Can parallelingualism save Norwegian from extinction?

Abstract

Language extinction is one of the most pressing issues in linguistics today, and the literature is full of discussion about how to combat it. Statements that Norwegian is amongst the languages that are already extinct are merely examples of a widespread tendency in the literature towards erroneous information about Norwegian. Nonetheless, there is clear evidence that Norwegian is undergoing a process of ‘domain loss’, and policies to address this form of language shift lie at the heart of the most recent developments in the history of language planning in Norway. A policy of parallelingualism is widely advocated, but without proper sanctions in higher education and in the business world for infringements of the parallelingual strategy, it is unlikely to have much effect.