Editing Ivar Aasen

{{Short description|Norwegian philologist and lexicographer (1813–1896)}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name = Ivar Aasen
| image = Ivaraasen.jpg
| imagesize = 
| alt = Ivar Aasen (1881)
| caption = Ivar Aasen (1881)
| birth_name = Iver Andreas Aasen<ref name="nynorsk.no bio">{{cite web |url=https://nynorsk.no/om-nynorsk/ivar-aasen/biografi/ |title=Ivar Aasen / Biografi |last=Grepstad |first=Ottar |publisher=Nynorsk kultursentrum| access-date  = 2023-11-05| language = no}}</ref>
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1813|8|5|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Ørsta Municipality|Ørsta]], Norway
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1896|9|23|1813|8|5|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Christiania, Norway|Christiania]], Norway
| occupation = [[Philologist]], [[lexicographer]], playwright, poet
| language = [[Norse language|Norse]] dialects
| nationality = Norwegian
| signature = Ivar Aasen signature.gif
}}
'''Ivar Andreas Aasen''' ({{IPA|no|ˈîːvɑr ˈòːsn̩}}; 5 August 1813<ref name="nynorsk.no bio"/> – 23 September 1896) was a [[Norway|Norwegian]] [[philologist]], [[lexicographer]], playwright, and poet.<ref>{{harvnb|McGovern|2002|p=1}}</ref> He is best known for having assembled one of the two official written versions of the Norwegian language, [[Nynorsk]], from various dialects.<ref name=kat/>

==Background==
He was born as Iver Andreas Aasen at Åsen in the parish of Ørsten (now [[Ørsta Municipality]]), in the district of [[Sunnmøre]], on the west coast of [[Norway]]. His father, a peasant with a small farm, Ivar Jonsson, died in 1826. The younger Ivar was brought up to farmwork, but he assiduously cultivated all his leisure in reading.<ref name=Gosse4 /> An early interest of his was [[botany]].<ref name=nie>{{harvnb|Gilman|Peck|Colby|1905|p=4}}</ref> When he was eighteen, he opened an elementary school in his native parish. In 1833 he entered the household of [[Hans Conrad Thoresen]], the husband of the eminent writer [[Magdalene Thoresen]], in the parish of Herø (now [[Herøy Municipality (Møre og Romsdal)|Herøy Municipality]]), and there he picked up the elements of [[Latin language|Latin]]. Gradually, and by dint of infinite patience and concentration, the young peasant mastered many languages, and began the scientific study of their structure.<ref name=Gosse4>{{harvnb|Gosse|1911|p=4}}</ref> Ivar single-handedly created a new language for Norway to become the "literary" language.<ref name=Colliers>{{harvnb|Haugen|1997|p=4}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Uthuslien Aasen 1891.jpg|thumb|Ivar Aasen (1891)]]
About 1846 he had freed himself from all the burden of manual labour, and could occupy his thoughts with the dialect of his native district, Sunnmøre; his first publication was a small collection of [[folk song]]s in the Sunnmøre dialect (1843). His remarkable abilities now attracted general attention, and he was helped to continue his studies undisturbed. His ''Grammar of the Norwegian Dialects'' ({{langx|da|Det Norske Folkesprogs Grammatik}}, 1848) was the result of much labour, and of journeys taken to every part of the country. Aasen's famous ''Dictionary of the Norwegian Dialects'' ({{langx|da|Ordbog over det Norske Folkesprog}}) appeared in its original form in 1850, and from this publication dates all the wide cultivation of the popular language in Norwegian, since Aasen really did no less than construct, out of the different materials at his disposal, a popular language or definite ''folke-maal'' ({{lit|people's language}}) for Norway. By 1853, he had created the norm for utilizing his new language, which he called [[Nynorsk|Landsmaal]], meaning country language.<ref name=Colliers /> With certain modifications, the most important of which were introduced later by Aasen himself,<ref name=Gosse4 /> but also through a latter [[Norwegian language struggle|policy]] aiming to merge this Norwegian language with Dano-Norwegian, this language has become ''[[Nynorsk]]'' ({{lit|New Norwegian}}), the second of Norway's two official languages (the other being ''[[Bokmål]]'', the Dano-Norwegian descendant of the [[Danish language]] used in Norway in Aasen's time). An unofficial variety of Norwegian closer to Aasen's language is still found in [[Høgnorsk]] ({{lit|High Norwegian}}). Today, some consider Nynorsk on equal footing with Bokmål, as Bokmål tends to be used more in radio and television and most newspapers, whereas Nynorsk is used equally in government<ref name=kat>{{harvnb|Katzner|2002|p=78}}</ref> work as well as approximately 17% of schools.<ref name=Hau1>{{harvnb|Haugen|2009|p=126}}</ref> Although it is not as common as its brother language, it needs to be looked upon as a viable language, as a large minority of Norwegians use it as their primary language including many scholars and authors.<ref name=Hau1 /> New Norse is both a written and spoken language.<ref name=hau>{{harvnb|Haugen|2009|p=125}}</ref>

