(pic: blue is Nynorsk, orange is Bokmål, grey is neutral)
Can someone give me a quick rundown about the differences between the two written forms of Norwegian, Bokmål and Nynorsk? Evidently they are technically two different dialects/languages with different grammar unlike Bahasa Indonesia and Malay, which I think are mostly different only in vocabulary. From what I understand, written Norwegian is never the same as spoken Norwegian, and Bokmål and Nynorsk do not reflect how the language is spoken in the regions where these written forms are used. Is that so? Can you explain how significant the differences between the two forms are? Why are some of the municipalities "neutral" in this map? What is the medium of instruction used in schools here? Since Norway is a small country, it must be having a small number of universities. What form of Norwegian is used for teaching in these universities? It can't like Belgium where there are separate colleges that teach in French and colleges that teach in Dutch, right? Sorry if I sounded like a complete idiot in this post.
(pic: blue is Nynorsk, orange is Bokmål, grey is neutral)
Other urls found in this thread:
Bokmal is basically a continuation of the Danish-influenced dialects of Norwegian from when they were a united country while Nynorsk is an attempt to remove Danish influence from Norwegian and make it closer to what was being spoken by peasants who didn't live in cities and weren't being influenced by Danish. I can't say anything beyond that since I don't live in Norway or speak it but I guess this is better than just bumpng your thread for you.
Do the places that use Bokmål have the local spoken dialect more similar to Danish?
No idea, an actual Norwegian would probably need to answer that
Am from Oslo Area. Nynorsk is no more different than trying to read a written conversation between two scottish people.There are a few slang words that i don't understand at first but on the whole its not that different.
Bokmål is written very similar to written danish. But since the danes pronounce every word vastly different from how they write the spoken language is very different.
Thanks. Which one of the two is used in universities? And is it true that some areas use Nynorsk and some areas use Bokmål and some some use both for formal writing like how the map is saying? Does it depend on which one is closer to the spoken dialect?
I think it's part of the law that both must be used in universities. That is, everyone can choose to get their exams and official documents in either language.
And yes, municipalities can choose to use primarily Nynorsk or Bokmål or to be neutral. And it is divided according to your map. The reasons for which is used are mostly historic, but it basically boils down to being closer to the local dialect.
Nynorsk is basically bokmål but with more swedish words
This
'Norway' and 'Norwegian' doesn't exists
VERY good post.
GREAT observation.
Thanks Swede
Nynorsk is an attempt to be closer to icelandic language because icelandic was the language which was used in Norway in the old days
well, it's not working.
Ok, I know that you guys (Norway, Denmark and Sweden) can understand each other more or less. What about Icelandic, do you understand it?
Bokmål people have trouble understanding icelandic but nynorsk people can actually understand some words
Icelandic has also developed during the ages so its not 100% pure either. Norse is the pure form of how norwegians talked before and english language also derived from old norse.
The two written Languages are diffrent becuase of their history, and their influences.
One should also keep in mind that even if Norway have two written Languages, bokmål is by far the widely used. This is because the regions which use bokmål are more far more populated, and because regions who's dialect are closer to Nynorsk, still mostly use bokmål because it's more used in the country as a Whole.
Bokmål
Bokmål has more Danish influence. it was meant that Bokmål would be used as a slow process to have a Language closer to Norwegian, so as time has gone by, you can see that Bokmål has changed significantly over the years becuase of this process.
Nynorsk
Nynorsk was a attempt at creating a Norwegian written Language. But an important factor in why Nynorsk is not used country-wide is because it only has implementations from the Northern regians, like Nord-Norge og Vest-Norge. This is why Nynorsk is somethimes favoured in those regions, while in Ost-Norge and Sor-Norge bokmål is more used because it's closer to their dialect.
In School we're required to learn both written forms, which irritates most Norwegians as Nynorsk is basically only spoken by 10%~ of the population. Because of this Nynorsk is probebly on it's last dying breaths
>english language also derived from old norse
it did indeed
english is essential west germanic vocabulary with north germanic grammar and some romance loan words peppered in
What I meant on Nynorsk is that it only has been influenced by the Northern and western regions, while the eastern and Southern regons was completely ignored in making the written language
nynorks is bs.
if you really wanted to write how norgays speak it would be like this.
jaj skol ga till sjirka
jaj likir å spile bull
hva hajtar du?
kåm å bu i huse mitt
min hund hajtor leif
>swedish education everyone
This is why we kicked them out in 1905
you know it's true ola:
vocaroo.com
Don't the written forms of Norwegian only have common and neuter genders?
No there is masculine, feminine and neuter.
Nynorsk is closer to western (not nothern as someone claimed) rural dialects and is based on them.
Hognorsk is the conservative version of nynorsk.
Bokmål is based on formal speech from the eastern citites, but over time have more and more closer to the consensus of how people speak in the eastern Norway. The radical form of bokmål is closer to nynorsk
Riksmål is the conservative version of bokmål closer to how rich and formal people speak.
They are all written languages so there is no formal way to speak them. We speak dialects which often has formalized way ways to pronounce thing. (Eastern standard norwegian is quite close to bokmål though).
Samnorsk is a form of mixing of these two that the government tried to push through in the 1950s. It failed.
> What form of Norwegian is used for teaching in these universities?
English mostly. If in norwegian, you have a right to get exams and such in your own written form (sami people also have that right I think?).
The same for the governmental bodies, they have to answer you in the form you write to them (bokmål, norwegian or sami).
Neutral municipalities is just people how cant choose.
Can you explain how significant the differences between the two forms are?
Very few strict rules, but if you write in Hognorsk or Riksmål quite different. Radcal bokmål and modern nynorsk is not that different.