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'Nynorsk' (literally ''New Norwegian'') is one of the two officially sanctioned orthographic standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. It is based on Norwegian dialects and was created by Ivar Aasen during the 19th century to provide a Norwegian alternative to the Danish language (upon which Bokmål is based) which was commonly written in Norway at the time.
In 2005, a poll indicated that the percentage of Norwegians using Nynorsk to a lesser or greater degree is 13%. Among those, 7.5% use only Nynorsk when they write in private, and 5.5% use both Bokmål and Nynorsk. Two previous polls from 2000 and 1995 indicate that these numbers have been relatively stable since the 1990s.^[1] Each municipality can declare one of the two languages as its official language, or it can remain "language-neutral". The main language used in a school follows the official language of its municipality.
Aasen, a poet and linguist, created the writing system in the 1850s. Originally it was called ''Landsmål''. In 1885 it was recognized as one official language in Norway. Since 1929 it has been officially known as ''Nynorsk''.
'Nynorsk' is also the Norwegian linguistic term for Modern Norwegian, which is the language spoken in Norway since the mid-16th century. It is this primary meaning that has given the Nynorsk orthography its name. This sense of the word is described further in the article Modern Norwegian.
See the main articles on 'Norwegian language' and ''Norwegian language struggle''.

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References

1. ''Ordet 4/2005 - Bare 7,5 % Nynorsk''

External links

★ Noregs Mållag Noregs Mållag is the major organization promoting Nynorsk.

★ Norsk Målungdom Norsk Målungdom is Noregs Mållag's youth organization.

★ Ivar Aasen-tunet ''The Ivar Aasen Centre'' is a national centre for documenting and experiencing the Nynorsk written culture, and the only museum in the country devoted to Ivar Aasen's life and work.