Norwegian Dialects - Social Dynamics

Social Dynamics

Till the 20th century, rural dialects were considered an attribute of the uneducated provincial class in Norway. Social mobility involved conforming speech to standard Riksmål, a pattern that persists to this day in certain urban areas. Studies show that speakers of dialect tend to change their usage in formal settings to approximate the formal written language.

This has led to various countercultural movements ranging from the adoption of radical forms of Oslo dialects among political radicals to movements preserving local dialects. There is widespread and growing acceptance that Norwegian linguistic diversity is worth preserving.

The trend today is a regionalisation of the dialects causing smaller dialectal traits to disappear and rural dialects to merge with their nearest larger dialectal variety.

Regardless of personal thoughts of if the dialects should exist, and in what form, dialects are used frequently in almost every aspect of society, rarely without people disliking this. There seems to be a subconscious thinking in most Norwegians that people can't help their dialect whether "good or bad" and that use of it is completely allowed and that not using your dialect would be bordering on awkward in many situations. Dialects are also an area from which to derive humour both in professional and household situations, almost always done kind-heartedly and without anyone being offended in any way; most people have a very relaxed and casual relation to dialects, and may not think about someone's dialect much in many contexts, especially if one has gotten to know a certain person.