The Phonology of Norwegian

In this book, Gjert Kristoffersen, arguably the best Norwegian phonologist, provides readers with an original analysis of the ways in which the sounds and meanings of competing languages may change and evolve.A the end of the fourteenth century, Norway, having previously been an independent kingdom, became by conquest a province of Denmark and remained so for three centuries. In1814, as part of the fall-out from the Napoleonic wars, the country became a largely independent nation within the monarchy of Sweden. By this time, however, Danish had become the language of government, commerce, and education, as well as of the middle and upper classes. Nationalistic Norwegians sought to reestablish native identity by creating and promulgating a new language based partly on rural dialects and partly on Old Norse. The upper and middle classes sought to retain a form of Norwegian close to Danish that would be intelligible to themselves and to their neighbours in Sweden and Denmark. The controversy has gone on ever since. One result is that the standard dictionaries of Norwegian ignore pronunciation, for no version can be counted as 'received'. Another is that there has been considerable variety and change in NorweThe most important aspect of a book of the type under review is [therefore, in my opinion], to what extent it will prove successful as a reference book for future students of Norwegian phonology. In this respect, I find the book very promising.The phonology of Norwegian is a book that no future student of Norwegian phonology can afford to ignore.`a fascinating account of a language with two written forms and no standard spoken form'Ann Sundqvist, M2 Best BooksAnother aspect of the book that will make it useful as a reference book is the copious bibliography and the many good summaries of earlier work on Norwegian phonology. Since much of this work is published in Norwegian, Kristoffersen makes a substantial body of research available for the international linguistic community.`Kristoffersen's book ... uses its almost four hundred pages to the full.'Linguist List 12.826`The book is an ideal reference source in lexical phonology for studentsin advanced phonology courses and professional linguists.'THES`the book presents the most complete treatment of Norwegian phonology ...and is in itself a thing a univerity teacher of Norwegioan has only dreamt of... splendid'Linguist List 12.826A remarkably clear and concise presentation of the phonological system of Norwegian by arguably the best Norwegian phonologist. The Norwegian language has undergone considerable change in the last 180 years, and in this book Gjert Kristoffersen considers the abundant evidence in order to provide us with an original analysis of the ways in which the sounds and meanings of competing languages may change and evolve."This is a comprehensive account of the phonetic and phonological properties of Norwegian. The author considers the structure of the lexicon and the principles by which the ordering of sounds in Norwegian can be defined. He then discusses word phonology and its interaction with lexical structure; the principles of syllabification: the placement of stress; the tonal accents characteristic of most dialects; intonation; and connected speech. Dr Kristoffersen concludes with an analysis of the complex relations between written and spoken language in Norway." "The book is written within the framework of generative phonology, making use of insights derived from Optimality Theory. Its main, and successful, purpose is to present the phonological system of Norwegian clearly and concisely." "Gjert Kristoffersen has worked as Assistant Professor of General Linguistics and of Nordic Languages at the University of Tromso (1979-84); Editor at the Norwegian University Press (Universitetsforlaget) in Tromso and Oslo (1984-88); and Associate Professor of Nordic Languages at the University of Tromso (1988-91). From 1991 he has held the post of Professor of Nordic Languages at the University of Bergen."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved