[Nynorsk elle Bokmål]

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From: Roberto
Date: 07/09/2005-00:52

which would be more useful and easy to learn for a foreigner in order to live
and work in Norway ?
At least which would be more useful in big places such as Olso, Bergen or
Trondheim?

Do you thing they are mutually inteligible for a foreigner?

Hi!

Bokmål is the main writing language for about 80 % of the population, and most
popular in buisness. Therefore, I would choose bokmål.

Hi Roberto,
Bokmål is what we norwegian use, I live in a town called stavanger and I doent
think I know someone that speeks nynorsk, I understand more english then nynorsk
so too learn nynorsk is a big waste of time, ;)

Xon, I think you've misunderstood something. Nynorsk is a writing language, 
not a spoken language. Noone speak Nynorsk or Bokmål. People in Norway 
speak their dialect. The variations between the different dialects can't often 
be a pain for foreigners - and sometimes Norwegians too :) 

I don't have a lot of knowledge on this, but I've heard that Nynorsk is a more 
well-formed language with more accurate rules. It may therefore be easier to 
learn, but as already stated, Bokmål is most commonly used, so you should 
probably go for that anyway. Also, the differences between Bokmål and 
Nynorsk are really very small. If you read Bokmål, you would understand very 
much Nynorsk automaticly.

Listen to the latter poster, disregard the former.
Everyone on the West coast "speak" using so-called nynorsk and bokmål rules and
vocab, and on the East it is pretty much 100% bokmål forms, rules, and
pronunciation (bokmål is based upon Oslo dialect, nynorsk based upon the rural
dialects of the West, and also including Stavanger/Bergen dialects). 
Considering that very little is written in nynorsk, I would start with bokmål
and you'll pick up nynorsk as you go.  Nynorsk has more rules and is more
difficult to grasp at first if you don't already know Norwegian or can read
bokmål.  The way people speak really has little to do with the written
languages...just get used to all of the dialects, and after a while, you'll
understand most of what's being spoken (unless you're trying to learn trøndersk
or sth, which very few non-trøndersk understand perfectly). :D

Nynorsk is not only a writing language, our dialect are build on bokmål and
nynorsk. Young people almost never talk dialect that is build on nynorsk or
write nynorsk. Nynorsk is a old way to write and talk. It is not ofen I hear
people use nynorsk so if you learn bokmål that is the best.

Nesten alle slektene mine skriver på nynorsk. =)

I think you miss the point Xon.  Tons of people use "nynorsk" in everyday
speech, some more than others, some less (depending on their dialect).  Bergensk
is a form which uses both forms, Sogn og Fjordane dialects are almost
exclusively nynorsk (Møre og Romsdal has the highest concentration of people who
write in nynorsk), but I have heard some "blending" in their speech like "først"
instead of "fyrst", using "lig" instead of "leg", using bokmål words like
"selvfølgelig" instead of "ja visst", using "sj" clusters for "rs" and "sl" (a
feature of East Norwegian until recently - I myself don't use this), and I could
go on...

What I'm saying is that it isn't relevant: the whole bokmål nynorsk thing.  I
mean, it's trivial, considering the people who designed the writing systems are
long gone and based their research on local dialects, not on how people are
"supposed" to speak, so you can't say "people speak nynorsk" or "bokmål".  They
speak what they have always spoken, with several modifications over the
years...

For example, here is a sample of my speech (I would use SAMPA, but I don't have
the time today)...

(Note: ei = ey)

Standard bokmål:

Jeg tror bestemt ikke at Thorbjørn er lei seg fordi han ikke blir
utenriksminister. Han kunne aldri ha spurt Stoltenberg, Haga og Halvorsen om hva
han skulle mene om utenrikspolitikk før han skulle mene noe. Den rollen ville
ikke Thorbjørn kledd, sier mangeårig venn og tidligere LO-leder Yngve Hågensen
til Dagsavisen.

Dialekten min:

jei tru' bestæmd'kje at to'bjøn æ lei sei fo'di'n ikkje bli' utenriksminister.
Han kun' aldrei ha(ve) spurt han hæ' stoltenberg, hag' å halvo'sen om kei han
sku' meine om udenrigspolitikk fø'n sku' meine någå/nøga. Den' her roll'n vil'nå
kje to'bjøn klæ, sier en gammel vænn'n å tidleg're el-o læder yngve hågensen ti'
dagsaviså/avis'n.

So there you have some dialect material..much of which is non-related to either
nynorsk or bokmål "standards".

"Nynorsk is not only a writing language, our dialect are build on bokmål and
nynorsk. Young people almost never talk dialect that is build on nynorsk or
write nynorsk. Nynorsk is a old way to write and talk. It is not ofen I hear
people use nynorsk so if you learn bokmål that is the best."

Incorrect.

Nynorsk is based on various dialects from all over the country, while bokmål is
based on danish.