Abstract: The Norwegian Constitution (Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov) of 1814 is the oldest functioning constitution in Europe. Its amendment procedure has also been unique in that all amendments (prior to very recently) had to be provided in the same archaic language as the Constitution itself – an antiquated language form closer to Danish than to modern day Norwegian. This article observes the parliamentary discourse on constitutional amendments with particular focus on the proposals for language modernization of the Constitution. Included here are also deliberations held prior to the complete language renovation of the Constitution (in both official language forms bokmål and nynorsk) approved just before its bicentennial in May 2014. The author investigates how procedural, political, and institutional factors have influenced discourse on the Constitution’s language form.
Keywords: The Norwegian Constitution, Norwegian Parliamentary Discourse, language form.
Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 19, October 2015, rhetoric.bg/, journal.rhetoric.bg, ISSN 1314-4464