Loan-words and other influences English in Norway Loan-words and other influences

Loan words * Figur 1. Økning i engelske ord i Berulfsen og Gundersens fremmedordbøker, 1953–2000 * www.sprakradet.no

Loan words 1 50-tallet 60-tallet 70-tallet Musikk rock'n roll hit disco band hitliste cover Blues twist punk Klær og jeans crush-lakk denim mote duffelcoat mini-skjørt boots hotpants college- genser Mat og Coca Cola broiler burger drikke hot dog dip fastfood grille From Anne Line Graedler,”Engelske lånord i norsk 1950–2000” (www.sprakradet.no)

Loan words 2 80-tallet 90-tallet Musikk hip hop grunge cd /grønsj breakdance dance Klær og stone-washed sagge mote city-shorts club wear wet-look Mat og brownie bagel drikke (hot) shot sub(marine) donut From Anne Line Graedler,”Engelske lånord i norsk 1950–2000” (www.sprakradet.no)

Loan words 3 Leisure Sports Offshore / ICT Cruise, after ski, caravan, aerobics,bad taste-party, filofax Sports The number of loan words in sports related texts has increased considerably from 1993 to 1998. Per 1000 words there are now 19,2 English ones (1998). From Nils Kobberstad, The Influence of English on Norwegian in the Football Columns of Two Norwegian Newspapers: A Synchronic and Diachronic Study (www.sprakradet.no). Offshore / ICT Blowout, jack-up-rigg, roughneck Byte, bug, chip, joystick, harddisk, software,diskett

Advertising A survey of ads in Aftenposten in 1969 and in 1989: 6 times as many ads, 14 times as many English words in 1989. From Grethe Grønli, The Influence of English on Norwegian Advertising (www.sprakradet.no)

Ten minutes at Byporten shopping centre, Oslo Norway.Nov. 27. 2007

Academic life* University of Oslo 2002: 9th semester medicine is taught only in English. Why? What are the consequences? New terms in higher education Bachelor, master, PhD 2000: 70 % of all publications at Norwegian institutions of higher learning were in English *From Brit Mæhlum, “Engelsk eller norsk?” In Samtiden 4 (2002) Why? Very few of the students will ever have to speak E. The loss of Norwegian terminology? Loss or renunciation of domains? Professors shd lecture in own language: more enthusiasm, temperament, ’soul’ Are we as good as we like to think we are? 9th semester: women’s diseases, delivery and pediatrics, midwifery 2012: Danish law school 50 % English. But 98% of Danish lawyers work in Denmark! 1-2: will a master’s thesis or a phd be as good in E? WHY do people write in E: in the hope of being read abroad? Have an international ’sensor’? Fashionable? 5. More teacher oriented teaching. Less student activity.

“The myths of progress” Internationalization = the use of English English is associated with human progress, development, modernization, Westernization, globalization Resistance to English is reactionary, old-fashioned English is natural, neutral and beneficial English: a symbol of science and technology, efficiency, rationality, a great civilization

Do we dare ask questions? Is it really unproblematic for Norwegians to speak and write (ie think and perceive) in a language that is not their mother tongue? Are Norwegians as good in English as we like to think? Do we know enough about the consequences of having to ’learn’ in a foreign language? Which consequences might the extensive use of English have for the development of students’ competence in Norwegian? What are the pedagogical consequences? Which train is it that’s leaving? When and where does it go? IS there a train? Where does the pressure to use English come from? ’The dictatorship of the circumstances’

English – a cultural tyrannosaurus rex? The loss of cultural diversity? The rise of a ’global monoculture’? Accelerating language death? English - a linguistic cannibal that ’gobbles up others and eliminates cultural practices’? (Phillipson)

English – and Norwegian Will Norwegian survive on all levels in society? Will Norwegian be reduced to a language for ’everyday’ affairs? Will Norway experience a linguistic situation similar to that of former colonies? What should the role of English be? How can we best preserve Norwegian? How can Norwegians be helped to see that there is a problem? Kitchen language vs education Low, every day language, high language, prestige, status.

What do we do? Språkrådet Det er ikkje sjølvsagt at norsk vil vera eit fullverdig bruksspråk på alle samfunnsområde i Noreg i framtida. For å styrkja norsk som nasjonalspråk trengst det ein samla språkpolitikk. Språkrådet meiner at det overordna målet må vera å sikra at norsk – nynorsk og bokmål – blir brukt på alle område i samfunnet, og at norsk språk er det naturlege valet i alle situasjonar der det ikkje er nødvendig å bruka framandspråk.

Beware!