and other manuals with a more Kniggian approach. In a modest and much more intimate form, however, the salon may have been taken on by the bourgeois family in the second part of the century (E. Johan­ nesson 1980; Fafner 1982, 445); the idea of gathering together in the evening was wide­ spread, the father reading aloud, someone playing the piano, the women doing their needlework, and the family commenting on the performances. 2.4.

School and universities

Aristocratic or bourgeois education implied a thorough grounding in conversation. In pub­ lic elementary schools, established in Den­ mark in 1 814, in Norway 1827, in Sweden 1842, conversational training was, on the con­ trary, almost nonexistent. Instruction consis­ ted mainly of reading aloud mechanically; co­ herent texts were often replaced by decontex­ tualized letters and words in tables. Many teachers did not care if the children could understand what they read. Catechism peda­ gogy with questions and answers, learnt by heart orally or from books, dominated until the last decades of the century. Danish school teachers, in the Grundtvig tradition (see 2.5.) seem to have been the first to encourage a more spontaneous form of spoken language in the classroom (cf. Tarschys 1955, 235). Thus, the importance of school reforms to conversational culture is indirect. The vast im­ provement in general reading and writing skills during the century facilitated active par­ ticipation in semi-institutionalized conversa­ tional settings, such as parish meetings and

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174. Conversational culture in 19th century Scandinavia

meetings of popular movements. The educa­ tion of school teachers, although the pedagogy was traditional, formed a lower middle-class group with formal training in public language. Especially in the countryside, the school teacher established a sort of secular alternative to the clergy, as a representative in public mat­ ters and an organizer of popular lectures and meetings. "School teacher Swedish" was a middle-class nickname for the spoken lan­ guage, close to written language, of some school teachers, which offered a pattern oflan­ guage for public use to common people. In the secondary schools and the colleges, linguistic training consisted mainly of formal exercises, even in the mother tongue. As for the universities, the majority of instruction took the form of mono logical lectures. Exams were oral repetitions of prefabricated written questions and answers. However, the flourish­ ing student culture and the important role of students in Scandinavian politics in the middle of the century stimulated student associations as fora of debate and discussions - in Copen­ hagen StudenterJoreningen (1820), in Uppsala and Lund the reformed regional students' clubs (nations). In the 1860s, the seminar was introduced as a form of instruction, modelled after German university culture, favouring free but disciplined discussion (Rellquist 1988). 2.5.

Folk high schools

The folk high schools, in Denmark from the 1 850s, Norway the 1860s and Sweden the 1 870s, is no doubt the form of education which had the strongest influence on popular conver­ sational culture during the second half of the 1 9th c. The vast majority of students were sons of farmers, about twenty years old, and through their high school education often starting a career as local leaders. Courses for young women were introduced from the 1 860s, and by the end of the century some folk high schools in Denmark and Sweden focused on workers. In the folk high school, the stu­ dents experienced an environment where con­ versation and discussion were central. The teaching was mainly based on lecturing and exercises in writing, handwriting and arithme­ tic. Inspired by the Grundtvig idea of the liv­ ing word ("det levende ord"), the school fa­ voured oral instruction - and songs - and dis­ favoured schoolbooks and exams. It was of great importance to the conver­ sational ability of the students that they lived close to their teachers and took part to a great

extent in different social activities, besides the lessons during their stay at the folk high school, which often lasted for 3-6 winter months. The case of the charismatic Danish high school founder Christian Kold even sleeping in the same room as his students and trying to engage them in serious bedside con­ versations until midnight is an exception (Skovmand 1944, 97), but social evenings with songs, games and serious discussions under the leadership of teachers were regularly or­ ganized. In the Swedish folk high school, more oriented towards practical citizenship and ag­ ricultural techniques, and less towards the na­ tional Grundtvigian education of the individ­ ual than its Danish model, students simulated local councils and were regularly engaged in well-structured discussion exercises, based on a thesis set forth by themselves or by teachers, such as "I claim better salaries for teachers in public schools", "I claim that there ought to be a dairy in each parish" . A good manner of speech was considered to be plain, simple and disciplined - with more emotion in the Danish variant. Students were mainly regionally re­ cruited, teachers nationally, which meant that the regional standard spoken language was of­ ten favoured. As local leaders, the former high school stu­ dents often transmitted the conversational culture of the school to their local community. Evenings of singing, recitations and debates were arranged, in Denmark in the municipal­ ity houses starting in the 1 880s, in Sweden of­ ten by the local organizations of the temper­ ance movement. 2.6.

The popular movements

The folk high schools are considered as a part of the popular movements that were of crucial importance to Scandinavian history during the decades around 1900. These movements often recruited their leaders among the stu­ dents of folk high schools, and the conversa­ tional culture followed with them. However, there are specific characteristics of each of the movements (cf. Josephson 1996). The revivalist movement in all Scandina­ vian countries grew strong from the very be­ ginning to the end of the 19th c. Even if true conversation, in the sense of this article, sel­ dom took place in the institutionalized settings of the revivalist movement, it can not be ig­ nored in the history of popular conversational culture in Scandinavia. It was to a large extent

1556 a rural phenomenon, among the peasantry, even if there were connections to the petty bourgeoisie and parts of the bourgeoisie and aristocracy. It has sometimes been character­ ized as part of a modernizing process in the mentality of the agrarian population (cf. Lind­ hardt 1978): freedom of speech was de­ manded, and the question of salvation focused on the responsibility and standpoint ofthe in­ dividual. During the first part of the century the revivalist movements - either led by clergy­ men or laymen - did not establish their own organizations but were associated with the very traditional social entities such as the church or the household (Sanders 1995). In the second half, powerful mass organizations grew, not necessarily separated from the Lu­ theran state church, such as Del norske rnissionsselskab in Norway (1 842), Indre Mission in Denmark (1853) and Evangeliska Fosterlandsstiftelsen in Sweden (1856). In the first period the revivalist movement first and foremost meant a challenge to well­ established authorities and, for some of the participants, training in reading, reflecting and debating upon religious texts and matters. The form of revivalist meetings varied, de­ pending on the sort of the movement. Some ofthem were characterized by ecstatic preach­ ing and uncontrolled emotional expression, often delivered by very young men and women. More frequently, a layman read the Bible or a sermon, followed by some reflec­ tions upon the text and collective prayers. The movement thus often centered on the relation­ ship between a speaker and his listeners, but revivalist meetings are also reported with the participants discussing religious matters to­ gether. The main importance of the first pe­ riod for popular conversational culture seems to be, first, the very idea of the right to speak in (semi)public about fundamental religious concerns, and second, intensified reading habits. As reading aloud was the normal form of reading, the position of a standard spoken language, close to written language, was strengthened. During the second period, the revivalist movement developed multifunctional com­ municative patterns within their mass organ­ izations: editing journals, books and tracts, deciding upon statutes, electing boards and committees, corresponding and reporting etc. The layman preacher became a special profes­ sion, which represented new models of public speech as well as of conversation. Numerous reports from lay preachers give an idea oftypi-

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

cal speech situations, such as this one from 1861: "There have been a lot of soldiers and workers present at the railway construction south of Stockhohn for three years. Among these I have had the opportunity to dissemi­ nate the Word by public speeches, private prayers, conversations and tracts" (Bud­ biiraren, journal of the Swedish evangelistic movement, 1861, 13 9). Some of the tracts can be read as instruction manuals for conversa­ tions; they take the form of dialogues between a preacher and a sceptic or someone seeking salvation. These asymmetric dialogues show no realism regarding interaction and style, but they may give a true picture of the type of arguments used: "Maybe you say 'The grace of God is not for me. I have been too sinful. For me there is no forgiveness.' Listen, sinner! God says: 'Even if your sins were red as blood they will be white as snow.'" etc. (Korn till Jesum, 'Come to Jesus'). This sort of dialogue is very far from the seemingly symmetrical conversation of the salon in the middle of the 19th c. Nevertheless it represents a widespread popular conversational culture with some cen­ tral characteristics in common: discussing seri­ ous matters, focusing on the individual, ex­ pressing emotions. The temperance movement reached Scandi­ navia as a broad, popular movement in the 18 80s, recruiting petty bourgeois, peasants and the working class. In Norway, Sweden and Finland, it preceded the labour move­ ment, while in Denmark it followed the labour movement (cf. Eriksen 1993). From the point of view of conversational culture, there are at least three important characteristics of the temperance movement. First, it bridged religious and secular dis­ course and communication patterns. The lodge meeting was the central activity of the basic organizational entity, the lodge, and this meeting followed a very strict ritual, in which prayers and ceremonies were mixed with re­ ports of financial status and the number of members. Thus, members accustomed only to the religious services as public meetings were not completely unfamiliar with this way of speaking. It was a language that borrowed authority from religion at the same time as it offered opportunities to discuss secular mat­ ters. Gradually, the religious element in the ceremonies became less accentuated. Second, the ritualistic language use enabled every member to participate. Every phrase during a meeting was prescribed in the ritual handbook: "Honourable Secretary of Fi-

1557

174. Conversational culture in 19th century Scandinavia

nance, what is the income this evening?" "Honourable Superior Templar, the income is . . . " "Has the Treasurer received it?" "Hon­ ourable Superior Templar, I have". As the du­ ties shifted every third month, a great propor­ tion of the members were trained in this ele­ mentary form of public speaking, based on reading aloud. Third, the members in a temperance lodge, at least the more active part, formed a very dense network. The very idea of the lodge was to offer a sufficient number of activities to keep people away from drinking. Thus, commit­ tees, excursions, celebrations and social events flourished, gradually growing more important than ritual meetings. But there were hand­ books also for these events, instructing mem­ bers how to organize recitations, verbal games, discussions etc: "The committee picks out an interesting topic; four members are asked to reflect upon the question and give their point of view at the next meeting [. . .J. Everyone must try to express his opinions in as few words as possible and to take extreme care that no one is hurt or offended." In Sweden, around 1900, the study circle devel­ oped, originally characterized by regular meetings of a dozen participants in free con­ versation about literature and philosophy, in fact not very far from the idea of conversation in the bourgeois salon. The temperance move­ ment thus meant an extensive training in dif­ ferent sorts of well structured conversations. Stylistically, it favoured an objective and mod­ erate way of reasoning, with a form of spoken language close to the written standard. The labour movements in Sweden, Norway and Finland, took over much of their com­ municative patterns from the temperance movement and the folk high schools. Two dif­ ferences are to be noted. On the one hand, the conversational culture of the labour move­ ment was still more objective and goal­ oriented, as all religious features were dis­ carded in principle. Instruction manuals al­ ways stressed the importance of short and moderate contributions to the debate. On the other hand, there was often the opportunity for verbal duelling and quick replies in the public meetings, this being an important part of popular, riotous behaviour. The result is the characteristic arguing style of a Scandina­ vian social democrat in the first half of the 20th c.: a mixture of bureaucratic phrases and popular expressions. In Denmark, the social democrats preferred the style of their German colleagues, the Bier-

stube being a preferred place of meeting. This meant that in Denmark, the conversational culture of the labour movement was not quite as disciplined as in the other countries. The legendary Danish-Swedish agitator August Pahn deplored in his autobiography the bor­ ing Swedish socialist meetings, "like a funeral or scientific lesson", and compared them to those of the Danes in the 1 870s, which were "like a howling gale".

3.

National characteristics of Denmark, Norway and Sweden

The similarities in conversational culture be­ tween Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the 1 9th c. are more important than the differen­ ces. In all three countries there was on the one hand a bourgeois, mainly urban culture, de­ veloped in reading clubs, in political contexts, in the "salons" and, not least, in the family. The conversation was released from the hier­ archical rituals of the feudal culture which were replaced by the idea that the individual should have the right and possibility to speak, to express his own opinions and emotions; this freedom to speak, however, was disciplined by deep-seated conversational rules, mediated by manuals and tutors. On the other hand, a popular, mainly rural, public or semi-public conversational culture developed, to begin with in the framework of the revivalist move­ ment. It also stressed the right to speak, to analyse arguments and express emotions, but in relation to a religious praxis and religious matters, while bourgeois conversation was secularized. In both cases, the written and spoken language were intertwined: reading aloud was a central activity in the salon or reading club as well as in the revivalist meet­ ing. During the second part of the century, the two cultures were more or less knitted together by vast adult educational projects such as the folk high schools and the rise to power of the popular movements. In a European perspec­ tive, there are some main characteristics ofthis Scandinavian conversational culture: to a large extent it developed in institutional set­ tings such as the folk high school or the tem­ perance lodge; there is, in the end, not a sharp divide between popular and bourgeois culture; the idea of a plain and disciplined way of speak­ ing is favoured over the idea of eloquence. However, there are also national differen­ ces. It seems that, generally speaking, a dis-

1558 tinction can be made between Danish conver­ sational culture on the one hand and Swedish and Norwegian on the other, the Danish being somewhat less "typical Scandinavian" than the others. In Denmark there was pro bably a stronger divide between the conversational culture of the capital and that of the provinces. The liberal peasant aristocracy that rose to power during the second part of the 1 9th c., which remained strong for nearly one hundred years, cherished the folk high school culture (cf. Pedersen 2003), while the bourgeoisie and the working class of Copenhagen seem to have relied on continental, urban, mainly German, patterns with relation to coffee houses and Bierstuben. The temperance movement in Denmark never reached the same strength as in Norway and Sweden, which means that the well-structured rituals, conversations and ver­ bal games of the lodge meeting never in­ fluenced conversational culture to any con­ siderable extent. Moreover, as a result of the Grundtvig idea of "the living word", conver­ sational patterns and conversational style was not modelled on the written language in the same way as in Norway or Sweden. Thus, the outcome was a more urban, more oral and in a way more continental conversational cul­ ture. In Sweden, the capital and the bourgeoisie was weaker than in Denmark, and the work­ ing-class movement at the end of the 19th c. often reached its strongest positions in small industrial towns. Thus, Swedish conversa­ tional culture depended much on partly petty bourgeois societies and salons in provincial towns, partly popular movements, of which the temperance movement in the decades around 1900 was the most important from the perspective of conversational culture. Norway - and also Finland - in many as­ pects resembles Sweden, although it is a more agrarian country. However, the struggle for national independence and the conflict be­ tween Bokmal and Nynorsk (in modern terms) also influenced conversational style. In formal settings, spoken Dano-Norwegian, the pre­ cursor to Bokmal, was very close to the written Danish language, while the very idea of Nynorsk was to admit the spoken dialects also into the public sphere. Thus, if the concept of conversational cul­ ture is divided into, first, patterns of conver­ sational interaction, and second, speech style, it may be stated, making a rough generali­ zation, that the Danish conversational culture relied most on spoken language in its own

xv. The Nordic languages in the 19th century

right, both in relation to interaction and style, that the Swedish one was modelled on written language in both aspects to a large extent, and that the Norwegian conversational culture fol­ lowed the written language for interaction pat­ terns but not when it carne to speech style.

4.

Literature (a selection)

Aberg, Ake (1987), Viis teras mellan Kellgren och On­ kel Adam (Vasteras kulturnamnds skriftserie 15). Vasteras. Burke, Peter (1993), The art of conversation. Cam­ bridge. De Geer, Louis (1892), Minnen. Stockholm. Eriksen, Sidsel (1993), Stauning, Strege och Stjernen og om hvorfor "skotsamhet" ikke kan oversa:ttes til dansk. Splittelse mellem Arbejderbeva:gelsen og afholdsbevegelsen i Danmark. In: Kulturforskning kring alkohol i Norden (ed. A. Gustavson) (Etnolore 14. Skrifter fran Etnologiska institutionen, Uppsala universitet). Uppsala, 69 90. Esaiasson, Peter (1990), Svenska valkampanjer 1866 1988. Goteborg. Fafner, J0rgen (1982), Tanke og tale: Den retoriske tradition i Vesteuropa. K0benhavn. Fjord Jensen, Johan (1983), Dansk litteraturhistorie. Vol. 4, Patriotismens tid 1746 1807. K0benhavn. Hellquist, Peter (1988), Att tanka fritt och att tanka ratt. In: Ideologi och institution: Om forskning och hOgre utbildning 1880 200 (cds. S.-E. Liedman/L. Olausson). Stockholm. Johannesson, Eric (1980), Den liisande familjen: Familjetidskriften i Sverige 1850 1880 (Nordiska museets Handlingar 96). Stockholm. Johannesson, Kurt/Meidal, Bjorn/Stenkvist, Jan et al. (1987), Heroer pa offentlighetens seen: Politiker och publicister i Sverige 1809 1914. Stockholm. Josephson, Olle (1996), Att ta ordet for hundra ar sedan. In: Arbetarna tar ordet: Sprak och kom­ munikation i tidig arbetarrorelse (ed. O. Josephson). Stockholm, 10 43. Klitgaard Povlsen, Karen (1998), Den littera:re salons historie og genrer. In: Nordisk salonkultur: Et studie i nordiske skemander og salonmilj@er 1780 1850 (Odense University studies of Scandinavian languages and literatures 38) (ed. A. Scott S0ren­ sen). Odense, 17 37. Lindhardt, Poul Georg (1978), VEkkelse og kir­ kelige retninger. 3rd ed. Arhus. Lundgren-Nielsen, Flemming (1992), Grundtvig og danskhed. In: Dansk identitetshistorie. Vol. 3, Fol­ kets Danmark 1848 1940 (cd. Ole Feldba:k). K0benhavn, 9 187. Olsson, Bjorn (1994), Den bildade borgaren: Bild­ ningsstriivan och folkbildning i en norrliindsk sma­ stad. StockhoM.

174. Conversational culture in 19th century Scandinavia Pedersen, Inge Lise (2003), Traditional dialects of Danish and the de-dialectalization 1900 2000. In: International Journal of the Sociology of Language 159. Berlin/New York, 9 28. Sanders, Hanne (1995), Bondewrkkelse og sekularisering: Enprotestantiskfolkelig kultur i Dan­ mark og Sverige 1820 1950 (Studier i stads- och kommunhistoria 12). Stockholm.

1559 Skovmand, Roar (1944), Folkeh@jskolen iDanmark 1841 1982: Studier over en Oplysningsbewrgelse i det 19. Aarhundrede. K0benhavn. Tarschys, Karin (1955), "Svenska spraket och lit­ teraturen. » Studier over modersmaIsundervisningen i hogre skolor. Stockholm.

Olle Josephson. Stockholm (Sweden)

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century 175.

The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century I: Icelandic

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Introduction Phonology Morphology Syntax Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

1.1.

The standard

Modern Icelandic (Mod.!ce!.) is the national language of Iceland, spoken by about 280 thousand people, mostly living in Iceland. It is the most conservative of the Nordic lan­ guages, and it is sometimes said that it has changed little from the time of settlement. Al­ though this is true to a certain extent, the con­ servatism should not be overestimated. The phonological structure in particular has been the object of considerable change. The main reasons for the relative conservatism in mor­ phology and syntax are undoubtedly connect­ ed with the fact that an Old Icelandic (Olce!.) literary standard developed in the Middle Ages, and furthermore the country was isolated for hundreds of years. Little social change took place from the time of settlement to the late 19th century. Another characteristic is the relative lack of dialect differences, which means that the (mostly phonological) changes that have taken place have been carried through in most areas. The combined effect of this is that 20th century Icelandic is rela­ tively homogeneous and free of dialects. This homogeneity has increased even more during the past century, since local dialects show a great tendency to adapt to the standard. Mas­ sive migration from the countryside toward the capital, Reykjavik, has also had an effect. The conservatism is, apart from relative his­ torical stability, also due to deliberate reforms and language policy in the 19th and 20th cen­ turies. During certain periods, written syntax carne under Danish and German influence, and changes show up in the inflectional system in texts from the 14th down to the 19th cen-

tury, which have, however, been superseded by patterns recreated on the model of the Old Icelandic written standard (see e. g. Ottosson 1987). In spite of the conservatism concerning morphology and syntax, the modern standard strives to accommodate innovations in cul­ ture, science and technology. Among the of­ ficial goals in language planning is the "pre­ servation and strengthening" of the language. "Preservation" is understood as maintenance of the link between the "living language and literature" that has existed from the beginning of writing. "Strengthening" is in particular seen as involving the development of the vo­ cabulary, so that it will "always be possible to talk and write in Icelandic about every as­ pect of life" (Gislason et a!. 1988, 53). This official policy is partly realized in organized terminological work, which in the 20th cen­ tury was carried out mostly as voluntary enterprises by specialists in various fields, and glossaries have been published. The Icelandic Language Council (established in 1964) sup­ ports this work, and it has enjoyed general po­ litical support. The neologisms are designed to comply with the inflectional system or spel­ ling conventions, often by compounding or derivation based on pre-existing morphemes (e.g. sj6nvarp, literally 'sight projection' for television). Loanwords are accepted on the condition that they do not create problems in pronunciation, spelling or inflection. Although the written norm follows the of­ ficial policy, colloquial varieties and certain jargons are more ready to accept foreign words, and it is likely that social variation in this respect is on the increase, although sys­ tematic research in this area has not been car­ ried out.

1561

175. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century I: Icelandic

1 .2.

General characteristics of the language

Modern Icelandic is an inflectional language with a basic SVO structure, but with some freedom in word order, which is limited by the principle that the verb has to be in second position (V2). The morphological system is quite complex compared to other Nordic lan­ guages, the number of nominal and verbal paradigms being basically the same as in Olce!. Phonologically the language has ini­ tial word stress but final sentence stress. Among interesting phonological characteris­ tics are diphthongs, which have both long and short variants, and preaspiration, a char­ acteristic which it shares with its closest neighbours (Faroese and some Norwegian dialects). Although dialectal variation is small, stylistic variation in pronunciation is consider­ able.

2.

Phonology

In the following description, a systematic dis­ tinction will be made between two phonologi­ cal levels, Level I (lexical) and Level II (post­ lexical). These two levels show a partial cor­ respondence to morphosyntactic stratifica­ tion. Level I phonology determines the pho­ nological shape of base formatives, inflec­ tional forms and lexical units belonging to Level I morphology (see sect. 3 .5.). Level II phonology determines the phonological shape of post-lexical structures, typically more than one word, involving intonation and rhythmi­ cal patterns of phrases and sentences. The post-lexical system allows for a great deal of stylistic variation, involving slurring, which is sensitive to stress and tempo. This has the effect that the distance between lexical phonological structure and the phonological shape of actual utterances is often consider­ able. 2.1.

Level I phonology

2.1.1.

The vowel phonemes

Mod.!ce!. has the following eight mon­ ophthongal vowels (the phonemic units are designated by the most common symbols used in normal spelling, but the phonetic qualities are indicated by using IPA symbols): /iI [i], /iI [I], lei [e], lal [aJ, lui [YJ, lal [eel, 101, [0] and lui [u]

In addition to these there are eight phonemic falling diphthongs. These can be analysed as a combination of one ofthe monophthongs and a close or semi-vocalic [i] or [u], corresponding to the phonemes Iii and lui. (The front round­ ed diphthong laul [0Y], usually pronounced with some rounding on the second compo­ nent, can be analysed as a combination of the front rounded lal and liD. Front diphthongs ([i]-diphthongs): Unrounded: Rounded: Ixl [ail, leil lei] laul [oy] Back diphthongs [u]-diphthongs):

161 lou] and lal [au].

The eight monophthongs and the five diph­ thongs make up the system of phonemic vowel contrasts in the language. The syllabic struc­ ture (see 2.1.4.) reflects the distribution oflong and short variants of all of these: long nuclei occur in open syllables, and short nuclei in closed syllables. (Word-final syllables are open by "extrarnetricality" (catalexis), by which the final consonant in a word forms an onset to an empty final slot or beat). Long

Short Monophthongs: byr [pi:rJ 'he lives' byro [PireJ 'you live' byr [pI:rJ 'breeze' byroi [plr5IJ 'burden' ber [ps:rJ 'he carries' berou [per5YJ 'you carry' bar [pa:rJ 'carried' baroi [par5IJ 'hit (past)' bor [p::qJ 'drill' boroa [p::.r5aJ 'to eat' bUr [pu:rJ 'cage' bUrs [pursJ 'cage (gen.)' bur [pY:rJ 'son' burtu [pyrtyJ 'away' jor [fce:rJ 'journey' joroun [fcer5ynJ 'make up' Diphthongs :

rn:.ela [mai:laJ 'measure' auour [cey:5yrJ 'wealth' eyoa [ei:5aJ 'waste' alar [au:larJ 'eels' sOl [soulJ 'sun' as [ou:sJ 'estuary' rn:.eti [mai:tIJ 'I meet'

rn:.eldi [mailtIJ 'measured' auona [cey5naJ 'fate' eyoni [ei5mJ 'aids' amir [aulmrJ 'wealth' sblna [soulnaJ 'suns (gen.)' ass [ous:J 'estuary (gen.)' rn:.eddi [mait:IJ 'annoy (past)'

Although ideally there is isomorphism be­ tween the long and short vowels, so that both variants have the same quality, there is a ten­ dency for short diphthongs to become mono­ phthongs and for some long monophthongs to become diphthongs (see 2.3.). Unlike in OIcei. there is no difference be­ tween the vowel system of lexically stressed and unstressed syllables. Neologisms like strret6 [strai:tou] 'bus' and party [pharti] 'party' show that vowels other than the historically licensed Iii [I] lal [a] and lui [y] can occur in lexically unstressed syllables.

1562 2.1.2.

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

The consonantal phonemes

The following consonants occur in Mod.Icel.: Place Manner Stop Unaspirated Aspirated

labial dental/alveolar palatal velar glottal

p p'

t'

c c'

k k'

6 e

,

x

?

Fricative Voiced

v

Voiceless

y

h

Sibilant NMru Voiced Voiceless

m

n

p

"

ft

"

Lateral Voiced Voiceless Trill Voiced Voiceless

All stops in Mod.!ce!. are voiceless, and the distinction between "hard" [Ph, th, ch, kh] and "soft" [p, t, c, k] is maintained by aspiration. The opposition is most clearly realized in word-initial position, where it distinguishes minimal pairs like par [pha:r] 'pair' - bar [pa:r] 'carried', tom [thou:lj1] 'empty' - dam [tou:m] 'judgement', ker [chq] 'bowl' - ger [cq] 'yeast', kat [kho:th] 'small farm' - got [ko:th] 'spawning'. The opposition is also realized word-internally in syllable-initial position in the "hard" dialect (spoken in the north). In this dialect an opposition like ratar [ra:thar] 'finds his way' vs. radar [ra:tar] 'radar' can be made. In the "soft" dialects, this opposition is neutralized, since aspirates are not allowed, and the forms 'finds his way' and 'radar' are homophonous: [ra:tar]. Another northern dia­ lect feature is the so-called voiced pronunci­ ation of forms like vanta 'to need' and hja/pa 'to help': [vantha] and [,aulpha], as opposed to voiceless [vaJtta] and [,aulpa]. In the voiced dialect, the opposition between aspirated and unaspirated stops is thus maintained word in­ ternally in minimal pairs like vanta [vantha] and vanda [vanta] 'problem (acc.)'. In the voiceless dialect, the opposition between vanta and vanda is sustained by voicing vs. voiceless­ ness in the nasal element [vaJtta], [vanta] and similarly in other sonorants: The voiced and the hard dialect have it in common that as­ piration is realized after a word-medial stop, but in the voiceless dialect and the soft dialect postaspiration may not be realized word-in­ ternally.

The glottal stop [?] forms an onset to word­ initial vowels when stressed, as in Hann er ALLTAF [?alta!] svana 'He is ALWAYS like this', and it also occurs in variant pronunci­ ation like [pja?nr] beside [pjartnr] or [pjatnr] for Bjarni (a man's name). The following fricative phonemes may be proposed for Mod.!ce!.: Voiceless: IfI 181 1,1 Ihl lsi

Voiced /vi Iii IyI

It is only in the labiodental series that there is a clear phonemic opposition, and then only in initial position: fara [fa:ra] 'to go' vs. vara [va:ra] 'to warn'. /8/ occurs initially in words like pykkur [8IhkYr] 'thick', par [8a:r] 'there'. Voiced [a] typically occurs word internally, as in maaur [ma:oyr] 'man': it only occurs in­ itially in elitic forms of pronouns and deictic adverbs: var par [varoar] 'was there', kama peir [kho:maoeir] (literally) 'corne they'. No ve­ lar fricatives occur initially (except marginally in the so-called hv-pronunciation of words like hver [xq]). However, palatal fricatives occur, voiceless as in hjakka [,ahka] 'to hack' and voiced as injakka [jahka] 'jacket'. Word-inter­ nal voiced and voiceless fricatives are gener­ ally speaking in complementary distribution according to environment: grofur [krou:vyr] 'rough (masc.)' - graft [krouft] 'rough (neu!.)" bli6ur [pli:oyr] 'soft, mellow' - blii5ka [pli8ka] 'to calm', saga [sa:ya] 'story' - sagt [saxt] 'said'. However, loans like soft [sou:fI] 'sofa' and kapalskur [kha:80ulskYr] 'catholic' show that the absence of voiceless fricatives in voiced environments may be accidental rather than systematic. Although there is a historically determined relation between voiced and voiceless frica­ tives, with rules of distribution partially stat­ able in terms of environment, the phonetic dif­ ference between the two sets of fricatives can be considerable. The voiced fricatives are of­ ten quite weakly articulated, and they have a tendency to disappear, so that a form like dagblai5;i5 'the newspaper', which when clearly pronounced is [tayplaoI8], can become [ta:pla:r]. This is a general characteristic of the voiced fricatives and to some extent Irl, and even in word-initial position, phonemic Ijl and Ivl have a weak articulation which sometimes makes them more like approximants than fricatives. The voiced and voiceless nasals have a re­ lationship not unlike voiced and voiceless fricatives. Quite often there is an alternation, with voiceless nasals occurring in "devoicing"

175. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century I: Icelandic

environments: slamur [stlaimyr] 'bad (masc.)' slremt [stlailj1t] 'bad (neut.)', mrena [mai:na] 'stare' mrent [mai!lt] 'stared (pret.part.)'. But minimal pairs like nyta [ni:ta] 'to use' vs. hnyta [!li:ta] 'to tie' and henda [hEnta] 'to throw' vs. henta [hE!lta] 'be suitable' raise the question of phonemic status for voiceless i!l/. The voiced and voiceless laterals [1] and [!] also al­ ternate morphophonemically, as in heilir [hei:llr] 'whole (masc. pl.)' heilt [heilt] 'whole (neut. sg.)', but minimal pairs are also to be found: heild [heilt] 'a whole' vs. heilt [heilt] 'whole (neut.sg.)', Ii[ [Ii:!] 'life' vs. hli[ [Ii:!] 'protection'. The situation is similar concer­ ning trills, with alternations like skyra [sci:ra] 'to clear' skyrt [scirt] 'clear (neut.)' and mini­ mal pairs like raun [rcey:1J.] 'hardship' vs. hraun [rreY:!l] 'lava'. -

-

-

-

2.1.3.

Consonantal allomorphy on Level ]

Among phonological constraints (deriving from historical changes), affecting allomorphy in inflection and Level I word formation are devoicing of sonorants and voiced fricatives, preaspiration, and prestopping of historically long 11/ and In/. Adding the neuter marker to the adjective stern gul- 'yellow' seig- 'tough' causes devoicing of the final consonant: gult [hIt], seigt [seixt]. Preaspiration occurs in the neuter form of heitur [hei:tyr] 'hot', spelled heitt: [heiht]. Preaspiration also occurs in clus­ ters following short vowels, spelled as "hard" stops (p, t, k) before / 1 1 and nasals: epU [Ehpll] 'apple', opna [ohpna] 'open', vakna [vahkna] 'wake up', rytmi [nhtmI] 'rhythm'. The spell­ ing nn and II stands in many instances for the clusters [tn] and [tl]: seinn [seitn] 'late (masc.)', srell [saitl] 'happy (masc.)'. A similar phono­ logical structure with stops before sonorants is found in forms like rigna [nkna] 'to rain', efta [Epla] 'to strengthen'. The collocational constraint for stops before I and n is relevant in morphophonemic alternations like saga [saya] 'story (nom.sg.)' sagna [sakna] 'story (gen.pl.)', hefill [hEVI!1] '(carpenter's) plane' ­ hefti [hEpll] 'plane (dat.sg.)'. Still another simi­ lar phenomenon is the "insertion" of a stop between Irl and /11, Inl in forms like JerU [fErtll], dat. sg. of Jerill 'process', and stj6rna [stjourtna] 'to direct' (cf. stj6ri 'director'). (An alternative pronunciation of such forms is: [stjoutna] without the Ir/). These constraints do not take effect in Level II phonology, i. e. in compounds and deriva­ tions with Level II suffixes, as shown by -

1563

forms like skaplegur [ska:plEgyr] 'reason­ able', ritma! [n:tmaul] 'written language', srellegur [sail:EyYr] 'looking well', vannreraur [van:airoyr] 'undernourished, himuering [haurnairi1Jk] 'hair conditioner' etc.

2.1.4.

Syllabic structures

The basic division of vowels into long and short is connected with syllabic structures. Short vowels occur in closed syllables and long vowels occur in open syllables (Arnason 1980a; 1 998b). The most important effect of this distinction is that the long (open syllable) vowels are lengthened under stress: bera [pE:ra], whereas short (closed syllable) vowels may not be so lengthened, but under heavy stress the following consonant is lengthened: hestur [hEs:tyr] 'horse'. (This lengthening of consonants following short vowels is some­ times called 'half length'). Syllabification is predictable on the basis of the segmental composition of the postvocalic consonantism. Open syllables are formed by making one postvocalic consonant the onset of the following syllable: be.ra 'to carry'; final consonants are extrarnetrical (cf. Kiparsky 1 984), forming potential onsets for following syllables: be.r 'carries'. When there is more than one consonant between syllables the first consonant closes the syllable, as in hes.tur 'horse', ver.oa 'become', or.osins 'the word (gen.)'. (Postvocalic consonants that do not become part of the preceding syllable show a tendency to disappear, hence orosins is often pronounced: [orsIns]). Clusters of hard stops and s followed by v,j, r are syllabified as onsets to following syllables, making the preceding syllable open in words like ne.pja 'cold weather', tvi.svar 'twice' etc. On Level II (in compounds and syntactic constructions) open syllables are formed before stops and s re­ gardless of the following consonants, as in hau.slaus 'headless', spa.klegur 'wise-looking' . Similarly, cohesion in constructions like Eg sendi b6k tilans [ . . . 'pou:klIlas] '] sent him a book', Eg keypti dos mea skinku [. . . 'tou:smE'scllJh] '] bought a tin with harn', does not close the syllables of b6k and dos. Otherwise, closed syllables may be formed on that level when more than one consonant occurs at the syllable boundary:Jria.laus 'rest­ less', hug.verk 'mental creation'; Eg sendi boo til hans [ . . . poo.lIlas . . .] '] sent him a message', Hann vildi brauo mea osti [. . . Iprceyo.mE10JstI] 'He wanted bread with cheese'.

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XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

2.2.

Stress and intonation

2.2.1.

Word stress

Word stress is basically initial (Arnason 1985) and there is a rhythmically motivated second­ ary stress on alternating syllables. Examples showing the normal word stress pattern are: 'hils 'house', 'taska 'briefcase', 'hojoin,gja 'chieftain (gen.sg.)', 1arust,a 'leadership', 'alma,nak 'almanac', 'akva,rella 'aquarelle', 'bio,grafi,a 'biography'. There is a secondary str�ss on second components of compounds, as III 'foroa#,bur 'storage room', !feroa#,maour 'tourist', and this type of secondary stress overrides the alternating pattern in com­ pounds, as in '!orustu#,sauour 'leading sheep' , 'hojoingja#, vald 'aristocracy', 'framsoknar#, flokkur 'progressive party', where the second­ ary stress is on the 4th instead of the expected 3rd syllable. This is due to stress being lexically assigned to the constituent parts: sauour 'sheep', vald 'power' andflokkur 'party' , which occur as separate words. (The same holds true for Level II suffixes like -legur 'like' etc., see 3.5.).

2.2.2.

Sentence stress and intonation

The normal sentence stress pattern is for the last constituent to be strong: Petta er gamall MADUR 'This is an old man' (cf. Arnason 1985; 1998a). This unmarked pattern can be overridden by contrastive patterns designat­ ing focus on individual words or constituents. Thus the pattern Petta er GAMALL mai5ur with stress on the adjective gamall 'old' marks a focus on the adjective and contrasts the ut­ terance with a statement like: Petta er ungur maour 'This is a young man'. Although the unmarked intonational pat­ tern makes the last word or constituent the strongest, there are certain intonational habits which break this pattern. Various morphosyn­ tactic categories do not take stress in unmar­ ked intonational forms. Personal pronouns are weak constituents relative to the preceding verb, as in Jon BAUDmer 'John invited me' whereas a noun like the personal name Sigg� is stronger, as in Jon bauo SIGG U, 'John in­ vited Sigga'. The pattern Jon baw MER with stress on the pronoun would be contrastive, and the sarne goes for Jon BAUD Siggu with stress on t�� verb. The quantifier allir, as in Jon bauo OLLUM 'John invited everyone', follows the same pattern as nouns. An inter­ esting contrast is to be found between definite

and indefinite NPs. While the normal pattern is for a sentence to have the last word the strongest, for definite noun phrases, as in Hann tok HVITA hestinn 'He took the white horse', the normal stress pattern is with stress on the adjective. (The stress pattern Hann tok hvita HESTINN in contrastive). Stress is realized by lengthening of the stressed syllables relative to the unstressed ones, and by pitch accents (cf. Arnason 1998). The most common pitch accent is a high one, followed by a drop in the pitch (HL). A typical occurrence of this tone involves a high peak on the stressed syllable followed by a rapid downward movement. This downward move­ ment can take place on the stressed vowel if it is long (in an open syllable), but it may also stretch over into the following consonant. It is, however, completed by the time the next vowel is reached. This is a tone commonly used in simple neutral declarative utterances, as the pattern below shows: �

pama er DISA komin [ti:sa] HL L 'There's DISA arrived'

Another pitch accent is a LH tone. This tone occurs among other things in yes/no ques­ tions: Er DISA komin? LH L 'Has DISA arrived?'

This tone also starts off on a low pitch, and a rise follows, which has the effect that the second syllable of Disa has the highest pitch, and this high tone may linger into a following word like kamin; but the pitch has reached a level lower than that of the first syllable by the beginning of the last syllable of the utter­ ance. This final lowering can be attributed to a low boundary tone at the end. (It should be pointed out, however, that yes/no questions may also have the HL pattern, but then with a difference in pragmatic value. There may also be some dialect [or idiolect] variation in this respect). Two boundary tones are associated with the ends of phrases. One is the low tone primarily used at the end of an utterance to mark final­ ity. The effect is clearest in combination with an LH pitch accent like the yes/no-question where the final word is a monosyllable: Er ]Jetta JON? LH L 'Is this JOHN?'

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175. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century I: Icelandic

Another boundary tone is a high one, which occurs in utterances like: Jon er SKEMMtilegur HL H 'John is pleasant (but . . .)'

Here the rise-fan-rise contour can be seen as due to an HL pitch accent on the stressed syl­ lable, followed by a final rise. The contribution of the final rise to the meaning of the utterance seems to be that not all has been said about John, as indicated in the gloss. The combina­ tion of H boundary tone with an LH pitch accent is exemplified in:

stop [t] is deleted in the triconsonantal cluster, and then the nasal assimilates to the velar stop). Another common weakening is the de­ letion of nasals before fricatives, as in einsog 'like', which most commonly is pronounced [eisox] although [einsox] also occurs. Some variant pronunciations of the sentence Pao er neJnilega pao 'That is actually the case' 'That's that' are listed below for illustration: �

Pao er nefnilega pao [SabEr I nEprulc:ya ISa:S] [SabEl nEprulc:ya ISa:] [SaEI nEpnlEa ISa:] ['SanEplEa'Sa:] ['Sanepla'Sa:] ['hampla'ha:]

Eigum vib ab koma til NONnu? LH H 'Should we go and see Nanna?'

The meaning of the utterance is something like a friendly suggestion, rather than a regular yes/no-question.

2.3.

Post-lexical phonology

Different rhythmic conditions create different post-lexical environments. Among the effects of this aremonophthongization of short diph­ thongs, as in [0styr] beside [0ystyr] for austur 'east' and [etn] beside [eitn] for einn 'one', and diphthongization of long low-mid mono­ phthongs such as [fle:yYr8] forJeguro 'beauty', [f0re:yYr] forJogur 'beautiful', and [suova] for sofa 'to sleep'. Two boundary phenomena must be seen as belonging to Level II. On the one hand there is phrase final devoicing of continuants and aspiration of stops, as in har 'hair' [hau:r] vs. hari 'hair (dat.)' [hau:n], blao 'paper' [pla:8] vs. blaoi 'paper (dat.)' [pla:oI], band 'band' [panth] vs. panti 'band (dat.)'. An­ other such phenomenon is glottal onset before heavily stressed initial vowels, as in Hann er ASN! 'He is an IDIOT' [hanEr'?astnr] (cf. 2.1.2. above). A great deal of variation in pronunciation is due to weakening and assimilation of con­ sonants and deletion of weakly stressed vocal­ ic nuclei (see Arnason 1980b; Helgason 1993). Typical of this is the pronunciatIOn [mlokYtayYr] beside [mlovlkYtayYr] for miovikudagur 'Wednesday'. Weakly pro­ nounced consonants are also deleted, as when dagblaoio 'the newspaper' is pronounced [ta:plaI8] beside [tayplaoI8]. Also quite com­ mon are place assimilations, particularly of nasals: innbrer 'inner part oftown' [Impair] be­ side [mpair], handklreoi 'towel' [haDkjaioi] be­ side [hantkjaioI] (in the latter case, the dental

3.

Morphology

3.1.

Word classes and grammatical categories

Icelandic words belong to different classes ac­ cording to their grammatical characteristics. The nominal classes are nouns, adjectives and pronouns. Verbs have finite and non-finite (nominal or adjectival) forms. The nominal word classes are inflected according to the fol­ lowing categories: gender, number and case. In addition to this, nouns and adjectives have two paradigms, a definite one and an indefinite one. Indefinite fonn

Definite fonn

fagur maour 'a pretty man' fogur kona 'a pretty woman' fagurt barn 'a pretty child'

fagri maburinn 'the pretty man' fagra konan 'the pretty woman' fagra barnio 'the pretty child'

3.2.

Personal pronoun hann 'he' hUn 'she' }Jab 'it'

Inflectional morphophonemics

Besides using endings, typically (if syllabic) containing one of the vowels i, a or u and den­ tal phonemes like s, t, r, n beside m, Mod.!ce!. morphology makes ample use of historically motivated sound laws, which have been the subject of scrutiny by generative phonologists (see e. g. Anderson 1972; Rognvaldsson 1981). These morphophonemic regularities are usually referred to by their corresponding his­ torical sound laws and changes: ablaut, i-um­ laut, u-umlaut and breaking. Ablaut is active in the conjugation of strong verbs, being part­ ly the basis for the subcategorisation of strong verbs into classes (see 3.4.2.), whereas umlaut

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XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

and breaking create patterns applicable in more than one type of inflection. U-urnlaut, involving alternation between a and 0, is the most phonologically transparent ofthese alternations (since the u that originally caused the sound change remains in many cases), and it occurs in the most varied mor­ phological contexts. Among these are: Noun inilection: armur 'ann (nom.sg.)' ormum 'ann edat.pl.)' barn 'child (nom.sg.)' born 'child (nom.pl.)' barnum 'child (dat.pL)' Adjectival inilection: svartur 'black (nom.sg.masc.)' svort 'black , (nom.sg.fem.) svortum 'black (dat.sg.masc.)' garnal! 'old (nom.sg.masc.)' gomul 'old (nom. , sg.fem.) Verbal conjugation: kalla 'call (inf)' kalium 'call (1 pLpres.)' Word fonnation: aft 'power' ofiugur 'powerful' brago 'trick' brogoottur 'tricky'

This has led some scholars to the conclusion that u-umlaut should be seen as an active pho­ nological rule (e.g. Anderson 1972; Rogn­ valdsson 1981), although it is clear that in at least some cases this is a morphological phe­ nomenon. In many instances, the trigger vowel has disappeared, as in born, nom.pI. of barn 'child', and in sok 'guilt (nom.sg.)'. Also, [Y] frequently occurs without any "change" of a to 0, as in dagur 'day' or kaktus 'cactus' and furthermore u-umlaut appears before vowels other than u, as in bragaattur. Alternations, originating in the historical i­ umlaut, between such vowels as 0 - e, a - e, a - re, 6 - re, U - i (spelled y), u - i (spelled y) occur in various inflectional and word forma­ tional paradigms: Nominal declension: katU 'kettle (dat.sg.)' b6k 'book (nom.sg.)'

ketill 'kettle (nom.sg.)' bEkur 'book (nom.pl.)'

Verbal conjugation: koma 'come (inf.)' kem 'come (1 sg.)' taka 'take (inf)' tek 'lake (1 sg.)' supa 'sip (inf.)' syp 'sip (1 sg.)' Iflta 'let (inf.)' la:t 'let (1 sg.)'

Word fonnation: fell 'small mountain, hill'

jjall 'mountain'

It is clear that i-umlaut and breaking have lost all phonetic or phonological motivation and must be seen as morphologically conditioned sound alternations.

3.3.

Nominals

3.3.1.

Morphological categories

The use of the four cases (nom., acc., dat., gen.) is mostly governed by syntactic, rather than semantic principles. Nom. is the typical case for subjects, acc. and dat. are used in ver­ bal and prepositional complements. Gen. is used in such complements, but is also the typi­ cal case for possession (see 4.5.). But all of the cases may be used "absolutely", e. g.: the "accusative of time", as in Hann vann allan daginn 'He worked the whole day'; the "instru­ mental", as in Hann var stunginn hnifi (dat.) (beside: Hann var stunginn mea hnifi) 'He was stabbed (with a) knife (da!.)'; the "dative of time", as in Hann er par allum stundum 'He is there all hours (da!.)'. The genitive occurs in examples like Eg tek undir petta heils hugar (gen.) (literally) 'I agree (of) whole mind (gen.)' 'I agree whole-heartedly'. Every noun has to belong to one of the grammatical genders - masculine, feminine or neuter. There is some correspondence between grammatical gender and natural gender, e. g. maaur (masc.) 'man', kona (fern.) 'woman', hani (masc.) 'cock', luena (fern.) 'hen'. But in other cases gender is either arbitrary, as install (masc.) 'chair', rand (fern.) 'edge' and boro (neu!.) 'table', hetja (fern.) 'hero', skald (neu!.) 'poet', or in contradiction to the natural gen­ der of its denotation: kvenskarungur (masc.) 'a stately, great lady', kapall (masc.) 'mare', Sturla (fern.) 'a man's name'. When there is conflict between grammatical and semantic gender, agreement is grammati­ cal, rather than "ad sensum" (except with per­ sonal names like Sturla). �

Word fonnation: katur 'happy' ka:ti 'happiness'

Hann (masc.) er mikil (fern.) hetja (fern.) 'He is a great hero'.

Breaking involves alternation betweenja -ja - eli, as in:

Hun er gott (neut.) skatd (neut.) 'She is a good poet'.

Inilection: fjarour 'firth (nom.sg)' jjarl5ar 'firth (gen.sg.)'

Skatdii'5 (neut.) er hamingjusamt (neut.) ! (?)hamingjusom (fern.) ! (?)hamingjusamur (masc.) 'The poet is happy'.

firo; 'firth (dat.sg)'

175. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century I: Icelandic

Number agreement also follows the form rather than the sense: Hj6lbornrnar (fem.pl.) ern bilabar (fem.pl.) 'The wheelbarrow is broken'. F6lkib (neut.sg.) er hamingjusamt (neut.sg.) 'The people are happy'.

3.3.2.

Declensional classes in nouns

Mod.Icel. retains most declensional classes of Olcel. The classification is based on gender and a distinction between "strong" and "weak" declensional classes, reflecting the Germanic distinctions based on different stern suffixes. The strong declensional classes cor­ respond to Germanic a-sterns, i-sterns, u­ sterns, and consonantal sterns, whereas the weak classes correspond to Germanic n-stems.

Neuter: Strong: barn 'child' sg. nom. barn (-iii) acc. barn (-iii) dat. barn-i (-inu) gen. barn-s (-sins)

pI. born (-in) born (-in) born-um (-unum) barn-a (-anna)

Weak: hjarta 'heart' sg. nom. hjart-a (-all) acc. hjart-a (-all) dat. hjart-a (-all) gen. hjart-a (-ans)

pI. hjort-u (-un) hjort-u (-un) hjort-um (-unum) hjart-na (-nanna)

3.3.3.

Adjectives

Adjectives, like nouns, have two sets of para­ digms: indefinite ("strong") and definite ("weak"). Inflection of g6aur 'good': Indefinite

Definite

Masc.sg. g60ur g60an g60um g60s

g60i g60a g60a g60a

Masc.pl. g60ir g60a g60um g60ra

g60u g60u g60u g60u

Fem.sg. g60 galla g60ri g60rar

g60a g60u g60u g60u

Strong I (a-stems): hestur 'horse' pI. sg. nom. hest-ur (-urinn) hest-ar (-arnir) acc. hest (-inn) hest-a (-ana) hest-i (-inwn) hest-wn (-unum) dat. gen. hest-s (-sins) hest-a (-anna)

Fem.pl. g60ar g60um g60ra

g60u g60u g60u

Neut.sg. gOft gOft gallu galls

g60a g60a g60a g60a

Strong nom. acc. dat. gen.

Neut.pl. gall g60 g60um g60ra

gallu g60u g60u g60u

Sample paradigms: (Definite endings are shown in parentheses) Feminine: Strong: sok 'guilt' sg. nom. sDk (-in) acc. sok (-ina) dat. sok (-inni) gen. sak-ar (-arinnar)

pI. sak-ir (-irnar) sak-ir (-irnar) sok-um (-unum) sak-a (-anna)

Weak: saga 'story' sg. nom. sag-a (-an) acc. sog-u (-una) dat. sog-u (-unni) gen. sog-u (-unnar)

pI. sog-ur (-urnar) sog-ur (-urnar) sog-um (-Wlum) sag-na (-nanna)

Masculine:

II (i-stems): staour 'place' stao-ur (-urinn) stao-ir (-irnir) stao (-inn) stao-i (-ina) stao (-inn) stoo-um (-unwn) stao-ar (-arins) stao-a (-anna)

Weak: hani 'cock' sg. nom. han-i (-inn) acc. han-a (-ann) dat. han-a (-anwn) gen. han-a (-ans)

pI. hann-ar (-arnir) han-a (-ana) hon-um (-Wlum) han-a (-anna)

1567

A set of adjectives ending in -a or -i are in­ declinable: andvaka 'sleepless', sammala 'in agreement', hissa 'surprised', aberandi 'con­ spicuous'. The same is true of some loanwords like smart 'smart'; 'trendy', arrogant 'arro­ gant'.

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XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

There are two basic paradigms for compari­ son of adjectives: (a) bjartur 'bright' bjartari bjartastur (b) grannur 'slim' grennri grennstur

In the b-paradigrn, i-umlaut is regular in the comparative and superlative forms (ef. also har 'high' - luerri), although some words show no alternation (frar 'fast' -frarri, v;;enn 'kind' [with i-umlaut in the primitive form] - vrenni). A number of adjectives have mixed para­ digms, taking e. g. the superlative form from (a) and the comparative from (b): Jallegur 'pretty' Jallegri - Jallegastur. Some very common adjectives have supple­ tive paradigms: goour 'good' betri bestur illur/vondur 'bad' verri verstur litill 'small' minni minnstur margir 'many' jfeiri fiestir

Uninflectible adjectives fonn comparatives and superlatives periphrastically with the ad­ verbial forms meira 'more' and mest 'most': meira/mest hissa 'more/most surprised'. meira/mest aberandi 'more/most obvious'. (The monosyllabic loan smart 'smart' takes the comparative forms smartari - smartastur). 3.3 .4.

Pronouns and quantifiers

Mod.!ce!. has personal pronouns for 1st, 2nd and 3rd person sg.masc. and 3rd person fern., whereas neuter and all 3rd person plur. forms are shared with the demonstrative pronoun sa. 1st person

sg. eg mig mer min

nom. acc. dat. gen.

pI. vio okkur okkur okkar

honorific vir oss oss vor

pl. pifJ ykkur ykkur ykkar

honorific per your your yoar

2nd person sg. pI! pig per pin

nom. acc. dat. gen.

3rd person and deictic forms masc.

�

hann 'he' hann honum hans

sa 'that' pann peim pess peir pa

fern.

�

hUn 'she' hana henni hennar

su 'that' pa peirri peirrar

P"" P""

neut.

I

palJ 'it, that' paiJ pvi pess pau pau peim peirra

The reflexive form, used in certain anaphoric situations is sig (acc.) sir (dat.) and sin (gen.): Jon meiddi sig 'John hurt himself, Sigga sagoi ao Jon heJoi booio sir 'Sigga said that John had invited her(sel!)', Haraldur heldur ao Maria sakni sin 'Harold thinks that Mary mis­ ses him(sel!)'. (See Maling/Zaenen, 1990, 220- 3 46). Beside sa Mod.Icel. has the demonstrative pronouns ]Jessi 'this' and hinn 'the other'. The possessive pronouns minn 'mine', ]Jinn 'yours' and sinn '3rd reflexive' agree with nouns in case, gender and number: bokina mina/pina/sina 'my/your/3rd reflexive book' penn inn minnj]Jinnjsinn 'yourjmyj3rd reflexive pen'. Similarly the honorific plural vor 'our (formal)' follows an adjectival paradigm in its inflection. Otherwise, genitives of personal pronouns are used to denote possession: Jramtio hans/hennar/ pess 'his/her/its future'. The interrogative pronouns are hver 'who', hvao 'what', hvaoa 'which'. Among quantifiers are the following: Negative: enginn 'no one', hvorugur 'neither' Universal: allir 'all', sirhver 'each' Existential: sumir 'some', nokkrir 'a few', margir 'many', allmargir 'several'

These pronouns and quantifiers basically fol­ low adjectival paradigms in their inflection.

3.4.

Verbs

3.4. 1 .

Verbal categories and periphrastic conjugation

Verbal conjugation involves number (singular and plural), person (1st, 2nd and 3rd), tense (preterite and present) and mood (indicative and subjunctive); also voice (middle and pas­ sive) is sometimes taken to be a separate cate­ gory. Other distinctions, such as aspect and more subtle modality, may be expressed peri­ phrastically. Three aspectual distinctions can be made periphrastically: Perfect I: fig he! lesio bokina 'I have read the book.' Perfect II: fig er buinn ao lesa bokina 'I have al­ ready read the boo k.' Durative: fig er ao lesa bokina 'I am reading the book.'

Intransitive verbs of movement make Perfect II without bidnn: Hann er farinn 'He has (al­ ready) left.'

175. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century I: Icelandic

Inflection distinguishes between the indica­ tive mood: eg Jer (pres.) - eg Jar (pre!.) and the subjunctive: egJar; (pres.) - egJrer; (pret.). The use of these forms is largely syntactically determined. Additional modal distinctions are made with the help of auxiliary verbs: fig mun lesa bokina 'I will read the book.' fig skal lesa bokina'I am willing to read the book.' fig ;;etla ao lesa b6kina 'I am going to read the book.'

The so-called middle voice is denoted by the suffix -st, as in berjast 'to fight' (cf. berja 'to hit'), and klarast 'to be finished' (cf. klara 'to finish'). Although morphologically the forma­ tive -st often comes after other inflectional endings, its function in most cases involves creating verbs with new meanings on the basis of active verb forms. The meaning of the new forms can be inchoative, as infyllast 'become full' (cf.Jylia 'to fill' andJuliur 'full'), reflexive, as in klreaast 'to dress oneself (cf. klreaa 'to dress'), reciprocal, as in berjast 'to fight' (cf. berja 'to hit'), or an active base form may be missing, as in ottast 'to fear' (*otta). Active verbs can be "passivised" using the auxiliary vera + past participle: Eokin var tekin 'The book was taken.'

The passive is unnatural with definite agents: Jon var laminn af hestinum 'John was hit by the horse' is less natural than Hesturinn lamdi Jon. 3.4.2.

Verbal paradigms

The weak verbs form sterns for the preterite tense (including the past participle) with the help of a dental suffix, which has varying forms. The preterite suffix assumes three (writ­ ten) forms, as exemplified by the forms ger-a; from gera 'to do', hring-di from hringja 'to ring' and lys-ti from lysa 'to describe'. Weak paradigms (Principal parts: inf. pres.3.sg. pret.3.sg. pret.part.) kalla kallar kalla-Of kalla..o 'call' (most regular) duga dugir dugoi dugao 'suffice' da:ma da:mir da:mdi da:mt 'judge' telja telur taldi talio 'count'

Most strong verbs follow patterns corres­ ponding to Old Germanic and Indo-European ablaut series. But others derive their para­ digms from reduplicative patterns, and some (preterite present verbs) have ablaut in the present but a preterite with a dental suffix.

1569

Strong paradigms (Principal parts: inf. pret.3.sg. pret.lpl. pret.part.): Ablaut verbs: bita beit bitum bitinn 'bite' bjoba bauo buoum booinn 'invite' bresta brast brustum brostinn 'break' nema nam namum numinn 'take' gefa gaf gil/um gefinn 'give' fara for forum farinn 'go' Reduplicative verbs heita hit hetton heitinn 'be called' hlaupa hljop hlupum hlaupinn 'run' roa reri rerum roinn 'row' Preterite present verbs (Principal parts: inf. pres.3sg. pret.3sg. pret.part.) purJa parJ purJti purJt 'need' unna ann unni wznao 'love'

3.5.

Word formation

Indigenous word formation occurs on two levels, which may be called Level I and Level II, partly corresponding to the phonological levels described in 2. Level I word formation involves unstressed suffixes: sjuk#lingur 'patient' (cf. sjukur 'sick') reykvik#ingur 'inhabitant of Reykjavik' (cf. Reykjavik) jaro#neskur 'terrestrial' auo#ga 'enrich' (cf. auougur 'wealthy')

Level II word formation involves compounds and Level II derivational suffixes (which take secondary stress, cf. 2.2.1.). Compounding: genitival compounding: feroa#maour 'tourist' (from fero 'travel' and maour 'man, person') stem-compounding: far#miOi 'travel ticket', spor#lettur 'light-footed', tann#krem 'tooth-paste'

Derivation with Level II suffixes (-legur, -samur): bol5#legur 'presentable', grautar#legur 'confusing' (literally 'porridge(gen.)#like'), samvisku#samur 'conscientious'

Loanwords may adapt to morphophonemic patterns and paradigms. Some become 'pseu­ docompounds' , which imitate the structure of indigenous compounds: almanak 'almanac', pI. almanak. Here, only the last syllable takes part in the u-umlaut allomorphy, like in the compound matar#gat 'glutton' (literally: 'food hole'), pI. matar#gat. Words like kapitaUsm; 'capitalism' , utopia 'Utopia' follow weak in­ flectional patterns, whereas konsull 'consul' and paUtik 'politics' follow strong paradigms.

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XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

4.

Syntax

4.1.

Basic word order and verbal complements

The basic syntactic structure of Mod.!cel. is the same as that of OIcel. Even though the wri tten language came under heavy Danish and Gennan influence in the 17th and 18th centuries, modern written syntax has to a large extent reverted to a style more like older saga texts. Sometimes, older types of construction may be used for stylistic purposes. The basic structure is SVO, demonstrated by examples like Stelpan las blai5ii5 ' The girl (nom.def.) read the paper (ace.def.)' and Jon er kl1altSpYl'llllma!5ur 'John (nom.) is a footbal­ ler (nom.)'. In the first example the object is in the accusative, governed by the transitive verb lesa 'to read'. whereas in the second in­ stance the complement of the copula er (vera in the infinitive) is in the nominative. Nomi­ native is the unmarked case for subjects and complements of the verb vera 'be', and accu­ sative is the unmarked case for objects, as shown by passivisation: the active Einltver larndi hundinn 'Someone (nom.) hit the dog (acc. def.)' corresponds to the passive Hun­ dUl'ilm var laminn 'The dog (nom.def.) was hit (pret.part., nom.)'. The object hundinn is in the accusative in the active construction, but as a subject in the passive construction it takes the nominative case. (The participial Conn lam inn agrees in case, number and gender with the subject, cf. Barnii5 var lamii5 'The child (neut.sg.) was hit (neut.sg.)', Stulkumar varu lamdar 'The girls (fern.pI.) were hit (fern.pl.)'). The unmarked use of the cases in verbal complements can be overridden when the verb idiosyncratically detennines the case of one or more of its complements - dative object: Ein­ Itver sparka6i boltanum 'Someone kicked the ball (dat.def.)'; genitive 0 bject: M6!5irin saknar barns ins 'The mother misses the child (gen. def.)'. The marked object case also appears in the corresponding passive constructions where the noun phrases are in the " sobject po­ sition": Boltanum var sparkai5 'The ball (dat. def.) was kicked'; Barnsins var sakllai5 (af moi5urilllll) 'The child (gen.def.) was missed (by the mother)'. (In the latter case the pre­ dicative part of the passive construction takes the neut. g. fonn regardless of the gender and number of the oblique subject: Bamalllla var saknai5 (literally 'The children (gen.pI.) was (3sg.) missed (nom.neut.sg.)'.) Verbs can also require their subjects to have a "quirky" case:

Mig langar i mjolk 'I (acc.) want some milk'; Mig breslUr kjark 'I (dat.) lack courage'; Flln­ dill11m lykur snemma 'the meeting (dat.def.) finishes early'; Mer hlynar 'I (dat.) get wann'. It is even possible for the "subject" to be in the dative and the "object" in nominative: Mer lika breytingarnar 'I (dat.) like the changes (nom.)'. Some verbs can take two ob­ jects and then idiosyncratically determine the cases of the objects: Eg gaf drengnum bOk 'I gave the boy (dat.def.) a book (acc.)', Eg oska per grefu 'I wish you (dat.) luck (gen.)'. The complement of vera 'to be' (and other related verbs, such as ver6a 'become', vir6ast 'seem') takes the same case as its subject: Siglll'i5ur er g0i5ur 'Sigurd (nom.) is good (nom.)'; Siguri5ur veri5ur reii5ur 'Sigurd (nom.) becomes angry (nom.)'. In accusative plus in­ finitive constructions like Eg lei Sigur6 vera goi5an 'I consider Sigurd (ace.) to be good', the complement agrees in case with the under­ lying subject Siguri5 (ace.) of the subordinate infinitive, which in turn gets its surface case assigned by the main verb. (The same thing happens when passive forms occur in this kind of construction: Eg tel stulkuna hala veri6 nii5urlreg-i5a 'I consider the girl (acc.) to have been humiliated (acc.sg.fem.)'). 4.2.

Adverbial modification

Modal adverbials and operators typically oc­ cur right after the finite verb. This is true of the negation element ekki: HaUl! kemur ekki til Akureyrar 'He won't come to Akureyri' (lit­ erally 'He comes not to Akureyri'). The same goes for modal operators like kannski 'per­ haps', liklega 'probably', orugglega 'for sure': Hann kernur kannski/liklega/orugglega til Akllreyrar 'He will perhaps/probably/certain­ ly/come to Akureyri'. In periphrastic con­ structions (see 3.4.1.) the operator/adverb oc­ curs after the auxiliary: Hann rnun drugglega koma a rnorgun 'He will certainly come to­ morrow', Hann hefur ekki korni6 'He has not come'. Time and place adverbials occur after the verb, in either order: Eg sa hann lili a6an /a6an uti 'I saw him outside just now/just now outside', Hann kom til Akureyrar i si6ustu viku /i sii5ustu viku til Akureyrar 'He came (in) last week to Akureyri/to Akureyri (in) last week'. In subordinate clauses, adverbial modifica­ tion follows the same pattern as in main clauses: Eg veil (ao hann kemur orugglega a morglln) 'I know that he will certainly come tomorrow' (literally 'I know that he comes for sure tomorrow'), Eg veil ao Jon kern"r ekki

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175. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century I: Icelandic

(literally) ' ] know that John comes not'. Here Icelandic differs from Mainland Scandinavian languages, such as Danish and Swedish, since placing the adverb before the finite verb is un­ grammatical in Icelandic: * Eg veit ao hann orugglega kemur Ii morgun (literally) '] know that he for sure comes tomorrow', * Eg veit ao Jon ekki kemur (literally) '] know that John not comes' ; cf. Dan.: Jeg ved at Jens ikke kom­ mer (literally) '] know that Jens not comes', Jeg ved at Jens sikkert kommer (literally) '] know that Jens for sure comes'. The operator can optionally be placed in front of the finite verb in conditional clauses and relative clauses: (EJ Jon ekki kemur/ kemur ekki) erum vii5 I vandrrei5um (literally) 'If John not comes/comes not, are we in trouble'; Mai5urinn (sem ekki lreri5i ai5 dansa/ lreri5i ekki ai5dansa) Jotbrotnai5i 'The man who did not learn to dance broke his leg (literally 'not learned/learned not'). The operator can under certain additional conditions precede the verb in ao-clauses. The normal order is for the subject of the subordinate clause to corne first: Hann telur aofleiri kostir seu sen­ nilega i stoounni 'He thinks that there are pro b­ ably more options in the situation'. But if the indefinite subject is postposed, as in Hann telur ao ]Jao seu sennilega fleiri kostir i stoaunni (lit­ erally) 'He considers that there are probably more options in the situation', the operator can take the first position: Hann telur ao sen­ nilega seu fleiri kostir i stoounni (cf. Maling/ Zaenen 1990, 3-91).

Here the verb is in second place (discounting the complementizer a(5), either after the sub­ ject Jon or the prepositional phrase a morgun. In so-called " narrative inversion" , the verb maybe first, as in Komu ]Jeir]Ja aobrenokkrum 'Came they then to a farm', Er pai5 mikii5 imregjuefni . . . 'Is that a great source of plea­ sure' (cf. 4.7.). 4.4.

Dummy subjects and existential expressions

Constructions involving the existential ex­ pression pai5 var 'there was' (literally 'it was') are widely used, particularly in the spoken lan­ guage. Typical such expressions are Pao var golt veour ' There was good weather' 'The weather was good', Pao var dansao i veislunni (literally) 'there was danced at the party' 'People danced at the party'; Pai5 var mikil kreti 'There was great joy'. Here, the formal re­ quirements of a subject and a verb are fulfilled by semantically empty forms, whereas the more meaningful components are postponed. The corresponding more direct forms Dansao var i veislunni, (literally) 'Danced was at the party' and Mikil kreti var (literally) 'great joy was' are more formal and literary. There is some variation among speakers as to what is acceptable as a complement of the existential expression Pao var. Most older speakers only accept expressions with indefinite NPs as com­ plements: Pao var skirt barn i kirkunni (lit­ erally) 'There was baptised a baby in the church' 'A child was baptised in the church' (cf. active: Barn var skirt i kirkjunni 'a child was baptised in the church'), but not: *Pai5 var skirt barnio 'There was baptised the baby' (cf. Barnii5 var skirt 'The baby was baptised'). However, some younger speakers will accept postpositioning of definite NPs, including ex­ pressions like Pai5 var lamii5 mig (literally) 'There was hit me ( hitting of me)'. =

�

�

4.3.

V2

Icelandic is a V2 language in that the verb oc­ curs in the position after the first constituent ofthe sentence, excepting the complementiser: (A morgun) kemur Stefan til min [Tomorrow, Stephen will come to see me.] (Effundinum lykur snemma)kemur Stefan til min [(If the meeting finishes early) Stephen will come and see me.]

!fthe subject is postposed, an expletive subject is needed to fill the first position: pab kom gamall mabur gangandi eftir g6tunni. [There came an oldman walking along the street].

The same constraints apply in subordinate clauses: Eg held ab Jon komi a morgun/*komi Jon a morgun[I think that John will come tomorrow]. Eg segi ab a morgun komi Jon/morgun Jon komi (literally) [I say that tomorrow comes John.]

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4.5.

The noun phrase

Modifiers typically precede the noun, as in gamall maour 'old man', mjog gamall maour 'very old man', ]Jessi gamli maour 'this old man', allir ]Jessir gomlu menn 'all these old men'. Appositions and titles typically follow the noun: Jon Sigurosson forseti 'Jon Si­ gurosson president', Jon Jonsson, ritari ver­ kalyi5sJe!agsins 'J. J. the secretary of the labour union', Sigurour Jonsson eldri 'Sigurour Jonsson the older'. (Certain titles, mostly of foreign origin, may precede the noun: Herra

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XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

Jon 'Mr. John', ProJessor Helgi. !ru Sigriour 'Mrs. Sigriour'). (There are some differences between OIce!. and Mod.!ce!. regarding word order in the NP. It is, for example, more com­ mon in Olce!. for the adjective to follow the noun, as in Hann er maorgamall (literally) 'He is a man old' 'He is an old man', corre­ sponding to the typically Mod.!ce!.: Hann er gamall maour). Relative clauses must follow their heads: Maaurinn (sem kom i geer) er verobrefasali 'The man who came yesterday is a stock-broker', Karlak6rarnir, (sem sumir eru pokkalegir) . syngja mikio aJ Islenskum !ogum 'The male choirs, some of which are reasonably good, sing many Icelandic songs'. Genitive complements and possessive modi­ fiers follow the noun: Jjoidi gesta 'a number of guests (gen.)', hesturinn minn (literally) 'the horse mine' 'my horse'. Normally the head of possessive NPs take the definite form, even though indefinite forms may be used as more formal variants: hestur minn 'horse (indef.) mine'. Also, heads do not normally take the definite form in more 'abstract' or formal con­ texts: skooun min (literally) 'opinion (indef.) mine', stuoningsmenn okkar (literally) 'sup­ porters (indef.) our'. When the head is a per­ sonal name (including names of domestic ani­ mals and pets), the personal possessive forms hans or hennar have to be included: hesturinn hans Jons (literally) 'the horse his John's' 'John's horse'. Prepositional modifiers also follow the head:fuglarnir a tjorninni 'the birds on the pond'. Ample use is made of prepositional phrases to modify noun phrases. Inalienable pos­ sessions are most commonly denoted with prepositions: HoJuoio a mer 'my head' (liter­ ally: 'the head on me'), hjartao I mer 'my heart' (literally: 'the heart in me'). The sarne applies to inanimate objects: Pakio a husinu 'the roof on the house', wilin i bilnum 'the car's engine' (literally 'the engine in the car') and to cases such as: borgarstjorinn i Reykjavik 'the Mayor of Reykjavik', fundurinn i lJ[Cstu viku 'next week's meeting' (literally 'the meeting in next week'). (Sometimes the 'possessor' of the inalienable part occurs in the dative, as in: Hann steig a bak hestinum (literally) 'He step­ ped on back the horse (dat.def.)' 'He moun­ ted the horse'). In many cases, genitival modi­ fiers may also be used, often with dif­ ferent (more formal) stylistic value: hoJuo Jons 'John's head', Borgarstjori Reykjavikur 'Reykjavik's mayor' etc. =

�

�

�

4.6.

Subordinate clauses

Nominal clauses may occur in NP positions, as subjects or objects, introduced by the com­ plementiser ao: Eg held (ao Jon se Jarinn) 'I think (that John has left)'. Subject clauses are typically postponed, and then a dummy sub­ ject ensures that the V2 constraint is upheld: Pao er hneoilegt (ao Jon skuli veraJarinn) 'It is terrible (that John has left)' vs. (AoJonskuli veraJarinn) er hneoilegt '(That John has left) is terrible'. Question words may also function as complementisers: Eg veit ekki (hvort Jon erJarinn) 'I don't know whether John has left', Hann spuroi (hvert Jon heJoiJario) 'He asked where John had gone', Hann spuroi (hver heJoi komia) 'He asked who had corne', Hann spuroi (hvern Maria heft vaM) 'He asked whom Mary had chosen'. A typical use of ao-clauses in prepositional phrases is following phrasal verbs, i. e. verbs such as minna a 'remind (of)' or leggja til 'pro­ pose': Eg minni nemendur a (aoprofio er eftir manuo) 'I remind the stud�nts that the exami­ nation is in a month', Eg legg til (ao via kaupum kaffivel) 'I propose that we buy a cof­ fee maker'. Ao-clauses may also occur as com­ plements of prepositions in various clause types, which are sometimes classified seman­ tically as "purpose clauses", "causative clauses" etc.: Hann les mikio til (pess) (ao hannfai gooa einkunn) 'He studies hard in or­ der to get a good mark' (literally 'to (it) that he gets . . . '), Helga kemur ekki vegna pess (ao Jon er a staonum) 'Helga does not corne be­ cause John is there'. The adverb svo joins ao to fonn what are sometimes called "conse­ quential clauses": Hann kom of seint, svo ao hann missti af neounni 'He came too late so that he missed the speech'. These phrasal con­ junctions fonn units, which cannot be split and they remain with the clauses when they are preposed, as in ( Vegna fJess ao Jon er a staonum) kemur Helga ekki (* Ao Jon er a staonum vegna fJess kemur Helga ekki) 'Be­ cause John is there, Helga won't corne'. Relative clauses are introduced by the rela­ tive marker sem, or more formally er: Maaurinn (sem eg sa i gter) erfJarna aftur 'The man I saw yesterday is there again', Sa er lykur BA-proft mea agretum getur haldio aJram til MA-proJs 'He who obtains a BA degree with distinction can continue for an MA degree'. A resumptive pronoun or an overt represen­ tation of the noun phrase is not allowed in the relative clause, except when the "gap" cor­ responds to a genitive: Petta er maourinn sem

175. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century I: Icelandic

mer var sagtfra *honum i geer 'This is the man that I was told about him yesterday', Petta er maaurinn sem eg hitti konuna hans i geer ' This is the man whose wife I met (his) yesterday'. Adverbial clauses like conditional and tem­ poral clauses are placed either before or after the main clause, observing the V2 constraint: (EJ pu geJur mer bok) geJ eg per viskyfloskuj Eg geJ per viskyflosku (eJ pu geJur mer b6k) 'If you give me a book, I'll give you a bottle of whiskey', (Pegar Jon er Jarinn) . kem egjEg kem (pegar Jon erJarinn) 'When John has left, I will corne'. 4.7.

Stylistic options in word order

Some options in word order have been clas­ sified as stylistic. Among these is the optional placement of the verb in first position in main clauses, sometimes called "narrative inver­ sion": Komu peir pa ao heW nokkrum (lit­ erally) 'Carne they then to a cave', cf. Peir komu pa ao heW nokkrum; Er pao serstakt anxgjueJni. ao . . . (literally) 'Is it a special rea­ son for pleasure that. . . ', cf. Paa er serstakt al11egjuefni aa . . . This fronting, which is more or less confined to written styles, may only oc­ cur in the middle of a narrative, i. e. when there is a preceding context. Another option, this time only open in subordinate clauses, has been called "stylistic inversion": Maaurinn sem komia haJoi hit Jon (literally) ' The man who corne had was called John', cf. the more normal order: Maaurinn sem hafai komia . . . 'The man who had corne'. Organisation of information has an effect on word order. Topicalization can put almost any constituent at the beginning of the utter­ ance: Mikil hatia er i sk6lanum a laugardaginn 'A great festival is at school on Saturday', A laugardaginn er mikil hatia i sk6lanum 'On Saturday is a great festival at school', i sk6lanum er mikil hatia laugardaginn 'In school there is a great festival on Saturday'. Semantically heavy subjects are often post­ poned (cf. 4.2.), leaving a dummy in the sub­ ject position. Thus Paa kom maaur mea mikia skegg (literally) 'There carne a man with a great beard' is more natural than Maaur mea mikia skegg kom 'A man with a great beard came'. Indefinite agents are typically post­ poned, as in the passive (3.4.1.): Jon var laminn af hesti 'John was hit by a horse' is just as natural as Hestur lamdi Jon, and Jon var laminn is definitely more natural than Einhver lamdi Jon. The existential expression Paa lamdi Jon hestur (literally) 'There hit John a

1573

horse' is also natural (cf. 4.2.), whereas Pao lamdi Jon hesturinn ' There hit John the horse' is ungrammatical.

5.

Literature (a selection)

Anderson, Stephen R. (1972), Icelandic u-umlaut and breaking in a generative grammar. In: Studies for Einar Haugen (eds. E. S. Firchow/K. Grimstad/ N. Hassehno/W. A. O'Niel). The Hague, 13 30. Amason, Kristjan (1980a), Quantity in historical phonology. Cambridge. Amason, Kristjan (1980b), Some processes in Ice­ landic connected speech. In: The Nordic Languages and Modern Linguistics [4] (ed. Even Hovdhaugen). Oslo, 212 222. Amason, Kristjan (1985), Icelandic word stress and metrical phonology. In Studia Linguistica 39, 93 129. Amason, Kristjan (1998a), Towards an analysis of Icelandic intonation. In: Nordic Prosody. Proceed­ ings of the VIIth Conference, Joensuu 1996 (ed. Stefan Werner). Frankfurt a. M., 49 62. Amason, Kristjan (1998b), Vowel shortness in Ice­ landic. In: Phonology and Morphology of the Ger­ manic Languages (ed. Wolfgang Kehrein and Richard Wiese) (Linguistische Arbeiten 386). Tlibingen, 3 25. Gislason, Indribi/J onsson, Baldur/Kristmundsson, Gubmundur B';prainsson, Hoskuldur (1988), Mid og samfelag. Reykjavik. Helgason, Petur (1993), On coarticulation and con­ nected speech processes in Icelandic. University of Reading. Kiparsky, Paul (1984), On the lexical phonology of Icelandic. In: Nordic Prosody III, (eds. Elert, C.-C'; Johansson, I./Strangert, E.). Studies in the Human­ ities 59). (Acta Universitatis Umensis, Umea Stock­ holm, 135 164. Mating, Joan/Zaenen, Annie (eds.) (1990), Syntax and Semantics 24: Modern Icelandic Syntax. San Diego. Ofeigsson, J6n (1920 24), Tra:k af moderne is­ landsk lydla:re. In: SigHlS Blondal: fslensk-donsk orl5abbk. Reykjavik, XIV XXVII. Ottosson, Kjartan G. (1987), An archaising aspect of Icelandic purism: the revival of extinct mor­ phological patterns. In: The Nordic Languages and Modern Linguistics 6 (eds. Pirrko/Lilius/Mirja/ Saari). Helsinki, 311 324. Rognvaldsson, Eirikur (1981), U-hlj6bvarp og on­ nur a""'o vixl i islensku. In: IMAM 3, 25 58. Rognvaldsson, Eirikur (1994 5), Breytileg orbarob i sagnlib. In: IMAM 16, 27 66. Thrainsson, Hoskuldur(1979), On complementation in Icelandic. New York.

Kristjan Amason. Reykjavik (Iceland)

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

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176.

The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century II: Faroese

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Introduction Phonology Orthography Inilexional morphology Syntax Vocabulary Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

At the beginning of the 20th century, Faroese was primarily an oral language. A generally accepted orthography had been established (see 3.), and a certain amount of material printed in Faroese, but the official written and spoken medium of the islands was Danish. Faroese was not taught in schools or used in church or in the conduct of public affairs, only one skeletal and somewhat archaising gram­ mar of the language had been published (Hammershaimb 1854, in revised form 1 891, I liv- cxvi), and n o dictionary was available except the Faroese-Danish glossary that ac­ companied the folklore collection Frer@sk an­ thoiogi (Hammershaimb 1 891). Such original writing in the language as there was consisted chiefly of occasional poems and songs - and some rudimentary journalism, the most no­ table manifestation of which was the fort­ nightly to monthly paper F@ringatioindi (1890-1906). Printed books in Faroese were few and far between, and largely devoted to the recording of oral literature; notable excep­ tions were Joen Poulsen's Bibils@ga (1900) and two early translations: of the Gospel accord­ ing to St Matthew - Evangelium Sankta Mattlueussa- (1823), and of the Icelandic saga of the Faroe Islanders - F@ringa saga - (1832). The last hundred years have seen a dramatic change in this situation. Between 1912 and the Second World War Faroese was gradually in­ troduced in schools, first as an oral, then a written subject, and ultimately as a medium of instruction. In 1952 F@roya Frooskapar­ felag [Societas Scientiarurn Freroensis] was founded, out of which grew Frooskaparsetur F@roya [Universitas Freroensis], established in 1965 as a seat of higher learning for the is­ lands. Faroese was the first subject to be taught there, and all instruction is in principle in the native language. The churches, too, have adopted Faroese, and two translations of the Bible have been made, the first, done

from various European tongues, completed in 1949, the second, rendered from the original Hebrew and Greek, issued in 1961 . Most other areas of public life have followed suit - a par­ tial exception being the courts, where Danish is still used if circumstances require it. Politi­ cally, Faroese was acknowledged as the prin­ cipal language of the islands by the Horne Rule Act of 1948. Codification has not kept pace with these developments. Until the 1960s only one dictionary - Faroese-Danish - was available, a greatly expanded version of the glossary in Frer@sk anthologi. Since then, and particularly in the last twenty years, a variety of bilingual dictionaries has been published, and in 1998 carne F@roysk oroab6k, the first monolingual Faroese dictionary - a compre­ hensive codification of the vocabulary of the mother tongue. There is, however, still no sat­ isfactory grammar of Faroese. Dahl 1908 is chiefly a series of paradigms, normalized on the basis of Old Norse and thus tending to the archaic. Krenn 1940 and Lockwood 1955 are introductions to the language for foreign learners. Krenn follows the archaising prac­ tices of Hammershaimb and Dahl; Lock­ wood's book, on the other hand, is "based on average acceptable usage to-day" (1955, I), and represents the first attempt to give an ac­ count of the modern colloquial language. An outline description of contemporary Faroese, written primarily for linguists, is Barnes! Weyhe (1994). Recent years have seen an up­ surge of interest in the language as an object of study, resulting in analyses of many indi­ vidual phenomena and the launching of Mai­ ting, a periodical devoted to the Faroese lan­ guage and linguistics and published solely in Faroese. As the pages of Malting demonstrate, there is now a high degree of linguistic aware­ ness in the islands, but also considerable dis­ agreement about what is and what is not ac­ ceptable usage (see 194, 215). Since 1985 the Faroes have had their own official language committee, F@royska malnevndin, a successor to various unofficial bodies active since the 1930s that advised on linguistic usage and published word-lists and related material. Faroese literary production has also blos­ somed in the last hundred years. The first novel in Faroese was published as late as 1909, but the language is now thevehic1e for a varied output of novels, short stories, plays and po-

176. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century II: Faroese

etry, and even boasts original detective fiction. Non-fiction, too, is quite well represented, al­ though text-books are lacking in many sub­ jects, particularly beyond primary school level, and recourse often has to be had to Dan­ ish teaching and learning materials. In the mass media and mass entertainment market Faroese has corne some way towards estab­ lishing itself. Several newspapers are publish­ ed in the islands, all of them now exclusively in Faroese. Since 1957 there has been a Faro­ ese broadcasting station, Utvarp F@roya, transmitting a wide variety of programmes in the native language, and 1985 saw the advent of an official television station, Sj6nvarp F@roya - though the number of Faroese pro­ grammes is very small, the staple diet corning from Danish television, often with Danish subtitles for foreign-language progammes. Popular literature, magazines and comic strips are still largely the province of Danish, which - notwithstanding the increasing amount of Faroese material published - means that bookshops and kiosks tend to be dominated by Danish reading matter.

2.

Phonology

2.1.

Stress

Phonologically there seems no reason to dis­ tinguish more than two degrees of stress in Faroese, strong and weak. Phonetically it is useful to distinguish four: primary, strong sec­ ondary, weak secondary and zero stress (e. g. fjallatindur ['fjadla'tIn,dGlr] 'mountain top' with primary stress on the initial syllable, zero on the second, strong secondary stress on the third (normal for the first syllable of the sec­ ond element of a compound), and weak sec­ ondary on the final). In most native words pri­ mary stress falls on the initial syllable. Unlike Icelandic, however, Faroese does permit pri­ mary stress elsewhere, chiefly in words of non­ Scandinavian origin, where it is not restricted to any particular syllable (e. g. teleJon I tele'fo:n/ 'telephone', konservativur /kon'ser­ vativur/ 'conservative'), but also in native words and Danish loans with certain prefixes, where it can be located in the second syllable (e. g. 6Jatiligur lou 'featilijurl 'incomprehensi­ ble', Jorstanda Ifor'Jtandal 'understand'). Compound adverbs, of which there are many in Faroese, also regularly have primary stress on syllables other than the initial (e. g. aJturJyri /atur'fi:ri/ 'in return', nioriundir /niri'undir/ 'downstairs').

2.2.

1575

Syllable structure

Modern Faroese has the same syllabic struc­ ture as most other forms of Scandinavian excluding Danish. Stressed syllables are nor­ mally long (containing V:, V:C, VC: or VCC, e.g. eg [e:] T , fero [fe:r] 'journey', tenn [tEn:] 'teeth', segl [sEgl] 'sair) and unstressed are short (e. g. the second and fourth syllables in fjallatindur ['fjadla 'tIn,dGlrD. It should be noted, however, that vowels immediately pre­ ceding the clusters [pI, pr, tr, kl, kr] are long (e.g. epU [e:ph] 'potato', Iyklar [li:klar] 'keys'), and that length is sometimes retained before consonant clusters arising as a result of com­ pounding (contrast matpakki [mEatpahcI] 'packed meal', with matmooir [matmJUWIr] 'mistress of the house').

2.3.

Vowels

There are seven qualitatively distinct vowels, which may be either short or long, and eight diphthongs, three of which have short or long realisations, while five are long only. Whether or not vowel length in Faroese should be treated as phonemic has been much discussed, as also the relationship of the diphthongs to the single vowels. For those without detailed knowledge of the language, it is clearest and most informative to assume that the vowel in­ ventory just outlined is identical with the pho­ nemic system. The vowel phonemes of Faroese are thus: lal (land Ilandl 'land; country'), la:1 (statur Ista:turl 'state'), lei (endi lendil 'end'), le:1 (gero Ige:rl 'deed'), Iii (Iygn Ilignl 'lie'), li:1 (niour Ini:jurl 'down'), 101 (omma lomal 'grandmother'), 10:1 (kana Iko:nal 'wife'), lui (tunna Itunal 'barrel'), lu:1 (buk Ibu:kl 'blow; beating'), Iyl (sukkla Isyklal 'bicycle'), ly:1 (myta Imy:tal 'myth'); 101 (@ks 10ksl 'axe'), 10:1 (g@ta Ig0:tal 'path'), lail (beiskur IbaiJkurl 'bitter'), lai:1 (steinur Istai:nurl 'stone'), lea:1 (har Ihea:rI 'there'), lei:1 (breyo Ibrei:j 'bread'), 10a:1 (ar loa:rl 'year'), loil (roynd Iroindl 'test', 'experience'), 10i:1 (roykur lroi:kurl 'smoke'), 10u:1 (s61 Isou:lj 'sun'), luYI (skrimsl Iskruym­ slj 'monster; ghost'), luy:1 (fyra Ifuy:ral 'four'), lyu:1 (hus Ihyu:sl 'house'). Long la:1 and ly:1 are found almost exclusively in words of non-Faroese origin (but cf. 2.6. below). There is a difference in quality as well as length between long and short monophthongs: the short tend to have a lower and more central pronunciation than the long, and the long are often slightly diphthongised - roughly ["'I', i:j, 0:9, u:w, 0:"']. Length is redundant in lea:,

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1576 ei:, oa:, OU:, yu:/, their short counterparts be­ ing the monophthongs la, e, 0, 0, yl (cf. land, sukkla above, and eystur /estur/ 'east', mitt Inotl 'night', s6lskin IS0lJi:nl 'sunshine'). When immediately preceding certain conson­ ants or consonant clusters, jai, oi, uyl are also monophthongised: lail > lal or 101 (the vari­ ation is partly dialectal, partly free, cf. deiggj Id3JI 'dough', eingin lon,inl 'no one', 'no'), loil > 101 (oyggj 10,1 'island', moyrkna Imortnal '(to) rot'), luYI > lui (irskur luIkurl 'Irish', liknandi Iluknandil 'similar'). The long diph­ thongs leal and loal are monophthongised when immediately followed by unstressed lal, being realised as a closed or open variety of lei and 101 respectively (or locally as new diph­ thongs). The sequences levi, 10v/, lovl, lavl tend to have diphthongal pronunciation immediately before Inl, especially the last (e. g. havn [hawn] 'harbour'). Vowels in unstressed position exhibit far fewer contrasts than those in stressed. Pre­ tonic vowels are five: la, e, i, 0, ul (e.g. bar­ barur Ibar'ba:rurl 'barbarian', metal Ime'ta:1/ 'metal', mirakul jrni 'rea:kulj 'miracle', politis­ fur /poli'tisturj 'policeman', studentur /stu­ 'denturl 'student'). The post-tonic system, found in derivative suffixes and above all in inflexional endings, is in theory realised as la, i, ul, but the distribution of Iii and lui differs considerably from place to place and nowhere corresponds exactly to that of the written lan­ guage. In some forms of Faroese, post-tonic Iii and lui have largely coalesced, but the realisation of the resulting vowel varies. In its treatment of the post-tonic vowels, Faroese contrasts with Icelandic, which consistently maintains the three-way system of Old Norse. A succession of vowel changes from pre­ Viking Age Scandinavian onwards has meant that morphophonemic relations in Faroese can be extremely complex. The eight case­ forms of the noun dagur 'day', for example, exhibit no fewer than four different root vowels: nom.sg. Idea:vur/, gen.sg. dags Idagsl, dat. sg. degi Ide:ii/, dat.pl. d@gum ld0:vun/,and in the speech of many a fifth allophonic vari­ ant is to be found in the nom./acc.pI. dagar and gen.pl. daga, e.g. [dl':ar], [dl':a]. 2.4.

Consonants

Most Faroese consonants may be short or long, but to the extent vowel length is treated as phonemic, consonant length may be re­ garded as allophonic (as has already been done above). Faroese has nineteen consonant

phonemes, six plosives, six fricatives, two af­ fricates, three nasals, one lateral, 11/, and Irl, which may be realised as anything from a fully rolled consonant to a frictionless continuant. Plosives are Ip, b, t, d, k, gl, all of them un­ voiced. In initial position Ipl is distinguished from Ibl, ItI from Idl and Ikl from Igl chiefly by the presence in Ip, t, kl of post-aspiration, but in medial and final position the short members of each pair can coalesce, depending on stress and other factors. Fricatives are If, v, s, J,i, hi, of which Ihl is restricted to initial position. The realisation of Ivl may be [v], [u] or [w]; the first two are in free variation, the last occurs after lu, ou, yu/. Affricates are Ic, y, and nasals 1m, n, D/. The phonemic status of IDI is not wholly clear. Mostly it appears before Ikl or Igl and is therefore often re­ garded as an allophone of In/; however, itmay also be followed by other consonants, as in IloDd/, a common pronunciation of longd 'length'. Palatal allophones of III and Inl occur between diphthongs with a palatal second el­ ement and a consonant, and before Icl and hi (hvild [kVGlYAd] 'rest', tangi [tEJW] 'tongue of land'). Where Id, 1, n, s, tl immediately follow Irl they are often realised as retroflexes, as in central Norwegian and Swedish (herdur [larQGlr] 'learned', norskur [no,kGlr] 'Norwe­ gian'). The extent to which Irl is preserved as a separate segment in such cases varies, but Irl + Isj is usually [,]. Most voiced consonants may be devoiced when immediately preceding or following an unvoiced sound, but the vari­ ation is regular for Ig, 1, m, n, 1), r, vi between a vowel and Ik, p, t, cl - and in many dialects also lsi - in the sarne syllable (lagt [lakt] 'laid', pp. of leggja, f6lk [f0jk] 'people', hansam [haJtsara] 'his', skeivt [skaift] 'wrong', nom.1 acc.n.sg. of skeivur). In common with their Icelandic counterparts, Faroese [p:, t , k:] are pre-aspirated; pre-aspiration also occurs be­ fore [c:] and sporadically before Ip, t, kl + certain other consonants. Palatalisation of Old Norse Ig, k, ski immediately before high vowels, which gives the affricates hi, Icl and the palatal fricative III, is not restricted to in­ itial position in Faroese as in standard Nor­ wegian and Swedish. As well as genta hental 'girl' , kinn Icinl 'cheek' and skyldur IIildurl 're­ lated', we find veggi Ive,il 'wall', dat.sg. of veg­ gur Ivegur/, b6kin Iboucinl 'the book', b6k I boukl + def.art., and elski lelscil 'love', 1st sg.pres. of elska '(to) love'. A system of glides has developed to fill the hiatuses which existed between vowels or which arose through loss of intervocalic [0] and [V]: Iii is found in palatal

176. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century II: Faroese

environment and Ivl in labial (air loa:jirl 'streams', siour jsi:jurj 'custom', eyga jei:jaj 'eye', b@ur Ib0:vurl 'infield', rnai5ur Imea:vurI 'man', dagur Idea:vurl 'day', hugur [hu:wGlr] 'mind'). 2.5.

Residual matters

External sandhi forms occur in Faroese, most notably the retroflexion of Id, 1, n, s, tl when they follow final Irl (ger so veel! [jE,o'vEa:l] 'here you are!'). Like other forms of Scandi­ navian, Faroese does not easily tolerate large consonant clusters. Where such would other­ wise arise, one of the consonants is usually dropped (fylgdi 'followed', sg. past, from Jylgja, Jygldi 'caught birds' , sg. past, from Jygla, both lfildi/, rnyrkt Imirtl 'dark', nom.1 acc.n.sg. of myrkur). Where neuter -t is added to the cluster Iskl in monosyllabic words, metathesis normally results (beiskt Ibaikstl 'bitter'). In common with many languages, words in Faroese may lose their stress in con­ nected speech, and since as in all forms of Scandinavian stress and length are inter­ dependent, loss of stress leads to loss of length (compare ['nYk(i)ngtEfaratl'hawnar] a con­ nected speech realisation of nil kunnu tey lara til Havnar 'now they can go to Torshavn', with the lexical pronunciation of each word: [n.:au] [kGln:Gl] [tEl] [fEara] [tIl] [hawnar]). 2.6.

Dialectal variation

Faroese phonology exhibits considerable geo­ graphically based variation - between areas, islands and even villages. In no cases, however, are the differences great enough to cause pro b­ lems of communication. Notable variations are as follows. In the northern islands the diphthong 10a:1 can be heard as a monoph­ thong (la:rl rather than loa:rl for ar 'year'). In the north of the Faroes more generally lail coalesces with loil (steinur Istoi:nurl 'stone'), and in the same area plus the islands of Vagar, N61soy, Koltur, Sandoy and Skuvoy the realisation of 10u:1 is [Ell], [ which is not found in Nyno. Thus, when Rm./Bm. hverken [v"'rbn] 'neither' was accepted into Nyno., it had to be written ver­ ken (and Bm., in contrast to Rm., then had

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1600 to follow suit for reasons of orthographic economy across the official varieties). Another instance of a purely orthographic difference is < 3. > vs. Nyno. < 0 > [or the sarnepronun­ ciation /0:/, cf. Rm./Bm. apen and Nyno. open 'open'. In Bm., /0Y/ was written < 0i > until 1938, when the originally Nyno. spelling < 0y > was introduced. This is now generally accepted in Rm . also. 5.3.

Suprasegrnental phenomena

The most conspicuous trait of Norwegian prosody is the tonal opposition between tone(me) 1 and tone(me) 2 in bi- and polysyl­ labic words and word forms, e. g. in lb@nder [-nn-] 'peasants' vs. 2b@nner 'beans'. Only a small area near Bergen and certain North Norwegian dialects lack the tone opposition. There are supposed to exist more than 2000 minimal pairs (Jensen 1961), but for semantic and pragmatic reasons, the functional load of the opposition appears to be low. Considering this, tone opposition is astonishingly stable. The prosodic realization varies with the dialect (cf. e. g. Hognestad 1997). In South-eastern Norwegian, the opposition can be described as one between steadily rising tone (pitch) and delayed rise of tone. The present distribution of the two tones is a continuation of early Old Norse word struc­ ture, i. e. it is etymological in nature. The mod­ ern counterparts of Old Norse monosyllabic words or syntactic phrases which have later on acquired word status (modern words with a definiteness suffix that was originally a post­ posed deictic pronoun) have tone 1 , and mod­ ern words deriving from Old Norse bi- and polysyllabic words have tone 2. Later German and Romance loanwords, or words based on foreign word formation patterns (verbs with prefixes), in general have tone 1 regardless of syllable structure; cf., e. g., definite lelva from monosyllabic lelv 'river' vs. definite 2jenta from bisyllabic 2jente 'girl' vs. 19jenta 'repeat', where both jenta and gjenta are segmentally [ienta]. Indigenous Norwegian words of Common Germanic origin have main stress on the first syllable. Composite words have rather strong secondary stress on the second main constitu­ ent with retention of the syllabic quantity op­ position, cf. vintap [vi:nta:p] 'loss of wine' vs. vintapp [vi:ntap:] 'wine plug'. The originally (Low) German prefixes an-, unn- (cf. Mod.HG ent-), such as anlegg '(pro­ cess or object of) construction', anbringe

'place, locate', unnga 'evade', carry main stress. On the other hand, words with the ori­ ginally (Low) German prefixes be-, er-, /or-, e. g. betale 'pay', erkhere 'declare' ,forklare 'ex­ plain', and their derived nominals, cf. betaling 'payment', erkhering 'declaration', forklaring 'explanation', carry stress on the second syl­ lable. A large number of commonly used more re­ cent loanwords from French and a large num­ ber of ' 'learned" words from other (Romance or Greek) sources retain their original stress on the last or penultimate syllable in non­ South-eastern dialects and in standard pro­ nunciation; cf. for instances avis 'newspaper', kompromiss 'compromise', energi 'energy', ba­ nan 'banana', maskin 'machine', medisin 'medicine' , kaptein 'captain', karakter 'charac­ ter', perfekt 'perfect', nasjon 'nation', posisjon 'position', revolusjon 'revolution', protestant 'protestant', initiativ 'initiative', sympati 'sympathy', professor 'professor'. In south­ eastern dialects, even such words carry stress on the first syllable. Recent attempts on the part of the Norwegian Language Council to gain acceptance for this dialectal stress place­ ment as an alternative standard have met with a fair amount of resistance. In Eastern Norwegian, stress placement on the first syllable is extended to certain syntac­ tic phrases, which then as a whole become car­ riers oftone 2. Outside this area, verb particles of adverbial or prepositional origin carry monosyllabic stress, whereas in Eastern Nor­ wegian they form one stress and tone group together with the preceding verb form, cf. non­ Eastern Norwegian han la lpa llitt 'he added a bit' vs. Eastern Norwegian han 2la-pa litt. Interestingly, this group pronunciation is at present generally accepted as standard in con­ trast to the corresponding placement of the main stress on the first syllable of single words.

6.

Lexicon

With regard to the lexicon, the language planning of the 20th c. had three main 0 bjec­ tives: (i) to bring about a general change of Danish spelling in accordance with Norwe­ gian pronunciation in Rm./Bm.; (ii) to intro­ duce Norwegian - often Nyno. - word forms in order to replace Danish ones in Rm./Bm.; and (iii) to merge the two official varieties into one common official language. It is important to note that (i) and (ii) were distinct 0 bjectives, as a great number of Danish words and word

177. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century III: Norwegian

forms were adopted with the appropriate Nor­ wegian pronunciation. The first objective was to a very consider­ able extent achieved through the spelling re­ forms of1907 and 1917 (cf. 5.2.). Among other things, this has resulted in certain cases where the pronunciation is still commonly based on the former Danish spelling in spite of the new " Norwegian" spelling, one notable case being i like mate 'same to you', which is still pro­ nounced as if it were spelled i /ige made. The second objective has yielded certain well-known results, such as s@knad, merknad and unntak which are now commonly used for former ans@kning, bemerkning and unntagelse. However, it is fair to say that Nyno. lexical influence on the Bm. (and Rm.) lexicon is not extensive and was all but completed before 1940. On the contrary, it is now the Nyno. lexicon that is under heavy influence from Bm. (and Rm.). The Nyno. literary tradition was initiated under nationalist auspices and for that reason was selectively puristic in the sense that words that reflected former Danish and German influence were shunned (whereas words of Greek and Latin origin which were widespread in European culture were more commonly accepted). In particular, words showing the (Low) German affixes be-, Jor-, er-, -het/-heit or -else (which is less clearly of German origin) were avoided. The problem was, and still is, however, that such words are massively present in many dialects and thus an integral part of spoken Norwegian (Skjek­ keland 1 999) and for that reason wholly natu­ ral to most Norwegians regardless of dialect. Such words are now admitted into official Nyno. at an increasing pace. The attempt at fusing the two official va­ rieties by introducing Nyno. word forms into official Bm. has by and large misfired (Rosen 2000). For instance, forms like Nyno./Bm. lauv 'leaf, leaves', haust 'autumn', hoI 'hole' have always been extremely marginal in actual Bm. usage in comparison with the traditional Rm./Bm. forms I@v, hast and hull. A fair number of such common Nyno.jBm. forms (like the first two) have recently been cut out from official Bm. (but a great many rarely used forms still remain in the official norm). Most of these abolished forms belonged to the cat­ egory of subsidiary forms that were not gen­ erally permitted, i. e. they were allowed in pu­ pils' writing but not in schoolbooks. The Bm. section of the Norwegian Language Council has recommended that the distinction between subsidiary forms and generally acceptable

1601

forms be abolished. The Nyno. section, how­ ever, has proposed to maintain this distinc­ tion. A special lexical reform was carried through in 1951 when Parliament decided that for the numerals 21-99 the traditional (Danish and German) order of elements with single digits preceding tens was to be replaced by a new, more iconic (Swedish and English) order with tens preceding single digits, e. g. Jemtifire '54' should replacefireogfemti. The result is a situ­ ation where both orders are now used (cf. Lauritsen 1995). The new order is used for telephone numbers and in more official or for­ mal circumstances, whereas the old order per­ sists in much informal spoken language. Of­ ficial Bm. and Nyno. recognizes only the new order, whereas Rm. only allows for the old order. In connection with the modern Norwegian lexicon, one also has to mention the current English influence which has increased drasti­ cally over the course of the last two decades (cf. Graedler/Johansson 1997). However, it seems that this influence is, at least in written Norwegian, not as comprehensive as, for in­ stance, in Modern German. The grammatical reason for this is that a considerable number of these English words are still felt to be so foreign that they combine badly with the Nor­ wegian definiteness suffix as a grammatical morpheme. For instance, whereas bagen 'the bag' with the corresponding pI. bagene 'the bags' is fully integrated, the sg. and pI. definite forms of backlash, i. e. backlashen and back­ lashene, are not. The official policy, as for­ mulated and propagated by the Norwegian Language Council, is that Norwegian replace­ ments should be sought and used whenever possible, and when no natural replacement is available, the word should under specific con­ ditions receive Norwegian spelling, e. g. gaid for guide, sarvis for service, konteiner for con­ tainer etc. (cf. Sand0Y 2000). The latter pro­ posal has met with a fair amount of resistance from the general public.

7.

Literature (a selection)

Andersen, 0ivin/F10ttum, Kjersti/Kinn, Torodd (eds.) (2000), Menneske, sprbk og Jellesskap: Fest­ skrift til Kirsti Koch Christensen pa 60-arsdagen 1. desember 2000. Oslo. Askedal, John Ole (1999), Indirect Objects in Ger­ man and Norwegian. In: Lingua Posnaniensis 61, 7 19. Berkov, Valerij (1997), Norsk ordla:re. Oslo.

1602 Bjerkan, Kirsten Meyer/Simonsen, Hanne Gram (1996), Prosessering av preteritumsfonner i norsk: Eksperimentell evidens fra barn og voksne. In: NLT 14, 189 207. Enger, Hans-Olav/Kristoffersen, Kristian Emil (2000), Inn/@ring i norsk grammatikk: Morfologi og syntaks (LNUs skriftserie 134). Oslo. Faarlund, Jan Terje (1990), Syntactic change: To­ wards a theory of historical syntax (Trends in Lin­ guistics. Studies and Monographs 50). The Hague. Faarlund, Jan Terje/Lie, SveinjVannebo, Kjell Ivar (1997), Norsk referansegrammatikk. Oslo. Graedler, Anne-LinejJohansson, Stig (1997), Ang­ lisismeordboka: Engelske llmord i norsk. Oslo. Greenberg, Joseph H. (1966), Some universals of grammar with particular reference to the order of meaningful elements. In: Universals o/language, 2nd ed. (ed. Joseph H. Greenberg). Cambridge, MA/ London, 73 1 1 3 . Harris, Alice C. (1990), Alignment typology and diachronic change: In: Language typology 1987. Systematic balance in language. Papers/rom the Lin­ guistic Typology Symposium, Berkeley, 1 3 Decem­ ber 1987 Ced. W P. Lehmann). Amsterdam/Philadel­ phia, 67 90. Haugen, Einar (1966), Language conflict and lan­ guage planning: The case 0/ modern Norwegian. Cambridge, MA. Hognestad, Jan K. (1997), Tonemer i en h@ytone­ dialekt: En wzders@kelse med utgangspwzkt i Eger­ sund bymal. Oslo. Jahr, Ernst H.lkon/Lorentz, Ove (eds.) (1981), Fonologi/Phonology. Oslo. Jahr, Ernst Hakon/Lorentz, Ove (eds.) (1983), Pro­ sodi/Prosody. Oslo. Jahr, Ernst Hakon/Lorentz, Ove (eds.) (1985), Mor­ /ologi/Morphology. Oslo. Jahr, Ernst Hakon/Lorentz, Ove (eds.) (1989), Syn­ taks/Syntax. Oslo. Jensen, Martin Kloster (1961), Tonemicity (Arbok for Universitetet i Bergen. Humanistisk serie 1). Bergen. Kleiva, Turid/Donali, Ingeborg/Nesset, Trygve/ 0ygarden, Helen (eds.) (1999), Austlandsmal i end­ ring: Dialektar, nynorsk og sprbkhaldningar pa indre Austlandet. Oslo.

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century Kristoifersen, Gjert (2000), The phonology 0/ Nor­ wegian. Oxford. Langslet, Lars Roar (1999), I kamp/or norsk kultur: Riksmalsbevegelsens historie gjennom 100 ar. Oslo. Lauritsen, Vibeke (1995), Femognitti eller nittifem? Ei gransking av gjennom/@ringa av den nye telje­ maten. Kristiansand, Oslo. (Unpublished M. A. the­ sis). Lundeby, Einar (1965), Overbestemt substantiv i norsk og de andre nordiske sprak. Oslo/Bergen/ Tromso. Rosen, Victoria (2000), Er norsk et naturlig sprak? In: Andersen et al. (eds.) 2000, 157 173. Sandoy, Helge (2000), l.lmtejj@rer eller bunad? Om importord i norsk (LNUs skriftserie 134). Oslo. Schlegel, August Wilhelm von (1818, 21971), Obser­ vations sur la langue et litterature provenfales. Tlibingen. Simonsen, Hanne Gram/Moen, Inger (2000), /jx:re jijtij: om skillet mellom /j/ og /,/ i et fonetisk perspektiv. In: Andersen et al. (eds.) 2000, 175 193. Skjekkeland, Martin (1997), Dei norske dialektane. Tradisjonelle sErdrag i jam/@ring med skriftmala. Kristiansand. Skjekkeland, Martin (1999), Tysk-danske lanord i nynorsk og bygdemala. Om ein frisk debatt og om ei gransking av ordtilfanget i to bygdemal (Forsk­ ningsserien 16). Kristiansand. Skjekkeland, Martin (2000), Dialektutviklinga i Noreg dei siste 15 bra dr@/ting og analyse (Skrift­ serien 67). Kristiansand. Sprouse, Rex A. (1995), The double object construc­ tion in the Gennanic languages: Some synchronic and diachronic notes. In: Insights in Germanic lin­ guistics I: Methodology in transition (eds. I. Rauch/ G. F. Carr). Berlin/New York, 325 342. Sveen, Andreas (1996), Norwegian impersonal ac­ tives and the unaccusative hypothesis (Acta Humaniora). Oslo. Torp, Arne (1973), Om genitivsomskrivninger og s-genitiv i norsk. In: MM 1973, 124 150. Walton, Stephen (1996), Ivar Aasens kropp. Oslo.

John Ole Askedal, Oslo (Norway)

178. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century IV: Swedish

178.

1603

The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century IV: Swedish

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Introductory remarks Phonology Morphology Syntax Literature (a selection)

The short vowels generally have a lower and more central articulation than their long counterparts, approximately as in (2) (after Garlen 1988, 61). (2)

1.

Long

Introductory remarks

Swedish, the national language of Sweden, is spoken as a first language by more than 8 mil­ lion inhabitants and as a second language by more than half a million immigrants and by indigenous minorities with languages like Sami and Finnish. Swedish is also an official language in Finland, where it is the mother tongue of about 300,000 people. Nearly all Swedish citizens speak or can speak spoken standard Swedish, within which a certain amount of regional variation is ac­ cepted (cf. art. 185). The Swedish written lan­ guage was standardized to a high degree at the end of the 18th c. (cf. art. 155). Swedish orthography is fairly isomorphic with the pro­ nunciation of the standard spoken language, more so than e. g. the spelling of Danish, Eng­ lish and French. On the cultivating and plann­ ing of modern standard Swedish, see art. 212.

2.

Phonology

2.1.

Vowels

The system of Swedish vowel phonemes is pre­ sented in (1). (1) High Low

Front i y ... e 0 £.

Back u 0 a

The back vowels have normal "inward" rounding, and 1.../, originally a back vowel, has preserved the same type of rounding. The other rounded vowels are outwardly rounded (the mouth opening like a funnel). The two types of rounding are distinctive for the high front vowels. Swedish has no diphthongs. The Swedish vowel system is similar to many Nor­ wegian dialects, while the relation to Danish is more complicated. Vowel length is phonemic, and the phonetic difference between long and short vowels (in stressed syllables) is in some cases obvious.

Front High

I

i y ... e0 E

Low

Short Back I U I I I I 0 I I I I la I I

Front

Back I I [ Y I U I I I e I I E '" 0 I I a

The most striking difference is between the two variants of 1...1 and lal, i . e. [...] and [] as in [b..:s] 'mischief, [bes:] 'bus', and [a] and [a] as in [ha:t] 'hate', [hat:] 'hat'. The long [a:] has a characteristic slight rounding which makes it sound to foreigners ahnost like [0:J. Foreign learners often also find it difficult to produce (and perceive) the difference between [y:], [...:] and [u:] as in mysa 'smile', musa 'muse', mosa 'pulp'. The 101 and lEI phonemes have more open variants (not included in (2» in front of [r] and other retroflex consonants: aka [0:ka] 'increase' vs. ora [ce:ra] 'ear', ata [E:ta] 'ata' vs. lira [",:ra] 'honour'. Examples of monosyllabic words with long and short vowels are given in (3). (3)

Long

Short

Long

Short

vit byt bus vet not dor nat kar not

vitt bytt buss vett nott dorr natt karr nott

bot

bott lott hatt

hit

hat

The distinction between the short allophones of lei and /E/ is neutralized in many dialects: e. g. sett 'seen' and satt 'manner' both have [EJ. In unstressed syllables only short vowels occur, but especially in pretonic position (and if the morphological relation to a long vowel is apparent) the short vowel can keep the tense quality of the corresponding long vowel (4).

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1604 (4)

Short tense vowel

Cognate long (tense) vowel: gjuta 'cast' hus 'house' busa 'be up to mischief bagare 'baker', baka 'bake'

['H] gjute'ri ['H] hulsera ['H] busa Ipa [0] bage'ri [0] baka Ipa

Similarly, short tense vowels occur in contexts where a word with a lexically long vowel is unstressed and shortened: efter aft oha [a] beltalat; cf. aft Iha [a:] eUer inte Iha. The spelling of the vowels is straight-for­ ward. The basic grapho-phonernic corres­ pondences are as in 5. (5)

/iI lei lui lal

< i > , iY! < Y > , 1*1 < e > , /E I < a > or < e > , !0! < 0 > , 101 < 3 > or < 0 >



Long /E/ is nearly always spelled < ii > ; the short allophone is often spelled < a > as in hast 'horse' or with < e > as in mest 'most'. < 3. > is always pronounced /0/, and it is also the normal spelling oflong 10:/, as in hdl 'hole', but there are a few exceptions spelled with < 0 > as in kol 'cabbage'. (The difference in spelling reflects earlier differences in pronun­ ciation). Many words of foreign origin pro­ nounced with [0:] have < 0 > as in nobel 'noble'. Short 101 is generally spelled < 0 > as in stolpe 'pole', but < 3. > is also used, e. g. in words where < 3. > is supported by mor­ phological relations to words with long 10:1 as in statt 'stood' (cf. sta 'stand') and in front of certain consonants like [1)] as in lang 'long'. On the Swedish vowel system, see especially Elert (1970; 1995) and Garlen (1988). 2.2.

Consonants

The consonant system of standard Swedish is presented in (6). (6)

stops nas v vi bilabial labiodent dentall alveolar retroflex palatal palatovelar uvular glottal v

=

b

p

ill

d

t

n

fric v vi v

trill

f r

g

voiced, vl

k �

C

fj h

=

voiceless

R

lat

In central, northern and western Swedish the cluster Irl + dental is merged into a single retroflexive consonant: gard [go:ctJ 'farm', art [u:t] 'place', vars [va:1] 'of which', barn [ba:l\] 'child', sor! [so:\] 'murmur'. This assimilation can affect a chain of dental consonants after /r/, even across morpheme boundaries: Berns [b"':1\1], den ar dar [dEn"'Q"':r] 'it is there'. The cluster is preserved in Finland Swedish. In southern Swedish the Ir/-phoneme is realized as an uvular sound (approximately as in northern German) and therefore does not trig­ ger the retroflex merger. Both the retroflexive and the uvular allophones of Irl are often pro­ nounced with little energy as fricatives. (On regional variation in the pronunciation of /r/, see art. 185). Voiceless stops are aspirated in initial and final position. After lsi the aspiration is lost. Voiced stops always lack aspiration, and this may be the decisive difference between Ib, d, gl and Ip, t, kl in initial and final position (as in bitvs. pit, glob vs. glop), while voice is more important intervocally (as in ruda vs. ruta). (ef. Garlen 1988, 20 f.) The phonemes / bllttt [bloc] 'blue'. (b) Final voiced consonant is devoiced: grov [g ru:v] grov+t > [gru:yt] 'coarse'. (c) Final dental stop after consonant is de­ leted: rund [ren:d] rund+t > runt [ren:t] 'round'; svart [svat:] svart+t > svart 'black'. (d) Final dental stop after a long vowel is de­ leted and the vowel shortened, cf. (a): vid [vi:d]

178. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century IV: Swedish vid+t > vitt [VIC] 'wide'; vit [vi:t] vit+t > vitt [Vlt] 'white'. (e) Final n after an unstressed e is deleted: mo­ gen [mu:g�m] mogen +t > moget [mu:gQt] 'ripe'.

3.2.3.

Verbs

Verb inflection is either weak or strong. The basic differences are as in (22) (although there is some morphophonemic variation, especially in the weak verbs). (22) Strong Weak

Past -0 -de

Supine -it -t

Past part. -en -d

Strong verbs generally have different stern vowels in different forms ("ablaut"), so that the infinitive/present/imperative stern has a different vowel from the past and the supine/ past participle has either the same vowel as the infinitive/present or a new one: bita/biter, bet, bitit/biten 'bite'; brinna/brinner, brann, brunnit/brunnen 'burn'. Weak verbs can be divided into three or four conjugations determined by the structure of the basic stern fonn ( the imperative) as in (23), where the stern of (i) has a final unstressed a, (iia) ends in a voiced consonant and (iib) in a voiceless one and (iii) ends in a long vowel. =

(23) Imp. Inf. Pres. Past Sup. Past part.

(i) spela! spela spela-r spela-de spela-t spela-d

(ri a) (ii b) vag! las! vag-a las-a vag-er las-er vag-de las-te vag-t las-t vag-d las-t

(iri) sy! sy sy-r sy-dde sy-tt sy-dd

Some of the variations between the weak con­ jugations can be regarded as the result ofregu­ lar morphophonemic adjustments. The stem­ final unstressed a in verbs of type (i) is deleted in front ofthe infinitive suffix -a. The insertion of a svarabhakti -e- between the stern-final consonant and the suffix -r (in ii) is necessary for phonotactic reasons. (Notice that the vowel does not affect the tone accent). The devoicing of the dental in the past and past participle suffixes in (iib) is also determined by general phonotactic requirements. The shortening of long vowels in front of dental suffixes in (iii) is the same phenomenon as in the neuter fonns of adjectives with sterns end­ ing in a long final vowel (cf. 21 a). The remain­ ing problem is the lack of an infinitive suffix in (iii). This is a lexical feature, i. e. no general

1613

phonotactic restriction forbids the sequence of a long and short vowel (cf. nya 'new' (pl.), roa 'entertain'). (The third declension was estab­ lished before the early modern period, cf. art. 1 26). A small group of weak verbs have umlaut in the infinitive/present/imperative stern but not elsewhere in the paradigm, e. g. smorja, smorde, smort 'smear'; svalja, svalde, svalt 'swallow'; gora, gjorde, gjort 'do'. Strong verbs differ mainly in the choice of vowels. The most extensive vowel patterns are i-e-i (as in bita, bet, bitit 'bite'), u/y-o-u (as in bjuda, bjod, bjudit 'invite' andflyga,flog,flugit 'fly'), i-a-u (as in springa, sprang, sprung it 'run') and a-o-a (as in Jara,for,farit 'traver). An inflected verb can have two suffixes at the same time. The structure is then: verb stern + finite/non-finite suffix + (optional) passive suffix. Participles are sometimes regarded as inflected verbs, although they function syntac­ tically and morphologically as adjectives: they can be modifiers of nouns or subject comple­ ments of verbs (den skjutna hunden 'the shot dog', den sjungande polisen 'the singing police­ man'; hunden blev skjuten 'the dog was shot', polisen kom sjungande 'the policeman carne along singing'), and the past participle is in­ flected for definiteness, gender and number (cf. 3.2.2.): bunden, bundet, bundna, bundne 'bound'; utkord, utkort, utkorda, utkorde 'driven out'. The inflectional categories of finite verbs are tense and mood. Swedish has two inflectional tenses: present (basic allomorph: or) and past (basic allomorphs: -de [weak verbs], -0 [strong verbs]). The inflectional mood system of Swedish is weak. It comprises indicative (pres­ ent and past tense) vs. imperative (expressed by the naked stern), while what remains of the subjunctive has a restricted use: in its irrealis function it is fully productive only in a few verbs: vore (from vara 'be'),finge (fromJa 'get, obtain') and some others. The present sub­ junctive (optative) is completely unproductive and preserved only in a few fixed expressions like leve X 'long live X'. There are two non-finite fonns in Swedish, the infinitive and the supine. The infinitive, which takes the basic allomorph -a, is the func­ tionally and semantically unmarked form of the verb. It is the head of verb phrases func­ tioning primarily as verbal or prepositional complements, but it can also have other syn­ tactic functions. The infinitive phrase is often preceded by the infinitive marker att [0, at] (see also 4.3.). The supine has two basic allo-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1614 morphs: -t (weak verbs) and -it (strong verbs). It is etymologically a neuter past participle, but the two forms now differ in the paradigms of strong verbs: bit-it (supine), bit-et (past part. neut.sg.); bjud-it (supine), bjud-et (past part. neut.sg.). The supine verb phrase serves as complement of the perfect auxiliary ha 'have' (hon hade bundit honom) which can be deleted, though, in subordinate clauses (eJter­ sam han [hade) bundit honom 'since she had bound him'). (The supine has existed as a mor­ phologically distinct category in standard Swedish language at least since the 19th c.; cf. art. 1 55). Participles are derived from verbs but func­ tion syntactically and morphologically rather like adjectives. The basic allomorph of the present participles is -ande. The suffix is at­ tached to the infinitive stern. Present parti­ ciples have an active meaning and denote si­ multaneity of the verbal action and the super­ ordinate verb: Han sag dll en skrikande fagel 'She saw a shrieking bird' a bird that was shrieking then. Han ser en skrikande ragel 'She sees a shrieking bird' a bird that is shrieking right now. The basic allomorphs of past par­ ticiples are -en attached to the supine stern of strong verbs, as in tag-en 'taken', sjung-en 'sung', and -d attached to the stern of weak verbs, as in kasta-d 'thrown', kar-d 'driven', sy-dd 'sewn'. The past participle has an active meaning when its stern is an intransitive verb (en nykommen fagel lit. 'a new-arrived bird' a bird that just arrived), and a passive meaning when it is derived from a transitive verb (en nyskjutenJagellit. 'new-shot bird' a bird that was just shot). If the stern of the past participle denotes a resultative action, the participle indicates that the action of the verb stern is in the past (as in the examples men­ tioned), but if it is unbounded, the participle indicates simultaneity (Han var en alskad larare 'He was a teacher who was loved then'; Han ar en alskad larare. 'He is a teacher who is loved now'). The past participle is used in periphrastic passives together with bli and vara (see 4.5. below): Stoiarna biev reparerade '" Stolarna reparerades 'The chairs were repaired'; De var plagade av var beundran � De plagades av var beundran 'They were tormented by our admiration'. The present participle is to some extent used as a complement of komma and (Jar )bU: komma gaende 'corne along walking' , (Jar )bU sittande 'remain seated'. The passive suffix is -s: Darren appnade-s (av priisten sjiiiv) 'The door was opened (by the clergyman himself)'. The basic function of

the suffix is to intransitivize a transitive verb, cf. passive sentences without an agent: Darren oppnade-s (av sig sjiiiv). 'The door opened (by itself)'. (The origin of the passive suffix is the cliticized reflexive 0 bject sik, which developed into an intransitivizer in early Old Nordic; cf. art. 82, 83) In some cases it gives the verb a reciprocal meaning (as in De kysste-s 'They kissed each other') or simply intensifies its meaning (as in Han viii alltid bita-s 'He always wants to bite'). Semantically, the suffix is more like a derivational morpheme, but since it is not added directly to the lexical verb stern but instead is attached to unequivocally inflec­ tional suffixes, it has to be understood mor­ phologically as an inflectional suffix itself. All inflectional forms of the verb (except the participles) can be followed by the passive suf­ fix. The preceding suffix is left unchanged ex­ cept in the present, as is shown in (24) with the s-forms of binda 'bind' and speia 'play'. (24)

�

infinitive: present:

=

past: supme:

binda-s, spela-s bind-s, spela-s (i. e. the present suffix -r is assimilated with -s) band-s, spelade-s bundit-s, spelat-s

In formal styles, the variant -es (with accent 2: 2bindes) can be used in the present. Impera­ tive forms cannot take passive-s, but they can have -s with other meanings: Anda-s langsamt! 'Breathe slowly!' Bit-s inte! 'Don't bite!'

=

�

4.

Syntax

For a comprehensive presentation of Swedish syntax, see Teleman et al. (1999) vol. 3 and 4. 4. 1 . The sentence: basic word order. The gen­ eral topological pattern of Swedish non-sub­ ordinate sentences can be summarized as in (25). (25) Sentence Verb phrase base Finite Subject Medial Rest of the verb advl verb phrase

The sentence base is a kind of wild card: any constituent can leave its ordinary place in the rest of the sentence to serve as its base. Even the finite verb, accompanied by its comple­ ments, can serve as the sentence base in de­ clarative sentences if it can be represented in its ordinary position by the pro-verb gara 'do'.

178. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century IV: Swedish

1615

In declarative sentences, the sentence base normally indicates the theme or the back­ ground of the assertion. In WH-questions, the WH-constituent is chosen as the sentence base. In yes/no questions and in imperative (directive) sentences, the base position is left empty. For examples see (26).

The subordinate clauses introduced by a sen­ tence base are primarily WH-clauses, ex­ clamatory clauses and - sometimes - relative clauses. Otherwise the introductory element is a subordinating conjunction like alt, sam (which can be omitted in a few cases) or am, eftersam, fastan etc.

(26)

(28)

Decl. Lit. Decl. Decl. WH-q. WH-q. Yes/no q. Imper.

Sent. Fin. Sub- Med. Rest of the verb base verb ject advl. phrase Han

ville

[-J

inte

ringa Bo efter lunch.' 'He wanted not phone Bo after lunch'. Efter ville han inte ringa Bo [-J. lunch Ring- gor jag inte forran efter er Bo lunch. Vern ville [-J inte ringa Bo efter 'who' lunch? Vern ville han inte ringa [-] efter lunch? [-J Ville han inte ringa Bo efter lunch? [-J Ring du garna Bo efter lunch!

A verb complement consisting of a preposi­ tional phrase can serve as the sentence base, either in its entirety or with the complement of the preposition, i. e. by stranding the pre­ position: Has vem ska du ba {-}? Vem ska du ba has [-j? 'Who are you going to stay with?' Adverbials in the medial position normally are sentence adverbials: negative adverbs (e. g. inte 'not', knappast 'hardly', aldrig 'never'), modal adverbs (e.g. nag 'probably', viii 'I guess' ,ju 'as you know'), conjuncts (e.g. emel­ lertid'however', namligen 'since', alltsa 'thus'). Valency free adverbials - especially short tem­ poral adverbials like afta - can also occur in medial position: Per harju afta inte velat svara lit. 'Per has, as you know, often not wanted to answer'. If the sentence base of a declarative clause is a valency free adverbial, it is often followed by sa, especially in spoken language: I margan (sa) Jar jag till Kina lit. 'To-morrow (so) go I to China'; I sa Jail (sa) accepterar jag lit. 'In that case (so) accept 1'. The prototypical word order of Swedish sub­ ordinate clauses can be summarized as in (27). (27) Sentence base or subord. conJ .

Subject

Medial Verb phrase advl.

Sentence base: [Jag undrade] vem han hade pratat med [-] pa festen. 'I wondered who he had talked to at the party.' [Det var fantastiskt] safina rosor du har [-] i ar. Lit. 'It is fantastic what fine roses you have got this year.' Subordinating conjunction: [Jag visste inte] aft/om hon ville komma. 'I did not know that/if she wanted to come.' [Vi ar fyra] eftersom/om/niir ocksa Per deltar. 'There are four of us, since/if/when Per takes part, too.' Optional absence of introductory element: [Hon sa] (aft) Maria skulle aka bort. 'She said that Maria was going away.' [Har ar stolen] (som) vi kopte i Indien. 'Here is the chair that we bought in India.'

In non-relative subordinate clauses, the sen­ tence base must be followed by sam if it is the subject of the clause. Otherwise sam is op­ tional or - in some cases - impossible. (29)

[Jag undrade] hur mlmga av barnen som skulle komma. Lit. 'I wondered how many of the children that would come.' [Jag undrade] hur mlmga av barnen (som) han redan kande. 'I wondered how many of the children (that) he already knew.'

The topological difference between main and subordinate clauses was established in the early modern period. It may be a consequence of the loss of verbal person and number in­ flection at the time (cf. Platzack 1988). We can account for the word order in both subordi­ nate and main clauses in one chart (like (30) instead of (25) and (27» if a position for a clause-defining element is introduced for sub­ ordinating conjunctions in subordinate clauses and for the finite verb in main clauses. The subscripts of the empty positions in (30) indicate where a constituent has moved from in the main clause (MC) or the subordinate clause (SC), according to the analysis under­ lying the chart (Platzack 1 987).

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1616 (30)

Sent. Clause Subj. Med. Fin. base def. advl. vb. element MC An} kan2 jag inte [-j, Lit. 'Yet can I not go.' Jag} kan2 [-j, inte [-j, Lit. 'I can not go yet.' SC eftersom jag inte kan Lit. 'as I not can go yet' vern} som [-j, inte kan Lit. 'who that not can go yet'

etc. ga [-j,. ga an. ga an ga an

The sentence base normally corresponds to an empty position in the same finite clause, but it can also correspond to an empty position in an embedded clause (particularly a nominal narrative or interrogative clause) (Sw. "sats­ flata" 'sentence intertwining'). Notice in (31) that the sentence base in the matrix clause preserves the syntactic andrnorphological fea­ tures (reflexive pronouns, case) that belong to the empty position in the subordinate clause. (ef. Engdahl/Ejerhed 1982). (31) Sin bror visste jag inte aft/om/nar han hade lurat [-j. Lit. 'His brother knew I not that/if/ when he had cheated.' Oss tyckte han inte aft han behovde skriva till [-j. Lit. 'Us thought he not that he needed write to' Hur mlmga backer sa du aft han hade skrivit [-J i br? Lit. 'How many books said you that he had written this year?'

If the sentence base of the matrix clause is coreferent with the subject of the subordinate clause, the subject position in the subordinate clause must not be empty but has to be filled by an anaphoric pronoun referring to the sen­ tence base: Lisa vetjag inte om hon/* [-} tanker komma, lit. 'Lisa know I not if she intends to corne'. (The rules for "satsflata" in mainland Swedish differ slightly from the corresponding rules in e. g. Danish or Finland Swedish). Even if the basic word order of Swedish is relatively strict, there are often alternative constructions which make it possible to change the order of constituents to indicate their relative informative value. Rhematic subjects can appear at the end of the sentence, in which case the subject position is filled by an expletive, nonreferential subject (cf. 4.5.). Or the semantic role ofthe subject in an active sentence can be expressed by an adverbial (agent) in a corresponding passive sentence where the grammatical subject instead ex-

presses the role that would be carried by the object of the active sentence (cf. 4.6.). The cleft construction is a way of changing the relative order of the main constituents to contrast one of them with other members of a set (cf. 4.5.). Valency free adverbials can be placed in me­ dial adverbial position to indicate a lower in­ formation value and/or to reduce the length and complexity of the verb phrase of the sen­ tence. Rhematic heavy objects can be placed after the adverbials in the verb phrase. On these and other constructions where the main constituents appear in a different linear order, see esp. Ekerot (1995 ch. 5). Local linear adjustments can be made to switch the order between a light and a heavier constituent. If e. g. a stressed subject is adja­ cent to an unstressed adverbial, their order is often reversed: Sedan kunde Anders inte/inte Anders sova, lit. 'Then could Anders not/not Anders sleep'; Om Anders inte/inte Anders kan sova . . . lit. 'If Anders not/not Anders could sleep . . .'. If a weak anaphoric object is adja­ cent to a medial adverbial, it is generally placed before the adverbial: DarJor gillar jag inte dem/dem inte, lit. 'Therefore like I not them/them not'; Han speglar nog sig/sig nog i Jonstret, lit. 'He mirrors probably himself/ himself pro bably in the window'. If a reflexive object pronoun (and marginally also another definite pronoun in the accusative) as object is adjacent to a subject the order may be re­ versed: Nu skar Anna sig/sig Anna i fingret, lit. 'Now cut Anna herself/herself Anna in the finger' . Negated adverbials or noun phrases cannot be placed later in the sentence than where ne­ gation could have occurred: Nu kommer det ingen mera, lit. 'Now comes there nobody more'; Han sag ingenting, lit. 'He saw nothing'; Jag trivs ingenstans, lit. 'I feel-at-home now­ here'. If the constituent cannot leave its nor­ mal position and move to the place of nega­ tion, i. e. to the position of medial adverbials, it has to be paraphrased by negation + nagon etc.: I ar har det inte kommit nagra svalor, lit. 'This year have there not corne any swallows'; Han ville inte skriva om nagonting, lit. 'He wanted not write about anything'; Han kan inte trivas nagonstans, lit. 'He can not feel-at­ horne anywhere'. 4.2. Noun phrase structure. The prototypical noun phrase has a noun as its head with or without determiners and modifiers. The basic order of noun phrase constituents is as in (32).

178. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century IV: Swedish

(32)

I

Determiners

I

I

I

I

(33)

Modifiers Noun Modifiers

The noun can function alone as a noun phrase: soffan/Felix/ griidde/nejlikor. 'the-sofa/Felix/ cream/carnations. ' The noun can take various kinds of descrip­ tive attributes, most of them placed after the head (e.g. adverbs, prepositional phrases, relative clauses, infinitive phrases): tvaflickor hemifran 'two girls from horne', tvaflickorfran Smaland 'two girls from Srnaland', tvaflickor sam kommerfran Smaland 'two girls that corne from Srnaland', en hi! aft trivas i 'a car to feel at horne in'. Adjectival attributes generally precede the noun: en mycket viinlig gammal man 'a very kind old man', en/orflera ar sedan inkopt tavla lit. 'a several years ago purchased painting'. Complex adjective phrases with non-restrictive meaning can follow the noun, if the noun phrase is indefinite: en gammal dam, alltid mycket viinlig mot oss 'an old lady, always very kind to us'; en tavla, inkopt for flera ar sedan 'a painting, purchased several years ago'. Attributive adjectives agree with the head of the noun phrase in gender and number: ny mjolk 'new milk', nytt vin 'new wine'; ny personal 'new staff', nya gator 'new streets'. If the noun phrase has definite mean­ ing, the adjective or participle has definite form: den ny-a hilen 'the new car', min ny-a bi! 'my new car', Svens ny-a bi! 'Sven's new car', denna ny-a bi! 'this new car' . If a definite noun phrase with an adjectival modifier has no other definite determiner, it normally re­ quires a definite article (as determiner) in ad­ dition to the definite suffix of the noun: den rod-a hil-en 'the red car' (cf. Danish: den rode bill. This "double definiteness" was well es­ tablished at the end of the OSw. period. A possessive noun phrase with the genitive marker -s functions as a definite determiner and is placed in front of quantifiers and ad­ jectival modifiers: det roda huset-s tva grana dorrar, lit. 'the red house-the-'s two green doors'. The position of the possessive phrase in front of its head was on the whole fixed already in late OSw.; cf. Delsing (1991). (On the morphological status of the genitive suffix, see above 3.2.1.) Indefinite noun phrases have the structure in (33); modifiers after the noun are disre­ garded here.

Quan­ tifier

Modifiers

1617

Noun

en annan gron dorr lit. 'an other green door' tva sadana grona dorrar lit. 'two such green doors' lite nyskummad gradde lit. 'some new-skimmed cream'

Definite noun phrases expand the structure of indefinite noun phrases with a definite deter­ miner, e. g. a definite article or pronoun, a pos­ sessive pronoun, a noun phrase in the genitive. In singular definite noun phrases the quanti­ fier is left implicit, i. e. only plural definite noun phrases can include quantifiers as in (34); modifiers after the head are disregarded here. (34)

Definite detenniner

Quantifier

Modifiers

den forsta nya lit. 'the first new car-the' den har nya lit. 'this new car-the' mma tva nya lit. 'my two new cars' din brors manga andra nya lit. 'your brother's many other new

Noun bilen bilen bilar bilar cars'

In formal style the demonstrative denna can be combined with a following possessive de­ terminer: dessa hennes manga fina segrar, lit. 'these her many fine victories'. Definite noun phrases can be further ex­ panded by emphatic determiners expressing totality (like hela 'whole', alia 'all', bllda 'both') or focus (like sjiilva 'itself', 'even' ): hela detta mitt fino hus lit. 'whole this my fine house', alia dessa mina manga hiistar lit. 'all these my many horses', sjiilva det dokumentiira beriittandet lit. 'itself the documentary narra­ tion'. A quantifier can precede a definite noun phrase in formal style. The result is an indefi­ nite noun phrase where the definite part is in­ terpreted as partitive or descriptive: en Guds trogne tjiinare 'a God's faithful servant'. A noun phrase need not have a noun as its head. The head may be deleted through gram­ matical ellipsis: Jag tog den grana boken och han tog den roda, lit. 'I took the green book and he took the red'. Some adjectives or par­ ticiples can function syntactically approxi­ mately as nouns, although they are inflected as adjectives: de konservativa 'the conserva­ tives' , nagra anhorigafran Smaland'some rela­ tives from Smaland', alia vara anstiillda pa lag­ ret 'all our employees in the stock-room';

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1618 nagat sott och golt 'something sweet and tasty', inget grant 'nothing green'. Focusing adverbials can be attached to the basic structure of the noun phrase: sarskilt cykeln 'especially the bicycle', endast en bak 'only a book', till och med alia liirarna 'even all the teachers'. 4.3. Verb phrase structure. The head of the verb phrase takes bound modifiers (comple­ ments) and free modifiers in a certain order, reflecting the hierarchical structure of the phrase. The basic order of the main constitu­ ents is illustrated in (35). (35) o

Verb

+1 Particle advl

+2 Objects, Pseudo­ subject, Subj.compl.

+3 Bound advls

I}ta hem katten till Ann lit. 'take home cat-the to Ann then' osatta Ipa kastrullen pa spisen lit. 'put on pan-the on stove-the soon' vara mycket n6jd med dig lit. 'be very pleased with you now'

+4 Free advls

d pi:i] [tru:g > tru:u] [go:gno > go:ono] [0?gn > 0?0n]

In the same way [g] can assimilate to a pre­ ceding voiced consonant: spille finde fremme veedde

[sbelg > sbell] [feno > fenn] [fr",mg > fr"'mm] [VEOg > vEM]

St0dbasis presupposes primary or secondary stress. There are rules for the appearance of the st0d in so far as st0dbasis does not automati­ cally produce st0d. The rules have till recently been formulated historically, but modern re­ search (Basb0ll 1998) has corne close to an ex­ haustive synchronic analysis of the system. Old loanwords have st0d according to the rules for indigenous words, provided that they have been phonetically adapted:

The nasal [n] is especially exposed to total or partial assimilation:

kynisk [ky?nisg], national [nasjo'na?l], begynde [be'g0n?g], mondeen [mAn'd",?n], plaid [Pl",?d]

In words starting with three unstressed syl­ lables, the second syllable is almost systemati­ cally dropped:

landkending mundkurv stenbider hun gar

['lan,hnel\ > 'lal\,hnel\] ['mon,kUl?v > 'mOl\,kUl?v] ['ste:n,bioh > 'ste:m,bioh] Lhun'go? > ohul\'go?]

179. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century V: Danish

lokomotiv interessant matematik

3.

[logomo'tiw? > logrno'tiw?] [enterre'san?d > entrre'san?d] [madema'tig > madma'tig]

Orthography

Denmark has had an official orthography since 1 872. That year the Ministery of Culture issued guidelines for orthography, and a spell­ ing dictionary in accordance with the official rules was published. 3.1.

Law and reform

In 1997 a law on Danish orthography was passed. It states that Danish orthography is to be determined by the official institution Dansk SproglJEvn [Danish Language Coun­ cil], founded in 1955. All official authorities, Parliament and schools are obliged to observe the official rules, which are codified in the spelling dictionary of the Danish Language Council. Before 1997 the spelling rules were laid down through a number of Government or­ ders. The most important of these is the one that introduced the reform of 1948. This re­ form abolished the use of capital letters for nouns which Danish, following the German model, had practised since the introduction of printing about 1500. Furthermore, the Swedish and Norwegian letter a was introdu­ ced instead of the digraph aa, which nowadays is maintained only in a few names. The reform meant that the typeface of Danish texts carne closer to Norwegian and Swedish, which was one of the arguments for the reform. Danish orthography is difficult for the writer, because there is a rather poor corres­ pondence between spoken standard language and spelling - contrary to Norwegian, Swedish, German, French and other lan­ guages, but like English. 3.2.

Quantity

[ge:OA] [kry:bo]

gedder krybbe

[geOA] [krybo]

Many speakers in the younger generation, however, lengthen the vowel in such words so that word pairs like the ones above become homophones. This makes the choice between single and double consonant difficult.

Quality

The spelling of short vowels is extremely in­ consistent, because one letter may represent several pronunciations: spilde [i] hytte [y] pund [u] @st [0]

spille [e] flytte [0] bund [0] r@st [ao]

Conversely, one vowel can be written in dif­ ferent ways: venner, wenner [vEnA] tynde, t@nde [t0m] rust, kost ('broom') [rosd, kosd] slotte, matte [slAdo, mAdo] 3.4.

M ute letters

Many words contain mute letters, so a spelling pro blem arises. The consonant groups hj- and hv- are not found in the pronunciation of the standard language, but they exist in orthography: hjort, hjerne, hjem; hvilken, hvalp, hvil; hjulj jul, hvidjvid In the groups ld and nd the letter d is generally mute: Jalde, held, uld; finde, vand, render There are good historical explanations for the existence ofthe mute letters, but for the writer there is no system or rules. 3.5.

Punctuation

Danish obeys roughly the sarne rules of punc­ tuation as other European languages. There are two official rules for placing commas. One is very much like the system in English and other Western European languages. However, most Danes follow the principle used in Ger­ man and the Eastern European languages. 3.6.

The main rule for marking length is that a short vowel is signalled by a following double consonant: geder krybe

3.3.

1629

Orthographic reform?

New editions of the spelling dictionary always present minor adjustments of a few words, based on documented usage. There are no plans for a reform in order to make Danish spelling more consistent and thereby easier. Two arguments in particular speak against such a reform. Firstly, there is neither a public nor a political desire for reform. Secondly, Danish pronunciation is changing so rapidly that a new and more phonetic orthography would be obsolete after a few years.

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1630

4.

Vocabulary and word formation

Danish vocabulary is of course still growing. Everyday language seems to adopt about 450 new words a year. If we add specialist lan­ guage, the number will of course be much higher. The vocabulary grows partly through word formation on a vernacular basis, partly through foreign influence. 4.1 .

respons, tjekke,fil, live, shake, lease, display, unfair, e-mail

Danish material

Vernacular word formation involves either derivation or compounding. The old derivational prefixes (jor-, gen-, mis-, sam- etc.) and suffixes (-l'rIXssig, -er, -eri, - (n) ing etc.) are still productive. In addition to these, a number of foreign prefixes and suf­ fixes have been adopted in recent times: ergoterapi, antikunst, petrodollar, neo kolonialisrne, semibyg; delfinarium, datarnatiker, vasketeria, reprograj, kosrnonaut A compound may consist of originally Danish sterns or adopted foreign elements: ejerbolig, twerfaglighed, b@rnehus, kropsmer, t@rstege, n@genbade; b@rnemagt, rottenes, fritidsomrade, werkstedssamtale, n@gleklar, punktstrejke Also hybrid formations occur: harspray, speedbad, t@rretumbler, intercitytog, singleulykke, salgsminded, circuittnene Compounds consisting of new foreign elem­ ents have normally been borrowed as com­ pounds: paperback, overheadprojector, offshore, spotmarked, shoppingcenter, steakhouse, hardware Compounds like babylift ('carrycot'), bigshopper ('spacious bag'), monkeyclass ('economy class'), dress­ man ('male moder) which are not found in English may be Danish constructions. 4.2.

the roughly 3500 originally Danish sterns. The others have at some time been borrowed from other languages. Since the middle of the 20th c. English, es­ pecially American English, has been the lan­ guage that has supplied most new words to Danish. Out of the new words from foreign languages, 80 per cent have been borrowed from English:

Foreign material

The official Danish spelling dictionary com­ prises about 63,000 words, which is, of course, far from the complete Danish lexicon. It has been calculated that out of these 63,000 words only 1 5 ,000, less than 24 per cent, consist of

Out of the complex English words, more than 70 per cent have been borrowed into Danish as loan translations: freeze dry > fryset@rre, non-violent > ikke­ voldelig, count down > nedtxlling, tea bag > tebrev About 8 per cent of the new words are due to Swedish influence, almost exclusively as loan translations: letmrelk, finkultur, samsende, eJterslreb, lresbarhed Languages like German, French, Spanish, Ja­ panese and Russian are the sources of very few loanwords. It can be shown that some Danish words, i. e. words that have existed always or for a long time in Danish, have changed semanti­ cally under English influence. A complete change of meaning, however, hardly occurs. Typically, the sense of a word is widened, per­ haps so much that a homonymous pair arises, as in cases like spotte ('mock') and patetisk ('solemn, passionate') which both have re­ ceived the English sense besides the traditional Danish meaning. Often the semantic change is more or less sporadic or connected with certain, especially journalistic, genres. KDnversation(er) may now be used about consultations among e. g. statesmen; the usual Danish meaning is 'for­ mal conversation, dialogue'. HabeJuld ('hope­ fur) is now also used in the English sense, the traditional Danish meaning being 'promising'. The collocations lase en opgave and skaffe penge now appear in the form l@fte en opgave and rejse penge, influenced by the English verbs lift and raise.

5.

Morphology

The Danish morphological system is stable; only a few changes and new developments can be observed.

179. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century V: Danish

5.1.

Formal changes

Peter og mig var der ogsa hende derhenne er min kusine sa ma ham der gar sidst, slukke lyset vi er /ige sa hurtige som jer der er ingen der er bedre end dig kun dem med de bedste karakterer kommer ind

Nouns from Latin ending in -ium tend in spoken language to level the paradigm, so that only Danish inflectional morphemes occur: akvarium > akvarie, akvariet, akvarier(ne) Some strong verbs tend to acquire weak pre­ terite forms. Since 1986,farede besides the old form for has been acknowledged as a correct form. This development seems to be the des­ tiny of the sixth ablaut class (gal > galede, grov > gravede, opdrog > opdragede etc.), and in spoken language tog > tagede now can be observed. The preterite bedte instead of badis frequent among the younger generation, like holdte (and derivations of the same verb) instead of holdt. The possessive pronoun vor-vort-vore has almost consistently been replaced by the un­ inflected form vores- also in written language. There is, however, a tendency to use vores as the singular, vore as the plural: vores under­ bevidsthed og vore f@lelser. The corresponding 2nd person pronounjer­ jert-jere was already characterized as obsolete in the spelling dictionary of 1955 and disap­ peared from the dictionary in 1986. Onlyjeres remains. 5.2.

Case in Danish?

Traditionally Danish is said to have three cases: nominative - accusative - genitive. Genitive occurs with all nouns and most of the pronouns, accusative only with the per­ sonal pronouns: jeg/mig, du/dig, han/ham, hun/hende, vi/os, I/jer, de/dem Governed case is unknown in Modern Danish, and case as a marker of syntactic function is declining in use. This development can be ob­ served several hundred years back, but it seems now to be about to reach its end. In formal written language, a traditional rule for the distribution of nominative and ac­ cusative is to some extent still observed: the nominative of the personal pronouns is used for the subject function, accusative for all other functions. This is a prescriptive rule, not a description of reality. Spoken language fol­ lows almost consistently a rule that says slightly simplified - that personal pronouns in coordinate phrases and as heads of subordi­ nate phrases are in the accusative, irrespective of their syntactic function:

1631

Conversely, the nominative may invade the traditional territory of the accusative: sa er der kaffe til de der vil have It is doubtful, therefore, whether there is any sense in speaking about a category of case in Modern Danish. Nominative-accusative may form an inflectional paradigm, but not case. The genitive is more like a kind of derivation. 5.3.

The polite pronoun of address

The polite pronoun of address in Danish is De -Dem - Deres with the reflexive form Dem: har De besluttet Dem? The De was till about 1965 used ahnost like the German Sie. Children addressed adults they did not know with De, and adults who did not have close relations in their family or job addressed each other with De. During the youth rebellion of the 1960s, suspicion was thrown on the pronoun De as a bourgeois con­ vention. Since then the use of De has been on the decline, and many Danes hardly ever use this pronoun any more. It has, however, not to­ tally disappeared, and it may unexpectedly and confusingly turn up in a conversation. There is no longer a practical and pragmatic rule for the use of the polite De, the confusion is considerable.

6.

Syntax

Compared to earlier stages of the language, the present Danish morphological system is considerably reduced. Certainly only a few in­ flexional paradigms have disappeared (mood, person and number in verbal inflexion), but the paradigms have shrunk so that a Danish paradigm consists of only two members, com­ parison being the one exception. To make up for the loss of traditional syntactic signals, Danish has developed other linguistic devices to establish the grammatical structure of sen­ tences and texts. The most important are the rules of word order and syntactic stress. Fur­ thermore, a strong marking of information structure and certain grammaticalizations

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1632 have produced new syntactic and semantic categories. 6.1.

Word order

Danish sentences are organized on two differ­ ent models. One of them starts with a free place ("the initial field"), followed by the finite verb, the subject and the remaining sentence members in a fixed order: I verb subj adv

I Verb Obj

Adv

SO, Danish is a verb-second language: i morgen I viZ han I viZ varerne I viZ

han nok I hente varerne hjem nok I hente varerne hjem i morgen han nok I hente hjem i morgen

This word order model is used for most clauses. The other model is mostly used for subordinate clauses: conj da

I subj adv verb I Verb Obj Adv I han nok viZ I hente varerne hjem i morgen

It has, however, always been possible to use the main clause word order in subordinate, but not interrogative, sentences: (han siger) conj I I verb I subj I adv I Verb I Obj I Adv at i morgen I viZ I han I nok I hente I varerne I hjem

It is a quite new tendency that interrogative subordinate clauses with a hv-conjunction can take main clause word order: vi mafinde ud aJ hvad kan vi gore (cf. hvad vi kan gore) . . . sa lrenge vi ikke ved hvem kommer egentlig med til m@det (cf. hvem der egentlig kommer med til m@det) det skal f0rst beregnes hvor meget koster en renovering (cf. hvor meget en renovering kaster) This tendency is socially neutral. The subordinate clause word order model has no free first place, but sentence members belonging semantically and syntactically to a clause can occur in the first place of the main clause, provided that the clause is a valency element: det I trar jeg ikke han kan Jarsta () ham I er der ingen der kender () mere hvar I siger du () hun bar? 6.2.

Stress

Stress has an extremely important function in Danish syntax, and spoken Danish has a marked stress profile. Stress has above all the

function of signalling syntactic units. A num­ ber of words with weak stress are followed by one primary stress, showing the end of a syn­ tactic unit. This means that words which nor­ mally have primary stress can change to weak stress in certain constructions. This is what happens in a construction with auxiliary and modal verbs and their main verb: IOle oma ohave vreret Irejst 0

The same is true in incorporating construc­ tions: min nabo ohar Ihund (but: min nabo Ihar en 'hund) The opposition dynamic : static is marked in the same way: han Jejste til USA i 1991 han 'rejste i USA i 1991 Idiomatic and non-idiomatic expressions are often distinguished by means of stress: han viste mig d@ren ('he asked me to leave the room') han Iviste mig d@ren ('he showed the door to me') 0

A combination of first name and surname is kept together by the so-called unity of stress: oS@ren 'Kierkegaard, oH.oC. 'Andersen, oMargrethe den IAnden 6.3.

Information structure

Modern Danish distinguishes almost con­ sistently between thematic and athematic sen­ tences. This means that an indefinite subject only occurs in very special cases, e. g. in generic sentences: en slredehund kan tale streng frost. In all other cases the subject is moved to the object's place and the place-holder der fills in for the subject: nu ligger der en skole pa torvet der er mange barn syge for tiden The contrastive focus construction (cleft sen­ tence) is very frequent in written and spoken Danish. A sentence like det er Ole der skal betale regningen presupposes that somebody has to pay the bill and asserts that this person is Ole. The con­ struction also has certain pragmatic functions. The sentence hvad hedder De?

179. The standard languages and their systems in the 20th century V: Danish

is a simple question. With the cleft sentence hvad er det De hedder? the speaker signals that he ought to know the name of the addressee. 6.4.

Grammaticalizations

Danish has always had two passives, an in­ flected and a periphrastic one: hentes

bliver hentet

During the 20th c. a semantic difference be­ tween the two has developed. The inflected passive is non-subjective and expresses norms, generic meaning, objective intension and ima­ gined action: eykler Jorsynes med bdde Jor- og baglygte regningen skal betales inden den f@rste The periphrastic passive expresses facts in time and space, for the truth of which the speaker is responsible: cycler bliver som regelforsynet med for- og baglygte regningen skal blive betalt inden den f@rste As can be seen, the paradigm of the two pas­ sives is a kind of mood. Certain combinations of two coordinate and concording verbs have been gram­ maticalized. The construction is either static, with verbs like sidde, sta, ligge as the first verb, or dynamic, with verbs like ga ud, I@be ned, k@re hen as the first verb. The meaning of the first verbis somewhat weakened, and the func­ tion of the construction is to embed a state or an action in a situation: han sad og lreste i avisen det gik han og trenkte over lrenge Lise tog hen og talte med sin lrerer dette brev ma du ikke ga hen og vise til nogen The static construction comes close to the English progressive: hun sidder og lreser 'she is reading' hun lreser 'she is a student' 6.5.

Syntactic changes

Syntax has been rather stable during the 20th c., but of course certain developments can be observed. Some of these changes have been mentioned above. In the following, two recent developments will be briefly mentioned.

1633

Throughout the history of the Danish lan­ guage the use ofthe reflexive pronouns sig and sin/sit/sine has been somewhat unstable: vi har givet hende sit/hendes manuskript til­ bage The uncertainty has not diminished over the last 50 years. In particular, a strong tendency to use sin/sit/sine referring to a plural noun can be observed: universiteterne skal vrere samfundsoriente­ rede i sine forskningsprojekter Thus, the use of the reflexive pronoun comes close to the original state in Danish and to Norwegian and Swedish usage. Normally the word at is described as a sem­ antically neutral conjunction introducing a subordinate clause. In many contexts, how­ ever, at is optional: hun siger (at) hun er forhindret jeg tvivler pa (at) det kan bevises vi kan ikke g@re Jor (at) det gik galt But at often co-occurs with one of the other conjunctions and is placed immediately before the subject, not in the proper place for real conjunctions: . . . nar engang (at) vi far tid . . . hvis nu (at) du vinder en million . . . hvor stille og roligt (at) du kan lrese din avis The at is therefore no longer a conjunction, but a general indicator of a subordinate clause. This function is known to have existed sev­ eral hundred years ago, but has been consider­ ed dialectal or vulgar. In recent times it has expanded to written language and even to educated spoken Danish. 6.6.

Influence from English

The above-mentioned tendency for word order in hv-clauses is sometimes considered to be an example of English influence on Dan­ ish syntax. This is, however, not very likely. Firstly, itis not probable that foreign influence over very short time affects the abstract syn­ tax. Secondly, it is an old and well-known phe­ nomenon in the word order of clauses, now extended to interrogative clauses. There does not seem to be clear-cut signs of Danish syntax being under systematic Eng­ lish influence. Isolated idioms with English syntax can, however, be observed:

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1634 det er op til dig vandski, del er ikke /ige mig There are words whose valency has changed under English influence: Ole mis[[enker at pengene er brugt til noget andet In particular, an intransitive verb can assume a transitive function: er del sv;;ert at lande en jetjager pa et han­ garskib? nyheden er allerede blevet hekket til pressen In most cases an existing syntactic tendency has been strengthened under English influ­ ence. This applies to the construction where a pronoun precedes its noun: da han tradle in ad daren, sa Jensen at . . . and to weak adjective + name without an ar­ ticle: tyske Gerhardt Schroder I japanske Toyota Not even the use ofthe pronoun du in the sense of the generic pronoun man must necessarily be explained as due to English influence: du bliver /ige forvirret hver gang du ser det Such combinations are well-known in older Danish texts, but English has no doubt con­ tributed to the increased use of the construc­ tion during the last thirty years.

7.

Conclusion

As regards vocabulary, the Danish language is very productive - presumably like all other living languages. The permanent expansion of the lexicon makes it possible for the language to function as a capable means of communi­ cation. In the fields of morphology and syntax, Danish shows a natural stability. Changes and developments can be observed during the 20th c., but they are few and do not affect the struc­ tural foundation of the language. Phonetic developments, however, seem to be unusually rapid compared to Norwegian

and Swedish. The changes in pronunciation do not cause real domestic problems of com­ munication, but they certainly give rise to an­ noyance and social aggression. Furthermore, the ever increasing distance between pronunciation and written language makes correct spelling a serious problem for everybody, but especially for the younger gen­ eration. And indeed the linguistic correctness of newspapers and other printed texts is very modest in Denmark of today.

8.

Literature (a selection)

Basb0ll, Hans (1998), Nyt om st0deti modeme rigs­ dansk om samspillet mellem lydstrukturer og ord­ grammatik. In: DaSt 33 86. Basb0ll, Hans (2001), Fuldproduktive b0jningsend­ elser og st0d: nogle konsekvenser af en ny model for ordstruktur. In: Sproglige abninger: Festskrijt til Erik Hansen. K0benhavn, 152 163. Becker-Christensen, Christian/Widell, Peter (1955), Nudansk grammatik. K0benhavn. Diderichsen, Paul (1962), ElementEr dansk Gram­ matik. 3rd ed. K0benhavn. Gregersen, Frans et al. (1996), Dansk sprogla:re. K0benhavn. Hansen, Aage (1967), Moderne dansk 1 3. K0ben­ havn. Hansen, Erik (1997), DEmonernes port: St@tte­ materiale til undervisningen i nydansk grammatik. 4th ed. K0benhavn. Hansen, Erik (1999), Skrijt, stavning og retstavning. 3rd ed. K0benhavn. Hansen, Erik/Lund, 10m (1983), SEt tryk pa: Syn­ taktisk tryk i dansk. K0benhavn. Hansen, Erik/Lund, 10m (1994), Kulturens Gesand­ ter: Fremmedordene i dansk. K0benhavn. Hansen, Erik/Heltoft, Lars (forthcoming), Gram­ matik over det danske sprog. K0benhavn. larvad, Pia (1999), Nye ord: Ordbog over nye ord i dansk 1955 1998. K0benhavn. Preisler, Bent (1999), Danskerne og det engelske sprog. Roskilde. S0rensen, Knud (1996), Engelsk i dansk: Er det et must? K0benhavn.

Erik Hansen, Copenhagen (Denmark)

180. The special case of Notway in the 20th century: Language conflict and language planning

180.

1635

The special case of Norway in the 20th century: Language conflict and language planning

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7.

1.

Introduction 1900 1950: The Samnorsk plan Resistance to the Samnorsk policy in the 1950s The political situation that led to the tennination of the Samnorsk plan 1964 1981: Tennination of the Samnorsk plan Conclusion Literature (a selection)

Introduction

The most important and interesting Norwe­ gian language planning effort of the 20th cen­ tury is commonly referred to as the "Sam­ norsk [i.e. Pan-Norwegian] policy". It offers an interesting case for language planning the­ ory - first because ofthe unique sociolinguistic experiment it represents and second because of the fact that the policy eventually failed and the experiment was aborted. The term " Samnorsk policy" covers the lan­ guage planning strategy employed by Norwe­ gian authorities in the period between 1915 and 1964 in their efforts to solve what was generally considered a major linguistic, cul­ tural and economic problem - namely that by 1917 the nation had two competing but lin­ guistically very close written language stan­ dards. Even though these two standards were mutually intelligible to every Norwegian, each of them was claimed by their most fervent sup­ porters to be the only "real" Norwegian lan­ guage. The " Samnorsk policy" was implement­ ed to remedy this two-standard situation with the expressed aim of developing one written Norwegian standard only, and thus solve the language problem and end the language struggle. (Jahr 1992b). At the outset, the problem seemed to be sur­ mountable. Only relatively minor adjustments needed to be made in order to yield one unified pan-Norwegian standard. However, the lan­ guage planners, the politicians and the authorities all grossly underestimated the sociolinguistic significance of the rather small linguistic differences existing between the two standards. The fate of Samnorsk is an illus­ tration of the difficulties which language plan­ ners have to overcome if planned changes are perceived by influential groups in society as unacceptable for sociolinguistic reasons. The

fate of Samnorsk strongly suggests that for a specific language planning policy to succeed, it needs to be backed by strong political forces for whom language is an important symbol in their ideology. Relying solely on practical arguments in favor of changes that imply the crossing of important sociolinguistic border­ lines seems to be bound to fail.

2.

1900-1950: The Sarnnorsk plan

2.1.

The preparatory period: 1900-1917

In view of the bitter and irreconcilable tone of the language conflict during the first decade of the 20th century, it hardly comes as a sur­ prise that solutions were proposed other than those favored by the two major groups of an­ tagonists, i. e.: full victory to one of the two written standards and the complete defeat of the opposing standard. Would it not be pos­ sible, some concerned people began to ask, to find a way out which did not imply total vic­ tory for one of the two parties involved? In particular, Moltke Moe (1859-1 914), a pro­ fessor of folk culture, argued passionately and eloquently in favor of the development of a written Sarnnorsk standard (Moe 1909). The very word "Samnorsk" itself was popularized by Moe, even though the journalist, poet and author Arne Garborg (1 851 - 1924) had used the term as early as 1877 (Jahr 1989, 51). In 1909, a committee headed by the teacher Hans Eitrem (1871 - 1937) published a report suggesting some changes in both Dano-Nor­ wegian and Nynorsk, indicating the first small steps adjusting the two standards to each other. However, since Dano-Norwegian had undergone a major reform only two years be­ fore (1907), the authorities did not want to pursue these suggestions. In the 1907 reform of Dano-Norwegian (Riksmal), which repre­ sented the principal break with written Dan­ ish, upper-middle-class speech was the basis for the changes. In many words, the unvoiced stops jp, t, kj replaced (Danish) voiced jb, d, gj in postvocalic position (e. g. haap < haab 'hope' n., mat < mad 'food', bok < bog 'book'). In plural forms of the common gen­ der, the endings -er (indef.pl.) and -ene (def.pl.) were introduced in many nouns in­ stead of the Danish system with indef.pl. -er in some words, -e in others, and def.pl. -ene

1636 in some words, -erne in others (e. g. hest 'horse' - hester (Dan. heste) - hestene; Jest 'party' Jester (Dan. Jester) - Jestene (vs. Dan. Jes­ terne» . The Danish past tense ending -ede in weak verbs was split into three (-et, -te, -dde) following the pattern of Dano-Norwegian speech (e. g. kastede > kastet 'threw', svarede > svarte 'answered', naaede > naadde 'reached'). Adjectives ending in -ig no longer added -t in the neuter form as in Danish (e.g. et terlig (Dan. terligt) menneske 'an honest per­ son'). (For a detailed account of the 1907 re­ form, see Nygaard 1945). However, in 1910, a minor and rather Ull­ controversial reform ofthe Nynorsk standard represented the first concrete step in a Sam­ norsk direction. The changes introduced in this reform followed some of the suggestions made by the Eitrern committee making Nynorsk's linguistic distance from Dano-Nor­ wegian somewhat smaller: weak fern. nom. in­ def.sg. visa > vise 'song' (Dano-Norwegian: vise), masc. nom. def.pl. stolarne > stolane 'the chairs' (Dano-Norwegian: stolene), strong fern. nom. def.pl. bygderne > bygdene 'the parishes' (Dano-Norwegian: bygdene). These new forms had a rather restricted use - they were allowed to be used only by school children in their written essays. In 1917, how­ ever, these changes were accepted into stand­ ard Nynorsk generally. The idea of developing a Samnorsk written standard instead of Dano-Norwegian and Nynorsk obviously had a strong appeal. To many people, the bitter language conflict situ­ ation represented a major threat to national unity. Was the nation, so soon after total na­ tional independence had been obtained (in 1905, when the weak political union with Sweden was dissolved), to be divided into two entirely opposite camps in terms of language? It was, however, one thing to suggest that a reconciliation, a Samnorsk solution, had to be found, but quite a different matter to find a concrete method to achieve such a goal. It was clearly necessary to develop a language planning ideology based on a fundamental sociolinguistic understanding of the contem­ porary Norwegian language community in or­ der to be able to promote a method for plan­ ned development towards one amalgamated written standard. This analysis had to include an understanding of the sociolinguistic at­ tributes and features ofthe two existing stand­ ards. Such an understanding had clearly been lacking in the decades leading up to the lan­ guage reform of 1917.

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century 2.2.

The Samnorsk organization "0stlandsk reisning" (1916-26)

One answer to these questions was suggested by the organization "0stlandsk reisning" [Eastern Norwegian Uprising], which oper­ ated between 1916 and 1926. Its program was to further the use of the rural dialects of the southeastern part of the country and to argue for the inclusion in the written standards of features from these dialects. From the very be­ ginning it defined itself as a Samnorsk or­ ganization. The dialects of the southeast had a historic role to play, its leaders maintained, by being able to furnish the written standards with sufficient language material to bridge the division between the "western-oriented" Nynorsk standard and "urban-oriented" Dano-Norwegian standard. (For an account of "0stlandsk reisning", see Jahr 1978.) Didrik Arup Seip (1884-1 963), professor of Dano-Norwegian, who was one of the leading figures in "0stlandsk reisning", argued that, provided the right choices were made, it wo�ld be possible to overcome the language poltcy deadlock between Nynorsk and Dano-Nor­ wegian. If the rural dialects of the eastern counties (which were less archaic than the ru­ ral western dialects) were used as the basis for language reform, the result would be that the archaic Nynorsk standard would be modern­ ized, and Dano-Norwegian would be further Norwegianized. Thus the linguistic distance between the two could be reduced decisively. Provided that the decisions were taken and the direction of change established, Seip thought, the development was later bound to move in a Samnorsk direction by virtue of its own mo­ mentum (Seip 1917). Many people shared Seip's and "0stlandsk reisning's" views on this, but there were also many who disagreed, doubting that it would be practically and politically possible to plan the merger of the written standards in this manner. It was clear that Seip's main argu­ ments were based on the relatively trivial lin­ guistic differences between the two standards, without taking into account the fact that the sociolinguistic differences were far more im­ portant and much more difficult to bridge through a planned, fused Samnorsk standard "suitable for all Norwegians", as one ofSeip's slogans claimed. When Parliament decided in 1913 to ap­ point a committee to prepare language re­ forms for both standards, the desire to further the development towards linguistic unification

180. The special case of Notway in the 20th century: Language conflict and language planning

was voiced in the discussions. Only in the two years between 1915-17, however, did a break­ through actually occur among the Members of Parliament in favor of Samnorsk. Frequent debates concerning which varieties of lan­ guage to use in oral instruction in the schools, and especially in urban schools, played a most important role. Johan Gj0stein (1866-1935), a Labour Member of Parliament, agitated vig­ orously in those years to legally protect the use of urban working-class dialects in schools, because these spoken varieties - in his view ­ possessed the linguistic capacity to bridge the gap between Nynorsk and Dano-Norwegian. (On the discussion concerning the use of spoken varieties in the schools, see Jahr 1 984). While "0stlandsk reisning" argued that the countryside dialects in the eastern rural dis­ tricts constituted the only linguistic basis on which to build a Samnorsk standard, Gj0stein was rather more inclined towards the popular urban dialects, the dialects of the workers. What is important in this connection, how­ ever, is not so much the difference between these two positions, but the fact that spoken varieties other than upper-middle-class Dano­ Norwegian were postulated as bases for a fu­ ture reconciliation, and finally for a merging of written Nynorsk and Dano-Norwegian. In this respect the eastern and the urban dialects seemed to lend themselves to the purpose of serving as practical linguistic bridges between the opposing camps. 2.3.

The language reform of 1917

Norwegian language planning policy can be divided into four main periods: from 1 814 up to the reform of 1917, 1917-1964 (the "Sam­ norsk" period), 1964 (the year in which the Vogt Committee was appointed; see 5.1.) to 1981 (the year of the latest reform ofBokmal), and then, finally, the period after 1981. Up to 1917, language planning was con­ ducted within the framework of an ideology derived from the national romantic philos­ ophyofthe early 1800s. Within this nationalist framework, language planning up to 1917 had produced two competing written standards, both of which, after the 1917 reform, were un­ questionably quite different from both Danish and Swedish. With the reforms of 1907 and 1917, language planning had succeeded in changing written Danish by degrees into a Dano-Norwegian standard (Riksmal) which reflected quite closely the spoken variety of the educated and upper-middle classes of

1637

Oslo, the spoken variety that enjoyed by far the highest status in society. However, the 1917 reform also constituted the first major step in a Samnorsk direction. The standard Dano-Norwegian resulting from the 1917 re­ form was structured in such a way that it con­ sisted of two quite separate varieties - one more conservative, mirroring upper-middle­ class speech and with no popular low-status dialect forms, and one sociolinguistically radical with frequent use of eastern popular dialectal forms and forms which coincided with those of Nynorsk. Nynorsk, too, was divided into a more traditional and a more eastern variety, but in the case ofNynorsk this was to be of little consequence in the short term. In the 1917 reform, orthographic principles selected originally for Nynorsk by Ivar Aasen (cf. art. 163) were applied also to Dano-Nor­ wegian, e. g. double consonants replaced single ones after short vowels: sett < set 'seen', gitt < git 'given', satt < sat 'sat'; ndjnn and ld/ll (pronounced [n:] and [1:] respectively) were distributed according to etymology: mann < mand 'man' (Nyno. mann); fjell < fjeld 'mountain' (Nyno. fjell); but sand 'sand' as before (Nyno. sand), and holde 'hold' as before (Nyno. halda). Feminine gender (as in Nynorsk) was introduced into the radical va­ riety of Dano-Norwegian instead of the com­ mon gender used in upper-middle-class speech: ei or e as the fem.indef. article and postponed -a as the def.sg. article: eije sol 'a sun' - sola 'sun-the', eije flaske 'a bottle' flaska 'bottle-the' (conservative Dano-Norwe­ gian: en sol/en flaske - solenlfiasken). Throughout the whole period of struggle over the Samnorsk policy, the use of feminine gen­ der remained one of the most controversial issues in standard Dano-Norwegian. In 1917, the radical variety of Riksmal also introduced the past tense and perfect participle ending -a for many weak verbs: kastet > kasta 'threw' (similar in Nynorsk: kasta), which was also non-existent in upper-middle-class speech. Diphthongs were also allowed in many words, making them identical with, or in some cases, more like the Nynorsk forms, but deviating from upper-middle-class speech: ben > bein 'bone' (Nyno. bein), l@v > lauv 'leaves' (Nyno. lauv). In this radical variety of standard Dano­ Norwegian, many frequently used individual words were changed from upper-middle-class forms to ones which are identical with Nynorsk:

1638 Jrem > Jram 'forward' nu > na 'now' (Nyno. no/na) sprag > sprak 'language' syd > s@r 'south' efter > etter 'after' sne > sn@ 'snow' farve > farge 'color' However, in the more conservative variety of 1917 standard Dano-Norwegian, all these word-forms remained unchanged (reflecting upper-middle-class speech); also, the com­ mon-gender system was kept intact (with very few exceptions - some feminine nouns relating to rural life obligatorily had the feminine gen­ der morphology); and, finally, for weak verbs, the past tense ending -et (not -a) was used. Nynorsk was also divided into two rather separate varieties, the first only slightly changed in relation to the traditional standard (but with all the changes of 1910 included), and the second more radical, incorporating a larger number of word-forms and features from the southeastern dialects. The radical Nynorsk variety thus came much closer to the radical Dano-Norwegian variety. One of the most important differences be­ tween the two standard Nynorsk varieties con­ cerned the conjugation of feminine nouns. While the more traditional variety kept the system of Ivar Aasen - with separate conju­ gations for strong and weak feminine nouns - the radical variety did not distinguish be­ tween the two categories: Nynorsk pre- 1917: bygd bygdi bygder bygderne visa visa visor visorne traditional Nynorsk 1917: bygd bygdi bygder bygdene vise visa viser visene radical Nyno./radical Dano.-Norwegian 1917: bygd bygda bygder bygdene vise visa viser visene. conservative Dano-Norwegian 1917: bygd bygden bygder bygdene vise visen viser visene

The Samnorsk innovations of1917 were intro­ duced into both standards as optional word­ fonns, i.e. optional to the individual writer. In Dano-Norwegian, they included local and traditionally low-status morphological fea­ tures and dialect fonns. It was obviously the steps taken in the Samnorsk direction thatcre­ ated the great tunnoil in the years following the reform (Jahr 1978). The problem was that the language planners of that time, heavily in-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century fluenced in their thinking by the nationalist ideology of the previous period, were totally insensitive towards contemporary Norwegian sociolinguistic reality. They were therefore not prepared for the massive protest from the up­ per-middle classes against the incorporation into standard Dano-Norwegian of lower-class dialect forms (introduced by the language planners because they considered them to be more typically "Norwegian"). The language planners did not realize that the social distance between Nynorsk and Dano-Norwegian was far greater than the linguistic distance. When written Dano-Norwegian in 1917 received specific linguistic features and word-fonns from the eastern rural and urban dialects, this standard had in fact crossed a major sociolin­ guistic divide. This explains the strong reac­ tions on the part of concerned Dano-Norwe­ gian speakers who felt that the authorities had vulgarized their written language. The total re­ jection of the optional (Samnorsk) changes by large and influential groups of users of Dano­ Norwegian strongly suggests that, in 1917, Norwegian language planning had reached the limits of its capacity to change standard Dano-Norwegian within the framework ofna­ tionalist arguments. From that time onwards, the main thrust in the further development and planning of standard Dano-Norwegian has been of a so­ ciolinguistic rather than a nationalist nature. From the reform of 1917, standard Dano­ Norwegian (from 1 929 called Bokmal) has been divided, as we have seen, into two sociolinguistically quite different varieties. One reflected high-status upper-middle-class speech ("conservative Bokmal"); the other had lower-class urban and southeastern rural dialects as its main basis ("radical Bokrnal"). Even though they both belonged technically, i. e. by definition, to standard written Bokmal, the latter variety was closer to the Nynorsk camp sociolinguistically. It is therefore pos­ sible to argue that the original social dimen­ sion of the conflict between Dano-Norwegian and Nynorsk was, from 1917, also present within standard Dano-Norwegian (Bokmal) itself and was given expression in the different possibilities of variation within that standard. From 1917 until 1 925-26, there was strong competition in the schools about which of the two Dano-Norwegian varieties to use. During the years immediately after 1917, the radical variety was introduced into as many as 64 per cent of all the country schools which had Dano-Norwegian (and not Nynorsk) as their

180. The special case of Notway in the 20th century: Language conflict and language planning

principal standard. However, during the 1 920s, the conservative variety regained ground (Jahr 1978, 1 53). An important draw­ back for the radical variety was the fact that, outside the schools, the conservative variety dominated ahnost completely. In the long run, this imbalance had consequences also for the schools. 2.4.