[[Image:VFG IvarAasen01.JPG|thumb|left| Tomb of Ivar Aasen at Vår Frelsers gravlund, Oslo]]
Aasen composed poems and plays in the composite dialect to show how it should be used; one of these dramas, ''The Heir'' (1855), was frequently acted, and may be considered as the pioneer of all the abundant dialect-literature of the last half-century of the 1800s, from [[Aasmund Olavsson Vinje|Vinje]] to [[Arne Garborg|Garborg]]. In 1856, he published ''Norske Ordsprog'', a treatise on Norwegian proverbs. Aasen continuously enlarged and improved his grammars and his dictionary. He lived very quietly in lodgings in [[Oslo]] (then Christiania), surrounded by his books and shrinking from publicity, but his name grew into wide political favour as his ideas about the language of the peasants became more and more the watch-word of the popular party.<ref name=Gosse5>{{harvnb|Gosse|1911|p=5}}</ref> In 1864, he published his definitive grammar of Nynorsk and in 1873 he published the definitive dictionary.<ref name=EB>{{harvnb|Hoiberg|2010|pp=5–6}}</ref>

Quite early in his career, in 1842, he had begun to receive a grant to enable him to give his entire attention to his philological investigations; and the [[Storting]] (Norwegian [[parliament]]), conscious of the national importance of his work, treated him in this respect with more and more generosity as he advanced in years. He continued his investigations to the last, but it may be said that, after the 1873 edition of his ''Dictionary'' (with a new title:<ref name=nie/> {{langx|da|Norsk Ordbog}}), he added but little to his stores. Ivar Aasen holds perhaps an isolated place in literary history as the one man who has invented, or at least selected and constructed, a language which has pleased so many thousands of his countrymen that they have accepted it for their schools, their sermons and their songs. He died in Christiania on 23 September 1896, and was buried with public honours.<ref name=Gosse5/><ref>{{harvnb|Grepstad|2013}}</ref>

==The Ivar Aasen Centre==
[[Ivar Aasen-tunet]], an institution devoted to the Nynorsk language, opened in June 2000. The building in [[Ørsta (village)|Ørsta]] was designed by Norwegian architect [[Sverre Fehn]]. Their web page includes most of Aasens' texts, numerous other examples of Nynorsk literature (in Nettbiblioteket, the Internet Library), and some articles, including some in English, about language history in Norway.

==2013 Language year==
{{main|Språkåret 2013}}
''[[Språkåret 2013]]'' (The Language Year 2013) celebrated Ivar Aasen's 200 year anniversary,<ref>{{harvnb|Berglund|2013}}</ref> as well as the 100 year anniversary of [[Det Norske Teateret]]. The year's main focus was to celebrate linguistic diversity in Norway.<ref>{{harvnb|Anon|2013}}</ref> In a poll released in connection with the celebration, 56% of Norwegians said they held positive views of Aasen, while 7% held negative views.<ref>{{harvnb|Anon|2013a}}</ref> On Aasen's 200 anniversary, 5 August 2013, ''[[Bergens Tidende]]'', which is normally published mainly in Bokmål, published an edition fully in Nynorsk in memory of Aasen.<ref>{{harvnb|Steiro|2013}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
Aasen published a wide range of material, some of it released posthumously.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:left"
|-
! Title !! Translated title !! Publication date !! Type !! class=unsortable| Notes
|-
| Det norske Folkesprogs Grammatik || Grammar of the Norwegian Dialects || 1848 || Book ||<ref name=eb1>{{harvnb|Bredsdorff|1954|p=575}}</ref>
|-
| Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog || Dictionary of the Norwegian Dialects || 1850 || Dictionary ||<ref name=eb1/> [https://books.google.com/books?id=sdNUAAAAcAAJ On Google Books]
|-
| Symra || Symra || 1863 || Poetry ||<ref name=eb1/> Includes the poem [[Nordmannen]].

|-
| I Marknaden || In the Market || 1854 || Play ||<ref name=eb1/>

|-
| Ervingen || The Heir || 1855 || Play ||<ref name=eb1/>

|-
| Reise-Erindringer og Reise-Indberetninger || Traveling Memories and Travel Reports || 1842–1847 || Prose || Edited by H. Koht (1917)<ref name=eb1/>

|-
| Skrifter i Samling || Writings in the Collection || 1912 || Prose || 3 volumes<ref name=eb1/>

