As you will see, this is not a comprehensive history of languages in Norway. It is merely an introduction to the languages we find in the most used genealogical sources.<\/p>\n
Here is a quick overview of the languages you may encounter:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Latin<\/li>\n
- Danish<\/li>\n
- 3 forms of Norwegian:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- Riksm\u00e5l<\/li>\n
- Bokm\u00e5l<\/li>\n
- Landsm\u00e5l\/Nynorsk.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Latin<\/h6>\n
Throughout European history, an education in Latin was considered crucial for those who wished to join literate circles.\u00a0Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. (Wikipedia)<\/a>. For us as genealogists, it is the Church Latin we for the most part have to deal with. We can also encounter Latin expressions in legal documents and when looking at causes of death.<\/p>\n
In the Church records there were a number of expressions written in Latin. I have tried to collect and explain as many as I can of these expressions in my “Norwegian Genealogy Dictionary”<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0(Please send me a mail if you come across words that should have been included).<\/em><\/p>\n
Some medical terms in Latin are found in my list of “Causes of death”<\/a><\/p>\n
The dating in the Church records are based on the feast days of the Church year, also written in Latin. You may want to have a look at my article “Moveable feast days in Norway”<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Danish<\/h6>\n
![\"Hans_Egede_-_Johan_Horner\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Hans_Egede_-_Johan_Horner.jpg?resize=192%2C244&ssl=1\")
The minister Hans Poulsen Egede (1686-1758) was the son of Dane Poul Hansen Egede who moved from Denmark to serve as magistrate in Harstad, Troms county By Johan H\u00f6rner (Frederiksborg Museum) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>From 1380 until 1814 Norway was in a union with Denmark. Nearly all higher officials both in the military and civil administration were Danes. \u00a0Little by little the old Norwegian laws were translated and all official decrees were issued in Danish. After the Lutheran reformation the Bible and the hymnals were translated to Danish (Wikipedia)<\/a>.\u00a0From 1629 ministers serving in Norway had to have a diploma from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark (Lundeby 1972:40). Norwegians who wanted a higher education had to write Danish. This made Danish the administrative language in Norway in this period(Lundeby 1972:37).<\/p>\n Even after the union with Denmark was ended, Danish was used as the written language in Norway.\u00a0Based on this, we see that we must expect to find a lot of Danish words when we read official records.<\/p>\n
Norwegian<\/h6>\n
Above I mentioned 3 forms of Norwegian language (Sami is a language used in Norway, but it is not a Norwegian language).<\/em><\/p>\n
About 1830 \u00a0new views on language was put forward in Norway. Among others, the author Henrik Wergeland was a strong advocate for a Norwegian language (Ustvedt 1995:185).\u00a0\u00a0The Norwegian educator and linguist\u00a0Knud Knudsen proposed in the 1850’s to change spelling and inflection in accordance with the Dano-Norwegian koin\u00e9, known as “cultivated everyday speech.” Knudsens language was later called “Riksm\u00e5l”<\/strong> (Wikipedia).<\/a>\u00a0Riksm\u00e5l have similarities with Danish.<\/p>\n
In sources from the last part of the 1800’s Riksm\u00e5l may be used. In spite of the \u00a0similarities with Danish, a large part of the glossary is the same as in modern Bokm\u00e5l.<\/p>\n
About the same time as Knudsen worked on his language, the scolar Ivar Aasen travelled rural Norway and collected samples of the different dialects. Based on common traits in these dialects he created what he called “Landsm\u00e5l” <\/strong>(Ven\u00e5s 1996:9-11). From 1929 this language has been called Nynorsk.\u00a0<\/strong>From the last part of the 1800’s you may find occasional sources written in Nynorsk.<\/p>\n
![\"Map](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/512px-M%C3%A5lformer_i_Norge.svg_.png?resize=252%2C357&ssl=1\")
Map of the official language forms of Norwegian municipalities. Red is Bokm\u00e5l, blue is Nynorsk and gray depicts neutral areas. (Attribution: By Norway_municipalities_2010_blank.svg: K\u00e5re-Olav Derivative work: R\u00f8ed CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>\u00a0, via Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Both Nynorsk and Bokm\u00e5l has been through several language reforms in an attempt to narrow the gap between the two forms. This has resulted in a rift among the supporters who do not adhere to the reforms. There is a substantial group who stick to the Riksm\u00e5l. While among Nynorsk users there are a nearly extinct group that uses what they call H\u00f8gnorsk.\u00a0(Wikipedia)<\/a>.<\/p>\n
We learn both Nynorsk and Bokm\u00e5l in Norwegian schools. There are conservatives in both camps who claim to not understand the “other” form. This is just nonsense as the forms today are so close that there really is no problem.<\/p>\n
A large number of local history books (Bygdeb\u00f8ker)<\/a> have been written in Nynorsk. This is mainly in the “blue areas” (See map). The language in the oldest of these books are often influenced by the dialect in the area.<\/p>\n
As established by law and governmental policy, the two official forms of written<\/i> Norwegian today is \u2013 Bokm\u00e5l<\/b><\/i> (literally “book tongue”) and Nynorsk<\/b><\/i> (literally “new Norwegian”). The\u00a0recommended \u00a0terms \u00a0in English is “Norwegian Bokm\u00e5l” and “Norwegian Nynorsk” (Wikipedia).<\/a><\/p>\n