Criteria for languages?

[Michael Everson]

On 2 Dec 2009, at 15:12, John Cowan wrote:
> Michael Everson scripsit:
>
>> Sorry, but there are words in Nynorsk that educated adults will  
>> have to look up, at least from time to time.
>
> Well, naturally.  In an email I received recently, I had to look up  
> the word "ophelimity" which my correspondent had used.  That doesn't  
> mean that I need English web pages annotated with references to an  
> English dictionary.

Reductio ad absurdum. Actually all the "big" words are transparent  
between Nynorsk and Bokmål. It's the "little" words that get you.

>> The need for a Nynorsk-Bokmål dictionary is no less than the need  
>> for a Swedish-Bokmål dictionary or a Danish-Bokmål dictionary.
>
> In abstracto, yes.  In actual use by actual Norwegians, I doubt it.

Love that a priori reasoning.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&q=%22bokmål-nynorsk+ordbok%22&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g1

Michael Everson * http://www.evertype.com/