Halvdan Koht and the Labour Party

The 1907 reform of Dano-Norwegian consti­ tuted the principal break with written Danish in Norway. The 1917 reform was partly a com­ pletion of the effort to make the written standard reflect educated upper-middle-class speech, but partly also an opening of standard Dano-Norwegian towards the dialects. The optional new forms of Dano-Norwegian rep­ resented the start of a program which aimed at unifying the written standards. To pursue a language planning policy which would foster a development towards a single amalgamated written standard, one had to accept and argue that the two existing standards should be ad­ justed towards each other through several new language reforms. Because speakers ofthe up­ per-middle-class Oslo variety - which was widely perceived in the 1920s to be standard spoken Norwegian - found their spoken va­ riety reflected almost completely in the conser­ vative written Bokrnal standard of the 1917 reform, they saw no reason whatsoever to ac­ cept new alterations to this written standard. Thus, the nationalist ideology of the previous period was clearly insufficient as a basis for a policy of developing one amalgamated written Norwegian standard, which was by then the expressed goal of Parliament. What was needed was a theory of language planning aimed at crossing the major sociolin­ guistic borderline between popular and upper­ middle-class speech, i.e. defining the popular dialects in general as the linguistic foundation on which Dano-Norwegian, as well as Nynorsk, should be based. The required ideology was provided by so­ cialist theory as applied to Norwegian lan­ guage planning by the growing social-demo­ cratic Labour party after a period of dis­ cussion in the 1920s and early 1930s. The La­ bour Party had up till the 1920s declared itself neutral in the language struggle, claiming that this struggle did not concern working-class in­ terests. A new analysis of the situation, which aimed at involving the labour movement in the language struggle, was presented by Hal-

1639

vdan Koht (1873-1965), a professor of history and later Foreign Minister in the Labour gov­ ernment from 1935. He viewed the language situation and the question oflanguage and so­ cial class as an integrated part of Norwegian history (Koht 1921). He and, later, the Labour Party focused on promoting what they called "The People's Language" (folkemalet). This vague concept was claimed to refer to a lin­ guistic reality, an existing, systematic and unifying core in the urban and rural dialects, on which it was claimed a Samnorsk standard could be founded. Samnorsk, then, was under­ stood to represent the common linguistic sys­ tem believed to unite all varieties of spoken popular Norwegian. To Koht, this represented a modification of Ivar Aasen's 19th-c. pro­ gram. Aasen had deliberately excluded the ur­ ban dialects, and also, to a large extent, the rural southeastern dialects. Aasen carried out his main fieldwork in the 1 840s, before urban working-class dialects had developed in the major cities. In Koht's analysis, then, a sociolinguistic understanding ofthe situation is fundamental. He argued that the only solution to the lin­ guistic question was a socio-political one in which the lower classes of workers and peas­ ants should co-opt both of the written stand­ ards by introducing increasing amounts of present-day popular speech (reflecting popu­ lar phonology, morphology and lexis) into both varieties simultaneously. The standards would thus, by degrees, move towards a fusion and, in the same process, demote and devalue the spoken variety of the upper-middle­ classes. Koht viewed contemporary standard Nynorsk as too archaic, too removed from present-day popular speech, and standard BokmiU as too dependent on upper-middle­ class speech as well as on written Danish. By making Nynorsk linguistically more modern and, at the same time - by the same linguistic means - making Bokmal more democratic, one could develop a Samnorsk standard. Koht's conclusion was that the Labour Party should include in the party's program a passage of support for a language planning policy that would further the "People's Lan­ guage" in both standard Nynorsk and stan­ dard Bokmal. As he put it: "The struggle to advance The People's Language is the cultural side of the rise of the workers." (On Koht, see Jahr 1992c). The result of this process was that the La­ bour Party agreed with the principal view ex­ pressed by Koht on the development of the

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1640 language: a Sarnnorsk standard achieved by an opening up of both the written standards to the same popular forms and features from the dialects. The formula "a wider space for the People's Language" entered into the La­ bour Party's program in 1936. (On the Labour Party and the language question, see Jahr 1992d). Such a sociolinguistically radical lan­ guage planning policy could only be imple­ mented successfully by a strong political movement which was in agreement about the analysis, the means and the aims of the policy. Even though such a total agreement was never reached within the Labour Party, it did adopt Koht's analysis and introduced a profound language reform in 1938. This reform had the effect of dramatically reducing the importance of upper-middle-class speech as the basis for standard Bokmal. This devaluation of the so­ cial status of upper-middle-class speech was an absolutely necessary prerequisite for the success of the Sarnnorsk program. 2.5.

The 1938 reform and the "Oslo decision" 1939

In the 1938 reform, many of the word-forms and features of 1917 radical standard Dano­ Norwegian were made obligatory in standard Bokmal. Thus, the use of three genders had to be observed (about 900 nouns were given the compulsory fern. def.sg. ending (-a» , and also the use of word-forms likefram, nil, sprilk, s@r, etter, sn@, farge (while frem, nu, sprag, syd, efter, sne, farve were demoted to non­ standard status even though they were the most frequently used forms in upper-middle­ class speech). Important new areas ofthe writ­ ten Bomal standard were, through this re­ form, pushed across the salient sociolinguistic borderline between upper-middle-class speech and the popular rural and urban dialects. In Nynorsk, the system with two categories of feminine nouns (weak and strong) was made secondary to the one-category system, which thus became common to both stand­ ards. The language reform of1938 was thus a step consistent with the ideology and sociolinguis­ tic analysis of the now ruling Labour Party, which had been in power since 1935, and with the declared aim of Parliament to pursue the development of Samnorsk. From this perspective, the reform of 1938 was a unique language planning experiment. The most prestigious spoken variety in the country was assigned a considerably less im-

portant role in relation to the written standard by the changes in this reform. Those who spoke Dano-Norwegian could no longer rely totally on their own spoken variety if they were to write standard Bomal correctly. The fact that the same applied to any dialect speaker was an entirely different matter. Dano-Norwegian supporters considered the whole 1938 reform to be an outrage against what they reckoned to be "correct", "nice" and "proper" language, and some years after World War II, when the 1938 standard Bok­ mal began to appear in schoolbooks, the lan­ guage conflict once again flared up. In 1939, the Oslo School Board voted that word-forms which were common to both Bok­ mal and Nynorsk were to be included in the textbooks used in Oslo schools. This so-called "Oslo decision" had the consequence that the textbooks in the Oslo schools after the war appeared in a quite radical form of standard Bokrnal, which thus deviated considerably from upper-middle-class speech. The Oslo market was important for the publishing houses. Therefore, most schoolbooks ap­ peared in a standard Bokmal variety which was branded as "Samnorsk" by the many who were utterly dismayed at the language of the textbooks. To defend politically and follow up the sociolinguistically radical 193 8 experiment with new Samnorsk reforms would have re­ quired a strong political ideology in which the sociolinguistic and socio-political principles of the 1938 reform were implicit. Without the support of such an ideology, the 1938 lan­ guage planning experiment was doomed to fail in the long run. This was indeed what happened.

3.

Resistance to the Sarnnorsk policy in the 1950s

3.1.

The "Riksmal" counter-actions of the 1950s

As already mentioned, a fierce language feud occurred in the 1950s. It originated among the upper-middle classes and was motivated by the important shift in the sociolinguistic basis of standard Bokmal. As a consequence, an un­ official Dano-Norwegian variety came into use. It reflected upper-middle-class Oslo speech completely and was almost identical with the conservative 1917 Dano-Norwegian standard, with only a few, mainly orthogra­ phic, changes in accordance with the 1938 re­ form. The unofficial Dano-Norwegian stand-

180. The special case of Notway in the 20th century: Language conflict and language planning

ard of 1952 thus accepted the following ortho­ graphic changes introduced into Bomal in 1938, all of which led to forms identical with Nynorsk: mig > meg 'me', dig > deg 'you', sig > seg 'himself/herself, -@i- > -@y-, blandt > blant 'among', gjennem > gjennom 'through', mellem > mellom 'between', op > opp 'up'. This unofficial standard avoided in principle the feminine gender, and included word-forms likefrem, nu, sprog, syd, efter, sne, Jarve (cf. 2.3.). This private Dano-Norwegian standard competed successfully with official standard Bokmiil from the early 1950s onwards, es­ pecially in the media and private enterprise. Several of the most prominent contemporary authors and poets used and defended actively this unofficial standard. The two standards, the unofficial and the official one, were refer­ red to as "Riksmal" and "Bokmil" respec­ tively. The name "Riksmal" referred back to a stage of Dano-Norwegian prior to the intro­ duction of lower-class dialect features. The post-war picture is actually even more complicated, since official standard Bokmal was itself divided into two competing varieties, called "Moderate" and "Radical". Thus, a standard with three variants could be identi­ fied, depending on the degree of incorporation of working-class dialectal forms: - conservative (without working-class forms, reflecting upper-middle-class Oslo speech, but unofficial since important features were outside standard Bokmal of 1938); - moderate (with as few working-class forms as possible, but still within the official stand­ ard of 1938); and - radical (with as many working-class (Sam­ norsk) forms as possible within the official Bokrnal standard, and approaching - lin­ guistically - standard Nynorsk). These different varieties thus reflected differ­ ent important sociolinguistic bases: the upper­ middle-class speech variety and - in the rhet­ oric of Norwegian language planning policy - "The People's Language". The opponents of the authorities' attempt to change the sociolinguistic basis for stand­ ard Bokmal and thereby further the develop­ ment of Sarnnorsk were, shortly after World War II, able to organize extensive resistance. They argued effectively that the state authori­ ties were actually destroying the main written standard of the country (standard Bokmal) in their efforts to bring an end to the two-stand­ ard situation. They claimed not to be fighting

1641

against Nynorsk, as in previous times, but against - in their own words - "Samnorsk". The term "Sarnnorsk" itself thereby carne to signify the radical Bokmal variety and thus assumed a new meaning. It was against this variety of standard Bokrnal that the attack now was directed (Jahr 1980). Conservative Dano-Norwegian supporters would not accept that the written variety of Norwegian which they used to consider "their" language was no longer to follow what they had been taught to look upon as "cor­ rect" , "educated" and "proper" spoken lan­ guage. In their opinion the new written stand­ ard, official standard Bokrnal, forced them to write word-forms and morphological end­ ings which they had always regarded as "sloppy", "ugly" or "vulgar". The fact that this view could easily signify the social deni­ gration of those people who used these "vul­ gar" forms in their speech was something they either did not see or, rather, would not accept as relevant. To them the whole affair had to do with fighting against the State's policy of dictating the form ofthe language and in favor of what they termed the "free development of the language" (fri sprogutvikling). The opposition to using the radical Bokmal variety in schoolbooks was formidable and appeared in many guises. The "Parents' Cam­ paign Against Sarnnorsk" (from 1951) was or­ ganized from the western part of Oslo but re­ ceived support for its campaigns from a large proportion of the country. The action took many forms: posters and newspaper ads, pe­ titions and demonstrations. In 1953 they in­ itiated and organized the "correcting" of schoolbooks, mostly for pupils in the western parts of Oslo. In some classes nearly all the pupils had books which had been corrected in pen and brought into line with the unoffi­ cial, Dano-Norwegian norm. The most ex­ treme action by the Dano-Norwegian (Riks­ mil) activists was support for the burning of books written in radical Bokmal. In several places groups of young supporters, mainly high school students, set fire to books, not be­ cause of the content of the books or the race of the authors - as the Nazis had done only a few years before - but because of the socio­ linguistic symbolic value of the language in which these books were written. Such out­ ragious actions shortly after the Nazi era made people shudder and testifies to the high tem­ perature of the fight and the obvious desper­ ation felt by many of the Riksmal activists of the time.

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1642 The Oslo School Board in the end yielded to the pressure from the Parents' Campaign and changed its "Oslo decision" in 1954. Mod­ erate Bokmal forms from the 1938 reform were introduced into the Oslo schools, and this gradually influenced schoolbooks all over the country. (For a more detailed account of the feud in the 1950s, see Haugen 1966). 3.2.

The Language Committee of 1952

Much of the conflict in the 1950s was centred around The Norwegian Language Committee (Norsk spraknemnd), which was established in 1952 following a decision by Parliament the year before. The conservative Dano-Norwe­ gian movement was completely opposed to the mandate given to the Committee. It had a "re­ stricted" or "bound" mandate, it was argued, because the Committee's brief was to continue the work towards a Samnorsk standard - "on the basis of the people's language" - which had commenced in 1917 and been reinforced in 1938. Thernain rationale behind the decision by Parliament to establish the Language Com­ mittee was clearly to try to delegate the difficult language pro blem to a board of experts. How­ ever, this attempt did not succeed. The poli­ ticians still had to fight several more rounds. 3.3.

The New Schoolbook Standard of 1959

The most important assignment given to the Language Committee was to prepare a new Schoolbook standard. The Committee was to suggest which of the many optional forms in­ troduced into standard Bokrnal and standard Nynorsk in the 1938 reform should be selected for use in schoolbooks. The intention was that textbooks, thanks to a more narrow standard, would appear with a linguistic norm that was "in the middle" , i. e. neither conservative nor radical, and therefore would render parallel editions of schoolbooks with "moderate" and "radical" forms superfluous. The New Schoolbook Standard (Ny lrereboknormal) was proposed by the Language Committee in 1957. Against vigorous protests from both conservative Dano-Norwegian and conserva­ tive Nynorsk supporters, in 1959 Parliament accepted a somewhat revised proposal. 3.4.

The Samnorsk organization LandslagetJor spraklig samling (1959)

Only when the battle over the Samnorsk pol­ icy had in reality been lost (see 4.), was the

first Samnorsk organization since 0stlandsk reisning (see 2.2.) founded in 1959: Landslaget Jar spraklig samling [the National League for Language Unification]. This organization gained quite a substantial following in its first years, but this rapidly dwindled away. The league was in no way sufficiently powerful to counter the dismantling of the Samnorsk pol­ icy which started in the early 1960s. Also, the organization was perceived to be one which argued for a more technical or "non-political" solution to the two-standard situation, namely that a standard Samnorsk should be construc­ ted as a merely linguistic compromise between the already existing standard Nynorsk and standard Bokmal. Only in the mid-1970s, when it no longer had any influence, except for two seats on the Language Council (from 1972, see 5.2.), did this organization begin to argue along the ideological lines of the 1920s and 1930s, i.e. it adopted the ideas associated with 0stlandsk reisning and Halvdan Koht (Vannebo 1979).

4.

The political situation that led to the termination of the Samnorsk plan

The Dano-Norwegian/conservative Bokmal advocates were reasonably successful in their cause, even though they did not seem to be aware of the fact that the authorities were slowly giving in. With the exception of the de­ cision in 1954 by the Oslo School Board to abandon radical forms of Bomal in text­ books, there were not many concrete Dano­ Norwegian victories to celebrate during the period of conflict in the 1950s. But the high level of activity and the resources employed still paid off in the long run. The repeated and lasting attacks against the authorities on the language question caused the governing La­ bour Party to gradually see its identification with the Samnorsk policy as a negative factor. One important element in ensuring this re­ sult was probably the fact that the Dano-Nor­ wegian movement was to a large extent allow­ ed to dominate the public scene. The 1950s was a time when political and social consider­ ations surrounding the language question were not so much at the forefront of the de­ bate. Thus, arguments in support of the offi­ cial Samnorsk policy were restricted to prac­ tical and economic considerations: it was too costly and problematic to have two standards for Norwegian. This line of argument was far

180. The special case of Notway in the 20th century: Language conflict and language planning

from sufficient to withstand the much more varied arguments offered by the Dano-Norwe­ gian movement: they defended the written tra­ dition dating from the great poets and authors of the 1 9th century like Henrik Wergeland (1808-45), the playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1 906), and the Nobel Prize winner Bj0rnstjerne Bj0rnson (1832-1910); and they launched harsh attacks on popular forms used in radical Bomal as being "vulgar", pointing to the fact that these radical forms often stood out stylistically as being imported alien el­ ements in the old standard. They could offer striking examples of this from school text­ books and readers. They also emerged as de­ fenders of the individual's freedom to choose his or her language, a right they argued the State was depriving them of. The arguments presented by Dano-Norwe­ gian supporters did not encounter sufficient counter-arguments during most of the 1950s. The Nynorsk movement was busily occupied with its own affairs during these years. (The advance of Nynorsk in the schools had reached its highest peak in 1 944 during World War II when about 34 per cent of all school children in the country had Nynorsk as their primary written standard. Between 1 944 and 1976, there was a steady decline, till it reached 16.4 per cent. Today (2000) it is about 17 per cent. In the 1950s, the Nynorsk activists fought among themselves over what caused the dramatic decline in Nynorsk use in the schools, whether it was the "Samnorsk" changes in the Nynorsk standard in the 1938 reform or something else. The internal battle in the Nynorsk camp was not over until 1970, when the most conservative groups left the na­ tional organization and chose to organize lo­ cally in western Norway). The supporters of Samnorsk did not assemble their forces into an effective organization. The reason for this was probably that they put too much faith in the Samnorsk project being carried out. They thought it would continue inevitably by its own momentum, and they also believed that the government and Parliament were firmly determined to pursue this policy to its con­ clusion. The Schoolbook Standard of 1959 appar­ ently signalled that the policy of developing Samnorsk would continue. At that time, how­ ever, the battle for control over the develop­ ment of Sarnnorsk had effectively been lost. Most important was the fact that the Labour Party now wished to rescind its commitment to Samnorsk. Its leaders no longer wanted to

1643

expose the party to the burden of being in charge of the policy of Samnorsk unification. The political Right, in addition to private en­ terprise headed by the shipping industry and shipowners, supported the Dano-Norwegian movement financially, hoping that the Sam­ norsk policy, which was by now rather un­ popular, would contribute to the fall of the Labour government. The Labour Party there­ fore wanted to remove the language question from the political scene. And without active support from the Labour Party, the Sarnnorsk plan was in the long run doomed to come to a halt.

5.

1964- 1 9 8 1 : Termination of the Sarnnorsk plan

5.1.

The Vogt ("Language Peace") Committee: 1964-66

The developments which had been initiated in the 1950s led to the formation of a "Commit­ tee for Language Peace" in the mid-1960s and to the establishment of a Norwegian Lan­ guage Council in the early 1970s, and finally resulted in a reform of Bomal which was unanimously approved by Parliament in the spring of 1981. With this resolution, the much weakened Dano-Norwegian movement gained a victory which its supporters in the 1950s could only have dreamed of. Nonethe­ less, it was the work and struggles in the 1950s that finally paid off and led to the outcome of 1981. The long delay can be attributed to several factors. The language conflict problem as a whole was first to be surveyed by a committee which was appointed by the Labour govern­ ment in 1964, the "Vogt Committee", named after its chairman, the internationally ac­ claimed linguist Professor Hans Vogt (190386). It was also called "The Committee for Language Peace" (SprakJredskomiteen), and its mandate was to make proposals concerning mechanisms that were to serve as basis for "language peace". After the period of bitter conflict in the 1950s, there were many in the 1960s who expressed a desire for reconcili­ ation concerning the language question. But towards the end of the decade and the begin­ ning of the 1970s, the very concept of "lan­ guage peace" was beginning to be discussed and problematized. Questions such as the fol­ lowing were frequently aired: "Language peace for whom?", "On what basis?", "Who will gain a sociolinguistic advantage through

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1644 language peace?" Such deliberations and simi­ lar political questions, which only rarely sur­ faced during the 1950s and early 1960s, led many to perceive the language plan which had resulted in the reforms of1917 and, in particu­ lar, 1938 as part of a more general policy with clear social and even socialist leanings. From such a perspective, the 1959 Schoolbook Stan­ dard constituted a step backwards, and so the Vogt committee became reactionary (Wiggen 1973). 5.2.

The Norwegian Language Council (1972)

In its report, The Vogt Committee suggested that the controversial Language Committee, with its "restricted" mandate, should be re­ placed by a Language Council. This council, which was established in 1972, had 42 mem­ bers, consisting not only of linguists and specialist language users (teachers, authors etc.), as had been the case with the Language Committee, but also of representatives of the three main parties in the language struggle: the Dano-Norwegianrnovernent, the Nynorsk movement, and Samnorsk adherents. Parlia­ rnentappointed as many as 8 members. (Later, the number of members on the Council was reduced to 38). According to its mandate, the Language Council was to contribute to lin­ guistic tolerance among all varieties of spoken and written Norwegian. The Dano-Norwe­ gian movement rightfully regarded this man­ date as an important victory, since it also meant recognition oftheir own unofficial writ­ ten standard in addition to the official ones. Only as a clearly secondary responsibility did the mandate stipulate that the Council should monitor the ongoing development of spoken and written Norwegian and thereby also stimulate tendencies that in the long run would contribute to bringing the written standards closer together. It soon proved to be the case that this part of the mandate had no impact whatsoever on the actual language planning undertaken by the Council. Imme­ diately after its establishment, the Council be­ gan the process of preparing for a new reform of standard Bokmal, something the Vogt Committee had particularly singled out as a necessary step in a "peace process". 5.3.

The 1981 Bokmal reform

Due to the struggle concerning the referendum on whether Norway should enter the Euro-

pean Community in 1972 (the result was against this), the emergence of "green" and environmental policies, and a strong dialect movement that contributed considerably to more success for Nynorsk in the 1970s, the preparations for changing standard Bokmal in a more conservative direction progressed only slowly. What had happened earlier to standard written Bokrnal during the Sam­ norsk policy period (1917-1964) now ap­ peared to many young people who were inter­ ested in the language question to be consider­ ably more positive than had been the case in the 1950s and 1960s. Proposals to change writ­ ten standard Bokmal were therefore actively opposed, and this opposition contributed to postponing the reform for several years. But in 1981, changes which reintroduced a con­ siderable amount of pre-1938 Dano-Norwe­ gian word-forms and features into standard written Bokmal were nevertheless accepted by Parliament. In this reform, standard Bokmal was in reality moved a considerable distance away from standard Nynorsk. However, the way this was done made it possible to refer to the reform as a kind of "liberation", since it made many Dano-Norwegian word-forms standard again. However, at the same time, none of the word-forms or features from working-class dialects which had been part of standard Bokmil since 1938 were removed. This was nevertheless done by the Council later, during the 1990s. Most of the radical forms made non-standard in the 1990s had, however, almost never appeared in print and had, therefore, mostly lived their lives as standard Bokmal forms since 1938 in the dic­ tionaries. In 1981, the older Dano-Norwegian forms - which had been regarded officially as non­ standard since 1938 - were added to the stand­ ard. This, of course, had the effect that stand­ ard Bokmal after 1981 contained - for the individual writer - the possibility of much more variation than before. But everybody ex­ pected that the generally high social status of these Dano-Norwegian forms would ensure that they would be used frequently. To what extent that really happened has not yet been thoroughly investigated, but the general im­ pression is that the "new" 1981 forms are be­ ing widely used, for example in schoolbooks, albeit not to the extent feared by those who opposed the 1981 reform. Thus, itis quite clear that standard Bokmal has in effect moved away from standard Nynorsk as a result of the 1981 reform. In 1981, the long fight over

180. The special case of Notway in the 20th century: Language conflict and language planning

the feminine gender in Bokmal resulted in a system where every noun that is of feminine gender in Norwegian urban and rural dialects (but not in upper-middle-class speech) could be assigned either feminine or the common gender morphology in standard Bokrnal: e. g. either bygd 'parish' - bygda (with the fem.sg. ending), or bygd - bygden (with the common sg. ending). Of the special word-forms men­ tioned in 2.3., frem and syd were once more made standard, but not e. g. sprag, efter, sne, farve. Later the Riksmal movement finally ac­ cepted the Bokmal forms sprlik, etter, sn@, farge. (For a detailed account of the 1981 re­ form, and of the developments in the 1970s leading up to it, see Ramb0 1999). For Nynorsk too, several smaller changes made by the Language Council during the 1980s indicated a departure from the earlier plan to move the standards towards a Sam­ norsk standard. The most important change in standard Nynorsk in the 1980s in an anti­ Samnorsk direction was probably raising the plural pronoun me 'we' to equal status with vi. Vi was introduced into radical standard Nynorsk in 1917 (Ivar Aasen had only me), and then was made the primary standard Nynorsk form in 1938. Vi had been the only standard Bokmal form all the time. When the Language Council accepted me on a par with vi in standard Nynorsk, this could be taken as a clear sign that the two standards were now drifting apart.

6.

Conclusion

6.1.

Results of the Sarnnorsk plan of the 20th century

In the post-war period, the Labour Party's prewar political and ideological motivation for promoting "The People's Language" gave way to a purely pragmatic motivation: it was uneconomic and impractical for a small nation like Norway to have two linguistically very close national standards. But the only way to get out of this situation was to continue the process of fusing the two standards, and - as things were - this could only be done on the basis of the popular dialects, the "People's Language". This line of argument was clearly inadequate for defending the daring sociolin­ guistic experiment of 193 8. The fierce post-war struggle over standard Bokmil, culminating in the early 1960s and ending finally with the reform of 1981, was clearly motivated by the sociolinguistic consequences of the 1938

1645

reform. Adherents of traditional, pre-1938 standard Dano-Norwegian, which closely re­ flected upper-middle-class speech, launched a massive campaign aimed at repairing - or rather, reversing - the sociolinguistic impact of the radical 1938 reform. The leaders of this campaign were also able to mobilize sub­ stantial support for their view outside the rather restricted group of upper-middle-class sociolectal speakers, and the conservative leaders of business and commerce saw this lan­ guage campaign as a means of fighting the overwhelming Labor majority in Parliament. Thus, the conservative language campaign never lacked financial support. Eventually it achieved its goals, first in the 1960s, when the Labor government gave in and appointed a language commission aimed at finding a way to achieve what was termed "language peace" (it was not surprising to anyone that the only route suggested by this commission was to re­ verse the sociolinguistic experiment of the 1938 reform). Then, with the 1981 reform, many word-forms and features from upper­ middle-class speech which had been removed and made non-standard by the reform of1938 were once again included and made part of standard Bokmal. (For a lengthy account of the history seen from the perspective of a Riks­ mal activist, see Langslet 1999). 6.2.

The social impact of the 1938 reform on speech

The question remains, however, whether up­ per-middle-class speech, after the 1981 reform, has regained the high social prestige it enjoyed prior to the 1938 reform. This appears not to be the case. From being more or less accepted by many, perhaps a majority of Norwegians, as standard spoken Norwegian, it is now per­ ceived much more as just one of the many spoken varieties of Norwegian, albeit one of the more prestigious ones. To many people to­ day, upper-middle-class Oslo speech may sound a bit old-fashioned. It is not perceived any longer, as was previously the case, as a neutral, unmarked spoken standard variety; this function has been taken over by a variety reflecting official written standard Bokmal, es­ pecially with regard to morphology and the root forms of some frequently used words. Of­ ficial written standard Bokmal in its most fre­ quently used form has, since 1938, gradually increased its importance as a target and norm for those who, for some reason, want to stan­ dardize their speech. While upper-middle-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1646 class speech served as the main target variety for standardized speech between 1917 and 1938 - especially since upper-middle-class Oslo speech corresponded so closely to the written standard during that period - this is no longer the case. Therefore, while the written Bokrnal standard in many respects can be claimed to have been restored to its pre-1938 position by the language reform of 1981 (be­ cause it reintroduced many word-forms that were defined as non-standard in 1938), the status of upper-middle-class Oslo speech as "Standard Spoken Norwegian" seems to have been definitively lost as a long-term effect of the 1938 reform (JahrjJanicki 1995; Jahr 1996). (For an account of standardized spoken Nynorsk, see Jahr 1992e). This change and de­ valuation in the social status of upper-rniddle­ class Oslo speech is an important and prob­ ably lasting sociolinguistic result of the lan­ guage planning policy connected with the 1938 reform and Halvdan Kohl's and the Labour Party's analysis and language planning pro­ gram. 6.3.

Successes and failures in Norwegian language planning

The first period of Norwegian language plan­ ning, up till 1917, must in most respects be viewed as successful. The main aim during this period was to develop a national idiom differ­ ent from the other Scandinavian languages. By 1917, Norwegians could choose between two written standards, both of which were clearly distinguishable from Danish and Swedish. However, the second period, 19171964, in which the expressed intention was to solve the language question by replacing the two standards with a Sarnnorsk standard, can­ not be said to have been successful. There are still two standards for Norwegian; they are lin­ guistically very close but sociolinguistically clearly different. This difference goes back to the two opposing social bases on which Ivar Aasen (for Nynorsk) and Knud Knudsen (1812-1895) (for Bokmal) relied when they developed their programs and language planning policies in the 1 9th century. Today the difference between these two bases is still very salient, even though the sociolinguistic impact of the 1938 reform has reduced the overall status of upper-middle-class Oslo speech compared with the status it enjoyed prior to the 1938 reform. Il is still too early to know how much Bok­ mal and Nynorsk will diverge with the collapse

of the Samnorsk enterprise. They are un­ doubtedly much closer today than they were early in the 20th century, but not as close as they were immediately after the 1938 reform. In their most frequently used forms, standard Bokrnal and standard Nynorsk are linguisti­ cally closer than in 1917, but sociolinguistically the distance remains salient and significant. The 1938 Samnorsk experiment was a bold attempt to change the sociolinguistic pattern of the entire country. For the written stand­ ards, the experiment failed mainly due to the conservative Dano-Norwegian resistance of the 1950s and the Labour Party's reluctance to continue with further reforms. For spoken Norwegian, however, the reform appears to have had an irreversible social impact. The 1938 experiment has, it seems, brought upper­ middle-class Oslo speech more on a par sociolinguistically with urban and rural dia­ lects around the country. The absence today of a generally accepted standard spoken var­ iety has allowed for more use of local and so­ cial dialects in all walks of life and throughout Norwegian society (cf. Jahr 1 997).

7.

Literature (a selection)

Haugen, Einar (1966), Language conflict and lan­ guage planning: The case of Modern Norwegian. Cambridge, Mass. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1978), 0stlandsmala fram! Ei bok om r@rsla 0stlandsk reisning. Tromso Oslo Bergen. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1980), Samnorsk. In: PaxLek­ sikon Vol. 5 (eds. Hans Fredrik DahljJon Elster/ Irene Iversen/Siri NorvefTor-Inge Romoren/Rune Slagstad/Mariken Vaal. Oslo, 350 352. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1984), Talemalet i skolen: En studie av dr@ftinger og bestemmelser om muntlig sprakbruk ifolkeskolen (fra 1874 til 1925). Oslo. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1989), Utsyn over norsk sprak­ historie etter 1814. 2nd revised edition 1994. Oslo. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1992a), Innhogg i nyare norsk sprakhistorie. Oslo. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1992b), Samnorskideologi og samnorskpo litikk i nyare norsk matsoge fram til skipinga av Landslaget for spraklig samling. In: Jahr, Ernst Hakon 1992a, 144 148. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1992c), Halvdan Koht og sprak­ striden. In: Jahr, Ernst Hakon 1992a, 69 8 1 . Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1992d), DNA o g samnorsk­ politikken. In: Jahr, Ernst Hakon 1992a, 1 1 4 124. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1992e), Nynorsk nonnaltale­ mat. Eit historisk oversyn. In: Jahr, Ernst Hakon 1992a, 47 68.

1 8 1 . Swedish in Finland in the 20th century

1647

J ahr, Ernst Hakon (1996), Sprakstrid og sprakplan­ legging i Norge pa 1970-og 1980-tallet bakgmnn og innhold. In: Samspel och variation. Sprbkliga studier tilliignade Bengt Nordberg pa 60-arsdagen. (eds. lennart Ehnerik/Britt-Louse Gunnarsson/ Bjorn Melander/Mats Thelander). Uppsala, 167 183. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1997), On the use of dialects in Norway. In: Language in Time and Space. A Fest­ schrift for Wolfgang Viereck on His Sixtieth Birth­ day , 4 September 1997 (eds. H. Ramisch/K. Wynne) Stuttgart, 363 369. Jahr, Ernst HikonjJanicki, Karol (1995), The func­ tion of the standard variety: a contrastive study of Norwegian and Polish. In: International Journal of the Sociology of Language 115, 25 45. Koht, Halvdan (1921), Arbeidarreising maIsp@rsmal. Kristiania [Oslo].

og

Langslet, Lars Roar (1999), I kampfor norsk kultur: RiksmaIsbevegelsens historie gjennom 100 ar. Oslo.

181. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Moe, Moltke (1909), Nationalitet og kultur. In: Samtiden 20, 17 28. Nygaard, RolfR. (1945), Fra dansk-norsk til norsk riksmal: Rettskrivingsstrevet i bokmalet inntil 1907. Oslo. Rambo, Gro-Renee (1999), Bokmalsreformen i 1981 med sErlig vekt pa SErutvalgets arbeid. Kristian­ sand. Seip, Didrik Amp (1917), Eft mal i Norge: Mal­ striden avgjort av denne generation? Kristiania [Oslo]. Vannebo, Kjell Ivar (1979), Omgrepet "Samnorsk". In: Sprbklig samling pafolkemals grunn (eds. Lars S. Vikor/Geirr Wiggen). Oslo, 220 34. Wiggen, Geirr (ed.) (1973), Ny malstrid: Artikler og innlegg omsprak, samfunn og ideologi. 2nd expanded edition 1974. Oslo.

Ernst Hakon Jahr, Kristiansand (Norway)

Swedish i n Finland in the 20th century Early 20th century: Finnish takes over The Constitution of 1919 and the Language Act of 1922 Urbanization and the iniluence of Finnish Opposing forces: unity and contacts with Sweden The fight against Finlandisms Nonns for the spoken language and the language of the stage Language planning after Bergroth Development of the standard language The Swedish dialects in Finland Literature (a selection)

Around the transition from the 1 9th to the 20th c., the position and status of the Swedish language in Finland underwent major chang­ es. The most significant change was that of Finnish assuming within a couple of decades its justified position and establishing itself as the nation's main language in the spheres of administration and culture. While educated discussions were rarely heard in Finnish be­ fore the turn of the century, the Finnish edu­ cational institutes founded in the late 1800s soon gave birth to a Finnish-speaking edu­ cated class. Finnish is considered to have established itself as a fully-fledged cultural language by 1910 (Klinge 1996, 455). Even

though Swedish continued to be a national language, it could no longer be considered the language of the entire nation but rather one used by a clear minority of the population. At the turn of the century, Swedish speakers amounted to some 350,000 people, or 1 3 per cent of the country's population (Allardt/ Starck 1981, 120). This resulted, among other things, in the Swedish speakers being considered and con­ sidering themselves even more than before a unifonn entity consisting of the Swedish­ speaking cultural and social elite as well as the Swedish-speaking commoners (see art. 164, on Swedish in Finland in the 19th c.). The Swedish sense of unity (manifested among other things by the founding of the Swedish People's Party in 1 906) was also strengthened by the increased friction between the language groups and the Fennoman demands that only Finnish be used in public administration and higher education (Meinander 1999, 80 f; Uppslagsverket Finland 3, 266). At the same time, there was a growing awareness that the Swedish spoken in Finland had, in many respects, diverged from that spoken in Sweden. Headed by Hugo Bergroth,

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1648 linguists joined forces to fight against the in­ dependent development of Finland Swedish and to bring it closer to that of Sweden. (For more information on their initial work in this area, see art. 164).

1.

Early 20th century: Finnish takes over

The central government in Finland had oper­ ated mainly in Swedish up to the late 1800s. Although the imperial language decree of 1863 stipulated that Finnish within a period of twenty years would be on a completely equal footing with Swedish in all matters concerning the Finnish-speaking population, it took longer than this in practice. Laws and other important documents were translated into Finnish, and Finnish-speaking citizens were entitled to use their mother tongue before courts and authorities, but the internal lan­ guage of the central government remained largely Swedish. Finnish was used in the local governments and churches in Finnish-speak­ ing regions. It also had a dominant position in two of the houses in the four-estate Diet, the Clergy and the Peasantry, whereas Swedish was clearly dominant among the Bur­ ghers and especially the Nobility. The Senate's working language was Swedish and, to a cer­ tain extent, Russian. Apart from this, the at­ tempts at Russification around the turn ofthe century had little impact on the relationship between Finnish and Swedish (McRae 1997, 34 f.; Klinge 1996, 296 f.). Soon after the turn ofthe century, the status of Finnish began to show signs of improve­ ment. As stipulated in a statute enacted in 1902, Finnish was made equal to Swedish be­ fore the courts and authorities, and only a few years later, the working language ofthe Senate had, in practice, changed to Finnish (Tyynilii 1992, 310 f.). Similar trends were to be seen in the drafting of legislation. The first legal text to be drafted in Finnish is considered to be the 1906 bill that led to the establishment of a new unicameral Diet (Tyynilii 1984, 1 83). The unicameral Diet further strengthened the position of Finnish in politics and admin­ istration. The right to vote was extended to all adults, including women, resulting in a ten­ fold increase in the electorate. For the first time, even the working class was able to exer­ cise political influence - a full 80 of the 200 parliamentary representatives came from the Social Democratic party. The recently found-

ed Swedish People's Party, which attracted Swedish-speaking burghers both in towns and the countryside, won 22 seats. Swedish speak­ ers, who had previously dominated two of the four estates, saw their parliamentary rep­ resentation drop to 1 1 per cent (with the ad­ dition of a few Swedish-speaking Social Democrats) (McRae 1997,43; Uppslagsverket Finland 3, 266). While the changes in the relationship be­ tween the two language groups did not have any immediate effect on the development of the Swedish language in Finland, their long­ term influence could be seen, above all, as an increased Finnish influence on formal Swed­ ish. The laws in force in the 1800s were mainly the old Swedish ones; if new laws were re­ quired, they were first drafted in Swedish and then translated into Finnish. This was rever­ sed after 1906: with a few exceptions, all legal texts are now drafted in Finnish and then translated into Swedish. This is also true of other official texts. As a result, not only social terminology but also the way of expressing oneself in politics and administration is in­ fluenced by the Finnish language. The main prerequisite for the continued existence of Swedish in Finland was, however, the preservation of Swedish environments and a vital Swedish culture. The goal of the Swedish coalition movement, whose political forerunner was the Swedish People's Party, was to create geographically and culturally au­ tonomous Swedish units in addition to guard­ ing the individual rights of Swedish speakers, for example, when dealing with the authori­ ties. One of the leading ideas of the coalition movement was that the Swedish speakers con­ stituted their own Swedish nationality within Finland - which together with the Finnish na­ tionality constituted the common fatherland (von Bonsdorff 1950, 17 f.; Rask 1999, 22 f.). The plans to give the country's Swedish­ speaking areas the status of self-governing re­ gions was strongly opposed by the Finns and could never be carried out. Efforts to uphold single-language organizations and institu­ tions, however, were more successful. The Swedish school system was awarded a high level of autonomy, and a Swedish diocese, in­ cluding all of the Swedish congregations, was established within the church. Swedish cul­ tural organizations dating back to the 19th c. were also very significant. These included Svenska litteratursiillskapet i Finland (found­ ed in 1885) and Svenska folkskolans viinner (1882). Abo Akademi, the Swedish-speaking

1 8 1 . Swedish in Finland in the 20th century

university, was founded in 1917 with the aid of private donations, and was opened as a pri­ vate university in 1918. During Finland's period as a Russian Grand Duchy, the old Swedish constitution had remained in force where applicable. Pre­ parations for a new constitution had started before Finland's declaration of independence of December 6, 1917, and after the civil war, in spring 1 9 1 8, it was time to start working seriously on the new constitution, which was approved by the newly elected Parliament in 1919.

2.

The Constitution of 1 9 1 9 and the Language Act of 1922

The language-related statutes in the Constitu­ tion (17.7. 1919) can, in part, be viewed as a compromise reached after lengthy negoti­ ations. The decisive factor for the status of Swedish was Section 14, which stated unam­ biguously that "The national languages of the Republic shall be Finnish and Swedish". The demands of the Fennomans that Swedish be relegated to a minority language were turned down, largely thanks to the massive support that the Swedish coalition movement was able to mobilize among the Swedish-speaking population (Meinander 1999, 82 f.). According to the same section, the citizens' right to use their own language, Finnish or Swedish, in courts and before administrative authorities should be guaranteed by law. The last paragraph of Section 14 included the im­ portant provision that "the cultural and eco­ nomic needs" of the two language groups should be "satisfied by the state according to the same principles" . The position of Swedish as a national lan­ guage was also clearly dictated in Section 22, which provided that laws and decrees as well as bills for Parliament and other communica­ tions between the government and Parliament should be in both languages. This provision has resulted in all statutes already being trans­ lated into Swedish at the preparatory phase and both language versions of an approved act or ordinance holding the same legal valid­ ity. Another language-related provision was that military draftees, unless they otherwise requested, were assigned to units that consis­ ted of others with the same mother tongue and that could offer the conscripts training in their own language. The language of command,

1649 however, was to be Finnish. This has, in prac­ tice, led to most Swedish-speaking conscripts serving in the same units, which has proved to be important for building new contacts. At the same time, it has enabled draftees to be­ come familiar with each other's regional and local language varieties. The Language Act of 1 922 (1. 6. 1 922) in­ cludes detailed provisions of the division into unilingual and bilingual administrative dis­ tricts and autonomous areas, the language rights of those who deal with courts and public authorities, the language of documents issued by the authorities, the language used inter­ nally by the authorities, etc. The basic unit for categorizing areas as either unilingual or bilingual is the municipal­ ity. According to the Language Act, a munici­ pality was deemed to be bilingual if the Swed­ ish or Finnish minority comprised at least 10 per cent of the municipality's inhabitants. Otherwise, it was considered a unilingual Finnish or Swedish municipality. This has later been reduced to 8 per cent. Also, accord­ ing to a later provision, a municipality is bi­ lingual if the minority consists of a minimum of 3,000 people even if it does not make up 8 per cent ofthe population. Administrative dis­ tricts (such as counties) that comprise several municipalities are deemed unilingual if all of the municipalities have the same lan­ guage and bilingual if the municipalities have different languages or if one or more of the municipalities are bilingual. Coincident with the Language Act, Parlia­ ment passed a new Act on the Linguistic Pro­ ficiency required of State Officials (1. 6 . 1922). Ifcandidates are required to have an academic degree, the person appointed to the position must have complete command ofthe majority language in the district. In other cases, good command of the majority language in speech and writing is sufficient. In bilingual areas, of­ ficials must also be able to use the minority language in speech and writing, whereas in unilingual areas it is enough to understand the language. There are also special provisions for certain categories of officials; for example, judges in unilingual districts must be able to express themselves passably in the other lan­ guage. It should be noted that the provisions of the Language Act are the same for both lan­ guages. The position and rights of the minor­ ity are the same irrespective of whether the majority (or only) language in the district is Finnish or Swedish.

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1650 The Constitution and Language Act did not, however, signal an end to the language dispute. On the contrary, problems gradually escalated during the following fifteen years, but subsided when an agreement was reached on the language policy of the University of Helsinki, and finally ended with the outbreak of war. However, the fundamental solutions to the language issue that were set forth in these Acts remained in force for the rest of the century. The minor modifications and ad­ justments made in the latter half of the 20th C . , often due to changes in society, have chiefly aimed at preventing any deterioration in the minority's position. On the other hand, be­ cause of these changes in society (a decreasing number of Swedish speakers, migration of Finnish speakers to regions previously domi­ nated by Swedish speakers, weaker Swedish skills among Finnish speakers), the authorities do not always in practice offer Swedish servi­ ces in accordance with the Language Act. The Constitution's language section was changed in 1995 in connection with a general revision to the provisions governing the basic rights and liberties of individuals. The right to use Swedish or Finnish when dealing with authorities was extended to cover all " individ­ uals" (in Swedish envar), not only "citizens", and the responsibility to provide for the cul­ tural and societal (previously "cultural and economic' ') needs ofthe Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking populations on an equal basis was given to "the public authorities" (in Swedish del alimiinnna), not only to "the state". A new paragraph on the linguistic rights of the Sarni people and other language minorities was also drafted. The new section on linguistic rights is included unchanged in the new Constitution of Finland, which took effect in spring 2000. In autumn 1999, the goverrnnent appointed a commission to prepare an entirely new Lan­ guage Act that would replace the outdated Act of 1922. The formulation of the commission's task clearly showed that it did not aim to weaken the rights of minorities but rather to prepare an act thatwould promote their rights in modern society using the provisions of the new Constitution as the starting point. The new Language Act was passed by Parliament in 2003. It includes largely the same provisions as the previous Language Act but is more clearly formulated and puts more responsibil­ ity on the authorities to ensure that language services work in practice.

3.

Urbanization and the influence of Finnish

Characteristic of the 20th c., and particularly its latter half, was intensive urbanization, which resulted in Finnish speakers moving to southern regions previously inhabited mainly by Swedish speakers, above all to Helsinki and the surrounding municipalities. In and around 1900, the number of Swedish and Finnish speakers in Helsinki was nearly equal, while the surrounding municipalities were almost completely Swedish-speaking. Although there was no notable decrease in the actual number of Swedish speakers, their percentage in these municipalities dropped to under 10 by the end of the 20th c. (Allardt/Starck 1981, 148 f.; Finnas 2001 , 43). Towards the end of the 20th c., it became increasingly more difficult to use Swedish in most domains: at shops and in the workplace, during leisure time, and even when dealing with authorities despite all the language­ related legislation. Swedish is now heard less and less on the streets. On an individual level, bilingualism has become more common among Swedish speakers, partly due to an in­ creasing number of marriages across the lan­ guage groups. In many cases, bilingualism in one generation has led to unilingual Finnish usage in the next (Tandefelt 1988). Even those who still consider themselves Swedish speak­ ers sometimes exhibit an unreliable linguistic intuition, which has led to an increased Finn­ ish influence on Swedish in general. This is apparent in vocabulary, phrases and construc­ tions, and in the extreme in unidiomatic usage of the language. This last issue particularly concerns the generation that has grown up during the final two decades of the 20th c. and seems to be linked to the fact that the Swedish school in Finland is no longer a clearly unilin­ gual Swedish environment (Tandefelt 1996; Leinonenrrandefelt 2000). While it is in itself a positive phenomenon that children from families speaking mainly or only Finnish at­ tend pre-school and school with Swedish­ speaking children in order to improve their Swedish or learn a new language, it tends to make the school environment more Finnish and may even harm the quality of teaching. The influence of Finnish has been consider­ ably smaller in Ostro bothnia and the more ru­ ral areas of southern Finland. At the end of the century, halfof the 292,000 Swedish speak­ ers in Finland (5.7 per cent of the total popu­ lation) lived in municipalities with a Swedish

1 8 1 . Swedish in Finland in the 20th century

majority. In addition to Aland, there were five other unilingual Swedish-speaking municipal­ ities, four of which were located in Ostroboth­ nia. The 42 bilingual municipalities divided into 22 with Swedish and 20 with Finnish as the majority language (Finnas 2001, 1 0 - 1 2).

4.

Opposing forces: unity and contact with Sweden

How is it possible that Finland's Swedish­ speaking minority, making up less than 1 0 per cent of the population, has been able to keep its language relatively intact even in urban en­ vironments where speakers live widely spread out and surrounded by a dominant Finnish population? The main explanation is surely the compre­ hensive network of schools and universities, which has enabled practically all Swedish speakers to enjoy education in Swedish from pre-school to university. Not only Swedish and bilingual municipalities but also several big towns in the unilingually Finnish parts of the country have Swedish-language schools. Academic education in Swedish is offered at the Swedish-speaking Abo Akademi Univer­ sity, Swedish School of Economics and Busi­ ness Administration, and Swedish School of Social Science, as well as the bilingual Univer­ sity of Helsinki and the Helsinki University of Technology, while higher vocational educa­ tion in Swedish is offered at several polytech­ nics. Schools play an important unifying role in local societies and are complemented by a tight network of both local and national as­ sociations, organizations and cultural insti­ tutes as well as Swedish-language mass media with an unusually wide coverage in proportion to the number of inhabitants. Finland has a Swedish diocese, which comprises Swedish and bilingual congregations, two big and sev­ eral smaller Swedish publishing houses, half a dozen professional theatres, as well as ap­ proximately ten newspapers and dozens of magazines published in Swedish. The Finnish broadcasting company has continually ex­ panded its Swedish operations. At the end of the 20th c., the company broadcast radio pro­ grammes in Swedish over two radio channels and some 25 hours per week of Swedish tele­ vision programmes. Contact with Sweden and the Swedish spoken there has always existed, not least be­ cause the Swedish speakers in both countries

1651 have shared literature written in Swedish. Per­ sonal contacts strengthened in particular after the Second World War thanks to improved communications. Boats and, since the 1960s, big ferries have shuttled between the countries loaded with passengers. In the decades follow­ ing the war, many Swedish speakers sub­ scribed to a newspaper or weekly published in Sweden. Swedish TV (from Sweden) has al­ ways been available in Ostrobothnia and on Aland, while households in southern Finland have had access to it since 1988. On the other hand, the number of viewers indicates that relatively few Swedish speakers in Finnish re­ gions watch Swedish TV. Youth culture and entertainment are usually dominated by Finn­ ish and English. An important factor for the development of Swedish in Finland has been the purposeful work carried out to prevent Finland Swedish from diverging from Sweden Swedish. In the beginning, language planning activities were carried out by individuals, the most important of which was Hugo Bergroth, professor at the University of Helsinki. Since the mid-1970s, these activities have been institutionalized un­ der state control.

5.

The fight against Finlandisrns

On November 6, 1917, exactly one month be­ fore Finland's declaration of independence, Hugo Bergroth signed the preface of his book Finlandssvenska. Handledning till undvikande av provinsialismer i tal och skrift [Finland Swedish. A guide to avoiding provincialisms in speech and writing; Bergroth 1917a]. The date was hardly a coincidence: November 6th was the date of Gustavus II Adolfus' death and had been celebrated as a special festival by the Swedes in Finland since 1908. The sec­ ond, revised edition of the book came out in 1928 and is the one that the following para­ graphs are based on. In 1918, Bergroth pub­ lished an abridged version of the book for school use under the name Hogsvenska. The book was published regularly up to the 1970s, revised by Bjorn Pettersson after Bergroth's death. Bergroth's book is the most comprehensive and carefully structured documentation ofthe material that had been collected since the 1 880s on the deviations of Finland Swedish from the language in Sweden. The collection of the material had been organized partly by the Svenska landsmalsforeningen and indivi-

1652 dual researchers in Finland, partly by re­ searchers interested in the subject in Sweden (for more details, see art. 164). In addition to the significance that Berg­ roth's Finlandssvenska must have had for the development of Finland Swedish in the 1900s, it provides valuable information on the Swedish of the time and the prevailing view of languages and language planning. Berg­ roth's preface also gives a detailed account of how the material was collected and selected in close co-operation between linguists work­ ing on Swedish in Finland and Sweden. The long introduction to the book includes a broad and surprisingly modern description of lin­ guistic variation in general and the reasons be­ hind the special development of Finland Swedish, complemented by a language plan­ ning policy, the essentials of which are still followed by modern-day language planners. Hugo Bergroth points out repeatedly that the Swedish he describes - and tries to influ­ ence - is the language spoken by educated people. It does not cover dialects or the lan­ guage of the working class in towns. In view of his background and the circumstances of the time, it is understandable that Bergroth referred primarily to the Swedish spoken in Helsinki and Turku, although references to the Swedish used in Ostrobothnia were also in­ cluded, particularly in the chapter on pronun­ ciation. Although the first edition of Finlands­ svenska was published over eighty years ago, most of the features described in it still exist in the Swedish currently spoken in Finland. This is true for pronunciation as well as mor­ phology, syntax and the lexicon. With regard to pronunciation, Bergroth realizes that the Swedish speakers in Finland cannot learn the intonation used in Sweden (among other things, because Finland Swe­ dish lacks the distinction between acute and grave accent), and claims that attempts to imi­ tate individual sounds of Sweden Swedish would "constitute an unbearable constraint on us and make our speech ridiculously af­ fected" (Bergroth 1928, 28). He instead pushes for a more "energetic" pronunciation and maintains that Swedish speakers in Finland should follow the Sweden Swedish pronun­ ciation on the phonemic level (a term that was not in use in Bergroth's time). In Bergroth's view, for example, the merging of the long a and long e in words such as vava and veva, mata and meta should be actively fought against (1928, 35).

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century Another feature of pronunciation that Berg­ roth strongly opposes is the tendency of Fin­ land Swedish to pronounce the vowels in stressed open syllables as short ones in a number of common words, such as the mono­ syllabic duo ja ( jag) and de ( del), and polysyllabic words, such as hela, mina, fore­ stalla, oversattning, kamera. According to the general quantity rule in Swedish, stressed syl­ lables should be long, that is, either contain a long vowel or a long consonant. Considering modern-day language use, it is easy to notice that Bergroth's pronunciation rules have not had any substantial influence on Finland Swedish practice, despite the ear­ nest attempts of Swedish teachers. The short­ syllable pronunciation is still nearly as wide­ spread as it was eighty years ago although it is, in principle, avoided in refined speech, and the merging of long ii and long e (except in a position preceding r) has spread to practically all Swedish-speaking regions in Finland. As for other linguistic levels, it is more dif­ ficult to determine the influence that Finlands­ svenska and in particular Hogsvenska have had on language development. During the eighty years that have passed since the publi­ cation of Finlandssvenska, language use has naturally changed considerably, both in Fin­ land and Sweden. Many of the morphological and some of the lexical characteristics that Bergroth discusses have disappeared from Finland Swedish due to natural causes, not least because of the in­ fluence that the written language and its forms have had on the spoken language. This is true, for example, of more or less dialectal inflected forms, such as the plurals backor, kragor, arar (instead of backar, kragar, aror). It is, how­ ever, noteworthy that many of the issues dis­ cussed by Bergroth concerning, for example, deviant verb conjugation and noun inflection have survived to this day, although they may be less frequent in print. Forms such as ett iippel, pI. iippel (cf. eft iipple. iipplen) and en nummer, pI. numror (for ett nummer, nummer) are still very common in the Swedish spoken in Finland despite the efforts of Swedish teachers over nearly one hundred years. As concerns the lexicon, many of the words and expressions that Bergroth mentions seem unfamiliar or at least outdated from the point of view of today's Swedish speakers in Fin­ land. On the other hand,many ofthe examples have survived and are very much alive - some of them belonging to the central lexicon of the language - while many new Finlandisms have �

�

1 8 1 . Swedish in Finland in the 20th century

appeared mainly as a result of the influence of Finnish. In other words, it is difficult to say how much of a direct influence on language usage Bergroth's books Finlandssvenska and Hog­ svenska have had, although it has probably been considerable. However, it is clear that they have significantly affected our view of language planning and correctness, as well as our awareness ofthe characteristics of Finland Swedish and the advantages of Finland Swed­ ish developing in step with Sweden Swedish and remaining a variant of standard Swedish. During the whole century, Bergroth's spirit has influenced mother tongue education at Swedish schools in Finland and has character­ ized Swedish language planning. After Bergroth, our knowledge of the dif­ ferences between Finland Swedish and Swe­ den Swedish has been kept up to date thanks to the work of several researchers from Swe­ den, such as Valdemar Langlet (1930), Harry Stenrnark (1983), Birger Liljestrand (1985) and Christina Melin-Kapilii (1996). Their work has served as a basis for later language planning activities. The campaign against Finlandisms has cer­ tainly sometimes gone too far and become a hindrance to language use and creativity. Na­ turally, excessively eager attempts to eliminate Finlandisms from the language have occasion­ ally also met with opposition. In general, how­ ever, the main ideas ofthe campaign were gen­ erally agreed upon throughout the 20th c.: the Swedish in Finland is a variety of standard Swedish and should not be allowed to diverge from the Swedish of Sweden. It has also been taken for granted that Finland Swedish has and is allowed to have its own linguistic fea­ tures due to differences in the societies, cul­ tures and traditions.

6.

Norms for the spoken language and the language of the stage

Spoken Finland Swedish of the early 20th c. was highly variable. Most commoners used a dialect, partly even in towns. The Swedish used by the Swedish speakers outside the ac­ tual Swedish-speaking communities had often been strongly influenced by Finnish and in Viborg also by German and Russian. The educated Swedish upper class in towns such as Helsinki and Turku spoke a language that did not exhibit as strong an influence of

1653 Finnish or the vernaculars but still displayed clear provincial features. Discussions on the planning and develop­ ment of spoken Swedish in Finland centred around the language of the stage. A Swedish national theatre had been inaugurated in Hel­ sinki in 1860, but well into the 1900s, the ac­ tors still carne from Sweden and the language used was Sweden Swedish. A fully domestic theatre was established in Turku in 1894, and around the same time discussions arose on the need to create a refined language for the stage, which could be used as a model for educated spoken Swedish. The discussions culminated during the first half of the 1910s, and in 1915 a decision was made that the Helsinki Swedish Theatre would be "nationalized", that is, it would start to employ Swedish-speaking ac­ tors from Finland (Lauren 1985, 33 f.). Even in this field, itwas Hugo Bergroth who made the decisive contribution. Soon after the nationalization of the theatre, Bergroth wrote a detailed statement addressed to the theatre's relief association, Om grunderna for faststal­ landet av eft svenskt scensprakfor Finland [On the basis for establishing a Swedish theatre language for Finland; Bergroth 191 7b]. The idea was that the Swedish Theatre should use a language that could become the model for Swedish speakers in Finland: "standard Swed­ ish modified by the features of pronunciation that our nation cannot be expected to free itself from" (Bergroth 1917b, 9). The starting point for the norm was first and foremost the spoken language used by the educated classes in the capital. In short, the detailed programme proposed the following: The Swedish theatre in Helsinki would not use the grave accent and exclusively Sweden Swedish pronunciation of vowels and consonants. It would, however, follow the rules of quantity in Sweden Swedish, which meant that the so-called short-syllable pro­ nunciation (cf. 5.) was not acceptable. Typical of the normative language of the stage was an unshortened pronunciation of inte, skulle and maste (normally pronounced as int', sku', mast'in Finland Swedish) and audible endings in word forms such as taket (take'), kastade (kasta') and kastat (kasta'). As regards word inflexion, word formation, the lexicon, word meanings, phrases and syntax, the Finland Swedish stage language was to depart as little as possible from the Swedish spoken in Sweden. The rules were not to be interpreted as ab­ solute regulations, because the author's right

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1654 to choose Finland Swedish words and expres­ sions for artistic and stylistic reasons had to be taken into consideration. In plays dealing with everyday situations in Finland Swedish environments, specific Finland Swedish fea­ tures were allowed so that the correct local colour could be achieved. The principles that were laid down for the language of the stage became guidelines for other types of refined spoken language, such as public speeches and lectures, sermons, and later on the language used on radio and TV. This "language ideal" did not, however, leave any notable traces in the casual spoken lan­ guage. The influence of the written language on spoken language, which has been so char­ acteristic of the Swedish spoken in Sweden during the latter half of the 20th c., has not been nearly as evident in the development of casual spoken Swedish in Finland. The short syllables in certain word types and shortened forms such as int', sku ', mast' and take', tala ' are totally dominant in spontaneous spoken language. It is therefore understandable that the lan­ guage of the stage, which many found to be artificial, also raised opposition. For example, a lively debate was carried out in 1962, the starting point being an article by Bengt Ahl­ fors, author and director. Ahlfors maintained that the language of the theatre lacked any real contact with the Finland Swedish lan­ guage used in everyday life. The theatre's task was not to serve language planning purposes. Ifnorrnal people were portrayed on the stage, the stage had to use their language as well. The debate had no immediate influence on the language used in the Swedish Theatre or on the radio, but in the long run it resulted in a change and a differentiation that made room for a more casual form of spoken Finland Swedish in situations where it sounded natur­ al. At higher stylistic levels (e.g. announcers and news anchors on radio and TV), the tra­ ditional refined spoken Finland Swedish held its position.

7.

Language planning after Bergroth

The need for continued language planning ac­ tivities led to the Swedish Assembly ofFinland appointing a special committee for Swedish language planning in 1942. The committee took a stand on the more significant and com­ prehensive principles of language correctness, while daily guidance and operations were

managed by a part-time secretary (Uppslags­ verket Finland, part 3, 177). Official Swedish language planning took a big step forward when the national Research Institute for the Languages of Finland was es­ tablished in 1976. The Institute first employed only one full-time researcher for Swedish lan­ guage planning, but the number was later in­ creased as a result of growing demand. At the end of the century, the Swedish language planning unit comprised five employees. Its operations were partly financed by outside cli­ ents, such as the Finnish Broadcasting Com­ pany. Language planning aims at giving advice and recommendations in language-related questions to key individuals and institutions: these include governmental authorities, mass media, publishing houses, translators and teachers. Operations are guided by the notion that the Swedish in Finland should remain a functional variety of standard Swedish. The main activities include language guidance for the public, courses and consultation, language proofing of textbooks for schools and public texts with wide distribution, publication ofthe Sprakbruk magazine as well as a variety of word lists and, since the mid-1990s, the pro­ vision of various kinds of linguistic informa­ tion on the Web. Language planners in Fin­ land work in close contact with language com­ mittees in Sweden and the other Nordic coun­ tries.

8.

Development of the standard language

It is clear that the Swedish in Finland is far from uniform even if actual dialects are not taken into consideration. The major differ­ ences 0 bviously concern the spoken language, but even the written language exhibits both stylistic and regional differences. Themost ap­ parent division, particularly when dealing with the spoken language, can be seen between the Swedish in Ostro bothnia and that spoken in southern Finland. Generally, the Swedish spoken in Ostrobothnia has been influenced by dialects and partially also by Sweden Swedish, while the Swedish used in southern Finland shows more Finnish colouring. This is true of pronunciation, syntax and the lexi­ con. In addition, the Swedish on Aland in­ cludes considerably more features of the Swedish spoken in Sweden and fewer Finland­ isms than does the mainland Finland Swedish.

1 8 1 . Swedish in Finland in the 20th century

The written Swedish language has essential­ ly developed in the same direction as that in Sweden. This concerns both purely linguistic features (e. g. the new spelling rules from 1906 and the elimination of plural verb forms), as well as stylistic issues (simplified syntax, spoken language forms in writing). The close connections between Sweden and Finland are a natural reason for this. All Swedish litera­ ture is considered as one entity irrespective of whether the books are published in Sweden or Finland. Dictionaries published in Sweden have fully accepted authority in Finland. A good example of how the Swedish written language in Finland has followed develop­ ments in Sweden is legal language. The prin­ ciple has been to implement linguistic reforms in Sweden for Swedish legal language in Fin­ land within a few years. For example, the plur­ al verb forms were eliminated in 1968, and in 1980 the Governmental Swedish Language Board decided to recommend the implemen­ tation of a number of forms that had previ­ ously been considered too commonplace for legal language. These included, for example, inte instead of icke and ej, bara in addition to endast, forms such as bestiims, dams and er­ kiinns instead of bestiimmes, domes and er­ kiinnes. Soon afterwards, the recommendation was extended to encompass short forms such as tas and dras instead of tages and drages, after this had been proposed in Sweden. Fol­ lowing Sweden's example, Swedish in Finland has striven towards a more simple sentence structure, although this has not always been easy to carry out since legal texts are translated from Finnish (von Bonsdorff 1984; Svenskt lagsprilk i Finland 1992; 1 998). The syntax of written Finland Swedish does not show many deviant features. Texts trans­ lated from Finnish sometimes exhibit a word order influenced by Finnish (especially con­ cerning the placing of the adverbial) and, for example, genitive constructions that are not typical of Swedish (e. g. teieJonensfiyttningsav­ gifter for avgifter Jar fiyttning av teieJon). The use of skulle in conditional subordinate clau­ ses is relatively common especially in spoken but also in written language (e. g. Om det inte skulle regna sa skulle jag cykia till jobbet). The lexicon of Finland Swedish has also de­ veloped in parallell with Sweden Swedish in the 20th c., but, as a rule, with a certain time lag: new Swedish words tend not to be taken into use at once by Swedish speakers in Fin­ land. Correspondingly, old words and word forms often survive longer in Finland Swedish

1655 than in Sweden Swedish: for example, bar­ berare for herrfrisar and forms such as flere (fiera, fier) and besiuter, besiot, besiutit (be­ slutar, beslutade, beslutat). Terminology related to politics and society has often been created by direct translation from Finnish. This was a practice typically ap­ plied to legal language until the late 1970s, when closer contacts were established with legal language experts in Sweden and the policy of using, whenever possible, the term adopted in Sweden was established. Direct loans from Finnish are relatively common in normal spoken language, particu­ larly in southern Finland, while written lan­ guage favours loan translations. At the begin­ ning of the 20th c., a certain number of loans from Russian and German also occurred (e. g. maskingeviir 'machine gun' from German Maschinengewehr; cf. kulspruta in Sweden). On the other hand, Finland Swedish has been less susceptible to loans from English than has Sweden Swedish (Chrystal 1988, 1 80- 1 86). To summarize, while written Swedish in Finland differs relatively little from that in Sweden, certain text types may exhibit several deviant features, especially concerning words and expressions. Depending on the genre and author, some texts display hardly any Finland Swedish features, while in other texts almost every sentence reveals that the author is a Swedish-speaker from Finland. From prelimi­ nary investigations, it seems that professional writers, such as journalists, use an average of one to ten Finland Swedish features per 1,000 words of normal body text, whereas this num­ ber is maybe doubled in the texts of less ex­ perienced writers (Melin-Kapilii 1996, 187; Reuter 1997, 172 f.).

9.

The Swedish dialects in Finland

Swedish dialects had a clearly stronger posi­ tion in Finland than in Sweden throughout the 20th c. Even at the end of the century, many of the Swedish speakers in Finland, par­ ticularly in Ostrobothnia, spoke a dialect as their mother tongue. This was true not only in rural areas but to a large extent also in the smaller towns. One of the reasons for this was apparently that the compulsory elementary school in Finland was not instituted until the 1 920s (Loman 1998, 1 66). The attitudes towards dialects have changed in the course of the century. In the mid-1900s, dialects in general had a low status and de­ mands were raised to eliminate them with the

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1656 schools' help. However, as happened in many places around the world, dialects experienced a revival in the 1970s, and most people now­ adays consider them an advantage rather than a hindrance. Dialects have broadened their domain especially in Ostrobothnia, but also to some extent in Uusirnaa (Sw. Nyland) and Tururnnaa (Sw. Aboland). They are used in poetry and serious stage dialogues, and in some regions the dialect is even used in local politics and offices (Ivars 1988, 34-35; Mitts 1999, 12).

10.

Literature (a selection)

Ahlhick, Olav (1971), Svenskan i Finland (SNSS 15). Stockholm. Allardt, Erik/Starck, Christian (1981), Sprbkgriin­ ser och samhiillsstruktur: Finlandssvenskarna i eft Jiimforande perspektiv. StockhoM. Bergroth, Hugo (1917a), Finlandssvenska: Hand­ ledning till undvikande av provinsialismer i tal och skrift. Helsingfors. 2nd ed. 1928. Bergroth, Hugo (1917b), Om grundernaforfaststiil­ landet av ett svenskt scensprbk for Finland (Scenisk konst och kultur 4). Borga. Bergroth, Hugo (1918), Hogsvenska. Helsingfors. von Bonsdorff, Goran (1950), Sjiilvstyrelsetanken i finlandssvensk politik. Helsingfors, 402 423. von Bonsdorff, Per-Erik (1984), Om det svenska lag­ spraket i Finland. In: Tidskrift utgiven av Juridiska foreningen i Finland (JFT). Helsingfors. Chrystal, Judith (1988), Engelskan i svensk dags­ press (SNSS 74). Stockholm. Finnas, Fjalar (2001), Finlandssvenskarna infor 2000-talet en statistisk oversikt (Finlandssvensk rapport nr 40). Helsingfors. afHallstrom, Charlotta/Reuter, Mikael (2000), Fin­ landssvensk ordbok. Helsingfors. Ivars, Ann-Marie (1988), Niirpesdialekten pa 1980-talet (SNF 70). Helsingfors. Klinge, Matti (1996), Finlands historia 3. Kejsar­ tiden. Helsingfors.

Langlet, Valdemar (1930), Siiregenheter ifinliindsk tidningssvenska. Helsingfors. Lauren, Christer (1985), Normer for finlandssvens­ kan. Fran Freudenthal till 1970-tal. Helsingfors. Leinonen, Therese/Tandefelt, Marika (2000), Svens­ kan i Finland ett sprak i kliim? Ungafinlandssven­ skars modersmb1. Helsingfors. Loman, Bengt (1998), Om svenskan i Finland. In: Frim. Pyttis till Nedervetil. Tjugonio dialektprov frim. Nyland, A boland, A land och Osterbotten. (ed. Gunilla Harling-Kranck). McRae, Kenneth D. (1997), Conflict and Compro­ mise in Multilingual Societies: Finland. Waterloo/ Ontario/Canada. Meinander, Henrik (1999), Finlands historia 4. Hel­ singfors. Melin-Kopila, Christina (1996), Om normer och normkonflikter i finlandssvenskan. Uppsala. Mitts, Asa (1999), "Kva tu ha blivi spansk!" Om statusskillnader mellan dialekt och hogsprak In: Sprakbruk 1999 : 3, 10 13. Rask, Henry (1999), Finland och Sverige finskt och svenskt. In: Finlands svenska litteraturhistoria 1, Helsingfors, 18 25. Reuter, Mikael (1992), Reuters rutor. Helsingfors. Reuter, Mikael (1996), Reuters rutor 2. Helsingfors. Reuter, Mikael (1997), Hur annorlunda ar finlands­ svenskan? In: Svenskan i Finland 4, 169 179. Stenmark, Harry (1983), Finlandssvenska ord och uttryck. StockhoM. Svenskt lagsprak i Finland (1992; 1998). Helsingfors. Tandefelt, Marika (1988), Mellan tva sprak: Enfall­ studie om sprakbevarande och sprakbyte i Finland. Uppsala. Tandefelt, Marika (1996), Pa vinst ochforlust: Om tvasprakighet och sprakforlust i Helsingforsregionen. Helsingfors. Tyynila, Markku (1984), 1884 1964. Vammala.

Lainvalmistelukunta

Tyynila, Markku (1992), Senaatti. Helsinki. Uppslagsverket Finland 1 3 (1982 1985) Helsing­ fors.

Mikael Reuter. Helsinki (Finland)

182. Metrics in 20th century poetry

182.

Metrics in 20th century poetry

1. 2. 3.

Background History Literature (a selection)

1.

Background

1.1.

Verse systems

In the 20th C . , Scandinavian poetry adopted a new verse system, free verse, which is con­ structed according to a principle other than the metered verse of previous centuries. Mod­ ernism is the aesthetics of the period, and the new modernist poetry created a new kind of verse, called free verse as it is free from any restrictions. All types of verse are character­ ized by lineation, which is what differentiates verse from prose. Within the line, different structures are added. In the Scandinavian po­ etry of the Middle Ages, the four-beat line or accentual meter dominates, with the same number of accents repeated in every line. From about the middle of the 17th c. up to about 1900, metrical verse dominates, charac­ terized by its isochronism, which leads the reader to listen for evenness and regularity. In metered verse, different patterns elaborate the principle of equal time between accents. But the last century saw a breakthrough for the principle of free verse, which uses different aesthetic devices, but does not follow any pat­ tern except that of lineation, which includes the boundaries or pauses at the line-endings. The principle of free verse consists of these patterns of pauses, with added euphonic de­ vices. Every poem has a pattern of stresses and euphony of its own. Line breaks make the tempo slower, as syllables around the break are given extra weight. The phrase and the rhythmical gestalt stand out as more distinct at this slow tempo. Free verse uses a high amount of euphony, but it is unpatterned and the boundary function of the end rhyme is missing. When the accent-syllabic verse system en­ tered Scandinavian poetry in the middle ofthe 1 7th c., the four-beat line continued to be used within the new framework. In reality, alexan­ drine and hexameter preserved the old rhyth­ mical pattern, and the four beats could still be heard underlying the new forms. Today, the four-beat line has lived on in popular forms like birthday rhymes, and it can be ex­ perienced as a covert pattern even in many a free verse.

1657

Free verse objects to isochronism, and in­ stead uses other rhythmical means like line cuts, tempo shifts, accent clashes, distinct phrases, anaphors, irregular assonance and ir­ regular caesuras. Of course there are many kinds of verse which fall in between metered and free verse, forms which borrow from both of these principles at the beginning of the 20th c., in parallel to what happened at the begin­ ning of the 17th c. Thus, Scandinavian verse has had three dif­ ferent verse systems, accentual verse, metrical verse and free verse. Other types ofverse might be looked upon as varieties of those three. In Scandinavia, French syllabic verse was never established, even if some experiments were tried. Compared to Germany and England, the history of Scandinavian verse shows less diversity. This is pro bably due to the consider­ able distance from the dominant French cul­ ture, and to the fact that the strong indigenous tradition of Old Norse accentual verse re­ mained as an undercurrent through the cen­ turies. It took a long time before the new sys­ tem of free verse established itself. An ear used to metrical verse 0bviously had difficulties tak­ ing in the charm of this new kind of poetry, and the poets themselves in the beginning did not know how to handle the new rhythmic possibilities. 1 .2.

The history of free verse

Free verse was invented at least three times. Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was first in 1754. Heinrich Heine invented free verse from a new starting-point at the beginning of the 1 9th c. Walt Whitman created the free verse form for the third time about a hundred years after Klopstock, not knowing about the two Germans before him. In a way, Arthur Rim­ baud also could be said to have originated free verse. Everyone had his special point of depar­ ture. The verse of Klopstock as well as that of Heine and Whitman followed the criteria of free verse - they are all unmetered - but otherwise they differ very much, each one es­ tablishing a lasting pattern for future free verse. Klopstock's free verse developed rhythmi­ cal devices of the ancient Greeks, but he was inspired by Bible poetry as well. In particular, the Pindaric ode and the oldest lyrical strophes by Sappho and others, which were developed

1658

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

by Horace, were his points of departure. In the modern sense those forms are unrnetrical. By experimenting with their typical devices, such as accent clash and enjambement, Klop­ stock invented free verse. In the hands of Goethe, this fonn generated a specific pattern set which was similar to old Greek poetry, in­ cluding accent clashes or spondees, short lines and many cases of enjambement. The pattern of end-stop pauses interacts with the pattern of the syntactic phrase. A good example is Goethe's Ganymed:

Und j etzt als Seegespenst 0 0 0 0 00 Sogar am hellen Tag mich bedrohest 000 0 0 0 00 0 0 [. . .] (Heine, Die Nordsee. 1 1 . "Reinigung". (Buch der Lieder)

Wie im Morgenrot 00 0 0 0 Du rings mich angluhst, 00000 Friihling, Geliebter! 0 00 0 0 Mit tausendfacher Liebeswonne o 0 000 0 000 Sich an mein Herz drangt 000 00 Deiner ewigen Wanne 00 0 00 0 0 Heilig Geflihl, 0 00 0 Unendliche Schone! 0 0 00 0 0 [ . . .] (0 = prominence, 0 = secondary accent, 0 = weak syllable)

The regularity of the fourth verse: Mit tau­ " sendfacher Liebeswonne", 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0, with its four iambs is broken in the next verse: sich an mein Herz drangt", 000 00, with " the combination of one tribrach 000 and one spondee 00. After the end-stopped lines of the first half of the stanza, in the second half we find at least two enjambements Cv), be­ tween line numbers 5-6, and between 6-7: [ . . .] Sich an mein Herz drangt v

Deiner ewigen Wanne v Heilig Gefiihl, [. . .]

Heine's main work of free verse is the poetic cycle Die Nordsee from 1826. Just as in the case of Klopstock, Heine's experimentation also is indicative of the period of romanticism, turning away from the old aesthetics of rules. His free fonn originated in the old Scandina­ vian four-beat line and, like it, comes close to speech rhythm. His free verse has mostly three or four beats per line, end-stopped lines and one to three unstressed syllables between stresses. The syntactic phrase is mostly equi­ valent to the verse line. His verse clings to prose pronunciation and avoids accent clash. Bleib du in deiner Meerestiefe, 00 000 0 000 Wahnsinniger Traum. 0 000 0 Der du einst so mancher Nacht 00 0 0 0 0 0 Mein Herz mit falschem Gluck gequalt hast, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00

Whitman's free verse emanates from the Eng­ lish King James Bible. Whitman did not know about German free verse when he wrote his Leaves ofgrass 1855. It is characterized by the same devices as Bible poetry, very long end­ stopped lines, with a certain repeated intona­ tion curve. Whitman's verse, like the Psalms of the Bible, prefers accent clashes, but they are not much noticed in the rush of such a long line. He groups the lines with the help of anaphors and parallelisms, which strengthens the repeated intonation curves. Here are some lines from Song of myself I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey­

work of the stars, And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren, And the tree-toad is a chef-d'oeuvre for the highes� [. . .]

We can distinguish certain sets of rhythmical devices according to their historical origin. Ancient Greece has provided one strong set, the four-beat line another and the poetry of Bible translations a third one (Lilja Norrlind 1981). The three types offreeverse can be sum­ marized as follows: (1) The Goethe type is distinguished by short lines, enjambements and accent clashes. (2) The Heine type is distinguished by phrase and line congruence, speech rhythm, around 3 -5 stresses per line and often 1 - 3 unstressed syllables between stresses. (3) The Whitman type is distinguished by long lines consisting of at least two syn­ tactic phrases, end-stopped lines, promi­ nent intonation curves, and line grouping with the help of parallelisms. Over the past century, those three pattern sets have mingled of course, but we might still re­ cognize them in newly written poetry. Important for the development of free verse forms is the poetry of TS. Eliot. He was in­ itially inspired by the verse of French symbol­ ism, especially the poet Jules Laforgue, who like most French symbolist poets followed the free verse form of Rimbaud. In 1872/73, Rim­ baud wrote two poems in free verse, which

182. Metrics in 20th century poetry

1659

may be considered as broken prose poems. Perhaps Rimbaud, who was a clever scholar as a child, knew about the old German free verse. Usually, his preferred forms were the sonnet and the prose poem. He broke two of his prose poems into verse lines, and those two free verse poems became very influential. The free verse of Rimbaud comes close to the Heine type, but the element of speech rhythm is even more evident in Rimbaud's works. Eliot's verse exemplifies a sound picture longing for meter, not daring to fall into the bosom of isochronism. His The Waste Land from 1922 was read all over the world, deeply impressing poets in different countries. The pattern of the four-beat line is obvious in Eliot's poetry, but, as the verse is free, the four-beat line is a tendency and not a rule in his versification. Eliot was inspired by the French symbolists, whose verse type comes close to the Heine type, and in the hands of this master the Heine pattern developed into the main free verse expression of modernism in the Germanic literatures. This type of free verse was the most commonly used one partly because it was rather simple to handle, while the two other types need a higher amount of skill. But the Heine type was also popular be­ cause it suited the principles of modernism and because it was similar to iambic pentameter, a popular pattern in metrical verse. Having its origin in the old four-beat line and in speech rhythm, this verse was well adapted to the Scandinavian accent system. This verse type was also more easily accepted by the Scandina­ vian reading public than the other two types.

(2) length of lines, counted in the number of stresses, and the variation in length, (3) sound repetitions of all kinds - butno end­ rhyming, (4) pauses and boundaries of different kinds - end-stopped pauses, enjambement,junc­ tures and caesuras. This category handles the relation between sound and silence, in­ cluding phrasing, the length of the phrase and hierarchies of phrases. The number of phrases per line is especially important for the aesthetic impression. (5) stress pattern - how close is the verse to a possible meter? In particular, stress clashes or spondees should be noted, as well as more than three weak syllables in succession. (6) syllable-stress ratio is a term from Ben­ jamin Hrushovsky (1960), the doyen of free verse study. It describes the quantita­ tive relationships in the line, counting the number of stressed and unstressed posi­ tions. A syllable-stress ratio of 1 means that all syllables in the line are stressed, 2 means that half of the syllables are stressed, 3 that a third ofthem are stressed. (7) rhythmical gestalts or leit-motifs - it is convenient to handle them in terms of Greek verse feet like creticus (0 0 0) or choriamb (0 00 0). (8) intonation curves - a category important to Roman Jakobson. Series of questions and exclamations form especially strong and typical intonation curves.

1 .3.

Free verse is the metrical project of the 20th century, a verse form freed of rules and regu­ lated numbers. Epic and drama abandoned verse for prose in the 18th century, when the very first free verse was also invented. But at that time the main body of poetry still clung to strict forms. A hundred years later, the in­ creasing use of forms like free verse and prose poems meant that even poetry now was look­ ing for less strict means of expression, and the expanding modernist aesthetics tried to loosen verse form in different ways. Free verse suited the modernist way of reasoning and the mod­ ern feeling of beauty. According to modernist poetics, form should closely follow the feeling of the poem. Such ideas are alive in French symbolism, German expressionism and American/English imagism. The ideas of modernism fit in with old tra­ ditions of free verse form. German expression-

Analysing free verse

Three ideas about the relationship between sound and meaning in a poem govern the tools of analysis: (1) the principle of repetition or similarity: repetition constructs similarities within a poem and gives it coherence through this additional structure. (2) the principle of deviation or contrast: what is different constructs extra meaning. (3) the principle of varieties of tempo: a slower or quicker tempo influences the af­ fective meaning of the poem. When analysing the sound structure of free verse, we should look at the following para­ meters: (1) how the grouping of lines makes stanzas or verse groups,

1 .4.

Free verse and modernism

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1660 ism mostly uses the Goethe type of free verse (see 1.2.) while continuing to develop the rhythmical devices of ancient Greece. Trans­ lations of Whitrnans Leaves of grass played an important role in spreading free verse in Europe. His long lines with their heavy par­ allel intonation curves impressed European poetry readers deeply. Probably the Whitman style influenced the Swedish translation of Biblical verse in 1917. French surrealism pre­ ferred the Whitman type of free verse, spread­ ing the style of the Bible. But French symbol­ ism as well as English!American imagism pre­ ferred the Heine type of free verse, thereby transferring the pattern of old Norse poetry into modern verse. The Dada movement of the First World War experimented with the sound poem and the visual poem using performance and exhi­ bitions as forms of presentation. Those at­ tempts at pure fonn returned in the middle of the century on a broader scale, now called "new Dada" or "concretism". The experi­ ments elaborated the possibilities of word mu­ sic and visual effects. As a result, in the last decades of the century we find poems whose meaning follows similarities of sound and not syntactic organization.

2.2.

2.

History

2.1 .

The first Scandinavian free verse

Some early Scandinavian attempts at free verse were made at the end of the 1 9th c. In this early period only the Heine type was used. For example, August Strindberg, the Swedish innovator, showed some interest in free verse in the 1 880s. So-called decadent poetry result­ ed in some instances of the Heine type in all three Scandinavian countries. J. P. Jacobsen explored the new rhythmic possibilities in Dernuark (Arabesk), and Ola Hansson fol­ lowed him in Sweden (Notturno). In Nor­ way, Sigbj0rn Obstfelder left some beautiful examples of the new form: J eg ser pa den hvide lllmmel, jeg ser pa de grabla skyer, jeg ser pa den blodige sol.

After the turn of the century, Vilhelm Ekelund experimented with the rhythms of the Greek ode transferred into free verse, hereby follow­ ing the experiments by Klopstock and Goethe. Modernism was more readily accepted in Scandinavia within the art of painting than in poetry, which turned out to be more con­ servative. The Swede Par Lagerkvist, later a Nobel Prize winner, wrote his Ordkonst & bild­ konst in 1914, which happened to coincide with the outbreak of the First World War, something that probably detracted from the importance it would otherwise have achieved. Historically, war times coincide with a ten­ dency for using a heavy beat. Even Walt Whit­ man wrote his poems in strict meter during the American Civil War. In Denmark, Otto Gelsted and Johs. V. Jen­ sen translated Walt Whitman during the sec­ ond decade of the century. The journal Klin­ gen (1917 -1920) promoted modernist expres­ sionism, but the expressionist poet Emil B0nnelycke used traditional verse forms as well as the Whitman type of free verse in his AsJaltens sange in 1918. In 1 924-25 another avant-garde paper, Sirius, showed the same cautiousness in using free verse.

0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 00 0

0 00 0 0 0 0 Dette er altsa verden. Dette er altsa klodemes hjem. 0 00 0 0 0 00 0 En regndrabe! 0 00 0 [. . .] J eg ser, jeg ser . 0000 Jeg er vist kommet pa en feil klode! 000 0 000 00 0 Her er sa underligt . 000 0 00

Metrical forms 1900-1 950

Free verse entered the Scandinavian scene by small steps. The 19th century ended with flourishing metrical fonns which had no counterpart in the rest of Europe. In Scandi­ navia, poetry at the close of the century used heavy stanzas with many lines to a stanza and many measures to a line. Mixed measures were preferred. Rhyme covered as many syllables as possible in these languages, which are not very easily rhymed. This deviation from the European development takes place in all the Scandinavian countries (Sophus Claussen and Johannes J0rgensen in Denmark, Gustaf Froding and Erik Axel Karlfeldt in Sweden, Arnulf 0verland in Norway). After 1900 this excessively heavy meter came to an end. At this time not many poets were interested in the new possibilities of metrical freedom but preferred a simple fonn close to everyday speech, where rhymes were replaced by half rhymes (Mahustrom 1974). This tendency can be seen up to the middle of the 20th century, or as long as one still could use metrical verse without being thought too out of date. Over time, rhythms became more and more bumpy and sometimes burst alto­ gether. This picture is the same in all the Scan-

182. Metrics in 20th century poetry

dinavian countries, with some differences in detail. During the first decades of the 20th century a hybrid form developed, the so-called unpat­ terned metrical verse, which became popular in the first half of the century (Wahlin 1974). Mostly it used the so-called free iambs, an early French form, which consisted of an ir­ regularly varying number of iambs (or some­ times trochees) in each line, e. g.: Angest, angest ar min arvedel, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 05 min strupes sar, 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 mitt hjartas skri i varlden. Nu styvnar l6ddrig sky 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 i nattens grova hand, 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 nu stiga skogarna 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 och stela h6jder 0 0 0 0 0 2 sa kargt mot himmelens 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 fOrkrympta valvo 0 0 0 0 2 Hur hart ar allt, 0 0 0 0 2 hur ste1nat, svart och stilla! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 (First stanza of .Ingest, angest iir min arvedel by Par Lagerkvist)

Another type of the metrical unpatterned form mixed binaries with ternaries freely. Metrical verse survived the 20th century in song texts. The traditions of folk music and ballads have remained strong in Scandinavia. Dernnark and Sweden gradually accepted free form during the course of the first half of the century, but in Norway this process took more time. Poets sometimes accepted the ideas of modernism but not free form; e. g. Olav Aukrust (1 883 - 1 929) and Nordahl Grieg (1902-43). 2.3.

Early Modernism in Finland

Throughout history, new directions in art mostly came to Scandinavia through Den­ mark. Modernistic poetry went the opposite way, - the Finnish poets with Swedish as their mother tongue led the way. This is due to the circumstances of the life of Edith Sodergran (1892-1 923), one of the few Scandinavian poets of global fame. S6dergran lived as a child in St Petersburg, and was a pupil in the German school there, so she knew many lan­ guages right from her childhood - Swedish, Finnish, Russian and German. As a teenager, Sodergran was struck down by tuberculosis, which brought her to Davos in Switzerland, another continental centre of modernist art. Returning home to Finland at the outbreak of war in 1914, she knew much about Euro­ pean poetry but nothing about Finnish cul­ ture. In her poems from 1916, S6dergran in-

1661 troduced these new free forms. Her nature po­ etry mostly used the Heine type of verse (see 1 .2.), but she also employed the bolder Whit­ man verse, a form which was looked upon as very experimental at the time, when Whitman translations were the literary news of the day. Now the first Scandinavian argument about free verse took place, but it was certainly not the last one. The Russian Revolution and the ensuing Finnish Civil War in 1918 resulted in free verse form being associated with Bolshe­ vism, since it was seen as having no rules. Sodergran passed away from tuberculosis in 1923, but by that time a new generation of Swedish-speaking Finnish poets had followed her in using the new forms. Elmer Diktonius used an expressionistic Goethe type of verse, Gunnar Bj6rling wrote Dada poems; both of them held key positions in introducing mod­ ernism to the other Scandinavian countries during the thirties. The Finnish expressionist journals of the twenties, Ultra (1922) and Quosego (1928), took some inspiration also from Danish expressionists such as Tom Kris­ tensen. Up to the end of the century, Swedish­ Finnish poetry has followed the modernist path, developing patterns of free verse to achieve even more beautiful effects, as can be seen in the work of poets like Solveig von Schoultz, Bo Carpelan, Claes Andersson and Tua Forsstrom. 2.4.

The free verse breakthrough

In the radical 1930s we find surrealist experi­ ments by the Dane Gustaf Munch-Petersen. In Sweden, Artur Lundkvist and Gunnar Ekel6f tried to use the vivid imagery and the typical long lines of surrealism. During the Second World War, poetry was used for na­ tionalistic purposes and returned to metrical forms, which were easier for singing, marching and other activities dependent on synchroniz­ ing rhythms. Modernism had its break­ through after the war in the middle of the 1 940s, at least in Denmark and Sweden. War had erased the provincialism of Scandinavia. When modernism established itself as the natural pattern of poetry in the new modern society, even free forms of verse followed. What was the look of the new verse form now in the middle of the century? In Europe, German expressionism had been followed by international Dadaism and French surrealism. English imagism was the preferred pattern of T. S. Eliot, as has already been commented on (see 1.2.). His free verse emanated from the

1662 Heine type, but when The Waste Land trans­ lations impressed Scandinavian poets they adopted an Eliot form, a verse type developed byone singlernaster. Itis accentual in the same way as the Scandinavian Middle Age four­ beat line, and although the number of stresses often varies between 3 and 5, it is mostly 4. The line is usually divided into two herni­ stiches or half-lines, where each hemistich con­ stitutes one pregnant rhythmical and syntactic phrase coloured by typical English speech rhythm. But Eliot used parallel long lines and enjambement as well. For example, the first lines of The Waste Land are kept together by enjambernent grouping. On the continent, sur­ realism was mixing the Whitman type of free verse with the Heine pattern. Parallelisms and long lines were the characteristics of this type of verse. Beside the Eliotfonn, this surrealistic style created a strong model for young poets in the 1 940s. Those two patterns of verse form were the dominating influences in Scandinavia at the time of the breakthrough. Expression­ istic verse of the Goethe type faded away in the middle of the century. The Eliot style was the stronger pattern. An important step in accepting modernism was taken in Denmark with the founding of the literary journal Heretica in 1948 with Thorkild Bj0rnvig and Bj0rn Poulsen as edi­ tors. Still, the modernist poets of Denmark were more radical regarding style than measure. But free verse slowly developed in combinations of all its three basic patterns. The following poem by Ole Sarvig mixes long and short lines. The phrase "i natten" is em­ phasized compared to the "clock" ("en elek­ trisk klokke") of the preceding line, which is placed within the limits of the long line: Maanen hang og kimede som en elektrisk klokke i natten, og alle h0rte det. Men sjrelen 10b henne paa en mark og legede sam en dreng. (Ung nat, Jeghuset 1944) In Sweden as well, the founding of a new lit­ erary journal, 40-tal, marked a definite step towards a new kind of poetry. The official ac­ ceptance came in Bonniers litterara magasin in summer 1946, when Swedish modernist po­ etry was presented prominently, with Erik Lindegren and Karl Vennberg as the great names. Lindegren's verse rings with euphonies and his rhythms are close to a metrical unpat­ terned verse. Vennberg kept himself closer to

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century the speech rhythms, and his verse was at first looked upon as too prosaic. Later on, Venn­ berg's type of verse became the preferred pat­ tern as the reading public got used to nOll­ metrical rhythm. In Norway, Claes Gill and Rolf Jacobsen tried the modernist style as early as the 1930s, but they did not use free verse form. Free verse came to Norway from Sweden, especially with the help of poets living there as refugees during the war. The Norwegian translator of The Waste Land in 1949, Paal Brekke, was one of them. Norway had its free verse debate in 1953, but even later on traditional and modern versification tended to live side by side in poems by Gunvor Hofmo, Aslaug Vaa, Carl Keilhau and Ragnvald Skrede. Around 1960, free verse became thoroughly accepted by the so-called "Profile generation". Also in Iceland, modernist verse lingered on until the end of the 1950s. The typical measure of the Viking Age had two plus two accents and an irregular number of unstressed posi­ tions. A pair of lines were kept together by alliteration. Compared to metered verse, this fonn comes rather close to free verse, as it has no meter and no end-rhyming. We have al­ ready noted that the Middle Age variety of Old Norse verse is one of the sources of free verse (see 1.2.). The typical Icelandic stanza was the rimur, consisting offour lines with al­ literations. Jon ur Vor pioneered metrical ex­ periments from his debut in 1937, followed by the so-called atom poets in the 1950s (Hannes SigfUsson, SigfUs Daoason). But Icelandic free verse today still prefers alliteration; even Ice­ landic pop music texts alliterate. Thorarinn Eldjarn published in 1978 an epic tale of the life of Walt Disney in classical rimur using all its rules. 2.5.

Indigenous free verse

By about 1950 in Denmark and Sweden, the first flush of the international style of versifi­ cation had faded, but the principles of the new verse system were not really recognized either by poets or readers until after many years of use. The characteristic traits of the different verse patterns, here called the Goethe, Heine and Whitman types, are described in 1.2. In Denmark and Sweden indigenous styles of the new verse system developed around 1950, and the Heine pattern proved to be the most in­ fluential. The success of this form is probably due to its close relationship to Scandinavian Middle Age verse as well as Eliot's admired

182. Metrics in 20th century poetry

verse. The Heine verse is accentual and comes close to speech rhythm just as the case is with Middle Age Scandinavian forms, while the Whitman verse to a high degree relies on in­ tonation and the Goethe type, on the pregnant rhythmical phrase and the tempo variations of the enjambement of the line break. In the 1950s, young Swedish poets tried to combine free verse with something older and more national. A returning Romanticism helped in developing new types of metrical but unpatterned verse rhythms. Tomas Trans­ tramer used stanzas of ancient Greece as a compromise between metrical beat and full freedom. Paul Andersson mixed the four-beat line with blank verse in his epics. The prose poem became a form loved by poets of the 1950s. It gave a modern impression but was easier to handle. 2.6.

The New Simplicity

In the beginning of the 1960s, the Swedish critic Garan Palm argued for a new type of poetry, which would be easier to read than the older modernist one. Colloquial language and speech rhythms should be used. The pro­ gramme of Garan Palm was accepted in the whole of Scandinavia, and his poem Havel, quoted here, became amodelfor the new style: Jag stir framfor havet. 0 0 00 0 0 00 0 Dar ar det. 0000 Dar ar havet. Jag tittar pa det. 00000 Havet. Jaha. 00!00 Det ar som pa Louvren. 0 0 00 0 0 (Goran Pahn, Viirlden ser dig, 1964)

The poem is built on two rhythmical gestalts, the amfibrach of the first line and the bachier of the second. The amfibrach is repeated with small variations in lines 4 and 6; the bachier is extended to a double trochee in lines 3 and 5. The new school, called "The New Simplic­ ity", rejected the Whitman long lines, and in the 1960s only a few poets still clung to the Goethe type - among them some of the best, Garan Sonnevi and Einar 0kland. Most poets used a simplified variety of the Heine type. The Danes called this verse "broken prose", and its rhythm was similar to prose in that stresses were not emphasized, lineation fol­ lowed breathing pauses, and euphony was neglected. The most important advantage of this verse type was the use of colloquial vo­ cabulary and speech rhythms. At the same time as those experiments in simplicity took place, Scandinavia imported

1663 yet another European school of modernism, called "new Dada" or more often "con­ cretism" . This time the possibilities of sound and visual rhythm in poems were thoroughly investigated by Scandinavian poets. Rhythms and euphony became the main traits of poetry and semantics was left behind. The writing technique aimed at breaking down conven­ tional patterns of understanding, offering the possibility of experiencing new meanings of the words. Concrete poetry was not just poetry - it was music, pictures and drama as well. Concretism created the "happening" fonn, a poetryperfonnance where the poets moved on the scene illustrating the sound of the words. Rhythm is the key device of this type ofpoetry, including beat and rhyming. Excluding sem­ antic meaning, similarities of rhythm and sound became the central trait of this kind of poetry. Rhythm could also mean the visual picture of a poem, the way it moved over white paper: Av meg selv steget ut har Jeg murt meg selv inne bak gulv tak og vegger av speil som slynger speilbilders bilder tilbake mot meg (Jan Erik VoId, Rom og spei/) Most political poetry in Scandinavia in the 1970s preferred the New Simplicity style. Simple verse was looked upon as democratic. Metrically, this "simple" versification was later on bolstered by the rhythm of the slogan and thereby became sharper in tone, using more pregnant gestalts, more heavy stresses and more euphony. 2.7.

Postmodern verse

Around 1980, postrnodern aesthetics was in­ troduced in Scandinavia together with a re­ turn to the classical modernist verse fonn, i. e. Heine-Eliot versification. Denmark was first in this process with a group of young poets in Copenhagen; the great name in this endeav­ our was Michael Strunge. Sometimes even traditional measures came back into use, es­ pecially the sonnet, which was modernized in different ways (Lauvstad 1993). Inger Chris­ tensen's Sommerfugledalen is one of the very few sonnet rings in Scandinavian literature. In this complicated fonn, fourteen sonnets to­ gether form a fifteenth sonnet by lending it one line each. In his sonnets, Lars Forssell pre-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1664 ferred the old set of rules with the iambic pen­ tameter as the basis, while Lars Gustafsson used syllabism in his. Magnus William-Olsson kept only the number of lines of the sonnet form and the lineation of about ten syllables. In the 1980s, a new boldness in using the white paper of the page arose. A hundred years earlier, the French symbolist Mallanne had experimented with the poetry of silence by emphasizing the empty spaces of the page. Now, the poem abandoned its straight left margin and spread the words out over the pa­ per, inspired by Mallanne and the concretists. This meant that sound expression now relied more on the pause pattern of the poem than earlier, and that even visual rhythm was added to the versification. Katarina Frostenson was the first one to rework concretist ideas of sound associations and print pictures. In her poems, meaning does not just follow the syn­ tactic phrase but also similarities of sound.

3.

Literature (a selection)

Arnholtz, Arthur (1966 72), Dansk versla:re 1 2. K0benhavn. Attridge, Derek (1982), The rhythms of English po­ etry. London. Beckman, Natanael (1946), Den svenska verslaran. 4th ed. Lund. Bidrag till en nordisk metrik 1 2 (1999) (Skrifter utg. av Centrum for metriska studier. 9, 11). Goteborg. Cureton, Richard (1992), Rhythmic phrasing in Eng­ lish verse. London. Fafner, Jorgen (1989), Digt og form: Klassisk og moderne verslirre. Kobenhavn. Gasparov, Mikhail L. (1996), A history ofEuropean versification. Oxford.

Hiorth Lervik, Ase (1972), ElementEr versla:re. Oslo. Hrushovsky, Benjamin (1960), On free rhythms in modern poetry. In: Style in language (ed. Thomas A. Sebeok). New York. Kuper, Christoph (1988), Sprache und Metrum: Semiotik und Linguistik des Verses. Tubingen. Lauvstad, Hanne (1993), Moderne sonetter: En studie avform og funksjon i skandinavisk sonettdikt­ ning etter 1940. Oslo. Lie, Hallvard (1967), Norsk verslEre. Oslo. Lilja Norrlind, Eva (1981), Studier i svenskfri vers: Denfria versen hos Vilhelm Ekelund och Edith Soder­ gran. Goteborg. Malmstrom, Sten (1971), Sti! och vers i svensk 1900talspoesi. Stockholm. Malmstrom, Sten(1974), Takt, rytm och rim i svensk verso Stockholm. Nylander, Lars (1990), Prosadikt och modernitet: Prosadikt som gransforeteelse i europeisk litteratur, medsarskild inriktning pa Skandinavien 1880 1910. (Diss.) Stockholm/Stehag/Umea. Risberg, Bernhard (1932 1936), Den svenska ver­ sens teori 1 2. 2nd ed. Stockholm. Steele, Timothy (1990), Missing measures: Modern poetry and the revolt against meter. Fayetteville, Ar­ kansas/London. Tsur, Reuven (1998), Poetic rhythm, structure and performance: An empirical study in cognitive poetics. Bern. Wahlin, Kristian (1974), Svensk vers 1901 1945: Schematiska, oschematiska ochfria versformer i 709 diktsamlingar. Goteborg. Wahlin, Kristian (1995), Allman och svensk metrik. Lund.

Eva Lilja. Gothenburg (Sweden)

183. Types of text in the Nordic languages of the 20th century

183.

Types of text in the Nordic languages of the 20th century

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Introduction Knowledge-mediating texts Pedagogical and instructive texts Directive texts Argumentative texts Narrative texts Conclusion Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

During the 20th C . , there was an enormous growth in text production, both because ofthe increase in already existing text types and the establishment of new ones. This development may superficially be described either with ref­ erence to format, forms of distribution or types of text as the point of departure. Many of the fundamental formats (cf. Svensson et al. 1996 for a discussion) were already firmly established during the 1 9th c. (or before) as commercial products with wide circulation: e.g. the book, the leaflet, the daily paper, the weekly paper. They all had the (traditional) printing press as their basis, which necessit­ ated fairly large editions for the printing or copying to be meaningful or economically re­ warding. Over the course of the 20th c. many other reproduction techniques were develop­ ed, such as spirit duplication, stencilling, photocopying, offset duplication, which made it practically and economically possible to du­ plicate texts in small editions. As a conse­ quence this led - especially in business and in the educational system - to many new formats like compilations, education stencils, cir­ culated letters and memorandums. There were also many new ways to produce and distribute private texts. For the more or less conventional formats, new or altered forms of distribution have been developed which have made it possible to in­ crease their rate of circulation and degree of availability. During the first decades of the century there was a flow of cheap books, both for amusement and for serious purposes. Dur­ ing the 1960s came the first wave of paperback books, which in a similar way increased the availability of different sorts of texts. From the 1930s onwards, books could be bought by subscription, and during the 1970s book clubs became common. Furthermore, the public li­ brary system was established, which on the one hand created smooth distribution chan­ nels for the readers, and on the other hand

1665

contributed to the economic support of the authors through buying also less popular lit­ erature. The traditional formats could thus be dis­ tributed in new ways and also be varied through technical means. Along with other technical innovations there were also com­ pletelynew formats and new ways of distribut­ ing texts. The moving picture, the telephone, the gramophone record, the radio, the tape recorder and the television, each in its own way made it possible to store and distribute texts which were orally produced, and these media developed into competitors as well as complementing printed texts. The same could be said about the personal computer and the mobile telephone, which have created com­ pletely new formats for written texts (e-mails, chat sites, SMS etc.). Computers have even changed the conditions for the production of books. With the help of print on demand the need for expansive storing has decreased; small series can be made profitable, and each title can be kept available for longer periods. Another important change, which is directly connected to technological developments, is the increased use of pictures and other forms of illustration. This latter change can be seen both in the traditional formats, in which pic­ tures have become an increasingly important complementary element, and the new media, in which pictures are integrated parts of dif­ ferent kinds of messages. The consequences of development for different types of text are described below. The changes in formats and forms of dis­ tribution have led to the rise of new text types and genres alongside the traditional ones. Sorting and classifying all these text types and describing the development of the different categories is not an easy task. One possible way is to establish a list ofgenres (cf. Svensson et al. 1996; Grepstad 1997), but every attempt in that direction runs the risk of being both too ambitious and incomplete at the same time. It will be too ambitious because the number of genres that have to be labelled is so great that a presentation with genre as the principle of organisation would be nothing more than a catalogue. And even if one ac­ tually established such a catalogue, it would not be possible to cover all existing genres and genre hybrids. A more practical and perhaps easier way is to start with a cruder c1assifica-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1666 tion of text types of the kind proposed by Grepstad (1997, 1 64), which is built on a com­ bination of the contents of the texts and their most important communicative functions. Grepstad includes expository and argumenta­ tive texts, narrative and descriptive texts, pedagogical texts, and guiding and directive texts, a classification which captures most of the texts that surround us without being un­ duly restrictive in any classificatory dimen­ sion. The proposed categorization is also close to an everyday understanding of what the main categories of texts are. I have followed Grepstad here fairly closely but have divided the first group into two separate ones: knowl­ edge-mediating and argumentative texts. Fur­ thermore, I have chosen to arrange my pres­ entation a bit differently from Grepstad and deal in turn with the following text types: knowledge-mediating texts, pedagogical texts, directive texts, argumentative texts and narra­ tive texts. In the introduction to each section below, I will give a short presentation of the main characteristics of each type, the degree of stability it exhibits, and what the social and cultural context looks like. After that I will give a rough description of the historical de­ velopmentofthe text type in the Scandinavian countries (mainly in Norway and Sweden), fol­ lowed by a few concrete examples where previous research has made such examples available. A classification built on content and com­ municative functions cannot be complete, even if we accept vague borders and overlap­ ping descriptions. An important area that has been neglected is the mass media texts. The development of radio and television language has been dealt with in article 195, but news­ paper texts - which constitute an important set of texts in modern society - have not been given any comprehensive treatment. Unfor­ tunately it has not been possible to make up for that deficiency here either. Another perspective which is also omitted here is the distinction between literary prose ("pure" literature) and non-literary prose. To make this distinction at all is in a way peculiar to the Scandinavian countries. In Danish, Norwegian and Swedish the term "sakprosa" ('non-literary prose; factual prose') exists, and the idea is alive in practice in a way that is not generally the case on the continent (but cf. G Sachprosa) or in the Anglo-Saxon world. The text types discussed in the following could all be characterized as "sakprosatexter". The typical "pure" literature has been excluded from this presentation.

2.

Knowledge-mediating texts

A large segment of the texts which are pro­ duced in society have some knowledge-medi­ ating traits. In a way this could be said to be the main point of writing - to inform others about something that they don't already know. The knowledge-mediating trait is, how­ ever, often combined with other functions or intentions: to investigate various circumstan­ ces in order to propose solutions to problems of different kinds, to present facts in order to back up an argument, and to show how some aspect of reality is construed in order to fa­ cilitate teaching and instruction. In this sec­ tion, I will deal with text types in which the knowledge-mediating function is rather promi­ nent, viz. scientific texts, popular science texts, LSP texts and encyclopaedia entries. The bor­ derlines between the different categories are, however, vague. Especially at the beginning of the 20th c., the distinction between e. g. scientific texts and popular science texts was hard to maintain. Likewise, it is sometimes hard to decide whether a text should be treated as an LSP text or an scientific text. In several contexts the scientific texts are incorporated among the LSP texts. The category "knowl­ edge-mediating text" is also often close to that of pedagogical texts. Here I have drawn the borderline between texts which are prototypi­ cally used in pedagogical situations and those which are not. 2. 1 .

Scientific texts

The most typical knowledge-mediating texts type is the scientific text, i. e. texts which pres­ ent new knowledge which has been gained through methods generally accepted by the scientific community. The distinctive traits connected to scientific text could perhaps be summarized by the term transparency, a prop­ erty which among other things makes it pos­ sible to check the proposed facts afterwards. Irrespective of topic and discipline, the author of a scientific text has to relate not only what he knows but also how he knows what he knows - whether he has gained this knowledge through his own investigations and how these investigations have been designed, whether the facts have been taken from another source, etc. The high - and rising - demands on trans­ parency in scientific texts have gradually given rise to textual traits which are not so common in other text types, e. g. footnotes and refer­ ences. The demands for rapid reading and as-

183. Types of text in the Nordic languages of the 20th century

similation of the contents have led to strict regulations for the organization of texts. Scientific texts have in some sense been pro­ duced since antiquity. In the Nordic lan­ guages, scientific texts have been published since the 1 8th c., when the first scientific so­ cieties and academies were founded. For a long time scientific texts were written in such a way that they could be read by the public at large (cf. Lindroth 1978, 59); the borderline between scientific texts and other knowledge­ mediating texts was vague or even non-exist­ ent. Even though the early scientific texts were not as easy to read as has sometimes been pro­ posed (cf. Melander 1999), it was not until the turn of the 20th century that scientific texts really started to depart from other types of text. The reason for this was, of course, the increased specialization ofthe sciences and the increased amount of basic research which was of no immediate interest to the layman. The vernacular period was fairly short for most of the sciences. Science is an interna­ tional endeavour and presupposes that schol­ ars from different cultures and with different languages can communicate. For a long time Latin was used as a common scientific lan­ guage in Europe. By the beginning of the 20th c., other internationally accepted languages had taken over. In the 1910 issue of the Nor­ wegian journal Archiv for Mathematik og Naturvidenskab, only two of 1 5 articles were written in Norwegian; the others were written in German, English and French. In the first issue from 1876, i.e. 34 years earlier, only 4 of 1 5 articles were written in a foreign lan­ guage (Hestmark 1998, 663). When considering the format of scientific texts, there are mainly four types which have been used during the last century: the book (monograph), the article (in journals and an­ thologies), the abstract (e. g. in conference pro­ ceedings) and finally different kinds of Internet publications. Of these, the latter two have be­ corne more and more dominant. However, the conditions for scientific text production differ greatly among disciplines. The speed of revi­ sion of ideas is shortest in the natural sciences, medicine and technology, where results mostly are presented in articles and on the Internet. In the cultural and social sciences, results are more often published in books. There is a dif­ ference in speed of renewal also when one con­ siders the lifetime of the scientific publication. For a scientist working in, say, the field of microbiology, a 20-year-old article could be of interest only from a historical point of view,

1667

whereas it is not unnatural for a literary scholar to engage in argumentation with ref­ erence to a 50-year-old dissertation. The new means of spreading scientific texts through the Internet has further increased the speed of re­ newal and also made it possible to distribute texts which in different ways go against scien­ tific conventions. However, completely unre­ stricted distribution is prohibited by the ref­ eree system, which functions as a guarantee of scientific quality. The referee system and style sheets created by scientific journals lead to a greater degree of conformity than has pre­ viously been the case. The development of 20th c. Swedish LSP texts is described in an interesting way in the research reports from the project LSP texts in the 20th century (Melander 1991; Naslund 1991). In the project, both scientific texts and popular science texts from the fields of econ­ omics, medicine and technology and from three different periods (1895-1905, 19351945 and 1975-1 985) were investigated. Only a few of the many interesting results can be mentioned here. Melander, who has concen­ trated on patterns of content, i.e. how differ­ ent kinds of content are organized within the frames of the text, has been able to show that scientific texts have quite a lot of traits which have stayed constant over time. One such trait is that the main content is dominated by the words of science and of objects, i.e. the texts are primarily concerned with shedding some light upon scientific problems and phenomena in focus. To a lesser degree, the texts are con­ cerned with practical applications, conse­ quences for people's lives or associated social and cultural conditions. The parts of the texts dealing with the worlds of science and objects also are more tightly knit in terms of references than the other parts of the texts. It is reason­ able to believe that other types of texts, like pedagogical or argumentative texts, would show other patterns in this respect. The inves­ tigation of changes over time results in a rather divided picture. The economics and medical texts show a successively increased concentra­ tion on the world of science, while the external world is more sparsely treated. In the techno­ logical texts it is the other way round. Melan­ der explains the first fact with reference to in­ creased scientific specialization and the other with reference to the increased general interest of the application of technological innova­ tions. One factor that seems to be of importance for the design and formulation of scientific ar-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1668 tides is whether they are written in a minor vernacular language for a small scientific pub­ lic or in a dominant international language (in most cases English) for a large scientific pub­ lic. Fredrickson/Swales (1992) have shown that linguistic articles written in Swedish and published in a Swedish scientific journal are less streamlined and less competitive than cor­ responding articles in English journals. 2.2.

Popular science texts

As the scientific texts became more specializ­ ed, there was a growing need during the 20th c. for popular science texts, i. e. texts not writ­ ten for the scientific community but which in­ stead attempt to explain the progress of science to the general public. Texts with scientific con­ tent had been written for laymen before that, but it had not been customary to treat the same matter in two principally different ways, one for the scientists and one for the interested layman. It was not until the 20th c. that the need for a special mediating genre arose. Popular science texts were from the begin­ ning distributed by several different means, mainly as public lectures or in cheap pamphlet series. The radio soon after its establishment was also used for popular science pro­ grammes, a tradition which was later con­ tinued by television. Journals with popular scientific content were established, most of which have combined commercial interests with educational ambitions. An early Swedish example is Studentfor­ eningen Verdandis smaskrifter, which enjoyed a wide circulation during the period 1 8881954 and which covered a great variety of sub­ jects. Many of the subjects were typical for popular science and dealt with the latest scien­ tific knowledge in an easily comprehensible way. E.g., in the very first issue one could read about the origin of man in a presentation that was influenced by Darwin's theory of evo­ lution. But the series also contained more practically oriented texts with advice on lin­ guistic matters and directions for how to run public meetings. Josephson (2001) has shown that the style that, from the beginning, was used in these texts had typical oral character­ istics including long-windedness. This later changed into a more concentrated and print­ oriented style. Other Swedish publications with similar functions were Foreningen Heim­ dais smaskrifter, with 107 issues from 1893 to 1919 and Natur och kultursJolkbildningsserie, from the 1920s.

Similarly in Norway, quite a few series of books and pamphlets were established, the aim of which was to diffuse useful knowledge to the citizens. Cappelens forlag edited a series called Fagbiblioteket Fri Lesning, and Den Norske Biblioteksforening edited another, en­ titled Hjemmets universitet. Popuherviden­ skabelig bibliotek. In the latter, the focus was on modern phenomena like electricity (Elec­ tricitetens anvendelse i hjemmet from 1924) and cars (Hvad den private bilkj@rer bar vite om sin bil . . . from 1925; Rottem 1998, 28; Stegane 1998, 53). For Nynorsk readers, Det norske samlaget started the series Norske fol­ keskrifter in 1902 which ran until 1964 (with Noregs Boklag as the publisher from 1939). In this series, the content was more traditional, covering fields of interest like literature and culture as well as agriculture and housekeep­ ing. An interesting example of popular scientific presentations in an uncommon format are the articles which for more than 250 years have been included in the Swedish almanac. During the 1 8th and 19th centuries, this was a well­ suited format, as the articles reached sections of the public who otherwise probably hadn't bought any other publications with the same kind of content. However, this tradition has remained even through the 20th c. in spite of the growth of new and more effective forms of distribution (cf. Melander 1 999). But it was naturally the many technological achievements which created an interest during the first half of the century and which tempted professionals to write about their respective fields of interest. A Norwegian example is Edgar Schieldrop, who in 1934 published the work Teknikkens vidundere ifartens tidsalder. Another example is Georg Brochrnann, who published a series of books and brochures on technical matters during the 1 920s. The first one, from 1923, had the title Onkel ingeni@r forteller. Lilt om energi og kraftmaskiner. A Swedish example is Uppfinningarnas bok, which was published as early as the end of the 19th c. but gained widespread popularity in its third revised 9-volume edition during the years 1925-1939. The series which were established during the first part of the 20th c. were nourished by the ideal of educating the masses, which in various forms characterized the Scandinavian coun­ tries. During the latter part of the century, this ideal was overshadowed in most spheres of so­ ciety, but the interest in popular presentations of scientific results has remained. One example

183. Types of text in the Nordic languages of the 20th century

is the Swedish journal Forskning ochframsteg, which has been running since 1966 and which at the end of the century had 50,000 sub­ scribers. The journal is dominated by natural science, but now and then it also carries ar­ ticles on cultural matters. Another example is Illustrerad vetenskap. Examples of journals directed to more spe­ cific groups of readers are the Danish Skalk and the Swedish Populiir historia, aimed at readers interested in historical subjects (cf. 6.3.). There are also a host of journals for readers interested in literature, art, music, film etc. In these cases, however, the borderline be­ tween (popular) scientific presentations and cultural criticism is extremely vague. 2.3.

LSP texts

A third type of text, which could be called knowledge-mediating without being explicitly pedagogical, is connected with certain profes­ sions or experts in a specific field. The lan­ guage used in texts of this type has been called language for specific purposes (LSP). Within many professions, jargons develop which dif­ fer from common language without being scientific. Of course, this is not a new phenom­ enon; even during the Middle Ages craftsmen with different skills built up their own vocabu­ laries in order to describe or talk about their own enterprises. But in modern societies, pro­ fession-dependent languages have grown in number, and they have also become more complex as far as conditions of production and forms of presentation are concerned. Gunnarsson (1997) shows e. g. how texts with­ in administration are produced with the help of both talk and writing. Preliminary versions are distributed and reacted to in communicat­ ive links which precede the final version. This practice differs greatly from the older tradition where an employee was responsible both for the line of thought and the actual formulations for a given assignment. LSP texts have attracted attention partly because they sometimes deviate unnecessarily from texts written in everyday language and thus give rise to misunderstandings or seem mystifying. This is not a serious problem as long as the LSP text is used within its own domain, but problems may arise when LSP texts are used in communication with people who lack the relevant insider knowledge. Above all, LSP texts deviate from common language in the use of specific terminology (cf. Lauren 1993; Lauren/Nordman 1 987). In con-

1669

trast to legal texts and texts from public ad­ ministration (see sect. 4.), syntax and text-or­ ganization are seldom problematic. The prob­ lems with terminological confusion were dealt with during the first part of the 20th c., and many pan-Nordic efforts have tried to pro­ mote conformity and intelligibility. LSP texts also, in an obvious way, mirror changes in the relations of different profes­ sional groups to each other and to society. An illustrative example is presented in an inves­ tigation of the midwifery journal Jordemodern (Stahlhammar 2001). At the beginning of the 20th c. the content of the journal was domin­ ated by the midwives' own articles. They wrote in order to exchange experiences and thus strengthen their professional identity. At mid­ century, the (male) doctors played the domi­ nant role by virtue of their greater scientific authority, but at the end of the century it was once again the midwives who were in focus, probably because of the general questioning (or reconsideration) of the scientific approach. A similar tendency can be seen also in the Swedish Liikartidningen, which during the 1990s became less oriented towards the ex­ perts and more oriented towards the practi­ tioners. 2.4.

Encyclopaedias

Encyclopaedias and other kinds of reference books are closely connected to the growth of the urban bourgeoisie. It was within the bour­ geois family and its social milieu that conver­ sation thrived, and it was there that the need for general knowledge was most clearly ex­ pressed. This group also had the economic possibility to buy these rather expensive works. In Scandinavia, the tradition of buying encyclopaedic works started during the first half of the 19th c., and it was strong all through the 20th c., in spite of deep-seated changes in social structure, and in spite of competition from other media which afforded greater possibilities of updating information and including current topics. The first really comprehensive works are dated to the last decades of the 1 9th c. Typical examples are Salmonsens store illustrerede Konversationslexikon in 1 8 volumes (18931 907), which was sold in Dernnark and Nor­ way, and Nordisk Jamiljebok in 20 volumes (1875-1 899), which was sold in Sweden. (Both in its own time and for later generations, the second edition (1904-1926) had a bigger im­ pact). Partly as a consequence of Norwegian

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1670 independence in 1905, there was a demand for a genuinely Norwegian work, and in the years 1907- 1913 Aschehougs forlagpublished Illus­ treret Norsk Konversationslexikon. The latter work has rather short articles compared to the two works mentioned before in which the authors were given greater opportunities to expand on their topics. In the period between the two world wars, such publishing continued with works like the Norwegian Familieboken. Verket om virkelighetens verden (1937-40), Svensk uppslagsbok (1929-37) and the like­ wise Swedish Kunskapens bok (1937 -40), with comprehensive articles on vast subjects. An at­ tempt to renew the tradition can be seen in the four-volume Swedish work Focus (1959), which utilized the idea that the frequent use of illustrations and the coordination of pic­ tures and text should lead to deeper under­ standing and increased readability in compari­ son with the older encyclopaedias. The idea behind this was developed by Sven Lidman, who coined the term lexivision to describe this fonn of presentation. However, the idea was not copied, and the more successful works to follow, Bonniers Lexikon (1961-67), Bra backers lexikon (1973-81) and Nationalencyk­ lopedin (1989-96) have although extensively using illustrations - by and large returned to the traditional format (Pettersson 1997; 2000).

3.

Pedagogical and instructive texts

The trait that above all characterizes peda­ gogical and instructive texts is their intended or actual use in learning situations, i. e. their strong context-dependence. This is most obvi­ ous when we look at different kinds of oper­ ating instructions, which cannot be detached from their intended use without being incom­ prehensible and/or uninteresting. Texts in­ tended for use in the school system are a little bit more complicated. Sometimes texts of this kind are written for use in a non-pedagogical context, but as soon as they are brought into the classroom, the approach to reading them is rapidly adjusted to the pedagogical situ­ ation. In other cases, pedagogical texts are construed for immediate use in the classroom, which leads to strong context-dependence. In the following I will deal firstly with textbooks intended for teaching/learning, secondly with operating instructions and handbooks intended for individual use, and thirdly with single-topic magazines, which are similar to knowledge­ mediating texts dealt with in sect. 2.

3.1.

Textbooks

In an outline of the history of the Swedish text­ book from 1983 we find the following passage: During the 20th c., the production of schoolbooks has developed into an independent branch of in­ dustry within the trade. During the 1890s text­ books constituted a little less than 6 per cent of book production, while the corresponding num­ ber for the late 1970s has risen to about 33 per cent. \Vhile many of the schoolbooks from the 1890s served two generations, most of the books for the nine-year compulsory school have an es­ timated lifetime of 5 6 years. At the same time, the schoolbook has developed into packages of educational materials ("Liromedelspaket"), which include audio- and videotapes. The old school grammar, with its pedagogically well­ suited typography, has been replaced by a typo­ graphical and pedagogical diversity, in which the outer fonn threatens to drown the message. (Boktryck i Sverige 500 ar, 1983, my trans­ lation).

This passage gives a rather accurate descrip­ tion not only of the situation in Sweden, but in the rest of Scandinavia as well. However, this picture can be made more detailed and concrete in some respects. That the schoolbook from the early 20th c. often had a long lifetime is perhaps best illus­ trated by some primers. In Norway, Minj@rste lesebok by Marie Gundersen and Mathilde Munk was first published in 1916, but it was used by generations of pupils until the 1960s. In Sweden, the books Sorgarden and I Onnemo (1913), by Anna Maria Roos, were likewise used during half a century. From the 1960s onwards, the rapid and continuous overhaul­ ing of pedagogical methods - which has been extremely conspicuous in the teaching of read­ ing and writing - has led to swifter replace­ ment of the primers as well. In some cases teachers have chosen to work without printed books altogether. Generally, the authority of the schoolbook has drastically diminished during the last decades. Another similar example is the reader for somewhat older children, which played an im­ portant role during the 19th c. The Swedish LiisebokJorJolkskolan was published in about 1 5 editions from 1868 to 1938 (the last one with the title Folkskolans liisebok). In Norway, Nordahl Rolfsen's Lxsebog Jor Jolkeskolen was published from 1 892 to 1939 and was used well into the 1960s. In the successive changes in the readers, there is a hint of what happened to the schoolbook when the pedagogical frames were made more distinct. In an inves-

183. Types of text in the Nordic languages of the 20th century

tigation of the Swedish reader, Melander (1996; 1998) has shown that the more or less authentic texts (i. e. texts originally written for contexts other than the school room), which dominated readers during the first decades, were later replaced by specially created texts in which "one so to speak tries to sneak in the facts that are supposed to be taught in a text that on the surface gives the appearance of being something else" (Melander 1998, 56, my translation). The texts are also linguisti­ cally applied to the intended group of readers. In the description of these texts, Melander uses the term "pedagogical pseudo-texts", i. e. texts which are void of the force that would have made them useful outside the pedagogical context. An interesting example of the way in which different pedagogical points of view may in­ fluence the form and content of textbooks is described by Ekvall (2001) in an investigation of Swedish textbooks for teaching botany. In the books from the 1920s it is already possible to discern clear changes compared to books from the late 19th c., changes which according to Ekvall are connected to the lively debate on democracy, the education of adults and child-rearing that was going on during the first decades of the 20th c. The textbook content was more explicitly connected to society, mainly through focusing on the needs and conditions of the agricultural sector, but also through an increased interest in nature conser­ vation. The organization of the content also changed. The former dominant Linnean sys­ tematic perspective was replaced by one which focuses on the plant's location, which made it possible for the authors also to integrate other subjects, such as natural science and ge­ ography. The retreat from the Linnean system also resulted in a different choice of plants in the descriptions. In the corresponding text­ books from the 1950s and 1970s, no dramatic changes could be found, but some of the lines of development were strengthened, e. g. an en­ forced integration with other subjects and a stronger focus on environmental questions. The focus on the environment and nature con­ servation was further strengthened during the 1990s, but at the same time there was a return to more clear-cut subjects. The basic pedagogic outlook, as expressed in curricula and other steering mechanisms, thus has consequences for the form and con­ tentoftextbooks. In Norway, furthermore, all through the 20th c., the state has been respon­ sible for checking the appropriateness of the

1671

content, the linguistic form and maintaining high quality (Haugen 1998, 554 f.). A general tendency in the development of text types during the 20th c. which is especially obvious in pedagogical texts is the growth of multi-modal presentations. Illustrations have become more common and more important. Furthermore, we have witnessed a splitting up of the text with frames for important facts, text on coloured squares, and text accompany­ ing illustrations. Melin (1995) has coined the term "grafisk pyttipanna" ('graphical mish­ mash') as a label for this phenomenon. Fur­ thermore, the traditional textbook has in many cases been replaced by whole packages of teaching materials, with audio- and video­ tapes as important elements. The explanation for this development is not only the changes in technology, but also different pedagogical conditions and ideals. In an individualized and goal-oriented pedagogy, teaching materials must be self-explanatory and self-checking and make it possible for pupils to consult other sources in their search for knowledge (Haugen 1998, 549). 3.2.

Operating instructions and handbooks

Operating instructions and handbooks differ from textbooks/schoolbooks primarily by not belonging to any specific pedagogic context. They have to be self-explanatory, which pre­ supposes a high degree of completeness and precision. However, opinions on what it means to be complete and specific have changed during the past century, as well as the contextual and ideological frames in which the texts have been written. Interesting examples of changes within this text type are presented by Mardsjo (1996) in an investigation of handbooks for housekeep­ ing from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Although the period under investigation is rather short, Mardsjo is able to detect different ideas of ideal images which have influenced opinions about housekeeping activities. During the 1930s, the scientific ideal was dominant. The work ofthe housewife was supposed to be gov­ erned by a technological rationality, and the texts contain exhaustive technical explana­ tions and facts about the nutritional value of different foods. During the 1940s, the texts were influenced by the problematic economic situation that was a result of the ongoing war. The housewife was supposed to act like an econ­ omically conscious factory manager who is

1672 able to do great things with small resources. During the 1950s, it is the conscious consumer who was put forward as an ideal, a person who is able to make rational choices according to the specific needs of her family. The content and ideological bias of these handbooks are thus smoothly applied to the needs and ideas of society at the time. The same conclusion is drawn by Egeland (1998) in an overview of Norwegian non-lit­ erary prose from the period 1945-1970 (my translation): "Handbooks and hobby-books reflect technological development in the way that it is brought to the force in everyday life for groups of people who are numerous enough and have enough purchasing power to consider them interesting." As examples she mentions books on pressure-cookers, grills, photography, sailboats and motor­ boats, which began being popular during the 1950s. A special type of operating instruction with a long international history is the cookery book. There seems to be a permanent market both for great all-encompassing works and special books for different kinds of cooking. The content and form of cookery books also clearly reflect changes in ideological, econom­ ic and technological conditions. The cookery books which were published during the 19th c. were to a great extent intended for the upper classes, but that pattern changed with the pub­ lishing of Kogebog Jor Jolkeskolen og hjemmet by Dorothea Christensen in 1891. In the pre­ face it is emphasized that the book has been written "with special consideration to the plentiful poor households which never make use of cookery books and which cannot make use of ordinary cookery books, which usually are too advanced for their simple service" (Mjelde 1998, 591, my translation). The recipes in Christensen's book are first and foremost founded on cheap food like fish and offal, but apart from that, it gives many pieces of general advice about how to run an house­ hold and family. With a partly different tone, the same is true for one of the classics among Swedish cookery books, Stora kokboken. In this case the intended readers are housewives from families with a stable economy, and the text also presents, in addition to the usual recipes, information on how to organize dif­ ferent types of parties, and the rules of eti­ quette which must be obeyed. At the end of the 20th c., there was a tendency towards more clear-cut presentations, and these cookery books are more like collections of recipes.

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century Many kinds of operating instructions and handbooks have parallels on radio and tele­ vision. During the last decades there have corne into being a host of programmes in which you can learn how to fix your garden, fit out your kitchen, renovate your summer cottage, and not least prepare new kinds of food. It is obvious that these programmes should not be seen as competitors to the printed texts on the same matters. On the contrary, the pro­ grammes contribute to a growing interest also in the relevant printed literature. In some cases so-called TV cooks have reached cult status, which has made it possible for them to sell their own cookery books in large editions. With further developments in the elec­ tronics industry, the last decades of the 20th c. saw an increasing need for operating in­ structions for different kinds of electronic equipment. The old radio or television set was more or less self-explanatory. The way they functioned was unambiguous, and the possi­ bilities to vary the settings were restricted. However, videotape recorders, DVD-re­ corders, CD-players, personal computers and mo bile telephones are a completely different matter. Few of us are able to operate them without closely (and sometimes with frustra­ tion) studying the user's manual. From a tex­ tual point of view, the manuals for electronic equipment reveal an interesting dilemma be­ tween the insights of the expert and the needs of the ordinary user (cf. Mardsj6 1 992). Writ­ ing such manuals requires being well-ac­ quainted with the technical aspects, but that is not so easily combined with the capacity for explaining such complicated matters to the layman. The result is more often than not a text that abounds with technical facts and vis­ ual symbols which can easily be transferred from one language to another. The increasing importance of visual presen­ tation is easily detected, e.g. in instructions for assembling a chair from IKEA or building a LEGO vehicle. In both cases, illustrations and graphic symbols have totally replaced the traditional verbal text. The only reminder of the traditionally organized text is the num­ bering system which determines the ' 'reading­ order" . A very special type of operating instruction is that intended for soldiers, which at least in Sweden had relevance for half of the popula­ tion during the period when all male citizens were enrolled in compulsory military service, i. e. throughout the 20th c. Wendt (1998; 2001) has shown that this text type, just like those

183. Types of text in the Nordic languages of the 20th century

discussed above, reflects changes in society. In some cases, the texts also create patterns for other text types. Soldiers' instructions are not unambiguously instructive but contain, in dif­ ferent proportions, all the fundamental forms of presentation: prescriptive, instructive, knowledge-mediating, expository and narra­ tive. In most of the books which Wendt has studied, the presentations are dominated by knowledge-mediating passages, combined with instructive and prescriptive forms of presentation. The soldiers are supposed to in­ ternalize a certain number of facts, learn how to handle their equipment and also learn how to behave in dangerous situations. In a book with the title Soldat iJait 'Soldier in combat' 1953 and 1986, the instructive form of pres­ entation is totally dominant. It deals simply with the question of how to behave in combat. Those two editions also contain some narra­ tive passages, with more or less colourful de­ scriptions of combat situations. In the 1953 edition, the authors have also made use of ex­ pressive illustrations and graphic information, which had few analogues at the time but which later on became commonplace. The latest book which Wendt has studied, Svensk soldat 'Swedish soldier' from 1994, differs from the others in that it has a rather large amount of expository and explanatory text. Wendt ac­ counts for this fact by referring to the change in the social climate which no longer allows plain prescription; a soldier also has to be mo­ tivated to take a certain action or obey a spe­ cific rule. 3.3.

Single-topic magazines

In the group of pedagogical/instructive texts one may perhaps also include magazines for readers with specific interests. Texts of this kind differ from professional texts in that they are intended for leisure-time and hobby pur­ suits, but when it comes to content and forms of presentation, the difference is sometimes non-existent. An early example is the Swedish Teknikens varid, but during the first half of the 20th c., texts of this kind were often pub­ lished in illustrated weeklies with heterogen­ eous audiences. From the 1970s onwards, magazines for special interests have branched out and developed into publications of their own. Partly this has to do with favourable conditions for their production and distribu­ tion.

4.

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Directive texts

The third group of text types to be discussed is directive texts, i.e. texts which are intended to affect the readers' behaviour in a certain way, e.g. to perform certain actions or refrain from doing something. The category is hard to distinguish from knowledge-mediating and pedagogical texts, and itis also heterogeneous. However, it is important to focus on the di­ rective function, as texts of this kind play an important role in all social communication. The text types which will be dealt with under this heading are laws and regulations, texts from the authorities, religious texts and texts used for public relations. 4.1.

Laws and regulations

Scandinavian law texts from the 20th c. stern from two different traditions: medieval laws with casuistic content and oral forerunners on the one hand, and the Latin-inspired language of the chancelleries on the other. With some simplification you could say that the medieval laws have contributed the structural frame­ work, whereby every paragraph in a law is construed with an initial clause specifying the relevant situation or conditions and a final clause specifying the consequences. The chan­ cellery style has contributed the means for specifying the content both in the initial and the final clause. Demands for specification in­ creased (at least as far as Swedish law texts are concerned) in the middle of the 19th c., when two content-related principles were in­ troduced, the principles oflegality and latitude (cf. Pettersson 1 992). The former principle says that no one can be sentenced for crimes not explicitly specified in the law, the latter that the highest and lowest level of the pun­ ishment should be explicitly stated. The lin­ guistic consequences of the principles was a style with high information density, which presupposed highly experienced readers. With a few exceptions due to minor adjust­ ments and clarifications in the overarching structure and organization of the law texts, the style mentioned above was preserved well into the second half of the 20th c. Then even the language of law was affected by the de­ mands for simplification and increased acces­ sibility (cf. 4.2.). In 1967, Swedish authorities published a brochure with the title Spraket i lagar och andraforfattningar [The language in laws and other legal texts], and aboutten years later, another brochure, entitled Nagra riktlin-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1674 jerforforfattningsspraket [Some guidelines for legal language], was published. In both cases, the aim was to make the language oflawrnore like everyday language. This work was later followed up by different bodies within the public administration which have enforced simplification efforts. During the 1970s there were also written laws which needed to be handled in ways other than for traditional laws. In particular, marked attention was paid to the Swedish "Medbestarnmandelagen" (MBL) [The law of participating in the decision making], which was intended for use in negotiations between employers and trade union organizations. Gunnarsson (1982) has shown that MBL, partly due to its traditional fonn of presenta­ tion, created unwanted difficulties in its appli­ cation, and she also proposed textual changes which made the law text better suited to the specific context in which it was used. The heavy pressure for increased simplifica­ tion and accessibility has little by little resulted in law texts and regulative texts which look more like texts written in everyday language, a development which is looked upon positively by most parties. However, when Denmark and later Finland as well as Sweden became members of the European Union and had to hannonize their laws with different EU direc­ tives, it became obvious that the simplification tendencies led to translation problems. The language used in EU laws is in many respects similar to the language used in Scandinavia during the first half of the 20th c., and thus the two traditions are in conflict with each other (cf. Henriksen 1991 ; Ekerot 2000; Eh­ renberg-Sundin 2000). 4.2.

Texts from the authorities

In this category one can include texts pro­ duced by public authorities when com­ municating with ordinary citizens, enterprises or organizations of different kinds. With the development of the welfare state, the need for disseminating texts from the authorities in­ creased, and since this infonnation wasn't al­ ways demanded, the authorities increasingly had to adhere to the techniques used by ad­ vertisers (cf. 4.4.) and present their messages in attractive forms. At least during the first two thirds of the 20th c., texts from the authorities bear the stamp of the laws and regulations that the authorities were responsible for and had to ap­ ply. The situation could partly be explained

by a strong tradition, which was not easily changed, but partly also by a conscious or un­ conscious idea that complicated language con­ tributed to maintaining the status of the indi­ vidual civil servant or the authorities. During the 1970s this attitude was strongly ques­ tioned, and in all the Scandinavian countries protests were heard against complex language. The protests did have an effect in most branches of public administration, and many writers made great efforts to break up complex syntactic constructions and avoid words which were supposed to hinder intelligibility. The guiding force was in many cases the lan­ guage used in everyday talk. Furthennore, public communication went through a rapid infonnalization process. Traditional forms of address were replaced by variants from private language, and texts were on the whole more personal. It has often been said that the reason for this increased personalization and de­ creased formality was the goal of equality and democratization, but it is reasonable to believe that this development was also determined by the new demands raised by a more complex society. An authority which in one way or an­ other has to intervene in the private lives of its citizens also has to use language which does not lead to misunderstandings or unwanted distance (cf. Martensson 1988). This develop­ mentwas welcomed by many people, but quite a few were critical on the grounds that the in­ fonnal style was insincere and out of place in public communication. 4.3.

Religious texts

All through the 19th c. and during a great part of the 20th c., the religious literature was dominated by the texts which were supplied by or backed by the state church or the edu­ cational system. In all Scandinavian countries, most citizens - whether they wanted it or not - were confronted with Bibles, catechisms, hyrnnbooks and textbooks for the teaching of Christianity in school and elsewhere. With the growing secularization, the right to choose one's own religion and contacts with other re­ ligions than Christianity, the situation was al­ tered. The state-supported texts are still im­ portant, but it seems that the active use of re­ ligious texts more and more is a matter for the alternative religious movements in at­ tempting to win and keep their members. A text type that, just like political speeches (cf. 5.1 .), has traits both from oral and literate tradition is the sermon. Jar! Kerzar (1999) has

183. Types of text in the Nordic languages of the 20th century

studied sermons delivered on radio and tele­ vision from the period 1938-1 984. The study has its focus on linguistic and stylistic traits, but Jarl Kerzar also shows that the content is increasingly more secular (or related to social phenomena). In the texts from the 1930s, it is uncommon for the content to relate to social or psychological questions; the clear-cut theo­ logical questions are in focus. In the texts from the 1980s, references to God and Jesus have become much more uncommon than before, while connections to the social situation ofthe ordinary man have become much more com­ mon. This secularization can thus be seen both in the relative decrease in the number of re­ ligious texts and in changes of their content. 4.4.

Texts used for public relations

Texts in advertisements are action-regulating more than any other text type. It is important for the copy-writer to grab the attention of the target group and persuade people to act according to the special requirement ofthe ad­ vertisers. The process has sometimes been de­ scribed using the formular AIDA (attention - interest - desire - action). Thus the shaping of advertisements has often been in the front­ line of text development; new and unexpected techniques are supposed to contribute to grab­ bing attention. E. g., advertisement copy­ writers were pioneers in the use ofpictures and other types of illustrations either to describe their product or to establish confidence in the manufacturer (cf. Ledin 2000). The interplay between text and images was constantly being developed during the 20th c., and the overall tendency is that images have come to carry an increasingly larger part of the information burden. In many cases, the illustrations totally dominate, and the only part of the text that remains is a logo which is necessary for brand identification. Visual media like the movies and television have of course played an im­ portant part in this development. The change in linguistic formulation picked up momentum after World War II. In a study of Swedish advertisements for cars and hy­ giene products, Pettersson (1974) has shown that the syntactic and graphic formulations went through rapid and dramatic changes dur­ ing the 1950s and 1960s. The effects of the changes were increased fragmentation, uncon­ ventional punctuation and a frequent use of syntactically isolated grammatical phrases. However, these stylistic techniques can have effect only as long as they are considered new

1675

and fresh by consumers. When these have be­ come stereotyped patterns, they are not useful any more. In a replication study on the same type of advertisements from the mid 1990s, HaskiljSandqvist (1999) are able to show that the copy-writers to a large extent have re­ turned to using more or less conventional syn­ tax. Among the linguistic techniques which are used instead, one might notice a frequent use of puns, sometimes in combination with the deconstruction of words, which is more mys­ tifying than enlightening. In an overview of modern Norwegian advertisements, Lippe (1998, 489 f.) mentions humour, violations of conventional language use, and intimate forms of address as the most important char­ acteristics.

5.

Argumentative texts

In this section, I deal with texts which in one way or another involve public discourse in the sense of liirgen Habermas, i. e. the constantly ongoing discussion about social and cultural matters (cf. Svensson 1993). An important part of this discussion is political debate and political propaganda, but in many fora there are also discussions on e. g. cultural and moral matters. In the following, I deal with these two types in turn. 5.1.

Political texts

The 20th c. might be called the century of democracy, among many other things, and in the Scandinavian countries ways of expressing democratic principles have been different from most other parts of the world. A com­ mon, distinguishing trait is the strong demo­ cratic workers' movement, which among other things has contributed to a broadening of par­ ticipation in different kinds of social processes of decision-making. The establishment and consolidation of the workers' movement took place at the end of the 1 9th c., and around the 1920s the social democratic parties were important political forces in the Scandinavian countries. In Norway, Arbeiderpartiet was able to form a government in 1935, and in Sweden a long period of social democratic goverrnnents began in 1936. From the point of view of text history, the first period is characterized by agitation texts which were disseminated in various fora and which exhibit various linguistic and textual techniques. Josephson (1996) has shown that within the early Swedish workers' movement,

1676 there were two competing techniques of argu­ mentation and agitation. The first of these, represented by August Palm, was character­ ized by popular, concrete and personal forms of presentation and communication, and a high degree of intimacy. The second, repre­ sented by Hjalmar Branting, was character­ ized by generality, impersonal presentation, abstract argumentation, and a high degree of distance. The second variety became domi­ nant, and was for a large part of the 20th c. practised in discussion clubs and study circles - and used in the political arenas of the public sphere. Sometimes this fonn of political communi­ cation has been described as a specific prole­ tarian public sphere, e.g. by Rottem (1998) who, in a discussion of the development in Norway, writes (my translation): All the political parties and the organizations con­ nected to them could be said to constitute such parts of the public sphere. This is especially true for the workers' movement. Thus one can talk about a proletarian public sphere, consisting of journals, magazines and other publications, con­ nected to this movement.

But, naturally, it was not only the repesen­ tatives of the workers' movement who en­ gaged in political argumentation. The liberal and conservative movements were likewise ac­ tive, and they could rely on a long tradition of shaping political opinions. In the develop­ ment of the bourgeois public sphere during the 1 8th c. (cf. Svensson 1988), the political pamphlet was used as the most important means to propagate one's ideas (Berge 1991 ; Gustafsson 1998). The pamphlet was also used during the 19th c., but it was superseded by other kinds of text, especially the argumenta­ tive newspaper article. During the first decades of the 20th c., the pamphlet was followed by the political brochure, used for propaganda purposes. This type of text played an import­ ant role above all in connection with election campaigns. Lundberg (1998) has investigated written propaganda used by the right-wing party and the social democrats in three elec­ tions for parliament during the 20th c. (1928, 1958 and 1988), and he has shown that written political text played an important role throughout the period. However, he has also noticed that there are Gust like in the early workers' movement tradition) two competing (or perhaps complementary) text traditions. Both parties produce a type ofbrochurewhich is comprehensive, matter-of-fact and informa-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century tive, as well as a type of brochure which is polemical and contains sweeping critiques of the competitors and which draws on the pat­ terns of contemporary advertising. Apart from linguistic differences, which could be ex­ plained by changes in everyday language, Lundberg has not been able to detect any dra­ matic changes over time. Textual variation within the "political bro­ chures" text type has also been noticed in the numerous publications which were produced and distributed in connection with the refer­ enda on membership of the ED which were carried out in all the Scandinavian countries in the middle of the 1990s. An important role - at least symbolically ­ in the political arena of the public sphere is played by political speeches in the national parliaments. Speeches in the Swedish parlia­ ment have been studied in two major investi­ gations, Cederberg (1993) and Svensson (1993). Cederberg, who has studied parlia­ mentary speeches from 1867 to 1970, con­ cludes that they are marked by careful prose which is more literary than oral and in which the speakers strive more for correctness than pithiness/sententiousness (e. g. through the use of rhetorical techniques). Cederberg (1993, 150) writes that "[o]ne tries to convince more through arguments grounded on common sense than through beautiful words" (my translation). Svensson, who has studied the period 1945-1985, has been able to detect clear, and in some ways more dramatic, changes than those which have been pointed out by Cederberg - perhaps partly because changes in text patterns generally have been more extensive since 1970. The main con­ clusion of Svensson's study is that the rational debating style which was common during the 1940s and 1950s has been replaced by a terse and factual style which leaves little room for thorough argumentation. One explanation for this is quite likely the change in everyday lan­ guage, but also changes in the working con­ ditions in the parliament; above all, the in­ creasing demands for effective performance in media culture have been of importance. 5.2.

Texts in the cultural public sphere

The discussion about the texts which are used in public debate cannot be separated from the question of the possibilities for citizens to par­ ticipate in this debate - and the development of these possibilities cannot be described in a simple and unambiguous way. If we restrict

183. Types of text in the Nordic languages of the 20th century

the question to the number of opinions ex­ pressed (or texts expressing opinions), the 20th c. showed a great improvement. The only mass medium that was available at the beginning of the century (and in reality well into the 1 960s) was the daily newspaper, where literate persons could participate through letters to the editor or debate articles. During the first decades of radio and television, individual citi­ zens had few opportunities to make their voices heard, but from the 1960s onwards, dis­ cussions and debates in which both experts and laymen could participate have been com­ mon. The frequency of this type ofprograrnme has grown ever since, and at the turn of the 21st c., different forms of debate and dis­ cussion are extremely common, at the same time as the space for letters to the editor in the newspapers has grown. Apart from this, the last decade has seen new possibilities for debate and discussion on the internet through different kinds of chat-sites concerning prac­ tically any subject. Thus, it is easy to see that the quantitative changes have been dramatic, but it is not self-evident that the qualitative changes have been as extensive. Smaller-scale media certainly were restricted, but the local character of the media (newspapers) made de­ bates more directly relevant to many of those who participated both as individuals and as groups. In the larger-scale communication which takes place today, one can see two clear tendencies. The first is that the questions which are treated are more individual and pri­ vate. This tendency is obvious both in pro­ grammes on radio and television and at chat­ sites, where personal experiences are dis­ cussed. The second tendency goes in the op­ posite direction, involving abstract and highly general questions which may be important enough but which are sometimes oflittle direct relevance to most citizens: Is greed a necessary part of the capitalistic system? What role does culture play in killings of honour? In the latter type of debate, the setting of the programmes clearly guides the distribution of different opinions. The relationship between the supply of texts and the ability of texts to improve understanding and as a basis for civic action has thus been altered in contradictory ways.

6.

Narrative texts

A basic trait in human communication is the inclination to narrate - to tell stories. We tell stories all the time to each other about what

1677

has happened to us, and narration is the form of presentation which is best suited to catch the interest of readers or listeners. The printed text type which most typically has a narrative fonn of presentation is fiction (the novel or shortstory), but as mentioned in the introduc­ tion, fiction has been left out ofthis discussion. Instead, this section deals with texts which of­ ten are situated on the borderline between pure literature and non-literary prose, viz. Biographies, travel books, historical texts and reportage books. Several ofthese text types in­ clude texts which could also have been dealt with under knowledge-mediating texts (es­ pecially popular science texts); and further­ more, these text types have often been used in pedagogical situati ons. Nevertheless, i t may be justified to discuss these text types as examples of texts where narration (and de­ scription) play a prominent role. 6.1.

Personal descriptions

A narrative technique which is effective in many situations is to centre the story around an individual, preferably somebody who for one reason or another is known to the readers beforehand. In this way, the author may whet the curiosity of the readers and tempt them by revealing details from the life of the de­ scribed person. But it is also possible to use personal description to discuss the context in which the person has been working (a tech­ nique that is more or less stereotyped in mod­ ern journalism). These are probably the most important reasons for the long-standing popu­ larity of biographies, autobiographies and memoirs. During the period 1920-1945, more than 700 Norwegian works were published which could be characterized as biographies (Gimnes 1998), and the situation is similar in other parts of Scandinavia. Among those bio­ graphies one can find both the kind that fo­ cuses on factual details about the described person's outer life and the kind that focuses on personal traits and interprets them from different angles. In some cases we also find genre experiments, but mostly the author re­ mains loyal to the tradition. People who are described in biographies are mostly those who have made a name for themselves in politics or in the cultural sphere, but from the 1950s and onward, the genre has also been used to describe popular artists and sportsmen. The biography formerly played an important role within scholarly work on literature, where bio-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1678 graphical description for a long time was part of the scientific method. The autobiography is a genre which is not so easy to identify or to find typical examples of. Using only a small amount of artistic li­ cense, the autobiographical text will be looked upon as a novel with an autobiographical background, and if the author too generously hands out reflections and interpretations, the reader will view the text as a memoir. Perhaps the latter can explain why the autobiography is often connected to female writers. Hareide (1998) writes that "a couple of hundreds of self-descriptions by Norwegian women in the 20th c." (my translation) were published. Even if many of the female writers who are men­ tioned in Hareide's presentation were active in the public sphere, their autobiographies to a large extent deal with descriptions of their private life. For male writers in the same po­ sition, it seems to be more natural to exploit the memoir genre, which focuses more on pub­ lic affairs. Forr (1998) is of the opinion that the political memoir is a rather late phenom­ enon and talks about the late 1960s as a cul­ tural watershed even in this respect. "It was like a dam broke. Suddenly political leaders and statesmen, but also quite ordinary politi­ cal individuals, came forward with their mem­ ories from political life" (my translation). In this case, the Swedish tradition is somewhat earlier than the Norwegian. At the beginning of the 1950s the Swedish minister of finance, Ernst Wigforss, published his Minnen, which gained much attention, and about ten years later the political journalist and editor-in-chief of the great daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Herbert Tingsten, published his memoirs, Mitt liv. The memoirs of Tingsten are more private and self-revealing than most other examples of the genre, which are more often characterized by strategic considerations which could influence the person's posthum­ ous reputation. The most important change during the last decades is that the biographical genres have been increasingly used for descrip­ tions ofwell-known artists or sports stars. Of­ ten these books are written while the person is young and in the middle of his or her career. 6.2.

Travel books

The genre of travel books has a long and suc­ cessful past, and it flourished during the 20th c. One reason for the vitality of the genre is that it is useful for many purposes: political and ideological discussions as well as inves-

tigative reports, psychological speculations or sheer entertainment. The genre also provides opportunities for different narrative tech­ niques like diaries, first-person narratives and scientific writing. During the decades around 1900, travel book literature was dominated by the contem­ porary voyages of discovery, not least in the polar areas. Well-known authors of this genre are the Norwegians Fridtjof Nansen (Paa ski over Gr@nland [On skis through Greenland], 1890; Fram over Polhavet [Through the Arctic ocean], 1 897) and Roald Amundsen (Sydpolen [The South Pole], 1912), the Dane Knud Ras­ mussen (Myter og Sagn fra Gr@nland [Myths and tales from Greenland], 1921 -25) and the Swede Sven Hedin (Fran pol tillpol [From Pole to Pole], 1911). Several of these works can be said to be late off-shoots from colonialism and nationalistic projects. However, they also con­ centrate on physical efforts and dramatic ac­ tion. From the 1930s onwards, the focus was to a greater degree on anthropological and eth­ nological questions; the authors were interest­ ed in the foreign cultures at the same time as they questioned modern society and Occiden­ tal culture. The greatest name during this peri­ od is the Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl, who wrote Pajakt efter paradiset [The hunt for the paradise], (1938), Kon Tiki (1948), Aku Aku: Pask@yas hemmelighet [Aku Aku: The secret of Easter Island], (1957) and Ra (1970). Es­ pecially through the book Kon Tiki, which de­ scribes his voyage on a raft made of balsa wood from Peru to the Marquesas Islands, Heyerdahl gained a world-wide reputation and was read by large groups of people from different social circles. Among those who have taken an interest in the islands of the South Sea, one may mention the Norwegian Erik Dammann (Medfire barn i palmehytte [With four children in a palm hut], 1968) and the Swede Bengt Danielsson (Raroia. den lyckliga on [Raroia the happy island], 1951; Soder­ havets glomda oar [Forgotten islands in the South Sea], 1952). Incidentally, Danielsson was one of the participants in the Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki expedition. A third type of travel book, which stands out rather clearly, is the political travel report. An early example within this subgenre is the Norwegian author Albert Henrik Mohn, who wrote China i smeltedigelen [China in the melting pot] (1950) and Kongo kaller [Kongo calls] (1955). However, it was not until the lat­ terpart of the 1960s that this text type reached

183. Types of text in the Nordic languages of the 20th century

its peak of popularity in connection with the increased interest in international issues and international politics in the wake of the left­ wing movement. An important name in this connection is the Swede Sven Lindqvist. In his books Siagskuggan [Cast shadow] (1969) and Jord och makt i Sydamerika [Soil and power in South America] (1973) he combines empa­ thic personal reports with dispassionate econ­ omic and social analyses. To the extent that we can talk abouta fourth subtype, it should be back-packer narratives or reports of sailing around the world, in which the author travels in order to find him/ herself or to undergo a physical or mental trial of strength. With the development over the last decade of communication technology and media coverage, this type of travel report has taken on a somewhat different character than before, as the reports can be delivered con­ tinuously. This can be done at the traveller's own initiative, as in the case of the sailingboat Arielfrom which a Swedish family at irregular intervals sent in reports from their around­ the-world-trip to a Swedish newspaper, but it can also involve interaction between the ad­ venturer and the media, e. g. Goran Kropp's mountain-climbing and polar travels which were continuously followed by special media teams. 6.3.

Historical texts

Historical presentations play an important role for reflexive understanding, both for the individual and for society, and texts with his­ toric content have been found among the very first written testimonies, often with their basis in oral tradition. In modern times, historical topics have been dealt with in many different text types, e.g. in scientific and popular scien­ tific texts and in different kinds of pedagogical literature. In the following I concentrate on historical texts which deal with the nation or individuals who have become famous. Narratives like these have, as mentioned, been popular for a long time, and the 20th c. was no exception in this respect. This great interest has among other things made it pos­ sible for large publishing houses to produce great works in several volumes in which the history of a single nation or the history of the world is described. An early and successful example is Svenska folkets underbara aden [The wonderful fate of the Swedish people] by Carl Grimberg, which was published in 9 vol­ umes during the period 1913- 1924. The work

1679

has a strong idealistic character, and Grim­ berg switches without concern between scien­ tifically grounded facts and sheer anecdotes. Perhaps for these reasons, this work became extremely popular and contributed to the understanding of history for several gener­ ations of Swedes. With the development of the Weibullian view of history, in which the cri­ tique of the historic sources was an important element, it became more difficult to write in a captivating and dramatic manner, and itwas not until the 1990s that Grimberg gained any followers in Sweden. Between the wars, several popular historical works were published in Norway (cf. Aln",s 1998), e.g. Norsk kulturhistorie. Bilder av Jol­ kets dagligliv gjennom artusener, edited by An­ ders Bugge and Sverre Steen, Det norskefolks liv och historie from Aschehougs, and De tusen hjems bibliotek (1938), edited by Jacob Werm­ M liller. In his discussion of this last work, Alnres points out Johan Schreiner's descrip­ tion of the religious wars during the 16th c. and Arne Ording's portrayal of the period 1798-1914 and comments: "By strictly scien­ tific measures, both Schreiner and Ording fail, but as captivating popularization, what they have written in this work belongs to the high­ lights of non-literary prose from the period between the wars" (Aln",s 1998, 74, my trans­ lation). The comparison to the modern evalu­ ation of the work of Grimberg is obvious. During the 1960s, Bonniers bokforlag pub­ lished the ten-volume work Den svenska his­ torien (1961 - 1968), with Sten Carlsson and Jerker Rosen as editors. Both the editors were brought up in the Weibullian tradition, with its emphasis on strict control of the historical sources, and they didn't allow their contribu­ tors to digress into an adventurous dramatic style. A parallel in Denmark is Politikens Dan­ markshistorie. It was not until Herman Lind­ qvistpublished the firstvolurne of his one-man work Historia i Sverige (1992-) that a per­ sonally coloured style of writing about the his­ torical past gained favour again. The dis­ cussion in the Swedish media on Lindqvist's work reveals an interesting conflict between the demands of media culture to provide cap­ tivating and instantly comprehensible presen­ tations and the demand of scientifically trained scholars for reliability. Perhaps one could say that there is a struggle for power over the historical discourse, where presenta­ tions like Lindqvist's compete with presenta­ tions by professional historians (in Sweden e.g. Peter Englund and Dick Harrisson),

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1680 which are intended to reach a wide public audience. Another interesting form is the historical novel, in which actual historical events are dealt with in a mixture of documentary and fiction. The most prominent upholder of this tradition in Scandinavia is Per Olov Enkvist, who has developed the technique throughout his writing career. Typical examples are Legioniirerna (1968), Livliikarens besok (1999) and Lewis resa (2001). But with the mention of this kind of text, we have passed into the realm of pure literature. 6.4.

Reportage books

The three genres which have hitherto been dealt with in sect. 6. utilize in one way or an­ other techniques which have been developed in pure literature, and sometimes the border­ line between pure literature and non-literary prose has disappeared. This boundary-cross­ ing is even more obvious in the so-called "re­ portage book", which constituted a separate genre at the end of the 1960s. Some of the most famous examples of the genre are Rap­ port/ran kinesisk by (1969) by Jan Myrdal and Rapport /ran Hanoi (1966) and Gruva (1969) by Sara Lidman. These books could probably have been promoted as travel or work-place reports respectively, but since the authors had already established their reputations in the genre of pure literature and since they for­ mulated their reports with aesthetic ambi­ tions, the books were given this special label. The categorization was also motivated by the clear expressions of political standpoints. The label was used in all the Scandinavian coun­ tries. Bech-Karlsen (1998, 238) says that the Nor­ wegian reportage books may be categorized into five different categories: the documentary debate book, journalistic stories of life's for­ tunes, autobiographical reports from every­ day people, popularized social science, and documentary reportage books like Myrdal's and Lidrnan's. He also provides examples of each of the categories.

7.

Conclusion

In the preceding presentation, I have only been able to mention fragments of the history of Nordic texts from the 20th c., and every attempt to summarize will only strengthen this impression. In spite of this, I will point out a few important general observations. One is

that there seems to have been a turning point in the 1960s. Up to the mid-sixties, the Nordic text universe didn't differ dramatically from that which had been established during the lat­ ter part of the 19th c. More or less the sarne genres were produced using similar tech­ niques, although the volume had increased. Some changes may be noticed, though. Re­ ligious texts increasingly lost their importance as directive texts for the majority of the popu­ lation. Instead, with the expansion of the edu­ cation system, the schoolbook genre developed into something that looks almost like an in­ dustry. Scientific texts became more and more scientific, which in turn called for popular scientific presentations. But the major changes took place during the latter third of the century under pressure from three concurrent factors: informal­ ization, development of the media and techno­ logical change. Informalization (as a fashion or disguised attempt at democratization) forced changes (simplifications) even in the most resistant text types, like legal texts and texts from the authorities. The increased domination of television in everyday com­ munication forced developments in the same direction, but partly for other reasons (the aestheticts of short sequences). Due to pres­ sure from television, we have new text forms in political and cultural debates, but television has also supported many of the traditional genres, e.g. instructive texts and many kinds of narratives. The development of technology (computerization and new means of printing) has among other things facilitated the use of illustrations of various kinds. Nowadays it is hard to find any genre in which the lingustic/ verbal text has to carry the message on its own. The genre which is most resistant is the law text, but even in this genre, graphic consider­ ations are important. From there one can fol­ low the line via political and debate texts with few illustrations to scientific and popular scientific texts with abundant use of models and graphical presentations to the graphic di­ versity of schoolbooks and end up in the some­ times completely image-dependent messages of advertising and operating instructions. The improved possibilities for elaborating the layout have furthermore resulted in news­ paper spreads and texts of a completely dif­ ferent kind than before. Completely new genres were not created un­ til the electronic and computer revolution dur­ ing the 1990s. Communication via e-mail is not only a question of sending traditional let-

183. Types of text in the Nordic languages of the 20th century

ters through a new medium. New conversa­ tions concerning what to write and how to do it best have quickly been developed. The same can be said for chat-rooms and SMS-mess­ ages. However, in this field we have only seen the beginning.

8.

Literature (a selection)

AlmI:s, Karsten (1998), Popula:rhistorie pa ratesalg. In: Norsk litteraturhistorie. Sakprosa fra 1750 til 1995. Vol. II, 71 74. Bech-Kadsen, Jo (1998), Rapportb0ker og doku­ mentarisk reportasje. In: Norsk litteraturhistorie. SakprosaJra 1750 til 1995. Vol. II, 238 250. Berge, Kjell Lars (1991), Samtalen mellom Einar och Reiar: et symptom pa tekstnonnendringer i 1700-tallets skriftkultur? en sociotekstologisk unders0kelse av en tekstytring. In: ANF 106, 137 163. Boktryck i Sverige 500 ar (1983), (Kungl. Biblio­ tekets utstaJlningskatalog nr. 92). Stockholm. Cederberg, Ann (1993), Sti! och strategi i riksdags­ retoriken: En undersokning av debattsprbkets utveck­ ling i den svenska tvbkammarriksdagen (1867 1979). Uppsala. Egeland, Marianne (1998), Kunnskapssamfunnets fremvekst. In: Norsk litteraturhistorie. Sakprosafra 1750 til 1995. Vol. II, 184 205. Ehrenberg-Sundin, Barbro (2000), Internationellt klarspraksarbete en grund for hittre EU-texter? In: Svenskan som EU-sprbk (ed. B. Melander). Upp­ sala, 144 177. Ekerot, Lars-Johan (2000), Klar komplexitet. Om sprakform och begriplighet vid oversattning av for­ fattningstexter. In: Svenskan som EU-sprbk (ed. B. Melander). Uppsala, 46 76. Ekvall, Ulla (2001), Formativt, figurativt, operativt i liirobocker for barn. Part 2. Utvecklingen under 1900-talet (Rapporter fran projektet Svensk sak­ prosa 35). Lund. Forr, Gudleiv (1998), Politiske fortellere. In: Norsk litteraturhistorie. Sakprosafra 1750 til 1995. Vol. II, 409 418. Fredrickson, Kirstin M.jSwales, John M. (1992), Competition and discourse community: introduc­ tions from Nysvenska studier. In: Text and talk in professional contexts (eds. B.-L. Gunnarsson/P. Linell/B. Nordberg), 9 22. Gimnes, Steinar (1998), Biografi, memoar og sj0lbiografi. In: Norsk litteraturhistorie. Sakprosa Jra 1750 til 1995. Vol. II, 121 130. Grepstad, Ottar (1997), Det litterEre skattkammer: Sakprosaens teori og retorikk. Oslo. Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise (1982), Lagtexters be­ griplighet: En sprbkfunktionell studie av med­ bestiimmandelagen. StockhoM.

1681

Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise (1997), Texten i och for organisationen. In: Samtal och sprbkanviindning i professionerna (eds. P. Linell/L. Ahrenberg/L. Jons­ son), 65 86. Gustafsson, Anna (1998), Politiska pamfietter i det fria ordets slyngelblder (Rapporter fran projektet Svensk sakprosa 18). Lund. Hareide, Jorunn (1998), Kvinners selvbiografier: fra anekdoter til selvportrett. In: Norsk litteraturhis­ torie. Sakprosafra 1750 til 1995. Vol. I, 620 631. Haska, Inger/Sandqvist, Carin (1999), Reklam­ spraket 30 ar efterat. In: Alla tiders sprbk. En vrln­ skrift till Gertrud Pettersson november 1999 (eds. I. Haska/C. Sandqvist). Lund, 104 114. Haugen, Ola (1998), Skolens la:reb0ker: mellom la:replan og marked. In: Norsk litteraturhistorie. SakprosaJra 1750 til 1995. Vol. II, 548 567. Henriksen, Carol (1991), The Danish language in the European Community. In: Papersfrom the 12th Scandinavian Conference of Linguistics. Reykjavik, 128 140. Hestmark, Geir (1998), Nar ble naturvitenskapen uleselig? In: Norsk litteraturhistorie. Sakprosa fra 1750 til 1995. Vol. I, 659 667. Jad Kerzar, Asta Helena (1999), Gammalt och nytt i predikosprbket. Uppsala. Josephson, Olle (1996), "I alla handelser inga cyniska uttryck". In: Arbetarna tar ordet. Sprbk och kommunikation i tidig arbetarrorelse (ed. O. J oseph­ son). StockhoM, 44 88. Josephson, Olle (2001), Verdandisvenska. In: Verk­ lighetens texter. Sjuttonfallstudier (eds. B. Melan­ der/B. Olsson). Lund, 237 274. Lauren, Christer (1993), Facksprbk: Form, innehdll, funktion. Lund. Lauren, Christer/Nordman, Marianne (1987), Frdn kunskapens frukt till Babels torn: En bok om fack­ sprdk. StockhoM. Ledin, Per (2000), Veckopressens historia. Del II (Rapporter fran projektet Svensk Sakprosa 29). Lund. Lindroth, Sten (1978), Svensk liirdomshistoria III. Stockholm. Lippe, Berit von der (1998), Reklamens nyheter, nyhetenes reklame. In: Norsk litteraturhistorie. Sak­ prosaJra 1750 til 1995. Vol. II, 486 496. Lundberg, Victor (1998), Hogervindoch Sossetvdng: En textanalys av tvb partiers valbroschyrer 1928, 1958 och 1988 (Rapporter fran projektet Svensk sakprosa 22). Lund. Mardsjo, Karin (1992), Miinniska, text, teknik: Tek­ niska handbOcker som kommunikationsmedel. Lin­ koping. Mardsjo, Karin (1996), Hemkonservering en studie i viirderingar, sprdkbruk och bildutformning i husliga handbackerfrdn svenskt 1930-, 40- och 50-tal (Rap­ porter fran projektet Svensk sakprosa 5). Lund.

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1682 Maxtensson, Eva (1988), Den familjara myndig­ heten. Intimiseringen av det offentliga spraket. In: He}, det iir frmforsiikringskassan l (ed. O. Lofgren). Stockholm, 105 127.

Pettersson, Gertrud (2000), Frm l ord till bilder? En studie av samspelet mellan text och bild i uppslags­ bocker Wider 1900-talet (Rapporter fran projektet Svensk sakprosa 30). Lund.

Melander, Bjorn (1991), Innehallsmonster i svenska Jacktexter. Uppsala.

Rottem, 0ystein (1998), Saklighet og modernitet. In: Norsk litteraturhistorie. Sakprosa fra 1750 til 1995. VoL I, 20 36.

Melander, Bjorn (1996), Liisebok for folkskolan bakatstriivande eller framatblickande? (Rapporter fran projektet Svensk sakprosa 4). Lund. Melander, Bjorn (1998), "Det iir Husqvarna». Om spraket i tre upplagor av Liisebokforfolkskolan (Rap­ porter fran projektet Svensk sakprosa 17). Lund. Melander, Bjorn (1999), Vetenskap och underhall­ ning: Den allmiinnyttiga uppsatsen i den svenska al­ manackanfrm l 1749 til 1990 (Rapporterfranprojek­ tet Svensk sakprosa 26). Lund. Melin, Lars (1995), Grafisk pyttipanna. In: Liiro­ bokssprbk (ed. S. Stromquist). Uppsala, 77 123. Mjelde, Liv (1998), Dorothea Christensen: maten som tekst. In: Norsk litteraturhistorie. Sakprosafra 1750 til 1995. VoL I, 589 595. Naslund, Harry (1991), Referens och koherens i svenska facktexter. Uppsala. Pettersson, Gertrud (1974), Reklamsvenska: Studier over varumiirkesannonser frlm. 1950- och 60-talen. Lund. Pettersson, Gertrud (1992), Lagsprbk och samhiills­ utveckling: Studier over svenskt lagsprbk efter 1734. Lund. Pettersson, Gertrud (1997), Uppslagsbockerna och viirlden: Rapport om en pilotWidersokning (Rappor­ ter fran projektet Svensk sakprosa 11). Lund.

184.

Stlhlhammar, Gertie (2001), Jordemodern: En undersokning av den socialpolitiska diskursen i tid­ skriften Jordemodern 1900 1990 (manuscript, Insti­ tutionen for nordiska sprak). Lund. Stegane, Idar (1998), Norske folkeskrifter. In: Norsk litteraturhistorie. Sakprosafra 1750 til 1995. VoL n, 53 63. Svensson, Jan (1988), Lund.

Kommunikationshistoria.

Svensson, Jan (1993), Sprbk och offentlighet: Om sprbkbruksforiindringar i denpolitiska offentligheten. Lund. Svensson, JanjJosephson, Olle/Selander, Staffan (1996), Svensk sakprosa en projektbeskrivning (Rapporter fran projektet Svensk sakprosa 1). Lund. Wendt, Bo A. (1998), Krigsmans liisning: Textmon­ ster och sprbkbruk i svenska soldathandbocker 1769 1994 (Rapporter fran projektet Svensk sakprosa 23). Lund. Wendt, Bo A. (2001), Bocker som pekar med hela handen. In: Verklighetens texter. Sjutton fallstudier (eds. B. Melander/B. Olsson). Lund, 537 562.

Jan Svensson, Lund (Sweden)

Written langnage and oral colloqnial langnage in the 20th centnry. A snrvey

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Introduction The spoken language situation The written language situation Breaking down the boundaries between speech and writing Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

During the 19th century we witnessed in the Nordic countries a thorough change from pre­ dominantly oral to predominantly writing based societies. Towards the end ofthe century the written language had become common

property in the sense that most people had learned not only to read but also to write. As new social classes started to use the written language and as the need for the ability to read and write increased, the question of spoken and written language norms arose. To the school, which had the daily responsibility for education, the question of pronunciation and orthography became a practical pedagogical pro blem. To the state, which had the higher political responsibility, it also became a demo­ cratic problem through the fact that the exis­ ting language norms were associated with dif-

184. Written language and oral colloquial language in the 20th century. A survey

ferent social layers in society. At the end of the century the state had become more and more engaged in the language movement as a participant and a norm provider (cf. art. 1 56). Linguistic norms, however, also develop in­ dependently of official rules and resolutions; they corne into existence as the result of ideol­ ogies and attitudes, of social and demographic conditions within the society, and they should be regarded in connection with the general his­ torical development as well as with more special historical and political conditions in a country. Linguistic norms are also closely con­ nected with genres and differences in language use, and these norms are apt to change as the genres change and as the language is put to use in new fields. The result is that even within such a relatively uniform cultural and political area as the Nordic one, there will always exist different norms which make the language situ­ ation vary from country to country, and over time this will also lead to differences as far as the diachronic development is concerned. In this article we will concentrate on the use of spoken and written language and on the mutual influence between speech and writing in the 20th century. We will not give a com­ prehensive description of the various national languages, but focus will rather be on the vari­ ation and tension between the various spoken and written language norms in the Nordic countries. First I will give a survey of the spoken language situation with both tradi­ tional and newly developed spoken language norms, and thereafter of the written language situation based on the different written stand­ ards. Finally I will comment on some of the ways that the boundaries between the tradi­ tional domains of speech and writing are breaking down. In order to give this kind of summary in only a few pages, the description has to be simplified to some extent. We will look upon the Nordic countries from a bird's-eye view, and only concentrate on some of the main issues.

2.

The spoken language situation

In order to describe the spoken language situ­ ation in the Nordic countries - like other modern, western European societies - the notions local dialect, regional dialect (or re­ gioleet) and standard dialect (or spoken stand­ ard) are central. These notions refer to dif­ ferent linguistic varieties, but we should bear

1683

in mind that none of them are to be taken as clearly delimited and uniform entities. At the same time as there is a mutual internal in­ fluence between the varieties, each variety also tends to change in accordance with external alterations in the society where the variety is being used. The interaction pattern between these varieties may be illustrated in the follow­ ing figure (adapted from van Leuvensteijnj Berns 1992, 14): Standard dialect

Regional dialect

Local dialect Among these three spoken varieties, the stand­ ard dialect is the only one which is directly associated with a written standard. It has e. g. been defined as "a speech variety which has been formally codified, which is attached to a writing standard, and which is claimed to have validity as a norm for speakers of other varieties of the language" (Vik0r 1989, 42). It is likely that this variety generally has been strengthened during the 20th century as the Nordic societies have become more and more dependent on and dominated by the written language. However, as indicated by the arrows in the figure, it is not a matter of a one-way influence from the standard dialect on the other varieties. There are dynamic forces working both ways between all three varieties, and the degree as well as the kind of influence differ from country to country within the Nor­ dic area. In what follows we are going to look a little closer at these different varieties. 2.1.

The local dialects

Generally it may be said that the local dialects have lost ground during the 20th century. Special dialectal characteristics have been lost and the number of dialect users has been re­ duced compared to those using the other two varieties. To the general picture, however, it must be added that there are also marked dif­ ferences between the Nordic countries. In Denmark and Sweden the traditional 10cal dialects have undoubtedly lost ground as a result of the standardization taking place at school, in the media and due to increasing geo­ graphical and social mobility.

1684 In Denmark today we only find traditional dialects being used in villages and in sparsely populated areas in North, South and West Jut­ land and on the island of Bornhohn. Accord­ ing to Lars Brink (1988, 37), the dialects were "extinct in the Danish towns already at the turn of the century". He believes that this is primarily due to the great increase in the popu­ lation of the towns at the expense of the rural districts. He estimates the number of dialect speakers in 1988 at about 5 per cent of the total population of Denmark. In Sweden, traditional dialect is above all used in some of the rural districts, such as the upper part of Dalecarlia, the northern part of Nortbothnia and on the island of Gotland. In Finland, the use of Swedish dialects is concen­ trated in some areas, above all in Ostroboth­ nia, in the eastern part of Nyland and some places in the southern and southwestern parts of the coastal districts, including some of the Aland islands. Bengt Loman (1984, 51) es­ timated in 1984 the number of dialect users at 1/3 of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland. Both in Sweden and in the Swedish­ Finland dialect areas, the local dialects have traditionally been used in everyday life, where­ as the standard dialect or so-called "Swedish" has been used at school and in conversation with people from outside the local area. Dahl­ stedt refers to this switching as "hidden bi­ dialectism" , and has characterized it as "the old rural dialect's last form of life". In his opinion such switching has been "far more usual in Norrland, in Dalecarlia and on Got­ land than we standard dialect speakers from outside imagine" (Dahlstedt 1978, 57). The situation in Norway is quite different, however. The traditional local dialects are pre­ served there to a far greater extent than in the other Nordic countries, although the dialects in Norway naturally have also changed in ac­ cordance with societal developments, and among other things as a result of increased mobility with closer contact between different social groups and regional areas. The local dialects are commonly used not only in rural areas and in private communication, but even in the public sphere, e. g. in the Parliament. The situation is that "today, you can expect to hear any dialect anywhere and in any social context" (Wiggen 1995, 53). And during re­ cent decades, the use of local dialects in the broadcast media has expanded with the intro­ duction of new radio and tv channels. As for schools, it was in principle decided as early as 1878 that all instruction in primary schools as

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century far as possible should be given in the pupils' own spoken language, and this principle was later on put into law: "In their oral training, pupils may use the language they speak at horne, and the teacher must give due consider­ ation to the speech of the pupils in his vocabu­ lary and manner of expression." (here quoted from the Primary School Act of 13/06/1969, my translation) Although the law may have been practised somewhat differently, it has meant protection for the local dialects. But the strong position of the local dialects is hardly the result of statutory provisions alone. It should also be seen in association with general attitudes to­ wards language and cultural values which partly go back to the 19th c. but which were especially reactivated from the beginning of the 1970s. In a nutshell, these encompassed reactions against any kind of standardization of the spoken language and in favour of a widespread tolerance of linguistic variation. As far as the use of the different varieties is concerned, however, they may not always be regarded as totally separated varieties. On many occasions there will be context-bound modification, where the speech of an individ­ ual is more or less standardized or more or less marked by local dialectal features. This kind of dialectal modification usually varies from one individual to another. It often seems to be an effect of internal migration and ur­ banization, but occasionally modification may even be found within the local commu­ nity, e. g. in conversation with people using another dialect, especially the standard. In the first case the modification may result in a more systematic replacement of certain phonologi­ cal and morphological forms and in a levelling of the original dialect, whereas in the latter it is most often only a temporary change of oc­ casional words and idiomatic expressions (cf. Rekdal 1971 ; M",hlum 1986; 1996; Omdal 1994). However, although most people have knowledge of and may also be able to use some characteristic features of the standard dialect, this does not mean that the local and standard variety both exist as distinct and equivalent varieties in the verbal repertoire of the local population. Consequently, there seems to be little - if any - evidence of a more systematic type of context-bound code-switching be­ tween the local and the standard dialect in the Norwegian communities. (In a classical study from 1972, Blom/Gumperz maintained that such systematic code-switching strategies were common among the local inhabitants of the

184. Written language and oral colloquial language in the 20th century. A survey

village Hemnesberget in northern Norway. This study has, however, been heavily cri­ ticized by Brit M",hlum 1996). As for the situation in Insular Nordic, there are marked dialectal differences on the Faroe Islands, whereas Iceland stands out by scarce­ ly having any local dialects at all. The dialectal distinctions in Faroese are mainly related to pronunciation, and - apart from some devel­ opments due to Danish influence - variation in the spoken language is generally accepted. There has been no effort to establish a spoken standard for the Faroese language. The relatively homogeneous spoken lan­ guage on Iceland gives the country a unique position within the Nordic area. Around the middle of the 20th century, however, some pronunciation features were about to spread to East and Southwest Iceland (so-called jiamreli 'slack-jawed speech'), but this de­ velopment was effectively opposed through official campaigns. In the 1980s and '90s some new pronunciation features developed among the young people in Reykjavik (so-called 6skyrrrueli 'indistinct speech'), some ofwhich seem to be spreading (cf. the spoken language project RiN - Ranns6kn a islenzku nutimamali - material filed at M3.lvisindastofnun Haskola Islands, Reykjavik. Cf. also prainsson/Ar­ nason 1984; 1992; Juel 1998). These innova­ tions are highly controversial in the Icelandic community, but along with the use ofjargon, loanwords and some new grammatical devel­ opments in youth language, it seems to indi­ cate that there even are controversies and ten­ sions within the relatively homogeneous spoken language on Iceland (cf. Sand0Y 1985, 145f.). �

=

2.2.

