They are silly.
The folks in Norway who complain about a current shift in pronounciation.
The younger generation in Norway now merge the kj and sj sounds. It is a natural language development as this shift has already happened in many other languages, and it fits nicely into a pattern that has unfolded for several hundred years in Norway. The shift from kj to sj is expected, is finally now happening, is facinating to observe, and the question is mostly why didn’t it happen sooner? In any case, language is a process, always changing and developing according to influences, needs and what is more efficient and economical.
I personally differentiate the two sounds ( in the last generation to do so), but see it as perfectly fine to collapse the two sounds. No meaning is lost. It follows a pattern we recognize from many other languages. And I even find it enjoyable. It makes it more interesting.
They are silly.
- True?
Yes. I can find stories telling me it is true. Others who agree. And it also feels true. - Sure?
No. Just an opinion. (Just like theirs.) - What happens when I believe that thought?
- I go into stories saying I am right and they are wrong. I see them as uninformed and myself as more informed. I appreciate the change, while they don’t, and that shows how sophisticated my understanding is. I make it a point to appreciate the change, even if it sounds “wrong” to me as well since I was taught to speak differently. I override my impulse to see this language change as wrong, just so I can make the ones complaining about it wrong.
- I put them down in my mind and language. I see them as silly. As uninformed. Backwards. Illogical.
- Don’t they know that language always changes, and that the older generation always has complained about the language of the younger? (Back to the old Greeks, and probably before.)
- Don’t they know that this change fits into a pattern of change in the Norwegian language that has unfolded for hundreds of years? And that this same shift has already happened in a number of other languages, including such a distinguished and classic language as Sanskrit?
- Can’t they see how silly it seems when we take “the language I grew up with” as “the correct” language? When they make certain habits “correct” just because it is familiar?
- Don’t they recognize that they have no rational arguments on their side, and only come from emotional attachments?
- The sounds in the Norwegian language has gone through significant and sometimes dramatic changes, and continue to do so, so why are all the past changes OK (I assume they see it as OK since their language reflect and incorporates those changes), but not this particular one?
- If we are to assume that the language was more correct at some point in the past, then what time period should we land on? The viking era? Stone age? Pre-hominid?
- I experience some discomfort. Separation. Slight agitation.
- I know I am going into beliefs just as I see they do. I recognize all the signs: Tension, unease, trying to defend a position, elaborating my position, making them wrong and myself right, finding allies, seeking better arguments, and doing all of this in a one-sided and forced way. So when I express the views mentioned above, it feels off. I also recognize it as precarious. I attach to and elaborate on a position that cannot be defended since it is woefully one-sided. I also know that others will have a more mature approach, and through that expose the immaturity and one-sidedness of my views. I find myself in an uncomfortable and precarious situation.
- Who would I be without it?
- Receptive. Interested. Curious. I can still see it as uninformed to hold that position, but now with a more friendly attitude, and also using it as a mirror for myself. I see them acting in uninformed and small-minded ways, so can take that as an opportunity to find where and how I am doing the same, and see how equally silly that is. I find more understanding for where they are coming from.
- This is also a mirror in terms of taking habitual patterns as “good” or “correct”. When do I take my habitual patterns as correct or good, just because I am familiar with them?
- Turnarounds.
- They are not silly.
- They believe their thoughts and act on it, that is as understandable as merging the sj and kj sounds.
- They are (most likely) smart in other areas of life, probably well beyond me in many areas.
- I do the same with my own beliefs, including this one.
- I am silly.
- Yes, when I believe that thought about them. I act and speak in silly ways when I do.
- There is a great deal I am equally or more uninformed about, without even being aware of it.
- My thinking is silly.
- Yes, when stories are taken as true, my thinking inevitably gets silly.
- They are not silly.
Trigger: This article on NRK and some of the reader comments.