View source for Ivar Aasen

{{Short description|Norwegian philologist and lexicographer (1813–1896)}}
{{copy edit|date=June 2025|reason=style and tone of the EB1911 excerpts}}
{{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 = [[Oslo|Christiania]], Norway
| occupation = [[Philologist]], [[lexicographer]], playwright, poet
| language = [[Norse language|Norse]] dialects
| 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 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==
Iver Andreas Aasen was born in 1813 in Åsen, in the parish of Ørsten (now [[Ørsta Municipality]]), in the district of [[Sunnmøre]], on the west coast of [[Norway]]. His father Ivar Jonsson, a peasant with a small farm, died in 1826. Young Iver was brought up doing 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]]), where he picked up the elements of [[Latin language|Latin]]. Aasen gradually mastered several 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, which later became its "literary" language.<ref name=Colliers>{{harvnb|Haugen|1997|p=4}}</ref>

==Career==
When Aasen travelled to [[Bergen]] in 1841, he met bishop [[Jacob Neumann]], who was very impressed with his work, and had excerpts of it published in ''[[Bergens Stiftstidende]]'' ("Bergen Diocese Newspaper"). His contacts with Bishop Neumann became Aasen's entrance ticket to the [[Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters]] in [[Trondheim]], and generous financial support (an annual grant of 120-200 [[speciedaler]]), which made the extensive travel possible to study the Norwegian vernacular. It is said to have been the rector of Trondheim, Fredrik M. Bugge, who came across Neumann's articles while travelling in Bergen and persuaded the scientific society to grant the funding to Aasen.<ref name="Elster">{{Cite book|title=Illustreret norsk litteraturhistorie. 2 : Fra Wergelandstiden til vore dage|last=Elster|first=Kristian|publisher=Gyldendal|year=1924|isbn=|location=Kristiania}}</ref>
[[File:Uthuslien Aasen 1891.jpg|thumb|Ivar Aasen (1891)]]
Therefore, quite early in his career, in 1842, Aasen had begun to receive a grant to enable him to give his entire attention to his philological investigations;<ref name=Gosse5/> he had ceased doing any farmwork by 1846.<ref name=Gosse4 /> Aasen's first monograph in 1843 was a small collection of [[folk song]]s in the dialect of his native district, Sunnmøre, which attracted general attention.<ref name=Gosse4 /> His ''Grammar of the Norwegian Dialects'' ({{langx|da|Det Norske Folkesprogs Grammatik}}, 1848) was the result of long studies, and of journeys taken to every part of the country. Aasen's well-known ''Dictionary of the Norwegian Dialects'' ({{langx|da|Ordbog over det Norske Folkesprog}}) appeared in its original form in 1850, which became the basis of his construction of a popular language or definite ''folke-maal'' ({{lit|people's language}}) for Norway.<ref name=Gosse4 />

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}}) (see [[#Nynorsk|Legacy § Nynorsk]]).

Aasen composed poems and plays in the composite dialect to show [[Linguistic prescription|how it should be used]]. One of these dramas, ''The Heir'' (1855), was frequently acted, and may be considered as the pioneer of dialectal literature of the second half of the 19th century, from [[Aasmund Olavsson Vinje|Vinje]] to [[Arne Garborg|Garborg]].<ref name=Gosse5/> 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>

The [[Storting]] (the Norwegian [[parliament]]), conscious of the national importance of his work, treated Aasen in this respect with more and more financial generosity as he advanced in years.<ref name=Gosse5/> 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.<ref name=Gosse5/>

He died in Christiania on 23 September 1896, and was buried with public honours.<ref name="Gosse5" /><ref>{{harvnb|Grepstad|2013}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:VFG IvarAasen01.JPG|thumb|Tomb of Ivar Aasen at Vår Frelsers gravlund, Oslo]]

=== Nynorsk ===
{{See also|Norwegian language conflict}}
The language constructed by Aasen as ''Landsmaal'' would later become known as [[Nynorsk]] ({{lit|New Norwegian}}), and emerge as 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}}). As of the early 2000s, some scholars considered Nynorsk on equal footing with Bokmål, as Bokmål tended to be used more in radio and television and most newspapers, whereas Nynorsk was used equally in government work,<ref name=kat>{{harvnb|Katzner|2002|p=78}}</ref> as well as approximately 17% of schools.<ref name=Hau1>{{harvnb|Haugen|2009|p=126}}</ref> Although it was not as common as its brother language, some scholars argued it needed to be looked upon as a viable language, as a large minority of Norwegians used it as their primary language, including many scholars and authors.<ref name=Hau1 /> Nynorsk is both a written and spoken language.<ref name=hau>{{harvnb|Haugen|2009|p=125}}</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/>
|-
|}

{{clear left}}

==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]

{{Authority control}}

{{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 Municipality]]
[[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]]