Towards One World-Language?
We live in a world were our language is constantly changing, and in the recent past our language has been affected because of a globalized world and technological development. The influence of English has become a global phenomenon. The question ''Will the Norwegian language survive or not?'' is something that is discussed alot today. Maybe it's time to protect Norwegian from English, and to preserve wealth of the Norwegian language, litterature and even the traditions. In this essay I am goign to write about how this globalization influences the Norwegian language.
English has a strong position as an international language in many areas of society, as in bussniess, in techology, and especially in the media. The fact that English and perhaps especially American culture dominates in several areas in Norway, is something I think most of us are aware of.
In my opinion one of the important factors is slang. Slang are words ad phrases that deviate from normal language, so every slang words is chosen as an alternative to a more neutral and normal variation of words with the same meaning. Many current Norwegian slang comes to us via media such as film, television and the internet, and it is almost impossible not to be affected by this. Because of this there is now a phenomenon that has been named anglonorwegian. Anglonorwegian is Norwegian with clear influence from the English language. Norwegian takes many loanwords from English. Sometimes we use the English words as they are, jeans and corner are two examples, other times we norwegianize English words, for example kult, beib, stilig etc.
The techological develpoment has led to more and more Norwegians communicating digitally. Therefore besides slang, ther...
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...ess time to write and people can communicate faster. Alot of teenagers have a urge to follow todays trend, and will always have a certain need to differentiate themselves from the growing generation. By using new words in their vocabulary, language functions as a marker of identity. Teenagers adopt English words that media and society serve them. Some people seem to think that English words and phrases are important to communicate with the outside word.
There are of course many arguments both for and against the Norwegian language becoming more and more influenced by English. There is no doubt that English is very important today, not only in Norway but in the whole world. The modern society we live in today is constantly evolving. New technology and new inventions are leading to a need for new words. Where this leads us, remains to be seen.
Works Cited
Teacher
The constant changing of technology and social norms makes difficult for different generations to understand one another and fully relate to each other. Diction and slang change as years pass and what is socially acceptable may have been prohibited in the previous generations.
Based on the foregoing purpose, this paper will present the histories of the beginnings and the endings of Viking civilization in both Iceland and Greenland. Then it will try to find out the reasons for the differences in final results through comparing and contrasting the ways by which Vikings lived their life. These ways are categories into four aspects: politics, economy, culture and diplomacy.
Working thesis: The advancements in technology have caused the social norms of society to adapt to its rapid change, by becoming captivated to its simple access; which is effecting the way we communicate and act.
The official language of Norway has two forms. Bokmål, or "book language," is used in most written works and is spoken by more than 80 percent of the people, especially those living in urban areas. English is taught in schools beginning at age 11 and is widely spoken as a second language. Communication is very similar to that of the United States, with technology being more advanced, and things like the Internet and cellular communication being very widely used, with an average of 2 cell phones per person in Norway. The power structure of Norway is probably one of the few areas that are quite different from that of most other free countries.
Icelandic culture has its roots in North Germanic traditions. The Icelandic culture is popular, the sagas and eddas, which was a very familiar aspect of Icelandic literature, written in medieval Iceland, most popular in the 13th and 14th centuries. In like manner, centuries of isolation have helped to protect the country's Nordic culture from external influence; a prominent example is the preservation of the Icelandic language, which remains the closest to Old Norse of all modern Nordic languages.
In the middle of the 19th century when Norway, needed to have a new written language of it’s own, after being under Danish rule. The process of getting this new Norwegian written language, was not straightforward, as not one way of doing was agreed on. There were two rivaling ways of getting the new Norwegian written language. One was to adopt a newly created language based upon the older dialects, that reassembled old norse the most. This approach was founded by Ivar Aasen. The other approach was to use the dano-norwegian that a lot of people already used, and standardize it a gradually changing the danish words into Norwegian. This idea was founded by Knud knudsen, and is what lead to bokmål. These two different approaches battled in what later was known as the language conflict of Norway.
