Ivar Aasen Institute / Welcome to the Ivar Aasen Institute

The Ivar Aasen Institute is a research institute, directly responsible to the Board of Volda University College [www.hivolda.no]

Volda is a semi-rural community in the northern part of Western Norway.  It has 8500 inhabitants, with 5500 in the centre of the community.

Volda University College has 3000 students [student.hivolda.no]

The Ivar Aasen Institute works with the written culture which derives from the New Norwegian written language.  New Norwegian was created as a standard orthography for Norwegian dialects in the mid-nineteenth century by the grammarian and language-reformer Ivar Aasen.

The two written forms of Norwegian have equal status as national languages. [www.nynodata.no/maallov.htm]

Schoolchildren learn to write both across the whole country.

Anyone in Norway is entitled to communicate with all public authorities in whichever written form of the language s/he chooses.

Starting in the Autumn of 2002 the Institute will be offering a Master’s degree in New Norwegian Written Culture.

The Institute regularly arranges seminars, conferences and other academic events.

From Old Norse to Middle Norwegian
(By Stephen J.Walton)

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