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THE INFLUENCE OF LATIN ON THE NORWEGIAN
LANGUAGE
By BJARNE BERULFSEN
IN 1939 Professor Franz Blatt published an article on
the influence of the classical languages on Danish.'
It was a popular but none the less sound and instructive
survey of the influence which Latin in particular has had
on the Danish language, first and foremost on vocabulary,
but also to a certain extent on syntax. Blatt covers a
wide variety of subjects - trade, clothing, tools, religion,
art, science, politics, and so forth - and his account
covers the complete history of the Danish language.
What he says concerning the Danish language applies
also in its entirety to Norwegian. It is in fact practically
impossible to distinguish between the Scandinavian
languages in the question of the influence of Latin.
The subject offers a study of vast scope in both time
and space. Latin influence can be shewn to have existed
in periods before the Norwegians had any written literature,
for which indeed the Latin alphabet was a
prerequisite. The influence has varied with the changing
prestige Latin has enjoyed. It was already in a strong
position in one particular level of society around A.D.
1035 when the poet :Porarinn Loftunga declared that
prayers to St Olav should be recited in Latin, "the book
language" as he called it. Almost 250 years later the
author of The Kints Mirror impressed upon the would-be
merchant the necessity of learning Latin, although this
was not to be done at the expense of one's mother tongue.
Latin as the language of scholarship was consolidated
and its use extended during the era of learning, and in
the academic field it has kept its position ever since'. It
I In Sprag ag Kultur 7 (1939). 153-64.