Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

Why not just one Scandinavian language?

 Language Learning Forum : Skandinavisk & Nordisk Post Reply
69 messages over 9 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 1 ... 8 9 Next >>
ruskivyetr
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5231 days ago

769 posts - 962 votes 
Speaks: English*, German
Studies: Spanish, Russian, Polish, Modern Hebrew

 
 Message 1 of 69
28 February 2010 at 9:18pm | IP Logged 
I'm sorry if this has been discussed before, but why not just unify the Scandi three create
a pan Scandi language? To me, it seems that the three countries, although with different
culture, don't really have all the much of a problem with the language "differences". The
three are already mutually intelligible, so it wouldn't create a huge problem. All it would
take is a uniform spelling rule and a uniform lexicon. Not only would it unite the three
Nordic countries a little more, it would create a more powerful language since it would
have a higher amount of speakers than just Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish. I'm not
Scandinavian, so maybe it's not my place to say this because maybe I don't know the
whole story, but it doesn't seem like a bad idea.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Paskwc
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 5427 days ago

450 posts - 624 votes 
Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English
Studies: Persian, Spanish

 
 Message 2 of 69
28 February 2010 at 9:22pm | IP Logged 
I'm guessing there's too much at stake in terms of national pride, heritage, and so on.
1 person has voted this message useful



tractor
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Norway
Joined 5203 days ago

1349 posts - 2292 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan
Studies: French, German, Latin

 
 Message 3 of 69
28 February 2010 at 10:08pm | IP Logged 
Paskwc wrote:
I'm guessing there's too much at stake in terms of national pride, heritage, and so on.

Yes, and in Norway we can't even agree on one written standard language, so we've got two: Norwegian Nynorsk
and Norwegian Bokmål.
1 person has voted this message useful



canada38
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 5245 days ago

304 posts - 417 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French
Studies: Portuguese, Japanese

 
 Message 4 of 69
01 March 2010 at 2:25am | IP Logged 
Don't forget the old saying, "A language is a dialect with an army."

I do agree with you though, that it would likely benefit those countries to amalgamate
their languages.

On the other hand, if Scandinavians can already easily communicate with each other, it
may not be necessary. I know I wouldn't be too happy if tomorrow I was told I had to
start using American spellings!
2 persons have voted this message useful



ruskivyetr
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5231 days ago

769 posts - 962 votes 
Speaks: English*, German
Studies: Spanish, Russian, Polish, Modern Hebrew

 
 Message 5 of 69
01 March 2010 at 2:50am | IP Logged 
canada38 wrote:

On the other hand, if Scandinavians can already easily communicate with each other, it
may not be necessary. I know I wouldn't be too happy if tomorrow I was told I had to
start using American spellings!


The difference between American English, British English, Canadian English, and
Aussie/New Zealand English is that they are considered English, and regardless of a few
minor differences in spelling and vocabulary, they are pretty much the same. Their
numbers of speakers are also counted as one, making it a stronger force than if you
counted the amount of speakers among the different ones. Making the Scandinavian
language as a whole language would create a good solid language with about 30
million speakers. This creates a world language that is considered a lot stronger than a
language with 10 million speakers.
1 person has voted this message useful



elvisrules
Tetraglot
Senior Member
BelgiumRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5219 days ago

286 posts - 390 votes 
Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish
Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German

 
 Message 6 of 69
01 March 2010 at 3:16am | IP Logged 
Maybe they could reform the standard spelling and pronounciation of each language so that thet match the others' as closely as possible (without conseding too much), rename them Danish Scandinavian, Norwegian Scandinavian and Swedish Scandinavian, and set aside a small part of class time in the school curriculum for learning a bit of the other languages. Anything more than that would be too much of a concession I think.
1 person has voted this message useful



Paskwc
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 5427 days ago

450 posts - 624 votes 
Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English
Studies: Persian, Spanish

 
 Message 7 of 69
01 March 2010 at 3:41am | IP Logged 
Without going too far off-topic, I've always found the expression "a language is a
dialect with an army" a bit strange. It might have been relevant in the contexts of early
nationalism in a European surrounding but maybe not today. Looking at the likes of
Morocco and Jamaica may illustrate this.

Edited by Paskwc on 01 March 2010 at 3:42am

2 persons have voted this message useful



canada38
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 5245 days ago

304 posts - 417 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French
Studies: Portuguese, Japanese

 
 Message 8 of 69
01 March 2010 at 5:52am | IP Logged 
Paskwc wrote:
Without going too far off-topic, I've always found the expression "a
language is a
dialect with an army" a bit strange. It might have been relevant in the contexts of early
nationalism in a European surrounding but maybe not today. Looking at the likes of
Morocco and Jamaica may illustrate this.


Can you explain your reference to Morocco and Jamaica. I know there is a Jamaican-Creole
language, but I don't see what you mean. :P


1 person has voted this message useful



This discussion contains 69 messages over 9 pages: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  Next >>


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.4063 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.