The regional dialects

In a characterization of the spoken language situation in Sweden, the Swedish sociolinguist Mats Thelander says: The most important linguistic change to have taken place in Sweden this century is without any doubt the rapid levelling of local dialect differen­ ces, in favour of either a neutral national standard largely in accordance with the written language or regional standards close to this national stand­ ard spread over fairly large, continuous areas of the country. (Thelander 1980, 185)

The development of regional standards (or re­ gional dialects) is also a characteristic feature of the spoken language development in Den­ mark and Norway in the 20th century. As

1685

Thelander mentions, the regional dialect is limited to a large and continuous geographical area, and it usually developed in close connec­ tion with the standard dialect. The regional dialect is, however, also based on linguistic features from the various local dialects in the area, and by "regional dialect" we refer here both to regional varieties with a predominance of local dialect features and to regional var­ ieties with a predominance of standard dialect features. A regional dialect is consequently not a clearly delimited entity but rather a region­ ally defined variety with a smaller or greater amount of local dialectal features. This might be an argument for dividing the spoken lan­ guage into four levels, as proposed for Danish by J0m Lund and for Swedish by Karl-Ham­ pus Dahlstedt. Lund distinguishes - beside (1) standard language and (2) traditional dialects - between (3) "slightly regionalized standard, spoken in the larger cities outside Zealand" and (4) "heavily regionalized standard, spoken in smaller towns" (Lund 1982, 32), whereas Dahlstedt correspondingly distin­ guishes between "levelled dialects" and "re­ gional standard language" (Dahlstedt 1979, 46ff.). Thelander (1979) distinguishes on the other hand between three spoken language varieties in Swedish based on his investigation of spoken language variation in the Burtrask dialect. The regional variety thus comes - as in the model used here - to include linguistic features that are on a scale from more local to more standard dialectal features. Such regional dialects with relatively high internal variation have, as mentioned, devel­ oped in all the mainland languages. In Sweden a southern variety has developed centring on Lund, a middle Swedish variety with its centre in Stockhohn and Uppsala, and - somewhat later - a northern variety focussed on the Umea district. The regional differences are pri­ marily related to intonation and to the pro­ nunciation of Ir/. The use of uvular Irl, which is the main characteristic of the southern var­ iety, has lately even been accepted officially in national news broadcasting. The Swedish language in Finland may be regarded as a special regional variety. The prosody of this variety is strongly influenced by Finnish, and in addition it is characterized by an unaspired pronunciation of Ip, t, kl, and by lack of a toneme distinction. As for the situation in Denmark, J0rn Lund says that "every main area of the country has its own regional lan­ guage" (Lund 1982, 22). The amount of local linguistic features may vary, but even in the

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1686 areas with the strongest local character, this character is " weakest in the towns, stronger in the villages grown up around the country railway stations, strongest in the villages and outside the urban areas" (Lund 1982, 31). As in Sweden, the Danish regional dialects seem to have developed in close connection with the standard dialect, whereas the local character­ istics seem to be less conspicuous. The development of regional dialects may be described as a kind of levelling and stand­ ardization of local dialectal features, where the standard dialect has also had its influence. The degree and nature of this influence may, however, vary. It probably denotes a real lin­ guistic distinction when Swedes and Danes of­ ten speak of respectively Swedish and Danish rigsrnal "in their regional variants", whereas this way of framing it is usually not heard in Norway, where there is not a national spoken standard with the same normative strength. But even in Norway regional varieties have developed, as the spoken language in the lar­ ger cities has influenced the dialects in the sur­ rounding districts. Special local features have then generally given way to more common dialectal features within each area, and it often seems to be features from the traditional middle- or low-status varieties - and not from the high-status variety - that expand (cf. Wig­ gen 1995, 55). We can thus speak of e. g. south­ eastern Norwegian as a relatively uniform and comprehensive regional standard, with its basis in the spoken language of Oslo and other towns and densely populated places in south­ eastern Norway. And correspondingly, cities like Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Kristian­ sand and Troms0 have been centres for the de­ velopment of more comprehensive regional dialects. 2.3.

The standard dialects

As mentioned above, a standard dialect has usually developed in close association with a written language, and it will - partly because of this - often function as a norm for other spoken varieties. In Sweden (including the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland) and in Denmark, spoken national standards with their bases in firmly established written stand­ ards developed very early, and in Iceland too, there has been a strong spoken standard, which is due not only to the written standard but also to the fact that the spoken language is far more uniform there than in any other Nordic country. Thus at the beginning of the

20th c., in all those countries relatively stable spoken language standards had been estab­ lished which to a large degree came to be fur­ ther strengthened through school instruction. In Norway, no corresponding spoken lan­ guage standard existed - neither for Bokmal nor for Nynorsk -, and since the previously mentioned decision of 1878, it has been part of official policy that spoken language stand­ ardization will not be promoted in the schools. This means that you cannot speak of a common Norwegian spoken standard, al­ though the southeastern variety - with its basis in the capital area - may be said to include elements of such a standard. In the Faroes there is a common acceptance of the local dia­ lects, and in spite of a stable written language norm, no standard dialect has developed in association with it, probably chiefly because no densely populated centre exists nor does any population group which has the necessary social prestige. As already mentioned, it has been generally assumed that the standard spoken varieties have strengthened their position during the 20th c. due to influence from the media and because of increased geographical and social mobility, whereas the position ofthe local dia­ lects has been correspondingly reduced. With­ in the Nordic countries this seems above all to apply to Denmark and Sweden, but even here the influence often goes in different direc­ tions, and the driving forces behind this de­ velopment are often rather complex. An essen­ tial problem is that while the notion of a stand­ ard dialect originally was associated with a spoken variety based on the written language and with a pronunciation more or less directly based on the written forms, the dominantspo­ ken language norm of relatively large popu­ lation groups has developed away from the written language norm (cf. Gregersen 1984, 1 84). The established and conservative written language norms have during the last decades lost much of their status as norms for the spoken language, and new dominant spoken language varieties have developed that are pri­ marily influenced by the colloquial language of the large population centres and, as it seems, above all by the more informal lan­ guage of the younger language users. This de­ velopment may be 0 bserved especially in Den­ mark and Sweden, where the informal spoken variety of the capitals is expanding, but it also seems to manifest itself in Norway and partly even on Iceland (cf. Sand0Y 1985, 144f.). The language in the secondary oral media (radio

184. Written language and oral colloquial language in the 20th century. A survey

and television) has also developed from a more written to a more oral way of expression (cf. Vagle 1990, forthcoming; Carlsson 1989. On the notion of secondary oral media see Ong 1977, 298 f.), and the broadcast media have thus lately corne to promote a more col­ loquial language. The fact that the colloquial spoken language, which originally belonged to the private sphere, has won access to the media and thus conquered the public sphere has probably even contributed to a more general acceptance of linguistic variation, offering many dialectal and oral forms' status as "nationally" accepted forms. This development has in turn had reper­ cussions on the written language. As a result, many frequent forms from informal spoken language have gained entry to the written lan­ guage during the 20th century, not only in Norwegian but even in the other Nordic lan­ guages. We will soon return to this develop­ ment, but first it should be noted that this mu­ tual influence between speech and writing also, mutatis mutandis, constitutes an argument for considering the standard dialect as a fluctuat­ ing and complex - rather than as a stable and "natural" entity. (Cf. Coupland 1990, who maintains that "the idea of a fluctuating and complex 'standard' is appealing and neces­ sary" ; see Bull 1992, 377.)

3.

The written language situation

At the outset of the 20th century, national written standards had long been established for Danish, Swedish, Icelandic and Faroese. Norwegian differed from the rest by having two official written standards - one for Dan­ ish-Norwegian and one for Ivar Aasen's Landsmal -, i. e. for the two varieties that after 1929 are referred to as Bokmal and Nynorsk. Whereas the written standards for the rest of the Nordic languages were already firmly established at the beginning of the cen­ tury, the Norwegian varieties were in many ways still in a phase of establishment. Both varieties were gradually transformed and consolidated through many official linguistic reforms starting in the first decade and con­ tinuing on throughout the 20th century. It is this official linguistic policy which is respon­ sible for Norway being characterized as "a laboratory" for language planning (cf. Vik0r 1994, 7). I am not going to discuss here the details in the development of the Nordic written standards but will instead concentrate on a

1687

few main points as far as the relations between the written standards and the spoken lan­ guages are concerned. First, I will mention some influences between speech and writing, and secondly I will consider the degree to which the official written standards are open to variation, in the sense of the extent to which different forms of the spoken language are al­ lowed in writing. 3.1.

Influence between speech and writing

Influence from writing on speech is a well­ known phenomenon in all Nordic countries, for instance in the form of "spelling pronun­ ciation", which was especially common in the 1 9th century with the development of general reading and writing abilities. To the new clas­ ses which then became literate, the written lan­ guage often served as a direct model for the pronunciation. Examples of written language­ based pronunciation are still common, but in the 20th century above all this is an integral part of the language of the higher social classes. Such pronunciation is, as noted be­ fore, one of the criterions of the standard dia­ lect. However, as mentioned above, the influence also often goes in the opposite direction: dur­ ing the 20th century informal and colloquial forms of the spoken language have gained a foothold not only in the spoken standard, but partly even in the written language, especially in the mainland languages. One example is the use of shortened infinitives, e. g. Sw. ha 'have', bli 'become', ta 'take', dra 'draw' and ge 'give', which to a great extent have either replaced the traditional full forms hava, bliva, taga, draga and giva, or vanquished them to more formal contexts. This development is common to all of Scandinavia, but as Lars Vik0r has pointed out, the evaluation of it has differed: "characteristically enough, it has been totally accepted in Norway, accepted with some hesi­ tation in Sweden, and not at all outside strictly informal spheres in Denmark as far as writing is concerned" (Vik0r 1993, 192). Another example is the plural inflexion of verbs, which long ago disappeared in informal spoken lan­ guage and was abandoned in writing around the turn of the 19th century in Norwegian and Danish, whereas in Swedish it was maintained until about the middle of the 20th century (cf. art. 1 56). During the 20th century, Swedish written forms such as icke and ej have also given way to the spoken variant inte, and en­ dast - not to mention blott - have been re-

1688 placed by bam (cf. Widmark 1987, 46). Other examples of colloquial forms that have been adopted into writing in Swedish aresant 'such' instead of sadant, mej 'me' instead of mig, and dam (pronoun) in the function as a grammati­ cal subject and object. The informal variants are not recommended for use in non-fiction by the Swedish Language Council, but they are nevertheless often used in everyday written language. Verb forms like ska and sa (instead of skall and sade) are today often used in the Swedish newspapers, and uncompounded verb forms like skriva uf, fa emot and komma overens have almost replaced the compounds utskriva, mottaga, overenskomma and are to­ day the stylistic neutral forms even in non­ fiction (cf. Molde 1970, 1 3 f.). A Danish example is the pronominal fonn vores, which has old roots in Danish but which was held to be wrong instead of the "correct" forms var, vorl, vore. The spoken form vores has, however, been adopted in the written language in the 20th century (usually as a singular form in opposition to the plural vore), and since the 1970s it has also been accepted by the Danish Language Council (cf. Hansen 1988, 1 1 6 f.). Syntactic changes have also taken place during the 20th century. First of all, some widespread constructions in the spoken lan­ guage have been adopted in the written lan­ guage. Examples of such constructions in Norwegian are the use of double definiteness (e. g. det store huset) and of possessive con­ structions with sin, likeJar sin bi! '(my) father's car', by the way a loan from Low German colloquial speech in the Middle Ages (cf. art. 2). The latter construction type was orig­ inally limited to western Norwegian dialects, but it has lately spread to the spoken language of eastern Norway, and it is now quickly ex­ panding in the written language. In Norwe­ gian, Danish and Swedish, relative clauses of the type som han skriver pa have replaced the older corresponding constructions with an in­ troductory adverbial relative: hvorpa han skriver, even in non-fictional texts. And in passive constructions, like Swedish Han tiller­ kiindes ersiittning, han is commonly used in­ stead of the older dative form honom, which was still recommended by Swedish language planners in the 20th century (cf. Molde 1970, 15). Second, much work has been done by the authorities to promote the use of syntax which is closer to the spoken language. This especial­ ly applies to Sweden, where the Language Council has worked for a long time for syn­ tactic and stylistic simplification of the official

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century written language with the spoken language as a model. One of the chief goals of this work is to make the official language more easily understandable for the common people, and it may be seen in connection with the higher political aims of democracy and equal­ ity. 3.2.

Uniform and pluralistic written language societies

Most written languages in Western Europe are characterized by uniformity and stability. This means that there is little variation in the writ­ ten language structure, and that the use of lo­ cal and regional dialectal forms is allowed only within clear limits in the written language. With the exception of Norway, this applies to all the written standards in the Nordic coun­ tries. We have indeed seen spoken language forms being adopted in the written language in Sweden as well as in Denmark, and occa­ sionally dialectal forms appear in written Faroese, but these written standards differ clearly from the two official Norwegian stand­ ards by not allowing built-in variation in the language structure itself. While Norwegian so­ ciety may be regarded as heterogeneous and pluralistic as far as language is concerned, this is not only because ofthe great variation with­ in the spoken language but also because of the fact that - through the language planning process in the 20th century - some of the cen­ tral features of the local dialectal variation have been incorporated in the written lan­ guage standards. This applies not only to Nynorsk, which was originally based on the local rural dialects, but also to Bokrnal, which gradually has adopted a series of dialectal fea­ tures. And, moreover, in both languages through an elaborated system of optional morphological forms - it is possible for the individual language user to choose forms in writing that correspond to central varieties of the spoken language. Three ofthe most central points in the language reforms in Bokmal have been the partial introduction of a three-gender system, the inflection of so-called a-verbs like kaste - kasta - kasta ('throw - threw thrown') alongside kaste - kastet - kastet, and - on the phonological level - the introduction of Norwegian diphthongs in a series of words. This means e. g. in practice that in Bomal you can choose between the preterite forms in -a and -et in verbs of the frequent kaste -type, whereas in the preterite forms of all the other Nordic written languages (including Nynorsk)

184. Written language and oral colloquial language in the 20th century. A survey

there is only one form. (Person and number inflection in Icelandic and the number inflec­ tion in Faroese is excluded here). As an example of built-in dialectal variation, the in­ finitive endings may be mentioned, where in Nynorsk there is a possibility to choose be­ tween -e or -a (a kaste or a kasta) or a system with a so-called " split infinitive" which means that the ending -e has to be used in some verbs (e.g. finne), and -a in others (e. g. vera). This optional variation in the written language cor­ responds to the same kind of geographical variation in the spoken language. The system with a "split infinitive" has even been allowed in Bomal alongside the usual forms in -e, but according to a recent proposal from the Lan­ guage Council this variation will now be abol­ ished. We are not going to discuss possible advan­ tages or disadvantages of uniform vs. plural­ istic linguistic norms; the clear difference be­ tween Norway and the rest of the Nordic countries in this field must be seen in connec­ tion with historical and sociolinguistic condi­ tions. It should be mentioned, however, that the systematic optional character of the Nor­ wegian written standards has also been con­ troversial in the language debate in Norway, and recently - especially from pedagogical quarters - a reduction in the number of op­ tional forms in the written standards has been advocated. But in a historical perspective, it may be argued that the "open" structure of the Norwegian written standards has contrib­ uted to preventing the establishment of a spoken standard, and the widely held view of a close and incontestable connection between written language and a standard dialect is thus far less common in Norway than in e. g. Den­ mark and Sweden (cf. Kristiansen 1999, 10). Nor should it be forgotten that the special lan­ guage situation in Norway, with competing written standards and a series of optional mor­ phological and phonological forms, generally may have led to a greater tolerance of linguis­ tic variation than we usually find in the rest ofthe Nordic countries. Lars Vik0r maintains that tolerance or even positive evaluation of linguistic variation is more pronounced in Norway than almost anywhere else - above all in speech, but to a large extent also in writ­ ing. At the other end of the scale we find Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland where the written standards are rigorous and speech standardization almost as rigorous (Vik0r 1993, 1 80). Faroese is somewhere in the middle of this scale.

4.

1689

Breaking down the boundaries between speech and writing

So far we have referred to the spoken and writ­ ten language as two different modes of expres­ sion. Recent research has, however, empha­ sized that this is not a question of absolute and separate modes but rather of a gradual transition between two ways of expression, where one is primarily dominated by spoken language features and the other by mainly written language features. Douglas Biber maintains that "there are few, if any, absolute differences between speech and writing, and that there is no single parameter of linguistic variation that distinguishes among spoken and written genres" (Biber 1988, 55). By spoken and written language features, one does not think of the traditional differences between local, regional and standardized lin­ guistic forms but of stylistic differences which characterize speech and writing as two differ­ ent modes, rooted in the fact that the spoken language is acoustic-auditive, whereas the written language is visual. The differences in language use which stern from this basic dis­ tinction are generally referred to as "channel specific" differences which in turn make oral communication differ from written communi­ cation. (For more detailed surveys of the dif­ ferences between oral and written language, cf. e.g. Svennevig 1995; Roberts/Street 1 997). These differences are, of course, of a general character and not specific to the Nordic lan­ guages. But during recent decades we have in the Nordic countries too - witnessed a breaking down of the boundaries between the spoken and the written language. In the first half of the 20th century, the two modes were relatively clearly separated, the spoken lan­ guage primarily being used within the private sphere, whereas the written language - and partly even the standard dialect - dominated within the official sphere. In the second half of the century, the boundaries seem to have changed. As mentioned above, informal spoken language has partly conquered the of­ ficial sphere through the mass media, and the domain of private language has thus been en­ larged. (One of the reasons why many cont­ ributors to the newspapers are complaining about linguistic decay in general and of the language use in the mass media in particular, may be due to this change from a more stan­ dardized, official language to a less standar­ dized, private language. The official language "is no longer what it once used to be".) And

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1690 as writing is no longer restricted only to the world of paper but has begun to be used in virtual space, in e-rnails, in computer chat­ rooms etc., new genres are emerging where the language is less standardized and where col­ loquial features are expanding. On the other hand, IT-computerization may also - accord­ ing to Telernan (1991) - "strengthen standard­ ization of language usage, e. g. through the many spelling checkers (computer dictiona­ ries), and through the fact that extensive and accurate standardization is necessary for searching in registers and databases" (Telern­ an 1991, quoted in Vik0r 1993, 226). Douglas Biber (1988, 8) once said, that "cul­ tures exploit variation in linguistic fonn for functional purposes". We have reason to be­ lieve that the relationship between spoken and written language will continue to change with the development of new technologies, new forms of communication and new genres. The two modes may probably never be used inter­ changeably, but the boundary between them is certainly going to change again in the next century as new means of communications de­ velop.

5.

Literature (a selection)

Biber, Douglas (1988), Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge etc.

Gregersen, Frans (1984), Skriftsprogenes fonnelle udvikling pa baggrund af 0get la:se- og skri­ vefa:rdighed og udvidet produktion af la:sestof. In: De nordiske skriftsprdkenes utvikling pd l800-tallet (Nordisk sprdksekretariats rapporter 4). Oslo, 166 94. Hansen, Erik (1988), Grammatik: B0jning og syn­ taks. In E. Hansen/J. Lund 1988, 113 35. Hansen, Erik/Lund, J0rn (eds.) (1988), Sproget her og nu (Dansk Sprogna:vns skrifter 14). K0benhavn. Juel, Anne Sophie (1998), Utydelig uttale i Reykjavik variasjon og endring i uttalen pd 80- og 90-tallet (Unpubl. postgraduate thesis). Oslo. Kristiansen, Tore (1999), Den norske spraksitua­ sjonen sett fra Danmark. In: Sprbklig samling 2, 4 12. Leuvensteijn, J. van/Berns, J. (1992), Introduction. In: Dialect and standard language in the English, Dutch, German and Norwegian language areas (eds. J. A. van Leuvensteijn/ J . B. Berns). Amsterdam etc., 9 14. Loman, Bengt (1984), Dialekterna ochmodersmals­ undervisningen. In: SiN 1984, 47 6L Lund, J0rn (1982), Sprog og sprogbrug i dag. 6 ka­ pitler om det danske sprog i det 20. drhundrede. K0benhavn. Ma:hlum, Brit (1986), Sprdklige variasjonsmemstre hos innftyttere i Oslo (Troms0 Studies in Linguistics 8). Oslo. Ma:hlum, Brit (1996), Codeswitching in Hemnes­ berget Myth or reality? In: Journal of Pragmatics 25, 749 761.

Blom, Jan-Petter/Gumperz, John J. (1972), Social meaning in linguistic structures: Codeswitching in Norway. In: Directions in sociolinguistics (eds. J. Gumperz/D. Hymes). New York [Reprinted 1989], 407 434.

Molde, Bertil (1970), Dagens svenska och morgon­ dagens. In: 1900-tals svenska (eds. Bertil Molde/ Carl Ivar Stahle) (SNSS 37). Stockholm, 5 24.

Brink, Lars (1988), Den danske udtale. In: E. Han­ sen/J. Lund 1988. K0benhavn, 20 39.

Nordisk spraksekretariat (ed.) (1991), Nordenfram­ for 90-tallet. Oslo.

Bull, Tove (1992), Dialect and standard in a lan­ guage contact area in northern Norway. In: J. van LeuvensteijnjJ. Berns 1992, 365 78.

Omdal, Helge (1994), Med sprdket pd ftyttefot: Sprdkvariasjon og sprdkstrategier blant setesd@ler i Kristiansand. Uppsala.

Carlsson, Ulla (ed.) (1989), Sprdket i mass-medierna (Nordicom-nytt/Sverige No. 3 4). Goteborg.

Ong, Walter J. (1977), Interfaces ofthe Word. Ithaca/ London.

Coupland, Niklas (1990), The semiotics ofstandard­ ness. Humanising dialectology. Abstract to the Col­ loquium of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences: Dialect and Standard Language, 15. 18. October 1990.

Rekdal, Olaug (1971), Modifisert dialekt (Unpubli­ shed postgraduate thesis). Oslo.

Dahlstedt, Karl-Hampus (1978), Dialekt och hog­ sprak i nutidens Sverige, sarskilt i Norrland. In: Det moderna Skandinaviensframviixt. Uppsala, 49 69. Dahlstedt, Karl-Hampus (1979), Dialekteni skolan. In: Sprdkform och sprbknorm. En bok till Bertil Molde pd 60-drsdagen den 16 september 1979 (eds. Svenska Akademien and Svenska spraknamnden). Stockholm, 38 57.

Roberts, Celia/Street, Brian (1997), Spoken and written language. In: The Handbook of Sociolinguis­ tics (ed. F. Couhnas). Oxford, 168 186. Sand0Y, Helge (1985), Pavirkninga fra den aukande samfunnsorganiseringa og lovgjevinga pa sprak­ bruken. In: Sprdk og samfunn i Norden etter 1945 (Nordisk spraksekretariats rapporter 5). Oslo, 135 148. Svennevig, Jan (1995), Skriftlig og muntlig sprak. In: TilJ1ierminger til tekst (eds., J. Svennevig/M. Sandvik;W. Vagle). Oslo, 17 54.

185. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century I: Sweden and Finland Teleman, Ulf (1991), De nordiska spraken i dag och i morgon. In: Nordisk sprbksekretariat 1991, 128 143. Thelander, Mats (1979), Sprbkliga variationsmodel­ ler tilliimpade pa nutida Burtriisktal I II. Uppsala. Thelander, Mats (1980), Domestic migration and linguistic uniformation. In: The Nordic languages and modern linguistics (ed. E. Hovdhaugen). Oslo, 185 201. prmnsson, H6skuldurjA..rnason, Kristjan (1984), Urn reykvisku. In: IMAM 6, 1 1 3 134. prmnsson, H6skuldurjA..rnason, Kristjan (1992), Phonological variation in 20th century Icelandic. In: IMAM 14, 89 128. Vagle, Wenche (1990), Radiosprbket talt eller skrevet? Syntaktiske og pragmatiske tilna:rminger i semiotisk perspektiv (Oslo-studier i sprakvitenskap 6). Oslo.

185.

1691

Vagle, Wenche (forthcoming), Text norm evolution on Norwegian radio. Oslo. Vik0r, Lars S. (1989), The position of standardized vs. dialectal speech in Norway. In: International Journal of the Sociology of language 80, 41 59. Vik0r, Lars S. (1993), The Nordic Languages: Their status and interrelations. Oslo. Vik0r, Lars S. (1994), Sprakplanlegging: Prinsipp og praksis 2nd ed. Oslo. Widmark, Gun (1987), Vaxelverkan mellan tal och skrift. In: SiN 1987, 45 54. Wiggen, Geirr (1995), Norway in the 1990s: a sociolinguistic profile. In: International Journal of the Sociology of Language. Sociolinguistics in Nor­ way 115, 47 84.

Kjell Ivar Vannebo, Oslo (Norway)

Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century I: Sweden and Finland

1. 2. 3.

5. 6. 7. 8.

The extra-linguistic background Variants of spoken Swedish The medieval background of the rural dialects Rural dialects classification and characteristics Standard Swedish Urban dialects Dialect research Literature (a selection)

1.

The extra-linguistic background

4.

By the end of the 19th c. the railway network of Sweden was almost completed. The im­ proving communications and, above all, elec­ trification made it possible for companies and factories to move into new places. It was no longer necessary to use only places suitable for watermills and sea transport. Soon after World War II, motoring contributed to a new communication revolution - resulting in a far­ reaching network of modern roads leading from growing suburban housing areas into town centres and industrial estates. Farming was mechanized and manpower liberated for employment in old and new companies in the rapidly growing cities and other densely built­ up areas. The traditional Swedish agricultural

community was transformed into an urban in­ dustrial community. The internal migration from the country­ side into densely populated areas was im­ mense. In 1 850 90 per cent still lived in the countryside, 75 per cent 1900, 44per cent 1 940 and only 17 per cent 1980. In 1880- 1940 2.5 million Swedes moved into the cities. This "flight from the countryside" has been de­ scribed as "the most violent and hasty revol­ ution of Swedish settlement within historical times" (Carlsson 1962, 451). The migration is still continuing, from sparsely populated areas into big cities, from inland parts to the sea coast, from northern Sweden southwards. To­ day only 2 per cent are fully employed in farm­ ing. At first industrialization resulted in small­ er industrial communities around sawmills and ironworks, and later on in rapidly grow­ ing villages around the railway stations and residential districts surrounding the cities. Geographic mobility and social levelling, as well as the " educational explosion", have been of greatest importance to the 20th c. decline of Swedish dialects. In the light of these facts, it is easy to understand how the provincial dia­ lects, principally still used until World War II, have been levelled more or less rapidly during

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1692 the latter half of the 20th C., although they are still recognizable by surviving linguistic features representative of regional varieties (e. g. prosody, diphthongization). Bilingual­ ism (or bidialectism; Dahlstedt 1978, 55) in­ volving dialect and the standard language is still not unusual in the Swedish countryside, especially in areas where the dialects differ strikingly from the standard language. You can use local dialect when speaking to your neighbour, and regional standard language when meeting a foreigner. Today the rural "genuine" dialect speakers are elderly people, constantly decreasing in number. Realizing what was happening to the old agricultural community, students at the uni­ versities in Uppsala and Lund established dia­ lect societies (at the end of the 19th c. and afterwards), laying the foundations of the dia­ lect archives and dialect research of the 20th c. Their purpose was to collect and preserve the non-material cultural heritage of the dis­ appearing agricultural landscape (rural dia­ lects, traditions, folk music and folklore).

2.

Variants of spoken Swedish

Since the 1960s spoken Swedish has often been described as having four standard levels: rural local dialect (bygdemaIJolkmal, landsmal), re­ gional, levelled dialect (urban language/dia­ lect; stadsmal, bruksmal), regional standard language (regionalt rikssprak/standardsprak) and neutral standard language (rikssprak/ standardsprak), including "Book-Swedish" (boksvenska), the written standard language used for recitation and church service. This sociolinguistic model was presented by Dahlstedt (Dahlstedt 1978, 51 f.; and 1980, 285, 301), and it has later been modified or commented upon (Thelander 1994, 368; Ivars 1996, 20-23). Elert makes a distinction be­ tween three sociolinguistic strata: genuine dia­ lect (with great differentiation), local standard (over a wide area) and, finally, three geo­ graphical standard variants: South Swedish, Central Swedish and Finland Swedish (Elert 1994, 216).

3.

The medieval background of the rural dialects

The fundamentals of the Swedish dialects were established long before the establishment of the Scandinavian nation-states. Prehistoric western Scandinavian innovations were for in-

stance u-mutation and nasal assimilations, dividing Swedish dialects from north to south, e.g. western kost [kos:t] 'broom', bratt [brat:] 'steep' and eastern kvast, brant [kvas:t, bran:t] (cf. Bandle 1973 maps 1 -2). There are also early eastern innovations such as the transi­ tion of u to 0 in final position: eastern bo [bu:] 'live, reside' and western bu [1m:] (cf. Bandle 1973 map 9a). Likewise, Swedish dialects were influenced by innovations spreading already in the Middle Ages from Denmark northwards and from northern Scandinavia southwards. There are examples of old southern innova­ tions, such as the monophthongization of ei > [e:], @y and au > [0:], e.g. stein 'stone' > sten [ste:n], @y 'island' > 0 [0:], auga 'eye' > oga L0:ga] (cf. Bandle 1973 map 14). In Den­ mark (Jutland and the islands, except for BornhoIm and the fonner Danish provinces of Blekinge, Halland and Scania/Skime), pri­ mary stress was concentrated on the stern syl­ lable, leading to reduction or dropping of the following unstressed syllable, resulting in a special kind of word accent, the so-called "st0d". So, the unstressed ending vowel -a was weakened to -e which could be further reduced or dropped, cf. O land: kaka 'cake' ['ka:ka] > Lka:b] > L ka:ak], and the plosives p, t, k were weakened to b, d, g: Danish gapa 'open one's mouth' > gabe, gata 'street' > gade, kaka 'cake' > kage (cf. Bandle 1973 maps 15 - 16). The weakening of t > d (6) caused assimilations of tl > II and tn > nn: lJ1etla 'nettle' > lJ1elle, vatn 'water' > vann (Lindqvist 1947 map 265). The fricative g was changed to v after a velar, to j after a palatal, sometimes disappearing: South Swedish hage 'enclosed pasture' L ha:g,] > L ha:v,] or Lha:,], skog 'forest' [sku:g] > [sk0:v] or [sku:], viig 'road' [VE:g], > [VEj:], hog 'hill' [h0:g] > [hrej:]. Southern innovations are presented in Lind­ qvist (1947); for example lexical map 146: Danish and South Swedish hor 'flax' [hre:ll'], Central Swedish lin [li:n], along the east coast of Smaland to [tu:]. A northern Scandinavian innovation is the affrication of the palatals g and k in front of palatal vowels, mainly in in­ itial position: g > ltj] > [j] in gora Ljre:ra] 'do, make', k > [Cl'] > [I'] in kopa LI'0:pa] 'buy'; the initial palatal clusters sk-, sj-, stj­ > m in skiira ['S",:ra] 'cut', sjo [S0:] 'lake', stjiirna ['S",:rna] 'star', and tj- > [I'] in tjiira LI'",:ra] 'tar', dj- > [j] in djup [j»:p] 'deep'. Af­ frication in internal position is typical of northern Swedish (norrliindsk Jormjukning): viiggen ['vEg:,n] 'the wall' > lVEd:Jjin], mycket

185. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century I: Sweden and Finland

['myk:ot] 'much' > ['myt:cyo], and some of the Finland Swedish dialects (cL Bandle 1973 map 1 7 and Wessen 1969, 42 map 6), A northern innovation, reaching almost down to the borders of the fonner Danish provinces of Halland, Scania and Blekinge, is the dropping of the final unstressed short end­ ing -n in the feminine singular and neuter plu­ ral: bakin > baken ['bu:bn] 'the book' > baka ['bu:ka], husin > husen rh,,:son] 'the houses' > husa ['h,,:sa], but the preservation of the long masculine -n: fiskinn > fisken ['fis:bn] 'the fish'; cf. masc. enn > en [e:n] 'one', hann > han [han:] 'he', but fern, en > e [e] 'one', han > ha [hu:], 'she' (cL Bandle 1973 map 18), Not reaching quite so far southwards is the dropping of unstressed final definite -t of neu­ tersingulars: huset ['ha:sgt] 'the house' > huse ['h,,:so], and of neuter past participles: kastat ['kas:tat] (kasta 'throw') > ['kas:ta], burit ['oo:rit] (bara 'carry') > ['oo:ro] (cL Bandle 1973 map 19), A velar I [�] (tjaekt 'thick' I) has developed from dental I [1] and from the group rd (r6), cL bard [bu:rd] 'table' > [bu:�], gard [go:rd] 'farm' > [go:�], corresponding to South Swedish [bu:lf, gO:If] (cL Bandle 1973 map 20), A phonetic parallel is the reciprocal assimila­ tion of r and a following d (6), t, n, I or s to uniform supradentals: rd, rt, rn, rl [Q, ( , 1\, II and rs [,] (cL 4J) In northern Scandinavian dialects the re­ duction of the vowels of the final syllables was dependent on the quantity of the stern syllable (vakalbalans 'vowel balance'), For example, the infinitive -a after a long syllable was re­ duced to -e: kasta l kas:ta] 'throw' > ['kas:to], or dropped ([kas:t], but after an originally short syllable it was preserved:Jara ['fa:ra] 'go, travel' (cL Bandle 1973 map 16), Due to the comparatively strong weight of the second syl­ lable of old short-syllable words, the quality of the stern vowel was in many dialects ad­ justed to the vowel of this second syllable, and also vice versa (tilijiimning 'adjustment'), re­ sulting in lexical differences like lava llo:va] 'promise': ['lov:o], Jara l fa:ra] 'go, travel': ['fEr:E], lada lla:da] 'barn' > llHd:,,] (cL 4A)

4,

Rural dialects - classification and characteristics

Given the underlying older fundarnental lin­ guistic factors (cL 3), the rural dialects of the entire Swedish-speaking area are distin­ guished by continuous transitional stages

1693

without any sharp interruptions. This is also valid for the transition into the Danish and Norwegian dialect areas. Proper language boundaries are not to be found until the Ger­ man border between Jutland and Schleswig, and between Swedish and Finnish dialects in Tornedalen and inside Finland. Often - but not everywhere - topographical barriers (mountains, forests, rivers, lakes) or administrative boundaries (between villages, parishes, hundreds, provinces, nations) have contributed to the development of local dia­ lects. An important factor has always been the everyday communication and the social net­ works of the local community. Rural as well as urban centres are the principal points of local dialect development, It is remarkable (but quite natural, con­ sidering the facts presented in 3) that the com­ paratively young national boundaries - for ex­ ample those valid from the end of the Middle Ages until the change of nationality in the middle of the 17th c, between the former Dan­ ish provinces of Blekinge, Halland and Scania and the Swedish provinces of Viistergotland and Smaland - have not represented dialectal dividing lines (cL Bandle 1973, 95, and map 21, showing the diagonal belts of old isoglosses, mainly stretching northwest-southeast). Important South Swedish isoglosses cut across the comparatively young boundaries of the nation-states in a way that clearly points out that contemporary dialect geography of­ ten reflects considerably older cultural bor­ ders, and that the nation-states of Denmark and Sweden, with their standard language Danish and Swedish, even at the beginning of the 20th c" had not reached such a level of influence on the spoken language of the local peasantry as was to be the fact in the latter half of the century, resulting in levelling of the rural dialects. The situation is the same along the old national boundaries between Sweden and Norway, with the fonner Norwegian provinces of Bohusl3.n, Jarntland and Har­ jedalen, For practical rather than theoretical rea­ sons (cL Bandle 1973, 20) Swedish 20th c, dia­ lects are often described as belonging to six main dialect areas defined by some more or less arbitrary phonological and morphologi­ cal linguistic relics and younger innovations (cL Wessen 1969, map 1), These areas are, from south to north: South Swedish dialects (mainly spoken in the former Danish prov­ inces), Geatish Swedish dialects (spoken in Central Gotaland, i. e. the provinces of Vas-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1 694 tergotland and (western) Ostergotland), Svea­ land dialects (sveamal, Hesselman 1 905, 64), Norrland dialects (norrliindska mal, in the northernmost parts of Sweden, which were colonized comparatively late by domiciled Swedes; cf. Dahlstedt 1 978, 50), Gotland dia­ lects (gutamal/gutniska) , and East Swedish dia­ lects (Finland Swedish and Estonia Swedish). Sometimes the dialects are described, for the same practical reasons, by the provinces from

south to north or in alphabetical order, with a short survey of each province (Pamp 1 978, 3 3 - 1 47; cf. province articles in Nationalencyk­ lopedin 1 989-96; for a map of Swedish prov­ inces see back cover of OSD 1 : 2- 3). Four main Finland Swedish dialect areas are normally recognized (cf. FO 1 982 map XIX): Osterbotten (and northern Satakunda), Aland, the archipelago of Aboland, and Ny­ land.

Finland: Ob Stk Abl Al Nl

Osterbotten Satakunda Aboland Aland Nyland

Norrland: Nb Lpl Vb Am Jl Mp Hrj Hsl Gst

Norrbotten Lappland Viisterbotten Angermanland liimtland Medelpad Hiirjedalen Hiilsingland Giistrikland

Svealand: Dal V stm Ul Vrm Nk Sdm

Dalarna Viistmanland Uppland Viirmland Niirke Siidermanland

Giitaland: Og Gl Dsl Bo Vg Ha Sm

01

Bl Sk

Map 1 85. 1 : Sweden and its provinces

Ostergiitland Gotland Dalsland Bohusliin Viistergiitland Halland Smaland Oland Blekinge Skane

185. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century I: Sweden and Finland

There are many examples of geographical variation within these areas on all linguistic levels, i.e. phonology, morphology, the lexi­ con, semantics, syntax and prosody, due to internal or external innovations and relics. Many differentiating features, chiefly prosodic elements, are still clear and distinct in the con­ temporary regional standard language (cf. Johansson 1976, 163), but of course the fol­ lowing description mainly concerns dialects spoken in the first half of the 20th c. 4.1.

South Swedish

The dialects of the former Danish provinces of Blekinge, Halland and Scania as well as the adjacent parts of Smaland (corresponding to Kronoberg county) belong to this category. The South Swedish dialects preserve the Old Nordic unstressed vowel a, like the older Bornholm dialect, while it was weakened to e or had already totally disappeared in the Dan­ ish dialects to the west of the Sound in the early Middle Ages (cf. 3.). This is not the only dialectal difference between Denmark and the former East Danish provinces. South Swedish dialects have the Swedish phonemic tonal word accent: hor-en ['hce:K��m] 'the flax' and hore-n [hre:lfon] 'the shepherd', while Den­ mark has the st@d accent, South Swedish dia­ lects have the typical Swedish affrication of palatal consonant groups to the so-called sje­ [I] and tje- sounds [,] (cf. 3.). In parts of southern Sweden, secondary diphthongs have developed, both from mon­ ophthongized earlier Old Nordic diphthongs: bain 'leg' > [be:n] > [boin], and from the monophtongs e or a: [sai, kaul] for se [se:] 'to look', kal [ko:l] 'cabbage'(cf. Benson 1965-70, maps 37 and 41). The South Swedish area is also distinguished by preserving dental I [1] (cf. 3.). A comparatively young innovation is the uvular r [K]. In northeastern Scania, southern Smaland and western Blekinge there are relic areas with surviving dental [r]. In the 20th c. the uvular [If] has been observed spreading northwards in southern Sweden (cf. Sjostedt 1936, 162 + map 1 1 ; Elert 1994 map 9; also observed during field work by the author of this survey and his older colleagues), but the expansion has now corne to a halt. The r is often vocalized along the southern Halland coast and the borderland between Scania­ Blekinge and Smaland (cf. 4.2.). In front of the dental consonants t, s and n the r is drop­ ped in parts of Smaland and Halland: [svat:],

1695

[fos:], [ba:n] instead of svart 'black', Jars 'rapid; cataract', barn [ba:rn] 'child', while in Central Swedish dialects it is assimilated to a supradental: [svat:], [fo,:], [ba:l\] (cf. Wessen 1969, map 2). As in Danish, g after a back vowel has changed to v, but after a front vowel to j, in eastern Smaland even after a back vowel: hage [ ha:jo], skog [sku:j] (cf. 3.). In Scania, western Blekinge, south-western Smaland and along the west coast, the plosives p, t, k, between vowels and in final position were weakened to b, d, g (cf. 3.). In southwestern Scania p > b developed further to v: gapa ['ga:pa] > [ga:ba] > [ga:va]. The Danish and southwestern Swedish as­ similation of the consonant groups tl and tn to II and nn: ['m.:l:a, 'van:], corresponds to stan­ dard and Central Swedish dialects: nassla [ nEs:la], 'nettle', older natla; vatten lvat:on] 'water', older vatn (cf. 3.). Along the west coast of Halland and the bor­ derland between Smaland and Scania-Blekinge there is a surviving w after a consonant: [kwE:Kn, swi:n, 'twEt:a, was:, wi:d] for kvarn [kva:rn] 'mill', svin [svi:n] 'swine', tvatta [ tvEt:a] 'to wash', vass [vas:] 'sharp', vit [vi:t] 'white', the last two words originally beginning in hv-. South Swedish dialects preserve the (orig­ inal short) -n of the definite feminine singular: solen ['su:lon] 'the sun', koen lku:on] 'the cow', gatan [ga:tan] 'the street' , neuter plural: husen l h»:son] 'the houses', and masculine plural: hastana [ hEs:tana] 'the horses', where north­ ern dialects normally drop it: lsu:la, 'ku:a, 'ga:ta; 'h»:sa, 'hEs:ta] (cf. 3. and Wessen 1969, map 3). Within a broad diagonal South Swedish relic area plural verb forms were long preserv­ ed, in the middle of Halland, southwestern Smaland and northeastern Scania: viijen I [vil:jon i:] for standard vill ni [vii: ni:] 'do you want to', vi komma [vi: 'kJm:a] for vi kommer [vi: ' kJm:gr] 'we are corning', dai vore [dai 'vu:ro] for de var [de: va:] 'they were'. South Swedish dialects still preserve plural forms of neuter nouns ending in a vowel: dike [ di:kg] 'ditches', apple [Ep:lo] 'apples'; cf. Swedish [ di:bn, . Ep:lon]. In Scania, in compounds with a one-syllable first element, the primary stress normally falls on the last element: [lim'u:n], [tIfE'bi:d] for limugn llim:&D:n] 'lime-oven', trabit ['trE:bi:t] 'piece of wood'), in southeastern Scania also in certain words with a two-syllable first element: [kI0voR'stit:,o] for kloverstycke [ kI0:vorstyk:o] 'clover-field' (cf. 4.4.).

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1696 4.2.

Geatish Swedish

The central provinces for this dialect are Vas­ tergotland, (western) Ostergotland and adjac­ ent parts of Dalsland, Smaland, Halland and Bohuslan. Vannland is a mixed transitional area with different internal and external dia­ lect developments (Broberg 1973, 101- 105, maps 129-1 54), while Bohuslan is the meeting place for South Swedish, Geatish Swedish and Norwegian. The dialects of O land are compli­ cated: influences from northeastern Svealand dialects and from Gotland are mixed up with South Swedish influences, mostly from the nearest mainland of Srnaland, dividing the is­ land into three dialect areas, with a strong im­ pact in the middle and along the west coast from the South Swedish dialects of the Kahnar district and more conservative dialects along the eastern coast and in the northernmost and southernmost areas, including Svealand dia­ lectal features. Typical of Vastergotland is u for long y: [s":], l l..:s,] for sy [sy:] 'sew', lyse lly:s,] 'light­ ing' (cf. Wessen 1969, map 4) and the verb forms [sa:] and lS&!:o] for ska [ska:] 'will, shall' and skulle l sk&!:o] 'would, should'. In West Swedish dialects short [i] and [y] in stressed syllables have been lowered to [e] or [re]: [fes:k, tres:t] forjisk [fis:k] 'fish', tyst [tys:t] 'silent'(cf. Wessen 1969, map 5). Old Swedish short [u] has changed to [0] or [0]: 1 9ob:" 'gob:" ' sto:va, 'sto:va] for gubbe 19&b:,] 'old man', stuga lst..:ga] 'cottage' (Tyden 1 924). In front of gg, kk, ng and nk short [u] has been preserved: l hug:a, 'juD:], while the standard language has hugga ['h&g:a] 'hew', ljung' [j&D:] 'heather' . In Geatish Swedish and South Swedish dia­ lects, the vowel of an old short root syllable is lengthened even ahead of p, t, k, s and r: ldro:p" sko:t, be:k, blo:s, ' bo:ra], whereas Central Swedish dialects as well as the stan­ dard language, which basically developed from these dialects, instead have lengthened the consonant: droppe ldrop:,] 'drop', skott [skot:] 'shot', beck [bEk:] 'pitch', bloss [bios:] 'torch', borra ['bJr:a] 'to bore'. As in South Swedish dialects, the linking vowel is preserved: oxatom, pannekaka, vealass, while it is dropped in the standard lan­ guage: oxtom 'ox-rein' (oxe 'ox'), pannkaka 'pancake' (panna 'pan'), vedlass 'load of fire­ wood' (ved 'firewood'; cf. Lindqvist 1947, map 512). In Svealand dialects (Hessehnan 1905) it is often preserved after a short root syllable but dropped after a long syllable:

vedakast 'woodpile', fluguben 'fly-leg' (fiuga 'fly') but bonn-gal lbun:go:�] 'farmstead' (bonde 'farmer'),Jarbog 'shoulder of mutton' (Jar 'sheep'). In Geatish Swedish there are a lot of older (nominative) e-forms, where standard lan­ guage and northern Central Swedish have (old oblique case) a-forms: skole, penne for skola 'school', penna 'pencil'. The consonant group tl is preserved in a Gotaland border area: niittla 'nettle', vattle 'whey', while it is assimilated to II in South Swedish (cf. 3.): niilla, valle and has acquired s-insertion in Central Swedish and the stand­ ard language: niissla, vassle. Vastergotland and northern Halland pre­ serve the variants miik, diik, siik for South and Central Swedish miij, diij, siij (Old Swedish mik, Pik, sik, standard written language mig 'me', dig 'you', sig 'him-, her-, itself, them­ selves'). In a broad border zone between the area of dental [r] in the north and uvular [If] in the south there is a mixed system called Gota­ skorrning 'Geatish burr' (cf. 4.1.), which has uvular [If] initially and as a long consonant: rora [lfce:ra] 'move, touch', kiirra [9xlf:a] 'bar­ row', kiirr [yEIf:] 'marsh', with dental [r] other­ wise (cf. Elert 1994 map 9). Dropping of -r in the indefinite plural is very common: fiska, hiista, stena for fiskar 'fishes', hiistar 'horses', stenar 'stones', as in South Swedish dialects. The definite plural is jiska, hiista, stena for standard fiskarna 'the fishes', hiistarna 'the horses', stenarna 'the stones'. Geatish Swedish and adjacent Svealand dia­ lects have -a instead of -n in definite forms like sola for solen 'the sun', husa for husen 'the houses' . 4.3.

Svealand dialects

Svealand dialects can be divided into North­ ern Central Swedish (uppsvenska) and Middle Central Swedish (mellansvenska). The former dialects are spoken in Uppland, including the dialects ofGastrikland, southern Halsingland, southeastern Dalarna, eastern Vastmanland and northern and eastern Sodermanland. Middle Central Swedish is spoken in the bor­ derland between Geatish Swedish and Svea­ land dialects, i. e. in the rest of Sodermanland in Narke, the main part of O stergotland : llOrtheastern Smaland and finally in parts of Oland - with old place-name elements com­ mon to the Northern Central Swedish area (Fries 1962).

185. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century I: Sweden and Finland

The archaic and diversified dialects of Dalarna hold an exceptional position. In the northernmost parishes, Idre and Sarna, the dialect closely resembles the adjacent Norwe­ gian dialects. In the central area around Lake Siljan and along the two arms of the river Dal3.lven the dialects become more varied, with conservative features such as preserved Old Nordic diphthongs and short syllables. The dialects of the southeast area (called Dalabergslagsmbl) are closely related to the Central Swedish dialects of Uppiand. Among the most striking similarities to Norwegian dialects are u [,,:] instead of 0 [u:] in words like [k,,:] ko 'cow', and the assimilation ofmp, nk,nt > pp, ck, tt: sopp for svamp 'mushroom', brattfor brant 'steep', druckna for drunkna 'get drowned' (cf. 3.). Since Swedish political power in early mod­ ern times was concentrated in the capital, Stockhohn, the Central Swedish dialects pro­ vided the foundations of the spoken standard Swedish, developing in the provinces around Lake Miilaren after the birth and consolida­ tion of the nation-state. Northern Central Swedish dialects (as in Norrland 4.4. and Gotland 4.7.) often pre­ serve an old [a] followed by the consonant groups nd, mb, ld and ng: band, lamb, Jalla, stang, where Geatish Swedish and Middle Central Swedish have a > a [0] and nasal as­ similation of the stop: [bon:] 'string, tape', [lorn:] 'lamb', ['fol:a] 'pen, fold' and [stoD:] 'pole'. An [a] in front of nk changes to [0]: [SOD:k], where Middle Central Swedish preserves the [a]: sank [saD:k] 'marshy'. In western Uppland and in Stockholm, the standard language [e:] and [E:] merge into the so-called Stockholms-a (for instance the "Strindberg rhyme"Jeta ['fe:ta] 'fat' (adjective plural): lita ['e:ta] 'eat'). In Narke there is a buzzing pronunciation of [i] and [y], called Viby-i and Viby-y, named after Viby parish (the place-name containing both vowels). Similar pronunciations can be found elsewhere, e. g. in Blekinge, Goteborg, Bohusliin, Dalsland and Medelpad, like in many of the languages of the world (Eng­ strand et al. 2000; cf. Elert 1994 map 8). Old Swedish unstressed vowels are preser­ ved in Svealand, chiefly i, but also 0 and u: skurU ['sk,,:ri] 'cut, carved', bilil ['bi:ti] 'bit­ ten', stick�r [stik:or] 'sticks', gatur [go:t"r] 'streets' , whereas Geatish Swedish has [0] or [E]: ['sko:rot, 'be:tot, 'stik:or, · go:tor]. In Uppland the vowel of the definite article -en is syncopated after n in disyllabic words

1697

with tonal accent 2: [pin:, bun:], while it is preserved in southern dialects: pinnen ['pin:��m] 'the stick', bonden ['bun:on] 'the farmer'. After a dental the vowel of the masculine enclitic article -en is dropped (Old Swedish -inn), and the remaining n is often syllabic: Joten [ fu:tn] 'the foot'. Syncope of the final unstressed vowel in the definite form of words in -are in Middle Swedish and Northern Central Swedish: [ su:tarn] for sotaren [ su:tar��m] 'the chimney­ sweep', is common in written and spoken stan­ dard language, while the full -are form is pre­ served in South Swedish, especially in Scania. After a vowel, d remains in medial or final position: sida ['si:da] 'side', bod [bu:d] 'shed', while it is dropped in South Swedish, Geatish Swedish and Central Middle Swedish: ['si:a, bu:]. The g is preserved in Northern Central Swedish (like Gotland 4.7.): varg [var:g] 'wolf, (hogd » hojd [h0g:d] 'hill', whereas it developed to j in Geatish Swedish and Central Middle Swedish: [var:j, h0j:d]. In Dalarna and on the seaside of Uppiand g is preserved even in the cluster ng [D]: stang [staD:g] 'pole'. Already in the 1 1 th c. runic inscriptions in Uppland, an initial h was sometimes dropped. In the 20th c. this h-dropping has been re­ garded as characteristic of the coastal regions of Uppland: [al:m, ES:t] for halm [hal:m] 'straw', hast [hEs:t] 'horse'. Hypercorrect h-in­ sertion is common: [an: ' h0s:tErman:] for han Osterman [han: '0s:tErman:] 'the man called O sterman'. This h-droppping also appears in Aland, the coastal districts of Sodermanland and Ostergotland and, in the interior, in Dalarna. In an unstressed syllable a final -t is drop­ ped: ['h,,:so, 'kas:ta] for huset rh,,:sot] 'the house', kastat ['kas:tat] 'thrown' (cf. 3.). In a limited area in southwestern Ostergotland, Smaland, northeastern Scania and Blekinge the dialects preserve the past tense ending -ade: kastade [ kas:tado] 'threw', where the rest of Sweden drops the -de: [ kas:ta]. In the coastal districts the definite form -en (in feminine singular and neuter plural) is re­ duced to -i: [. nat:i, ' h"si], but it is often preser­ ved in the inland: natten [. nat:m] 'the night', husen [,ha:sEn] 'the houses', corresponding in Geatish and Central Swedish to -a: r nat:a, · h,,:sa]. In Central Swedish the use of the defi­ nite plural [,ha:sEna] is a very common inno­ vation. In Northern Central Swedish, weak mascu­ line and feminine nouns take the oblique case

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1698 in the nominative: backa, kaku, while Central Middle Swedish and Geatish Swedish preserve the original nominative: rnasc. backe 'hill; slope', fern. kaka 'cake'. The adjective ending -ug: ltu:k*g] is com­ mon in Svealand and Norrland dialects as well as in East Swedish, while Geatish Swedish (and standard Swedish) has -ig: tokig l tu:ki] 'mad', and South Swedish has -at: l tu:bt] (Benson 1951). The variant -ig: solig 'sunny' in written Swedish (the -g is dropped in spoken language: l su:li]) is due to German influ­ ence. Northern and Middle Central Swedish neu­ ter nouns ending in a vowel have developed a special declension with plural -n, definite form -na: giirden lj"': pp, nt> tt, nk> kk med siir­ skild hiinsyn till svenska (U ndersokningar till en at­ las over svensk folkkultur. Sprakliga serien 1). Upp­ sala. Nationalencyklopedin 1 20 (1989 96). Hoganas. Nikula, Kristina (1979), Dialektal viiderlekster­ minologi: Ordfiiltsstudier i Niirpes-dialekten (AUU 15). Uppsala. Nordberg, Bengt (1983), Urbanisering och sprak­ foriindring i Norden (FUMS rapport 113). Uppsala. Noreen, Adolf (1877), Fryksdalsmalets ljudliira. Uppsala. Noreen, Erik (1917 43), ;frtemarksmalets ljudliira (SvLm. B 43). Uppsala.

Nyhohn, Leif (1984), Helsingforssvenska studier i talsprak. Helsingfors.

tre

Ordbok over Finlands svenska folkmal (FO) (1982 ). Helsingfors. Ordbok over Sveriges dialekter (OSD) 1 Uppsala.

(1991 ).

Pamp, Bengt (1978), Svenska dialekter. Stockholm.

1706

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

Pedersen, Inge Lise (2000), Litle fag hvad nu? In: Folkmalsstudier 39, 257 274. Petterson, GertrudjPlatzack, Christer (1976), Over­ sikt over svenska dialektkartor (Lundastudier i nor­ disk sprakvetenskap. D 11). Lund. Pihl, Karin (1948), Verben (SkrULMA A 5). Uppsala.

i

OverkalixmaIet

Pihl, Karin (1970), Prepositioner och adverb i Over­ kalixmidet (SkrULMA A 14). Uppsala. Rehnberg, Siv (1995), Borgadialekten. Helsingfors. Reinhammar, Maj (1973), Om dativ i svenska och norska dialekter 1 (SkrKGAA 53). Uppsala. Rietz, lohan Ernst (1867), Svenskt dialekt-Iexikon. Ordbok olver svenska allmoge-sprbket 1 2. Malmo! K6penhamn/leipzig/London. 3. Register och rat­ telser av Erik Abrahamson 1955. Uppsala/K0ben­ havn (KGAA). R6nka, Maj-Len (1993), Termer for slatter- och skorderedskap. Abo. Sjostedt, Gosta (1936), Studier over r-ljuden i syd­ skandinaviska mal (SkrLAL 4). Lund. SkrDAUM = Skrifter utgivna av Dialekt-, ort­ namns- och folkminnesarkiveti Umea. Serie A. Dia­ lekter 1 1979 . Umea. SkrKGAA = Skrifter utgivna av Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien 1 (1933 ). Uppsala. SkrLAL = Skrifter utgivna genom Landsmalsar­ kivet i Lund 1 19, 1932 69. Lund. SkrULMA = Skrifter utgivna genom Landsmals­ och folkminnesarkivet ( 1970)/Dialekt- och folk­ minnesarkivet ( 1996)/Sprak- och folkminnesin­ stitutet(1997 ) i Uppsala. Serie A. l (1940 ). Upp­ sala. soA = Sydsvenska ortnamnssaJlskapets arsskrift 1925 . Lund. Soderstrom, Sven (1972), Om kvantitetsutvecklingen i norrliindskafolkmal (SkrKGAA 52). Uppsala. Thelander, Mats (1979), Sprlzkliga variationsmodel­ ler tilliimpade pa nutida Burtriisktal 1 (Studia Philologia: Scandinavica: Upsaliensia 1 4 : 1). Upp­ sala. Thelander, Mats (1987), Kring en beskrivning av Helsingforssvenska. In: Folkmalsstudier 31, 131 156.

Thelander, Mats (1994), provo utan yarde? Om provinsialismer i ordbocker och i verkligheten. In: Sprakbruk, grammatik och sprakforiindring. Enfest­ skrift till Ulf Teleman 13.1.1994. Lund, 365 375. Tiberg, Nils (1925), Dagosvenskarna. Nagra orien­ terande anteckningar. In: SvLm. 1925, 5 16. Tiberg, Nils (1962), Estlandssvenska sprakdrag (SkrKGAA 38). Uppsala. Tiberg, Nils (1968), Estlandssvenska Uppsalaunder­ sokningen (Kustbon 1968 : 4). Uppsala. Tyden, Folke (1924), Vok. U ock 0 i gammal kort stavelse i upp- ock mellansvenskafolkmal (SvLm. B 23). Uppsala. Vide, Sten-Bertil (1966), Sydsvenska viixtnamn (SkrLAL 17). Lund. Wadstrom, Roger (1952 84), Svenska kvarntermer 1 2 (SkrULMA A 8 : 1 2). Uppsala. Wessen, Elias (1969), Varafolkmal (9th ed., first ed. 1935). Uppsala. Westerberg, Anna (1991), Utvecklingen av gammalt kort a framfor ld och nd i svenska dialekter (SkrULMA A 19). Uppsala. Widmark, Gun (1959), Det nordiska u-omljudet (Skrifterutgivna av Institutionen for nordiska sprak vid Uppsala universitet 6). Uppsala. Widmark, Gun (1977), Lokalt och rikssprakligt en undersokning av Uppsalasprak. In: Dialectology and Sociolinguistics (Vmea Studies in the Huma­ nities 12). Umea, 246 262; Reprinted in Boksvenska och talsvenska (Ett urval uppsatser samlade till for­ fattarens 80-arsdag 31 juli 2000). Uppsala, 141 155. Widmark, Gun (1992), Boksvenska och talsvenska. Om sprakarter i nysvenskt talsprak. In: SS NF. 1 1991. Uppsala, 157 198; Reprinted in Boksvenska och talsvenska (Ett urval uppsatser samlade till for­ fattarens 80-arsdag 31 juli 2000). Uppsala 19 56. Wigforss, Ernst (1913 18), Sodra Hallandsfolkmal: Ljudliira (SvLm. B 13). Uppsala. Zetterhohn, D.O. (1942), Stava. Ett kartlaggnings­ forsok. In: SvLm. 1940, 5 55. Zetterhohn, D.O. (1946), Norrlandska ord- och ac­ centstudier. In: SvLm. 1945, 81 108.

Goran Hallberg, Lund (Sweden)

186. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century II: Norway

1 86 .

1707

Dialects and regional linguistic varieties i n the 20th century II: Norway

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

1.

The spoken language situation in Norway today some characteristics Some definitions and delimitations of the tenn "dialect" Some definitions and delimitations regarding dialects, regional varieties and standard Development of Norwegian dialects Development of rural dialects Development of urban dialects Regionalizations in Norway The use of dialects and regional varieties in diglossic situations Conclusion Literature (a selection)

The spoken language situation in Norway today - some characteristics

To understand the spoken language situation in Norway, i.e. the position and the status of the dialects, sociolects and spoken Norwegian in general, it is necessary to know a little about some important characteristics. In Norway there is no official national standard for the spoken national language, quite unlike the "normal" situation in other European countries, for instance Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Russia, though many Norwegians feel that there is an unofficial standard. This means that there is no spoken Norwegian norm which dominates in schools, the church, courts, the military, universities, the national assembly, the gov­ ernment, radio and television and so on. And this also means that there is no official "stan­ dardization" pressure on the dialects and sociolects as there is in the two neighbouring countries of Sweden and Denmark, where the standard norm is dominant in the domains just mentioned, but where there may also be unofficial standards in some regions. In these two countries it is normal to automatically adapt to the standard norm, which for the most part is the dialect of the capital city, Copenhagen and Stockholm, when people from different parts of the country meet. In Norway today, in contrast, it is normal to use one's dialect in most social situations, formal and informal, private and official. The public use of dialects has increased over the last decades. Young people use their dialect

in more situations than elderly people do. This means that dialects have a widespread high status in Norway today, and most people are proud of their local dialect. In Dernnark and Sweden the situation normally is the opposite: local dialects do not have the same status, and many people do not like to be associated with a provincial spoken norm. When people in Norway, on the other hand, are identified geo­ graphically by their spoken dialect, they are normally quite delighted. There are many cultural, social, material and political reasons behind this attitude to dialects, a situation which as early as 1878 was codified in a regulation in the national assem­ bly with the famous wording: "Undervisning i Ahnueskolen b0r saavidt muligt meddeles paa B0rnenes eget Talemaal" [All teaching in the primary school should as far as possible be performed in the children's dialect] (Skard 1973). 2.

Some definitions and delimitations of the term " dialect"

Before we start the presentation of dialects and regional linguistic varieties in 20th c. Nor­ way, it is necessary to discuss the terms "dia­ lect" and "regional language" ("regional va­ riety" or "regional dialect") used in this ar­ ticle. There is no consensus in Scandinavia on the use of the term "dialect". It varies a lot from country to country, especially between Norway and Denmark among both scholars and laymen. There are four main differences in how Dan­ ish and Norwegian scholars use this term: (1) the way they look upon who "speaks dialect" (the user dimension); (2) how they delimit one dialect from another linguistically and geo­ graphically (the delimitation dimension); (3) how they view the potential for change in a dialect (the changeability dimension); (4) how they view dialectal identity and dialectal atti­ tude (the identity and attitude dimension) (cf. Akselberg 2002a). Within Norwegian dialectology and sociolinguistics there is today a consensus that everyone, in both cities and rural areas in Nor­ way and in other countries, speaks dialect (the user dimension). Dialects are varieties within

1708 the bigger unit language, e. g. Norwegian, and the varieties can represent geographic and so­ cial differences, i.e. they can be geolects or socialeels. The term "dialect" is a general con­ cept covering both geolects and dialects (cp. Sand0Y 1996). For many Danish scholars dialects is restricted to "traditional" dialects. Modern Danish spoken varieties are cate­ gorized as regional languages or as national standard varieties. In such a perspective most of the Danish dialects are dead or dying. Many Norwegian scholars are not con­ cerned about where the "exact" linguistic and geographic borders between the dialects are (the delimitation dimension). It is common to give a description of a dialect in a particular district or in a town, and to the scholars it is seldom of great interest whether the differen­ ces are small or large, many or few. In con­ trast, their Danish colleagues have tradition­ ally been preoccupied with finding the exact geographic and linguistic borders between the dialects. If you cannot find distinct borderlines between spoken varieties, then they cannot be considered different dialects. Norwegian scholars are mainly of the opin­ ion that individual dialects are continuously changing, and the fact that dialects change does not mean they are dying (the potential dimension). Dialectal and spoken language changes are natural processes. Phonology, morphology, syntax, the lexicon and prosody will all experience smaller or greater changes from time to time, but the changes will not be equally frequent at all linguistic levels, and for some innovations it will take some time before they are successful (Sand0Y 2000). Within the lexicon there will be changes all the time, while prosodic changes will occur more seldom. The Danish position on this di­ mension is parallel to the Norwegian within the lexicon, syntax and prosody, while the changes within phonology and morphology are smaller. In Norway the use ofdialect and the positive attitude to dialect may have close ties to a (strong) local identity, but not always (the identity and attitude dimension). Instead, it may often have (strong) ties to personal iden­ tity and even to a negative identification with the location which the dialect represents. Among many Danish scholars, however, there is a common opinion that dialects are to be found among elderly people and in areas geo­ graphically far from Copenhagen like south­ ern Jutland, Bornholm and "isolated" places in northern and western Jutland. There is a

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century consensus that just a minority of the Danish speak dialect. Regarding the relation between dialect and identity, many Danish scholars feel that a positive attitude to dialects reflects a (strong) sense of local identity. If this sense oflocal identity is declining, which some Dan­ ish scholars claim is the case, the dialects will eventually die out.

3.

Some definitions and delimitations regarding dialects, regional varieties and standard

3.1.

The vertical and horizontal dimension

Today dialectologists and sociolinguists nor­ mally study the development of dialects and regional varieties according to a horizontal continuum and a vertical hierarchy. In the horizontal dimension, dialects or local vari­ eties influence each other through levelling and simplification (this does not imply that a step has been taken towards dialect death). In the vertical dimension a standard spoken vari­ ety or national variety at the top ofthe spoken language pyramid influences the dialects or varieties at all hierarchial levels by how these dialects or varieties pick up different features from the standard or national variety to a greater or lesser degree. The term "regional dialect" or "regional language" carne to Norway from Denmark, where the dialectologist Inger Ejskj",r intro­ duced the term in an article in 1964, inspired by what she had read about the phenomenon Jran,ais regional (Ejskj",r 1 964). Today terms like "dialectal regionalization" and "regional dialects" are important parts of the mental lexicon of Scandinavian linguists and sociolin­ guists, mainly because these terms structure their categorization of the dialectal situa­ tion. In France, Denmark and Sweden, for example, regional language or dialects are vari­ eties found on a continuum between tradi­ tional dialects at the one extreme and a stan­ dard, national or capital city variety at the other. In this model the national standard is always one of the extremes (cf. Akselberg 2002a). In Norway the vertical and horizontal di­ mensions are in several respects different from the situation in Denmark, Sweden and else­ where in Western Europe. For this reason, Norwegian dialectologists and sociolinguists partly interpret these dimensions differently from their colleagues in Scandinavia and Europe.

1709

186. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century II: Norway

3.2.

The horizontal dimension in Norway

The horizontal dimension is understood in Norway in at least three main ways. In the first place, itmay be a continuum between " ru­ ral" dialects (continuum 1). Secondly, it may be a continuum between rural and urban dia­ lects (continuum 2). Thirdly, it may be a con­ tinuum between urban dialects (continuum 3). The dialect of the capital city, or that of one of the other larger cities, may be one of the extremes both in continuum 2 and 3 . In addition, there i s an "inner continuum" in all Norwegian dialects between the two ex­ tremes "traditional variety" and "modern va­ riety" (continuum 4). In Norway it is com­ monly understood that different varieties of a dialect may coexist side by side. Both rural and urban dialects have "traditional" and "modern" varieties. A "modern" rural dialect is not necessarily identical with either a stan­ dard spoken language or an urban dialect, and a "modern" urban dialect is not identical with a standard spoken language. Regional dialects or regional languages in Norway may emerge in the continuum be­ tween "rural" dialects (in continuum 1), be­ tween "rural" and "urban" dialects (in con­ tinuum 2) or in the continuum between "ru­ ral" and "urban" dialects (in continuum 3). What we see in Norway is two types of re­ gionalization. Regional dialects are either based on urban dialects or rural dialects (see map 186.1). In eastern Norway the urban re­ gional dialect radius is rather extensive. In Tr0ndelag this radius is comparatively smaller, and in western Norway the urban regional radius is small (see 7.) The rural regional dia­ lect radius is rather small everywhere. In east­ ern Norway we find these rural regional dia­ lects for instance in the south of 0sterdalen and in the north of Gudbrandsdalen, and we find them in the Agder region, and in western Norway (see 7.) In both the urban and rural regionalization processes we find linguistic el­ ements which represent non-standard tenden­ cies, i. e. tendencies which are in opposition to standard Bokmal and Nynorsk. And these tendencies are very productive.

3.3.

The vertical dimension in Norway

I t is also possible to view the dialect situation in Norway as a hierarchy with the southeast Norwegian standard or a variety of the Oslo dialect on top and local dialects at the bottom. In this hierarchy the linguistic influence goes

in only one direction, from the top to the bot­ tom. In the continua mentioned above, the in­ fluence may go in both directions. The spoken vertical dimension may be illus­ trated as a tree hierarchy (fig. 186.1). Oslo I I

!

!

!

!

I

Tromso Trondheim Hamar Kristiansand Bergen Stavanger

I I

!

Alesund

!

!

!

I

Floro Hoyanger Sogndal Voss Odda

I Gaupne

Fig. 186.1: The spoken vertical dimension as a tree hierarchy

There are probably not too many Norwegians with a conception of a current national stan­ dard nonn which is identical to the central eastern Norwegian standard or a variety of the Oslo dialect, but on the other hand, many people may have a conception of a spoken Norwegian standard nonn which is close to written Bokmal. Many Norwegians say they "speak Bokmal". The concept of a standard is problematic in the context of spoken Nor­ wegian because there is no official nationwide spoken Norwegian norm. In Denmark, the standard spoken language is always identical with the national standard, and the national standard is usually identical with a variant of the Copenhagen dialect. The dichotomy between a local dialect and a vari­ ety of a national standard is often used in Den­ mark, where the death metaphor plays an im­ portant part in the general discourse on dia­ lects.

4.

Development of Norwegian dialects

During the 20th c. Norwegian dialects have changed, just as other European dialects have changed, some a lot and others less. In some geographical areas we can observe the emer­ gence of regional dialects, while in other areas this process has barely started. Most of these dialectal developments are closely tied to pol­ itical, social, material and cultural circum­ stances. In the 20th c. Norway changed from a ma­ terially, socially and politically poor country to a materially wealthy nation with a devel-

1710 oped social democracy and political indepen­ dence. Until 1905 Norway had been in politi­ cal unions for over 500 years. From 1 389 Nor­ way was in a union with Denmark and Sweden, from 1 521 to 1 814 in a union with Denmark, and from 1814 to 1905 in a weak union with Sweden. This means that Norway today has been a totally independent nation for barely 100 years, and this situation has had an important impact on spoken and written Norwegian. In the 500 years of union with Denmark and Sweden, Norway did not have its own written language. Since the decline in use of written Old Norse in Norway in the 1 4th c., Norwegians had not seen or read written Nor­ wegian, with the exception of a very few texts written in dialect from the 1 7th c. onward and a certain 16th c. interest in Old Norse law texts and sagas in academic circles. From the 1 5th c. written Danish was the main written lan­ guage in Norway, along with Latin and some Swedish. From the beginning of the 16th c. all central and local administrative written communication was in Danish, the Bible and the hyrnnbook were in Danish, the old Nor­ wegian laws were translated into Danish etc. Norwegians did not see or read written Nor­ wegian until the end of the 1 9th c., and not until the beginning of the 20th c. did Norway have its own written Norwegian language (i.e. two official written standards). Until the end of the 1 9th c. Norwegians were taught to write and read Danish in school. In addition to reading and writing Danish or Dano-Norwegian, spoken Danish was heard in most parts of Norway for almost five hundred years. From the 1 4th c. Norway was gradually infiltrated by Danish civil servants in the central and local administration, as vice regents, military officers, bishops, priests, and so on. This meant in effect that most of the people with official political and cultural au­ thority and education spoke Danish. Some Norwegians in the central and local adminis­ tration tried to speak the variety they heard and read, i. e. spoken Danish with Norwegian intonation and phonology. This situation in­ fluenced spoken Norwegian in various ways. First, during the 1 8th c. the spoken variety called den dannede dagligtale (i.e. the daily speech of the educated class) developed among the social elite in the towns all over the country. This variety is characterized by a pronunciation which is close to written Dano-Norwegian. Written Dano-Norwegian is written Danish mixed with some salient

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century Norwegian fonns (Norwegianisms). This is the main reason that most Norwegian towns today have a dialect which is more or less dif­ ferent from the dialects in the surrounding ru­ ral area. The dannede dagligtale as a dominant norm disappeared in the 20th c., but this vari­ ety still exists in a very reduced distribution as higher status varieties in Oslo (the Frogner variety), Bergen (the Kalfar variety), Stavan­ ger (the Eiganes variety) and Trondheim (the 0vre Singsaker variety). The Kalfar variety in Bergen is perhaps the Norwegian variety which is closest today to the dannede daglig­ tale. Though den dannede dagligtale is geo­ graphically uniform, grammatically and lexi­ cally, its regional varieties are phonologically for the most part, and prosodically complete­ ly, in accordance with the dialects of their re­ spective regions. Second, many Danish and Danish-Gennan words came into the Norwegian dialects out­ side the towns through written and spoken Danish. Earlier many Low Gennan words had corne directly into Norwegian through contact with Gennan merchants, especially the Han­ seatics. This means that the lexicon of most Norwegian dialects is still heavily influenced by Danish and Dano-Gennan. But non-urban dialects are otherwise influenced little by writ­ ten Danish and Dano-Norwegian. After the decline of the Old Norse language in Norway in the 13 th and 1 4th centuries, the spoken language gradually changed into the modern Norwegian dialects. These dialects de­ veloped from spoken Old Norwegian and ac­ quired different local phonological, mor­ phological and prosodic systems in different parts of Norway. This process was for the most part completed by the 16th c., when the modern "traditional" Norwegian dialects were established. In the first half of the 20th c. the Norwegian dialects which were established in the 16th c. still existed in their more or less traditional fonn. At the same time the dannede dagligtale dominated the urban dialects because of its status. During the second half of the 20th c., however, both urban and rural Norwegian dialects changed a lot, especially spoken Nor­ wegian after the 1950s. This is mainly because of the great changes which took place in Nor­ wegian society from then on, like industrial­ ization, the growth of higher education, and increasing social and geographical mobility. From the 1950s to today, spoken Norwegian has changed as never before; we must perhaps go back to the Early Scandinavian or Middle

186. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century II: Norway

Norwegian periods to find the same or even more changes in spoken Norwegian, many lin­ guists will claim, but the fact is that we do not know much about the spoken language of those times. These conceptual, cultural and practical characteristics contribute to a Norwegian linguistic infrastructure which is different from that of the two neighbouring coun­ tries and from other European countries, and it is important to keep this in mind when we discuss the dialect situation in Norway today. From the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, many Norwegians developed a special interest in dialects, and they were in­ terested in discovering which social factors have an impact on the dialects and the use of dialect. People were particularly interested in what impact spoken language and dialects have on one's identity, and how the status of the dialects in society reflects the social status of the dialect speakers and social power struc­ tures. From the end of the 1960s many cham­ pioned the cause of linguistic liberation, an ideological parallel to political liberation. The result was that more and more people used their dialect more actively in formal situations than before. In particular, adolescents and young people formed the dialect movement in the 1970s, a movement which ran parallel with ED resistance, the populist movement, the "green" movement, and the growth of nature and environmental organizations. In the 1970s and 1980s the public debate on language was focused on the spoken language, not the writ­ ten language which is normally a topic of heavy debate in Norway. There was strong agreement that informal spoken language and dialects should be used both in formal and in­ formal situations, for instance on radio and television. This process was of great impor­ tance in creating the situation today in which everyone has great freedom to use both his or her local, social and personal linguistic va­ riety. What most Norwegians today hold to be a natural liberty was in fact fought for dur­ ing those years.

5.

Development of rural dialects

Typical of the development of regional dialects is that some of the "traditional" features are used less by young people, a trend which is also typical for the urban dialects (see 6.2.). Other ' 'traditional" features which were still

1711

in use at the beginning and in the first half of the century now can only be found in the speech of some elderly people or have entirely disappeared. Phonology: What we see today is that segmentation, e. g. II > dl as in fjell > fjedl 'mountain', and dif­ ferentation, e.g. rn > dn, as in horn > hodn 'horn', are declining in use in all areas, cf. stu­ dies on segmentation in e.g. Hardanger (Tor­ eid 1999), Voss (Akselberg 1 995), Sogndal (Haugen 1998) and Rogaland (Rasmussen 2002), and on differentiation, e. g. in Hardan­ ger (Toreid 1 999), Voss (Akselberg 1995), Sogndal (Haugen 1998), Rogaland (Rasmus­ sen 2002) and Valdres (Kvale 1999). See map 1 86.1. The svarabhakti vowel is also declining in use. The characteristic svarabhakti vowel of the Voss dialect, u, e.g. in the adjective ein storu mann 'a big man', is hardly used by young people today. Everywhere else the svarabhakti vowel is an e, like in Setesdal in the noun ein heste 'a horse'; both there and in Rogaland the svarabhakti vowel is on the decline. Other phonological features are spreading, like uvular r, the replacement of 1r;1 with III, and retroflexes. The retroflex, e. g. r + t > {, like vte{ for vtert 'been', has traditionally not been found in western and southern Norway, but it is a common feature in eastern Norway and from Romsdal to the north of Nordland. Today the phenomenon has also established itself in Alesund and elsewhere in Sunnm0re. Even in Bergen it is possible to hear individ­ uals using this realization. Until the beginning of the 1 9th c. the front r was common in all Norwegian dialects. Around 1 800 the first velar r was noticed in spoken Norwegian. Velar r in Scandinavia was first used in Copenhagen in the late 1770s and was first described in Norway in the first half of the 1 9th c. We believe velar r first carne to Kristiansand and Bergen, and from there it spread by urban diffusion to minor towns and then by wave diffusion to the rural areas. This variant has from the beginning of the 20th c. spread very slowly eastwards and northwest­ wards and to the inland areas, and it seems that the spread of velar r has stopped in the eastern and northwestern areas. The reason for the stagnation of this expansion is not clear, but it may have some connection with it corning up against the retroflex realization of r plus dentals, for instance rt as It!, as in kort 'card'.

,

SALTEN

rJi ' Some examples

o •

.urban" regionalization tendencies .rural" regionalization tendencies VEFSN

N o rth

Sea

TR0NDELAG

e Trondheim

SWE D E N

YTRE SOON

v.',;�=��

I I"(:hJV�

. Odda

� 9 ,� stavanger

�

- Oslo SETESDAL

--="'

RooALAND

o

100

Map 186.1: Current regionalization tendencies in Norway

200 km

,

186. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century II: Norway

The spread of velar r has been a topic of comment for Norwegians. Inmost parts ofthe area where the use of velar r is expanding, the velar articulation is evaluated negatively in contrast to the traditional dental and alveolar realizations. Many young Norwegians have through the 20th c. been sent to speech thera­ pists to get rid of this feature. The velar real­ ization of r has been characterized both as a childish pronunciation or as a speech impedi­ ment. Only in some higher social groups, es­ pecially in the Oslo West area, does the real­ ization of r as a velar have some prestige, though most educated speakers in that area do not in fact use it. In the 1970s the substitution of III for 1r;1 in words like kjrere 'dear' and 1r;1 for III in words like sjokolade 'chocolate' began to be heard among young people and adolescents in Bergen (Hannaas 1999). From the 1980s the substitution of III for dorso-palatal 1r;1 has been described in different parts of Norway such as Bergen (Haslev 1981; Slethei 1981), Oslo (Osnes 1 992), Trondheim (Dalbakken 1 996) and Vefsn (Granhaug 2000). So far the substitution of 1r;1 for III has only been regis­ tered in Bergen (Hannaas 1999). We do not know where the redistribution of the two phonemes 1r;1 and III occurred first, but it may have evolved in different areas simultaneously, for instance in Bergen, Stavanger, Oslo and Trondheim. During the 1980s and 1990s this phenomenon spread to many different parts of the country. It was first recorded in the lar­ ger cities, and has now spread into many areas of southern Norway and Tf0ndelag. This phenomenon is also documented in districts of northern Norway. Today more or less all young people redistribute these two pho­ nemes, and this appears to happen more and more frequently. Compared with the spread of the velar r, the substitution of III for 1r;1 has spread very rapidly. Like the velar realization of r, the replace­ ment of 1r;1 for III is normally evaluated and sanctioned negatively by adults and elderly people and is regarded as a childlike pronun­ ciation or as a speech impediment. One argu­ ment which is often used against this realiz­ ation - but which is of course totally un­ founded - is that the substitution has a nega­ tive impact on spoken communication be­ cause it may cause misunderstandings. For instance the word kino 'cinema', normally pronounced with a palatal fricative 1r;/, when pronounced with a postalveolar fricative III sounds like ski no 'ski now'.

1713

Morphology: The disappearance of the dative started in the 1 2th c., but even as late as in the first half of the 20th c. the dative was still alive in a vast area stretching from the southeast (So10r, Hedmark, Toten, Land), middle (Valdres, Gudbrandsdalen), and northwest (Ytre Sogn) of Norway, and in the north up to and includ­ ing the southern parts of northern Norway (Bf0nn0Y and Vefsn). Furthermore, there is a traditional use of the dative in upper Setesdal, Voss and the inner parts of Sogn. Today the dative is on the decline in several places within this area, e.g. Voss and Os in 0sterdalen (Moseng 1996), i. e. it is not in use among young people, while in the north of Gud­ brandsdalen, on the other hand, it is used by adolescents (0ygard 1995). Plural verb forms in the preterite tense, e. g. han beit 'he bit' vs. de; bitillbite 'they bit' in the Voss dialect (Heggstad 1932), seem to be disappearing from Norwegian dialects, e. g. in Voss, Setesdal, Valdres and Hallingdal (Venas 1 990), and L",rdal and Borgund in Sogn (Bj0rkum 1 974). The new plural forms in the preterite are identical with the singular forms; e.g. de; beit in the Voss dialect (Akselberg 2002b). In many dialects we can observe a simpli­ fication process in the noun paradigm. Gen­ erally the dialects in the towns and urban cen­ ters have a more simplified noun paradigm than is common in the rural districts. For in­ stance, the dialect in the district of Sunndalen has 10 classes in the noun paradigm and five variants (-a]1, -ij1, -0]1, -]1 and -a), while in the town of Sunndals0ra the dialect has nine classes and four variants (-a]1, -i]1, -]1 and -a) and the Molde dialect and the newer variety of the Trondheim dialect have six classes and one variant (-an) (Sand0Y 2003). What we see is that there is a morphological simplification process going on in dialects in the towns and urban centers, and this process fits the wave model, i. e. that innovations spread from the centerto the periphery. But in the older variety of the Trondheim dialect there are seven noun classes and three variants (-en, -an and -n), while the system in the Molde town dialect has been more simplified for as long as we have records. What we see is an example ofthe case that a language which is exposed to a great amount of contact, according to Trudgill (1986), cannot retain complex morphology. Simplification is a product of a linguistic melting pot. Trondheim has grown relatively peacefully through the ages (from the 17th c.

1714

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

onwards), and the traditional urban dialect re­ placed much of the paradigm from the nearby rural districts. Molde, on the other hand, may have been a social and linguistic melting pot for a long time (Sand0Y 2003). The best example of this process is the development of the Bergen dialect, which is still one of the dialects which differs the most from other Norwegian dialects (see 7.2.). Through the centuries the Bergen dialect has been very dis­ tinct from the dialects in the nearby districts. The reason has to be that Bergen has been a cultural, social and linguistic melting pot since the 1 3 th c.

6.

The development of urban dialects

6.1.

Increase in urban dialects

In 1900, Norway was still a poor country dominated by rural production. By 2000, Nor­ way had become a rich country relying on oil production and industry. During the 20th c. urban dialects have increased considerably, mainly in two ways. First, during the 20th c. Norway has gone through an immense urban­ ization process. In 1900, 800,198 inhabitants (35.7 per cent of the population) lived in the cities, 1 ,200,020 in 1920 (45.3 per cent), 1,581 ,901 in 1946 (50.1 per cent), 2,052,634 in 1960 (57.2 per cent), 2,874,990 in 1980 (70.3 per cent), and 3,396,382 in 2000 (77.3 per cent) (Statistisk sentralbyril 1994, 2003). This means that people from rural areas have moved into the cities and that an increasing part of the population in Norway are born in urban areas. The consequence is that more people than ever before speak an urban dialect. Secondly, before the 20th c. urban dialects were mainly concentrated in the cities. Al­ though in many areas there was a gradual transition from the urban dialects to the rural dialects, the domain of urban dialects was nevertheless mainly restricted to the cities. During this century many urban dialects grad­ ually spread to the outer districts, especially after World War II, a process that accelerated from the 1960s. The main reasons for this pro­ cess are increased mobility, the expansion of higher education which brought students from the countryside to the cities, increased com­ muting because people from the neighbouring areas were working in the towns, and con­ versely, migration because people from the towns settled in areas outside the cities and because they built their holiday residences far away from the cities (and therefore acted as

"language missionaries") (cp. Papazian 1997). See section 7. below about regionalization. 6.2.

The development of urban varieties

A main trend in the 20th c. development of urban dialects is the gradual decrease in the difference between the so-called higher and lower social dialect varietes in the larger towns, especially in Bergen, Oslo, Stavanger and Trondheim. At the beginning of the 20th c., Amund B. Larsen studied the urban dia­ lects of Kristiania (now Oslo) (Larsen 1907), Bergen (Larsen/Stoltz 1912) and Stavanger (Larsen/Berntsen 1 925). Especially in Stavan­ ger and Oslo, Larsen found great differences in the sociolects, while in Bergen they were smaller. When Helge Omdal studied the Stavanger dialect in the 1960s (Omdal 1967), he found that there was a less sharp difference between the two varieties, that the higher variety was more irregular than the lower, and that the lower variety was the primary representative of the Stavanger dialect. In 40 years the situ­ ation had changed a great deal. About 1 5 years later Finn Gabrielsen (1983) made a similar study of the sociolects of Stavanger, and he found that two social varieties still existed, but now the differences between them were even smaller, the group using the high variety having been reduced to a small salient minor­ ity. Very few people were bi-dialectal. Gabriel­ sen's main conclusion is that as a primary spoken language only one variety of the Stavanger dialect exists, which is the lower variety in a new shape. The new and dominant urban variety has a heterogeneous character, and in Stavanger it is the low variety which is expanding. In the Bergen dialect we can see a parallel development. Even if Larsen did not find any big differences between the two sociolects in this city, there was a rather large group using the higher variety in the interwar period. In the 1970s the situation had changed a great deal. The project Talemalsendring has ungdam i Bergen [Dialect change among the adoles­ cents and youth in Bergen], TUB, which was carried out in the late 1970s, studied the spoken language of the young people in all parts of the municipality and did not find any big differences. Their spoken language had a homogeneous character, and there are very few young people who use the high variety (Myking 1983a; 1983b; 1988). In the 1990s Agnete Nesse (Nesse 1994) studied the dialect

186. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century II: Norway

in central Bergen, and she could not detect any difference between the two social varieties. Her conclusion is that people from Bergen have a traditional low variety as their basis coupled with high variety forms and modern forms. Traditional low variety forms are, e. g., the pronoun eg 'I', the adverb of negation ikkje 'not', the use of an initial k in interro­ gative pronouns like ka 'what', and the use of quantifier mykje 'a lot'. The high variety forms are jei, ikke, va and mye or meget. But even though the high variety in Bergen is declining in use, and it is the low variety which is ex­ panding, the high variety still lives on among some younger social groups in the suburb of Fana. In Fana, the "West End" of Bergen, as many as around 30 per cent of the young people in the mid-1990s used the high variety (Jorem 1995). In Oslo and Trondheim we can 0 bserve the same tendencies as in Stavanger and Bergen: the high social variety is on the decline, while the low variety is expanding, and the new and dominant urban variety consists of a tradi­ tional low variety as its basis coupled with some features from the traditional high variety and some modern forms (cp. Jahnsen 2001; Dalbakken 1996). In the only Norwegian urban center ofSval­ bard, Longyearbyen, the situation is rather complex. What is special about the dialect there is that the children have not developed any local dialect, mainly because their fathers, who work in the mines or in administration do not stay there for more than a few years. To survive in this "linguistic chaos", the children and adolescents have developed lin­ guistic neutrality strategies, which means they speak either like one of their parents or like one of their friends, or they use a North Nor­ wegian or an East Norwegian "standard" (M",hlum 1 996). In other neo-industrial com­ munities like H0yanger and Odda in western Norway, huge aluminium, calcium, cyanide and zinc factories were built at the beginning of the 20th c., in Odda from 1910 and in H0yanger from 1916. These communities have been social and linguistic melting pots, forming bases for the growth of new urban dialects. Both in H0yanger and in Odda, most of the workers came from the local districts, while the management carne from the eastern parts of Norway. In H0yanger, e.g., the new variety was established over three generations, with local dialects from the Sogn og Fjordane and Hordaland counties blending together (Omdal 1977; Trudgill 1986; KerswilljWilli-

1715

ams 2000; Solheim 2002). In the first gener­ ation both the migrants and the local popula­ tion preserved their own dialects. In the next generation a kind oflinguistic chaos emerged, followed by a gradual convergence process re­ ducing dialect differences, and in the third gen­ eration a new dialect was established. What is interesting is that while 80 per cent of the inhabitants in 1920 carne from the local dis­ tricts, the people from eastern Norway had a great impact on the new variety. The factory hierarchy was transferred to the localcommun­ ity at large, and an East Norwegian standard became the high-status variety. Many East Norwegian features are still distinctive for the H0yanger dialect, e. g., the pronoun vi 'we' for local me, many lexical sterns like hver 'each' for kvar, mye 'much' for mykje, bare 'only' for berre, gj@re 'do' for gjere, spise 'eat' for ete, di 'they' for dei. Another significant fea­ ture is the realization ofthe diphthongs @y and ei, which today are more open than in the first and second generations, i.e. joyj for j0yj and jaij for jeij. This may be a sort of hypercor­ rection because of the use of monophthongs among the migrants. In the fourth generation, i.e. those aged 16-22 today, the dialect is more or less identical to the dialect among the third generation, but the H0yanger dialect is still changing. The use of the open diphthongs is variable, and more West Norwegian features are finding their way into the dialect, e. g. the possessive deira 'their(s)' or demmes for deres and the adverb nak(k) e 'something' for noe (Solheim 2002). This means that the H0yanger dialect will have a more western character and be in accord with regionalization tendencies elsewhere in the western Sogn and Sunnfjord regions. A parallel development is found in the Odda dialect (Sandve 1976). 6.3.

Urban ethnolects

We still do not know much about the spoken language of immigrants to Norway. From the 1970s Norway has received a lot of migrants from Pakistan, most of them corning to work in the service sector. Later on came refugees from Vietnam, South America, Iran and Bos­ nia. Most of the Pakistanis settled down in Oslo, and most of them today live in Oslo East. Many of the Vietnamese refugees settled down in Bergen. The refugees from Iran, Croatia, Bosnia and other countries were placed in camps all over Norway. Yet there are only a few studies of the migrants' spoken language (Aasheim 1995; Turker 2000). Nor-

1716

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

mally the spoken language of the first gener­ ation migrants with a non-Nordic language background is characterized by the use of code-switching. Hanne Skaaden (1999) has studied first language attrition in the speech of adult migrants, and she gives the following example which illustrates how migrants from Croatia code-switch: " ne, tesko rni naci r(i)jeCi - mm na hrvatskorn, jeg altsa jeg ha, hadde lyst a ga over pa norsk" 'no, it is problematic for me to find words in Croatian, I would like to switch to Norwegian' (Croatian in Roman letters, Norwegian in italics). Ernel Tiirker has studied the same phenomenon among Turkish migrants. Among adult migrants, rnother­ tongue loanwords are very frequent, especially from nouns, adjectives and verbs (Haugen 1953). There are still no studies of the mi­ grants' spoken language in rural areas.

7.

Regionalization in Norway

In some districts and regions we can see a ten­ dency towards a situation where the linguistic differences between smaller localities are di­ minishing, while linguistic features which are common to a larger area are expanding. Until now this has not meant that "smaller" Nor­ wegian dialects are disappearing, but "small­ er" dialects seem to be picking up more and more features from a specific dialect (i. e. usually an urban dialect) or from a variety which is common to a larger geographic area (for instance, standard East Norwegian). We may call this sort of levelling "linguistic com­ promise" (cf. Sand0Y 2003). This is in brief what is meant by linguistic regionalization in Norway. The development of regional va­ rieties in Norway shows many differences at other linguistic levels affected and in geo­ graphic distribution. The first person to describe regionalization of a spoken variety in Norway was Anders Steinsholt. He carried out his initial research in the period 193 8-40, but his studies were not published until 1964. Steinsholt (1964) studied how the urban dialect in Larvik spread into the Hedrum district. His conclusion was that elements from the urban dialect were im­ ported through "language missionaries", i.e. city-dwellers, into the local dialect, and in this way the local dialect adopted linguistic fea­ tures from the urban dialect. Steinsholt thought that the urban dialect spread out like circles in the water from Larvik throughout the Hedrum region around 1940. It is, how­ ever, important to note that although the Lar-

vik dialect was expanding in this area in the 1930s and '40s, the local dialect was still strong, but when Steinsholt came back 30 years later, the urban dialect had displaced the local dialect (Steinsholt 1 972). 7.1.

Eastern Norway

Today it seems that a regional dialect is de­ veloping in eastern Norway based on the Oslo dialect, a variety we call standard East Nor­ wegian. One strong factor in this process is that linguistic variants in both the Oslo West and Oslo East varieties are spreading to a greater area in eastern Norway, especially morphological and lexical variants. The Oslo West variety is dominating this process. This linguistic development is especially clear in the areas nearest to the capital, but its effect is also significant in places further away in east­ ern Norway, i. e. parts of0sterdalen, Halling­ dal, the southern parts of Gudbrandsdalen and in the western and partly isolated valley of Numedal. Today many studies from the eastern Norwegian region document trends in the development of a regional dialect. But despite these more or less strong regionaliz­ ation tendencies in eastern Norway, the local dialects still live on in this geographic region. These trends are not the same all over east­ ern Norway. The standard East Norwegian variety is becoming a common dialect norm in the central parts of the eastern Norwegian region, and this variety has most impact in urban centers in this area. It seems as if the dialects in the middle and northern parts of Gudbrandsdalen are more resistant to re­ gionalization processes than the dialects in the other East Norwegian valley districts. For in­ stance, there is still an extensive use of the dat­ ive among young people in Vaga in the north of Gudbrandsdalen (0ygard 1 995), while this case inflection is disappearing in other areas like 0sterdalen (Moseng 1996). An important characteristic of the standard East Norwegian variety is the impact of low­ status forms from urban dialects in the central East Norwegian region, a tendency which is well-known from other European countries. A typical example of forms of this type are the preterite and the preterite participle ending -a for verbs like kaste 'to throw', i. e. kasta; the high-status form is kastet. Another typical standard East Norwegian form has a diph­ thong in the preterite and an -i in the participle for some strong verbs like skyte 'to shoot', i.e. sk@yt and skyti; the high-status forms are skj@t

186. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century II: Norway

and skutt. We may find forms like these over a wide region in eastern Norway, for instance in Numedal (Papazian 1997), Romerike (Skol­ seg 1994), Gj0Vik (Evensen/Tveit 1 990) and Hadeland (Skramstad 1999). The standard East Norwegian variety has not spread evenly. It first spread to urban cen­ ters, then to the rural districts. In addition, other regional varieties have developed which build upon traditional features with a wide lo­ cal distribution, a tendency which we also may observe in other areas, for instance in western Norway. Far north in 0sterdalen, in the small urban center of Tynset, standard East Norwe­ gian has a great impact on the dialect of young people. They use the 1 sg. pronounjeg '1', the negation adverb ikke 'not', present tense forms for verbs such as kame 'come' without an umlaut and with the morpheme -er i. e. kommer, and generally two syllables in the present for strong verbs in -er like siija 'sit' i.e. sitter; the traditional forms are eg, ikkje, kjem and sit (cf. Bakas 1998). But young people use traditional forms like the plural morpheme -an for nouns, e.g. gutan 'the boys' andjentan 'the girls' where standard East Nor­ wegian has -ene, i.e. guttene andjentene. This new variety is a sort of compromise between the traditional and the standard East Norwe­ gian variety, a tendency we may find in many other areas, for instance Nes in Hallingdal (Thoengen 1994) and Sandefjord (Dahl 2002). Ifwe go further down the valley of0sterdalen to Amot, where standard East Norwegian has little impact, we will find another spoken norm among young people. For example, for the verb 'come' they have kjem (present), kamma (infinitive), and the participle k@mme where standard East Norwegian has kommer, komme, kommet. This is one of the regions where many local forms have a broad local distribution, and the impact from standard East Norwegian is much weaker than further north in Tynset. Only local forms with a very narrow geographical distribution, like the palatalizing ofthe nasal n, e. g. mannj for mann 'man', seem to be declining in use (Busterud 1 996). 7.2.

Western Norway

In western Norway there is no parallel devel­ opment of a regional variety but only very weak tendencies towards regionalization. In the eastern part of Norway, regionalization is characterized by the fact that it is mainly the Oslo dialect which is on the move, not the dia-

1717

lect speakers. In the Bergen area it is mainly the dialect users who are on the move. People from Bergen have for more than 30 years moved out of the town and settled down in the nearest outskirts (places like Sotra, Ask0Y, Lindas and Fana). From these "colonies" the Bergen dialect has spread to the nearby areas. Because people from Bergen often dominate local society by virtue of their numbers and social status, the Bergen dialect is soon picked up by the adolescents in these areas. But out­ side this small radius, the Bergen dialect is very slowly influencing the surrounding dialects too. In Os, the nearest urban center south ofBer­ gen, the Bergen dialect has some impact on the young people, but this is variable. A few young people in Os speak a dialect close to the Bergen dialect, but most speak a dialect which lies roughly between the Bergen dialect and the traditional Os dialect. Yet there are also some who still speak a dialect close to the traditional Os dialect (Hernes 1998). In the Fedje community north of Bergen, the influ­ ence of the Bergen dialect is still rather weak (Maf0Y 1998). And the impact on the Voss dialect, approximately 100 km to the east of Bergen is today almost non-existent among young people (Akselberg 2003). None of the significant Bergen forms are found there, e. g. vowel reduction in the infinitive as injinne 'to find'; monophthongs in e. g. hare 'to hear'; non u-umlauted forms, e.g. vante 'mitten'; two grammatical genders (neuter and common gender) as in en jente, en gutt, et hus 'a girl', 'a boy', 'a house'; lack of i-umlauted forms in the present, e.g. kommer 'come'; lack of agreement for predicate adjectives, de er star 'they are big'; and the preterite form -et for weak verbs, kastet 'cast'. In the Voss dialect the corresponding forms arejinna, h@yra, vott, eijenta, ein gut, eit hus, kjem, dei er store and kasta. The only significant Bergen form to be found in the Voss dialect is the "garp" geni­ tive, an analytical genitive which uses the re­ flexive possessive sin as a genitive marker as in barnet sin hest ('the child's horse', lit. 'the child its horse'), which is spreading all over the south of Norway. In the Voss region many traditional variants are still common among the majority of young people, for instance the definite feminine nouns, e. g. so/x 'the sun', a strong noun, andjento 'the girl', a weak noun (Akselberg 2003). In the western part of Norway we may see the development of a regional variety based on innovations which are neither identical

1718

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

with those in the Bergen dialect nor with any other urban dialect or written standard, for instance definite neuter plural forms in -ena, husena 'the houses' (traditional forms are hus[C and huso), which coincides with the definite feminine plural form, jentena 'the girls'. In Nynorsk the forms are husa and jentene, and in Bokrnal husene or husa and jentene. 7.3.

Southern Norway

In southern Norway we may see a clearer ten­ dency towards linguistic regionalization than in western Norway. In the Agder region, for instance, a spoken linguistic nonn may be emerging with a wide geographic distribution. When people from Setesdal move to Kristian­ sand, they accommodate more to a spoken norm which is common to the Agder region than to the urban Kristiansand nonn. People from Setesdal do not, for example, replace forms like me 'we', ikkje 'not', /ra 'from' and vore 'been' with the corresponding Kristian­ sand forms vi, ikke,jra and v;;ert. On the other hand, they do replace their Setesdal forms heste 'horse' ,fokk 'folk' and hedde 'pour' with the regional forms hestJolk and helle (Omdal 1994). Other tendencies in the Agder region are that the velar r and the pronoun mi 'we' seem to be expanding in this region, as is the stressed pronoun du 'you' for deg (Skjekkeland 1 999). Forms from the coastal areas are spreading to the middle and inner parts of the region. Other regionalization tendencies are going in different directions. In the middle of the re­ gion, the plural morphology is being simplified so that all masculine nouns will take the mor­ pheme -a, e. g. saue > saua 'sheep' pI. In the outer districts there is a transition to a collec­ tive fonn -e in the feminine and masculine plu­ ral: e. g. heste 'horses' and jente 'girls'. 7.4.

Tf0ndelag

We can also see regionalization tendencies in the Tr0ndelag area. In this region the apocoped forms of the infinitive are expand­ ing, e.g. forms like a lavva 'to live' are replaced by a levv. In the noun inflection, weak feminine plural forms in -a and -an are expanding in this region, e. g. fleire visa 'more songs' and aile visan 'all the songs'. Forms like ei vekka 'a week' are replacing traditional assimilated forms like ei vukku. Furthermore, pronouns like x 'I' and vi 'we' are spreading at the ex­ pense of forms like eig and me.

7.5.

Northern Norway

In northern Norway not many investigations of regional varieties have been carried out. In the Nordland area the use of apocoped forms is becoming stabilized. The Salten dialect has traditionally had apocope in many different categories: the infinitive a levv (vs. a leve 'to live'); the present, levv (vs. lever 'he lives'); the preterite, levd (vs. levde 'lived'); the preterite participle v@r (vs. vore 'been'); the definite form of adjectives, fin (vs. fine 'beautiful); weak feminines, kon (vs. kone 'wife'); weak masculines, han (vs. hane 'cock'); weak neu­ ters, stykk (vs. stykke 'piece'); and definite neuters, gras (vs. graset 'the grass'): The use of apocope is gradually being reduced there to the verb categories, which is a common trend in most of the dialects in Nordland, for instance in the southern parts of Nordland.

8.

The use of dialects and regional varieties in diglossic situations

When Charles Ferguson (1959) introduced the concept of diglossia, he limited it to the di­ vision of functions between two different va­ rieties of the same language within a linguistic community. One variety is called the Low va­ riety and the other the High variety. The High variety is normally used in formal situations and the official domain, while the Low variety is normally used in informal situations and within the private domain. Ferguson did not want to incorporate the relationship between a spoken standard and dialects, or between different languages, but later Joshua Fishman (1972) modified Ferguson's diglossia model to include these. On the basis of this wide defi­ nition of diglossia we can say that multilingual people may have a minority language as the Low variety and a majority language as the High variety, and that many people may have their local dialect as the Low variety and a spoken standard as the High variety. According to Ferguson's narrow definition of diglossia, we cannot say that Norway is a diglossic society, but if we use the wider defi­ nition of the term, we can. Within the Sami area, the Sami people up to about 30 years ago had a diglossic situation where they spoke their Sami language at horne and standard Norwegian in official contexts like the school, administration and church. Today the Sami language has an officially approved status, so there is no longer a functional division be­ tween the Norwegian and the Sami language

186. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century II: Norway

in the Sami areas today. But outside of the Sami area, the Sami language functions as a minority language (the Low variety) and the Norwegian language functions as the official variety (the High variety) for the Sarni people. The Sami people have this situation in com­ mon with many other minority groups who have immigrated from different countries out­ side Norway: these groups use their mother tongue as the Low variety and Norwegian as the High variety. There is, however, no clear systematic division between a Norwegian standard and Norwegian dialects that makes it reasonable to call Norwegian society diglos­ sic, but some individuals may have a clear di­ vision between a local dialect and a standard in their private communication which may be characterized as diglossic. In Norway it is common to use one's dialect in all situations, private as well as official, and we may there­ fore only find diglossia among minority groups and among some Norwegian individ­ uals.

9.

Conclusion

Throughout the 20th c. Norwegian dialects have changed a great deal, especially in eastern Norway. Within a large geographical radius around the capital, it is mainly the low Oslo variety which has spread into the local neigh­ bouring areas, replacing the local dialects there to a considerable degree. But at the same time local linguistic features and innovations from the rural dialects outside the capital have mingled with the low-status variety ofthe capi­ tal and created an urban regional language or dialect which now covers a large geographic area stretching from the cities in southeastern Norway to the valley districts of 0sterdalen. This means that the urban regionalization process dominates in the eastern parts of Nor­ way. Within this eastern region we may never­ theless find several local regional dialects, ru­ ral regional languages or dialects (see map 1 86.1), which are characterized by having lo­ cal dialectal features with a broad geographic distribution in the districts, for instance in the Arnot area in 0sterdalen and in the region of North Gudbrandsdalen. On the other side of the country, in the southernmost and western Norway, we have so far only seen minor urban regionalization processes, mainly on the outskirts of the big­ ger cities (for instance Kristiansand, Stavan­ ger and Bergen). In this part of Norway, in contrast, we can 0bserve the emergence of sev-

1719

eral rural regional languages, for instance in the districts of Agder, Rogaland, Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane. Another dialectal characteristic of Norway is the levelling of sociolects not only in old cities like Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger and Trond­ heim but also in newer industrial urban com­ munities like those of H0yanger and Odda. A general process in Norway is geographic linguistic levelling both in the cities and in the rural areas, a process which is parallel to social linguistic levelling in Norway (see article 191). But in spite of these levelling processes, most of the older dialects still exist, not in their tra­ ditional forms, but as modern and changed varieties. Especially outside the central eastern parts of Norway, many traditional dialect fea­ tures can still be found.

10.

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187.

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Thoengen, Vigdis (1994), Hallingmal eller bokmal? En talemalsunders@kelse blant skolebarn i Nes i Hal­ lingdal. M. A. thesis. Oslo. Toreid, Trude (1999), ''Pra badnahagje til barne­ hage». Ei sosiolingvistisk gransking av jondalsmalet. M.A. thesis. Bergen. Trudgill, Peter (1986), Dialects in contact. Oxford. Turker, Emel (2000), Turkish-Norwegian code­ switching: Evidence from intermediate and second generation Turkish immigrants in Norway. Doctoral dissertation. Oslo. Venas, Kjell (1990), Fjell-Noreg. In: Den store dia­ lektboka (ed. Ernst Hakon Jahr). Oslo, 45 62. Web site: Statistisk sentralbyra 2003: http:/;www.ssb.no/emner/02/01/1 O/beftett/

Gunnstein Akselberg, Bergen (Norway)

Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century III: Denmark

1. 2. 3.

Survey of the classic Danish dialects Regional linguistic varieties Literature (a selection)

1.

Survey of the classic Danish dialects

Danish dialects from the 20th c. are often called classic dialects as the knowledge and description of dialects in Denmark (with some exceptions) belong to the 1900s. Traditionally the dialects are divided up into East Danish, Insular Danish and Jutland Danish. Since the surrender of Scania to Sweden in 1658, East Danish has been represented only by the dia­ lect of Bornholm. Insular Danish includes the dialects of Zealand, M0n, Falster, Lolland and Funen and the small islands surrounding these bigger ones. (NB. The Kattegat islands, e.g. Sams0, belong to the Jutland group). It is true that one of the oldest isoglosses, the a­ umlaut isogloss, follows the Great Belt bar­ rier, leaving Funen on the Jutland side, and Funen dialect is still cognizable by some sur­ viving Funen a-umlaut forms. A good example is [sdJw:jsdcew:] stue 'living room', in contrast to Zealand [sduw:/sd,m:]. But on the basis of a series of criteria, Funen dialect must be ranged with the Insular vernaculars.

The primary criteria for the tripartition are the apocope phenomena (weakening of un­ stressed vowels) which also play an important role in the grouping of the other Scandinavian dialects. As a full description of each of the three main dialects would involve the replication of too many common features, my description will concentrate on mainly some phonetic and morphological features: prosody, the vowel system, the consonant system, morphology and vocabulary. 1.1.

Prosody

On the one hand, the phenomena which will be treated in this section play a very important role in the differentiation of the dialects; on the other hand, they are much more difficult to relate directly to older layers of language than the vowel and consonant systems. The survey of prosody is subdivided into seven sec­ tions. The first of these will deal with apocope, while the remaining sections can be seen as a description of the different consequences of this weakening of the old unstressed vowels for old disyllables in their relations to old monosyllables. It is more or less implicit in the order of presentation that "st0d" j"st0d

1722

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

variant" phenomena are seen as younger than tonal accents, but "explanations" ofthe devel­ opment from one system to another will only be suggested in a few exceptional cases. 1.1.1.

Apocope

This phenomenon denotes the historical pho­ netic change in pronunciation of the final un­ stressed vowels -a, -i, -u which, starting in the 12th c., finally led to the weakening or com­ plete loss of all three vowels in old disyllables (and polysyllables). In East Denmark (Born­ holm) -a is unaltered, while both -i and -u are reduced to [-0] (schwa) . In Insular Danish all three vowels are represented by [-g], varying with complete loss of the vowel, the so-called facultative apocope. The loss of schwa is most predominant in Zealand speech in old disyl­ lables (old polysyllables having [-0] as the final element), but is also rather frequent in the dia­ lect ofthe other islands. Jutland speech is char­ acterized by the complete loss of the old final unstressed vowels in all types of words, which means that here there is absolute or uncondi­ tioned apocope. Yet there is a restriction con­ cerning -i, because this vowel (often a result of old -fa) has not been lostin individual words after special old consonants: -kk-, -gg-, -nk-, e.g. ['kryki] krykke 'crutch', ['eyi,pani,ka:y] reggepandekage '(egg)pancake', ['EDki] enke 'widow'. In the eastern part of Jutland the -i can also resist apocope after consonants other than the "palatal" ones just mentioned. Thus ['smioi] smedje 'forge', ['hrewi] h@ved 'head of cattle', ['tAsi] tosse 'fool', ['hwini] hvine 'shriek', ['bali] balje 'tub' (Raid 1971). In a special smaller northeastern area (Jensen 1944) the Jutland form of apocope has re­ sulted in many cases of homonymy in words with short vowels, e.g. [fesg] (a) fisk 'fish' (b) fiske vb. 'to fish'; [kom] (a) imp. komi 'corne!' (b) inf. komme 'to corne'; [hjElb] (a) hjre/p n. 'help', (b) hjre/pe vb. 'to help'; [had] (a) hat 'hat' (b) pI. hatte 'hats'. (In other areas such homonymy is partly avoided, see 1 . 1 .2.). 1 . 1 .2.

Common Danish st0d and West Jutland st0d (map 187.1)

The Common Danish st0d, phonetically a sort of creaky voice (Fischer-J0rgensen 1987), ap­ pears north of the st0d isogloss, but there are on the one hand some regional restrictions in the use of it (see below) and on the other hand some extensions of its domain (see 1 .1 .6.). The principal rule regarding the use of st0d in Standard Danish states that st0d appears in

monosyllabic words as is the case with accent 1 in Swedish and Norwegian and some Danish dialects. However, from a synchronic point of view this principal rule is of limited value. Firstly, st0d does not appear in all monosyl­ labic words consisting of the voiced sounds required for the word to be pronounced with the st0d: long vowel or short vowel + voiced consonant (st@dbasis); secondly, the st0d fre­ quently occurs in words of more than one syl­ lable. A historical analysis can shed some light on the problem: the voiced consonant in the combination short vowel + voiced consonant must be the result of a (original or later) long consonant; therefore e. g. [vEn1 vend! 'turn!', but [VEn] ven 'friend'. And some of the bisyl­ labic words with st0d are original monosyl­ labic or inflected forms of monosyllabic words: e.g. ['f0o?or] fodder 'feet', [man?on] manden definite form of mand 'man'. The main regional exception to the rules for the use of the Standard st0d is that in most parts of the Jutland area and in Funen, words with a short vowel + voiced + unvoiced conson­ ant lack the st0d, e.g. [hjElb] hjre/p 'help', [kand] kant 'edge', [folgl Jo/k 'people', a fact which contributes to the large amount of homonymy in the smaller northeastern area mentioned under 1 . 1 . 1 . In all other areas, total homonymy is prevented by Standard Danish st0d in the type just mentioned (Djursland, Sarns0) or by lengthening of the final conson­ ant or the vowel in the old disyllables, e. g. [kom] imp. komi 'corne!', [kom:] inf. komme 'to corne'; [had] hat n. 'hat', [ha:d] pI. hatte 'hats' (Vendsyssel). The West Jutland st0d is the best known special st0d phenomenon. It occurs only in West Jutland, West Schleswig and a small part of North Funen (map 1 87.1). It has affected old disyllables with short vowels and long in­ tervocalic plosives or voiced consonant + plo­ sive. This means that in the hatched area st0d is not exclusively a "Merkmal" for old mono­ syllables (including certain polysyllabic words) but also for certain types of old disyl­ lables. In West Jutland proper, homonymy caused by apocope is prevented in cases such as [had ] hat 'hat', [ha?d] pI. hatte 'hats'; [kom] imp. komI 'corne!' , [kom:] inf. komme 'to corne'; [hjElb] hjre/p 'help', [hjEl'b] hjre/pe vb. 'to help' (contrary to the Standard opposition); [go:?o] gard 'yard', [go:o] pI. garde 'yards'; [biki] bi 'bee', [bi:] bie 'to wait'. The left-hand member of the last opposition illustrates the so-called parasitic plosive cluster (which will be treated as a st0d variant, see 1 . 1 . 5.).

187. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century III: Denmark

Homonymy is only represented by the type short vowel + unvoiced consonants like [-s, -I]: [ki0s] meaning both kys n. 'kiss' and kysse vb. 'to kiss'. Ringgaard (1960), on the basis of experi­ mental phonetic investigations of the phona­ tion of the West Jutland st0d, advanced the idea that this st0d phenomenon must have de­ veloped as a spontaneous modification of the articulation of all Old Danish long post-vocal­ ic plosives (tenues), i.e. not exclusively in the apocope type with a final vowel. Ringgaard claims to have demonstrated that the West Jut­ land st0d - unlike the Common Danish st0d (Fischer-J0rgensen 1987) - is characterized by the complete closure of the glottis (i. e. a total stop in the activity of the vocal chords) and that the plosive following the st0d is always unaspirated. Ringgaard combines these obser­ vations with a theory to the effect that the Old Danish tenues were originally so-called pure tenues, i.e. tense unaspirated tenues with sim­ ultaneous closure of the glottis and of the mouth. The West Jutland st0d gives the same auditory impression as the glottal stop in Eng­ lish (Ringgaard 1960, 1 1 1 ; Shorrocks 1988; 1991). Ringgaard's tentative explanation of the West Jutland st0d was criticized by Jensen (1961), who is a supporter of the accent/apo­ cope theory. Cf. also Andersen (1965, 105 f.). 1 .1 . 3 .

Pitch accent 1 and 2

Two tonemes characterize the dialects of East Schleswig, R0m0, Als and the former Danish peninsula of Angel (see map 1 87.1). Contrary to the case for length and West Jutland st0d, this phenomenon prevents homonymy caused by apocope in all syllable structures, cf. for instance [lg0:0] gard 'yard', [2g0:0] pI. garde 'yards'; [1 kad] kat 'cat', [2kad] pI. katte 'cats'; [lplow] part. ofplove 'to plough', [2plow] pret. of the same verb. As has just been shown, the tone difference has a distinctive function, and it is possible to give examples of whole series of" commutation" pairs within the fonnal cat­ egories of the same word sterns. This situation is identical to that in Swedish and Norwegian dialects with apocope outside the area with vowel balance. In addition, word pairs belong­ ing to different word sterns can fonn "com­ mutation" pairs by being pronounced with re­ spectively toneme 1 and 2: [lpo:d] port 'gate', [2po:d] pote 'paw'; [lpa] par 'pair', [2pa] padde 'frog' (Bjerrum 1 948). The manifestation of the tonemes is characterized especially by the following criteria: accent 1 involves a simple

1723

modulation, while accent 2 is complex; the maximum tone height is bigger for accent 2 than accent 1 ; the maximum tone height of accent 1 occurs about in the middle of the word, while for accent 2 the maximum is reached within the first quarter of the word. From a quantitative point of view the differ­ ence is that the words are of a longer duration with accent 2 than accent 1 ; seen dynamically, the difference is that accent 1 has only one pitch, while accent 2 has two pitches. From an auditory point of view, accent 1 is rising while accent 2 is falling, and Bjerrum con­ siders this difference as distinctive and the other differences as redundant. In compounds the word-tones are interesting: the two mem­ bers of a compound can have one common accent, accent 1 or accent 2, only the latter being frequent, e.g. [2'pani,ka:x] pandekage 'pancake', but [I'sy,pixo] sypiger 'needle­ women'. However, each member of a com­ pound can also have its own accent, but in such infrequent cases only accent 2 + accent 2 is possible and with the restriction that this phenomenon only occurs when the last mem­ ber is characterized by accent 2 as a simplex word, e.g. [2 lkesbE lblomg] kirsebrerblomster 2 'cherryblossoms' . The Insular dialects on the islands south of Funen (.£r0, Langeland, Tasinge and some smaller islands) also display the relic feature of distinctive word-tones, but since they have facultative apocope, the difference between mono- and disyllables is maintained both by different pitches and different syllable number (as in Standard Norwegian and Swedish): e. g. [lsbe}] spind 'web', [2sbe}:] or [2sbe}0] spinde 'to spin'. In principle the distribution of accent 1 and accent 2 over the vocabulary is as in East Schleswig, but an exception is provided by the fact that the disyllables with an original long (or early lengthened) vowel joined the group with accent 1 , cf. old vinda vinde 'to twitch' with an early lenghthened vowel to [IVe:}(O)], but old vinna vinde vb. 'to gain' with a later lenghthened vowel to [2Ve:}(0)]. Here the accent difference is distinctive. Contrary to the case in East Schleswig, a double accent in compounds is not possible. 1 . 1 .4.

"Rising pitch" as a st0d variant

It is perhaps not surprising that the word-tone dialects proper (cf. 1.1 .3.) have been charac­ terized as " singing" . The same has been said about Funen speech; indeed, a rising pitch exists, especially in East and Southern Funen

1 724

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

West Jutland st0d Zealand Short Vowel st0d rising pitch accent instead of st0d in certain types of monosyllabic words (partly also outside of the st0d area) both rising accent and West Jutland st0d pitch acc. pitch acc. pitch acc. pitch acc.

1 2 1 2

in old monosyllables in all old disyllabels in old monosyllables and in some types of old disyllables in most part of the old disyllables

West of the dotted line: Standard st0d

North of the fully drawn line: Standard st0d

does not occur in words with the

South of the fully drawn line: no st0d

combination voiced consonant

+ voiceless consonant. Ex: kant, damp, hals

o

Map. 1 8 7 . 1 : St0d and pitch accent

(Andersen 1 958). The generally accepted view is that this rising pitch is a relic feature (except by Kroman 1 949), because it occurs in certain types of monosyllabic words showing Com­ mon Danish st0d in other areas, i. e. as a relic of the tonal accent 1 . Usually the distribution

of st0d and rising pitch over the different types of syllables is governed by rules for every single Funish locality; in no case do all types have rising pitch. This is most often found on long gliding high vowels: ['bri] bi 'bee', ['byy] by 'town', ['yu] ud 'out'. In the geographical

187. Dialects and regional linguistic varieties in the 20th century III: Denmark

centre for the rising pitch (near the Great Belt coast just north of the st0d isogloss) it can also occur on lower vowels, e.g. ['pe]] pind 'stick', ['S0]] synd 'sin', and even ['liiw] lang 'long'. Also Funen speech has been characterized as "singing". Indeed a rising pitch accent (ac­ cent 1) exists and has its center in the east, where we find ['bji] or ['bi] bi 'bee', ['sgyy] or ['sgy] sky 'cloud', ['uu] ud 'out'. This accent belongs to monosyllabic words and occurs in types showing st0d in Zealand speech, for in­ stance rbii', sgyy?, uu?]. In inflected torms such as the definite sg., rising pitch is replaced by st0d, e. g. [Peri] pinden 'the stick'. It is worth noting that rising pitch also belongs to the South Funen area south of the st0d isogloss, which evidently re­ inforces the theory of the st0d as an innova­ tion which has not yet completely replaced word-tones, and that it also occurs in the West Funen dialect. But here the pitch has a more restricted use, predominantly represented in monosyllabic words with originally long high vowels. The more one moves to the west, the more neutral the pitch becomes. As the high vowels appear shortened and the old disylla­ bles without the normal facultative final schwa, we find a case of absolute apocope resulting in homonymy: ['bli] (a) bi 'bee' (b) bide 'to bite'; ['byy] (a) by 'town' (b) byde 'to offer'; 'knyu ['knyu] (a) Knud 'Canute' (b) knude 'knot'; 'kniw ['knlW] (a) kniv 'knife' (b) 'knives'. 1 .1.5.

Parasitic plosive cluster as a st0d variant

We have already seen this phenomenon in the dialect of West Jutland proper ([biki] bi 'bee', see 1 .1 . 2.). In this area it occurs on long high vowels in (originally) monosyllabic words (and some oftheir inflected forms); further examples are [syki] sy 'to sew', [uk] (at certain places rub]) ud'out'. North Jutland (Vendsyssel) and West Schleswig also have this phenomenon, only the phonetic result is a bit different: the plosive following the palatal vowels is not only palatalized but a full palatal consonant [c]. In the area south of the Limfjord, the para­ sitic cluster has a wider distribution (Jul Niel­ sen 1 974), occurring also on the old long mid vowels and in opposition to the high vowels just mentioned: [nejkig] ned 'down' does not rhyme with [bikio] bier 'bees', [h0jkio] h@ 'hay' does not rhyme with [sykio] syer pres. of sy 'sew', and [fowb] Jad 'foot' contrasts with [fub] Fur (name of an island). The old disyl­ lables corresponding to words with such me-

1725

dial clusters have long diphthongs or gliding vowels without st0d: [ni:o] or [nejo] nede 'be­ low'. So [nejkio, ni:ojnejo] ned, nede 'down, below' corresponds with northern [neg, ni:g] (see map 187.2). Parasitic plosive clusters also occur in other places, especially in the dialect of the southern partofthe island ofSams0 and in the old West Funish dialect, in both cases on old long vowels (Pedersen 1975). It has also been no­ ticed in East Schleswig (Nyberg 1990, with latest bibliography).

1 .1.6.

Typological extension of the Common Danish st0d

1 .1.6.1. St0d in (old) disyllables as the second member of a compound In the Zealand dialect north of the st0d iso­ gloss, all possible disyllabic (and polysyllabic) words acquire st0d when placed as the second member of a compound, e.g. [huws(o)] huse 'houses' but ['tn,:,huw?s(g)] tnehuse 'wooden houses'; [hEsd(o)] heste 'horses' but ['kyo,hE?sd(o)] k@reheste 'draught horses' (as to the short vowel in -heste see 1 . 1 .6.2.); [m01(o)] m@lie 'mill' but ['von,m01'(o)] vandm@lle 'water mill'. When it is remembered that very often words like -huse, -heste are pro­ nounced without [-g] (and in such cases ending in an unvoiced consonant without any notice­ able length), the compound st0d could per­ haps be seen as a counter measure to apocope (corning from the West). At least the com­ pound st0d belongs not only to Zealand (as a centre of intensity) but also to the Western part of Funen and to the island of Sams0. But in West Funen there are some typological ex­ ceptions to the compound st0d, and in the Sams0 dialect an old disyllable is a necessary but not sufficient condition for its occurrence, which otherwise is lexicalized. E.g. the Sams0 dialect: ['hwEro,ka:?y], literally hvedekage 'cake (bread) of wheat' but ['on,ra:y] avnrage 'poker' (Ejskj",r 1969a). Even if the compound st0d does not (unlike the West Jutland st0d) have any special articulation, its peculiar ap­ pearance in (old) disyllables has been dis­ cussed (Hansen 1943; see also Hjehnslev 1950). A very special reinforcement (by means of a st0d) of final syllables is found in the outer­ most part of eastern Jutland (Djursland). It is special because it occurs in syllables which are totally unstressed in other dialects, e. g. in the definite form of some nouns: ['bo:yo] boger

1726

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

'baker', [lbJ:1fE:?nJ bageren 'the baker', [bo:yoro] bagere 'bakers', ['bo:yo,rE:?n] bagerne 'the bakers' (Ejskj",r 1 974). 1 . 1 .6.2. Zealand short-vowel st0d This special Zealand st0d mainly affects the definite singular of monosyllabic nouns with a short vowel followed by a voiceless fricative or plosive or both (or vice versa). Thus words like [had] hat 'hat', [kusg] kusk 'coachman' are pronounced [ha?din, ku?sgin] in the definite singular. Certain other inflected forms of such words and many uninflected words having fi­ nal In, 1, rl join this group, e.g. [ho?bor] �res. hopper 'jumps', [E?Sgr] esser 'aces', [bE ggn] brekken 'bedpan; pelvis'. From a synchronic point of view, this st0d must be regarded as an extension of the st0d basis rule to certain types with short vowels (see also 1 . 1 .6.1.). Dia­ chronically it is connected to old monosyl­ lables with some of their inflection mor­ phemes, and to some uninflected words attrac­ ted by phonetic similarity. The distinctive fea­ ture characterizing the opposition between a "normal" long vowel with st0d and its short counterpart consists of a certain rearticulation of the long vowel after the glottal constriction (Ejskj",r 1969b). 1 . 1 .7.

No st0d or pitch accents

One ofthe strong dividing lines visible on map 187.1 is the st0d isogloss between Zealand proper and the southern part of this island, which lacks every kind of st0d andlor distinc­ tive tonemes and pitch accents, as do the is­ lands of M0n, Falster and Lolland. Only the facultative schwa and length function to dif­ ferentiate between the old mono- and disyl­ labic words. Apart from schwa (as a result of old -i, -u) and [-a], the dialect of Bornhohn shares with these southern islands the lack ofthe prosodic phenomena just mentioned. Even if a special "melody" is audible in Bornholmian speech, its source must be sought in a strictly regulated intonation curve of the words with higher pitch on unstressed syllables than on stressed syllables. Since this "word melody" affects all words with two (or more) voiced nuclei, it must be described as an accompanying phe­ nomenon without a distinctive function. This is in opposition to the case of the Scanian var­ iety of old East Danish, where accent 1 and accent 2 are still distinctive, as in most Nor­ wegian and Swedish vernaculars. But in con­ trast to all other Danish dialects (and Stand-

ard Danish), though similar to most Scandi­ navian vernaculars (including Scanian dia­ lect), the dialect of Bornhohn lacks short syl­ lables. If a stressed syllable does not include a long vowel, then the consonant is long (or from a historical point of view, automatically lenghtened). So the dialect shares the lack of opposition between otherwise identical short and long syllables with most Scandinavian vernaculars. In my description, I have insisted on the prosodic phenomena because they are promi­ nent dialect criteria and are important also in a Common Nordic perspective. 1.2.

Vowel system

One of the most remarkable features is the number and nature of "diphthongs", under­ stood as vowel complexes which result from diphthongization of an older long vowel. Pho­ netically speaking, such a diphthong can ap­ pear both as " opening" : [kl yg UgOg] and " clos­ ing": [Ej aj oj ow]. The ODan. vowel system i: e:

y: u: 0: 0: E: a:

i: e:

y: u: 0: 0: E: J: a:

changed into

because a: was labialized to 0: and a new long a: appeared as a result of old short a in open (partly also closed) syllables and before cer­ tain consonant groups, especially -ro, -nd, -ld. The new system (which is intact in the Stand­ ard) underwent changes in the dialects, mainly diphthongization of the mid vowels e: @: 0: (in some areas 0: instead of 0:) ; but the high vowels i: y: u: also underwent a sort of diph­ thongization, resulting in the so-called "glides" [Ii Yy »u] belonging to mainly the same areas as the results of the more open vowels. Only in South Jutland and Bornhohn do diphthongs not exist, e.g. Bornhohn: ['he:la] definite form of hel adj. 'whole', [J0:] s@ 'sea', [bo:] bo 'to live', [lvJ:ogr] vlid 'wet'; South Jutland: [he:l] he! 'whole', [k0:f] k@be 'buy', [bo:] bo 'live'. All other areas have diphthongs which vary geographically, the main generalization being that in Jutland it is e: @: 0: (in non-final po­ sition) and in the Insular area e: @: 0: and often also a:and Eg (subject) var bar inn (past participle) aJ manninum (prepositional phrase) 'was hit by the man'. Eg hrinti henni i sk6lanum 'I pushed her at school' > Henni (dative) var hrint i skblanum (afmer) 'She was pushed at school (by me)'. In the new passive the subject be­ comes impersonal, e.g. Pao var bario mig 'it was hit me', jJa!J var hrint mer 'it was pushed me'. HaIfdanarson pointed this change out in 1984 as well as Kjartansson in 1991 . In recent years Maling and Sigurj6nsd6ttir have in­ vestigated this phenomenon thoroughly by sending out questionnaires to all parts of the country, testing adults as well as teenagers (1997). The new passive seems to spread rapidly, and it is mainly heard in the speech of children and adolescents. It has not been handled yet in school grammars, but it is considered to be wrong and is corrected in speech and written texts at school. The wrong declension of the ija-stems is not a new phenomenon in the language, but it is still looked upon as wrong, and the Old Ice­ landic declension is considered the only right one. The word heknir 'doctor' will be taken as an example. Its declension was in Old Ice­ landic and still is: Nom.sing. Acc. Dat. Gen.

lreknir b"kni b"kni b"knis

Nom.plur. Acc. Dat. Gen.

b"knar b"kna b"knum b"kna

In the 1 5th century the declension began to change. The nom. ending -r- was looked upon as belonging to the stern and the paradigm got new endings: Nom.sing. Acc. Dat. Gen.

lreknir b"knir b"knir lreknirs

Nom.plur. Acc. Dat. Gen.

b"knirar lreknira b"knirurn lreknira

Benediktsson (1969) investigated this change, and came to the conclusion that around 1800

188. Written language and fonus of speech in Icelandic in the 20th century

this new declension had almost completely taken over. In the 19th century there was a growing interest in linguistic purism in Ice­ land. Among changes that the purists fought against, was this new declension of the ija­ sterns as has been pointed out by Ottosson (1990; cf. Kvaran 1996). Gradually the declen­ sion was changed back to its original form, and this is the only Icelandic example to be found where a whole paradigm could be ma­ nipulated that way. The -r- declension can still be heard in the speech of the older generation, especially by those who have little education. A sentence like Eg var hja lxknirnum 'I was at the doctor's' is far from being infrequent, but it is not accepted as right, and would be corrected in school. Some words are almost only used in the sin­ gular. Among those are collective nouns and names of materials like kopar 'copper', silfur 'silver' and gull 'gold'. Some abstract words like andM 'antipathy' ,jjar 'fun' ,flytir 'hurry', erfiOi 'hard work' are usually not used in the plural. The words verl5 'price' and keppni 'match, contest' are also among these words. Many puristic linguists and teachers maintain that they can only be used in the singular, and in most grammars this opinion still rules. Younger linguists are more tolerant. prainsson (1983, 1 74) has pointed out that nothing op­ poses that singular words, used in a changed or specialized meaning, could be used in the plural. If the word revi, which usually means 'life, lifetime' and is a singular word, is used in the meaning 'short biography' one could speak of xvir in the plural. The same goes for gleoi 'happiness' if it is used in the meaning 'party', and also for the word keppni. It is only natural to use it in the plural if the meaning is 'tournament' and talk about keppnir in the plural. There the semantic field has expanded. Many of the older generation look at the use of the plural of the above mentioned words as wrong, whereas e. g. younger people, adver­ tisements and sport reporters use vero, keppni, gull, silfur, brons etc. in the plural, varur a ymsum veroum 'articles with several prices', tvxr keppnir 'two matches' etc. The middle voice ending -ustum used in­ stead of -umst in 1stpers.plur. both in the pres­ ent and past tense (vio komustum instead of vio komumst) under the influence of the active voice is looked upon as wrong and having a lower status. It is quite frequently used in the spoken language, especially by older people. The latest investigation on this grammatical feature was done by Ottosson in his disserta-

1747

tion (1990- 1991; 1992). He points out that a spontaneous change adds the ending -ustum and -unstum to the set of older endings -ust and -unst in the 17th century. The ending -ustum won out in the 19th century, whereas the older endings lost ground, and around 1900 it had reached predominance in the colloquial language. In the 20th century the puristic norm -umst, revived by Arni Magnusson at the be­ ginning of the 18th century from the old lan­ guage, gradually won out, and the colloquial ending -ustum was fought against in school as incorrect (Ottosson 1990-1991, 120-122). The use of a subjunctive in sentences like: Eg xtla al5 athuga ef hann se heima 'I will see if he is at horne' has become quite common. In a subordinate clause starting with ef 'if, a conditional conjunction, one would expect an indicative. The right use would be: Eg retia aI5 athuga hvort hann er heima, i. e. an interroga­ tive clause. The new clause ef . . . se has been explained as English influence on the Icelandic language, starting with the younger gener­ ation, but spreading out rather quickly. It is considered syntactically wrong and of lower status, especially when used by grown-ups.

4.

The question of the status of locally bound words

Some words and phrases are locally bound, that is to say, they are only used in restricted areas or in a certain part of the country. Dif­ ferences like these in the vocabulary can hard­ ly be counted as special dialects. A general in­ vestigation on this part of the vocabulary has not yet been done, but several articles have been written on special words and word forms. They have mainly been published in Lingua Islandica - islenzkt mal (Ur forum Oroabok­ arinnar [From the University Dictionary]: As­ geir Blandal Magnusson, Jakob Benedikts­ son) and islenskt mal og almenn malfrxOi (Oro af oroi [Word by word]: Asgeir Blandal Magnusson, Guorun Kvaran, Gunnlaugur In­ golfsson). As an example, the word bjalji can be named, which in the South means 'dimwit', but in the North 'a sickly person'. Variants of words do not have lower status than the most common form, and several words are to be found that have different variants in different parts of the country, e.g.Julhnua 'handle, fin­ ger' which have the variants Jaulhnua, Jul­ hnuJa,Julhnua,Julhnusa,Jolhnua,fjolhnua, hol­ hnuJa, volhnuast, paulhnua and pulhnua (Kvaran 1988-1989, 1 44-147).

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1748 The only comprehensive research in this field concerning Icelandic was done by Bandle (1967) when he studied and compared the ter­ minology of domestic animals in Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese. Locally bound words do not have a lower status in Icelandic and people are seldom ridi­ culed for using them. One of the main reasons for this tolerance is by no doubt the University Dictionary's radio programmes which have been broadcasted once a week every winter from October to April since the year 1956. There questions are asked about locally bound words or phrases about which the editors lack information and the answers are discussed and explained to those who listen. A great number of people contact the Dictionary regularly with questions or answers.

5.

Colloquial features in the written language

Colloquial features can be seen almost in every kind of written texts. In the daily papers they are quite common, especially in articles writ­ ten for teenagers and young people, and in sports articles. In papers or periodicals in­ tended for these groups of readers colloquial features are parts of the language used. In lit­ erary texts it depends upon the style of the narrative if the author uses colloquial features or not. As Icelandic is a puristic language, foreign words in literary texts are rather rare, and mainly used to create a special effect in the text. The author who has had the greatest influence on younger generations, is the Nobel Prize winner Halld6r Laxness. Other authors have used his style and vocabulary as a model, and it would therefore be worthwhile to study his use of colloquial features, including his use of foreign words in his novels and short stories. 5.1.

Foreign words in literary texts by Halldor Laxness

The use of colloquial features in Laxness's texts have not yet been investigated thorough­ ly, neither in his literary texts nor in his essays. The Institute of Lexicography at the Univer­ sity of Iceland compiled a concordance with words from Laxness's novels and shortstories, which was ready in 2002, and by using this material one can get a good impression of his use of words and phrases and of their fre­ quency in the texts.

In his younger years Laxness, like many other Icelanders at that time, fought against Danish influence on the language. In 1939 he e. g. wrote an article called "Ill danska" [Bad Danish] where he made a list of Danish loan­ words and phrases used in newspapers, and advised those who wrote that kind of "Icelan­ dic" to take lessons in Danish to learn to avoid them. Two years later he wrote another article, "Malia" [The language] where he had changed his mind to some degree. There he maintains that if a word has the right colour to make a sentence in a novel perfect, then it is the only right word to use. This word does not have to be part of the accepted language. In books, he said, there are to be found several words that only should be used in one sentence, in one context and then never again (Laxness 1941 , 21 3 f.). The first impression of the concordance shows that Laxness chose his colloquial fea­ tures very carefully. They were supposed to throw light on a special situation where it was e. g. necessary to distinguish between officials and the general public, rich and poor, learned people and uneducated. There he often used foreign loanwords and phrases from Latin, German, Danish and other languages. To em­ phasize colloquial pronunciation he used his own spelling, e. g. eld for eg held 'I think', hvursu 'how' for hversu, hvur 'who' for hver, hvurnin 'how' for hvernig, sosum 'about, roughly' for svo sem etc. In his younger years Laxness travelled a lot on foot in Iceland, and on his travels he stayed at night in farms talking to the people. He was very interested in the colloquial speech, and he collected and wrote down locally bound words and phrases (see 4.) he heard and did not know. Later he lent his collection to the Institute of Lexicography, and by comparing these words and phrases with the institute's material excerpted from his books it is clear that he used most of these locally bound words later in his writings. Many of them are well­ known today as a part of the general vocabu­ lary. 5.2.

Colloquial features in younger writers

After having been given the Nobel Prize in the fifties Laxness became the model of younger authors. But even if some of them tried to imitate his style they never took up his special spelling, by which he managed, among other things, to make use of colloquial

188. Written language and fonns of speech in Icelandic in the 20th century

pronunciation to describe his characters, nor did they make special use of locally bound words like he did. Laxness's influence on younger authors has not been investigated thoroughly, but some comparison shows that it is above all his style and not his use of vocabulary they tried to imitate. Laxness, as well as porbergur poroar­ son, certainly opened boundaries by using loanwords in their texts to describe certain situations, which was taken up by others, e.g. Thor Vilhjahnsson, but the puristic tendencies in Iceland prevented that this got out of hand.

6.

Literature (a selection)

A Dictionary of European Anglicisms (2001), A Usage Dictionary of Anglicisms in Sixteen Euro­ pean Languages (ed. Manfred Gorlach). Oxford.

1749

Kjartansson, Helgi Skuli (1991), Nysmrleg polmynd i barnamali. In: Skima, 18 22. Kvaran, Gu5nin (1988 1989), fulhnua og fieiri or5. In: IMAM 10 1 1 , 144 147. Kvaran, Gu5nin (1996), Den islandske sprogbis­ torie i det 19. arhundrede. In: Studies in the devel­ opment of linguistics in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden (eds. Carol Henriksen et al.). Oslo, 123 151. Kvaran, Gu5nin (2001), Tanker om en islandsk fremmedordbog. In: Nordiska studier i lexikograji 5, 125 135. Laxness, Halld6r (1939), III danska. In: Timarit Mills og menningar, 33 35. Laxness, Halld6r (1941), Mali5. In: Timarit Mills og menningar. Reprinted in: Vettvilngur dagsins (1962), 208 229.

Arnason, Kristjan/prainsson, Hoskuldur (1983), Urn malfar Vestur-Skaftfellinga. In: IMAM 5, 81 103.

Maling, Joan/Sigurj6nsd6ttir, Sigri5ur (1997), The "New Passive" in Icelandic. In: Proceedings of the 21st Annual Boston University Conference on Lan­ guage Development, Vol. 2 (eds. E. Hughes et al.). Somerville, MA., 378 389.

Bandle, Oskar (1967), Studien zur westnordischen Sprachgeographie. Haustiertenninologie im Nor­ wegischen, IsLindischen und Faroischen. A. Text­ band. In: Bibliotheca Arnamagna:ana. Vol. XXVIII. Hafnia:.

Ottosson, Kjartan (1990 1991), Breytingar a pers6n­ ubeygingumi5myndar. In: IMAM 12 13, 105 125.

Benediktsson, Hreinn (1961 62), Icelandic Dialec­ tology: Methods and Results. In: iT 3, 72 1 1 3 . Benediktsson, Hreinn (1969), O n the Inilection o f the ia-Stems i n Icelandic. In: Afnudisrit Jans Helga­ sonar 30. funi 1969. Reykjavik, 391 402. Dahlstedt, Karl-Hampus (1958a), Islandsk dialekt­ geografi. Nagra synpunkter. In: Sc.Isl. 9, 5 33. Dahlstedt, Karl-Hampus (1958b), Islenzk mallysku­ landafra:5i. Nokkrar athugasemdir. In: Skirnir 132, 29 63. Einarsson, Stefan (1932a), Urn mal a Flj6tsdals­ hera5i og Austfjor5um. In: Skirnir 106, 33 54. Einarsson, Stefan, (1932b), Icelandic Dialect Stu­ dies 1 . Austfir5ir. In: JEGPh 31, 537 572. Gu5finnsson, Bjorn (1946), Milllyzkur I. Reykjavik. Gu5finnsson, Bjorn (1964), Milllyzkur II. Um is­ lenzkan framburl5 (eds. Olafur M. Olafsson/Oskar Halld6rsson) (SUs!. 23). Reykjavik. Gunnlaugsson, Gu5var5ur Mar (1987), Islenskar mallYskuranns6knir. Yfirlit. In: IMAM 9, 163 174. Halfdanarson, Helgi (1984), GEtum tungunnar. Reykjavik. Halld6rsson, Halld6r (1979), Icelandic purism and its history, In: Word, 76 86. Halld6rsson, Halld6r (1982), Urn meranir. In: IMAM 4, 159 189. J 6nsson, J 6n Hihnar (1978), Zur Sprachpolitik und Sprachpfiegein Island. In: Muttersprache, 358 362. Karlsson, Gunnar (1965), Urn aldur og uppruna kv­ frambur5ar. In: iT 6, 20 37.

Ottosson, Kjartan (1990), islensk millhreinsun: Sogulegt yfirlit (Rit Islenskrar malnefndar 6). Reykjavik.

Ottosson, Kjartan (1992), The Icelandic middle voice: the morphological and phonological develop­ ment. Lund. Pahnason, Ing6lfur (1983), Athugun a frambur5i nokkurra Ora:finga, Su5ursveitunga og Hornfir5inga. In: IMAM 5, 29 51. Palsson, Gisli (1979), Vont mal og yond malfra:5i. In: Skirnir 153, 175 201. Svavarsd6ttir, Asta (1982), "pagufallssYki". In: IMAM 4, 19 62. Svavarsd6ttir, Asta/Palsson, Gisli/p6rlindsson, P6r6lfur (1984), Fall er fararheill. Urn fallnotkun me5 6pers6nulegum sognum. In: IMAM 6, 33 55. p6rarinsd6ttir, Hallfri5ur (2001), Hnattva:5ing og islensk pj65arimynd. Tveir p6lar a sarna as. http://www.kistan.is/ifx/?MIval= kistan btm&nr � 494&f�3&u � 28 http://www.kistan.is/ifx/?MIval= kistan btm&nr � 495&f� 3&u�28 prmnsson, Hoskuldur (1983), Ekki til i fieirtolu. In: IMAM 5, 175 177. prmnsson, Hoskuldur/Arnason, Kristjan (1984), Urn reykvisku. In: IMAM 6, 1 1 3 134. prmnsson, Hoskuldur/Arnason, Kristjan (1986), Urn skagfirsku. In: IMAM 8, 31 62. prmnsson, Hoskuldur/Arnason, Kristjan (1992), Phonological variation in 20th century Icelandic. In: IMAM 14, 89 128.

GulJrim Kvaran, Reykjavik (Iceland)

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1750

1 89.

Written language and fonus of speech in Faroese in the 20th century

1. 2. 3.

The written language Fonus of speech Literature (a selection)

1.

The written language

1.1.

Introduction

Old Norse went out of use as a written lan­ guage in the Faroes before the Reformation. Internal linguistic developments on the islands led to considerable discrepancies between spoken Faroese and the Old Norse writing tra­ dition. For hundreds of years Faroese existed merely as spoken dialects, Danish being total­ ly dominant as the only officially accepted lan­ guage - written and spoken - in the church, administration and public life. The status of Danish as the principal language was not dis­ puted until the middle of the 19th c., when Danish primary schools were introduced. A governmental decree in 1845 which stated that the language of instruction as well as the "mother tongue" of the children should be Danish provided the incentive for the young Faroese theologian in Copenhagen V. U. Harnmershaimb (1 819-1909) to create an or­ thographic norm for Faroese (Matras 1951). One of the reasons that Faroese had been to­ tally neglected in this decree was the fact that no acceptable norm for written Faroese exis­ ted. In the years 1845-1855, Harnmershaimb published a number of Faroese ballads, folk tales and riddles using his new orthography, and in 1854 his F[Cr@isk Sprag/[Cre 'Faroese Grammar' appeared. The spelling system Hammershaimb used in his grammar has been accepted as the national norm for written Faroese, although no official resolution has ever been passed. To this day only minor changes have been made to it. Hammers­ haimb's grammar also established rules for the inflexion of Faroese words, which is by no means uniform in the different dialects. 1.2.

Harnmershaimb's orthographic system

Hammershaimb's orthographic system is principally etymological. It can be character­ ized as a reconstruction of a past stage in the history of the language and as a compromise between normalized Old Norse spelling and the pronunciation of Faroese in the Torshavn

region. His grammar is also somewhat ar­ chaic, as it deviates on several points from all varieties of spoken Faroese in order to be closer to Old Norse morphology. As Hannners­ haimb's purpose was to construct an ortho­ graphic norm which would be valid for all the phonetically diverse dialects, he found the phonetic spelling, which was used in the exist­ ing hand-written ballad collections, inad­ equate. The orthography in these books varied as much as the dialects of the informants and the recorders. Another motivation for using an etymological spelling system was that this would make Faroese easier to read for people from the other Nordic countries. 1.3.

The Old Norse and Faroese written standard

For most of the vowels, Hammershaimb chose the same letters as their equivalents in Old Norse, irrespective of their pronunciation in Faroese, viz. G, i, 6, ii, y, [C, ei; a, e, i, a, u, y and @. Old Norse e, [C, au and ey were changed to [C, @, ey and ay in accordance with the pro­ nunciation. The svarabhakti vowel is written u. The most apparent archaism in Faroese or­ thography is the letter 0, which was introduced etymologically and is frequent in the written language, although there are no dental frica­ tives in spoken Faroese. Old Norse P has mostly become a stop and is written t. Old Norse spelling is also preserved in words be­ ginning with hj- and hv-; in speech hj- has merged with kj- (with a few exceptions), and hv- with kv-. The dative ending -urn is written as in Old Norse; the pronunciation is [am]. Old Norse postvocalic g is retained in written Faroese, although it is never pronounced [yl, and only exceptionally [g]. The extremely com­ plex morphophonemic relations in Faroese speak in particular in favour of an etymol­ ogical orthography, which may be exemplified by the declension of the noun dagur 'day': nom.sg. ['druvGlrl, gen. [daksl, dat. ['de:jl1, acc. [dEal; nom.jacc.pl. ['dE:arl, dat. ['d0:vGlnl; in written Faroese dagur, dags, degi, dag; dagar, d@gum; the adverbial form is dagliga ['daglijal 'daily'. Another advantage of the etymol­ ogical spelling system ist that it often distin­ guishes homophones, which are numerous in Faroese; e. g. the three nouns vegur 'way', veour 'weather' and vevur 'web' are all pro­ nounced [Ive:vcur].

189. Written language and fonus of speech in Faroese in the 20th century

1 .4.

Jakob Jakobsen and "broyting"

Hammershaimb's nonn for written Faroese was sometimes found hard to learn by people without philological education, as it deviated considerably from the pronunciation. The most serious attacks on the etymological or­ thography were the articles by the young phi­ lologist Jako b Jakobsen in the Torshavn news­ paper Dimmalretting in 1889. Finding the ety­ mological spelling inadequate for pedagogI­ cal, democratic and linguistic reasons, Jakob­ sen proposed a completely new orthography for Faroese founded on pronunciation, as was the spelling system of the 18th c. recorder of ballads Jens Christian Svabo. Jakobsen's pro­ posal for a new orthography started a long and bitter quarrel which badly hampered the cultural activity of the national movement at the turn of the century. In 1 895 it was sug­ gested by a committee that some small changes (broytingar) should be made in Ham­ mershaimb's norm to bring it more into line with pronunciation. No orthographic changes were decided on, however, and the only author who consistently used this modified orthogra­ phy ("broyting") was Jakobsen. 1 .5.

The status of Faroese and Danish; bilingualism

The existence of a fixed written nonn had no immediate influence on the bilingual situation in the Faroes. However, in the last decades of the 19th c. the linguistic situation of the coun­ try began to be discussed. The time from the 1 880s to 1906, when the first political parties were formed, was a period of growing national consciousness and political unrest. As the Faroese language was felt to be the most im­ portant symbol for the Faroese as a nation, claims were raised for extending the use of the Faroese language in society. In a resolution taken after a historical meeting in Torshavn in 1889, a language reform was suggested which aimed to change the status of Faroese and Danish: instruction in Faroese was to be­ come a special subject in school; priests should be allowed to use the Faroese language; efforts were to be made to render the Faroese lan­ guage totally acceptable as a means of com­ munication between the inhabitants and the authorities. At the beginning of the 20th c. the use of Faroese as a written language had be­ gun to spread in public life, and gradually op­ position to its use in public affairs weakened. At the end of the Second World War, Faroese had gained acceptance for nearly all public

1751

purposes. In the Horne Rule Act of 1948, Faroese was declared the primary official lan­ guage of the country. 1 .5.1.

Faroese in school

At the turn of the century, teachers as well as politicians began to push for introducing Faroese into the schools as a compulsory sub­ ject. In regulations for the Faroese schools issued by the Danish government in 1912, oral Faroese was made a compulsory subject. Great stress was laid on the Danish language, however, both as a medium of instruction and as a subject. Paragraph 7 in the regulation stated: In order to provide the required com­ petence in the Danish language, it is necessary that the language of instruction in the different subjects be principally Danish, especially in the case of the older children (Thomassen 1985, 57). In a new Education Act in 1920, written Faroese was made a compulsory sub­ ject, but paragraph 7 from the 1912 act still remained in force. Not until 1938 was Faroese given equality with Danish in schools. Today instruction is on a high level, in Danish as well as in Faroese, and as a consequence of the wording of the Horne Rule Act of 1948, Faroese children are educated to be bilingual. 1 .5.2.

Faroese in church

Two factors in particular delayed the general introduction of the Faroese language in church: the conservatism of the Faroese, among whom the Danish language had come to be associated with solemn occasions, and the lack of a Faroese liturgy, Bible and hyrnn­ book. The use of Faroese in church services was first permitted in 1903, to a very limited degree and under stringent conditions. Gen­ eral permission to use Faroese in church ser­ vices was given by an ordinance in 1939. At that time Faroese translations were available for the New Testament (1937), the Service Book (1930) and the general prayerbook. A complete Faroese Bible was published in 1961, a hymnbook in 1960. Today church services in the Faroese language are the rule, prejudice against Faroese in religious matters having disappeared, and the clergy being ahnost com­ pletely Faroese (Rasmussen 1987). 1 .5.3.

Faroese in administration and in official institutions

Through a series of reforms in the 20th c. Faroese has come to be used in many new

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1752 fields which used to be totally dominated by Danish. Since 1920 the telephone directory has appeared in Faroese, and in 1925 Faroese was accepted for postal and telegraphic servi­ ces. From 1927 onwards, the deliberations of the L@gting (the Local Parliament) have been recorded in Faroese. In the law courts Faroese was placed on a par with Danish in 1944. The Horne Rule Act had far-reaching linguistic consequences. The Act divides the administra­ tion into Local Affairs, which are the concern of the Faroese government (LandsstyriO), and Joint Affairs, which are the concern of the Danish government. In the local administra­ tion institutions, Faroese has become the working language, while Danish is used by the representatives of the Danish state.

1.6.

1.6.1.

The development of written Faroese in the 20th century The growth of vocabulary

The development of the Faroese language in the period under discussion is above all a ques­ tion of increasing the vocabulary. As a con­ sequence of Danish being the language of the church, school, administration and literature up to the end of the 1 9th c., Faroese vocabu­ lary had not developed in lexical fields that lay outside the old agrarian society. Almost all influences from the outside world were con­ veyed through Danish, and as time passed, Danish impact grew so strong that it was felt to threaten the Faroese language. Since there were wide gaps in the Faroese lexicon in many semantic fields, the need for new words be­ came urgent when Faroese began to be used in public matters, and proposals were made for the acceptance of the vernacular as the na­ tional language of the islands. The rapid ma­ terial and cultural development of Faroese so­ ciety during the 20th c. required a correspond­ ing development of the vocabulary. As early as 1 889, Jakob Jakobsen had suggested three methods to counteract the decline of the Faroese language due to the heavy impact of Danish: (1) to revive obsolete Faroese words to be used instead of Danish loanwords; (2) to replace foreign words with neologisms, i. e. artificially created new words; (3) to replace Danish affixes with Faroese equivalents (Jakobsen 1 889/1957). Jakobsen's principles for the cultivating of the Faroese language were accepted both by contemporary and later writers of Faroese. A puristic approach is evi-

dent in most publications in the Faroese lan­ guage, in fiction as well as in periodicals and newspapers. 1.6.1 (a). Revival of obsolete words In the introduction to his edition of Frer@ske Folkesagn og Aiventyr ('Faroese Folk Tales'), Jakob Jakobsen gives a few examples of ob­ solete words that might be revived, i. a. byrja '(to) begin' for begynna (Dan. begynde), and gjalda '(to) pay' for betala (Dan. betale). This method of increasing the Faroese vocabulary has not been used very much. One example from the last decades of the 20th c. may be mentioned: bingja is obsolete in the old mean­ ing of 'bin'. It has been suggested to replace the loanword containari (or konteynari) 'con­ tainer' . 1.6.1 (b). Creation of new words Since the beginning of the 20th c. a huge amount of effort has been devoted to the cre­ ation of new words to fill the gaps in the Faroese lexicon. A forerunner was Jakob Jakobsen with his biography of Poul Nolsoe (1912), where the author demonstrates the vi­ ability of Faroese as a language for scholarly matters. His didactic purpose is conspicuous in the way new words are introduced; these are followed by their Danish equivalents with­ in parentheses: e. g. einahandil ('monopol'), kollvelting ('revolution'), skaoatrigging ('in­ surance'), skjalasavn ('arkiv'), avtikin mind ('fotografi'), leioarbnev ('passport'). Today these words are part of the common Faroese vocabulary. Later on Faroese scholars, lexi­ cographers and authors have created Faroese terminology in several fields. Wordlists have been published for different branches of ad­ ministration, and in Fr6i5skaparrit (1952-), the yearbook ofthe Faroese Scientific Society, articles covering a wide range of scientific topics are published in Faroese. An impor­ tant contribution to the Faroese lexicon was made by H.D. Joensen in his 640-page book Alisjr@oi, a presentation of the various branches of physics (1969). His principal aim is explicitly linguistic; a great many new words are created to replace Danicisms and interna­ tional loanwords, e. g. alisjr@oi 'physics', orka 'energy', ravhusi 'accumulator' ,jjarr@oil 'tele­ phone'. A more recent neologism is telda 'computer'. In F@roysk Oroab6k (1998) telda is followed by twenty compounds, i. a. teldu­ t@kni 'computer technics', telduvirus.

189. Written language and fonus of speech in Faroese in the 20th century

1 .6.1 (c). The replacement of Danish affixes Many Danish loanwords contain affixes of non-Norse origin. Prefixes like an-, be-, er-, for- and suffixes like -eri, -hed, -else (Far. -ari, -heit, -ilsi) are avoided in writing if possible, although they are frequent in speech. Two trends can be discerned over the course of the 20th c. At the beginning, Danicisms with the above-mentioned affixes were used rather freely. Later on, efficient language planning and cultivation set in, resulting in a "purer" written Faroese. In the last decades of the 20th c. there has again been a more tolerant attitude towards Danicisms with non-Norse affixes, since such words can be used to attain certain stylistic effects, particularly in literary prose (Simonsen 2002, 80). A few examples of Dani­ cisms with the suffix -ilsi, found in F@ringa­ tioindi 1 896 but not in today's Faroese, may illustrate the development: undtakilsi (Dan. undtagelse) 'exception', viotakilsi (Dan. ved­ tagelse) 'resolution', uppbyggilsi (Dan. opbyg­ gelse) 'edification', regerilsi 'government'. In modern Faroese the following words are gen­ erally used: undantak. samtykt. uppbyggjandi arin. (lands)styri. Examples of words with non-Norse affixes in F@ringatioindi, which also occur in spoken Faroese today but which are avoided in print include the following: forstanda (Dan. forsta) '(to) understand' ,for­ svara (Dan. forsvare) '(to) defend', bestyrari (Dan. bestyrer) 'director'. In modern written Faroese these words have been replaced by skiija, verja, fyrist@oumaaur. 1 .6.1 (d). International loanwords Many international loanwords are accepted in modern Faroese; the stress is usually placed on the same syllable as in Danish: e. g. telefon, telefaks, telegramm, battari, radari, atom, ampera, positivur, negativur. 1 .6.2.

Orthographic and morphological changes of loanwords

The morphological system of Faroese has been on the whole resistant to Danish influ­ ence. Foreign suffixes as a rule are trans­ formed or substituted if they do not fit the morphological structure of Faroese. Loan­ words ending with unstressed -e in Danish usually take -a and fern. gender in Faroese (Clausen 1978, 62), e. g. basilia, kapitalisma from Dan. bacille, kapitalisme. The suffix -er in Danish is as a rule substituted. Only a few

1753

loanwords keep -er in Faroese, i. a. the names of the months: oktober (also misspelt oktobur). Generally Dan. -er is substituted with -ari or -ur. The derivational suffix -ari is especially productive in forming nomina agentis, e. g. bakari 'baker'. With such words as models, almost all Danish words denoting persons which end with -er, take -ari in Faroese, e. g. politikari 'politician', fanatikari 'fanatic', nekari 'negro', gangstari 'gangster', from Dan. politiker, fanatiker, neger, gangster. Unlike words ending in -ari, genuine Faroese words ending in -ur with a radical r are as a rule ab­ stract, denoting qualities or conditions, e. g. hungur 'hunger', heiour 'honour', myrkur 'darkness'. Consequently, loanwords of these semantic categories replace -er with -ur, e.g. fepur 'fever' (Dan. feber) (Hagstrom 1977, 45 ff.). In the examples just mentioned the sub­ stitution of endings has taken place sponta­ neously. In other cases loanwords with foreign endings are assimilated into Faroese by lan­ guage planners. Thus it has recently been sug­ gested that the banking terms konto, saldo, giro ought to be written konta, salda, gira and be declined like kona, gava. Certain consonants may be substituted in loanwords if they do not fit the phonological structure of Faroese. In spoken Faroese there is as a rule no fortis-Ienis opposition for post­ vocal plosives. This phonetic neutralization is also reflected in the spelling of Danish loan­ words, e. g.fepur,fipur 'fiber', putur 'powder', tok 'train', from Dan. feber, fiber, pud(d)er, tog (Hagstrom 1977, 33 ff.). In several words, however, b, d, g are retained, e. g. radari 'radar', globus 'globe' (Dan. radar, globus). 1 .7.

Stylistic variation in written Faroese

Different styles in written Faroese are to a high degree characterized by the varying use of the genitive, of neologisms, of Danicisms and of other colloquial features. Some grammatical forms and syntactic structures used in the church rituals would be unthinkable in ordi­ nary literary prose. For instance, in the Service Book we find: Vlrr t@kkum Tlrr instead of Vit takka Txr 'We thank Thee'; the possessive pronoun var instead of okkara 'our'; the fre­ quent use of genitive constructions asfyri syn­ darinnar skuld 'because of our sins', and doypa [. . .J til navns faoirsins og sonarins og heilaga andans 'christen [. . .J in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost'. Most geni­ tive forms had gone out of use in Faroese but were revived by Hammershaimb in his gram-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1754 mar. In spoken Faroese, as in literary prose, the use of the genitive is very limited. It has as a rule been replaced by prepositional con­ structions. The first attempt to use the Faroese lan­ guage in fictional prose was made by Ham­ mershaimb. In his F!Ier@sk Anthologi (1891) he published nine short sketches of everyday ru­ ral life. On the whole, he used the vocabulary of the spoken language, although Danicisms were avoided. The same trend was dominating at the beginning of the 20th c., e.g. in the first novel in the Faroese language, Babelstornio 'The Tower of Babel' (1909) by Regin i Lio (the pen-name of Rasrnus Rasmussen), and in Sverre Patursson's realistic yet poetic descrip­ tions of Faroese nature, above all of Faroese bird life. Strong imagination and artistic touch are displayed by Heoin Bni (the pen-name of Hans Jacob Jacobsen, 190 1 - 1987) in his novels and short stories. The setting, themes, and morals in his stories are Faroese to the core - and so is his language. His first novel, Lognbra 'Mirage', was greeted as being inno­ vative regarding the Faroese literary language. Unhampered by ideas of etymology or of lit­ erary theories, he uses vocabulary and syntax founded on the rich oral tradition of tales and ballads in his native village of Skalavik on Sandoy. The rapid material and economic develop­ ment after the Second World War has brought in its train a corresponding increase in vocabu­ lary, and many post-war novelists use the whole stylistic range of Faroese in their works. A more urban trend is discernible, and loan­ words and Danicisms are sometimes used, de­ pending on the theme treated and the effect that is aimed at. Jens Pauli Heinesen (b. 1932), for instance, uses a lot of Danicisms in some of his novels, i.a. in Fnenir eitur ormurin ' The Dragon's name is Frrenir' and in Gamansleikur 'Just for fun'. The purpose is to imitate col­ loquial speech: e.g. korrigera '(to) correct', beklagiligt 'regrettable', frustreraour 'frus­ trated'. A definite touch of informal colloquial speech characterizes the language of Oddv0r Johansen's (b. 1941) much praised novel Livsins summar 'The Summer of Life' . Descri­ bing the situation in a classroom, she writes: "there was always gangur og lamiterilsi" ('hul­ labaloo and grumbling') (from lamitera, Dan. lamentere 'to grumble'). The attitude towards neologisms varies widely between different kinds of writing. In newspapers, in official documents, and in scientific prose, neologisms are rather com-

mon, whereas they are avoided to a certain degree in literary prose and poetry, where they might give an impression of artificiality. In Faroese poetry, two parallel trends were dominant for a long period in the 20th c. One was represented by romantic patriotic songs and ballad-like poems, a genre that arose among Faroese students in Copenhagen in the 1870s. The language is as a rule pure and simple. On the other side there is the more internationally oriented, innovative poetry, the pioneer ofwhich was Jens Oliver Djurhuus (1 881-1948) with his Yrkingar 'Poems' (1914). He freely uses ungrammatical word order, al­ literation, and metaphors, even Old Norse word forms, in order to attain an elevated style, e.g. sja instead of siggja '(to) see'.

2.

Forms of speech

2. 1 .

The phonetic system o f Faroese: a survey

2. 1 . 1 .

The vowel inventory

The pronunciation of the vernacular in the Faroes has undergone so many changes since colonization that spoken Faroese is not im­ mediately comprehensible for speakers of Norwegian or Icelandic, although the lan­ guages are closely related and have a consider­ able part of the vocabulary in common. The most characteristic feature of the Faroese vowel system is the large number of diph­ thongs. The Old Norse diphthongs are re­ tained as such, and all long variants in Faroese of Old Norse long vowels - with the exception of /0:/ - have been diphthongized. In the survey below of the Faroese vowel inventory, the pronunciation is given in what might be called the colloquial standard, i. e. the cultivated pronunciation in the Torshavn region. All equivalents ofONorse vowels may appear as long or short variants, depend­ ing on stress and syllabic structure. ONorse long vowels have the following equivalents in Faroese. ONorse a: a (written Far.), loa] (spoken Faroese, long variant)/[o] (spoken Faroese, short variant); ONorse e: !Ie [Ea]/[a]; ONorse i: i, [Glt]/[Gl']; ONorse 6: 6, [5U]/[0:]; ONorse iI: ii, [l±'u]/[y]; ONorse y: y, [Glt]/[Gl']; ONorse !Ie: !Ie [Ea]/[a]; ONorse IE: @, [0:]/[0:]; ONorse ei: ei, [ai]j[a']; ONorse au: ey, [£1]/[£]; ONorse ey: oy, [01]/[0']. ONorse short vowels have the following equivalents in Faroese. ONorse a: a, [Ea]/[a]; ONorse e: e, [e:]/[£]; ONorse i: i, [i:]/[t]; ONorse 0: 0, [0:]/[0];

189. Written language and fonus of speech in Faroese in the 20th century

ONorse u: u, [u:]/[cu]; ONorse y: y [i:]/[t]; ONorse @ and Q: @, [0:]/[re]. ONorse y has merged with t, and y with i. There is also merger between ONorse a, e and x. When short, a has merged with 0, and ey with e. In some consonantal surroundings some vowels are pronounced differently than stated above. In loanwords the letters a and y are sometimes pronounced in another way than in genuine Faroese words; e. g. roman [ro1ma:n] 'novel', radari ['ra:dan] 'radar', statur [Ista:tcur] 'state'. In a few words the Danish pronunciation of y is used, e. g. in typa ['ty:pa] (Dan. type) 'type'. The Danish word syre 'acid' is bor­ rowed as syra ['sffitra]. Recently the pronun­ ciation ['sy:ra] has been heard. 2.1.2.

The consonantal inventory

Only the most important features of the con­ sonantal system will be mentioned below. Dental fricatives have disappeared. Postvocalic a and g are as a rule lost. P has generally be­ come a stop, t, but in a few words it is h, e. g. in h6sdagur 'Thursday', and in demonstrative pronouns like hesin, hetta etc. 'this', and in some adverbs like har 'there'. Before I, n, and r in the beginning of a word, h has disap­ peared; ONorse hlaupa '(to) run', hnoaa 'ball of yarn', hreinn 'clean' have become Far. leypa, noaa, reinur. In several words f is as­ similated with a following t, e. g. eftir ['El:!r] 'after', aftur ['at:cur] 'back again'. hj- has as a rule merged with kj- [t,] (in hjatpa and a few other words h is just dropped: ['jolpa]), and hv- regularly merges with kv- [kv]. g, k and sk are palatalized before e, i (and y) and ey: geva ['d3e:va] '(to) give', giftur ['d3tftcur] 'married', geykur ['d3Elkcur] 'cuckoo', skinn [Im:] 'skin'. However, in some words initial k before e or i is pronounced [k], e.g. in foreign names like Kina or in a loanword like keks 'biscuit' (ori­ ginally from 'cakes'), as well as in e. g. kis 'weak wind'. The cluster skj- is pronounced [I], e.g. skjota ['I5Uta] '(to) shoot'. The cluster sij- is sometimes pronounced [stj] as in sij6rna '(to) govern', but mostly as m as in stj@rna 'star'.

2.2.

Regional variation in spoken Faroese. A survey of dialectal features

The regional variation in spoken Faroese is above all a question of pronunciation, since differences in vocabulary, syntax and morpho­ logy are rather small. The most obvious dia-

1755

lectal features are manifested in the pronun­ ciation ofthe diphthongei; ofthe short variant of 6; and of a before ng and nk. In the northern half of the Faroes - north of Torshavn - ei has merged with oy, e.g. bein [b51n] 'leg'. North of Skopunarfj0rour - i. e. north of Sandoy - short a is pronounced [re], and a be­ fore ng and nk is pronounced [E], e.g. folk [frelk] 'people', mangan ['mEDgan] 'often', ran­ kur ['rEDkcur] 'cranky'. On the southern is­ lands the pronunciation is [folk], ['maDgan], ['raDkcur]. The Suouroy dialect differs at several points from the other dialects. Only on Suouroy is a before gv pronounced [0]: nogv [nogv] 'much', rogva ['rogva] '(to) row'; everywhere north of Suouroy it is [nEgv], ['rEgva]. Intervocalic p, t, k are often pronounced in a lenis manner, and as a rule are voiceless, but on Suouroy they are voiced, e.g. drepa ['dre:ba] '(to) kill', eta ['e:da] '(to) eat', taka ['tEaga] '(to) take'. ONorse x, which on the other islands has merged with a, [Ea]/[a], has merged with ONorse e on Suouroy; e.g. leera ['le:ra] '(to) teach', leerdi ['IErde] 'taught'. In other parts of the Faroes, stressed vowels are long before the clusters tj, tr, kr, sj, pi, kl, e.g. in vitja '(to) visit', vetrar 'winters' , nakrar 'some', flesjar 'skerries', epU 'potato' (etym. 'apple'), stikla '(to) fall down'. On Suouroy the prece­ ding vowel is short, as it is before other clus­ ters, e. g. ['Eb:le] (Zachariasen 1968). The per­ sonal pron. 'we', which elsewhere in the Fa­ roes is vit, is okur [Io:gcur] (cf. okkara 'our') on Suouroy. On Norouroyar and in the northernmost villages on Eysturoy, the long variants of a and a are monophthongs: [a:] and [E:]. A spe­ cific development in some cases of hiatus is characteristic of the dialect of Vagar. In words like faa '(to) get', Vagar, baaa '(to) bathe', hagar 'there', which in the other parts of the Faroes are pronounced ['fo:a], ['vo:ar], and ['bE:a], ['hE:ar], the Vagar dialect has develop­ ed a glide to fill the hiatus: ['fouwa], ['v5Uwar], ['bElja], ['hEljar]. This pronunciation is also the rule on Mykines and has been observed in some villages on northern Streymoy (Jacob­ sen 2001). The unstressed vowel i and u in suffix mor­ phemes are written like their equivalents in ONorse, but the original distribution is not maintained in any single dialect. Since i and u have a very high frequency in endings, the varying regional distribution of these vowels is a characteristic feature of spoken Faroese. In forms like hestinum and hestunum (dat.sg. =

ei oy

}

[51]

[a:]

ei

[Bi]

oy

[51]

[£:]

MYKINES

o�

00

[Ou] 1 [ou]/[tu] ; [eli] ang

[£I)g]

ank

[£I) k]

.. ........ ........

"

\) SANDOY 6 [Ou] ; [0]

SKOVOY

CJ

ang

[al)g]

ank

[al)k]

o STORA DIMUN o

LITLA DIMUN

[09V]

al

[e:] ; [£]

-ir area with merger of -in and urn to [I n] -

our

SUDUROY

-in -urn

. .. ... ...: .......

, ·

· ·

, ,

.

6gv

} }

[cur] [cun]

area with merger of - ir and our in all gram. categories: [ I r]

Map 189.1: Isoglosses for the most important dialectal features (Map of the Faroe Islands)

•

189. Written language and fonus of speech in Faroese in the 20th century

and pLdef. forms of hestur 'horse'), the vowels i and u in the second syllable are pronounced in the same way in all dialects. Merger of un­ stressed i and u in all endings has taken place in two areas, viz. on the northernmost islands, where the merged vowel is palatal, and on Suouroy, where it is velar (except in the mor­ phemes -i and -u, which are generally pro­ nounced as palatal). The merger of i and u in all suffix morphemes except -in and -urn is characteristic of the Torshavn region and some of the Norouroyar; vinur 'friend' and vinir 'friends' are both pronounced ['vi:mr]. In other parts of the Faroes, where i and u are kept separate, the distribution never co­ incides with the written language. On Vagar and on Sandoy the pI. suffixes -ir and -ur are generally pronounced [tr] for all nouns, e.g. konur ['ko:mr] 'women', eygur ['fijtr] 'eyes', b@kur ['b0:ktr] 'books'. On the other hand both -ir and -ur as verb endings are pro­ nounced [Glr]. In other parts of the Faroes the pronunciation [tr] for -ur is widespread, es­ pecially in the case of the pI. of weak fern. nouns (Hagstrom 1967).

2.3.

The development of a colloquial standard

During the latest generations a colloquial standard has been developed. This standard pronunciation is essentially identical with the cultivated way of speaking in the Torshavn area. Some dialectal features which deviate from the pronunciation in that region are ac­ cepted, such as [folk], ['maDgan] and [b51n] in­ stead of [frelk], ['mEDgan] and [bmn]. Certain other dialectal features are sometimes made fun of, e. g. the extended use of the pronun­ ciation [dn] for nn on Suouroy. The rule is that nn is pronounced [dn] after originally long vowels and diphthongs but [n:] after originally short vowels; e. g. anna [Ioona] 'the river' (def.acc.sg.), oynni ['o'dm] 'the island' (def.dat.sg.) but renna ['rEn:a] '(to) run'. The northern dialectal pronunciation of -urn as [til] sounds comical to most Faroese and is there­ fore avoided (Werner 1964, 250). During the latter half of the 20th c., speech has been increasingly influenced by the written language. In cases where the dialect deviates from the grammatical norm, the correct forms are learnt at school by rules, and the pronun­ ciation [-tr] for -ur is nowadays more or less carefully avoided in speech. Thus the descrip­ tion at this point in section 2.2. above is some-

1757

what out of date, since people have increas­ ingly learnt to change their pronunciation in the direction of the orthographic norm. Cases of hypercorrection hint at the speakers being aware of dialectal peculiarities which deviate from the written norm: e. g. bygdir ['btgdGlr] 'villages', Jerair ['fe:rGlr] instead of ['btgdtr], ['fe:nr], which is the genuine dialectal pronun­ ciation and also in accordance with the ortho­ graphic norm (Hagstrom 1967, 165). Another example of hypercorrection is the following: since ey and a in certain cases of hiatus have merged in the Vagar dialect - dagar 'days' and deyaar '(they are) dead' are homophones, ['dEijar] - words with ey before a can be sub­ ject to hypercorrection, e. g. ['flE:a] instead of ['flEija] fleyga 'to catch birds with a net on a long handle' (Jacobsen 2001 , 1 5). The ten­ dency to alter speech in the direction of the written language is discernible also in mor­ phology. For example, the def. form of ONorse nouns with the pI. morpheme r after consonants, e. g. brendrnir 'the peasants', fretrnir 'the feet', brekrnar 'the books' have the forms b@ndrinir, f@trinir, b@krinar in spoken Faroese. The indef. forms are b@ndur, f@tur, b@kur, after the insertion of the svarabhakti vowel u. In his grammar Hammershaimb just added the def. article to these forms: b@ndur­ nir, f@turnir, b@kurnar, and these forms are now totally dominant in what may be called the colloquial standard. 2.4.

