Abstract

Due to the long-standing relationship between Denmark and Iceland, the Danish language has played a significant role in Iceland for a long time. With urbanisation in the 19th century, a relatively high number of Danes settled in Reykjavík and Danish language and culture which was highly different from the traditional Icelandic rural culture became predominant in the city. With a growing national consciousness, the use of Danish and Danish loanwords came to be regarded as a threat to the mother tongue. However, greater independence gradually led to more balanced attitudes. Knowledge of Danish was a key to education, as many Icelanders sought education of different types in Denmark. Danish was taught as a foreign language in Icelandic schools. Icelandic was the language of instruction in all subjects, although some of the textbooks were in Danish. The relationship with Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries remains close. Danish is still a compulsory subject in Icelandic primary and grammar schools and, nowadays, provides Icelanders with a key to understanding and using the rest of the Scandinavian languages.

Highlights

  • In an article from 1972 Haugen defines the concept ‘Ecology of Language’ as “the study of interactions between any given language and its environment” and states that the “true environment of a language is the society that uses it as one of its codes”

  • During the long period of time when Iceland was a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, the two countries had direct and indirect contact in various ways and Danish served as the language of communication in different contexts

  • The question is what kind of contact did the Icelanders have with the Danes and for what purpose did they need or want to use their language skills? What circumstances shaped the role of Danish in Iceland, the language of the ruling nation, and its cohabitation with Icelandic, the mother tongue of the Icelanders? And how did the ideological currents from the outside, such as theories on nationality and identity, affect the Icelanders’ attitude towards Danish and their own mother tongue, Icelandic?

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Summary

Introduction

In an article from 1972 Haugen defines the concept ‘Ecology of Language’ as “the study of interactions between any given language and its environment” and states that the “true environment of a language is the society that uses it as one of its codes”. Part of its ecology is psychological: its interaction with other languages in the minds of bi- and multilingual speakers Another part of its ecology is sociological: its interaction with the society in which it functions as a medium of communication. During the long period of time when Iceland was a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, the two countries had direct and indirect contact in various ways and Danish served as the language of communication in different contexts. The strengthening of royal power and increased centralisation in Denmark can serve as an example here, since this led to more extensive and diverse contact between Danish and Icelandic officials, with Danish as the language of communication. The following sections focus on some central aspects regarding the status and function of the Danish language in Iceland during the long-term union of the two countries. In a short article like this, it is only possible to briefly outline this complex history and the circumstances that caused language contact

Theories on language contact
What was the status of Danish in Icelandic schools and what is it now?
From Bergen to Copenhagen
The Reformation
Danish and the administration
Use of the mother tongue in Denmark
Urbanisation – Reykjavík and the Danish language
Danish as a foreign language in Icelandic Schools
Attitudes towards Danish and the teaching of Danish
Findings
10 Conclusion
Full Text
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