The purpose of this essay is to show why and how learning English is important. English is in our lives everywhere, we can find it when we read a blog, a magazine, a book or the news paper, when we watch videos or movies, when we hear music, when we send an e-mail, English is present. When you travel to different countries you realize that English is the main language spoken around the world. This is important because it helps you understand the diversity of different cultures and to find interesting places.
Norway is known for its unique culture, beautiful landscapes, interesting people, and rich history. Norway also moved from being one of the poorest nations to being one of the richest in 1959 because of its large amount of oil. Norway is located in Scandinavia and is north of Denmark and west of Sweden and has 323,802 square kilometers of land with 25,148 km of coastline. The capital is Oslo, which is located on the southern coast of the country. The national languages are Bokmal Norwegian and Nynorsk Norwegian, although English is widely spoken (CIA World Factbook, 2014).
For ages ago, appeared the forefathers of what is the present day Norway. In a time of 10,000 years ago, these early Norwegian were mainly relayed on their prey such as reindeer. There is no historical agreement to where these ancestors had appeared from. Below I will explain the history of Norway from its past to its present.
...nology is moving ahead at the speed of light. With all this advancement comes the inevitable need for a language that unifies the world. The need for a common language to conduct our business and economic affairs, and our need to communicate internationally on political and world interventions has made English the leader in world languages. It is not the language spoken first by most, but it the language that the world uses when it comes together to communicate.
The beginnings of English can be found in the occupation of England from the 5th century by north and west German ethnic groups who brought their 'indigenous dialects' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 1). The Oxford English Dictionary defines English as 'Of or related to the West Germanic language spoken in England and used in many varieties throughout the world' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 7). Invasion in the 9th century by Scandinavians, who settled in the north of England and the establishment of Danelaw in 886 AD defining the area governed by the Danes in the north and east, had a marked effect on the language spoken there (Beal, J. 2012, p. 59). These periods are known as Early and Later Old English (Beal, J. 2012, p. 50).
It has been adopted by different sectors making it one of the most used languages in the globe. This has been attributed to its effective nature, easy learning and rich history. However, conservative groups exist who argues that there should be global language since it may cause the emergence of superior cultures. Nevertheless, it is evident that different cultures ranging from the early polish immigrants, the African American community, the advertising and media will greatly benefit from the globalization of the English language. This will prove in the end that English is indeed a global
Even though there are advantages as well as disadvantages, the need for international language for communication, politics, economics and security is necessary and English is the best “language candidate” for that function. English is a language spread all over the world and it is used by millions and millions of speakers. According to my opinion, people should use English as a tool to communicate with all cultures but every country must keep their culture and language is a great part of it. In conclusion, language defines identity of a country and everyone should keep their language and explore others.
Mollin, S., 2006. “English as a Lingua Franca: A New Variety in the New Expanding Circle?”, The Nordic Journal of English Studies 5(2), pp. 41-57. Available from
People live in the world of communication. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English (Moore, 1997), communication is defined as, “The activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information”. The significance of communication can be found within the context of a human existing as a social being. As a human being manages his or her life in the course of the interaction between other members of the entire society, communication is inevitable. Communication occurs through the medium of a language and it is presented in two different forms which are written and spoken (Brown & Yule, 1983: 1-10). The importance of spoken performance of a language is becoming more prominent over the written performance capability. It is because the ability to speak a language reflects a person’s personality, self image, knowledge of the world, ability to reason, skill to express thoughts in real-time (Luoma, 2004: ix). These days, due to the global trend of internationalisation, the ability to communicate in English is needed as an essential skill. Whenever the international exchange happens, the use of spoken English entails. However, it is not always an easy task for people who use English as a second language to be able to speak to the level of a native speaker. They have to perfectly understand the sound system of English, have almost instant access to proper vocabulary and be able to place words together intelligibly without hesitation. Moreover, they also have to perceive what is being said to them and need to be able to respond appropriately to acquire amiable relations or to accomplish their communicative goals (Luoma, 2004: ix). Therefore, non-native English speakers encounter these barriers and they are subject to make mistakes often. In relation to this matter, this essay argues that there are socio-cultural factors as well as linguistic factors that affect non-native speakers’ communication in English. It provides analysis of several different situations when the use of spoken English has generated miscommunication problems in regards to author’s personal experience.