PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143)-- Speeches /Conference Papers (150)

The noun phrase of the Norwegian dialect of the multilingual village of Skibotn, in northern Norway, is analyzed. Attention is focused on the possible influence of two other languages, Finnish, an imported language, and Sarni, the original language of the area, in the development of three different clusters of features characteristic of nominal expressions at Skibotn. Substratum elements in the language,poken by people of both sexes and of different ages are examined, concentrating on the gender system and the use of definite verzus indefinite forms of the noun. It is concluded that in a multilingual situation, even the majority language is subject to interference from minority and less prestigious languages, even when the spear is a monolingual native speaker of the majority language. (MSE) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.-..1&quot