Conditions for Nynorsk language use – the role of capacity, opportunity, and desire in the maintenance of Nynorsk among Norwegian adolescents

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates conditions for language use among Norwegian adolescents using the minoritized Norwegian written language Nynorsk. By combining survey data and focus group interviews, and deploying the framework of ‘capacity’, ‘opportunity’, and ‘desire’ as an analytical lens, the study explores some of the factors and forces that influence the adolescents’ choice to maintain the use of this non-hegemonic Norwegian written language. The paper thus seeks to add to the body of research investigating language maintenance of minoritized languages. The findings illuminate the discrepancy between regulations and practices in the Norwegian language community. Still, even if the collective structures are not optimal, many of the adolescents display a willingness to keep using Nynorsk – a willingness which is partly rendered possible by the existence of these same collective structures. The study thus demonstrates the dialectic relationship between these structures and individual language choices. Moreover, the data show that under given circumstances, some of the same factors and forces that usually further language shift, may also promote language maintenance.