Dialects in Norway: catching up with the rest of Europe?
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Unn Røyneland
Abstract
Norway has sometimes been described as a sociolinguistic paradise with its abundant linguistic heterogeneity — both written and spoken. Dialect diversity has been and is still considerable and dialects are used in practically all social domains. However, dialects in Norway are changing. In this article I will discuss the historical background for the linguistic situation in Norway, and I will take a closer look at present-day developments and discuss the structural, sociocultural, and psychological mechanisms behind them. The question is whether the dialect situation in Norway remains very different from most other parts of Europe, or if at least some areas of Norway may be experiencing similar developments.
© 2009 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin
Articles in the same Issue
- Dialects in western Europe: a balanced picture of language death, innovation, and change
- Dialects in Norway: catching up with the rest of Europe?
- Dimensions and determinants of dialect use in the Netherlands at the individual and regional levels at the end of the twentieth century
- Dialect loss and dialect vitality in Flanders
- Regional languages in Romance Belgium: the point of no return?
- One foot in the grave? Dialect death, dialect contact, and dialect birth in England
- Dedialectalization in France: convergence and divergence
- Standardness and nonstandardness in Spain: dialect attrition and revitalization of regional dialects of Spanish
- Book reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Dialects in western Europe: a balanced picture of language death, innovation, and change
- Dialects in Norway: catching up with the rest of Europe?
- Dimensions and determinants of dialect use in the Netherlands at the individual and regional levels at the end of the twentieth century
- Dialect loss and dialect vitality in Flanders
- Regional languages in Romance Belgium: the point of no return?
- One foot in the grave? Dialect death, dialect contact, and dialect birth in England
- Dedialectalization in France: convergence and divergence
- Standardness and nonstandardness in Spain: dialect attrition and revitalization of regional dialects of Spanish
- Book reviews