Levels of style in spoken Faroese

There is considerable variation in spoken Faroese, even if dialectal differences are ig­ nored. It is above all a question of style. One might distinguish three levels of style: formal, colloquial standard, and informal speech. In formal speech, e. g. at public meetings or in lectures, certain colloquial traits are avoided, such as abundant use of Danicisms and of word forms that deviate from written Faroese. Genuine Faroese words and neologisms are preferred to Danicisms, and cases of spelling pronunciation are not unusual, although they may give an impression of artificiality, e. g. ['f0:r51skGlr] instead of ['f0:nskGlr] J@roy­ skur 'Faroese', and ['hEstarmr] instead of ['hEstamr] hestarnir 'the horses'. From the written language gen. forms like kongsins 'the king's' andfaoirsins 'the father's' have some­ times also been taken up in spoken Faroese. These gen. forms were revived by Hammers­ haimb in order to fit his grammatical system. In everyday spoken Faroese, as in the hand-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1758 written books of ballads, the gen. forms are kongins and faoirins. In the ordinary colloquial standard many Danicisrns are accepted as good Faroese. Neologisms are often avoided, because they are felt to be artificial or there may be uncer­ tainty about their exact meaning. Sometimes a loanword is used, because the new created word is found to be somewhat awkward. Thus cancer or kreft may be preferred to krab­ bamein, and amputation to burturskurour (lit­ erally 'cutting away') (Clausen 1978, 1 3 6). On the whole, synonyms are abundant in Faroese, since genuine Faroese words, neologisms and loanwords may appear with the same or al­ most the same denotative meaning. A few examples are: alisJr@oijJysikk 'physics', hOk­ mentir/litteraturur 'literature', tyrla/helikop­ tari 'helicopter', hili! temperaturur 'tempera­ ture', hagt@l/statistikkur 'statistics', skald­ saga/roman 'novel', skrivstova/kant6r 'office' (Clausen 1978, 151). If a neologism has be­ come well-known from newspapers, radio and television, however, it may be preferred. In many cases a loanword is the most used syn­ onym, especially in the various science fields. However, Danicisms are abundant in collo­ quial Faroese, as a consequence of the bilin­ gual situation. Since the Faroese have the en­ tire Danish lexicon at their disposal, at least in theory, constant interference in informal speech is unavoidable. In very informal speech almost any Danish word can be used as Fa­ roese and be pronounced as a Faroese word (Poulsen 1977, 100); e. g. yvirraskaour (Dan. overrasket) 'surprised' - genuine Far. bilsin, ovfarin; forvtentningur (Dan. forventning) 'ex­ pectation' - genuine Far. v6nir; yvirfl@digur (Dan. overfi@dig) 'superfluous' - genuine Far. 6neyougur. Lexical interference is also ex­ tended to conjunctions and phrases. In spoken Faroese the conditional conjunctions dersum and viss (Dan. dersom and hvis) are not infre­ quent, although they are rarely found in print. The use ofthe phrase like Veitst til hvat?mean­ ing 'Just listen' or 'By the way' has certainly been taken from the corresponding Danish Ved du hvad? The Danish habit of adding the negation ikke to formally affirmative clauses, meaning 'don't you?' etc., as well as the use of the adverb endelig, meaning 'absolutely, definitely' instead of 'at last', is also taken up in Faroese speech: ikki, endiliga. Hatta mast til endiliga ikki gera 'You must absolutely not do that'. These examples of Danicisms are in fact cases of semantic interference. In very in­ formal Faroese speech non-standard forms

can also be heard, e. g. d@trar instead of d@tur, pI. of d6ttir 'daughter'; b@ndrir or b6ndar in­ stead of b@ndur, pl. of b6ndi 'peasant'; b@krum instead of hOkum, dat.pl. of b6k 'book'; mys­ num instead of milsunum, def.dat. pI. of mils 'mouse' .

3.

Literature (a selection)

Clausen, Ulla (1978), Nyord i fiiroiskan (Diss.). Stockhohn. Hagstrom, Bjorn (1967), ;fndelsevokalerna ifiirois­ kan (Diss.). Stockhohn.

Hagstrom, Bjorn (1977), "Hvi hevur nekarin fepur?" In: Fr615skaparrit 25, T6rshavn, 26 56. Hammershaimb, V U. (1846), Fa:r0iske Tryllefor­ mularer. Fa:r0iske Sagn. Bema:rkninger med Hen­ syn til den fa:r0iske Udtale. In: Annaler, 347 365. Hammershaimb, V U. (1849 1851), Fa:r0iske Kva:der. In: Antiquarisk Tidsskrift, 57 96. Hammershaimb, VU. (1854), Fa:r0isk Sprogla:re. In: Annaler, 233 316. Jacobsen, J6gvan i Lon (2001), Urn 0vutan fram­ burb i tj0rnuviksmati. In: Fr615skaparrit 48, T6rs­ havn, 1 5 20. Jakobsen, Jakob (1889), Nogle Ord om Fa:r0sk samt et Forslag til en ny Retskrivning. In: Dimma­ lEtting 20 25. Reprint in: Jakob Jakobsen, Greinir og ritgerl5ir. T6rshavn 1957, 23 42. Jakobsen, Jakob (1901), Lidt om Sproget og Ret­ skrivningen. In: Fif7"@ske Folkesagn og ./Eventyr 3, K0benhavn, LIV LX. Jakobsen, Jakob (1912), Poul Noisoe. K0benhavn. Joensen, Hans Debes (1969), Alisfr@l5i. T6rshavn. Matras, Christian (1951), Det fa:r0ske skriftsprog af 1846. In: Sc.IsI., 5 23. Poulsen, J6han Hendrik W. (1977), Det fa:r0ske sprogs situation. In: De nordiska sprbkens framtid. Lund, 90 102. Poulsen, J6han Hendrik W. (ed.) (1998), F@roysk orl5ab6k. T6rshavn. Rasmussen, Petur Martin (1987), Den fEr@ske sprogrejsning (Diss.). T6rshavn. Simonsen, Marjun (2002), Orb vib fremmandum atskoytum i f0royskum orbab6kum. In: Fr615skaparrit 50, T6rshavn, 77 91. Thomassen, Arnfinnur (1985), FEr@sk i denfEr@ske skole. Odense. Werner, Otmar (1964), Zu den schwachtonigen Endungsvokalen im Faringischen. In: ANF 79, 247 255. Zachariasen, Ulf (1968), Munurin millum Subur­ oyannat og f0royskt annars. In: Fr615skaparrit 16, T6rshavn, 45 51.

Bjorn Hagstrom. Stockholm (Sweden)

190. Social stratification in the present-day Nordic languages I: Swedish

1759

190.

Social stratification in the present-day Nordic languages I: Swedish

1.

Present-day Sweden as a socially stratified society Varying settings for language use Sociolinguistic stratification Qualitative and quantitative variation Sociolinguistic stability and change over time Concluding remarks Literature (a selection)

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

1.

Present-day Sweden as a socially stratified society

Language use and social structure are mu­ tually dependent. For the reader to be able to grasp and form an opinion of the sociolin­ guistic situation in Sweden, it is thus necessary to start with a brief outline of the social struc­ ture of the country during the 20th c. - and especially the last half-century. Given that lin­ guistic performance is regarded as a form of social behaviour, then the social situations which society makes available as possible or appropriate for linguistic communication will be of decisive significance. Depending on the economic and occupational structure, pat­ terns of social networks, culturally determined rules of interaction etc., the set of situations and the number and nature of speech varieties which individuals have to master varies from one setting to another and from time to time. The first issue to consider are some demo­ graphic distributions that may have a certain impact on the sociolinguistic profile of the country. Although Sweden is still more sparse­ ly populated than most other European na­ tions, the population has grown from approxi­ mately 5.1 million in 1900 to ca. 8.9 million in the year 2000. Furthermore, the average life expectancy has increased significantly for both men and women; from being approxi­ mately 51 years for men and 54 for women in 1900, in the year 2000 it had risen to on average 77 for men and 82 for women. Also, the distribution of age groups has changed as a result not only of increased life expectancy but also of declining birthrates, at least among native Swedes. Through the reduction in the proportion of young people and correspond­ ing increase of people over 65, the rather regu­ lar age pyramid at the beginning of the century has been transformed into an age ball. How­ ever, the birthrates have not been diminishing evenly but have fluctuated over periods, which means that the number of speakers of age-re-

lated linguistic varieties, and thus the relative strength of these, differ over time. One of the more sweeping changes in the social structure of 20th c. Sweden is large-scale industrialization and the concomitant urban­ ization. Around 1900 only about 30 per cent of the population lived in densely populated areas, and in 1995 about 84 per cent. In towns and cities the non-native population is well over 50 per cent, in the age group 30-50 years often as high as 70 per cent. However, during the last decades a slight tendency for move­ mentin the opposite direction, i. e. from towns to the countryside, can be discerned. On the whole, internal migration, often over long dis­ tances, and daily or weekly commuting to and from one's place of work, has increased im­ mensely during the last century, and geo­ graphic mobility is considered (one of) the main cause(s) of linguistic change, especially of dialect levelling and simplification. Urbanization cannot be tied solely to indus­ trialization, though; urban areas have con­ tinued to grow and multiply also during the postindustrial era from the 1960s onwards (R. Andersson 1987). During the last 125 years the relative strength of the main industries were as follows: Percentage gainfully employed

1 870 1950 1995

Agriculture

Industry

Services

71 21 3

9 45 27

20 34 70

(Nationalencyklopedin, vol. 17, 1995, p. 536) It is evident that urbanization and urbanism have driving forces other than purely econ­ omic ones. Urbanism is also defined behav­ iourally as a way of life, habits, mentality and attitudes. Urbanism as a life mode is also per­ meating the countryside, not to say the entire society, and it has radically changed the pat­ terns of social life and thereby also the eco­ logical basis for language use and interaction. Although the distinction between rural and urban has lost more and more of its import­ ance, there are still noticeable divergences. Still, the urban population is more heterogene­ ous in many respects than the rural one. Geo­ graphically, urban people are recruited from

1760 a wider area than their rural counterparts, and there is greater social differentiation and strat­ ification and more obvious differences be­ tween them in the standard ofliving. As a con­ sequence there is considerable attitudinal and behavioural variation between rural and ur­ ban environments, and rural life is also in this respect more homogeneous. As social stratification has been rnost c1early discernible in and most relevant for urban areas, the concept of social class, in Swedish official usage most often called "social group", plays a much more prominent part in sociolinguistic analyses of urban speech communities than rural ones. However, the main problem for Swedish sociologists has been to find criteria for social class member­ ship which are valid for the whole 20th c. Marxist class analysis was fairly well suited to Swedish society up until the 1930s, but after that the class structure became more compli­ cated by the growth of the middle layers and the "contradictory class locations" of large groups of salaried employees and civil ser­ vants who were privately and publicly em­ ployed. Furthermore, from 1960 to 1990 many low-income jobs were "intellectualized" , and the greater part of the working class now con­ sists of service-providers as against goods-pro­ ducers. The working class as a whole has de­ creased from 64 per cent to 58.5 per cent, the middle class increased from 1 8 per cent to 34.5 per cent and the self-employed, including fanners, diminished from 1 8 per cent to 7 per cent (Ahrne et al. 1995, vi). During the 20th c. as a whole, social dif­ ferences diminished, e. g. concerning wages and health, but from about 1980 they tended to grow again. The former division between workers and salaried employees is unclear, and the status of publicly employed profes­ sionals and other non-manual employees is hard to establish in terms ofpower and control in their work. Nevertheless, at the end of the 20th c. Sweden was clearly a socially stratified society but with inexact delimitations of the social groups. Factors like education, lifestyle and cultural capital have taken on added im­ portance, and when a hierarchical stratifica­ tion based on a single criterion is needed, a four-grade educational scale is often the most suitable (SEI 1-4, Socioekonomisk indelning 1982). Another grouping, still frequently used, is the traditional, less complex but also more inexact one of working class (including some lower-paid white-collar workers) and middle class.

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century The length of compulsory formal education has increased considerably during the century. Up until about 1960, the vast majority of Swedes had only six (from the 1 940s often seven) years of compulsory elementary school, and a rather small percentage continued to junior secondary school and to upper second­ ary school - the ' gymnasium' - which was 0b­ ligatory for university studies. Nine years of compulsory schooling for all children was in­ troduced in the 1960s together with non-com­ pulsory upper secondary schooling. The latter offered two-year vocational and/or practical programs and three-year academic programs which are 0 bligatory for higher academic stu­ dies. Around 1990 about 95 per cent of pupils who had completed compulsory school at­ tended upper secondary school. Since the middle of the 1990s all programs run for three years, and general academic courses take up a larger part of the vocational programs than before. All programs lead to a general quali­ fication for university studies. Despite all these attempts to achieve equality in the school sys­ tem, the recruitment for academic studies in the upper secondary schools and for university studies is still remarkably uneven, although the social differences in this respect decreased up until the 1970s (Eriksson/Jonsson 1993). The mean educational level has risen, but not the relative distribution of education among the population (Ahrne et al. 1995, 78 ff.). Turning now to the gender variable, we can establish that, as in most European countries, the social roles of men and women have changed radically during the last century. In terms of civil rights, performance in the pol­ itical and cultural arena, mean educational level and access to the labour market, there are only slight differences between men and women. However, to a large extent they work in different types of jobs, more women than men work part-time, predominantly female jo bs are underpaid, and a woman is usually paid less than a man for the same job. In every­ day private life the roles of men and women are also still dissimilar, as are patterns of social behaviour, interests and values. The linguistic gender differentiation is general and consistent both as concerns structural variation and con­ versational patterns. In a sociolinguistic framework, age group­ ing is not equally straightforward as grouping according to gender. Biological age is easy to establish, but how many age groups should a life be considered to comprise and how im­ portant in a person's life are physiological or

190. Social stratification in the present-day Nordic languages I: Swedish

social changes like puberty, starting a career, menopause, retirement? Are they sociolinguis­ tically significant? Does normal physical and psychological ageing run parallel with individ­ ual linguistic change? Should a sociolinguistic survey cover all consecutive ages or is a more summary division into, for example, three gen­ erations, 10-20, 40-50, and 70-80 years of age defensible? Swedish sociolinguistic re­ search has practised both lines of action, but the age categories are mostly drawn up ran­ domly.

2.

Varying settings for language use

2.1.

Urban and rural

Urban and rural settings present different con­ ditions for language use. The set of possible speech situations is greatly augmented and more diversified in a sizable town as a conse­ quence of the multifarious and specialized oc­ cupational, institutional and leisure activities offered in an urban milieu. A special urban life mode has emerged, all areas of human life have become compartmentalized and rather highly organized, which means that any given individual is dependent on a large number of persons performing separate functions and is forced to switch constantly between diverse social roles. Townspeople are usually members of more numerous, larger but more loosely knit networks than rural people, and many of their relationships tend to be secondary, that is, impersonal, superficial and transitory. On the basis of diaries of language activities kept by informants in one solidly urbanized area and two sparsely settled communities, Malmberg/Nordberg (1994) found some sig­ nificant differences. First of all, the rural con­ versational environment stands out as more informal and more uniform than the urban one. People meet fewer persons per day and are more often in private places when they en­ gage in conversation. They are more likely to know the individuals they are talking to, and personal and transactional interactions occur appreciably more often together, or rather fuse into what is perceived as one single speech situation. Moreover, the separation of func­ tions among different individuals is not as marked in the countryside as in the town; rural residents speak to more individual people with whom they maintain a multiplex role relation­ ship. A comparison between weekdays and weekends also indicates that life is less strictly compartmentalized in the country than in the

1761

town. Urban residents seem to write more, and what they write falls within the professional domain to a larger extent than is the case among rural residents (Malmberg/Nordberg 1994, 46 ff.). The hypothesis based on these findings is that the rural environment would tend to favour the use of "intimate" language while the urban setting would rather promote a "language of distance" . (These terms were first introduced by Teleman (1979» . In this context the concepts are used to denote both differences in language structure - local dialect as opposed to a standard variety - and in style - a more fragmentary, implicit and situation­ dependent "informal" mode of expression vs. a more complete, explicit and situation-inde­ pendent "formal" one. As was implied earlier, changes in social and economic structure associated with urbaniz­ ation and an urban way oflife has also befallen areas that up to the middle of the century had been solidly rural. This is what has been hap­ pening in Upper Dalecarlia (Helgander 1996; see further sect. 5.4.). 2.2.

Institutional and everyday

Coinciding and interacting with urbanization is the institutionalization of large areas ofpri­ vate and social life, including far-reaching bureaucratization of public and social institu­ tions. Many of the important concerns and decisions of everyday life (conditions of em­ ployment, social security, health care, coun­ selling, education, etc.), once handled largely informally through private contacts, are now being dealt with by the officials and officers of public authorities, organizations and com­ panies in a rather formalized frame and in an impersonal style. The roles of the participants in institutional discourse are more distinct and give little leeway for improvisation as com­ pared to everyday conversation. They are asymmetrical as concerns perspective, knowl­ edge, authority, and interactional and ma­ terial rights and obligations to a degree that is rare in everyday talk. The role of the pro­ fessional in these encounters is taken by e. g. teachers, judges, prosecutors, doctors, mid­ wives, student counsellors, social welfare of­ ficers, employment interviewers, emergency call operators, etc. and that of the layman by pupils, defendants, patients, clients, job appli­ cants, etc. Institutional discourse is strictly governed by a predetermined purpose and routinized ways of realizing this purpose. These interactional norms have emerged from

1762 professional practice and are, of course, well mastered and adhered to by the professional party but less so by the layman, which gives rise to at times very striking divergences in the interactional strategies of the two parties; see, for example, Nordberg (1988), Linell (1990) and Adelswiird (1995). Spoken interaction in institutional contexts seems, on the whole, to be somewhat less for­ mal and asymmetric in Sweden than in other national cultures. This may be seen in the rela­ tive interactional dominance ofthe two parties as measured by the initiative-response index (Linell/Gustavsson 1987), especially the will­ ingness of the institutional representative to invite the layman to present his view in his own words (e.g. court trials and medical con­ sultations). Another trait is the apparent ef­ forts by the party in authority to maintain a good conversational climate, e. g. by giving positive feedback, by using personal address forms and rather informal everyday language. There is an air of decency and benevolence in Swedish institutional talk. Certainly, many of the encounters investigated are rather semi­ institutional and concern everyday practical matters, e.g. horne-help service to elderly people and guidance and preventive care for expectant mothers. But there has also been a tendency during the last third of the 20th century towards a general informalization in public and institu­ tional discourse (Mirtensson 1989; Svensson 1993). The institutional representative may use intimacy as a strategic device and the lay­ man may converge by taking up technical terms. These, as it were, egalitarian tendencies and traces of accommodational convergence seem to be correlated not only with attitudinal and personal characteristics of the interac­ tants but also with the outcome ofthe encoun­ ter. This can be said to be pre-empted e. g. by address forms, questioning strategies and the number of technical terms used by the judges in court trials (Adelswiird et al. 1987; Arons­ son etal. 1987) and by the degree of interactive support and encouraging laughter from the interviewer in job interviews (Adelsward 1988). In spite of these tendencies towards in­ formality, empathy and egalitarianism, there are very striking differences between the par­ ties, not only in terms of interactional power and conceptual frames (Melander Marttala 1995; 1999), but often also in vocabulary (Aronsson et al. 1987), grammar and phonol­ ogy. But studies of structural variation built on recordings of institutional talk are few. The

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century main contribution to the picture of the Swedish speech community and Swedish usage offered by studies of institutional talk concern interactional patterns, relations be­ tween individual citizens and representatives of authorities, and the officially prevailing ethos. In much institutional discourse there are elements of parental authority and social therapy which sometimes may burden clients with feelings of guilt for their behaviour and way oflife. It is inevitable that the institutional representative exerts social power but wields it with kid gloves. 2.3.

Face-to-face and mediated

Direct face-to-face communication has been the traditional and undisputed arena for spoken language, and our concepts of social variation in spoken Swedish are based on ob­ servations of that kind of speech. But during the last half-century, speech mediated by vari­ ous other channels has grown in importance as part of the sociolinguistic setting of ordi­ nary language users. The use of the telephone and, more recently, the cellular phone, elec­ tronic mail, chat sites, electronic service lines, the text-messaging, etc. is now general. These devices have begun to blur the borders be­ tween the public and the private sphere and also given rise to intermediary forms between written and spoken language. As for the broadcast media, there is a wide­ spread opinion that the rather standardized variety of spoken Swedish used on radio and television has exerted a crucial influence on spoken Swedish in general and the levelling of dialects in particular. This view has been disputed, though, on sociopsychological grounds (Dahlstedt 1 970). But the concept of mass media speech itself also has to be pro b­ lematized. In the radio and TV channels, all kinds of spoken genres are found: readings, drama, newscasts, formal debates, informal ­ even intimate - talks, talk shows, sports com­ mentaries, etc. Clearly, statements about the influence of mass media speech on spoken Swedish in general need to be further specified. Another complication is that this stylistic spectrum has widened immensely during the 75 odd years that public broadcasting has existed at the same time that the number of broadcasters, their production conditions, legal status and regional coverage have chan­ ged. The strictly forrnal,monologic, often read and/or rehearsed texts of the first 25 or 50 years of Swedish broadcasting have been com-

190. Social stratification in the present-day Nordic languages I: Swedish

plemented or replaced to a large extent by in­ formal, dia- or polylogic spontaneous speech, and the number of people, lay or professional, who take part in one way or another in broad­ cast or televised programs has increased enor­ mously (Jonsson 1989; Strand 1989). In na­ tional and, above all, in local and regional pro­ grams the number of announcers, newsreaders and other members of staff who use a regional accent is considerable, and the development of local stations throughout the country has diminished the communicative distance be­ tween sender and receiver (Lindblad 1985). Together, the tendency towards a more infor­ mal style, content which is more everyday,per­ sonal, and at times intimate, and the favouring of dialogic unrehearsed discourse give a pic­ ture of socially acceptable public speech quite different from the one presented half a century ago. Today, the mass media may be assumed to act as a brake on spoken Swedish develop­ ing, a more general standard form or even to freeze dialectal levelling at the present stage. There are certain indications of relative stabil­ ity in regional varieties during the last three or four decades (Sundgren 2002), and atti­ tudes towards regional varieties in the broad­ casting media (and in general) seem to be rather positive. But what exactly the attitude holders conceive of as dialect (regional accent, levelled dialect or local genuine dialect) is not clear.

3.

Sociolinguistic stratification

Social strata are most often thought of as the outcome of social, cultural and economic pro­ cesses and manifested as social classes or socio-economic groups, often expressed in terms of education. In this context, however, I will also treat age and gender as social vari­ ables. 3.1.

By social class

From the outset in the second half of the 1960s, the study of social variation in Swedish followed two main lines. One aimed at inves­ tigating the social stratification of the syntax of spoken Swedish and took as its theoretical point of departure Basil Bernstein's thesis of the two codes, elaborate and restricted, and their supposedly differential effect on sociali­ zation patterns and educational attainment. The other line is the sociodialectological tra­ dition, emanating from William Labov's stu-

1763

dies of the social causes of phonological and grammatical variation and change. The most important research along the first line was carried out by Bengt Loman and his associates in the project Talsyntax 'The syntax of spoken language'. The syntactic analysis on the level of the macrosyntagrn is described in Loman/Jorgensen (1971) and the internal structure of these syntagrns in Teleman (1974). The syntax of the speakers and genres inves­ tigated is analysed in terms of complexity, cor­ rectness and completeness. Although there is clear situational, social and gender-related variation to the effect that speech used in more formal genres, by higher social groups and by men is shown to be more in agreement with the written norm (i.e. it is more complex, cor­ rect and complete, see e.g. Einarsson 1978), there are no or very few qualitative differences between middle-class (academic) and work­ ing-class speakers in terms of occurrence or non-occurrence of different syntactic con­ structions. There are, to be sure, divergences in speech planning among adult speakers, e. g. regarding hesitation phenomena and noun phrase complexity (Einarsson 1977; Einars­ son/Jorgensen 1977). But the conclusion of the numerous investigations is that the grammar of spoken Swedish is common to all Swedes and not divided or determined by different codes and socialization patterns (Loman 1977). The Talsyntax group supplied the Swedish political and educational debate on "compen­ satory education" with a substantial number of linguistic facts and thus helped keep this debate at a relatively moderate key. It also gave Swedish linguists an instrument for ana­ lysing social and stylistic variation in spoken language regarding phenomena at the level of speech planning and primary sentence compo­ nents. But for specific sociodialectal traits, such as lack of number concord between plu­ ral subjects and predicative adjectives, the model is of less use; also, it does not cover interactionally or contextually conditioned phenomena. Phonological, morphological and lexical variables have been the object of rather thor­ ough sociolinguistic investigations, conducted both in urban and rural communities and con­ cerning actual language use as well as lan­ guage attitudes. There is easily observable lin­ guistic stratification between different social layers, the difference being mostly quantitative but at times clearly qualitative (see further sect. 4.). These social differences obtain re­ gardless of how the social grouping has been

1764 made, and they go, with few exceptions, in the expected direction, i. e. higher social groups choose more standard variants of the socially significant variables, while lower social groups favour local variants. This is evident from a host of studies, e.g. Nordberg (1972; 1985), Widmark (1973a, b), Thelander (1979), Hult­ gren (1983), Hammermo (1989), Kiillskog (1992), Kotsinas (1994a, b), Aniansson (1996), Sundgren (2002). As could be expected, social differentiation in urban communities is not uniform but in­ teracts with other social variables, age and gender above all. On the whole, socio-econ­ omically conditioned speech differentiation is less pronounced among teenagers and adoles­ cents than in older generations (see e.g. Nord­ berg 1985; Hammermo 1989; Aniansson 1996; Sundgren 2002), other sociocultural par­ ameters being more significant. Nevertheless, there is evidence of marked sociolinguistic stratification among teenagers, too, e.g. in the Stockhohn pronunciation of the variables /i:/, /y:/, /E:/, /0:/ and /I/, where a clear sociocul­ tural-geographical split between upper and lower social groups is seen (Kotsinas 1994a). As for stable sociolinguistic variables and those involved in change from above, the dif­ ferences tend to be greater between the highest and second highest social group than between other groups, but the pattern is not quite clear. According to the well-documented study by Sundgren (2002) of Eskilstuna, a middle-sized town in central Sweden, socio-economically conditioned differences are more salient than other extra- and intralinguistic factors. But compared to the situation 30-40 years earlier, the social differences have diminished some­ what, a finding that can probably be general­ ized to the whole country. The principle of social classification pres­ ently used in Sweden relies heavily on the edu­ cational qualifications that different occupa­ tions require. But the actual educational level of a person may not coincide with what is of­ ficially required for the job he/she occupies. The longer an academic-type education a per­ son has, the more standard-like he/she is ex­ pected to talk. This is also borne out by a great many studies (e.g. Widmark 1973b; Thelander 1979; Nordberg 1985; Sundgren 2002). Inter­ estingly, the individual factor of education is often more linguistically decisive than a com­ posite socio-economic measure. It is also thought-provoking that the expansion of the educational system during the last fifty years seems to have left its mark in the patterns of

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century variation. In 1973, in the rather rural and pe­ ripheral community of Burtrask the most sa­ lient breach in linguistic behaviour, expressed as the average percentage of standard vari­ ants, occurs between those who have com­ pleted junior secondary school and those with only six or seven years of elementary school. At about the same time, in the centrally situ­ ated city of Eskilstuna, the most marked di­ vision apparently occurs between those who have passed the A-level "studentexarnen" and those who have not. And in the middle of the 1990s in the same city, speakers with at least three years of university studies are often more conspicuously set off against the rest than other groups. So the major social dividing line has been rising. But it must be emphasized that the rapid reorganization and extension of the Swedish school system makes comparisons be­ tween different age cohorts regarding educa­ tional level doubtful and unfair. 3.2.

By age

In a society undergoing rapid social change like Sweden, age differences in language use are what you expect in a synchronic cross-sec­ tional study. The usual pattern is that older speakers stick to traditional speech forms while younger speakers introduce new linguis­ tic forms. As is well known, linguistic vari­ ation in phonology, morphology and the lexi­ con can most often be described along the lo­ cal dialect-standard speech dimension. Many speakers in areas with a distinct local variety are bidialectal and code-switch between dia­ lect and standard, but the number of speakers who speak predominantly standard Swedish has increased considerably during the last fifty years. This is evident from investigations in Upper Dalecarlia, Norrbotten and Viisterbot­ ten. In the first two areas, schoolchildren and adolescents diverge strikingly from their par­ ents (and grandparents) as regards the use of dialect. Helgander (1996) attests to consider­ able differences also between first- and eighth­ graders, the latter using much more dialect. In Burtriisk (Viisterbotten) the age variation instead takes the form of two different pat­ terns of code-switching: younger people, es­ pecially those under 20, switch between the regional standard and standard Swedish, while speakers over 40 vary between their dia­ lect and the regional standard (Thelander 1979). The highest average of standard forms is found in the second youngest age group, 20-34 years old.

190. Social stratification in the present-day Nordic languages I: Swedish

In more urban and centrally situated com­ munities, the variation tends to be on the level of the variable rather than between varieties (see sect. 4.). In such situations, age variation takes different forms for different variables; for those in the most dynamic phases of change, age seems to be the major external parameter. The dominant pattern is that younger speakers are quicker to adopt new features, whether these are prestigious or stig­ matized. One characteristic trait is also found in Burtrask; young adults and people in early middle age stand out as comparatively more standard-speaking than other age groups, probably because this is the period oflife when careers are built up and the values ofthe larger society become important. This tendency is brought out most clearly in Nordberg (1985) and Widmark (1977). Sundgren (2002) found an age progression where this group as a whole does not diverge from the regular pattern, i. e. "the younger the speaker the more standard forms he/she uses". Variation in this sociolinguistic dimension is also found between different phases of child­ hood and adolescence, as attested by Ham­ mermo (1989) and Aniansson (1996). How­ ever, for some variables, local variants become more frequent during the speakers' years of compulsory schooling, while for others this applies to the standard variants. Regarding phonological change from below, most data show that new forms are introduced or at least favoured by adolescents and young adults, for example the open variants ["':] and [ [Phi:i], aen 'the brook': [J-?��m] > [J-?Jn]; after semivowels and con­ sonants the assimilation results in a syllabic consonant, e.g. save 'sleep (inf.)': [SOWg] > [soW\)'], sidde 'sit (inf.)' [se�g] > [se�Q], rede 'eat, guzzle (inf.)': [E:�g] > [£:i)], male 'paint (inf.)': [m",:lg] > [m"':)]. See also 2.3. on [g] > [A]. 2.3. Vowels before or after r (consonantal or vocalic) have lowered in a wide range of cases. This applies to e. g. the vowel in fred 'peace' and briste 'burst (inf.)' which have lowered from [E] to ["'], and infrygt 'fear (N)' and brad 'bread' which have lowered from [0] to [reT]. In words such as ret 'court (N)' and pnest 'priest', [a] has lowered to [ex], and this devel­ opment can be expected to be completed for all speakers within a few generations. A cor-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century responding lowering of [u] to [0] after r in words such as rude 'pane (of glass)' and grue 'dread (inf.)' also occurs in younger people's speech, but it is not likely to have the same prospects as [a] > [ex]. Vocalized r after [ex] and [0] has merged totally with the preceding vowel, e.g. in for 'father' and ar 'year': [fcL,,] > [fex:], [0 '1] > [0 ']. Original consonantal r + unaccented vowel [Kg] have assimilated to become the vowel [A], e.g. fire 'four' and k@re 'drive (inf.)': [fi:A], [kh0:A]. Long re [E:] for younger and middle-aged speakers is lowered to fiat a ["':] before vocalic r (or the assimilated vowel [AJ), e. g. lrere 'learn (inf.)', breger 'cup': [IE:A] > [1"':A], [pE:A] (with the loss of spirant g, see 2.4.) > [p"':A]. The above-mentioned sound changes have in many cases occasioned mergers between words which were pronounced differently ear­ lier, e.g. ret 'court (N)' rat 'steering wheel', brug 'use' bro 'bridge', brere (r) 'carry (pres., inf.)' and breger 'cup' boger 'baker (N), bake (pres.)'. In a few individual cases new distinctions have arisen: older speakers have a merger between lregerne 'the doctors' and lrererne 'the teachers', while younger speakers distinguish [IE:Ano] 'the doctors' and [1"':Ano] 'the teachers', [E] being retained in lre­ ger(ne), presumably because of the singular form lrege [IE:E]. =

=

�

2.4. One important consonantal development is the continued vocalization of r, e.g. merig 'mean': [nE:lfi] > [nE:Aj], Karen: [khex:lfgn] > [khex:exn], store 'big (pl.)': [sgo:lfg] > [SgO:A]. In addition to this, spirant g has almost com­ pletely disappeared in Standard Dan. It has either developed to [w], e.g. krage 'crow': [khlfex:yg] > [khlfex:wg], or to [j], e.g. vrelge 'choose (inf.)' and sage 'seek (inf.)': [vElyg] > [vEljg], [S0:yg] > [S0:jg], or disappeared com­ pletely, e.g. sage, boger: [S0:0], [p"':A]. 2.5. Increased knowledge of English has led to English loanwords being given a more Eng­ lish-sounding pronunciation than before. Older loanwords such as weekend and whisky are pronounced by an ever-increasing section of the population with [w] and not with [v], and newer words such as walkman and work­ out can ahnost only be heard with [w]. In ad­ dition, names such as (Dolly) Parton and (Bill) Clinton are pronounced more often with [-gn] than [-An], just as the English pronunci­ ations of acronyms such as FBI, CNN, MTV are winning ground.

197. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 II: Danish

3.

Orthography

The only major event in Dan. orthography in the 20th c. was the so-called Spelling Reform (retskrivningsreformen) in 1948. The dominant point of the reform was the abolition of the use of initial capitals for common nouns. This originally German usage had been part of the orthographic standard since the beginning of the 18thc. and had been disputed since then (cf. art. 21 1 , 3.1 .-2.). The second point of the spelling reform was the replacement of aa by the originally Sw. d, e.g. blaa > bid 'blue'. The third point was the change of the preterite forms of the modal verbs 'could', 'should', 'would' from spellings with silent preterite -d to spellings with double consonants (like the infinitive): kunde > kunne, skulde > skulle, vi/de > ville. Cf. art. 211, 3.2. Since then Dan. orthography has remained fundamentally unaltered. In 1955 and 1986 (and 1996 and 2001) new editions of the offi­ cial orthographic dictionary introduced quite a number of new spellings, e.g. fejglfej > fej 'cowardly', Milieu > miij@/milieu 'environ­ ment', Vredske > vreske 'liquid' (1955), ajour > ajour 'up to date', luefte > hefte/luefte 'booklet; fasten' (1986), milj@/milieu > milj@ (1996), linie/linje > linje (2001). However, these new spellings were not elements of a sys­ tematic orthographic reform but are to be re­ garded as changes to and adjustments of in­ dividual word forms. Compounds are written as one word in Dan., e.g. familiefest 'family reunion', metal­ produktion 'metal production'. But non-stan­ dard spellings using two words, e. g. familie fest, metal produktion, are becoming evermore frequent, partly due to English influence. The increasing use of non-standard genitive forms like Peter's (instead of Peters) is probably English-inspired as well.

4.

Morphology

The Dan. morphological system since 1945 has been rather stable. The morphological cat­ egories are unchanged, but there have been some movements and shifts within the catego­ ries, especially concerning gender, number and tense. 4.1. The gender of several nouns in the exist­ ing vocabulary has changed, e. g. kim 'germ' and brist 'defect, lack' from common gender to com./neut., rundsp@rge 'inquiry' and voks 'wax' from neut. to com./neut., domrene 'do-

1817

main' from com./neut. to neut., tarn 'turn, spell' and blyant 'pencil' from com./neut. to corn., and hynde 'cushion' from neut. to corn. (via com./neut.). New words, including words from English and other languages, are assigned gender ac­ cording to general Dan. patterns. Most words join the common gender group, which already comprises about 7 5 % of nouns. Words ending in e.g. - (i)um, -ment and -tek usually become neuter (millennium, establishment, videotek 'videotheque'), and so do verbal nouns made up of a verbal stern without a suffix, e. g. jiop, look, stunt. In many cases formal similarity or the nearest Dan. synonym seem to deter­ mine the gender of the new word, e. g. et mart (cf. et marked 'market'), et showroom (cf. et rum 'room'), et band (cf. et orkester), et team (cf. et hold 'tearn'). (See Allan et al. 1998, 4-21; Hansen 1995; S0rensen 1973, 49-52). 4.2. A few nouns have changed or are chang­ ing their plural ending, e. g. pejs-er > pejse-e 'fireplaces', shining-er > skaning-er/-e 'Scanians', solsort-er > solsort-er/-e 'black­ birds',jilm-0/-s > jilm-0,foto-s > foto-s/-er. New nouns of foreign origin are to a great extent inflected in the same way as indigenous Dan. words, i. e. with the plural endings -e, - (e) r, and -fl}, e. g. computer-e, synthesizer-e, n@rd-er 'nerds', pizzeria-er,jiash-fl}, output-fl}. In several cases - and increasingly - the Eng­ lish plural forms are maintained in the Dan. context, either alongside a naturalized form, e. g. badge-s/-r, gokart-s/-er, spot-0/-s, pixel-0/ Os, or as the only possible plural, e. g. joke-s, mi/kshake-s, skinhead-so Thus the plural end­ ing -s must today be considered to be on its way to becoming a full member of the Dan. inflectional system, although with a very few exceptions it is used only in originally English words. (See Jacobsen 1994, 1 3 f.; S0rensen 1973, 53- 55). 4.3. The verbal conjugation system is very stable. Nevertheless, a few changes towards more regular (frequent) preterite forms can be mentioned, e.g. for > faredelfor 'rushed', svor > svrergede/svor 'swore' (and svoret > svrer­ get/svoret 'sworn'), hang (intransitive) > luengte/hang 'hung'. Non-standard forms such as bedte instead of bad 'asked' and beholdte instead of beholdt 'kept' are becoming more common, as is the regular non-standard pres­ ent form -g@rer instead of -gar '-do' (e.g. afg@rer, tilintetg@rer instead ofafg@r 'decides', tilintetg@r 'destroys').

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1818 New verbs o f foreign origin, especially Eng­ lish ones, are treated as regular Dan. verbs. The infinitive takes the indigenous ending -e, e.g. bowIe, sur/e, zoome; the present takes -er, e.g. bowler etc.; the preterite takes the most frequent ending, -ede, e. g. bowlede etc., the past part. -et, e.g. bowlet etc. (non-standard: bawled etc.).

5.

Syntax

The fundamental syntactic system of Dan. since 1945 is unchanged. A number of devel­ opments can be pointed out, but apart from a few exceptions (cf. 5.8.) the changes are mainly continuations and consolidations of trends known from earlier periods. In some cases (especially 5.1., 5.3., 5.6.) the changes are closely linked with the trend towards a more informal style, including the increased use and acceptability in the written language of traits from the spoken language (see 8. be­ low). 5.1. The use of passive sentences such as Jeg blev fortalt en historie 'I was told a story', where the subject is the indirect object in the corresponding active sentence, seems to be spreading (Jacobsen 1994, 1 4), as does the use of cataphoric reference in e. g. Da han var kom­ met hjem, gik Jensen direkte i seng 'When he carne horne, Jensen went straight to bed' (ibid., 15). The well-known use of main-sentence word order in subordinate clauses in spoken Dan. is becoming even more common as well, e.g. De oplyste at der var ikke mulighedfor at klage 'They stated that there was no possibility of complaining' (instead of . . . at der ikke var . . .), and Vi k@ber ind om mandagen fordi sidst pa ugen er butikkerne sa overfyldte 'We do the shopping on Mondays because at the end of the week the shops are so crowded' (instead of . . . fordi butikkerne sidst pa ugen altid er . . ) (ibid., 16). '

5.2. During recent decades the word der 'there' has consolidated itself as a subject sub­ stitute. (a) In relative clauses with hviiken 'which' or hvis 'whose' as the subject, der is inserted after hvi!kenjhvis, e.g. Han har meldt ajbud, hvi!ket der er en stor ulempe 'He sent his apologies, which is a great inconvenience' (instead of. . . hviiket er . . .); in this case, the insertion is analogous to the regular use of der in interrogative clauses with an hv-word 'wh­ word' as the subject (Han spurgte hvem der havde ringet 'He asked who had called') and

the similar use of der after the subject hvad 'what' in relative clauses (Han har meldt ajbud, hvad der er en star ulempe) (Hansen 1988, 128 f.). (b) In spoken language the subject sam in relative clauses is increasingly followed by der, e. g. . . . den bi! som der holder derovre ' . . . the car that is standing over there' (ibid., 129). (c) In raisings where a subject is moved from a subordinate clause to the front of the main sentence, the word der is sometimes, in spoken language, inserted in the subject posi­ tion of the subordinate clause, e.g. Det tror jeg ikke der vii genere ham 'I don't think that that will bother him' (instead of Det trar jeg ikke vii genere ham) (ibid., 129 f.). (d) The use of der instead of det as the formal subject in sentences where the real subject is a postponed clause and the verb is in the passive voice has become more common in present-day written language, e. g. Der siges at hun har samme op­ fattelse 'It is said that she has the sarne opin­ ion' (instead of Det siges . . .) (ibid., 1 30). 5.3. In the written language, the spoken-lan­ guage tendency to delete the subordinating conjunction at has become more common, even after a preposition, e. g. Jeg tvivler pa () han har ret 'I doubt that he is right'. At the same time the opposite trend of inserting the so-called pleonastic at can be seen in the writ­ ten language, e. g. Det er bare som om at sproget er altfor svtert . . . 'It is as though the language is too difficult . . .'. (Cf. ibid., 1 3 1 1 33; JacobsenjJ0rgensen 2001 , 64 f.). 5.4. The increased use of uninflected (i.e. neut.) past part. attributives and predicatives seems to continue, e. g. en ofte iagttaget reak­ tion 'an often noticed reaction' (instead of . . . iagttagen (corn.» , Om s@ndagen er butikkerne altid lukket 'On Sundays, the shops are always closed' (instead of . . . lukkede (pl.» . This trend - although weaker - is also seen with regular adjectives, especially when followed by a pre­ position, e.g. B@rnene var henrykt over aflys­ ningen 'The children were delighted with the cancellation' (instead of. . . henrykte (pl.» . (Cf. Hansen 1988, 120-122; JacobsenjJ0rgen­ sen 2001 , 359-362; 405 f.). 5.5. The regular affixation of the adverbial ending -t has spread to adjectives which pre­ viously remained uninflected, e.g. in adverbs of degree: Hun var et grtensel@stforktelet barn 'She was an excessively spoilt child' (previous­ ly: . . . grrensel@s(t) farkrelet . . .), Filmen var farfrerdelig(t) marsam 'The movie was awfully

197. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 II: Danish

funny'. Primary adverbs with -vis can now­ adays affix -t in both adverbial and attributive use, e.g. Topperne trak sig gradvis(t) tilbage 'The troops withdrew gradually', et gradivs(t) tilbagetog 'a gradual retreat'. (ef. Hansen 1988 , 1 3 3 f.; Jacobsen/J0rgensen 2001 , 25; 2731). 5.6. The use of pronominal case forms is still confused. The traditional rule, which pre­ scribes nominative (jeg 'I', han 'he', de 'they' etc.) when the pronoun is the subject, and ac­ cusative (mig 'me', ham 'him', dem 'them') in other instances, is followed as the principal rule, e.g. Jeg ringer til ham 'I will call him', Han kender dem godt 'He knows them well'. However, there are exceptions to this, result­ ing in both accusative being used instead of nominative and nominative instead of accu­ sative. Certain exceptions are virtually com­ pulsory, namely accusative for nominative in constructions like Dem derovre/i hilen er mine Joneldre 'The people over there/in the car are my parents' (lit. 'Them over there/in the car . . . ), Ham den nye vicevtert har klaget igen 'The new caretaker has complained again' (lit. 'Him the new . . . '), i. e. constructions where the subject pronoun is modified by a following ad­ verb/prepositional phrase or noun phrase. In other cases accusative for nominative is very common, especially in spoken language, al­ though the traditional use of nominative still is a - sometimes far-fetched - possibility, e. g. Hende der star derovre, er min s@ster 'The girl over there is my sister' (lit. 'Her who is stand­ ing over there . . . '), Dem (som) vi traJ pa baden, var ogsa danskere 'The people whom we met on the boat were Danish too' (lit. 'Them whom . . . '), i. e. constructions where the subject pronoun is followed by a relative clause; the trend towards using accusative is especially strong in sentences such as the last example where the relative pronoun is a non­ subject in the relative clause. In constructions like Han er st@rre end hun/hende 'He is taller than she/her', Peter ogjeg/mig skal i biograJen 'Peter and I/me will go to the cinema', i. e. in comparisons and in coordinations, the choice of case primarily is a question of style, accusa­ tive mainly being used in spoken language and nominative in written language. The opposite trend, from accusative to nominative, is found in positions before rela­ tive clauses where the relative pronoun is the subject, e.g. Vi har skrevet til de/dem der var fravterende 'We have written to those who were absent'. In this case - as in coordinations like

1819

I gar bes@gte han Peter og jeg/mig 'Yesterday, he visited Peter and me' - the use of nomina­ tive is regarded as an unacceptable hypercor­ rection by speakers (and professional linguis­ tic advisers) who try to follow the traditional rule. A higher degree of acceptability is at­ tached to the use of nominative preceding a prepositional phrase with aJ (or blandt) fol­ lowed by a relative clause, e. g. vi har skrevet til de af medlemmerne der var fravterende 'We have written to those of the members who were absent'. (ef. Hansen 1988, 125-128; Jacobsen/J0rgensen 2001, 102-107). 5.7. The standard rule up until the present time for the use of possessive pronouns refer­ ring to the subject has been that sin/sit/sine is used to refer to a singular subject, e. g. Han er stolt af sine barn 'He is proud of his children', whereas deres refers to a plural sub­ ject, e. g. De er stolte af deres barn 'They are proud of their children'. However, in recent years the use of sin etc. referring to a plural subject has become more common, e. g. Dus@­ rer der kan bidrage til at opklare sagen, er pa sin plads 'Rewards that can contribute to clearing up the case are appropriate', and Mange redakt@rer udarbejder sterlige manu­ skriptvejledninger til sine medarbejdere 'Many editors compile special stylesheets for their correspondents'. This usage is not completely new; it was the rule in Runic Dan. 1000 years ago and is still the rule in Sw. and Norw. (ef. Hansen 1988, 1 1 7- 119; Jacobsen/J0rgensen 2001, 403 f.). 5.8. In nominal syntax, three constructions or trends deserve to be mentioned. (a) The oldest one consists of a proper noun preceded by a definite adjective but without a preceding de­ terminer, e.g. yndige prinsesse Anne-Marie 'lovely Princess Anne-Marie', danske Victor Borge 'Danish/the Dane Victor Borge'. The construction, which has probably become common due to English influence (via Sw.) sig­ nals, contrary to the construction with a de­ terminer, that the person mentioned is well known to the reader; it is predominantly found in the language of sports reporters and other jounalists. (ef. Hansen 1988, 123; Jacobsen 1994, 17-19). (b) The newer con­ struction can be illustrated by the example en sejrssikker Poul SchlUter 'Poul Schluter, con­ fident of victory' (lit. 'a victory-confident Poul Schluter'). It consists of a proper noun as the head, but unlike the older construction, the noun is preceded by the indefinite article and

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1820 an indefinite adjective, which at first glance seems contradictory since proper names fun­ damentally have definite meaning. This con­ struction can, however, be described as a regu­ lar syntactic and semantic extension ofthe sys­ tem, used when one wishes to add accidental (non-essential) information to a proper noun via an attributive adjective. A sentence such as En sejrssikker Poul SchlUter holdt pres­ sem@de i gar 'A "victory-confident" PS held a press conference yesterday' thus contains two new pieces of information: firstly that Schluter held a press conference yesterday, and secondly that he was confident of victory (which he isn't always). The construction would be impossible if instead of the acciden­ tal adjective sejrssikker 'confident of victory' an essential one was used, e. g. konservativ 'conservative' or graharet 'grey-haired'. (ef. Hansen 1988, 123 f.; Jacobsen 1994, 19 f.). (c) During the most recent decades, an increased tendency has been noted towards the use of synthetic constructions in certain nominal units which previously would have been ana­ lytic. For example, we could cite efter Nixon­ reraen 'the after-Nixon-era' and en vanskelig at lave-sovs 'a difficult-to-make sauce' corre­ sponding to the traditional (and still domi­ nant) constructions reraen efter Nixon 'the era after Nixon' and en sovs der er vanskelig at lave ' a sauce which is difficult to make'. Pre­ sumably we see here a tendency which is pro­ moted by corresponding structural possibili­ ties for premodification in English. (ef. Jacob­ sen 1994, 9 ff. ; 22).

6.

Word formation

New words in Danish, in common with new words in earlier times, can be divided into two main categories, native and imported words. Native words are those which are formed from internal Dan. resources. They comprise words formed on the basis of original Dan. (Nordic) material (e. g. h@revrern 'earplug, hearing pro­ tection', sambo 'live-in partner'), words which are formed on the basis of foreign material borrowed into Dan. at an earlier stage (e.g. musikradio 'music radio' ,feminologi 'feminol­ ogy'), and words formed by combining orig­ inally Dan. and originally foreign words and elements (e. g. jobsamtale 'job interview', sxlarium 'sealarium'). Imported words are borrowed from other languages (e. g. Jreak, sushi) or are formations created under the in­ fluence of other languages (e.g. daselatter

from E canned laughter, and gorilla 'body­ guard, strong man' from E gorilla used with the same meaning). The native words dis­ cussed in detail in this section constitute ca. 75 per cent of the new words, while imported words, discussed further in section 7., make up ca. 25 per cent. (The percentages given here and in the following derive from my counts based on samples in Petersen (1984) and thus are primarily relevant to the twenty-year peri­ od 1955-75; in addition to this, there are cer­ tain overlaps between the different types). 6.1. The largest group of new native words consists of compounds (ca. 70 per cent), e.g. rulietrappe 'escalator' (1945; the chronology here and in what follows is taken mainly from Jarvad 1 999), cowboybukser 'jeans' (1955), buksestr@mper 'tights, pantyhose' (1955), ad­ varselstrekant 'warning triangle, reflecting tri­ angle' (1965), bortsanere 'clear, remove (of slums)' (1975), lregesjusk 'medical malprac­ tice' (1985), dogmefilm 'dogma fihn' (1995). 6.2. A little over 10 per cent are derivations by pre- or suffixing, e.g. antiborgerlig 'anti­ bourgeois' (1948), subpublikation 'under­ ground publication' (1969), @kol11Eelk 'organic milk' (1989), bussificere 'provide with a bus service' (1957), vasketeria 'laundromat' (1965), skrankepaveri 'bureaucracy for its own sake'(1971), tivolisering 'turning something (serious) into light entertainment' (1990). 6.3. Just under 10 per cent of the new native formations consist of native semantic develop­ ments or new uses of pre-existing words and expressions, e.g. Jed (originally '(very) fat', now also 'very good', e. g. en Jed film 'a very good film', 1969),Jyr (originally 'young man', now also '(male) lover', 1966). Some individ­ ual words have now changed semantically to such an extent that younger speakers use them with the opposite meaning to the original, e. g. godt + number originally 'a little more than' (now also 'a little less than'), JorJordele (orig­ inally 'treat unfairly', now also 'benefit'). Anotherjust under 10 per cent consists ofvari­ ous other types, e.g. ellipsis and other forms of abbreviation: gruppeliv (from gruppelivsJor­ sikring 'group life insurance', 1 964), infoteria 'information kiosk' ( from information + cafe­ teria, 1989), !1JD (from @konomisk demokrati 'economic democracy', 1972). See further in Jarvad 1995; 1999; Petersen 1984; 1988.

197. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 II: Danish

7.

Adoption of loanwords

Dan. has traditionally been open to influence from other languages, and thus the largest part of present-day Dan. vocabulary consists of words borrowed from other languages, es­ pecially Latin, Greek, German, and French. Since 1945, however, (American) English has been the dominant provider of imported words in Dan. It is difficult to quantify the extent of this influence precisely, but my counts from Petersen (1984) result in a dis­ tribution of loanwords adopted during the period 1955-1975 as follows: ca. 80 per cent corne from English, ca. 8 per cent from Nor­ wegian and particularly Swedish, ca. 5 per cent from German, ca. 2 per cent from French and ca. 3 per cent from other languages. Since 1975 the percentage of loanwords borrowed from English has presumably increased, whereas loans from primarily the other Nordic lan­ guages and German have decreased. As mentioned in section 6., loanwords con­ stitute ca. 25 per cent of vocabulary growth. They are taken into Dan. in three principal ways: as translation loans, i.e. as combina­ tions of already existing Danish words or mor­ phemes (see further 7.1 .), as direct loans, i. e. in the same (or nearly the same) form as the source language (see 7.2.), and as semantic loans, i. e. formally identical to an existing Dan. word but with a new meaning corre­ sponding to the word in the source language (see 7.3.). The largest group are translation loans, the next largest direct loans, and the smallest semantic loans. 7.1. Translation loans are the dominant loan type from Nor., Sw., G and Fr., e.g. trrek­ procent 'income-tax rate' (1969, Norw. trekk­ prosent), letrnrelk 'semi-skimmed milk' (1969, Sw. lattmjolk), samfundsplanlregning 'social planning' (1971, Sw. samhallsplanering), til­ lregspension 'supplementary pension' (1958, Sw. tilliiggspension), fingerspidsfornemmelse lit. 'fingertip sensation' 'tact' (1958, G Fin­ gerspitzengefuhl), fremmedarbejder 'immi­ grant worker' (1966, G Fremdarbeiter), er­ goterapeut 'occupational therapist' (1965, Fr. ergotherapeute), cafeteater 'cafe theatre' (1970, Fr. cafe-theatre). Translation loans are also the largest group among English loans (ca. 40 per cent). Close behind corne direct loans (ca. 30 per cent) and semantic loans (ca. 20 per cent); see further 7.2.-3. Examples of translation loans from English are: bilbombe (1973, E car bomb), b@rneporno (1975, E child �

1821

porn), drreberbi (1972, E killer bee), gulvtreppe: feje noget ind under gulvtreppet (1970, E sweep something under the carpet), hjemmeside (1995, E home page), indkomstkl@ft (1968, E income gap), midtvejskrise (1981, E mid-life crisis), postmodernisme (1980, E postmodernism), sneglepost (1995, E snail mail), snigpremiere (1987, E sneak preview), topl@s (1964, E top­ less), torskekrig (1964, E cod war). 7.2. Among the relatively few direct loans from Norw., Sw., G and Fr. we can cite: hems 'bed loft' (1967, Norw.), kendis 'well-known person' (1969, Sw. kandis), spritny 'brand new' (1987, Sw. sprittny), vvs (VVS) abbreviation for vand, varme og sanitet 'plumbing' (1963, Sw. VVS), berufsverbot '(politically moti­ vated) professional disqualification' (1975, G Berufsverbot), lsd (LSD) (1956, G), cuvette 'a specific cut of beef (1981, Fr.), informatik 'in­ formatics' (1971, Fr. informatique). In con­ trast, there are many - and often distinctive - direct loans from English, e. g. bikini (1949), checkjtjek 'control' (1959; cheque, check 'method of payment' was borrowed ca. 100 years before), cheeseburger (1965), empati (1968, E empathy), empatisk (1984, E em­ path(et) ic) , groupie (1970), joine (vb.) (1977, E join), lousy (1991), pacemaker 'person' (1958) and 'heart appliance' (1961), snailmail (1995), softice (1955), squash 'a racket game' (1952) and 'pumpkin' (1969). A range of other languages have, often via English, provided material for the newest Dan. vocabulary. This applies especially to terms for things and phe­ nomena which previously were primarily local phenomena in other, partly far-off and exotic, countries and cultures but which now are also generally known or accessible in the Dan. part of the global village, e.g. bonsai (1960, Ja­ panese), bulgur (1984, Turkish), Jatwa (1989, Arabic), halal (1980, Arabic), jenka 'a dance' (1965, Finn.), karaoke (1986, Japanese), kiwi 'fruit' (1971, Maori), kosmonaut (1960, Russ.), lambada (1989, Portuguese), pappadam (1976, Tamil), pastrami (1977, Yiddish), pesto (1990, Ital.), samasa (1976, Hindi), taco (1992, Sp.), taekwondo (1975, Korean), tzatziki (1989, Gr., Turkish), wok (1974, Chinese). 7.3. As examples of the relatively few seman­ tic loans from Norw., Sw., G and Fr. we can cite: julebord (1970, Norw. julebord, Sw. jul­ bord; originally 'festive table set at Christmas time', now also 'Christmas lunch'), Jristilling (1973, Sw.fristallning; originally 'free or neu­ tral position of e. g. gear', now also 'dis-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

1822 missal'), profilere (1965, G profilieren; orig­ inally 'add profile to a building or similar', now also 'give something a special character'), culotte (1967, Fr. culotte; originally 'type of baggy shorts', now (also) 'a specific cut of beef). Among the many English semantic loans we can name the following: dumpe (1971 , E dump; originally 'sell below cost', now also 'throw waste into ocean'), gorilla (1957; orig­ inally 'ape', now also 'bodyguard, strong­ man'), h@j (1966, E high; originally 'tall', now also 'under the influence of drugs, excited'), in (1997, E; originally 'smart, in fashion' (di­ rectloan from English 1967), now also 'person who is in'). See further in Jarvad 1995; 1999; Petersen 1984; 1988; S0rensen 1973; 1997.

8.

Style

Since 1945, Dan. has been marked by a move­ ment in the direction of rnore informal usage, both in written and spoken language. In the written language this more informal usage manifests itself in an increase in linguistic fea­ tures which previously belonged primarily to the spoken language. Official written Dan. in e.g. laws and regulations and in letters to citi­ zens has thus during the last 20-30 years used a simpler syntax with shorter main clauses than previously and with a more analytic and less synthetic sentence structure than before, e. g. fewer preposed and more postposed sub­ ordinate clauses. Correspondingly, a range of neutral spoken-language forms have increas­ ingly replaced specific written-language forms, e.g. brev 'letter', hvis 'if, sende 'send', om 're­ garding' (instead of skrivelse, safremt, frem­ sende, vedr@rende). In fictional writing, swear words and formerly sexual taboo words are now widely accepted, and words which previ­ ously were reserved for more private speech can today be used in e.g. radio and TV trans­ missions, including news broadcasting, as well as in newspaper articles. The rules for spoken forms of address have also been relaxed. The formal or polite address form De (Dem. Deres) still exists and is still in use but in far fewer situations than previ­ ously. To a large extent, it has been replaced by the informal du (dig. din/dit), which has become increasingly widespread since the middle of the 1960s, and which since around 1970 has been the normal address form be­ tween e.g. students and teachers at all levels of education, colleagues at all types of work-

places, citizens and public servants (to a cer­ tain extent also in written language), doctors and patients, shop personnel and customers, bus passengers etc. In recent years there has possibly been a tendency towards a renais­ sance of De used especially by younger em­ ployees in e.g. banks, shops and hotels to­ wards (older) customers or guests. However, it is extremely doubtful whether the tendency is strong enough for De in the long term to be able to threaten the newly-acquired posi­ tion of du as the standard address pronoun in Danish.

9.

Literature (a selection)

Allan, Robin/Hohnes, Philip/Lundska:r-Nielsen, Tom (1995; 1998), Danish: A comprehensive gram­ mar. Reprinted with corrections 1998. London/New York. Brink, Lars (1988), Den danske udtale. In: Hansen/ Lund, 20 39. Brink, Lars/Karker, Allan (1996), dansk sprog. In: Den Store Danske Encyklop;rdi 4. K0benhavn, 628 637. Brink, Lars/Lund, J0rn (1974), Udtaleforskelle i Danmark: Aldersbestemte geografiske sociale. K0benhavn. Brink, Lars/Lund, J0rn (1975), Dansk Rigsmal: Lydudviklingen siden 1840 med s;rrligt henblik pa sociolekterne i K@benhavn 1 2. K0benhavn. Hamburger, Arne (1988), Officiel sprogbrog. In: Hansen/Lund, 146 156. Hansen, Erik (1985), Orddannelsepa hjemlig grond. In: SiN, 65 70. Hansen, Erik (1988), Grammatik: B0jning og syn­ taks. In: Hansen/Lund, 113 135. Hansen, Erik (1995), Genus i nye fremmedord. In: SiN, 24 31. Hansen, Erik/Lund, J0rn (eds.) (1988), Sproget her og nu (Dansk Sprogna:vns skrifter 14). K0benhavn. Jacobsen, Henrik Galberg (1988), Retskrivningen. Fra Dejg til paj. In: Hansen/Lund, 53 79. Jacobsen, Henrik Galberg (1994), Sproga:ndringer og sprogvurdering. Om nogle aktuelle engelskin­ spirerede a:ndringer i dansk og om vurderingen af dem. In: DaSt 89, 5 28. Jacobsen, Henrik GalbergjJ0rgensen, Peter Stray (2001), Handbog i Nudansk. 4th ed. K0benhavn. Jarvad, Pia (1995), Nye ord K0benhavn.

hvorfor og hvordan?

Jarvad, Pia (1999), Nye Ord: Ordbog over nye ord i dansk 1955 1998. K0benhavn. Karker, Allan (1975), Tyve ars dansk sproghistorie (1955 75). In: At f;rrdes i sproget. Iagttagelser og

198. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 III: Norwegian synspunkter (Dansk Sprogna:vns skrifter 9). K0ben­ havn, 21 34. Karker, Allan (1988), Introduktion: Det danske sprog i tid og rum. In: Hansen/Lund, 9 19. Lund, 10rn (1982), Sprog og sprogbrug i dag: 6 ka­ pitler om det danske sprog i det 20. arhundrede. K0benhavn. Petersen, Pia Riber (1984), Nye ord i dansk 1955 75 (Dansk Sprogna:vns skrifter 11). K0benhavn. Petersen, Pia Riber (1988), Ordforradets udvikling siden 1955. In: Hansen/Lund, 80 91.

198. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

1.

1823

Skautrup, Peter (1968), Det danske sprogs historie 4. K0benhavn. S0rensen, Knud (1973), Engelske Ian i dansk (Dansk Sprogna:vns skrifter 8). K0benhavn. S0rensen, Knud (1997), A dictionary of Anglicisms in Danish (Historisk-filosofiske Skrifter 18, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab). Co­ penhagen.

Henrik Galberg Jacobsen, Copenhagen (Denmark)

Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 III: Norwegian From linguistic stability to linguistic instability? Dialectal variation and change The 1951 refonn of spoken numerals The loss of words Mass lexical borrowing Norwegian neologisms for foreign words The anbeheiteise words New fonns and nonns of politeness/ address Conclusion Literature (a selection)

From linguistic stability to linguistic instability?

Several trends in spoken and written Norwe­ gian since 1945 can be discerned. In this ar­ ticle, the emphasis will be laid upon the spoken language, but because many linguistic trends are the result of an interaction between the written and spoken language, we shall also fo­ cus on some written trends. Because many of the language development trends of this peri­ od are also presented in articles 186 and 191 this article will mainly deal with trends which are not too closely restricted to social and re­ gional language varieties. One important trend in this period concerns changes in Norwegian dialects as a whole. Many dialects have undergone simplification processes, often through the decline of tradi­ tional features which are particularly stigma­ tized compared to other dialects and "stan­ dard" varieties, both written and spoken. An­ other important trend, however, is that other

traditional features persist and are even being revitalized and are expanding geographically and socially. And last, but not least, Norwe­ gian dialects are changing rather than dying out. Important is also the mass importation of English loanwords. After the Second World War, many different circumstances have con­ tributed to this situation, for instance the de­ velopment of communication technologies, travel and tourism, the internationalization of youth culture, the media etc., which coincided with the introduction of English as a subject in primary and secondary schools. The effect of this amount of borrowing and the general impact of English on daily conversation in Norwegian is, however, not yet so pervasive as was feared. To illustrate this point, it is im­ portant to view the impact of English on Nor­ wegian in relation to the impact of other lan­ guages in a historical perspective, especially of Low German in the late Middle Ages. In order to counteract the impact of English many newly constructed Norwegian words based on traditional domestic linguistic ma­ terial have been introduced. Words belonging to traditional rural indus­ tries have gradually been lost, while words re­ ferring to parts ofthe human body, senses and character traits are relatively stable. On the other hand the so-called anbeheitelse words, words and features of word-formation mor­ phology imported through Dano-German hundreds of years ago, are still alive and are even productive in contemporary Norwegian.

1824

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

Though Norway has historically always been a less socially hierarchical society than the other Scandinavian countries, and as a re­ sult of this situation has had a tradition of a more informal kind of discourse, the Norwe­ gian language also today reflects the even higher degree ofinforrnality in Norwegian so­ ciety which has developed since the 1960s. This is witnessed by the declining use of markers of politeness, such as honorific pro­ nouns, and by less formal usages in the public arena. One extraordinary trend in Norwegian is the implementation of the 1951 reform of spoken numerals (see 3.).

2.

Dialectal variation and change

During the 20th c. Norwegian dialects have changed considerably, both the rural dialects and the urban dialects, both the geolects and the sociolects (cf. art. 186). The geolectical and sociolectical changes have moved in different directions. In one way it is possible to say that many Norwegian dialects have gone through a simplification process because the use of tra­ ditional linguistic categories like the dative case have been reduced in use or have disap­ peared altogether in dialects which previously had this as a characteristic feature. On the other hand it is possible to say that the dialects have become more complex because not all changes have simplified the dialects (such as the development of new categories, the spread or revival of traditional features etc.), and be­ cause we today, as a result of the impact of sociolinguistic approaches, have a much more heterogeneous picture of the dialects with a greater focus on linguistic variation. The ques­ tion of dialect death is thus not merely a ques­ tion of empirical data, but also and even more a question of how to understand the concept of dialect. Art. 186 provides an account of how the concept is understood in Norway, and based on this it is difficult to speak about dia­ lect death in Norway. 2.1 .

Simplification and levelling through decline in use and loans

One of the striking tendencies in the develop­ ment of Norwegian dialects since 1945 is re­ gionalization (see art. 186). In the linguistic regionalization processes it is often hard to distinguish between the results of simplifica­ tion and levelling vs. loans, for instance decid­ ing where a new feature has first occurred geo-

graphically, or if the feature actually may be a loan from another dialect or from the stan­ dard language (represented by an urban dia­ lect or by written Nynorsk and Bokmiil). The situation today is that many linguistic features occur in geographic areas where they tradi­ tionally do not belong, and at the same time the corresponding traditional features have disappeared. This is an important part in the process of regionalization. The fundamental question is what changes and how expansive the dialectal changes have to be before we may talk about regionalization, a question which has not yet been discussed (cf. Akselberg 2002). One important linguistic category which is now rapidly declining in use is the dative case. At the beginning of the 20th c. the dative was still dominant in a vast geographic area in the middle of Norway and in Setesdal, Voss and the inner parts of Sogn. Today the dative is declining in many places within this area (Moseng 1996). Plural verb forms are also dis­ appearing in dialects which still have this fea­ ture, e. g. in Voss, Setesdal, Valdres and Hal­ lingdal(Reinhammar 1973; Venas 1990; Kvale 1999). The noun paradigm has been simplified in many dialects. Nonnally the dialects in towns and cities have had a more simplified paradigm than the dialects in the rural dis­ tricts. For instance the dialect in Sunndalen has ten classes and five variants in the noun paradigm, while the dialects in the cities of Molde and Trondheim have six classes and one variant (Sand0Y 2003). In many dialects in western Norway segmentation, e. g. II > dl in fjedl (to fjell) 'mountain', and differenti­ ation, e.g. rn > dn in kodn (to korn) 'corn', are on decline, in Setesdal, Hallingdal, Valdres, Voss, Hardanger, Sogn and Roga­ land (Kvale 1999; Akselberg 1995; Toreid 1999; Haugen 1998; Rasmussen 2002). The svarabhakti vowel is also being used less often in Voss, Rogaland and Setesdal. One of the reasons why these and other spoken dialect features are disappearing is that they are too marked in a national context. They are under great pressure from other dialects, especially urban dialects, and "standard" spoken Nynorsk and Bokmal, which do not have these features. 2.2.

Revivals, new categories and heterogeneous nonns

While some new tendencies may represent more complex paradigms, others may repre-

198. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 III: Norwegian

sent simplifications. One new advancing pho­ nological feature, for instance, is the substitu­ tion of III for 1r;1 in words like kjrere 'dear', and 1r;1 for III in words like sjokolade 'choc­ olate' (Haslev 1981; Slethei 1981; Osnes 1992; Dalbakken 1996; Hannaas 1 999). This feature is very widespread and has expanded over vast geographical areas in a very short time (from the 1970s) among young Norwegians. The use of velar r, 1);/, is still expanding in south and southwestern Norway. It seems that it has stopped spreading in the eastern and north­ western areas. In the Tr0ndelag area the in­ finitive forms with apocope are spreading. The older assimilated forms, like a /Gvva 'to live' are being replaced with apocoped forms like a levv in this area. Another feature which has spread through most of eastern Norway and to most of Norwegian cities is the use of a diphthong morpheme in the preterite in some strong verbs like skyte 'shoot', e.g. sk@yt for skj@t. In western Norway the new definite neu­ ter plural morpheme -ena, replacing tradi­ tional forms like huso and huste, is now syn­ cretic with the definite feminine plural form, e. g. jentena 'the girls' .

3.

The 1951 reform of spoken numerals

In Norway there is not an official national spoken norm. But in one unique case the authorities have passed a bill concerning spoken Norwegian. In 1951 the reform of spoken numerals was introduced (by a parlia­ mentary resolution passed in 1950) regulating the form of numerals over 20. The traditional way to count in Norwegian is to put the units first, for instance tre-og-f@rti'three-and-forty', i. e. 43, while the new way of counting puts the tens first, e.g. f@rti-tre 'forty-three'. The reason for this reform was practical: it was intended as a pedagogical aid for the youngest school children, to prevent mistakes when us­ ing the then novel automatic telephones, and as a language planning measure for conver­ gence towards Swedish, Icelandic and western European usage (Seip 1950). Today the two spoken number systems coexist side by side, but the new one is normally the most frequent in formal speech. In the first decades the re­ form was not observed, and in the vernacular, people used the traditional way of counting. The reform has no basis in any Norwegian spoken variety, therefore many Norwegians felt that it was artificial and unnecessary (Jahr

1825

1989). From the early 1990s, though, it seems that the reform has been used increasingly in many domains, especially among young Nor­ wegians but also among many older people. Most Norwegians today use both systems. The new system is used mainly when people count and when numerals are the focus of at­ tention (in school, service industries etc.). When referring to a date or age, the old system is the most frequent. Teachers and the national broadcasting corporation (NRK) have been very loyal to the reform, and this may be one ofthe main reasons for it being taken up rapid­ ly. But many people are still confused in a situ­ ation where most still use both system.

4.

The loss of words

In the post-war period many words connected to traditional rural industries have been lost. Many such words are unfamiliar to young people especially. One of the first to study the survival rate of older words among different age groups was Modgunn Valestrand (1978). Her results, from a study in the district of Dalane in southern Norway, showed that the oldest informants knew about three times as many traditional words as the younger in­ formants. Among older people, concrete words are better known than abstract ones, while among the young there is no significant difference. John Andre Nergaard (1996) and Nina Ff0ystadvag (1997), who have carried out lexical studies in northern parts of western Norway, have also documented large lexical differences between the older and younger generations. However, here are no great dif­ ferences between men and women. The loss of familiarity with traditional words and the narrowing of the range of meanings for other words are both relatively frequent among young people, but most widespread is the loss of usage of words for which the meaning is still known. Such lexical losses are biggest in the semantic categories comprising words for tools, instruments, work processes and food typical of the primary industries, while the losses in lexical categories comprising words for the body, the senses, diseases, physical and character traits are not so big. The fact that the loss in these latter categories are relatively small and that the differences between the sexes are also small may reflect the fact that over time there is a relatively stable core in the lexicon inventory which shapes our com-

1826

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

prehension of the world. Lexical losses have a great impact on our subjective and intersub­ jective phenomenological situation. The main reason for the loss of vocabulary relating to traditional rural industries is the advance of industrialization from the begin­ ning ofthe 20th c. and increasing urbanization from the end of the 1950s (see art. 1 86).

5.

Mass lexical borrowing

5.1.

Loanwords in Norwegian in general

A great many of the everyday words used in all forms of Norwegian today have been bor­ rowed from Low German, High German, and Dutch. Almost all of them are so well inte­ grated that most Norwegians regard them as being native Norwegian words. Today roughly 30 per cent of the Norwegian vocabulary is borrowed, whereas the rest is native (Sand0Y 2000). Today we have entered a period of in­ tensive lexical borrowing, with a great influx of English words in particular, but Norway has been through intensive periods of borrow­ ing before, notably the one starting in the late Middle Ages and lasting till the first decades of the 18thc., i.e. the period when Low Ger­ man, Dutch and High German loanwords en­ tered the language and stayed. An example of how these borrowed words still influence Nor­ wegian is the sentence below, where for a mod­ ern Norwegian all the words will be regarded as native words: Skredderen tenkte at tr@yapassetfortreffelig, men kunden klaget og mente atplaggetvar kort og t@yet simpelt og grovt (H0dneb0 1971). [The tailor thought that the shirt fitted marvelous­ ly, but the customer complained, maintaining that the gannent was short, the textiles rough and of poor quality].

The sentence contains 17 different words, of which 14 are borrowed, and only 3 are old native words (at, og, and var). Examples of Middle Low German (MLG) borrowed words which now are an integral part of Norwegian vocabulary are: Nouns: angstm. 'anxiety' from MLG angest and anxt; bukse f. 'trousers' from MLG buxe; Jrykt f. 'fear' from MLG vruehte; gaffel m. 'fork' from MLG gaffele; slaktar m. 'butcher' from MLG slaehter; snikkar m. 'carpenter' from MLG sniddeker; spikar m. 'nail' from MLG spiker; sprak n. 'language' from MLG sprake; tallerken m. 'plate' from MLG tallor­ ken; tanke m. 'thought' from MLG danke; and vilkar n. 'condition' from MLG wilkor.

Verbs: arbeida vb. 'work' from MLG arbe(i) t; prate vb. 'chat' from MLG praten; prente vb. 'print' from MLG prenten; reiskap vb. 'tool' from MLG redtsehap; skildrevb. 'de­ scribe' from MLG sehilderen; streve vb. 'toil' from MLG streven; vandra vb. 'wander' from MLG wanderen; and ave vb. 'practice' from MLG oven. Adjectives: tidleg adj. 'early' from MLG tidelik; veldig adj . 'very' from MLG weldieh; allereie adv. 'already' from MLG algerede and alrede. The loanwords listed above are today part of the core of the lexicon of all Norwegians.

5.2.

English loanwords

It is difficult to estimate exactly how many borrowed words there are today in Norwe­ gian, and it is even more difficult to say how often these words are used in written and spoken Norwegian. However, we may get a concrete impression ofthe situation if we com­ pile statistics from the Norwegian standard dictionaries Bokmalsordboka (1993) and Nynorskordboka (1998). There are 19,907 bor­ rowed words, i.e. 3 3 per cent, in Bomal and 24,880, i.e. 28 per cent, in Nynorsk (Sand0Y 2000). In the Nynorskordboka there are about 90,000 words distributed over 29,844 word sterns, and of these there are 1 3,070 borrowed sterns, i.e. 44 per cent, from the following lan­ guages listed in decreasing order (cf. Sand0Y 2000): Language Latin Greek Low German French English Italian Danish Dutch Arabic Swedish Spanish

Number of words 4089 2120 2021 1931 1564 358 179 167 148 116 108

Per cent 31 16 15 15 12 3 1 1 1 1 1

The 1564 words borrowed from English con­ stitute 1.7 per cent of the total of 90,000 Nynorsk words. This is a rather small percen­ tage, but these words have become very salient because many ofthem look and sound foreign, we know they are English because ofthe wide­ spread knowledge of English among Norwe­ gians, and they are encountered frequently in many different domains.

198. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 III: Norwegian

Ifwe look at different written texts, the per­ centage of English words differs a great deal from genre to genre. In newspaper editorials and in political commentaries there are few English words. In music reviews, music jour­ nals and computer magazines, English words are more frequent. At the beginning of the 1990s there were 2.3 per cent English words in pop music texts (Devenish 1 990), 1.65 per cent in fashion texts (Valberg 1 990), and 0.2 per cent in belles-lettre texts (Eriksen 1992). On the other hand there were 1 .9 per cent Eng­ lish words in newspaper articles on football (Kobberstad 1999) and 3.4 per cent in elec­ tronic chat group texts (Nordli 1998). If we study borrowed words according to their ranking in a frequency dictionary like Nynorsk Jrekvensordbok (Vestb0stad 1989), the first English word to appear is starte 'to start' as number 304. Many of the other bor­ rowed words appear higher on the list. Among the 100 most frequent words, seven are loan­ words, and five of these are German (numbers 33 , 68, 93, 97 and 99), one Latin (number 82) and one French (number 77). The one hun­ dred most frequent words constitute 45 per cent of the running words in a text. Such statistics do not always tell us about the impact of borrowed words in Norwegian. Themost frequent words often have little con­ tent: they are often functional words connect­ ing sentences and other grammatical constitu­ ents, for instance den 'that one', i 'in', og 'and' and vera 'to be' which are the four most fre­ quent words in Nynorskfrekvensordbok (Vest­ b0stad 1989), and there is often a high corre­ lation between low word frequency and high information value. Thus English loanwords may have a much greater impact on the Nor­ wegian language than statistics can show. One of their functions is to grab attention: they of­ ten represent something new, they are put in central positions (e.g. in headlines), they have a foreign pronunciation and spelling, and they are even marked graphically (i.e. in italics). Because of all this, English loanwords are im­ portant in written and spoken Norwegian, even if they are statistically not very frequent. Examples of new words borrowed from English in the field of pop music are cover, demo, keyboard, live, riff, rappe, remiks, sample, sampling, sequencer, single, synthesizer, tape, unplugged. From the fashion field we find words likefashion, designer, trenchcoat, tights, boots, baggy jeans, catwalk etc. In the domain of sports words like match, team, champion, cup, sprint, clinch, sparring

1827

partner, knockout, jockey, game, crawl, hockey, centerhal[, Jorward, keeper had al­ ready been borrowed in 1945 (Stene 1945). In later years many new words have been bor­ rowed, e. g. squash, curling, snowboard, free­ style, hal[pipe, hanggliding, paragliding, kick­ boxing. There are big differences between sports. In golf most of the terminology is Eng­ lish, while in athletics and skiing most of the terminology is Norwegian. The field of film and TV has been an im­ portant channel for English and American culture and language in Norway, and words like film, action (-film), B-film, dokumentar, horror-film, road movie, science fiction, thriller, western, animasjon, cinemascope, koproduk­ sjon, producer, script, slapstick, slow motion, widescreen, stand-in, stunt have corne into Norwegian this way. In Norway films are sel­ dom dubbed, and those that are are ahnost exclusively fihns for children. This means that Norwegians very often listen to British or American spoken English. In addition, more and more English film titles are not translated. In 1952, 97.5 per cent of English fihn titles were translated, while in 1992 as many as 32.3 per cent were not translated (Lystad 1 994). In the spring of 2003, we find fihns with "Nor­ wegian" titles like 8 mile, Bowling for Colum­ bine, Die another Day, The Hours, The Ring, Two Weeks Notice, Welcome To Collinwood, Catch me ifyou can, Punch-Drunk Love, Jack­ ass, Gangs of New York, Movern Cellar, The Kid Stays in the Picture, The Warrior, Daredevil, 25th hour. On the four Norwegian TV channels, the average number of programmes in English per day over 12 weeks in 1993 was 20, and the average time for English programmes per day was about 54 per cent (Sjaheim 1 994). Within the fields of economy and business, English was rather dominant as early as the beginning of 1900, and since then it has ex­ panded so that business and advertising today are some of the most important areas which are vulnerable to English influence. In the 1980s the impact of English on economic magazines was expanding, as can be seen from words like investors, aksjetrading, upsidepoten­ siale, downsize-risk, take-off, take over bid, greenmail, leveraged buy out, breakevnen, cash­ flowen, price-earningen, premium (Lind 1988). Around 1990, English words were frequent in economic reports in the newspapers, with words like bear market, benchmark( ing) , blue chips, bull market, e-business, joint venture, outsourcing, rally, spotmarkedet, dotcom-sel-

1828

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

skap (GraedlerjJohansson 2002). English oc­ cupational titles are also spreading, e. g. execu­ tive assistant, managing director, marketing implementer, merchandiser, product supervisor, sales manager, site forvaltere, trainee, web­ designer. The names of firms and industries are also becoming more and more English, like Art Catering AS, Catering Consult, Pasta Fac­ tory Take Away, Stunt Squad, Academy Fris@r, Alles Beauty Clinique, Hairport, Head & Hair Klippotek, Vanity Frisersalong. One of the main reasons for the spread of English as a global language is, according to David Crystal (1997), the electronic revol­ ution. Many terms from the "electronic" arena are picked up as English loanwords in Norwegian, like logge inn, logge uf, online, off­ line, printer, printe, skanne, skanner, megabyte, diskett, CD-ROM, PC, modem, server, hacker, hacke, surfe pa nettet etc. 5.3.

English words in daily conversations

It is difficult to say how extensive English is in the vernacular or daily conversations, first of all because it is difficult to study this phe­ nomenon. Yet there are scarcely any studies of this theme from Norway, but we know something about it from Sweden (Sharp 2001). Sharp studied video tapes from a Swedish re­ ality program (the participants were aged 1925) and from a meeting in a Swedish shipping firm. The analyses showed that 2.8 per cent of all words in the shipping situation and 2.2 per cent in the reality programme were Eng­ lish. All English words were noted, including names and long-standing borrowed words in Swedish. If names and older borrowings are removed, the percentage of English words is 1 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively. There is no reason to assume that impact of English is any larger in Norwegian conversations (GraedlerjJohansson 2002). In the data from the project Sprakkontakt og ungdomsprak i Norden (the UNO project) ('Language contact and youth language in the Nordic countries', comprising the youth's use of language in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden), where the spoken language is spontaneous and realistic, there are astonish­ ingly few English elements (GraedlerjJohan­ sson 2002). Among young people there is also little code-switching, and if they use code­ switching, this is signalled very clearly. The relatively low impact of English in youth con­ versations may signal that English is not as usual and accepted as is often believed. The

awareness that using English words and phrases deviates sharply from normal speech is relatively high. (See Sprakkontakt og ung­ domssprak i Norden (UNO): www .uib.nojuno; www .slang.no.)

6.

Norwegian neologisms for foreign words

In recent decades many Norwegian neol­ ogisms have been constructed as substitutes for loanwords in Norwegian. The philosophy behind this policy is that having too manybor­ rowed words in Norwegian may threaten Nor­ wegian language and culture, and that Nor­ wegian words and word elements may give Norwegians a more accurate description of a concept than the loanwords do, and therefore these will have a better pedagogical function. Many of these replacement neologisms have become a natural part of the Norwegian lexi­ con, but many of them still have not. In aca­ demic circles, words like lysark for 'transpar­ ent', st@tteark for 'handout' and punktum for 'dot' in internet-addresses are dominant today. An analysis of the use of Norwegian neol­ ogisms used to replace English loanwords has been carried out for the newspaper Aftenpos­ ten based on the electronic text archive Atekst (GraedlerjJohansson 2002). The result is divid­ ed into three categories: Norwegian neologisms which have been successful, those which have the same status as the borrowed words, and those which are rarely or almost never used. Neologisms which have been successful in­ clude kollisjonspute for 'airbag', nakkesleng 'whiplash', klimaanlegg 'air condition', hjer­ neflukt 'brain drain', idedugnad 'brainstorm­ ing', tilbakemelding 'feedback', opphavsrett 'copyright' , markedsf@ring 'marketing', plate­ slepp 'release party', programvare 'software', kroppsbygging 'bodybuilding', brettseiling 'wind surfing', utblasning 'blowout', datama­ skin 'computer', nettleser 'browser', nettsted 'site', e-post .e-mail seilbrett 'surf board'. Neologisms which have the same status as the borrowed words include hodejeger 'head­ hunter', hurtigmat 'fast food', Jotballp@bel 'hooligan', snauskalle 'skinhead', billigbok 'paperback' . Neologisms for which the loanwords still dominate include formgiving 'design', form­ giver 'designer', rullebrett 'skateboard', sn@brett 'snowboard', lommedisco 'walkman', hjertestimulator 'pacemaker', bilbasjbilst@ 'carport', nydebut 'comeback'. d@dlinjej •

•

198. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 III: Norwegian

d@dstrek 'deadline', kundest@tte 'support', datasnoker 'hacker', datasnoking 'hacking', tangentfj@1 'keyboard'. We assume that this analysis holds true for every conversation as well.

7.

The anbeheitelse words

In the Nynorsk written and spoken tradition, certain words inherited from German via Danish have been avoided from around 1850. The words are composed with the prefixes an­ and be- and the suffixes -heit/het and -else (German -ung), e. g. anmode, betingelse, sik­ kerhet/sikkerheit and begravelse. These words are called anbeheitelse words, and in many Norwegian language and linguistics circles these words are considered hyper-Danish. Very few of these words are accepted in the written Nynorsk norm, and some people do not like to use them in the spoken language either. However, the reality is that these words are very frequent in all Norwegian dialects. The main reason for the large amount of resistance to these words is linguistic purism, especially lexical purism. Lexical purism in Norway has been strong both in the written Nynorsk and Bokmal tradition. Knud Knud­ sen, the founder of the linguistic reform move­ ment which resulted in the Norwegianization (Norw. Jornorsking) of the Danish language in Norway and Bokmal, was a dedicated pu­ rist. One of his major books was about this, Unorsk og norsk eUer fremmedords avl@sning (1881). Ivar Aasen, the founder of Nynorsk, was also an enthusiastic purist, and he was especially against Germanisms. Both Knud­ sen and Aasen wanted to construct new words from the traditional Norwegian linguistic ma­ terial, therefore both of them were interested in Norwegian neologisms. In his grammar, Aasen included word formation morphology, and he wrote a Norwegian dictionary of syn­ onyms, Norsk maalbunad (published 1925). Aasen was of the opinion that Danish had been too liberal in Danicizing (Norw. for­ danske) German words. Nor did he accept all the German words in the dialects, like anbeJala and betyda. However, it is interesting that in his two editons of the Ordbog 'Dictionary' (1850 and 1 873) he included some of these words himself, e. g. 16 words with the prefix be- in 1850 and 21 in 1873, 3 3 words with the suffix -heit in 1850 and 26 in 1873, and 27 words with the suffix -else in 1 873. In 1997, Fagnemnda Jor Nynorsk (i.e. the professional subcommittee for Nynorsk), part

1829

of Norsk sprakrad (the national Norwegian council for language issues), made a list of 74 anbeheitelse words which are proposed as be­ ing included in the Nynorsk norm; examples are anerkjenne, anga, anl@p, anskaffelse, anslag, ansla, anta, anvende; bearbeide, be­ derva, bedr@ve, bedyre, befolke, behave, belyse, beskytte, bestikke, beslekta, betinge, bevege; ferdigheit, radigheit, skj@nnheit, @vrigheit; ak­ telse anskaffelse, betingelse, forbindelse, for­ ferdelse, forn@yelse, medf@lelse, opprinnelse, skikkelse, st@rrelse, werelse. There were many reasons for this proposal: the written Nynorsk norm will not be altered much, anbeheitelse words are "words of popular usage" (Norw. Jolkemalsord), these words will help young people to write and use Nynorsk, Nynorskwill be more resistant to Bokmal, etc. Vaga (1998) studied the use of anbeheitelse words in a selection of issues from eight Nynorsk local newspapers at three different points in time: 1983-84, 1990 and 1997. The total number of anbeheitelse words in this study was 3,054 constituting 428 different words. The differences between the number of occurrences for each word are great: some words have between 100 and 200 occurrences, others have only a few. The analysis shows that the use of these words has increased dur­ ing this period. In 1983-84 there were 827 oc­ currences, in 1990 1 ,032 and in 1997 1,195. The frequency of usage is moderate, and the number of different words is more or less con­ stant. There is no good correlation between the use of these words and whether they are approved by the authorities or not. The ma­ jority of these words are not officially ap­ proved Nynorsk words, and some ofthese un­ approved words have a high frequency. In daily conversations the anbeheitelse words are frequent, and most of the words from the Sprakrad word list above are in daily use within all geolects and most of the sociolects. This class of words is still expand­ ing in written and spoken Norwegian, and the suffix -heit/het in particular is very productive. One of the main problems young people have when trying to master written Nynorsk is avoiding the unwanted anbeheitelse words which are so frequent in their daily speech.

8.

New forms and norms of po Iiteness /address

There have been rather big changes in recent decades in the way people communicate with other. Especially from the end of the 1960s,

1830 there has been greater informality, even inti­ macy, in Norwegian society, which is ex­ pressed concretely in the language. This infor­ mality, which is what Fairclough (1995) calls democratization of society, is very widespread in Norway, and is linguistically signalled for example through the use of the 2 sg. pronoun du 'you' and the 2 sg. possessive pronoun din 'yours'. In Norway, it was mainly in upper­ middle class urban dialects that there used to be differences between formal/polite personal pronoun forms like De jdij and informal forms like du jdf±j. In all other dialects (rural and working class urban) there has been no opposition between formal/polite and infor­ mal forms. Therefore, there is only one alter­ native, in the dialects, duo And because there is no official national spoken nonn, the dia­ lects have for centuries taken care of the in­ timate forms and norms of politeness. In written Nynorsk (Nyno.) and written Bokmal (Bm.), there are lexical differences be­ tween informal and polite forms: 2 sg. du and 2 sg. possessive din versus De and Dykkar in Nyno., and De and Deres in Bm. The form Dykkar is very literary in Nyno. This means that the differences between polite and infor­ mal forms in written Norwegian are few. In the geolects the difference is almost absent, while the difference has been relatively great in some urban sociolects. From the end of the 1960s the difference between polite and infor­ mal forms has seemed to vanish, a tendency which has accompanied the disappearence of the opposition between traditional sociolects in the bigger cities (see art. 1 86). Nevertheless, we may today perhaps see a tendency to revive polite forms in some Norwegian sociolects. In the last decade, we have seen another type of change in the forms of politeness which is tied especially to the norms for physical proximity and levels of intimacy. Today it is more or less impossible to sit on a bus or in a train and not overhear private conversations from the fellow travellers using their mobile phones. Another arena where we meet new norms for intimacy with other people are documentary soap series and "reality" shows on TV where we literally follow people to the toilet and into their bedrooms. Yet we do not know much about these new linguistic norms ofpoliteness and oral conver­ sation. Until now, nobody has studied these kinds of communication and norms from a linguistic perspective in Norway, and we do not know if there are different norms of po­ liteness and practice between and within dif-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

ferent age groups. The main initial impression is that many of these norms allow private, in­ timate and even vulgar language in public; norms which apparently may seem demo­ cratic, but in practice represent something un­ democratic and domineering.

9.

Conclusion

The linguistic trends since 1945 are dominated by substantial dialectal and sociolectal changes, which among other things are reflec­ ted in the beginning of linguistic regional­ ization. The pressure from English has accelerated in this period, but English still has little impact on daily conversations, even among young people. The heritage from Low German is still dominant in everyday language, as are bor­ rowed Dano-German anbeheitelse words, which still continue to be productive. Other imported impulses have less impact on the ver­ nacular. Material and economic changes exert a great influence on lexical development and are, for instance, responsible for the loss of words relating to traditional rural industries. It is interesting that the 1951 reform of spoken numerals has had a breakthrough in a country which has a very weak tradition of a central and national regulated spoken norm.

10.

Literature (a selection)

Aasen, Ivar (1850), Ordhog over det norske Folke­ sprog. Kristiania. Aasen, Ivar (1873), Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring. Christiania. Aasen, Ivar (1925), Norsk maalbwzad: Samanstilling av norske ord etter umgrip og tyding. Oslo. Akselberg, Gunnstein (1995), Fenomenologisk dekonstruksjon av det labov-milroyske paradigmet i sosiolingvistikken: Ein analyse av sosiolingvistiske tilh@ve i Voss kommune 1 2. Doctoral dissertation. Bergen. Akselberg, Gunnstein (2002), Talesprakleg re­ gionalisering i Noreg Keisarens nye klede? In: Nordica Bergensia 28, 35 59. Bokmb1sordboka. Definisjons- og rettskrivningsord­ bok (1993), (eds. Marit Ingebj0rg Landr0/Boye Wangensteen). 2nd ed. Oslo. Crystal, David (1997), English as a global language. Cambridge. Dalbakken, Liv Osnes (1996), Distinksjonen kjejsje i lydendringsperspektiv: En empirisk unders@kelse av barns og unges beherskelse av distinksjonene kjejsje i Trondheim. M. A. thesis. Oslo.

198. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 III: Norwegian

1831

Devenish, Ingrid Ann (1990), English influence on Norwegian pop music language. M. A. thesis. Oslo.

Nordli, Lise Tranum (1998), English influence on Norwegian chat room language. M. A. thesis. Oslo.

Eriksen, Anne Kristin (1992), English loanwords in some recent Norwegian novels and short stories. M. A. thesis. Bergen.

Nynorskordboka. Definisjons- og rettskrivingsordbok (1998) (eds. Marit Hovdenak et al.). 2nd ed., 3rd reprint. Oslo.

Fairclough, Nonnan (1995), Critical discourse analysis. London.

Osnes, Liv (1992), Er det sjedelig a ga pa sjino i Oslo? B. A. thesis. Bergen.

Fmystadvag, Nina (1997), Gamle ord og uttrykk i her@ymaIet: Ei sosiolingvistisk gransking av ordd@d. M. A. thesis. Bergen.

Rasmussen, Grethe (2002), Sandnesmalet finst det? Ei sosiolingvistisk gransking av utviklinga av tale­ malet pa Sandnes. M. A. thesis. Bergen.

Graedler, Anne-LinejJohansson, Stig (2002), Rocka, hipt og snacksy: Om engelsk i norsk sprbk og samfunn. Kristiansand.

Reinhammar, Maj (1973), Dativ vid verb. Doctoral dissertation. Uppsala.

Hannaas, Jorunn (1999), En sosiolingvistisk studie av kj- og sj- realiseringen blant ungdommer i Bergen. M. A. thesis. Bergen. Haslev, Marianne (1981), Sp0rsmalet om begyn­ nende sammenfall mellom palato-alveolarer og palatal frikativ i bergensk. In: MM, 205 209. Haugen, Ragnhild (1998), Variasjon og endring i sogndalsdialekten. Ei sosiolingvistisk unders0king av talemalet i Sogndal. In: Malbryting 1, VII-XV, 1-168. H0dneb0, Finn (1971), Nedertyske (platt-tyske) Llnord i norsk. In: En bok om ord (eds. Dag Gun­ dersen et al.). Oslo, 37 41. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1989), Language planning and language change. In: Language change. Contribution to the study of its causes (eds. L. E. Breivik/E. H. Jahr). Berlin, 99 133. Reprinted in: The sociolingu­ istic reader, Volwne 1: Multilingualism and variation (eds. P. TrudgilljJ. Cheshire). London etc. 1998, 263 275. Knudsen, Knud (1881), Unorsk og norsk ellerfrem­ medords avl@sning. Kristiania. Kobberstad, Nils (1999), The influence of English in the football columns of two Norwegian newspapers: A synchronical and diachronical study. M. A. thesis. Oslo. Kvale, Karen Marie (1999), Eit malj@re i uf@re: Tale­ malsendring i Valdres. M. A. thesis. Oslo. Lind, Age (1988), Engelsk i norsk eller norsk i engelsk? In: NHH silhuetten 2, 26 27. Lystad, Mari (1994), The Americanization of Nor­ wegian culture and language through Americanfilms. M. A. thesis. Oslo. Moseng, Bodil (1996), Bruk av dativ blant unge i Os i 0sterdalen en dialektologisk og sosiolingvistisk unders@kelse. M. A. thesis. Oslo. Nergaard, John Andre (1996), Gar orda vidare? Ei sosiolingvistisk unders@king av orddaude i surnadals­ malet. M. A. thesis. Bergen.

Sand0Y, Helge (2000), Lante jj@rer eller bunad? Om importord i norsk. Oslo. Sand0Y, Helge (2003), Kontakt og spreiing. In: Sprbkm@te. Innf@ring i sosiolingvistikk (eds. Brit M",hlum et aL). Oslo, 224 246. Seip, Didrik Arup (1950), Tellingsmaten i norsk og mulig endring. Oslo. Sharp, Harriet (2001), English in spoken Swedish: A corpus study oftwo discourse domains. StockhoM. Sjaheim, Anne Elisabeth (1994), The use of English on Norwegian television. M. A. thesis. Oslo. Slethei, Kolbj0rn (1981), Mer om palato-alveolarer i bergensmalet. In: MM, 194 204. Stene, Aasta (1945), English loanwords in modern Norwegian: A study oflinguistic borrowingin the pro­ cess. London/Oslo. Toreid, Trude (1999), "fra badnahagje til barne­ hage". Ei sosiolingvistisk gransking av jondalsmalet. M. A. thesis. Bergen. Vaga, Hans Marius (1998), Det nynorske ordtiljan­ get: Ei unders@king av bruken av anbeheitelse-ord i nynorsk etter 1983. M. A. thesis. Bergen. Valberg, Inger (1990), 'The perfect look' A study of the influence of English on Norwegian in the area offashion and beauty. M. A. thesis. Oslo. Valestrand, Modgunn (1978), Ordtiljanget iDalane: Ei gransking av kjennskapen til ord heimfesta til Dalanefor om lag 100 ar sidan. M. A. thesis. Bergen. Venas, Kjell (1990), Fjell-Noreg. In: Den store dia­ lektboka (ed. Ernst Hakon Jahr). Oslo, 45 62. Vestb0stad, Per (ed.) (1989), Nynorsk frekvensord­ bok. Bergen. Web sites: A tekst: http)/atekst.mediearkivet.no/new/ Sprbkkontakt og ungdomssprbk i Norden (UNO): http!!www.uib.no!uno! http:!;www.slang.no!

Gunnstein Akselberg, Bergen (Norway)

1832

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

199.

Trends in the linguistic development since 1945. IV: Icelandic

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Introduction Phonetics Morphology Syntax Language usage Attitudes towards loanwords Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

Great changes took place in Icelandic society during World War II. The British occupation of Iceland in May 1 940 and the arrival of American troops in 1941 created a need for a larger work force in greater Reykjavik. People moved from rural areas to the capital, and Reykjavik became the centre of activity and growth in the society. Until at least the 1920s, Icelandic society had been nearly me­ dieval in its structure and working methods, but it now began to change rapidly into a tech­ nical, modern society. Anglo-Saxon influence increased suddenly from this time on through films, pop music, etc., which simultaneously affected the language. For centuries, the Icelandic language had been influenced by Danish, and one of the main themes in the struggle for independence of the Icelandic people was the preservation of pure Icelandic, free from foreign stains, e. g. Danish. At that time, purism had been prac­ tised for decades in the official language through the press, radio, and books, with rela­ tively satisfying results from the puristic point of view.

2.

Phonetics

The first research on Icelandic dialects or pho­ nological variation in Icelandic was published in 1946, after Bjorn Guofinnsson visited near­ ly all school districts in the country for that purpose, interviewing 10- to 1 3-year-old schoolchildren (Guofinnsson 1 946). This was mainly done for the pedagogical reason of allowing school authorities to investigate the need for standardized pronunciation, but an­ other reason was the newly established broad­ casting station in Reykjavik (1930), which had already created the need for standardization. This was motivated in large part by the special Icelandic dialectal feature called fia­ nueli 'slack-jawed speech' or 'sound confu­ sion', which involves a change in the quality

of the non-high front vowels: a tendency to merge the non-high (or mid) front vowels III and IyI and the mid (or low) vowels /£/ and lrel respectively, normally only when the vowels are long. This was widespread in cer­ tain areas of Iceland in the first half of the century, i. e., in the east ofIceland, in the west­ ern part of the north (Hunavatnssysla), and the Reykjanes district in the southwest. It was more widespread in towns and villages than in rural areas. Flamreli was also known in the Icelandic colonies in America where immi­ grants from Iceland settled in the late 19th century. Now it is looked upon as a normal simplification process in the language, but at that time it was stigmatized as "bad lan­ guage." In 1947, a year after publishing the results of his investigation, Guofinnsson also publi­ shed a handbook for teachers about changes in pronunciation and orthography in which he described what he felt were the most im­ portant dialectal differences, setting forth pro­ posals for which variants should be taught in schools as the standard pronunciation of Ice­ landic (Guofinnsson 1 947). He did not accept filun"'li; the result of this is that only the older generations now use this pronunciation. It was this speech pattern that was given to Eliza in the Icelandic production of the musical My Fair Lady. In the 1980s, Kristjan Amason and H6skuld­ ur prainsson investigated the dialectal features that Guofinnsson had investigated in the 1940s, both by interviewing the sarne individ­ uals that Guofinnsson had, and by interview­ ing schoolchildren, as he also had done. The main results of the comparison made by pra­ insson and Amason (1992, 124f.) have been summarized by them in the following way: (1) At the macro-level, the phonology of Ice­ landic has changed considerably since the 1940s. Certain dialectal features have dis­ appeared, while others have grown strong­ er or emerged. (2) The language has changed in two ways, both because new generations speak differ­ ently than the older ones, and individual speakers have changed their language at the micro-level. (3) The spreading of dialectal differences and phonological changes in 20th century Ice­ landic shows an interaction between

199. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945. IV: Icelandic

sociolinguistics and purely linguistic for­ ces. Research also shows that those few pronun­ ciation characteristics of specific regions inves­ tigated by Guofinnsson have been decreasing in the past decades, although unequally. The retention of such characteristics varies among people of these dialectal areas who move to populated areas, especially to greater Reykja­ vik. In the Vestur-Skaftafellssysla region of southeast Iceland, the pronunciation /hv/ is losing ground to /kv/. The speakers who took partin Guofinnsson's study have lost this pro­ nunciation to some extent, with only about 54 per cent of them still having it intact. The monophthongal pronunciation in this region, i. e., a long vowel before -gi, seems to be hold­ ing its ground much better, despite the fact that it was weaker in the 1 940s (Amason/ l>rainsson 1983, 103). In Reykjavik, linguistic developments since the 1 940s are the following: (1) The so-called haromxli, i. e., the pronunci­ ation of /p, t, k/ as aspirated stops follow­ ing long vowels, has not lost ground. This is remarkable because this feature is not at all associated with Reykjavik, but with the northern part of Iceland. The reason is, among other things, the positive atti­ tude in schools towards this feature. (2) Fl:irn",li, a rather common feature in Reykjavik in the 1940s, has now nearly vanished, especially the lowering of /1/ and jyj. A new version of this feature, the rais­ ing of /re/ to fYi, can now be found in Reykjavik, mainly in the speech of the younger generation. (3) The pronunciation /hv/ is losing ground in Reykjavik and is rather rare in the speech of the younger generation. It seems to be more common in male speech than female speech. (4) Deletions and assimilations are more com­ mon in the younger generation's speech (l>rainsson/Amason 1984, 1 3 4). There are three relatively new innovations in Icelandic phonetics: (1) A velar stop /k/ instead of a velar fricative /x/ before lsi: lax /laks/ vs. /laxs/ 'sahnon'. (2) A glottal stop instead of an oral stop be­ fore /n/: Ragnar /ra?nar/ vs. /raknar/ (per­ sonal name). (3) Reductions through fast speech phenom­ ena, e. g., loss of syllables, fricatives and

1833

nasals: dagblao /ta:pla/ vs. /tayplao/ 'news­ paper'; (As)mundur /mYrYr/ vs. /mYnrYr/ (personal name); miovikudagur /mIokY-/ vs. /mIovIkY-/ 'Wednesday' (l>rainsson/Ar­ nason 1992, 100). The frequency of elision and apocope has in­ creased significantly since Jon Ofeigsson pho­ netically transcribed words for Sigfus Bland­ a!'s dictionary (1920 - 1924). These features are correlated with low age, and the pronun­ ciation /ks/ is more frequent than the glotta­ lization (ibid., 1 1 1). In 1985, a committee was organized to make proposals regarding the teaching of pronun­ ciation in elementary schools, and its report and instructions were issued by Guomundur Kristrnundsson, Baldur Jonsson, and Hoskuld­ ur prainsson; a detailed handbook on the sub­ ject by prainsson and Indrioi Gislason was subsequently developed. The policy adopted was that no directive would be given to coor­ dinate national pronunciation; rather, the preservation of regional (minority) pronunci­ ations should be the goal. It was the opinion of the authors that an attempt to standardize pronunciation might confer low prestige on certain speech patterns, although the opposite would have been the intention (Gislason/ l>rainsson 1993, 196 f.). This point of view has become predominant, and it is now considered better to preserve dialectal characteristics by teaching about them rather than by trying to establish a normalized pronunciation that would be taught in schools and used by the mass media. The 1987 report supports action against innovative pronunciations (Krist­ mundsson/J6nsson/l>rainsson/Gislason 1986, 1 8-20), so there, at least, some pedagogical control dominates. It is not stated, however, that current language innovations are stigma­ tized as flarnxli was in its time. Although there is no real movement to protect regional pro­ nunciations, it can be noted that some rural politicians continue using their dialects to em­ phasize their regional origin. The pronunciation of rn seems to have changed in the last half century, so that /rdn/ has become more common than jdnj. More words were pronounced with /dn/ before, e. g., stjam /stjoudn/ 'leadership', which is pro­ nounced /stjourdn/ today. Another new pro­ nunciation involves ij being pronounced jtsjj, such as in the word tjald /tsjald/ 'tent' and dj as /dsj/, e.g., djakni /dsjauhknr/ 'deacon' (Kristinsson 1998, 40).

1834

3.

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

Morphology

There have been few morphological changes in Icelandic since 1945. Some changes took place over the last centuries and were stigma­ tized by purists in the 19th through the middle ofthe 20th century. Such forms were " correct­ ed" in schools and have for the most part been eliminated. Among these may be mentioned the masculine declension of the -fa sterns, which declined as follows and which has re­ turned to the Old Icelandic forms today:

Singular Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen. Plural Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen. Singular Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen. Plural Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.

hellir 'cave' Olce!. hellir helli helli hellis hellar hella hellurn hella 1 5th-mid 20th c. hellir hellir hellir/hellri hellirs hellirar/hellrar hellira/hellra hellirum/hellrum hellira/hellra

The consonant -r- became part ofthe stern and the newer declension became more like other inflectional classes of strong masculine words (Benediktsson 1969, 396- 398). These newer forms are now mainly used among older people, since the battle against them in schools has borne results. Similar changes occurred in the plurals of some feminine words such as hand 'hand' and tann 'tooth'. The older forms were hendur and tennur, butin later centuries hondur and tonnur became customary. These older forms are barely used among the older generation. Various analogical changes in declension occurred in the 20th century. For example, there have been changes in definite fern. and masc. acc. forms ending in a long vowel (d, u, 6, i); e. g., spa 'prophecy', bru 'bridge', sk6 (from masc. sk6r 'shoe'), and kvi 'fold', where the form spana jspaunaj becomes

/spaun:a/; bruna /bruna/ becomes /brun:a/; skona /skouna/ becomes /skoun:a/; and kvina /kvina/ becomes /kvin:a/. In feminine words the influence is from the dative (spanni, brunni and kvinni), but in the masculine word jskoun:aj there is no comparable influence, where the dative form is sk6num. Changes have also taken place in the declen­ sion of feminine words ending in -ing, e. g., bygging 'building', where the genitive singular has taken the form byggingu instead of bygging­ ar: Singular Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.

bygging byggingu byggingu byggingu

Here we see influence from both the accusative and dative, and from the genitive of weak feminine words such as stelpa 'girl' (nom.), stelpu (acc.), stelpu (dat.), stelpu (gen.) (Svavarsd6ttir 1994, 9). It is believed that -na, the genitive plural of weak feminine words ending in -a in the no­ minative, e.g., sagna (from saga 'story'), is spreading and affects more words than before. However, this spread is limited if the form would be too difficult to pronounce due to phonotactic patterns, e. g., * litjna 'lily' (gen.p!.) (l>rainsson 1995, 206). The 1 . sg. form (eg) vill (from vitja: '(I) will') is relatively new in place of (eg) vi!. There is little doubt that this is due to analogy with the 3 sg. hann/hun/pao vill 'he/she/it will'. The greater number of foreign words in Ice­ landic, especially from English since World War II, has influenced the language. For noun morphology, this is seen in the increased number of nouns with undetermined gender and no case marking, as well as in the huge jump in the number of indeclinable adjectives and the increased use of 'more' and 'most' for comparison. This may explain the growing un­ certainty about gender and declensions, i. e., the reduced influence of gender in declensions. An example of this is the word kok 'coke', which can appear in all three genders: kbkinn (masc.), kokin (fern.), kokio (neut.) (Arnason/ Sigrnundsson/Thorsson 1982, 68). A propor­ tionally large group of neuter words in the loanword category could also mark this uncer­ tainty (Eiriksson 1974, 151). It is likely that influence from English is also behind the fact that more words are now used in the plural, for example such words as vero 'price' and keppni 'match', which before only

199. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945. IV: Icelandic

existed in the singular, but are now frequently used in the plural: vera 'prices' and keppnir 'matches' .

4.

Syntax

Changes in word order or syntactic construc­ tion have not affected Icelandic since about 1945. Still, in certain cases, English has in­ fluenced specific types of written language, es­ pecially news in the mass media and various translations. It is not possible, however, to say that this has had a permanent influence. Among these is the feature of not beginning a sentence with the subject but rather with preposed participles, e. g., Knminn haifa leia. Jon Jonsson stansaai skyndilega 'Having corne halfway, Jon Jonsson stopped suddenly' in place of J6n J6nsson stansaai skyndilega,jJegar hann var kominn haifa leia 'Jon Jonsson stop­ ped suddenly when he had corne halfway'. Present participles are used exactly as in Eng­ lish in wording such as Talandi um Jon; eg sa konuna hans i brenum um daginn 'Speaking of Jon, I saw his wife in town the other day', although this is not traditional Icelandic; ra­ ther, it should be Ur pvi aa taM berst aa Joni; eg sa konuna hans i brenum um daginn 'Since we are speaking about Jon, [then] I saw his wife in town the other day'. Another example is Hafandi veria i erlendum haskbla, attaai him sig a jJessu 'Having been in a foreign univer­ sity, she understood it' instead of Hun haJai veria i erlendum haskbla og gat jJvi attaa sig a jJessu 'She had been in a foreign university and could therefore understand it' (Kristinsson 1998, 29). A change over the last decades is that the possessive is more frequently dropped, al­ though another case, usually the dative, is used in its place. This happens both in oral and written language, particularly in compli­ cated sentences where there are many nomi­ nals, and especially if many parts of the sen­ tence should use the possessive. This has been called eignarfallsfl6tti 'genitive-avoidance'. This avoidance increases if the word that de­ termines the case follows, as in Tvrer og half milljon ( tveggja og halfrar milljonar) krona haW 'A two-and-a-half-million-crown loss', or comes much earlier, e. g., Vegna frafalls G. 6., sem vann aa akveanu verki [. . .J, og ros­ kun ( roskunar) iuetlunar um annaa verk 'Be­ cause of the death of G.6., who worked on a specific project [. . .], and the disturbance of a plan of another project' (Kjartansson 1979, 8 8 f.). Some may explain the cases given as �

=

1835

examples of genitive-avoidance, but it may in­ stead be explained as the generally weaker po­ sition of the genitive in Icelandic and the change in governors such as auk 'in addition to', which previously took the genitive but which now take the dative in some instances. The dative is also preferred in a specific con­ struction where the genitive should be used, like when a past participle is in apposition to a genitive noun and should agree with it in case, e. g., fij6si siafrreailegra vandamala teng­ dum ( tengdra) logum um miOlregan gagna­ grunn Ii heilbrigaissviai 'In light of ethical problems connected to laws about a central database in the area of public health' and Par sem rreaa Ii stoJnun nys flokks. byggaum ( byggas) Ii grunni peirra priggja 'Where the founding of a new party has to be discussed, built on the foundation of the three' (Kjar­ tansson 1999, 1 51 -160). A phenomenon called the "new passive" is used especially by children and young adults in place of the traditional passive voice, aa vera 'to be' + past participle, e. g., Paa var hrint mer instead of the traditional Mfir var hrint 'I was pushed', or Paa var baria mig instead of Eg var barin(n) 'I was beaten' (l>rainsson 1995, 325). The use of the subjunctive is generally de­ creasing for children and young adults. On the other hand, it is increasing with the verb vera 'be' in sentences such as f;;g veit ekki hvort hann se heima, where the older usage had the indica­ tive mood: f;;g veit ekki hvort hann er heima 'I don't know if he is at horne'. Knowledge of the correct use of the pro­ nouns sinn 'his' and hann/hUn/Paa 'he/she/it' has diminished in the last half century. The sentences Hann er eins og pabbi hans and Hann er likur pabba sinum 'He is like his father' are correct, but the sentence * Hann er eins og pabbi sinn is not acceptable, and the sentence Hann er likur pabba hans is ambiguous (whose father?). The blending of these types of sen­ tences has become more common. People now say * Eg pakka honumJyrir gbO oro sin, where the older word choice would have been Eg pakka honum Jyrir goo oro hans 'I thank him for his good words' . =

�

4.1.

Coordination o f conjugations

In Icelandic, finite verbs agree with nomina­ tive arguments, usually subjects, in person and number, and adjectival predicates and past participles agree in case, number and gender. If the subject is a coordinated one, complica-

1836

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

tions arise. In certain cases, some speakers pre­ fer number and gender agreement with only one of the subject conjuncts, while other speakers either accept or prefer agreement with the conjoined subject as a whole. The first approach can be referred to as "separative" and the second as "additive". If both or all conjuncts of a conjoined nomi­ native subject are concrete and countable, only the additive approach is available, e. g., Strakurinn (masc.sg.) ag steipan (fem.sg.) eru (pl.) veik (neut.pl.) 'The boy and the girl are ill'. In contrast, if a conjoined subject has one or more abstract, uncountable conjuncts, there is variation in Modern Icelandic as to which approach is preferred: separative, e. g., EJtirvrentingin (fem.sg.) ag ahuginn (masc.sg.) var (sg.) mikill (masc.sg.) 'The expectation and interest was great', or additive, e. g., Eftirwentingin og ahuginn varu (pI.) mikil (neut.pl.) ' The expectation and interest were great' , which is preferred. All examples of the additive approach are from the 20th century. It thus seems that a change in agreement with abstract, conjoined (nominative) subjects is in progress (Friojonsson 1990-1991, 103). 4.2.

Two perfects

Icelandic has two perfects, the so-called "have-perfect", e. g., Him hefur bakao koku 'She has baked a cake', and the "befinished (bl) perfect", e. g., Hun er Min ao baka kdku 'She is finished baking a cake'. The perfect can be split into three different uses: universal, existential and resultative. Have-perfects are compatible with all of these categories, while bf-perfects can only be universal or resul­ tative. In the latter case, bf-perfects are clearly favoured over have-perfects (Jonsson 1992, 142). Use of the bf-perfect has been increasing in Icelandic during the last decades. The compound form vera + ao gera e-o 'be + to do sth.' instead of gem e-o 'do sth.' has increased in recent years. Examples ofthis are sentences such as Him er ao leika vel a jJessu ari 'She is playing well this year' or Hann er ao gem pao gatt 'He is doing it well' rather than Him leikur vel a ]Jessu ari 'She plays well this year' and Hann gerir ]Jao golt 'He does it well' (Kristinsson 1998, 161 f.).

5.

Language usage

Various changes have occurred that have af­ fected language usage in the past half century, among them the arrival of Icelandic television

(1966) and the increased number of radio sta­ tions in the 1980s and 1990s, when private operators were permitted. Broadcast material has also changed to include more direct inter­ views, and because of this the use of spoken language has increased at the cost of written material. Informal word order, hesitations, freer word choice and so forth now stamp more of their character on the language of the mass media, which has influenced all language usage in the country. Although the national press exerts some restraint through specific lin­ guistic advice, other media do not have the same supervision over speech patterns. Among other things, the use of the honorific has changed significantly within Icelandic so­ ciety. At the beginning of the time period dis­ cussed, the honorific was commonly used in public institutions, stores, the university, and in broadcasts. Newscasters and interviewers used the honorific, for example, with their in­ terviewees. Since the 1970s this has decreased steadily, so that today the honorific is rarely used. It is still common, however, for official institutions to utilize it in writing. Changing conditions of the labour market have led mothers to work outside the horne more than before, and parents now communi­ cate less with their children. Children today associate significantly more with their peers while enjoying much less contact with their parents and grandparents. These factors all have an influence on speech patterns, leading to a language that is different from the lan­ guage used when multiple generations lived together in the same horne.

6.

Attitudes towards loanwords

Since World War II, opinions among Icelan­ ders regarding the status of loanwords have been somewhat divided. The official position has been in the puristic spirit of Icelandic scholars of the 19th century, such as those who published the periodical FjOinir in Copen­ hagen from 1835 to 1847. The basis for the purification of Icelandic was the belief that the language should be as unchanged as pos­ sible from the c1assical language of 13 th- and 14th-century literature so that people today could be able to read those works without major explanations. Purism is therefore not only conservative, i. e. protecting the language as it is, but is also regressive, i. e. eliminating words that are of foreign origin and thus re-

199. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945. IV: Icelandic

verting to the lexicon as it was in classical times. Purism went hand in hand with the nation's fight for independence, which concluded with sovereignty for Iceland in 1918, although it retained royal ties with Denmark until the establishment of the Republic in 1944. The connection between the nation and its lan­ guage has been very strong in Iceland since at least the 16th century, when Humanism be­ came influential. Nationalism has therefore been the impetus behind Icelandic language policy for centuries. National and cultural is­ sues have weighed heavily in this matter. From about 1780, the time of the Enlighternnent, an­ other reason to keep the language pure ap­ peared: the general population would be pre­ cluded from the educated world if concepts were not Icelandicized. Ideas of this kind were prevalent in Denmark and Germany during this period, and the desired goal was to bring the sciences to the people. This had to be fa­ cilitated by using words with clearly under­ stood meanings (Ottosson 1997, 32). It has also long been a common opinion that foreign words do not work well in the Icelandic lan­ guage system, neither phonologically nor morphologically. The energy of purists for several centuries naturally leaned primarily to­ wards Danish loanwords, as Iceland was part of the Danish empire. With the arrival of British and then American soldiers during WWII, English words and phrases and syn­ tactic constructions spread into Icelandic (see 3 . and 4.). Spoken Icelandic in Reykjavik took up many of these features, as the written lan­ guage did later to some degree. Purists then took on a new task, which was the increased influence of English phraseology appearing in papers and on the radio (Halldorsson 1975, 178-1 84). For a long time it was usual in re­ views ofIcelandic books to state whether there were many or few foreign words in the book. This has changed in the past decades. 6.1.

Word formation

Official language policy in Iceland has long been directed at creating new words for new concepts, which has enriched the language for several centuries. Foreign words have also been adjusted to Icelandic phonotactics and morphology, e. g.,jeppi from the English word 'jeep', and berkill, formed from the Danish word tuberkel 'tuberculosis'. A common way to form new words in Icelandic is by loan translations, e. g., Jramleii5a for the English

1837

word 'manufacture'. Another example is to use old words for new phenomena, e. g., simi 'thread' for the English word 'telephone'. The third method is to create a word or compound from the existing Icelandic word stock (neolo­ gisms), e. g., Jrumeind 'atom' (from Jrum + eind 'basic' + 'unit'), gervihnottur 'satellite' (from gervi + hnottur 'imitation' + 'globe') and tolva 'computer' (from tala 'number'). The word committees (the oldest of which was established in 1919) and the Icelandic Language Commission, which has been in op­ eration since 1964, have held to older word formation traditions. The Icelandic Language Center has been active since 1985. The need for Icelandicization or adaptation of foreign words has increased substantially with technol­ ogical advances in Icelandic society, and the publication of new lexicons has increased as well. It has become clear that official word for­ mations via the language committees are sub­ stantially more formal and restricted than un­ official word formations. New official words in the language are usually adapted by radio, television, schools and other institutions. The language used in teaching materials is often purer than that spe­ cified for individual professional fields, and, between themselves, professionals use a much more blended language than is seen in books or the papers. Still, many fields are making an effort to use Icelandic terms, such as the medical journal Lreknablai5ii5, where many new words have been coined in recent years. In 1990, the University of Iceland recognized the construction of neologisms to be on a par with scientific work, and many new words are constructed in connection with teaching and theoretical writing. Financial terminology and slang exhibit dif­ ferentmorphological patterns. There are a few suffixes that are only used for financial terms, mostly native Icelandic suffixes that have otherwise become unproductive. Other suf­ fixes are only used in slang. They are offoreign origin, e. g., -sj6n, from -tion, and do not seem to have been accepted in the standard lan­ guage (Jonsson 1984, 1 55 - 165). Slang, es­ pecially that of young people, contains many English words, unadapted or adapted to some degree, but there are also Danish words and some of Icelandic origin (Sigrnundsson 1984, 369 f.). Foreign slang has increased signifi­ cantly in recent years, helped too by the greater number of movies now shown in (American) English and by foreign popular music.

1838 6.2.

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

Criticism of purism

In the first specifically Icelandic dictionary, edited in 1963 by Ami B6ovarsson and in­ tended largely for students, purist policies were introduced and foreign loanwords were specifically noted by a question mark, indi­ cating that their usage was not desirable. People's opinions about this varied. Some thought too little was being done in a purist direction, but others felt that common loan­ words were lacking that had been fully accepted into the language. In short, words of foreign origin have not had an easy route into Icelandic or bilingual dictionaries in Ice­ land. Various linguists have expressed doubts about the continuation of such strict language policies (Kristinsson 1994, 56 f.). Professor Jon Helgason wrote in Copenhagen in 1954 that the great migration from the countryside and changes in living styles would probably weaken the feeling for the Icelandic language, and therefore it was no longer possible to fol­ low strict language policies. During the past century various writers have spoken out for rnore freedom in this mat­ ter, stating that purism restricts expression too severely. Of the same opinion, for instance, are various anthropologists and members of the younger generation of linguists and lit­ erary scholars (Sigrnundsson 2003, 79-83). As one of them says, a purist policy is a nation­ alistic thought or a kind of secular religion, and it is also used to measure the intelligence and capabilities of people; those who do not fit the frame of purism will not have influence in society (l>orarinsdottir 2000, 25). A real change has not yet been seen in gen­ eral public opinion on loanwords, which are normally held in low regard, while purism plays a strong role in the self-esteem of Ice­ landers. Increased foreign influence and inter­ national cooperation, however, will increase the pressure to accept loanwords. The growing use of foreign-programmed computers by young people makes the use of Icelandic in this powerful media an urgent matter. Icelan­ dic must adapt new words into its own system using its own rules in order to hinder the in­ troduction of words that follow foreign mor­ phologies. Failure to ensure Icelandic adapta­ tions of foreign words and/or the creation of appropriate new words could lead to the loss of its domains: ifIcelandic is no longer spoken in the workplace, it will only live on in the horne.

A specifically Icelandic style for general written language is likely to hold for a while. It is probable that such a small and isolated society will have enough solidarity to retain its own style, even though some difficult pu­ ristic tendencies are likely to be relaxed. From previous experience, it can be expected that national and international interests will con­ flict. The position of Iceland in the future so­ ciety of nations is still so undecided that it is impossible to state its influence on language politics. This will also depend to a certain extent on how democratic the future guard­ ians of the language will be (Sigrnundsson 1990-1991 , 14O f.).

7.

Literature (a selection)

Amason, Kristjanjprainsson, Hoskuldur (1983), Urn matfar Vestur-Skaftfellinga. In: IMAM 5, 81 103. Amason, MorburjSigmundsson, SvavarfThorsson, Omolfur (1982), Orl5abbk um slangur, slettur, bann­ ora og annal5 utangarl5smbI Reykjavik. Benediktsson, Hreinn (1969), On the inflection of the ia-stems in Icelandic. In: AJrrurlisrit J6ns Helga­ sonar 30. funi 1969. Reykjavik, 391 402. Bobvarsson, Ami (1963), fslenzk orl5abbk handa sk6lum og almenningi. Reykjavik. Eiriksson, Eyvindur (1974), Ensk tokuorl5 i nutimaislensku nokkrar athuganir. [Unpublished.] Reykjavik. Fribj6nsson, Jon G. (1990 1991), Beygingar­ samra:mi meb samsettu frumlagi. In: IMAM 12 13, 79 103. Gislason, Indribijprainsson, Hoskuldur (1993), Handbbk um islenskanJramburl5. Reykjavik. Gubfinnsson, Bjorn (1946), Mallyzkur I. Reykjavik. Gubfinnsson, Bjorn (1947), Breytingar aJramburl5i og staJsetningu. (2nd ed. 1981. Smarit Kennaraha­ sk6la Islands og Ibunnar 7). Reykjavik. Halld6rsson, Helgi J. (1975), Matfar blaba og Ut­ varps. In: Skirnir 149, 168 187. Helgason, Jon (1954), Hrein islenzka og mibur hrein. In: SNSS 11, 95 1 1 8 . J6nsson, Johannes Gisli (1992), Th e Two Perfects of Icelandic. In: IMAM 14, 129 145. J6nsson, Sigurbur (1984), Afhassisturn og kont6r­ isturn. In: IMAM 6, 155 165. Kjartansson, Helgi Sklili (1979), Eignarfallsflotti: uppastunga urn nyja matvillu. In: IMAM 1, 88 95. Kjartansson, Helgi Sklili (1999), Orb i belgurn eign­ arfallsfl6tta. In: IMAM 21, 151 160.

1839

200. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 V: Faroese Kristinsson, Ari Pall (1994), Om islandsk sprog­ politik. In: Nordisk Tidskrift 70, 51 59.

Sigmundsson, Svavar (1990 1991), Hreinsun islensk­ unnar. In: IMAM 12 13, 127 142.

Kristinsson, Ari Pall (1998), Handbbk um malfar i talmiOlum. Reykjavik.

Sigmundsson, Svavar (2003), Purisme og nation pa Island. In: Purt og reint: Om purisme i del nordiske spraka (eds. Helge Sand0Y/Randi Brodersen/Endre Brunstad) (Skrifter fra Ivar Aasen-instituttet 15). Volda, 65 83.

Kristmundsson, Gubmundur B./J6nsson, Baldur/ prmnsson, Hoskuldur/Gislason, Indribi (1986), Alitsgero um malvondun og framburoarkennslu i grunnskblum, samin af nefnd a vegum menntamala­ raoherra 1985 1986. Reykjavik. Ottosson, Kjartan G. (1997), Purisme pa islandsk. In: Purisme pa norsk? (Norsk sprakrads skrifter 4), 31 37. Ofeigsson, J6n (1920 1924), Tra:k af moderne is­ landsk Lydla:re. In: Sigflis Blondal, fslensk-donsk oroabbk. Reykjavik, xiv xxvii. Sigmundsson, Svavar (1984), Slang pa Island. In: The Nordic Languages and Modern Linguistics 5. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference of Nordic Languages and Modern Linguistics in A rhus 27/6 1/7 1983 (eds. K. Ringgaard/Viggo S0rensen). Arhus, 369 373.

Svavarsd6ttir, A..sta (1994), Enn um eignarfalls­ fl6tta. In: Jbnina hans Jbns G. Friojbnssonar fimm­ tugs 24. agUst 1994. Reykjavik, 7 13. p6rarinsd6ttir, Hallfribur (2000), Islenskan a 6porf­ um stalli. [Interview] In: Dagur 8. april, 25. prmnsson, Hoskuldur malfra:!5i. Reykjavik.

(1995),

Handbbk

prmnsson, Hoskuldur/A..rnason, Kristjan (1984), Urn reykvisku. In: IMAM 6, 1 1 3 134. prmnsson, Hoskuldur/A..rnason, Kristjan (1992), Phonological Variation in 20th Century Icelandic. In: IMAM 14, 89 128.

Svavar Sigmundsson, Reykjavik (Iceland)

200.

Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 V: Faroese

1. 2. 3. 4.

Introduction Attitudes towards loans Summary Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

Modern Faroese, a North Germanic language of the West Scandinavian branch, is spoken by approximately 47,000 speakers in the Faroe Islands and approximately 20,000 speakers in Denmark. It is not a minor language in the Faroe Islands if a minor language is defined as one that is spoken by a minority within a certain language society. Faroese was recog­ nized, on equal footing with Danish, as the main language of instruction in schools in 1938 and as the official language in the church in 1930. It was recognized as the main lan­ guage in the Faroe Islands in 1948. Danish had up till then been the official language from the time of the Reformation, and it does still have legal status in the islands and is widely used in subtitles on TV, in weekly and monthly magazines, novels and so forth. It may be ar­ gued that the islanders are bilingual, cf.

um

Haugen's definition of bilingualism (1969, 6 f.). As a result of this situation there are con­ siderable numbers of Danish and interna­ tional loanwords in Faroese. There are at present two main attitudes towards these loans: purism and pragmatism, which will be presented below.

2.

Attitudes towards loans

There are different attitudes towards loan­ words and vulgarisms in Faroese due to the complex language situation with (a) Danish having been used there for centuries, (b) Dan­ ish-Faroese bilingualism, and (c) the political fact that Faroese is still used as a tool to define Faroese culture and oppose everything Danish. The purist movement was founded by the philologist Jakup Jakobsen (1864- 1918) late in the 19th c. and at the beginning of the 20th c. (Jakobsen 1889/1957). Jakobsen called for the purification of the language, and said that it would end up fatally crippled if nothing was done, because of the many loanwords (1889/ 1957, 23). This is still a common attitude (Ma­ tras 1954; Poulsen 1986).

1840

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

Another view is to accept old neologisms like those introduced by Jakup Jakobsen while rejecting all newly introduced neologisms (Niclasen 1992, 2 ff.). Among accepted old neologisms are b6kasavn 'library' and utvarp 'radio', but Nic1asen does not accept the wide­ ly used tr@Gi 'science', nor neologisms from the 1990s such as t@kni 'technology', although they are common in at least written Faroese, while others, like skammlop for kortslutningur from Dan. kortslutning 'short circuit' are dead neologisms (Niclasen 1992, 2ff.). Between these poles are the pragmatists, who stress the communicative and functional side of the language. A speaker/hearer must always be able to express his thoughts, regard­ less of the choice of word, and a dictionary must to a large extent reflect the rnental lexi­ con of an average individual and hence the actual language situation. The same holds for vulgarisms. This view is most saliently reflect­ ed in H. P. Petersen's and M. Staksberg's 3rd edition of Donsk-J@roysk oroabbk [Danish­ Faroese dictionary] from 1995. 2.1 .

The purist attitude

Vik0r (2000, 1) lists four kinds of purist atti­ tudes towards language: (1) General purism: does not accept any foreign element in the language. (2) Selective purism: rejects elements from some languages, not others. (3) Conservative purism: accepts well-rooted loans, opposes new ones. (4) Regressive purism: wants to purge the language of even well-rooted loans. Among these types, 1 , 2 and 3 are relevant for Faroese. Themost extreme attitude, gener­ al purism, is represented by J6gvan via Anna in his dictionary F@royskma/spilla og malr@kt (1961 -1 977) [Wrong Faroese and language cultivation]. J6gvan via Anna does not accept any foreign elements in the language since he claims these will lead to language death, just as was the case with Nom in Shetland (via Anna 1961 , 1f.). This led him to construct such words as hv@rsmansvagnur (p. 977) 'bus' (lit. 'everyman's wagon', cf. Lat. omni-) for the colloquial bussur, and leioarasteinur (p. 754) 'compass' (lit. 'leading or guiding stone') for the colloquial kumpass. The philologist Christian Matras (19001988) may be said to represent conservative purism, as can be seen in Jacobsen and Matras (1928/1961), where it is possible to find

well-rooted loans such as forsvara 'defend' « Dan. forsvare), written Far. verja, /or­ bjbOa 'ban' « Dan. Jorbyde), begynna 'start' « Dan. begynde), written Far. byria. Matras does also accept more recent loans in some of his translations depending on the text he is translating from, as in his translation of Det dyrebare liv [Precious life] in 1957, by the author J0rgen-Frantz Jacobsen. The text is close to spoken Danish, and this is reflected in Matras' use of loanwords such as audito­ rium 'auditorium' (p. 19), poesi 'poetry' (p. 1 7), violinkonsert 'violin concerto' (p. 19) and sportur 'sports' (p. 20). The same is the case in his translation of Jaco bsen's novel Bar­ bara where it is possible to find such loans as parykkur 'wig', colloquial Far. parykkur or written Far. harkollur, menuett 'minuet' (p. 88), and 6bekvemmur (p. 99) Dan. ube­ kvem 'uncomfortable'. Another translation by Matras, of J0rgen­ Frantz Jacobsen's Nordiske Kroniker (1943) from 1976 (Tioargreinir), is close to written Danish, and this seems to lead Matras to in­ troduce neologisms such as bakskutur for bag­ perron 'rear platform' (p. 160), and stev for rytme 'rhythm' (p. 123). None of them are used in either written or spoken Faroese. Matras' general view towards loans and vul­ garisms in Faroese is, however, in the spirit of Jakobsen (1889), that Danish words which are common to spoken Faroese should not be recommended for use in written Faroese in so far as it is possible to find good Faroese words and expressions for these words (Clausen 1978, 44). An example would be the common­ ly usedfarva 'colour' from Dan. farve, which might be replaced with the just as commonly used native word litur 'colour'. Purism or a purifying tendency towards language is a necessity in the Faroe Islands, whereas it may be a luxury for other European languages (Matras 1954, 86). Regressive purism is represented by Jchan Hendrik Winter Poulsen. Loans from Danish should not be classified as Faroese according to Poulsen (Clausen 1978, 49). Poulsen does not accept any Danish or foreign influence in the language and says for example that it is incorrect to use the Danish word telt 'tent'; he recommends tjald instead (Clausen 1978, 51). This view is modified in 1997 in the pref­ ace to F@roysk oroab6k [Faroese dictionary], where he leans towards conservative purism and writes that native Faroese words and well­ established loans have been given preferential treatment in the choice of headwords in the �

�

1841

200. Trends in the linguistic development since 1945 V: Faroese

dictionary; the same goes for neologisms such as dstig for the colloquial pedaiur 'pedal'. In addition to this, a larger number of loans which are widely used in modern spoken Faroese have been given their place in this dic­ tionary (Poulsen 1997, 9). Poulsen's attitude is the opposite of Nic1a­ sen's view (cf. 2.), since the latter does not ac­ cept new neologisms, while the former does not in principle accept loans, as can indeed be seen in how poorly the 1998 F@roysk oroa­ bbk reflects modern spoken Faroese (Thomsen 1998, 26 ff.). Thomsen comments on the exclu­ sion of well-established loans such as herligur 'magnificent, wonderful' even though it is a well-rooted loan and should thus be represent­ ed in the dictionary (Thomsen 1998, 31); in addition to these objections, Thomsen finds it strange that ordinary words such as ballett 'ballet' ,flygil 'grand piano' and divan 'divan', which are common in spoken Faroese, have not been given a place in F@roysk oroabbk, while it is possible to find opera 'opera', klaver 'piano' and soja 'sofa' (Thomsen 1998, 3 3 f.). Another purist is Johannes av Skaroi, the former editor of Donsk-J@roysk oroabbk [Dan­ ish-Faroese dictionary] from 1967. He states in his preface that many words in colloquial Faroese have never been accepted in written Faroese, since these words have been regarded as non-Faroese, and that the islanders have always been purists in their attitude towards the language. The loans have thus not been given a place in his edition of the dictionary (av Skaroi 1967, IX). The purist attitude is also represented in the Faroese Language Secretariat from 1958, which has as one of its goals to collect and record new Faroese words and to help to choose and create new words in addition to looking out for incorrect usages which may be developing. This led H.D. Joensen among others to create scores of neologisms for in­ ternational technical terms, such as urkleiv 'anode', ikidv 'cathode' (p. 324), ravsigui 'elec­ tromagnet' (p. 277) and dropadriving 'distilla­ tion' (p. 161) in his book AlisJr@oi [Physics] from 1969. The words for the latter two in spoken Faroese are elektromagnet and destiller­ ing. The result is a huge book which, however well intentioned, is rarely used in any school or by any researchers today, and never was, because of the huge number of neologisms. It has also recently been pointed out in Faroese language debates that a foreign or unfamiliar word is a word that the speaker/hearer does not understand; a neologism like dropadriva

'distil' is a foreign word in spoken Faroese, while the loanword destillera is not. The same holds for e.g. Jjarsemil '(tele)fax', skyndil 'ac­ celerator, pedal' and many others (Petersen 1997, 1 1 9 ff.); spoken Faroese has Jaks and spitari from Dan. speeder. 2.2.

The pragmatists

It becomes clear in Long's review of av Skaroi's dictionary that the islanders have not always been purists and Long feels that words such as diet 'diet', avdankaour 'threadbare' from Dan. aJdanket and many others should have been included. According to Long, av Skaroi's dictionary is not intended to give a picture of Faroese as it is or was when people were thinking in Faroese, but rather to pro­ vide a tool for standardizing the language based on the position of a few (Long 1967, 208). Dictionaries, books and texts in general have to be modeled, not on written Faroese, but on the spoken language, and should accept Anglo-Saxon and Danish words, according to Long (Clausen 1978, 47). It is not quite clear from his writings if Long is an internationalist, that is, one who does not accept any neol­ ogisms at all (Clausen 1978, 138), but he does take an unfavourable view of the purists. The same view is expressed by Evensen in 1976 (Clausen 1978, 46), when he says that the purists have gone too far in cultivating the language. Evensen's main concern is that the gap between spoken and written Faroese will be too huge as a result of the language puri­ fication and he may be referring here to books like AlisJr@oi, which was mentioned in 2.1. This is also one of the main concerns among the pragmatists, who accept foreign elements in the language as well as neologisms, pro­ vided they are accepted by the speakers and as long as there is no compulsion in the lan­ guage care. The pragmatists stress the com­ municative side ofthe language and do respect the mental lexicon to a greater extent than the purists (Petersen 1997, 1 1 9 ff.; Thomsen 1996, 1 0 ff.). This attitude is most salient in Hjalmar P. Petersen's and Marius Staksberg's third edi­ tion of Donsk-J@roysk oroab6k [Danish­ Faroese dictionary] which was published in 1995, but it is also present in Ensk-J@roysk oroabbk [English-Faroese dictionary] from 1992. These were the first printed lexical works to accept a rather large proportion of the foreign elements and vulgarisms in modern Faroese. The main line taken in Donsk-f@roysk

1842

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

oroabbk was, ideally, that the most common equivalent in spoken Faroese should be listed first. International words, vulgarisms, hybrids as well as neologisms and loans from Icelandic are accepted in the dictionary. In addition to this, it does try to include commonly used na­ tive words such as litur instead of the Danish loanfarva 'colour', or bruni instead of betend­ ilsi 'inflammation'. The intention behind this approach is that native words that are com­ mon in the colloquial language are to be pre­ ferred over some Danish words. This corre­ sponds to Matras' view, when he says that Danish words which are common to spoken Faroese should not be used in written Faroese in so far as it is possible to find good Faroese words and expressions for these (Clausen 1978, 44). Examples offoreign loans in Peter­ sen and Staksberg are sitat 'quotation' ,...., Dan. citat, definition 'definition' ,...., Dan. defi­ nition, garasja 'garage' ,...., Dan. garage and hy­ brids such as bangheit lit. 'afraidness' and n@trilsi 'trembling'. Note that the loans are spelled according to Faroese pronunciation, except -tion words. The spelling with -sjon is restricted to foreign words in -sion such as ag­ gresjon 'aggression'. 2.3.

The internationalists

It should be noted that there is a third atti­ tude, which is labelled the 'internationalists' in Clausen (1978). Such people do not accept any neologisms at all but prefer Danish and international loans. Among these is Marie Eide (Clausen 1978, 46) and, it seems to some extent, also Rikard Long, as noted at the be­ ginning of 2.2.

3.

Summary

There are two main attitudes towards loans in Faroese: the wish to keep the language pure from any foreign influence; and stressing the functional and communicational side of lan­ guage which leads to accepting loans as well as neologisms. The situation is complicated in that some earlier neologisms may or indeed do become spoken Faroese today, as is the case with telda for 'computer'. Some neol­ ogisms that were labelled as unusable or that people did not accept three decades ago (Clausen 1978, 134) are commonly used in at least written Faroese today; examples are meginregla 'principle', gosop 'crater', miosav­ ning 'centralization', although prinsipp and sentralisering do exist beside the neologisms.

This supports the findings of a translation study from the beginning of the 1990s, where 10 people were asked to translate 50 words in context, first to casual speech, then to more careful speech. The study showed that the loans predominated, when people translated into their natural colloquial Faroese. The par­ ticipants averaged 9 neologisms out of 50 possible when they translated into casual speech, but 22 neologisms after having been given time to think about the words in ques­ tion (Gotved Jakobsen/Nattestad Steintim 1992, 37). It should also be pointed out that some neologisms do become part of spoken Faroese if journalists, children's books and others use them, but there is a constant tension between these and the loans, since gamalur vani bitur best 'the old habit is the strongest'.

4.

Literature (a selection)

Anna, J6gvan vib (1961 1977), F@roysk malspilla og malr@kt: Of@roysk-j@roysk orl5abdk I IV. T6rs­ havn. Clausen, Ulla (1978), Nyord ifiiroiskan: Ett bidrag till belysning av sprbksituationenpa Fiiroarna. Stock­ holm. Gotved Jakobsen, Lisbeth/Nattestad Steintun, Mona (1992), HV0rji orb verba bnikt i f0royskum i dag? In: Malting 3, 35 41. Haugen, Einar (1969), The Norwegian language in America: a study ofbilingual behavior. Bloomington. Jacobsen, Mads A./Matras, Christian (1928/1961), F@roysk-donsk orl5abbk. T6rshavn. Jakobsen, Jakob (1889), NogleOrdom Fa:msk Ret­ skrivning, samt Forslag til en ny fa:msk Retskriv­ ning. In: Dimmala:tting 20 25. T6rshavn. (Re­ printed in: Greinir og Ritgerl5ir 1957, 49 54). Joensen, Hanus Debes (1969), Alisfr@l5i. T6rshavn. Long, Rikard (1967), Donsk-f0roysk orbab6k (umma:li). In: Dagblaoio 1967. Matras, Christian (1954), Et bidrag om fa:msk sprogmgt. In: Sprakvard 2, 85 94. Niclasen, Andre (1992), Tann skeiva matmktar­ k0sin. In: Malting 4, 2 1 1 . Petersen, Hjalmar P. (1997), Man vil ikke se noget som man ser. Man vil ikke se noget satedes som man ser det. In: LexicoNordica 4, 1 1 9 133. Petersen, Hjalmar P.jStaksberg, Marius (1995), Donsk-f@roysk orl5abdk. T6rshavn. Poulsen, J6han Hendrik W. (1986), Fa:mske sprogsp0rgsmal In: SiN, 60 64. Poulsen, J6han Hendrik W. et al. (1997), F@roysk orl5abdk. T6rshavn.

1843

201. Future perspectives for the history of the Nordic languages Skarbi, J 6hannes av (1967), Donsk-f@roysk orl5ab6k. T6rshavn.

Thomsen, Johnny (1998), F0roysk orbab6k. In: Midting 24, 26 37.

Skala, Annfinnur i et al. (1992), Ensk-f@roysk orl5ab6k. T6rshavn.

Vik0r, Lars S. (2000), Sprbknormering i ein sprbk­ kontaktsituasjon. Handout, T6rshavn.

Thomsen, Johnny (1996), Bnika argnakonur lepa­ stift ella nota argnakvinnur varrastift? In: Malting 16, 10 24.

Hjalmar

P

Petersen, Sandavagur (Faroe Islands)

201.

Future perspectives for the history of the Nordic languages

1. 2. 3.

6.

Introduction Semi-communication in Scandinavia Nordic language minorities: Swedish in Finland and Nynorsk in Norway The functional domains of the Nordic standard languages Future development of the Nordic standard languages Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

4. 5.

Linguistic futurology is a risky enterprise, but this article is nevertheless going to discuss some aspects of what may be the future of the Nordic languages. We shall assume that there is a connection between changes in a society as a whole and changes in the communicative conditions and needs of that society. We shall also suppose that such changes might lead to changes in the linguistic codes of that society. It is obvious that each step in such a specu­ lation involves a great deal of uncertainty. The political, economic, demographic etc. devel­ opment of a society is difficult to anticipate. It may be misleading simply to extend the ten­ dency curves of today. It is often difficult to predict the communicative effects of societal macro-events and even more problematic to know how changes in the ecology of com­ munication will leave their marks on the lan­ guage of a community. All prophecies run the risk of influencing the future, and we cannot know if or how pol­ itical efforts will be made to direct the course of linguistic development. Neither can we know if or how future technological inven­ tions, e. g. in the field of informational tech­ nology, might change the conditions of small languages, e. g. by making translation or inter-

pretation cheap, rapid and correct. We cannot even know if the European Union will con­ tinue to exist. What ifit crashes and gives way to a global community and/or a Nordic con­ federation? No guarantee can be given that global catastrophes (a nuclear war or a gal­ loping greenhouse effect) will not bring about large scale migrations or genocides, thereby changing the conditions of human life and communication in a way difficult to imagine. This article deals with some aspects of the possible future of the Nordic languages. First we shall turn to semi-communication between the Mainland Scandinavian languages: will it still be possible to communicate in one's own language with people from the neighbouring countries in Scandinavia? The second issue to be discussed is the future situation of Scandi­ navian minority languages in Finland (Swed­ ish) and Norway (Nynorsk). We shall not be concerned with the future of Danish as a foreign language in Iceland or as a second of­ ficial language in the Faroes and Greenland. In the latter cases, the use of Danish has made it more difficult for Faroese and Greenlandic to cover all domains, but it also seems to have protected these languages from being wiped out by English (as happened in the Orkney Islands). In the following section we shall con­ sider the coverage of communicative domains by the Nordic standard languages in compe­ tition with the aggressive Anglo-American lin­ gua franca. The final section deals with some aspects of the future Nordic standard lan­ guages. It is not possible to predict specific phonological, syntactical or lexical changes. We shall instead refiect, in broad terms only, on what might happen with the status of writ-

1844

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

ten language, the degree of standardization and the size of the domestic vocabulary.

2.

Semi-communication in Scandinavia

The Nordic countries have enjoyed an exten­ sive cooperation during the 20th c., politically, economically and culturally. It is instructive e. g. to look at the Swedish export and import figures for Denmark, Finland and Norway in relation to the figures for Great Britain and the United States as well as Germany (tab. 203.1). Tab. 203.1: Sweden's export and import in 1998 to and from Scandinavian and some other countries (based upon the statistical yearbook of Sweden (2000» . The figures indicate mill. of Swedish Crowns.

Export Import

Denmark + Finland + Norway

GtBritain + USA

Gennany

132 99

118 84

74 97

A prerequisite for this cooperation has been the close vicinity of the Scandinavian coun­ tries but also the ease of communication be­ tween them: a person with one Scandinavian language can speak or write his own language and be understood by the speakers of the other languages. This kind oflinguistic situation has been called semi-communication (Haugen 1972; cf. Borestam Uhhnann in art. 217). Will this situation prevail in the centuries to corne? Europeanization and globalization of the economy and politics can be expected to in­ crease the exchange with other European states at the expense of Scandinavian econom­ ic, political and cultural cooperation. Scandi­ navianism as an ideology is not so fashionable anymore among the political and cultural elite, and it may have still less substance in the future. It is also possible that the amount of instruction in neighbouring Scandinavian languages in schools and at universities will be reduced even more than is already the case, at least in Sweden and Denmark. Scandinavian semi-communication is also threatened in another way. Some observers have noticed a diverging tendency between the languages (Molde 1981; cf. also Lunden 1 977). This development could be an effect of changes in the relationship between written and spoken language (see 5.), which have led

to a more informal style in public communi­ cation. This implies that particularly the spoken varieties of the languages are becom­ ing more different. The process can be ob­ served in all three languages but it is most ob­ vious in Danish, where the standard spoken language has changed drastically on the basis of the Copenhagen dialect during the last cen­ tury. These changes are irreversible, and it is not probable that the development towards a more informal public language will be broken. But the situation is not altogether unequivo­ cal. The Scandinavian languages can be said to be converging in their vocabularies, since they often borrow the same words from abroad (cf. Nyord i svenskan 1986 and its Dan­ ish and Norwegian counterparts). Another factor facilitating inter-Scandinavian commu­ nication is that more and more Norwegians speak Bokmal and that Scandinavian dialects are more regionalized (viz. they lose their most specific features) (see 3.2.). The bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo (opened in 2000) will bring about an increase in regional communi­ cation between Scania and Zealand. A safe guess is that a large proportion of the region's inhabitants very soon will find it easy to under­ stand each other and to develop individual strategies for effective semi-communication in the area (Teleman 2001).

3.

Nordic minority languages: Swedish in Finland and Nynorsk in Norway

Finland and Norway have Nordic minority languages, legally protected as official lan­ guages on a par with the majority national languages, Finnish and Bokrnal respectively. In both countries the relative number of mi­ nority language speakers has decreased over some time, even if the falling tendency seems to have levelled out a bit, possibly connected with the increased consciousness and self-es­ teem of minority groups globally during the last decades of the 20th c. 3.1.

Swedish in Finland

The Swedish-speaking minority in Finland has a strong position in ways which are gener­ ally considered to guarantee the stability of a language. Socio-economically it is a little above average, there are plenty of schools and one university where Swedish is the language of instruction, there are Swedish theatres and

1845

201. Future perspectives for the history of the Nordic languages

Swedish newspapers, as well as many eminent Swedish poets and authors of fiction etc. An­ other important fact is that Swedish as a na­ tional majority language in Sweden adds to the stability ofthis language as a minority lan­ guage in the neighbouring state. Nevertheless, the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland has decreased during the last century, from 14 per cent of the total population in 1880 to 1 1 per cent in 1920 and to 6 per cent in 1990. (On the situation for Swedish in Finland see e. g. Reuter in art. 1 8 1 and Allardt/Starck 1981; McRae 1999; Ivars 1 999). Several factors can explain the retreat of Swedish in Finland. One of them is the emi­ gration of the labour force, particularly in the later 1960s from Finland to Sweden, in which the share of Swedish speakers was relatively large. (After the rapid growth of the Finnish economy over the last decades of the century, this emigration wave nearly came to an end, though). More important perhaps has been migration within Finland, from northeast to southwest, from rural regions to towns, which meant that the position of Finnish was strength­ ened in places, especially in Helsinki, where the Swedish-speaking population had earlier been stronger. Most Swedish speakers are bi­ lingual, and exogamy between Swedish- and Finnish-speakers has become more frequent since World War II. Children of mixed mar­ riages tend to choose the language which is spokenin their local environment, so exogamy has led to a surge from the minority to the majority language of the nation. Before World War II, ethnic loyalty within the Swedish­ speaking minority was quite strong, but dur­ ing the second half of the 20th c. this attitude softened. At the same time, the Finnish speakers' acceptance of bilingual education in the school system seems to have decreased. The proportion between the minority and majority at the turn of the century was ap­ proximately 1 : 16. These figures are in them­ selves alarming, but more important is the fact that Swedish is not dominant in any major town, i. e. the minority speakers ofthe country nearly everywhere have to function on the lin­ guistic terms of the majority. (In the county of Ostrobothnia where the majority of the rural communities is more or less Swedish, the residential town has only ca. 25 per cent Swedish speakers.) There is one exception: the Aland Islands between Sweden and Finland have a Swedish-speaking population and a high degree of self-government. Here the po­ sition of Swedish is not threatened.

What will happen to the Swedish language in Finland during the next one hundred years? A reasonable guess is that it will continue to recede, even if the speed of the process is dif­ ficult to predict. Swedish will survive at least for another one hundred years in Finland (cf. Ivars 1 999), but exogamy will be more fre­ quent than now and the minority will be smal­ ler. Swedish in Finland may continue to be protected legally and its own institutions will no doubt live on, but at some point the demographic basis for Swedish schools, uni­ versities, newspapers etc. will be too small to support the full range of public communica­ tion. It is very probable, though, that Swedish will exist in Finland as a private home lan­ guage a long time after it has become silent on the Finnish public scene. Finland is now a very loyal member of the European Union. If the nation's economic success continues, it will be even more neces­ sary for its inhabitants to master foreign lan­ guages, especially English. This will no doubt increase the pressure on the privileged position of Swedish in majority schools and elsewhere in the society. For some years Finnish com­ panies regarded Sweden as their primary area of expansion, and Swedish was often chosen as the primary language oftransnational com­ pany groups. Now this time seems to be over, and Anglo-American will more and more be the language of Finnish multinational com­ panies (cf. 4.). 3.2.

Nynorsk

Nynorsk (lit. 'New Norwegian') is a standard­ ized written language based upon western Norwegian dialects, while its counterpart Bok­ mal (lit. 'book speech') historically is Norwe­ gianized Danish influenced by eastern Norwe­ gian dialects. The pronunciation of modern Bokm3l is very different from Danish. Its in­ flection and its vocabulary, too, depart from Danish (nearly as much as from Swedish). Both Norwegian languages accept a large amount of morphological variation, although in practice there has been a certain degree of homogenization which is to some extent also reflected in the official norms (e. g. Vik0r 1993). Bokmal includes a standardized spoken variant, but standard Nynorsk, on the other hand, is used as a spoken language only in the theatre and on the radio and by some in­ dividual speakers; otherwise more or less re­ gionalized dialects are spoken by people who follow the Nynorsk standard in writing. (For

1846 the status and characteristics of Nynorsk see esp. art. 177 and 1 80). The Norwegian linguistic situation is pecu­ liar since the two standard languages are so closely related, phonologically, morphologi­ cally, syntactically and lexically. Most Scan­ dinavians outside Norway would say that each Norwegian variant resembles the other more than other closely related languages outside Norway. There have been attempts to bring the two variants closer, though with limited success. While the minority language in Fin­ land is supported by its relationship to the na­ tional language of the neighbouring country, the two standards in Norway support and in­ fluence each other. The small difference be­ tween them also makes it easy to shift between them, e. g. for people who move from one place to another. The position ofNynorsk is strong in nation­ al law, schools, administration and public media, and many eminent authors write in Nynorsk. All Norwegian children have to learn the other variety as a "side language" in school. There are quite a few Nynorsk pa­ pers (but Bokrnal papers have 89 per cent of the circulation), important publishers (9 per cent of all books), poets and authors and a Nynorsk national theatre. Nynorsk is region­ ally very strong in certain parts of Norway: e. g. a fourth of all communities are officially Nynorsk speaking, and in four counties ("fyl­ ke") Nynorsk is the majority language. (There is no Nynorsk university, though). The Nynorsk minority in Norway constitutes a larger part of the country's total population (ca. l 0 - 1 5 per cent) than the Swedish minority in Finland. Nynorsk is probably receding in much the same way as Swedish in Finland. The statistics are not so easy to interpret, but the Nynorsk minority seems to have declined from approxi­ mately 35 per cent in the 1940s to today's fig­ ure. An investigation from 1978 revealed that Nynorsk was not used at all in six ministries and very little in most of the others. One major factor behind this development is urbanization: people move from Nynorsk rural areas to towns where Bokmal normally is dominant, and this results in language shift for children (Vik0r 1993). Another factor may be the global integration of Norway. In Euro­ pean Union matters (where Norway takes part only as an associated member, though) prob­ ably only one form of Norwegian will be ac­ cepted. Children of immigrants in Norway do not have to learn both varieties of Norwegian

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

at school, although all children with one of the Norwegian varieties as their first language still must do this. Some observers believe that European inte­ gration will make national states weaker but strengthen the regions. Even if this were cor­ rect, it is doubtful whether it would secure the future of Nynorsk, as it is dominant only in rural areas. At least one strong urban centre would probably be necessary to guarantee the survival of Nynorsk as a regional standard language. One important factor of the future com­ municative scene is language technology. Some people suggest that automatic transla­ tion and interpretation will be able to facili­ tate, stimulate and protect linguistic diversity. A more realistic guess is that small languages are treated unfairly in a world where the de­ velopment of technological support for writ­ ten and spoken communication as well as for educational multi-media programmes will be too expensive to be profitable in languages with few speakers (Rognvaldsson 1998, on Icelandic). During the first half of the 20th c. when Nynorsk made remarkable progress in Nor­ way, probably most citizens of the country, even urban people, regarded themselves and their kind basically as rural, and they saw the prototypical Norwegian as a farmer or a fisher­ man. This is not so anymore, and that may be one reason that the prospects for Nynorsk are not so good in the future. Another reason may be that the difference between the two standard variants is so small or indistinct and has so little to do per se with different con­ ceptions of the world. It will be ideologically difficult to defend the expensive split into two standards, if the proportion of Nynorsk users becomes even smaller and the distinction be­ tween the two standards is based mainly upon differences in stem forms and some inflectional forms.

4.

The functional domains of the Nordic standard languages

Danish, Norwegian (Bokmal and Nynorsk), Swedish, Icelandic and in principle also Faroese are complete official languages in the sense that they can be used in all functional domains without trivializing the content of what is being communicated. For the Main­ land languages this has been the case since the beginning or middle of the 19th c. when Latin was finally abolished as a scientific language.

201. Future perspectives for the history of the Nordic languages

During the second half of the 20th c. English (or rather Anglo-American) has taken over large parts of some important domains of pub­ lic communication, a development which is still going on, promoted by increased interna­ tional cooperation and integration in politics, the economy, science and entertainment. The reduction of the functional domains covered by the national languages, now and in the fu­ ture, can be sketched in the following way. (See e.g. Teleman 1993; Venas 1993). The basic idea behind the European Union is that decisions in some fields should be taken on a European level and be valid in all member states. The national political domain is there­ by reduced in favour of European politics, and as a consequence the domains of the national languages in politics and administration are re­ stricted. Even if the European Union from the beginning had a generous language policy guaranteeing that the national languages of all member states should be equal and official languages of the Union, it has already been decided that in some institutions the only in­ ternal working languages should be French, English and German, and several investiga­ tions have shown that the translators do not manage to translate all relevant material cor­ rectly and in time for all meetings and that the number of interpreters is not sufficient for all languages in all meetings. The languages of smaller nations have difficulty in asserting them­ selves in working groups and in informal set­ tings. Many officals and some politicians tend to use only English or French (see e. g. Karker 1993; Haberland et al. 1991 ; Simonsen 1996; Melander 2000). Even German European poli­ ticians complain about not being able to use their own language in all organs of the Union. The use of the national languages in the economic sphere is reduced when companies become transnational. Scandinavian firms ex­ pand by buying companies in Europe and the rest of the world, or they are bought by foreign companies with their headquarters abroad. In both cases the language of the multinational companies will often be English, which is re­ garded as a neutral language for transactions between participants from different countries. Negotiations, policy documents, central planning will all be in English. Companies will (like e. g. Scandinavian Airlines System al­ ready) present themselves in English on the internet and elsewhere. English has become the universal language of management and commerce, and The Financial Times is obliga­ tory reading for top functionaries of multina-

1847

tional companies. An early Swedish investiga­ tion (Ljung 1985) showed that English plays a considerable role also on lower company levels, i. e. for engineers, builders, fitters, as­ semblers etc. who often work temporarily as specialists in foreign daughter or sister com­ panies. Foreign visitors and apprentices are received in the Scandinavian factories, and workers have to understand operating and safety instructions written in English. Anglo-American has already etablished itselfas the canonical language ofscience. This is particularly true of the natural sciences, technology, and medicine, but increasingly so also of international law, the social sciences and the humanities. Academic course books are in English, research seminars and con­ ferences are held in English, research reports, papers and dissertations are written in Eng­ lish. Even within national research such as Nordic literature, Nordic history, Nordic eth­ nology and Nordic languages Anglo-Ameri­ can is used more and more, especially if the study has general theoretical implications. In some branches, scientists never use their mother tongue in writing, or feel very awk­ ward if they have to do so. (For an investi­ gation into the use of English at a Swedish university, see GunnarssonjO hrnan 1997). The restricted use of national languages in the universities as well as the overall globali­ zation trend in politics and the economy has led some schools to organize part of their secondary education, especially the natural science programmes, in English. Advanced teaching material using information technol­ ogy is in English and inevitably gives the pu­ pils the impression that English is the real lan­ guage of advanced knowledge. The Nordic national languages are still dominant in written fiction and poetry, but in the domain of entertainment the Anglo-Ame­ rican language is becoming increasingly im­ portant. Popular culture mediated by televi­ sion and cinema is to a great extent American or English, and even if the speakers are trans­ lated into the viewer's own language (not dub­ bed), Anglo-American easily stands out as the natural language of global entertainment. (This lesson is effectively given already to pre­ school children eagerly watching American cartoon films with subtitles they cannot read and contents they can understand only par­ tially). Even Scandinavian fihn makers have started to make their fihns in English to fa­ cilitate global export. Within popular music, English is the preferred language, even in

1848 Scandinavian productions. English is chosen for export reasons but also because Nordic languages feel too horne-spun to convey the emotional message even to domestic con­ sumers. Pictorial artists often supply their cre­ ations with English titles and comments (which are essential particularly in so-called concept art). Will the gradual withdrawal of the Nordic languages from the domains of politics, the economy, science and entertainment continue in the future? The answer seems to be affirm­ ative for all the domains. When the European Union is enlarged with new member states, it is reasonable to expect the number of internal working languages to be reduced to English, French and German. The Union has been criticized for its demo­ cratic deficit. To solve this pro blern a Euro­ pean-wide public discourse would have to be created outside the parliament and the other bodies of the Union, a discourse where jour­ nalists, citizens and politicians from all mem­ ber states could take part regardless of where they come from. The language of such a com­ mon political discourse obviously will not be Danish or Swedish. It is difficult to imagine a form of economic development which does not imply continued global integration, i. e. that an increasing pro­ portion of all Nordic companies will have English as their language of management. It is likewise probable that not only the econ­ omic elite but also the labour force in general will be even more mobile in the future and that advertizing, patents, information about ingredients etc. will be written more and more in English, for global use. In the same way, English seems bound to continue its victorious march within science and higher education. There will be foreign guest students in every university department, and English will have to be the language of education and examinations in many fields. National disciplines (mostly belonging to the humanities or the social sciences) may be split up into having the more theoretical aspects in English for global consumption and the more empirical and narrative kind of research in the mother tongue with the country's own popu­ lation as its primary audience. English as a language of education will no doubt be strengthened in primary and secondary schools. More and more people of the Nordic coun­ tries will be reasonably proficient in English, which will make it easier for commercial popu-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

lar culture producers to use English as the dominant language of communication in or­ der to count as potential competitors in the European or global market. Relatively soon, a European or interna­ tional elite will establish itself: the most inter­ esting careers in many fields will be in foreign countries, in political, economic and cultural centres. This elite will be bi- or trilingual, and the first language of their children or grand­ children will not be a Nordic language, but English, French or German. It is obvious, then, that English will be the future language of many public domains where the domestic languages have earlier been used almost exclusively in the Nordic countries. We cannot conclude, though, that the Nordic languages will disappear from public communication in the near future. First, it should be remembered that language communication is not necessarily a zero-sum game: the use of Anglo-American in public communication might expand without signifi­ cantly reducing the share of the domestic lan­ guages in the relevant domains. Second, it should be borne in mind that the future state of the languages can be influenced through political measures. A resonable degree of ter­ ritorially defined self-government is a vital pre­ requisite to securing a language as an instru­ ment for the full range of public communica­ tion. This can be learnt from the story of Ice­ landic and Faroese, languages with an impres­ sive strength and comprehensiveness, despite heavy pressure from Danish over a long time.

5.

Future development of the Nordic standard languages

Looking back upon the history of the Nordic languages in the last millennium, we can 0b­ serve three central phenomena: the creation and increased importance ofthe written repre­ sentation of the language, the standardization of the national languages, and the enormous growth in vocabulary. We can also notice some radical structural changes, most of them going back to the reduction of weak syllables ("syncope") which led to a reduction of inflec­ tional morphology, fixation of grammatical word order and the rise of expletive subjects. I shall not try to predict similar structural de­ velopments but will focus on the fate of writ­ ing, standardization and the lexicon in the fu­ ture. My method will be to observe certain broad historical circumstances or trends in to-

201. Future perspectives for the history of the Nordic languages

day's society which may be even more marked in the years to come. These observations will be treated in relation to phenomena such as globalization, visual media, information tech­ nology and education. Some of these para­ meters of the ecology of language were men­ tioned in sect. 4. , but now the focus will be on what they can tell us about the possible future ofwriting, standardization and vocabu­ lary (see Teleman 2000; cf. also art. 195 -200). Globalization will pro bably result in a trans­ fer of some important public domains of com­ munication from the national languages to Anglo-American as a language for global transactions. It is reasonable to assume that this transfer of communicative functions will have consequences for the lexicon: the domes­ tic vocabulary for these domains will be for­ gotten and new words will be coined in Eng­ lish, not in Danish, Norwegian etc. (A small portion of these words will of course be taken over as loanwords and calques by the Nordic languages). The loss of public domains implies that the national language becomes less national or public. Its primary use might be private, in the family and in leisure activities. But private language is primarily spoken language, so the school cannot be expected to devote too much time and effort to teaching the children the domestic language in its standardized written form. One aspect of globalization is migration. Some have feared that the kind of imperfect Danish, Swedish etc. that refugees or labour force immigrants will acquire may influence the "real" language of the country. There are no signs as yet that this has happened or will happen, though. Another matter would be if the Nordic countries become the target of sig­ nificantly extensive immigration of high­ status experts from other countries. (For im­ migrant workers and refugees and their child­ ren, it might even turn out to be more prac­ tical to skip the tedious task of learning the domestic language or dialect and turn directly to English instead, the language which gives them access to qualified education, not only in their new country but also abroad). Like­ wise, it is not likely that the Nordic languages will be influenced to any interesting degree by the dominant languages in the European Union (other than English), although a ten­ dency has been noted for official texts trans­ lated from French or English officialese to be syntactically more complicated than similar original texts in a Nordic language.

1849

The amount of pictorial information in the printed media has increased drastically during the last century, and pictures are becoming im­ portant also in IT communication. But it is primarily through television that pictures have won their dominant position in public com­ munication. The success of television leads to a relative retreat for the written language. Vis­ ual communication with its spontaneity and physical concreteness gains ground on written language characterized by generalization, 0 b­ jectivity and analyticity. It has been 0 bserved that the boundary be­ tween private and public communication is vague in television, not only in fiction pro­ grammes where a hypothetical form of every­ day life is presented, but also in infotainment programmes where people are invited to take part in a semi-natural conversation marketed as information and analysis. The ideology of spontaneity and naturalness which is typical ofthe visual media also threatens the standar­ dized language as a means of public communi­ cation. Spoken language will always vary more geographically, socially, according to age etc. When spoken language is experienced by the ordinary citizen as the canonical form of public language, the idea of a standardized national language is in danger, and schools or parents may conclude that it is more impor­ tant to learn to talk in an agreeable way in front of a camera than to write an interesting and coherent text in standard language (cf. also Svensson in art. 195). Information technology is an important means of verbal communication, but its im­ pact on language is difficult to judge. In many ways computers serve as a very strong support for written language and standardization. Their primary medium is still the written lan­ guage. Users need to spell a word correctly if they want to use the search facilities of the computer. The new technology makes writing easier: pupils' computer-made texts look bet­ ter and are more correct than their hand-writ­ ten texts would be. Easier writing means more extensive and intensive writing practice, ac­ cording to teachers, and the norms of written language are thereby internalized more effec­ tively. On the other hand, information technology might affect writing and standardization in a negative direction. The writer is enticed into unplanned, unorganized writing, as it is rela­ tivelyeasy to correct the text, while at the same time it is difficult to survey text sections longer than a page, since earlier or later portions can

1850 bemadevisible on the display only by scrolling backwards or ahead. The writer can also be seduced by the language support programmes for spelling, grammar and text organization, which might erroneously give him the impres­ sion that he needs not acquire these arts him­ self. Word processors have had the effect that many linguistic gate-keepers (as qualified sec­ retaries or proof-readers) have been done away with. The result has often been less COf­ rect written products. E-mail writing and chat­ ting can be compared with letter writing, but they are often produced in real time (like spoken utterances) and poorly edited. Written informative texts on the net are nor­ mally rather short and descriptive, and they often have a more or less tabular fonn. The net as a source of infonnation is then very dif­ ferent from a library: it offers short isolated pieces of content rather than larger chunks of organized and analysed knowledge or narra­ tive fiction of the kind that is presented in books. If the internet revolution reduces book reading (as seems to be the case at least among boys, cf. Eaken i tiden 1997), it means that the position of written language in its most advanced form is seriously weakened. The society of today or tomorrow is charac­ terized by high speed, a phenomenon which is partly made possible by informational tech­ nology. A computerized society requires its citizens to be flexible and prepared for con­ tinuous change. Such a system leads also to unstable language routines and norms. Words are soon felt to be less up-to-date and more easily become obsolete. Knowledge oflinguis­ tic norms is a kind of cultural capital which becomes rapidly devalued. A reasonable guess is that education will be increasingly important in the future. From a sociolinguistic perspective, it has interesting implications if adolescents are kept in school for a longer time before they are thought fit for adult life in regular jobs or for further stu­ dies at the universities. When young people are kept together, separated from parents, and older superiors or colleagues, they easily de­ velop their own linguistic norms and their own oral language unrestrained by the conventions of the older generation. Such a situation, where external norm control is weak, inevi­ tably leads to language variation and change, i. e. to a less standardized language. If the future brings a more unstable stan­ dard language, this will harmonize well with the current ideology that knowledge has "a short half-life", i. e. that it is constantly re-

XVI. The Nordic languages in the 20th century

newed and transformed through advances in science or continuous changes in society. Edu­ cational planners often suppose that specific knowledge becomes obsolete so fast that the schools should not teach it, only promote the general ability to learn or to find information at the moment when it is needed. Ifknowledge rapidly becomes obsolete, it is natural to look upon language in the same way. To teach lan­ guage in its standardized form might then be regarded as an unnecessary expense for the community. Interestingly, there is another equally strong philosophy of knowledge and educa­ tion that stresses an increasing demand for general and specific knowledge by experts in various fields. Such knowledge depends upon a fully standardized written language for its formulation and accumulation. It will need an extensive vocabulary for highly general and specific concepts. It seems, then, that we can expect a division in education between the majority and the elite in the future. The elite will have at its disposal a growing vocabulary and a distinct standard­ ized written language. Will this language be Anglo-American or will it be a constantly en­ riched and reformed domestic language? The majority, on the other hand, will require less academic education than today, while other skills will be more important for them. Social and emotional competence, the ability to talk with people, flexiblity and stress tolerance will be more desirable for this category of pupils than regular knowledge and rational thinking. For them, spontaneous spoken language will be more interesting than reading and writing. Our survey of the possible linguistic future of the Nordic languages has necessarily been very sketchy, and the predictions that have been suggested are tentative and even ambigu­ ous. There are quite a few signs, though, to indicate that the rising importance of the written standardized language and its vocabu­ lary over the last millennium might take an­ other direction in the times that lie ahead of us .

6.

Literature (a selection)

Allardt, Erik/Starck, Christian (1981), Sprbkgriin­ ser och samhiillsstruktur: Finlandssvenskarna i eft Jiimforande perspektiv. StockhoM. Askedal, John Ole (2000), Det europeiske sprakhus. In: Arbeitsberichte des germanistischen Instituts der Universitiit Oslo 15, 47 72. Eoken i tiden (1997), Betinkande av Utredningen om boken och kulturtidskriften. StockhoM.

