science

Language Council of Norway

Language Council of Norway is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Language Council of Norway rather than just read about it. In short: The Language Council of Norway (Norwegian: Språkrådet, Urban East Norwegian: [ˈsprôːkròːdə́]) is the administrative body of the Norwegian state on language issues. It regulates the two written forms of the Norwegian language: Bokmål and Nynorsk.

Key takeaways

Language Council of Norway belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Language Council of Norway to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Language Council of Norway from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Language Council of Norway (Norwegian: Språkrådet, Urban East Norwegian: [ˈsprôːkròːdə́]) is the administrative body of the Norwegian state on language issues. It regulates the two written forms of the Norwegian language: Bokmål and Nynorsk. It was established in 2005 and replaced the Norwegian Language Council (Norsk språkråd, Urban East Norwegian: [ˈnɔʂk ˈsprôːkrǒːd]) which existed from 1974 to 2005. It is a subsidiary agency of the Ministry of Culture and has forty-four employees (as per 2023). It is one of two organisations involved in language standardization in Norway, alongside the Norwegian Academy.

History

Norwegian Language Council The Norwegian Language Council (1974–2005) had the task of safeguarding the cultural heritage represented by the Norwegian written and spoken language, promoting measures that can increase knowledge of the Norwegian language, promoting tolerance and mutual respect between everyone who uses the Norwegian language in its various variants, and protecting the rights of the individual person when it comes to the use of language. Among the most important tasks of the council were standardization of Bokmål and Nynorsk, linguistic advice and linguistic quality assurance of textbooks. In 2000, the council was tasked with working with the Norwegian language and information technology. The Norwegian Language Council registered new words, put forward proposals for replacement words instead of English import words and promoted measures to ensure linguistic equality between Bokmål and Nynorsk. The council published the publications Språknytt and Statspråk. It had 38 members, which represented different stakeholders, such as other language organisations including the Norwegian Academy, Riksmålsforbundet and Noregs Mållag, but also the educational sector and the media. The council created lists of acceptable word forms. Some words previously had two forms, the official form which were to be used in government documents and textbooks, and optional forms, which could be used by students in state schools. However, after 2005 this difference no longer exists in the lists published by the Language Council of Norway.

Language Council of Norway In 2003, the Storting agreed to a proposal to transform the Norwegian Language Council into a national competence center for the Norwegian language. The new body was established on 1 January 2005. In May 2005, it was decided to name the institution the Language Council. It no longer represents the language organizations. In 2005, the Language Service for state bodies was also established following a decision in the Storting. The Language Service has two equal tasks: to promote plain language within the government and ensure more even distribution between Nynorsk and Bokmål in state documents. Sylfest Lomheim served as the first director of the Council until 1 September 2010. Åse Wetås has been leading the Council since 2015.

Controversies In 2006, the Norwegian newspaper Ny Tid requested that the council choose an alternative to the term "ethnic Norwegians" because the term might be alienating or exclusionary to immigrants to Norway. In response, the council denied that immigrants were Norwegians or could ever become Norwegians, writing: "We do not believe that there is a need to replace ‘ethnic Norwegian’ by another term. We believe it is incorrect to call people from other countries ‘Norwegians’ because ‘Norwegian’ by definition refers to someone of ethnic Norwegian descent. A Pakistani who settles in Norway does not become Norwegian, not even if he becomes a Norwegian citizen." The council's narrow definition of Norwegian identity sparked controversy in Norwegian news media and on Norwegian social media.

The board The Ministry of Culture has appointed the following board for the period 2020–2023:

Board director: Erik Ulfsby (bokmål) Deputy director: Lodve Solholm (nynorsk) Terje Lohndal (bokmål) Eli Bjørhusdal (nynorsk) Lars Ivar Nordal (nynorsk) Torunn Reksten (bokmål) Employee representatives

References

Further reading The Language Council of Norway, an article online in English at Språkrådet

External links Språkrådet

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Language Council of Norway

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Language Council of Norway claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Language Council of Norway before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Language Council of Norway ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Language Council of Norway

In research: Language Council of Norway appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Language Council of Norway in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Language Council of Norway is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1972 establishments in Norway, 2004 disestablishments in Norway, Government agencies of Norway, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Language Council of Norway outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Language Council of Norway in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Language Council of Norway means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Language Council of Norway out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Language Council of Norway in simple terms?

Why does Language Council of Norway matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Language Council of Norway?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Language Council of Norway.