Editing Constitution of Norway (section)

==Language==
The events and the constitution of 1814 have a central place in Norwegian identity. For this reason, and to keep the text as consistent as possible, changes prior to the language revision in 2014 were written in a language close to the original. In 1814, [[Danish language|Danish]] was still the universal written language in Norway.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} The current two official varieties of written Norwegian, [[Bokmål]] and [[Nynorsk]] (until 1929 called [[Riksmål]] and [[Landsmål]] respectively), were not developed until the late 19th century. Additionally, in 1903, the constitution underwent a very slight linguistic revision, changing the spelling of some words where orthography had changed since 1814 but still using conservative 19th century Danish.<ref name=":0" />

All amendments prior to 2014 have attempted to imitate the language of the 1903 version, leading to peculiar constructions. The word ''environment'' was written with the archaic spelling ''Milieu'', differing from modern Norwegian and Danish {{Lang|no|miljø}}; the modern context of that word was, however, non-existent in the 19th century. The "[[Sami people|Sami]] ethnic group" was "{{Lang|no|den samiske Folkegruppe}}", even though the word ''Sami'' ({{Lang|no|samisk}}) was not common until the 1970s. In 1814 and 1903, the word [[Lappish]] ({{Lang|no|lappisk}}) would have been used. In February 2006, a constitutional amendment was aimed at reverting 16 minor spelling errors to the proper 1903 forms.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Different approaches to revise the language throughout the document were suggested:{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}
* Bring the language up to today's usage and orthography.
* Use the 1903 standard but correct various passages where newer amendments do not really conform to that standard.
* Revert the language to the standard of 1814; an objection to this is that most modern Norwegians would find it even more difficult to read.
* Update the language to one of the spelling reforms, 1917, 1938, or 1959. This would still be fairly conservative language but closer to today's speech.

In 2014, when the language in the constitution was officially revised they went with the first approach, which produced an updated [[Bokmål]] version and a completely new modern [[Nynorsk]] version.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/1814-05-17|title=Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov |website=Lovdata |access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref> The Nynorsk version was compiled by a committee headed by professor [[Hans Petter Graver]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nrk.no/kultur/grunnloven-blir-nynorsk-1.11700841|title=Grunnloven blir nynorsk|last=Trulsen|first=Ola Nymo|work=NRK|access-date=2018-11-18|language=nb-NO}}</ref> These are based on propositions 21, 22 and 25.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Publikasjoner/Grunnlovsforslag/2011-2012/dok12-201112-025/|title=Grunnlovsforslag fra Marit Nybakk, Martin Kolberg, Jette F. Christensen, Hallgeir H. Langeland og Per Olaf Lundteigen om vedtak av Grunnloven på tidsmessig bokmål og nynorsk|date=28 September 2012|website=Stortinget|access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Publikasjoner/Grunnlovsforslag/2011-2012/dok12-201112-021/|title=Grunnlovsforslag fra Anders Anundsen, Per-Kristian Foss, Carl I. Hagen, Michael Tetzschner og Finn-Erik Vinje, vedtatt til fremsettelse av Anders Anundsen, Per-Kristian Foss og Michael Tetzschner om språklig fornyelse av Grunnloven|date=27 September 2012|website=Stortinget|access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref> Before this, the official name of the Kingdom of Norway ({{Langx|nb|Kongeriket Norge}}, {{Langx|nn|Kongeriket Noreg}}) would have been "Kongeriget Norge", as in the modern Danish form if taken literally from the old constitution.

The Norwegian constitution has a version written in English, provided by the [[Storting]].<ref name="lovdata.no">{{Cite web|title=The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway - Lovdata|url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/NLE/lov/1814-05-17|access-date=2021-02-21|website=lovdata.no}}</ref>