201. Future perspectives for the history of the Nordic languages Borestam Uhlmann, Ulla (1991), Sprbkmoten och motessprbk i Norden (Nordisk spraksekretariats rapporter 16). Oslo. Borestam Uhhnann, Ulla (1994), Skandinaver sam­ talar: Sprbkliga och interaktionella strategier i sam­ tal mellan danskar, norrmiin och svenskar. Uppsala. Gundersen, Dag (1992), Norsk sprak i de na:nneste tiaxene pavirkninger og utfordringer. In: SiN1992, 44 54. Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise/Ohman, Katarina (1997), Det internationaliserade universitetet. En studie av bruket av engelska och andra Jriimmande sprbk vid Uppsala universitet. Uppsala. Haberland, Hartmut/Henriksen, Carol/Phillipson, Robert/Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove (1991), Tak for mad. In: Det danske sprogs status ar 2001 (ed. J. Nonnann J0rgensen), K0benhavn, 111 138. Hansen, Erik (1992), Det danske sprogs fremtid. In: SiN 1992, 84 89. Haugen, Einar (1972), Semicommunication: The language gap in Scandinavia. In: The ecology oJlan­ guage: Essays by Einar Haugen (ed. Anwar S. Dil). Stanford. Ivars, Ann-Marie (1996), Stad och bygd: Finlands­ svenska stadsmal i ett regionalt och socialt perspektiv (Folkmalsstudier 37). Helsingfors. Ivars, Ann-Marie (1999), Har svenskan i Finland en framtid? In: Historiska och litteraturhistoriska studier 74. Helsingfors, 7 17. Karker, Allan (1993), Dansk i EF en situationsrap­ port om sproget (Nordisk spraksekretariats skrifter 16). K0benhavn. Ljung, Magnus (1985), Lam anka Report No.8). Stockhohn.

ett maste (EIS

Lunden, Thomas (1977), Spraket, samhaJlet och geografin. In: Sigurd, Bengt (ed.) (1977), 4 18. McRae, Kenneth D. (1999), Conflict and compro­ mise in multilingual societies. Finland. Helsinki. Melander, Bjorn (2000), Politikersvenska men tjanstemannaengelska. In: Svenskan som EU-sprak (ed. Bjorn Melander). Uppsala, 100 143. Molde, Bertil (1981), Gms i maskineriet. Om slang, vardagssprak och idiomatiska uttryck. In: In-

1851

ternordisksprakJorstaelse (ed. C.-Chr. Elert). Umea, 46 52. Nyord i svenskanJran 40-tal tilI 80-tal (1986), Sven­ ska spraknamnden. Stockhohn. Rognvaldsson, Eirikur (1998), Infonnationstek­ nologien og sma sprogsamfund. In: SiN 1998, 82 93. Sigurd, Bengt (ed.) (1977), De nordiska sprbkens Jramtid (SNSS 61). Stockholm. Simonsen, Dag F. (1996), Nordenssprak i EUs Euro­ pa: Sprbkplanlegging og sprakpolitikk mot ar 2000 (Nordisk spraksekretariats rapporter 22). Oslo. Svedjedal, Johan (2000), The Literary Web (Acta Bibliotheca: regia: Stockhohniensis LXII.) Stock­ hohn. Tandefeldt, Marika (1988), Mellan tva sprbk: En Jallstudie om sprakbevarande och sprakbyte i Fin­ land. Uppsala. Teleman, Ulf(1989), Det nordiska spraksamarbetet. Ideer och framtidsuppgifter. In: SiN 1989, 14 32. Teleman, Ulf (1993), Det svenska rikssprakets ut­ sikter i ett integrerat Europa. In: Sprak i viirlden. Broar och barriiirer (eds. Jerker Blomqvist/UlfTele­ man). Lund, 127 141. Teleman, Ulf (2000), Svenska sprakets framtid. In: Sphinx. A rsbok Jor Societas Scientiarum Fennica 1999 2000. Helsinki, 57 67. Teleman, Ulf (2001), Oresundssprak? In: Sproglige abninger. Festskrift til Erik Hansen (eds. P. Jarvad et al.). K0benhavn, 23 33. Teleman, Ulf/Westman, Margareta (1997), Behover Sverige en nationell sprakpolitik? In: SiN 1997, 5 22. Venas, Kjell (1992), Nynorsk mat i eit integrert Europa. In: SiN 1992, 55 69. Venas, Kjell (1993), Domenetap for norsk. In: SiN 1993, 13 32. Vik0r, Lars S. (1993), The Nordic Languages: Their status and interrelations. Oslo. Wiggen, Geirr (1998), Det nordiske sprakfelles­ skapet: spraksosiologiske vilkar og framtidsutsikt­ er In: SiN 1998, 120 164.

UlJ Teleman, Lund (Sweden)

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology 202.

The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Proto-Nordic Common Old Nordic Old East Nordic (1100 1 500) Old West Nordic Modern Danish Modern Swedish Modern Norwegian Modern Faroese Modern Icelandic Pervasive tendencies Survey Literature (a selection)

1.

Proto-Nordic

1.1.

Phonological units

Vowels: The Proto-Germanic vowel system underwent three essential changes from Indo­ European: a and a merged to a (cf. ON hrMir vs. Lat. frater 'brother'), a and 0 merged to a (cf. PN ahtau vs. Lat. octo 'eight'), and ei and I merged to i (cf. ON stlga vs. Gr. stelkho 'rise'). However, at the following Common Old Nordic stage " changed to a (cf. ON mani 1 vs. Lat. mensis 'month'), and thereby a system of five long units was restored (Haugen 1984, 1 3 1). The point of departure for a separate Proto-Nordic language was, thus, a vowel sys­ tem with only four short and five long vowels (and three diphthongs). During the Proto· Nordic period, a short 0 developed from u by a-umlaut, and the short and long systems were again paralleL The two latter changes (e > 1 ii, u > 0) occurred in both Proto-Nordic and West Germanic, a fact that indicates close con­ tacts between these two branches of the Ger­ manic language community, as opposed to East Germanic, in which the two vowels re­ tained their Indo·European quality (Antonsen 1965; Haugen 1984, 1 39 f.). Proto·Nordic is considered a separate language from about 200 A.D. The Proto-Nordic vowels at about the year 200 can be visualized as a double system:

Long

Short .

u

� l jj � -

�

e

6

--

---

(0)

-

a

a

Diphthongs: ai, au, eu. Consonants: The Proto-Nordic consonant phonemes were:

Stop Fricative

Labial

Apicoalveolar! palatal

Velar

p/b [�]

tid [5]

k/g [y]

T

8

Sibilant

n

Liquid

I

Vibrant

r

Glide

h

siR� ill

Nasal

Glottal

w

J

The voiced palatal sibilant R originated from the Proto-Germanic z by an innovation com­ mon to Proto-Nordic and West Germanic, cf. maiza > maiRa 'more'. The voiced stops b, d, g were probably fricatives in medial and fi· nal positions (except for the position after n and I; Krause 1971 , 38). 1.2.

Syntagrnatic structures

1.2.1.

Distribution

Vowels: During the Proto·Nordic period, there was a considerable reduction in the number of vowels in unstressed position: 0

202. The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology

preceding m changed to u (ON berum), and final 0, ai, ct, eu changed to u, e, Y, iu (cf. PN worlJu, dage, brii1Jl, magiu). Proto-Nordic and West Germanic shared these vowel changes. This weakening process of the vowel quality in unstressed position continued with some monophthongizations: ai, au, iu > e, 0, Y, then a subsequent shortening: e, Y > e, i, and some mergers: a > e, 0 > a, e > i and 0 > u (Haugen 1984, 191). The result was that, by the end ofthe Proto-Nordic period, unstressed syllables contained only a subset of three vowels: a, i, u. The changes can be illustrated with the following examples: kurnai > kurne > kurne > kurni mageu > magiu > magY > magi sunauR > sunGR > sunar In stressed position some vowels underwent changes which were dependent on the follow­ ing consonants: the diphthong ai was mono­ phthongized to a before h and R, and au to o before h, cf. JaihilJo > jiihilJo ( > ON JalJa) 'painted' andpauh > poh ( > ONP6) 'though'. Before ht, the vowels Y, i, ii, u were lowered to e, e, 0, 0 (wihtiR > wehtiR ( > ON vettr) 'creature', puhto > pohto (> ON p6tta) 'thought' past). These mergers represented phonotactic restrictions for the phonemes in question. In Proto-Nordic the two geminate glides if and ww were sharpened into ggj and ggw (cf. ON byggja 'build, live' and tryggva 'true' (masc.pl.acc.» . This is one of the very few in­ novations common to Proto-Nordic and Gothic. Consonants: After 600, the initial glides were lost (worlJa > ON orlJ,jam > ON ar), with the exception ofw when preceding a non­ rounded vowel or r + non-rounded vowel (wi­ tan 'know', wripan 'writhe'). In medial posi­ tion,j was in general lost after long syllables, and after short syllables when preceding a front vowel (domijan > ON d@ma 'judge' vs. wiljan > wilja 'will'). The consequence of this redistribution was that the glides from then on were mere non-syllabic variants of u and i. Thus, the diphthongal stress shift on ia turned i into j in a rising dipthong: hiartan > ON hjarta 'heart'. Geminate spirants became stops: mupftan > ON motti 'moth' and glaIJilJo > glaIJlJi > ON gladdi 'made happy', and p was assimilated after I and n: guipa > ON gull 'gold', finjJan > ONfinna 'find'. Unvoiced fricatives in me­ dial or final position became voiced in voiced

1853

environments. This new distributional pattern represented a phonemic reorganization since the new voiced fricatives merged with the fricative variants of b, d and g in correspond­ ing environments. Consequently, voiced frica­ tives had an archiphonemic status, and un­ voiced fricatives were restricted to initial po­ sition and before another unvoiced conson­ ant: ON finna [q,in:a] 'find' and ljuJt [lju:q,t] adj .neut. 'pleasant' vs. gaJ [ga�] 'gave', and pakka [8aka] 'thank' vs. g6p [go:�] 'good'. Correspondingly, by the end of the Proto­ Nordic period h was restricted to stern-initial position. Thus, a drift towards a more bound (unfree) distributional pattern had started with regard to both vowels and consonants. 1 .2.2.

Stress and quantity

Unstressed Germanic prefixes were eliminated during the Proto-Nordic period with the effect that all words had the main stress on the stern syllable: ga-sinjJa > ON sinni 'companion'. During the transition from Proto-Nordic to Common Old Nordic, many consonants were dropped, and some ofthem were compensated for by lengthening of the preceding vowel. This was systematic as far as medial and final h, ft and nasals were concerned: rehtaR > rcttR 'right', ansuR > asR ( > ass) 'god'. However, it caused no principal changes in the distributional possibilities. 1 .3.

Synchronic phonogical processes

Umlaut: The very simple Proto-Nordic vowel system probably disguises extensive allo­ phonic splits that were a result of a vowel har­ mony process by which the unstressed vowels i, a, u influenced the quality of the preceding stressed vowel. These were the phonetic um­ laut processes, which were not phonemicized until the syncope period after 500. Except for the u-umlaut, these processes were partly shared with West Germanic, but not with Gothic. The Proto-Nordic processes had the following phonetic results: i-umlaut fronted the back vowels (u, 0, u, 0) and the low (unrounded) vowels (a, a): komiR [k0miRi 'comes', jungiBl [jyngiRe:] 'younger', mafia [m",:lia] 'speech', gastiR [gEstiRi 'guest'; a­ umlaut lowered the high vowels (i, u): hurna [horna]; and u-umlaut rounded the preceding vowels (i, Y, e, e, a, a): trigguR [tryg:uRJ 'safe', teguR [t0guRi 'ten', dagum [dog urn] 'days'. (0 will hereafter be rendered as Q except in pho-

1854

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

netic transcription). The diphthongs were ex­ posed to an assimilation parallel to umlaut: ai, au > xi, QU, but eu became iu, which dem­ onstrates a raising of the first segment. A similar harmony process was breaking, changing a short e into ia ( >ja) when it pre­ ceded a or u (eDna > iaDn), except when the e followed w, /, r, as in werftan > veroa 'be­ corne'. When the triggering vowel was u, the outcome was jQ, which can be explained as u-umlaut of ia; cf. erlJu > iarlJu ( > ON jQrlJ) 'earth'. An effect of breaking was the rein­ troduction of initialj-: erftu > jQrl5, see sect. 1.2.1. Verner's law: In Proto-Germanic, voiceless fricatives became voiced ifthe Indo-European accent did not immediately precede them, a process causing e. g. stern-final h to become g [y] (i.e. a voiced fricative velar) when the suffix was stressed, cf. past sg. sloh ( > ON s16) vs. past pI. slogum 'hit'. West-Gennanic par­ ticipated in this process, but it is disputed whether there were similar developments in Gothic. When word stress later was fixed to the stern in Gennanic, this process was no longer phonological, but rather morpho-pho­ nological. Devoicing: In Proto-Nordic, voiced stops were devoiced when occurring in final posi­ tion, cf. bindan (inf.) vs. bant (past) 'tie'. The devoicing rule disappeared during the syncope period, when several more instances of final stops arose, cf. PN kwelda > ON kveld 'even­ ing'. 1.4.

The relationship between phonology and morphology

Proto-Nordic had a rather agglutinative mor­ phology, cf. bot + ij + an 'mend' (stern + con­ jugational suffix + infinitive suffix) and kun + ing + a + R (stern + derivational suffix + declension suffix + nominative suffix). Both the starting segment and the final seg­ mentof each suffix can be identified, and, thus, the morphology can be characterized as pho­ nologically transparent. However, we know little about assimilation processes across the morpheme boundary except for the umlauts.

2.

Common Old Nordic

It is practical to describe the period from 700 to 1 100 as Common Old Nordic, although, from this still pre-literary period, there are relatively few reliable data which point to how

common the various characteristics actually were. To a large extent it is a matter of recon­ struction. Some of the changes leading to the characteristics which differentiate Common Old Nordic from Proto-Nordic are attested in the 6th c., which is an argument for setting the beginning of the new period at about 700 A.D. There was, however, a long transitional period between Proto-Nordic and Old Nordic, which is reasonable when taking into account the vast area in which the language was used. Some ofthe Proto-Nordic changes mentioned above may well have taken place somewhere in the Nordic area during the Common Old Nordic period, just as changes mentioned be­ low may have started during the Proto-Nordic period.

2. 1 .

Phonological units

Vowels: The transition from Proto-Nordic to Common Old Nordic is characterized by the loss of short unstressed vowels except when followed by a final m, n, r: hama > ham 'horn', dagaR > dagR 'day', katilaR > katilR 'kettle' (but daganR > daga pl.acc. 'days'); long unstressed vowels were shortened: dagoR > dagaR pl.nom. 'days'). After this syncopa­ tion, which occurred in the period 500-700 A.D., the umlaut vowels were phonemicized since the vowels which were dropped were the conditioning factors, and the Common Old Nordic vowel system of about 700 thus had increased its number of units: y

i:t

0

6

y

u

0

0

f--+---1 - ------

1--+----1 - ------

------ -------

f-- - ----- -------

e

-

'"

it

Q [0:]

e

'"

a

Q [0]

As nasals were deleted under certain condi­ tions, nasality was transferred to the preceding vowel, and thus nasal vowels became pho­ nemic: ansuR > fisR 'god', JimJiaR > Jifl 'monster'. This caused the establishment of a long nasal vowel system parallel to the long oral one, with the effect that the total vowel system comprised 27 phonemic contrasts (cf. Benediktsson 1972, 128-146). (The feature long is consequently redundant in asR and

fiJi)·

Consonants: As a consequence of the changes mentioned above, Common Old Nor­ dic had 17 units in about 700 A.D.:

202. The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology Labial

Apico- Palatoalveolar! velar palatal

Stop

p !b

t!d

Fricative

f [�]

8 [5]

ill

h

n

Liquid

I

Vibrant

r

Glide

k ! g [y]

s!R�

Sibilant Nasal

Glottal

w

The apico-palatal sibilant R was during this period assimilated to a preceding n, s, r, I (e. g. stainaR > steinn 'stone'), and by 1100 other instances of R had merged with r, and thus the system lost one unit. During the Common Old Nordic period, the intervocalic variant [B] changed to a labio-dental [v] in most areas, and the glide w merged with it. Considering later changes in the Nordic language, it seems reasonable that I was velarized ('dark') in some Central Scandinavian dialects in non-al­ veolar envirornnents (Kock 1 883). 2.2.

Syntagmatic structures

2.2.1.

Distribution

contains an intrusive (svarabhakti) vowel pre­ ceding the final r, certainly in order to facilitate the pronunciation (Skard 1976, 94). The intru­ sive vowel obtained the status of a segment in almost all Nordic dialects and has charac­ teristics of a suffix vowel, with regard both to quality (varying geographically between a, U and e) and to its appearance only when no other suffix vowel follows the r: akur - akrar 'field - fields'. 2.2.2.

J

Initial h-: After the Proto-Nordic develop­ ments, h was restricted to initial position: hestr, hnj6sa, hlutr, hringr, hjarta, hvitr 'horse', 'sneeze', 'part', 'ring', 'heart', 'white'. During the Common Old Nordic period, the use of h was restricted even further, viz. to initial po­ sition before a vowel: hestr, but njbsa, lutr, ringr,jarta. This new pattern for initial h orig­ inated in Denmark in the 9th c. and was es­ tablished by 1400 (Haugen 1984, 264 f.). Ice­ landic retained all these clusters - and still does so in the form of an unvoiced pronunciation ofn, I, r, andj. In Faroese, most of Norwegian and Finland Swedish hv- merged with kv- dur­ ing the same period, in most of Danish and Swedish with V-, and Icelandic still has both kv- and hw- [xw]. Intrusion: As a consequence of syncope, Common Old Nordic was characterized by complex consonant clusters, many of which were word-final, e. g. vetr, valskr, blbmstr 'win­ ter', 'Welsh', 'flower'. As early as about 106769, however, an Old Norwegian inscription

1855

Stress, quantity and pitch accent

The characteristic Nordic pitch accent must have developed no later than the Common Old Nordic period, as suffixes surviving syn­ cope were included in the basis of the accent, i. e. they were counted when disyllabic words - and not monosyllabic words - received ac­ cent 2, e.g. the plural dag +ar 'days' with ac­ cent 2. On the other hand, the definite article, which was not suffixed until late in this period (Indreb0 1951, 88), did not influence the ac­ cent: dag + ;nn 'the day' (with accent 1) vs. han + ;+ (;)nn 'the cock' (with accent 2 be­ cause -i- was a Proto-Nordic suffix). Danish developed a different pronunci­ ation, i.e. the glottalization ("st0d"), which in principle has the same phonological dis­ tribution as pitch accent 1. It is a matter of debate whether Danish glottalization arose during the same period or is a later develop­ ment (Skautrup 1944, 238 ff.; Liberman 1982). The pitch accent contrast is still retained in Norwegian and Swedish, but has disappeared from Icelandic, Faroese and most of Finland Swedish. Quantity: At the Common Old Nordic stage, the possibility of stressed short final vowels disappeared, and thus the vowels of such one-syllable words were lengthened (phonemically the lengthening was redun­ dant!): pa > pa 'the' (masc.pl.acc.), su > su 'the' (fem.sg.nom) (Benediktsson 1 968). 2.3.

Synchronic phonological processes

Umlaut: The Proto-Nordic i- and a-umlauts disappeared as phonological processes as a re­ sult of syncope, and their effects were trans­ ferred to morphology (as stern variants) or the lexicon (new phonemes in the stern). This meant that new unstressed i did not trigger umlaut: land; « PN lande) 'land' (dat.sg.). A-umlaut was more consistently established in West Nordic than in East Nordic, cf. OWN boo, golf 'message', 'floor' vs. Old EN buIJ,

1856

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

gulv. U-urnlaut seems to have finished func­ tioning in East Nordic before the Common Old Nordic period as there are almost no traces of it. In West Nordic u-urnlaut (i.e. "younger u-umlaut") still functioned: IQndum 'lands' dat.pl. Palatalization of velars: At an early stage, the Nordic languages palatalized the velar stops, k and g, when the two consonants pre­ ceded a front vowel, as in ON girr, gyss, kenna, k@!a, kreti 'desire', 'squirts' (pres.), 'know', 'cool', 'joy'. This process took place before both stressed and unstressed vowels, and the phonetic result appears to have been a palatal glide between the velar and the vowel: jgji:r:, gjy:s:j etc., which would mean that e. g. the infinitive gj6sa 'squirt' would have the same two initial segments as the present gyss. (Pre­ viously kj and gj had been restricted to posi­ tions where the palatal glide was not a product of this phonological process, i.e. before non­ front vowels). This process is reflected in 12th c. spelling in all the Nordic languages. 2.4.

The relationship between phonology and morphology

A-umlaut caused a vowel shift in the stern: PN homa 'horn' (nom.sg.) vs. hume (dat.sg.). The vowel shift was levelled, and the a-umlauted vowel became generalized in the stern. Thus, a-umlaut had mainly lexical effects in Com­ mon Old Nordic. The i- and u-umlauts, on the other hand, played important roles in the morphological system of Common Old Nor­ dic, as the shift in a stern vowel throughout a paradigm was in some cases the only mor­ phological signal, e.g. land - IQnd 'land lands'. In other paradigms, the shift in the stern vowel was accompanied by specific suf­ fixes: vellir - valla - vQllum 'fields' (masc.nom. -gen. - dat.pl.). In general, the stern contained more information in Common Old Nordic than in Proto-Nordic, and the language had moved away from an agglutinative language type, as the stern included or anticipated mor­ phological information. The assimilation of -R (cf. sect. 2.1.) caused a morphological complication as the R, when it was e.g. the masc.nom.sg. suffix, no longer was transparent as a suffix: staIR > stoll 'chair' (following a long stressed vowel), ketilR > ketill 'kettle' (following a short un­ stressed vowel). However, the first structure, long vowel + long consonant, was not possi­ ble unless it contained a morpheme boundary either before or within the long consonant,

and therefore the structure itself contained some morphological information. On the other hand, the structure unstressed vowel + long consonant was not constrained in a par­ allel way, and was therefore by no means mor­ phologically transparent.

3.

Old East Nordic (1 100-1 500)

3.1.

Introduction

The Nordic area has been a dialect area where changes spread in different directions at vary­ ing rates. Therefore, a distinction between East Nordic and West Nordic should not be interpreted as more than a labelling oftenden­ cies. The first detectable split between East Nordic and West Nordic can be traced back to the 7th c. with the assimilation of nt, nk, mp > tt, kk, pp (Moberg 1944). This assimi­ lation is reflected all over the Nordic area, as in drekkajdrikka < PN drinkan 'drink'; how­ ever, the innovation was implemented more consistently in the west, cf. ekkja, brattr, vetr 'widow', 'steep', 'winter' in the west vs. enkja, branter, vinter in the east. As mentioned in sect. 2.3., this was true of a-umlaut as well. East Nordic contained, on the other hand, more words with breaking (cf.jak < eka 'I'). I-umlaut in the present tense ofstrongverbs (taka - tekr 'take - takes') cannot be traced in the East Nordic area, which instead has the forms taka - takr. (The dialect of Jutland is, however, an exception, cf. Wessen 1965a, 33). This may reflect a difference dating back to Proto-Nordic, or it at least demonstrates the first systematic difference between the two branches of Nordic. An interesting illustration of how language development should not be described as a splitting up into independent entities like a branching tree but rather as a contact phe­ nomenon in the continuous Central Scandina­ vian dialect area covering parts of both East Nordic and West Nordic (Finland Swedish, northern and central Sweden + East Norway and Tf0ndelag), as will be demonstrated in sect. 3.2.-3.5. This has been an area with many common innovations. East Nordic appears to have been rather homogeneous until the 1 3 th c., after which Danish showed rapid in­ novations (Haugen 1984, 259). 3.2.

Phonological units

Vowels: There are very few traces of u-umlaut in East Nordic. (In Danish, one of the few is

202. The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology

bQrn > barn 'children'). Therefore, Q became very marginal and merged with 0 (but with @ before r) at an early stage (Skautrup 1944, 47). The vowels e and x also merged early on. Na­ sal and oral vowels probably merged during the 1 1 th c. Thus, a typical East Nordic vowel system from about 1100 was like the following:

e

y

i:t

i

y

u

6

6

e

0

0

f-- - ------ -

a

The main difference between east and west was monophthongization, which started in Den­ mark in about 900 and spread during the next century to Swedish and some neighbouring Norwegian dialects in 0sterdalen and Tf0ndelag by the end of the Middle Ages. East Nordic monophthongization eradicated the three Germanic diphthongs from the vowel in­ ventory: ei > e and au, @y > @. Thus, the diphthongs merged with previously existing monophthongs. In the dialects of Gotland, Finland Swedish and North Swedish there was no monophthongization. By the end of the Middle Ages, spellings indicate the development of secondary diph­ thongs from old long vowels - e. g. y > @y in Jutland and @ > 0; on Gotland (Haugen 1984, 322 f.). In about 1400, a changed to [0:] in East Nordic, except in Gotland. Consonants: Labial Apico- Retro- Palato- Glottal alveo- flex velar lar Stop

p/b

t/d

k/g

Fricative, sibilant

f/v

s

J

ill

n

Nasal Liquid

I

Vibrant, flap

r

h

I

P merged with t by 1400 in East Nordic, first in Denmark, and lJ was dropped in most dia­ lects, except for some minor areas where it merged with d. Thick I, a retroflex flap [r], seems to have emerged in the Central Scandinavian area

1857

during the 12th c. The sound spread to eastern Norway, Tf0ndelag, the southern part of northern Norway, and northern and central Sweden. It developed partly from a dark velar I (a variant of I used postvocalically) and part­ ly from an assimilation product of the cluster rl5: gala > [gara] 'crow', garl5 > [gar] 'farm' (Storm 1908, 106 ff.). The change I > [ was constrained from the position after front high vowels, and thick I does not appear in word­ initial position. (In Ovan-Siljan (Dalarna, Sweden), however, thick I occurs even in initial position). At an early stage, this sound was a mere variant of I; however, other later changes led to it becoming a phoneme, e.g. as lJ was dropped and sal5ill 'saddle' developed to [sal] with an alveolar [1], in contrast to [sar] 'sale'.

3.3.

Syntagmatic structures

3.3.1.

Distribution

Weakening: The common Nordic vowels in suffixes were -i, -a, -u. In Danish, these were reduced during the 12thc. to one: -re. This weakening (reduction), which was a continu­ ation of the Proto-Nordic tendency to differ­ entiate the distribution of vowels in stressed and unstressed position, had of course tremen­ dous effects for the morphological system as many contrasting suffixes now merged, e. g. stori haninn 'the big cock' nom.sg. vs. stora hanann acc.sg. > starx halJ1en, and storir solar 'big soles' masc.pI. vs. storar salir 'big suns' fem.pI. > starxr solxr. This innovation had later parallels in some areas in Norway and Sweden. Progressive palatal umlaut: Prevocalicjper­ haps spread its palatal feature to the vowel during the 1 1 th c., as in hjarta > hjerta. After 1200, some instances are also found in Nor­ wegian manuscripts. Palatalization of alveolars: Before 1300, long alveolars were palatalized in Danish: mann > [map] 'man', all > [aA] 'all'. Assimilations: East Nordic has been the centre of consonant assimilations. Some of them, e.g. mb, ng, nd, Id > [m:, D:, n:, 1:] orig­ inated in Jutland by 1300 and spread later to southern and central Sweden, eastern Nor­ way, Tf0ndelag and northern Norway: lamb, tung, sand, kveld > [lam:, tUD:, san:, kvEl:] 'lamb', 'heavy', 'sand', 'evening'. Gotland, Dalarna and the Finland Swedish area are relic areas in this respect, and even Norrbotten

1858

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

and a part of central Sweden with regard to mh, nd, ng. Lenition: Postvocalic voiceless stops be­ came voiced in about 1 200 in Danish (includ­ ing Scania and Halland): gata > gad:e. This innovation spread later to the southern coast of Norway. In Danish, these voiced stops weakened further to fricatives during the next century, cf. gad:e > gaIJre. Lowering: Towards the end of the Middle Ages there was a tendency for short vowels to be lowered in certain positions in most East Nordic dialects. The pattern differed from dia­ lect to dialect and depended to a large extent on the consonantal environment. The lower­ ing was more widespread in short syllables than in long ones, cf. vika > Sw. vecka 'week' vs. fisk 'fish'. The lowered vowel usually merged with the vowel one step down in the vowel system. 3.3 .2.

Stress and quantity

From the 1 3 th C . , the Scandinavian countries were under heavy North German (Hanseatic) influence, which led to an immense influx of German loanwords, many of which contained unstressed German prefixes (see art. 1 3 5). Thus, stress again was not consistently on the first syllable of a word: bedraga [be'dra:ga] 'deceive'. Vowel balance: An innovation in the central Scandinavian area (Finland Swedish, North Swedish, East Norwegian and Tf0ndelag) was vowel balance, which has been interpreted as a combination of a low tone in accent 2 and short syllables (Torp 1983). Through this the group of disyllabic words with a short first syl­ lable (hana, viku 'cock', 'week') formed a dis­ tinct group with a characteristic pronunci­ ation. This group was the basis for other pho­ nological changes as there appears to have been an equilibrium of stress between the first and the second syllable. Therefore, the suffix vowel was protected from weakening in these words in Central Scandinavian. The great quantity shift: In Proto-Nordic and Common Old Nordic, quantity was in­ dependent of stress, and it was inherent in each segment as it was not affected by the quantity of the following consonant struc­ ture, cf. mota - m@tti 'meet - met'. The first change in this free distribution of quantity arose in unstressed position, where the con­ trast long - short disappeared, e. g. the defi­ nite suffix -inn in the masc.nom. vs. -in in the fem.nom. (so linn 'the sole' vs. solin 'the

sun') or the geminate -rr in the masc.nom. vs. -r in the masc.acc. (hamarr vs. hamar 'hammer'). Quantity shift in stressed syllables started in Denmark possibly during the 12thc. (Skautrup 1 944, 237), and spread to all the Scandinavian languages by the end of the Middle Ages. The first step was that long vowels preceding consonant clusters or a long consonant were shortened (mitt > natt). Quantity shift in words with a short stern syl­ lable started in Denmark at about 1250 and was carried through in several different ways in the Nordic dialect area. The Danish change differentiated between monosyllabic and di­ syllabic words: in disyllabic words, the stern vowel was lengthened: (gata » gad:e > ga:dx, (taka > ) tagx > ta:gx 'street', 'take'. In monosyllabic words, the short vowels re­ mained unchanged, e. g. had 'hate'. As the cor­ responding disyllabic vb. had a long vowel (ha:de), this shift could be regarded as a syn­ chronic process in which the underlying short stern vowel a was lengthened in open syllables. Short vowels before long consonants or a cluster did in principle remain short. How­ ever, at some later stage in Danish, vowels pre­ ceding st, sk, bi were lengthened (cf. epU > re:bie). 3.4.

Synchronic phonological processes

Weakening of suffix vowels: Within the Cen­ tral Scandinavian dialect area the weakening of suffix vowels depended on a preceding long root syllable. Accordingly, the reduction was a synchronic phonological process by which the old suffixes -a/-i/-u and -ar/-ir/-ur showed up as reduced variants in this particular en­ vironment: bakkx, visx, bakJaer, visxr < ON bakkija 'hill' masc.sg., visaju fem.sg. 'song', bakkar masc.pl.nom. 'hills', visur 'songs' fem.pl.nom./acc. Corresponding words of the same declensions with a short root syllable re­ tained the original suffix vowel: hana, viku, hanar, vikur 'cock', 'week', 'cocks', 'weeks'. In principle this process took place in all word categories; however, since some declensions and conjugations were dominated by words ofa specific quantity, the activation ofthepro­ cess differed quite a lot. It is most typical of the infinitive, weak masc. and weak fern., cf. leva - visx 'live', 'show', bakkx - hana 'hill', 'cock', viku - visx 'week', 'song'. This result of vowel balance is still typical of dialects in eastern Norway, Tr0ndelag and northern Sweden.

1859

202. The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology

Vowel harmony: In Old Nordic, there was assimilation of a vowel feature from the stressed to the unstressed vowel: mid-high root vowels triggered the suffix vowels e and a, while high vowels took the corresponding suffix vowels i and u: sender, eram, viku 'sends', 'are', 'week'. The low vowels demonstrated a more complex pattern: x triggered i and alu, whereas a and Q were followed by e and u. This harmony process arose in Scania about 1 100 and spread to Swedish (with the excep­ tion of Gotlandic) and Norwegian (Ressel­ man 1948-53, 280). After 1300, the weakening process affecting suffix vowels, as described above, became dominant and vowel harmony disappeared before the end of the Middle Ages (Bf0ndnrn-Nielsen 1927; Ragland 1 978). Retroflexion: The emergence of the retro­ flex flap (thick T) in the Central Scandinavian area gave rise to an extensive phonological as­ similation process in which the retroflex ar­ ticulation spread to the following alveolar stops and continuants f, d, s, n, /, r, and the flap was dropped. This rightward process works across both morpheme boundaries (marked + below) and word boundaries and is, thus, rather frequent and characteristic of the language: gul + t, kj@l+d, tel sakte, stol + n, mal + 1@s, gul + rot [9":( 1'0(1.. tE-,akte, ' stu:11., mJ:10s, g&:.{ut] 'yellow', 'cold', 'count slowly', 'the chair', 'speechless', 'carrot'. For some phonetic reason which has not yet been satisfactorily explained, the correspond­ ing clusters of r + alveolar stops or continu­ ants merged with the thick I clusters, thus e. g. gult 'yellow' and surf 'sour' rhyme. This co­ alescence caused hypercorrect spellings that provide us with historical data about the pro­ cess, which appears to have been in operation during the 1 3th c., as in e.g. altlo in stead of artlo 'requiem' (Seip 1955, 1 77). On the periphery of the Swedish and Nor­ wegian retroflex area there is still a difference in pronunciation between the corresponding flap clusters and r clusters, as the flap clusters are pronounced as retroflexes, and the r clus­ ters as post-alveolars: f@lgt [f0:t] part. 'fol­ lowed' vs. fort [f0:1] part. 'carried'. 3.5.

The relationship between phonology and morphology

The process of suffix weakening in the Central Scandinavian area did not lead to a mor­ phological restructuring as long as the weakening was a phonological process: [bi:ta] > [bi:te] 'bite', caused by the long root syl-

lable, vs. vera 'be' which was unaffected be­ cause of the short root vowel. However, the later quantity shift (e.g. [vera] > [ve:ra]) veiled the conditioning quantity distinction, with the effect that the reflexes of the process ([bi:te] vs. [ve:raJ) caused grammatical reorganization as there was an increase in inflectional classes. This morphological complexity was then fol­ lowed by morphological levelling with many regional variations.

4.

Old West Nordic

4.1.

Phonological units

Vowels: As the Tr0ndelag area in Norway re­ tained the short ", until about 1200, this dialect had totally parallel short and long subsystems till then (cf. Benediktsson 1 964). The u-umlaut vowel Q remained in Icelandic until the 1 3 th c., perhaps a century longer in Norwegian, and until the 16th c. in Faroese. Therefore, the monophthong system in West Nordic had one more unit than East Nordic, and in about 1100 it was as given in the fol­ lowing: y

u

0

0

1---+----/ - -----r--

1---+---/ - ------

-

------ ----- r--

------ ------ ----- -

re

a

e

6

0

Q

e

a

Q

The main difference was the existence of the three additional diphthongs QU, et, ey (@y). Ac­ cording to the First Grammarian (see Be­ nediktsson 1972) the oral : nasal contrast still existed in the middle of the 1 2th c. for long vowels, but it certainly disappeared soon after. In literary times, this nasal distinction has been attested only in Icelandic in the West Nordic area. (It still exists in Dalarna in Sweden). Because of lack of congruence between the short and the long subsystems, there was a po­ tential for the two subsystems to develop dif­ ferently. In Icelandic, the short non-low vowels were generally lowered phonetically: i [I], e [E], y [Y], @ [re], u [u], a [0]. Benediktsson (1968) has interpreted written data from the 12thc. as an indication of this with regard to t and u. Both the phonemic and the phonetic situations in today's Icelandic support this in­ terpretation, and West Norwegian dialects seem to have undergone the same develop­ ment. It is characteristic of this West Nordic

1860

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

lowering that it was not - or was only to a very little extent - regulated by the consonan­ tal environment. Before the end of the Middle Ages, the West Nordic vowel system started developing in dif­ ferent directions in Icelandic, Faroese and Norwegian. The first and most radical changes occurred in Icelandic during the 1 3th and 14th centuries with the transitions Q > @, e > je, @ > x and a > Q, which resulted in the fol­ lowing vowel system: y

it

i

y

u

6

e

0

0

a

The diphthongs were QU, d, ey, and the num­ ber increased during the late Middle Ages with the transition of Q to au and 6 to au. According to Benediktsson (1970), the fea­ ture roundness was reduced in importance through this development - especially among the long vowels - and the subsequent delabial­ ization tendency of front rounded vowels was a "natural" effect. Data from Faroese exhibit these changes by 1300: e > re (ser > srer 'sees' pres.), and Q > b (bQru > boru 'carried'). Even in Faroese de­ labialization occurred, but it was restricted to short y > i. In the long vowel system, the de­ velopment was the opposite: i > y. The two last mergers very pro bably took place rather late in this period. During the 14thc., QU was delabialized and fronted to Gl, and Faroese emerged from the Middle Ages with this vowel system: i

o ------

re

------

6

t-a

-

------

e

0

------

------

-----

a

'"

it

i

y

u

0

6

e

0

0

-------r-Q

a

Consonants: No changes seem to have occur­ red in the consonant inventory during the first centuries of the Old West Nordic period, ex­ cept in the dialects of eastern Norway and of Tf0ndelag which developed the retroflex flap. However, by the end of the Middle Ages sev­ eral changes arose in Norwegian: the apico­ alveolar fricatives disappeared from the inven­ tory through the loss of IJ (rMa > raa 'ad­ vise'), and p merged with t: pak > tak 'roof. The labial fricatives were transformed to la­ bio-dentals. Thus, the Norwegian consonant system was very similar to the Old East Nordic system given in sect. 3.2. The palatalized velars [ki, gil (cf. sect. 2.3.) seem to have merged with the clusters kj and gj at various points of time (about 1200 in Norwegian, about 1400 in Ice­ landic and about 1 500 in Faroese), and the mergers in Norwegian and Faroese have been changed into the palatal affricates c], andj], i. e. to a single segment. In Faroese p merged with t or h during the 14thc. (cf. pak > tak 'roof, petta > hetta 'this'). Otherwise the Faroese consonant in­ ventory was, by the end of the Middle Ages, like the Icelandic one, which showed very few changes from Common Old Nordic: Labial

Apico- Palatoalveolar! velar palatal

Stop

p/b

t/d

k / g [g , y]

Fricative

f/ v

8 [8, 5]

J

u

Sibilant

0

Nasal

Q

Liquid

I

Vibrant

r

-f---

------

e

-

y

t--

Diphthongs: d, @y, ei. The Norwegian vowel system seems to have been more conservative than the Icelandic and Faroese systems. During the 1 3 th c., the co­ alescence a > Q became apparent, and during the last two centuries of the Middle Ages, Q merged with o. A "normal" Norwegian vowel system in about 1500 is as below:

Glottal

h

s ill

n

4.2.

Syntagmatic structures

4.2.1.

Distribution

Elimination of final consonants: Final -n and -t after unstressed vowels have been elimin­ ated in Norwegian and most Swedish dialects.

202. The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology

The -t (as in huset) has been retained in south­ ern Sweden, but the -n only in Scania and the adjacent area. Similarly, -m was dropped in most of the Norwegian area. Both -n and -m nasalized the preceding vowel, which caused both a lowering and a rounding, with geo­ graphically very varying results, e. g. solin > sola, sale, solx, solo, solli. Medial 15: PN 15 after n or I merged with d during the 1 3 th and 14th centuries. This in­ novation (PN talioe > taMi > taldi 'counted', PN wanilJe > vanlJi > vandi, 'accustomed') restricted the distribution of 0 to post-vocalic position and to the cluster ro. Palatalization of alveolars: In northern Norway, Tf0ndelag and northern parts of western and eastern Norway, longn and I were palatalized (mann > [map] 'man', vill > [viA] 'wild'); in most of the dialects this also affected the assimilated clusters nd > nn and Id > II (sand > [sap] 'sand', kveld > [kveA] 'even­ ing'). Moreover, in the major part of the area the palatalization included long d and t (kladd > [klaJ] 'draft', kvitt > [kvic] adj.neut. 'white'). This innovation is reflected in 14th c. spellings (Seip 1955, 266). The new palatal consonants never occur in initial position, and as their distributional pattern remained stable for a long time, they represent variants of the alveolars in much of the area. Segmentations/differentiations: During the 1 3th and the 14th centuries, some continuant clusters and the geminates showed parallel de­ velopments in Icelandic, Faroese and south­ west Norwegian: the changes rn and nn > dn, rl and II > dl arose in alle three languages, andfl,fn > bl, bn in Icelandic and southwest Norwegian. Geographically the nn and II in­ novations were almost complementary to the palatalization of the same consonants and the changes II > dl and II > ,( may, diachronically, have had the same function of transforming a quantity distinction into a quality distinc­ tion. The two new clusters (dn and dl) did not exist previously. (Cf. art. 207). 4.2.2.

Stress

Both Faroese and Norwegian followed the Scandinavian pattern in accepting German loans with an unstressed prefix. Icelandic used the traditional first syllable stress even in such 10ans:Jorkelast ['forcelast] 'catch a cold'. This development has to some extent been realized in Central Norwegian dialects, as well. Quantity: At the first stage of the great quantity shift, long vowels preceding a long

1861

consonant or a consonant cluster were shortened: dottir, heilsa, sokn 'daughter', 'greet', 'parish'. At the next stage, short syl­ lables were affected. Three patterns prevailed in the quantity changes in Norwegian: East Norwegian followed a Central Nordic pat­ tern: vit > [vet:], vita > [ve:ta]. Tf0ndelag and northern Norway demonstrated a North Nor­ dic pattern in which both monosyllabic and disyllabic words with a short syllable lengthened the postvocalic consonant: vit > [vet:], vita > [vet:a]. In western Norway, a West Nordic pattern was implemented in which the vowel in both monosyllabics and disyllabics was lengthened: vit > [ve:t], vita > [ve:ta]. 4.3.

Synchronic phonological processes

Palatalization of velars: During the 14thc., some East Norwegian dialects restricted the palatalization process ofvelars to the position before high front vowels, since the change a > x before palatal consonants did not trigger palatalization: (karl » [ka,(:] > [b,,'(:] 'man' and [kor] > [k0r] 'coal' (RindaI 1981, 64 ff.). Words with palatalization from the previous process retained (and lexicalized) the pala­ talization, as kjteta, kj@fa 'joy', 'choke'. Dia­ lects with the weakening of unstressed -a and -u to -e did not palatalize the velar preceding this new front vowel, a fact which illustrates a restriction on the process in unstressed po­ sitions. A previously palatalized k/g and the clusters kj and gj 0 bviously had the same pro­ nunciation at that time, as indicated by spell­ ings in about 1200 (Indreb0 1951, 230). Dur­ ing the High Middle Ages, suffix vowels in all Norwegian dialects were exposed to some changes, either weakening (u, a > e) or na­ salization + lowering (in > -i, -e, -a, -0) , but palatalization remained in the same items as before. Thus the previous phonological pro­ cess changed its grammatical status to a mor­ phophonological process, cf. declensions like vik - vi40 'bay - the bay'. 4.4.

The relationship between phonology and morphology

Neither in Proto-Nordic nor in Old Nordic was the quantity of a root vowel affected by the morphological structure of the word; therefore, e. g., the derived noun for + n 'sac­ rifice' maintained its long vowel from the root J6r- (related to the vb. J@ra 'lead') in spite of the cluster r + the derivational suffix -no The

1862

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

same applied to a root + an inflectional suffix: mota - m@t + ti 'meet - met'. Thus, the mor­ phological structure of a word was transpar­ ent (Sand0Y 1995). The great quantity shift, however, caused vowel shortening and re­ moved this derivational transparency. There­ fore, several old derivational suffixes became unproductive, cf. -n, -d etc. In words with an inflectional suffix, the long vowel was still kept for some generations, e. g. Pbt+ ti 'seemed'.

5.

Modern Danish

5.1.

Phonological units

Vowels: Modern Danish has been exposed to a long series of sound changes, especially with regard to vowels that have split into different variants according to specific consonantal en­ vironments. Later these variants have often become contrasts because of changes in the consonants. The dominant standard language has two main geographic varieties today with their respective centres in Jutland and Copen­ hagen, and they demonstrate considerable dif­ ferences in their vowel systems (Braunmiiller 1998, 70-72; Haberland 1994, 3 1 8 ff.). The Jutland system contains ten vowel contrasts - both short and long: i

y

u

e

0

0

E

'"

0

a

The vowel system ofthe Copenhagen standard comprises thirteen short contrasts and twelve long: i:

y:

e:

E:

:

"'

- - - - - -- -

:

"'

u:

i

y

u

0:

e

0

0

0:

r-0:

a:

E

r-a r-a

'" ---

-- - -

---

-- - -

0

r--r--A 0

Because postvocalic v and g have been vocal­ ized, Danish has developed a large set of diph-

thongs: three with i as the final component (ui, 'Ji, ai) and seven with u as the final com­ ponent (au, 'JU, xu, au, yu, eu, cu, iu), e.g. in saglig, vogn, st@vle, d@vstum, syv, rev,jxvn, liv­ lig 'matter-of-fact', 'carriage', 'boots', 'deaf­ and-dumb', 'seven', 'fox', 'even', 'vivacious' (Braunmiiller 1998, 73). The very complex vowel system is unstable and new innovations, especially diphthongs, still seem to be devel­ oping (Brink/Lund 1975; Kristensen/Brink 1986, 39). Consonants: The system of consonants dis­ plays no considerable geographic difference in Danish: Labial Apico- Palatal Velar/ Glottal alveouvular lar Stop

p /b

t/d

Fricative

f/v

�

ill

h

J

s

ff

n

�

Sibilant Nasal

k/g

Liquid

I

Historically, Danish 15 is a product of inter­ vocalic d and final -t in suffixes, cf. ga:dx > ga:lJe 'street', ta:get > ta:ged > ['thE:yoID / ['thE:jOO] 'the roof. The pronunciation of IJ is today more like a semivowel or a sonorant (Haberland 1994, 320). Uvular K was intro­ duced in the Copenhagen dialect in the latter half of the 18 th c., and now represents the only K allophone in Danish. In Danish dialects, palatal n and I are still used.

5.2.

Syntagrnatic structures

5.2.1.

Distribution

In contrast to the numerous vowels in stressed position, there is only one suffix vowel in Dan­ ish: e [0] (varying with [B] , see sect. 5.3.). There are quite a few distributional con­ straints for the consonants: h and the unvoiced stops occur only in initial position; therefore, after a short vowel the contrasts p-b and k-g are neutralized in voiced variants: lappen-Iab­ ben and rykke-rygge (Braunmiiller 1998, 69). However, in Jutland the unvoiced stops occur even in final position. In unstressed position the final -t is both voiced and fricativized in the Copenhagen variant, but only voiced in

1863

202. The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology

the Jutland variant: kastet [kastolll and [kastod]. Apocope of a final vowel is widespr��d in Jutland, as well as in northern Sweden, Oland and northern Norway. It is most general in infinitives: ON syngja > [S0D:] 'sing'. 5.2.2.

Stress, quantity and pitch accent

Glottalization: The Danish glottalization ("st0d") corresponding to accent 1 in Swedish and Norwegian occurs in words with a stressed long vowel or a short vowel + voiced postvocalic consonant. There are some geo­ graphic variations in the distribution of the st0d, and, moreover, this peculiar Danish pro­ nunciation is not found in all the southern dia­ lects. 5.3.

Synchronic phonological processes

Postvocalic K: Post-vocalic }{" is vocalized to [B]: dar [dre:B] 'door' (Braunmiiller 1998, 68). On the whole, }{" has triggered many innova­ tions in the neighbouring vowels; however, not all of them are regular enough to be con­ sidered phonological processes. (This process has a parallel in the dialects of Aust-Agder in Norway and a part of southern Sweden). Palatalization of velars: Palatalization be­ fore stressed vowels disappeared in Zealand during the 19th c.: kj@be > k@be 'buy', how­ ever, it still operates in some dialects. Before unstressed vowels, there is no palatalization in Danish. 5.4.

The relationship between phonology and morphology

The long vowel of a verb root is shortened when it precedes a final root consonant fol­ lowed by the past tense suffix -te [do]: k@be k@bte [k0:bo - k0bdo] 'buy-bought', but not before a continuant + te: blres + te [bIE:sdo]. However, by extending the use of -ede as the past suffix, several clusters are avoided (cf. levede 'lived'), and thereby phonology and morphology are no longer so extensively in­ terwoven.

y

e

-

Modern Swedish

6.1.

Phonological units

Vowels: The normal Swedish vowel system consists of nine units (both long and short):

u

0

0

------- -------f-a

The above symbols indicate long pronunci­ ation of the vowels. When short they have a lower (more lax) articulation. Diphthongs (€i, ai, ai, @i) exist ahnost only in loanwords, and they can alternatively be analysed as 6j etc. Diphthongs are, therefore, very marginal in the phonology of Standard Swedish; however, high long vowels, in par­ ticular, tend to have an offglide. Many Swedish dialects, on the other hand, have ex­ tensive diphthongization: e.g. in South Swedish, ON Ii has changed to au and a pre­ vious e ( < ON e and ei) to ai. In the Gotlandlc dialect, most of the old long vowels have diph­ thongized: t, y, u, e, 6 > xi, @i, xu, ej, ou, and these are added to the inventory of the three Old Nordic diphthongs. Finland Swedish dia­ lects, too, have extensive diphthongization: e, @, 6, Ii > ie, yo, au, ua (Haugen 1984, 323). Raising: A development most typical of the Central Scandinavian area is the raising of old long back vowels in a kind of chain-shift: Q > [0:], 6 > [U:], 11 > [,,:]. As demonstrated, this movement involves the fronting of u. Whether or not the movement is a drag-chain triggered by this fronting or a push-chain in­ itiated by Q is hard to prove. Wessen assumed that this innovation started in about 1400 in Swedish (1965b, 76). East Norwegian par­ ticipated in this development, and today most Swedish and Norwegian dialects have also done so. Consonants: Labial Apico- Retro- Palatal Velar Glottal alveo- flex lar Stop

p/b

Frica- f / v tive, sibilant Nasal

6.

"

I---+---j---:---I--

ill

k/g

t/d s

j/,

n

Liquid

I

Vibrant

r

j

�

I

h

1864

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

In Swedish, as in East Norwegian, the retro­ flex fricative represents a historical assimila­ tion of several consonant clusters: skj, stj, [S, rs > �, J, and the unvoiced palatal fricative f is a merger of kj and tj. Finland Swedish has the affricate cf instead of f. This standard sys­ tem exhibits some geographic variations: uvu­ lar K has replaced r in South Swedish during the last two centuries. In a transitional area in Gotaland, both }{" and r are used as variants in complementary distribution.

6.2.

Syntagmatic structures

6.2.1.

Distribution

Suffix vowels: Five vowels can be utilized in Swedish suffixes: a, 0, u, e, i: flicka -flickor, varuhandel, jotter, funnit 'girl - girls', 'com­ modity trade', 'feet', 'found'. Though, in many spoken varieties there are only three, i. e. a, e, 0, in some even 0 has been eliminated. Only dialects in northern Sweden, in the area where vowel balance operates, still keep all four. Metaphony: In the heartland of the vowel balance area, a combined regressive and pro­ gressive vowel harmony appeared - perhaps during the 15thc. (Gf0tvedt 1931). With metaphony one or more features from the suf­ fix vowel spread to the stressed vowel in words with vowel balance (viku > vuku 'week', lifa > lava 'live'), but in some dialects the stressed vowel influenced the suffix vowel as well (cf. viku vs. hoso < hosu 'stocking'). This vowel levelling - or feature levelling - between the stressed and the unstressed vowel is most char­ acteristic of the inner dialects of Tr0ndelag, eastern Norway, Dalarna, Harjedalen and Jamtland. 6.2.2.

Stress and quantity

The great quantity shift reached Sweden be­ fore 1500. Three main tendencies of shift can be discerned: (1) a North Nordic tendency in which consonants were lengthened in both short monosyllabic and disyllabic words: vit > [vet:] 'sense', vika > [vek:a] 'week'; (2) a West Nordic pattern, found even in southern Sweden, in which vowels were generally lengthened; and (3) a Central Nordic ten­ dency, in which (unvoiced) consonants in short monosyllabic words were lengthened, whereas the vowels were lengthened in disyl­ labic words with a short syllable: vit > [vet:], vita > [ve:ta] 'know'.

A vowel preceding the consonant clusters of stop + continuant has to some extent been lengthened, as inflagna, mogla 'peel', 'mould'. There are still relic dialects that maintain the old quantity system. Short syllables are still a characteristic of many dialects in e. g. Dalarna and northern Sweden. Some very conservative dialects of Dalarna and Fin­ land Swedish even maintain all Old Nordic quantity patterns, i.e. short, long and over­ long, as illustrated in [boko, by:tum, byt:um, by:t:urn] 'bake', 'we change', 'the pails' (da!.pl.), 'we changed' (Nystrom 2000). Most of the Finland Swedish area has lost the pitch accent. 6.3.

Synchronic phonological processes

The dialects of South Swedish and most of Finland Swedish have no retroflexion, al­ though Standard Finland Swedish does. Pala­ talization of velars before unstressed vowels has disappeared south ofViirrnland and Upp­ land, but still remains in dialects north of this border and is still a characteristic feature of most of the Finland Swedish dialects. Before stressed vowels, palatalization is no longer a productive process; however, the lexicalized results of historical palatalization still form a distinct pattern. Devoicing: In the dialects of northern Sweden there is a devoicing process similar to the North Norwegian pattern, see sect. 7.3. 6.4.

The relationship between phonology and morphology

To a large extent, word roots keep the long vowel in the various inflected forms even if the vowel precedes a cluster: [sa:del - sa:dlar, se:gel- se:glen, VE:va - VE:ft, fi:n - fi:nt] 'saddle - saddles', 'sail - the sails', 'weave - woven', 'fine - fine' (neu!.). The long vowel indicates in such instances that there is a morpheme boundary before or within the following clus­ ter. When there is a cluster of two stops, the preceding vowel is normally short in great parts of Sweden, irrespective of any mor­ pheme boundary: driikl, kop + Ie 'costume', 'bought' (past), but lop + Ie [10:pto] 'ran' (past).

1865

202. The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology

7.

Modern Norwegian

7.1.

Phonological units

gained the upper hand in dialects that have no retroflexion (Torp 1997, 35 ff.).

Vowels: The most widespread Norwegian vowel system consists of nine monophthongs and four diphthongs:

Labial Apico- Palatal Velar Glottal alveolar Stop

y

u

0

0

pib

1---+---/ . ------ -

Affricat

r-- - ------ ------- -

Fricative, sibilant

e

a

Nasal

Diphthongs: atf, @y, ei, ai. The ai is used in relatively new loanwords, cf. kai 'wharf. The distinction between short e and short x is marginal; in southwestern dialects es­ pecially they tend to merge even in long con­ texts. However, there are dialects with ample vowel contrasts. In Sunnm0re (western Nor­ way), we encounter this "medieval" system, i. e. the dialect still keeps most of the Old Nor­ dic vowel contrasts but now as quality con­ trasts: y

y e

0

'"

'"

"

u

------- ------0

------- a 0

Diphthongs: ei, OU, ai, atf, @y, xi. The Setesdalen dialect has also retained all old contrasts but with a more extensive diph­ thongization of ? ld long vowels: i, y, it, e, @, o > ei, uy, eu, e', @Y, 0". Consonants: East Norwegian has in prin­ ciple the "Swedish" consonant inventory, cf. sect. 6.1. The retroflex [,J originated from the assimilation of r or r + s, and was therefore always in postvocalic position. Later it merged with the assimilation result of sj and skj which were frequent as initial clusters, and � had from then no occurrence restrictions: sj@, vers [e0 , VEe] 'sea', 'stanza'. West Norwegian lacks the retroflexes, but on the other hand, many of these dialects still have both voiced and un­ voiced affricates. In most of the area [1)] is a variant of In/. Southwest Norwegian has dur­ ing the last generations exchanged the alveolar r with the uvular K. A geographic pattern seems to have emerged where uvular K has

k/g

tid

", I ll fIv

s

ill

n ff

Vibrant Liquid

h

J

I

North Norwegian dialects have a large con­ sonant inventory as it comprises the palatals £, {,fl, C,}; thus it may contain 23 consonants, and would encompass another 5 post-al­ veolars and 6 retroflexes if we did not analyse these sounds as products ofphonological rules (Sand0Y 1987, 29 f.). 7.2.

Syntagmatic structures

7.2.1.

Distribution

Weakening: Southwest Norwegian has main­ tained unstressed final -a, cf. the infinitives finna, vera 'find', 'be' and the weak feminine veka 'week'. (The -a in weak feminines is re­ tained even in the northern part of northern Norway). In two "transitional" areas adjacent to the dialect areas with vowel balance, i. e. in the northern part of western Norway and in Aust-Agder, final -a has been weakened to -e irrespective of the quantity of the preceding syllable, cf.finne and vere 'find', 'be'. With the exception of a few minor aeras, all West Nor­ wegian dialects have weakened even un­ stressed -u to -e. In the dialects with vowel balance, neither -a nor -u have been weakened in words where an old short syllable preceded. These dialects have, therefore, 3 or 4 suffix vowels. Apocope: In Tf0ndelag, which belongs to the vowel balance area, final suffix vowels have been apocopated after a long syllable, cf. Ii/a > Ixvva 'live' vs. kasta > kast 'throw', and in the southern part of northern Norway, which is outside the vowel balance area, final suffix vowels have been apocopated in general: Ii/a > levv and kasta > kast.

1866 7.2.2.

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

Stress and quantity

In two areas quantity shift has not corne to an end as yet: in northern Gudbrandsdalen short syllables in stressed position are still re� tained (ef. vet, veta [vet, �veta] 'sense', 'know'), although not overlong ones (sott [su:t:] > [sut:] 'illness'). In Setesdalen, the development has been the opposite, as overlong syllables have been maintained (e.g. sott > [sou:t:]), whereas short ones have not (vil > [vi:t], vita > [vi:te]). In some dialects in Norway and Sweden with retroflexion, the stressed vowel preceding the retroflex may be long, and thus both [f(0:(0] and [f(0(0] are valid pronunciations for ji@rte (from Englishjiirt), andSw. karta [ka:(a] corresponds to Norw. kart [kat]. This allows for both a rnonosegrnental interpretation of the retroflexes and an interpretation where the cluster is kept at the morphophonological level and vowel length is lexicalized. 7.3.

Synchronic phonological processes

Palatalization of velars has been totally phased out as a phonological rule in stressed position in Norwegian dialects during the last century, whereas it is still a productive mor­ phophonological rule applying to unstressed syllables in western Norway and the adjacent mountain areas of eastern Norway. However, the geographic area for this rule has been seriously constricted over the last generation. Retroflexion in positions where a thick 1 is involved has been stable geographically, em­ bracing eastern Norway, Tr0ndelag and the southern part of northern Norway. However, the retroflexion involving r (but not [) + an alveolar has spread to the rest of northern Nor­ way and is diffusing today also into the north­ ern part of western Norway, e. g. the neuter forms surt [s,,:t] 'sour' vs. gult [9,,:lt] 'yellow'. Devoicing: In the dialects of Tf0ndelag and northern Norway r, I, A are devoiced in front of an unvoiced consonant: mark [mark] 'field', smil + te [smilte] 'smiled' (past), vil + t [vi6c] 'wild' (adj .neu!.). 7.4.

The relationship between phonology and morphology

Modern Norwegian vowel quantity has partly been reorganized, since a long vowel in the root remains long throughout a paradigm even though the inflection gives rise to a clus­ ter after the vowel: kvi:1 + e - kvi:1 + te 'rest -

rested'. This type or distribution with a long vowel preceding a cluster of a more sonorant consonant + a less sonorant consonant is im­ possible unless the structure includes a mor­ pheme boundary. Thus, e.g. the word form [mast] is phonologically ambiguous - in some dialects being both a root 'mast' and the part. of mase 'hassle' - whereas the fonn [ma:st] is a word obviously containing a morpheme boundary, i. e. ma:s+ t 'hassled' (par!.). Such instances of quantity contrasts before clusters strengthen the view that quantity is a distinc­ tive feature of vowels and not of consonants in Modern Scandinavian. There is a massive drift towards this modern quantity pattern in Modern Norwegian; how­ ever, several dialects still retain the older sys­ tem that emerged after the great quantity shift in which the quantity of stressed vowels be­ came dependent on whether one or more con­ sonants followed: kvtl + e - kvil + te. This ap­ plies to structures with a syncopated vowel, as well, e.g. inj@:kul -j@kl+ar 'glacier - gla­ ciers'. This quantity pattern - which is mor­ phologically opaque - still prevails in the dia­ lects ofValdres, Sogn og Fjordane and south­ ern Sunnm0re. Compounds, though, nor­ mally take into account a component bound­ ary, cf. Jag + blad ['fa:9 ,bla] 'trade paper'.

8.

Modern Faroese

8.1.

Phonological units

Vowels: The most characteristic feature of the development of the Modern Faroese vowel system is the series of diphthongizations of Old Nordic long vowels, the first of which oc­ curred in the 1 5th c.: y > ui, 6 > au, U > ffU. In the same century, there was a drift in the Old Nordic diphthongs: ei > ai, @y > oi. The low monophthongs changed quality as the short ones (a and Q) were a bit fronted and the long one was rounded (a > Q), cf. sec!. 4.1. The vowel system before the quantity shift can be given as below: i

e

u

---------

0

e

0

0

---------

a

Q

Diphthongs: ui, au, ffU, 6i, ai, ai. The great quantity shift was established during the 16th c., and as a consequence these

202. The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology

mergers occurred: x + a > a (in SUQuroy: x + e > e), @ + @ > @. In the 16th c., Q also merged with @ (except before a nasal, where it merged with 0) . The Modern Faroese vowel system, in which there is no inherent segment quantity, consists of 1 3 (morpho-) phonemes: u e

o

o

Ea: j a

oa: j 0

Diphthongs: ui, ou, TfU, 6i, oi, ai. The two low vowels have undergone a pe­ culiar development as they are pronounced as falling diphthongs when stressed and long, otherwise as monophthongs, cf. Jara ['fEa:Ja] 'leave, go' vs. Jarst@/5 ['fa,10] 'bus terminal' and batur ['boa:tol] 'boat' vs. batsband ['bJs,band] 'crew conscription'. These 13 vocalic morphophonemes are sen­ sitive to both the quantity and the quality of the following consonant. Thus, in short con­ texts there are only 10 contrasts as these sets merge on the monophthong: [e:] + [Ei:] > [E], [0:] + loa:] > [0], [0:] + lou:] > [0]. Before certain consonants, some diphthongs are sim­ plified, e.g. roykja - roykti ['loiCj:a - 'lohkto] 'smoke - smoked' and bruka - brukti ['bnm:ka - 'bryhktg] 'use - used'. Quite a few modern loanwords have the long monophthong [a], e.g. data ['da:ta], which is distinct from the stressed vowel in e.g. mala [lmEa:ta] 'give food', with the con­ sequence that this long jaj must be considered a separate phoneme of contemporary Faroese. Consonants: Labial Apico- Palatal Post- Retro- Velar Glotalveoalveo- flex tal lac lac Stop/af- p / fricate

P t ! q � / jJ

Fricative, sibilant

f/v

�/

Nasal

/m

/n

Liquid, approximant

/1

/j

k/g j/

,/

h/

/n /J

The articulation of the Faroese r has changed to a postalveolar (sometimes retroflex) ap-

1867

proximant over the last generations, but may still be realized as an alveolar trill. 8.2.

Syntagmatic structures

8.2.1.

Distribution

Weakening: Over the last centuries unstressed U and i (in suffixes) have in parts of the area merged to [r], [0] or [u]. This distribution of the merger variants differs in the dialects as the variants may be dependent either on pho­ nological position (cf. g@tu - g@tur ['g0:to 190:tU1] 'street - streets') or on morphological category (cf. gongur - gongur ['goDgur 'gODgOl] 'walks' (pres.) - 'walks' (pl.» Never­ theless, before nasals the two unstressed vowels contrast in almost all dialects (Hag­ strom 1967). (Below the merger will be tran­ scribed [0], except before nasals). Glide insertion: 15 was lost in Faroese in about 1600. Even g was lost intervocalically and in postvocalic and final position: dagar > ['de:al] 'days', dag > [dEa:] 'day'. This made the distribution of g very bound (un­ free). The two last changes gave rise to many new instances of hiatus. In hiatus position, Faroese later developed a characteristic intru­ sive glide which depended exclusively on the quality of the two vowels - irrespective of the previous consonant: mal5ur > [lmEa:vu1] 'man', blair > ['bloa:ju] 'blue' (pl.masc.), skbgur > [lskOU:WU1] 'forest'. As the suffix vowels i and u later merged (e.g. [lmEa:Vg1:, 'bloa:jol, 'skou:wol]) the insertion had to be reinterpreted either as a lexicalized feature or as a synchronic phonological process where glide insertion is followed by a rule that weakens the suffix vowel (Sn",dal 1986, 158; Selas 1996, 122). Sharpening: During the 16th century, diph­ thongs with a second palatal or velar element before a hiatus developed (sharpened) this last element into a palatal affricate [til or a velar cluster [gv]: oyin > oyggin ['ojJ:m] 'the is­ land', bua ['btm:a] > bugva ['brgva] 'live'. By analogy many words have transferred the sharpened fonn to the final position in other forms of the word, cf. [oJ]:] oyggj 'island' in analogy with oyggin. 8.2.2.

Stress and quantity

The great quantity shift was established as early as in the 16th century in Faroese, and it followed the West Nordic pattern with lengthening in both monosyllabic and disyl-

1868

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

labic words: vit vita > [vi:t], ['vi:ta]. Otherwise a short vowel remained short or was shortened before clusters or long consonants. In contrast to the consistent pattern in West Norwegian, but similar to the pattern in Icelandic, there is a group of exceptions in Faroese: a vowel is lengthened when the following clusters are a combination of p, k and /, r or the cluster tr, cf. vakrir ['vEa:klol] 'beautiful' pI. 8.3.

Synchronic phonological processes

Palatalization of velars: In Faroese, palatal­ ization still was a phonological process when these changes occurred: geit [gjei:t] > [gai:t] 'goat', g@yma [gj0y:rna] > [goy:ma] 'store', kyr [kjy:r] > [kuy:r] 'cow'. As these changes did away with the front feature of the vowel, the preceding consonants were accordingly no longer palatalized. On the other hand, the pro­ cess did not function any longer when sharp­ ening produced new front vowels during the 16th century, e.g. u > igv (ku > [kIgV]), and fronting of a occurred before nasal velars, as in ganga > [lgEl)ga]. Prior to (or simultaneous with) these changes, palatalization was pho­ nemicized (and lexicalized) before traditional i and e, cf. kirna, kenna, gera, (gaukr » gey­ kur ['�Idna, '�En:a, '.lJe:ra, '.lJEi:bl] 'churn', 'know', 'do', 'cuckoo'. The remaining scope of the phonological palatalization pro­ cess in Faroese was thus only unstressed po­ sitions (e.g. bakkin ['bah�:In]). Since the suffix vowels -i- and -u- have merged to [I] or [0], the phonological rule has consequently become a morphophonological rule specifying the morphological conditions for palatalization to apply, cf. vikur ['vi:bl] 'weeks' vs. vikir ['vui:C9��IJ] 'bays'. Preaspiration: Like in Icelandic and some Norwegian dialects the unvoiced stops p, t, k are pronounced with a distinctive preaspir­ ation when the preceding vowel is short: bak­ kar ['bahk:al] 'hills'. This rule applies even when the vowel is short as an effect of a fol­ lowing cluster with a morphemic boundary: s@kja - s@kti ['s0:�a - 'S0hkto] 'apply - ap­ plied'. Postalveolarization/retroflexion: The post­ alveolar/retroflex feature of J normally spreads to a subsequent alveolar consonant: lrerdi [lalgo] or ['la�Qo] 'learnt'. We notice that in contrast to the retroflecting dialects of Swedish and Norwegian, the triggering r is not dropped, except in the case of JS > �: far + st@iJ [fa,ta] 'bus/ship/air ter­ minal' .

Devoicing: The voiced consonants I, n, m, r are devoiced before an unvoiced consonant: vil + t, sen + t, lampa, verk [vIlt, SE1J.t, 'larppa, vqk] 'wild', 'sent', 'lamp', 'work'. 8.4.

The relationship between phonology and mophology

Faroese has kept the quantity pattern emerg­ ing from the great quantity shift where the stressed root vowel is short before a long con­ sonant or a consonant cluster. This is imple­ mented consistently and makes e.g. visti ['vuiJto] 'showed' opaque with regard to whether it includes a morpheme boundary or not. The pronunciation ['s0hktg] is corre­ spondingly ambiguous as to whether it is the past s@k + ti 'applied' or s@kk + ti 'sank'. In synchronic compounds, however, there is a tendency for the root vowel to remain long if a following cluster includes the compound juncture: avsmyrjing [lga:v1smujIl)g] 'blow, stroke' (from smyrja av) and utsyni [" IU:t,suy:nr] 'view' (from ut and syni); how­ ever, this does not apply when the compound is lexicalized: avstoosfblk ['afstas ,f0jk] 'non-lo­ cal people' and utsynningur [IYS:InIl)ggJ] 'southwestern wind'. The many phonological processes in Faroese have increased the variation of sur­ face forms of verbs and nouns, as can be il­ lustrated by the declension of kugv 'cow' in nom.sg., nom./acc.pl., dat.pl. and dat.sg.def.: [kIgv, kUY:l, kttu:n, kYn:o], spelled as kugv, kyr, kum, kunni. The three last forms can be easily accounted for by current allophonic rules of Faroese, whereas the sharpening pro­ cess, illustrated in kugv, no longer is a produc­ tive process.

9.

Modern Icelandic

9.1.

Phonological units

Vowels: Late in the Middle Ages some long vowels were diphthongized: a > au, 6 > au, x > ai. Because of the early phonetic lower­ ing of ON short i, y, u the language could at this stage undergo the great quantity shift without having any vowel mergers. From the 14th through the 17th century, delabial­ ization of y was established in Icelandic (j > t, Y > i, ey > ei), and it was followed by fronting of short u > [Y]. The present vowel system (of both short and long vowels) is thus:

202. The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology

i

['veta]. Like Faroese, but unlike West Norwe­ gian, Icelandic has lengthened the vowel when it precedes some clusters, viz. of p, t, s, k + j, r, v: vitja > ['vi:tja] (however not in front of p, k + I as in Faroese).

u

r-- - ------ - -- --- y

e 0 0 -------r-- - -----a

9.3.

Diphthongs: ai, ei, @y, au, au. Consonants: Labial Apicoalveolar Stop

p i li

t

Fricative

fIv

e

Velar Glottal

j

I,

h

�

Sibilant Nasal

Palatal

I \! c Ikj] I J Igj] k / g l ib]

m

v

/n

Liquid

1/1

Vibrant

r

lr

The g, cj and g are unvoiced and contrast with p, t, k by lacking post- and preaspiration. (This contrast can be rendered in three ways in pho­ nemic transcription e.g. as [p - p], [ph - b] or [ph pl). In southern Iceland,p, t, k lost post­ aspiration in medial position during the 1 8 th century (rata [ra:ta] > [ra:ga] 'hit' inf.). Be­ cause of the distributional pattern which or­ ginated from the fricativization of b, d, g in Proto-Nordic, see sect. 1 . 1 . , this deaspiration caused no merger in traditional words. In some loanwords, however, the stops g, 4, g may potentially contrast with p, t, k in north­ ern Icelandic, e.g. radon ['ra:gon] vs. ['ra:ta], but not in southern Icelandic. _

9.2.

Syntagmatic structures

9.2.1.

Distribution

As for the distributional pattern of segments, no changes have occurred after the Old West Nordic period. 9.2.2.

1869

Stress and quantity

In Icelandic the great quantity shift operated during the 16th century in accordance with the West Nordic pattern: vit > [vet], vita >

Synchronic phonological processes

The palatalization of velars has remained al­ most unchanged in Icelandic; however, it was lexicalized before some vowels as a conse­ quence of the changes @ + II' > ai (which did not lead to a depalatalization, cf. Mod.!ce!. slaeri ['scai:n] 'scissors' vs. skagi [lskaijI] 'headland') and Q > a (which did not trigger palatalization, cf. ON k@ptr > Mod.!ce!. kjoJ­ tur ['c0ftur] 'jaw' vs. ON kQttr > Mod.!ce!. kottur ['k0htur] 'cat'). Palatalization did not arise before u when it had been fronted to [y]. Thus, the phonological rule of palatalization of velars in Modern Icelandic is restricted to the position preceding non-low front un­ rounded vowels (e.g. [i, r, e, ei]). On the other hand, a morphophonological rule specifies palatalization in the subjunctive of the past tense (e. g. skreri ['scai:n] and trekjum ['tai:cym] ( > ON trekim) 'cut, took' - 1/3sg. and 1p!.), in two noun classes in the plural irrespective ofthe following suffix vowel, and before some of the derivational suffixes starting with e. Al­ together, this has created a complex set of con­ ditions (Indrioason 1994). Devoicing: The voiced consonants n, /, m, r are devoiced when they precede another un­ voiced consonant, e.g. henta ['he]J.ta] 'fit', velta ['velta] 'overturn', lampi ['laJppr] 'lamp', or when they are final consonants after a stop, e.g. vatn [vaht]J.] 'water'. There is less precon­ sonantal devoicing in northern Iceland. Preaspiration: The unvoiced stops p, t, k are pronounced with a distinctive preaspiration when the preceding vowel is short: bakkar ['bahk:ar] 'hills'. This rule applies even when the vowel is short as an effect of inflection: mikill - mikl + ir ['mr:crgl - 'mrhklIr] 'big' sg. and p!. 9.4.

The relationship between phonology and morphology

Vowel quantity is in Icelandic, as in Faroese, dependent on the following consonant(s), ir­ respective of the morphological structure. In contrast to the situation in Scandinavian (and to some extent Faroese), this applies to com­ pounds as well: dag +blolJ ['dag,blao] 'news­ paper' (except when the first component ends

1870

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

in p, t, k, Indri�ason 1994, 104). As almost all phonological processes function across morpheme boundaries, Icelandic is character­ ized by a morphology that is phonologically considerably non-transparent.

10.

Pervasive tendencies

Proto-Nordic was characterized by few posi­ tional restrictions on the distribution of pho­ nemes, and morphologically the words were a simple and transparent concatenation of root and suffixes which had few effects on the adjacent sounds. After the umlaut process be­ gan, a development started towards a mor­ phology with more complex structures. The umlaut can be seen as a part of a Ger­ manic drift in the direction of more informa­ tion concentrated in the word root: the new vowel variants anticipate the information of the suffixes. An increase of phonemes makes this possible, and, according to Sigurd (1961), this "code shift" is a prerequisite for the sub­ sequent morphological and phonological re­ organizations, e. g. syncope. The alleged Ger­ manic strengthening of stress on the root may be connected to this expansion of the phoneme system in stressed positions. During the late Middle Ages, the great quantity shift began making morpheme boundaries more opaque as suffixes were pho­ nologically integrated with the root, and words became even more complex from a functional point of view. Modern Danish, Swedish and Norwegian have to some extent "repaired" this by in principle reintroducing the overlong syllable type in derived and in­ flected words. Icelandic and Faroese still re­ tain the opaque pattern and have a non-trans­ parent morphology from a phonological point of view. While words have been "overloaded with morphology", most dialects have developed a distributional pattern for segments that effi­ ciently single out initial and final position and stressed and unstressed syllable from the rest of the word. This bound distribution facilitat­ ing the cognitive process of identifying word units applies to both consonants and vowels. The increase of vowel variants in stressed po­ sition and the weakening in unstressed posi­ tion started in Proto-Nordic. Quantity contrasts have in many cases been the origin of innovations as they have given rise to allophonic splits and thereby paved the way for the transfer of the contrast function from quantity to quality. The allophonic splits

have in such cases been redefined into different phonemes, cf., for instance, the palatalization of alveolars, diphthongization, and lowering of vowels mentioned above. In several Mod­ ern Nordic dialects, vowel quantity is again reflected in distinct phonetic quality splits, with a potential for later phonemicization.

11.

Survey

The matrix below displays some of the dis­ cussed characteristics of the Modern Nordic languages. Some of these are synchronic pro­ cesses, others are structural results of dia­ chronic changes. (The slash signals dialectal differences in the feature. Parentheses indicate some restriction in the grammatical status, see in the article above.) Characteristics Uvular

If

Dan.

Sw. Norw. Far. Icel.

+

+/-

+/-

-

-

Retained diphthongs

-

-/+

-/+

+

+

Secondary diphthongs

+

+/-

-/+

+

+

Number of suffix vowels

1

2 4

2 4

2 3

3

Retained suffix -tid/a

+

+/-

-,

-

+

Retained suffix -n

+

+/-

-"

+

+

Pitch accent! glottalization

+

+

+

-

-

Short syllable retained

+

+/-

+/-

-

-

Vocalization of

+

-/+

-/ (+)

-

-

Palatalization of velars before stressed vowel

-/ (+)

(+)

(+)

-

+

Palatalization of velars before unstressed vowel

-

-/+

-/+

+

+

Vowel shortening before cluster with morpho boundary, cf. spis+ te, mas + te kvil+te

-

-/+

-/+

+

+

-sO

202. The typological development of the Nordic languages I: Phonology continue Retroflexion

-

- /+

- /+

+

-

Preaspiration of plosives after a short vowel

-

-

- /+

+

+

Devoicing of I, (,1), r, m , n befor unvoiced cons.

-

- /+

- /+

+

-/+

Metaphony

-

Apocope

- /+

- /+

-

-

+/ - + / -

+/-

-

-

:I
tt, nk > kk med siir­ skild hansyn till svenskan (U ndersokningar till en atlas over svensk folkkultur, 1). Uppsala. Nystrom, Gunnar (2000), Sprakhistorien och VaT tids svenska dialekter. Nya ron om A..lvdalsmalets fonologi och morfologi. In: Studier i svensk sprak­ historia 5 (ed. L-E. Edlund). Umea, 25 48. Pamp, Bengt (1978), Svenska dialekter. Stockholm. Rindal, Magnus (1981), Brevfra Opplandaf@r 1350. Oslo. Sandoy, Helge (1987), Norsk dialektkunnskap. 2nd ed. Oslo. Sandoy, Helge (1995), The nature of "overlong syl­ lables" in the Scandinavian languages. In: Phono­ logica 1992 (eds. W. Dressler et al.). Torino, 233 242. Seip, Didrik Arup (1955), Norsk sprakhistorie til omkring 1370. 2nd ed. Oslo. Selas, Magnhild (1996), Trykklette endingar i tale­ mazet i T6rshavn. [Thesis.] Bergen. Sigurd, Bengt (1961), The code shift in Old Norse. In: Studia Linguistica 15, 10 21. Skard, Vemund (1976), Norsk sprakhistorie 1. Til 1523. 3rd ed. Oslo etc. Skautrup, Peter (1944), Det danske sprogs historie 1 . Kobenhavn. Sna:dal, Magnus (1986), Fa:reyska serhlj65akerfi5. In: IMAM 8, 121 168. Storm, Johan (1884 1908), Norsk Lydskrift med Omrids af Fonetiken. In: Norvegia 1, 19 179. Torp, Arne (1983), Nokre tankar om inndeling av folkemalet i Skandinavia. In: Folkmalsstudier 28, 45 92. Torp, Arne (1997), Fonologisk realisering spesielt om skarre-r og retrofleksar. In: Nordica Bergensia 13, 29 50. Wessen, Elias (1965a), De nordiska sprbken. 8th ed. Stockholm. Wessen, Elias (1965b), Svensk sprakhistoria 1. Ljud­ lara och ordbojningslara. 7th ed. Stockhohn.

Helge Sand@y, Bergen (Norway)

1872

203.

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

The typological development of the Nordic languages II: Morphology and syntax

1. 2.

7. 8.

Preliminaries The morphology-syntax interface: basic verb order, morphological case and syntactic configurationality Verb and constituent order Linearization patterns: head/modifier ordering Morphological categories and simplification patterns Morphological, lexical and positional coding: the synthetic/analytic distinction Conclusions and perspectives Literature (a selection)

1.

Preliminaries

3. 4. 5. 6.

The following general facts constitute the van­ tage point for a survey of the typological de­ velopmentofthe Scandinavian languages: ON is well known, and so are the various modern Scand. languages. There is no reason to as­ sume that OWN (ONorw. and OIce!.) were to any significant extent typologically different from those other ON languages - ODan., OSw., OGot!. - which are not as amply at­ tested as OWN. The modern Scand. written standard languages comprise Icel., Far., Norw. (with the two main varieties Riksmalj Bokmal and Nynorsk 'New-Norwegian'), Dan. and Sw. The modern languages represent two dis­ tinct typological groups: on the one hand Ins.Scand. represented by Mod.!ce!. and Far., and on the other Main!. Scand., i. e. Sw., Dan. and the two not too different varieties of Mod.Norw. The former group has retained most or at least a fair amount of the mor­ phological characteristics of ON (but not necessarily every aspect of ON syntax; cf. sec­ tion 2.). The second group of languages have undergone a process of thorough morpho logi­ cal change (simplification). In this context allowance has to be made for the fact that both main groups display some internal variation. Far., although basically of the same general type as Mod.Icel., shows a certain approxima­ tion to Main!.Scand. Within the Main!.Scand. group, Sw. differs in a number of noticeable, but typologically less spectacular respects from Dan. and Norw. (cf. section 6.). In gen­ eral, the morphological and syntactic differen­ ces between the modern Mainl.Scand. stand­ ard languages and their dialects do not seem to be of a typological nature.

Due to their fairly well-known history, the Mod.Scand. languages are in principle and in practice amenable to diachronic typological study. However, a couple of methodological pro blems should not be overlooked. First, attested Scand. does not start with ON and its contemporary cognates. There is also the body of runic inscriptions to consider (even though many runic inscriptions are not decipherable as full sentences or as coherent texts; cf. Braunmiiller 1998). In view of this, ON is to a certain extent an arbitrary starting point. In certain respects the presumably Common Scand. runic language appears to have been typologically different from later more amply attested periods. Cases in point are the more transparent morphological struc­ ture ofthe runic language as against the highly fusional and even introflectional structure of later ON (cf. Antonsen 1975, 14-23; Krause 1971 , 137), and the vacillation between (S)OV and (S)VO in runic inscriptions compared with the rather strict (S)VO order of ON (cf. Antonsen 1975, 24f.; Braunmiiller 1982, 1251 44). Second, a heuristic point has to be made. The ancient and modern Scand. languages are well-known and described, but there are hard­ ly any grammatical descriptions ofthe individ­ ual languages that are couched in explicit typological terms and which trace the history ofthe languages in question from an explicitly typological perspective. Hence one has to rely on and interpret works which are not written with a view to typological considerations. Be­ sides, information which is of importance in a typological perspective may simply be miss­ ing. There are also very few specialized studies on individual developments in a variety of dif­ ferent languages (a notable exception is Braunmiiller 1982). The third point concerns the word and no­ tion typology itself. For instance Croft's (1990, 1 f.) four main definitions - "taxonomy or clas­ sification", " a classification of structural types across languages" , " the study oflinguistic pat­ terns that are found cross-linguistically, in particular, patterns that can be discovered solely by cross-linguistic comparison", and "an 'approach' to the study of language that contrasts with prior approaches" - need to be supplemented by a specification of relevant grammatical parameters. The same goes for

203. The typological development of the Nordic languages II: Morphology and syntax

definitions like Comrie's (1983, 30): "the study of differences among languages". Mention should also be made ofthe theoretical contrast between "particularistic" and "holistic" ty­ pology. Particularistic typological approaches are in principle limited to one specific para­ meter or grammatical domain (for instance synthetic vs. analytic coding of grammatical relations, word and element order, phoneme inventory, expressions of possession or aspec­ tual distinctions, etc.). Particularistic typo­ logical investigations in this sense aim to pro­ vide comprehensive interlingual coverage of the phenomena within the domain in question. On the other hand, a typological description may be said to be holistic when it establishes interrelations between different - or ideally all - components or levels of the grammar. In practice typologists most often content them­ selves with establishing interrelations between morphology and syntax (which are the themes of this article; but cf. Plank 1998 for discussion of a broader view). Various traditional views on morphosyntactic interrelations presuppose the possibility of holistic typologizing, for in­ stance the traditional assumption that case marking is a prerequisite of free word order, or Greenberg's (1966a, 96) more recent Uni­ versal 41 : "If in a language the verb follows both the nominal subject and nominal object as the dominant order (i.e. SOY-languages), the language almost always has a case sys­ tem." It should be noted that a holistic typological description is not necessarily reached by con­ centrating only on those parameters or gram­ matical phenomena that have been at the fore­ front of current mainstream typological re­ search, for instance morphological marking devices and word order rules. These aspects of the grammar may well be interrelated with other kinds of grammatical phenomena (syn­ tactic rules) that cannot be left out of consider­ ation in the study of the processes underlying the typological developments. In the case of the Scand. languages, a typological account of the development of case morphology and word order rules remains incomplete if Mod.!cel. and Far. so-called "oblique sub­ jects" with their characteristic syntactic pro­ perties and their topological counterparts in Mainl.Scand. are left out of the picture (cf. section 2.). While it may be necessary to explore inter­ relations between morphology and syntax, one should on the other hand resist the temp­ tation to indulge in undue generalizations

1873

when studying a specific grammatical domain from some particular typological perspective. For instance, there is no theoretical need to assume that all inflecting word classes evolve uniformly from syntheticity to analyticity (or the other way around) in the same general fashion (Berkov 1989).

2.

The morphology-syntax interface: Basic verb order, morphological case and syntactic configurationality

Concerning the relationship between mor­ phology and syntactic rules, there are two main options: Syntactic rules may either be sensitive to and correlated with morphology, or theymay not- or only partly - be correlated with it. The latter option is well-known from so-called ergative languages, most of which are only morphologically, not syntactically er­ gative. Ergative languages typically mark the subject of transitive verbs differently from subjects of intransitive verbs and direct 0 bjects of transitive verbs, but in most of these lan­ guages important syntactic rules are actually based on the traditional subject/object distinc­ tion in that subjects of transitive and intran­ sitive verbs go together (Anderson 1 976). Such morpho syntactic divergence is not common in the Indo-European accusative type case­ marking languages with which Western lin­ guists are most familiar (such as Lat., G and the Sl. languages), but it is attested in the case of the so-called "oblique subjects" of Mod.!cel. and Far. (Thrainsson 1994, 175f.; Barnes 1986). These oblique subjects are above all dative, to a certain extent also ac­ cusative and marginally genitive (only in Icel.) NPs with the syntactic rule properties of ca­ nonical nominative subjects. Compare the Mod.!cel. examples in (1)-(2) with the corre­ sponding Norw. sentences in (3)-(4): (la) Mig vantar ekki peninga. me (acc.) lacks not money (acc.pl.) 'I don't lack money.' (lb) Eg vonast til a1J vanta ekki peninga. I hope to (acc.) lack not money (acc.pl.) 'I hope I shall not lack money.' (2a) Honom finst verkeJniIJ ojjJungt. him (dat.) finds homework-the (nom.) too hard 'He finds the homework too hard.' _

_

1874

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

(2b) Hann segist vera dug/egur, en_ finst he (nom.) says-himself be clever, but _ (dat.) finds verkeJnio ojjJungt. homework-the (nom.) too hard 'He claims to be clever, but finds the homework too hard.' (3a) Jeg mangler ikke penger. I lack not money 'I don't lack money.' (3b) Jeg haper a ikke _ mangle penger. I hope to not lack money 'I hope I shall not lack money.' (4a) Han synes oppgaven er for vanskelig. he thinks task-the is too difficult 'He thinks the task is too difficult.' (4b) Han sier at han er dyktig, men _ synes oppgaven er for vanskelig. he says that he is clever, but _ thinks task-the is too difficult 'He says that he is clever, but he thinks the task is too difficult.' In (1 b) an accusative is deleted in an infinitival clause in the same fashion as a nominative subject, and in (2b) a dative is deleted in cor­ respondence with a nominative subject in the preceding clause. The Mod.!ce!. oblique subjects in question have the same basic linear distribu­ tion as their Mainl.Scand. counterparts (ef. the Norw. sentences in (3)-(4» , which only allow for marginal case-marking (in the case of a small number of personal pronouns). Given the fact that both Ins. and Main!.Scand. are sva languages (with vsa as a secondary option in affirrnative rnain clauses in Icel.), this points to a situation where the relationship be­ tween syntactic rules on the one hand and case marking and linear distribution on the other has undergone a systematic change. In mod­ ern Mainl.Scand. syntactic rules of the kind illustrated in (1 b), (2b), (3b), (4b) are obvi­ ously correlated with the preverbal NP in a basic SVO pattern, not with a case marking that barely exists. In Ice!. and Far. the sarne correlation with preverbal NP holds good to a considerable extent. Far. goes further in this respect than Mod.Icei. insofar as Far. in con­ trast to Mod.Icei. also allows for subjectiv­ ization of certain dative 0 bjects in the passive (cf. Barnes 1992, 28 f.): (5a) Teir hjalptu honum (dat.). 'They helped him.' (5b) Hann (nom.) varo hjalptur. 'He was helped.'

Thus, the syntactic functionality of case­ marking seems to be decreasing even in Mod.!ce!. and Far. From a theoretical per­ spective, this development testifies to the syn­ chronic and diachronic autonomy of mor­ phology vis a vis syntax. Syntax may change whereas morphology is kept intact even when its functional impact is diminished. In this connection mention should be made of the fact that the valency patterns of alce!. and Mod.Icei. comprise a larger number of case combinations than those ofG, where the accusative is more typically the case of the di­ rect and the dative the case of the indirect 0b­ ject (cf. Nygaard 1905, 83-1 54; Kress 1982, 210-221; Thrainsson 1994, 177; Zifonun et a!. 1997, 1298-1 326). It appears that at all his­ torical stages Icel. has had a more "lexical" case system and G a more "structural" one. The persistence of lexical ("quirky") case in Icel. makes sense in a situation where syntactic functions are more directly correlated with topology (and semantics) than with morphol­ ogy. The modern Scand. languages thus form a cline with regard to the relationship between syntax and morphology. This synchronic cline most likely reflects different stages of a dia­ chronic development: (6) Mod.!ce!.: (a) oblique subjects (b) verb agreement correlated with nomi­ native case (c) no subjectivization of dative objects in the passive > Far.: (a) oblique subjects, (b) verb agreement correlated with nomi­ native case, (c) subjectivization of dative objects in the passive. > Mod.Main!.Scand.: (a) only marginal case marking of the subject/object distinction (b) no verb agreement (c) no morphological restrictions on the subjectivization of objects in the pas­ sive. Since the finite verb only agrees with nomina­ tive subjects in Mod.!ce!. and Far., the oblique subjects do not possess the full set of tradi­ tional syntactic rule properties in either lan­ guage. With this proviso, one has to conclude that both the modern Main!. and Ins.Scand. languages have topologically coded subjects

203. The typological development of the Nordic languages II: Morphology and syntax

in connection with basic SVO structure, the difference being that additional case marking is marginal in Mainl.Scand. and general, but not uniform in Ins.Scand. From a diachronic perspective, it seems more than likely that V/2 in NGmc is older than the "oblique subjects" . But it is still a moot question how old the oblique subjects are, in particular, whether ON had oblique subjects of the same kind as Mod.!ce!. and Far. On the whole, the attempts of individual scholars (Rognvaldsson 1995; Haugan 1998; and others) to prove the existence of oblique subjects in OIcei. have been rather less convin­ cing (cf. Faarlund 1999 with references). Al­ though a final conclusion may seem prema­ ture, a case can be made for assuming that there has been a gradual acquisition of specific subject properties by preverbal NPs, which have become increasingly syntactic and through subsequent loss of case marking morphologically uniform in Mod.Main!.Scand. but only increasingly syntactically uniform in Mod.!cel and Far. Recent work by Endre M0rck on the acquisition of subject and object properties in the historical development of Norw. syntax appears to indicate the correct­ ness of such an approach (M0rck 1995; 1998). The proper question to be asked is, then, whether this process of gradual rule acquisi­ tion was initiated in ON etc. or only later on, in MNorw., late medieval Icel. etc.

3.

Verb and constituent order

With regard to verb order, one may assume that the V/2 (XVX) pattern predominant in ON has developed into a basic SVO pattern where the topologically fixed subject category has then become characterized by a number of similar syntactic rule properties in all ofthe languages, but whose coding and agreement properties remain different in the different groups of languages. In a diachronic perspective, the labels V/2 and SVO are, however, in need offurther dif­ ferentiation. In ON, V/3 is vestigially present (Gf0nvik 1981, 220-234), presumably reflect­ ing the earlier V/Last (OV) order attested in runic inscriptions and in the BOmc and SOmc dialects. Except for Ice!., V/3 later on makes its reappearance in the S-Adv-V-X order of subordinate clauses, which is presumably the current basic order and, of course, includes SVO. Use of V/l order in questions and of inverted X-V-S-X order in other main

1875

clauses serves specialpragmatic functions, and these orders are clearly syntactically derivable from basic S-Adv-V-X (cf. Askedal 1995, 10o r.). The above observations concerning the de­ velopment of subjects and their syntactic rule properties invite the question of what has hap­ pened to the complementary categories direct object (DO) and indirect object (10). In modern Main!.Scand., 10 and DO can­ not be distinguished by case marking and are as a rule not positionally interchangeable. In this respect a change towards fixed position, i. e. positional coding, has evidently occurred since ON, where the dative 10 and the accu­ sative DO are positionally interchangeable in basically the sarne way as in ModG: (7) Nil skulu ver senda mann parhalli . . . now shall we send man Torhall (dat.) 'Now we shall send a man to Torhall . . .' (8) Der Autor hatte das Buch seiner Freundin gewidmet. the author had the book his girl-friend dedicated 'The author had dedicated the book to his girl-friend.' In case-marking Mod.!ce!. (but hardly in Far.; cf. Barnes 1992, 28), dative 10 and accusative DO allow for OIce!.- and German-like rever­ sal under specific conditions (Ottosson 1993, 381). Compare the following Mod.!ce!. examples: (9a) Jan gal konunginum ambattina. John gave king-the (dat.) maidservant­ the (acc.) 'John gave the king the maidservant.' (9b) Jon gal amMttina konunginum. John gave maidservant-the (acc.) king­ the (dat.) 'John gave the maidservant to the king.' Both the rule changes in the domain of sub­ jects and the linearization change in the do­ main of objects may be considered aspects of a change from non-configurationality towards increasing configurationality in the sense of Faarlund (1990, ch. 4). This general process is evidently connected with the establishment of fixed V/2 order in ON. The subsequent de­ velopments in the individual Ins. and Main!.Scand. languages show that the simpli­ fication or even the disappearance of case morphology is a typologically natural but not necessary final outcome. Above all it is clear that loss of morphological case cannot be the triggering factor for the fixing ofV/2 order in

1876

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

ON or the further development of this verb order into a syntactic SVO (or basic S-Adv­ V-X) structure. The final stage of the development towards topological coding is presumably reached when original subjects acquire clear-cut syn­ tactic object properties, as is to a considerable extent the case with so-called "potential sub­ jects" in passive and active existential senten­ ces in Norw. (cf. Faarlund et al. 1997, 833836, 845-847; AskedaI 1 996). Compare (10)­ (12), where the sentence element mange nye baker 'many new books' in the interrogative sentence is in VP-internal object position and is accordingly subject to VP-pronorninaliza­ tion together with the governing passive tran­ sitive (10), intransitive (11) or active transitive (12) verb: (10) Bie det utgitt mange nye baker? was it published many new books 'Were many new books published?' - Ja. det bie det ( bie utgitt mange nye b@ker) . - yes, it was it '- Yes, many new books were published.' (11) Kom det mange nye baker? came it many new books 'Did many new books appear?' - Ja, del gjorde det ( = kom mange nye b@ker) . - yes, it did it '- Yes, many new books appeared.' (12) Utga de mange nye baker? published they many new books 'Did they publish many new books?' - Ja, de gjorde det ( = utga mange nye b@ker) . - yes, they did it '- Yes, they did.' �

4.

Linearization patterns: Head/modifier ordering

The linearization typology initiated by Green­ berg (1966a) was soon implicitly or explicitly developed into a syntactic theory based on the head/modifier distinction. The following ap­ pears to be a consensus view on the identifi­ cation of heads and modifiers with specific morphosyntactic categories (cf. Dryer 1995, 1052): (13) Head: main verb

Modifier: object complements and adverbial adjuncts

infinitival complement complement clause main verb object complements and adverbial modi­ fiers object of preposition preposition standard of compari­ particle of son comparison complementizer embedded proposition article noun demonstrative deter­ noun miner possessive determiner noun numeral noun attributive adjective noun attributive genitive noun attributive PP noun non-finite (infinitival) noun or finite clause. main verb main verb auxiliary verb adjective

Furthermore, in the studies representing this approach two related assumptions are often made. First, it is assumed that convergent lin­ earization of head and modifier(s) in different syntactic constructions is somehow natural and that a cross-categorial drift towards con­ sistent left- or right-branching is therefore to be expected (cf., however, the critical dis­ cussion in Oesterreicher 1989). Second, the (fi­ nite) verb is often supposed to play some sort of leading role in such processes (cf. Dryer 1995, 1052 et passim). Hence languages are often labelled OV and VO languages depend­ ing on the position of the (finite) verb, at least in cases where there is a clear majority of either modifier-head or head-modifier sequences, re­ spectively. According to these assumptions, one should expect at least a majority of head­ modifier sequences in ON as well as in the Mod.Scand. languages on account of the pre­ dominance of V/2 (SVO) structures on the clause level at both historical stages. Another natural expectation would appear to be that if head/modifier ordering is inconsistent in ON, then the general direction of subsequent developments should be from modifier-head order to head-modifier order rather than the other way around. These various expectations are only partly borne out by the facts. In most constructions there has been no change of head/modifier order in historical times. An instance of expected change from head/modifier order variation in ON (cf. Nygaard 1905, 385) to obligatory head-modi­ fier order has taken place in Mainl.Scand. where the main verb-auxiliary verb order is

203. The typological development of the Nordic languages II: Morphology and syntax

now extinct. However, vestiges of this order­ ing are still found in Mod.!ce!. and Far. Com­ pare Mod.!ce!. (14) and Far. (15): (14) Peir spurou, hver kominn2 vreri1• they asked who corne was 'They asked who had corne.' (15) ein kana, io nevnd 3 hevur l veri02 Kellingin a woman who called has been witch-the 'a woman who has been called the Witch' According to certain recent analyses, the po­ sition of the participle may in cases like (14)­ (15) be explained synchronically by assuming that the participle here serves the function of filling the structural subject slot in the clause (Maling 1990; Barnes 1987). If this assump­ tion is correct, a typologically deviant lineari­ zation pattern has been reanalysed to serve another structural function. There have also been a couple of note­ worthy changes in the other direction. First, whereas ON had both prenominal and post­ nominal adjectives (inn gamli maor, moor inn gamli 'the old man'; cf. Nygaard 1905, 363367), the former modifier-head order is now the only current order in Mainl.Scand. and with few exceptions even in Icel. Second, and similarly, in ON the attributive genitive is found in either pre- or postnominal position (jJrrell konungs 'the king's slave' ,jarls sreti 'the earl's seat'; cf. Nygaard 1905, 368f.). In Mod.Norw. the former option is only found as an alternative with personal pro­ nouns which have the same distribution as possessive pronouns (det gamle huset hans vs. hans gamle hus 'his old house'). In Norw. non­ pronominal genitives and in Sw. and Dan. both pronominal and non-pronominal geni­ tives are restricted to prenominal position. This is a clear case of violation of the head­ modifier order one might expect to find on the basis of the consistency hypothesis. In a number of instances, older postnominal geni­ tives have been replaced by appositions or at­ tributive PPs which, of course, conform to the head-modifier order found in a majority of syntactic constructions (Norw. huset til man­ nen 'the house of the man'). In Mod.!ce!. both genitive orderings have been retained. In Far., the genitive is normally prenominal (Lock­ wood 1977, 104), but postnominal genitives also occur (Barnes 1992, 22). In any case, the Far. genitive is used in a stylistically restricted fashion (Hamre 1961). When definite determiners, the indefinite ar­ ticle, possessive (adjectival or genitive) deter-

1877

miners, and attributive non-pronominal geni­ tives are taken into consideration, the general picture in (16) emerges: (16) Ice!.: (a) no indefinite article (b) prenominal definite determiners (c) (mainly) postnominal possessive de­ terminers (d) pre- and postnominal attributive genitives > Faroese: (a) prenominal indefinite article (b) prenominal definite determiners (c) (mainly) postnominal possessive de­ terminers (d) normally pre-, but occasionally even postnominal attributive genitives > Norw.: (a) prenominal indefinite article (b) prenominal definite determiners (c) post- and prenominal possessive de­ terminers (including pronominal gen­ itives) (d) prenominal attributive genitives. > Dan. and Sw.: (a) prenominal indefinite article (b) prenominal definite determiners (c) prenominal possessive determiners (d) prenominal attributive genitives. It seems natural to conclude that in Mainl.Scand. the adnominal attributive geni­ tive has - in the majority of cases - been in­ tegrated into the determiner system, more spe­ cifically into the subsystem of definite deter­ miners (cf. Braunrniiller 1994), as is also evi­ dent from the morphological fact that attribu­ tive adjectives appear in the weak declension after attributive genitives as well as after in­ flecting definite determiners (Norw. et gam­ melt hus vs. det gamle huset/hans gamle hus 'an vs. the/his old house'). What thus at first glance appears to be a somewhat unprincipled counterinstance to a pervasive typological lin­ earization tendency towards postspecification should rather be viewed as the outcome of a simplification of the relation between the class of determiners (specifiers) and the nominal head in NPs. As is evident from (16), this structural simplification is carried more con­ sistently through in the eastern part of the Scand. area than in the west.

1878

5.

XVII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I: Typology

Morphological categories and simplification patterns

Morphological typology deals both with grammatical categories and their morphemic realization. As for instance noted by Green­ berg (1966b), in this domain certain asymmet­ ric irnplicational rules 0 btain to the effect that the presence of one - marked - category im­ plies the existence of another - unmarked category, but not vice versa. Examples of such categorical markedness relations are: (17) indicative present singular 3rd person nominative

< < < <
tage(n) ni 'take you'. Later this plural form occurred in com­ bination with nominalizing circumlocutions in the third person singular (Ers majestat, viijen I . . . 'Your Majesty, would you like . . .'), and subsequently without pronoun support (Vil! eders majestat . . .), and when such forms of address in the third person had become estab­ lished, so did the corresponding pronoun variant (Onskar han rida pa jakt? 'Does he wish to ride to the hun!?'). At this stage of elaborate politeness, Swedish balked and did

1900

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

not, as did German (and Danish), also pro­ ceed to press the third-person plural pronoun (Sie and De respectively) into use for singular address forms. The use of the various alterna­ tive forms of address follows more or less rigid rules (Nordman 1918; Ahlgren 1978; Wid­ mark 1994b). In 1495 the first book was printed in Swedish, Aff dyiiffwlsens Jriistilse [On the temptation of the devil]. However, the art of printing did not have a decisive impact until the Reformation. Thanks to the new technol­ ogy, it became possible to disseminate large editions of first the New Testament in 1526 (NT) and then the Gustav Vasa Bible of 1541 (GVB) all over the country, providing access to both Protestant ideas and an authoritative model for written Swedish, at least for those who could read. An important feature of the language used by the Bible translators was the scope of their consistency in spelling and mor­ phology. This is in evidence in the latter parts of NT and especially in GVB. These editions of the Bible reflect central Swedish spoken lan­ guage more than early written Swedish did, a consequence of the fact that the Reformation advocates who executed the translations came from the provinces around Lake MaJaren. Nonetheless, the language relates to a great extent to an older Vadstena tradition, and in this respect G VB is more conservative than NT, which with its less uniform linguistic code also evinces more modern features. Even though the earliest Bibles in Swedish were printed in large editions from the very begin­ ning (NT in 2000 copies), their significance in terms of establishing language norms was con­ strained by the fact that literacy was unusual outside the clergy. The impact that early Bible language nevertheless had on written Swedish can be explained by the fact that, on the one hand, it clearly established a stylistic model for other religious literature written for a broader target group - more than half of everything published in Sweden in the 1 7th c. belonged to the religious genre - and, on the other, that over a long period of time new edi­ tions of the Bible to a great extent retained the language of the Reformation Bibles. We can state with great confidence that this lin­ guistic impact was long-lasting. It goes without saying that the Swedish Bible translations were not unaffected by Lu­ ther's German translation from 1 522, and it is therefore not strange that especially GVB evinces a certain influence from German, for example, the final position of the auxiliary

verb in subordinate clauses. More generally it can be said that this foreign influence on the Swedish language did indeed remain, al­ though it waned during the 1 6th and 1 7th cen­ turies, and both the church and the state en­ couraged the use of Swedish at the expense of Latin, German, and Danish. The greatest vigilance against foreign influence was ob­ served during Sweden's period as a Great Power toward the middle of the 17th c. Latin was tolerated as the language of diplomacy, but if a foreign emissary presented his message in another foreign language (such as German of French), he was to be answered in Swedish as a matter of principle (Stillie 1984, 1 4). An interesting example of effective safeguarding of the integrity of Swedish is that, in the early 17th c., the highest authorities apparently grew to dislike the Danish -e endings in infini­ tives like kaste (kasta) 'throw' and skrive (skriva) 'write'. Even though no decree to this effect is extant, it must be concluded that this fell under strict control, since the use of -e among scribes in the king's chancellery abruptly stopped in 1612 (Svensson 1981). Political moves were probably also behind the rapid Swedification of official prose in the southern provinces that Sweden took over from Denmark in the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. Up till 1679, the language used in Scanian judgment books was still Danish, but less than fifteen years later minutes were kept in something close to pure Swedish (Ohlsson 1978). One reason for this sudden transform­ ation is the fact that spoken Scanian at that time did not diverge more from Swedish than from the Danish written language. Also, the radical shift was probably facilitated by that fact that this was more often a matter of re­ placing a Danish clerk with a Swedish one than requiring individual scribes to switch lan­ guages. The Bible translations and a stronger cen­ tral state under Gustav Vasa brought about a more uniform Swedish written language from the middle of the 16th c. The question is when we can claim that a more uniform na­ tional spoken language - a norm for standard speech - started to be established. It has long been thought that this took place only toward the end of the 17th c. If this was the case, then Sweden would deviate from countries like Germany and Denmark, where it has been as­ serted that a national spoken norm could be distinguished as early as during the late Middle Ages. The basic assumption has been that even though 16th-c. Swedish society had

205. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically II: Swedish

a hierarchical structure, it had not developed sharp cultural differences among the various social strata. Clergy and nobility often took part in the social and cultural events of the country folk (Svensson 1988, 37) and spoke basically the same language as the farmers in the same area (Wessen 1937, 297). By compar­ ing dictionaries and grammars from the 1 6th and 1 7th centuries, Hessehnan (1904) demon­ strated that men with book-learning also pro­ nounced words like bloss 'torch', skepp 'ship', and oppen 'open' in accordance with the syl­ labic structure of their horne dialect (either with a long root vowel followed by a short consonant or vice versa). The conclusion, with which Wessen (1937) and others concur, is that we cannot assume that there was a na­ tional spoken Swedish norm until the end of the 1 7th c. Nonetheless, in parallel with the altered view of when Swedish first started to exhibit social differentiation, recent research has also wished to move back the dating of a spoken Swedish nonn. One argument is that the con­ siderable dialectal differences that existed in the 1 6th c. would have precluded communi­ cation that evidently did take place between speakers from different regions - unless people with marked dialects had the ability to switch to some sort of super-regional speech in these situations. According to Hohn (1984), it is largely the language of the king and the capital that constituted the basis for this "lingua franca". According to Gun Widmark (1992a, 182ff.; 1 992b and 2000, especially 26f.; see also art. 1 66), these facts can be ordered in a pat­ tern. A fonn of public speech based on writing served as a national language. This was true of Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. One way to designate this way of speaking in Sweden was "court language". It was used primarily in situations of a public character but was also pressed into service as a lingua franca across dialectal boundaries where mutual intelligibil­ ity was impeded. In principle it was rather strictly nonnative. Private speech, on the other hand, allowed strongly regional colouring. However, the line between public and private language was fuzzy, and the prestigious court language did spread, affecting private speech that was not intimate in nature. In this way a refined colloquial language emerged that also brought with it prestige and could spread downward in society, above all in the cities. The highest prestige was attached to the col­ loquial speech of Stockholm. In the 1 7th c.

1901

sporadic attempts were made to have this lan­ guage received as the written nonn (see Wid­ mark 1992a, 195). For the time being, it is safest to conclude that the dating of a national spoken Swedish norm remains an open ques­ tion. The Reformation represented a temporary decline for Swedish culture. Monasteries were plundered and collections of books dis­ mantled. Not least to suffer were schools. To the higher nobility this may not have made much difference, since they often provided for the education of their children by employing private tutors. In 1571, however, the first Swedish school system was introduced, and as early as the 1580s the pedagogical crisis had been largely remedied. Still, there were very few schools, and they were non-existent out­ side the cities. The school regulations estab­ lished that Christianity and Latin would con­ tinue to be the main school subjects. A new regulation from 1611 prescribed 28 hours per week of Latin in the four lower grades of grammar school (Lindroth 1975, 65). The first high schools were established in the 1620s in Vasteris, Strangnas, and Linkoping. For a long time schooling was the privilege of a narrow stratum of the power elite and future clergy. Thus, schools did not play a ma­ jor role in the dissemination of literacy among broad social strata. Instead, that task was as­ sumed by the church, which in the 1 571 Church Act emphasized the importance of teaching Christianity to everyone. The Church Act of 1686 made it clear that the Eucharist was reserved for those who had attained a basic level ofliteracy. Literacy training as such was left to each household, whereas the church would be responsible for assessment in con­ nection with so-called catechetical visits to the horne. Preserved records of these visits from parishes in central and northern Sweden indi­ cate a striking improvement in the ability to read "familiar texts" in the second half of the 1 7th c. While itmay be true that the standards were low and there may well have been a cer­ tain amount of overreporting, the material does show that at least younger Swedes were almost universally literate in a rudimentary sense by the end of the 1600s (Johansson 1 984). The situation was completely different as re­ gards the ability to write. It is calculated that as late as 1 800 only 15-20 per cent of Sweden's male population mastered the art of writing. The examples ofwomen's writing that we encounter from the middle of the 17th c.

1902

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

normally involve individuals from the upper nobility, and their texts (such as Ebba Brahe's letters or Agneta Horns's handwritten auto­ biography) are clearly marked by spoken lan­ guage. Considerable variation in spelling and choice offonns are other signs that these noble women were unpracticed in writing.

4.

The 18th and 19th centuries

Some of the milestones in the development of the Swedish language in the 1 8th and 19th cen­ turies are a far-reaching standardization ofthe written language, the introduction of Swedish as a language of science and scholarship, the pervasive transformation of the public lan­ guage, which is related to a strong bourgeoisie, and - toward the end of the period - the emergence of a growing working class de­ manding a place and a say in the social arena. Sweden's population multiplied from 1 . 5 million in 1700 to ahnost 5 million in 1900. These figures reveal increasing prosperity, all the more so since they occasionally declined due to failed crops and diseases, and in the latter half of the 1800s through extensive emi­ gration (between 1 865 and World War I more than one million Swedes left the country, pri­ marily for North America). The life expect­ ancy of Swedes increased between 1750 and 1900 from 40 to 60 years, largely owing to de­ creasing child mortality. Cities were still grow­ ing but only slowly, and as recently as 1 800, 90 per cent of the population lived in the coun­ tryside. Stockholm alone exhibits a different trend, growing from just under 50,000 in 1700 to 75,000 in 1 800 and to as many as 300,000 a hundred years later. This concentration of population facilitated the distribution of the periodical press, for example, and led to the capital seeing the establishment of a series of new newspapers (of varying longevity) be­ tween 1720 and 1860. Less tangible conse­ quences of this first wave of urbanization are the levelling of incoming dialects into a new city variety, on the one hand, and more sys­ tematic oral variation due to increased social stratification and sharper divisions of labour, on the other. Up till 1 840, farmers made up 80 per cent of the population in Sweden, but thereafter the structure of industry started to be transformed, and by 1900 farmers account­ ed for only 55 per cent. Nor did the coun­ tryside itself remain unchanged: the 1 749 re­ form of the land-partitioning laws broke up old village communities, and farms were redis­ tributed in a manner that should have left

traces in rural patterns of communication. One thing that cannot be ruled out is that the increased difficulties adolescents had in meeting regularly might have made local speech habits less susceptible to change. The 1 8th c. did not see any advances in edu­ cation for anyone other than upper-class children. However, a certain degree of social unrest and the discovery that the schooling at horne that had thus far been practised was not functioning particularly well sparked a debate about society's responsibility for the upbring­ ing and education of children. Sporadically, and by private initiative, schools for the poor were set up in certain cities. In the countryside schools began to appear only in the 1 9th c. Elementary schools were established in 1 842, and this meant that the responsibility for popular education was transferred from the church to the state and local authorities. In practice this meant neither that everyone at­ tended school nor that those who did always learned to read and write. Skills also varied across different sections of the country. This is shown in a study of the ability to write among individuals who had been convicted of felonies between 1865 and 1 870 (Soderberg 1993). While the share of convicts who could write amounted to 63 per cent in Stockholm, the corresponding figures were 30 per cent and 22 per cent for Gotaland and Norrland re­ spectively. In general, the situation was better in the cities than in rural areas. Broadly speak­ ing, the ability to write had become universal by 1900. At that time the requirement to be able to read and write had just been for­ mulated in the Elementary School Statutes of 1897. The fact that literacy emerged slowly in Sweden does not mean that people in general were completely unfamiliar with their contem­ porary written language. Through a long­ standing and well-organized announcement system, decrees and notices from the author­ ities were read out by their priest at the Sunday church service. This was clearly a precondition for the use of "court language" (cf. section 3.) as the national language. Even before the Reformation, secular matters had begun to be made public in connection with church servi­ ces, but with the Church Act of 1686 this was made systematic, and in the 1 8th c. the priests' announcement duties were expanded to in­ clude decisions of parliament and private no­ tices. The language that Swedish peasants came into contact with may have served both as a model for public speech (since the presen-

205. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically II: Swedish

tation was oral) and as a taste of what they should aspire to as citizens who could write. This system must have been extremely effec­ tive as an instrument for standardizing the lan­ guage: almost simultaneously, exactly the same documents were read aloud across the entire country in a context in which simple people were virtually all assembled. This oc­ curred Sunday after Sunday well into the 1 9th c., and the masses of text thus communicated to the people were not small (cf. Andreasson 1985). Gertrud Pettersson (1 992) maintains that written language could also have been adapted to the prevailing culture of reading aloud. She found that a great many of the emendations that Swedish legal language un­ derwent after 1734 can be attributed to the fact that the text was subsequently meant to be read silently - not to be read aloud. After an uneven struggle with the domi­ nance of Latin, in the 1 8th c. Swedish com­ menced its conquest of the domain of science and scholarship. The first person to lecture in Swedish at a university was Andreas Rydelius in Lund in the 1710s. Even earlier, but more at the outskirts of the academic world, Petrus Lagerlof used Swedish in the collegiums he held in Uppsala as early as 1691 . In fact, the Swedish language was the subject of those gatherings (RongefTjaderjWidmark 1999). The gradual shift to Swedish is to a great ex­ tent related to the interest in "utility" that characterized the 18th c. It is therefore no co­ incidence that the country's first doctoral dis­ sertation in Swedish (1738) dealt with fish­ ing in the streams of northern Sweden. The Academy of Science made a major contribu­ tion to the introduction of Swedish in the do­ main oflearning by publishing its proceedings in the mother tongue from its inception (1739). The 1 8th c. is associated with the influence of France on Swedish cultural life. In actual fact French, at the court and in certain literary circles, had already played a major role in the 1 7th c. The 1 8th c. also saw the rise of resis­ tance to things French - which, to be sure, were recognized as culturally superior but at the same time were seen as in some sense of dubious moral fiber (Stahle 1984, 15). The dia­ logue in Carl Gyllenborg's play Swenska spriitthoken [The Swedish Dandy] (1737) is il­ luminating: the unsympathetically portrayed Greve Hurtig ('Count Sprightly') overloads his speech with French insertions (see Wid­ mark 1970, 51 ff.). Not understanding or being able to correctly pronounce French loan­ words, on the other hand, was no less con-

1903

demning, and in Haqvin Spegel's dictionary from 1712, the directly imported words bagage and logement are sanctioned, whereas the older loans via German pagase and losement are marked as vulgar (Stilhle 1984). French influence reached its zenith during the regency of Gustav III (1771-1 792). With the rise of 1 9th-c. romantic nationalism, it became more or less passe. It is not only in regard to French loanwords that the Swedish Dandy (above) provides evi­ dence of social variation in the conversational language of the 1 8th c. Among the simpler characters, short spoken forms dominate, while personages of rank are often character­ ized by long word forms and syntax typical of written language. It has been said that the 1 8th c. is the period in which sociolinguistic distinctions in the modern sense developed in Sweden (Teleman 1985, 9). Yet it is not quite so easy after the fact to reconstruct the socio­ linguistic and stylistic structures of conversa­ tional Swedish in the 1 8th and 19th centuries. A central point of departure is to be found in the 1 8th-c. grammarian Sven Hof. In his book Swenska sprakets ratta skrifsatt [The Proper Writing of Swedish] (1753), he dis­ cussed what type of spoken language con­ stituted the most suitable model for the wa­ vering written norm of his day. Here he dis­ tinguished between public speech and conver­ sational speech, and he divided the latter into colloquial speech, which is heard among the upper classes, and everyman's speech, used by simple folk. Hof left outright dialects out of the discussion entirely. Public speech, accord­ ing to Hof, is used "when one delivers an extended address before a large gathering of people" , and it is characterized by "harder, longer, and more expansive words" . Many factors indicate thatthis kind ofpublic spoken language is what was referred to in the 17th c. as "court language" (Widmark 2000). Hof stated that colloquial language is more supple, with "shorter and more lightly formed words". His description makes it clear that a distinguishing stylistic feature was the numer­ ous pairs of variants such as sade/sa 'said', sedan/sen 'since'. Public speech is a conserva­ tive form oflanguage close to writing. The fact that it is not entirely identical to writing is in­ dicated by Hofs conclusion: public speech constitutes the "general form of speech", that should be used as a model for written lan­ guage. Colloquial speech cannot be accepted as the "general form of speech", not even in its prestige variant, which is used "in Stock-

1904

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

holm and its neighbouring provinces, especial­ ly in distinguished and honest homes" . How­ ever, features of this language are sometimes mentioned as forms that can compete with those used in public speech. The fact that Hofs observations were no mere constructions or were applicable only to the 1 8th c. is supported by the stylistic charts that LyttkensjWulff (1889) and Adolf Noreen (1903) proposed - probably independently of each other. Still ignoring marked dialects, their schemes are even more finely graduated, with no fewer than six different levels of style. The main registers are nonetheless the same as in Hof: the language of public intercourse, the language of learned intercourse, and the language of less-educated conversation, each with two subdivisions (Noreen). Just as in Hof, we are dealing with a mixture of stylistic and social differences, and each level is con­ scientiously exemplified by constructed lan­ guage samples. This sophisticated stylistic variation is foreign to today's Swedes, which must indi­ cate that levelling has occurred. Just how this might have happened is explained by Wid­ mark in the following way. During the 1 8th c. the language of the court lost its prestige, and as a consequence of this the more refined colloquial speech expanded its domain and be­ gan to be heard in situations in which public speech previously prevailed. Reflexes of this are the fact that colloquial forms - in contra­ vention to Hofs recommendations - appear in writing as well. Studies of 1 8th-c. prose pro­ vide examples of this, such as short forms like bli (bliva) 'become', ge (giva) 'give', mar (mader) 'mother', and ner (neder) 'down' (O st­ man 1 992) and singular predicate forms used with plural subjects (Larsson 1988). Later in the 18th and 1 9th centuries, devel­ opments changed directions, and more stilted language regained territory. One reason for this is that the majority of the country's popu­ lation, which had not had the opportuniy to acquire colloquial language in the salons of the capital, asserted themselves in the 19th c. Their public speech - based on the written lan­ guage that either they themselves had read or had had read aloud to them - became the var­ iety they turned to when their dialect would not do, that is, even in contexts where educated Stockholmers would choose collo­ quial speech. This usage was perceived for a time and in certain circles as a shibboleth of the upstarts and was condescendingly referred to as "schoolmarm Swedish". Thus, while the

well-to-do stretched the boundaries of use of their educated colloquial speech into the pub­ lic domain and into writing, those who did not have access to the refined speech of the salons were pulling in the opposite direction: they expanded the domain of use for the lan­ guage of public intercourse and used it in pri­ vate colloquy as well. The boundary between public speech and colloquial speech - bookish Swedish and spoken Swedish - was thereby undermined from two directions, and there could only be one result: the two styles merged into one. Syntactically it was greatly in­ fluenced by the more relaxed colloquial speech, but in terms of pronunciation it was marked by dependence on the written form that was characteristic of bookish Swedish. The coinciding trajectories of public speech and upper-class colloquial speech must not be taken to mean that the 20th c. saw a uniform Swedish language completely lacking in social and stylistic variation. On the other hand, the scope of the stylistic spectrum diminished and the levels became less numerous and less dis­ tinctly separate than they seem to have been in the society of the 1 8th and 19th centuries. The final decades of the 19th c. saw the cul­ mination ofthe debate about the democratiza­ tion of Swedish public language and the adap­ tation of written norms to the new society that was emerging. A new-spelling movement work­ ed for a radical reform of orthography to narrow the gap between speech and writing. Influential linguists such as Adolf Noreen and GustafCederschi6ld wished to preserve stylis­ tic differentiation and attempted to raise the status of elementary schoolteachers by carry­ ing out campaigns for language education (see Tarschys 1955). Within the budding popular movements there was intense educational ac­ tivity to train representatives of new ideas and social classes, not least the labour movement. Debating techniques and how to keep minutes were practised in folk high schools and in political discussion circles. The need to keep emotional distance and have a command of formal language in central genres were design­ ed to provide young social reformers with a fighting chance to assert themselves - and the ideology they represented - in the public arena (Josephson 1996).

5.

20th century sociolinguistic trends

During the 20th c. the population of Sweden has grown from just under 5 million to almost 9 million. This happened despite a declining

205. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically II: Swedish

birth rate but thanks to enhanced life expec­ tancy and substantial immigration of labour during the post-war period. With industrial­ ization, migration to cities and towns accelerat­ ed, and in the 1930s a turning point was reached where for the first time more Swedes lived in towns and cities than in the country­ side. Today, people living in urban areas con­ stitute about 85 per cent of the population. The size of Stockhohn has tripled during the period and is now roughly one million. Des­ pite this, the transformation has probably been more noticeable in other cities that did not become urbanized until the 20th c. Swe­ den's main occupations were dramatically transformed during the century. From ac­ counting for more than 50 per centof gainfully employed people at the beginning of the 1900s, agriculture now provides work for 2- 3 per cent. Up to the mid 1960s, industry had grown and became dominant, but since then that too has relinquished ground to the service sector, which employs a good two thirds of the popu­ lation today. General democratization, sub­ stantially improved education, and explosive media developments are 20th-c. trends that Sweden largely shares with other western countries. Features that give Sweden a profile of its own are the state-sponsored welfare sys­ tem and a relatively long period of peace. Of course, a great deal has happened during the 20th c. as regards both spoken and written Swedish. Two concrete examples from the stream of linguistic change are the definitive loss of plural verb conjugations in writing (vi gingo 'we went' has been replaced by vi gick) and the nearly complete transition to the gen­ eral use of familiar du 'you' in forms of ad­ dress. Both of these changes can be seen as representing more general tendencies in lan­ guage development. The simplified verb con­ jugation (which has been part of casual spoken Swedish for several hundred years) illustrates the narrowing gap between spoken and writ­ ten language that has been especially marked after World War II - new, spelling-based pro­ nunciations have been introduced in the spoken language at the same time as the writ­ ten language has taken over forms from casual speech and radically simplified syntax; the du reform can be seen as an expression of both social equality and increasing intimacy in con­ versational tone, for example, in the media and when the authorities communicate with the general public. The old dialects have lost much of their lo­ cal character during the 20th c. This can partly

1905

be attributed to the influence of the media, but also to schooling and the increasing use of written language. Decisive significance should be assigned to the geographical and so­ cial mobility of Swedish society. In connection with the modernization of agriculture, a large number of Swedes left the countryside where they had grown up for more secure employ­ ment in industrial centres in central Sweden. In inner areas of Norrland in the 1950s and 1960s, it was not unusual for half of a village's inhabitants to move south. Themost seriously affected parts of the country were those with the most pronounced dialects - West Bothnia, Dalecarlia, Viirmland, and Gotland. When the close-knit village communities were erod­ ed in this manner, the dialects also lost some oftheir importance as symbols oflocal shared values. A far-reaching municipal reform in the early seventies (combining small locally governed districts into larger administrative units) may also have played a part in this con­ nection. National forms have spread and re­ placed, above all, the most local variants. Levelled dialects have thereby arisen when the national counterparts to the abandoned local features are combined with retained dialect variants which have greater support in the larger region. Thus, the multiplicity of local dialects seems to be on its way to being re­ placed by a more limited number of regional ones (Thelander 1979). At the sarne time, in areas with a strong concentration of immi­ grants there are signs that entirely new Swedish dialects are being formed - enriched by words from a series of different languages but with the sort of simplified syntax and morphology that is often the consequence of contact between different languages or dia­ lects (Kotsinas 1988). On the threshold of the 21st c. we can dis­ tinguish a few factors that appear to be es­ pecially important in the future fate of Swedish. One is the role played by English in Swedish society - not primarily as a source of loanwords but as a competitor to Swedish in specific domains. One question that arises is whether Swedish as a language of science is doomed to be a mere parenthesis between Latin and English. Other factors that no doubt will influence the conditions for using Swedish are information technology, the European Union, and the ethnically complex and multi­ lingual environment in Sweden today. The relative dynamism we perceive in the 20th c. in terms of sociolinguistics may be due to our lack of perspective. Whether future historians

1906

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

of language choose to paint another picture depends partly on whether what has happened comes to be overshadowed by language devel­ opments in waiting that will be even more dramatic.

svenska sprdkets utveckling (eds. Lena Moberg/ Margareta Westman) (SNSS 81). Stockhohn, 31 49. Nordman, Ann-Mari (1918), TiUtalsskicket i sven­ skan. In: SNF 9, 4 : 1 1 1 1 . Noreen, Adolf (1903), Vart sprak 1 . Lund.

6.

Literature (a selection)

Ahlgren, Perry (1978), Tilltalsordet ni: Dess seman­ tik och anviindning i historiskt perspektiv (ADD 12). Uppsala. Andreasson, Elisabeth (1985), Det varldsliga kun­ gorandet under 1700-talets gudstjanster. In: Det of­ fentliga sprdkbruket och dess villkor i Sverige under 1700-talet (ed. Utf Teleman) (Nordlund 7). Lund, 153 169. Hesselman, Bengt (1904), Kritiskt bidrag till Liran om nysvenska riksspraket. In: Nordiska studier tillegnade Adolf Noreen pd hans 50-brsdag den 13 mars 1904. Uppsala, 375 394. Hesselman, Bengt (1937), Brollopsdikter pa dialekt fran 1600- och 1700-talen (Nordiska texter och undersokningar 10). Uppsala. Hesselman, Bengt (1948), Huvudlinjer i nordisk sprakhistoria (Nordisk kultur 3 4). Uppsala. Hof, Sven (1753), Swenska sprakets riitta skrifsiitt. Stockhohn. Hohn, Gosta (1984), Kritiskt bidrag till Liran om nysvenska rikstalspraket. In: Festskrift til Einar Lundeby 3. oktober 1984. Oslo, 177 183. Johansson, Egil (1984), Den faktiska Liskun­ nigheten. In: De nordiske skriftsprakenes utvikling pa l800-tallet. Skolens og lese- og skriveferdighetens betydning for de nordiske skriftsprakenes utvikling pa l800-tallet (Nordisk spraksekretariats rapporter 4). Oslo, 58 65. Josephson, OUe (1996), Ett nytt svenskt sprak. In: Arbetarna tar ordet. Sprak och kommunikation i tidig arbetarrorelse (ed. OUe Josephson). Stockhohn, 329 339. Kotsinas, Ulla-Britt (1988), Stockhohnssprak i forandring. In: Studier i svensk sprakhistoria (ed. Gertrud Pettersson) (Lundastudier i nordisk sprak­ vetenskap A: 41). Lund, 133 147. Larsson, Kent (1988), Den plurala verbbojningen i iildre svenska: Studier i en spraklig foriindringspro­ cess (Skrifter utgivna av Institutionen for nordiska sprak vid Uppsala universitet 22). Uppsala. Lindroth, Sten (1975), Svensk liirdomshistoria: Stor­ maktstiden. Stockhohn. Lyttkens, I. A./Wulff, F. A. (1889), Svensk uttalsord­ bok. Lund. Moberg, Lena (1989), Llzgtyskt och svenskt i Stock­ holms medeltida tiinkebOcker (Acta Academiae Re­ giae Gustavi Adolphi 58). Stockhohn. Moberg, Lena (1998), Svenskt och tyskti medeltida Stockhohn. In: Svenskan i tusen ar. Glimtar ur

Ostman, Carin (1992), Den korta svenskan: Om re­ ducerade ordformers inbrytning i skriftspraket under nysvensk tid (Skrifter utgivna av Institutionen for nordiska sprak vid Uppsala universitet 30). Upp­ sala. Ohlsson, Stig Orjan (1978), Skanes sprakliga for­ svenskning 1 (Lundastudier i nordisk sprakveten­ skap A: 30). Lund. Pettersson, Gertrud (1992), Lagsprak och samhiills­ utveckling: Studier over svenskt lagsprak efter 1734 (Lundastudier i nordisk sprakvetenskap A: 46). Lund. Pettersson, Gertrud (1996), Svenska spraket under 700 ar: En historia omsvenskan och dess utforskande. Lund. Ronge, Hans H.jTjader, Borje/Widmark, Gun (1999), Petrus LagerlOfs collegium 1691 angaende wart Swenska spraks cultiverande (Nordiska texter och undersokningar 27). Uppsala. Soderberg, Johan (1993), Civilisering, marknad och vald i Sverige 1750 1870: En regional analys (Stock­ holm Studies in Economic History 18). Stockholm. Stlhle, Carl-Ivar (1984), Foreign iniluences on the Swedish language in the 17th century. Social and professional stratification. In: NS 62, 1984, 5 17. Svensson, Jan (1988), Kommunikationshistoria: Om kommunikationsmiljon i Sverige Wider fem sekler. Lund. Svensson, Lars (1981), Ett fall av sprakvard under 1600-talet: Om historiskt a i iindelser i iildre ny­ svenskt skriftsprak med siirskild hiinsyn till reglering­ en i tryckta kanslihandlingar under Gustav II Adolfs regering (Lundastudier i nordisk sprakvetenskap A: 33). Lund. Sveriges nationalatlas. Befolkningen (1991), (eds. Sture Oberg/Peter Springfeldt). Hoganas. Tarschys, Karin (1955), "Svenska spraket och litte­ raturen». Studier over modersmaIsundervisningen i hogre skolor. Stockhohn. Teleman, Ulf (1985), 1700-talets sprakhistoria i fagelperspektiv: Om forhallandet mellan sprak och historia. In: Det offentliga sprakbruket och dess vill­ kor i Sverige under 1700-talet (ed. Ulf Teleman) (Nordlund 7). Lund, 3 14. Thelander, Mats (1979), Sprakliga variationsmodel­ ler tilliimpade pa nutida Burtriisktal l 2 (AUU 14: 1 2). Uppsala. Wessen, Elias (1937), Vart rikssprak: Nagra huvud­ punkter av dess historiska utveckling (Modersmals­ lararnas forenings arsskrift 1937). Lund.

1907

206. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically III: Norwegian Wessen, Elias (1968), Svensk sprbkhistoria 1. Ljud­ lara och ordbojningslara. 8th ed. Stockholm.

derung des Nordgennanischen. In: Kulturgranser myt eller verklighet? (Diabas 4). Vmea, 139 152.

Wessen, Elias (1979), De nordiska sprbken. 1 1 th ed. Stockholm.

Widmark, Gun (1994b), Ni i stilartsperspektiv. In: SS N. S. 3, 1993, 206 209.

Widmark, Gun (1970), Stildifferentiering i Gyllen­ borgs komedi Swenska spratth6ken. In: NS 49, 1969, 5 77.

Widmark, Gun (2000), Hovspraket en talarts upp­ gimg och fall. In: SS N. S. 9, 1999, 21 34.

Widmark, Gun (1992a), Boksvenska och tal­ svenska. Om sprakarter i nysvenskt talsprak In: SS N.S. 1, 1991, 157 198. Widmark, Gun (1992b), Taldifferentiering och sprakhistoria. In: Studier i svensk sprbkhistoria 2 (ed. Sven-G6ran Malmgren/Bo Ralph). G6teborg, 230 238. Widmark, Gun (1994a), F.lgelperspektiv eller his­ torisk f6rklaring. En diskussion kring Die Glie-

Widmark, Gun (2001), Det sprbk som blev vart. Ur­ sprung och utveckling i svenskan. Urtid rWltid riddartid (Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi 76). Uppsala. Wollin, Lars (1996), Munklatin och riddarsvenska. Den tvasprakiga medeltidskulturen. In: Svenskan i tusen ar. Glimtar ur svenska sprakets utveckling (eds. Lena Moberg/Margareta Westman) (SNSS 81). Stockholm, 11 30.

Mats Thelander, Uppsala (Sweden)

206.

Sociolinguistic structures chronologically III: Norwegian

1. 2. 3.

6.

Introduction The classical Old Nordic period The gradual elimination of Norwegian as a literary language The period of consolidation The re-establishment of a Norwegian literary tradition Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

4. 5.

Several proposals have been put forward over the years to capture the essence and distinctive characteristics of the Norwegian linguistic situation. Haugen (1962) once described the state of affairs as "schizoglossic", referring to the dual identity, so to speak, which the Nor­ wegian community has shown the world over more than a century through the existence of the two written standards, Bokmal and Nynorsk. In the following description of the lines of sociolinguistic development in Norwegian from the Middle Ages till today, we need to work backwards from this schizoglossic state. The fact is that in order to really understand the implications of this dual situation, both with respect to the internal linguistic relation­ ship between the two standards as well as to their socio-cultural values and connotations,

we must look at the history of the Norwegian language through sociolinguistic glasses. Within a specific sociolinguistic framework, this history occupies a rather remarkable po­ sition in the way that it actually takes the form of a narrative that may function as an object lesson in diachronic sociolinguistic mechan­ isms put into practice. The line of argumentation will be kept to the "mainstream" perspective of Norwegian language history. This implies that no account will be taken of the relationship which has existed at different points in history between the Norwegian linguistic majority, on the one hand, and certain indigenous or migrant mi­ nority groups in the Norwegian area on the other. This primarily means the Sami popu­ lation of northern and mid Norway, later also the Finnish-speaking settlements from the 1600s onward, and more recently the numer­ ous ethnic groups which have become Norwe­ gian citizens, especially in the last few decades. The exclusion of certain originally non-Nor­ wegian-speaking groups does not mean, how­ ever, that foreign cultural impact more gen­ erally is absent in the following description quite the opposite. Actually, the impact from other areas has to a huge extent influenced, and in several respects been crucial for, the history of the Norwegian language. This im-

1908

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

pact is, necessarily, intimately connected with certain socio-cultural as well as political con­ ditions which have made the circumstances favourable for the success of such external influences. How, then, should we interpret the expres­ sion "sociolinguistic structures" over such a long historical span? The most convenient and suitable strategy will be to focus on the fol­ lowing initially quite simple issue: Who writes and speaks what kind of language at different historical moments? In order to put these rather prosaic questions into a more intelli­ gible framework, it will, however, be of great importance to try to understand and even ex­ plain the sociolinguistic patterns and tenden­ cies that appear. What social implications is it possible to detect in these tendencies? What kind of socio-cultural meaning do the different linguistic varieties signal; or to put it another way, what is the most likely symbolic value of the codes that come into use from time to time? Finding complete answers to all these questions is, however, an obviously difficult task, due to the lack of data from which we can draw reliable conclusions. The following analysis will be divided into three main parts, corresponding principally to three central phases in the history of the lit­ erary language in Norway, considered within a macro-historical perspective. Certain his­ torical periods will, however, be over-repre­ sented, simply due to the fact that some phases are more crucial for our theme than others. The first part deals with the basis; i.e. a de­ scription of the situation in the Middle Ages when an extensive manuscript culture was es­ tablished in Norway. The second part deals with the period when the Norwegian language underwent the gradual process of being dis­ mantled and finally extinguished as a native literary tradition, and the subsequent consoli­ dation of this new situation. The third part primarily handles the sociolinguistic dimen­ sions connected to the restoration and re-es­ tablishment of two Norwegian literary lan­ guages, and the socio-semantic implications connected with this new and rather peculiar situation, up to modern times. Such an emphasis on the written language does not mean, however, that the oral aspects of this narrative in any way are ignored. On the contrary, the spoken variety used by dif­ ferent social groups will also, as far as possible, be taken into consideration, and in particular the relationship between the oral and the writ­ ten tradition at various historical moments.

At the same time, however, the empirical sour­ ces for an investigation of speech patterns in the past are in general strongly limited or even non-existent. This unfortunate reality is, therefore, partly responsible for the somewhat biased emphasis on the written language here. All the same, it may be legitimate and suffi­ cient to construct a narrative with the literary language in Norway as the principal charac­ ter, as far as general sociolinguistic aspects are concerned.

2.

The classical Old Nordic period

Let us enter the Middle Ages in the second half of the 1 3th c. and regard the linguistic situation in Norway from a bird's-eye view. What kind of varieties, written and spoken, should at this time be taken into consideration as the main elements in the linguistic market? First, it is reasonable to focus on Old Nor­ dic, which was not merely the mother tongue of the main part of the population but which also had attained a solid and cohesive role as the language used for a multitude of written purposes. Since the Latin alphabet had corne into use around the beginning of the 1 1th c. with the introduction of Christianity, there had been a quite advanced tradition in Nor­ way of writing manuscripts in the native tongue. In this respect the Norwegians were influenced by the English, from whom they had received Christianity. This strong indigen­ ous tradition represents a marked contrast to both Sweden and Denmark, which to a greater extent received their cultural influences from Germany where the Latin tradition had a stronger and more comprehensive impact. In Norway, the Old Nordic language achieved its powerful position through a large number of political and cultural institutions where the native language seems to have be­ come the unmarked code. Some of these in­ stitutions, like the Church and the monarchy, were indeed intimately related, as the Church was deeply involved in the political realm as well as the spiritual. Nevertheless, the clergy and royalty represented two of the major and most fundamental text-producing institu­ tions, and the fact that they both adhered to the practice of using Old Nordic, although not for all purposes (see below), was of course of paramount social and symbolic significance, in addition to strengthening and confirming the written tradition itself. Another domain where the native language held a strong po-

206. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically III: Norwegian

sition as the written medium was withinjuridi­ cal matters. Some of the regional laws were among the first documents to be put on parch­ ment, and because these laws originally were oral texts, they represented an important men­ tal bridge between the Nordic past and the medieval present. Thus, Old Nordic filled sev­ eral of the most pressing needs both of the Norwegian Church and the government around the second part of the 13th c. In ad­ dition, it was the language used in poetry and historical literature, and also for various com­ mercial purposes. The total linguistic topography was not, however, as homogeneous and plain as this picture may indicate. A somewhat peculiar as­ pect of this heterogeneity is the continued existence of runes up to the Middle Ages. The Latin alphabet had not succeeded in displac­ ing the use of runes totally, neither function­ ally nor socially. A pattern seems to have de­ veloped where the main use of Latin letters was confined to writing on parchment, which actually was a new and quite distinguished ac­ tivity, executed by a social elite and to a great extent connected with the Church and the monasteries. Runes, on the other hand, were mainly used for epigraphic and more unoffi­ cial purposes; they seem not to have been re­ stricted to any exclusive elite but were more generally known and read by several social segments of the population, both high and low. Principally, the language of the runes was, obviously enough, the native tongue, but inscriptions exist which consist of Latin quo­ tations, too. This leads us to the first real break with the Old Nordic homogeneity during this period of the Middle Ages - the use and social po­ sition of the Latin language. As already men­ tioned, Norway differed at this point quite a lot from both Sweden and Denmark, where the Latinized culture exercised a stronger im­ pact on literary output. But in the Norwegian linguistic community, too, the Latin language had an indisputably prestigious position. This superiority had, naturally, a more basic cause and must be considered as a direct conse­ quence of the establishment in Scandinavia of the Catholic Church, in its Roman version: The universality to which the Church laid claim was symbolized and furthered by the Latin lan­ guage of its writings and services. The awe sur­ rounding the mysteries of religion rubbed off on the language and gave those who mastered it a high prestige, which endured down to early mod­ ern times (Haugen 1976, 180).

1909

In order to really grasp this hegemonic posi­ tion, we must also try to imagine the authority the Church held in people's minds, added to the more prosaic fact that the Church was the principal text-producing institution in a peri­ od where literacy was not general. In any case, Latin was primarily a clerical and to a large extent sacred language, a real in-group code, belonging to some of the most influential men and women of the nation. The level of com­ petence in Latin required from ordinary people probably only involved memorizing texts - like the Credo and Pater Noster. Though the liturgy on the whole was con­ ducted in Latin, prayers seem to have been offered in the mother tongue, at least from the 1 2th c. onward; cf. the Old Norwegian Book of Homilies (Gammelnorsk Homiliebok) which is assumed to have been written down in this period (see e.g. Gunnes 1971 , 9 ff.). There were also, however, other social do­ mains, more or less directly connected to cleri­ cal activity, where Latin was in extensive use within a Norwegian context. In medieval Europe, Latin held an indisputable position as the lingua franca, and in all foreign corre­ spondence Latin was the preferred code. But the clergy generally chose Latin also for inter­ nal administrative matters, for example in ne­ gotiations between the monasteries and the Church. Within some of the more creative lit­ erary domains, on the other hand, there were opposing tendencies as to which language was chosen. Poetry and legends, as well as histori­ cal annals, were written both in Old Nordic and in Latin. The impact from Latin was nevertheless manifested also in other, more subtle ways. The superior status this linguistic code had at­ tained as the language of authority obviously had consequences for the way Latin quite di­ rectly influenced the Old Nordic language in linguistic tenns. This influence is visible in particular within syntax, in the so-called " learned" or " scholarly" style (see e. g. Berulf­ sen 1948, 339ff.). By utilizing Latin syntactic patterns in Old Nordic, it was possible to recreate the specific dimensions of formality and even solemnity which the Latin language to a certain extent connoted. In some original Old Nordic texts it is even possible to find long passages of Latin, where the insertion of Latin obviously can be interpreted as a kind of code­ switching that gives the impression of aca­ demic snobbishness. There was, however, another linguistic vari­ ety which to a quite different extent was in-

1910

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

fluential in the Norwegian speech community during this high medieval period. From around 1250, the North German Hanseatic League was established in the cities of Bergen, Oslo and T0llsberg, and for a period of rnore than 500 years this mercantile organization represented a powerful economic, socio-cul­ tural and linguistic institution in the Norwe­ gian community. Despite the indisputably su­ perior economic position the Hansa league at­ tained in the whole Nordic area within trade, crafts and shipping, there are all the same nu­ merous questions andrnuch uncertainty about the sociolinguistic structures and mechanisms that prevailed in the interactions between the native populations and the German trades­ men (for an overview, see e.g. Braunmiiller 1998; Jensen 1998; Jahr (ed.) 1995). We may, however, start with some initial remarks about the concrete linguistic results of this inter-Germanic contact. There is no doubt about the heavy influence the Middle Low German language had upon Old Nordic in Norway. First and foremost, this impact is manifested through a considerable number of Low German loanwords, but also through word and sentence patterns which already started to appear in documents in the first half of the 1 3 th c. and which steadily increased in number throughout the following period. The adopted lexical items belong to ahnost every sphere of life in medieval times, although they initially were primarily restricted to the do­ mains of feudalism and knighthood. Later on, however, the loanwords were not restricted to any special sphere of society, although the main bulk of the newly adopted items have some connection with shipping, trade, crafts or with other aspects of urban life and activ­ ities (Dalen 1994, 33). How, then, did this transfer take place? Or, to view the question through one of the main perspectives in our context here - who spoke or wrote which language to whom during this rather intensive and long-lasting contact peri­ od? At this point we are touching on the core of what has been considered an essential issue - and problem - within recent research on this topic. The truth is that we really do not know which linguistic code or codes were used in interactions between Norwegians and Middle Low German speakers. There are reasons to believe, however, that due to the structural and genetic similarities between these varieties during this period, this interaction should be characterized more as dialect contact rather than language contact, although this is a prob-

lematic matter of degree and continuity. Ifwe nevertheless keep this as an assumption, both the Norwegians and the Germans may have been passively multidialectal and might there­ fore have been engaging in some sort of "semi­ communication", or even to a great extent in a more regular kind of mutually comprehen­ sible interaction. Within this social inter­ course, it is highly probable that a multitude of accommodation strategies were used, es­ pecially in the direction of convergence. If we also assume that Low German was considered a rather prestigious language in the Norwe­ gian linguistic marketplace, it is reasonable to believe that the convergence processes were more uni-directional than reciprocal. The fre­ quent occurrence of Low German elements in Old Nordic written texts gives us at least a strong indication of this. There are, all the same, some troublesome questions connected to the channels through which the Low German elements passed into the Norwegian language. In the first place, it seems that the more direct routes of influence involved oral contact between Norwegians and Germans. Influence through the written medium has probably been rather minimal, either because Latin was used as a lingua franca for a period in the most seminal docu­ ments, or because the Germans simply wrote some kind of Low German and the Norwe­ gians some kind of Old Nordic. But how, then, did the actual success and expansion of German influence occur? How was this immense and comprehensive impact on the Norwegian language achieved in the light of the fact that direct social contact was primarily restricted to three urban centres, and even there partially limited due to the social isolation of the Hanseatic population, es­ pecially in the most important Hansa town, Bergen? One explanation for this rather puz­ zling situation seems to be intimately connec­ ted with the fact that another variety was in­ troduced and became highly influential in the Norwegian linguistic market during the medi­ eval period - namely Danish. In the Danish written variety of Old Nordic, the Low Ger­ man elements were integrated at an earlier time than in Norwegian, and thus Low Ger­ man influence could be passed on into Nor­ wegian more or less indirectly through this written and linguistically-speaking similar code. At this point we have moved to the second phase, i.e. the period when the Norwegian lan­ guage underwent a gradual process of being

206. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically III: Norwegian

dismantled and finally extinguished as a written tradition. And in this process the Danish ver­ sion of Old Nordic came to play a crucial role.

3.

The gradual elimination of Norwegian as a literary language

Over a period of somewhat more than a hund­ red years, from the very end of the 14th c. to the beginning of the 16th, a substantial trans­ formation in the Norwegian literary tradition took place, culminating in the complete elim­ ination of the Norwegian literary variant of Old Nordic - with some marginal exceptions. At the time of the Reformation in 1536, Nor­ wegian as a literary language was totally dia­ lectalized. This implies, in other words, that a metamorphosis had taken place in the Nor­ wegian socio-cultural and linguistic sphere: the former codified written form of the lan­ guage in the Norwegian community had dis­ appeared and was replaced by another society's linguistic code, i. e. Danish, which attained the position as the written means of expression. There is not, however, anything mysterious in this process. If we have a closer look at the political and socio-cultural circumstances which accompanied this process of language shift, the linguistic transformation appears to be both comprehensible and rather obvious. In the following we will go further into the mechanisms and principles behind this pro­ cess, with emphasis on the social routes which the Danish language followed into the Norwe­ gian linguistic market; or looking at it the other way around - what course the Norwe­ gian language followed on its way out of that market. A central perspective in the following will be a description of the patterns of social access which the Danish language attained within a number of domains in the Norwegian linguistic community, and furthermore what kind of social implications these patterns seem to have. Before we continue, it is important to men­ tion a fundamental but rather implicit condi­ tion which may contribute to a more thorough understanding of certain aspects of this pro­ cess oflanguage shift. What we need is a more explicit focus on the communicative conse­ quences of the linguistic differences between the Norwegian and the Danish version of Old Nordic as these linguistic structures appeared around the end of the 14th c. There is no doubt about the intimate genetic relationship be­ tween the two varieties, and this closeness was

1911

considerably more comprehensive at this stage of language history than today - with respect to both the spoken forms and the written ones. This leads us to believe, or even presuppose, that the distance between the Norwegian and Danish codes contributed to a situation more analogous to real dialect contact rather than to language contact - if we consider these terms to be two idealized extremes on a con­ tinuum. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that there were no problems of mutual intelligibil­ ity which would prevent real communication between the two groups of language users. On the contrary, it is more plausible to assume that the interaction to a certain degree was rather effortless, especially if we accept the hypothesis that there was some sort of "semi­ communication" between speakers of Old Nordic and Middle Low German, where the linguistic distance definitely was greater. We will return to some of the probable conse­ quences of this linguistic closeness between Norwegian and Danish later. How, then, did the Norwegian community reach a situation where the traditional literary language was substituted by another linguistic code? What fundamental political, demo­ graphic and socio-cultural factors were deci­ sive in such a transformation? Basically this metamorphosis must be considered as a rather straightforward consequence of the general political situation in the Norwegian state. During the High Middle Ages, there were a number of different unions between the Nor­ dic countries, and the result was a gradual shift in the balance between the states. Such a change in the power relations became quite obvious when Norway entered into a union with Denmark in 1 3 80 and stayed there, under somewhat differing political terms, until 1814, at times also with Sweden as a participant. Within this alliance, Norway was from the very beginning the weaker partner, an asym­ metry which among other things was attribu­ table to the huge economic and social damage caused by the Black Death. As the union after some time reinforced and to a certain extent increased the imbalance between its two mem­ bers, the Norwegian community was increas­ ingly laid more open to cultural influence and pressure from abroad - first and foremost from Denmark, but during certain periods also from Sweden, as well as from the Low German area, as described earlier. Although there are currently discussions about what kind of role the Norwegian area actually played in the various phases of the

1912

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

coalition with Denmark, there are some 0 b­ jective events which indisputably undermined the basis for the continuous use of the Nor­ wegian literary language. One contributing factor was the relocation of the King's resi­ dence outside Norway, which after some time was permanently situated in Copenhagen. In addition, an almost identical move took place with respect to the Royal Council, which meant that the decisions concerning union matters were made and written down in Copenhagen. Some ofthe other crucial factors we find within the constitution of the socio­ cultural elite in Norway. From the very begin­ ning of the union period there tended to be increasingly larger proportions of Danes, and to a certain extent also Swedes, both in the Norwegian nobility and in the Civil Service ­ the ecclesiastical as well as the secular branches. After some time, a quite radical "de­ nationalization" of these most prominent groups of text-producers in Norway had been achieved. Not unexpectedly, these factors turned out to be highly important for deter­ mining the routes along which the replacement of the Norwegian literary language was mov­ ing. When taking an overview of the language shift from Norwegian to Danish, we have to consider a temporal as well as a social dimen­ sion in this process. As already mentioned, Danish influence started to be visible in manu­ scripts at the very end of the 14th c., ahnost immediately after Danish had become the lan­ guage of diplomas in Denmark itself. The re­ placement of Norwegian was completed dur­ ing the first decades of the 16th c.; i.e. the en­ tire process covered a period of approximately 150 years. The development was a gradual and continuous one, in that the Danish impact be­ came stronger and more comprehensive as time went on. There were, however, certain crucial watersheds when the process was ac­ celerated. One was the year 1450, with a re­ newed and even strengthened confirmation of the union between Norway and Denmark. From that time on, the substitution of Danish for Norwegian proceeded rather rapidly and on a large scale until it was completed about two generations later. This rather simple and straightforward pat­ tern becomes radically more complex when we apply a social dimension to the same develop­ ment. As emphasized above, the initial influ­ ence from Danish was transmitted to the Nor­ wegian community through a number of in­ dividuals within the socio-cultural elite. At the

same time these patterns laid the ground for the evolving socio-semantic distinctions be­ tween Norwegian and Danish in the subse­ quent periods. Taking a more basic and super­ ficial perspective, the Danish language spread and expanded along a vertical social axis into the Norwegian community, from the upper level and successively down to the lower ones. Certainly, this pattern was at least initially de­ pendent on whether it was a Danish or a Nor­ wegian producer of the actual text. But after some time Danish gradually seems to have at­ tained a position as the unmarked code in an increasing number of social institutions, more or less irrespective of the geographic origin of the writer. In a somewhat conventionalized represen­ tation, we can describe the social success of the Danish language in the Norwegian linguis­ tic market as follows (for a more detailed pre­ sentation, see Indreb0 1951, 1 86-212). Until 1450 it was primarily letters written within the highest social circles that were in Danish - in practice, letters from the King or individuals within the Civil Service closely connected to the royal throne. Within the Royal Council in Copenhagen, Norwegian was still the lan­ guage for internal Norwegian matters. After the political changes involving union relations in 1450, a sudden change took place and Dan­ ish became the conventional code for all kinds of purposes within the Council. A nearly par­ allel development can be observed in recorded texts from the Council of the Reahn (Riks­ radet), an assembly of the top leaders within Norwegian society, both sacred and secular, which carried out a consultative role for the King. Within this institution, Norwegian kept its position until around 1450 as the common code for letters concerning internal Norwe­ gian matters, while for union matters, on the other hand, there was an extensive alternation between Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. As early as the last decades of the 14th c., how­ ever, Norwegian was increasingly more mar­ ginalized as the language for union collabor­ ations, and during the first generation after 1450 an almost identical process occurred with respect to internal matters as well. Among individuals belonging to the upper tiers of the Civil Service, Norwegian seems generally to have been the more or less unmar­ ked official written code until the middle of the 1 5th c., in spite of the fact that these were the circles where the main bulk of the non­ Norwegians were to be found. During the last decades of the century, however, there was a

206. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically III: Norwegian

certain swing of the pendulum here, too, and Danish became more and more frequently used. If on the other hand we look at the Nor­ wegian-born members of the Civil Service and the nobility, it seems to be rather symptomatic that it was the individuals in the most promi­ nent positions who were the first to adopt Danish. Civil servants at the lower levels showed a clear tendency to use Norwegian much longer - some of them actually until the very beginning of the 16th c. Documents writ­ ten by common people show a parallel incli­ nation to use Norwegian. Particularly among the peasants, the language shift seems to have taken place rather late, and not surprisingly it is within this social layer that we find some of the last instances of more or less pure Nor­ wegian written texts; the latest ones known are from the 1630s. There are, however, some anomalies re­ garding this picture of the Danish language's social accession into the Norwegian commu­ nity, because within some social institutions with pivotal importance and prestige, the tra­ dition of writing Norwegian seems to have been very strong and persistent. We find such a long-lasting tradition within the Arch­ bishopric and to a certain extent also among the bishops and the legal profession, i. e. judges in the provincial courts. Next to the king, the archbishop was, formally speaking, the most powerful individual in the Norwe­ gian community, as he held a superior position in the Council of the Reahn in addition to being the top cleric. But as far as the preserved documents are able to show us, Danish influ­ ence seems to have been rather marginal with­ in this institution until 1 510, when the ap­ pointment of a new Danish archbishop result­ ed in a language shift which turned out to be permanent. At the same time we ought to re­ member that Latin was the primary language of the Church, which probably conferred on Norwegian as well as Danish an inferior status within this institution. This factor may, ac­ cordingly, have restricted and delayed the pro­ cess of language shift among the bishops, too. In any case, they maintained to a quite large degree the practice of using Norwegian, more or less irrespectively of whether or not they were Norwegians, until the 1470s-80s. From that time on the language shift proceeded rather rapidly among the bishops. Finally, as far as the legal profession is con­ cerned, the somewhat delayed language shift here may to a great extent be explained with reference to their original and primary manu-

1913

script - namely Magnus Lagab0te's National Law, which was written in Norwegian. Taking into consideration the strong and more or less ritualized and highly specialized tradition that was prevalent within the profession, it is both understandable and rather predictable that there were some barriers against language shift within this group. Thus, until 1500 the tradition of writing Norwegian was main­ tained in the legal profession. But during the first decades of the next century, strong influ­ ence from Danish began to be visible here, too, and after 1 520-1530 there are only some mar­ ginal letters written predominantly in Norwe­ gian. And typically, when we consider the lit­ erary tradition as a whole, the few relics of more or less pure Norwegian texts left from the period after 1530 are letters primarily from legal men, consisting to a large degree of for­ mulaic expressions. What we have witnessed here is, then, a pro­ cess oflanguage shift from Norwegian to Dan­ ish accomplished as a series of successive losses of domains. Partly simultaneously, partly sequentially, various areas within Nor­ wegian society went through this process of substituting the traditional written code with a new one from another geographic area. In short, this process can be characterized as fol­ lows: from a period when the Norwegian vari­ ety of Old Nordic had the indisputable status as the predominant, conventional and unmar­ ked code, i. e. the doxa in Bourdieu's terminol­ ogy, the political and socio-cultural conditions arose for a change where after a certain amount of time Danish assumed this authori­ tative position while Norwegian became a more marked and marginalized written code. The language users themselves may have con­ sidered this whole process of shift from Nor­ wegian to Danish as part of a more fundamen­ tal process of modernization. The mechanisms behind this change become even more transparent when we take into con­ sideration the actual linguistic distance be­ tween the two varieties. As we have already argued, the distinction between Norwegian and Danish in this period was more analogous to dialectal than to real language differences. This may to a certain extent have played a role in determining the specific linguistic route for the replacement of Norwegian, as well as for some of the mental and psychological di­ mensions connected to this linguistic change. In any case, the structural correspondences between Norwegian and Danish seem to have facilitated ahnost infinite possibilities for the

1914

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

integration and mixing of elements from the two codes, something which is demonstrated in the extant texts. In some cases language shift certainly occurred as a rather distinct process of code-shift, executed either by a single individual or within a given social in­ stitution. According to Indreb0 (1951, 203) this strategy was primarily to be found among the social elite, where "they jumped over from one language to another". More common, however, are the numerous code-mixing (or rather code-swaying) strategies. In various proportions and combinations, Norwegian and Danish elements appear together in single texts, sometimes in such a way that one of the languagesrnay not be recognized as more than a substrate, eventually an adstrate. These more moderate routes by which "[ . . .J they crept over to Danish" (Indreb0, ibid.) were to be found in all social layers and symbolize the gradual and continuous nature ofthis pro­ cess. During the first half of the 16th c., language shift within the written medium was com­ pleted. The spoken language, on the other hand, was probably only marginally in­ fluenced by this change. Norwegians were, in other words, still using their Norwegian dia­ lects, although a period of quite radical dif­ ferentiation between the various geographical areas had made the Norwegian linguistic com­ munity more dialectally heterogeneous than it was in the early Middle Ages. These rather different developments within the written and oral mediums do not, however, mean that the two dimensions were totally unaffected by each other. It is reasonable to suppose that the political and socio-cultural basis for the changes in the written medium also influenced some of the large-scale sociolinguistic patterns evolving within the Norwegian speech com­ munity. For instance, itis highly probable that the existence of numerous Danish-speaking, and to some extent also Swedish-speaking, in­ dividuals in central political and social posi­ tions in Norway was important for some of the more general attitudes about which vari­ eties were perceived as most prestigious. Cer­ tainly the development of a standardized spoken variety had not occurred at this time, but it is probably not an overstatement to as­ sume that the various spoken varieties of Dan­ ish around the end of the Middle Ages had already attained some kind of superior status in Norway, while the native varieties, on the other hand, to an increasing degree were so­ cially devalued. The implications of such

socio-semantic patterns become more con­ spicuous later on, but towards the end of the language shift period a process of reallocation of socio-cultural values attached to Norwe­ gian and Danish varieties had probably al­ ready taken place. During this process, the fonner national or geographic distinction be­ tween the two codes was restructured as a pri­ marily socio-cultural and maybe also stylistic distinction. And it is highly probable that this process was at least initiated during the Middle Ages.

4.

The period of consolidation

4. 1 .

A basic historical framework

What is quite clear, however, is that in the subsequent period, the political and socio-cul­ tural conditions were even more favourable for such a process of reallocation to be strengthened. During the two to three centu­ ries after the language shift in practice was completed, the hierarchical relationship be­ tween Danish and Norwegian was consoli­ dated and became more or less socially codi­ fied. A number of political and cultural inci­ dents and developments from the 16th to the 19th c. prepared the ground for strengthening the position of Danish and the corresponding devaluation of Norwegian. A brief survey of some of the most notable historical events and social patterns will make this situation more comprehensible. The year 1 536 represents some sort of watershed in this respect for two reasons: the Norwegian Council of the Realm was dis­ mantled, and the Norwegian Church was re­ formed. The first factor is principally political and fonnal and may not have caused any gen­ eral changes in the social life in Norway, al­ though after this treaty the Norwegian area was included in Denmark as a province. The second factor, however, was by far more cru­ cial, as the Reformation usually involved a shift from Latin to the native language for Bible translations as well as other religious texts. In Norway, then, this implied a real breakthrough for the spread of the Danish language - even among common people. We do not have any exact figures on the general level of literacy during this period, but it was increasing, and at least as late as the first half of the 1700s there are several reasons to pre­ sume that the ability to read and write was common among the Norwegian population. During this period schooling was made com-

206. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically III: Norwegian

pulsory, and Danish was the prime language both within the primary and the secondary educational system. For those few who went on to university studies, Copenhagen was the natural choice until the beginning of the 1 9th c., when the first university in Norway was established. Within other social domains, too, the general development from the 16th c. on­ ward, especially within the official bureau­ cracy, exposed people more and more to the written language - which now more or less exclusively was Danish. In 1604 the final tra­ ditional Norwegian-based institution per­ ished, as the National Law of Magnus Laga­ b0te was officially replaced by the Norwegian Law of Christian IV, written in Danish. A somewhat paradoxical aspect of this de­ velopment, at least from a national point of view, is that the more the internal structure of official life in Norway was improved, the stronger was the general impact of Danish and the more the former native language receded. Even so, this did not mean that Norwegians generally were writing in an identical manner to the Danes. There are numerous traits in texts written by Norwegians which reveal their non-Danish origin. The degree of such devi­ ations naturally varies, depending upon sev­ eral social and contextual factors, such as the social identity of the writer or the text's level of formality. Most conspicuous in this respect are the number of specific Norwegian lexical items found in the texts, as well as certain non­ Danish phonological, morphological and syn­ tactic elements. Ifwe consider the whole Dan­ ish writing area as a geographic totality, these Norwegian-based linguistic components have to be looked upon as more regular provincial­ isms, indicating the writer's dialectal heritage. More subtle, however, is another tendency that is documented in the texts, at least during the first century after the language shift was completed in practice - namely the tendency for Norwegians to write Danish in a somewhat archaic and anachronistic manner (see e. g. Iversen 1921). Both tendencies may most probably be interpreted as the result of a gen­ eral lack of stable norms, partly combined with the uncertainty which the discrepancies between spoken and written language may have caused. 4.2.

Developments within spoken language

What kind of developments, then, occurred within the domains of the spoken language in

1915

these centuries after the Reformation? To what extent, for instance, did the use of Dan­ ish varieties by the social elite influence native Norwegians; and where in the social hierarchy do we find this impact? These questions have been intensively discussed over the years by linguists as well as historians without any con­ sensus or valid conclusions having been reached, partly due to a lack of reliable data. The subject becomes even more complex when the question of the development of a spoken standard is included. These dimensions are nonetheless intimately connected and have to be considered as a whole. The following is an attempt to summarize the most probable principal features of this complex story, based on some more recent de­ scriptions where this topic as a whole is con­ sidered within a plausible linguistic as well as socio-cultural framework (see e.g. L0kens­ gard Hoe1 1996; Iversen 1921). As a first step, let us look briefly at some essential socio-cul­ tural characteristics of the population in Nor­ way from about 1600 onwards. The most ob­ vious demographic feature in this period is the dominant proportion of non-Norwegians within those groups who possessed both the cultural and the economic capital in the Nor­ wegian area. This meant in practice that with­ in the Civil Service as well as within the com­ mercial patrician class, recruiting took place mainly among Danes, and to a certain extent also among German-speakers. Within the military services, for instance, the officers were principally Germans, and the language of command was German within the army until the end of the 18th c. This foreign dominance within the highest classes of the Norwegian community was most prevalent in the first two centuries after the Reformation. But later on, when the proportion of native Norwegians within these social layers was increasing, re­ cruiting to a great extent still went on among the second- or third-generation immigrants. And during the whole post-Reformation peri­ od, as late as the 1 9th c., there was a rather obvious tendency that the higher the social po­ sition, the higher proportion there were of non-Norwegians. In several respects we can draw parallels between this situation and pat­ terns in more recent colonial or post-colonial areas. Which speech varieties, then, were in use in the 1 8th and 1 9th centuries in Norway, a peri­ od for which the historical data can give us more valid evidence on this rather complicated subject? First come the numerous Norwegian

1916

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

dialects, used by common people both in ur­ ban and rural areas and developed directly from Old Nordic, probably with minimal in­ fluence from Danish. Secondly follow a num­ ber of Danish varieties, used by Danes in dif­ ferent elite positions who may presumably have spoken a language more or less close to the standardized nonn that had been deve­ loped in Denmark at this time. Considerably more complex, however, is the linguistic situ­ ation within the Norwegian-born social elite, including the descendants of Danish immi­ grants. In this period, the Civil Service, which included a certain proportion of Danish­ speakers, consisted of about 1 ,500-2,000 members and represented a more or less self­ recruiting sphere within society, although with close connections to the commercial patrician class. The members of these groups were scat­ tered throughout Norway, but with natural concentrations in the biggest cities, even though Kristiania (Oslo), which was the capi­ tal after the dissolution ofthe union with Den­ mark in 1814, only had about 30,000 inhab­ itants in the first half of the 19th c. Which linguistic strategies were practised by these so­ cially more distinguished individuals? Did they primarily speak Norwegian, or was Danish their principal code? Did they perhaps switch between the two varieties, or did they maybe develop a mixed variety, consisting of compo­ nents from Norwegian dialects as well as from the prestigious Danish standard variety? It is reasonable to believe that this speech situation was highly complex as well as rather variable. Certain patterns of use were never­ theless developing, conditioned by a set offun­ damental socio-semantic factors and presup­ positions in the Norwegian speech commu­ nity. The most crucial ofthese was the unques­ tionable hierarchical relationship between Norwegian and Danish. According to reliable writers from the 19th c. onward, Norwegians were often ashamed oftheir pronunciation, es­ pecially those who were inhabitants of the towns (Knudsen 1 850). Certainly, they used their traditional way of speaking at home and when they were communicating with "ordi­ nary people". But in social life outside these more private circles, their speech normally changed towards Danish. It was not, however, the spoken varieties of Danish which exercised this normative impact but rather the literary version of the language, which for centuries had been the common written code in Nor­ way. And the general perception of the written language was that it had an indubitably su-

perior status as the formally correct and cour­ teous code. Within this somewhat complex landscape, it is possible to specify in an idealized manner two main lines of development which charac­ terized the oral language strategies chosen by the elite groups of Norwegians. Firstly, they developed a specific official spoken variety, a solemn and formal kind of speech, which evolved as the result of Norwegians reading Danish aloud. This was, in other words, a Norwegian-based pronunciation of the Dan­ ish literary language, which implied a closer correspondence between written and spoken forms than was the case for native Danish speakers during this period. Due to this im­ pression of correctness, the saying arose among the Danes themselves that Danish was spoken more perfectly by Norwegians in Kristiania than by Danes in Dernnark. This official spoken variety was initially restricted to formal and official contexts, primarily used by the clergy as well as by other members of the Civil Service, and probably to a certain extent also by teachers as their medium of instruction. The other line of development comprises the code that was the mother tongue during the 18th c. of at least some members of Norwegian high society - i.e. their colloquial language or, in contemporary terms, the refined colloquial language (den dannede dagligtale). This, too, was to varying extents influenced by Danish written forms, but the Norwegian base was far more prominent and manifest than within the official spoken language. Thus varying de­ grees of dialectal substrate seem to have for­ med a central component in these individual varieties. But at least from the 19th c. onward, it is reasonable to assume that the south­ eastern variety of Norwegian had attained something of a normative position, reflecting the kind of Norwegian that was looked upon with the most approval among these mixed varieties of Danish and Norwegian. We will return to this in connection with the descrip­ tion of a standardized spoken language in Norway (see 5.2.). Even though the borderlines between the of­ ficial spoken language and refined colloquial speech may have been rather blurred and un­ stable linguistically speaking, there seems to have been a distinct functional differentiation between them, and from time to time they seem to have been experienced as two very dis­ tinct and contrasting codes. These varieties were socially restricted to specific domains, corresponding to a more or less codified dis-

1917

206. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically III: Norwegian

tinction between an official versus a private social sphere. During the second half of the 1 9th c., however, an internal restructuring and redistribution of these linguistic and social re­ lations seems to have occurred, the result be­ ing some kind of synthesis or compromise: the refined colloquial code expanded functionally at the expense of the official spoken variety at the same time as the refined code adopted a number of linguistic traits from the official variety and thus became even more refined than before. The exclusion of specific dialect markers in the colloquial variety which this transformation implied played a significant role in enforcing certain social distinctions within Norwegian society. Hence, by this pro­ cess the mother tongue of the Norwegian so­ cial elite became even further removed from the dialects of the common people and thus closer to Danish, and the social distance and distinction between the social layers was essen­ tially codified in linguistic tenns as well. As such, the situation in the second half of the 1 9th c. may be looked upon as the culmination of a more general process which probably was initiated in the late Middle Ages: Danish was gradually perceived as the socio-culturally su­ perior code, while Norwegian was devalued along the same social axis. A strong and rather direct indication of the symbolic value and connotations which these varieties expressed is manifested through the discussions about which linguistic code should be approved as the language of the theatre in Norway (see e.g. L0kensgard Hoe1 1996, 9 1 1 37). These discussions, and even regular battles, went on for decades from the 1 820s. When the official theatre first opened in the capital Kristiania, Norwegian actors were hired exclusively, but negative reactions sur­ faced immediately. The theatre was one of the very few official cultural institutions during this period and served as an important social arena for the elite groups in the capital, in ad­ dition to its ideal function as an educational and even moral tool. The actors themselves, however, did not belong to the upper social classes, and the critics focussed on their way of talking - partly on what was perceived as a vulgar and plebeian variety with a specific Norwegian pronounciation, partly on their lack of competence in using the refined collo­ quial language by reflecting the orthography too much. The final result was that Danish actors were hired, and for about two decades, from 1830 to ca. 1850, Danish was the only language used on the Norwegian stage.

An overt consequence ofthis cultural policy was that Denmark and Copenhagen kept and even confirmed their position as the nonnative centre for an accepted spoken language in Norway. Thus, the conventions and attitudes for the language of the theatre reflect some essential sociolinguistic patterns in the Norwe­ gian speech community around the middle of the 19th c.: the Danish standardized language kept its indisputable position at the top of the social hierarchy, followed by the formal spoken variety which actually was Danish but with Norwegian pronunciation; next came the refined colloquial code, and at the very bottom of the scale were the Norwegian dialects - ru­ ral as well as urban ones. During the 19th c., in connection with the dissolution of the Danish-Norwegian union, this clear-cut socially defined hierarchy was imbued with an assertive national dimension as well. This intermingling, or rather fusion, of social and national meaning connected to language became a distinct topic in the first decades of the century and, as time went on, the essential element in the nextperiod of Nor­ wegian language history.

5.

The re-establishment of a Norwegian literary tradition

5.1.

The development of a minority and a majority culture

Within the prevalent national-romantic "Weltanschauung" which characterized intel­ lectual opinion in Norway after the dissolu­ tion of the union with Denmark, the question of a specific Norwegian literary language be­ came a prominent topic on the national pol­ itical agenda. In the struggle to create a new framework for a national self-identity - "cre­ ating an experiential we" - language was con­ sidered the best and most significant expres­ sion of a nation inhabited by a unique people. The delicate question which immediately ap­ peared on the scene was: which social group could be legitimized as being most represen­ tative of this national character? The principal conflict was the opposition between, on the one hand, the inherent and "genuine" Norwegian culture, linguistically represented by the traditional dialects of com­ mon, especially rural people, and on the other hand, the refined and educated culture, repre­ sented by the spoken language of the elite ur­ ban groups, where a foreign and "non-nation­ al", i. e. Danish, component was prominent.

