Hør dog hvad de siger - Note-to-Self: Trials & Errors

Table 2: Evaluation of Scandinavian among the Nordic
MINproject
INSproject
Factor Most
‘Pro-Scandinavism
Least
INC–Scand. Far SweFin (Den Swe) Nor Ice Fin
INC–English
(reversed)
Far SweFin (Nor Swe) Den (Fin Ice)
Competence
in Scand.
(Far Nor) Swe (Den SweFin Ice) Fin
Ease Far Nor Den Swe SweFin Ice Fin
Beauty SweFin Far (Den Ice Nor) Fin Swe
What is most remarkable in table 2 is how closely the ranks on ‘competence’ and ‘ease’ are to
the ranks for ‘attitudes of pro-Scandinavism’. The informants who understand Scandinavian
the best are also more in favor of Scandinavian in inter-Nordic communication, and vice versa
– Norway making for somewhat of an exception (but cf. footnote above). Further, the ones
who understand Scandinavian the best are, apart from the Faeroes, speakers of the three close-
ly related Scandinavian languages. The informants who understand Scandinavian the least
well, are the more remote from the Scandinavian languages (both geographically and in terms
of linguistic relationship), i.e., the Finnish and Icelandic speakers. The Faeroes are remarkable
in understanding Scandinavian languages better than any of the Scandinavians – something
that may be due to education or motivation, and an indication of the Faeroes in fact being bi-
lingual in Danish and Faeroese.
The Finland Swedes make for a remarkable exception to the general trend that the more
pro-Scandinavian are the ones who understand Scandinavian languages the best: the Finland
Swedes rank highly on the pro-Scandinavism scale but rather low on the scales for compe-
tence and ease. These results can, however, be explained by the minority situation in which
the Finland Swedes find themselves in relation to Finnish. It is crucial for the Finland Swedes
to be part of ‘the Nordic’ since through that sense of belonging they can advance arguments
why it is important for Finland as a whole to support the use of Swedish as a national langua-
ge. The minority situation is further illustrated by the Finland Swedish language planning
(especially corpus planning) which is primarily directed towards the increasing influence of
Finnish on the Swedish in Finland – to the extent that the ‘threat’ from English is seen as se-
condary. On the other hand, Finland Swedes do not have as easy an access to radio- and TV-
programs from Sweden, Denmark and Norway as these three have amongst themselves 33 .
33 Viewing of airborne TV is limited by geography, i.e. can only be seen in neighboring parts of the countries.
However, with cable TV, the question of accessibility to Scandinavian TV in the Nordic area becomes a matter
of choice and an important part in the construction and maintenance of ‘Nordicity’. When Scandinavian TV is
made accessible, it is because executives and viewers believe that Scandinavian is comprehensible, and because
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