Vikør, Lars S.- The Nordic Languages

Their Status and InterrelationsThe term "Nordic languages" in this book means "the indigenous languages of the Nordic countries", from west to east: Greenlandic, Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Sámi and Finnish. The main part of the book is concerned with the "ecology" of these languages, i.e. their interrelations with each other and with their environments: the communities in which they function. The topics discussed in the book are: the structural properties of the languages and their genetic relationships, the relations between majority and minority languages, the inter-Nordic linguistic relations between the Nordic area and the outside world, the language planning agencies of the Nordic countries, and the normative attitudes prevailing in the Nordic communities on questions of spelling, vocabulary, dialect/standard relations etc. The book is written for students of one or more of these languages, for people with a general interest in the Nordic countries and their cultures, and for those interested in the sociology of language and language planning. It covers a wide range of topics concerning the social aspect of language in the Nordic countries, and it contains much information which is difficult to obtain for those who are unable to read Nordic languages themselves.