1918

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history I I : Social stratification

The pivotal question was which of these two socio-cultural segments of Norwegian society could best represent the speech which a newly established literary language was intended to reflect. The final result was that both could and consequently, a rnodus vivendi politically, socially as well as culturally speaking was reached. In practice this implied that during the second half of the 19th c. and the very beginning of the 20th, two distinct written standards were codified, based on the spoken varieties of two opposing groups within the Norwegian social hierarchy. On the one hand was Riksmal, later Bokmal, an offspring ofthe traditional Danish written code, but where a number of exclusively Danish traits were grad­ ually eliminated and replaced by elements that corresponded with the pronunciation of the refined colloquial language. This transform­ ation, where the Danish written language gradually emerged as Norwegian, had as its spoken basis the variety which had become more or less a common mother tongue among the Norwegian social elite. On the other hand was Landsmal, later Nynorsk, which had the approximately opposite social affiliation. From the total linguistic repertoire ofthe Nor­ wegian community, Landsmal was established to represent some kind of synthesis of the tra­ ditional inherited and rural Norwegian dia­ lects as they were used among ordinary people. Ifwe take a closer and somewhat more basic look at the socio-cultural implications ofthese two new linguistic constructs, a number of dis­ tinctive and contrasting features emerge. First, Riksmal was definitely the code of the establishment within the Norwegian commu­ nity and as such followed the prevailing ideas connected with the construction of written standards more generally. Certainly its prin­ cipal source was the Danish language, which for centuries had functioned as the only writ­ ten variety for everybody in Norway. As such this was the code which intrinsically was as­ sociated with refinement and educated culture. In addition, as mentioned earlier, Danish came to be perceived as a social idiom more than a geographic and national one, and this naturally confirmed the social position of the existing literary code, i. e. Danish. The main ambition of Knud Knudsen, the chief archi­ tect behind the construction of Riksmil, was to accommodate the present written standard to the refined colloquial variety, which implied additional support for the existing sociolingu­ istic codifications. Thus, for several reasons it

is reasonable to maintain that Riksmil took over and even extended the socio-cultural basis and tradition which Danish had repre­ sented in the Norwegian community for cen­ turies. In contrast, Landsmal was a cultural idiom which at a number of essential points repre­ sented a set of divergent values. The establish­ ment of Landsmal represented an intrinsically marginal and socio-culturally unexpected strategy, being as it was a populistic project which focussed on the language of common people in preference to a social elite. Accord­ ing to the principal ideas behind Landsmal, as formulated by its chief creator Ivar Aasen, the codification of this variety thus repre­ sented an essential opposition to, or rather ne­ gation of, both the existing Danish literary language and the evolving Riksmal - socially, demographically, geographically, nationally and in practice also politically. The fundamentally differing presupposi­ tions on which Riksmal and Landsmil were based have to a great extent been crucial for both the linguistic relationship between the two varieties during the 20th c. and for the socio-semiotic structures which the two codes have represented in the Norwegian commu­ nity until the present. Formally speaking, Riksmal and Landsmal were given equal status as the two official literary languages in Norway in 1885, but in practice the relation­ ship has obviously been asymmetrical during the entire subsequent period. The result ofthis imbalance has been the development of what we may call a minority-majority situation within the Norwegian literary community, where Landsmal, from 1929 called Nynorsk, represents the main idiom of a minority cul­ ture, while Riksmal, later Bokmal, has pos­ sessed an indisputable position as the idiom of the majority. At its height, Nynorsk was the primary language used by one third of the pupils in compulsory schooling at the end of World War II, while both at the beginning of the 20th c. and during recent decades, less than one fifth of the pupils have used Nynorsk as their first written language. And this propor­ tion is by far lower at higher educational levels and among the professional sectors of the population. Ifwe ask what kind of cultural oppositions, distinctions and stereotypes these two vari­ eties symbolize, there is no straightforward and simple answer. The complexity ofthe task is closely connected to the fact that these re­ lations are intimately bound up with Norwe-

206. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically III: Norwegian

gian history more generally, where demo­ graphic, socio-cultural and political condi­ tions are vital dimensions in various propor­ tions and syntheses. If we nevertheless take an overview of the Norwegian literary linguis­ tic landscape throughout the 20th c., it is pos­ sible to detect a number of more or less stable patterns characterizing the symbolic values of Nynorsk versus Bokmal. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that the symbolic properties of the two standards actually have been of paramount importance throughout the entire period, in that the choice between them to a great extent has been a conscious strategy - either by the individual language user or at the collective level, where every mu­ nicipality chooses its own official language. Before we look at some of the Nynorsk-Bok­ mal contrasts, it is necessary to emphasize that it is the minority variety which is the marked and stereotyped one. By virtue of its position as the less frequently used code, Nynorsk has in itself strong and potent connotations. Bok­ mal, on the other hand, tends to be considered an unmarked and neutral code, and this status as some kind of doxa in a number of socio­ cultural contexts inevitably reduces this var­ iety's associative and connotative power. When viewed in contrast to Nynorsk, though, the socio-semantic values of Bokmal, too, are rather obvious. One of the basic distinctions between these two literary codes is the geographic one: Nynorsk is intrinsically connected to the west­ ern part of Norway, while Bokmal has far more diffuse affiliations, although eastern Norway frequently appears as the natural op­ position to the western area. Intimately inte­ grated into this geographic dimension is a pivotal demographic aspect, where the oppo­ sitions between centre-periphery and urban­ rural are two of the main axes. Although this rather simplified picture runs up against 0 b­ vious counterexamples and mixed elements in "real" life, as is true of most polar oppositions, there should be no doubt about the strong af­ filiation Nynorsk traditionally has possessed with the rural regions. It has never been the general primary language for compulsory edu­ cation in any Norwegian town. After a period of more than one century as an official literary language, Nynorsk has therefore in several re­ spects become a vital identity marker for the population in the provincial districts. This symbolic function has, according to e. g. Vik0r (1997, 1 24), been of cardinal importance as a means of self-assertion for groups that have

1919

been more or less marginalized in a modern centralized and urbanized community. In addition to these geographic and demo­ graphic dimensions, there are also a number of political aspects which during various his­ torical periods have been associated with the distinction between Bokmal and Nynorsk. In the first half of the 20th c. a rather aggressively national argument was used to differentiate between the two groups oflanguage users, but since World War II hardly any serious argu­ ments of that sort have been presented. Far more essential is the symbolic value Nynorsk more or less continuously has held as the ex­ pression of a nonconformist counterculture, as distinct from Bokmal, which in this respect is the language of the establishment. This as­ pect was probably most pronounced during the 1960s and 1970s, but the historical origin of the two codes has always, even in the 19th c., contained the potential to reflect socio-po­ litical dimensions like these. Closely connected to this is the tendency in some social contexts to perceive Nynorsk as a politically radical code, while Bokrnal within such a framework emerges as conservative. This is also, however, turned on its head, tak­ ing Nynorsk as the conservative and tradition­ alistic idiom while Bokmal is the radical and modern one. Attitudes like these to a certain extent depend upon which of the linguistic variants are actually chosen among the num­ ber of options within the two standards. But the location along the conservative-radical axis should also be seen in connection with which of the formerly mentioned socio-cul­ tural dimensions is the most prominent from one context to another. On the whole, the socio-semiotic frames within which the Nynorsk-Bokmal opposition is located ap­ pear frequently as highly complex and contra­ dictory. A recent study among Norwegian pu­ pils at the advanced secondary level demon­ strates this quite clearly (BergejSolheimjTor­ vatn 1998). The pupils were asked to charac­ terize a "typical user of Nynorsk" . On the one hand, they presented a strongly stereotyped and traditional picture where the common Nynorsk user is an old agrarian individual, living in a really desolate and marginal area, and thus implicitly representing a way of life which is perceived as old-fashioned and nearly anachronistic. On the other hand, however, they described the common users of Nynorsk as typical modern and contemporary individ­ uals, locating them within an academic sphere. From this perspective, Nynorsk is perceived

1920

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

as a prestigious language - a code belonging to a cultural elite. One interesting and rather striking aspect of the attitudes and stereotypes connected to the Nynorsk-Bokrnal distinction is the conti­ nuity and persistence of these perceptions. Even though there have been certain changes and shifts of emphasis in common opinion, a number of the basic attitudes appear to be more or less permanent. This stability and per­ sistence is perhaps puzzling when we consider the fact that during the 20th c. a number of very radical and in some respects fundamental changes have been carried out within both Bokmal and Nynorsk. Briefly, the two vari­ eties' original socio-cultural and geographic bases have shifted and have partly been dis­ located through a number of spelling reforms during the first half of the 20th c. Within the Bokmal standard, "refined colloquial lan­ guage" has lost its former superior position and today represents only one of a number of varieties with which the written forms cor­ respond. Probably the most obvious charac­ teristic of this internal restructuring is the in­ clusion and codification ofvariants commonly associated with the speech of the lower social classes in the cities, mainly in the central east­ ern parts of the country. Within the Nynorsk standard, on the other hand, the shift has been primarily geographic, where the former focus on variants from the western regions has been gradually weakened and marginalized in fa­ vour of variants used in the more densely populated eastern parts of the country. In much the same way as the perceptions about the Bokmal-Nynorsk distinction have been rather resistent to change, it is possible to observe a certain amount of persistence in the attitudes to the variants within each of these varieties, too, especially those connected with Bokrnal. In spite of the official promotion and boost in status of traditionally less "dig­ nified" variants accepted in Bokmal through the spelling reforms, people's perception of the variants' social value does not automatically change. An effect ofthe continuity in this sym­ bolic valuation may be observed both in the actual use and in the attitudes to the various options within Bokmal: a number of the vari­ ants adhering closest to "refined colloquial speech", and which as such can be labelled "conservative", tend to be perceived as the most unmarked and neutral ones and are, con­ sequently, the most frequently used forms. The variants with a somewhat differing and traditionally inferior social affiliation, on the

other hand, are perceived as more marked and even socially stigmatized and are accordingly far more marginal in use - irrespective oftheir official and codified status. Considered in a historical perspective, it may, then, be justifi­ able to claim that this strong continuity in the socio-semantic patterns indicates that it is still the literary variety adhering closest to Danish which possesses the superior and most pres­ tigious position in modern Norwegian society. 5.2.

Spoken language in Norway in the 20th century - an extraordinary situation?

Besides having the two official and closely re­ lated written standards, one other character­ istic has made the Norwegian linguistic situ­ ation famous internationally - namely the pri­ vileged and elevated status of the dialects in Norwegian society. Compared with other Western nations, the spoken, uncodified vari­ eties actually have a rather extraordinary status in Norway, both formally and in prac­ tice. The foundation for this almost unique situation is closely related to the historical conditions connected to the literary lan­ guages, where LandsmaljNynorsk represents strong institutionalized support for the nu­ merous dialects - partly by virtue of this writ­ ten standard's historical origin as a kind of common denominator for the spoken vari­ eties. By the end of the 1 9th c., a formalized set of regulations was already established, ensur­ ing the rights of the Norwegian dialects in a number of social arenas. Probably the most radical was the resolution from 1878 about spoken language in school, which sanctioned the use of the children's own dialects in the classroom, and at the same time required teachers to accommodate their teaching me­ dium to the spoken language of the children. As a consequence of this resolution, among other things, there has never been a codified standard spoken variety of Norwegian. The lack of such an official national, supra-re­ gional variety as a school subject, for instance, has been of pivotal importance in providing implicit support for the use of dialects, also within social domains and contexts where in other speech communities a standardized lan­ guage is the unmarked code. This is the official and more or less accepted version of the situation in the Norwegian speech community, which at several points seems to diverge from the "normal" picture

206. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically III: Norwegian

of spoken language in the West. We may, how­ ever, ask to what extent the situation in the "real" world actually corresponds with this ideal description. Do the dialects in Norway really have such a hegemonic and elevated po­ sition? Let us first make it quite clear that the Norwegian speech community is rather pecul­ iar, not only officially and theoretically. The acceptance and tolerance of dialect use is gen­ erally high, even in a number of official and formal contexts where varieties like these gen­ erally would be perceived as marginal or im­ proper, e.g. in the mass media, as a teaching medium in higher education or within other official domains. Probably a side effect of this is the tendency for dialect levelling to have proceeded at a far slower pace in Norway than, for instance, in the other Scandinavian countries. A really interesting and probably unique phenomenon connected to these issues con­ cerns a tendency 0 bserved especially over the last 20-30 years, which has been a period of the general rise in status and positive estima­ tion for dialects in the Norwegian community. A rather striking result of this ideological change is that in cases of geographic mobility, it is sometimes the individuals with the highest proportion of cultural and symbolic capital who preserve their original dialect most thor­ oughly, while individuals with less cultural capital tend to standardize their dialect to a greater extent. A related interpretation of re­ sults like these is to perceive symbolic capital as offering a certain amount of social security, which makes it more possible and even toler­ able to break with conventional expectations and stereotypes connected with the correspon­ dence between social identity and dialect use. Nevertheless, the general picture of actual dialect use demonstrates a number of contra­ dictory tendencies which are more on a par with prevailing ideologies and practices in other Western communities. Formulated in a highly general and simplified manner, in Nor­ way, too, there tends to be an inverse corre­ lation between the degree of dialect use and an individual's rank in the social hierarchy; i. e. the higher one's social position, the less use of any original dialect. When geographic or social mobility are considered, it is obvious that it has not been at all unusual for individ­ uals to neglect their former dialect because of social stigmatization or some other form of more or less implicit social pressure. How, then, are the principal tendencies within oral language change related to the lack

1921

of any codified spoken standard? Which vari­ ety, for instance, functions as the norm in those cases where individuals actually are changing their original dialect? And in what direction are the traditional dialects moving during the relatively slow process of levelling - in the absence of a codified standard? The answer is that in Norway, as in most modern nations, current practice does indicate rather unmistakably the existence of a more or less focussed supra-regional standardized variety. This is a variety which has a certain amount of normative impact, and which in a number of social contexts is considered as the formally correct and appreciated national code. As mentioned earlier (see 5.1 .), such an influential and prestigious variety was probably estab­ lished at least at the very beginning of the 19th c., referred to as "refined colloquial lan­ guage". Certainly, this is not entirely identical with what we today might characterize as stan­ dardized speech; the linguistic items constitut­ ing such a supra-regional variety have obvi­ ously undergone changes during the last two centuries. But an essential trait of these vari­ eties is their strong affiliation to the written language, Danish or Bomal respectively, as well as adherence to phonological patterns from southeastern Norwegian, i.e. the areas around the capital. Official policy is 0 bviously one thing, while actual social practice may be something rather different. If, finally, we consider the opposition be­ tween dialect and standardized speech in Nor­ way within a theoretical, socio-philosophical framework, it is not difficult to detect a num­ ber of analogies with those patterns which more generally characterize this relationship - although at a somewhat more moderate level. Two core terms here are "tradition", on the one hand, and "modernity" on the other. Certainly, these are both highly complex con­ cepts, involving a multitude of socio-cultural, philosophical and ideological dimensions, al­ though they may manage to capture the essen­ tial aspects of the relationship between dialect and standardized speech - in Norway as well as in the rest of the world. Of pivotal import­ ance in this context is the specific meaning of "tradition", which refers to local cohesion and continuity and which may imply cultural provincialism, while the term "modernity" in­ dicates here some kind of opposition to these habitual and traditional values and is often associated with values transcending local af­ filiation. From a linguistic viewpoint, then, the relationship between tradition and dialect on

1922

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

the one hand and modernity and standard lan­ guage on the other is rather understandable. Through its local attachment, a dialect com­ prises values indicating some sort of intimate language - a certain affiliation to a private sphere, to use a Habennasian term - while a standard language is detached from such a lo­ cal connection and connotes a set of supra­ regional or national values, very often in a rather official and formal direction. As em­ phasized above, these are patterns that to a great extent are less conspicuous and marked in Norway compared with other Western com­ munities. The official acceptance of dialects as multifunctional codes has undoubtedly cre­ ated a climate where there are no rigid con­ straints or contextual limits between private and official use as far as the choice of code is concerned. At the same time, however, we should not deny or even underemphasize the correlations between verbal practices and the tradition-modernity controversy. These pat­ terns are substantial and are present in the Norwegian speech community in terms of more or less explicit norms, expectations, so­ cial sanctions and stereotyped opinions. In or­ der to achieve a real understanding of the cur­ rent mechanisms of linguistic change in Nor­ wegian society, these are undoubtedly some ofthe essential dimensions we need to include.

6.

Literature (a selection)

Bagge, Sverre (1995), The Middle Ages. In: Making a Historical Culture. Historiography in Norway (eds. W. H. Hubbard et al.). Oslo/Copenhagen/Stock­ holm/Boston, 1 1 1 1 3 1 . Berge, Kjell Lars/Solheim, Randi/Torvatn, Anne Charlotte (1998), Fellessprbklige IEreb@ker (Report nr. 7). Trondheim.

Berulfsen, Bjarne (1948), Kulturtradisjonfra en stor­ hetstid. Oslo. Braunmuller, Kurt (1998), Sprogkontakt i Hanse­ tiden en sammenfattende oversigt over Hamborg­ projektet In: Jahr Ced.), 17 3 1 . Dalen, Arnold (1994), The influence o f Low Ger­ man on the Norwegian language. In: Norwegen und die Hanse (eds. V. Henn/A. Nedkvitne). Frankfurt, 31 39. Gunnes, Erik (1971), Innledning. In: Gammelnorsk homiliebok. Oslo/Bergen/Tromso. Haugen, Einar (1962), Schizoglossia and the linguis­ tic nonn. In: Georgetown University Monograph Series on Languages and Linguistics 15, 63 73. Haugen, Einar (1976), The Scandinavian languages. London. Indrebo, Gustav (1951), Norsk malsoga. Bergen. Iversen, Ragnvald (1921), Bokmal og talemal i Norge 1560 1630 1 : Utsyn over lydverket. Kris­ tiania. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (ed.) (1995), Nordisk og neder­ tysk: Sprakkontakt og sprbkutvikling i seinmellomal­ deren. Oslo. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (ed.) (1998), Sprakkontakt i Nor­ den i middelalderen, SErlig i Hansatiden:forsknings­ programmet Norden og Europa. Kobenhavn. Jensen, Kjetil (1998), Nedertysk i nordisk et pro­ sjekt om sprakhistoriske prinsipper for lanord. In: Jahr Ced.), 139 150. Knudsen, Knud (1850), Om Norskhed i vor Tale og Skrift. In: Norsk Tidsskriftfor Videnskab og Lit­ teratur, 205 273. Lokensgard Hoel, Oddmund (1996), Nasjonalisme i norsk malstrid 1848 1865 (KULT skriftserie nr. 51). Oslo. Vikor, Lars (1997), Norsk spraksituasjoni eitinter­ nasjonalt perspektiv. In: Ut med spraket Conference in Trondheim, 11th 12th of February 1997. Trond­ heim, 119 126.

Brit Mrehlum, Trondheim (Norway)

207. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically IV: Icelandic and Faroese

1923

207.

Sociolinguistic structures chronologically IV: Icelandic and Faroese

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

State of the art Actual contact Language internal or social factors? Icelandic change and variation Faroese change and variation Conclusion Literature (a selection)

1.

State of the art

The period of settlement in Iceland was 870930 A.D., whereas the Faroe Islands were settled somewhat earlier. We may presume that the new communities had the character of linguistic melting pots during the early peri­ od, since the settlers certainly spoke different dialects. Modern sociolinguistics argues that it takes three generations for a melting pot to establish a homogeneous language; therefore, we would expect the two new language com­ munities to have stabilized during the 1 0th century. Central problems in the discussion of Ice­ landic and Faroese language history are often what language features the emigrants brought with them, what the melting pot effects were, what the effect of later influences has been, and whether the linguistic conservatism in the two languages is a result of being isolated com­ munities. Several phonological changes in the two languages were parallel to changes in West Norwegian, and scholars have been almost unanimous in describing the changes in each language as independent phenomena and at­ tributing them to latent tendencies (predis­ positions) in the parent language. The possi­ bilities of influence through language contact have generally been ignored. Only few schol­ ars, primarily Kenneth Chapman, have main­ tained that the similar developments in Icelan­ dic and Southwest Norwegian were made possible "by social intercourse between the two areas" (Chapman 1962, 24). Modern sociolinguistic insights may help us further in understanding both changes and conserva­ tism. Not all scholars advocating the theory of three independent lines of development have defined what they mean by predisposition in historical linguistics. Haugen (1970, 54) has given the most precise formulation by claim­ ing that "there was a predisposition towards the innovation in Old or Common Scandina­ vian, usually in the form of an allophonic

split." Nevertheless, the concept of allophonic split raises some problems. Icelandic was a product of input from all over Scandinavia: 42 per cent of the immigrants carne from southwestern Norway, 42 per cent from the restofNorway and 16 per cent from Denmark and Sweden according to The Book of Settlers (Landnamabbk). Of course, we would expect southwest Norwegian to have had a consider­ able impact on Icelandic, but not so that the result was identical to these Norwegian dia­ lects. Modern sociolinguistics (e.g. Trudgill 1 992) claims that there is a tendency both to level and to simplify in a melting pot, which would make us expect allophonic splits to dis­ appear in the process.

2.

Actual contact

Whereas historical linguists have tended to stress the isolation of the two island commun­ ities, historians have stressed that Icelanders were not isolated; they travelled, for instance, a great deal on the Continent and had a thor­ ough knowledge of European culture (Lindal 1974, 211). Until the middle of the 1 5th century, trading activity was considerable between Iceland and Norway (Johannesson 1958, 148; Magef0Y 1993). During the first centuries after the settlement, Icelanders owned ships and travel­ led between the countries; however, after the year 1000, the Norwegians were dominant as shipowners and merchants. In the 12th cen­ tury, Iceland's merchant fleet decreased to one or two ships, and the period from 1260 to 1 400 is called the Norwegian period (Norska a/din). Ten ships a year on an average crossed the North Atlantic between the two countries; in 1 1 1 8 the total was 35. A merchant vessel (knQrr) carried about 30 men on each trip, and after 1200 even larger vessels (bUzur) became common (l>orlaksson 1979, 10). Consequent­ ly, many Norwegians stayed in Iceland, arriv­ ing perhaps several hundred at a time. After 1200, most of the ships set out from Bergen on the southwestern coast. For a long period Bergen had both a commercial monopoly and a monopoly on tax collecting in Iceland. Traders at that time were not in a hurry and got to know many people. There are descrip­ tions from the 13th century of intensive and long-term contacts. For instance, Norwegians took part in the Icelandic battles during the

1924

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

Icelandic civil war in the 13th century. The sagas tell of traders who came to Iceland year after year, and some stayed there during the winter when sailing was not possible (e.g. 1 1 ships during the winter of 1 340-41, porsteins­ son 1991, 136). The sagas report thatAri por­ geirsson was accompanied by 30 Norwegians when he entered Parliament in 1 1 64, and Snorri Sturluson came with 80 Norwegians some decades later. Moreover, some Norwegians settled in Ice­ land; several bishops after 1238 were from Norway, and we know that merchants some­ times married and settled in the new country. In addition, Icelanders often travelled to Nor­ way as passengers on the merchant vessels and travelled sometimes further to the Continent. Some of them stayed in Norway for years in order to work before they returned horne. Ice­ landers had played an important role in the king's court from the 1 0th century onwards, and many from this western outpost were scribes for wealthy Norwegians throughout the literary golden age. It may be supposed that the relations be­ tween Norwegians and Faroese were much the same. We know, for instance, that Faroese people, too, worked as scribes in Norway. However, the Faroese, in contrast to the Ice­ landers, played a more active part in trade themselves. They were shipowners and traders even in Iceland; some settled in Bergen for long periods to organize their trading activity, and some even had families there. Finally, Norwegians were landowners in the Faroe Is­ lands, as were Faroese in Norway. Thus, on closer inspection, it is clear that the island communities were not isolated dur­ ing the relevant period. The commercial ties between Norway and Iceland lasted until about 1450, and between Norway and the Faroe Islands until 1620. The interesting ques­ tion is whether this contact was sufficient and of such a nature that it could have influenced the language structure.

3.

Language internal or social factors?

Some hundred years after the settlement pe­ riod, the West Nordic languages or dialects all underwent quite a few changes, many of which were parallel. Some of the core linguis­ tic data have been put in chronological order in figure (1). The period of special interest is the 1 3 th and 1 4th centuries; there is no obvi-

ous co-occurrence of changes either in the pre­ ceding or the following centuries. (1) Century

Icelandic

Faroese

Southwest Norw.

12th

vowel changes before I+C (folk)

vowel changes before I+C (folk)

vowel changes before n + C and l+C (limg, fokk)

13th

Q+a > Q (> au) (cf. bautur) fi, fn > bl, bn (ebni, hobn)

Q+a > Q (> oa) (cf. boatur)

Q+a > Q (a in modern spelling) (cf. bilt)/n > bn (habn)

14th

ll, rl > dl

ll, rl > dl

(kadla, kadl) nn, Tn > dn (seidn, hodn) vowel changes before n+C (limgur)

ll, rl > dl (kadla, (kadla, kadl) kadlur) nn, Tn > dn nn, Tn > dn (seidni, (steidn, hodn) hodn)

When examining a language internal explana­ tion, three questions arise: (1) What triggered these innovations? (2) How is it possible for the changes to produce the same phonological forms in all three languages? (3) How could all these changes be triggered at ahnost the same time in three isolated countries? Several phonological changes can be ex­ plained by internal factors with respect to these questions, e.g. diphthongization, vowel lower­ ing, differentiation, lenition etc. (cf. Sand0Y 1994). Therefore, these are changes with some probability of a language internal explanation. However, others, for instance the segmenta­ tion nn > dn to be discussed below, show low probability for being caused by such factors. Long I and the cluster rl had the same de­ velopment in most Nordic dialects, i.e. either to a segmented dl or to an assimilated I (or ,f). Long n and the cluster rn had a parallel development into assimilated n (which might be palatalized to]1) in the corresponding areas. In the coastal area of Hordaland - and in a part of the Shetlands - the expected innova­ tion of nn and rn > dn was carried through, e.g. in kanna > kadna, korn > kodn, which is a perfect parallel to the development of II and rl. However, in the rest of Southwest Nor-

207. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically IV: Icelandic and Faroese

wegian, Icelandic and Faroese (and in Shet­ land Norn), korn was changed to kodn, where­ as kanna remained unchanged (and did not parallel kalla > kadla). Even more striking and complicated is the fact that in the West Nordic dialects there was a differentiation of nn into dn when the pre­ ceding vowel was stressed and long in Old Norse and when the geminate nn included a morpheme boundary, whereas the shift rn > dn was not restricted in the same dialects: kanna remained unchanged stein + n > steid+ n (nom.sg.) korn > kodn While the relatively simple changes of II and rl > dl and rn > dn can be explained on struc­ turalgrounds (Sand0Y 1994), there is no struc­ turalmotivation for such a complex constraint as the differentiation of long n after a long vowel. There is no structure-preserving el­ ement in this change, so there cannot be a pre­ disposition to it. It is tempting to characterize it as anomalous. And how could such an un­ expected change be triggered in three different areas at almost the same time? The complexity of the constraints can be il­ lustrated by the fact that steinn 'stone' was changed to steidn, while the dative form imni 'the river' was not changed in Icelandic be­ cause the morpheme boundary preceded the geminate and was not inside it. The result was quite a complex morphology with variation in the stem, cf. the case declension in the sin­ gular: nom.: steid+n, gen.: stein + s, dat.: stein + i, acc.: stein + . This complex develop­ ment forces us to look for external (social) ex­ planations. In order to provide a sociopsychological understanding of the various situations caus­ ing linguistic innovations, Trudgill (1986) has differentiated between imitation and accom­ modation. The former is a characteristic of superficial and short-term contact implying that it would be enough, e.g., for the Iceland­ ers to hear that Norwegians tended to pro­ nounce some words in a different way. How­ ever, this knowledge and this contact situation would have little influence on the Icelandic language. All contact situations described above would have provided ideal conditions for lan­ guage accommodation. Because of the Nor­ wegians' intensive and long-term contact with the local people, they could have served as models for individual Icelanders, and Iceland­ ers staying in Norway for some years could

1925

have accommodated to a Norwegian dialect. By their accommodation these Icelanders would have become innovators in their own language community, where they would have been considered insiders. In this way innova­ tions from Norwegian dialects could have dif­ fused to Icelandic dialects. However, there are several presuppositions in this reasoning that we are not able to check. For instance, we should not assume that lan­ guage had the symbolic value in the past that it has in today's society. Nevertheless, we can assume that in all social settings at any par­ ticular time there is a fundamental tendency for participants to accommodate to dominant persons. It is likely that Norwegians were the dominant partners in these relations. Norway was the commercial centre, and the Norwe­ gians were often the Icelanders' employers. Moreover, the traders' position of superiority was enhanced by their ability to offer advan­ tageous deals. All these aspects could have led to the Norwegians gaining some kind of power or domination. A documented fact amid all these speculations was the tendency ofIcelandic scribes to use Norwegian spellings during the 13 th and 14th centuries, which Karlsson (1989, 40 f.) interprets as accommo­ dation to the book market in Norway. Ottos­ son (1992, 173-176) concludes from his inves­ tigations into the suffix -st instead of -umst in themedio-passive lsg.pres. in Icelandic manu­ scripts that it reflects Norwegian domination during this period. Moreover, Norwegian word forms often appear in Icelandic manuscripts during the 14th century, e.g., hand, skamm, deylJi, baJJi for hQnd, skQmm, do and brel5i. As Trudgill (1986) has discussed, there are certain changes that are too intricate to be per­ fectly learned by adults in normal accommo­ dation situations. For these changes to spread requires situations where children learn the new phonological rule in a natural way, i.e. from a model in their social network providing sufficient long-term input to facilitate the lan­ guage acquisition. This will normally be their parents. When a child has been able to learn the new feature, the change can be induced in the wider social group. Trudgill cites the example of Canadian Raising; a parallel case in the present context would be the differen­ tiation of long n into dn with its complex con­ straints. The marriages between the West Nor­ dic communities provided the appropriate so­ cial conditions for such changes. So far, reference has been made only to the Icelandic constraints on the change of long nn

1926

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

into dn. However, there are some small intri­ cate variations in the changes. The variants of the rule are shown in (2), and the effects in (3): (2) Rules (differentiation of nn after long vowel): (V = vowel, + = morpheme boundary)

a. (S\VNOlW. and Su5uroy in Faroes) V: n+n & V: +nn > Vdn b. (elsewhere in Faroes) DIPHn +n & DIPH +nn > DiPHdn c. (Icelandic) V: n+n > Vdn

(3) Variations (differentiation of nn): Structure:

Vrn

v:

n+n DIPHn+n

v:

Old Norse kann+ a stein +n sein+ni

+nn DIPH+nn a+nni ey+nni

SWNorw.: kanna

odne

tJydne

saidne

odne

oidne

saidne seidni

anne

steidn

oidne eirmI

'stone'

'later'

'the river' (dat.)

staidn

Sutluroy in Faroes:

karma Faroes elsewhere: Icelandic:

kanna karma

'can, pot'

" ","

'the island' (dat.) .. In Far., the nom. suffix -ur has, by analogy, replaced the con­ ditioning factor in the rnase. nouns in question .... In Norw., the comparative form has beenreplaced by the more regular sein+are, which is lacking the conditioning factor

As Trudgill (1986) comments, complicated constraints can lead to imperfect learning. The West Nordic variants can be instances of im­ perfect learning, as when the change in north­ ern Faroese was restricted to positions after a diphthong. After being this specific about phonological and social conditions in order to explore the actual possibilities, it is reasonable to conclude that a structural explanation is insufficient; so­ cial contact was necessary for nn > dn to be triggered and to occur at the same time and in the same way in the three languages; and in fact, there was sufficient contact to make a sociolinguistic explanation of accommoda­ tion probable. By extension, the assumption that social contact was a necessary factor in the diffusion of the most complex innovations makes it easier to accept this as an additional factor in the diffusion of other innovations, as well.

4.

Icelandic - change and variation

4.1 .

The melting pot

Despite a certain proportion of settlers in Ice­ land from East Norway and East Scandinavia (perhaps some 30 per cent), there are hardly

any eastern structural features that have emerged from the language melting pot; how­ ever, the vocabulary indicates a more complex mixture of immigrants (Bandle 1967, 510531). According to available information, the settlers dispersed throughout the country and mixed early. At about 1 100 the population had grown to 40,000-50,000, a size which re­ mained constant for hundreds of years (Stefansson 1993, 3 12). A general assumption about melting-pot ef­ fects is that simpler structures are more likely to survive than complex ones (i. e. simplifica­ tion). However, the morphologically com­ plicating i- and u-umlaut (e.g. kama - kemr and tQnn - tannar) have been retained more consistently in Icelandic than in any other Nordic language, a fact that underlines West Norwegian dominance in the new community. On the other hand, one possible simplifica­ tion effect may be seen: the merger of short e and short te, which formed a systematic con­ trast in the early Old Nordic languages and were retained in Tr0ndelag in Norway until the 13 th century (cf. art. 10). There is no evi­ dence of this contrast in Icelandic manu­ scripts. A structural condition for the merger could be the low functionalload (i. e. few mini­ mal pairs). Celtic remnants in Icelandic are surprisingly few when we keep in mind that many settlers had stayed some time in Scotland and Ireland before they moved to Iceland, and it is as­ sumed that they brought Celtic servants with them to the new community. Gutimundsson (1997) has traced 32 words of Celtic origin in Icelandic. This can, of course, be explained by the Celts' probably subordinate role. In addition to the melting-pot effect we should take into account continued contacts with Norway after settlement. Some new words which spread through the West Nordic languages during the early Old Nordic period, e.g. saulJr 'sheep' for the older word Jar, in­ dicate that these communities constituted a continuous cultural area (Bandle 1973, 48 f.). 4.2.

Social hierarchy (the free state period, 930-1264 A.D.)

It is presumed that the period of settlement was characterized by people having equal so­ cial status, as is normal for new settlements (Stefansson 1993, 3 1 3). However, during the centuries following the establishment of the Icelandic Parliament in 930, the formal organ­ ization of the community coincided with the

207. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically IV: Icelandic and Faroese

seizing of control by a few leaders. In 930 the country was divided into 36 principalities, each with a chieftain; however, soon we wit­ ness a concentration of power and property. As big farmers built and owned churches, Christianity (from the year 1 000) and tithing (from 1097) became means of increasing the wealth of the rich. By 1200, five families dominated the whole country. During the first half of the 1 3 th century, Iceland was ravaged by civil war, i. e. a struggle between the mightiest families, a situation the Norwegian king made the most of, succeeding through intrigues to be accepted as sovereign in 1264. During this period, Iceland gradually be­ came a feudal community after the European and Norwegian models with an "aristocracy" and a hierarchy of subordinate people. By ap­ pointing nobles, the Norwegian king under­ lined his position at the top of the hierarchy and became able to exercise authority in the Icelandic community. Thus, from the middle of the 1 3th century, Iceland was formally ad­ ministered from Bergen. The main ties with the outside world had for a long time already been to or through Norway. In legal matters Norway served as a model, the church was organized from Norway from 1 1 53, and com­ mercial contacts were in reality monopolized by Bergen from the early 1 3 th century. There is, however, no indication that social differences at that time were reflected in the language; we assume, however, that it was people from the dominant Icelandic families who travelled to Norway and thus became the intermediaries for language innovation. (For the Norwegian period 1264-1400, cf. sect. 2. and 3.). 4.3.

Linguistic isolation

The Norwegian period was followed by the English period, as Englishmen started fishing and trading along the Icelandic coast from about 1400. At the same time, Norwegian economic life collapsed due to the Black Death, and Bergen's trade monopoly was dis­ mantled during the first half of the 1 5th cen­ tury. The kings of the Danish-Norwegian union had pro blems exercising power in Ice­ land during the 1 5th century, and, therefore, the contacts with the Scandinavian mainland dwindled dramatically when the English be­ gan dominating commercial activities. How­ ever, influence from the English lan�uage was restricted to a few loanwords (Oskarsson 1993).

1927

During the latter half of the 1 5th century the Icelanders re-established contacts with the Danish-Norwegian king in Copenhagen, which from now on progressively became a trading centre for Iceland. In this respect the island was hardly at any time economically isolated; linguistically, however, it became more independent. Although quite a few Dan­ ish loanwords dispersed into Icelandic throughout the next centuries, no systematic linguistic changes can be traced to Danish in­ fluence. Whereas West Norwegians and Ice­ landers were certainly able to communicate di­ rectly in their own languages because of only minor dialect differences, communication with the English and subsequently with the Danish rulers required surmounting language barriers, as Danish and Icelandic at that time had developed too far in different directions. Under such conditions, linguistic influence was impeded. Icelandic linguistic conservatism is partly a result of the country's relative isolation, as the North Atlantic Ocean hampered daily contact with foreigners and language innovations on a broad basis. Nevertheless, the most import­ ant factor explaining the extraordinary con­ servatism is the general pattern of settlement in Iceland, where people were scattered around the island on isolated single small farms with 7-10 individuals on average (Stefansson 1993, 3 12). Only a few clusters of more than one farm can be found. This struc­ ture of settlement resulted in children's lan­ guage acquisition being "controlled" by par­ ents and grandparents. There were few oppor­ tunities for younger generations to form a lan­ guage community with its own deviating lan­ guage norms; thus, Iceland had few social for­ ces that could give rise to language differences. Another interesting characteristic of Icelan­ dic is that ahuost all changes that actually have arisen have diffused over the whole country. This diffusion may have been caused by the old tendency to move, either in order to marry or to settle on another farm. Moreover, people from a wider area met at seasonal fishing vil­ lages. The fishing village Vestmannaeyjar was already established around 1100, and after stockfish became a valuable export commod­ ity about 1 300 A. D., new villages sprang up on the western coast. About 1200, the Icelan­ dic aristocrats concentrated their trade at 10 harbours (Stefansson 1993, 313) where, nat­ urally, a great many people gathered for some periods of the year. Although it is generally believed that none of these villages or har-

1928

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

bours had a permanent settlement, the more intense social life here for longer periods of the year might have been instrumental in pass­ ing on linguistic innovations, either from abroad, i. e. Norway, or from other parts of Iceland. 4.4.

The New Age

The Icelandic language was not perceived as a language of its own until the latter half of the 16th century. Icelanders regarded their language as norr@nn, which was a vague term for West Nordic. The first translation of the New Testament (by Oddur Gottskillksson) was published in 1540 as a translation into norr@nn. However, in 1555 the term Icelandic was used for the first time as a reference to the language (Sand0Y 2000), and during the next century it became the normal word (Ot­ tosson 1990, 17). This new concept of an Ice­ landic language conveys an awareness (or ideology) that Icelanders had their peculiar­ ities. This had a parallel in the Danish efforts during the same period to establish a Danish standard language as a means of creating a feeling of unity. The humanists in Iceland of the latter half of the 1 6th century were preoccupied with their mother tongue, and their interest ran parallel to the Renaissance interest in classic languages. These humanists took pride in the fact that the Icelanders had saved the old Nor­ dic cultural legacy. This is the very beginning of the cultivation of the Icelandic language; the embryo of Icelandic linguistic purism is Gu�brandur l>orlilksson's 1 584 Bible transla­ tion (cf. Ottosson 1990, 17). During the next centuries, the country was affected by cold climate, natural catastrophes and hunger. There were strict class differences, and by the end of the 1 8th century 95 per cent of the population were tenants without prop­ erty (Gustafsson 1985). About 1700, 1 5.5 per cent belonged to the poorest group who could not afford to hire land; these were either va­ grants or dwellers in fishing villages, most of them at Sn",fellsnes (l>orsteinsson 1991 , 230 f.). These villages might have given rise to the jiamreli, two phonological mergers (of i with e and u with 0) probably in the 19th cen­ tury. The small group of landowners constituted the ruling class, and the central authorities in Copenhagen seem to have had no interest in Iceland during the first two centuries after the Reformation other than to collect taxes; there-

fore, there were no pro blems in using Icelandic for internal administration. However, during the 1 8th century the gov­ ernment in Copenhagen increased its central control, which resulted in pressure on judicial language, especially after the 1736 decree that all judges should be educated in Copenhagen. From then on Icelandic judges often mixed their language with Danish words and used Danish in private letters. During the latter half of the century, Danish tradesmen increased in number and stayed more often on Iceland dur­ ing the winter, which meant there was strong Danish influence on the lan$uage. In a de­ scription of Iceland, Eggert Olafsson noticed that the language along the southwestern coast was more influenced by Danish and Ger­ man words than elsewhere. Some educated people - such as headmaster Bjarni Jonsson in Skillholt - were of the opinion that Iceland­ ers in general should start using Danish to ensure economic progress (Ottosson 1990, 32 ff.). The Enlightenment Period in the last dec­ ades of the 1 8th century supported the oppo­ site reasoning: purism could facilitate general access to language and knowledge. Lrerd6ms­ listafeJagilJ, which was established in Copen­ hagen in 1779, had an immense influence on language policy in the following centuries. The 19th and the 20th centuries have been char­ acterized by a struggle for economic progress and national independence which have fa­ voured a feeling of unity and an ideology of historical and cultural pride, reflected in a unique and general support and devotion to language purism, which in fact has changed the language considerably during the last two centuries by replacing loanwords with neol­ ogisms and restoring ancient grammatical fea­ tures, in particular morphological ones (e. g. the restoration of the masc. ia-stem (hersir) and the subjunctive form -umst in the 1 pI. in­ stead of -ustum). The growth of Reykjavik and other towns during the last one and a half centuries has not represented a threat to the general lan­ guage policy. The economic and social su­ periority that these towns have attained has not resulted as yet in any prestigious urban language variety or a standard based on the language in the capital, but the urbanization has established an urban slang among young people. The lack of a prestigious urban lan­ guage may be an effect of the general devotion to the language ideology that has favoured archaic features, which normally are best

207. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically IV: Icelandic and Faroese

preserved in the rural dialects. Nevertheless, intense urbanization creates new conditions for language innovations, which in the long run may represent a challenge to the very negative attitude to language change.

5.

Faroese change and variation

5.1.

The melting pot

Nordic settlement of the Faroes took place perhaps at about 800 A.D. Here as well, the settlers arrived both directly from Norway and indirectly via the Nordic colonies in Eng­ land, Scotland and Ireland. It is supposed that most of them were West Norwegians. Very little is known about Faroese society before about 1 300, and by then 45 villages had been established. These have been the same up to modern times, and the population is estimated to have been relatively stable at 5,000-7,000 from the Middle Ages up to about 1 800, i. e. about 125 inhabitants in each village on av­ erage. The Faroese settlement was of a differ­ ent character than in Iceland, as the fewer but much larger communities represented better conditions for linguistic innovations among young people and, therefore, better sociolin­ guistic conditions for dialectal divergence. As is the case for Icelandic, there are some Celtic place-names and words in Faroese, too, but surprisingly few. There are no independ­ ent indications of the number of immigrants from the various parts of Scandinavia, but the language, which can be observed in charters from about 1300, does not provide any evi­ dence of East Nordic features. On the other hand, it exhibits changes common to the Scan­ dinavian languages and unlike Icelandic, such as the loss of the initial clusters hn-, hi-, hr-, and the merger of hv and kv > kv, the latter common to Norwegian. 5.2.

The Middle Ages

It is highly probable that the Faroes in the early period were dominated by chieftains who were landowners, and Christianity con­ stituted an opportunity to extend their power as they built and owned the churches. From the late Middle Ages we can see that class dif­ ferences were immense, as a few landowners controlled all the land and the poor were a large proportion of the population. At an early stage, the Faroes were consider­ ed a part of the Norwegian king's domain but not a part of Norway. The people accepted

1929

Norwegian laws from 1 024, but there were specific amendments for the Faroes. The king collected taxes from that time, and he installed governors, often Norwegians (Debes 1990). Political subordination to the Norwegian king was certainly a consequence ofthe Faroes' de­ pendence on trade. Bergen was the commer­ cial centre, and the Faroemen themselves took part in merchant activities long after the Ice­ landers had stopped their activities. In the 13 80s, for instance, a Faroese governor, Greipr Ivarsson, was trading between Norway, the Faroes and Iceland (Debes 1995, 1 1 8). The Faroes' ties to Norway, and especially Bergen, seem to have been stronger than the Icelanders', e.g. most bishops in the Faroes were Norwegians. The first Faroese docu­ ment, Seyoabrrevio, an amendment from 1298, was written in Bergen about 1 3 1 0 by a Faroese scribe staying there. In about 1400, an estate in Husavik in the Faroes owned two merchant houses in Bergen, which might indicate that there was a small Faroese colony there. More­ over, this estate had properties in Rogaland and Sogn in western Norway, as well as in Shetland and five Faroese villages (Debes 1995, 1 1 3). The Faroese people were in direct contact with foreigners, since Low Germans from 1 361 enjoyed the same privileges as Norwe­ gians to trade directly with the Faroes. In 1 529 a merchant from Hamburg was given half of the islands as a fiefdom (Debes 1995). 5.3.

The Modern Ages

The Faroes were automatically converted to the Reformed Church together with Norway in 1537 (Debes 1995, 218). Whereas the close connections between Norway and Iceland ter­ minated after 1430, they were retained be­ tween Norway and the Faroes until the first decades of the 17th century. From 1 555, the Faroes were placed under Bergen county and ecclesiastically under the Bishop of Bergen. Norwegians often became priests in the Faroes. Contact with Bergen is apparent from mentions of several Faroese individuals living in Bergen during these decades, e. g., two cap­ tains doing trade in northern Germany. One of them, the well-known naval hero Magnus Heinason, married into a wealthy Norwegian family. He himself was of a mighty Faroese family, his brother being the superior judge (i@gmaiJur) ofthe islands. Itis known that after Magnus was beheaded in Denmark, his son moved back to the Faroes.

1930

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

Bergen's dominance lasted until 1620, when both trade and all administrative ties shifted to Copenhagen and the Faroes carne under Danish dominance, a fact that could have had some consequences as Danish was probably not a mutually intelligible language, whereas Norwegians and Faroese possibly understood each other ca. 1600. This is, however, hard to decide since the Faroese language underwent several vowel changes (diphthongizations pe­ culiar to Faroese) during the 16th century. However, even in the middle of the 17th cen­ tury the Faroese language was perceived as a Norwegian dialect by the author Lucas Debes (1673, 253). The fact that language contact with Norway lasted for two hundred years more in the Faroes than in Iceland may help explaining why Faroese has developed a lan­ guage structure with an obviously Scandina­ vian character, first and foremost syntacti­ cally. Developments common to Norwegian and unlike Icelandic are, e. g., the past naddi « mi1Ji) 'reached', the mixed verb class (brukar - brukti 'uses - used') and the restric­ tion of passive meaning of st-verbs to the po­ sition following modal verbs (kann skjotast 'may be shot', but verour skotinn 'is shot' in the present tense). If whole families moved back and forth, language influence could have been considerable. A great many of the Low German loanwords in Faroese, as well, may have passed through Bergen. 5.4.

Danish influence

The 17th century was very difficult for the Faroes, with crop failure, bad weather and hunger. Far into the following century people were trapped in poverty, and the propertyless were dependent on the wealthier and were, e.g., obliged to crew their boats. The Faroe­ men themselves were not traders any longer, and they were totally dependent on the Danish governors and their commercial monopoly. The community was from the 1 6th century more isolated than before, except for some il­ legal trade with England. During the period of commercial monop­ oly, contact with the rest of the world took on another character as the foreigners in the Faroese trading harbours were Danish civil servants. The number of Danes in the Faroes increased, and they constituted a "colony" in the new village T6rshavn. Since Danish was used as the official language and the colony of Danes was a social elite in T6rshavn, several Faroese people acquired a good command of

this language; members of mixed families were often bilingual. Contact with the written lan­ guage and with the authorities became an es­ sential part of modern life, and consequently general knowledge of Danish has continuous­ ly improved up till the present. As the Danes brought new ideas and new commodities with them, the Faroese language received many loanwords from Danish. The trade monopoly in the Faroes survived the more liberal decades around 1800 and was not dismantled until 1 856. Most of the new trading companies established in the following years were owned by the Danes, an indication oftheir dominant role in the society. However, after a few years some Faroemen managed to establish commercial activities, too, and in 1872 they bought the islands' first decked boat and thereby opened a new era ofdeep-sea fish­ ing. During the latter half of the 1 9th century the community totally transformed economi­ cally, socially and culturally. As the prop­ ertyless now were able to be fishermen and earn money, there was an economic equali­ zation. (Crew conscription was abolished in 1865). Economic progress and the growth of the Faroese bourgeoisie gave rise to national pride. The new Faroese written code con­ structed by the priest V.U. Harnmershaimb in the 1840s was used very little until the 1 880s; however, after the establishrnentof a language movement in 1888, some magazines and books were published in the language. The Faroemen then experienced a delayed Nation­ al Romanticism; active purism gained ground by the turn of the century, and the 20th cen­ tury was a period of great economic and cul­ tural progress with a parallel increase in au­ tonomy from Denmark. The struggle to establish Faroese as a na­ tional written language has been lengthy. Not everyone had a notion of a Faroese language during the 19th century, as the Faroes were considered to be a part of Denmark and the spoken language only deviant dialects. Mak­ ing people accept that using the constructed written Faroese language, was necessary for convincing them that the Faroes was a nation in its own right, i. e. the fight for cultural and political independence were two sides of the same coin. During the first half of the 20th century the Faroese language was introduced as a subject in school, and its use was accepted in church. The Horne Rule of 1948 accepted Faroese as the main language (but Danish could still be

207. Sociolinguistic structures chronologically IV: Icelandic and Faroese

used in public matters), and since then Faroese has gained more and more ground as the dominant official language. The use of Danish in administration today is mainly restricted to laws and matters of co-operation with Copen­ hagen. The publishing of books and texts in Faroese has increased continuously. When the biggest newspaper, Dimmahetting, a mouth­ piece for the conservative pro-Denmark party, changed its editorial language from Danish to Faroese in the 1970s, it symbolized a shift in mentality: now that the Faroese language was generally accepted, it was no longer a symbol of the idea of complete political independence. However, for practical reasons Danish is still present in the society, as a small population of 45,000 is not able to produce or translate all texts into its mother tongue. It is estimated that more than half of the texts people read are in Danish. As in Iceland, the struggle for political and economic independence has favoured linguis­ tic purism; however, there has not been gen­ eral support for the most consistent purist pol­ icy. Therefore, the number of loanwords which to a high degree are traditionally accept­ ed in spoken Faroese - may vary from text to text. On the other hand, many Faroese neol­ ogisms are accepted in the spoken language today, and in the beginning of the 21st cen­ tury, the tendency is for a more positive atti­ tude to using Faroese and the acceptance of distinctive Faroese language features. When Danish disappeared as a prestigious sociolect, no specific variety of Faroese took over this function. All dialects have been on an equal footing as far as prestige is con­ cerned; therefore, no standard spoken variety has been established. However, the concentra­ tion of the modern population in Torshavn with a third of all the citizens - has created a tendency for the dialect of the Torshavn area to be regarded as "neutral".

6.

Conclusion

The discussion above has addressed the ques­ tion of whether the development of the two West Nordic languages has been characterized by contact or isolation. There is a high prob­ ability that some parallel linguistic changes in the Middle Ages were a result of contact. However, in the long run, the trade and the pattern of settlement caused different condi­ tions for language changes in the two commu­ nities.

1931

In modern times, Iceland and the Faroes demonstrate economic, political and sociolin­ guistic parallels as the struggle for independ­ ence has favoured the cultivation of national language idiosyncracies.

7.

Literature (a selection)

Bandle, Oskar (1967), Studien zur westnordischen Sprachgeographie. Haustierterminologie im Norwe­ gischen, Isliindischen wzd Fiiroischen (A: Textband: Bibliotheca Arnamagna:ana 28 B: Kartenband: Supplementum 4). Kopenhagen. Bandle, Oskar (1973), Die Gliederwzg des Nordger­ manischen (Beitrage zur nordischen Philologie 1). Basel/Stuttgart. Chapman, Kenneth G. (1962), Icelandic-Norwegian linguistic relationships (NTS. Suppl. bind VIII). Oslo. Debes, Hans Jacob (1990), F@roya s@ga 1. Norl5ur­ lond og F@royar. Torshavn. Debes, Hans Jacob (1995), F@roya s@ga 2. Skattland og len. Torshavn. Debes, Lucas (1673), RrrOE et FEroa reserata. Det er: FEr@ernis oc FEr@eske Indhyggeris Beskrifvelse. K0benhavn. Gu5mundsson, Helgi (1997), Um hal innan. VestrEnir merm og islensk menning a milJoldum. Reykjavik. Gustafsson, Harald (1985), Mellan kungoch allmoge iimbetsmiin, beslutsprocess och inftytande pa 1700talets Island. StockhoM. Haugen, Einar (1970), The language history of Scandinavia: A profile of problems. In: The Nordic Languages and Modern Linguistics (ed. Hreinn Be­ nediktsson). Reykjavik, 41 86. J6hannesson, Jon (1958), islendinga saga II. Fyrir­ lestrar og ritgerl5ir tan timabilil5 1262 1550. Reyk­ javik. Karlsson, Stefan (1989), Tungan. In: islensk jJj615menning VI (ed. Frosti F. Johannesson). Reyk­ javik, 1 54. Lindal, Sigur5ur (1974), Island og umheimurinn. In: Saga islands I (ed. Sigur5ur Lindal). Reykjavik, 199 223. Magemy, Hallvard (1993), Soga om austmenn: Nordmenn som siglde til Island og Gr@nland i mel­ lomalderen (Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi. II. Hist.-Filos. Klasse. Skrifter Ny Serie No. 19). Oslo. Oskarsson, Veturli5i (1993), Om Lineord og frem­ med pavirkning pa a:ldre islandsk sprog. In: Sc.Isl. 49/1998, 3 20. Ottosson, Kjartan G. (1990), islensk malhreinsun: Sogulegt yfirlit (Rit Islenskrar malnefndar 6). Reyk­ javik.

1932

XVIII. Special aspects of Nordic language history II: Social stratification

Ottosson, Kjartan G. (1992), The Icelandic Middle Voice: The morphological and phonological develop­ ment. Lund.

porlaksson, Helgi (1979), "Kaupmenn i pj6nustu konungs." In: Mimir. Blaa studenta i islenzkum jraoiJum 13, 5 12.

Sand0Y, Helge (1994), Utan kontakt og endring? In: Dialektkontakt, sprbkkontakt och sprbkforiind­ ring i Norden (eds. Ulla-Britt KotsinasjJohn Hel­ gander). Stockhohn, 38 51.

porsteinsson, Bjorn/Jonsson, Bergsteinn (1991), is­ lands saga til okkar daga. Reykjavik.

Sand0Y, Helge (2000), Nation und Sprache: das Notwegische. In: Nation und Sprache (ed. Andreas Gardt). Berlin, 873 913. Stefansson, Magnus (1993), Iceland. In: Medieval Scandinavia (eds. Ph. Pulsiano et al.). New York, 3 1 1 319.

Trudgill, Peter (1986), Dialects in contact (Language in society 10). Oxford. Trudgill, Peter (1992), Dialect typology and social structure. In: Language Contact. Theoretical and empirical studies (ed. Ernst Hakon Jahr). Berlin, 195 212.

Helge Sand@y, Bergen (Norway)

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages and languages for specific purposes 208.

Special languages and their social and functional dimensions I: Socially dependent varieties

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Introduction The Scandinavian languages and Low Gennan Russenorsk Romani Rotwelsch Secret languages; group jargons The future Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

Throughout the history of the Nordic Ian· guages, there has been a rich spectrum ofvari­ ous types of language contact. The two main types of language contact are external contact with non-Nordic languages from outside this area, and contact within the Nordic area itself. The latter category includes both contact be­ tween different languages (e.g. between Scan­ dinavian languages and Finnish or Sarni) and between dialects or special languages or va­ rieties used by various social groups. It is not possible to explain the form of any of the Nor· dic dialects or languages adequately without considering these contacts. Through the pro­ cess of language contact new forms or new linguistic varieties might have developed. (In this connection it is, of course, also important to focus on the bilingual or bidialectal indi­ vidual, who is supposed to have played an im­ portant role in language change and develop­ ment.) The existence of special or social lan­ guage varieties throughout the history of the Nordic languages should therefore be of great interest to all linguists trying to understand and describe a given language or dialect. The history of the Nordic languages prob· ably contains a vast number of unreported examples of special languages or language va­ rieties used by different social groups. There is reason to believe that in the Nordic coun­ tries there also have been examples of langua­ ges for special purposes, different group lan-

guages, and other language varieties limited to certain periods in history and/or connected to special new developments. Our knowledge of this contact, the various language mixtures and the possible language conflicts these dif· ferences might have caused in previous centu­ ries, is, on the other hand, restricted and in­ cidental. Therefore, to give an overview of special language varieties associated with the various social groups in the Nordic countries from the Middle Ages up to today is really an impossible task. It is possible, however, to comment upon some languages and languages for special purposes which have been men­ tioned in written documents or have been de­ scribed earlier by interested persons. It is, of course, not possible to avoid the fact that the majority of examples corne from the near past, as nearly all the linguistic varieties used by different social groups in the Nordic countries in the Middle Ages have left no traces.

2.

The Scandinavian languages and Low German

Due to intensified commercial relations with the Hanseatic League, contact between Low German and the Scandinavian languages in the Late Middle Ages (the 14th and the 15 th centuries) led to the strongest linguistic influ­ ence on the Scandinavian languages since the Viking period. The lexical invasion from Low German also took place in Icelandic and Faroese, but to a much more limited extent than in Scandinavian. This may be a result of less intense language contact with the Ger­ mans as well as with "mainland Scandinavia". An important explanation for this develop­ ment is, of course, the economic supremacy ofthe Hanseatic League. There were large and powerful colonies of German merchants in several leading Scandinavian towns, i. e. Copenhagen (Denmark). Stockhohn and Kal·

1934

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

mar (Sweden), Bergen and Oslo (Norway). In Scandinavia, Low German speakers settled in such numbers that they dominated the urban life of these countries. Low German most like­ ly became the prestige language of the area, perhaps even used as a spoken variety for everyday use. "The Scandinavian towns­ people came to regard the German merchants as models for imitation, and probably bilin­ gualism as well as a certain degree of pidgin­ ization (mixing of the two languages) was rather common in the period of the most in­ tense Hanseatic domination (the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries)" (Vik0r 2001 , 42). There were pro bably some sociolinguistic dif­ ferences between the towns where the Ger­ mans lived. We have reason to believe that the language contact between the Germans and the Scandinavian people was different in towns where the Germans lived in colonies within their own limited areas as opposed to towns where the Germans lived among the Scandi­ navian townspeople. According to Jahr (1998, 122f.), the Hanseatic merchants were far less integrated in Bergen than in Stockhohn. There were also some important differences between Oslo and Bergen. In Oslo, the Germans and their families did not live in separate colonies, and Jahr therefore assumes that children there grew up bilingual or bidialectal. The question of type of language contact is, of course, important for the degree and kind of language influence. "Various scholars have shown some disagreement on the exact nature between LG and Sc[andinavian] speakers and the kind of contact language that could lead to the known result" (Haugen 1976, 3 1 4). Jahr (1998) discussed the type of lan­ guage contact between Low German and the Scandinavian languages, i.e. whether it was in fact language contact or dialect contact. The differences between the language systems were relatively small, and he has found no evidence of code-switching, as most pro bably would be the case in a language contact situation. An­ other interesting question is that of a possible simplified, mixed language ("pidgin lan­ guage") in Sweden, Denmark or Norway, used in communication between Scandina­ vians and Low Germans. The existence of such a mixed language during the Hanseatic period has often been postulated, especially by Swedish linguists, but according to Jahr (1997; 1998b), there is no evidence at all of the existence of a Scando-German pidgin lan­ guage in this period. Jahr further claims that " the lack of evidence of a mixed language also

indicates dialect contact rather than language contact" (Jahr 1998, 1 34). On the other hand, as it is not quite clear whether the linguistic difference or variation between Low German and the Scandinavian languages in the Han­ seatic period is to be labelled a difference be­ tween dialects or languages, one could regard the exceptional degree of Low German influ­ ence on all the Scandinavian languages as an indication of widespread bilingualism. In any case, as pointed out for example by Haugen (1976) and Jahr (1998), observation of con­ temporary situations of language contact has given us greater understanding of the kind of linguistic development which took place in the Middle Ages. Language contact between Low German and the Scandinavian languages led to an ex­ tensive flow of loanwods. In fact thousands of loanwords of Low German origin have been identified in the present-day vocabulary ofthe Scandinavian languages. The words are of all kinds and categories, unlike the loan­ words from most other languages, i. e. Latin and Greek, and also a number of everyday Scandinavian words are of Low German ori­ gin. It has often been claimed that in Scandi­ navia today, hardly any normal sentence can be uttered in Danish, Norwegian or Swedish without the use of a Low German word. A few examples are given here of everyday Nor­ wegian words of Low German origin (there are similar forms in the other Scandinavian languages): men 'but', bruke 'to use', skrive 'to write' , arbeide 'to work', smake 'to taste', suk­ ker 'sugar', kokk 'cook', krig 'war', f@le 'to feel', slekt 'family', klar 'clear', slutte 'to cease'. This proves that language contact be­ tween Low German and the Nordic countries had a lasting effect. "The result was a massive invasion of loanwords, leading to a virtual transformation of Scandinavian vocabulary" (Vik0r2001 , 42 f.). (Formore on Low German and the Nordic languages, cf. art. 1 35).

3.

Russenorsk

A Nordic pidgin language existed some gen­ erations ago: Russenorsk ('Russo-Norwegian', RN), which was used as a means of communi­ cation between Russian merchants and the lo­ cal population along the coast of Finnmark and Troms in the extreme north of Norway. The primary context for Russenorsk was in trade between Russian buyers offish and Nor­ wegian fishermen, especially when bargaining about prices and weight. This language was

208. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions I: Socially dependent varieties

used during the period of the Pomor trade, i.e. from the second half of the 18thc. until the trade and language ceased after the Rus­ sian revolution in 1917. Russenorsk is exhaus­ tively described in Broch/Jahr (1984a), in Eng­ lish in Broch/Jahr (1 984b) and (briefly) in Broch/Jahr (1990). Among the characteristic features of Rus­ senorsk are the following: The phonology is based on both the Norwegian and Russian language systems but is simplified. Two of the most frequent pronouns are of Russian origin: moia 'I, me, my', and tvoia 'you, your' (per­ sonal as well as possessive pronouns, 1 st and 2nd person, respectively). The suffix -om is as a rule a general verbal marker. In Russenorsk, the verbs have no inflection for person, tense, or aspect. The nouns have only one form, and there is a strong tendency to use the suffix -a as a noun marker, like -om for the verbs, i. e. fiska 'fish', groppa 'grain'. The vocabulary used in RN consists of words derived from several languages. The main sources are, how­ ever, Russian and Norwegian, but some ofthe words found in RN are of English, Low Ger­ man, French, or Dutch origin. According to Broch/Jahr (1984a), the syntax of RN seems to have had few rules, but the syntactical pos­ sibilities were quite restricted. Throughout its life-span, Russenorsk can be labelled a pidgin language. Although it existed for about 150 years, it did not develop any further into a creolized language. This situation is unusual compared to other pidg­ ins. The reason for this is probably that RN was used almost exclusively in connection with trade during the summer season (Broch/Jahr 1990, 66). It functioned as an adequate aux­ iliary language until the middle of the 19th c., and it was socially accepted at all levels of so­ ciety, which is rather unusual for a pidgin lan­ guage. From about 1850, however, the social evaluation ofRN seems to have changed. This might be considered a consequence of the fact that from around 1850 the merchants started to learn Russian, and the use of RN then mainly was limited to common fishermen. Russenorsk, however, has left few traces in the Norwegian language. (For more on Rus­ senorsk, cf. art. 172.)

4.

Romani

Romani, a Gypsy language, is spoken by fewer than 10,000 persons within the borders of the Nordic area (Wiggen 1996, 1 51). The language has continuously developed through contact

1935

with other languages since the Gypsies left In­ dia about 1000 years ago. Various groups of Gypsies have been in contact with different languages, over shorter or longer periods of time, and under different social and political conditions. This has led to the present diver­ sity of dialects and varieties (Fraurud/Hylten­ starn 1 999), and Romani dialects in Europe are documented as early as the 16thc. (Mat­ ras/Bakker/Kyuchukov 1997, vii). "While the basic vocabulary derives from Indic, they have added many loanwords along the way of their migrations. The structure is often that of the local language in the country where they live" (Haugen 1976, 29). When one considers Ro­ mani from the point of view of language-con­ tact studies, the language is generally treated as "the recipient language for borrowed gram­ mar and lexical elements" (Matras 1995, xiii). The Gypsies came to the Nordic countries about 500 years ago. The first immigrants came from Great Britain to Sweden, later to Finland and Norway (Wiggen 1996, 151). According to Vik0r (2001, 78), one should distinguish between "two Gypsy languages, Romani and Romanes (pronounced romani and romanes, respectively)." Internationally, Romani is used as a general term for the Gypsy language. In Scandinavia, however, " it is also used in a narrower sense, as a designation for the remnants of the older Gypsy language which carne to the area around 1 500" (Vik0r 2001, 79). This distinction is also made by Iversen in connection with his description of the Romani language in Norway. He finds it necessary "to distinguish between Gypsy (lan­ guage) and Romany (language). The former represents the more genuine type of race and tongue still found in many foreign countries, the latter the more mixed and degenerated type living i.a. in this country" (Iversen 1944, 1 8). This Gypsy language has undergone con­ siderable changes since 1 500 and can now be said to exist in two branches, one Scandinavian (in Norway and Sweden) and one Finnish. "Scandinavian Romani is in fact a creolized language" (Vik0r 2001, 79). While the gram­ matical structure to a large extent has been as­ similated to North Scandinavian, the vocabu­ lary still has kept a number of words of Indo­ Aryan origin. The same view is held by Han­ cock (1992) on what he labels Scandoromani ("a Scandinavian dialect"), which he claims has " a core of direct lexical retention of Indic origin" (Hancock 1992, 37). The other branch, Finnish Romani, has developed in different di­ rections: one variety with certain Indo-Aryan

1936

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

character of the language, and one variety with a "Fennicized" and creolized structure. The other Gypsy language, Romanes, came to Scandinavia in the 19thc., mostly from southeastern Europe. "Rornanes is a rnore co­ herent and stable language than Romani, not onlyin Scandinavia, but also in Europe in gen­ eral. In fact, therefore, Rornanes is the inter­ national Gypsy language today" (Vik0r 2001, 79). The number of speakers of Romanes in the Nordic area is estimated at a few thousand speakers in Sweden and 300 in Norway. The Romani language has quite remarkably been preserved over several centuries under very different conditions for various groups of Romani speakers. The Romani language and all its varieties reflect in fact both these different conditions and a multitude of lan­ guage contact. In his study on the develop­ ment of Scandoromani, Hancock (1992, 46) claims that this language variety "is based upon sociolectal varieties of Scandinavian Norwegian in Norway, Swedish in Sweden, Danish in Denmark, whose speakers drew upon (now distinct) coexisting inflected Ro­ mani which served as a lexical reservoir for maintaining and enriching it as a cryptological register." But Rornani has in fact adopted lexi­ cal elements from many different languages. The lexical loans have gone in both directions; for example Swedish uses many Romani words as slang, e.g. haja 'understand', kirra 'to do, fix', projsa 'to pay', sjucker 'beautiful', and some of these words have even been accepted into everyday language, such as Sw. tjej, Norw. kjei 'girl' (Fraurud/Hyltenstam 1999, 243).

5.

Rotwelsch

The term Rotwelsch is used in different ways as a label for a variety of (sub-)languages. In the German encyclopedia Der Brockhaus we find this definition: Rotwelsch, das, deutsche " Sondersprache, die sich seit dem Mittelalter in gesellschaftlichen Randgruppen auszu­ pragen begann; Rotwelsch enthalt Lehnwor­ ter aus dem Jiddischen und dem Romani." In connection with a description of argot, Domaschnev (1987, 3 1 4) gives examples of verschiedene spezielle, geheime Jargons " sozialer Randgruppen (Diebe, Gauner u.a.), die im Deutschen als Rotwelsch, im Englischen als cant bekannt sind. Mit Rotwelsch bezeich­ nete man schon im 1 3 . Jh. die Gauner- und Bettlersprache. Schon damals verstandigten sich die Mitglieder sozialer Randgruppen durch eine Art Geheimsprache."

In SAGE, we find a broader definition of Rotwelsch (Sw. Rotviilska): it is a secret group language, especially used by criminal elements (with reference to a specific Swedish rot­ valska). The word is also used for such secret languages in general. In addition, the word of­ ten characterizes any incomprehensible lan­ guage or style. The Norwegian linguist Iversen, who con­ ducted several studies of so-called secret lan­ guages in Norway, states that the label Rot­ welsch " is very often used ambiguously, some­ times signifying a particular idiom as opposed to certain other idioms (e. g. Romany), some­ times a collective group of idioms more or less differing inter se (e. g. Mansing, Keltringe­ sprog, Forbrytersprik, Gaunersprache, Kramersprache, Cant, etc.)" (Iversen 1944, 17). He adds that in his work, he has decided to use the word Rotwelsch (or Rodi) "signify­ ing a particular Norwegian idiom as contras­ ted with other 'secret' idioms, first and fore­ most the Romany language." The Swedish linguist Bergman, however, obviously understands the term Rotwelsch in a wider sence, including languages of criminals and vagabonds, travellers, and even "the lower slang" in the biggest cities (Bergman 1935, 257). As a consequence, in his book called Rotviilska ('Rotwelsch') (Bergman 1931), he gives descriptions of several "Rot­ welsch" language varieties ("Rommani, mimsing, forbrytarsprilk och slang"), but not Rotvalska as a specifically Swedish variety. Bergman later probably found the label Rot­ valska a little vague and ambiguous, as in a revised edition of this book (Bergman 1964), he has chosen the title Slang och hemliga sprak (,Slang and secret languages'). For practical reasons and in accordance with Iversen's and Wiggen's (1996, 1 54) view, I will present Rotwelsch as a separate language variety, especially with reference to Iversen's studies of Rotwelsch/Rodi in Norway. Other varieties of mixed language will be referred to under "Secret languages". 5.1. As was made clear by Iversen (1945, 1 4), "Norw. Romany and Norw. Rodi (Rot­ welsch) are two different idioms, which should be well distinguished from each other" - al­ though the generally accepted view in Norway of "the tinker language" (Norw. Jantespraket) is that these two idioms are one and the same thing. Iversen points out that those who claim­ ed they spoke "correct" Romani regarded Rot­ welsch with profound contempt. This idiom

208. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions I: Socially dependent varieties

was generally referred to with derogatory names. Iversen considered the disparaging of Rotwelsch to be less of a linguistic than social and traditional nature. There exists an "old and great contrast between the baro-vandrin­ gane and the tikno-vandringane, i.e. the 'great vagabonds' and the 'small vagabonds', the 'Romanies' and the 'Sk0yerne'" (Iversen 1 944, 16). The difference in language between the two tribes into which the "travellers" or tinker people of Norway are divided is great, and there are variations from one district of the country to another, and from person to person. In addition, the difference between the two groups of tinkers/travellers is due to eth­ nic, historical and geographical factors. In Norway, Romani travellers had their centre in the Tf0ndelag area (mid-Norway), with Rotwelsch being spoken in the southern parts of the Vestlandet (southwest) and the S0rlan­ det (south). Wiggen (1996, 153) claims that the Swedish-Norwegian travellers/tinkers (Norw. tatere, Sw. tattare) probably have lived near and in close contact with the Gyp­ sies, and that the travellers obviously have considered the Gypsies a high-status group compared to themselves. This explains why the Swedish-Norwegian travellers' Romani language has borrowed more than 60 per cent of its vocabulary from Gypsy dialects, but otherwise it has nothing of Indic origin. Ac­ cording to Wiggen (1996, 153), the language has Norwegian/Swedish morphology and syn­ tax and should be characterized as a Scandi­ navian minority language. With reference to the difference between the baro-vandringar ("great travellers") and the tikno-vandringar ("small travellers"), Iversen in his description of the Rodi (Rotwelsch) lan­ guage in Norway points to the ethnic back­ ground of the two groups. The forefathers of the baro-vandringarwere mostly genuine Gyp­ sies; they had kept their tribal solidarity alive fairly well, had avoided external marriages, and might still claim to have some of the genu­ ine Gypsy blood in their veins. This is not at all the case with the tikno-vandringar who "ac­ tually possess no tribal pride - for obvious reasons, as from an ethnological point of view, they are simply Norwegians born and bred, though from of old with a certain alloy of foreign elements, especially - as it would seem - Germans and Romanies" (Iversen 1945, 14). There is also another interesting sociological difference, i. e "distinct signs of a consequent class division: Romany has always been spoken by the "upper class" of road travellers

1937

(storJantene, i. e. the 'great travellers'), Rodi by the 'lower class' (smafantene, i. e. the 'small travellers'). The former looked down on the latter as poor wretches, people with whom no horta romani-ste/ ('genuine great traveller') could lower himself to have anything to do" (Iversen 1945, 246). When it comes to a clas­ sification and characterization of the Rodi language, Iversen concludes that the idiom of the tikno-vandringar might be characterized as a Norwegian substratum with foreign - es­ pecially Romany, Gennan, and Latin - im­ portations. This idiom is called Rodi (Rot­ welsch). Rotwelsh dates back to Germany in the Middle Ages, but in the Scandinavian coun­ tries reports of the language are only known from the two latest centuries. Bergman (1935) has studied the history of words in Scandina­ vian Rotwelsch compared to the 500-years-old High German, Low German, and Dutch vo­ cabulary of Rotwelsch. Of the Continental Rotwelsch words he has compared, he finds that most of them are known from Denmark, then Sweden and Norway. He concludes that the Low German/Dutch form of Rotwelsch has been the main source of Scandinavian Rotwelsch, and that Denmark - especially Jutland - has been the gateway for Rotwelsch vocabulary into Scandinavia. (Bergman 1935, 294-296.) According to Iversen (1945, 247ff.), Norwe­ gian Rodi (Rotwelsch) is clearly different from Norwegian Romani in several respects. The sound system in Rodi is Norwegian through­ out, whereas Romani phonology still has markers of its alien origin. In Norwegian g and k are regularly pronounced as fricatives ([i] and [,], respectively) before palatal vowels, i.e. geit [jeit] 'goat'. This applies to Rodi as well, whereas in Romany they are frequently pronounced as stops. Stress falls mainly upon the first syllable in Rodi (as in most Norwe­ gian words); in Romani it is frequently placed on the last or the penultimate syllable. In Rodi plural endings are the same as the dialect fonns in the area where the Rodi speakers have been born or have been travelling around. In Romani the endings are mostly in­ variable and independent of the local Norwe­ gian language. The infinitive ending in Rodi in the southwest is -a, and -e in the south in accordance with the local dialects (a-mal, e-mal). In Romani the infinitive always ends in -a. In syntax, however, there are not any characteristic distinctions between Rodi and Romani.

1938

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

As far as the vocabulary is concerned, one could say that "Romani has kept more firmly to the traditional, the old and the inherited in the stock of words, whereas Rodi has shown a greater ability to adopt from outside and to create from inside" (Iversen 1945, 250). Among the loans from Romani in Rodi vo­ cabulary are a number of words of Asian ori­ gin (Indian, Persian, and Armenian). Some of these words are kept alive in Rodi, but seem to be dead in the language which Rodi bor­ rowed them from, viz. Romani. Besides these, we also find loans from almost all European languages: Greek, Italian, Spanish, French, English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Danish, Lappish, Finnish, and from West-Slavic lan­ guages. In Norwegian Rodi, there are also ca. 50 words from Latin, e. g. anum 'year', astra 'star', kannis 'dog', matrum 'mother', tonnik 'shirt', vesper 'evening'. Between the two re­ gional varieties of Rodi, the South ("S0rlan­ det") and the Southwest ("S0rvestlandet"), Iversen (1945, 251 f.) also reports some minor differences, for example in the word stock. The "small travellers" in S0rlandet have a con­ siderably richer vocabulary than their col­ leagues in the west. Today both Norwegian Romani and Rodi (Rotwelsch) are threatened languages and must be considered dying idioms (Wiggen 1996, 1 5 H.; Iversen 1945, 252).

6.

Secret languages; group jargons

Several groups have felt the need for and have developed a language for internal use, es­ pecially when people wanted to communicate with others belonging to the same group but without letting "outsiders" know what they were saying. For such purposes a "secret" lan­ guage does not need to be a totally different language - it might be sufficient only to use a different vocabulary, i.e. when doctors use Latin medical terms in internal communica­ tion with colleagues, hospitals, etc. Both Ro­ mani- and Rotwelsch-speaking people have taken advantage of mastering more or less two languages, or vocabularies. 6.1.

Mimsing

In Sweden, a certain group of itinerant pedlars and salesmen from Sjuhiiradsbygden 'Seven Judicial Districts area' in the province of Vas­ tergotland (around the city of Bods) has been known for several centuries for having travel­ led or walked on Swedish roads, offering their

merchandise and services. They were called Viistgotaknallarna 'Westgothian pedlars', and their special language was known as Mansing. (According to Bergman 1964, 55, the word Mansing is of Westgothian origin: mansa 'to speak a secret language', plus the suffix -ing.) The number of these travelling merchants is thought to have been ca. 1400 at the most (around 1 820-1830); it decreased to 725 in 1915, and from then on the modern era with railway, buses, telephones, etc. led to the end of the Viistgotaknallarna (see Bergman 1964, 40 f.). The Viistgotaknallarna also crossed the borders of Norway, and so Mansing expanded to this neighbouring country. In Stockhohn, the most widely spoken under-class slang at the end of the 19th c. drew much of its material from the language varieties Mansing and Romani (see Pred 1990, 19f.). The first written document with informa­ tion on Mimsing dates back to 1719 (Bergman 1929, 161 f.). Bergman found that Mimsing vocabulary which he has investigated clearly has its roots in the local dialect of Vastergot­ land, although some of the words are dis­ torted. Mansing has a number of borrowed words from Danish and German Rotwelsch, and from Finnish. There are even some dis­ torted Latin words. The number of words of Gypsy origin, however, is very low - which shows a clear difference from the criminals' language (Bergman 1929, 220). Bergman points out that there are several words with the "Latin" endings -is, -es, -us, and -um, i.e. bogis 'farmer', jam is 'cat', can tis 'cash', rokis 'to bacco'. The suffix -is was popular especially in students' and schoolboys' jargon, and later became productive also in common Swedish. Several words with this suffix have been adopt­ ed into Norwegian, and the suffix is now pro­ ductive even in this language. Some of the present-day Norwegian slang words of Man­ sing origin are purk, snut 'police (constable)', b@rst 'alcoholic drinks', kis 'fellow' (Tryti 1984, 99). In his study of Mansing in Norway, Iversen found that the most characteristic feature of Norwegian Mansing, which only dates from the latter half of the 19thc., is the Swedish substratum. Further, there is an "exceedingly loose structure of this idiom. There is no spe­ cific Mansing grammar at all, no consistent rules of word formation, not a single suffix that may be said to be productive" (Iversen 1950, 12). Another interesting difference be­ tween Norwegian and Swedish Mansing is the profession of Mansing users. Mansing

208. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions I: Socially dependent varieties

speakers in Sweden were the Westgothian ped­ lars, but in Norway, according to Iversen (1950, 1 1), Mimsing speakers "are chiefly people travelling with circuses, shooting-gal­ leries, merry-go-rounds, wheels of fortune, panoramas and the like. In addition one may also find street musicians, hucksters, and to some extent also criminals, knowing and using more or less of the Mansing idiom." The Mansingvocabulary studied by Iversen shows that words of Swedish origin comprise nearly half of the vocabulary, followed by German (inc!. Dutch) and Romany. The reason why Swedish words constitute nearly half of the vocabulary in a secret idiom like Mansing might be that a great deal of the words in ques­ tion are specific dialect words, and they were probably unknown outside the local area where they were used. One of Iversen's con­ cluding remarks is the following: "Putting everything together, then, we must say that the transplanting of Swedish Mansing into Norwegian soil has not resulted in developing a new linguistic species, only in producing cer­ tain shades in or, at most, a sort of variety of the mother plant" (Iversen 1950, 94). 6.2.

Language of criminals

It is often difficult to separate a specific lan­ guage of criminals, thieves, tramps, etc. from language varieties like Romani, Rotwelsch and Mansing. Many ofthe words are identical or similar, and a number of criminals or thieves might have existed within the " typical" groups of Romani, Rotwelsch or Mansing users. Bergman (1964, 56) claims that what separates the characteristic vocabulary and metaphors in the criminals' language from the others is that in the criminals' language they are especially concerned with murder, theft, various kinds of swindles, etc.; e.g. the Man­ sing word tjack 'goods' means 'stolen goods'. In Norwegian slang the word tjaile Ctyste") 'inform, betray' is supposed to corne from criminals' language (Tryti 1984, 100). Thus the fact that these language varieties may have a number of words in common could explain why criminals' or thieves' language is called Romani, Mansing, or Rotwelsch. In fact, the Norwegian thieves' language has been labelled Mimsing (Olsen 1914, 39). Bergman (1964, 64ff.) points to several words that are com­ mon in Swedish and German Rotwelsch, and in Mansing and criminals' language. Bergman (1964, 66) finds it impossible to tell how old the loanwords from Rotwelsch in the Swedish

1939

criminals' language are, but they might be of a reasonable age. How they came to Sweden is also unknown to him, but he mentions foreign hired workers as a possibility, or Swedish soldiers returning from Germany. A perhaps more probable route into Swedish criminals' language is through Danish and German tramps or criminals corning through Jutland to Sweden. The latter hypothesis is connected to the existence of a reported, especially Jutlandish, so-called "crooks' language" (Danish KEit­ ringsproget). The Kfeltringer 'crooks' (or Sk@jere as they called themselves) in Jutland - and their language - has often been connect­ ed with Gypsies or Romani, but were rather more like the Swedish and Norwegian travel­ lers. Hansen (1917) points out that the KEit­ ringer had little to do with Romani and Gyp­ sies. Their main occupations were begging (in fact the word kreltring is said to originate from an old word kireitre 'to beg') and working as glaziers and tinsmiths (Hansen 1917, 71). Ac­ cording to Skautrup (1953, 223), several of the words in Kfeltringsproget were based on Ger­ man thieves' language (Rotwelsch), for exam­ ple dil 'girl', knop 'liquor', tikkert 'watch', trappert 'horse' - some of them even of Latin origin: akve 'water', patrum 'father'. There were, however, quite a number of the words in Kfeltringsproget that were based on Danish word elements, i. e. brreggert 'sheep', kr@l 'wool', mjavert 'cat', glarum 'glass'. The end­ ing -ensis could be added to the pronouns, probably in order to make the language in­ comprehensible to outsiders. The last Kfeltring who knew the language died in 1923 (Skautrup 1953, 223). 6.3.

Knoparmoj and other occupational groups' jargons

In Stockholm, there existed a secret langauge called Knoparespraket, or Knoparmoj, parts of which date back to the late 17th c. This was used by chimney sweeps, and the vocabulary has pro bably been helpful as a means of com­ munication among professional chimney sweeps, when for instance a chimney sweep on the roof wanted to question or discuss a professional matter with his colleague in the kitchen without risking interference from the house's occupants. In addition to "secret" vo­ cabulary, Knoparmoj also was characterized by various kinds of spelling modulations of words, e.g. the so called "V-language" (Sw. u-sprak), e.g. ucker (for socker 'sugar'), uga

1940

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

(for piga 'servant maid'), ullt (for kallt 'cold'). According to Pred (1990, 20), a scholar wntmg in the 1940s, Ola Bannbers "claimed there was no knowledge of the language outside the craft until the 1910 publication of an essay on 'Se­ cret languages in Sweden"'. Bergman (1939) has studied a number of words written down in Knoparmoj and concludes that most ofthern are also known among other groups than the chimney sweeps. The suffix -is, which is known from Mansing, is found in some words, i.e. kondis (for kondition 'condition'), platis (for platslagare 'tinsmith'), podis (for potatis 'po­ tato'), torkis (for tobak 'tobacco'). What might be considered unexpected, however, is that in fact the main part of the vocabulary does not relate to the chimney sweeps' occupation. Berg­ man claims that the high number of Romani words indicates a connection to the lower and lowest social groups (Bergman 1939, 77 f.). Because Stockholm was a center for the education of chimney sweeps, Knopannoj was known within this occupational group in other cities of Sweden as well. In Stockholm, chim­ ney sweeps were not the only occupational group to possess a language oftheir own. Such a language might be comprised of both purely technical terms and expressions for familiar conversation on the job. Much ofthe diversity oftenns and expressions of late 19thc. Stock­ holm stemmed from the existence of a con­ siderable number of occupational jargons which outsiders probably found difficult to comprehend, although, unlike that of the chimney sweeps, they were not intentionally secret languages. Pred (1990) mentions a num­ ber of late 19th c. and turn-of-the century pro­ fessionaljargons in Stockholm. These jargons "have been previously identified for Stock­ holm's coachmen, wagon operators, brick­ layers, messengers, blacksmiths, wood dealers, sheet-metal workers, carpenters, trol­ ley employees, bakers, washerwomen, tele­ phone-company workers, stone-cutters, dock­ workers, and locally based army conscripts and naval cadets, among others" (Pred 1990, 21). Pred also refers to many surviving el­ ements of Pigsprak, the slang of maid servants that was already well developed by the mid century. Even if these various types of secret lan­ guages and occupational jargons are all re­ ported to have existed in the Swedish city of Stockholm, it is not unreasonable to assume that there might have been similar sociolin­ guistic variation in other big cities in Scandi­ navia, too.

6.3.1.

Military slang

What is known about military slang, primarily concerns words, phrases and metaphors. In re­ cent centuries, most men in Scandinavia had to do military service lasting from a few days up to more than a year. Thus millions of young men have come into contact with the special military slang used in the army and the navy. A reason for the richness of slang terminology for military life might well be that these words and phrases - created by the soldiers them­ selves - express their own attitudes and feelings, and therefore are considered more familiar to the soldier than the official vocabulary used by the officers (Bergman 1924, 69). Another rea­ son for the heterogeneity of military slang is probably the diversified background of the sol­ diers - young men with different educational, dialectal, professional, etc. backgrounds were gathered together for their military service. Bergman (1924, 73) claims that the military slang in Sweden has borrowed all its words from the standard language and the dialects. The loans from the dialects have kept their fonn, but in the military slang they have ac­ quired a specialized or additional meaning, like the word plugg 'potato; corporal'. The words from the standard language, however, have either undergone a change in form or in meaning. A special phenomenon is the shortening of words - with or without a suffix. Examples are bajutt (from bajonett), junker (from fanjunkare 'highest non-commissioned officer'), lojtis (for lojtnant 'lieutenant'), per­ mis (for permission 'leave'), sjasse (for ser­ geant). Many of the words and expressions in the military slang have a satirical, ironic or humorous character (Bergman 1 924, 76). In a study of military slang in Denmark more than a century ago, Larsen (1895) gave numerous examples of special words and phrases that constitute this peculiar language or slang. It is interesting to observe how the special living and "technical" conditions (which we today consider rather "primitive") for soldiers a few generations ago created a high number of words and phrases for circum­ stances and situations that are obviously quite different or not at all known to the soldiers of today (like the use of horses, sailing ships, etc.). Larsen studied the slang used within both the anny and the navy and has compared the two varieties. He concluded that the special language used by the soldiers in the navy was "much richer" some years back. He also claimed that a specific kind of slang has

208. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions I: Socially dependent varieties

repressed the more characteristic navy lan­ guage, and that at the end of the 19th c. one could 0 bserve an increasing use of a slang of a type similar to that which was being used in the army (Larsen 1895, 48). The soldiers' slang is not restricted to use within the military life. As nearly all men get into contact with this special vocabulary when they are doing the military service, they learn and know the words and expressions, and they are pro bably going to use quite a lot of them even outside the military camps. Therefore parts of the soldiers' language also become parts of the common vocabulary in the com­ munity, and are thus an important source for the everyday vocabulary as well. 6.3.2.

Seamen's language

It goes without saying that ships and sailors have been important in developing and main­ taining the Nordic nations throughout their history. Contact with other sailors, cultures and languages has provided input concerning new ideals and new techniques, and this con­ tact is strongly reflected in the vocabulary. This specific seafaring vocabulary has been studied both as an example of language used by people in a more or less international oc­ cupation and because of its interesting hetero­ geneity from a linguistic and historic point of view. Thus an early work by Clausen (1875) is labelled Norsk-Engelsk S@-Ordbog 'Norwe­ gian-English Sea Dictionary'. In his list of Norwegian terms from seamen's language, Al­ n",s (1902) points out that the core of this vo­ cabulary, especially technical words and terms for tools and instruments, is imported from North Germany and the Netherlands (e.g. bardun 'stay', fangline 'painter', natthus 'bin­ nacle'), while the more recent words are of English origin (e. g. propell 'propeller', sjakkel 'shackle', lare 'lower'). The vocabulary referring to sailors' lan­ guage or slang, mostly concerns things and conditions connected with the ships and the sailors' life, like words for sailing, wind, food, labour, spare time in harbours, etc., i.e. kabyss 'galley' (LG kabuse), dark 'deck' (Du. durk, dork), jibbe 'jib' (from Du. gijpen), lanterne 'lantern', kjeks 'biscuit' (E cakes). These spe­ cific words used by sailors have not, however, remained only as seamen's internal language or slang but nowadays are used also outside the seamen's sphere. The seamen and their vocabulary have been especially influential on urban dialectal vo-

1941

cabulary, and further on common everyday language. Iversen (1 913, 141) considers sea­ men's language as one of the main sources of new foreign words used in the coastal town of Arendal, Norway, where they have long tra­ ditions of sailing and shipping. He mentions a number of (early) English loans, i.e. besk@yt jbe'sj0ytj '(big) biscuit', blankis 'blankets', kuli 'coolly', spenne 'use up, spend money'. 6.3.3.

Students and pupils; Latin

Often schoolchildren develop a special kind of vocabulary or slang. From Swedish, Berg­ man mentions words like plugg 'school' ,plug­ gisar 'schoolboys in the same school', rex 'rec­ tor, headmaster', gubben 'the teacher', and academic subjects like krille (for kristendom 'Christianity'), Jralla (for Jranska 'French'), mode (for modersmalet 'the mother tongue') (Bergman 1964, 74). An example from Den­ mark is the so-called Herlovianersproget ('the Herlovianer language'), a special boys' lan­ guage connected with Herlufsholm public school. The Danish used here was character­ ized by a system of abbreviations of long words, e.g. dipel (for discipel), gobe (for gar­ derobe 'cloakroom'), vuppe (for vandsuppe 'water soup'), etc. (Skautrup 1953, 221). The slang words and expressions used by university students are mainly of a type which differs from the one used by younger school children, although they also have much in common (Ingers 1977, 1 2). The difference is to a certain extent a result of the fact that the two types reflect different relations and circum­ stances; it is for example not surprising that the terminology which might be found con­ cerning drinks and drinking, or card playing, is far richer in students' slang than in school­ childrens' slang. Moreover, the university stu­ dents read and study other languages, history, philosophy, etc., and become acquainted with subjects of a highly theoretical character. According to Skautrup (1953, 221), a spe­ cific students' language or students' slang in Denmark does not seem to have existed, in contrast to Germany and in parts of Sweden. In Sweden, the two oldest universities Uppsala and Lund, have definitely left a mark on the life of the two cities, and students and their various unions and organizations have played an important role in the development of these urban communities. That might be the reason why a specific students' language is said to have developed and existed in Sweden and not in the other Nordic countries.

1942

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

Ingers (1977) has collected a large number of words from students' slang in Lund and provides examples of words which have spread into everyday language both in urban and rural districts, e. g. bjorn 'bear', hacka 'sum of money'. In the other direction, there are also elements in school and student slang that probably are loans from more common Swedish slang (Ingers 1977, 1 1 f.). 6.3.3.1. As an important language used by the most educated part of the population, Latin could be considered a group language. Latin has been very important as a scholarly and literary language in the Nordic countries over several centuries, especially as a scientific lan­ guage and in connection with religious matters - both Catholic and later Lutheran. Accord­ ing to Alenius et al. (1991, 7), the utilization of Latin as a language in active use decreased partly as a result of downgrading due to Ro­ manticism, and since then it has been difficult for scientists to understand the important role which this language played over several cen­ turies. Besides Latin, Greek, French and High German have been especially important as scholarly languages and languages of science in the Nordic countries. 6.3.4.

Other groups

There are - and have been - numerous groups of people who have used specific words and expressions as an internal language or as a necessary terminology for a certain profes­ sion. Skautrup (1968, 292-305) lists various "technical languages" (Dan. Jagsprog) and makes some comments on the specific vocabu­ lary for each of them, i. e. professions like baker and confectioner, brewer, glover, hatter, bricklayer, potter, ropemaker, etc. They all contain some interesting words constituting their internal and professional language. Probably most of these words will die out as the professions are modernized and industrial­ ized or even cease to exist. However, some of these words will have their life prolonged, as they have been acquired by the common, gen­ eral vocabulary of the language community.

7.

The future

The relationship between social groups in a language community will never be the same in one century as in the preceding one. As the community changes, the people also change,

for example the relative size of the groups (farmers, industrial workers, male and female workers, service professions), their relative power, wealth, respect, education, etc., as well as the generally accepted values in the com­ munity at a certain point in history. Therefore it is in fact impossible to compare the sociolin­ guistic relationship in 2000 with those in say 1900. It is no less problematic to foresee de­ velopments in language and sociolinguistic re­ lationship even in the nearest future, and the same applies to language influence from one group to another. We have, however, reason to believe that in this new century too there will be groups of language users which are sociolinguistically different from other groups of language users, although we know little about which social factors will be of most importance. Perhaps differences in language and language use will be of less importance in the future than today, resulting in less stigmatization and fewer c1ear­ cut group languages. Perhaps the use of spoken language will become less important than the use of written language, as the changes from local to a global communication (TV, radio) have led to a vast passive language competence and to less engagement concern­ ing differences in spoken language. This could lead to less linguistic influence of one social group on the other, but with certain possibil­ ities for language mixture. Perhaps the most influential means of language development and change in the future will be people and groups with access to TV and radio. The "mo­ bile society" of today and tomorrow has re­ placed the "settled" society of yesterday and made traditional dialectology unimportant. The international language community will focus on other aspects of language use and competence than the national language com­ munity. A mobile society leads to contact be­ tween people and languages previously un­ known to each other and might produce "new" languages, like immigrant Swedish in Stockholm (see for example Kotsinas' studies in GunnarssonjHellbergjSvanholm, 2000). The language communities in the Nordic countries are obviously going to experience changes in the 21 st c. - both linguistically and sociolinguistically. This will also involve special languages and their social and func­ tional dimensions. However, as language does not exist on its own but comes to life in con­ crete acts of speaking and writing, the devel­ opment of social varieties in the years to come would be rather hazardous to predict.

208. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions I: Socially dependent varieties

8.

Literature (a selection)

Alenius, Marianne et al. (eds.) (1991), Latin og na­ tionalsprog i Norden efter reformationen (Rena:ssan­ sestudier 5), K0benhavn. Alna:s, Ivar (1902), Bidrag til en Ordsamling over Sj@mandssproget. Christiania [Oslo]. Bergman, Gosta (1924), Till soldatsprakets psy­ kologi. In: NS 4, 60 76. Bergman, Gosta (1929), Vastgotaknallarna och de­ ras hemliga sprak, mansing. In: NS 9, 153 238. Bergman, Gosta (1931), Rotviilska: Rommani, mi'm­ sing,forbrytarsprbk och slang, Stockhohn. Bergman, Gosta (1935), Om 1 500-talets Rotwelsch. In: ANF 51, 252 299. Bergman, Gosta (1939), OIl! sotarnas sprak. In: Ve­ tenskapssocieteten i Lund Arsbok 1939. Lund, 73 126. Bergman, Gosta (1964), Slang och hemliga sprbk. Stockholm. Broch, IngvildjJahr, Ernst Hakon (1984a), Rus­ senorsk et pidginsprak i Norge (Troms0-studier i sprakvitenskap 3). 2nd ed. Oslo. Broch, IngvildjJahr, Ernst Hakon (1984b), Russe­ norsk: a new look at the Russo-Norwegian pidgin in northern Norway. In: Scandinavian language con­ tacts (eds. P.S. Ureland/I. Clarkson). Cambridge, 21 65. Broch, IngvildiJahr, Ernst Hakon (1990), The Russo-Norwegian pidgin. New findings. In: Troms@ linguistics in the eighties (eds. E.H. Jahr/O. Lorentz). Oslo, 62 68.

1943

aarsdag som Folkemindesamler den 31. December 1917 (ed. Foreningen "Danmarks Folkeminder" ved Gunnar Knudsen). K0benhavn, 70 94. Haugen, Einar (1976), The Scandinavian languages: An introduction to their history. London. Ingers, Ingemar (1977), Lundensisk slang: Skolslang och studentslang samt akademisk vardagssprbk i Lund. Lund. Iversen, Ragnvald (1913), Nogen fremmedord Arendals bymaal. In: MM 1913, 141 156.

1

Iversen, Ragnvald (1944), The Romani Language in Norway (Secret Languages in Norway I). Oslo. Iversen, Ragnvald (1945), The Rodi (Rotwelsch) in Norway (Secret Languages in Norway II). Oslo. Iversen, Ragnvald (1950), The Mi'msing in Norway (Secret Languages in Norway III). Oslo. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1997), Nyeperspektivpa sprak­ kontakten mellom lagtysk og nordisk i seinmellom­ alderen, og om en fotnote om blandingssprak som gay opphav til en "detektivhistorie". In: Studier i svensk sprakhistoria 4: Forhandlingar vidFjiirde sam­ mankomsten for svenska sprakets historia, Stock­ holm, I 3 november 1995 (MINS 44) (cd. Astrom, Patrik). Stockholm, 9 19. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1998a), Sociolinguistics in his­ torical language contact: the Scandinavian lan­ guages and Low Gennan during the Hanseatic peri­ od. In: Language change: Advances in historical sociolinguistics (ed. Jahr, E.H.). Berlin/New York, 1 1 9 139. Jahr, Ernst Hakon (1998b), Kontakten nedertysk­ nordisk i hansetida: mer enn bare lan? In: Norsk­ laoreren 1998/1, 34 43.

Clausen, PA. (1875), Norsk-Engelsk S@-Ordhog. Kristiansand.

Larsen, Karl (1895), Dansk Soldatersprog til Lands og til Vands, K0benhavn.

Domaschnev, Anatoli I. (1987), Umgangssprache/ SlangjJargon. In: Sociolinguistics/Soziolinguistik. An international handbook of the science oflanguage and society 1 2 (1987 1988) (cds. U. Ammon/N. Dittmar/K.J. Mattheier). Berlin/New York, 308 315.

Matras, Yaron (ed.) (1995), Romani in contact: The history, structure and sociology of a language. Am­ sterdam/Philadelphia.

Fraurud, Kari/Hyltenstam, Kenneth (1999), Sprak­ kontakt och sprakbevarande: romani i Sverige. In: Sveriges sju inhemska sprak ett minoritetssprakper­ spektiv (ed. K. Hyltenstam). Lund, 241 298. Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise/Hellberg, Staffan/Svan­ hohn, Kristina (eds.) (2000), Kontakt, variation och foriindring studier i Stockholmssprak. Ett urval uppsatser av Ulla-Britt Kotsinas (Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis, Stockholm Studies in Scandina­ vian Philology, New series 22). Stockholm. Hancock, Ian (1992), The social and linguistic de­ velopment of Scandiromani. In: Language contact. Theoretical and empirical studies (Trends in linguis­ tics. Studies and monographs 60) (ed. E.H. Jahr). Berlin/New York, 37 52. Hansen, H.P. (1917), Kja:ltringsproget. In: Fest­ skrift til Evald Tang Kristensen paa hans Halvtreds-

Matras, Yaron/Bakker, Peter/Kyuchukov, Hristo, (eds.) (1997), The typology and dialectology of Ro­ mani. Amsterdam/Philadelphia. Olsen, Magnus (1914), Sproglig fra de laveste sam­ fundslagi Kristiania [= Oslo]. In: MM, 37 41, 236. Pred, Allan (1990), Lost words and lost worlds: mo­ dernity and the language of everyday life in late nine­ teenth-century Stockholm. Cambridge. Skautrup, Peter (1953 1968), Det danske sprogs his­ torie 3 4. K0benhavn. Tryti, Tone (1994), Norsk slang. Oslo. Vik0r, Lars (2001), The Nordic languages: Their status and interrelations. 3rd ed. Oslo. Wiggen, Geirr (1996), Majoritetssprak og mi­ noritetssprak i et nordisk perspektiv. In: Sprbk i Norden/Sprog i Norden 1996 (Nordisk spraksek­ retariats skrifter 20). Oslo, 137 174.

He/ge Omdal, Kristiansand (Norway)

1944

209.

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

Special languages and their social and functional dimensions II: Languages for specific purposes and institutional linguistic varieties

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Background and sources Tenninology work and research Trends Some larger projects Concluding discussion Literature (a selection)

1.

Background and sources

Within the Business Schools in Scandinavia, especially in Denmark, Finland and Norway, there has been an interest in teaching lan­ guages for specific purposes (LSP), sometimes in connection with translators' training pro­ grammes. Unlike the situation in Sweden, these Danish, Finnish and Norwegian univer­ sities may have departments/faculties with chairs in modern languages and even research traditions. There are Scandinavian roots and traditions going back to Continental Euro­ pean Wirtschaftslinguistik research (Messing 1932) from the beginning of the 20th c. at cor­ responding universities (Handelshochschulen) in Germany and neighbouring countries. The research tradition of the Wirtschaftslinguistik has been strongly influenced by the thinking behind the journal Worter und Sachen (1909-): Sprachgeschichte ist Kulturgeschich­ te, 'Language history is the history of culture'. At the beginning, the goal ofLSP research was to investigate the relation between economic and linguistic development. Another goal was to promote international understanding and self-knowledge (Lauren 1993, 28-30; Lauren/ Nordman 1996, 32 f.). In a way this was the start of applied lin­ guistics, especially the fields of LSP and con­ trastive cultural research. However, most re­ search and teaching carried out at language departments of Scandinavian universities with roots in the Continental Wirtschaftslinguistik tradition concern foreign languages; Nordic languages are studied usually only as objects of contrast. Interestingly, only at the Swedish business school at Helsingfors, Finland, there exists a chair and a department for a Nordic language, Swedish, and the neighbouring Finnish business school has a chair and a de­ partment for Finnish. At other Scandinavian business schools, one is not aware in the same way of the first language. Within the Scientific Commission on LSP of AILA, the international organization for

applied linguistics, Scandinavian researchers have since the very start been active and visible as organizers of and participants at conferen­ ces. Hence, the proceedings from those con­ ferences are useful sources on research in Scandinavian countries concerning LSP (cf. the 1 979-2002 list of conference proceedings in Koskela/Lauren/Nordrnan/Pilke 2002; cf. also the proceedings from the only annual Scandinavian conferences on LSP & Theory of Translation from the VAKKI group at Vaasa University from 1982 onwards). Some surveys exist of LSP research in individual Scandinavian countries or concerning single languages (Bergenholtz/Engberg 1995 for Denmark; Lauren 1983; 1993; Lauren/Nord­ man 1996, 21 -47 for Swedish LSP; Myking 1999 for Norway).

2.

Terminology work and research

For practical terminology work, since around the middle of the 20th c. there have been or­ ganizations for Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish. These terminologists normally work together with ad hoc-groups set up by industrial and business central organizations, and they publish bilingual or multilingual glossaries with definitions and terms given in the Nordic language in question, in a few cases even with equivalents and definitions in sev­ eral Nordic languages. The importance of this work for access to knowledge in a Nordic lan­ guage cannot be overestimated. The potential access to such knowledge for everybody has consequences for the culture as well as the economy (Lauren 2002). Hence, it is natural that activities in the field of LSP in Scandina­ via have started with normative work. The consequences of such work can be shown by a modern Norwegian example. When the oil industry was established very rapidly in Norway, there was no time for Nor­ wegian oil terminology to develop. Hence, Eng­ lish was the language used to the detriment of Norwegian suppliers and of safety on board the oil platforms. At the request of the Nor­ wegian Statoil enterprise a project at the Uni­ versity of Bergen from 1984 to 1986 created Norwegian terms for the industry and at least changed the situation for the moment (Lauren/ Myking/Picht 1998, 278-279; S",b0e 1999).

209. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions II

The organizations for terminology work are very productive. The Swedish organization TNC has published about 100 glossaries with definitions and normally also with equivalents in other languages, while the Norwegian counterpart RIT has produced almost as many terminological glossaries. The sister or­ ganization in Finland, TSK, works also with Swedish terms as a consequence of the bilin­ gualism of Finland. Iceland does not have any central organization for terminology work; the Icelandic Language Commission works with special language terminology as well (cf. Halld6rsson/J6nsson 1993), as the other Scan­ dinavian language commissions use to do. In 1976, as a way to achieve cooperation in creating terms, Nordterm was set (Selander 1983). There is a pan-Scandinavian agreement to harmonize new terms as far as possible. This means e. g. that in the optimal case new terms are morphosemantically closely related terms in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, while definitions will be the same also for Ice­ landic (and Finnish!). This work needs well­ trained terminologists. The Nordterm organi­ zation has trained researchers and terminol­ ogists by arranging courses from 1978 on­ wards (Lauren/Picht 1993, 501). Through such efforts, the field of terminol­ ogy research towards the end of the 20th c. has grown to be an independent branch of re­ search at some universities (Vaasa University in Finland and Copenhagen Business School), and dissertations have been presented in the field as well (Lauren 1999). Two dissertations which develop the theories of the field are Nuopponen 1994 and Pilke 2000, the first by an extension of the concept systems to be used for terminological analyses, the second by de­ veloping methods for the analysis of dynamic concepts, both using as their empirical basis Swedish language material. There are very few studies on the interna­ tional level of slang terms or colloquial terms in languages for special purposes, and this also is the case for the Nordic languages. H0Y (1998) presents a study of Danish doctors' medical terms in which it is shown that their lack of knowledge of Latin and Greek leads to great variation in terms used, resulting in semantic confusion; Rangnes (1999) is a study of the preferences of oil workers when using alternative English or newly-coined Norwe­ gian terms; Stromman (1995) investigates preferences and language mixing in terms for in-house oral communication at bilingual companies. Results of the last two projects

1945

may be interpreted to show that even if there is a mixture of terms in oral language, this does not occur in written language. The pioneer in establishing terminology as a branch of science was the Austrian engineer Eugen Wilster (1898-1 977), who stressed the multidisciplinary nature of terminology (Lauren/Picht 1993, 518; Lauren/Myking/ Picht 1997, 24-28) and that terminology is not a branch of linguistics. The tendency today in Scandinavia is to regard terminology as a field within applied linguistics (Lauren/Myking/ Picht 1997, 286-288).

3.

Trends

Of most general interest for LSP research, and not only for the Nordic languages, is a Danish work, Holmgaard (1998). The author dis­ cusses how science texts reflect trends within fiction texts. Time-bound ways of expressing ideas impose certain modes of thinking on writers of scientific texts. The development of our scientific knowledge depends on our ac­ cess to suitable forms of discourse, and, hence, on variables outside the fields of science. There is only one history of a Nordic lan­ guage which includes short chapters on the de­ velopment of languages for special purposes, Peter Skautrup's Det danske sprogs historie (1944-68). The unfinished work by Paul Diderichsen (1968) on the history of Danish prose also seems to have been planned to in­ clude LSP text genres. When there has been interest in LSP usage from a historical point of view, the tendency has been to concentrate on old professions and fields. Dialectologists all over Scandinavia have collected terms used in old professions and have shown e.g. how innovations conquer territories within language (Edlund 1996); eth­ nologists have also investigated such terms (Edlund 2000). In these cases researchers also tend to stick to the level of individual terms. In Denmark, there has been an emphasis on structuring text-corpora for LSP research. In the 1980s a trilingual corpus for law was established which includes Danish, English and French texts, and one year later another trilingual corpus was set up for gene technol­ ogy which includes Danish, German and Spanish (Picht 1996; Reidinger 1997, 15). In the 1990s a TEKNIKORP was planned in Copenhagen with comparable Danish and English texts (Aitken 1 997). All these Danish projects have been developed and used in con-

1946

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

nection with translator training programmes within Danish business schools. For Swedish and Norwegian, several re­ search projects were carried out in the 1990s on a text genre called sakprosa, 'subject­ oriented texts'. These are defined by the Swedes as non-fiction texts which are informa­ tive at a societal level (Svensson/Josephson/ Selander 1996, 7). This definition seems to hold for the Norwegian projects as well (cf. Berge 2001). These projects do not cross the border-line into LSP as communication be­ tween experts in their common field of profes­ sional interest. This kind of professional com­ munication in its true sense is not an object of interest for the Nordic sakprosa-projects, which want to focus on the area ofrnass com­ munication (cf. Spang-Hanssen 1983).

4.

Some larger projects

There always was an interest in Scandinavian legal language and in the language ofjurispru­ dence, partly because of the age of these text genres, partly because of the democratic inter­ est in guaranteeing access to information. However, work in this area has concentrated on modernizing the language ofjurisprudence, usually without carrying out actual research. Hence, for Danish and Swedish the legal lan­ guage ofthe European Union mostly has been regarded as a step backward in this develop­ ment. There are some individual projects of gen­ eral interest, e.g. Gunnarsson (1982) on the possibilities of popularizing a specific law text, the Swedish Medbestiimmandelagen, i.e. a law on the right to participate in decision-making in an enterprise, which shows as expected that there always is some loss of content as a result of popularization. Another study, Landqvist 2000, compares modern Swedish language use at the sentence and textual levels in statutes in Finland and Sweden. The Norwegian In­ grid Simonnres has published contrastive works on German and Norwegian legal lan­ guage (Simonn",s 1993). This involves not only studies of terminological equivalence but also phraseological and textual aspects. No projects, however, have been undertaken to investigate any modern Nordic language ofju­ risprudence. One project concerning Swedish LSP was set up in the middle of the 1980s, called "Fack­ texter under 1900-talet" (LSP texts in the 20th c.). This longitudinal project was planned to

investigate scientific and popular texts within the fields of medicine, technology and econ­ omics. The data-base was broadly defined to include texts written by specialists, irrespective of the readership (Gunnarsson 1987 a, 9). One ofthe hypotheses underlying the project is that certain features oftexts produced within a spe­ cific culture will change over time (cf. above about Wirtschaftslinguistik; however, the pro­ ject does not have any awareness of or connec­ tion with Continental traditions of LSP re­ search). An analytical model has been worked out within the project and is used in all reports. Themodel, presented in Gunnarsson (1987 b), has a starting point in Halliday's socioseman­ tic thinking and can be characterized as a text­ linguistic model. The goal of one of the studies carried out within the project is to describe macrostruc­ tural content patterns based on an analysis of the cognitive content (Melander 1991). One conclusion is that the subject area is the factor which most strongly influences the content pattern of the text. Out of the three text groups, economics and technology are closer to each other than to medicine. Economics has a high percentage ofwhat is called private cog­ nitive world, while technology can best be characterized by its high share of 0 bject world. Medicine has a less "dense" style than the other texts when taking into account the use of different content categories and sentence structure. Melander's study contains a comparison between scientific and popular texts and shows that the latter are less highly structured in their content, and also that the referential relations between different parts of the popular texts are weaker than in the science texts. From a diachronic point of view, the science texts in particular have become more highly struc­ tured and more homogeneous from a text-lin­ guistic point of view. Another study concerns microsemantic pat­ terns in Swedish LSP texts (Naslund 1991), i. e. reference and coherence diachronically and synchronically in the same types of text as in the Facktexter project. As in Melander's study, variations between texts from different fields are also more remarkable here than those between texts from different periods or text genres. The popular texts are more con­ cerned with explanations than the scientific ones, which are conceptually more homogene­ ous and concentrate on one specific issue. De­ scription is central to the scientific texts and

209. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions II

is more exact, using quantitative data. The private world is given space in the popular texts but only peripherally in the scientific ones, where it only plays a role for the back­ ground. The differences between the two text genres investigated are very clear in the field of medi­ cine. I t can be assumed that the difference be­ tween the readerships is more easily grasped by the authors of medical texts. Causal rela­ tionships are, of course, important in all medi­ cal texts but especially in the ones written for popular purposes. A project on Swedish LSP texts was set up at the beginning of the 1980s and called "Svenskt facksprak" (Swedish special lan­ guage). The aim was to investigate modern scientific texts representing three text genres defined by the communication situation. The texts represented the fields of linguistics, ac­ countancy, computer science, communication studies, electrotechnology and jurisprudence. Many different methods of analysis were used (cf. Lauren/Nordman 1986; Hartman 2001). Theory of science was also used to develop hypotheses about the differences in thinking, and, hence, linguistic expression between the fields in question. According to the studies performed (Lauren/Nordman 1987; Nordman 1992; Lauren 1993; Nordman 1994; Lauren/Nord­ man 1996), the texts investigated can be char­ acterized in the following way. The linguistic texts (the field of grammar) were close to those representing jurisprudence and electrotech­ nology having consistent stylistic patterns. The other three subject groups had in com­ parison vague stylistic patterns representing more recent fields of research, with a tendency more towards idiographic thinking and analy­ sis than towards nomothetic. This difference can be shown by e. g. the frequency of terms, sentence structure, semantic case analysis and reference analysis. The case analysis, as for many other methods used, interestingly enough shows that the linguistic texts are closest to the electro-technological ones and are dissimilar to the humanities texts in all as­ pects. It is assumed that an iconic relationship exists between the text characteristics and field-specific thinking. The textual traditions are to a high degree arbitrary and could be replaced by an infinite number of alternatives, not, however, without basic effects on the modes of thought. (Lauren/Nordman 1987, 125 f.; Lauren 1993, 73 f.; cf. Holmgaard

1947

1998). Rhythm and balance seem iconically at some level to mirror the content of LSP texts (Nordman 1987). In the jurisprudence texts, about one third of the terms have been handed down by tra­ dition. The proportion of such terms is one fourth for electrotechnology and linguistics, one fifth for accountancy and communication theory, and only one twentieth for computer science. Of the borrowed terms, over 50 per cent, in jurisprudence texts about 70 per cent, have been mediated through German, with the ultimate loan-giver being Latin for ahnost 50 per cent in the case ofjurisprudence and more in the other cases. Corresponding tendencies are likely to occur also in Danish (cf. Reidin­ ger 1997 for Danish terms in gene technology) and Norwegian. This is an indication of how closely scientific thinking is connected with European modes of thinking in general. Another offspring of the project "Svenskt facksprak" is Koskela (1996), a study on theme and rheme in scientific and popular texts. The study shows that scientific texts are content-oriented, with themes expressing as­ pects of the textual theme, whereas the popu­ lar texts have a greater variety of thematic el­ ements. The texts investigated in this study were from physics and archaeology. The nomothetic character of physics makes the dif­ ference between scientific and popular texts much more obvious than in the field ofarchae­ ology. However, with modern technology in­ fluencing the methods ofarchaeology, the field is losing something of its idiographic char­ acter. As mentioned above, Norwegian oil terms were created by a project at the beginning of the 1980s. At the end of the 1990s it was fol­ lowed by a project evaluating the result of this terminology work, "Nordsj0en som sprikleg­ kulturelt laboratorium", 'The North Sea as a linguistic and cultural laboratory' . The project is not finished yet but has yielded some inter­ mediate results. The very deliberate coining of terms for the oil industry has resulted in terms which too often are transparent, i. e. more or less self-explanatory. They contain too much information and, hence, are not con­ venient because they tend to be too long. The intention was to create expressions which are easy to use and easy to understand. The final result can be explained in part as a result of iconism. There was an asymmetric situation between experts from the oil industry and ex­ perts on terminology when the terms were cre­ ated (Myking 1998). An outcome with terms

1948

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

containing too much information is possibly the natural result of such a team-work. A very high-status group on the oil plat­ forms are the drillers. Norwegian drillers from the beginning were trained on the platforms of the multinational enterprises, and a hybrid fonn of Norwegian professional slang devel­ oped there spontaneously, else with a Norwe­ gian structure but characterized on the lexical level by mixture. Direct loans from English, lexical hybrids and loan translations, are used. Irrespective of the coining of terms in the middle of the 1980s, this oral language usage among the drillers seems to be stable. One ex­ planation given for this is that this slang cre­ ates an identity and integration among those who use it (S",b0e 1999). The drillers represent only one ofthe groups at the micro level. At the middle level are the oil enterprises responsible for oil platforms etc., and at the macro level are the public authorities, the public decision-makers, re­ flecting the official language policy of Norway (S",b0e 1996). The traces of the terminology project are different at these different levels. To some degree even the multinationals had to follow the trends of the official language policy. An ongoing project of great interest for Nordic language planning in general concerns planning and term coinage for Icelandic. Ice­ landic language planning often has simplisti­ cally been characterized as being puristic. Tra­ ditional word elements are used when new terms are created, and loanwords are avoided. The four case system in Icelandic makes it dif­ ficult to adapt loans, and great cultural value is given today to using language which is close to the Icelandic of the ancestors and the great classical literature from medieval times. It is also regarded as advantageous for access to knowledge that terms consist of traditional word elements. I t has been shown that individual Icelandic language planners have worked with very ad­ vanced methods, e. g. when talking about con­ cept analysis (Jonsson 2001, 46). It has also been proposed that a positive nationalism combined with internationalism, a striving for building a position at the international level for independent Iceland, offer more interest­ ing explanatory value for corpus planning than the mere concept of purism (Jonsson 1998). The case ofIcelandic shows convincing­ ly that individuals can influence language planning at the corpus level as well as at the level of status (cf. Jonsson 2002, 143-1 54).

5.

Concluding discussion

Today it is only possible to give a fragmented picture ofLSP for the Nordic languages. Most work done in the field has been of purely prac­ tical interest. This concerns corpus planning and translators' training, where we find vast resources built on practical experience, but mostly with too little research-based knowl­ edge even about the real effects of such lan­ guage planning. There has been a great interest in popular­ izing science, but the projects in this field al­ most always have not drawn on knowledge about LSP text genres. The research which could throw light on LSP genres is in its infancy, and only a few research projects are finished. The fragments presented make it obvious that there is a large field of language usage to be investigated. Only a very few language departments within the Scandinavian universities have an interest in research in this field. This is pro bably a re­ sult partly of one-sided interest shown in the structure of language, and partly of the diffi­ culty in carrying out research on LSP. Nevertheless, the LSP research done on in­ dividual Nordic languages supplement each other. The text corpora have been built up mostly for Danish, and mainly for translation needs. However, nothing comparable to the classic comparative stylistics ofVinayjDarbel­ net (1958) has yet been produced. Norwegian and Icelandic research has focused more than others on investigating in the success of lan­ guage planning efforts. The research on Swedish LSP research includes projects which were established out of pure curiosity about how language usage, communication within a subject field, a technolect, etc. functions.

6.

Literature (a selection)

Aitken, Martin (1997), Om etablering af et biling­ valt tekstkorpus. In: Sprint 1997: 1, 13 26. Berge, Kjell Lars (2001), Det vitenskapelige studiet av sakprosa. In: Fire blikk pa sakprosaen (eds. K. L. Berge/K. Breivega/T. RoksvoldjJ.L. T0nnesson). Oslo, 9 71. Bergenholtz, Henning/Engberg, Jan (1995), Ten­ denser inden for den nyere fagsprogsforskning i Danmark. In: Hermes, 179 206. Diderichsen, Paul (1968), Dansk prosahistorie I, 1 . K0benhavn. Edlund, Ann-Catrine (2000), Salen och jagaren: De bottniskajagarnas begreppssystemJor sal ur ett kog­ nitivt perspektiv. Vmea.

209. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions II Edlund, Lars-Erik (1996), Dialektal tenninologi en inledning. In: Facksprbk i olika kontexter. Forskning i Norden (eds. Ch. Lauren/M. Nordman). Vasa, 23 34. Gunnarsson Britt-Louise (1982), Functional com­ prehensibility of a Swedish law: an experiment (FUMS 102). Uppsala. Gunnarsson Britt-Louise (1987a), Inledning. In: Facktext (ed. B.-L. Gunnarsson). Mahno, 9 15. Gunnarsson Britt-Louise (1987b): Facktexten och den sociala kontexten. In: Facktext (ed. B.-L. Gun­ narsson). Malmo, 72 103. Halldorsson, HalldorjJonsson, Baldur (1993), fs­ lensk mb1nefnd 1964 1989. Reykjavik. Hartman, Jan (2001), GrWldad teori.· Teorigenerer­ ing pa empirisk grund. Lund. H0Y, Asta (1998), Det medicinske fagsprogs ter­ minologi en patient med behov for behandling? Kolding. Hohngaard, J0rgen (1998), Teoriens topik. Aalborg. Jonsson, Baldur (2002), Or5asmi5 Gu5mundar Finnbogasonar. In: Mb1sgreinar (ed. B. Jonsson) (Rit lslenskrar malnefndar 13). Reykjavik, 143 154. Jonsson, Sigur5ur (1998), Some variables underly­ ing LSP planning in Iceland. In: LSP, identity and interface. Research knowledge and society (eds. L. Lundquist/H. PichtjJ. Quistgaard). Copenhagen, 442 451. Jonsson, Sigur5ur (2001), En isLindsk sprak­ planerare och hans profiler: Wuster fore Wuster? In: Fran terminologisk teori till vetenskaplig kom­ mWlikation (eds. Ch. Lauren/M. Nordman). Vasa, 35 60. Koskela, Merja (1996), Temaoch rema i vetenskaplig och populiirvetenskaplig text (Acta Wasaensia 47). Vasa. Koskela, Merja/Lauren, Christer/Nordman, Marianne/Pilke, Nina (2002), Porta Scientiae: Pro­ ceedings of the 13th European Symposium on lan­ guage for special purposes. Vasa. Landqvist, Hans (2000), Forfattningssvenska: Struk­ turer i nutida svensk lagtext i Sverige och Finland. Goteborg. Lauren, Christer (1983), Forskning i svenskt fack­ sprak en oversikt. In: Sprak i Norden 1983 (Nor­ disk spraksekretariats skrifter 2). Oslo, 79 96. Lauren, Christer (1993), Facksprak: Form, innehall, funktion. Lund.

1949

Lauren, Christer/Myking, Johan/Picht, Heribert (1997), Terminologi som vetenskapsgren. Lund. Lauren, Christer/Myking, Johan/Picht, Heribert (1998), Terminologie unter der Lupe: Vom Grenz­ gebiet zum Wissenschaftszweig. Wien. Lauren, Christer/Nordman, Marianne (1986), He­ gemoni och samspel i lingvistisk forskning. Vasa. Lauren, Christer/Nordman, Marianne (1987), Fran kunskapens frukt till Babels torn: En bok om fack­ sprak. Lund. Lauren, Christer/Nordman, Marianne (1996), Wis­ senschaftliche Technolekte. Frankfurt a.M. Lauren, Christer/Picht, Heribert (1993), Vergleich der tenninologischen Schulen. In: Ausgewiihlte Texte zur Terminologie (ed. Ch. Lauren/H. Picht). Wien, 493 539. Melander, Bjorn (1991), Irmehallsmonster i svenska facktexter. Uppsala. Messing, E.E.J. (1932), Zur Wirtschaftslinguistik. Rotterdam. Myking, Johan (1998), Kunskap som ikonisk variabel. In: Facksprak i olika kontexter. Forskning i Norden (eds. Ch. Lauren/M. Nordman). Vasa, 39 50. Myking, Johan (1999), Norsk fagsprakforsking. In: Nordica Bergensia (eds. Ch. LaurenjJ. Myking). Bergen, 17 62. Naslund, Harry (1991), Referens och koherens i svenskafacktexter. Uppsala. Nordman, Marianne (1987), Rytm och balans i svensk prosatext. Umea. Nordman, Marianne (1992), Svenskt facksprbk. Lund. Nordman, Marianne (1994), Minilekter: Om de sma textgenrernas sprak. Vasa. Nuopponen, Anita (1994), Begreppssystemfor ter­ minologisk analys (Acta Wasaensia 38). Vasa. Picht, Heribert (1996), Teori empiri korpus med hensyn til terminologiforskning. In: Facksprbk i olika kontexter. Forskning i Norden (eds. Ch. Lauren/M. Nordman). Vasa, 9 22. Pilke, Nina (2000), Dynamiska fackbegrepp (Acta Wasaensia 81). Vasa. Rangnes, Odd Kjetil (1999), Oljeterminologi og sprogholdninger: bruk av sp0rgeskjemai lys av dob­ bel henneneutikk. In: Nordica Bergensia (eds. Ch. LaurenjJ. Myking). Bergen, 207 227.

Lauren, Christer (1999), Vems ar tenninologin? In: Toimikunnista termitalkoisiin (ed. Kaisa Kuh­ monen). Helsinki, 99 105.

Reidinger, Roger (1997), Etymologie undAnpassung gentechnologischer Termini in schwedischen, diini­ schen und deutschen populiirwissenschaftlichen Tex­ ten (Acta Wasaensia 58). Vasa.

Lauren, Christer (2002), The conflict between na­ tional languages and English as the languages of Arts and Sciences. In: Domain-specific English (eds. G. Cortese/P. Riley). Bern, 87 97.

Sa:b0e, Randi (1996), Norsk sprak i m0te med en anglo-amerikansk kultur. In: Facksprak i olika kon­ texter. Forskning i Norden (eds. Ch. Lauren/M. Nordman). Vasa, 68 75.

1950

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

Sa:b0e, Randi (1999), Funksjon som forklaring eksemplet norsk petroleumstenninologi. In: Nor­ dicaBergensia (eds. Ch. Lauren!]. Myking). Bergen, 247 267. Selander, Einar (1983), Tennhannonisering inter­ nationellt och nordiskt. In: Sprbk i Norden (Nordisk spraksekretariats skrifter 2). Oslo, 71 78. Simonna:s, Ingrid (1993), Tysk reft Bergen.

en oversikt.

Skautrup, Peter (1944 1968), Det danske sprogs his­ torte 1 4. K0benhavn.

210.

Spang-Hanssen, Henning (1983), Kommunikation og fagsprog. In: SiN (Nordisk spraksekretariats skrifter 2). Oslo, 25 38. Stromman, Solveig (1995), En term Studier i fackslang. Vasa.

tva sprbk:

Svensson, JanjJosephson, Olle/Selander, Staffan (1996), Svensk sakprosa en projektbeskrivning. Lund. Vinay, Jean-Paul/Darbelnet, Jean (1958), Stylisti­ que comparee dufranfais et de l'anglais. Paris.

Christer Lauren, Vasa (Finland)

Special languages and their social and functional dimensions III: Slang

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Definition and history Awareness of slang in Scandinavia Slang research in the Nordic languages Sources of Nordic slang expressions Special traits of slang The lifespan of slang words A Nordic slang community Literature (a selection)

1.

Definition and history

1.1.

The word slang

The word slang has been used in several different and sometimes confusing ways throughout its history. In English we meet it for the first time around 1750, then used with the same meaning as cant, a special jargon used by criminals. The current meaning of slang did not develop until well into the 1800s. In the Nordic languages we meet the word slang for the first time in the second part of the 19th century. 1.2.

A stylistic phenomenon

From the outset, slang was often used to de­ note all kinds of "vulgar language", especially the dialects of towns and cities. Thus it has e. g. been claimed thatthe "Vikarnal" (the ver­ nacular dialect in the city of Oslo) was simply slang, an opinion stated as recently as Gleditsch (1952). The concepts slang and dia­ lect have been confounded. As a consequence

there are many dialect words without any special slang value in the first slang collections. Gradually a consensus has developed that slang should be considered a stylistic phenom­ enon, primarily concerning the lexicon. Tryti (1984) defines slang as conscious deviations (in words and expressions) from the standard language, which are neither dialectically nor professionally conditioned. Similar state­ ments can be found as far back as the first Swedish slang scholar, Ruben G:son Berg. Even though stylistic deviation from the normal and conventional is central to classify­ ing a word as slang, there can be a wide sty­ listic range among slang words for the same concept. This can vary from the very rough and vulgar to the sensitive and affectionate, as seen in these two Norwegian slangwords for 'lover': kj@ttomslag (literally 'meat com­ press') and dununge ('fledgling'). 1.3.

Demarcation:

Slang can be differentiated from: Dialect. Two persons can speak the same dialect, but still use different slang expressions. The difference between types of slang does not primarily and necessarily follow geographical borderlines. Socioleel. Eifring (1985, 9) states that people using drug slang can corne from differ­ ent social backgrounds and therefore speak different sociolects. In Oslo, for example, this

210. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions III: Slang

is reflected in pronunciations of the verb blase ('smoke hash') with a retroflex flap or dental!. Technical jargon and other kinds of lan­ guage for specific purposes. It is useful to dis­ tinguish between technical terms and profes­ sional slang. Slang is also often associated with specific groups, but then there is no em­ phasis on the professional side of it. The sub­ ject matter of slang is the non-technical, every­ day and human. Especially in older works on slang, technical professional jargon is in­ cluded. A central slang researcher like Kaj Bom does not make clear distinctions here. Standard language, since slang consists of conscious deviations from conventional and customary usage (cf. 1.2.). The status of slangy expressions is not fixed once and for all. Technical jargon can make its way into common slang, and slang can pass into colloquial language or even standard lan­ guage. What counts as slang in one genera­ tion, can be the next generation's everyday colloquial language. Swedish words and ex­ pressions like hej (pa dej) 'hello', tjej ' girl' and kille 'boy' are examples of earlier slang words becoming everyday language. The word bi! 'car' was considered slang when it first ap­ peared (1 902); the stylistically unmarked word was at that time automobil. The Danish word knallert 'lightweight motorbike' was at first a slang word (the 1950s), but is now the official term for this kind of vehicle in the Danish law on transport and communications. It follows from the nature of slang that it mainly belongs to the spoken language. But gradually it has also worked its way into some fields of written language (media, fiction). This goes together with greater tolerance for slang and everyday idioms in society as a whole (Tryti 1984, 20). 1 .4.

Slang - its functions and users

A common point of view is that slang mainly belongs to the youth and the youth rebellion. The typical age group for heavy slang users is 1 3 - 1 6 years. In the debate on slang in Sweden in the 1920s, which contained strong elements of moral panic, the slang researcher Gasta Bergman proposed, to cahn people down, that slang had to have its time. It could be compared to a children's disease and would therefore pass. Another Swedish linguist, Ulla-Britt Kotsinas, also views slang as part of the socializing process. An important el­ ement in this is to win verbal duels. This can also be one of the reasons why slang con-

1951

tains so many terms of abuse (Kotsinas 1 996a, 63). While this is probably true, there is no doubt that slang is also being used by adults, and almost everyone has at least a few slang words or phrases which they have retained from their youth and can be put to use, for the fun of it, and in appropriate situations. A group of adults who can have comparatively many slang expressions in their language, has been labelled "naughty old men". But nobody is exempt. Peter Stray J0rgensen, in the intro­ duction to Politikens Slangordbog, tells us that he has heard the word matrostissemand ('pork sausage'; literally 'a sailor's penis') from the mouth of a nice old lady, although accom­ panied by a "diminutive" smile and a small blush (Anker-M0llerjStray J0rgensen 1997, 17). Slang is also often viewed as a masculine realm. Kotsinas has provided evidence against this (cf. 3 . 3 . 1 .). But even such a recent publi­ cation as the 1997 edition of Politikens Slang­ ordbog states that women use less slang than men, and that slang reflects a masculine world view. The editors admit having many female informants, but in spite of this there is appar­ ently little slang which reflects a female point ofview. Women who use a great deal of slang, thereby also take on board men's judgements and evaluations - even of women themselves (Anker-M0llerjStray J0rgensen 1997, 1 2). This is not supported in all investigations. Lann (1989, 8) reports from Aland that girls are not far behind boys in using slang. Youth slang shows experimentation with linguistic form more than content, although following certain relatively fixed patterns. The same or similar patterns are found everywhere and in all languages (also observed by Jesper­ sen 1925, 1 55). The parallelisms can be quite remarkable, especially in metaphors. A good example is the head being compared to several kinds of fruit etc.: Dan. prere ('pear'), Norw. n@tta ('the nut'), E nut, pear, onion, pumpkin and the like, Fr. poire, citron among others, and G Kurbis. The most important social function of slang is to mark group identity. It is what one might call a linguistic freemasonry showing that one belongs to a certain group. Slang serves to strengthen group solidarity. Technical jargon functions in much the same way. Using slang is also a signal to one's speech partner that the situation is to be understood in a certain way, for example informal/intimate, or to communicate a friendly attitude.

1952

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

Slang has sometimes been criticized for being imprecise and vague and for providing new words where there is no need for them. Against this it has been demonstrated that slang can fill gaps where the standard language lacks words. This is especially true when we look at social group languages Gazz, nar­ cotics) and technical jargon. An often cited example of slang being able to create precise, sharp expressions where the standard lan­ guage is not so effective is Norw. dollarglisj Dan. dollargrin 'postwar type of American car, especially with an exaggerated grill'. Stray J0rgensen (in Anker-M0llerjStray J0rgensen 1997, 1 8) points to the fact that slang can be particularly sensitive to a situ­ ation, and illustrates this with the word peter­ mik 'pork sausage' from the coarser meterpik (literally 'meter penis'). He calls words like petermik "diplomatic words". By using them, you send signals to "decent people" that you are notso vulgar, but at the same time showing that you certainly know the coarser word, too. 1.5.

How ald is slang?

Historical research on slang is very difficult due to the lack of source material. Slang con­ sists of informal, low-status language, and in the old times such expressions were seldom recorded. In any case, there are examples that certainly look like deliberate slang; one of the first sources for such material is the Greek author Aristophanes. In the Nordic area we find slang-like bynames in runic inscriptions, and some kenningar in the scaldic poetry re­ mind us of modern slang. There are also lots of presumably old dialect words which could easily be classified as slang. On the basis of such occurrences of what can be thought of as slang from a more or less distant past, several researchers have corne to the conclusion that slang probably is as old as human languages themselves, and that it occurs in all languages and cultures. Jespersen expressed such thoughts as early as 1925. Skautrup (1953, 221) points out that in urban youth language (first and foremost Copen­ hagen for Denmark), slang, jargon and catch­ words have always existed. In some recent re­ search, however, it is postulated that slang re­ quires an accepted standard lexicon for it to be in opposition to, and that there is therefore no basis for it in traditional, illiterate societies where there is neither a standardized written language nor a formalized educational system to support it.

2.

Awareness of slang in Scandinavia

In Scandinavia we find a growing awareness of slang towards the end of the 19th century, when slang becomes recognized as a linguistic phenomenon in its own right. The language of several kinds of low-status groups was often included in the concept at that time, and some of the first growing interest in slang comes from the police, where the need was felt to understand the language of the under­ world. The interest in slang goes together with in­ dustrialization and the growth of big cities. New youth cultures developed, with their own language forms. Prom those times slang re­ search has had a marked bias towards the ci­ ties. The assumption has probably been that the social setting of the cities is required to encourage the rebellious and creative attitude necessary for slang to develop. Out in the tra­ dition-bound countryside, the conditions would not be suitable. This is most certainly wrong, and Kaj Born dedicated a whole chap­ ter in one of his books to what he calls "land­ boslang" ('countryfolk slang'), containing many slang expressions which must have sprung up in the countryside (Born 1950, 5 1-98). There is a considerable amount of slang that must have originated in rural set­ tings because of the word stock and metaphors being used. But it is perhaps right to say after all that slang in its most typical form primarily belongs to the big cities. The earliest works on slang in the Nordic languages are mainly alphabetical lists. The first work ever known from Scandinavia about Nordic slang is by the Dane Fausb0ll (1866), Bidrag til en Ordbog over Gadesproget. Paus­ b0ll was a professor in Oriental languages, and his main intention was to warn aginst the use of slang words. He left out words he con­ sidered too lewd and coarse. The worst of what he did include, were written in Greek letters! Much of the work on slang in this early peri­ od was highly amateurish, and the contribu­ tion from amateurs has continued as a part of slang research up to the present day. But professional linguists also started to work on slang quite early on, from about the year 1900. This went together with a general interest in dialects, popular language and popular forms of expression on the whole.

210. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions III: Slang

3.

Slang research in the Nordic languages

3.1.

General

Compared to the larger linguistic communities in Western culture, there has been relatively little research carried out on Nordic slang. But there are differences between the languages, Swedish and Danish being the leaders. Sweden in particular has a long and solid tradition of slang research. The publishing of slang in dictionaries and word lists has been going on since slang be­ came a subject of research in its own right, and this has continued into the 1990s, with new, comprehensive slang dictionaries both in Denmark and Sweden. Often these take the form of traditional alphabetical listing (some works also providing etymological informa­ tion in the entries as far as possible, for example Bergman 1934; 1964 and others). But organization according to topic has also been tried out. Studies on the principles of slang appear much later on. One of the first of this kind is by the Norwegian Tryti (1984), who organizes the material according to the different means of expression, the basic linguistic forms and categories being used. For Hougaard (1997) cf. 3.5. 3.2.

Norway

The first study of slang from Norway is a re­ port from 1 863 by a teacher named Wittrup, about English slang and cant. The first work on Norwegian slang is Gleditsch' popular book from 1952 (Det far'n si! - with the sub­ title Norsk slangordbok), a small, unpreten­ tious collection of Oslo slang, classified ac­ cording to subjects which mainly have to do with love life and entertainment. Marm's book Slang og sjargong from 1962 is clearly modelled on Born's books on Danish slang, but contains, of course, Norwegian material. The book includes chapters dealing with prin­ ciples of slang and slang use, and a main sec­ tion with slang words organized according to subject matter. Tryti (1984) was the first schol­ arly study of Norwegian slang. She bases her work on oral material collected in the period 1977-1981, mostly from the Oslo area, and from written sources with a wider time span. In this way she is able to trace main lines of development in Norwegian slang from about 1930 till 1980. She shows typical traits of Nor­ wegian slang and finds common patterns in

1953

word formation, metaphors etc. Eifrings work on slang among drug users (1985) actually deals with the language of a social group. In the 1990s, Stine C. Aasheim has been working on the so-called "kebabnorsk" ('kebab Nor­ wegian'), a term she has coined herself (Aasheim 1 997), about foreign language influ­ ence on youth speech in Oslo. It is formed on the Swedish "kebabsvenska", a term which is reportedly in use among young people them­ selves in Sweden. 3.3.

Sweden

The first Swedish scholar to take slang seriously was Ruben G:son Berg, who pub­ lished two collections of school and student slang in 1900 (the first Swedish slang word list ever) and 1925 (both printed in SvLrn.). G6sta Bergman wrote a great deal about both slang and criminal jargon, the main work being Slang och hemliga sprak (1964). In Skolpojks­ slang 'schoolboy slang' from 1934, Bergman deals with Swedish pupil slang, based upon questionnaires sent to 25 schools throughout the country. In the first part of the book, the material is sorted according to concepts, in the second by etymology. In Sweden there has been continuous re­ search and documentation of slang, especially in Stockhohn. One of the first is Thesleff (1910-12), about criminal language and "lower" slang in Stockhohn. This is an alpha­ betical collection, among other things contain­ ing ca. 200 entries based on gypsy words. Ulla­ Britt Kotsinas, an active scholar from the 1980s on, has been concentrating on slang and youth language in Stockhohn, both from a contemporary and a historical point of view. Kotsinas (1988) reports on a slang survey in four suburbs of Stockhohn, where the inform­ ants were asked if they knew the meaning of 58 older slang words. Ungdomssprak (1996a) contains sections on slang. Kotsinas also pub­ lished the dictionary Stockholmsslang - folk­ ligt sprak fran 80-tal til 80-tal, covering a pe­ riod of 100 years (Kotsinas 1996b). The so­ called ekenssnacket (also called soderslang) is considered by many to be the most typical and genuine variety of Stockholm vernacular. It probably emerged around the turn of the 19th century, after a period with strong immi­ gration from the country. In the working-class districts which at that time were on the out­ skirts ofStockhohn, people with different cul­ tures and various dialects mixed. The young people created their own forms of culture and

1954

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

language, expressing their group identity. Older Stockholm traits were mixed with dia­ lect words and other borrowed traits, and cer­ tain simplification processes took place. This variety still exists, though in a modified form, especially in the parts of the city where people have their roots in the old working-class dis­ tricts. Kotsinas asserts that the social levelling of the first post-war decades led to a decline in slang use. It was beginning to be felt some­ what outdated, and was being banished to the revue and folk comedy scene. Then slang was revitalized through the new immigration wave in the '70s and '80s. This stimulation was in many ways parallel to what took place in Stockholm nearly 100 years earlier. In some Swedish suburbs there is now a strong mixture of many ethnic groups with different mother tongues. Perhaps the best known interna­ tionally is Rinkeby. Second-generation immi­ grants there have developed a new linguistic variety (the so-called "Rinkebysvenska") which deviates from standard grammar and includes some peculiar slang vocabulary with elements fonn the different mother languages. Similar varieties are emerging in other Stock­ holm suburbs and other Swedish cities, and there is also something comparable in the "kebab-norsk" in Oslo, but the development has not yet gone so far there. A very interesting contribution to Swedish slang research is Kotsinas' book Vralbedariskt (1994). This is a list of slang words from 1932, compiled by an eighteen-year-old high school girl, Astrid Brisman. Typical girls' slang in the '30s included words like charmful!, the title vralbedariskt, and very peculiar expressions for admiration or disgust, like vralpyramida­ liskt fiott. Words for clothes and for parts of the body dominate the collection, while there are remarkably few words for fighting, steal­ ing and other kinds of criminal activity, and only a few rather naive expressions for 'to play hooky', 'to cheat' and 'to steal'. There are al­ most no words related to sexuality or bodily functions at all. The first Swedish slang dictionary is Gibson (1969), a rather small and popular account based on material from 1930 to 1968. A second (extended) edition was printed in 1978. A more modern Swedish slang dictionary is Nor­ stedts svenska slangordbok (1998), edited by Kotsinas. It covers the most recent slang and is therefore complementary to Kotsinas (1996b). All the words included were recorded towards the end of the 1990s.

3.4.

Finland-Swedish

Considerable work has been done on the slang of Swedish-speaking people in Finland, with an increase in the 1980s and '90s. Finland-Swedish slang is closely connected to the emergence of Helsinki as a big city to­ gether with industrialization, and a bilingual environment development in the working­ class districts there. The outcome of this was a common vocabulary with different inflec­ tions according to one's mother tongue, Finn­ ish or Swedish. Swedish- and Finnish-speak­ ing youths still have a considerable slang reper­ toire in common. In the two last decades, several dissertations on Finland-Swedish slang have been pro­ duced. Four of them corne from the Depart­ ment of Swedish Language at Abo Akademi. From the University of Helsinki comes a thesis on the slang words in two youth novels, and one on the slang in two youth newspapers (for a short account of all these, cf. Saari 1 997). The slang in Aland is dominated by com­ mon Swedish slang. This is due to strong con­ tact between Aland and Sweden, through tourism, Aland youth studying in Sweden, and the Swedish media. There appears to be more slang on the mainland ("Fasta Aland") than out on the skerries. The most common words stern from common Swedish slang, like kille 'boy' and tjej 'girl'. Nyberg (1988, 20, 45) re­ ports that both kille and tjej were considered "national Swedish" and a bit affected in her school days, but by now have become accept­ ed slang words. One specifically Aland slang word is skena 'run' (Lonn 1989, 45), and the few local words appearing in the material are more dialectal than slangy. An important contribution to the knowl­ edge of slang structure is Solstrand (1980), on the suffix -are. 3.5.

Denmark

The most well-known Danish slang scholar is Kaj Born. The first proper slang publication in Denmark was his Slang - argot - jargon. Strejftog pa det gemytlige sprogs omrade from 1948. As a follow-up, he published Mere om slang in 1950. Born has chapters covering the principles of slang, and in the main part pre­ sents his material according to subject. A hall­ mark in Born's publications is the rich and var­ ied material, including dialects and older sour­ ces. His Slangordbogen (1957) is a new edition of the previous two works. New in this book is, among other things, a chapter on the evalu-

210. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions III: Slang

ation of slang, and some new subjects, like "munkeskremt" ('monk's humour') (Born 1957, 1 3). Politikens Slangordbog carne out in its fifth edition in 1997 (Anker-M0ller/Stray J0rgen­ sen 1997). Its aim is to cover the period from Born 1957 up till today. Peculiar to this book is the last part, the so-called "reversed slang dictionary", where the user can start out from standard words and find slang equivalents. Exceptional in a Nordic context is Hougaard (1997), showing structural similar­ ities and parallels between Danish and Polish slang. Hougaard largely uses the Norwegian study by Tryti (1984) as a model. 3.6.

Iceland and the Faroe Islands

In Iceland, slang research got its start in 1982 with the slang dictionary, Oroabbk umslangur, slettur, bannoro og annao utangarosmal (Ar­ nason et al. 1982). Collecting and record­ ing slang words has continued in Iceland since the dictionary was published, although some­ what unsystematically and sporadically. The dictionary has also inspired smaller slang stu­ dies both by high school students and students from the Iceland University of Education in Reykjavik. Papers on slang are also written in primary schools. A new edition of the dictionary is planned to appear soon after the turn of the millennium. It has been a common assumption that slang is a relatively recent phenomenon in Iceland, " triggered off to­ getherwith many other far-reaching socio-cul­ tural innovations, by the British, later Ameri­ can, occupation of Iceland in World War II" (Groenke 1975, 481). But there are indications that slang creations must have existed earlier, e. g. a morphological innovation such as deri­ vations with -6 (op. cit. 482; cf. 5.4.1.). Icelandic slang words are most often bor­ rowed from Scandinavian (especially Danish, like lekker/lekkur 'luscious, lush' from lrekker) and English (like nees 'nice', kjut 'cute'). The borrowed words are adapted to the Icelandic language structure, and the dictionary gives priority to words which have corne a long way in this assimilation process. Slang use is in­ creasing in Iceland, both in journalism and fic­ tion, and there is a growing understanding that slang is a normal linguistic activity and a natural part of the language development of young people (Svavar Sigrnundsson, per­ sonal communication). In the Faroe Islands it is recognized that slang is being used, but no studies have been

1955

conducted so far (Eivind Weyhe, personal communication). 3.7.

Future Nordic slang research

The slang research of most current interest in the Nordic countries is being carried out through the project "Nordic Teenage Lan­ guage" (UNO). The project contains a lexical part, focusing on slang and informal loan­ words (the slang study), and a part researching speech styles and the use of discourse markers. Results are published e. g. in Drange/Kotsi­ nas/Stenstrom (2002). In the future, collecting and publishing ma­ terial will continue to be a significant part of Nordic slang research. Norway still lacks a comprehensive slang dictionary, and in the Faroe Islands, as mentioned, slang research has not even begun. Of the work devoted to the linguistic aspects of slang, and principal and systematic accounts of this, the first and foremost to date are Tryti (1984) and Hougaard (1997), but there is certainly more to corne. Sociological and pragmatic ap­ proaches, concerning who uses slang and on what occations, and what the functions of slang are, have so far only been touched upon sporadically in Nordic slang research. There is also a need for more comparative slang stu­ dies involving countries outside the Nordic area.

4.

Sources of Nordic slang expressIOns

4.1.

Romany

An important source for slang expressions is the Nordic variant of Romany, the language of the gypsies. Several words have been bor­ rowed into slang which can be traced all the way back to Sanskrit, like gaja 'woman' (San­ skrit gaya 'house, family') and kji 'not; nothing' (Sanskrit cid 'something'). Thesleff (1910-12, 13) stated that there was no other place in Scandinavia where the gypsy language had infiltrated slang as much as in Stockhohn, and he has about 200 gypsy words in his collection. 4.2.

Mimsing

Mansing originally was a jargon used among hucksters from the Swedish region of Vaster­ gotland. Some of these men also practised smuggling, and Mansing gradually carne to

1956

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

mean 'language of criminals' . Well-known slang words with their origin in Mansing are kis 'boy, guy', kille 'boy, guy', spenn 'money' (originally a plural form of spann 'bucket, pail', used as a measure), stal 'money', Norw. slang purk and snut (both 'police'), Sw. slang bog 'homosexual men' and the positive word kul (from Mansing with the meaning 'yes', later strengthened through influence from E cool). There is a common tendency in slang to bor­ row words from low-status groups. A typical pathway leads from Romany via the cant of thieves and tramps to (city) slang. What we have is a "bottom layer" of words common to Mansing, the jargon of criminals and youth slang in the big cities. Criminals have found Romany words useful as a kind of secret lan­ guage. This borrowing stream of words must be due to contact between travellers of differ­ ent kinds, meeting at inns, taverns, market places and so on. 4.3.

Neighbouring languages

In the Nordic countries there are many slang loans between the languages. To a great extent Swedish has been the provider of intra-nordic loans. Some well-known slang words have been taken from Finnish, like Norw. hiva (more seldom hyvens; also in Sw.) 'good' < Finn. hyviiii meaning the same, kola vippen 'die' < Finn. kola 'die', and Sw. kava 'money'. Dan. jule, vb 'fight' probably sterns from Norw. jule opp 'beat up'. Naturally there are many Finnish elements in Finland-Swedish slang (like mutsi 'mother' , fogo 'father'). Es­ pecially in Helsinki, a substantial part of the Finland-Swedish slang words are originally Finnish (Saari 1997, 29), but in Aland slang the Finnish element is of ahnost no signifi­ cance. From the 1970s we can observe a stronger impact on Finland-Swedish slang from Swedish slang in Sweden, with words like brud and tjej (both 'girl'). 4.4.

Foreign languages

English is, of course, a very important provider of loans into Nordic slang, but it is not more important now than before, accord­ ing to Kotsinas. Icelandic slang has its own particular loans from English, some of them ofa considerable age, like kjut 'cute', gtei 'guy'. The first loans probably were introduced by seafarers; later waves go together with the gen­ eral cultural dominance of English. An early

loan from English is Sw. metjis, Norw. metjes 'matches', and in Swedish slang around the year 1900 there were words like jobb, dress, keps, looka, smart, naif ('knife') (Kotsinas 1998, VII - preface). There are examples of loans from more distant languages, like East Danish slang dobra 'good, nice', from Slavic (Born 1949, 29). In the new, quickly develop­ ing slang of Stockhohn (cf. 3.3.), there are many loanwords from the mother tongue of the immigrants (Turkish, Arabic, Greek). The language of young people in the big cities in Sweden represents a new variety, a mixture of immigrant language and Swedish youth lan­ guage. Tryti (1984, 20) says that an increasing part of slang (in her case in Oslo) consists of imported language material, and that the loanwords mainly corne from the same sources as loans in the mainstream language. This is probably true for all the Nordic countries. 4.5.

Dialects

Dialects can also be the source of slang words. Quite often particular dialectal forms are given slang value, like Oslo slang veka 'men­ ses' (literally 'the week'; the Oslo form in the ordinary meaning would be uka). The well­ known slang word grunkar, pI. 'money' is orig­ inally a dialect word from southern Sweden (Bergman 1964, 86), andkille 'boy, guy' comes from Gotaland. 4.6.

New coinages

Slang also develops through the invention of new words and expressions. In this " fabrica­ ted" slang we find catch-phrases picked up from shows, citations from politicians, adver­ tising slogans etc., often adjusted in humorous ways. The Norwegian fru Blom became a cliche after the line "piller og piller, fru Blom!" appeared in the comedy Knrusell (1950, writ­ ten by Alex Brinchmann). Sometimes new slang words are coined ' 'out of the blue", without obvious connections to already existing vocabulary. Jespersen (1925, 157) provides a couple of examples from Dan.: pjrekke (den) 'stay away from work', and spy 'funny'.

5.

Special traits of slang

5.1.

General

Slang and ordinary language share the same structures, and there are no formal traits com­ pletely peculiar to slang. Slang therefore gets

210. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions III: Slang

its distinctive stamp mainly at the lexical level, and almost exclusively in the content words. Grammatical and function words generally do not have slang equivalents, a rare example be­ ing Dan. melon for million. Slang is not a lan­ guage in its own right. It is not possible to make up a sentence where every word is slang (Anker-M0llerjStray J0rgensen 1997, 6). 5.2.

Phonology

At the phonological level, there are only iso­ lated instances of traits which are possibly pe­ culiar to slang. Eifring (1985) mentions a special voice quality among users of drug slang in Oslo. 5.3.

Inflection

There are several examples of deviant gram­ matical forms: Norw. han smol i skjegget (smol, pret. for smilte 'smiled'), Dan. besvam (for besvimede, pret. 'fainted'). 5.4.

Word formation

5.4.1.

Affixes

Some affixes are highly frequent in slang. A classic example is -is, originally patterned on Latin words like canis 'dog', finis 'end' and rudis 'ignorant'. The first known example of a Nordic word formed with the suffix -is is rokis 'tobacco', recorded in 1719, in connec­ tion with the hucksters of Viistergotland (cf. 4.2.). They also had adopted other Latin­ isms in their language. The suffix -is is used most in Swedish, where it is the most common slang word formation element, and in Norwe­ gian. The majority of the derivations in -is are shortened forms with the same meaning and word class as the base word, but the relation­ ship is somewhat different in substantives like romp is and nevis (both 'homosexual' from rompe and rxv 'bottom'). Some are derived from adjectives (grovis, Jrekkis). Kotsinas suggests that the suffix perhaps is becoming less productive in contemporary Swedish than it was in the first part of the 20th century. In Norwegian, however, the suffix still seems to be fully productive. The suffix -0 could have made its way into Nordic slang from Romany, where this is the masculine ending for nouns and adjectives. Borrowings directly from Romany to slang are lattjo 'fun' (Sw., also recorded in Norw.) and stilio 'jail' (Sw.). More recently this suffix has been reinforced through loans from Eng­ lish and Spanish, such as jumbo, gringo, and

1957

in shortened forms like demo (demonstration) and porno (pornography). Some typical patterns of word formation are shown in several slang studies. Often the same base morpheme can take several differ­ ent suffixes, or be shortened, without a change in meaning. We thus get series like pundig pundo - pundad - pundis, or miffig - miffo - miffad - miff (Kotsinas 1989, 145 f.), all meaning 'stupid' or 'bad'. An extended pat­ tern emerges when several different forma­ tions are connected to certain base mor­ phemes, also reduplications, phrases and com­ pounds. In an example from Swedish, the starting point is cp 'cerebral palsy', in slang meaning 'stupid'. From this base we have deri­ vations like sep (pJ ig, seppad, seppo, cp-IQ, cp­ jiive!, cp-skakad, cp-jon, (all meaning 'stupid' or 'stupid person'). Prefixes with a reinforcing function are highly frequent in slang, a natural conse­ quence of the many emotionally charged words it contains. Some examples: Sw. as-, jiitte-, skit- (also Norw.), ur-; Dan. bom-, brand-, knas-, knokkel-, pis-, smadder-, snot-; and Icel. hund-, oJsa-, rosa- and pnel-. 5.4.2.

Clipping

Shortened forms contribute to the special fla­ vour of slang, like Norw. gym 'gymnastics, gym', raff( < raffinert 'refined, sophisticated') and Finl.Sw. cig(gJ 'cigarette' " (Nyberg 1988, 55). Sometimes the beginning of the word is clipped: noia 'paranoia', mitt 'dynamite' and from Norwegian slang the somewhat dated strant 'demonstrator' « demonstrant). 5.4.3.

Extended word forms

There are also some instances demonstrating the opposite process to clipping - the lengthening or "stretching" of words: Norw. and Dan. mystifistisk 'mysterious' « mys­ tisk), grublisere 'ponder' « gruble). Redupli­ cation can be used in slang word formation, as in Sw. pucko pucko 'stupid' and Icel. roro (from r6andi lyJ 'sedative'). Infixes, such as in Dan. et @jesteblik < et @jeblik '(a) moment', breaks the common restrictions on intercala­ tion, and reminds of Anglo-American forms like Minnebloodysoota, Alafuckingbama. 5.4.4.

Substitution of sounds

Several other types of sound substitution are found in slang. The initial consonant(s) can be changed to tj or sj: Sw. tjaskig and sjaskig

1958

XIX. Special aspects of Nordic language history III: Special languages

'bad' (both < taskig 'bad'). Sw. skolka > jolka > jolla (all meaning 'shirk') shows both initial and medial substitution. 5.4.5.

Backslang, spoonerisms and other kinds of word play

Sw. fika 'coffee' is an example of metathesis which many slang researchers count as back­ slang in a wide sense. The young Swedish slang expression bunneltanan 'the tube' « tunnel­ banan) and Icel. Botel Horg « Hotel Borg) corne close to spoonerisms, which abound in slang: Norw. st@ trettende til 'support' « fre st@ttende til), Dan. fismoster « mis/oster 'monster; monstrosity'; literally 'farting mother's sister'). Expressions and sayings can be turned and twisted in other ways: ingen blir proJet i sitt eget land ('a prophet has no honour in his own country') > ingen blir sa fet i silt eget land literally 'nobody gets so fat in his own country'. Humorous blendings are another characteristic trait: Dan. sandsyfilis ('prob­ ably') (sandsynligvis 'probably' + syfilis). 5.4.6.

Crossing of word class boundaries

Eifring (1985, 1 5 ff.) points to the breaking down of the traditional borders between parts of speech which takes place in slang. A word likeg@y 'fun' is a straightforward adjective (al­ beit not agreeing with the nouns) in ha det gay 'have fun' and kjempeg@y 'great fun'. Flipp 'all right' in ha det flipp 'have fun; have a good time' and enstorflipp 'a bigjoke/jest' acts both as adjective and noun, and this applies to several other words. Sw. kul functions in the same way, but not in Norwegian, where there is concord with neuters: kult. First names like Johan and Nils can also be used this way: han er helt Nils 'he is completely stupid'. In Danish certain nouns can also be used as adjectives in slang (grin, hyl, sjov, skreg, sprend). 5.5.

Metaphors

The audacious use of metaphors is often con­ sidered a typical slang feature. It has been stated that periphrasis in contemporary lan­ guage takes place in slang above all (Tryti 1984, 87). A few examples are: Norw. snorke­ treet 'the nose' ('the snoring peg') and hjulhest 'bicycle' (,wheel-horse'); Finl.Sw. in Aland cocacolabottnar 'sun glasses' ('coke bottoms') and Sw. myggbett 'small breasts' ('gnat bites'). For metaphors in slang see Viklund 2001. In conclusion to this section it is appropri­ ate to point to Kotsinas' observation that

slang shares some features with creoles: the sound substitutions, reduplications, loans from many different languages, and humorous and dramatic figurative language.

6.

The lifespan of slang words

It is often maintained that slang terms are usually short-lived. A reason for this is that emotionally charged words will need replace­ ment more often than neutral words. When slang words enter the mainstream language and lose their particular stylistic value, they also have to be replaced. This is only partly right and needs more qualification. Some slang words are actually remarkably old and stable. In Swedish, brorsa is recorded around year 1900, and likewise Jarsa, splinn, kille and korkad ('stupid'). Sw. (also Norw.) a ha en skruv los 'to be round the bend' is recorded in Swedish as early as 1 838 (Kotsinas 1996b, X introduction). In Swedish slang from the 1900s, bldblir (,blueberry') means 'shot; bul­ let', and exactly the same word was used by Swedish soldiers in the early 1700s for their rifle bullets (Gibson 1969, preface). -

7.

A Nordic slang community

To a certain extent, a common slang vocabu­ lary exists in the Nordic countries, at least as far as Denmark, Norway and Sweden are con­ cerned. Some of the oldest words are found in all three countries: bilring 'roll offat' ('spare tyre'), n@tta/n@den/n@tten 'the head' (probably an Anglo-American loan originally), and tryn(e)mj@l/trynemel 'snuff' (literally 'mug mea!'). There are numerous Danish-Norwe­ gian parallels in slang, often fairly old words, like rips 'girl' ('currant'), and reserve- as a de­ rogatory prefix in words denoting people: Dan. reservesvensker "person from Born­ hoIm" ('spare Swede'), Norw. reservetr@nder 'person from Nordrn0re' (the region just south ofTf0ndelag, where the tr@nders live). Sweden has no doubt been a centre of influence for Scandinavian slang, and has been the main provider of intra-Scandinavian loans. Clear examples of Swedish words entering Norwe­ gian slang are hei sveis (a greeting), heisatur 'trip with the boys' andJa sparken 'be sacked'. There is a clear slang border between Sweden and Finland, between Finnish words unintel­ ligible to Swedes, and Swedish words which have not (yet) reached Finland-Swedish. In parts of Norrland in Sweden there is a con­ siderable element of Finnish slang words, of-

210. Special languages and their social and functional dimensions III: Slang

ten more or less adapted to Swedish language structure (Kotsinas 1988). In Sweden there is a tendency for Stockhohn words to spread, while southern Sweden has a certain inde­ pendence in its slang material, with Gothen­ burg functioning as a centre. However, the most frequently used Swedish slang words seem to be used all over the country (Kotsinas 1988). Anglo-American loans are very often common to all the Nordic countries, but single words can be peculiar to each country. The first Anglo-American loans were usually passed on by sailors. Today they enter the Nordic language through Anglo-American cultural dominance, especially in youth culture.

8.

Literature (a selection)

Aasheim, Stine C. (1997), "Kebab-norsk" frem­ medspraklig pavirkning pa ungdomsspraket i Oslo. In: Ungdomssprbk i Norden. Foredrag frlm. eft forskarsymposiwn (eds. Ulla-Britt Kotsinas/Anna­ Brita Stenstrom/Anna-Malin Karlsson). Stock­ holm, 235 242. Anker-M0ller, S0ren/Stray J 0rgensen, Peter (1997), Politikens Slangordbog. Dansk slang i brugfra 1955 til i dag. 5th ed. K0benhavn. Amason, Morbur/Sigmundsson, Svavar/Thorsson, Omalfur (1982), Oraabbk um slangur, slettur, ban­ nora og annaa utangarasmbI Reykjavik. Berg, Ruben G:son (1900), Skolpojks- och student­ slang I. In: SvLm. XVIII/8, 3 48. Berg, Ruben G:son (1925), Skolpojks- och student­ slang. Andra samlingen. In: SvLm. 1924, 5 94. Bergman, Gosta (1934), Skolpojksslang. Stockholm. Bergman, Gosta (1964), Slang och hemliga sprbk. Stockholm. Born, Kaj (1948), Slang argot jargon: Strejftog pa det gemytlige sprogs omrade. K0benhavn. Born, Kaj (1950), Mere om slang: Nye strejftog pa det gemytlige sprogs omrade. K0benhavn. Born, Kaj (1957), Slangordbogen: Med udf@rligt stikordsregister. K0benhavn. Drange, Eli-Marie/Kotsinas, Ulla-Britt/Stenstrom, Anna-Brita (eds.) (2002), Jallasprak, slanguage og annet ungdomssprak i Norden. Kristiansand. Eifring, Halvor (1985), H@y eller stein? Narkotika­ slang i Norge. Oslo Bergen Stavanger TromS0. Fausb011 (1866) see Kristiansen, V. Gibson, Haldon (1978), Svensk slangordbok. 2nd ed. (first printed 1969). Stockholm. Gleditsch, Ulf (1952), Detftr 'n si: Norsk slangord­ bok. Oslo. Groenke, Ulrich (1975), Sletta and Gotumat. On slangy borrowings in Icelandic. In: The Nordic lan­ guages and modern linguistics 2. Proceedings of the

1959

Second International Conference of Nordic and General Linguistics (ed. Karl-Hampus Dahlstedt). Stockholm, 475 485. Hougaard, Christian (1997), Slangdannelsens prin­ cipper: Polsk overfor dansk (norsk) . Odense. Jespersen, Otto (1925), Menneskehed, natjon og in­ divid i sproget. Oslo. Kotsinas, Ulla-Britt (1988), Ekenssnack fran Sibi­ rien till Flempan. Om betydelseforandringar och orddod i Stockholmsslang. In: Ingemar Olsson 25 augusti 1988. Stockholm, 199 213. Kotsinas, Ulla-Britt (1990), Ordbildning i slang­ sprak. In: Svenskans beskrivning 17. Forhandlingar vid Sjuttonde sammankomsten for att dryfta fragor rorande svenskans beskrivning. Abo den 18 19 maj 1989 (eds. Erik Andersson/Marketta Sundman). Abo, 137 148. Kotsinas, Ulla-Britt (1994), VraIbedariskt! En bok om ftickslang. StockhoM. Kotsinas, Ulla-Britt (1996a), Ungdomssprbk (first printed 1994). Uppsala. Kotsinas, Ulla-Britt (1996b), Stockholmsslang: Folkligt sprak fran 80-tal til 80-tal. StockhoM. Kotsinas, Ulla-Britt (ed.) (1998), Norsteds svenska slangordbok. Stockholm. Kristiansen, V. (pseudonym for Viggo Fausb0ll) (1866), Bidrag til en Ordbog over Gadesproget og saakaldt daglig Tale. K0benhavn. Lonn, Marika (1989), Slangspraket bland aliindska elever en undersokning i fyra aIiindska hogstadie­ skolor. Pro gradu-avhandling vid svenska institu­ tionen, Abo Akademi. Abo. Mann, Ingvald (1962), Slang og sjargong: En kavalkade over det muntre innslaget i norsk hverdags­ tale. Oslo. Nyberg, Birgitta (1988), Slangsprak en undersok­ ning vid Ekeniis hogstadium. Pro graduavhandling vid svenska institutionen, Abo Akademi. Abo. Saari, Mirja (1997), Finlandskforskning i ungdoms­ sprak In: Ungdomssprbk i Norden. Foredrag fran ett forskarsymposium (eds. Ulla-Britt Kotsinas/ Anna-Brit Stenstrom/Anna-Malin Karlsson). Stock­ holm, 26 37. Skautrup, Peter (1953), Det danske sprogs historie 3. K0benhavn. Solstrand, Per Henrik (1980), Suffixet are i fin­ landskt slangsprak. In: Xenia Thorsiana. En van­ skrift tilliignad Carl-Eric Thors pa hans 60-brsdag den 8.juni 1980 (Meddelanden fran institutionen for nordiska sprak och nordisk litteratur vid Helsing­ fors universitet. Serie B, nr 5). 310 314. Thesleff, Arthur (1910 12), Stockholms forbrytar­ sprak och liigre slang. Stockholm. Tryti, Tone (1984), Norsk slang. Oslo. Viklund, Maja Lindfors (2001), Exotismer, roman­ ticismer och vanliga overdrifter: Monster och meta­ forer i svensk drogslang (Mejerbergs arkiv for svensk ordforskning 28). Goteborg.

Tor Erik Jenstad. Trondheim (Norway)

xx. Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning 211.

Language cultivation and language planning I: Denmark

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Introduction Vocabulary Orthography The Danish Language Council Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

The terms language cultivation and language planning refer simultaneously here to efforts to intervene in language and to change it or guide its development in a specific direction. In the following I do not distinguish between the two terms but use language cultivation corresponding to the Danish term sprogr@gt (lit. 'language care') as a common term for the area as a whole. Efforts to guide language development, in­ cluding maintaining the status quo and pre­ venting the language from taking a certain di­ rection, can in principle involve all facets of the language but have traditionally been di· rected at vocabulary and orthography. In ac· cordance with this, the following presentation will above all concentrate on language cultiva­ tion within these two areas. In addition, special emphasis will be given to official or institu­ tionalized language cultivation, as practised first and foremost by the Danish Language Council (Dansk Sprognrevn) since its creation in 1955. On language cultivation connected with style and syntax. see Hamburger (1988).

2.

Vocabulary

2.1 .

The 17th century

The principal idea behind efforts to conscious­ ly control Danish vocabulary has been linguis­ tic nationalism, i. e. purism. For more than 300 years, Danish linguists and educationalists etc. have resisted foreign language elements in Danish and laboured to put Danish on the same level as the culture-bearing languages Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, German and,

most recently. English. In the opinion of the earliest Danish language patriots, the main task was not simply to change and improve the Danish language. but above all to widen the Danish language's domains of use and to encourage prominent contemporary Danish authors to write in Danish instead of in Latin. Thus. in 1657. the Chancellor of the Univer· sity of Copenhagen. Rasmus Bartholin. ad· vocated - in Latin - the position that not only religious texts but also scientific works should be available in Danish. Likewise the prosodist Hans Mikkelsen Ravn in 1649 emphasized also in Latin - that the Danish language is not inferior to other languages, and he re­ proached his countrymen for having failed to cultivate and value their language. He drew attention to the fact that this lack of respect for the language had led many writers to abuse the language with loanwords, with the result that there "is nothing so impure, ignoble or ghastly than these people's Danish". In this context he expressed a desire for an active lan­ guage policy to protect Danish against for­ eign, especially French, words: [. . . ] our prayer that we Danes [. . . ] should meet in a fruitful association like that which already unites the most gifted Gennans, and that we can unite forces for the protection of our language and defence against especially French, but also other foreign words creeping into the language, so that we can bequeath it clean, shining, charac­ teristic, undefiled, dignified and rich to our de­ scendants. (Translated from the Danish transla­ tion in Danske Metrikere, eds. Arnholtz et at., voL!, 1953, 153).

The younger Danish grammarians Peder Syv and Henrich Thomres0n Gerner also warned against (newer) borrowings from foreign lan­ guages. French was the main language they cautioned against, but these writers also wished to replace originally Greek or Latin words with native words. Peder Syv (1663; DG. vol. 1) proposed. for instance. that the words below should be abolished and replaced

1961

2 1 1 . Language cultivation and language planning I: Denmark

by the following "good Danish" words: Avan­ cere > komme til, Commandere > befale, Gvarnison > Besxtning, obligere > forpligte, Plenipotentz > fuldmagt, Oratoria > Tale­ kunst. It can be noted here that several of the words recommended as replacements for loan­ words are originally German words. Resis­ tance to German words had thus not yet set in. On the contrary, the earliest purist move­ ment in Denmark, as is also seen in the quo­ tation from Ravn above, was inspired by the similar linguistic nationalism movement in Germany. 2.2.

The 18th century

Before classical Danish purism began in the middle of the 1 8th c., the author Ludvig Hol­ berg commented in several places on the use of loanwords. His theoretical standpoint was that loanwords are justifiable and necessary, especially when the alternatives are more or less incomprehensible new formations or re­ vivals of archaic Danish words. In practice, however, he showed a certain understanding of purism, to a large extent replacing loan­ words with common Danish (German) words, e. g. Animositet > Fiendtlighed, Argument > Beviis, Armature > Udrustning in new editions of earlier works. The dominant personality of 1 8th c. lan­ guage policy was the philosopher Frederik Christian Eilschov, whose main linguistic work was the thesis Cogitationes de seientiis vernacula lingua docendis from 1747. He ac­ cepted that individual, commonly-used loan­ words should be retained, e. g. Contract, Dis­ e pel, i Element, Familie, Mathematik, but otherwise supported the abolition of loan­ words. He rejected the revival of old words as replacements and instead highlighted the traditional processes of derivation and com­ pounding (in practice: translation loans). His book contains a list of ca. 900 philosophical and scientific words with suggestions for re­ placement words (less than half of which, however, had been created by Eilschouv him­ self, e. g. afdraabe < destillare, H@re-Saal < Auditorium, Konge-Regimente < Monarchia, sandsynlig < verosimilis, Virksomhed < Acti­ vitas). Many authors of the day endorsed these purist ideas, and it is of great significance that the author Jens Schelderup Sneedorff, e.g. in his periodical Den Patriotiske Tilskuer 'The Patriotic Spectator' (1761-63) also demon­ strated that Danish could be written purely and in good taste. However, Sneedorff's ef-

forts were not primarily within the domain of vocabulary. His achievement lies above all within syntax, which he made less hypotactic and freed from foreign, especially Latin con­ structions. 2.3.

The 19th century

The main figure within language cultivation in the 19th c. is the physicist H. C. 0rsted. In 1 814 he formulated a range of rational or lin­ guistic aesthetic principles for the creation of new Danish words, including the statement that words must designate and not describe, which is why e. g. surstoJ (lit. 'sour matter') and vandstoJ (lit. 'water matter') were abol­ ished and replaced by ilt 'oxygen' and brint 'hydrogen', and that words must not contra­ dict the nature of the language. 0rsted intro­ duced in all more than 2000 monomorphemic forms and compounds especially within scien­ tific and philosophical terminology, amongst others the aforementioned ilt and brint, which remain the normal terms in non-technical Danish (whereas the specialist language today uses the international words oxygen and hy­ drogen). 0rsted differed from most of his lan­ guage-patriot predecessors by the fact that his ideological basis was common Nordic rather than purely nationalist, and on several occa­ sions he advocated an exchange of terms be­ tween Danish and Swedish. From about the middle of the century, the dominant opinion with regard to language cultivation became linguistic pro-Scandina­ vianism, that is, efforts to bring the written languages Dano-Norwegian (at that time one language) and Swedish closer to each other. This positive effort, which not only en­ compassed vocabulary but to an even greater degree orthography (see further 3 . 1 .), just as in contemporary political pro-Scandinavian­ ism, was borne along by the opposite effort directed against influence from German. One of the most prominent representatives of lin­ guistic pro-Scandinavianism was the linguist and literary scholar N. M. Petersen, who saw the development of a common Nordic written language as the only possibility for the sur­ vival of the Nordic languages, which could otherwise expect to be swallowed up by Ger­ man. A concrete program for Scandinavian language policy in the area of vocabulary was drawn up by the politician and educationist Lucianus Kofod, who as an overall goal in­ sisted that " all unnecessary foreign words be abolished and their place taken by Nordic

1962

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

words" (Kofod 1 866). For instance, he ad­ vocated using Swedish words of Nordic origin to replace Danish words of foreign origin, e. g. brist and ange instead of mangel 'lack' and damp 'steam', and the reverse, and proposed that modern languages take on expressions from ancestor languages. Kofod's writings went almost unnoticed by his contemporaries but regained relevance in the following cen­ tury when promoted by the Danish branch of linguistic pro-Scandinavianism in the 1 940s (see 2.4.). In 1 86 1 , the biographer H. P. Sehner pub­ lished a two-volume work on foreign words in Danish (Om de i det danske sprog forekom­ mende fremmede ord, samt tyskagtigheder, andre ufuldkommenheder, sprog- og retskriv­ ningsfejl [On foreign words occurring in the Danish language, including Germanisms, other imperfections, linguistic and spelling mistakes]), one volume being a dictionary of ca. 700 pages with proposals for replacements for a large number of Greek, Romance and German loanwords. His proposals for new words were to a large extent descriptive com­ pounds, e. g. enkeltgalskab (lit. 'single-mad­ ness'), venneJrerdes (lit. 'friend-go-abou!') for monomani 'monomania' and fraternisere 'fraternize (with)'. Later, Sehner's dictionary was followed by Dansk hjrelpeordbog (1875), compiled by the teacher Hans Dahl, who, like most purists of the next century (see 2.4.), sharpened anti-German sentiment by also seeking to eliminate fully integrated words of German origin such as anvende 'use, vb.', be­ gynde 'begin', forkert 'wrong'. One curious contribution fromjust after the turn of the century should be mentioned here: the lawyer Ernst M0ller, who in 1901 under the pseudonym Per Sprogvild (lit. 'Per at a loss for language') published the book Dansk Sprogavl (lit. 'Danish language breeding'). In this work, he emphasized the possibilities for word formation which lie in short suffixed derivations such as e. g. bind-t 'connection', bUd-me 'gentleness', sreg-d 'story' (based on the root in sige/sagde 'say/said'). M0ller's work was viewed positively by the linguist Otto Jespersen, who himself created similar short words, e. g. sammensxt and tyd (for sam­ mensxtning 'compound' and betydning 'mean­ ing'), but otherwise M0ller had just as little influence on later Danish vocabulary as Sel­ mer and Dahl. Nineteenth century purism faded out with the publication of B. T. Dahl/H. Hammer's Dansk Ordbog Jor Folket [Danish dictionary

for the people], vol. 1 - 2 (1907-14). It en­ compassed Danish vocabulary in its entirety but left out a number of common loanwords and included a number of puristic new forma­ tions "which were scarcely known outside the circle of the editors" (Skautrup 1968, vol. 4, 16). 2.4.

