Amund Bredesen Larsen Oversigt over de trondhjemske dialekters slægtskabsforhold

Abstract

Amund B. Larsen’s «Oversigt over de trondhjemske dialekters slægtskabsforhold» (Survey of the relationship between the dialects of Trøndelag) from 1886 is considered to be the first important scholarly study on Norwegian dialect geography. Theoretically it is innovative. In this study Larsen discusses problems like the main division of Norwegian dialects and that of the Trønder dialects in particular. He observed a starting monophthongization in parts of the area and he sees the raising of the vowel o, the fronting of u and the subsequent delabialization of y in some dialects as the effects of a so-called chain shift caused by therounding av the long a.

In dealing with the relationships between the Trønder dialects internally and in relation to neighboring dialects, Larsen stresses the importance of cultural contacts, and he underscores psychological and social factors. In this study he launches the idea of ’neighbour opposition’ as an explanation of some dialect differences and of dialect levelling in coastal and urban areas. Some of Larsen’s ideas can be seen as an early stage of sociolinguistic theory.