Språklig purisme på Island – i fortid og nåtid
Linguistic Purism in Iceland – in the Past and Today

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the history of the Icelandic linguistic purism (málhreinsunarstefna). For many years Icelanders have been known for their conservative attitude to any kind of foreign influence on their language. The country’s official language policy is to preserve the Icelandic language in an untouched form. To achieve that, Icelanders avoid borrowing words or grammatical structures from other languages. The study provides an outline of different undertakings aimed at preserving the Icelandic language, and presents the most important Icelandic organisations involved in language planning and key legal regulations in this area. It also describes Icelanders’ attitude to the impact of the English language.

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