The 20th century

The most important language policy move­ ment of the 20th c. like the previous century, was partly - and primarily - anti-German and partly pro-Nordic. It ran from the middle of the 1930s until the middle of the 1950s and peaked in the 1 940s. The primus motor was the lawyer and author Sven Clausen, who named his movement nordisk malstnev (lit. 'Nordic language aspiration'). His starting point was the observation that the three Nor­ dic languages Danish, Swedish and Norwe­ gian were moving further and further away from each other and the desire to stop this development and instead bring the languages closer together. Sven Clausen argued for rap­ prochement in all linguistic areas: vocabulary, orthography, pronunciation, inflection and syntax, but with a clear emphasis on the tra­ ditional areas, vocabulary and orthography. Without the burden of etymological and dia­ chronic considerations, he argued for his po­ sition in a witty, consistent, radical and pro­ vocative manner, in e. g. the 10 volumes of Ar­ bog Jor nordisk malstrrev which he published in 1938-48 and in the periodical Spragfron­ ten/Sprogfronten (lit. 'the Language Fron!') in 1944-48. As examples of Clausen's proposals for the replacement of words, we can cite the particularly Danish aften 'evening', bange 'scared' , bnekke 'break', prale 'boast' , reparere 'repair', which he wanted to be replaced by the common Nordic kvreld, rred, bryde, skryde, bade. The keyword for the whole of Clausen's movement is moreover the Swedish @msesidig (omsesidig), which Clausen on the one hand promoted and on the other hand used in his own Scandinavianized language, e. g. in the context @msesidig sprogforstaelse 'mutual lan­ guage understanding'. During the German occupation of Den­ mark, Clausen's radical one-man movement was supplanted by the broader and more mod­ erate society Dansk Forening til Nordisk Sprogr@gt [Danish Society for Nordic Lan­ guage Cultivation], created in 1941 with the aim of "working towards retention and pro­ motion of the Nordic character of the Danish

2 1 1 . Language cultivation and language planning I: Denmark

language" . The society had quite a substantial following: almost 2000 members at the end of 1 944. It worked partly to move Danish ortho­ graphy closer to the other written Nordic lan­ guages (see further 3 . 1 .) and partly to augment common Nordic vocabulary. In addition, the society wanted to promote clear pronunci­ ation of the Danish language. The cultivation of vocabulary was to take place by ensuring the survival of common words in the Nordic languages (including dialectal words), by rein­ stating archaic common words still used in other Nordic languages, by creating identical words for new concepts in the three languages, and by promoting loans from the other Nordic languages. In its early years, the society placed special emphasis on the expansionist or cre­ ative side of language policy: ca. three quarters of its proposals concerned the acquisition of new words, while only one quarter were at­ tempts to remove already existing loanwords from the Danish lexicon. In contrast, despite the society's stated common Nordic inten­ tions, one can see in a large number of cases a regular puristic tendency under which words of German origin were sought out and where efforts were made to banish not only Danish words of foreign origin but also loanwords which Danish shares with Norwegian and/or Swedish, e. g. bakkenbart 'sideburn', beJordre 'promote' , nekrolog 'obituary', nysgerrig 'curi­ ous', with the proposed replacements kind­ s/a:eg,jremme, d@dsrune, nyfigen. Correspond­ ingly, the society promoted the abolition of a number of international - and inter-Nordic ­ words, e.g. acceptere 'accept', debat 'debate, N', epidemi 'epidemic', jrenomen 'phenom­ enon', kujon 'coward', moderat 'moderate, adj.', teint 'complexion'. It is difficult to determine the impact of the Danish Society for Nordic Language Cultiva­ tion on Danish vocabulary as such. An at­ tempt to answer this question gives the net re­ sult that presumably ca. 20 words included in the 1955 edition of Retskrivningsordbogen [The orthographic dictionary] are due to the Nordic language cultivation movement (Ja­ cobsen 1973, 1 85 - 1 88). In addition to this, the society and its Nordic orientation must be recognized as having been an important part of the ideological/theoretical basis for the foundation of the Danish Language Council (Dansk Sprogn",vn) in 1955 (see further sec­ tion 4.). Admittedly, the Danish Language Council was not given any explicitly for­ mulated task with regard to bringing the Dan­ ish language closer to the other Nordic lan-

1963

guages or strengthening the Nordic linguistic community but was simply instructed to "co­ operate with other Nordic language councils on questions of common Nordic interest". Especially in the first ca. 10 years of the Council's history, Nordic language coopera­ tion resulted in attempts to create identical Nordic - terms for phenomena common to Nordic societies. The first result of work in this area was a recommendation containing 3 5 common Nordic postal terms, which was sent to postal authorities in Denmark, Nor­ way, Sweden and Finland in 1956. In this document, it was recommended that, for in­ stance, Dan. anbeJalet (brev) 'registered (let­ ter)' be changed to rekommanderet corre­ sponding to Norw. rekommandert and Sw. re­ kommenderad, and that Dan. brevpakke 'small parcel' be changed to smlipakke correspond­ ing to Norw. smlipakke and Sw. smlipaket. A proposal for changes in aviation terminol­ ogy was devised in 1959 with a recommenda­ tion to introduce fly 'aeroplane' into Danish corresponding to Norw.fly and Sw. flygplan, instead of luJtJart@j/ (flyve)maskine, and to re­ place lounge in all three languages by Dan. salon and Norw. and Sw. salong. In the fol­ lowing years, the Nordic language councils cooperated on terminology for telephony, tel­ egraphy and radio, as well as meteorology. In 1963 its sphere was widened from the more narrow terminological and technical language areas to encompass more general vocabulary, when a list was devised containing ca. 100 words of English or American origin with pro­ posals for Danish, Norwegian and Swedish re­ placements. The list contained, among others, recommendations that thriller be replaced by Dan. gyser, Norw. grasser, gyser, Sw. rysare, trasslare, that slogan be replaced by slagord (lit. 'hit word') in all three languages, and that swimming pool be replaced by Dan. sv@m­ mebassin, Norw. sv@mmebasseng, Sw. simbas­ sang. Certain technical terms proposed by the language councils were accepted in the rel­ evant specialist areas. This was the case for e. g. the postal term rekommanderet and the meteorological termfinregn ('drizzle', lit. 'fine rain') instead of st@vregn (lit. 'dust rain'). But the overall results were limited, and especially the attempts to control non-technical vocabu­ lary as intended in the 1963 list must be said to have been a failure (cf. Jacobsen 1982). Work seeking to harmonize Nordic vocabu­ laries has also slipped more and more into the background, even though attempts have been made to revive it by the Nordic Language Sec-

1964

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

retariat which was formed in 1978 as an agency for cooperation between the Nordic language councils with the aim of "maintain­ ing and strengthening the linguistic commu­ nity in the Nordic countries and advancing Nordic language understanding" . One further early area for Nordic initiatives within Danish vocabulary should be mention­ ed: numerals. As is well known, Danish di­ verges from Swedish and Norwegian by hav­ ing, on the one hand, multiples of 10 using the base-20 system, e. g. tres '60' and halvfjerds '70', in contrast to the Swedish and Norwegian base-l0 system sextio/seksti and sjuttio/sytti, and on the other hand by using the ordering ones + tens, e. g. femogtres '65', lit. 'five and sixty', the reverse of the Swedish-Norwegian order, e.g. sextiofem/sekstifem. A numerical reform, changing e. g. femogtres to sekstifem, was proposed in the context of the spelling reform of 1948 (see 3.2. and art. 197, section 3.) but was rejected by the Minister of Edu­ cation on the basis that it was outside the pur­ view of orthography. The Danish Society for Nordic Language Cultivation had also work­ ed to promote a change to the Swedish-Nor­ wegian type of numerals in Danish. Thus it was natural that the Danish Language Coun­ cil after its foundation in 1955 took up this question and had a report on the problem drawn up, containing a detailed guide to the way in which a change in the numeral system could take place (Karker 1959). However, there was not unanimity within the Language Council as to the reasonableness of and need for a change to the Danish numerals, and in 1964 the Ministry of Education issued a cir­ cular to schools on the matter. In this docu­ ment, attention was drawn to the fact that the Nordic numerals treti,firti and so on were in­ cluded in The orthographic dictionary of 1955 (unlike its predecessor 1923-46), and it was requested that schools make children aware ofthese numerals in e. g. mathematics, Danish and history. However, this circular has had no effect on normal Danish usage - the main function of the Nordic numerals in Danish continues to be only an aid to oral commu­ nication with Norwegians and Swedes. In the written language, they are primarily used on the increasingly less-used cheques, where they recently have even had competition from a single-digit system, e. g. fire-otte-syv-ni '4,879' instead of fire tusind otte hundrede syvtini.

3.

Orthography

3.1.

Tradition and renewal

Since the 17th c., the main contrasts within the Danish orthographic debate have been be­ tween traditionalists and renewers. The tradi­ tionalists have generally referred to actual lan­ guage use, often supplemented by etymologi­ cal concerns. The renewers have championed the phonetic point of view - the greatest pos­ sible conformity between written and spoken language - often supplemented by Nordic fac­ tors, that is, the desire that Danish spelling should correspond to spelling in the other Nordic languages, in earlier times especially Swedish (and partly Old Norse), in recent times Swedish as well as Norwegian. In the first Danish orthographic dispute, the phonetic point of view was represented by, among others, the grammarians Peder Syv (1663; DG, vol. 1) and Erik Pontoppidan (1668; ibidem, vol. 2), who supported the abol­ ition or limitation of the foreign letters c, q, x and z, and the spelling of assimilated loan­ words according to Danish principles. Their opponent was Henrich Thomres0n Gerner (1678; DG, vol. 3), who defended foreign let­ ters as well as the genuine (original) spelling of loanwords. In the following century, Peder Schulz (1724; DG, vol. 4) and Jens H0ysgaard (1747; ibidem), among others, aligned them­ selves with the phonetic viewpoint, while Lud­ vig Holberg (1726; DG, vol. 4) made the pho­ netic principle secondary to the etymological principle. Single issues discussed included e. g. whether vowel quantity should be marked by double vowel symbols (or addition of -e after the vowel), or by a doubling of the consonant, the use of upper- or lower-case letters initially for common nouns, and a possible replace­ ment of aa by Ii to indicate the a sound, prob­ lems which were only solved 1 50- 200 years later. The major work within Danish orthogra­ phic literature is Rasmus Rask's comprehen­ sive Retskrivningshere from 1826. He identi­ fied pronunciation as "the highest principle" for spelling and thus consequently rejected the foreign letters q, x, z (and for the most part c), just as he supported making an orthogra­ phic distinction between closed @ sounds in e. g. J@rer 'lead (pres.)' and open ones in e. g. Jorend 'before', and replacing aa with a. Ety­ mology and conformity with other languages did, however, play a role for Rask, which is why he supported maintaining silent d in e. g. spildt 'wasted' and vendt 'turned' and silent h

1965

2 1 1 . Language cultivation and language planning I: Denmark

before j and v in hjem 'horne', hvem 'who(m)' etc. Rask wanted to retain upper-case initial letters for nouns out of consideration for con­ fonnity with Gennan. N.M. Petersen basi­ cally aligned himself with Rask's views. Be­ cause of his pro-Scandinavian linguistic opin­ ions, he did, however, champion lower-case initial letters for nouns, and these lower-case letters became almost a defining characteristic of "progressive" spelling, which under the label of the "Rask-Petersen spelling" chal­ lenged the traditionalists (e.g. c. Molbech) and the authorities (see 3.2.) for the rest of the century. At the (unofficial) Nordic spelling conference in Stockhohn in 1 869 for Danish, Norwegian and Swedish linguists, educators etc., the Danish spelling system recommended by the meeting was to a large degree identical to the Rask-Petersen one. Some of these spell­ ing proposals gained official recognition in later ministerial regulations, e. g. the change from q to k in words such as Qvinde > Kvinde 'woman' and Qvreg > Kvreg 'cattle' in 1872, as well as e.g. x > ks (voxe > vokse 'grow (inf.)' etc.) and the assimilation of loanwords such as Philosophi > Filosofi and vanzire > vansire 'disfigure' in the ministerial regulation of 1 889 (see further 3.2.). The Nordic spelling ideal was championed in the 20th c. by Sven Clausen as well as by the Danish Society for Nordic Language Cul­ tivation (see 2.4.). The radical Clausen pro­ posed i. a. various partially systematic changes in the direction of Swedish and/or Norwegian, e. g. g > k and b > p (nxgte > nxkte 'deny', gribe > gripe 'hold'); g > gj and k > kj in words such as gore > gj@re 'do' and ske > skje 'happen'; and 0 > a in e. g. sprog > sprag 'language' and vort > vart 'our'. However, the main theme for both Clausen and the more moderate Language Cultivation Society was the abolition of upper-case initial letters for nouns and the introduction of a instead of aa, that is, two of the three points carried out in the spelling reform of 1948 (see 3.2.). The 20th c. supporters of a more phonetic spelling also strongly supported lower-case initial letters and a, and many of them agreed on wanting aJ(-) 'of, de-' to be written av-, a spelling which had been defended by Otto Jes­ persen at the beginning of the century, but which never gained widespread distribution or official recognition. Opposition to the silent d was an area where pro-Nordic writers and phoneticians would sometimes agree, e. g. in the desire for sidst > sist 'last', skulde > skulle 'should', although the first group wanted to

retain silent ds in cases where they also occur in Swedish and Norwegian, e. g. in sende 'send' and strand 'beach'. One ofthe most prominent spokesmen for the phonetic viewpoint was the author and architect Poul Henningsen, who, in addition to most of the above-mentioned points, supported abbreviations of certain verbs, e.g. be, bUr, tar instead of bede 'pray', bliver 'become (pres.)', tager 'take (pres.)'. The question of a consistent phonetic-Nordic change concerning this point was later thor­ oughly analysed by Karker (1976). 3.2.

Official orthography

One crucial difference between the areas ofvo­ cabulary and orthography is the degree of nor­ malization they are subject to. Vocabulary is in principle left to general usage without in­ terference from authorities. Thus there is no official authorized list of words recognized as "genuine Danish" words, and the fact that a word has been included in e. g. The Danish Language Council's Retskrivningsordbogen [The orthographic dictionary] cannot be used to support the claim that it is an officially rec­ ognized or certified word. The situation is dif­ ferent in the case of orthography. Here the authorities - especially to begin with school authorities - have asserted their right to accept or reject specific spellings and word fonns for more than 250 years. The first time the authorities exerted a regu­ latory influence on spelling was in 1739. This was in Christian VI's Latinskole (approxi­ mately 'grammar school') statute of 1 7th April 1739, in which grammar school teachers were summarily required to ensure that their stu­ dents "became accustomed to a good, usable orthography in their own language". The next occasion was in the statute on public grammar schools under Christian VII from 1 1 th May 1775 (also known as Guldberg's school stat­ ute), which introduced Danish as a separate subject in grammar schools and assigned ave Malling's patriotic reader Store og gode Hand­ Unger atDanske, Norske og Holstenere ([Great and good deeds ofthe Danes, Norwegians and Holsteiners], first published in 1777) as a model of spelling in the new school subject. The assignment of the single author ave Malling as an orthographic model was exten­ ded in 1 800 to a requirement for grammar school teachers of Danish to "follow the or­ thography used by the best and most classical prose writers of the fatherland" in their teach­ ing. Half a century later (30th October 1 847),

1966

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

the University administration issued a circular to grammar schools in which teachers were ordered not to "use an orthography which dif­ fered significantly from the usual one". That is, they were to avoid the Rask-Petersen spell­ ing system and thus, for instance, avoid using lower-case initial letters for nouns, a usage for which there was some sympathy among teachers and others of a pro-Scandinavian bent at the time. In addition, for the first time, the 1 847 circular referred directly to a proper dictionary as a key to orthography. The ref­ erence was to the traditionalist C. Molbech's Dansk Ordbog of 1833 and indirectly to his orthographic dictionary of 1 81 3 . In 1 855 the teaching inspector for grammar schools, J.N. Madvig, decreed which spellings were accept­ able - and unacceptable - in schools, and clearly rejected e. g. the use of lower-case initial letters for nouns and the use of a in­ stead of aa. Ten years later - 14th November 1865 - a directive was issued which for the first time was not aimed at the grammar schools (the scholarly schools), but rather at teaching in the nation's state schools (the public urban and village schools). This circular emphasized that state school teachers should respect the old spelling system, that is still avoid e. g. lower-case initial letters and a. Two books were now referred to as guides to spelling. The first was a proper dictionary, specifically Molbech's above-mentioned Dansk Ordbog (which had been published in a 2nd edition in 1 859). The second was a hymnbook, the very widely used Psalmebog til Kirke- og Huusandagt (whose first edition had been pub­ lished in 1 8 56). "The Hymn Book Circular", as it was called by its detractors, was revoked by a circular from the Ministry of Education on 21st February 1872. In this circular, as a result of the spelling conference in Stockhohn in 1869, several modernizations were intro­ duced into school spelling; e. g. the double vowel in words such as Huus 'house' and Steen 'stone' was replaced by a single vowel, and double consonants in words such as sikkre 'certain, secure (pl.)' and tappre 'brave (pl.)' were replaced by a single consonant. In 1 889 the first major systematic spelling regulation was issued by J. F. Scavenius, Mi­ nister for the Church and Education in Es­ trup's conservative government. This relative­ ly liberal spelling directive (dated 7th June 1 8 89) was in force for barely 3 years. In 1 892, C. Goos, Scavenius' successor as Minister of Education in Estrup's government, published

his revised (i.e. a little more conservative) spelling regulation on 27th February 1892, which in principle remained the basis for of­ ficial Danish spelling all the way up to the Spelling Law of 1997. The regulation of 1892 was changed on a single point on 1 5th December 1900. The older rule for using plural forms ofverbs after plural subjects, which had already been discussed by Peder Syv and Gerner, and which H0ysgaard (1743; DG, vol. 4) among others had argued against, was made optional. Where earlier one had to write e.g. viiI/de lobe. ere. have 'wei you/they run, are, have', it was now permis­ sible to write viiI/de laber, er, har correspon­ ding to jeg/du/han/hun/den/det l@ber. er. har 'I/you/he/she/it runes) etc. '. In addition, it was now permissible to write vi kan, vi skal, vi vil 'we can, shall, will' where earlier one had to write vi kunne, vi skulle, vi ville. The 1900 regu­ lation was adjusted slightly in 1902 by yet an­ other amendment (25th February 1 902) which removed the obligatory plural inflection on past participles after plural subjects, thus allowing e. g. Fuglene er ji@jet 'the birds have flown' instead of the earlier required form Fuglene er jl@jne. But otherwise, for ahnost 50 years the Min­ istry of Education refrained from issuing spelling directives until Hartvig Frisch, the Social Democratic Minister of Education, on 22nd March 1948 issued a regulation which has subsequently simply been referred to as "the spelling reform", probably the most widely-known spelling change of all in the his­ tory of the Danish language. Under this spell­ ing reform - which was partly anti-German, partly pro-Nordic and partly pedagogically motivated - three changes were effected: the originally German upper-case initial letters for nouns were abolished, the originally Swedish a (bolle-a) replaced aa (double-a), and the dif­ ficult distinction between the phonetically identical infinitives kunne, skulle, ville and the preterites kunde, skulde, vilde was replaced by identical written forms with double conso­ nants: kunne, skulle, ville. Until 1948, official spelling was largely syn­ onymous with school spelling. But in the sum­ mer of1948, the Prime Minister Hans Hedtoft prepared a regulation which established that the Civil Service should also follow Hartvig Frisch's reformed spelling. It is generally ac­ cepted that from this date Denmark has had not only school spelling but national (state) spelling. (There are, however, a few earlier individual examples of civil servants having

2 1 1 . Language cultivation and language planning I: Denmark

received instructions referring to their spell­ ing). The most recent official spelling directives are Law No. 320 from 14th May 1997 about the Danish Language Council (the Language Council Law) and Law No. 332 from the same date on Danish spelling (the Spelling Law). The two new laws brought in no actual spell­ ing changes but merely regulated the frame­ work for the establishment and functioning of official spelling. The Language Council Law contains explicitly formulated directives on which types of spelling change the Danish Language Council is entitled to carry out on its own and which changes require ministerial acceptance. Under the Spelling Law there was a good deal of "cleaning up" of the confused collection of earlier and somewhat outdated spelling regulations and circulars which had been the basis for official Danish spelling since 1 892. Thus, until the Spelling Law of 1997, it was still formally correct to use plural forms of verbs with plural subjects although these forms had been in disuse for about 100 years. Perhaps the most important consequence of the Spelling Law was that the group of lan­ guage users who were obliged to follow the official spelling rules was widened. Local council authorities until that date had been allowed to use whichever spellings and word forms they wished, but now the official spell­ ing rules were to apply not only to schools and state authorities but explicitly also to "lo­ cal and county administrations", and in addi­ tion, "the national parliament and authorities attached to the parliament, as well as the law courts". Official Danish spelling thus became spelling for the whole of Danish officialdom. Private companies, newspapers, authors, poets and private individuals have never been obliged to follow the official spelling rules, and this remains so after 1997. However, it is a fact that non-public language users also strive to write according to the dictates of official spelling. An outstanding example of the gener­ al acceptance of official spelling is the fact that 1 0 years after the 1948 spelling reform, ahnost all daily newspapers (i. e. with the ex­ ception of 1 2-1 3 smaller papers out of a total of 80) had adopted the new spelling system. Thus, even though it took several years before all newspapers and authors (and their pub­ lishers) had taken on board the new norm, the whole transition process shows that the offi­ cial spelling system is treated as a norm which applies to all Danes who write - whether or not they are formally obliged to follow it.

4.

1967

The Danish Language Council

As is apparent in the discussion above, the Danish Language Council has been the official national language cultivation body in Den­ mark since 1955. The Language Council func­ tions under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, and the Council's activities and areas of competence were established in the above­ mentioned Law on the Danish Language Council of 1997. The Language Council has 30 members who are appointed as representatives of various in­ stitutions and associations with a special in­ terest in Danish, such as the Prime Minister's Office; the Ministries of Education, of Culture and of Justice; the Danish universities; Dan­ ish radio and television; the national associa­ tions of teachers and of journalists; and the authors' and actors' guilds. Daily work is handled by a staff of ca. 1 0 researchers and secretaries. The Language Council is charged with re­ search as well as with advisory functions and official Danish language cultivation. When dealing with descriptive and normative tasks, the Council is obliged to "work on a scientific basis [and] take into account the language's function as a bearer of tradition and cultural continuity and as a mirror of contemporary culture and social conditions" . The three main tasks of the Language Council are: (a) to chart the development of Danish, notably by col­ lecting examples of new words and word usage, (b) to give advice and information about Danish language usage, and (c) to lay down rules for Danish orthography and com­ pile the official orthographic dictionary of Danish. In addition to its work at the national level, the Council cooperates with the other Nordic language councils (cf. 2.4.). The first main task - collecting and record­ ing new words, forms, and phrases, including abbreviations - is in principle a purely descrip­ tive task. It is carried out by the Council's re­ search staff, mostly by compiling a compre­ hensive collection of excerpts from contem­ porary source material, such as national dai­ lies, weeklies, magazines, specialist and legal texts, poetry and fiction, as well as radio and television programmes. As a record of signifi­ cant aspects in the development of the Danish language since the middle of the 1950s, this material constitutes the basis for the Council's research and for its work in providing the pub­ lic with information and advice.

1968

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

The second main task - responding to lin­ guistic questions from the public - is essential­ ly a normative task. The majority of questions concern correct usage in spelling, word forma­ tion, inflection, and syntax. Other questions concern new words in Danish, their spelling, pronunciation, and meaning. Questions re­ garding spelling can normally be answered by referring to the established spelling in the Council's own authoritative publication, Ret­ skrivningsordbogen, but in the case of other normative questions the Council's role is pri­ marily advisory and informative. The Council may e. g. report that a certain usage (a pro­ nunciation, a syntactic construction or the like) is seen as acceptable or unacceptable by linguistic experts, and may recommend that a certain usage be followed. But the Council has no right to prohibit a specific usage, and it is an individual choice whether one follows the Council's advice or not. The Language Council responded to more than 14,000 ques­ tions in 2000 by telephone, e-mail or ordinary mail. The third main task - work on Danish spell­ ing - is the most normative and authoritative ofthe Language Council's tasks. It encompas­ ses the establishment of Danish spelling rules and the publication of the official orthogra­ phic dictionary of the Danish language. The Council is allowed to carry out orthographic changes which do not concern the spelling sys­ tem, whereas larger-scale or systematic changes must be approved by the Ministries of Culture and Education. The latest edition of Retskrivningsordbogen appeared in 2001, superseding that of 1996 (and its predecessors of 1986 and 1955). The dictionary lists some 64,000 words and contains a detailed guide to orthography. It is a consequence of the Language Coun­ cil's obligation to work on a scientific basis that it is comparatively open-minded and libe­ ral, taking up a tolerant attitude to variation in language use. The Council is, however, aware that linguistic tolerance among lan­ guage users in general is lower than among professional linguists, and it will most often recommend that in specific situations one should follow a traditional, restricted (and in­ tolerant) norm. In the special case of spelling, the Language Council's open-mindedness and consideration of actual usage leads to a rela­ tively large number of optional spellings and word forms, e. g. heJte/IueJte 'booklet', linie/ linje 'line', simpelt hen/simpelthen 'simply' ,fa­ rede/Jor (preterite of Jare 'rush'), nrevninge/

mevninger 'jurors'. There is some resistance among the public to optional forms in the of­ ficial orthographic dictionary, and in the 2001 edition ofthe dictionary, the Language Coun­ cil has met this criticism with a minor reduc­ tion of the number of optional forms, e. g. linie/linje > linje 'line'. The Danish Language Council also deals more broadly and generally with the Danish language. Thus the Council has been involved in the debate conducted especially in the 1990s on the Americanization of the Danish lan­ guage, and especially focussing on the loss of domains that Danish has suffered through English becoming the oral working language in certain companies in Denmark, just as Eng­ lish has replaced written Danish in e. g. scien­ tific reports and theses. In the spring of 1998 the Council held a public conference about the influence of English on Danish, with a range of presentations from linguists who were con­ cerned about this and those who were not, and from supporters and opponents of a more ac­ tive language policy regarding English (cf. Davidsen-Nielsen/Hansen/Jarvad 1 999). In the summer of 2000 this conference was fol­ lowed up by a large day-long conference on the need for an explicit Danish language pol­ icy. This conference was arranged by the Min­ ister of Culture, who announced after the conference that she would issue a report on upcoming initiatives in the area in the near future (yet to be issued at the end of 2001). One cannot reasonably expect this to lead to proper legislation on the Danish language and its status in Denmark (corresponding to the legislation being worked on at present in Sweden), but it is more likely to lead to other initiatives which draw attention to the situ­ ation of Danish and seek to strengthen the lan­ guage and defend its existing domains of use against English.

5.

Literature (a selection)

DG Bertelsen, Henrik (ed.) (1915 29), Danske Grammatikerefra Midten af det syttende til Midten af det attende Aarhundrede 1 6. Kobenhavn. Dansk Sprogna:vn, Arsberetning 1955ff. Koben­ havn. Davidsen-Nielsen, Niels/Hansen, ErikjJarvad, Pia (eds.) (1999), Engelsk eUer ikke engelsk? That is the question. Engelsk indfiydelse pa dansk (Dansk Sprogna:vns skrifter 28). Kobenhavn. Hamburger, Arne (1988), Officiel sprogbrug. In: Hansen/Lund 1988, 146 156.

2 1 1 . Language cultivation and language planning I: Denmark Hansen, Erik (ed.) (1995), Fra tid til anden: Dansk SprogJUrvn i 40 ar (Dansk Sprogna:vns skrifter 23). K0benhavn. Hansen, Erik/Lund, J0m (eds.) (1988), Sproget her og nu (Dansk Sprogna:vns skrifter 14). K0benhavn. Hansen, Erik/Lund, J0m (eds.) (1998), Det er kor­ rekt: Dansk retskrivning 1948 98 (Dansk Sprogna:vns skrifter 27). K0benhavn. Hjorth, Poul Lindegaxd (1970), Sprogna:vn og of­ fentlighed. Erfaringer fra arbejdet i Dansk Sprog­ na:vn. In: SiN, 107 25. Reprinted in: Hansen 1995, 17 32. Jacobsen, Henrik Galberg (1973), Sprogr@gt i Dan­ mark i 1930rne og 1940rne (Dansk Sprogna:vns skrifter 6). K0benhavn. Jacobsen, Henrik Galberg (1982), Om nordisk sprogsamarbejde og nordisk sprogfa:llesskab. In: Chuu-Hokuoo Hikaku Bunka Kenkyuu 3. Osaka, 365 89.

1969

Jacobsen, Henrik Galberg (1998), 1948-refonnen og f0r og efter. In: Hansen/LWld 1998, 9 45. Karker, Allan (1959), Nordiske talord i dansk: His­ torie og vejledning (Dansk Sprogna:vns skrifter 2). K0enhavn. Karker, Allan (1976), Blir det til noget? Om ortog­ rafiske kortfonner af nogle verber i dansk. In: Nor­ diska studier i filologi och lingvistik tilliignade Gosta Holm. Lund, 239 49. Reprinted (abbreviated) in: Nytfra SprogJUrvnet 1997/1, 6 1 1 . Kofod, Lucianus (1866), Om Nordens sproglige en­ hed. Stockholm. Reprinted (abbreviated) in: Vort nordiske modersmal 3 (1944). K0benhavn. Skautrup, Peter (1947 1970), Det danske sprogs his­ torie 2 5. K0benhavn.

Henrik Galberg Jacobsen, Copenhagen (Denmark)

1970

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

212.

Language cultivation and language planning II: Swedish

1. 2.

5. 6. 7.

Introduction Language cultivation and contemporary linguistics Phonetic spelling and standard pronunciation Standard morphology in speech and writing Plain language: syntax and style Swedish and foreign languages Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

3. 4.

Language cultivation and language planning are understood here as activities aimed at find­ ing out what good language is like and en­ couraging people to write and speak such lan­ guage. Language cultivation often concerns the means of expression - pronunciation, or­ thography, inflection, syntax, vocabulary, text patterns and how these resources are to be em­ ployed in different texts and situations - and it is more often directed towards writing than speech. Typically it aims at standardizing the national language, particularly its orthogra­ phy and inflection, but a large and effective vocabulary is also an important goal. Lan­ guage planning includes language cultivation, but it has a somewhat wider meaning as it is also concerned with the status ofthe language, i.e. its functional domains in competition with other, more dominant languages. During the Early Modern period, a nation­ wide form of Swedish developed particularly in three respects. Both individuals and non­ governmental organizations played significant parts in these processes. Firstly, the Swedish language gained ground from Latin, particu­ larly as a language of science but also as a language of fiction and belles lettres. Influen­ tial agents in this were the Academy of Science and the Swedish Academy, both founded in the 1 8th c. Secondly, Swedish vocabulary was very much enlarged concurrently with the in­ creased division of labour and the growth of scientific knowledge. This lexical development was applauded by the language cultivators, but their task was above all to document and sanction the new words by listing them in dic­ tionaries. Thirdly, the orthography and inflec­ tional system of the national language were nearly completely standardized. Spelling was authoritatively codified by the Swedish Acad­ emy (Leopold 1 801). (On language planning in the Early Modern period see art. 1 5 5 and Teleman 2002).

During the 1 9th c. a new educational system was introduced. Swedish became a subject in its own right in the primary and secondary schools, and the language of instruction was Swedish in all subjects at both levels. A ma­ jority of citizens had learnt to read already in the previous century (Johansson 1 970), and with school becoming obligatory, at least by the end of the 1 9th c., the whole population could write. In secondary schools writing in­ struction was systematic. Special textbooks such as Swedish grammars and style manuals were composed for the schools. The position ofLatin in the schools was still strong, though, and Latin syntactic and rhetorical patterns were imitated in the Swedish writing exercises. The capitalization and specialization of ag­ riculture, industrialization and ongoing ur­ banization necessitated the foundation of ob­ ligatory primary schools and modern second­ ary schools. The mobilization of workers, farmers and petty bourgeoisie resulted in a wide network of popular organizations (work­ ing-class movements, free-church movements, temperance movements etc.) where ordinary people were trained in the use of the public standardized language in speech and writing. Ideologically, functionalism and equality gradually became accepted by a large majority of the citizens as the overall goals of society, and after the Second World War a modern wel­ fare state was built, especially by the Labour Party, who was in power most of the time in the second half of the 20th c. All in all, urbanization had deprived the ru­ ral dialects of their speakers, and through the explosion of education everybody had ac­ quired the standard written language. There was a general consensus that a geographically and sociologically neutral standardized lan­ guage was the ideal means of communication for all citizens. During the last decades of the 20th c., Sweden like many other European countries transformed from an industrial into an infor­ mation-based society, where language in speech and writing became the most import­ ant working tool. The welfare state required more contact between authorities and individ­ ual citizens, and in order to be accepted as legitimate the state was forced to show a "hu­ man face". The officialese of older times was not marketable any more, and the distinction between public and private language came to

1971

212. Language cultivation and language planning II: Swedish

be regarded as dysfunctional. The ideology of equality, now the official doctrine of society, was interpreted in favour of oral language. Speech was regarded as the canonical lan­ guage: after all, speech was something that be­ longed to everybody, in contrast to written language which had to be learnt and was learnt better by some people than by others. The lan­ guage use of the media favoured this change of perspective. (On the role of media in the language development see art. 195). During the last decades of the 20th c., the linguistic scene was influenced in new ways by globalization and information technology. English expanded in important functional do­ mains, particularly the domain of scientific language. Computers changed the culture of communication and made language cultiva­ tion easier in some respects but brought about some new problems, too (cf. art. 201).

2.

Language cultivation and contemporary linguistics

At the beginning of the 1 9th c., Swedish gram­ marians became familiar with a pedagogical version of the French Port Royal grammar (Sacy 1 806). This sparked an increased interest in syntax, which had previously been under­ stood only poorly, while the knowledge of Swedish morphology had become more or less complete. The growing insight into syntax made grammarians aware of syntactic vari­ ation, and cultivators began to regulate vari­ ation which their predecessors had not noticed or had not been able to describe (cf. Teleman 1991). Characteristic of this new kind of grammar was the idea of a general grammar (common to all languages) which together with specific rules for a particular language constituted the grammar of this language. The general gram­ mar was regarded as a kind of logic, so it was only natural that logical (or pseudological) ar­ guments became frequent in discussions oflin­ guistic correctness or appropriateness. Logical arguments were often inspired by the struc­ tures of prestigious foreign languages - which were looked upon as more universal - particu­ larly Latin and German. Around the middle of the 19th c., historical linguistics had taken a firm hold in Sweden, led by J.E. Rydqvist, who wrote a large his­ torical grammar of Swedish. The ideological background of language cultivation was his­ torical and romantic: the period of classical

Old Swedish was regarded as the golden age of the Swedish language. Changes that could be explained as the consequences of sound laws were accepted, but novelties through ana­ logic levelling and folk etymologies were re­ jected. Rydqvist, who was a member of the Swedish Academy, had a decisive influence upon the first editions of its register of words (SAOL Ordlista oJver svenska spraket 1 874 and later), which was to become a semi-official codification of Swedish standard orthography and inflection. The first editions of SAOL im­ plemented the spelling rules of the Academy as formulated by Leopold in 1801. SAOL was an answer to attacks from a new generation of linguists, all of them neo-gram­ marians. Phonetics was on its way to becom­ ing a science, and dialects became subjects of systematic research. The orthography debate was opened again and the new slogan was "write as you speak" (cf. sect. 3.). One of the central figures was Adolf Noreen, who also took a theoretical and practical interest in lan­ guage cultivation. He described three contem­ porary main ideologies of language cultiva­ tion: the historical, the Darwinist and the functionalist schools (Noreen 1885). The three alternatives outlined by Noreen have served as points of orientation ever since. A typical representative of the historical school was Rydqvist. The Darwinist school would be the natural choice of a neogrammarian: it main­ tained that language should be left alone to develop according to its own laws and that language cultivation could only disturb the machinery. According to the functionalist school, language ought to be looked upon as a communicative tool created by man, a tool that could be (made) more or less effective for its purpose. Noreen himself was a functional­ ist, and he inspired many others to believe in linguistic engineering for the benefit of the whole community. During the first half of the 20th c., the lin­ guists' interest was refocused in two ways. Some of them began to study the style of fic­ tion and poetry, and idealistic stylistics be­ came fashionable. This meant that a text was understood primarily as the expression of the author, not as a means of communication with the reader. Language cultivation was regarded as harmful, or even ridiculous. The most im­ portant consequence of the early stylistic school for language planning was a growing understanding that language cultivators should leave fiction alone. The domain of lan­ guage cultivation from then on was ordinary �

1972

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

non-fiction prose. Interestingly, this shift of focus occurred at the same time as the de­ thronement of fiction from the position as the canonical form ofpublic language. In the 20th c., that role was instead given to the language of the media. Another important development in linguis­ tics during the first decades of the 20th c. was that many linguists recognized that written language was not merely a secondary form of spoken language. During the 19th c., normal reading had become silent, and Cederschi6ld in an influential treatise (1897) showed that many differences between spoken and written language were necessary and unavoidable. The growing knowledge of the dialects and the social differences in speech had made it clear that it would be highly impractical, not to say impossible, to let written language mirror spoken language directly. Linguists now pro­ vided the ammunition against phonetic spell­ ing. The Second World War was an important watershed in the history of linguistics and lan­ guage cultivation in Sweden. Scandinavian linguistics had until then been rather homo­ geneous and it had normally been historically based. In the 1950s, linguistics began to be­ come more diversified, with many separate specialities. Language cultivation had previ­ ously been a concern ofthe Swedish Academy, individual linguists and textbook writers, but now it was institutionalized with the creation of professional organizations like Namnden for svensk sprakvard [Swedish Language Cul­ tivation Council] (1944; later: Svenska sprdk­ namnden) and Tekniska nomenklaturcentralen [Swedish Center for Technical Terminology] (1941). The Language Council has edited since 1965 the journal Sprakvard [Language Culti­ vation] as a special publication for language cultivation, and its Svenska skrivregler [Swedish writing rules] defined the standard of written Swedish in important respects. Erik Wellander, professor of German (!), acted as a kind of one-man institution in the period 1940-1970 with his impressive handbook Rik­ tig svenska [Correct Swedish] and his influen­ tial columns in one of Sweden's national news­ papers. In Sweden, structural linguistics had played a minor role in the 1930s but was adopted by many researchers after the war, particularly due to influence from the USA. In both Euro­ pean and American versions of structural lin­ guistics, structuralism was primarily a theory about synchronic language states. It rested ba-

sically on functionalist assumptions, and at­ tempts were soon made at reformulating and developing the classical language cultivation principles in structuralist terms (e. g. Allen et al. 1967). As a linguistic theory, structuralism was most successful in phonology, however, and since language cultivation was concerned particularly with written language, the impact of structuralism on language cultivation re­ mained rather insignificant. However, struc­ turalism came to strengthen the tendency among linguists to regard speech and writing as different but equal systems. In the 1960s, generative grammar became an inspiration to many Scandinavian linguists, and its general approach indirectly influenced some language cultivators as well. Generative phonology described the pronunciation of a morpheme through a sequence of maximally general rules. Many of these synchronic rules bore some resemblance to historical sound changes. Generative phonology was some­ times used as a support for conservative, mor­ phologically oriented spelling. Another aspect of generative theory, how­ ever, was its focus on language as an individ­ ual, biologically determined phenomenon. Generative linguists were not concerned with language as communication or as a social phe­ nomenon. Their primary interest was the "ideal speaker", i.e. a kind of abstraction of all users of a specific language (and sometimes even all users of any national language). A common belief was also that all languages were equally good. "Language" was under­ stood as an innate ability common to all hu­ mans, irrespective of their intelligence or lan­ guage affiliation. Naturally, this attitude led to strong scepticism towards all kinds of lan­ guage engineering. More directly relevant for language cultiva­ tion and planning were the various kinds of sociolinguistics which prospered at the univer­ sities starting in the 1960s. Sociolinguists con­ ceived of language as a social phenomenon: a means of communication and a signal of the language user's group identity. They were par­ ticularly interested in spoken language and its use in institutional and private settings. Sociolinguistics strengthened the tendency of the late 20th c. to shift the focus from written to spoken Swedish as the canonical form of public language (cf. sect. 3.). On the other hand, sociolinguistics, with its emphasis on the use of language, was an important inspiration for the kind of language cultivation that was concerned with texts as communication to

212. Language cultivation and language planning II: Swedish

promote more effective writing for various readers in various situations on various mat­ ters (see sect. 5.). Sociolinguistics also brought about a greater awareness of the ideological and po­ litical aspects of language planning. The func­ tionalist approach was often only apparently a politically and ideologically neutral activity. It became necessary to recognize a whole spec­ trum of values which had some bearing on lan­ guage planning policy (Dahlstedt in Allen et al. 1967). Valuable instruments for language cultiva­ tion were the computerized text corpora and the concordances that were made available during the last decades of the 20th c. With these facilities it was easier to quickly survey contemporary language use in one respect or the other. Since the main source of the ma­ terial available came from daily newspapers, it might in some cases give a biased picture of the total language use, but on the whole the computerized material was invaluable for the language cultivators. It is obvious that language cultivation al­ ways depended on the knowledge and interests oflinguistics. It appears, though, as ifthis con­ nection became weaker in the second half of the 20th c., when language cultivation was to some extent institutionalized. While language cultivators continued to regard standardi­ zation as an important civilizing value of a national written language and perhaps also of a national spoken language for specific pur­ poses, many ordinary linguists looked upon language cultivation as unnecessary or harm­ ful. At the same time, it is true that language cultivators became less prescriptive and more descriptive or informative during the last dec­ ades of the century. This trend may be related to the increased general scepticism towards norms in Swedish society after the Second World War. The language cultivators prefer­ red to inform the public about usage rather than give direct advice or rules. The long-term goal was to make every citizen a cultivator of his or her own language.

3.

Phonetic spelling and standard pronunciation

Swedish spelling was highly uniform in the 1 9th c. This was the result of a long process ending with the orthographical treatise of the

1973

Swedish Academy (Leopold 1 801). The Acad­ emy also gave systematic rules for French loanwords integrated into Swedish. The standardized spelling of domestic words had been accomplished at the cost of rather long lists of exceptions to the general rules for the spelling of short stressed 101 and /E/ (see art. 1 55). Leopold had followed a fairly uniform usage insofar as he had not suggested a simpli­ fication of the spelling of Iv/. The alternatives were < hv > (as in hvit 'white'), < v > (as in vid 'wide', svensk 'Swedish'), < f> (as in knif 'knife'), < fv > (as in knifvar 'knives'). Gem­ ination of consonants after a short stressed vowel had also been regulated in a systematic way, although certain irregularities had been accepted (e. g. han 'he' vs. hann 'had time', sant 'true' (neuter ofsann) vs. kiinns 'is felt' (s-form of kiinn- 'feel'). The orthography of the Swedish Academy was used in the schools, e. g. in Almquist's popular textbook (1829 and later). It was also used in the excellent and influential definition dictionary by Dalin (1850-53). In the 1860s the orthographic debate was reopened. This occurred in a Scandinavian context. In Denmark, Rasmus Rask had rec­ ommended phonetic spelling, and in Norway the struggle for a non-Danish national ortho­ graphy had begun. A meeting between a hand­ ful of representatives from the three countries was held in Stockholm in 1869 with the am­ bition of coordinating the orthographies and making them more phonetic. The two objec­ tives were not always easy to reconcile, but for Swedish the delegates agreed to recom­ mend a few changes to make spelling more phonetic and a few to make it agree with Dan­ ish orthography. The proposals were emphati­ cally rejected by the Swedish Academy. The Scandinavistic movement ebbed away, but the campaign for phonetic spelling had only just started. Its leaders were the young Uppsala linguists Adolf Noreen and Johan August Lundell, with the periodical Ny­ stavaren [The New Speller1 (1 886-) at their dis­ posal. The spelling reform movement recruit­ ed many enthusiastic followers, some more revolutionary than others. Their programme was not altogether fixed in detail, but on the whole spelling reformers subscribed to the or­ thography proposed by Noreen in 1 886. Ac­ cording to Noreen there should be one-to-one correspondence between letter and sound (i. e. phoneme). E. g. ItI should be spelled < t > not < dt > , Ijl should be spelled not < g > , < gj > , < lj > , < dj > or < hj > and similarly

1974

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

for lsi (spelled < s » , / ), 101 (spelled < a » , lEI (spelled < a » . Exceptions were few. Consonants should be geminated after a stressed short vowel in front of another vowel or in final po­ sition, otherwise not. The spelling reform movement motivated its programme through practical and ideologi­ cal considerations. First of all, they main­ tained that teachers and students should not spend their valuable time on unnecessary or­ thographic difficulties. Spelling reform should make it easier for all people to acquire the edu­ cation that was necessary for the citizens of a modern society. Right from the start teachers and their organizations supported the spelling reform programme. The most radical feature of the spelling re­ form project was to rank the phonetic (alpha­ betic) principle (letter = phoneme) higher than the morphological spelling principle (called the "principle of kinship" samhorighets­ princ pen; i cf. the earlier principles of etymol­ ogy and genius linguae, art. 155). Esaias Teg­ ner the younger wrote a brilliant defence of the kinship principle (1886). He shifted the fo­ cus from the writer to the reader and main­ tained that rapid understanding was facili­ tated if the stern was spelled uniformly in various inflected forms. The stern < god> 'good' ought to be left intact in the neuter < godt> (according to the spelling reform­ ers' rules: < gatt» . Likewise gemination, where it was necessary in the infinitive or the present, should be kept in the whole paradigm, e.g. of stiilia 'put': < stallde > [past], < stalld > [past participle non-neuter], < stallt> [supine] as in < stalla > [infinitive] and < staller> [present]. The Academy gave way to the spelling re­ formers only on minor points during the last decades of the 1 9th c. It did not accept the phonetic spelling of Ivl and kept the spelling with < dt> where < d > belonged to the stern. When the schoolteacher Fridtjuv Berg, a spell­ ing reformer, became minister of education, however, he ignored the recommendations of the Academy and issued a circular to all schools in 1906 that the Ivl sound should be spelled < v > and the ItI sound < t > . The re­ form immediately carne into force and the new spelling was accepted by the writing commu­ nity after some years, although the Swedish Academy did not yield officially until 1950. After 1906 the spelling reformers were not suc­ cessful. They could not rely anymore on sup-

port from linguists (cf. sect. 2.), and their latest move was turned down emphatically by the Swedish Language Council (Stahle 1969, 11 f.). The stability and change in Swedish ortho­ graphy under pressure from the spelling re­ formers was only one side of the coin. The idea of speech and writing as perfect reflec­ tions of each other was crucial for teachers. New methods of reading instruction were im­ ported from Germany. They were called "Lautierung" [Sw. ljudning 'sounding'] and proposed learning to read by memorizing the sound values of the letters. This pedagogy pre­ supposed a high degree ofparallelism between prounciation and speech. Not only should the orthography be phonetic but also the pronun­ ciation should correspond directly to spelling, i. e. a spoken standard language was required that was the mirror of the written standard language (cf. Hazelius 1 870). The academic spelling reformers had imag­ ined the "careful" spoken language of educated people to be the ideal model of writ­ ing. But such language was not mastered by the primary school teachers, nor was it avail­ able to their pupils. What the teachers knew was the written standard language, and this language was adopted as the model of their own careful speech, a new standard spoken Swedish which was propagated in the schools and was effective as a basis of reading acqui­ sition according to the sounding method. This form of standard spoken language was des­ pised by the former elite and by the academic spelling reformers, too. (On reading pronun­ ciation in schools in the 1 9th c., see Tarschys 1955). The new spoken standard language was not altogether new: for two hundred years it had been heard from pulpits and in other public places where written texts were read aloud. This language was also recommended in text­ books on orthography and orthoepy (!) where it was stressed that every single letter should be heard in careful speech. The reading pro­ nunciation was also regarded as the standard pronunciation by the authors of dictionaries at the time, e. g. by those who entered the pro­ nunciation of words in the scholarly diction­ ary edited by the Swedish Academy from 1898. Reading pronunciation had already won the battle when mother-tongue teaching was gradually being guided by other ideals in the first decades of the 20th c. A close connection between standard spoken and written lan-

212. Language cultivation and language planning II: Swedish

guage was by then an established fact and the clock could not be set back. During the decades after the Second World War, the position of the standardized spoken national language was often taken for granted, and leading language cultivators regarded this language, free from geographic and social fla­ vour, as an indispensable democratic resource available to all citizens. The dialects were no longer a threat to national integration and modernization, and people began nostalgi­ cally to long for elements of dialect in the lan­ guage of the public arena. To some extent there was a tendency for speech and writing to diverge at the end of the 20th c. In radio and television professional journalists more often made room for ordinary people who used their colloquial language on the scenes of the media (cf. art. 195 and 201).

4.

Standard morphology in speech and writing

During the Late Modern period, speech and writing exerted pressure on each other not only in spelling and pronunciation but also in morphology. This is a natural process in lan­ guages with alphabetic writing: it is not un­ reasonable for people to regard speech and writing as two manifestations of the same lan­ guage. Most language cultivators consider it advantageous if the spoken and written lan­ guage mirror each other to a reasonable de­ gree. They do not necessarily agree, though, which manifestation - speech or writing should be adjusted to the other. Another pro b­ lem for the language cultivators was when an oral expression should be considered accept­ able as an element of the written language and vice versa. The easiest way was to regard the expression as a quotation when it was taken over by the other modality: it could be used to signal speech in writing or writing in speech. But it could also be accepted as a slightly marked stylistic variant, while its counterpart remained stylistically neutral. Another possibility would be if the newly acquired element carne to be regarded as sty­ listically neutral while the original expression was used only with a marked stylistic value (e.g. formal style in written language and vul­ gar style in spoken language). Through reading pronunciation of conser­ vative spellings, the spoken language recap­ tured forms which had long been abandoned in everyday speech. In the 20th c. it became

1975

natural to pronounce ItI in suffixes like -et, -it in regions where it had disappeared, -or was pronounced [ur] instead of [or], -de was heard again in verb forms like kastade 'threw' as was -d in words like vid 'at', glad 'happy'. The con­ junction och was often pronounced loki in­ stead of 101, and the infinitive marker att again sounded like /at/ instead of /0/. The new pro­ nunciations were largely regarded as normal during the 20th c. Language cultivators paid more attention to developments in the other direction, i. e. where written language morphology was in­ fluenced by the spoken language. One kind of expression taken over from speech was shortened word forms where one syllable had been dropped: ha, har (instead of hava, haver), nan (instead of nagon) , stan (instead of staden) etc. The phenomenon is well documented al­ ready in the Early Modern period (O stman 1992; cf. also Wessen 1960). The variants -es and -s in the present (e.g. skrives vs. skrivs 'is written') were understood by language users as full vs. shortened forms, although their his­ torical origin was different. Other spoken variants of functional words which have corne to be used in writing are e. g. ska (for skall 'shall'), saja (for saga 'say'), mej, dej, sej (for mig 'me', dig 'you [acc.]', sig 'him­ self. herself. itself. themselves'). The influence of speech on written language can also be 0 b­ served on the lexical and syntactic levels (cf. Engdahl 1962 and sect. 5.). It is easy to find similar variants that were not adopted in writing, though. Among verbal shortened forms, normally only infinitives and presents (like bU 'become', bUr 'becomes') were taken over but not supines (like bUtt, except gett 'given'). The frequent infinitive form va for vara 'be' was not accepted, though. Nor were verb forms with deleted -de in words like kasta (from kastade 'threw') nor nominal forms with deleted -e in words like rna/am (from malaren 'the painter') adopted as stan­ dard. In spite of its very weak support in spoken language, the distinction between the supine and the past participle neuter of strong verbs was not threatened in writing: har skrivit 'has written' vs. ar skrivet 'is written'. Nor was the plural definite suffix -ena accepted for neuter sterns ending in a consonant: only husen 'the houses', not husena is correct. Etc. The reaction of the language cultivators to the intrusion of spoken language forms in the traditional written language was generally negative in the 1950s and 1960s (with the ex­ ception of singular verb forms, cf. below).

1976

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

They hoped that the spoken variants would not become so successful as to replace the ear­ lier neutral variants. The spoken alternatives were welcomed only as indicators of a relaxed style (e.g. Stahle 1 974). The possibility of sig­ nalling style with variants of functional words or word forms was highly valued. If low-style word forms were allowed in neutral non-fic­ tion prose, new low-style alternatives would develop and a galloping lexical development could be expected that would disturb the sta­ bility and continuity of the standard language, and the style of classical authors would risk being misunderstood by new generations. A constantly rushed modernization process was regarded as a serious threat to the language community. Various other arguments were put forward to exclude spoken language variants. In some cases they were judged as impractical because of homonymy: andra for andraga 'set forth' could be misread as andra 'others', handla for handlade 'handled' could be misread as handla 'act' etc. Others, like ulta 'select', malta 're­ ceive', inge 'infuse' were perceived as being funny or ridiculous. The form ska 'shall' was criticized for violating the kinship principle (since other forms of the verb contained /1/) and because it reduced the agreement between the Scandinavian languages (Dan., Norw. ska!). Those who opposed the spoken language forms pointed to the fact that many written language forms had returned to the spoken language, so according to them there was no reason why the traditional forms should be given up too quickly. After one generation or two, the careful pronunciations of the tradi­ tional written forms might corne back into spoken language. What these cultivators had forgotten or repressed was that the sociolin­ guistic climate was different at the end of the 20th c. compared to the situation one hundred years earlier. During the 1960s a new generation of cul­ tivators took a softer attitude towards the change from below in the standard written language morphology. Short forms like ha, har, bli, blir, drar, tar, ge, ger were accepted even in the language of law and jurisdiction (Ericsson/Molde 1 967). The Swedish Lan­ guage Council observed that ska was the nor­ mal form in the language of the press. It was now regarded as an advantage that its spelling agreed with its pronunciation and that it was short. The use of ska in writing was now so widespread that continued rejection would be

futile. The professional cultivators once again showed a greater consideration for written language usage (as during the 18th c.) and saw their mission primarily as describing the lan­ guage of professional writers and informing other people about it. This might explain why they continued to turn down spoken language variants such as mej, dej, sej, dam and also nan, san, which were only weakly represented in contemporary non-fiction prose. In the above-mentioned cases the influence between spoken and written language may have affected the spelling or pronunciation of particular word forms, but it had not disturb­ ed the morpho-syntactic system. The situation was different when the written language im­ ported speech phenomena which involved the loss of a grammatical and/or semantic distinc­ tion. This happened when the singular verb forms superseded the old plural forms or when dam was threatening to replace de 'they' or 'the' [def.art.plur.] and dem 'them'. If the plu­ ral verb forms were given up, a distinction in number would be sacrificed, and a victory for dam would imply a loss of case in the 3rd per­ son plural pronoun. Another important issue was the simplification of the grammatical gen­ der system, with Rydqvist and Tegner (cf. Teg­ ner 1 892) as the main combatants. The new system was accepted by the Swedish Academy in SAOL 1900. Some language cultivators, es­ pecially Wellander (1935), tried to reform the clumsy traditional address system, but the re­ sult around 1970 was not what they had hoped for. Let us have a closer look at the language cultivators' handling ofthe first two questions: the position of plural verb forms and of the case forms de:dem in the standard language. During the 19th c. the finite verb was inflect­ ed for number and had to agree with the sub­ ject of the sentence in written Swedish: han skriver 'he writes' vs. de skriva 'they write', han skrev 'he wrote' vs. de skreva 'they wrote'. However, in many dialects and in educated conversational language, the plural forms and number agreement between subject and finite verb had been abolished: han/de skriver, han/ de skrev. Noreen and some other linguists rec­ ommended that written language should be adapted to the norms of spoken language: the change did not entail any loss of meaning since number was already signalled by the subject; the plural verb forms made writing instruction unnecessarily difficult and forced the schools to teach grammar too early to the pupils. Many radical writers agreed with Noreen, and the teachers' organizations launched cam-

212. Language cultivation and language planning II: Swedish

paigns with the same goal. However, new gen­ erations of linguists like Wellander and others had another view. Wellander tried to demon­ strate that number agreement between verb and subject made sentences less ambiguous and used the same arguments as had been put forward against lexical or other elements which threatened to enter the written lan­ guage. Nevertheless many writers abandoned plural verb forms, and when the new Swedish Language Cultivation Council was asked about this issue by the Swedish Central News Agency (in 1945), the answer was interpreted as granting permission to follow spoken lan­ guage and the general trend in written lan­ guage. The Swedish Academy protested, but after ten years the verbal plural forms had dis­ appeared almost completely from contempor­ ary writing. The loss of case distinction between de 'they' vs. dem 'them' in written language in contrast to the uniform dam ofthe spoken lan­ guage was a similar type of issue as the loss of verbal agreement in number. However, the spread of dam to most ofthe country's dialects occurred later than the disappearance of the plural verb forms. Its victory in the general spoken language came too late to be included in Noreen's campaign around the turn of the century. When the phenomenon was noticed some decades later, the case distinction was still alive in some regions (e. g. in southern Sweden and in Finland), but the spread of the uniform dam continued, and in the 1970s and 1980s itwas used in nearly all regional variants of spoken Swedish. The arguments for dam were approximately the same as for singular verb forms a few decades earlier. A reasonable line of argument was to claim that the mor­ phological distinction was unnecessary since word order indicated the subject-object func­ tion, and the traditional norm made writing instruction unnecessarily complicated (Pers­ sonjPettersson 1984). The Swedish Language Council acted energetically against the sugges­ tion to accept uniform dam as the neutral standard form (WidmarkjGrunbaum 1985). The Council's most effective counter-argu­ mentwas that written language was stable: the position of dam in public writing was very weak. It was also maintained that the peda­ gogical gain would be quite small: the case forms were easy to learn since the case distinc­ tion was fully active in other frequent personal pronouns (jag-mig, du-dig, han-henne, vi-ass, ni-er). The official language cultivators did not see any reason to accelerate the change of the

1977

written language and to make earlier texts more difficult to read. The frequency of uni­ form dam was still very low in written lan­ guage at the turn of the century.

5.

Plain language: syntax and style

When grammarians and language cultivators began to understand the syntactic structures of Swedish over the course of the 19th c., they soon felt a desire to make syntax as neat and tidy as the rest of the language. Their basic attitude was to reduce free variation. One of two variants must be declared wrong, or the expressions had to be assigned different mean­ ing or stylistic value. A language correctness tradition developed comprising rules for grammatical phenomena such as the use of re­ flexive pronouns, symmetry rules for conjunc­ tion, word order patterns, "subjects" of non­ finite clauses etc., as manifested in e. g. Linder (1886), Wellander (1939) and Akermalm (1966). During the second half of the 20th c. lan­ guage cultivators were particularly interested in political and administrative texts. There were many reasons for this. The public admin­ istrative machinery was constantly growing concurrently with the development ofthe wel­ fare state. The number of officials increased rapidly and the old text traditions of the authorities were destabilized. In this modern society more people than before came into contact with the authorities and their texts. The ideals of democracy and equality meant that all citizens had the right to understand official texts that concerned them. Another reason for the cultivators' interest in political and administrative texts was that national and local authorities and schools were directly ac­ cessible to language planning - they could be enjoined to use a specific kind of language while the media, private trade and industry or the individual citizens could only be in­ fluenced indirectly through advice and infor­ mation. The central official text types affected by language planning were laws and official stat­ utes. Already in the 19th c., prominent repre­ sentatives of the legal profession had been en­ gaged in cultivating legal language, which had become more complex since the national law of 1734. This was partly due to new demands on the legal system. Modern laws had to be unambiguous across time and place, and they had to formulate generic or specific contents

1978

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

more explicitly than before. Complexity could to some extent be excused since legal texts were more often read silently, not aloud, i.e. the readers could take the time they needed to understand, and they could survey the para­ graph structure more easily (Pettersson 1 992). Law text production may also have been af­ fected by traditional chancery style, which was strongly dependent on Latin and German syn­ tax and text patterns. In the middle of the cen­ tury, de Geer (1853) wrote a booklet detailing how laws should be formulated in order to be "distinct, short, serious, pure, without adorn­ ments". More than half a century later an­ other book with similar contents was pub­ lished (Wedberg 1 928). The turn of the century meant a modern breakthrough in the style of non-fiction prose. According to Engdahl (1962), who found a sharp decline in sentence length in the popular science texts that he investigated, this was probably a consequence of the weakening of Latin in the school system during the last decades of the 1 9th c. Similar tendencies can be observed in newspaper texts (Grahn 1965) and in fiction, too, partly because direct speech now was allowed to constitute a larger portion ofthese texts than earlier (Thelander 1970; La­ gerhohn 1999). The pedagogically and demo­ cratically motivated interest in intelligibility resulted in Bjornsson's "readability index" ("lix", 1968). Bjornsson used two variables, word length and sentence length, to construct a practical measure to indicate the "readabil­ ity" of texts, i.e. the ease with which a reader could read and understand a given text during a given time span. Bjornsson's index was em­ ployed for a couple of years to grade the read­ ability of textbooks and fiction for children and young people. An investigation into people's understanding of700 words that were frequent in public discourse gave alarming re­ sults from an egalitarian point of view and stressed the need not to make public text ma­ terial more difficult than necessary (Frick/ Mahnstrom 1978). After the Second World War, work was started on how to make the language of the authorities easier to understand. A govern­ mental committee was appointed with the task of presenting directions for using effective lan­ guage in official reports and other similar texts, and Wellander wrote a fundamental treatise on the subject (1950). Ahnost two dec­ ades later a manual appeared (Ericsson/ Molde 1967) with linguistic norms for laws and statutes to be used by the ministries and

government services. After some years the Cabinet Office and the ministries employed their own language cultivators, who soon ad­ ded new directions to the earlier manuals (1979). An important part in this development was played by the Swedish Language Council and its director Bertil Molde. In the education­ al activities that were started in many organ­ izations and departments, Westman's manual on public writing (1977) was very effective. A novelty in her book was that the text was re­ garded as a whole; attention was focused not only on morphological, lexical and syntactic features but also on the disposition and ar­ rangement of the text, with the potential reader's ability and attitudes taken into ac­ count. The attempts at making legal language more intelligible, from de Geer to the language cultivators of the Cabinet Office (cf. Ehren­ berg-Sundin 1 996), belonged on the whole to the same tradition: legal and administrative texts would be easier to grasp if they contained only generally understandable words and if the syntax was well organized and not too complex. A more original program was put forward by Gunnarsson (1982). It was based on the idea that understanding should be de­ fined pragmatically: a citizen who could understand the law should be able to act in accordance with it. Gunnarsson developed a technique to formulate law paragraphs from the citizen's point of view, while most laws until then had been written primarily to serve the court professionals. She tested her bold ideas empirically and found them affirmed, but it is doubtful whether she has been able to influence contemporary law writing to any significant degree. It is a fact that language cultivation was suc­ cessful in its ambition to make official lan­ guage more intelligible. Ironically, this led to difficulties in contact with the prominent lan­ guages of the European Union (Sweden be­ carne a member in 1995). In French and Eng­ lish legal language the traditional Latin-in­ fluenced syntax had remained intact. Since the conventions of the Union required that the sentence boundaries of the original language should remain in the translations into all other languages, it often turned out to be very dif­ ficult to render French or English legal syntax in the kind of plain language with few finite or non-finite clauses per sentence that had be­ come typical of modern official Swedish prose (Ekerot 2000).

212. Language cultivation and language planning II: Swedish

6.

Swedish and foreign languages

Language planning has been concerned with the relationship between Swedish and other languages, especially when Swedish was put under pressure from a dominant foreign lan­ guage. The influence from outside during the Late Modern period was of two kinds: on the one hand, Swedish received lexical material (and syntactic patterns) from several foreign languages, and on the other hand prestigious functional domains of Swedish were taken over by English at the end of the 20th c. In both cases language cultivators considered it necessary to analyse the situation and recom­ mend a policy for dealing with it. 6.1.

Word loans

It has always been a problem for language cul­ tivation that there existed no coherent and specific theory of what an ideal vocabulary of a language should be like. The cultivators of the Late Modern period were not better equip­ ped theoretically in this respect than their pre­ decessors. Their platform was simply that a lexicon should be rich in order to allow lan­ guage use to be maximally specific and varied. The attitude towards synonyms was split, though. For technical language, synonyms were firmly rejected. In the language of fiction and in every-day language they were good in principle but foreign words were nevertheless often dismissed as unnecessary when domestic synonyms were already available. The unmar­ ked attitude was to prefer domestic to foreign words. Borrowing words from abroad was considered a lazy alternative. Many cultiva­ tors feared that the domestic word formation machinery might become rusty if it was not constantly and creatively used. The language cultivators seldom borrowed or created words themselves. Both borrowing and word formation were accomplished by or­ dinary language users. What was left to lan­ guage cultivators was to approve or reject these innovations. In this activity they were guided by a mixture of attitudes and ideol­ ogies. Although the basic attitude was ideal­ istic/puristic, functional arguments, too, were adduced from the start. If a word was to be borrowed permanently it should be possible to spell, pronounce and inflect it according to domestic patterns. Homonymy should be avoided, and therefore borrowing of meaning was often criticized for giving rise to unprac­ tical homonyms (e. g. when kontrollera 'check'

1979

acquired the new meaning 'have power over' from English). Since loanwords were usually semantically opaque, they were considered more difficult to understand than domestic word compounds or derivations with familiar morphemes as components. Many cultivators who were less puristically inclined could easily find positive qualities in many foreign words. The borrowed expres­ sions were e. g. sometimes shorter than their domestic equivalents, and, at least to people who were familiar with the language the words came from, they were sometimes easier to understand than completely new domestic word formations. The loanwords sometimes had a more precise meaning than the corre­ sponding domestic words (and their meaning was also usually more precise than it was in their original language). This was practical es­ pecially in technical language, where interna­ tional vocabulary was preferred in any case. Most language cultivators were realistic inso­ far as they accepted loanwords that were al­ ready integrated into the Swedish vocabulary. Lexical borrowing during the Late Modern period occurred primarily from French, Ger­ man, Danish, Dano-Norwegian and English. During the 1 9th c. the borrowing from French was still considerable but lower compared to the previous century, and although many French loanwords were still used, they were becoming less fashionable (cf. Hellquist 1911). Leopold's swedification principles (1801) worked very well, for the new French loan­ words, too. The spelling reformers' orthogra­ phy (Noreen 1886) was meant to apply also to French loanwords (e. g. koiosai, paraslill, natsjon, sigarett instead of kolossal, parasol!, nation, cigarrett) but this did not gain a foot­ hold. German cultural influence was strong dur­ ing the 19th c. and many German loanwords were imported into Swedish. This borrowing often occurred without anybody noticing it: the two languages were structurally very much alike, and strong morphological patterns had been established in Swedish through extensive borrowing from Low German in the Middle Ages. German derivational prefixes and suf­ fixes had been firmly integrated into the do­ mestic Swedish system since then. Neverthe­ less, the well-known author and journalist Viktor Rydberg and some of his sympathizers started a campaign against German loan­ words (e.g. Rydberg 1 873; see also Holm 1918). The action was above all directed against German prefixes like an-, bi-, be-, er-,

1980

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

Jor- and suffixes like -ande, -het. It left a gen­ eral feeling among many educated language users that words with German prefixes should be avoided, if there were synonyms without them: words such as hyra, ledsaga were con­ sidered stylistically better than Jorhyra 'rent', beledsaga 'accompany'. Tegner (1 874) dis­ cussed the demands of the purists and argued effectively for a more balanced attitude to­ wards borrowing. Danish and Dano-Norwegian loanwords did not accompany the wave of Scandinavian­ ism around the middle of the 19th c., although some enthusiastic linguists wanted to make Scandinavian languages more like each other. Danish and Norwegian loans became popular a few decades later, however, at the time of the " modern breakthrough" , when Danish writers like Georg Brandes and other promi­ nent Danish and Norwegian authors were widely read by the cultural elite in Sweden. Noreen (1903) asserted that "no language exerts such an influence on Swedish as Danish and its daughter language, Dano-Norwe­ gian". Especially after the dissolution of Sweden's union with Norway in 1905, the at­ titude of Swedish linguists towards Scandina­ vian loanwords sharpened, and many con­ tributors to the periodical Sprlik och stil eager­ ly hunted Danish loanwords in the texts of Swedish writers (e. g. Celander 1908). Seman­ tic borrowings were often criticized, such as utslag with the Danish meaning 'manifesta­ tion of something', which originally only meant 'rash' in Swedish. During and after the Second World War, a feeling of Nordic solidarity and kinship was widespread in the Nordic countries, and when the Swedish Language Cultivation Council was founded in 1944, it was enjoined by its statutes to cultivate and develop Nordic lin­ guistic fellowship. The sister organizations in Denmark and Norway had similar ambitions, and common efforts were soon made to har­ monize terminology in certain fields such as communication and meteorology. In Swedish, e.g., brevkort 'postal card' was replaced by postkort, which was the corresponding Danish and Norwegian word. Especially during the second half of the 20th c., borrowings from English became muner­ ous in Swedish, as in the other Scandinavian languages. In the lists of new words compiled by the Swedish Language Council (Nyord i svenskan 1986, Nyordsboken 2000) this influ­ ence showed clearly: a great many new English expressions and meanings had been borrowed

and new Swedish compounds and derivations were modelled on English polymorphemic words (loan translations). Anglo-American influence on the Swedish vocabulary equalled that of French in the Early Modern period. The situation was not the same, though, since now not only the elite but more or less the whole population was familiar with the domi­ nant foreign language: they had studied it at school and they carne across it regularly at work or in their leisure time. Some English loanwords could be taken over directly, such as film, sex. Others could be swedicized according to the existing pat­ terns of Romance loanwords, e.g. ultimat, modul, modem [with the stress on the final syl­ lable and regular Swedish inflection1 and spon­ sor [stressed and inflected as doktor]. In many cases, however, the loans could not be adapted so easily. The inflection of nouns was often problem­ atic. The ambition oflanguage cultivators was that all foreign nouns which were accepted as permanent items of the Swedish vocabulary (i. e. registered in SAOL) ought to be inflected for number and definiteness in the Swedish way. It was often difficult, though, to find a good plural form for borrowed nouns. Non­ neuter words in -y or -i (like dummy or safari) did not fit very well with any domestic plural in -r: ?dummyar, ?dummyer, ?dummyr. Non­ neuter nouns in -0 could take -r, but most lan­ guage users were not enthusiastic about forms like radior, gigolor, logor, bimbor. Non-neuter words in -er could sometimes accept plurals in -ar (in accordance with the domestic pattern liker 'field' likrar 'fields'): vajrar 'wires', slip­ ovrar, skotrar, helikoptrar, but if clusters like /sr/, /lr/, /nr/ arose after consonants or long vowels, many language users protested: broil­ rar, containrar, lasrar,pursrar. Animate nouns in -er could be inflected with a zero plural, like order, fysiker, iranier: purser (na), hacker (na). The suffix -s was accepted by many as a special loanword plural: hackers, tanks, safaris, schlagers ('hit', borrowed from German). This was a reasonable solution for neuters (pumps (en), shorts(en) , but with non-neuters it was for some reason struc­ turally impossible to add a definite suffix: ?hackersna, ?hackersen; ?safarisna, ?safarisen. The 12th edition of SAOL (1998) allowed English inflection for some foreign words like hacker in addition to the zero plural, which was suggested as the first alternative. Spelling and pronunciation of English loan­ words caused other problems. For Swedes -

212. Language cultivation and language planning II: Swedish

who were familiar with English, the spelling gate and the pronunciation [gejt] presented no difficulty, but to those who mastered only the Swedish grapho-phonemic rules such words were cumbersome exceptions. Language culti­ vators tried to minimize the number of such cases. For some loanwords the pronunciation was based on the English spelling using Swedish rules. This was usual particularly at the beginning of the 20th c., since most people then encountered the new loanwords in writ­ ing, but the same adaptation also occurred in later borrowings. Some examples: match [matn, trust [tmst], laser [la:sor], punk [peDk]. Other loanwords kept their pronunciation (approximately) but were spelled according to Swedish grapho-phonemic rules: tejp (E tape). A non-geminated final consonant after a short stressed vowel in English was often kept, violating Swedish spelling rules: pop, cup, jet, hit. In some cases gemination according to Swedish rules became established neverthe­ less:jobb, klubb, bulldogg. If the final conson­ ant in inflected or derived forms ended up in front of a vowel suffix, it was often geminated according to Swedish rules: shoppa (but shop), hotta (but hot), but the consonant was usually not geminated in front of the definite article: shopen, hiten, setet. (On other orthographical problems in inflected forms of loanwords, see Garlen 1996). The dilemma of the language cultivators was often a question of timing. When a loan­ word is introduced, it is not used very fre­ quently and may occur only in a particular jargon where it is perceived as a quotation, so the language cultivator does not think it is necessary to act: most such words disappear by themselves in any case. However, by the time when a borrowed word has become fre­ quent, is used by many writers or speakers and causes difficulties for the ordinary language user, it is normally too late to block its use or to adapt its spelling and pronunciation. In order to overcome these difficulties, special groups were formed where branch specialists (in fields like information technology and bio­ technology) cooperated with linguists from the Swedish Language Council to give im­ mediate advice concerning suitable expres­ sions for new concepts and phenomena. 6.2.

Loss of functional domains

In the 17th and also in the 1 8th c., Sweden was characterized by diglossia insofar as Latin had a very strong position as the exclusive pro-

1981

fessional language of the learned community. I t was the language of the universities and the grammar schools. During the 1 8th c., Latin declined in use and in the 19th c. it was no longer the language of instruction at any level. In some disciplines it was still the language of dissertations till the middle of the century. Theologywas a tenacious stronghold of Latin, and Latin could be heard now and then in aca­ demic speeches on solemn occasions, but at the end of the 19th c. Latin was no longer a living language in Sweden. This implied that Swedish ultimately had taken over the do­ mains of learned communication where Latin had been dominant since the Middle Ages. Latin, and the number of hours reserved for Latin instruction was amazingly high during the whole 19th c., although it was obvious that very few pupils would use Latin in speech or writing after leaving school. It was defended on "new humanistic" grounds as the "gym­ nastics of the soul". Opponents brought up utilitarian arguments: society had changed, and not only the clergy, civil servants or schol­ ars were educated at universities: trade and industry required students with other qualifi­ cations. In 1 878 a new secondary school pro­ gramme without Latin was established, and from 1905 Latin was taught only in the senior high school. From the middle of the 19th c., Swedish dominated at the universities, although Ger­ man, English and French were sometimes also used in dissertations, scientific articles and academic textbooks. After the war the scene gradually changed and the domain of Swedish was reduced. English had become dominant on the research level in science, technology and medicine and to some extent also in the social sciences and the humanities. In many subjects all academic textbooks were in Eng­ lish (GunnarssonjOhman 1 997). At the end of the century many secondary schools, too, offered science programmes in English. English took over other domains as well. One was the field of trade and industry, es­ pecially in the numerous multinational com­ panies. As a political language, too, Swedish lost ground after the country's entry into the European Union. Swedish political discourse was reduced when part of the national legis­ lation was handed over to the Union. Also the distribution of popular culture was rapidly internationalized, and the result was an in­ creased consumption of films, television pro­ grammes and song texts in English. Informa­ tion technology depended on a global market,

1982

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

and the language of software was generally English. (On the status of Swedish and English in Sweden during the last decades of the 20th c., see Teleman 1989; 1993; Gunnarsson/O h­ man 1997; Melander (ed.) 2000). Some language cultivators 0 bserved the loss of domains to English around 1990 and saw the danger of a future diglossic system where English was the prestigious public language while Swedish was reduced to a means of com­ munication in the private sphere, a language that was spoken but no longer used as the pri­ mary written language of the society. The Swedish Language Council sent out a warning that scientists might lose their ability to infonn the public of their specialities in Swedish and that they would not be able to take part in public discourse on important political issues such as the national health service and envi­ ronmental policy (Teleman/Westman 1 997). There was no law to guarantee the status of the Swedish language, and the Swedish Lan­ guage Council suggested that legislative measures should be considered. At the request of the Government the Council drew up a re­ port where various possible aspects of a lan­ guage policy programme were demonstrated. The main goal was to secure the Swedish lan­ guage as the primary national language of politics and administration in Sweden and as a "complete" language for public use, i.e. a language capable of being used in all public contexts on all subjects without trivializingthe content (Svenska sprakniirnnden 1998). As a consequence of the report, a governmental committee was nominated to present propo­ sals on how to reinforce the position of Swedish as a national language.

7.

Literature (a selection)

Akermahn, Ake (1966), Modern svenska. Lund. Allen, Sture etal. (1967), Sprbk, sprbkvard och kom­ munikation. Stockhohn. Almquist, Carl Jonas Love (1829), Rattstafnings­ lara. Stockhohn. Bjornsson, C.H. (1968), Liisbarhet. Stockholm. Cederschiold, Gustav (1897), Om svenskan som skriftsprak. Goteborg. Celander, Hilding (1908), Danismer i nusvenskt ordforrad. In: SS 8, 201 250. Dalin, A.F. (1850 53), Ordbok ofver svenska spraket. Stockhohn. de Geer, Louis G. (1853), Om den juridiska stilen. Kristianstad.

Ehrenberg-Sundin, Barbro (1996), Att bryta tradi­ tionella textmonster en viktig del av sprakv3xden i regeringskansliet. In: Spraket lever. Festskrift till Margareta Westman. Stockhohn, 43 48. Ekerot, Lars Johan (2000), Klar komplexitet. Om sprakfonn och begriplighet vid oversattning av for­ fattningstexter. In: Melander ed. (2000), 46 76. Engdahl, Sven (1962), Studier i nusvensk sakprosa: Nagra utvecklingslinjer. Uppsala. Ericsson, Gunnar/Molde, Bertil (1967), Sprbket i lagar och andra flrfattningar (ed. Statsradsbered­ ningen). Stockhohn. Frick, Nils/Malmstrom, Sten (1978), SpriIkklyJtan: hur 700 ordforstas och missforstas. 3rd ed. Stock­ holm. Garlen, Claes (1996), Om ord som man inte kan stava till. In: Spraket lever. Festskrift till Margareta Westman. Stockhohn, 59 69. Grahn, Lars (1965), Det moderna tidningsspraket. In: Sprakvard 4, 3 10. Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise (1982), Lagtexters be­ griplighet. Lund. Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise/Ohman, Katarina (1997), Det internationaliserade universitetet: En studie av bruket av engelska och andra frammande sprak vid Uppsala universitet. Uppsala. Hazelius, Artur (1870), Om rattstafningens grunder siirskildt med afseendepa svenska spraket. Stockhohn. Hazelius, Artur (1871), Redogorelsefor det nordiska rattstafningsmotets flrslag till andringar i det svenska stafningssattet jamte berattelse om motet. Stockhohn. Hellquist, Elof (1911), Bidrag till v3xa Llnords historia. In: Festskrift till K. F Soderwall. Lund, 219 260. Hohn, Pelle (1918), Viktor Rydberg som sprdkren­ sare. Lund. Johansson, Egil (1969), Kvantitativa studier av al­ fabetiseringen i Sverige (Pedagogiska rapporter 7). Umea. Lagerholm, Per (1999), Talsprbk i skrift: Om munt­ lighetens utveckling i svensk sakprosa 1800 1997. Lund. Leopold, Carl Gustaf af (1801), Ajhandling om Svenska Stafsattet (Svenska Akademiens handlin­ gar ifran ar 1796. Forsta delen). Stockholm. Linder, Nils (1886), RegIer och rad angaende svenska sprakets behandling i tal och skrift. Rev. ed. Stock­ holm. Melander, Bjorn (ed.) (2000), Svenskan som EU­ sprak. Uppsala. Molde, Bertil (1971), Dom och andra talspraks­ fonner. In: Sprakvard 2, 14 16. Noreen, Adolf (1885), Om sprakriktighet. Re­ printed in: Adolf Noreen, Spridda studier 1, 2nd ed. 1912. Stockholm, 128 199.

212. Language cultivation and language planning II: Swedish Noreen, Adolf (1886), RattstavningsLira. In: Ny­ stavaren 1 10. Noreen, Adolf (1903), Tala svenska med svens­ kama. In: Adolf Noreen, Spridda studier 2. Stock­ holm, 68 74.

1983

Tegner, Esaias, d.y. (1874), Om sprak och nationa­ litet. In: Svensk tidskrift. Reprinted in: Es. Tegner d.y., Ur sprdkens viirld 1922. Tegner, Esaias, d.y. (1886), Natur och onatur ifraga om svensk riittstavning. Uppsala.

Nyord i svenskan frm l 40-tal till 30-tal (1986) (ed. Svenska spraknamnden). StockhoM.

Tegner, Esaias, d.y. (1892), Om genus i svenskan. Reprinted 1962. Stockholm.

Nyordsboken (2000). Med 2000 nya ord in i 2000talet (ed. Svenska spraknamnden). StockhoM.

Teleman, Ulf(1989), Det nordiska spraksamarbetet. Ideer och framtidsuppgifter. In: SIN, 14 32.

Ordbok over svenska spraket. Ed. Svenska Aka­ demien (1893 ). Lund.

Teleman, Ulf (1991), Om nonnforestallningars fodelse. In: Studier i svensk sprbkhistoria 2 (eds. Sven-Goran Malmgren/Bo Ralph). Goteborg, 214 229.

Ordlista ofver svenska spraket (1874 1900). Ed. Svenska Akademien. 1 7 eds. (SAOL). Ordlista over svenska spraket. (1923 1998). Ed. Svenska Akademien. 8 12 eds. (SAOL). Ostman, Carin (1992), Den korta svenskan: Om re­ ducerade ordformers inbrytning i skriftspraket under nysvensk tid. Uppsala. Pettersson, Gertrud (1992), Lagsprak och samhiills­ utveckling: Studier over svenskt lagsprbk efter 1734. Lund. Persson, Gunnel/Pettersson, Thore (1984), Mig eller mej, de eller dom. Ett inlagg om talspraksfonner i skrift. In: Svenskliiraren 5, 20 25.

Teleman, Ulf (1992), Det svenska rikssprakets ut­ sikter i ett integrerat Europa. In: Sprakvard 4, 7 16. Teleman, Ulf (2002), )fra, rikedom och reda. Stock­ holm. Teleman, Ulf/Westman, Margareta (1997), Behover vi en nationell sprakpolitik? In: Sprakvard 2, 5 16. Thelander, Mats (1970), Fiktionsprosa och sakprosa (Ord och stil 3). Lund 1970. Wedberg, Birger (1928), Lagsti!: Nagra dtat och re­ ftexioner. Stockholm. Wellander, Erik (1935), Tilltalsordet Ni. Stockholm.

Rydberg, Viktor (1873), Tysk eller nordisk svenska? In: Svensk tidskrift (ed. Hans Forssell). 489 530.

Wellander, Erik (1939). Riktig svenska. Stockholm.

Rydqvist, Johan Erik (1850 1883), Sprbkets Lagar 1 6. StockhoM.

Svenska

Wellander, Erik (1947), Vi gil eller Vi gar (SNSS 3). Stockholm.

Rydqvist, Johan Erik (1851), Den historiska sprak­ forskningen. Intradestal i Vitterhetsakademien 1849.

Wellander, Erik (1950), Kommittesvenska: En under­ sokning och ettforsok till riktlinjer (SOU 1950: 26). Stockholm

Sacy, Sylvestre de (1806), Grundreglorna af den all­ manna sprakliiran. Transl. by Jacob Borelius. Upp­ sala. Stahle, Carl Ivar (1969), Det nordiska rattstavnings­ motet 1869 och hundra ars svensk rattstavning. In: Sprbkvard 4, 2 12. Stahle, Carl Ivar (1974), Sprakvard och sprakvards­ nonner. In: Sprakvlud 2, 3 9. Svenska spraknamnden (1998), Forslag till hand­ lingsprogram for att framja svenska spraket. In: Sprbkvard 2, 7 23. Tarschys, Karin (1955), "Svenska spraket och lit­ teraturen». Studier over modersmaIsundervisningen i hogre skolor. Stockholm.

Wessen, Elias (1960), Sprakriktighet och sti! (Skrif­ ter utg. av Namnden for svensk sprakvard 18). Stockholm. Westman, Margareta (1977), Att skriva biittre of­ fentlig svenska. StockhoM. Widmark, Gun (1992), Boksvenska och talsvenska. Om sprakarter i nysvenskt talsprak. In: SS NF 1, 157 198. Widmark, Gun/Griinbaum, Catharina (1984), Svar pa tal om talspraksrefonner. In: Svenskliiraren 6, 6 8.

UlJ Teleman. Lund (Sweden)

1984

213. I. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

Language cultivation and language planning III: Norway own, composed of Norwegian and Danish constituents. (2) One could disregard the imported Dan. al­ together, and construct a new Norw. writ­ ten norm based exclusively on the dialects of the countryside (the speech in the towns being influenced too much by Dan.). In this way the goal could be achieved much sooner than by the first alternative.

13. 14.

Historical background Two written languages emerge Scandinavianism A century of spelling refonns 'Who made the decisions? Language planning and cultivation institutions The reception of the refonns Alternative fonns The spoken language Language cultivation Style Principles of Norwegian language cultivation Conclusions Literature (a selection)

1.

Historical background

2. 1 . 1 .

7. 8. 9. 10. II. 12.

The language history of Norway differs from that of most other countries in one respect: The development of the written language has not been continuous. The medieval writ­ ten tradition was broken in the 1 5th century by the introduction of another official lan­ guage, Danish, which completely dominated writing up to the 1 9th century. When Norway regained her independence in 1 814, the Nor­ wegian language existed only in spoken form, as various dialects and a rather diffuse spoken standard that was used by the upper classes throughout the country. This situation was looked upon with great disapproval by the in­ tellectuals because the general view at that time was that a people could not be regarded as an independent nation unless it had a writ­ ten language of its own (an element from the prevailing Romantic ideology).

2.

Two written languages emerge

2.1 .

How to create a language?

The more prominent men of letters in the country soon became engaged in the language question, and their goal was to create a written version of the people's speech so that Norwe­ gians could be on a par with other independent nations. But how could this be done? In the 1830s and '40s two different means of achiev­ ing this goal were proposed: (1) One could start with the speech of the up­ per classes as a basis for Norwegianiza­ tion. Gradually elements from this variety could be substituted for Danish ones until Norway had a written language of her

Both these avenues were followed, and the re­ sult is that Norway has two official languages. They are so different in origin and develop­ ment that it is necessary to deal with them sep­ arately. Dano-NorwegianjRiksmiiljBokmill

The Dano-Norwegian approach was intro­ duced by the poet Henrik Wergeland (180845) when in 1 832 he published the essay Om norsk SprogreJormation (Wergeland 1924). He maintained that reform was needed because Norwegian writers had no adequate means of expression, the current official language being Dan., not their mother tongue. He proposed the idea of gradual "Norwegianization" in or­ der to create a specific Norw. written lan­ guage. He predicted that this goal would be reached "before the evening sun ofthe century reddens the sky". He thought this was highly desirable for nationalistic reasons. Wergeland was no linguist and did not oc­ cupy himself with the details of either his grand idea or its realization. The man who took on the task of actually planning a pro­ gressive transition from Danish to Norwegian was a secondary school teacher, Knud Knud­ sen (1812-95). Obviously the idea of combin­ ing the two languages could only arise and be regarded as practicable because they were so closely related. Knudsen also wished to devel­ op a written language that corresponded bet­ ter to Norw. speech than the official (Dan.) norm did. Like Wergeland he had a national­ istic motive, but as a pedagogue he was above all interested in reducing the difficulties that schoolchildren had in learning to write cor­ rectly. If the new standard he wished to establish was to have the spoken language as its basis, it would first of all be necessary to decide which variety of spoken Norwegian should be chosen as a model. The upper classes (civil ser­ vants, intellectuals and well-to-do merchants)

1985

213. Language cultivation and language planning III: Norway

had during the long union with Denmark de­ veloped a variety of spoken Norw. which was in many ways influenced by written Dan. and which was almost the same all over the coun­ try ("den dannede dagligtale" 'the educated everyday speech'). Knudsen found that the most practical solution would be to use this variety as a source to draw upon for elements to replace Dan. words and inflectional units. In addition to Knudsen's nationalistic and pedagogical motivation, a new and powerful orthographic ideology arose in the 1 840s and '50s which came to have a great impact on Knudsen and on the linguistic discussion in Norway generally: orthophony, as it came to be called in Norway. It was started in Den­ mark by the great linguist Rasmus Rask (1787-1 832) with his 1826 book Fors@g til en videnskabelig dansk Retskrivningshere. In fact, Rask's chief doctrine was not new, but was built upon the older knowledge that the spoken language is the primary means of ex­ pression, and writing is only a reflection of that. The ideal system of orthography, then, must be one that reflects speech completely. According to this fundamental principle, each phoneme (spoken sound) should correspond to only one and always the same grapheme (letter). Such a principle would cause a revol­ ution in Danish ortography, which has, for instance, many mute letters. The book aroused lively discussion in Den­ mark, and the Norwegians, too, became in­ terested. In the 1 830s Rask's doctrine was transferred to Norway by the headmaster Mauritz Hansen and subsequently adopted whole-heartedly by Knudsen. His first publi­ cation on the subject was a long article in 1 845 about the relationship between spoken and written language, and for half a century on­ wards he struggled continuously and untiring­ ly to bring orthophonic principles into prac­ tice in Norway. As a matter of fact, ortho­ phony had greater success in Norway than in Denmark, probably because the written lan­ guage in Norway became unstable, due to the many reforms. Up to this day, orthophonic considerations have played an important part in the handling of loanwords (cf. 10.3.2.). In 1862 Knudsen won his first victory when the Ministry of Church and Education de­ creed that an orthographic reform was to be carried out in schools and public administra­ tion. The changes were restricted, in true or­ thophonic spirit, to the abolition of " unnec­ essary" letters like the "mute" < e > in e. g. Troe, staae, and one of the double letters in

Miil, Huus etc. The letter < q > and the two letters for the k-sound were to be elim­ inated. This reform denotes an important step in the language history of Norway: The state took on the responsibility for the rules of the written language, and this has been the case ever since. 2.1.2.

LandsmaljNynorsk

Now we turn to the other path mentioned in 2.1.: the construction of an autonomous writ­ ten language built exclusively on the Norwe­ gian dialects. This approach was devised and implemented in practice by one man alone: Ivar Aasen (1813 -96). There are not many in­ stances in Europe of "starting from scratch" to frame a new written idiom, and therefore it may be of interest to study Aasen's method. He started by laboriously collecting a huge amount of material from the dialects during lengthy travels through most of the country in the years 1 842-46. The diversity of the dia­ lects brought him face to face with a funda­ mental problem when he proceeded from col­ lecting data to devising a new norm: which dialect(s) was to be preferred as a model for the universal Norwegian norm that he in­ tended to create? He was, like Wergeland and Knudsen, a patriot and wished to give the new language a national identity. Like them hewas also aware of the difficulties that ordinary people had in mastering writing and felt a so­ cial obligation to make it easier for them. But for all his revolutionary and creative planning, he was also a traditionalist, with deep respect for the Old Norse language and literature, and therefore in many instances he turned to the old written standard, Old Norse, for a model. And as the contemporary language base he mainly chose the dialects that had preserved most of the older structures and vocabulary: the dialects in the western part of the country and in the mountain valleys. In 1 885 Aasen's Landsmal was recognized by the Storting as an official language on an equal footing with Dano-Norwegian, and its development became a state responsibility. During the 20th century it has been exposed to almost as many changes as Dano-Norwe­ gianjRiksmaljBokmal. As the number of Landsmal users increased towards the end of the 19th century, some writers began to stray from Aasen's pattern and the lack of an offi­ cial norm was felt more and more. In 1901 the Ministry authorized Matias Skard's Lands­ maalsordlista 'Landsmal Word List' as a

1986

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

norm, which involved some changes to Aasen's standard, like the abolition of capital letters for appellatives and of the plural forms in verb conjugation. The Landsm3l norm later underwent some small changes in 1910 and greater reforms together with RiksmaljBok­ mal in 1917, 1938 and 1959.

3.

Scandinavianisrn

Around the middle of the 1 9th century the Pan-Scandinavian movement was at its peak. Quite naturally the idea of unifying the three Scandinavian nations carne to embrace the languages as well. The most comprehensive ef­ fort in this connection was a conference in Stockhohn 1869 with the aim of removing un­ necessary orthographic disparities between Danish and Swedish. Norway still belonged linguistically to Denmark, but was represen­ ted at the conference by four delegates: Pro­ fessor Ludvig Kristensen Daa (an enthusiastic Scandinavianist), Henrik Ibsen, Knud Knud­ sen and Jakob L0kke (a teacher and author of a comprehensive Dano-Norw. grammar). The recommendations from the conference showed the influence ofthe orthophonic ideas, and at the same time tried to promote Scan­ dinavian unity. There were more recommen­ dations about Dano-Norwegian than Sw. be­ cause the latter already had a better corre­ spondence between sounds and letters. Im­ portant changes recommended by the confer­ ence for Dano-Norw. were: (1) The blackletters (Gothic script), most commonly used in Denmark and Norway, should be exchanged for Latin letters. (2) The letter < a > ought to replace < aa > (there were two graphemes for one pho­ neme!). (3) The letter between < g, k > and the vowel signs < e, re, 0 > was a problem: Sw. lacked it, and in Danish, where it was written, it was no longer pronounced. They decided to abandon it even ifin Nor­ wegian < kj > represented a different sound from < k > . (4) The diphthongs were to be written < ej , 0j > as in Swedish instead o f < ei, 0i > . (5) Capital letters should not be used for appellatives. Some proposals concerned both languages: The letter < q > should be dropped (as had already been done in Norway!), and the sarne treatment was decided for < x > ( > with < ks > in the 1870s. The capital letters for appellatives were made voluntary in 1877 and abolished offi­ cially in 1885. The letter < a > was not fully accepted until 1917 (and made obligatory in 1938) and the diphthongs kept their spelling < ei > and < 0i > till 1938 when < 0i > was changed into < 0y > . The resolution about after was never observed in Norway - the spelling is still kjenne. kjrer, kj@pe, skjenne, skjrer, skj@r, gjerne, gjrer, gj@re in both Norwegian standards. Norwegianized spelling offoreign words has been widely prac­ ticed and may be said to be a speciality of Nor­ wegian (cf. 10.3.). 4.

A century of spelling reforms

4. 1 .

The 1890s

Towards the end of the century the desire for pervasive reforms in Dano-Norwegian grew stronger. The gap between speech and writing was felt to be more and more embarrassing, especially in the schools, where children were ordered to read Danish texts aloud with Nor­ wegian pronunciation. The ground seemed prepared for reforms that would definitely de­ tach official (Dano-)Norwegian from Danish, and during the 1890s some smaller steps were taken in that direction: A reader published by Nordahl Rolfsen (1 892) was allowed to use some Norwegian wordforms instead of the Danish ones, e. g. blase 'blow', rope 'shout,' grate 'weep', ball 'ball', I@k 'onion' (Dan. blrese, rabe, grrede, bold, I@g), and the year after (1893) such forms were permitted in pu­ pils' writing as well. This marked the introduc­ tion of alternative spellings in Norwegian or­ thography. But the situation became unsatis­ factory, with haphazard rules and many in­ consistencies. The Ministry therefore ap­ pointed three competent men to work out a plan for thorough revision and regulation. They presented a report in 1 897 with far­ reaching proposals that were under intense discussion until 1907, when the greatest part of them were adopted.

213. Language cultivation and language planning III: Norway

4.2.

The 1907 reform

The year 1907 is the starting point of nearly a century of successive language reforms in Norway. The linguistic ties to Denmark were cut and Norway was free to move along a path that was supposed to lead to a language "well adapted to all Norwegians", as one of the re­ formers put it. The reforms at this time con­ cerned only Riksmal. The most significant el­ ement in the reforms was the spelling change from Danish voiced occlusives to Norwegian unvoiced ones: gabe > gape 'gape', hade > hate 'hate', syg > syk 'ill'. Another important innovation was the introduction of double consonants after a short vowel. This was necessary because the new spelling with un­ voiced consonants created many homographs. For example: tag 'roof, was changed to tak, and to avoid confusion with tak 'thanks', the latter would now be spelt takk. A third import­ ant new feature was the shortening of many words by dropping syllables that were no lon­ ger heard in standard speech, e. g. Jar 'father', mar 'mother', bl@ 'bleed', khe 'dress', by 'bid', stri 'fight' instead of Jader, moder, blade, klrede, byde, stride. In the morphology, too, important norwegianization was carried out. Nouns of common gender in Danish often form the plural with the ending -e, in Norwe­ gian as a rule with -er. Norw. -er was authorized as the plural ending in Riksmal (as Dano-Norw. was called from the 1 890s on­ ward). In the conjugation of verbs, too, im­ portant changes occurred, e. g. when the past tense ending -ede was changed to -et: fiskede > fisket 'fished'. 4.3.

The unification idea

After 1907, the main reform years were 1917, 1938 and 1959, when both languages were in­ volved, and 1981 (only for Bokmal). The lead­ ing idea behind the first three of these reforms was to bring Bokmal and Nynorsk (the names of the two varieties from 1 929) closer to each other. This idea emerged around the turn of the century and became a strong driving force in the reform work after 1910. The envisioned outcome of the process, was called Samnorsk 'Common Norwegian'. The culmination of the enthusiasm for Samnorsk was the reform of 1938, which had far-reaching implications for unification. 4.4.

The 1917 reform

It may seem surpnsmg that only 10 years elapsed before the next reform was carried

1987

out, but the general feeling was that the 1907 reform did not go far enough in taking up Norw. elements. This remark from Fridtjof Nansen in a speech 1913 seems typical: "We havejust taken a big step in 1907, but therefore we ought now to take a new one and make it as far-reaching as possible" (Nansen 1942, 438). And this time a really far-reaching step was taken. In 1907 the new forms that were introduced always had their basis in so-called educated speech. In 1917 the reform crossed the border to popular speech and authorized forms that had up to then been considered vul­ gar by the upper classes. Already in 1913 the Storting asked for a new language reform committee and the Ministry appointed 6 members to it, three from each camp. After a reorganization in 1916, the com­ mittee presented its report in 1917. It had been explicitly stated in the mandate ofthe commit­ tee that its work should be oriented towards a mutual coming together of the two written norms on the basis of "the people's actual speech" , and the changes proposed in both languages tried to comply with this instruc­ tion. The committee's proposal was accepted by the government without reservations 9 days after it had been submitted. The following changes were applied to Riks­ mal: The short e-sound was to be spelt < e > , there had been a desultory alternation be­ tween < e > and < re > corresponding to Dan­ ish rules which were very difficult for Norwe­ gians. The diphthongs au, ei, @i which were in use in most Norwegian dialects but not so much in educated speech, were introduced in words that pertained to Norwegian (natural) environ­ ment, e.g. hauk 'hawk', eik 'oak', bein 'bone', lauv 'leaf. This was an important concession to the unification idea, as was even more true for the introduction of the feminine gender as a category: A group of everyday nouns (about 1 60) would now take the definite article -a in­ stead of -en. For regular verbs the ending -a in the past tense instead of -et was allowed. For Landsmal, a long list of words were spelled with a different vowel so as to conform with Bokmal, e.g. liva > leva 'live', burt > bart 'away', flote > flate 'raft'. Much more important was the permission to use -a as defi­ nite feminine article instead of -i, e. g. sola vs. soli 'the sun'. The government's acceptance of the new re­ forms caused incredible turmoil, and in 1918 it was brought before the Storting. There was a furious debate, and the government made it clear that it would resign if the vote for a

1988

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

proposed postponement was favourable. It was remarked that this probably was the first time anywhere in the world that a government was willing to resign on account of orthogra­ phic rules! The government, however, won the vote and the reforms were introduced in schools and administration. 4.5.

The 1938 reform

The rules from 1917 were characterized by allowing a great many pairs of alternate word forms. The hope of the reformers had been that people would choose the forms common to Bokmal and Nynorsk and thereby support the policy of bringing the two closer together, but that did not happen as much as antici­ pated. There was also dissatisfaction with the many double forms - it was difficult to remem­ ber what was allowed and what was not. De­ mands arose for the dialects in the eastern part of the country to have a greater impact on the development that was going on in Lands­ mal, with a unified written language as the ul­ timate 0 bjec!. Demands began to be heard by the end of the 1920s for new reforms, and in 1934 a committee was appointed by the gov­ ernment with largely the same mandate as the one in 1916. The committee delivered its pro­ posals in 1935, and in 1937 the government brought them before the Storting. There was again a heated discussion, but the majority of the Storting in principle accepted the proposi­ tion. In 1938 the new rules for spelling and morphology were authorized for use in schools and administration. There were several innovations in Bomal. The sound structure of many words was changed as a continuation of the 1917 alter­ ations, e.g. lrem > Iram 'forward', nu > na 'now', elter > etter 'after', sne > sn@ 'snow'. Diphthongs were introduced in many more words. But more important were the newmor­ phological rules. The article -a for feminine words was made obligatory on a much larger scale than in 1917. About 900 nouns were now included, and -a was optional for about 13 0 others. I n addition the class o f regular verbs ending in -et in the past tense could now op­ tionally take the endings -et and -a (except for about 40 verbs "which in their sound structure are marked as specially Norwegian" and should take -a only). Some quite revolutionary morphological changes were made in Nynorsk. The article in strong feminines had originally been -i, after 1917 with -a as a permitted form. Now -a be-

came the main form and -i was reduced to a peripheral status, no longer allowed in school­ books. For the past participle of irregular verbs, the ending had been -e, but now it could be -e or -i alternately. Both these changes were introduced as part of the overall plan of bring­ ing the two norms closer together. 4.6.

Nazi orthography

A deviation from the steady progression of this policy occurred in 1941 when the Nazi government ordered some new spelling rules to be put into practice. These were forced upon the schools, the newspapers and the pub­ lishing houses, but in the schools the reform was neglected, and when peace came in 1945 it was abolished at once and has not been of any consequence. 4.7.

The 1959 schoolbook norm

After the war, when people again began to take an interest in the language situation, there was a widespread opinion that the reform of 1938 was more radical than many people had been aware of. After the 1938 reform the edi­ tors of schoolbooks had chosen among the many eligible forms the ones that best suited the policy of language unification, because public opinion at that time was strongly in fa­ vour ofthis idea. However, this gave the books rather an unfamiliar appearance, and conser­ vative people had the impression that a lan­ guage revolution had taken place. They reac­ ted by spreading angry propaganda against it, and demanding more traditional schoolbooks for their children. The government hoped to pacify the opposition by charging a newly es­ tablished permanent committee (cf. 6.1.) with drawing up a new hereboknormal 'school­ book norm'. It was by no means an easy task that was placed on the new committee, with its lack of experience and with many contradictory views existing among the members. It took 5 years for them to work out a recommendation that could be delivered to the government. Their methodology is an example of real language planning. For each pair of alternative forms, the distribution of the variants in the dialects was examined. An important question was which form was used by the majority of speakers, for the forms chosen for the school­ books should have as great a backing as pos­ sible in actual speech. Their frequency in lit­ erature was also investigated. On the basis of

1989

213. Language cultivation and language planning III: Norway

this data the forms were discussed in meetings of the full committee and a decision taken, if necessary, by vote. The proposal for a lxre­ boknormal was delivered in 1957 and passed by the Storting in 1959. 4.8.

The 1981 reverse reform

Opposition to the official policy was dimin­ ished by the reform of 1959 but not stamped out, and in the 1960s it forced a shift in the language policy of the state. A revision com­ mittee for Bokmal was appointed by the gov­ ernment in 1964 (The Vogt Committee). It marked the change of policy by proposing the use of forms that had been banished in pre­ vious reforms but which were still in actual use. In 1981 a new reform package, based on the committee's proposal, was passed by the Storting, and many traditional Bokrnal forms were restored, e. g. frem, bjerk, rede alongside fram, bjork, reir. But the most important change was probably that for nearly all femi­ nines there should be a free choice between the two article variants -a and -en.

5.

Who made the decisions?

As mentioned above, the Norwegian state has had the responsibility for the standardization of the written language since 1862. In 1907, as in 1862, the new rules were imposed directly by the Ministry, and so were the minor changes in Landsmal in 1901 and 1910. But for the reform of 1917 a new procedure was introduced: An ad hoc committee was ap­ pointed by the Ministry to prepare the re­ forms, which were then voted on by the Stor­ ting. Before 1959, a permanent committee was established and was charged with the prepara­ tion work. It is a very rare phenomenon that decisions concerning language standards are voted on by Parliament. But in Norway the language question has become a political issue. The decisions have never been unani­ mous - the conservative party (H0yre) has al­ ways voted against the reforms (except the 1981 reform).

6.

Language planning and cultivation institutions

6.1.

The Language Committee and the Language Council

The idea of a permanent state institution to handle language matters in Scandinavia first appeared in Sweden with the establishment of

Niimnden for svensk sprakvard (1944) [The Committee for Swedish Language Cultiva­ tion]. After World War II the idea was soon introduced to Norway and, after long dis­ cussions and preparation, the Storting in 1951 resolved to found Norsk spraknemnd [The Norwegian Language Committee] with 30 members, from 1972 Norsk sprakrad [The Norwegian Language Council] with 42 mem­ bers (today 38) representing all professions re­ lated to the use of language: linguistics, schools, literature, theatre, broadcasting etc. This body was, among other things, intended to relieve the government of matters that re­ quired professional linguistic insight. After the strong opposition to the 1938 reform, the gov­ ernment was probably glad to hand over lan­ guage policy to a competent assembly. But the final decisions remained in the hands of the government. The mandate ofthe new commit­ tee in 1951 included a paragraph to the effect that it should "further the approximation of the two languages to each other". This point was felt by conservative people, especially on the Bokmal side, as a provocation, and strong opposition was raised against the new institu­ tion (cf. 4.7.). 6.2.

Private language organizations

Beside the state-sponsored council there are several private organizations in Norway struggling to influence the development oflan­ guage planning and cultivation. The two big­ gest and most important are Riksmalsforbun­ det [The Riksmal League], which fights for the traditional forms used in RiksmaljBokmal, and Noregs Mallag [Norway's Language As­ sociation], which strives to expand the use of Nynorsk but is also engaged in planning the future of that idiom. There is also a society for those who wish to promote the unification of the two languages: Landslaget for Spraklig Samling [National League for Language Unification] which already in the 60s worked out a norm for Sarnnorsk. The traditionalists on the Bokmal side also have a normative so­ ciety: Det Norske Akademi for Sprog og Lit­ teratur [Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature], which in 1952 published a norm of its own, very much like the official norm of 1917. On the Nynorsk side, there is a similar society: Norsk Maldyrkingslag [Nor­ wegian Society for Language Cultivation]. An institution with a specialized purpose is Radet for Teknisk Terminologi [The Council for Technical Terminology founded in 1938 on

1990

xx. Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

a private basis, but financed by the state. Its object is to create clear, univocal and homo­ geneous technical terminology, appropriate for the Norwegian situation. Its members are linguists, engineers and persons representing industry of many kinds, whose task is to find or create Norwegian equivalents for new tech­ nical terms. The Council has published a long list of dictionaries for various branches of technology and industry, e. g. Maling- og lakkteknisk ordbok, Radioteknikk and so on. With the introduction of the oil industry to Norway, many new objects needed Norwe­ gian names. The Council started work on a dictionary for the oil industry, but the activity was taken over by another terminological in­ stitution, Norsk termbank at the University of Bergen. With generous financial aid from the state oil company, a list of 1 3000 oil terms was produced in Norwegian and English: Petroleumsordliste [Petroleum Word List].

7.

The reception of the reforms

The most difficult aspect of the reform policy has been to get the new forms accepted by the population and put into use. It has turned out that ordinary people are more closely attached to the spelling they learnt in school than an­ ticipated. Therefore, opponents of reform have resisted the new forms and their or­ ganizations have fought vigorously against them. Some conservative newspapers still stick to the spelling rules of 1917. The reforms have corne into use mainly through the schools, i.e. through children who, of course, adopt the or­ thography that they are taught. So it may be said that the reforms have been carried through due to the shift in generations. As a consequence, written Norwegian shows a great variety of forms, a mixture of old and newer variants, and itis possible in many cases to discern a person's age by studying his or her spelling. In addition to the alternatives in the official norm, many writers put in variants from their own dialects. But the situation to­ day seems to be that the modified Bokrnal standard from the latest reform (1981) is gain­ ing ground, even in conservative newspapers.

8.

Alternative forms

As it appeared to be so difficult to make people change their orthographic habits, the concept of alternative forms was introduced to ease the transition, with new forms authorized for

use beside the traditional ones (cf. 4.1.). This has been an important factor, since after a transitional period the new forms have often become so well-known and acknowledged that they could be made 0 bligatory in a later reform without too much opposition. The 1938 reform expanded the system of free choice between alternative forms with special rules for specific users: Schoolbooks and pub­ lic institutions could choose between forms that were equally valid, and schoolchildren could in addition choose between many more pairs of words. Such second class eligible forms are called klammeformer 'square bracket forms', because they are as a rule marked with square brackets in the dictiona­ ries and spelling lists, e.g. messing [massing], jente, -a [-en]. The following example shows how rich the variation of forms has been. Bokmal, starting in Danish: about 1860: Hun kastede Stenen ud paa Gaden. (Danish) [She threw the stone on to the street.] After 1907: Hun kastetstenen utpaa gaten. 1917: Hun [hu] kastet / kasta stenen / steinen ut pa gaten. 1938: Hun [hu] kastet / kastasteinen ut pa gata. 1959: Hun [ho] kastet / kastasteinen ut pa gata. 1981: Hun [ho] kastet / kastasteinen ut pa gaten / gata. Nynorsk Aasen norm: Me kastade Steinarne fraa det gamla Huset ned i Gravi. [We threw the stones from the old house down into the ditch.] After 1901: Me kasta steinarne fraa det gamle huset ned i gravi. 1910: Me kasta steinanefraa IJra det gamle huset ned i gravi. 1917: Me/vi kasta steinane fra det gamle huset ned gravi [grava]. 1938: Vi [me] kasta steinanefra det gamle huset ned i grava [gravi].

9.

The spoken language

9.1.

The situation after 1 814

Many European countries have developed a spoken standard with fixed rules for pro nun-

1991

213. Language cultivation and language planning III: Norway

ciation. This variety usually has very high prestige. Norway may be said to have two such standards, but in contrast to the extensive and continuous planning that the two written lan­ guages have been exposed to, the spoken lan­ guage has received very little attention, and the prestige of the standards is low. To under­ stand this situation we must go back to the time after 1814 when Norway began a national life of her own. The spoken language in the country then consisted of very disparate dia­ lects, besides a standard variety spoken by a few, mostly among the upper and educated classes, which was a mixture of Danish literary language and spoken Norwegian and could be called some sort of a standard. 9.2.

Stage language

The problem of a spoken standard became ur­ gent when Norway got her first theatre in 1 827. How should the actors speak? The only stage language that the Norwegians knew was Danish, and many Norwegians who had heard it in Copenhagen regarded it as the only lan­ guage fit for the stage in Norway. The first Norwegian actors had to speak Danish but could not avoid intersparsing it with elements from Norwegian dialects and were heavily criticized for this. The outcome was that Dan­ ish came to dominate the stage (i.e. Christiania Theater) until the 1 850s although many Nor­ wegians regretted this for national reasons. One of these was the famous musician Ole Bull who in 1 850 opened Den nationale Scene in Bergen with Norwegian actors only. In 1 854 a new theatre was founded in the capital, Det Norske Theater, also with a Norwegian cast. The pressure on Christiania Theater to em­ ploy Norwegian actors grew stronger, and the theatre had to promise that no more Danes would he employed. When, after all, a new Danish actor was appointed in 1856, the poet Bj0rnstjerne Bj0rnson organized a demonstra­ tion with loud and rough music in the theatre, which completely disturbed the performance, and that was the end of Danish dominance on the Norwegian scene. The theatre had to employ Norwegian actors instead, primarily from Bergen, where the theatre had gone bankrupt. Unintentionally, a consequence of this transition was that the dialect of Bergen came to be regarded as better than the Oslo dialect because of the prestige of stage lan­ guage! In particular the uvular r of Bergen speech was for some time regarded as a fine pronunciation.

In Det Norske Theater Knud Knudsen was engaged as a linguistic adviser and did his best to further a Norwegian pronunciation. He told the actors e.g. to pronounce k before i and y as a fricative, not as an occlusive (kjyst 'coast', not kyst as in Danish), and to use un­ voiced consonants, p, t, k, after vowels, e. g. tape 'lose', rot, 'root', tak 'roof, instead of tabe, rod, tag. The standard pronunciation of Bokmal has over the course of time acquired a consistency which can be compared to that of other lan­ guages. It is often called East Norwegian Standard because it has its base in Oslo, the surrounding districts and the towns in eastern Norway. Several pronunciation dictionaries have been published: Ivar Aln",s' Norsk ut­ taleordbok (1910) with an introduction giving a description of the sounds and the rules for the distribution of the two Norwegian tonemes, Bjarne Berulfsen's Norsk uttaleord­ bok (1969) with a similar introduction, and Arne Vandvik's Norsk uttaleordbok (1985). The Nynorsk standard is very closely related to the written variety because there is no dia­ lect or cultural centre where a Nynorsk stan­ dard has developed in natural speech. An im­ portant event in the history ofNynorsk occur­ red in 1913 when Det Norske Teatret opened its doors and began producing all sorts of plays in Nynorsk. The type of speech used on this stage has provided a pattern for the Nynorsk spoken standard. 9.3.

Spoken language in schools

The spoken language in the schools has a his­ tory of its own. In the period after 1814, the written language was regarded as best and many teachers therefore tried to use a spelling pronunciation in their teaching, i. e. a pronun­ ciation reflecting Danish orthography. The re­ sult was an unnatural fonn of speech that was strange to the pupils and difficult for them to understand. Therefore, in 1878 the Storting decided that "the teaching in the elementary schools shall as far as possible be given in the children's own dialect". This regulation is still maintained and is interpreted as an obligation on the teachers to accomodate their way of speaking to that of the pupils and not to cor­ rect the speech of the pupils towards an oral standard. Thus, pupils may use what is in a narrow sense their mother tongue, their dia­ lect.

1992 9.4.

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

Dialects and standard speech

The position of dialects in Norway is unpar­ allelled in the countries of Europe. They are considered by a large portion of the popula­ tion as a national treasure that must be pre­ served and kept in use, and this means of course that the spoken standards are not so much used as in many other European coun­ tries. Most dialect speakers cling to the idiom they learnt as their mother tongue all their life. The explanation for this is to be found in the fact that the dialects are the only truly national variety of spoken language in Norway - Bok­ mal is, as pointed out before, in its origin not Norwegian, and the Nynorsk spoken standard has a very weak position.

recently a change of attitude among the mem­ bers has been detected. 9.7.

Pronunciation of numerals

Pronunciation of only one class of words has been regulated by the authorities: the nu­ merals. The traditional way of pronouncing numbers over 20 was with the second digit first, e.g.: 63 Ire og seksli (three and sixty). This could be rather awkward, especially when trying to dial phone numbers. With lar­ ger numbers it resulted in jumping to and fro between the digits: e.g. 78,254: eight and seventy thousand two hundred and four and fifty. Therefore the telephone company around 1950 proposed that numbers be read in the order they are written: 63 seksti tre. This seemed to be a rational reform and was met with approval almost everywhere. It was passed by the Storting and put into practice in 1951. But it turned out that reforming spoken language is far more difficult than al­ teringthe orthography. The newwayof count­ ing was imposed upon the schools, the state broadcasting bodies and the administration, but it has gained ground only very slowly. During the last few years the new system seems to be taking over, but the old way of counting is far from dead in the private sphere, where it is still in current use. There are certainly sev­ eral reasons for the slowness in accepting this useful reform, but one of the most important is probably that children have already learnt counting the old way from their parents before going to school. �

=

9.5.

Language in broadcasting

Broadcasting is an important arena for the cultivation ofthe spoken language. Norsk riks­ kringkasting [Norwegian State Broadcasting] has since the 1960s had two advisers to help the performers use what is regarded as correct pronunciation, one for Nynorsk and one for Bokmal. They cannot demand that a certain pronunciation be used, only give advice. Bjarne Berulfsen, Finn-Erik Vinje and Dag Gundersen for Bokmal, Magne Rommetveit, Sylfest Lomheim and Helge Sand0Y for Nynorsk have performed this task in suc­ cession and their efforts have probably had some consolidating effect on standard pro­ nunciation, even though they have had diffi­ culties in eliminating some of the most com­ mon errors. It has been, according to them, a Sisyphean labour! 9.6.

The Language Council and the standards

The Language Council could be expected to play an important part in the cultivation of standard pronunciation as well as of written language. But due to the special relationship between standard speech and dialects in Nor­ way, this is not the case. The majority of the members of the Council have up till now re­ fused to involve the institution in any serious work on standard pronunciation, but the Council's office is instructed to give answers to questions about pronunciation. When in 1995 a new edition of Berulfsen's pronunci­ ation dictionary was planned and the editors turned to the Council for cooperation to revise it, the majority of the council refused. Quite

10.

Language cultivation

10.1.

Planning and cultivation

While language planning primarily applies to orthography and morphology, language culti­ vationmainly involves syntax, vocabulary and style. 10.2.

Syntax

The most conspicuous feature of the syntax of the written Norwegian standards is its sim­ plicity. Complicated sentence structures with subordinate clauses embedded in each other are avoided by most Norwegian writers, and easily processed syntax is regarded as the ideal. This attitude must be seen as an effect of the origin of the written standards. Their

213. Language cultivation and language planning III: Norway

syntax was moulded relatively late and the model was the spoken language with its un­ complicated sentences. Landsmiil/Nynorsk from the very beginning adopted the plain sen­ tence structure of spoken dialects, and Riks­ maljBokmal in its drive for Norwegianization has adopted the same ideal. Great efforts have been made by the government to educate ad­ ministrative people to write simple and com­ prehensible texts, epecially those distributed to the public. Courses in formulating a mes­ sage in a proper way are often given for dif­ ferent branches of the state administration and several books giving good advice on this matter have been published. As a result of all this, the official language in Norway probably has a simpler syntax and is easier to read than the corresponding types of texts in Sweden and Denmark. 10.3.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary does not easily submit to regula­ tion. New words are coined and new words are borrowed from other languages when there is need for it, but for the authorities regu­ lating new vocabulary is a very difficult under­ taking. However, in many countries attempts have been made to "improve" the stock of words, both by private persons and by author­ ities, although their methods and motives may be different and not always linguistic. 10.3.1. Purism The most prominent idea in this connection is that of purism which has played an impor­ tant role in the efforts to cultivate the Norwe­ gian language. The oldest example of puristic praxis in Norway dates back 500 years. In a document from 1489, we read that a man was killed because he criticized another man who used Low German instead of Norwegian in a greeting. The defence of his mother tongue cost him his life! In the 1 8th century there was a wave of purism throughout Scandinavia, es­ pecially in Denmark where it had such com­ prehensive effects that Danish literature is said to have taken on a new style during the 30 years from 1740 to 1770. In Norway there was naturally no such movement since the country had no written language of its own at the time. But many of the new words that were created in Denmark are still alive in Bokmal, e. g. av­ stand 'distance', gjenstand 'object', lidenskap 'passion', virksomhet 'activity', and many more.

1993

Wergeland, Knudsen and Aasen were all purists. Their ideological background was common to most purists: For nationalistic, pedagogical and social reasons, they wished to purify the language. Knudsen focused to a great extent on Latin and Romance words and wanted to dispose of them because they were unintelligible to ordinary people. He proposed substitutes for them - mostly words from Nor­ wegian dialects, but also words of his own making like bagstnever 'reactionary', ordskifte 'debate'. These words were successful, but otherwise few of his proposed neologisms are in actual use. His greatest achievement in this field is his large puristic dictionary (Knudsen 1 881). Aasen was above all concerned with German loanwords which had flooded the Danish language ever since the Middle Ages, and as a consequence also the language in Norway. Even in the dialects, a large propor­ tion of the vocabulary was of German origin. This hurt Aasen's nationalistic feelings and he refused to acknowledge the Low German words as Norwegian. Both in his Norsk Ord­ bog (Aasen 1 850) and in his own literary work he mostly ignored them, but some very old German loans like bruka 'use' and koka 'cook' have been admitted to his dictionary. Words of Latin or Greek origin found more favour with him; he considered them useful because they often covered (new) concepts that did not have Norwegian equivalents. As a consequence of Aasen's attitude, LandsmaljNynorsk has up to this day practised a puristic tradition with very strict regulation of its vocabulary. Many words beginning with the German pre­ fixes an-, be-, er-, ge- and all those ending with the suffixes -heit or -else (origin uncertain) were for a long time excluded from the lexical norm, although many of them are in current use among Nynorsk as well as dialect speakers. But there has not been a unanimity on this point. Some Nynorsk spokesmen have contended that Nynorsk ought to loosen the restrictions on vocabulary because it reduces the expressive power of the language. Quite recently this opinion achieved a breakthrough in a resolution from the Language Council in January 1999 to the effect that "words that are widely spread in the dialects should not be kept excluded from the Nynorsk spelling lists or the dictionaries". 10.3 .2. The spelling of foreign words According to the principles of orthophony the spelling of foreign words should reflect Nor-

1994

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

wegian pronunciation. This policy was intro­ duced already in 1907 when e.g. bureau was changed to byra, dusch to dusj and logis to losji. After that, some new words were given Norwegian spelling in each reform. In the first half of the century, it was mostly French and Latin words that were nationalized: milieu > miij@, chauffeur > sjaf@r, passager > passa­ sjer, budget > budsjett etc. 10.3.3. English loanwords During the last half century, a new problem has emerged, namely the treatment of English (or rather American) loanwords. Since World War II the dominance of American culture all over the world has brought along with it a tremendous influx of English words in many countries, as is very much the case in Norway. In science and technology, in sport and busi­ ness life, through radio, television and news­ papers the stream of words from the English­ speaking world has been incessant. Itis a wide­ spread opinion that this flood offoreign words is a threat to the national language. They are often difficult to spell and to pronounce, they replace Norwegian words (e.g. job has ahnost completely taken over from arbeid), they are not linked to Norwegian roots and therefore have to be learnt separately. Many people, however, have a different view, and stress the point that foreign words make the language richer - the more words, the better! But in the Norwegian Language Council, a large major­ ity looks upon Anglicization as a major prob­ lem. The Council has tried many ways of counteracting the development. It has sought cooperation with professions that for diverse reasons tend to prefer English to Norwegian: advertising, business and trade firms, radio and television, film producers etc. Most of them have shown a receptive attitude towards the Council's initiative but have mostly been passive when it carne to practice. The greatest such effort from the Council was Aksjonenfor spraklig milj@vern [Action for defence of the linguistic environment]. This was started in 1990, and its primary battlefield was the streets, where English dominance is striking. You can walk along a street in Oslo and think you are in an English town - nearly all adver­ tisements, names of shops, hotels, cinemas and so on are in English. The Language Council composed a pamphlet, Bruk hodet, snakk norsk! [Use your head, speak Norwegian], published it in 1991 and distributed it to schools, industries, newspapers etc. Advertis-

ing and articles in newspapers were used as part of the campaign as well as discussions on radio and television. But the result has been rather poor - strong forces, both economic and psychological, favour the English influx. The Norwegianization of foreign words also has a Nordic aspect. There is a strong wish in all the Scandinavian countries that their languages should not drift farther apart, but that is just what happens if one of the countries alters its spelling on points where there has been unity. In 1982 the language committees in all the Nordic countries met to discuss the spelling of foreign words. Certain recommendations were passed concerning all three Scandinavian languages. For the two Norw. standards the effect was small because the words discussed were mostly adapted to Scandinavian spelling already. Not all loanwords can be regarded as worthless or harmful- some are welcomed be­ cause they fill in gaps in the lexicon and thus enrich the language, especially words denoting new phenomena for which there are as yet no terms in Norwegian, e.g. new products, new technology, new activities, new concepts. Nor can any great objections be raised to words that fit the sound and structure of Norwegian and therefore cause no trouble for spelling and morphology, e.g. dope, dressing, drill, mob­ bing, smart, sponsor, sprint, stress, test, or for those which only require a slight modification to be assimilated comfortably: mikse, takle, slipp, tripp, but the majority of Anglicisms are not easy to cope with - they present many kinds of difficulties. There are in principle two methods for dealing with them: to find or cre­ ate a Norwegian word as a substitute, or to Norwegianize the English word by altering the spelling and/or the pronunciation. To find an acceptable substitute word for a foreign one is a very difficult task. It requires imagination, good taste and a feeling for current trends in the language. Many proposals have been made which have been turned down by the users of the language, but some have had suc­ cess: tenaring for teenager,ferdskriver forjiight recorder, vogntog for trailer, tilbakemeldingfor feedback and others. Altering the spelling of foreign words to make them conform more to Norwegian rules is an old method in language cultivation. Many words were Norwegianizedin 1907, and in all later reforms the same procedure has been applied. Letters that are not in use in the Norwegian alphabet, < q, x, z > , are changed to Norwegian ones, < k, ks, s > :

213. Language cultivation and language planning III: Norway

squeeze > skvise,fix > fikse,jazz > jass. And in very many other cases the spelling has been adapted to Norwegian pronunciation, e. g. gear > gir, check > sjekk, jiirt > ji@rt. This has undoubtedly made correct spelling easier; on the other hand, it has increased the distance to the neighbouring languages, especially to Danish which on the whole tends to keep loan­ words as they are. But there are limits to the extent of nationalized spelling that the general public will accept. In 1996 the Language Council published a new list of English words for which it proposed Norwegian spellings as an alternative, e.g.Jait forjight, gaidfor guide, konteiner for container, skvasj for squash. A flood of criticism was unleashed, and the Min­ istry, probably on account of the strong nega­ tive reaction, refused to authorize some of the Norwegianizations, e. g. taksi 'taxi', p@bb 'pub' and bake '(to) book'. On this occasion the Ministry asked for a statement of prin­ ciples for changes to the spelling of foreign words. It wanted to start a discussion of the consequences for the Scandinavian linguistic community if Norway continues to go her own way in this issue. It is interesting that the Min­ istry also pointed out "the increasing knowl­ edge of the English language that the Norwe­ gian population gradually has acquired". This must be seen as a warning not to take this activity too far.

11.

Style

It is very difficult to say something general about style in a language because there will always be great differences from person to per­ son. But in Norway there is a traditional ideal for good style which the teachers try to impose on the pupils, and over the course of time this seems to have had some effect. A few aspects of this stylistic ideal can be pointed out. In both standards the style is marked by relatively short sentences (cf. 10.2.). Another characteristic feature is the preference of ac­ tive voice to passive and, in connection with this, a favouring of personal instead of imper­ sonal wording. As an example from official registers it is recommended to write Vi har mottatt Deres brev, men kan jorel@pig ikke svare pa det [We have received your letter, but we can't answer it for the present] instead of Deres brev er mottatt, men kan jorel@pig ikke besvares [Your letter has been received but cannot be answered at the moment]. Verbal constructions are generally recommended in-

1995

stead of nominal ones: Etter Kongens ankomst Joregikk apningen av utstillingen [After the King's arrival the opening of the exhibition took place] should, according to modern Nor­ wegian sense of style, be rewritten preferably as Etter at Kongen var kommet, apnet han ut­ stillingen [After the King had arrived, he opened the exhibition]. Correct usage and good style are often lacking both in official texts and in newspapers. But there is a great interest in linguistic matters in Norway, and courses are often given by official and private institutions in formulating clear and readable prose. There are also a lot of books available on correct language and good style.

12.

Principles of Norwegian language cultivation

Many of the steps taken in dealing with lan­ guage in Norway have been more or less ran­ dom, without due preparation, consideration or regards for consequences. Therefore it has sometimes been necessary to take retrograde steps, e. g. in 1981. The majority of the re­ forms, however, have been based on prin­ ciples, some of them general, others specific for Norway. We shall recall the most impor­ tant: (1) the nationalistic principle - every change should contribute to the rise of a genuinely Norwegian written language. (2) the pedagogical principle - the reforms should aim to make spelling and morphol­ ogy as easy as possible. (3) the democratic principle - the new written forms should be based on the speech of a majority of speakers. (4) the tradition principle - forms with a long and still active tradition should not be changed even if they are in conflict with some other principle. (5) the unification principle (special to Nor­ way) - every new form introduced in one of the two standards should bring it closer to the other standard, or, at least not in­ crease the distance. As can be seen, some of the principles may be contradictory. The reformers have thus had to make a choice, e.g. between tradition and easier spelling, between the nationalistic prin­ ciple and the wish to preserve Scandinavian unity.

1996

13.

xx. Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

Conclusions

Norway has been called a language planning laboratory because the planned changes in the written language have had such an enormous extension both in time and in effect. During more than a century the country has had a fluid language situation, with continuous in­ terference from planning committees and re­ formers. This laboratory work has given Nor­ wegians enough experience to draw certain conclusions about language planning, which may have general applications: (1) Spelling changes are, on the whole, not welcomed by the older generations who are used to a certain way of spelling and thus will tend to neglect such reforms. Therefore patience must be shown until the changes become established. It is necessary to wait for a new generation to grow up and learn the new forms in school. (2) It is not a good strategy to promote very many substantial changes at one time. Such a course of action may cause so much opposition that the whole set of reforms fails. (3) Reforms ought not to be introduced too frequently if one wants to avoid strongop­ position and sabotage. (4) It is more difficult to change details in the spoken than in the written norm. (5) It is easier to get acceptance for changes in the consonant than in the vowel system. Planning and cultivation of the language has not corne to an end in Norway. The Language Council is continuously working on details

and is at present preparing a revision of the rules on a larger scale. A new set of reforms can be expected in the first years of the new century. For several reasons the Norwegian language will pro bably never be consolidated like English or French, among other things because the two varieties of the Norwegian language are constantly influencing each other.

14.

Literature (a selection)

Aasen, Ivar (1850), Norsk Ordbog. Kristiania. AlmI:s, lvar (1910), Norsk uttaleordbok. Kristiania. Berulfsen, Bjarne (1969), Norsk uttaleordbok. Oslo. Hellevik, Alf/Lundeby Einar (eds.) (1964), Skrift­ sprbk i utvikling: Tiarsskriftfor Norsk Sprbknemnd 1952 1962. Oslo. Knudsen, Knud (1881), Unorsk og norsk eller frem­ medords avl@sning. Kristiania. Lundeby, Einar (1994), Norsk og nordisk: Femten studier i sprakhistorie og spraknormering. Oslo. Nansen, Fridtjof (1942), Vart skriftsprogs for­ norskning. In: Nansens rest II. Oslo, 438. Norsk tennbank (1988), Petroleumsordliste. Oslo. Rask, Rasmus (1826), Fors@g til en videnskabelig dansk Retskrivningsla:re. K0benhavn. Rolfsen, Nordahl (1892), La:sebog for folkeskolen. 1 .del. Kristiania. Skard, Matias (1901), Landsmaalsordlista. Kris­ tiania. Vandvik, Arne (1985), Norsk uttaleordbok. Oslo. Wergeland, Henrik (1924), Om norsk Sprogreforma­ tion (Samlede skrifter IV2, 172 192). Oslo.

Einar Lundeby, Oslo (Norway)

1997

214. Language cultivation and language planning IV: Iceland

214.

Language cultivation and language planning IV: Iceland

1. 2. 3.

7. 8.

Introduction The Middle Ages The Age of Refonnation and Humanism (until the mid-18th century) The Age of Enlightenment (mid-18th to early 19th century) The annual FjaIntr (1835 1847) and the transition to political nationalism The struggle for independence (ca. 1845 1918) The era of organized language planning Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

4. 5. 6.

Implicit in the term "language cultivation" (cf. Vik0r 1994) is a conscious effort to improve the language as an instrument of communica­ ting and expressing thoughts and emotions, or as a symbol of cultural values. Thus, effort­ less adoption of foreign language elements, in­ cluding the natural accommodation of loan­ words to native patterns, does not fall naturally under this heading. Loan translations and cal­ ques, on the other hand, will be taken into con­ sideration to the extent that they represent con­ scious choice. Conscious imitation of foreign style, which can be intended to increase the ex­ pressivity of the language, will also qualify as language cultivation. I have chosen to disre­ gard here purely literary usage, including the constant creation of poetic words, and concen­ trate on prose language. The other term in the article heading, "language planning" (Vik0r 1994), can be seen as any action on behalf of official organs and other authorities in matters of language which concern the norms for the language and its use. Within language plann­ ing, corpus planning concerns the norm for the language itself, while status planning has to do with the domains of use of a language in rela­ tion to other languages. In treating the histori­ cal development of such activities, it is natural to give priority to work that had visible effects. I will therefore disregard private language use and thoughts on the subject which did not be­ come known at the time and remained without influence. For reasons of space, discussion of the Icelandic policy on names had to be ex­ cluded. As the post-medieval period has been discussed with complete bibliographic docu­ mentation in Ottosson (1990), I refer once and for all to that work. Hermannsson (1919) re­ mains the best fully documented treatment in an international language.

2.

The Middle Ages

At the time of the settlement of Iceland, the new environment called for linguistic creativ­ ity (Halldorsson 1964). Novel natural phe­ nomena in Iceland required new words or meanings, e. g. hver 'hot spring', hraun 'lava', jaroeldr 'volcanic eruption', and new social structures needed to be labelled, e. g. goooro 'office of gooi (a chieftain)' , lQgsQgumaor 'law­ speaker'. In the wake of the introduction of Christianity in 999, the institutions of the Church were compelled to engage in extensive linguistic activity to make it possible to talk about religious matters to laymen (Halldors­ son 1964; Thors 1957; Walter 1976; Tomasson 1998). In addition to loanwords, many words (calques or loan translations) were formed from native elements on the model of Latin words, e. g. samvizka for conscientia, guod6mr for divinitas. A large number of native words also acquired a new Christian meaning, e. g. fJimdi 'enemy, devil' , freista 'try, tempt', skira 'purge, baptize'. In many cases, the Icelanders could take over the linguistic solutions found by other Nordic and Germanic peoples. In Ice­ land, there was also an extensive translation of religious literature, including homilies and legends of saints, which led to the formation of many theological terms which were more specialized than required for everyday use. There is also literature in Old Icelandic on various scholarly disciplines which contains many Latin terms but also many neologisms and new meanings for native words. These are mostly, but by no means exclusively, disci­ plines taught in the schools, such as astron­ omy and grammar. Four grammatical treatises were written in medieval Iceland in the period from the mid-1 2th c. to the mid-14th c. The highest concentration of neologisms etc. is probably to be found in the treatment of the elements of grammar and parts of speech in the Third Grammatical Treatise, written in the mid-13th c. by O lafr l>oroarson. Some of his terms are still in use (although not necessarily due to his influence), e. g. fornafn 'pronoun', Jail 'case'. The style of the religious translations from Latin varied (Hauksson/O skarsson 1994, 172- 1 74, 18 3 - 204, 308 - 3 14). Some transla­ tions, especially the oldest translations of leg­ ends of the saints, had a very vernacular fla­ vour, but other translations show conspicuous

1998

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

influence from Latin syntax and style. Syntac­ tic constructions which were borrowed from Latin, such as the use of interrogative pro­ nouns instead of relative particles, extensive use of participles and of middle voice in pas­ sive meaning, became elements of style which could be used also in original writings ("learned style"). In the late Middle Ages, one may discern a more lax attitude towards foreign languages and models (Rauksson/Os­ karsson 1994, 324- 337). Loanwords, ulti­ mately of Low German origin but probably for the most part mediated by Norwegian, ap­ pear in texts more frequently than before. Also, translations from this period followed the foreign originals more closely than before with respect to vocabulary and syntax, partly in a conscious stylistic effort. The most promi­ nent example of this is Bjorn porleifsson's translation of Low German legends in Reyk­ jahblab6k, from the first half of the 16th c. In this translation one may even see reduction of inflectional morphology, possibly in emu­ lation of Middle Norwegian.

3.

The Age of Reformation and Humanism (until the mid-18th century)

In the wake of the Reformation, which was imposed on Iceland in 1541 - 1 550, linguistic influence from Danish increased greatly, part­ ly at the expense of Latin. The clergy was ex­ posed to religious literature and documents of church administration in Danish, but the re­ ligious literature which the parishioners came into contact with was in Icelandic, as was the Lutheran liturgy. Knowledge of Danish in Ice­ land was limited in the mid-16th c., so that most parishioners would probably have found it difficult to understand the good tidings in Danish. An Icelandic translation of the New Testament by Oddur Gottskillksson was pub­ lished as early as 1540. His translation con­ tains many loanwords of Low German origin which are now obsolete, e. g. forlikja 'recon­ cile' ,forblinda 'make blind', bitala 'pay', blifa 'become', but they seem for the most part to have entered at least the written language be­ fore he used them. Gottska.lksson does not seem to have coined new words to any con­ siderable extent. The syntax of the translation also often shows German and Latin influence. It is clear, though, that Gottskillksson made an effort to write in a good and rich language for the standards of his time. The same can

hardly be claimed for his immediate successors as translators of religious literature, published in considerable quantity over the next decades in order to support the new ideology. These writings followed the original closely, to the detriment of the Icelandic idiom (especially in the religious poetry), and they abounded in German loanwords. Guobrandur porlaksson, Bishop of Ralar 1571- 1627, managed to im­ prove the language of religious publications in the great number of books produced by the only printing press in the country under his auspices. One ofthese books was the first com­ plete Bible in Icelandic (1584). At least for the most part, older translations by a number of theologians served as the basis of this edition. porlaksson declared that in revising some of these translations for publication, he had to put in much work to purge them of Danish language elements. In the preface to his Hymn­ book (1589), porlilksson holds out love of his native language as a virtue, stating that this language is clear and beautiful and not in need for loanwords or other influence from foreign languages. Guobrandsbiblia served as the basis for two subsequent bible editions before 1750, without any radical revisions of the language. An exception was the translation published by Steinn Jonsson in 1728, where the Danish bible was followed as closely as possible, but this translation was soon replaced. Guobran­ dur porlaksson was also instrumental in en­ suring that Icelandic clergymen continued to receive their education in their native tongue under Icelandic principals in the schools at both episcopal sees. For those Icelanders who studied abroad, however, the University of Copenhagen soon gained a virtual monopoly because of the privileges introduced for them at that university in 1587 and subsequent measures. From around 1600, humanist antiquarians in Denmark and other countries were aware of the existence of old literature preserved in Iceland which could shed light on the history of the Nordic countries and procured the as­ sistance of Icelandic learned men in studying this literature. This helped foster antiquarian interest in Iceland itself and led to extensive copying and study ofthe old manuscripts from around 1630, supported by the bishops. The prominent clergyman Arngrimur Jonsson "the Learned" was among the first Icelandic antiquarians. In 1609, he published Crymo­ gtea, a description of Iceland and the Icelan­ ders in which he is the first to state that Ice­ landic is the old language of all the Nordic

214. Language cultivation and language planning IV: Iceland

countries. He expressed the wish that his fel­ low countrymen would abstain from imitating Danes and Germans in speech and writing, so that this old and pure language might sur­ vive. To some extent he also practised this pol­ icy in his own writings. Such views on the no bility of the Icelandic language appear also in other humanist scholars in the 17th c. The scribes in that century tried to emulate the old language, but as they could not analyse its forms correctly, their efforts often led to their reconstructing ungrammatical forms or using authentic forms in a wrong way. It is only through the work of Ami Magnusson (1669 - 1 730), the great manuscript collector, copyist and scholar, that the knowledge of the old language became so profound that it could inspire changes in current language practice. He initiated an influential orthography closer to the old language than was usual at that time. In certain details this affected the mor­ phological system, as in replacing the 1st plu­ ral middle voice ending -unst with -umst. The conservative nature ofthis orthography facili­ tated the identification of the old and the new language. Iceland was at all times recognized as a sep­ arate law district and, strictly speaking, all new laws and amendments had to be promul­ gated at the Althing. The law-book Jbnsbbk from 1281 formed the core ofIcelandic legis­ lation until the early 1700s. At that time, im­ portant parts of the Norwegian Law of 1687 were put into effect in Iceland. In the minutes of the Althing, which were printed from 1696 on, the royal ordinances were usually pub­ lished in Danish. In court proceedings, on the other hand, Icelandic was to be used as a gen­ eral rule. No efforts can be discerned on behalf of the Danish authorities, in this or subse­ quent periods, to impose the Danish language on Iceland as an official language in the sense that Icelanders in general would be required to use that language in their dealings with the authorities. During this period, like always, most of the government officials in Iceland were Icelanders, although some of the highest ones were Danish or Norwegian. However, as a result of the increased use of laws of Dan­ ish origin in Iceland, it was decreed in 1736 that all officials in Iceland who acted as judges, which were sheriffs as well as law-men (logmenn), were required to pass a law exam at the University of Copenhagen. Another source of Danish influence during this period was through trade, especially after Danish citi­ zens were given a total trade monopoly in

1999

1602. This channel of linguistic influence was at this stage restricted by the fact that the mer­ chants were not allowed to stay over the win­ ter.

4.

The Age of Enlightenment (mid-1 8th to early 19th century)

The ideology of Enlightenment reached Ice­ land later than Denmark, around the mid1 8th c., and it was prominent there until the early 1 830s, long after it had been replaced by Romanticism in Denmark and other coun­ tries. The language policy of the Enlighten­ ment had as its aim that the language form chosen should be helpful in educating the gen­ eral public. Therefore, little-known loanwords or foreign words should be avoided and trans­ parent words should be coined from native el­ ements instead. This policy was already prac­ ticed in both Germany and Denmark in the first half of the 1 8th c. In Iceland, however, this practical aim of linguistic purism, al­ though probably shared to some degree by most writers and prominent in many quarters, was outweighed for many of them by more patriotic considerations. There was thus a nos­ talgic current, best represented by the poet Eggert Olafsson, which sought models, lin­ guistic and otherwise, in the perceived golden age of the sagas. At the other end of the scale was the rector Bjarni J6nsson, who in 1770 advocated giving up the Icelandic language, as it isolated its users from all other nations, and adopting Danish instead. He was the only known supporter of this view, however. From the 1810s on, an attitude related to Roman­ ticism, the so-called Historicism, made itself felt in Iceland, re-inforcing the earlier retro­ spective attitude. According to this school of thought, the true essence of things was con­ cealed in their origin and past development (Karlsson 2000, 200). This trend was promi­ nently represented in Iceland by its adopted son, the linguist Rasmus Rask. Around the mid-1 8th c., the study and emu­ lation of the old language became a part of a general national awakening spearheaded by the poet and natural historian Eggert Olafsson (1726-1768). As a young student in Copen­ hagen and member of a patriotic society of Icelandic students, he studied the language of the Old Norse manuscripts intensively. The re­ sults of his studies can be seen in an obituary from 1755 (Nockrar Hvghreystelegar Har­ matavlar . . . ). The orthography is very archaic,

2000

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

and so many obsolete words are used that a glossary of 1 30 of them is included. A few of his successors also used that sort of style, not least O lafur Olavius in his elementary mathe­ matics textbook Greinileg Vegleidsla til Tal­ nalistarinnar 1780. Olafsson himself became somewhat more moderate in his language use later in life, as can be seen in his orthographic treatise Rettritabbk which enjoyed wide circu­ lation in manuscript copies. This is the earliest work explicitly aimed at the improvement of the Icelandic language. O lafsson assumed the written form of the language to be primary in relation to speech, and using the orthogra­ phy of the best of the old manuscripts, he pro­ posed to improve pronunciation on various points. However, as he never attained the same deep understanding of language history as Arni Magnusson before him, he inadver­ tently advocated some specifically Old Norwe­ gian features found in manuscripts of the Old Testament translation Stjbrn, which he valued higher than any other texts. In accordance with his principles, which he, however, did not apply strictly or consistently, he branded cer­ tain types of pronunciation as corrupt and vul­ gar while advocating certain other features. Thus, he denounced the change of fricatives to plosives after liquids in northwestern dia­ lects, e. g. golb for golf 'floor', orb for orJ 'handle for a scythe'. Hio islenska h"rd6mslistafelag (The Icelan­ dic Literature Society) in Copenhagen was founded 1779 with the high government offi­ cial and Old Norse scholar Jon Eiriksson as its first president until his death in 1787. This society published the annual Rit fJess islenska lrerdomslistaJelags from 1781 to 1798. Practi­ cal matters concerning the industries of the country, including manufacturing and min­ ing, were most prominent, but there were also many articles on medicine and many branches of the natural sciences, such as dynamics, meteorology, even psychology and demo­ graphy, and still other branches of learning. Many or most of the topics had barely been discussed in print in Icelandic before, as the only printing press in Iceland until 1773 turned out almost exclusively religious liter­ ature. The bylaws of the Society had a clear language policy and contain the firstpublished discussion of the policy ofmaking neologisms. It was a stated aim of the society to "preserve the old Norse language as a beautiful and im­ portant language which has been spoken in the Nordic countries for a long time. It shall endeavour to purify the said language of

foreign words and expressions which are be­ ginning to deform it". Accordingly, foreign words should not be used in the publications of the Society when other old or medieval Norse terms could be found. To replace such foreign words new words should be crafted, composed of other Nordic words, which ex­ plain well the nature of the 0 bject which they signify. In this endeavour, one should observe strictly those rules of the language which were respected in the crafting of good old words. The regular members of the Society were to review items submitted for publication and were permitted to make changes in them both as to style and individual words. Given the novel subject matters, the annual was bound to be full of neologisms. This being the first large-scale attempt in print at coining neol­ ogisms, it is not surprising that the endeavours make an amateurish and often groping im­ pression. Fantasy or boldness are not their hallmark - there was a marked tendency to translate the foreign words component by component into Icelandic when possible. Relatively few of the neologisms seem to have gained a permanent place in the language, such as Jellibylur 'hurricane', although a number of them were used to some extent in the 19th c. but then disappeared. Among ob­ solete neologisms one may mention hneringar­ verkfxri, literally "movement-tool" for 'ma­ chine' (now vet) and mreli(ngar)Jrrei5i, literally "measuring science" for 'mathematics' (now streri5Jrrei5i). As for the syntax of the annual, it shows rather strong traditional traits from Latin and German, although there was pro b­ ably some endeavour made to avoid compli­ cated syntax. In 1794 a new literary society was founded in Iceland, Hio islenska lands­ uppfr",oingarfelag (The Society for National Enlightenment), with many of the sarne mem­ bers as Lrerdomslistafelag. The president was the judge Magnus Stephensen, and with time the society became in practice his private en­ terprise. The goals of this society were less practical than those of the earlier society, and it was more concerned with general European culture. Its spirit was less nationalistic and more in line with the continental Enlighten­ ment. Although Magnus Stephensen made ef­ forts to use Icelandic words and neologisms, his style was quite distinctly Latin-German, and consciously so, as he went out of his way to use foreign constructions and rhetorical de­ vices (Hauksson/Oskarsson 1994, 447-453). Other writers for the society also created a number of neologisms, and some of them, like

214. Language cultivation and language planning IV: Iceland

Bishop Hannes Finnsson, had a more popular style than Stephensen. After the Latin schools at the episcopal sees in Skillholtand Halar had been closed, a Latin school for all of Iceland was established in 1 805 at Bessastaoir in the vicinity of Rey­ kjavik. This represented a great improvement in the education of Icelandic clergymen and officials, as the teaching positions at the Bes­ sastaoir school, unlike the earlier schools, were good and permanent positions. The only direct instruction in Icelandic was a few hours a week in Icelandic composition. The students learned more Icelandic in classes in other dis­ ciplines, not least translating from Greek un­ der the guidance of Sveinbjorn Egilsson and from Latin under the instruction of Hallgri­ mur Scheving. Both of these teachers were great scholars of the Icelandic language and were impelled by a deep love for their native tongue, which they communicated to their pupils. Egilsson had acquired unique knowl­ edge of the old language through his editorial activities, translations from Old Norse and by writing his revolutionary dictionary of the old poetic language, IRxicon poeticum (1854-1 860). He translated Horner's Odyssey (first edition 1829-40) and Iliad (published posthumously) into Icelandic prose (Hauks­ son/Oskarsson 1994, 474-477). Here his knowledge of the old poetic language carne to good use, especially in the translations of the poetic epithets. Egilsson's main inspiration, however, was the classical saga style, and he made an effort to keep the syntax simple and popular. A moderate number of words were borrowed from the old language, and foreign loanwords were kept to a minimum. The contribution to Icelandic language cul­ tivation by Rasmus Rask, one of the founders of comparative Indo-European philology, also falls in the early 19th c. Rask learned Ice­ landic almost as well as a native speaker. In his linguistic work, he lavished praise on the language, which was a great inspiration for the Icelanders. He tended to minimize the dif­ ferences between the old and the new lan­ guage, partly out of concern that otherwise the Icelanders would derive less benefit from the glory of the sagas and Eddas. The identi­ fication of the contemporary language with the original common Nordic language was an idea which we saw emerge among the human­ ists and which has lived on among the scholars and cornmon people on the island. Rask was an enthusiastic supporter of the Icelandic people and its culture. He stayed in Iceland

2001

from 1 81 3 - 18 15 and travelled widely. In 1816, at Rask's initiative, Hio islenska b6kmenn­ tafelag (the Icelandic Literature Society) was founded. It supported the ideology of making neologisms, and some of its publications con­ tain many of these. This is the case for Almenn jardarfnedi og landaskipun edur geographia (1821-27), although the style of the book is quite marked by Latin-German models, as in many other publications of this society. On the other hand, the popular survey of Icelan­ dic history by Jon Espalin, islands Arbrekur (1821- 55), emulates saga style. From the 1760s on, it became common for Danish merchants, employees and dependents to stay over the winter in Iceland. At the turn of the century, ahnost half of the trade em­ ployees were of Icelandic origin, providing an optimal conduit for emulation of Danish. Al­ ready in the mid-18th c., the southwestern peninsula with its administrative centre at Bes­ sastaoir was reputed for having above-aver­ age Danish influence. Reykjavik emerged as a town in this same area in the late 1 8th c., and by 1800 it was the largest town in the country by far with its approximately 300 in­ habitants. From the turn of the century, Reyk­ javik became the unofficial capital ofthe coun­ try as it became the seat of the highest court of law in the country as well as of the bishop of Iceland. As it grew, it remained dominated by merchants until the mid-19th c., as the high officials preferred to live outside the town. Dan­ ish was in effect the predominant language, and the native inhabitants emulated the Danes, interspersing their Icelandic heavily with Danish expressions. The proceedings of the city council were in Danish, and even instruction in the children's school from 1 830- 1 848 was mostly in Danish. When Rask carne to Reykjavik in 18 13 , he expected Ice­ landic to become extinct in the town in 100 years and in the entire country in 200 years. In the second half of the 1 8th c., the in­ creased use of laws in Danish in the preceding decades, as well as legal studies in Copen­ hagen, led to more Danish influence in the judicial process and in administration more generally (cf. Hauksson/Oskarsson 1994, 419-424). Lawyers mixed their language with many loanwords, as can be seen clearly al­ ready in Sveinn S6lvason's legal handbook Tyro Juris (1754). Magnus Stephensen, on the other hand, made efforts to improve the legal language through the wording of his verdicts and in inventing neologisms. The general rule was that all court proceedings should be in

2002

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

Icelandic, but exceptions were made when both parts or sometimes one of the parts was Danish. It was decreed in 1751 that all laws should be made public both in Icelandic and Danish, but sometimes only the Danish ver­ sion appeared for practical reasons. In 1 83 1 , an official translator was employed to ensure that all laws were published both in Danish and Icelandic as soon as they were passed. There were few Danish officials in Iceland in this period, fewer than in the 1 7th c. Most of these occupied the top echelons, whereas sheriffs were almost exclusively Icelandic. The high officials of the state, even those with Ice­ landic as their mother tongue, wrote their correspondence and kept their books in Dan­ ish.

5.

The annual Fjolnir ( 1 8 3 5 - 1 847) and the transition to political nationalism

In the period from 1 830 to the mid-1840s, a rather swift and decisive change was effected in the Icelanders' view of their nationality, and in the same period, a new and in certain re­ spects more radical view of their language was proposed and eventually adopted. The Icelan­ ders already had a strong feeling of ethnic identity, but their sense of political national­ ism was not awakened until the 1 830s and 1 840s (cf. Karlsson 2000, 199-214). In the wake of the July revolution of 1830, the Dan­ ish king decided in 1831 to establish four diets in the Danish realm. The Icelanders re­ acted by asking for an assembly in Iceland, most conspicuously the lawyer Baldvin Ei­ narsson (d. 1833) in his annual Armann a AljJingi. This demand was taken up by the publishers of the annual Fjiiinir from 1835 on. In 1 840 the new Danish king Christian VIn offered to grant Iceland a consultative assem­ bly, to be named the Althing. In the ensuing debate, a competitor to Fjolnir appeared, the annual Ny Jetagsrit from 1841, published by the future leader of the struggle for indepen­ dence, Jon Sigurosson. Fjiiinir, which appeared in the years 1 8 3 5 1 8 3 9 and again in 1843 - 1 847, was launched by four young Icelanders in Copenhagen, most of them students: Jonas Hallgrimsson, Konrao Gislason, Tomas Sremundsson, and Brynjolfur Petursson. Fjolnir marked some­ thing of a quantum leap in the history of Ice­ landic language cultivation. This periodical represented Romantic esthetic and cultural

ideals instead of those of the Enlightenment, although one may still discern an undercur­ rent of the Enlighternnent ideal of utility in some of the goals of the annual, and especially from Tomas S",mundsson. Although Fjiiinir shared the goals of defending and purifying � the Icelandic language with its predecessor A r­ mann a AljJingi (1829-31), the differences be­ tween the two periodicals are striking. In lan­ guage and style, Armann a Atpingi was more reminiscent of the publications of the Ice­ landic Literary Society (Bokmenntafelag) than of FjOlnir (Hauksson/Oskarsson 1994, 477- 482). Armann's attacks, sometimes in the form of parody, on the variety of Icelandic spoken in Reykjavik and emulated in the neighbouring districts, were forceful. Those ofthe FjOlnir group who exerted most influence on the language were the poet and natural scientist Jonas Hallgrimsson and the philologist Konraa Gislason (Hauksson/Os­ karsson 1994, 482-490). The former was an accomplished stylist, inspired by the Roman­ tic ideal of popular and unaffected style, and at the same time puristic and polished in his diction. This can be seen in his poems and short stories in Fjolnir. In addition, Hall­ grimsson was a skilful creator of neologisms in his publications on the natural sciences in FjOlnir and elsewhere, not least in his 1842 translation of an introduction to astronomy by Ursin. Konrao Gislason corrected the lan­ guage ofeverything which appeared in FjOlnir. His hallmark is a strict lexical purism based on intimate knowledge of the old language. He exerted great influence on language ideals through his reviews of books in Fjiiinir (184345), where he made stricter demands on the language than any earlier critics. In many re­ spects, Gislason took the old language of the sagas as a model or standard, and even went so far as to advocate morphological archaisms such as resuscitating the old inflection of mas­ culine ija-stems like heknir. He published an influential Danish-Icelandic dictionary in 18 5 1, where his preference for purity over utility emerges clearly. Gislason was not fond of neologisms and was very reluctant to ac­ knowledge any usage as correct which he could not find attested in old manuscripts. In his dictionary, he often preferred a paraphrase or explanation when he was not content with any existing Icelandic word. The Fjolnir pub­ lishers were self-confident in their view of lan­ guage and did not hesitate to criticize authors who had previously been considered models of style. Other writers were sometimes sub-

214. Language cultivation and language planning IV: Iceland

jected to ridicule in parody in the periodical. At the end of the day, the Fjolnir editors gen­ erally managed to convince Icelandic writers to follow their lead. Thus, even Sveinbjorn Egilsson revised his translation of the Odyssey to better conform to the standards set by Fjolnir when republishing it. The most radical linguistic effects of FjOlnir concern style, where a more popular style, closer to the saga tra­ dition, replaced the Latin- and German-in­ fluenced one as an ideal almost overnight. The language of religious literature prob­ ably changed more slowly than secular lan­ guage, but also in this area Hallgrirnsson, Gislason and Petursson provided an exten­ sive model in their translation of Hugleidingar um h@fudatrioi kristinnar truar by Mynster in 1 839.

6.

The struggle for independence (ca. 1 845 - 1 9 1 8)

With the founding of the Althing as an elected consultative assembly, convening for the first time in 1845, a forum was created for the for­ mal political struggle for independence. At the same time, strong motivation was provided for polishing the gem which the Icelanders considered themselves to possess in their lan­ guage - a most precious asset in the political struggle. The most important milestones con­ stituting the backdrop to the subsequent lan­ guage development include the following. The revolutions of 1848 caused the Danish king to abolish the absolute monarchy and sanc­ tion a constitution for Denmark in 1849 which did not mention Iceland. Instead, a National Assembly for Iceland was convened in 1 851 to discuss the constitutional status of the country within the Danish realm. That assem­ bly was unsuccessful, however, and these mat­ ters were at a stalemate for decades. Finally, in 1874 the king granted Iceland a constitu­ tion, giving the Althing legislative power in internal Icelandic affairs along with the king. In 1904, Iceland got horne rule, led by an Ice­ landic minister who was required to secure majority support in the Althing. Finally, in 1918 the country gained independence as a separate state in what was basically a personal union with Denmark. Even before the Icelanders started their struggle for independence, the Danish authorities were clearly sensitive to their aspi­ rations for their language. An important rea­ son was the increased attention given by en-

2003

lightened people in Denmark and its neigh­ bouring countries to the Icelandic language and its old literature in the period of Histori­ cism and Romanticism. As early as 1 844, all officials in Iceland were required by law to be able to speak Icelandic, and the last loopholes were effectively filled by the constitutional reform of 1874. Around the mid-century, Reykjavik became in effect more of an Icelan­ dic capital rather than a Danish trading town. The officials now preferred to live in the town itself, and the number of cultural and pub­ lishing institutions grew. The presence of the Althing was certainly crucial, and soon after it started its activities, Danish disappeared from official use within Iceland. The deliber­ ations of the Althing were exclusively in Ice­ landic from the beginning, with a special ex­ ception made only for the royal representa­ tive. This is in contrast to the meetings of the modest precursor, the Committee of Officials, only a few years earlier (1839 and 1 841), where everything was in Danish although only one of the officials was Danish. For the Althing, the king's proposals were translated into Ice­ landic and the resolutions were in Icelandic, to be translated into Danish. From 1891, only the Icelandic versions of laws were signed by the king, but a corroborated Danish transla­ tion was necessary for the Danish supreme court which was the highest legal body for Ice­ land until 1920. In court proceedings in Ice­ land, Icelandic was already required in prin­ ciple, and this became more strictly enforced. A similar interface problem to that for law­ making and the court system was also present in the executive branch, since the general population was Icelandic-speaking, the offi­ cials in Iceland were largely bilingual, and those in Copenhagen were Danish-speaking. At the beginning of this period, the interface was located in the highest echelons in Iceland, as Danish was used a great deal by the higher officials, especially in communications from the regional governors (amtmenn) and inter­ nally between them. Around 1 845 a marked shift towards Icelandic is visible, and Icelandic became the rule from 1850 on. According to rules adopted in 1854, only those Icelandic officials holding an office which required a university degree had to write to Denmark in Danish. In the church administration, Danish was much used in Iceland before 1850, but around that time this changed quickly. Liber­ ating Icelandic legal language from the Danish models took some time, however. Danish­ educated lawyers in particular tended to stick

2004

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

to their habitual technical terms in daily use, but at least for judges' sentences, matters im­ proved over the course of the second half of the 19th c. At the beginning of this period, obligatory education consisted of reading and the cate­ chism and was the responsibility of parents under the supervision ofthe local pastor. Most men and some women also learned to write, and this was made obligatory in 1880. Apart from a couple of private schools, elementary schools for children did not start emerging un­ til after the mid-19th C . , but the last quarter of the century saw impressive progress in that field. All the sarne, at the turn of the century less than half of the children attended school. It was only in 1907 that compulsory education for children aged 1 0 - 1 4 was introduced, pro­ viding a crucial channel for instilling the pu­ ristic nonn in children. The Latin school, which moved to Reykjavik in 1846, was the only school which prepared students for uni­ versity education, although many specialized schools for adolescents (e. g. women's schools) were established in the last quarter of the 19th c. Around ten students graduated annually from the Latin school in the 19th c., after six years of study. The students, the future elite ofthe country, seem to have received rigorous instruction in writing their mother tongue ac­ cording to the puristic norm, but they were probably too mature for their spoken lan­ guage to be changed greatly. Icelandic as a subject received a prominent place in the Latin school in Reykjavik, and the subject teachers were highly devoted to the purity and perfec­ tion of the language. One of them was Halldor Kr. Frioriksson, a collaborator of the Fjolnir group and ardent follower of Konraa Gislason's language policy, who taught Ice­ landic at the school from 1 848 to 1895. Al­ though the spoken language of some of the teachers of other subjects was heavily in­ fluenced by Danish, especially in the first few decades, many ofthem were highly instrumen­ tal in cementing correct usage in their stu­ dents. As the range of subjects taught was rather wide, including many branches of the natural sciences, the need for new Icelandic terminology was great, and it was systemati­ cally met i. a. through numerous textbooks in Icelandic. Clergymen received their vocational education at the theological seminary which was established in Reykjavik in 1 847. Later in this period, other university colleges emerged in Reykjavik: a medical school in 1876 and a law school in 1908, before the Uni-

versity of Iceland was founded in 191 1 . The activity of these colleges naturally called for the invention of many neologisms. The struggle for independence and the in­ troduction of an assembly of elected represen­ tatives created the need for accessible media for political discussions. The overwhehning majority of the voters were farmers, but they more often than not elected clergymen and secular officials to represent them. The news­ papers provided an open forum for voters and other citizens to make their voices heard across the society. Newspapers were published without interruption from 1846, most of them appearing every fortnight or up to twice a week. The number of periodicals also rose sharply in the second half of the century, some of them carrying popular articles on arts and sciences. In all these publications, periodicals as well as books, the generally accepted pu­ ristic language norm and ideology was sup­ ported and practised. Many of the newspaper editors took great pride in allowing only good language to appear in their publications. Only a few strictly literary works in Icelandic prose appeared between the Refonnation and the late 19th c. Especially from the second half of the 19th c. on, periodicals and newspapers printed translations of short stories and even novels, and original short stories, novels, and plays in Icelandic were published to an ever increasing degree. As long as the struggle for independence dominated the national agenda, the evaluation of these literary works in the media was often dominated by the degree of confonnity to the linguistic nonn in these works. The same need to conform to the nonn can be seen in the first large-scale effort in col­ lecting folktales, which was undertaken by Jon Amason around the middle of the 1 9th c. A selection from the manuscripts sent to him by a number of collectors from various parts of the country appeared in 1 862-64. Here, he revised features of grammar and vocabulary in order to make the language conform with the adopted norms (Hauksson/Oskarsson 1994, 5 11 -519). Trade in Iceland was still dominated by Danes in the mid-19th c. in tenns of owner­ ship, but much less so in tenns of the origins of the employees. During the last quarter of the century, however, there was a great shift in ownership such that it was mostly in Ice­ landic hands around 1900. The use of Danish as well as Danish influence on Icelandic usage was probably nowhere more tenacious than among merchants, especially in Reykjavik.

214. Language cultivation and language planning IV: Iceland

Thus, all books were kept in Danish in Reyk­ javik until the last quarter of the century. Danish was spoken a great deal among mer­ chants and their employees in that town at least until the 1870s, although the majority had long since had Icelandic as their mother tongue by then.

7.

The era of organized language planning

As soon as Iceland gained independence in 1918, we see the emergence of the first formal organization for language planning. This peri­ od is on the whole marked by the cooperation between private efforts and government action in the field. The challenges were greater than before: technological innovations requiring names presented themselves at an ever faster pace, new realms of learning were opened up to Icelandic researchers and presented to the general public, and the Icelanders participated to an ever increasing degree in international culture, including popular culture. The possi­ bilities for controlling language development improved at the same time. Compulsory edu­ cation was already introduced, and people spent more years in school as time went by. The volume of printed matter increased and new and powerful mass media emerged, first radio and then television. Through all the vi­ cissitudes of the 20th c., public support for the language policy remained solid. The pu­ ristic language policy became an integral part of the Icelandic national identity, such that it was rarely questioned in public. The beginning of organized language plan­ ning may be seen in the year 1919, when the "word committee" of the Engineers' Society was established. This was preceded by a lec­ ture by the philologist Bjorn Bjarnason where he outlined a programme for cultivating Ice­ landic vocabulary and advocated publishing a technical dictionary. This was the first sys­ tematic treatment of the subject by a trained philologist. At the meetings of the word com­ mittee, lists of technical terms in foreign lan­ guages were discussed item by item, with ex­ perts in the field present to explain their meaning. The committee was very active in the years 1919-1926, and the most productive members were Professors Guomundur Finn­ bogason and Sigurour Nordal. The committee published separate word lists on electricity, navigation, seamanship, mechanics, and a col­ lection of word lists in the book fooroasaJn

2005

(1928). This actIvIty was subsequently re­ sumed in the word committee of the electrical engineers (Oroanefnd rafmagnsverkfr",oinga) from 1941. Intensive work with neologisms was pursued within most branches of science and scholarship from the interwar years on, and in some disciplines such as botany, a solid foundation had already been laid in the pre­ vious period. In medicine there was much work done on terminology from the early 20th c. on, both by the Surgeons General Guomun­ dur Bjornsson and Vilmundur Jonsson, by Professor Guomundur Hannesson and others. Doctors have often been reluctant to use the new terms, however, even sometimes in writing. The number of neologisms created by authors of scholarly works in various disci­ plines was already very high in the interwar period. The methods used by the increasing number of wordsmiths became more sophis­ ticated with experience. Sometimes extinct or little-used words were recycled with a new meaning, as in simi 'thread, telephone', or words in common use were given a specialized meaning, e. g. toga 'pull, trawl'. Most com­ monly, neologisms were coined from more than one native element, and derivation was often preferred to composition because the re­ sult was shorter and handier. Thus, on the model of motor. hreyfill was derived from hreyfa 'move'. Word formation elements of the old language were often used, like -uo in samU15 'sympathy'. In some cases, foreign words were simply adapted to Icelandic, e. g. berkill from tuberkel 'tubercle'. The general public has mostly been receptive to neol­ ogisms, although many loanwords already in common use in everyday life, like banani 'ba­ nana', resisted replacement altogether, and other such words lived on for decades, like viskaleour in the face of the now predominant strokleour 'eraser'. It has proved to be import­ ant for the success of neologisms that they are available as soon as the items they refer to gain wide currency in the speech community. This may provide a partial explanation for the fact that Icelandic terms have had a particu­ larly hard time taking hold among seamen. When motor boats and trawlers were intro­ duced from around 1905 on, the required ap­ paratus was not in place to provide Icelandic terminology for all the technical innovations involved. Icelandic words were provided in government publications such as a law on sailing 1914, and in a law and regulation on security measures at sea in 1922, prepared with the participation of the Engineers' word com-

2006

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

mittee. The foreign loans were apparently too deeply rooted by that time. Around the mid-20th C . , there was increased interest in giving the authorities a more active role in language planning. In 1952 Bjorn Olafsson, the minister of education, managed to provide government funding for neologism work under the auspices of the Modern Ice­ landic Dictionary project. This resulted in the publication of a number of word lists in the following years. In 1965, the Icelandic lan­ guage committee, islensk malnefnd, started its work with the tasks of publishing and collec­ ting neologisms and assisting others in doing so. The committee was also to answer inquiries and collaborate with key agents in the public arena, such as the mass media and schools, but it was not entrusted with forming language policy. The committee had very little staffuntil 1980, but nonetheless interest in language cul­ tivation increased, as seen e. g. in the founding of a committee for computer terminology in 1968. In 1985, the Icelandic language secre­ tariat islensk malstoG was founded, with Pro­ fessor Baldur Jonsson as director. The Icelan­ dic language committee has published a series consisting mostly of lists of neologisms. Since the secretariat started its work, there has been an explosion in the number of word commit­ tees. After Iceland gained independence in 1918, the emphasis on the language ofliterary works decreased in the public debate. One reason for this was probably that the norm had become so established that conformity to it was taken for granted. When writers deviated, however, adverse reaction was not lacking, e. g. to both the earliest work by Halldor Laxness (later Nobel laureate) and to some of his work around 1940. The newspapers remained guar­ dians of the language policy, and the broad­ cast media followed suit when they emerged. State radio started in 1930, and state television in 1966. They were required to be a model for language use and were subject to intense scru­ tiny by the listeners in that respect. After a period of part-time engagements from 1970, a full-time language advisor for radio and tele­ vision was hired in 1984. For ahnost the whole period since 1939, the radio has aired pro­ grammes on language usage where listeners could ask advice. Short programmes titled "Everyday speech" (Daglegt mal) have been aired in prime time from 1953 twice a week, and more frequently since 1984. The state monopoly of broadcasting was abolished in 1986, but independent radio and (later) tele-

vision stations have been required by law to strengthen the Icelandic language. Thus, tele­ vision programmes in foreign languages have been required to have subtitles. International sports started to get established in Iceland in the first decades of the 20th c., e. g. football around 1910 and skiing in the 1930s. The pol­ icy was to create Icelandic words in these spheres, but those that were invented were sometimes mostly restricted to official use, while adaptations of the foreign words were used by the players themselves. Very few Ice­ landic films were made until around 1980. Foreign talking movies started being shown in the inter-war period, but Icelandic subtitles only became common after 1960. Foreign pop songs were very popular during the British and U.S. occupation in World War II, and they became a powerful force in young people's lives in the 1960s. At that time, it became com­ mon for pop groups to write their lyrics in English, a habit that was later partly aban­ doned. Apparently, there were no efforts made until the 20th c. to standardize the pronun­ ciation ofIcelandic. In fact, after Eggert Olafs­ son (sect. 4.), discussion of pronunciation as well as spoken language in general had been conspicuously absent in the normalization de­ bate. Then, in elementary school textbooks from the first decades of the 20th c., one can see the evaluation of different pronunciation variants, with a view to achieving a model of pronunciation. Thus, Jon O lafsson in his ele­ mentary textbooks of 1911 and 1915 deems the originally northern pronunciation kv for hv wrong, as well as the southern pronunci­ ation of b d g for p t k in non-initial position. This did not prevent these variants from spreading. In the first decades of the 20th c., there was already much discussion of the so­ called jianueli. This is the merger of short i and e, and to a lesser extent of u and a (i. e. [y] and [0]) , most widespread in southwestern and eastern Iceland. There was general agree­ ment that this merger was detrimental, and those who had it in their language were stig­ matized. Bjorn Guofinnsson concluded on the basis of his extensive investigation of pro nun­ ciation in all parts of Iceland (1941-43) that jianueliwas still spreading. With backing from the authorities, in 1945-46 he trained a large number of schoolteachers in a method he had devised to teach children who had this merger to adopt the standard distinction in their speech. The fight againstjianueliwas relentless in the following decades, and by the 1980s,

2007

215. Language cultivation and language planning V: Faroe Islands

this feature had become rare. Guofinnsson advocated a model of pronunciation with el­ ements from different dialects ofIcelandic, but no official rules on Icelandic pronunciation have been adopted to date.

Ottosson, Kjartan G. (1990), fslensk mb1hreinsun: Sogulegt yfirlit (Rit Islenskrar matnefndar 6). Reyk­ javik. Sigmundsson, Svavar (1990 1991), Hreinsun is len­ skunnar. In: IMAM 12 13, 127 142. Thors, Carl-Eric (1957), Den kristna terminologien i fornsvenskan (SNF 45). Helsingfors.

8.

Literature (a selection)

HaHdarsson, HaHdar (1964), Nygervingar ( forn­ mati. In: PEttir um islenzkt mid (ed. Halldar HaH­ darsson). Reykjavik, 110 133. Hauksson, porleifurj6skarsson, Parir (1994), fs­ lensk stilfrEai. Reykjavik. Hennannsson, HaHdar (1919), Modern Icelandic (Islandica 12). Ithaca. Karlsson, Gunnar (2000), Iceland's 1100 years: The history of a marginal society. London.

T6masson, Sverrir (1998), Malv6ndun a mib6ldum. In: Greinar afsama meiai (eds. Baldur Sigurbssonj Sigurbur KonrabssonjOrn6lfur Thorsson). Rey­ kjavik, 293 300. Vik0r, Lars (1994), Sprbkplanlegging: Prinsipp og praksis. 2nd ed. Oslo. Walter, Ernst (1976), Lexikalisches Lehngut im Alt­ westnordischen (Abhandlungen der sachsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philolo­ gisch-Historische Klasse 66,2). Berlin.

Kjartan Ottosson, Oslo (Norway)

215.

Language cultivation and language planning V: Faroe Islands

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Introduction Historical overview Aims Achievements Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

Language planning and language cultivation, because they are relatively unknown terms in English outside certain types of linguistic lit­ erature, do not have generally accepted mean­ ings. Planning suggests purposeful design, and brings the action of private or public bodies with specific aims to mind. Cultivation implies more widespread activity by both groups and individuals, springing perhaps from an intel­ lectual climate, a state of mind, a set of beliefs. It does not seem that any useful purpose would be served by attempting to distinguish between language planning and language cul­ tivation in this article, and accordingly both terms will be taken to refer to attempts to in­ fluence linguistic usage and steer language de­ velopment in particular directions.

2.