|-
| Dikting || Poetry || 1946 || Prose ||<ref name=eb1/>
|-
|}

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==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite web | author = Anon | website = www.språkåret.no | url = http://www.xn--sprkret-gxab.no/om-sprakaret-2013/ | publisher = Språkåret | year = 2013 | access-date = 9 May 2014 | title = Om Språkåret 2013 | trans-title = About Language Year 2013 | language = no | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140512220142/http://www.xn--sprkret-gxab.no/om-sprakaret-2013/ | archive-date = 12 May 2014 | url-status = dead }}
* {{cite web | author = Anon | website = www.nrk.no | url = http://www.nrk.no/mr/folket-verdset-nynorsken-sin-far-1.10857954 | title = Folket verdset nynorsken sin far | trans-title = The people value the father of Nynorsk | year = 2013a | access-date = 22 November 2013 | publisher = [[Aftenposten]] | language = no }}
* {{cite web | last = Berglund | first = Nina | date = 5 September 2013 | url = http://www.newsinenglish.no/2013/08/05/language-creator-hailed-and-decried/ | title = Language creator hailed and decried | website = News in English | access-date = 22 November 2013 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | last = Bredsdorff | first = E. L. | editor-last = Steinberg | editor-first = S. H. | year = 1954 | title = Aasen, Ivar Andreas | encyclopedia = Cassell's Encyclopædia of World Literature | volume = 1: Articles & Biographies: A–H | publisher = Funk & Wagnall's Company | location = New York, NY | lccn = 54001255 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | editor1-last = Gilman | editor1-first = Daniel Coit | editor2-last = Peck | editor2-first = Harry Thurston | editor3-last = Colby | editor3-first = Frank Moore |year = 1905 | volume = I | encyclopedia = New International Encyclopedia | title = Aasen, Ivar Andreas | publisher = Dodd, Mead, and Company | location = New York, NY }}
* {{cite book | last = Grepstad | first = Ottar | title = Dette forunderligste lille Væsen | trans-title = This Remarkable Tiny Being | url = http://www.aasentunet.no/?module=Articles&action=Article.publicOpen&id=15695 | language = no | year = 2013 | access-date = 9 May 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171107014139/http://www.aasentunet.no/?module=Articles&action=Article.publicOpen&id=15695 | archive-date = 7 November 2017 | url-status = dead }}
* {{cite book | last = Haugen | first = Einar | editor-last = Comrie | editor-first = Bernard | year = 2009 | orig-year = 1987 | title = The World's Major Languages | isbn = 978-0-415-35339-7 | publisher = Routledge | location = London, UK | edition = 2nd }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | last = Haugen | first = Einar | editor-first = Bernard | editor-last = Johnston | encyclopedia = Collier's Encyclopedia | title = Aasen, Ivar Andreas | edition = 1st | year = 1997 | publisher = P.F. Collier | volume = I: A to Ameland | location = New York, NY }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | editor-last = Hoiberg | editor-first = Dale H. | encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica | title = Aasen, Ivar | edition = 15th | year = 2010 | publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. | volume = I: A–Ak - Bayes | location = Chicago, IL | isbn = 978-1-59339-837-8 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency }}
* {{cite book | last = Katzner | first = Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Katzner | title = The Languages of the World | year = 2002 | orig-year = 1977 | publisher = Routledge | location = London, UK | isbn = 0-415-25004-8 | edition = 3rd }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | editor1-last = McGovern | editor1-first = Una | encyclopedia = [[Chambers Biographical Dictionary]] | isbn = 978-0-550-10051-1 | publisher = Chambers | edition = 7th | year = 2002 | title = Aasen, Ivar Andreas|page=1 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/chambersbiograph0000unse_w6j7/page/1/mode/1up?view=theater}}
* {{cite web | last = Steiro | first = Gard | author-link = Gard Steiro | date = 5 September 2013 | url = http://www.bt.no/meninger/kommentar/Lenge-leve-spynorsken-2941734.html#.Uf9irG3N6ro | title = Lenge leve spynorsken. Gratulerer med dagen, Ivar Aasen. Her får du heile avisa vår i gåve. | trans-title = Long live Spynorsk. Happy Birthday, Ivar Aasen. Here's our entire newspaper in gift. | website = [[Bergens Tidende]] | access-date = 22 November 2013 | language = no | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051049/http://www.bt.no/meninger/kommentar/Lenge-leve-spynorsken-2941734.html#.Uf9irG3N6ro | url-status = dead }}
* {{EB1911 |last=Gosse |first=Edmund |author-link=Edmund Gosse |wstitle=Aasen, Ivar | volume=1 | pages=4–5}}
* norwegian journal talks about the removal of Nynorsk https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/sid/i/8mo5GW/du-kan-ikke-velge-bort-nynorsk-bare-fordi-det-er-vanskelig-ingrid-b

==External links==
* [http://hdl.handle.net/1802/4694 Christian Sinding's musical setting of three Aasen poems] Score from Sibley Music Library Digital Scores collections
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050321004827/http://www4.cord.edu/library/Archives/sculpturetour/aasen.htm Monument honoring Ivar Aasen by Paul Fjelde]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071006105446/http://www.aasentunet.no/default.asp?menu=94&id=453 The Ivar Aasen Centre Official Website]
* [http://www.forn-sed.no/folkesagn/folkesagn/poesi/dikt42.shtml ''Haraldshaugen'' by Ivar Aasen]

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aasen, Ivar}}
[[Category:1813 births]]
[[Category:1896 deaths]]
[[Category:Norwegian philologists]]
[[Category:Norwegian lexicographers]]
[[Category:Norwegian language]]
[[Category:Linguists from Norway]]
[[Category:People from Ørsta]]
[[Category:Translators of the Bible into Norwegian]]
[[Category:19th-century Norwegian translators]]
[[Category:19th-century Norwegian writers]]
[[Category:19th-century travel writers]]
[[Category:Language reformers]]
[[Category:19th-century lexicographers]]