Page:A Danish and Dano-Norwegian grammar.djvu/16

2 a long vowel at the end of a word or syllable. The Norwegian language and its offspring the Icelandic tongue, on the other hand, form the group of the Scandinavian languages, having in common the retention of the old diphthongs as diphthongs, but with some changes peculiar to each of the two languages. These two languages have, in common with the Swedish, retained the old voiceless stops.

5. In the Middle Ages we have the most valuable literature in the Norwegian-Icelandic language, consisting chiefly of the Eddic songs, the Scaldic art poetry, the Sagas and the Laws, while the chief products of the earliest Danish literature are the provincial laws and popular songs (folk lore), the latter not being reduced to writing until later.

6. When Norway in the latter part of the 14th century was united with Denmark, Norwegian literature fell into decay and Danish grew more and more to be the official language used in Court Documents, Royal Ordinances etc. In the latter part of the 17th century Norwegian authors again began to take an active part in the literature; but their language was Danish, this language having come to be adopted by the educated classes of the Norwegian people and chiefly by the inhabitants of the towns and cities, while the Norwegian language still remained the spoken idiom of most of the rural population. Still the language spoken and written by the educated classes in Norway was never pure Danish. Norwegian authors have always used some native words, taken from the rural dialects, in their writings, and while the official and professional people during the union with Denmark affected as far as possible a correct Danish pronunciation, the tendency in Norway now, even though it be unconscious, is to nationalize the language more and more. This tendency is chiefly noticeable in the pronunciation (retaining the voiceless stops, tenues), but it also appears in the grammar, especially the syntax, and in the vocabulary.

7. Thus it is that we have at the present time two kinds of Danish language, the pure Danish used in Denmark and by Danish authors, and the Dano-Norwegian used in Norway by most of the educated classes, especially in the cities, and by most of the Norwegian authors. Still it should be noted that the language spoken in Norway even by educated people is far more national in its character than the one used in writing.