Historical overview

Faroese is a West Scandinavian immigrant language, brought to the islands in the 800s by settlers from Norway and Norwegian col­ onies in the British Isles. Very little is known of how the language developed in the first nine centuries or so of its existence. A few pre-Re­ formation vernacular documents with a Far­ oese provenance or connection survive, but they do not exhibit many characteristically Faroese features, and it is not certain they were written by natives ofthe islands or scribes trained there. With the Reformation, if not before, Danish gained a dominant position in the Faroes, becoming the language of all pub­ lic affairs and, Latin aside, the sole written medium (for more detail, see art. 194). The first sustained attempt to write Faroese was undertaken by the Faroeman Jens Christian Svabo. In the 1770s and 1780s he collected some fifty ballads from a variety of infor­ mants, devising his own orthography for the purpose. In the same period he also compiled several drafts of a Faroese dictionary, with

2008

xx . Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

glosses in Danish and Latin. Although hardly a language cultivator in the modern sense, Svabo was motivated by a clear vision of the linguistic future his countrymen faced. He considered Faroese to be almost irredeemably corrupted by Danish, and felt it would be bet­ ter to adopt the latter - as the language of the realm - in its full purity than persevere with a battered and broken form of Norse. He thought it was important, however, to pre­ serve something of Faroese for posterity, so that future generations should not be unaware of what the language had been like. In the course of the next hundred years or so Svabo's forebodings were confounded. In 1 8 1 1 the comparative philologist, Rasmus Rask, issued a brief description of Faroese phonology and morphology as an appendix to his Vejiedning til det Isiandske eller gamie Nardiske Sprag 'Guide to the Icelandic or Old Scandinavian Language'. A collection of bal­ lads recounting the Volsung legends Frer@iske Qvreder om Sigurd Fofnersbane og hans k:t - was published by the Danish pastor, Hans Christian Lyngbye, in 1 822, and this was followed by a translation of the Gospel ac­ cording to St Matthew in 1 823 and a Faroese version of the Icelandic Frereyinga saga 'Saga of the Faroe Islanders' in 1832, both the work of the Faroese pastor Johan Henrik Schr0ter. Around 1830 a Faroese grammar was com­ piled by Jacob Nols0e, brother of the more renowned "N6lsoyar Pall" (unpublished, but preserved in the Arnamagnrean collection in Copenhagen as manuscript AM 973 4to). Possibly inspired by the appearance of Frer@iske Qvreder, several collectors followed in Svabo's footsteps and from the 1 820s on began to write down ballads from the recita­ tion of informants. Other oral literature was also collected. Once again it is hard to view any of this activity as language cultivation in the strict sense. However, it reflects a change in attitude to Faroese that was a prerequisite for language cultivation - and ultimately planning. Across Europe, increasing aware­ ness of language history and linguistic rela­ tionships, coupled with belief in the individ­ uality of a nation's speech and its intimate connection with that nation's life, thought and history, led to the concept of language as an essential badge of national identity. In the years 1846-54 a young Faroese theo­ logy student, Venceslaus Ulricus Hammers­ haimb, published several Faroese texts, as well as a grammar of the language (1854), in an increasingly etymologically based ortho-

graphy (all reprinted in Hammershaimb 1969). In part he was doubtless prompted to this activity by the climate of the times - re­ inforced by the influence of the Icelandic scholar and patriot, Jon Sigurosson, with whom he became friendly as a student in Co­ penhagen. But more practical matters would also have been in his mind, such as the intro­ duction of compulsory schooling and the im­ possibility of teaching Faroese - if it were to be taught at all - in the absence of a fixed orthography. Language cultivation and plan­ ning questions clearly exercised Hammers­ haimb in his choice of orthography. All pre­ vious writers of Faroese had adopted a more or less orthophonic approach, but because a range of different pronunciations was heard throughout the islands, a fixed orthography based on speech would involve problematic decisions. Either one dialect must be promot­ ed in preference to others, or a norm must be built on a selection of features from different dialects. Both procedures would require a view about the suitability or unsuitability of par­ ticular forms of Faroese. Hammershaimb's adoption of an etymologically based ortho­ graphy was in part in reaction to these diffi­ culties, but he also considered his solution to offer several distinct advantages. An etymol­ ogical orthography would be easier for non­ Faroese readers, it would look more attrac­ tive, it would bring the Faroese people closer to the other Scandinavian languages and make these easier for them to learn. At what point, if at all, he reflected on the difficulties an ety­ mological orthography would pose for the Faroese layman trying to spell correctly is un­ clear. It was chiefly this problem that in the late 1880s prompted the Faroese philologist, Jakob Jakobsen, to propose a more ortho­ phonic spelling. Hammershaimb's anodyne reference to the matter in the introduction to Frer@sk anthologi ('Faroese Anthology', incor­ porating texts, revised grammar and a Fa­ roese-Danish glossary) disguises totally the fu­ rore the proposal caused (Hammershaimb 1891, lvi; cf. p. Iv on the reasons for adopting an etymological orthography). Jakobsen felt that if Faroese were to have a future at all, it must become easier for its speakers to master the written form. Only in that way could they successfully be given tuition in the language - a circumstance that Jakobsen argued would lead to greater understanding and appreci­ ation of Faroese, increasing respect for it and thus ultimately ensuring its survival (Jakobsen 1957, 24). The long and bitter dispute about

215. Language cultivation and language planning V: Faroe Islands

the orthography was in theory resolved in 1 895 when a committee established by the lo­ cal F@ringaJelag (the Faroese Society in the Faroes, created to promote the Faroese lan­ guage and national self-reliance) pronounced in favour ofHammershaimb's norm, with cer­ tain concessions to the orthophonic camp. The revised spelling, known as broyting '[the] change', was accepted by Jakobsen who fol­ lowed it faithfully for the rest of his life. Most others, however, reverted to Harnmershaimb's norm, which has been in use ever since. Jakobsen's concerns ranged far wider than orthography. In lexical matters he was some­ thing of a purist. He argued in favour of bringing back into general use "de gode f"'f0ske Ord, Former og Udtryk, som endnu leve" 'the good Faroese words, forms and ex­ pressions that are still alive', though he was much more cautious about the creation of neologisms to replace Danish words that had completely superseded their Faroese counter­ parts. He even went so far as to argue that "Sprogudvikling foregaar mekanisk, ikke for­ sretlig" 'language development proceeds me­ chanically, not through deliberate interven­ tion' (Jakobsen 1957, 25). In line with his thinking (but also because of the nature of the material), the glossary he compiled for Frer@sk anthologi contains little either in the way of Danish loans or neologisms. However, in his biography of Poul Nols0e ("Nolsoyar-Pall"), the first work of scholarship in Faroese publi­ shed 1908-12, Jakobsen does introduce a con­ siderable number of newly-coined Faroese words, the majority formed by compounding (e.g. einahandil 'trade monopoly', kodiveiting 'revolution [literally overturning]" avtikin mind 'photograph [lit. taken picture]'). Many of these neologisms have found a secure place in the language, but some have been ousted by simpler replacements (thus 'photograph' is now lj6smynd). Whatever the fate of individ­ ual items, the policy of "purifying" the lan­ guage by reviving old Faroese words and ex­ pressions and coining neologisms from native stock has been pursued with remarkable vig­ our and consistency down to modern times. A written norm needs not just an orthogra­ phy and a generally accepted stock of words, but also a standardized grammar. The three earliest attempts to describe the grammar of Faroese that have survived (ignoring Rask's heavily diachronic account of 1 81 1 ) are Jacob Nols0e's manuscript of ca. 1 830, Hammers­ haimb's 1854 monograph (revised 1 891) and J. Dahl's 1908 F@roysk m611rera til skuiabruks

2009

'Faroese grarnmarfor use in schools'. All three promote to a greater or lesser extent historical features at the expense oflivingFaroese. Geni­ tive forms of nouns and adjectives abound, for example; the 1st and 2nd person pI. verb endings are shown as -urn, -io respectively; and a distinction is made between 1st and 2nd per­ son dual and pI. pronouns. None of these fea­ tures appear to have been common in Faroese when the grammars were written, and they form little or in most cases no part of the col­ loquial language today. It is true that archaic features have a steadily diminishing role in the three works (they are also less prominent in Hammershaimb 1891 than in the 1 854 orig­ inal); that brackets are liberally disposed to indicate forms not in regular use; and that Hammershaimb in particular provides notes on dialectal variation. Nevertheless, the his­ torical perspective is marked. The reason for this is not merely the widespread influence of comparative philology in the nineteenth cen­ tury: it has as much or more to do with the conviction that deviation from the Old Norse ideal is a symptom of decay, and that steps should wherever possible be taken to restore the original position. This rather unfocused, possibly in part unconscious, attempt to cul­ tivate Faroese did not entirely end with the appearance of Dahl's grammar. While per­ sonal inflexion of plural verb forms has been abandoned, as also the dual-pI. distinction in the 1st and 2nd person pronouns - and various other archaisms - attempts to restore the geni­ tive case persist to this day. The endeavour to raise Faroese to the status of a national spoken and written language has of course had political and social as well as linguistic aspects. The long struggle to secure Faroese a place in the schools culminated in 1938 in a decision by the Danish Minister of Education to place the language on an equal footing with Danish. The Horne Rule Act of 1948 finally recognized Faroese as the princi­ pal language of the islands. In 1952 F@roya Fr6i5skaparJeiag 'The Learned Society of the Faroes' was formed, leading in 1965 to the founding of Frboskaparsetur F@roya 'The Faroese Academy'. The establishment in 1957 of Utvarp F@roya 'The Faroese Broadcasting Organization' was a highly significant devel­ opment, raising the status of Faroese among the general populace and providing a high­ profile and regular channel through which lin­ guistic usage could be influenced. More direct­ ly language-orientated was the Malstovnur 'Language Institute' of F@roya Frboskapar-

2010

xx. Special aspects of Nordic language history IV: Language cultivation and language planning

Jelag, set up in 1958. This was closed in 1993 following the establishment in 1985 of F@r­ oyska malnevndin 'The Faroese Language Committee', a publicly run body. F@royska malnevndin is "an advisory institute", and its mandate "encompasses the preservation, pro­ motion and development of the Faroese lan­ guage" . It provides advice and information on language questions, answers enquiries, and helps "in the coinage and selection of new words and expressions". It publishes a regular newsletter, Groa/ar, containing linguistic notes and advice on usage (www. frnn.fo). The codification of Faroese through the publication of grammars and dictionaries has proceeded somewhat unevenly. A Faroese­ Danish dictionary based on Jakobsen's glos­ sary in Frer@sk anthologi, but much expanded, came out in 1927. A second edition, revised and further expanded, appeared in 1961. A supplement volume followed in 1974. 1967 saw the first edition of a Danish-Faroese dic­ tionary, reissued with supplement in 1977 and completely revised in 1995. A personal and some�hat idiosyncratic venture was J6gvan via Anna's publication over the period 1961-77 of the four-volume work F@roysk malspilla og mair@kt: 6J@roysk-J@roysk oroab6k 'Faroese language corruption and language cultivation: Un-Faro ese-Faroese Dictionary'. The first English-Faroese dic­ tionary appeared in 1984, and a Faroese-Eng­ lish the following year (this a translation of the 1961 Faroese-Danish volume and 1974 supplement). A much larger English-Faroese dictionary was published in 1992. Then in 1998 carne F@roysk oroab6k - the first mono­ lingual Faroese dictionary, and with its 1483 pages considerably larger than any of its bi­ lingual counterparts. All of these dictionaries except the original Faroese-Danish, the 1992 English-Faroese, and J6gvan via Anna's work were published under the auspices of F@roya Fr6oskaparJelag. The Faroese lexicographers have been busier than their grammarian col­ leagues. Since Dahl's 1908 school grammar, the only serious attempt to describe the lan­ guage has been W. B. Lockwood's Introduction to Modern Faroese, a text-book for foreign learners. For the want of any native product, this 1955 work has achieved something of an iconic status and is regularly referred to in lin­ guistic literature.

3.

Aims

As can be seen from the brief history above, the chief aim of language cultivation in the Faroes has been to promote native speech from the status of a spoken idiom used almost exclusively in the horne and at work to that of a national language. This aim has been pur­ sued in a number of ways. The domains in which Faroese is used have been steadily in­ creased. The language has been codified by the production of grammars and dictionaries. Faroese has been introduced into schools and gradually made the normal language of tui­ tion. It has also been promoted as a subject in its own right to the point where it can be studied at the highest level. With the pervasive influence of Danish, much effort has been put into raising linguistic awareness and drawing a clear line of demarcation between Danish and Faroese. Language cultivation in the Faroes thus dif­ fers somewhat from that practised in countries with established national norms. In the latter the chief aim will usually be to encourage and assist people to use "good language", i. e. lan­ guage that facilitates communication. An­ other important task will be to safeguard the norm - to advocate a reasonably uniform type of speech and writing that leaves little room for uncertainty and misunderstanding. The difference between the two types of language cultivation situation has a number ofpractical consequences. Cultivators dealing with estab­ lished national norms observe features and developments and try to understand them. They may also occasionally attempt to steer language in directions they deem desirable, but by and large they follow where the native speaker leads. Their attitude is likely to be that you cannot buck linguistic trends any more than you can buck the markets. Faroese lan­ guage cultivators have up to now seen this lais­ sez-Jaire attitude as a luxury they could not afford. For them the question was the survival of their native tongue, which they equated with national survival. If Danish had so per­ meated everyday speech that, as has been ar­ gued, almost any Danish word or phrase could be given a Faroese pronunciation and used in conversation, there was a danger Faroese would eventually cease to exist as an inde­ pendent idiom. When compiling a dictionary or writing a grammar, therefore, or when pro­ nouncing on matters of usage, it was essential to distinguish genuine Faroese from Danish and to promote the former. A Faroese diction-

215. Language cultivation and language planning V: Faroe Islands

ary should not simply record, a grammar not simply present and analyse, linguistic usage; rather, both should serve as tools in the struggle to elevate native speech to the status of a national language. In keeping with this view dictionaries have until recently shunned many of the most commonly used words among speakers of Faroese, while the few grammars that have appeared have tended to describe the norm their authors hoped to es­ tablish rather than the many local varieties of which modern Faroese is in fact composed. An instructive account of differences between the Faroese "norm" and reality can be found in Lockwood 1950 (see also Weyhe 1987; 1 996a; 1996b). Although some now see the na­ tionalistic drive behind Faroese language cul­ tivation as outmoded, and the lexical purism as a quaint relic of the 19th c., the arguments in favour of these policies have some force. If Danish influence is eroding the inflexional sys­ tem of Faroese, and there is evidence that is indeed happening (cf. , e.g., Henriksen 1987, 258-60; the pages of the Faroese Language Committee's newsletter Groafar), Faroese could end up with a simplified morphology like that of the mainland Scandinavian lan­ guages (its syntax has already moved in the mainland direction). If. in addition, Danish words and phrases are accepted as the equals of Faroese, the final result could be a form of speech not unlike Dano-Norwegian - Danish on a Faroese phonological substratum. In terms purely of communication, such an out­ come is perhaps to be welcomed rather than deplored, but much of the reason for building a separate nation with its own institutions and way of life would then have gone. Further­ more, we are all impoverished by the death of a language, as Crystal cogently argues in Language Death (2000, 27-67).

4.

Achievements

Many, but by no means all, the aims of Faroese language cultivation as set out above have been achieved. Faroese is now the undis­ puted first language of the islands and the do­ mains in which it is appropriate to use it have expanded to include ahnost all walks of life. Only in some areas ofthe law and in the teach­ ing of subjects for which no Faroese-language text-books exist is Danish still a rival. The lack of a serviceable modern grammar not­ withstanding Faroese can now be considered to have achieved Ausbau status, defined by dictionaries and linguistic descriptions, by a

2011

fixed orthography and the availability of lit­ erature and instruction in the language. There is a range of stylistic models both in the spoken and written form. On the other hand, the aim of eradicating Danicisms has not been met (as regularly confirmed by the articles in GroaJar), although a number of neologisms have been taken into general use and some loans have been adapted to the Faroese morphological system. The inflexional system set out in gram­ mars and dictionaries continues to differ in many respects from those used by speakers of Faroese. Hammershaimb's etymologically based orthography is difficult for many to master, and spelling errors are commonplace in newspapers, magazines and even books. A major problem as seen by several Faroese commentators is the wide gap between literary and colloquial style. Literary style, which to a greater or lesser degree follows the norm es­ poused by language cultivators, is to be found in most types of printed Faroese and in public speaking. The horne of colloquial style is everyday speech and informal written com­ munication. There are, of course, areas in be­ tween, but most kinds of Faroese are recog­ nizable as being primarily literary or collo­ quial. This can lead to what one writer has called "systematic synonymy" (Thomsen 1992, 61 8), the colloquial language using a word of foreign origin, the written a purist neologism. Thus the word for 'ticket' in col­ loquial Faroese is billett, from French via Danish, while in the literary language it is eitherferoaseoil 'travel ticket' or atgongumerki 'admission ticket'. The use of billett in literary style would, as Thomsen notes, have different connotations from its use in colloquial style, as would feroaseoil or atgongumerki used in colloquial rather than literary context. This is but one example of the everyday reality of Faroese that remains uncodified because it conflicts with the language cultivation policies so far favoured. It would be difficult to admit to the existence of "systematic synonymy" without admitting the foreign words into the lexicon. Change may be on the way. Criticism of the policy of purism has increased in recent years (not least in the columns of the Faroese lan­ guage periodical Malting; see in particular issue 4, 2 - 1 1 ; 7, 2- 13 ; 8, 12-22; 20, 12-23; 28, 12-23; 29, 1 1 - 1 8). Meanwhile the 1995 Dan­ ish-Faroese dictionary marked a new depar­ ture by including large numbers of common Danicisms (e. g. begavaour < begavet 'gifted', nerv@sur < nerv@s 'nervous', pedagogur
as a sign for [s] was kept, for instance in civil. Also, < g > and in words like geni and jurnal were kept, mostly due to the fact that there was no uniform way of writing [I] in Swedish. A pro­ posal about introducing a special sign for this sound was suggested by a member of the Swedish Academy in the discussions before the publication of the treatise, but the propo­ sal was voted down. French nasals were writ­ ten < m > and < n > but Leopold anticipated that they would be pronounced in a Swedish way, which was an important general point. It was not enough, according to Leopold,just to change these words into Swedish spelling. This would be in vain "if the change in pro­ nunciation does not gradually accompany it and if Swedish spelling is not also expressed in speech" [Detta andamal sakes fargaves, om ej uttalets forandring kommer efterhand till hielp, och om ej svensk stafning, i talet, aven med svenskt ljud uttryckes] (Loman 1986, 32). As a consequence of this, French words like audiens, sentens, kadans, kompliment, briijant should be pronounced exactly according to the orthographic form. In the Grammar of the Swedish Academy (1836) some minor orthographic changes were made: < u > was changed to < y > in agree­ ment with pronunciation in words like attityd, blessyr, byst, gravyr, kalkyl, nyans, uvertyr. For some words, French spelling was kept: Jrisur, karikatur, konJus. The problem of [I] remained. French loanwords introduced many new ways of spelling this sound, and Swedish spelling even established a new way of writing these words - the German way, using < sch > in words like marsch, plansch. The section ofloanwords in Leopold's spell­ ing treatise begins with a warning about or­ thodox purism and a defence of indispensable foreign words whose meanings and special semantic nuances cannot be represented by native equivalents. These are valuable loan­ words that should be incorporated in Swedish vocabulary by way of native spelling and pro­ nunciation. A group of Academy members also compiled a list of such words in order to point out which words were necessary and which were not. Criticism against the spelling treatise ap­ peared before long. This was not surprising in view of the fact that a majority of the people who could read and write were fairly familiar with French spelling. In a letter to the editor of Dagligt Allehanda, the spelling /ojtnant 'lieutenant' was considered gibberish ifnot by

2083

chance "derivationen skulle harledas frin Loje" [the word should be derived from 'ridi­ cule'], and the writer asked if the newspaper had the right to "ridicule a title that the king himself refers to in another form in his au­ thorizations" . The king supported Leopold's ideas in prin­ ciple but had difficulties with many parts of the spelling treatise and asked for a simple summary. Leopold wrote a pedagogic version, giving much attention to the question of the spelling of the French loanwords, the point which was the principal subject of criticism. He found examples to show that Swedish neol­ ogisms were doomed to fail as substitutes, but these were perhaps not the best examples: bladgomma for portfoij and skrattritning for karikatyr. On the other hand, Leopold would not tolerate two spelling systems in the same Swedish text, not to speak of hybrids between French spelling and Swedish inflection. The king was satisfied, but this was just the cahn before the storm, what Leopold called "det orthografiska riksturnultet" [the orthographic national uproar]. Now, the king demanded that the Academy make a difference between words that could be said to "belong to Sweden" and words that "could keep their spelling, like foreign names and terms" (Lo­ man 1986, 34). This was done, but the king was not yet satisfied. In a letter he asked the Academy to write the words as before and "enrich the language with native words" until it had been made clear whether or not the foreign words could be left out altogether. It is interesting to note that the king acted from a point of view of linguistic purity. He was worried that an adapted French form would open the door for foreign words generally. A better way would be to let the foreign words demonstrate their alien status in writing and try to invent good Swedish equivalents. Leopold was no longer so sure. He main­ tained that the original list of foreign words was meant as a proposal, not a prescription. Time and usage should decide if it was a good proposal or not. By this time (1814) he noticed that the upper classes had continued to use French spelling, as did state departments and a majority of the press. He also blamed himself for having overlooked the possibility of coin­ ing native words. For example, he noted that the French word suckurs could very well be replaced by bistand or undsiittning or hjiilp­ siindning 'assistance'. But he did not produce a new wordlist, and this was the point where his spelling treatise - in the long run - "had

2084

XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

its most unquestionable success" (Loman 1986, 35). His ideas were promoted in 1829 when the Swedish writer Carl Jonas Love Almqvist published his Svensk Riittstafnings­ lara, which gave a pedagogic summary of Leo­ pold's treatise. In this form, the rules laid down by Leopold spread in the middle of the 19th C . , not least to the schools. Today, we can verify that Leopold's ideas from 1 801 are the foundation of modern Swedish orthogra­ phy (Santesson 2000, 87 -1 28). Minor changes were made in 1906, which was the end of a long discussion between the traditionalists more or less followers of Leopold - and advo­ cates of spelling reform. During the latter half of the 20th c., there is a clear tendency to borrow words in the orig­ inal fonn from French as well as from English. This tendency is easy to verify if we consider words dealtwith by Leopold but which existed in two variant forms, one adapted to Swedish and one in the original fonn, such as suvenirj souvenir, bulevardjboulevard, nugat/nougat, where today the French variant is the current form. Also, words which underwent spelling reform in 1801 are now sometimes borrowed again - but in their French fonn. One example is creme, which was given the fonn kram in 1801 with the meaning 'fruit cream' but was borrowed later in the fonn creme meaning '(whipped) cream' (as in French). Especially within the area of cooking ("kitchen French") many new words have been introduced in their original form: aioli, mousse, raelette, somme­ lier etc. This means that the words dealt with by Leopold which became current in their Swedish form have been kept until today, but new French loanwords are not adapted to the rules of 1 80 1 . Even i f there is a development towards using French spelling, this rule is not true as Leopold wished - with pronunciation. This can be illustrated by a few examples of the inconsistent pronunciation of some French loanwords (Hilhnan 1973, 216-220), namely words in -ansi-ens and -antl-ent: balans, ele­ gans, intolerans, leverans, nyans, relevans. For a long time, these words have shown individ­ ual differences, exhibiting both French-in­ spired and Swedish pronunciation. According to the Swedish Academy Glossary (12th ed.), the French pronunciation has been recom­ mended as the first choice (but the other way round for leverans). In a word like dementera, Swedish pronunciation is recommended [de­ ment1era], and in pension the French variant is the current one, but [pen1sjon] is also accep-

ted, although it is "by many people looked upon as uncultured" (Hilhnan 1973, 217). It is an interesting fact that the old social dif­ ferences from the 1 8th c. which resulted in jokes about people who did not master French and those who did still seem to be noticeable. 6.2. Danish has not had a radical spelling re­ fonn affecting French loanwords. That is why they have kept their original French forms up to now: pendant, salon, boudoir, tribune etc., where Swedish today has pendang, salong, budoar, tribun etc. By the time of the first of­ ficial Danish spelling reform in 1889, certain minor changes were made to adapt French loanwords to Danish spelling: the present-day words balkon, klike, exploitere, serviet, kul@r, molekyle, s[Cson, ingeni@r should be compared with the earlier forms balcon, clique, exploiter, serviette, couleur, molecule, saison, ingenieur. Apart from these changes, the French sounds have been kept. For instance, a word like ouverture should be pronounced [over1ty · rg]. Late proposals to modify the spelling of French words have met with very strong re­ sistance (the latest discussions have been called majolJ1ese-krigen 'the mayonnaise war'). 6.3. Between 1380 and 1 814, Norway was in a union with, and part of, the kingdom ofDen­ mark. In Norway, Danish had a dominant po­ sition, during the first period of the union as the language of the Church and as the lan­ guage of the law. Also, for a long time, all literature in Norway was published in Danish. Purist ideas about language could just as well be claimed by Norwegians as by Danes. How­ ever, in the 1 8th c., the gap between speech and writing was considered a pedagogic pro b­ lem by many school teachers and government officials. Norwegian collections of words and phrases as well as grammars were published. But on the whole, Norwegian literature was published in Danish, and even much later many writers had Danish publishers (e.g. Ibsen, Bj0rnson, Kielland, Lie etc.). After the dissolution of the union in 1814, there was growing discussion in Norway about the role of the mother tongue, and es­ pecially how it should be written. Ivar Aasen (1 8 13 - 1 896) wanted to form a new written language, "Landsmalet", to replace Danish. He was opposed by more moderate linguists like Knud Knudsen, who wanted to see a Nor­ wegian adaptation of the Danish written lan­ guage. Ivar Aasen had purist ideas about the treatment of loanwords in Norwegian. The

223. Language contact outside Scandinavia IV: with France

native language repertoire was sufficient, and if one needed a new word, it could be formed from existing Norwegian vocabulary. He was primarily opposed to the Germanisms, but he could accept Latin words. French words were also a problem: " . . . Ogsaa for franske Ord, synes mig, man b0r holde Sproget reent, paa Grund af disse Ords forvanskede Form og af­ vigende Udtale" [Also from French words, I believe, language should be kept pure, owing to the corrupt form and divergent pronunci­ ation of these words] (Vinje 1978, 140). The conflict between the supporters of the two Norwegian languages "Nynorsk" and "Bokmal" continued during the 1 9th c., and not until 1 885 was a language law passed con­ firming the equality of the two forms of writ­ ing. A set of reforms regulating spelling were passed in 1907 and 1917, for instance for Latin and French words: nasjon 'nation', sentrum 'centre', sjokolade 'chocolate' etc. Later re­ forms regulated how alternatives should be handled, which form should be optional and which should be obligatory. The present-day spelling of French words in Norwegian is rad­ ical and is closely linked to speech. Ifwe com­ pare the Nordic languages in this respect, the most conservative position is taken by Danish, and Swedish is positioned somewhere in be­ tween.

7.

Literature (a selection)

Allen, Sture/Loman, Bengt/Sigurd, Bengt (1986), Svenska Akademien och svenskasprbket. Stockholm. Bergman, Gosta (1968), Knrtfattadsvensk sprbkhis­ toria. Stockhohn. Dahlerup, Verner (1921), Det danske Sprogs Histo­ rie. 2nd ed. K0benhavn. Danielsson, Sylvia (1976), Samuel Columbus' sprbk­ program i En swensk ordeskotsel (Umea Studies in the Humanities 9). Vmea. Edlund, Lars-Erik (1988), Franskans inilytande pa svenskans ordforrad nagra tankar kring ett kapitel i var sprakhistoria. In: Studier i svensk sprbkhistoria (ed. G. Pettersson). Lund, 23 42. Edlund, Lars-Erik/Hene, Birgitta (1992), Llmord i svenskan. Hoganas.

2085

Engwall, Gunnel (1994), Svenskt och franskt. In: Arv och lm i i svenskan. Sju uppsatser om ordforradet i kulturstrommarnas perspektiv. Stockhohn, 51 62. Fries, S. (1967), Linnes resedagbocker. In: Svenska Linne-siillskapets arsskrift 49, 1966, 28 64. Gellerstam, Martin (1994), Ordforradets harled­ ning. In: Arv och Ian i svenskan. Sju uppsatser om ordforradet i kulturstrommarnas perspektiv. Stock­ holm, 1 12. Hellquist, Elof (1929), Det svenska ordforradets al­ der och ursprung. Lund. Hilhnan, Rolf (1973), Forskjutningar i uttalet av frammande ord i svenskan. Nagra iakttagelser i SAOL. In: Svenska studier fran rWltid till nutid till­ iignade Carl Ivar Stahle (SNSS 48). Stockhohn, 210 220. Ingers, Ingemar (1958), Franska lanord i folkma­ len. In: Studier i nordisk sprakvetenskap fran Lunds universitet. Lund, 149 153. Leopold, C.G.jRosenstein, Nils von (1801), AI­ handling om svenska stafsiittet (Svenska Akade­ miens Handlingar 1796: 1). Stockholm. Lindroth, Sten (1975), Svensk liirdomshistoria: Medeltiden, Reformationstiden. Stockholm. Loman, Bengt (1986), "En Inrattning, agnad endast till Sprakets forbattring". In: Svenska Akademien och svenska sprbket (eds. Sture Allen/Bengt Loman/ Bengt Sigurd). Stockhohn, 1 141. Nordfelt, Alfred, Om franska lanord i svenskan. In: Studier i modern sprakvetenskap utgivna av Nyfilologiska siillskapet i Stockholm. No. 2 (1901), no.9 (1924), no. 10 (1928), no. 12 (1934), no. 14 (1940), no. I S (1944). Uppsala. Pettersson, Gertrud (1996), Svenska spraket under sjuhWldra ar. Lund. Santesson, Lillemor (2000), Leopolds forteckning over frammande ord 1801 en diakronisk studie av ordurval och stavning. In: SS NF 10, 87 128. Skautrup, Peter (1944 1970), Det danske sprogs his­ torie 1 5. K0benhavn. Stahle, Carl-Ivar (1982), Foreign iniluence on the Swedish language in the 17th century. In: NS 62, S 17. Strindberg, August (1992), Svensk-romanska studier (Nationalupplagan). Stockholm. Vik0r, Lars S. (2001), The Nordic Languages. 2nd ed. Oslo. Vinje, Finn-Erik (1978), Et sprdk i utvikling. Oslo.

Martin Gellerstam, Gothenburg (Sweden)

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224.

XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

Language contact outside Scandinavia V: Loans from Latin and Greek

1. 2. 3.

The background to the loans from Latin and Greek Classical loans: a diachronic survey Literature (a selection)

1.

The background to the loans from Latin and Greek

1.1.

Foreign influxes: The problem

Throughout history, the Scandinavian peoples have been subject to massive influence from culturally superior countries. So have the Nordic languages. Since these were spoken by tribes situated in the northern periphery of Western Europe which were always culturally less developed, they were bound to be dominated languages, always in need of new words and phrases to express the new objects, inventions, social structures and abstract con­ cepts that were imported through cultural in­ fluence. The main epochs of this constant influx are easily discernible: (1) the ancient times (up to about 1000 A.D.) when Scandinavia experi­ enced early, weak influences first from the Ro­ man Empire and then from Medieval Chris­ tian Europe; (2) the Nordic Middle Ages, when the northern countries were integrated into the Christian European civilization; (3) Early modern and modern times. From the beginning of the Nordic Middle Ages, the impact of the classical languages was far-reaching and large-scale. We must deal, however, with varying kinds of influences du­ ring various periods; words and phrases have taken different ways, and separate areas ofhu­ man activity exhibit their own specific borrow­ ings. A large part of this article is thus devoted to basic conceptual analysis, which seems necessary: It will not be sufficient to state just that a certain word 'is Latin' or that it 'is Greek'. It is important to make distinctions in this field and demonstrate the various senses of the phrase 'of classical origin'. Hence, it is necessary to start with the gen­ eral background and make some fundamental distinctions and definitions. I shall first draw a picture of the role played by Latin in Euro­ pean civilization during the various periods, then give an outline of the function of the Greek element (1.2.- 1 .3.). The conclusions will lead to a methodological discussion (1.4.).

On the basis of all this, I pass to an exposition of the classical loans in a diachronic perspec­ tive (2. 1.-2.3.). A great part of this article will deal with general issues that are valid for many European languages, not only the Scandina­ vian tongues. 1.2.

The dominance of Latin

Latin ceased to be a spoken vernacular lan­ guage at the end of Classical antiquity. Through a gradual process the idiom was con­ verted, in various ways in various regions, to the Romance dialects and languages that are spoken today. But during the whole of the Middle Ages, Latin was still the language of the learned world and of the Church. The Renaissance saw the return to the purer Classical Latin and to the study of Greek. At the same time, this period also witnessed the rise of the vernaculars all over Western Euro­ pe. It is important, however, to realize that Latin held its position as the learned language much longer than is generally believed. It is true that over time there was a steady absolute and proportional increase in books printed in the vernaculars. It is necessary, however, to make distinctions here: the figures we see are usually based on all the edited titles; from such surveys we get an impression of a rapid rela­ tive decrease in works in Latin. However, if we investigate the figures for scholarly and scientific works, it becomes clear that in these areas Latin was dominant much longer than most people realize. For example, up to 1680, the majority of the books exhibited at the Frankfurt Fair were in Latin; of the works published in Oxford between 1690 and 1710, more than 50 per cent were in Latin; of all the publications mentioned in Bibliotheque raisonnee des ouvrages des savants de I'Europe (1728-1740), 3 1 per cent were still in Latin (Waquet 1998, 102ff.). In many European countries, academic dissertations were nor­ mally written in Latin at least up to the be­ ginning of the 19th c. So up to the 1 8 th c., Latin was still the main vehicle for ideas, de­ bates, scholarly works and the rapidly devel­ oping sciences. It was consequently absolutely necessary to be able to express oneself in also the phenom­ ena of modern society and all the branches of the sciences. This made neologisms necessary.

224. Language contact outside Scandinavia V: Loans from Latin and Greek

The coining ofnewwords was always accepted in factual Latin prose. It was explicitly stated that new knowledge and new ideas postulated nova vocabula artis (new words belonging to the arts and the sciences). A great many new Latin words were thus coined, as technical terms, by means of new derivations based on existing sterns. The biological sciences needed words to describe the properties of various species (fiaveovirens 'yellowish-green', ten­ uicaulis 'with a slender stern', and hundreds of others). The nascent discipline of physics needed a new terminology: Galileo used iner­ tia 'inactivity', a common word in ancient Latin, in a new sense as a technical term, which Newton integrated into his general theory in his Philosophiae naturalis princ pia i mathemat­ ica (1687). In this work Newton also introduc­ ed the terms centripetus and centrifugus, com­ pound adjectives which he had created. The coining of new compound words was for natural reasons a popular solution. Especially in that area, the Latin vocabulary was often felt to be insufficient. Instead, the resources of Greek were systematically exploited in a cre­ ative process that has generated hundreds of technical terms, from the Renaissance up to our own time (see below the latter part of 1.3.1.). It was common for learned works written in the vernacular to be quickly translated into Latin in order to reach an international public. Galileo's Dialogo intorno ai due massimi sis­ temi del mondo became known to Europe pri­ marily through the Latin edition of1635. Des­ cartes' work on physics was also spread and studied abroad by means of a Latin transla­ tion by Jacques Rohault that saw six editions between 1682 and 1739 (Waquet 1998, 1 07f.). It is important to keep in mind that educated people learnt absolutely everything they knew by means of literature written in Latin. This holds true for all disciplines, including the sciences. Against this background, it is to be expected that Latin words should play an important role in the vocabulary of the Europan lan­ guages quite generally, and that they should constitute a vital part of the vocabulary of the Nordic languages. And Latin influence is not limited to vocabulary: Latin syntax and sen­ tence structure formed the inevitable and highly influential patterns when the vernacu­ lar languages began to be written and a literary standard had to be established. Here I shall, however, leave aside borrowings of this syn­ tactic and stylistic kind and instead concen­ trate on vocabulary.

2087

It must always be borne in mind that Latin words entered the Nordic languages in various ways, which initially creates a rather confused picture. However, the analysis will be facili­ tated if we keep the following fundamental facts in mind: (a) A Latin word may be borrowed in one of the following ways: (1) Directly from (1. 1.) Ancient Latin, or (1.2.) Medieval Latin, or (1.3.) Neo-Latin vo­ cabulary; (2) Indirectly, having been transmitted through another language, e. g. German, Italian, French or English, from (2.1.) Ancient Latin, or (2.2.) Medieval Latin, or (1.3.) Neo-Latin vocabulary; (b) In the Romance languages, Latin vocabu­ lary is indigenous; the Latin words are na­ tive there (the mots populo ires) , having de­ veloped in various ways but still being in­ herited from Latin and constituting the core of the vocabulary. In addition to these native Latin words, these languages possess another kind of Latin vocabulary, viz. the words that were taken - mostly during the Renaissance and onwards - di­ rectly from Latin vocabulary (the mots sa­ vants). Well-known examples of these two categories are the pairs frete -fragile (both from fragilis); chose - cause (both from causa); en tier - integre (both from integer). The basic distinctions here made under (a) and (b) will turn out to be most relevant in our further analysis (see 1 .4.). But we shall not be able to pass to our methodological consider­ ations before we have looked into the nature of the Greek element. 1 .3.

The Greek element

1 .3 . 1 .

Greek transmitted through the Latin vocabulary

1 .3 . 1 . 1 . In ancient Latin Since early times, Greek loanwords have played an important role in the Latin lan­ guage. The superior Greek civilization was bound to influence other Mediterranean cul­ tures. Greek products of all kinds and Greek works of art found their way to Roman con­ sumers very early, Greek techniques were imitated and emulated, and Greek knowledge in various fields gradually became a natural part of the training of the Roman upper classes.

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XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

Objects and concepts, as usual, were accom­ panied by words. This is noticeable from the very beginnings of ancient Latin literature. Al­ ready the comedies of Plautus (about 200 B.C.) bear eloquent witness to the steady in­ flux of Greek words into everyday Latin. Many of these loans adapted to Latin sounds very early. Mildly distorted and dressed in semi-Latin garb, they scarcely betray their foreign provenance. It is reasonable to assume that very many of them were not thought of as being alien to the Latin tongue. There are many such words belonging to the everyday sphere: Many important nautical terms are in fact of Greek origin: prora 'prow' (npcppa); carina 'keel' (cf. lCapuov); ancora 'anchor' (/iyxupu); nauta 'sailor' (vu(n:lls). The same is the case for words for wine vessels and household equipment: amphora, ampulla 'vessel with two handles' [ampulla is the Latin diminutive]; pat­ ina 'shallow dish' (nu'tuvll); cista 'wooden box or basket' (lC1mYj); lampas 'lamp' (Auflrra,), to mention just a few. The sphere of commerce exhibits many words of Greek origin: nummus 'coin' (ultimately from V0J.-l0s); mina 'the silver mina' (money of account) (flva); talentum 'tal­ ent' (a large sum of money, sometimes 60 minae) (,aAuv,ov). Some words belonging to the organization of city life were also loans, such as macellum 'provision market' (J.-lUlC£A­ AOV) and platea 'open place' (rrAu,£lu). So were words related to houses, more refined liv­ ing, physical exercise and cultural activities: architectus (UPXt't£lC'tCOV); palaestra (nuAuicr­ 'pu); scaena (alCYjvi) ; theatrum (Si:u,pov); schola (axoAi) , and very many names of min­ erals and materials of all kinds: alabastrum '[box made of] alabaster stone' (uAl.t�umpo,); crystallum 'chrystal' (lCPOcr'tUAAOs); marmor 'marble' (flaPfluPO,); porphyrites 'porphyry' (rro pcj lU p hYj'). Names of animals were also often borrowed from Greek, such as balanus 'shell-fish' (�aAuvo,); concha 'mussel' (lCayxy\), likewise numerous names of plants and herbs like ab­ sinthium 'absinth', 'wonnwood' (u'VivStov); cuminum 'cummin' (lC0J.-ltVOV); hyacinthos 'hyacinth' (MlCtvSo,); paeonia 'peony' (natcoviu). Many of these herbs were medici­ nal and their names bear witness to the intro­ duction of Greek pharmacopoeia and Greek medicine and therapy. So do the many names ofvarious states ofill-health, such as diarrhoea (otappotu), gangraena (yayypmvu), glaucoma (YAu6lCCOflU), haemorrhagia (ulflOPPUY1u), ophthalmia (Oq,SUAfl1U), spasmus (aMafla,). =

We may notice here that the Romans had no need to borrow anatomical names - their own language of course had the expressions for the various parts ofthe body (caput, oculus, nasus, abdomen, manus, pes, etc.). But they borrowed the Greek technical names for illnesses. Con­ sequently, Greek medical loanwords often be­ long to the sphere of pathology, whereas the anatomical names are mostly Latin. This divi­ sion turned out to be fundamental for the fur­ ther development of medical terminology (see under 1.3 .1 .2. and 2.3.). Quite generally, the sciences entered the Ro­ man world with Greek words naming the vari­ ous disciplines and expressing their concepts: arithmetica (UptSJ.-lll'ttlCll), mathematica (fluSYjflunlCi) , physica (q,UcrtlCi) , astronomia (umpovofl1U) etc. At the end of Classical antiquity, victorious Christianity brought with it new words for Christian religious concepts, practices and in­ stitutions. These new words were often Greek, which was quite natural: the text of the New Testament was in Greek, and the Christian church first developed in the Greek-speaking eastern part of the Empire. From the second century A.D. and onwards, many important Christian words were thus integrated into the Latin language, e.g. angelus (/iYY£AO,), apos­ tata (urroma,Yj,), apostolus (urraawAo,), baptisma (�arrnaflu), clerus (lCAllPO,), dia­ conus (OtalCOvo,), ecclesia (l;lClCAYja1u), epi­ scopus (I;rr1alCorro,), presbyter (rrp£(J�6,£po,). Ancient Latin thus assimilated many Greek words. The degree of assimilation varied, however, with different genres and levels of language. The main tendencies can be sum­ marized in the following somewhat simplified manner: in Latin literary prose and poetry, there were always puristic tendencies, and words of obvious Greek provenance were avoided. In the sciences, the situation was of course different: more pragmatic attitudes reigned and technical tenns of Greek origin were accepted without hesitation. And in the popular language, there does not seem to have been any xenophobic reactions: Greek words for everyday items and practices were as a rule eagerly adopted. 1.3 .1 .2. From the Renaissance onwards The Middle Ages changed little as far as the Greek component of the Latin language is concerned. The medieval situation in that re­ spect must be regarded as one of status quo: knowledge of Greek was a rare thing in west-

2089

224. Language contact outside Scandinavia V: Loans from Latin and Greek

ern Europe. The part of Latin vocabulary that was Greek was still there, and it became through sheer ignorance even more integrated into general Latin vocabulary; the process very often led to corruptions and perversions of the Greek words, whose morphemes were not understood. New borrowings did not oc­ cur. The Renaissance changed all this in a most radical way: at the very core of this epoch­ making intellectual revolution was the aspi­ ration to return ad fontes for inspiration and knowledge, which made the study of Greek an integral part of standard Humanist educa­ tion. From then on, the resources ofthe Greek vocabulary were fully exploited. The conse­ quences for the European languages including the Nordic tongues were far-reaching, and I think that they have usually not been suffi­ ciently stressed. To begin with, Renaissance scholars cleansed the Greek words in their Latin language from medieval orthographical distortions and restored the correct form and spelling of this part ofthe vocabulary. Second­ ly, they gradually started to make use of Greek stems, prefixes and suffixes in order to create new words. These neologisms usually do not appear in belletristic Latin works, but do in scholarly and scientific treatises. The sciences, which were rapidly developing, needed new words to describe new findings and new con­ cepts. Latin neologisms were of course used to meet the demand for new words, but in many fields scholars and scientists also utilized the resources of the Greek language, using the well-known stems in new constellations, and in the overwhelming majority of instances they did so in an excellent way, quite in ac­ cordance with classical rules of word compo­ sition. It must be remembered that there were two good reasons for making use ofthe Greek resources. In the first place, the vocabulary of ancient Greek was much richer than that of ancient Latin. Secondly, it is much easier to form composite words from Greek stems than from Latin. Hundreds of neologisms were created in this way. During the period when Latin was still dominant in the learned world and in the sciences, i.e. well into the 1 8th c., these new Greek-based words were very often transmit­ ted and introduced to the learned world through treatises in Latin. Since they appeared in a Latin context, their forms were slightly adjusted to suit their medium. The Latin neu­ ter ending in -um thus commonly was sub­ stituted for the Greek ending in -ov. These

neologisms were e.g. designations for new dis­ ciplines or new branches of the sciences: phra­ seologia (q,pam, 'phrase' + -Aoria, 'knowl­ edge about'; coined in 1 558); ichthyologia (lXeD, 'fish'; coined around 1650); phonologia (q,covi] 'voice'; coined probably in the 1790ies) or names of newly invented instruments: barometrum (�apo, 'weight' + fl'''POV, 'measure'; coined around 1660 [Boyle]), ther­ mometrum (8£PJ..los 'hot'; coined around 1 600), telescopium (n \ A£- 'far off' + (J1(01 R (> r) (R-um­ laut). NS sairi, sarji 'wound, sore' (ON sar, Norw. sar 'wound') was borrowed before the change *ai > a took place (Sk6ld 1961 , 1 1 0). In the place-name Mahkaravju (name of the island where North Cape is situated), avju reflects the Proto-Nordic form of Norw. @y 'island' . The name ofthe river Namsen in Tr0ndelag, SS Laakese, seems to reflect Proto-Nordic

*laguz (Bergsland 1964), which may be con­ sidered strong evidence of early Sami use of the land in the south and therefore is of much value in the ongoing debate on Sami land rights issues in Norway. With modernization, many new concepts have entered Sami through Scandinavian languages, like biila 'car', organisasuvdna 'organization', bb:rjku 'bank' and many others. Korhonen has es­ timated the number of Nordic loans in all Sami languages at over 3,000 (Korhonen 1981, 46), and new loans are being taken up con­ tinuously. The entire temporal auxiliary verb system in Sami and Finnish may have developed as a result of contacts with Germanic. The basic word order in Finno-U gric seems to have been SOY, which is still preserved in some of the daughter languages like SS and Hungarian. In the other Sami languages, as in Finnish, the basic order is SVO, which probably is a result of contact with Germanic and Scandi­ navian languages. The old habitive construc­ tion of the type NS mus lea beana 'I have a dog' has partly been replaced in the west by a construction modelled on Nordic (and Ger­ manic)jeg har 'I have' using the Sami counter­ part of ha, hava, SS utnedh: manne bi"enjen atnam 'I have a dog'. Analytic constructions with prepositions like NS beana manna cada ealu 'the dog goes through the herd' must also be seen in the light of Scandinavian languages. Constructions with postpositions are old, but the more extensive use of analytic instead of synthetic constructions with cases can most certainly be attributed to foreign influence, both Scandinavian and Russian (Bartens 1978, 191). Most of the conjunctions in Sami have been borrowed from outside, mainly from Finnish and many ultimately from Ger­ manic, like NS, LS, IS ja 'and', but some are from Scandinavian like SS, LS men 'but' in the western Sami languages. Subordinate sen­ tence constructions like NS eadni logai ahte eanu boahta 'mother said that uncle is corning' (ahte 'that' is a Germanic loanword borrowed via Finnish) seem to be innovations which have partly replaced or are used alternatively with sentence equivalent constructions. Many modal verbs in Sami have a Scandinavian origin (Koskinen 1998). In SS, numeral con­ structions resemble the Scandinavian con­ structions with a plural head: SS golme maanah 'three children' (numeral + noun nom.pl.), while the northern type golbma mana (numeral + noun gen.sg.) represents the older type. A kind of "definite article" and

227. Linguistic minorities in Scandinavia I: Indigenous minorities

"indefinite article", both originally foreign to Sami, are used in the western Sami languages in constructions like NS viesus leai okta bussa 'there was a cat in the house' and NS dat bassi vuoiglJa 'the Holy Spirit', where okta is the numeral 'one' and dat is a demonstrative pro­ noun. A fonnal subject, previously foreign to Sami, is very often found in constructions like NS dat lei idja 'it was night'. Postposed at­ tributes of the type NS namma gavpogis 'the name of the city' tend to replace the old con­ struction with preposed attributes, gavpoga namma (Helander 1997). Influence from Sami on the Scandinavian languages is more limited. The most numerous examples can be seen in place-names that have been given a Scandinavian fonn like Keb­ nekaise from NS Giebnegaisi (giebnie 'kettle', gaisi 'high mountain'; gaisi is probably itself a Nordic loan reflecting *gaiza, Collinder 1964, 75) and Kiruna from NS Giron 'ptarmi­ gan' in Sweden. They abound over most of northern Norway and northern Sweden. Words denoting special Sami artifacts and phenomena have been taken up in Norwegian: komager 'Sami summer brogue' (NS gama 'shoe'),joik 'Sami singing' Uuoigat 'to sing in the Sami way'), lavvo 'Sami tent' (Iavvu) and in Sw. jokk 'small river' (NS johka, SS johke), tolka 'drive with an animal while standing on skis' (LS ddllkat), hark 'draught-reindeer' (NS heargi). Locally in the north expressions like ga gaikko 'go asunder' are reported (NS gaikodit) (Bull 1996). The construction type Eaten blir a ga imorra 'The boat will leave tomorrow' with bli + infinitive is possibly borrowed from Sami (Iversen 1996, Vannebo 1 996).

3.

Meiinkieli and Kveeni

Meankieli is also indigenous in the sense that its historical roots can be dated back to the time before the Swedish state was established. The number of speakers have been estimated at 35,000-75,000 (Birger Winsa, personal communication). The core area consists of 5 communities in northern Sweden. Kveeni is a collective name for the immigrants to Norway in the 18th and 19th centuries (estimated at 1 0,000) and their successors. It also refers to their language. The number of regular speakers has been estimated at 2,000 today (Huss 1999, 93), while the figure probably would be several thousands (according to an optimistic estimate even 5,000-7,000 or more) if everyone who understands some Finnish or

21 1 7

Kveeni is counted. Kveeni has traditionally been used in many communities in the two northernmost counties of Norway. Today the population is scattered over most parts of northern Norway and probably also in other parts of the country. An argument in favour of the indigenousness of Kveeni used today by many of its speakers and the Kveeni move­ ment is that many of its characteristics have been developed where it is spoken today. Both the Meiinkieli and the Kveeni dialects exhibit in principle many of the same kinds of impact from the Scandinavian languages in phonology, morphology and syntax as Sami does. The main reason for this is that they have been separated from standard Finnish since before the development of a Finnish literary language. The other reason is their minority status. In phonology, new phonotactic pat­ terns like /str-/ are found in loanwords like stryktyyri 'structure' (Kenttii/Wande 1992, 98) and /fr-/ as inJreistaa 'to try' (Beronka 1922, 101). The phoneme /f/ has been introduced in these dialects also. Loanwords are frequent. Utvik (1966) lists some 600 loans from Nor­ wegian found in Kveeni written sources. Examples likefierua 'beach' « fjeere), tormit 'storm' « storm), soytta 'fishing boat' « sk@yte) (Beronka 1922) could be multiplied many times. Loans from Sami are also fre­ quent, like autsi 'narrow valley' « NS avii 'valley'), kaisa 'big or high mountain (with snowon the top)' ( < NS gaisa), ortta 'the tree­ line on a mountain slope' « NS orda) and outa 'forest, forest area' « NS vuovdi). In Meiinkieli we find examples like tooki ( < tag) 'train', piili « bill 'car' and preivi « brev) 'letter', obvious loans from Swedish (Kenttii/ Wande 1992). A more extensive use of pre­ positions as in poyan paala 'on the table', standard Finnish poydalla, is also character­ istic for Meiinkieli (Ehrnebo 1997, 1 30). The indefinite article is used in the same way as in Scandinavian-influenced Sami: kerran oli yks kuninkas 'there was once a king' (Beronka 1 922, 101). Word order (verb + subject) shows influence from Scandinavian in ques­ tions and in subordinate clauses: Missa owat talon ihmiset? 'Where are the people who live on this farm?' (Qvigstad 1925, 16). Whether Meiinkieli and Kveeni should be seen as languages in their own right depends on the criteria used for such categorization. Linguistically it seems to be most natural to define them as dialects of Finnish. Meankieli is more homogeneous than Kveeni, which has no isoglosses that could define it as an entity

21 1 8

XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V : Language contact

in relation to the rest of the Finnish dialects. Sociologically and politically, however, it is understandable that the Kveeni and the Tor­ nedalians have a wish to underline the inde­ pendence of their languages.

4.

The status of the minority languages

All these three minority groups have been the object of rather strong national assimilation policies. Active assimilation policies affecting the Sarni started 400 years ago with the missionaries' attack on their old religion and on cultural elements that were considered to have close links with this religion. The Swedish and Danish/Norwegian policy towards the Sami starting in the 17th c. was based on po­ litical and economic competition between the states for control over the northern areas. Missionary activity along with the building of churches and schools was an important instru­ ment in these endeavours. After the settling of the borders in 1751 and 1 826, a more na­ tionalistic policy could be developed. The at­ titudes towards both the Sarni and Finnish minorities were mainly positive in Norway and Sweden, up to the last part of the 19th c. Both in Norway and in Sweden, the 19thc. was characterized by an increase in settlers and industrialization in the Sami areas. From the middle of the 19th c. a gradual change of attitude towards the Sami and the Finnish­ speaking immigrants occurred in Norway, eventually leading to a long, destructive cam­ paign against the cultures and languages of these minorities which continued until the 1960s. In Sweden the change carne at the turn of the 20th century. A stronger assimilation policy was gradually pursued towards both the Sami and Tornedalians. It was forbidden to use Sami and Finnish even during the breaks at schools, and pupils could be severely punished ifthey broke these rules. The reasons for these policies in Norway and Sweden were of a political and ideological nature, including also racist motivations. Since the 1950s and 1960s, a new and more pluralistic view has gradually given Sami, Kveeni and Meankieli a new chance to survive and even to develop within certain limits. A "horne language instruction" system has been introduced both for immigrant children and for Sami, Tornedalian and Gypsy children in Sweden. The indigenous minorities do not have any major special linguistic rights com-

pared to newly arrived immigrant groups (Wingstedt 1998, 59). In Norway and Finland, new political re­ forms during the 1980s and 1990s have led to a recognition of the Sami as a distinct people in the constitutions and the individual right for Sami children in Norway to have Sami as a subject in schools and even as a language of tuition from 1998. In Finland, the Sami lan­ guage was introduced into primary schools in 1970, and its status has been strengthened in the Finnish school system since then. The Kveeni minority in Norway has been given the right to have Finnish as a second language in primary schools since 1998. In 1992, language legislation was enacted in Norway and Finland which guarantees Sami speakers certain rights when dealing with the local administration, courts, health services and the church (Magga 1994; Greller 1996). In Sweden similar legislation was intro­ duced in 2000 for speakers ofSami and Mean­ kieli. The use of Sami and Meankieli in schools, newspapers and radio/TV and the publication of books in these languages have increased, although Kveeni is used less in the media and there are few printed publications in this lan­ guage. All this has strengthened the status of these languages. In spite of this, the use of Sami, Kveeni and Meankieli has declined for Sami not so much in numbers than geo­ graphically. In the southern and in the coastal areas, the struggle for survival has mainly been lost. The impression is that Sami is more regu­ larly taught to children by their parents than Kveeni and Meankieli is. Reliable data are, however, lacking for all three groups.

5.

Conclusion

All three groups and their languages have suf­ fered heavily from earlier policies, because language development is best achieved by the use of a language in society. These languages were used only in the private domain during a period when so many new concepts and products were introduced to the general pub­ lic. Today there is a much more positive cli­ mate. However, many ofthe negative attitudes from the past prevail. The survival of Sami, Kveeni and Meankieli is therefore far from having been ensured, even if much good lin­ guistic and political work has been carried out in order to safeguard and develop these lan­ guages.

227. Linguistic minorities in Scandinavia I: Indigenous minorities

6.

Literature (a selection)

21 1 9

Koivulehto, Jorma (1976), Vanhimmista germaani­ sista lainakosketuksista ja niiden ikaamisesta I II. In: Virittaja 80, 33 47, 247 290.

Aikio, Marjut/Lindgren, Anna-Riitta (1982), Den finske minoriteten i Nord-Noreg. In: Nordnorsk. Sprbkarv og sprbkforholdi Nord-Noreg (eds. T. Bull/ K. Jetne). Oslo, 118 133.

Koivulehto, Jonna (1988), Lapin ja itamerensuo­ men suhteesta. leur.-Tr-yhtyman korvautuminen lainoissa. In: Virittaja 92, 26 51.

Aikio, Marjut (1990), The Finnish perspective: Lan­ guage and ethnicity. In: Arctic languages. An awakening (ed. D . R . F. Collis). Vend6me, 366 400.

Koivusalo, Esko (1997), Finska spraket. In: Nor­ dens sprbk (eds. A. Karker/B. Lindgren/S. L0land). Oslo, 1 1 0 129.

Bartens, Raija (1978), Synteettiset ja analyyttiset rakenteet lapin paikanilmauksissa (Memoires de la Societe Finno-Ougrienne 166). Helsinki.

Korhonen, Mikko (1981), Johdatus lapin kielen his­ toriaan. Helsinki.

Bergsland, Knut (1964), To samiske navn pa Nam­ sen lant fra nordisk. In: MM 1964, 136 147.

Koskinen, Arja (1998), Toiminnan valttamattomyys ja mahdollisuus. (Memoires de la Societe Finno­ Ougrienne 231). Helsinki.

Bergsland, Knut (1991), Stedsnavn som historisk kilde. In: Sami kulturmuittut. Samiske kulturminner (ed. H. R. Mathisen). Troms0, 61 66.

Lehtiranta, Juhani (1989), Yhteissaamelainen sana­ sto (Memoires de la Societe Finno-Ougrienne 200). Helsinki.

Bergsland, Knut (1999), Bidrag til sydsamenes his­ torie. Troms0.

Magga, Ole Henrik (1990), The Sami language in Norway. In: Arctic languages. An awakening (ed. D . R . F Collis). Vend6me, 401 417.

Beronka, Johan (1922), Syntaktiske iagttagelser fra de jinske dialekter i Vads@ og Porsanger. Oslo. Bull, Tove (1996), Matet i Troms og Finnmark. In: Nordnorske dialektar (eds. E.H. Jahr/O. Skare). Oslo, 157 174. Collinder, Bjorn (1964), Ordbok till Sveriges lapska ortnamn. Uppsala. Ehrnebo, Paula (1997), Finskan i Sverige. In: Nor­ dens sprbk (eds. A. Karker/B. Lindgren/S. L0land). Oslo, 130 136. Greller, Wolfgang (1996), Provision and regulation of the Sami languages. Aberystwyth. Helander, Elina (1990), Situation of the Sami lan­ guage in Sweden. In: Arctic languages. An awaken­ ing (ed. D.R.F Collis). Vend6me, 401 417. Helander, Nils 0ivind (1997), State languages as a challenge to ethnicity in the Sami land. In: Northern minority languages: Problems of survival (eds. H. ShojijJ. Janhunen). Osaka, 147 159. Huss, Leena (1999), Reversing language shift in the far north (Studia uralica upsaliensia 31). Uppsala. Hyltenstam, Kenneth/Stroud, Christopher/Svonni, Mikael (1999), Sprakbyte, sprakbevarande, revita­ lisiering. Samiskans stillning i svenska Sapmi. In: Sveriges sju inhemska sprbk (ed. K. Hyltenstam). Lund, 40 97. Iversen, Ragnvald (1996), Framtid uttrykt ved "bli" + infinitiv av hovedverbet. In: Nordnorske dialektar (eds. E.H. Jahr/O. Skare). Oslo, 108. Kentta, Matti/Wande, Erling (1992), Mean kielen sanakirja. Lulea.

Magga, Ole Henrik (1994), The Sami language act. In: Linguistic human rights (eds. T. Skutnabb-Kan­ gas/R. Phillipson). Berlin/New York, 219 234. Nesheim, Asbj0rn (1967), Eastern and western el­ ements in Lapp culture. In: Lapps and Norsemen in olden times. Oslo, 104 168. Qvigstad, Just Knud (1893), Nordische LeJmworter im Lappischen (Christiania Videnskabs-Selskabs forhandlinger 1893:1). Christiania. Qvigstad, Just Knud (1925), Finske forta:llinger fra Kwrnangen og Nord-Reisa. Troms0. Sammallahti, Pekka (1999), The Saami languages: An introduction. Karasjohka. Skold, Tryggve (1961), Die Kriterien der urnordi­ schen Lehnworter im Lappischen (Skrifter utgivna av Institutionen for nordiska sprak vid Uppsala Universitet 8). Uppsala. Thomsen, Vilhehn (1870), Uber den Einfiuss der ger­ manischen Sprachen auf die jinnisch-Iappischen. Halle. Utvik, Hanne Elin (1996), Norske ord i finsk sprak­ drakt: en studie av nyere skandinaviske substantiv­ Lin i kvensk/ruijafinsk tekstmateriale med hoved­ vekt pa norske lan (manuscript). Troms0. Vannebo, Kjell Ivar (1996), Framtidskonstruk­ sjonen. In: Nordnorske dialektar (eds. E.H. Jahr/O. Skare). Oslo, 109 110. Wingstedt, Maria (1998), Language ideologies and minority language policies in Sweden. Stockhohn.

Ole Henrik Magga, GuovdageaidnujKautokeino (Norway)

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228.

Linguistic minorities in Scandinavia II: Immigrant minorities

1. 2.

4. 5.

Introduction Policies for the maintenance and development of immigrant minority languages The linguistic situation created by the existence of the new minority languages in Scandinavia Conclusions Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

3.

Several countries in northern Europe have ex­ perienced a dramatic demographic transfor­ mation during the second half of the 20th c. Immigration, first from neighbouring coun­ tries, later from successively more distant parts ofthe world, has resulted in a significant increase in the ethnic mix of their populations. The Scandinavian countries, and to some extent also the other Nordic countries, are typical examples of this change; the propor­ tion of immigrants in the population are 7.4 per cent in Denmark (395,947 out of a total population of 5.3 million), 6.3 per cent in Nor­ way (282,487 out of 4.5 million), and 12.1 per cent in Sweden (1,068,723 out of 8.9 million). The proportion of immigrants in Finland, with its restrictive immigration policy, is 1.9 per cent (98,577 out o f 5.2 million), while that of Iceland has seen a clear increase over the last few years and is now 6 per cent (16,926 out of totally 283,361). Danish and Norwegian figures are based on the notion "persons born abroad and the offspring of two parents born abroad", while Swedish fig­ ures refer to "persons born abroad plus persons with foreign citizenship born in Sweden". The Finnish figures represent "foreign citizens", the Icelandic "persons born abroad". The figures in this section are taken from Arbog om udlirndinge i Danmark 2001 (Denmark), Statistikcentralen, 2002 (Finland), Statistical yearbook of Iceland 2001 (Iceland), Statistisk ar­ bok 2001 (Norway), and Statistisk arsbok 2002 (Sweden).

The two basic reasons for migration have been economic and political. With its peak in the 1960s, foreign labour was recruited to work in the expanding industries in Scandinavia. This, in other words, created an economic pull effect on migration. Up until the 1970s, politi­ cal refugees originated mostly in the Eastern European socialist countries. The political situation in general, but also specific political/

warfare/ethnic upheavals in these countries (Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland), as well as in Greece and Turkey, resulted in push effects, where the Scandinavian countries became one ofthe many destinations for political refugees. From the 1970s onwards political unrest in various parts of the world has resulted in waves of political refugees coming in. As a subsequent effect of the two basic reasons for migration, economics and politics, the unifica­ tion of families has now become the most prominent reason for migration. Although the historical development ofim­ migration has been similar in the individual Nordic countries at a general level, there are some noticeable differences with reference to which national groups have become the lar­ gest ones. Tab. 228.1 presents the most com­ mon countries of origin of the immigrants for each of the five countries. What can be seen in Tab. 228.1 is that, in addition to those reasons mentioned before, geographical vicinity also contributes to deter­ mining which nationalities have immigrated to each country (e.g. Germans to Denmark, Finns to Sweden, Russians to Finland). Limiting the discussion to Denmark, Nor­ way and Sweden, Tab. 228.2 presents the most common countries of origin for persons who arrived in 1999/2000. It thus illustrates the trend of immigration today. As statistics for the Nordic countries do not include information on the language ofthe im­ migrant populations, no detailed figures exist on what immigrant languages are most com­ monly spoken. However, due to legislation re­ lated to mother tongue instruction, according to which children who speak other languages than the majority language in each country are guaranteed support for first language maintenance and development at school, school authorities in Norway and Sweden register mother tongues of school pupils. These statistics give a reasonably correct picture, al­ beit indirectly, of what imrnigrantminority lan­ guages are the most commonly spoken in each of these two countries (see Tab. 228.3) In Denmark, comparative statistics do not exist at the national level. An indirect picture of what languages are the most common among bilingual school children in Denmark can, however, be obtained. In the city of Copenhagen, which has the largest concentra­ tion of immigrants, mother tongue instruc-

2121

228. Linguistic minorities in Scandinavia II: Immigrant minorities

Tab. 228.1: Most common countries of origin of immigrants in Denmark (Jan. 1, 2001), Norway (Jan. 1, 2001), Sweden (Dec. 31, 1999), Finland (Dec. 31, 2001) and Iceland (Dec. 31, 2001). Number of immigrants (in thousands) within parenthesis.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Denmark

Norway

Sweden

Finland

Iceland

Turkey (50) Germany (25) Bosnia (20) Lebanon (20) Pakistan (18) Iraq (18) Yugoslavia (17) Somalia (15) Norway (14) Sweden (13)

Pakistan (24) Sweden (23) Denmark (19) Vietnam (16) Yugoslavia (15) Bosnia (13) Iraq (12) Iran (11) Turkey (11) Gr. Britain (11)

Finland (223) Yugoslavia (75) Bosnia (54) Iran (52) Norway (49) Iraq (46) Denmark (45) Poland (42) Germany (41) Turkey (36)

Russia (23) Estonia (12) Sweden (8) Somalia (4) Yugoslavia (4) Iraq (3) Gr. Britain (2) Germany (2) Form. Soviet (2) Iran (2)

Denmark (2.5) Sweden (1.7) Poland (1.6) USA (1.5) Germany (1.1) Norway (0.9) Gr. Britain (0.8) Philippines (0.7) Yugoslavia (0.7) Thailand (0.6)

Tab. 228.2: Most common countries of origin of recent immigrants to Denmark (2000), Norway (1999), and Sweden (1999). Number of immigrants (in thousands) within parenthesis.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Denmark

Norway

Sweden

Iraq (2.7) Afghanistan (1.5) Turkey (0.7) Somalia (0.6) Thailand (0.5) Norway (OA) China (OA) Yugoslavia (OA) Lithuania (0.3) Germany (0.3)

Yugoslavia (6A) Sweden (6.0) Denmark (2.7) Great Britain (2.0) Iraq (2.0) USA (2.0) Germany (1.6) Finland (IA) Somalia (1.0) Pakistan (0.8)

Iraq (4.0) Finland (3.6) USA (2.8) Great Britain (2.4) Denmark (2.2) Germany (2.0) Yugoslavia (1.1) Turkey (1.0) Iran (0.9) France (0.9)

Tab. 228.3: Most commonly spoken language ofim­ migrant pupils in Norway (2000/01), and Sweden (2000). Number of pupils (in thousands) within par­ enthesis.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Norway

Sweden

Urdu (4.7) English (2.9) Vietnamese (2.8) Spanish (2.1) Arabic (2.0) Bos./Croat./Serb.

Arabic (18.2) Finnish (13.9) Spanish (9.9) Albanian (7.3) Bos./Croat./Serb. (6.9) Persian (6.9)

Albanian (1.8) Turkish (1.7) Somali (1.5) Tamil (1.0)

English (5.7) Turkish (4.8) Polish (4.3) Kurdish (4.3)

(IA)

tion is offered in 26 languages, among them Albanian, Arabic, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Punjabi, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese, all languages of fairly large groups of immigrants (http://www.kbhbase. kk.dk).

The information presented in Tab. 228.3 and, for Denmark, in the text above can be seen as a reflection of the accumulated effect of immigration during the second half of the 20th c. Among the languages in Tab. 228.3, a few hold a prominent position due to the fact that their speakers are recent political refugees that have arrived in comparatively high num­ bers during the 1990s and later. This is the case for Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Al­ banian due to the situation in fonner Yugo­ slavia, and for Somali as an effect of the pol­ itical unrest in Somalia, especially after 1991. Obviously, speakers of these languages are still to a large extent in the process of acquiring the languages of their respective host country, and the possibility of return to their country of origin still exists. It is therefore natural that there is at present an extensive need for mother tongue support in those languages. What will happen to the status of these lan­ guages in Scandinavia in the longer run is clearly not possible to foresee. Languages with a longer history may stand a better chance of being maintained. In

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XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

Sweden, Arabic, Finnish and Spanish have the largest number of speakers among those lan­ guages that are in current use as reflected in the fact that parents and children choose to take advantage of using them at school. In Norway, it is Urdu and Vietnamese that are particularly salient in addition to Spanish and Arabic. For Denmark, Arabic, Turkish, and Urdu have this particular status.

2.

Policies for the maintenance and development of immigrant minority languages

Predictions about the fate of minority lan­ guages in Scandinavia, both for the immediate future and in the long run, may be based on an assessment of ongoing 0 bservable develop­ ments in the languages proper (see 4.). In ad­ dition to that, as language and immigration policies in the Nordic countries provide the wider conditions - both in terms of support and obstacles - for the continued existence of particular languages, these political condi­ tions are important backgrounds for the pre­ dictions. In terms of political support for immigrant minority languages, the regulations for mother tongue instruction in minority lan­ guages must be considered the most effective instrument provided by society for the main­ tenance of these languages. Although mother tongue instruction was already introduced to some extent in the 1960s, the legal right to ob­ tain such instruction is associated with specific political decisions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In Sweden, the so-called "horne lan­ guage reform" in 1977 gave immigrant and indigenous minority children the legal right to receive mother tongue instruction during the entire span of primary and secondary school­ ing. The amount of instruction should be "ac­ cording to the needs" of the individual child, and different "bilingual models" were given as alternatives for the municipalities to select from. The most prevalent praxis, however, was, and still is, to provide two hours a week of mother tongue instruction (for details, see Hyltenstarn/Tuomela 1996; Boyd 2001). Mother tongue instruction was covered en­ tirely by governmental ear-marked funding up until 1990, when a general decision was taken that no such funding would be maintained. This resulted in great variation and a general decrease in the extent to which the municipal-

ities decided to provide mother tongue instruc­ tion. In Norway, a circular from the Ministry of Education in 1978 recommended that the mu­ nicipalities provide mother tongue instruction for immigrant pupils 2-4 hours per week for three years. This recommendation was accom­ panied by governmental funding of80 per cent of the costs to the municipalities on the con­ dition that the municipalities themselves would cover the additional 20 per cent. This formula led to mother tongue instruction being neglected in some municipalities (for de­ tails see Hvenekilde 1 994). The most import­ ant central document which defines the goals of Norwegian mother tongue instruction is M 87 (the national syllabus for Norwegian public schools) (ibid.; Engen/Kulbrandstad 1998, 192). In this document the number of hours per week is increased to 3-5, and the duration of mother tongue instruction is extended to the nine years of basic schooling. In spite of this strengthening of mother tongue instruc­ tion prescribed in M 87, the municipalities have spent successively less resources on this activity (Hvenekilde 1994, 65). In Denmark, a declaration from the Min­ istry of Education in 1976 contained some rules about mother tongue instruction for im­ migrant children. This was replaced by a dec­ laration in 1984, and later in 2001, which pre­ scribes that children speaking minority lan­ guages should be provided with 3 -5 hours per week (in exceptional cases 2 hours) of mother tongue instruction (for details, see Holmen! J0rgensen 1995; Gimbel 2000; Undervisnings­ ministeriet 2001). Iceland and Finland have not taken legal steps in order to entitle immigrant pupils the right to mother tongue instruction (see http://www.government.is and http://www. minedu.fi, respectively). In Finland, in spite of this, such instruction is provided through municipal initiatives; mother tongue teaching was given in 49 different languages in 2000. The conditions for mother tongue instruc­ tion have varied in many different ways in the different countries over the years. Even though municipalities are obliged to provide such instruction in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, there are important restrictions to the bilingual pupils' rights. The obligation applies only when a minimum number of pupils with the sarne L1 can make up a group (presently 12 in Denmark, 5 in Sweden), the availability of teachers, and if the language is actively spoken in the home. This situation means that

228. Linguistic minorities in Scandinavia II: Immigrant minorities

the implementation of the rules varies to a great extent. Mother tongue instruction is also, as in other parts of the world, subject to ideology and political opinions in the respec­ tive societies, which may fluctuate from time to time, among other things in relation to changes in the strength of the countries' econ­ omies. For such reasons, the 1990s involved decreases in the total amount of mother tongue instruction in all three countries. In different municipalities in Norway and Denmark, and now at the national level in Denmark, there have been ongoing discussions about a com­ plete withdrawal of mother tongue instruc­ tion. At the municipality level, this has even been carried through in some areas. Apart from the support in the educational sector described above, the use, and therefore maintenance, of immigrant minority lan­ guages is financially supported in different ways. This includes support for media and cul­ tural activities such as theatre in immigrant minority languages, and the availability of books in these languages in libraries.

3.

The linguistic situation created by the existence of the new minority languages in Scandinavia

In characterizing the linguistic situation that has arisen as a consequence of the existence of a multitude of immigrant minority lan­ guages in the Nordic countries, it might be instructive to focus on two perspectives. One is the issue of what happens to individual lan­ guages when they find themselves in a lingui­ stic minority situation. Will they be main­ tained? Will they undergo structural and lexi­ cal changes? Will such changes occur because of influences from the respective majority lan­ guages, or are they a result of more universal processes of language change? Are regional and social variability maintained in the new context? The other perspective is the issue of inter­ action between the immigrant minority lan­ guages and the Nordic languages. Questions such as how languages interact in code-switch­ ing, how the Nordic languages develop as sec­ ond languages of speakers of different L1 s, and whether new varieties of the Nordic lan­ guages develop as a result of contact with many different languages may be posed in this area. In this article, only what is most perti­ nent to the character of the immigrant minor­ ity languages will be discussed, namely code-

2123

switching. The other aspects instead contrib­ ute to characterizing one of the Scandinavian languages. 3.1.

Maintenance o f immigrant minority languages

For some immigrant minority languages, re­ search has been carried out on their mainten­ ance in the Nordic countries. Generally, this research shows tendencies that have common­ ly been observed in immigrant contexts earlier, namely that the children of first-generation immigrants become dominant in the majority languages, even though they continue to use the minority languages in more familiar con­ texts. Their children, in turn, i. e. the third gen­ eration, in most cases become monolingual in the language of the host country, it might be hypothesized. This is irrespective ofthe public support these languages receive, especially in the school sector, as indicated above. The shift seems to be more rapid in some immigrant groups than in others. More specifically, Boyd (1985) found that 1 5-year-olds in Sweden from monolingual non-Swedish homes, while in the majority of cases speaking only or mostly the minority language to their parents, spoke only or most­ ly Swedish to their siblings, boy-/girlfriend, best friend and "most friends". Similarly, Raag (1982) found that all second generation immigrants from Estonia to Sweden included in his investigation self-rated their proficiency in Estonian as either somewhat or consider­ ably weaker than their Swedish, and in some cases even as rudimentary. In an investigation of language mainten­ ance among immigrants from Finland, North America, Turkey and Vietnam to at least two Nordic countries, in addition to the general pattern mentioned above it was seen that the minority language was maintained better among Turkish- and Vietnamese-speaking groups than among the Finnish- and English­ speaking groups (Boyd 2001 , 1 82). This was related to the fact that the Turks and Viet­ namese are clearly more marginalized in their host countries than the other two groups (ibid., 183). Interestingly, the Turkish- and Vietnamese-speaking groups also had a more homogeneous language use within specific do­ mains than the English and Finnish speakers. Such a separation between languages for dif­ ferent domains is a basis for the existence of diglossia, which in turn is considered to be fa­ vourable for language maintenance (see Fish-

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XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

man 1 967). A further finding was that, es­ pecially in the North American group, those who had immigrated to Denmark and Nor­ way used English more frequently than those who had immigrated to Sweden, indicating that specific factors in the host society may also influence the maintenance pattern. Results from an investigation by Tuornela (2001) show that the Ll development among children both of whose parents are Finnish speakers is related to the actual programme the child has chosen at school. Those bilingual children who receive their education in bilin­ gual programmes where both Finnish and Swedish are used as medium of instruction de­ velop their Ll more favourably - and thus have a greater chance of maintaining it later in life - than those children who get all their instruction in Swedish except for two hours ofrnothertongue instruction in Finnish. How­ ever, favourable Ll development in this group cannot be explained exclusively with reference to the language in which they are taught at school. They typically also have a closer Finn­ ish-speaking network, both within the family and with friends, than those who have chosen all Swedish instruction for their schooling (ibid., 212; cf. also Janulf 1 998). It should be added that the Finnish lan­ guage has a different potential for mainten­ ance in Sweden than the other languages men­ tioned above. Even though language shift takes place over generations in individual fam­ ilies, following a similar pattern as in other groups (cf., especially, Boyd 1985), Finnish has been used continuously in Sweden since the Middle Ages. In earlier times it has some­ times taken 3-4 generations for the shift to Swedish to be completed (Lainio 1999, 175). In addition, Finnish immigrants are what Lainio (ibid.) calls a "historic near-migration group", indicating that the language is main­ tained in Sweden through the continuous in­ flux of new Li speakers rather than being transmitted for many generations within the same families. 3.2.

Interaction between immigrant language and the Nordic languages and loss of linguistic distinctions

Immigrant minority languages in the Nordic countries obviously undergo similar processes of cross-linguistic influence and reduction as those noted in other contexts of immigration (see, e.g. Haugen 1953 for Norwegian; Has­ sehno 1974 for Swedish; Silva-Corvalim 1995

for Spanish in the U.S.). However, few empiri­ cal studies of particular immigrant minority languages in Scandinavia exist. The effects of the minority context have been studied pri­ marily in school-age children. Studies of Finnish compositions written by Finnish schoolchildren in Sweden note an in­ creased frequency of analytical features com­ pared to parallel data from monolingual Finn­ ish children in Finland. Many ofthese features also occur in Finnish spoken by both children and adults in Finland and are possibly a result of Swedish influence on Finnish over the cen­ turies (Janulf 1998, 257). The use of the nu­ meral yksi ' one' in the function of an indefinite article, and the demonstrative pronoun seine in the function of a definite article, as well as the lack of deletion of personal pronouns as subjects have been interpreted as immediate influences from Swedish (Nesser 1981; Janulf 1998). The issue of grammaticalization of se into a definite article among bilingual speakers of Finnish in Sweden and monolingual speakers of Finnish in Finland has been fur­ ther dealt with by Juvonen (2000), who claims that there is no difference between the two groups (p. 198). The interference source of this particular feature is thus put into question. An overuse of personal pronouns as subjects has also been noted in the (former) Serbo­ Croatian of young children (Stankovskij DurovicjTomasevic 1983). Other features seem to be more an effect of limited input or the more infrequent use of the Ll, which is typically the case in a minority setting. In Finnish (Nesser 1986; Janulf 1998; Tuomela 2001), Serbo-Croatian (Stankovski et al. 1983), and Estonian (Maandi 1989), a reduction of case distinctions has been ob­ served. Likewise, a non-complete use of verbal agreement is noted for Finnish (Janulf 1998; Tuomela 2001). A minority language setting effect on the pronunciation of immigrant children's Lis has been noted for Finnish (e.g., the length distinctions in vowels and consonants; Nesser 1981) and Serbo-Croatian (phonemic distinc­ tions that do not correspond to Swedish struc­ tures) (D urovicjStankovski 1979). A tendency towards levelling of regional or dialect variation (cf. Hassehno 1974, 76) in a new linguistic environment is noted in the Finnish spoken by immigrants in Sweden (Lainio 1989). Lainio hypothesized that the urban Finnish (of Eskilstuna) that he studied in the early 1980s would be influenced more by northern and eastern Finnish dialects than

228. Linguistic minorities in Scandinavia II: Immigrant minorities

by other regional varieties, because a large proportion of the immigrants in Eskilstuna originated from these areas of Finland (p. 21). Such influences were not found, however. Lainio noted instead that "dialectal variants which are supported by several dialects or sociolects are being promoted" (p. 347). The variants promoted do not always have their origin in the dialects most frequently spoken but are to an unexpected degree taken from more central dialects. At the same time, "dia­ lect variants are retained to a higher degree than among corresponding migrant groups within Finland" (ibid.). Lainio claims that intra-group influences among the Eskilstuna Finnish immigrants have a levelling effect but that there is also an effect of contact with standard Finnish from Finland. This effect is not as great as the influence of standard Finn­ ish within Finland. Two major studies on the constraints on structural interaction between immigrant lan­ guages and one ofthe Scandinavian languages have been completed recently, namely Park (2000) on Korean-Swedish code-switching and Turker (2000) on Turkish-Norwegian code-switching. Park uses her Korean-Swed­ ish data to validate two influential models of code-switching, those of Poplack (1980) and Myers-Scotton (1993). Although there are many instances of code-switching that can be accounted for by these models, Park identifies others that are not predicted by one or either of them. It is notable that multi-word se­ quences contain switch-points at sites where Korean and Swedish have different word or­ der twice as often as where the two languages have equivalent word order, something that is highly problematic for Poplack's Equival­ ence Constraint (1980, 219). One type ofstruc­ ture, which is quite frequent in Park's data, is complete phrases from the other language with morphology from both languages. This is problematic for both Poplack's Free Mor­ pheme Constraint (ibid.) and for restrictions on so-called embedded language islands in Myers-Scotton's model (1993, 178). Turker (2000) investigated Turkish-Norwe­ gian code-switching in young Turkish immi­ grants in Norway (including second-gener­ ation adolescents). It was observed that Tur­ kish grammatical morphemes were attached to Norwegian lexical elements that were in­ serted into Turkish-based grammatical frames, that is, in strings where Turkish was the matrix language; this is parallel to what has been seen universally in other language

2125

pairs. Vowel harmony in Turkish is reflected in suffixes that are added to Norwegian con­ tent morphemes, as expected (p. 1 84). Other investigations of structural code­ switching where language pairs consist of a Nordic language or Finnish include Anders­ son (1993), Boyd/Andersson/Thornell (1991); cf. also Poplack/Wheeler/Westwood (1987) for a study of English/Finnish code-switching. Lanza (1997) studied code-switching in young bilingual children. Hyltenstam/Stroud (1989; 1993) investigated structural aspects of in­ voluntary code-switching among bilingual speakers with dementia. Code-switching has also been investigated from a pragmatic point of view with a focus on the question "for what purpose do bilin­ gual speakers switch between their lan­ guages". J0rgensen (1998) analyzed switching between Turkish and Danish in interactions among Turkish-speaking children in Danish schools. He notes specifically how switching to the "opposite language of the interlocutor" (p. 254), which may be either Turkish or Dan­ ish, is used in order to gain control over the other participants in a communicative situ­ ation. It becomes clear from J0rgensen's analysis that children develop an ability to use code-switching for ever more nuanced pur­ poses during their school years. Eskildsen (2002) studied, among other things, the pur­ poses for which Turkish and Danish were used among these children and concluded that the functional division between Turkish and Dan­ ish was not particularly clear-cut. For example, she doubts whether these children see Danish clearly as the language of the school and thus a "they-code" (see Hymes 1 974).

4.

Conclusions

Over the last 30 years, the study of immigrant minority languages in the Nordic countries has become a fruitful area of investigation. The analysis of language contact phenomena involving a variety of language pairs and in multifaceted and multilingual contexts has given us an initial understanding of the par­ ticular concrete conditions and futures of these languages. It has also given us insights into theoretical issues oflanguage change, lan­ guagevariation, and cross-linguistic influence. In particular, the Scandinavian contributions to the understanding of the theoretical phe­ nomena of language maintenance und shift,

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XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

as well as the issues of structural and prag­ matic constraints on code-switching, have been considerable.

5.

Literature (a selection)

Andersson, Paula (1993), Finns and Americans in Sweden: Patterns of linguistic incorporation from Swedish. In: Immigrant languages in Europe (eds. G. Extra/L. Verhoeven). Clevedon, 249 269. Boyd, Sally (1985), Language survival: A study of language contact, language shift and language choice in Sweden. Goteborg. Boyd, Sally (2001), Immigrant languages in Sweden. In: The other languages ofEurope (eds. G. Extra/D. Gorter). Clevedon, 177 192. Boyd, Sally/Andersson, Paula/Thornell, Christina (1991), Patterns of incorporation of lexemes in lan­ guage contact: language typology or sociolinguis­ tics? In: Papersfor the symposiwn on code-switching in bilingual studies: Theory, significance andperspec­ tives. Barcelona, 21 23 March 1991. Vol II. Euro­ pean Science Foundation, 463 488. Durovic, Lubomir/Stankovski, Miodrag (1979), Hemsprbksutvecklingen hos serbokroatisk/kroato­ serbisktalande barn i Sverige: En pilotstudie. Lund. Engen, Thor Ola/Kulbrandstad, Lars Anders (1998), Tosprbklighet og minoritetswzdervisning. Oslo. Eskildsen, Helle (2002), Kodeskift hos unge i 8. klasse. In: De unges sprog. Artikler om sproglig adfErd, sproglige holdninger og jiersprogethed hos wzge iDanmark(ed. J. NonnannJ0rgensen) (K0ben­ havnerstudier i tosprogethed, K0geserien K9). K0benhavn. Fishman, Joshua (1967), Bilingualism with and without diglossia; diglossia with and without bilin­ gualism. In: Journal of social issues 32, 29 38. Gimbel, J0rgen (2000), Tosprogede elever i indskoling­ en: Inspirationsha:fte. K0benhavns Kommune. Ud­ dannelses- og Ungdomsforvaltningen. Hassehno, Nils (1974), Amerikasvenska: En bok om sprbkutvecklingen i Svensk-Amerika. Stockhohn.

Hyltenstam, Kenneth/Stroud, Christopher (1993), Second language regression in Alzheimer's demen­ tia. In: Progression and regression in language. Sociocultural, neuropsychological and linguistic per­ spectives (eds. K. Hyltenstam/A. Viberg). Cam­ bridge, 222 242. Hyltenstam, Kenneth/Tuomela, Veli (1996), Hem­ spraksundervisningen. In: Tvasprbkighet med for­ hinder? Invandrar- och minoritetsundervisning i Sverige (ed. K. Hyltenstam). Lund, 9 109. Hymes, Dell (1974), Fowzdations ofsociolinguistics: an ethnographic approach. Philadelphia. Janulf, Pirjo (1998), Kommer finskan i Sverige aft fortleva? En studie av sprbkkwzskaper och sprakan­ vandning hos andragenerationens sverigefinnar i Bot­ kyrka och hos finlandssvenskar i Abo (Acta univer­ sitatis Stockhohniensis. Studia Fennica Stockhol­ miensia 7). Stockholm. J0rgensen, Jens Nonnann (1998), Children's acqui­ sition of code-switching for power wielding. In: Code-switching in conversation. Language, interac­ tion and identity (ed. P. Auer). London, 237 258. Juvonen, Paivi (2000), Grammaticalizing the definite article: A study of definite adnominal determiners in a genre of spoken Finnish. Stockhohn. Lainio, Janno (1989), Spoken Finnish in urban Sweden (Uppsala Multiethnic Papers 15). Uppsala. Lainio, Janno (1999), Sprak, genetik och geografi om kontinuitetsproblematiken och debatten om finska som minoritetssprak. In: Sveriges sju in­ hemska sprak ett minoritetssprbksperspektiv (ed. K. Hyltenstam). Lund, 138 204. Lanza, Elizabeth (1997), Language mixing in infant bilingualism: A sociolinguistic perspective. Oxford. Maandi, Katrin (1989), Estonian among immi­ grants in Sweden. In: Investigating obsolescence. Studies in language contraction and death (ed. N. Dorian). Cambridge, 227 241. Myers-Scotton, Carol (1993), Duelling languages. Grammatical structure in code-switching. Oxford. Nesser, Anne (1981), Finska barns sprakutveckling fonologi. och morfologi. In: Fuskis/Fidus 2.

Haugen, Einar (1953), The Norwegian language in America. Philadelphia.

Nesser, Anne (1986), "Se oli kurja kaya koulusa". Bruket av inre och yttre lokalkasus i sverigefinska skol­ barns sprak (Acta universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Uralica et Altaica Upsaliensia 16). Stockholm.

Hohnen, AnnejJ0rgensen, Jens Normann (1995), Tosprogede bern i Danmark: En grundbog. K0ben­ havn.

Park, Hyeon-Sook (2000), Korean-Swedish code­ switching. Theoretical models and linguistic reality. Uppsala.

Hvenekilde, Anne (1994), Morsmalsundervisning­ ens plass og betydning i undervisningen for elever fra spraklige minoriteter i grunnskolen. In: Veier til kunnskap og deltakelse (ed. A. Hvenekilde). Oslo.

Poplack, Shana (1980), Sometimes I'll start a Sen­ tencein English Y TERMINO EN ESPANOL: to­ ward a typology of code-switching. In: Linguistics 18, 581 618.

Hyltenstam, Kenneth/Stroud, Christopher (1989), Bilingualism in Alzheimer's dementia: Two case stu­ dies. In: Bilingualism across the lifespan. Aspects of acquisition, maturity and loss (eds. K. Hyltenstam/L. Obler). Cambridge, 202 226.

Poplack, Shana/Wheeler, Susan/Westwood, Anneli (1987), Distinguishing language contact phenom­ ena: evidence from Finnish-English bilingualism. In: The Nordic languages and modern linguistics 6 (eds. P. Lilius/M. Saari). Helsinki, 33 56.

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229. History of the Scandinavian emigrant languages Raag, Raimo (1982), Lexical characteristics in Swedish Estonian (Acta universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia uralica et altaica Upsaliensia 13). Stockholm.

Tuomela, Veli (2001), Tvasprbkig utveckling i skolal­ dern: En Jiimforelse av sverigefinska elever i tre un­ dervisningsmodeller. Stockholm.

Silva-Corvalan, Carmen (ed.) (1995), Spanish infour continents: Language contact and bilingualism. Washington, D. C.

Turker, Emel (2000), Turkish-Norwegian code­ switching: Evidence from intermediate and second generation Turkishfrom immigrants in Norway. Oslo.

Stankovski, Miodrag/Durovic, Lubomir/Tomase­ vic, Mijo (1983), Development structures in the fam­ ily language of Yugoslav immigrant children in a Swedish language environment. In: Slavica Lunden­ sia 7, 1 1 20.

Undervisningsministeriet (2001), Modersmal for tosprogede elever. Fagha:fte 34 (Uddannelsesstyrel­ sens handbogsserie 6). K0benhavn.

229.

History of the Scandinavian emigrant languages

16.

Introduction The transplantation of the Scandinavian languages to North America The "language question" "Mixed language" The speech economy Scandinavian dialects transplanted Code-switching and communicative strategies American-Scandinavian lexicon American-Scandinavian phonology American-Scandinavian morphology American-Scandinavian syntax Nonnalization Scandinavian place-names in North America Personal names among the Scandinavian Americans Scandinavian colonial and emigrant languages outside North America Literature (a selection)

1.

Introduction

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Kenneth Hyltenstam. Stockholm (Sweden)

This article will present an overview of the Scandinavian emigrant languages in North America, with a few comments on such lan­ guages in other parts of the world. The North American sources on the Scandinavian lan­ guages on that continent include a large number of comments, articles, and books by members ofthe Scandinavian immigrant com­ munities, some of them trained linguists/phi­ lologists (Andreen 1900; Flom 1 926). by a steady stream of visitors from the homeland, and by a number of professional linguists. Sys­ tematic surveys have been undertaken, for example, for the Norwegian-American com-

munity by Seip and Selmer (Seip 1933; Hau­ gen 1 992a). by Haugen (Haugen 1953. 1 5 f.; 1 972). and by many others; materials have been collected by Norsk malf0rearkiv in Oslo and Norsk utvandrermuseum in Hamar (D0rum 1991). Kj",r/Baumann Larsen (1 992) have established a computerized data base from their recordings of American Danish. Uppsala's G:son Berg did an early study of American Swedish (Berg 1904). Hedblom (1962; 1965; 1966a) has made recordings with over 600 Swedish-Americans, catalogued and stored both at the Landsmals- och folkmin­ nesarkivet in Uppsala and at the University of Minnesota Library. Hulden and his asso­ ciates have made recordings of Finland-Swed­ ish Americans (Hulden 1 972). Bessason (1971) and others have recorded American Icelandic, especially in Canada. The question whether it is now too late or not for meaningful studies of spoken American Norwegian has been de­ bated by Gulliksen (1995; 1 996) and Hjelde (1995). Apart from Flodell (1986a), surveying or recording of Scandinavian colonial or emi­ grant languages outside North America seems to have been only sporadic.

2.

The transplantation of the Scandinavian languages to North America

The Scandinavian emigrant languages have been represented in North America since the 1 820s. Earlier Icelandic had been spoken in Vinland and Swedish (and Finnish) in the New Sweden colony. The "Skr"'lings" , the term the

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XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

Icelanders used for the local Indians, very quickly ended the Vinland venture, and the Dutch and then the British captured New Sweden. Peter Kalm's description of the rem­ nants of the New Sweden colony (Kahn 1770; 1937; Benson 1952) at the middle of the 1 8th c. shows that the Swedish language was still used a century after the colony had been lost mili­ tarily and politically. The last minister from Sweden died in 1 83 1 , and there appears to have been no direct connection between colo­ nial Swedish and later immigrant Swedish. The Scandinavian emigration to North America can be said to have begun with a group of Norwegians in 1 825, but mass emi­ gration from Scandinavia does not begin until after the Civil War. It has been estimated that the exodus comprised about 1 .2 million Swedes (Plus some tens of thousands of Fin­ land Swedes), 0.8 million Norwegians, 0.3 mil­ lion Danes, and some ten thousand Icelanders. The mass emigration ended in the 1920s. Through the emigration the Scandinavian lan­ guages were transplanted to a large number of rural communities and urban neighbor­ hoods in the United States and Canada. In certain areas, a Scandinavian language was used on a daily basis besides English for many decades both by the immigrants and by their children and grandchildren. Through church­ es and other organizations and through a Scandinavian immigrant press and literature, the Scandinavian-speaking communities were tied together into what was often referred to as ' 'Danish America" , " Norwegian America" , and "Swedish America", and in the case of the Icelanders - with their special claim to pri­ macy - "Vestur-! sland". When the Scandina­ vian "foreign stock" reached its maximum in 1930, as far as the US census is concerned, it comprised about 3.2 million people: 529,142 persons of Danish, 1 ,100,098 persons of Nor­ wegian, 1 ,562,703 persons of Swedish, and 7,413 persons ofIcelandic origin; to this could be added about 40,000 Finland Swedes if we assume that about 12 per cent ofthe emigrants from Finland were Swedish-speaking. In the 1990 US census, 1 ,634,669 persons reported Danish, 3,869,395 Norwegian, 4,680,863 Swedish, and 40,529 Icelandic ancestry (all generations). The Norwegians showed the strongest concentration in 1910 with 57.3 per cent located in the three states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota; 43.1 per cent of the Swedes were located in Minnesota, Il­ linois, and New York state; and 29.4 per cent of the Danes in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Min-

nesota. 65.7 per cent of the Norwegians, 56.7 per cent of the Danes, and 43.7 per cent of the Swedes lived in rural areas in 1910. In Canada, the Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish immigrants reached their maximum in 1931, the Icelandic immigrants in 1921; the total number of Scandinavian immigrants in 1931 was 90,042. Those who identified them­ selves as of Scandinavian ethnic background reached their high point in Canada in the 1961 census: 386,534 persons. It seems likely that the use of the Scandi­ navian languages in North America cul­ minated around 1920. By 1970, a little less than 1 . 5 million persons still indicated that a Scandinavian language had been used in their horne while they grew up, in addition to Eng­ lish. The 1990US census reported 198,904 per­ sons as having spoken a "Scandinavian" lan­ guage at horne. The size and concentration of the populations and the preponderance of ru­ ral as opposed to urban settlement have been used as a means of explaining differences in language retention (Nelson 1943/1979, 202-210; Haugen 1953, 281 ff.; Hasselmo 1977). Generally, the Norwegians have shown the strongest retention, followed in order by the Swedes and the Danes. Canadian data show the Icelanders as being the most reten­ tive (Haugen 1953, 290ff.). "Cultural" factors have also been invoked, including the national cultural mobilization of Icelanders and Nor­ wegians during the 1 9th c. (Haugen 1953, 291).

3.

The "language question"

In each of the Scandinavian language commu­ nities, a "language question" arose: What should be the role of the immigrant language? The debate became especially heated in the churches, where religion and ethnicity, sup­ ported by the immigrant language, became linked. The maintenance of a treasured cul­ tural heritage was pitted against the duty to become part of the "new country" (Haugen 1953, 23 3 ff. ; 1976; Fishman 1966; Hasselmo 1974a, 36ff.). The debate in the Scandinavian immigrant communities a century ago has similarities with the current debate about "multicultural­ ism" in the United States and Canada. New hybrid cultures or ideologies emerged to some extent, combining elements ofthe immigrants' original beliefs and customs with elements from the new homeland (Blank 1997). In con­ nection with the chauvinistic hysteria ofWorld War I, attacks were launched on what Teddy

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229. History of the Scandinavian emigrant languages

Roosevelt called "hyphenated Americans", including in particular the use of immigrant languages (Haugen 1953, 255ff.; Hasselmo 1 974a, 5 3 ff.). Again, there are similarities with the "English only" movement of recent years. A marked decline in the use and trans­ mission of the immigrant languages can be found in the 1920s, including church services, confirmation and Sunday school classes, and the press and literature. For example, in 1917 73.1 per cent of the services in the Norwegian Lutheran Church were held in Norwegian; by 1925 the percentage was 47.3 per cent and in 1930 37.1 per cent (Haugen 1953, 262ff.). In the Augustana Lutheran Church in Center City, Minnesota, the heart of Chisago County, made famous by Vilhelm Moberg's novels, there were 17 Swedish Sunday school classes with 106 children in 1920, only five classes with 27 children in 1927 (Hasselmo 1971, 125ff.). Similar declines in the number of publications in the Scandinavian languages occurred in the 1 920s (Hasselmo 1974a, 6 3 ff.). The teaching ofthe Scandinavian languages in high schools, which had started in the early years of the 20th c., was practically wiped out in the 1920s (Meixner 1941). In the Scandinavian-Ameri­ can colleges, the immigrant language disap­ peared as a language of instruction quite early in business and scientific courses; by the 1920s it had also disappeared in the humanities. The Scandinavian languages continued to be taught quite vigorously, however, as part of the colleges' foreign language curricula (Bron­ ner/Franzen 1946-1967; Gage 1971a). Several major public and private universities also have Scandinavian programs, including Berkeley, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Harvard, and Chicago. Old Norse has been the most widely taught Scandinavian language in recent years (Gage 1971b).

4.

"Mixed language"

The debate about language in the immigrant communities also dealt with what was per­ ceived as the "corruption" of the immigrant language under the influence of English. A genre of language jokes developed, based on "mixed language". Many writers lashed out against what they saw as the debasement of the cherished native language, the instrument of their cultural heritage; some even saw it as a sign of moral depravity. Some Scandinavian immigrant writers tried to use the new var­ ieties, especially in dialogue. An embryonic debate about linguistic norms arose: Should

the Americans speaking a Scandinavian lan­ guage adhere to the norm in the original homeland or was it possible, and appropriate, to think in terms of new American Scandina­ vian norms? The question died with the sharp decline in the immigrant languages in the 1 920s (Haugen 1953, 53 ff.; Hasselmo 1980; Hedblom 1992).

5.

The "speech economy"

In various methodological guises, the notion of the "speech economy" (Gumperz/Hymes 1964, 1 - 34) has become central in the study of linguistic variation, including bilingualism. How are the linguistic resources used by the speakers in certain communities, in certain situations? The Scandinavian immigrant com­ munities have provided opportunities to study "diglossia" involving the immigrant language and English in different domains of activity and as part of different stylistic registers. Clearly, the immigrant language survived best as a home language, for a while buttressed by churches, lodges, and societies and by the im­ migrant press and literature. Contact with the broader society through economic or political pursuits forced the use of English on the im­ migrants. The public school was a school for language change, which enforced - sometimes quite harshly - not only the use of English in class, but the non-use of the immigrant lan­ guage even during recess. (Haugen 1953, 246ff.). The local speech economies within the Scandinavian immigrant communities varied greatly depending on historical/generational, social, economic, and cultural circumstances. The way the languages were learned has been identified as an important determining factor, although many factors having to do with the communicative needs of the community enter in as well. In terms of the resulting varieties of the immigrant language and English, speech economies dominated by immigrants (who are native speakers of the immigrant lan­ guage and who learned English as adults) dif­ fer from speech economies dominated by the second and third generation (who learned the immigrant language in the immigrantcommu­ nity and English in contact with the outside English-speaking world, often at least by the time they entered the public school). Further differences among speech economies have to do with the vitality of the immigrant language in the community, ranging from daily use in practical pursuits to use only for ceremonial purposes. Imperfect language learning and

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XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

language death can both be studied in these speech economies. (See sec. 7.; Haugen 1953, 37ff.; Hedblom 1962; 1965; 1966a; Hassehno 1970; 1 974a, 109ff.; 1980; Bessason 1971; Ure­ land 1971; 1974, 87ff.; Kj",r/Baumann Larsen 1974; Kristiansen/Harwood/Giles 1991 ; St01en 1993).

6.

Scandinavian dialects transplanted

The Scandinavian immigrants spoke many different dialects, even some that were notrnu­ tually intelligible. In some new settlements, a single dialect could be quite dominant because all or most of the settlers came from the same area in Scandinavia. In other settlements, and especially in the cities, speakers of different dialects mingled with each other and had to make accommodations to each other's dia­ lects. Some emigrants spoke standard varieties of the native language, or varieties based on the written language. In addition to the mu­ tual influence of dialects on each other in the new setting, and their interaction with more standardized language varieties, the question of" frozen dialects" has received attention, the possible conservation by immigrants and their descendants of features that may have all but disappeared in the homeland (Haugen 1953, 337ff.; Hedblom 1968; 1972; 1977; 1978; 1992; Hulden 1978).

7.

Code-switching and communicative strategies

Code-switching has been studied as a limiting case of language choice as well as of borrow­ ing. Its traditional definition has been that it involves the choice of alternating stretches from the immigrant language and English within the same conversation, sometimes within the same sentence. The identification of "triggers" of switching has received atten­ tion. The assumption is that certain words are ambiguous as to their affiliation with one lan­ guage or the other and that they make the speaker lose his linguistic bearings (Clyne 1967; Hasselmo 1974a, 1 3 1 ff.; Klintborg 1999, 34- 35). The switch from one language to the other can also be due, ostensibly, to the need or desire to use a word, phrase, or even entire discourse segment (for example, a joke that is language- and culture-specific) from the other language. The switch may be quite self-con­ scious, and actually marked by a phrase such

as "as we say in English". The purpose may be to authenticate a statement by citing some­ thing in the language representing the culture to which the phenomenon belongs or to em­ phasize the ethnic ties between the speaker and the listener. Code-switching can be an effective stylistic device, conveying emotions and atti­ tudes. Different stylistic levels may exhibit stronger or weaker constraints with regard to code-switching. The more formal the situ­ ation, the stronger may be the constraints on code-switching, including requiring the clear marking of switches. Two aspects of code­ switching have received considerable atten­ tion: How can code-switching be distinguished from what has traditionally been called "bor­ rowing"? And, how regular, how controlled, is code-switching? Do immigrants actually "mix" their languages in quite "ruleless" fashion? Do the jokes about "mixed lan­ guage" actually reflect a reality of linguistic " mixing" ? Or, are there, at least in certain situ­ ations and registers, constraints of a gram­ matical nature? (KjrerjBaumann Larsen, 1973; 1974; 1978; Hassehno 1972; 1 974a, 1 1 4 ff.; Ureland 1974, 87ff.; Haugen 1977; Klintborg 1999, 3). Research during the past few decades has tended to regard code-switch­ ing and borrowing as aspects of a continuum. The Scandinavian immigrant languages, at one extreme, included English words as a regular part of a new lexicon. The "borro­ wing" was signaled by the phonological and morphological integration of the word with the immigrant language (see secs. 9. and 10.). The ability of the speaker to identify an orig­ inally English word as such has been shown to vary greatly from speaker to speaker, and from community to community; so has the ac­ ceptability of different words in the context of speech in the immigrant language, and of different types and degrees of phonological and morphological integration. The ability of a speaker to actually translate an English word used in the immigrant language into a Scan­ dinavian equivalent has also been shown to vary greatly (Haugen 1953, 383 ff.; Hasselmo 1974a, 175ff.). The study of very complex texts has led to a questioning of whether in certain contact situations we are indeed dealing with two dis­ tinct "languages", alternately used by the speaker - with elements clearly representing either one or the other language - or with an "inbetween language". The traditional struc­ turalist model is being challenged by a model that views the linguistic behavior as represent-

21 3 1

229. History of the Scandinavian emigrant languages

ing a spectrum of varieties where elements of the two languages are found in highly complex interplay. The relationship of the discourse to one of the original languages in contact or the other may be a matter of the frequency of lexical, phonological, morphological, or syn­ tactic elements as derived from one language or the other rather than a matter of the basic linguistic structure of the discourse. The question has further been raised whether the variability in immigrant speech has to do with whether the speaker is an adult bilingual who acquired the second language after puberty, or a childhood bilingual who grew up speak­ ing both languages. The most complex inter­ play between the immigrant language and English seems to be more common among the fonner than the latter. Similarly, immigrant communities where the immigrant language was spoken over two or three generations have tended to show more stabilized situations; English-influenced Danish, Icelandic, Norwe­ gian, and Swedish were kept rather distinct from English. In the discussion of the Scan­ dinavian immigrant languages, as in the study of other bilingual situations, there has been a transition from viewing the impact of English primarily as "interference", as some kind of involuntary confusion of tongues due to their coexistence in the same mind and the same community, to viewing the impact of English as the interplay of a spectrum of more or less English-influenced "varieties", the interplay influenced by the speech situation, including interlocutors, setting, and functions of speech (Weinreich 1953; Clyne 1967; Hasselmo 1969; 1972; 1 974a, 126ff., 177ff.; Labov 1973; Kj",rj Baumann-Larsen 1973; 1974; Ureland 1975; 1984; 1 996). Until recently, Scandinavian-American English has received little systematic attention in spite of the fact that the influence of immi­ grant-language phonology on the English of individual immigrants and their descendents, and in communities dominated by them, has often been noted, and is part of the folklore of many regions, especially in the upper Mid­ west (Simley 1930; Haugen 1953, 46ff.; Moen 1991). Such "immigrant varieties" of English can be seen not only as the result of imperfect language learning, as has usually been the case, but also as an aspect of the communi­ cative strategies available to speakers in bilin­ gual settings. It has been shown that speakers, who can speak a relatively unaccented Eng­ lish, in certain situations, and seemingly for the purpose of signaling something like "eth-

nic identity", do speak "accented" English. The " accent" involves well-known phonologi­ cal variables, such as v for w, as well as lexical items. The possibility has also been raised that certain syntactic and pragmatic features may be part of such varieties of Scandinavian­ American English, for example, greater use of parataxis than in monolingual varieties of English and the use of pragmatic particles such as you know, well, so,ja, then/denn, there/ dere as a form of hypercorrection vis-a.-vis the norms of the host community (Karstadt 1999). Code-switching has been studied both in im­ migrant communities and in immigrant writers, some of whom have used it extensively for purposes of realism and humor (Haugen 1953, 124ff.; 1960a; 1960b; 1960c; 1991; Mjoberg 1960; Ureland 1974; 1984; Hassehno 1 974b; St0len 1992; Zempel 1 980). Many ofthe studies ofthe Scandinavian im­ migrant languages have captured a relatively late stage in the development of immigrant bi­ lingualism. This is especially true of the re­ cording of actual immigrant speech. It is pos­ sible that bilingualism in the Scandinavian im­ migrant communities has changed over the span of three generations or more. Some American Scandinavian speech economies, and certainly many isolated speakers of a Scandinavian immigrant language, can prob­ ably best be studied from the perspective of the "death" of a language (Ureland 1975, 8 5 ff.; Haugen 1992b; Kj",rjBaumann Larsen 1992; Klintborg 1999, 10).

8.

American-Scandinavian lexicon

What Einar Haugen called "the great vocabu­ lary shift", the adoption of English words into, in his case, American Norwegian, has re­ ceived by far the greatest attention from ob­ servers and commentators (Haugen 1953, 74ff.). Both visiting Scandinavians and immi­ grants observed that the new world of Ame­ rica had brought to the immigrant languages new words to express new experiences and re­ present new circumstances. The earliest schol­ arly treatments of immigrant languages are similarly heavily focussed on the lexicon. Haugen and others have identified spheres of life which particularly seemed to require Eng­ lish terminology: official life (township, county, justice of the peace, vote, elect, run for office), economic pursuits (business, farmer, farm, ranch, lumber camp, cultivator, reaper, grain elevator, factory, plant), housing (living-room, parlor, summer kitchen), transportation (train,

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XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

railroad, ticket, car), sports (baseball). But they have also noted a number of borrowed items that fall into the category of "general terms": piece, thing(s), all right, busy, com­ mon, different, tough, care (for) , cover, keep, at all. The incidence of borrowing has received considerable attention. Obviously, the ques­ tion is bedeviled by the difficulty of distin­ guishing borrowing from code-switching. It has been maintained that the incidence ofbor­ rowing in more stabilized varieties of the im­ migrant languages is relatively low, strikingly low in comparison with the many comments by observers concerning "mixing", and some recordings of actual immigrant speech (Hau­ gen 1953, 93 ff.). It has been pointed out that the topic greatly influences the borrowing. In discussing automobiles, the immigrants who arrived before this technological innovation reached their homeland were 0 bviously likely to have had to use an entirely English vocabu­ lary. On the other hand, conditions in the homeland could be discussed without any real need for borrowing. Borrowing from the im­ migrant language into English - which gener­ ally has been regarded as quite limited (apart from such culinary shibboleths as smorgas­ board, lutfisk etc.) - could occur in discussions of the homeland in English. Haugen cites per­ centages for English vocabulary (including his category "loanshifts") in American Norwe­ gian that vary from 0 per cent for folklore to 8.8 per cent for travel; his average over a number of texts comes out to 3.65 per cent (Haugen 1953, 94 f.). Recorded interviews and conversations can, however, show much higher percentages, supporting the notion that bilingual behavior is an interplay of "varie­ ties" involving the two languages, where the number of elements from the two languages can vary greatly depending on the speech situ­ ation (see sec. 7.; KjrerjBaumann Larsen 1987).

9.

American-Scandinavian phonology

In regard to prosody, the studies have dealt with stress, tone, and quantity. It has been noted that English unstressed syllables could receive reduced stress in borrowed words: o'rches'tra, brea'kfa'st. English nouns modified by a noun were treated as Scandinavian com­ pounds: chee'sefa'ctory. In American Norwe­ gian and American Swedish, tone was some­ times assigned to English polysyllabic loans,

including loans with appropriate Norwegian or Swedish endings: bui'lding, cra'dl-a. Excep­ tions were made for English words ending in, for example, -er, -el, -en as expected, given Norwegian and Swedish rules: reaper cra'dle, ki'tchen. However, considerable variation in the application of tone has been noted both for American Norwegian and American Swedish: spo'nsor and spo'nsor, mi'ssile and missile, ca'bin and ca'bin (Haugen 1953, 412ff.; Hassehno 1 974a, 275ff.). Similar ob­ servations have been made for st0d (i. e. the near glottal stop) in American Danish: the ap­ plication of Danish rules for st0d with English words, for example, in!",:?s 'face' and kio:?s 'close' (?marks st0d). However, as with Nor­ wegian and Swedish tone, considerable vari­ ation has been observed in the application of Danish st0d (Kj",r/Baumann Larsen 1973). Attempts have also been made to write rules for the conversion of English vowels and con­ sonants into Scandinavian equivalents: Ejei > Am.Sc.le:; E/ou > Am.Sc.lo:; Elth > Am.Sc.lt; E/j > Am.Sc.ly; Elz > Am.Sc.ls etc.: pail > pe:l, stove > sto:v; threat > trelt; jug > yugg; hose > hoes etc. The English schwa has been shown to present special dif­ ficulties. A variety of substitutions have been noted. Contrastive analysis of the phonologi­ cal systems in contact, including multiple dia­ lects, has been used as a means of explaining such conversions, as well as the variations that occur (Hasselmo 1974a; Ureland 1 972). American Scandinavian immigrant humor has capitalized extensively on well-known mis­ pronunciations of English sounds: "I just learned to say yam Gam) and now they call it yeW Gelly)."

1 O.

American Scandinavian morphology

In addition to varying degrees ofphonological integration, loanwords also show varying de­ grees of morphological integration. Some originally English words show completely Swedish endings: pail, pail-en, pail-ar; catch, catch-a, -ar, -ade, -at; tough, tough-t, tough-a etc. or completely Icelandic endings, including oblique cases: turkey, turkey-inn, tomato-an, check-io (the enclitic definite article in loans assigned masculine, feminine, and neuter gen­ der, respectively); log-num, rail-inni, sink-inu (the dative singular); car-u-num (the dative plural; also with umlaut: kor-u-num; Clausing 1986, 72ff., 78ff.). Other English words retain

21 3 3

229. History of the Scandinavian emigrant languages

English morphology: buggy, buggie-so English adjectives have been found to occur without inflection, especially in predicative position in American Swedish (Hassehno 1974a, 257). The question of gender assignment for loan­ words has received a good deal of attention. Many observers have noted that loans in gen­ eral are assigned to the most prevalent mor­ phological categories in a language. This means that in American-Scandinavian lan­ guages the verbs normally are assigned to the weak conjugation with -ade or -ede in the past tense. For nouns, Haugen states that "[i]n AmN the lw. was almost universally given the most common plural ending of the gender to which it had been assigned . . . " : he gives examples such as pieces > pisar (masculine), bluffs > blaffer (feminine), and stares > star (neuter). In American Norwegian, he finds a masculine tendency, which seems to assign a noun to this category unless some other fac­ tors interfere. Hasselmo has found a "utral" (that is non-neuter) tendency in American Swedish. The factors that are assumed to in­ terfere with the dominant tendency include as­ sociation with a native word of the same meaning, or with a native cognate or a rhym­ ing word, or with a word with the same or similar suffixes or endings; natural gender also plays a major role. For American Icelandic, Clausing has provided the following rules for gender assignment: High dominance: 1 . natur­ al gender, 2. congener rule (homophony, in­ cluding cognates), and 3. morphological rule (similar suffixes or endings); middle domi­ nance: neuter tendency; and low dominance: equivalency rule (association with native equivalent). With regard to the neuter ten­ dency, he has pointed out that the English nouns are "genderless" , and that this may help explain the "neuter" tendency in American Icelandic; it is also true that neuter nouns in Icelandic show considerably simpler inflection than masculine and feminine ones. He has also pointed to language decay as a possible factor leading to the choice of a particular declen­ sion, having found some evidence that in American Icelandic the neuter tendency is stronger in later corpuses (Clausing 1986, 1 1 1 ff.). Hassehno has provided a set of rules that attempt to summarize morphological ten­ dencies (Hassehno 1974a, 250ff.). All ob­ servers have pointed out, however, that a number of English nouns show vacillating gender, demonstrating the fact that the factors identified represent complex patterns of asso­ ciation.

Tests of the acceptability o f different pho­ nological and morphological forms for Eng­ lish loans show that for given speakers certain loans may indicate very distinct preferences for phonologically integrated versus uninte­ grated forms as well as for a particular inflec­ tion, while others show great variance in ac­ ceptability for different forms. Groups of speakers in the same community may show similar acceptability patterns, but also much variation within the group. This is a reminder that "borrowing" and "code-switching" are ultimately part of a continuum of linguistic behavior (see sec. 7.).

11.

American Scandinavian syntax

The Scandinavian languages and English share many features of syntax, but a number of influences from English on the Scandina­ vian immigrant languages have been noted. Among these are the use of the indefinite ar­ ticle with nouns denoting "permanent class", for example, in phrases such as han var en snickare 'he was a carpenter'; the lack of dis­ tinction between nominal and adjectival use of vad/vadJor (en) 'what' in, for example, vad ar det 'what is that' and vad plats kommer han ifran? (vadfor enplats kommer han ifran?) 'what place does he come from?'; the use of vara and its other Scandinavian equivalents in forming the passive of verbs denoting "tran­ sition from one state to another" (overgangs­ verb), han var tagen till haspitalet (han blev tagen till haspitalet) 'she was taken to the hos­ pital'; lack of det-insertion in phrases such as han arbetar hart - gar han inte? (han arbetar hart - gar han inte det?) 'he works hard doesn't he?'; the use of var 'where' as relative pronoun, platsen var han var fodd (platsen dar han var Jodd) 'the place where he was born'; the absence of som in sentences such as han visste inte vem kom (han visste inte vem som kam) 'he didn't know who came'; the lack of reversed word order in sentences such as ar 1894 fyra unga man var pa vag till Amerika (ar 1894 var Jyra unga man pa vag till Amerika) 'in the year 1894 four young men were on their way to America'; and the use of the infinitive form in interrogative clauses such as han visste inte vad aft gora (han visste inte vad han skulle gora) 'he didn't know what to do'. The general interpretation is that these changes in the immigrant languages involve relatively minor revisions to syntactic rules. Such distinctively English structures as the do­ construction in questions and negated senten-

2134

XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

ces seem to be very rare (Hasselmo 1974, 214ff.; Ureland 1975, 96 ff.). The use of and and but has been noted in the speech of many immigrants, contrary to earlier assumptions that function words were not "borrowed", for example, in andjag kunde ju inte sa mycket engelska den liden, but han visade mig lite 'and I didn't know so much English at that time, but he showed me a little' (Hasselmo 1974, 231 ff.; Ureland 1975, 99ff.). A variety of discourse markers occur in speech, for example, you know; well; yea; and the "grunting" affirmative and negative uh­ huh and huh-uh. They also occur in the speech of bilinguals, and are perhaps even more common in the speech of such speakers as a form of hypercorrection (faking proficiency through features that seem characteristic of the "easy" style of native speakers). Evidence has also been presented to the effect that prag­ matic particles may be used in place of hy­ potaxis, as a way of flagging when a matrix clause contains an embedded structure (Kar­ stadt 1996; 1999). Like lexical items and different phonologi­ cal and morphological adaptations of such items, English syntactic structures in the Scan­ dinavian languages show varying acceptabil­ ity among different individuals. They are also part of the spectrum of varieties appearing in Scandinavian-American speech situations.

12.

Normalization

The Scandinavian Americans themselves dis­ cussed the question of norms. The influence of English on common speech was often con­ demned. At the same time, there were ques­ tions raised about the possible corruption of the standard language back horne, in compari­ son with an earlier, and therefore "purer", form of the standard that had been preserved in North America. The question of norms is, of course, quite complex in Scandinavian America. It involves the interaction of differ­ ent dialects brought together in North Ame­ rica, the relationship between the native dia­ lects and the native standard languages, the relationship between native and English­ influenced varieties of the languages, and the relationship between the native standard lan­ guages and possible new emerging English­ influenced standards. And all this in a situ­ ation where many changes were occurring also in the homelands under the influence of ex-

panded public education, national romanti­ cism and the modern breakthrough in litera­ ture, and strong independence movements in Iceland and Norway. The Scandinavian­ American discussion of norms has primarily concerned the written language, or the " book" language. While it appears that the great ma­ jority took for granted that the native stan­ dard languages would constitute the norms also in the New World, some writers argued for, and practiced, the use of Scandinavian American varieties (Haugen 1953, 98 ff.; 1991; Hassehno 1 974a, 73 ff.; 1974b; Zempel 1980). The question of local norms for the adop­ tion of English influences is hinted at in some studies, but has not been studied systemati­ cally. Although tendencies towards normal­ ization have been noted both with regard to adaptations between native dialects and the native standard languages and with regard to English influences, it is generally assumed that the Scandinavian languages died out too quickly to allow the full development of any of these tendencies (Haugen 1953, 349ff.; 1977; Hasselmo 1 974a, 90, 104, 1 8 5 f. , 285; 1974b; Kj",r/Baumann Larsen 1971; 1992; Baumann Larsen/Kj",r 1978; Hedblom 1 992). The "language war" in 19th c. Norway be­ tween "book language" (Bokmal) and "new Norwegian" (Nynorsk) was reflected also in the Norwegian-American community. Two periods have been identified in the debate about Nynorsk in America. The first period, from about 1870 to the end of the century, was characterized by a debate that was largely theoretical and academic, no one suggesting that Nynorsk should be adopted by the immi­ grants. The second period, from the turn of the century on, was more political in that it involved direct advocacy for the adoption of Nynorsk (Hallarilker 1991a). Differences in the attitudes towards Nynorsk in Norway and the U.S. have been attributed to social and political differences between the two countries (Toven 1978).

13.

Scandinavian place-names in North America

As the Scandinavian immigrants spread out across the U.S. and Canada, they narnedmany ofthe places where they settled as well as topo­ graphical features such as mountains, lakes, and rivers, not to speak of their own farms, schools, hospitals etc. Haugen comments on what he considers the relative lack of place-

21 3 5

229. History of the Scandinavian emigrant languages

names of Scandinavian origin. One can trace the naming from the local settlement, with a number of post offices having been named after a settler or the settlers' community of origin in the old country, or another place in the former homeland. His examples of post offices include Haugen, Holmen, Larsen, Nel­ sonville, Northland, Rosholt, Valders, and Scandinavia; his township names include Nor­ way. Christiana (inadvertently misspelled). Bergen, Vinland, and Dovre. Haugen takes it as an indication of the nature of the admin­ istrative and political scene at the time of settlement that names of Indian, French, Spanish. and English origin were assigned by those in charge (Haugen 1953. 191- 232). The conditions encountered in the new country are considered an important factor also in naming in connection with the farm. Kruse (1991) points out a complete change from Norwegian naming patterns for farms and fields to an American one, based on naming the farm after the owner/user and the fields by the crop. The most comprehensive overview ofplace­ names of Scandinavian background is that of Landelius (1985) which deals with place­ names "the origins of which directly or in­ directly stem from pre-existing place-names in Sweden. from Swedish people. or from Swed­ ish culture" . He provides alphabetical lists of names by state (U.S.) and province (Canada). and addresses some of the difficulties inherent in this kind of study, especially chance simi­ larities and the ambiguity of personal names such as Anderson and Johnson as place-names, and the lack of written documentation. Landelius identifies two main ways in which post-colonial place-names in North America have come into existence: (a) "Place-names that have been given as a result of the settle­ ment of Swedish immigrants, temporary or permanent, or of their pioneering work in other respects". Examples are Smolan, Kan­ sas; Boxholm and Munterville, Iowa; and Malung and Jockmock Lake, Minnesota; and (b) "Place-names given by American and Ca­ nadian official bodies, institutions, scientists, and officials, as well as commercial establish­ ments and private persons." Examples are Stockholm and Dannemora, New York; Bremer, Iowa; Jenny Lind, Arkansas; and Lin­ naeus. Maine (Landelius 1985. xvi). Most of the names designate small towns, lakes, creeks, and mountains, and a number oftown­ ships, rather than large cities or major juris­ dictions (Huseby 1914; Berger 1915; Swanson 1927-28; Hedblom 1966b; Helleland 1986).

14.

Personal names among the Scandinavian Americans

The pro blems presented by Scandinavian per­ sonal names in the new country are well do­ cumented in both the popular and the schol­ arly treatments of the emigration. Many of the immigrants were not particularly attached to a family name, since many ofthem had been used to alternating patronymics or farm names in the old country. In the new country both a last name and, preferably, an initial became 0 bligatory. Those from rural areas of­ ten retained their patronymics, some turned farm names into family names as in the old homelands; ministers, teachers, and other pro­ fessionals tended to keep the family name their families had already assumed before their emi­ gration (Sandaker 1971). But other problems also arose upon entry into the new country, whether on Ellis Island or elsewhere. Con­ fronted with names like Skjeldrud and Kjerret, frustrated - and linguistically disoriented - of­ ficials produced Anglicized variants such as Sheldrew and Cherrie. The immigrants them­ selves often contributed to this trend in order to avoid constant misunderstandings, or to hide their ethnicity. Sometimes the translation was based on meaning rather than sound: Sea­ shore (Sjostrand) ; sometimes on both: Sea­ borg (Sjoberg). The translations also avoided the troublesome Scandinavian letter a (Haugen 1953, 190-205; Swanson 1927-28; Kimmerle 1941; Sandaker 1971 ; Hallaraker 1 991 b). Given names also posed problems for the Scandinavian immigrants. Many ofthem were unknown to their new fellow countrymen, and some posed difficulties of pronunciation. In the first generation, given names were there­ fore often reinterpreted into American equiv­ alents, usually preserving the initials, what Haugen called "alliterative naming" (Huseby 1914; Haugen 1953, 206 f.). Johan and Johannes, of course, became John. The re­ interpretation could also lead to quite different Scandinavian names converging on a single American name: Berit and Birgit became Bet­ sy; Gregor, Gunnleik, and Jorgen became George; Tobias, Tore, Torfinn, Torgeir, Torkel, Torleiv, Tormod, Torvald, and Trond became Tom. There is a clear generational shift in re­ gard to given names, proceeding from the use of the original Scandinavian names, through the Anglicization of such names, to the use of the common stock of American names (Hau­ gen 1953, 21 2 f.).

2136

15.

XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

Scandinavian colonial and emigrant languages

outside North America 1 5. 1 .

Australia and New Zealand

The names of a handful of Scandinavians ap­ pear on ships' rosters from early explorations of the Pacific, including that ofLinnaeus's dis­ ciple Carl Solander who accompanied Cap­ tam Cook on the voyage that began in 1768 (KOIvukangas 1993, 121). Significant numbers of Scandinavians began settling in Australia during the Australian gold rush in the early 1 8 50s, wIth later waves in the 1 870s and 1 8 80s during the first decades ofthe 20th c., and afte; World War II. In 1 901 , the Scandinavian-born population was reported at about 16,000 per­ sons (not counting immigrants from Finland). By 1954 it had dwindled to about 9 000 but significant immigration especially fr�m Den­ mark raised the ntunber to about 1 5,000 by 1970. (There was also significant immigration from Finland during that period). The immi­ gration to :A-ustralia appears to have been very much an Immigration of individuals rather than groups, and there seems to have been few Scandinavian communities of any size. This has been given as one reason for what ob­ servers describe as the rapid abandonment of the native languages in favor of English. In the Australian census of 191 1 , the figures for Scandmavlans who can " read and write" Eng­ lish hover around 80 per cent, and by 1921 they are in the upper 80s. Those who could only "read or write", or "read only" the "foreign language numbered between 8.1 per cent and J 5.7 per cent in 191 1 , with the lowest ntunber for Danish men, the highest for Swed­ ISh women; by 1921 the ntunbers had been re­ duced to a low of2.4 per cent for Danish men and a high of 6.1 per cent for Swedish men. The reported illiteracy never exceeded 3 per cent. In recent overviews of immigrant lan­ guages in Australia, the Scandinavian lan­ guages are rarely even mentioned. Clyne esti­ mates that in the early 1980s there were about 3,000 speakers of Scandinavian languages in Sydney, about half of them speaking Danish and about 1,700 Scandinavian speakers in Melbourne, a little over 40 per cent of them speaking Danish (Clyne 1982, 1 5 5). Also III the case of Scandinavian emigration to New Zealand, a gold rush (1863-66) seems to have attracted the first Scandinavians to a distant shore. Historians recognize two major settlement periods, the early 1 870s and the late "

1950s. It has been estimated that maybe 1 0 '000 Scandinavians, with a dominance for the Danes, emigrated to New Zealand up to 1930. New Zealand itself has statistics only for the 20th C., reporting on that basis that 3 507 Danes had settled by 1 968. Koivukanga; de­ scribes the development for the Scandina­ vians, who never exceeded 1 .25 per cent of the popUlation, as characterized by "rapid assimi­ lation" except in the Hawkes Bay area. This area was the goal for a group of early Danish settlers who formed their own community (Koivukangas 1 993, 135). Histories of the Scandinavian communities in Australia and New Zealand contain accounts of the establishment of immigrant churches and schools, and a few examples of Scandinavian publicati?�ls. There are interesting glimpses of commuDltles that started their own Scandina­ vian-language schools, which as the new na­ tions developed gradually were merged into of­ fiCIal school systems (Koivukangas 1974; 1993; KOlvukangas/Martin 1986; Meller 1993). Gar­ ner (1983) provides a glimpse of such a speech economy where, in this case, Swedish is used in "private language functions" while for "most interpersonal functions" English is at least as likely as Swedish, and English is clearly the preferred language for most public func­ tIOns. EthDlClty is seen as quite separate from language maintenance in the context of what he refers to as "pan-Scandinavian movements in Australia" (Garner 1983, 1 09). Martin (1983) discusses efforts at joint Scandinavian church and other institutional activities be­ tween 1870 and 1919, when the Scandinavians constituted the second largest non-British eth­ nic group in Melbourne. He draws on, for example, the two newspapers Norden (18971 940) and Kirketidellde (1878 - 1 900) in his analYSIS. He shows how jointScandinavian ef­ forts were influenced by the nationalistic battles in Scandinavia. He also suggests that joint Scandinavian efforts could have hastened the switch to English, because of difficulties in understanding Scandinavian languages other than one 's own (Martin 1983, 87). This is a question that has received little attention. 15.2.

South America

Danish settlement in Argentina began in the late 1850s. Itis estimated that by 1 876 a couple of hundred Danes lived in Tandil in the Buenos Aires district. Other communities with a strong Danish population also arose in the same area. As many as 1 8 ,000 Danes may have

229. History of the Scandinavian emigrant languages

emigrated to Argentina up to 1930. Danish elementary schools were started during the late 19th c. and seem to have flourished well into the first decade of this century. Schools modeled on the Danish "folk high school" were organized. Several Danish-Argentinian news­ papers were published, for example, Tandils Tidende (B",kh0j 1 948). There are references in histories ofthese settlements to conflicts involv­ ing a Protestant, Danish-speaking congrega­ tion in a Catholic, Spanish-speaking country, and to widespread Danish-Spanish bilingual­ ism among the children of the immigrants. As in other immigrant settings, attempts at cul­ tural and linguistic self-maintenance were pit­ ted against pressures and desires for integration into the dominant culture. Bjerg provides an analysis of ethnic leadership and its role in " seeking protection and a source of belonging in an alien environment" (Bjerg 1993, 165). In the years 1 890-91 and 1909-11 about 3,000 Swedes left Norrland and the Stockhohn area for South America, eventually ending up in Misiones in the north-eastern tip of Argen­ tina, bordering Paraguay and Brazil. The emi­ gration mostly involved entire families whose departure was triggered by slumps in certain industries. Many returned fairly soon. It is es­ timated that the colony comprised about 1,000 Swedes by the 1930s. The major study of the language situation in Misiones (Flodell I986a) documents both some leveling of the Swedish dialects brought to Misiones and a variety of influences, mostly from Spanish but also from Portuguese and Guarani, on the Swedish pho­ nology, morphology, lexicon, and syntax of the local speakers. Implicational scales are used to show correlations between generations and increased use of certain phonological fea­ tures from the surrounding languages. Identi­ fication, translatability, and acceptability tests are used to determine the status of lexical in­ fluences (85 per cent from standard Spanish) in the speech community. In the concluding chapter, the author points out the great limi­ tations on the current use of Swedish and pre­ dicts its disappearance within the not too dis­ tant future. Flodell has also addressed specifi­ cally the questions of language loss and lan­ guage death (Flodell I986b; 1991). 1 5. 3 .

Scandinavian Colonies in West Africa, India, and the West Indies

It appears that there was very little interming­ ling with the native populations in the Scan­ dinavian colonies. Critics stated bluntly that

2137 the only purpose of colonization was "to make money" (D0ygaard 1987, 3). There is no in­ dication that trade contacts led to any social relations with the native populations, al­ though there was a good deal of intermingling with the Dutch and the British fellow - or competing - colonizers. The Scandinavian contingents were very small, consisting of of­ ficials, merchants, a small garrison, and in the West Indies some planters. Expectations of migrations similar to those to North America were never realized, and in the end - after con­ siderable domestic debate in the middle of the 1 9th c. - these failed expectations seem to have been one of the major reasons why Denmark and Sweden rid themselves of their colonies. In Tranquebar on the east coast of India, the Danish "East India Company" estab­ lished a colony in 1616 and retained it until 1 845. They built the fort "Dans borg" (Diller 1993). The missionary and educational efforts in the colony, begun in the early 1 8th c., were undertaken by "Die Diinisch-Hallesche Mis­ sion" and the language of their " mission school" was Tamil (Jeyaraj 1996, 279). In 1624, the Swedish government author­ ized Willem Usselius "to establish a 'General Commercial Company for Asia, Africa, Ame­ rica and Magellanica' " (N0rregard 1966, 7). In addition to the New Sweden Colony in North America, one of the results was the es­ tablishment of a Swedish fort, "Carlsborg", on the African Gold Coast. The Danes were much more persistent than the Swedes and stayed on the Gold Coast until 1850, when their colony was sold to the British. The his­ tories of these ventures describe efforts to pro­ vide schooling in Danish, including spelling and Lutheran catechism, both for Danes and for "mulattoes". Some of the latter were brought back to Denmark, and Christian Protten, a mulatto from the Gold Coast, wrote a grammar in Danish of the Fanti and Accra languages in 1764 (N0rregard 1966, 167-1 68). Danish colonization of the Virgin Islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. Jan in the West Indies began in the 1670s and Danish rule continued until 1917. The Danish popu­ lation was considerably smaller than the Eng­ lish from early on; in 1741 there were five times as many English as Danes on St.Croix, and the English dominance continued. The first regular newspaper, The Royal Danish Ameri­ can Gazette ("fairly regularly" appearing be­ tween 1770 and 1 802) was "essentially English in tone" and apparently did not have any Dan­ ish type (Hall 1985, 7 f.).

21 38

XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

The lingua franca that developed in St. Croix was English-based, and in St. Thomas the local creole was Dutch-based (Hall 1985, 11). When a primary school system for slaves was planned, it was decided that English would be the language of the school, since Danish was such a minority language and the creole was "an inappropriate medium of in­ struction". The mission field was abandoned to the Moravians and this was, according to Hall, "both cause and effect of the faintness of the mother country's cultural imprint" (Hall 1985, l 1 f.). The Swedish colonization effort in the West Indies involved the island of St. Barthelemy between the years of 1785 and 1878. Franzen (1974) attempted to chart the use of Swedish on the island by investiga­ ting church life, education, newspapers, thea­ ter etc. He carne to the conclusion that, in a battle among three languages, French (mostly in the countryside), English (mostly in the urban areas), and Swedish, Swedish turned out to have been the loser, and mostly limited to official uses (together with English) and to the very small Swedish group of officials, members of the garrison etc. There were some slave children with Swedish names, including Oden, Tor, and Brynhilda, showing that na­ tional romanticism touched also this far off colony. The official street names in Gustavia were Swedish, but seem to have had little use - except in a recent revival for tourist pur­ poses. Serious educational activities in Swed­ ish seem never to have gotten off the ground. In its advocacy against maintaining the Danish Virgin Island colony in the 1 840s, the Danish paper Fredrelandet pointed out that colonization "called for a sufficient number of one's nationals [in the colony], sharingone's customs and values, and above all language" to be worthwhile. Such was clearly never the case in the Danish and Swedish colonies.

16.

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Berger, Vilhehn (191 5), Amerikanska ortnamn av svenskt ursprung. New York. Bessason, Haraldur (1971), IsLindskan i Nord­ amerika. In: SiN, 57 77. Bjerg, Maria (1993), Living where the world ends: Danish settlements in the Argentine Pampa. A brief analysis of ethnic leadership. In: On distant shores, Danes worldwide archives 1993 (eds. B. Flemming Larsen/H. Bender/K. Veien), 157 174. Blank, Dag (1997), Becoming Swedish-American: The construction of an ethnic identity in the Augus­ tana Synod, 1860 1917. Uppsala. Bronner, Hedin/Franzen, G6sta (1946 1967), Scandinavian courses offered in institutions of learning in the United States. In: Scand.St. 19 (1946 47), 239 260; 23 (1951), 173 198; 27 (1955), 173 195; 30 (1958), 157 177; 36 (1964), 303 322; 39 (1967), 345 367. Ba:kh0j, Lars (1948), Danske i Argentina. K0ben­ havn. Clausing, Stephen (1986), English influence on American German and American Icelandic. New York. Clyne, Michael (1967), Transference and triggering. The Hague. Clyne, Michael (1982), Multilingual Australia. Mel­ bourne. Diller, Stephan (1993), Tranquebar die Stadt an der Brandung: Diinischer Handelsstutzpunkt, Kron­ kolonie und europiiischer Freihandelsplatz (1620 1845) (Kleinere Beitrage zur europaischen Uber­ seegeschichte 22). Bamberg. Dmum, Hallvard (1991), Norsk sprak i Amerika: Kilder og forskning. In: Norsk sprak i Amerika/Nor­ wegian language in America (ed. B. Helleland). Oslo, 1 5 27. D0ygaard, Heino (1987), Fra det nu forsvundne Dansk Vestindien. Birkemd. Fishman, Joshua (1966), The historical and social context of an inquiry into language maintenance ef­ forts. In: Language loyalty in the United States (eds. J. A. Fishman/V. Nahirny/l. E. Hoffman et al.). The Hague, 29 32. Flodell, Gunvor (1986a), Misiones-svenska: Sprak­ bevarande och sprakpaverkan i en syd-amerikansk talgemenskap. Uppsala.

Baumann Larsen, Mogens/Kja:r, Iver (1978), Nonns in Danish-American. In: The Nordic lan­ guages and modern linguistics 3 (ed. J. Weinstock). Austin, Texas, 192 194.

Flodell, Gunvor (1986b), Om sprakd6d: Misiones­ svenska "hasta cuando?" In: Svenska i tid och otid: Viinskrift till Gun Widmark fran doktoranderna i Uppsala (eds. C. Anderson Ostman/A. Mahnberg). Uppsala, 28 38.

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229. History of the Scandinavian emigrant languages settlement, Wisconsin. In: American Speech 1, 541 558. Franzen, Gosta (1974), Svenskstad i Viistindien: Gustavia pa Saint Barthelemy i sprak- och kulturhis­ torisk belysning. Stockhohn. Gage, Gene G. (1971a), Scandinavian studies in America: The languages and literatures. In: Scand.St. 43, 251 277. Gage, Gene G. (1971b), The teaching of Old Norse­ Icelandic in the United States. In: Bibliography of Old Norse-Icelandic studies 1970. Copenhagen, 7 13. Garner, Mark W. (1983), Language use and ethni­ city among the Swedish community in Melbourne. In: Scandinavian emigration to Australia and New Zealand (ed. Olavi Koivukangas). Turku, 100 109. Gulliksen, 0yvind (1995), Norsk sprak i USA: Kan det skrives noe nytt etter Einar Haugen? In: NLT 13, 63 79. Gulliksen, 0yvind (1996), Amerikanorsk: Kort svar til Arnstein Hjelde. In: NLT 14, 71 74. Gumperz, J.J.jHymes, D. (1964), The ethnography of communication. In: American Anthropologist 66, 1 35. Hall, N.A. T. (1985), The Danish West Indies: empire without dominion, 1671 1848. U.S. Virgin Islands. Hallaraker, Peter (1991a), The Nynorsk language in the United States. Oslo. Hallaraker, Peter (1991b), Etternamn hos norske immigrantar i USA. In: Norsk sprak i Amerika/Nor­ wegian language in America (ed. B. Helleland). Oslo, 1 1 7 134. Hasselmo, Nils (1969), On diversity in American Swedish. In: SvLm. 294, 53 72. Hasselmo, Nils (1970), Code-switching and modes of speaking. In: Texas studies in bilingualism (ed. G. Gilbert). Berlin, 179 210. Hasselmo, Nils (1971), Det svenska spraket i Amerika. In: SiN, 125 162. Hasselmo, Nils (1972), Code-switching as ordered selection. In: Studies for Einar Haugen (eds. E. Fir­ chow et al.). The Hague, 261 280. Hasselmo, Nils (1974a), Amerikasvenska: En bokom sprakutvecklingen i Svensk-Amerika. Lund. Hasselmo, Nils (1974b), Language and the Swedish immigrant writer: From a case study of G. N. Malm. In: The Swedish pioneer historical quarterly 14, 62 84. Hasselmo, Nils (1977), Ett demografiskt perspektiv pa sprakbytet bland skandinaverna i U.S.A. In: Provinsiellt och universellt (eds. R. Otterbjork/S. Sjostrom). Umea, 273 288.

2139 Haugen, Einar (1960a), Vilhelm Mobergs amerika­ svenska sammelsurium av orimligheter. In: Svenska Dagbladet, 1 1 May, 1960. Haugen, Einar (1960b), Mobergs amerikasvenska en replik. In: Svenska Dagbladet, 3 June, 1960. Haugen, Einar (1960c), AndrewPetersons sprak. In: Svenska Dagbladet, 2 December, 1960. Haugen, Einar (1972), Bilingualism, language con­ tact, and immigrant languages in the United States: a research report 1956 70. In: Current trends in lin­ guistics 10 (ed. T.A. Sebeok). The Hague, 505 591. Haugen, Einar (1976), Svensker og nordmenn i Amerika. En studie i nordisk etnisitet. In: SoS 1976, 11 28. Haugen, Einar (1977), Nonn and deviation in bi­ lingual communities. In: Bilingualism. Psychologi­ cal, social, and educational implications (ed. P. Horn­ by). New York, 91 102. Haugen, Einar (1991), Norsk skriftspraki Amerika. In: Norsk sprak i Amerika/Norwegian language in America (ed. B. Helleland). Oslo, 35 48. Haugen, Einar (1992a), A language survey that fai­ led: Seip and Sehner. In: American speech 67, 330 336. Haugen, Einar (1992b), The rise and fall of an im­ migrant language. Norwegian in America. In: Inves­ tigating obsolescence. Studies in language contraction and death (ed. Nancy C. Dorian). New York, 61 73. Hedblom, Folke (1962), Om svenska folkmal i Amerika. Fran Landsmals- och folkminnesarkivets bandinspelningsexpedition 1962. In: SvLm. 287, 1 1 3 157. Hedblom, Folke (1965), Bandinspelningsexpe­ ditionen 1964. In: SvLm. 290, 1 34. Hedblom, Folke (1966a), Den tredje inspelnings­ expeditionen till Svensk-Amerika. In: SvLm. 291, 97 1 1 5. Hedblom, Folke (1966b), Ortnamni emigrant-sam­ halle. Om svensk ortnamnsbildning i Amerika. In: NoB 54, 127 140. Hedblom, Folke (1968), Svenska folkmal i Nya Varlden. In: SoS 1968, 38 49. Hedblom, Folke (1972), Bishop Hill Swedish after a century. In: Studies in honour of Harold Orton on the occasion of his seventieth birthday (ed. S. Ellis). Leeds, 97 114. Hedblom, Folke (1977), Amerikasvenska dialekt­ problem. In: Dialectology and sociolinguistics: es­ says in honor of Karl-Hampus Dahlstedt, 19 April, 1977. Umea, 56 62.

Hasselmo, Nils (1980), The linguistic nonn and the language shift in Swedish America. In: Languages in conflict (ed. P. Schach). Lincoln, 48 67.

Hedblom, Folke (1978), Swedish dialects on Ameri­ can soil: some experiences of a field researcher. In: The Nordic languages and modern linguistics 3 (ed. J. Weinstock). Austin, Texas, 182 188.

Haugen, Einar (1953), The Norwegian language in America: a study in bilingual behavior. Philadelphia.

Hedblom, Folke (1992), Dialekt och spraknonn i Svensk-Amerika. In: SvLm. 328, 7 30.

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Helleland, Botolv (1986), Norske namn i Amerika. In: Institutt for namnegransking. Arsmelding 1985. Oslo, 89 1 1 8 . Hjelde, Arnstein (1995), Norsk sprak i USA: Kan det skrivast noko nytt om det etter Einar Haugen? In: NLT 13, 199 210. Hulden, Lars (1972), Finlandssvenskan i USA och Kanada. In: SiN, 59 72. Hulden, Lars (1978), Ett 6sterbottniskt socken-mals oden i Amerika. In: The Nordic languages and mod­ ern linguistics 3 (ed. J. Weinstock). Austin, Texas, 399 403. Huseby, Olaf (1914), Norske namn i amerikansk kla:dnad. In: Norrema, June July 1914. Jeyaraj, Daniel (1996), Inkulturation in Tranquebar: Der Beitrag der fruhen diinisch-halleschen Mission zum Werden einer indisch-einheimischen Kirche (1706 1730). Erlangen. Kalm, Peter (1770; 1937), Peter Kalm's travels in North America: The English version of 1770. (Re­ vised from the original Swedish and edited by A. B. Benson). New York. Karstadt, Angela (1996), Relative markers in Swed­ ish-American English: evidence for a contact lan­ guage phenomenon? In: American Speech 71, 26 48. Karstadt, Angela (1999), Swedish-American Eng­ lish: a longitudinal study of linguistic variation and identity. Minneapolis. Kimmerle, Marjorie M. (1941), Norwegian-Ameri­ can surnames. In: Norwegian-American studies and records xii, 1 32. Kja:r, Iver/Baumann Larsen, Mogens (1971), Dansk i Amerika. Status og perspektiv. In: SiN, 45 57. Kja:r, Iver/Baumann Larsen, Mogens (1973), "Tings gik like that." In: DaSt 1973, 108 1 1 8 . Kja:r, Iver/Baumann Larsen, Mogens (1974), "De messy ting." Om kodeskift i dansk-amerikansk. In: Festskrift til Kristian Hald (ed. P. Andersen). Kobenhavn, 421 430. Kja:r, Iver/Baumann Larsen, Mogens (1978), Prob­ lems and observations of American Danish. In: The Nordic languages and modern linguistics 3 (ed. J. Weinstock). Austin, Texas, 189 191. Kja:r, Iver/Baumann Larsen, Mogens (1987), A study of the vocabulary in an American-Danish community. In: From Scandinavia to America (eds. S. E. Jorgensen et al.). Odense, 265 266. Kja:r, Iver/Baumann Larsen, Mogens (1992), The spoken Danish language in the U. S. From interac­ tion to recollection. In: Danish emigration to the U.S.A. (eds. B. Flemming Larsen/H. Bender). Aal­ borg, 106 123.

Koivukangas, Olavi (1993), The longest voyage of the Vikings. New Zealand a remote alternative to America. In: On distant shores, Danes worldwide archives 1993 (eds. B. Flemming Larsen et al.). Aal­ borg, 121 139. Koivukangas, Olavi/Martin, John Stanley (1986), The Scandinavians in Australia. Melbourne. Kristiansen, Tore/Harwood, Jake/Giles, Howard (1991), Ethnolinguistic vitality in "The Danish Capital of America". In: Journal ofmultilingual and multicultural development 12, 421 448. Kruse, Anne (1991), Norske stadnamn i Coon Val­ ley, Wisconsin. In: Norsk sprbk i Amerika/Norwe­ gian Language in America (ed. B. Helleland). Oslo, 135 171. Labov, William (1973), Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia. Landelius, Otto R. (1985), Swedish place-names in North America. Carbondale, Illinois. Martin, John S. (1983), Ethnic identity and social organization in the Scandinavian communities in Melbourne 1870 1919. In: Scandinavian emigration to Australia and New Zealand project (ed. O. Koi­ vukangas). Turku, 73 99. Meixner, Esther C. (1941), The teaching of Scandi­ navian languages and literatures in the United States. Philadelphia. Mj6berg, G6ran (1960), Nybyggarnas sprak. In: Svenska Dagbladet, 27 April, 1960. Moen, Per (1991), The iniluence of a Norwegian substratum on the pronunciation of Norwegian­ American in the Upper Midwest. In: Norsk sprbk i Amerika/Norwegian Language in America (ed. B. Helleland). Oslo, 97 1 1 5. Moller, Jorgen E. (1993), The early Danish-Austra­ lian connection. In: On distant shores. Danes world­ wide archives 1993 (eds. B. Flemming Larsen et al.). Aalborg, 141 156. Nelson, Helge (1943/1979), The Swedes and the Swedish settlements in North America. New York. Norregaxd, Georg (1966), Danish settlements in West Africa, 1658 1850. Boston. Sandaker, Arvid (1971), Litt om navnebruk blant norske innvandrere i Amerika. In: Norsk slektshis­ torisk tidsskrift xxiii: 1, 59 62. Seip, Didrik A. (1933), Nordmenn og norsk sprak i Amerika. In: Ord och bild 1933, 253 259. Simley, Ann (1930), A study of Norwegian dialect in Minnesota. In: American Speech 5, 469 474.

Klintborg, Staffan (1999), The transience of Ameri­ can Swedish. Lund.

Stolen, Marianne T. (1992), Codeswitching for hu­ mor and ethnic identity: written Danish-American occasional songs. In: Journal of multilingual and multicultural development 13, 215 228.

Koivukangas, Olavi (1974), Scandinavian immigra­ tion and settlement in Australia before World War II. Turku.

Stolen, Marianne Tove (1993), Harmonien: An eth­ nohistorical sociolinguistic analysis of a Danish­ American organization. Odense.

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230. History of foreign languages in the Scandinavian countries Swanson, R. W. (1927 28), The Swedish surname in America. In: American Speech 3, 468 477. Toven, Audun (1978), Nynorsk i USA. In: Basar. Norsk litterErt tidsskrift 4, 21 30. Ureland, Sture (1971), Report on Texas-Swedish re­ search. In: SvLm. 295, 27 74. Ureland, Sture (1972), Observations on Texas­ Swedish phonology. In: Studia Linguistica xxv, 69 110. Ureland, Sture (1974), Diktade och verkliga amerikanismer i Vilhehn Mobergs amerika-roma­ ner. In: Festskriftfor S. Fries. Umea.

Ureland, Sture (1975), The Swedish language in America. In: SvLm. 300, 83 105. Ureland, Sture (1984), The iniluence of American English on American Swedish: a case study on the nature of interference. In: Scandinavian language contacts (eds. S. Ureland/I. Clarkson). Cambridge, 281 324. Weinreich, Uriel (1953), Languages in contact. The Hague. Zempel, Solveig (1980), Language use in the novels ofJohannes B. Wist: A study ofbilingualism in litera­ ture. Minneapolis.

Nils Hasse/rna, Washington, D. C. (USA)

230.

History of foreign languages in the Scandinavian countries

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

The problem Latin Low Gennan High Gennan French English and American English Literature (a selection)

1.

The problem

Over the course of time Scandinavian has re­ ceived immigrants from many countries and linguistic influences from at least as many lan­ guages. In this context, however, only lan­ guages with a lasting influence on the Scan­ dinavian languages will be dealt with: Latin, Low German and Dutch, High German, French, and English. As the history offoreign languages is largely parallel in the three coun­ tries they will be treated as one, except for cases of distinct differences. The influences have corne through a variety of channels and have taken place on quite di­ verse levels. Some have reached Scandinavia as spoken languages, entering with groups of immigrants (Low German and Dutch); some primarily in their written forms with a smaller circle of immigrants who were carriers of cul­ tural influences (Latin); others as the written and spoken language of a particular social class (High German, French); still others via the media, unrelated to immigration (English). The extent and domains of diffusion depend

on a variety of factors. In order to evaluate the importance of these languages the follow­ ing points must be clarified: (a) Period (When and for how long did the language in question participate?) (b) Agents (Who brought the language to Scandinavia?) (c) Domains (Did the language in question establish domains of its own? What were they?) (d) Users (Was the language used exclusively by the agents or was it adopted by native Scandinavian speakers?) (e) Mediation/learning (Did the language reach others than those who already knew it, e. g. through teaching?) (I) Linguistic influences on the language of the recipient (What did the recipient lan­ guage adopt in terms of lexical material, morphology and syntax?)

2.

Latin

From the Early Middle Ages until the 17th c., Latin was the only international language of culture in Europe. The influence of Latin in Scandinavia began with the introduction of Christianity in the 9th c., represented by the replacement of runes by the Roman alphabet. In Dernnark and Norway, texts in alphabetic writing have been handed down since the 1 1 th c" but it supposedly had already begun

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to be used at the time of the Anglo-Saxon mission. Although the Christian mission also reached Sweden in the 9th C . , it was not sup­ ported by the kings until around the year 1000, and therefore had no effect. Runic writing was thus still in use in the 1 3 th c. In the beginning the Church was in charge of all reading and writing activities, and all learning. With the founding of monasteries and the building of churches in the 1 0th and 1 1 th centuries, centres were created from which the knowl­ edge of Latin was propagated. In order to train local priests and clerks, schools were es­ tablished to spread knowledge of the language of the service, using books that the mission­ aries had brought with them. Classical gram­ mars (e. g. Donatus and Priscianus) were used, along with classical texts. These readings are reflected by quotes in the literature written in Latin. Proficiency in Latin was not always a product of these theological schools, but might also be achieved by studying abroad. Frequent exchanges took place in the 1 3 th and 14th centuries, especially with the university in Paris. To study theology one had to know Latin, and theology was a prerequisite for entering a career. In Denmark, writings in Latin are known from the 1 1 th c. in the form of the lives of saints; after that we have secular history writ­ ing (Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum) as well as diplomas, and, from the 1 3th c., lin­ guistic and scientific texts. Some ofthe authors were foreign (mainly English) clergy, but Dan­ ish writers also had a high level of command of Latin. Interference from the mother tongue is found mainly in minor official legal docu­ ments. In the chancelleries, Latin reigned supreme until around 1320, when Middle Low German came into use. From about 1370 Danish was also used more and more frequently. The use of Latin was preserved in State correspon­ dence with England, France and Spain as well as in all clerical correspondence until the Re­ formation. In Norway there are no original texts in Latin from the 1 1 th c., but their exist­ ence has been documented in later transla­ tions. Norwegians were sent to the Holy See to learn Latin in the middle of the 1 1 th c., and monasteries were founded from around 1 100. From around 1 1 50, lives of saints, chronicles (Historia Norvegice) and diplomas have been handed down. Like in Denmark, the profi­ ciency level was high, testifying to a high de­ gree of training. After 1 200 Latin history writ­ ing ceased in Norway. Ecclesiastical statutes

and diplomas remained the domain of Latin, but also in these areas a strong tradition for Norwegian evolved by the end of the 12thc. In Sweden, Latin diplomas are known from the 12thc., but from around 1 340 the native language gained dominance. From 1 400 on­ wards Latin was only used in ecclesiastical contexts. The writings of Saint Birgitta from the middle of the 14th c. are mainly found in Latin. One of many theories has it that she herselfwrote down her revelations in Swedish. The texts were then translated by her confes­ sor and the Latin texts were subsequently re­ vised as she was canonized. With the founding of the universities, Latin gained a new domain outside the Church. The universities in Uppsala and Copenhagen were founded in 1477 and 1 479 respectively, and like at the foreign universities frequented ear­ lier by Scandinavian students (Paris, Cologne etc.), the language was exclusively Latin. Among scholars Latin retained its status as a lingua franca for centuries, enabling them to communicate in speech and writing with stu­ dents and colleagues at horne and abroad. By the time the art of printing reached Scandina­ via, most books were still printed in Latin. Latin lost the first of its important domains when the Reformation (Sweden 1 527, Den­ mark-Norway 1 536) demanded that services be held in the native language. Bibles, hymn books and catechisms in the vernacular be­ came the best known and most widely distrib­ uted texts. Latin did, however, retain its raison d'etre as a lingua franca for scholars and as a precondition for understanding people across borders. One illustrative example is the fact that the Danish Church Ordinance orig­ inally was written in Latin, as it had to be approved by Luther, who was unable to do so on the basis of a Danish version. It was only afterwards that it was translated into the native language. The great breakthrough that made it possible for the native language to take over all domains, thus gaining status as the language of intellectual life, did not hap­ pen until the 18thc. As Latin no longer was the only key to a career, the sons of the nobility concentrated more on German and French. Although grammar schools were no longer the only prestigious schools in the cities, they did remain strong. Until the Enlightenment, Latin remained the language of scholarship. This continued dominance of Latin forms the back­ ground for the Danish and Swedish purist movement, to which the German language so­ cieties served as a model. The followers of the

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movement were scholars, and they wrote in Latin, the very language they desired to rid themselves of. In international science, Latin was still a prerequisite for fame. Scholars who did not publish their work in Latin had no chance of reaching an international audience of col­ leagues (Skautrup 1947, 2,278). There was also the option of demonstrating one's learning by composing poetry in Latin, e. g. occasional poems or dedications. Like the other Germanic languages Scandi­ navian languages are heavily influenced by Latin loans. These have not necessarily come directly from Latin. Latin has been a medium for a large number of Greek words (the vo­ cabulary of Christianity), and these, like words of Latin origin, have been passed on to Scandinavian not least through Low Ger­ man, but also at an earlier time through Old Saxon and Old Frisian, and later from High German and French. Latin (in some cases of Greek origin) is reflected in the vocabulary of Christianity and the Church with some of the oldest loans: Dan. abbed, diakon, kapel, kar­ dinal, munk, prior; Sw. abbot, diakon, kapeU, kardinal, munk, prior 'abbot, deacon, chapel, cardinal, monk, prior', in words for trade and trading goods: Dan. eddike, mandel, sennep, vin; Sw. iittika, mandel, senap, vin 'vinegar, almond, mustard, wine', finances: Dan.jSw. pund 'pound', minerals: Dan./Sw. kalk 'lime', names of animals and plants: Dan. kat, mus; Sw. katt, mus 'cat, mouse', Dan. rose, viol; Sw. ros, viol 'rose, violet', expressions of time (the days of the week), school, university, scientific and technical terms: Dan.jSw. disc pel, i gram­ matik, professor, regel 'disciple, grammar, professor, regulation'. Many of these loans have been passed on to Scandinavian via Low German. The lexical material of Latin is still active in the coinage of neo-Latin words that may have come into existence in various Euro­ pean languages and spread from one language to the others. In the 1 8 th c. scholars still re­ ceived training in Latin. More and more in­ stitutions, however, allowed the use of the na­ tive language. Latin did not irrevocably lose its dominance as the only language at the uni­ versities until the early 19th c., when the native language was gradually allowed in lectures and theses. To sum up, Latin was brought into Scan­ dinavia by a small group of immigrants, not as their native tongue but as a language with a defined domain. By the time it reached Scan­ dinavia it was not a living language, but being

the language of the Church and of scholarship, it has had a tremendous effect, from the al­ phabet to loanwords, the elements of which to this day are a basis for the coinage of new words, although the language itself is dead. Latin syntax has had an effect on the Scandi­ navian languages, and Latin grammar has for­ med a basis for thinking about and describing grammar, at least until the 20th c. Even after the days of theological and grammar schools, Latin remained a compulsory subject, to pro­ mote knowledge of grammar in the study of languages, and the ability to decode technical terms in the study of science. Since the 1960s the subject has been reduced everywhere in up­ per secondary education, and knowledge of Latin can thus no longer be seen as an integral part of a general education.

3.

Low German

The history of Low German in Scandinavia is closely connected to the massive immigra­ tion from North Germany starting in the 1 2th c., not least with the formation of the Hanseatic League. During the German expan­ sion in the Baltic region, merchants and crafts­ men settled in the flourishing coastal cities and formed the nucleus of the citizenries. The Scandinavian royal families were related to the royal houses of North Germany, and be­ cause of this kings like Albrecht of Mecklen­ burg and Erik of Pomerania were able to oc­ cupy the thrones of Scandinavia. North Ger­ man noble families won influence - in Den­ mark not least through the duchy of Holstein - German artisans were given commissions, and the military consisted largely of German mercenaries. In Norway and Sweden mining was initiated and executed by German experts. Soon there was a considerable admixture of Germans in all social strata. Until around 1 520 the only variety of German in Scandina­ via was Low German. From the 16thc. immi­ gration no longer came exclusively from North Germany, and Low German fell into disuse in writing as it did in the rest of the German language area. It was, however, still used as a spoken language. The higher social strata were the first to abandon Low German in favour of the more prestigious High Ger­ man, in speech as well as in writing. In the lower strata it was kept up especially long, no doubt supported by the affiliation of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein to the king­ dom until 1864.

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Middle Low German was the language of the chancelleries from the early 14th c. Due to the significant German presence in the ci­ ties, Middle Low German was not only used in city chancelleries, but also in the regulations of the guilds. In Denmark a selection of laws was translated for the benefit of Gennan­ speaking citizens, but apart from that, legis­ lation was the domain ofthe native languages. As the German-speaking population was part of the educated classes, there was also a mar­ ket for literature in their language. Ecclesias­ tical as well as secular poetry in Low German can be found in collections of manuscripts, and the language is well represented in early printed works. Low German was used by immigrants and their partners in communication. Whether the native population had a full or partial com­ mand of Low German depends on the degree of integration, which varied in the three coun­ tries. Sweden had the highest degree of inte­ gration, while Denmark-Norway had a lesser degree. Language contact was predominantly oral, in connection with trade and daily life in the mixed areas of the cities. There is no evidence of school teaching Low German. The Low German written language, based on the Lubeck norm and used in the chancelleries of the three countries, must have been brought and used by immigrant scribes or local people with a German language background or edu­ cation, as it does not exhibit interference from Scandinavian. Low German had a considerable effect on the Scandinavian languages. The immigrants brought with them new lexical items suited to their specific domains, which were city admin­ istration, trade and crafts: Dan. borg, rads­ herre, oldermand, krxmmer; Sw. borg, rads­ herre, alderman, kramare 'fortified city, coun­ cillor, master of guild, shopkeeper', and nu­ merous derivatives with -mager/-makare '-ma­ ker'. Although it is no longer widely recog­ nized, a large portion of the basic vocabulary is of Low German origin: Dan. gunst, magt, middei, pligt, blive, Jersk, kiar, tapper; Sw. gunst, makt, medel,plikt, bliva,farsk, klar, tap­ per 'favour, power, means, duty, become/re­ main, fresh, clear, brave'. The prestige of Low German explains how Low German words could displace existing words in the Scandina­ vian languages. The similarity of the phono­ logical and phonotactical systems no doubt contributed to the process. Besides individual lexemes also phrasemes, formative elements such as prefixes: be-, for-, und-; and suffixes:

-bar, -hed/-het, -inde/-inna have been adopted. To which degree the simplification of the case system in Scandinavian languages can be at­ tributed to Low German influence is still a matter of controversy. Low German loans are integrated in the Scandinavian languages to such an extent that at no time have they been the subject of pu­ ristic efforts. Due to the similarities mentioned above, they have not been recognized as loans. Until the 16thc. Low German shared its do­ mains with the Scandinavian languages. It al­ ternated with these according to the principle of functionality, and the only domain where Low German (later High German) won ex­ clusive dominance was the military. The situ­ ation today is thus that Low German is reflec­ ted in loanwords in the central vocabulary of Scandinavian languages. These have adopted word-formation elements that are still produc­ tive. Contact has been predominantly oral, and since the use of Low German as a written language ceased before language education was offered to the general public, it has never been taught as a subject in Scandinavian schools. Few people today realize that words they consider to be genuine Scandinavian ones are in fact loanwords. For the Scandinavian languages, Low German has been unparal­ leled as a source of linguistic innovation. 3.1.

Dutch

Dutch may be mentioned in connection with Low German. Contact with the Netherlands was limited to certain periods, but during these periods it was quite intense. From the end of the 14thc. Dutch merchants occasionally settled in Denmark, and in 1521 a Dutch col­ ony was summoned to grow vegetables on the island ofAmager. In Sweden Dutch merchants replaced the Hanseatic merchants. Trade re­ lations and political liaisons peaked in the Netherlands' golden era in the 16th and 17th centuries, when Denmark and then Sweden were great powers. In this period many signifi­ cant Dutch artists such as the painters Jacob van Doordt, Karel van Mander and Abraham Wuchters as well as the poet Joost van den Von­ del were affiliated with the Scandinavian Courts, where their activities had a lasting in­ fluence. It appears that the Dutch immigrants to some degree joined the (Low) German com­ munities. They sometimes attended the same church services as the Germans for reasons of language. The Dutch written language (often with interference from Low German) was used

230. History of foreign languages in the Scandinavian countries

to a limited extent in the chancelleries. As a literary language, it was used occasionally for poetic tributes in connection with specific events. As a spoken language, it was used by the immigrants, and as an ecclesiastical lan­ guage it was superseded by Low German. Scandinavians do not appear to have acquired Dutch; they probably viewed it as a variety of the familiar Low German. Scandinavian languages did, however, adopt a significant number ofloanwords form areas where the Dutch were dominant. Many technical terms in navigation and shipbuilding are of Dutch origin: Dan. bark, dark, lrek, talje, vant; Sw. bark, durk, Nick, talja, vant 'bark, floor, leak, tackle, shroud', and Dutch was a language of mediation for exotic goods brought from their colonies (e. g. tea). The situation today is thus that influence from Dutch is visible in loanwords and proper names.

4.

High German

High German influence on the Scandinavian languages began in the 16th c., and receded significantly during the 19thc. In Denmark the conflict with the duchies and later with Prussia led to a violent rejection of all things German, cuhninating after 1864. In Norway and Sweden the relations with Germany re­ mained unaffected well into the 20th c. High German came to Scandinavia as East Middle German with the new relations with central Germany in connection with the Ref­ ormation and with continued immigration. After the Reformation, kings married Protes­ tant princesses from North Germany and a new noble line was introduced, bringing with them commoners in their service. The cities continued to attract traders and craftsmen. Religious minorities such as Jews, members of the Reformed Church and later Pietists were allowed to settle. Mercenaries often re­ mained in the country after marrying. Special­ ists in all areas of the arts received commis­ sions from kings and nobility (the carvers Bernt Notke and Claus Berg, the sculptor Adam van Duren, the composers Heinrich Schutz and Abraham Prretorius, the master builder Nikodemus Tessin and the painter D. Klocker von Ehrenstrahl). In the middle of the 16th c. the royal chan­ celleries switched from Low German to High German. With the Reformation the Church converted to the native languages, and in Copenhagen and Stockholm the German citi-

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zens were allowed to form German-language congregations which rose in number during the 17th and 1 8th centuries. The new craft of printing was brought to Scandinavia by Ger­ man printers, and despite the proliferation of Latin printed works this served to strengthen the presence of German, as did the German­ language newspapers from the 17th c. Ger­ man congregations were important in propa­ gating High German through the liturgy, and through the founding of schools connected to the churches. The Church no longer had a monopoly on education, and Latin was no longer the only way to gain an official appoint­ ment. German, along with French, became a subject in the schools of the nobility, and it was taught to the children of the nobility by private tutors. Unlike Low German, High German was not communicated orally. It came to Scandi­ navia as a functional written language with the first of the High German immigrants. As the language of the Church it exerted its in­ fluence on Swedish and Danish through trans­ lations of the Bible into the respective lan­ guages. High German loans into Scandina­ vian languages are found more in the domain of the written language than Low German loans: Dan. forestilling, indtryk, videnskab, omfang; indskrxnke, prisgive; Sw. forestiill­ ning, intryck, omfling, vetenskap; inskriinka, prisgiva 'notion, impression, extent, science, restrict, abandon'. Their phonetic structure prevents them from being integrated in the same manner as Low German loans. Some adaptation in pronunciation and orthography took place, but not to the extent that they seemed integrated, at least not to later purist movements. Especially in Denmark these movements have brought about a reduction in the number of High German loans. Many have disappeared or are preserved only as rare or specifically technical variants. Among the features that are felt to be "German" are such phonemes as tz 11$1 and sch III, alien to the adopting language, as well as the prefix ge-. Although this prefix was borrowed from Ger­ man, it never became productive like other prefixes, e.g. be- and Jor-. During the period of prestige for High German, there are examples of Nordic family names being Ger­ manized: Dan. Bredstrup > Bredsdorff; Soften > Zeuthen; while families of a nationalist dis­ posal during the 19th c. purist period con­ sciously attempted to eliminate the very same German features: Dan. Koster > K@ster, Kruger > KrygerjKr@yer, Zulow > Sylow. As

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XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

language became an intrinsic part of national identity, it was no longer acceptable to be gov­ erned in any other language than the native one. In Denmark the struggle for national identity was a struggle against German domi­ nance. The loss of a domain for High German in Denmark-Norway from the 1770s must be seen against this background. Earlier the lan­ guage was in use everywhere in the adminis­ tration, according to the principle of function­ ality, but now German was reduced to an ad­ ministrative language for the duchies, and the use of German as the language of command in the army was prohibited in 1773. The po­ sition of German in Sweden was less strong at this time, and there was no basis for a clash with the Germans over the issue of identity. To sum up, German gradually lost its prestige in Denmark from the end of the 1 8th c., and irrevocably after the wars of the 19th c. From then onwards an effort was made to dissociate Dernnark from all things German. Yet a pro­ found knowledge of German language and culture remained common well into the 20th c. In Sweden and Norway, relations with Ger­ many were untainted in the 19thc., and Ger­ man had a natural status as the primary foreign language. With the Second World War it lost its status, becoming the second and in some locations the third foreign language, al­ ternating with French. It is now possible to complete an education without studying Ger­ man at all. German cultural policy has been cautious due to the Second World War, pre­ venting massive campaigns to remedy this decline. The number of German loans since 1955 is around 50 in all three languages.

5.

French

There is a long history of contact between France and Scandinavia, but in the early stages the French language did not play an important part. French culture and language came to Scandinavia in the 17th c., and began to wane around the year 1800. The influence from French took place on two levels. Its more lasting influence came through the highest so­ cial ranks. Out of admiration for the magnifi­ cent Court of Louis XIV they imitated all things French, from architecture to cuisine, and demonstrated their cultivation by speak­ ing and writing in French rather than their native language. The second layer of influence consisted of groups of citizens, Huguenots and members of the Reformed Church, who settled as religious minorities in various places

in Northern Europe, including Scandinavia. To varying degrees they preserved French as a social and ecclesiastical language. The admiration for French led the higher social classes to desire a command of the lan­ guage. One example of a royal child who re­ ceived tuition in French is Leonora Christina, daughter of Christian IV. Her autobiography in French, however, is anything but flawless. French became the language of diplomacy. French servants and tutors of French became common at the courts. The a la mode move­ ment passed over Europe, and in many cases the bourgeoisie joined in the snobbery. The commoners as well as the nobility saw French plays and addressed one another in French. The a la mode movement, the object of the contempt of purists in Germany, was not as pronounced in Denmark, although Ludvig Holberg ridiculed "Jean de France". In the higher social strata German influence was still stronger. An extensive use of French is found in the 18thc. correspondence of leading Ger­ man noble houses. Legation reports were re­ quired to be in French, but a true command of the language is only found with people who studied in France. In Sweden the influence of French was far more significant. The political and military liaisons with Sweden led to extensive French immigration as well as linguistic influence, es­ pecially in the second half of the 17th c. France and Louis XIV served as a model. The French influence peaked during the reign of Gustav III and still lingered in the early 19thc., after which it began to fade. The loans in Scandinavian languages clearly reflect the aspects of French culture which were admired; court life ranging from the decora­ tion of castles to fashion, food and drink, the­ atre, dance, music, lifestyle and social conven­ tions: Dan. ballet, delikatesse, dessert, humor, maskerade, parap/y, paryk; Sw. ballett, de­ likatess, dessert, humor, maskerad, paraply, peruk 'ballet, delicacy, dessert, humour, mas­ querade, umbrella, wig'. All French things were, to use a French loanword, "elegant". The greater part of the loans were adopted in the 17th and 1 8th centuries, and the number is greatest in Swedish. French loans have been criticized by purists, and quite a few did pass with the a la mode movement. In the 19th and 20th centuries there was only very limited in­ fluence from French. In the period from 1955 until the beginning of the 1980s, Danish and Norwegian each adopted 34 French words, while Swedish in accordance with tradition

230. History of foreign languages in the Scandinavian countries

has adopted a few more, around 50. In Danish and Swedish the loans have been adapted slightly to suit the pronunciation and ortho­ graphy of the languages. In Norwegian, French loans are less obvious, as rules were laid down in 1917 for the Norwegianizing of loanwords. To sum up, French influence has been very limited in Denmark and Norway, while it has been very pronounced in Sweden. Today there is little common knowledge of French. For many years it was fixed as the third foreign language in education, but now it is second in some locations and may be replaced entirely in others, for instance with Russian or Span­ ish. Despite the greater differences it appears to do better than German in some environ­ ments. This may be due to the active French cultural policy. One also should not rule out the possibility that a certain snobbish appeal may still be involved.

6.

English and American English

The Christian mission in Scandinavia came from England, but up until the 20th c. linguis­ tic remains of Scandinavian presence in Eng­ land was more pronounced than vice versa. Before 1900 knowledge of English was re­ served for a minority. The currently much de­ bated influence from English in Scandinavian countries only dates back 50-60 years. Some English loans did arrive early on with the Christian mission: Dan. kirke; Sw. kyrka 'church', but not many followed in the centu­ ries after. Knowledge of English did not spread until during the 19thc. when interest in English literature grew (although mainly read as translations). The strong influence of English in the 20th c. comes through other channels than in previous centuries. There is only an insignificant amount of immigration from English-speaking countries, and loan­ words were not brought by merchants or mer­ cenaries, but by the new media of the 20th c.: films, radio, television and computers. English is not restricted as the language of a specific class or profession, either. Its pres­ tige was cemented when the U.S.A. and Eng­ land played the role ofliberators in the Second World War, and everything they brought was regarded with admiration. In the schools, English was advanced to the position of the first foreign language, while German, detested because ofits association with the Third Reich, was downgraded to the second or third foreign language. The prestige of English, especially

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American English, comes from above as well as from below. It provides openings in inter­ national relations for trade and research. It creates jobs, not least in information technol­ ogy, and thus becomes a symbol of value. But it is also the language of a number of subcul­ tures from America. Belonging to a subculture is a question of identity, hence the importance of a command of the language of the subcul­ ture. English is taught to schoolchildren earlier now than before, and children are no longer beginners by the time they go to school. The majority are already part of a community for­ med around Anglo-American products such as computer games, music videos or television animated cartoons in the original language. English is associated with having fun, and thus children are already motivated by the time education sets in. Code-switching to English is part of daily life from an early age. Presently a heated debate about the loss of domains of the national languages to English is going on in the Scandinavian countries. English has indeed gained status as a lingua franca, comparable only to the status of Latin from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment. Despite efforts to secure the status of the na­ tional languages in international organiz­ ations English dominates, being the only lan­ guage that everyone has at least some knowl­ edge of. It is the international language in technical fields like aviation, and above all computers. To an increasing extent it is be­ coming the technical language of research publications, as yet mostly in science and less in the humanities. Anglo-American personal names became modern already before the Sec­ ond World War, due to the influence of fihns and fihn stars. The intake of Anglo-American loans accelerated from the 1950s, and has been recorded in publications from the Language Councils of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The number for each of the three languages is around 800, but the counts cannot be com­ pared directly, as the time frames vary by a few years. The numbers also vary according to whether all types of loans - direct loans, loan translations, and semantic loans - are in­ cluded. A comparison with the influence of Low German is in order when examining the inte­ gration of the many new loans. None of the factors, however, that may have made the in­ tegration of Low German loans easier are present. The prestige of English, along with the motivation in the adopting languages,

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XXI. Special aspects of Nordic language history V: Language contact

makes way for a smooth integration despite the differences in phonology and phonotac­ tics. Words are adapted to the grammar ofthe adopting language and assume its inflectional forms. A newphenornenon, however, in Scan­ dinavian languages is plural -s, which has en­ tered the native inflectional system along with English loanwords, e. g. airbags, highlighters. Pronunciation and orthography is adapted to varying degrees. In Norway the fixing of rules for Norwegianizing English loanwords is be­ ing discussed, but the rules meet with resis­ tance. Research has shown that the younger generations, who usually have a good com­ mand of English, pronounce the words in a more "English" fashion than older people who received less education in English from an early age. To sum up, the position of English as the first foreign language in Scandinavian coun­ tries has been unchallenged since the Second World War. It has entered the language of daily life but has not affected basic vocabu­ lary. The "threat" of English is discussed ve­ hemently in all three countries. Will it threaten the existence of the Scandinavian languages, or does it merely amount to loss of domains? The dominance of English in the media has contributed to a situation where the knowl­ edge of German and French is declining, to the extent that English is seen as the only foreign language by many people. The languages of Scandinavia have thus re­ ceived input from a number of European lan­ guages over time. This impact has corne with the speakers of these languages who have

exerted their influence in the rest of Europe, as representatives of dominant religious, com­ mercial, political or cultural groups.

7.

Literature (a selection)

Davidsen-Nielsen, Niels et al. (1999), Engelsk eller ikke engelsk? That is the question. K0benhavn. Friis-Jensen, Karsten (1999), Litteratur og B0ger. In: Middelalderens Danmark (eds. P. Ingesman et al.). K0benhavn, 314 343. Hansen, Erik/Lund, J0m (1994), Kulturens Gesand­ ter: Fremmedordene i dansk. K0benhavn. Hellquist, Elof (1930), Det svenska ordforradets al­ der och ursprung 2. Lund. Jarvad, Pia (1999), Nye Ord: Ordbog over nye ord i dansk 1955 98. K0benhavn. Nyord inorsk 1945 75 (1982). Bergen/Oslo/Troms0. Nyord i svenskanfran 40-tal till 80-tal (1986). Solna. Skard, Vemund(1967 79), Norsksprbkhistorie 1 4. Oslo. Skautrup, Peter (1944 68), Det danske sprogs hi­ storie 1 4. K0benhavn. S0rensen, Knud (1997), A dictionary of Anglicisms in Danish (Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabemes Selskab. Historisk-filosofiske Skrifter 18). Copen­ hagen. Wessen, Elias (1941 56), Svensk sprakhistoria 1 3. StockhoM. Winge, Vibeke (1992), Diinische Deutsche deutsche Diinen: Geschichte der deutschen Sprache in Diine­ mark 1300 1800. Heidelberg.

Vibeke Winge. Copenhagen (Denmark)