the ISFC39 Proceedings - International Systemic-Functional ...

Papers from the 39th ISFCprominent position solely because the norms of the Danish written language have been basedon the position this language had in these regions almost 300 years ago.The Danish spoken in the western regions of the country has not thus acquired any positionwhatsoever in the media or in DR’s television news. In this connection, it is relevant to notethat both Danish legislation and DR’s charter emphasise language, and, in fact, the text of theAct states:Furthermore, particular emphasis must be placed on the Danish language and Danish culture.Similarly, the public service contract for 2011-2014, states:DR shall place particular emphasis on the Danish language and contribute actively to preservingand developing the Danish language so that listeners, viewers and users, experience correct andcomprehensible Danish in DR’s programming…DR must additionally emphasise correct andcomprehenisble Danish in programmes and pursue an active language policy.What is particularly interesting and illuminating is what is not stated, because what is“correct and comprehensible Danish”, and how is DR expected to prosecute an “activelanguage policy”. These are interesting questions and, as the analyses reveal, it appears to bethe norms of the written language of Dansk Sprognævn (Danish Language Committee) andRetskrivningsordbogen (official Danish dictionary) which form the framework for both ofthese. From this we arrive at the fact that the language along North Zeeland’s east coast, fromØsterbro in Copenhagen to Elsinore has once more acquired the position of being the correctand the comprehensible. Not the east coast from Copenhagen’s Sydhavn to Køge, the eastcoast from Nyborg to Svendborg, or the east coast from Skanderborg to Fredericia. This isnot stated explicitly, but the analyses of the language in the six television news programmeson DR from 1965 to 2011 speak for themselves. And it should be added that in no way couldthe language of the west-facing coasts in Denmark be included in the group “correct andcomprehensible Danish”. This is obvious. DR, as set out in the public service contract for2011-2014, has a language policy, but Cordsen et al. (2009) reveal that in one specific area itis not pursued as actively as could be expected from the contract. This applies to linguisticdiversity which is explicitly mentioned in DR’s language policy as deserving of promotion.Cordsen et al. conclude as follows:DR’s attitude to dialects is not apparent in the selected programmes, and the presenters’ dialectfreelanguage is perceived as having a credibility and status as the language of a knowledgeableand professional individual. Interviewees who speak with a dialect risk a loss of credibility.(Cordsen et al., 2009: p. 53)5 Media language spiralThe spoken language is our primary language with infinitely more nuances than the writtenlanguage can encompass. Such crucial elements as stress, tonal shift, abrupt and dynamic,and distinctive prosody, are absent from the Danish written language. Writing is the humaninvention which allows us to save language from before we had the possibility of recordingand saving sound and images electronically. Writing is arranged as economically andminimalistically as possible. It is both practical and sensible, but unfortunately, this alsomeans that we surrender many of the nuances and fine detail which the sound register of thespoken language gives us. To speak Danish demands knowledge of vocabulary, grammar andrules of pronunciation, i.e., knowledge of the formal language system. Additionally, speakingDanish demands just as high a degree of the ability to adjust our language to other individualsand situations. Language is an inseparable part of our culture and is rooted in our common157