| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Steinar Bang)
Sender: Falch Newsfeed <[email protected]>
Organization: Falch Hurtigtrykk, Oslo, Norway
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1993 17:29:18 GMT
The earliest forms of the name of the country (Norway, that is) are in
foreign writings from the 9th century, eg. "Nor�weg" (and
"Nor�mannaland") in King Alfred's account of Ottar's tales (approx.
880AD). Another example is "Nort(h)wegia" and "Norwegia" in a French
chronicle from around 900AD.
The oldest norse written version of the name is the akkusative
"Nuruiak" (= "Norvegh") one the runestone "Jellingsteinen" in Jylland,
Denmark (approx. 980AD).
Several theories are suggested to the first syllable. The most common
theory is to attribute it to "nor�r" ("north"), making the name mean
"The way north" or "the northern regions" (compare to "austrvegr",
"vestrvegr", "su�rvegr", meaning the regions to the east, the west, and
the south). This may suggest that the name has originated south of
Norway, among Danes or Gaets.
The name most often found in Norse manuscripts is "Norveg(h)r", but
even in some of the most ancient preserved old Norse manuscripts the
name is found spelled without a "v": "Noreg(h)r".
Later forms see the "e" replaced with an "i": "Norgihi" (dative form,
1332AD), "Norikis" (genitive, 1336AD). Possible association here with
"riki" as used in "Sv�ar�ki" (Sweden).
Even before 1300 AD a form existed in spoken Norwegian using a
svarabhakti vowel inserted between the root and the case ending, making
the genitive "Noreghes" or "Noreghis". The way the Norwegian language
evolved, these formes were contracted to "Norges" and "Norge". From
these new genitive forms evolves the new nominative forms "Noreg(h)e",
"Norig(h)", and "Norg(h)e". At the end of the 14th century also a form
with a "j" pronounciation: "Norie", "Nories"
From 1425 AD on the older forms like "Noreg(h)s" are more and more
replaced by the newer forms. The form "Norge" is most often used in
manuscripts written in Swedish or Danish. Norvegian dialects use
various forms. *Least* used is "Noreg", only found in Telemark and
Aust-Agder. Wider found is "Norig", "N�ri", or "N�rri". Most common in
Norwegian dialects are "Norge" and "N�rje". Ivar Aasen originally used
the form "Norge" ("Gr�nlandsreisa" 1848), but later suggested "Norig"
for use in "Landsmaal".
In 1917 both "Norig" and "Norge" were legal forms in "Landsm�l", but in
1938 "Noreg" became the sole form in "Nynorsk". "Bokm�l" has always
used "Norge" as the sole legal form.
From this we may conclude that the Norwegian 50 NOK note used the
"Nynorsk" form of the name of the country...:-)
Note that the use of "Noreg" is often a bummer for foreign stamp
collectors who occasionally belive that they have found a major
misprint in Norwegian stamps. :-)
Thanx for the attention!
- Steinar
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