Walk into nearly any university lab or lecture hall these days, and you’ll hear the same pattern repeating: experiments conducted in one language, research written up in another. English, the global language of academia, dominates conference slides and journal submissions. But in Norway, a quiet countercurrent is gaining momentum — one determined to make sure Norwegian doesn’t slip into silence in its own country.
Keeping Science in Norwegian: Inside Norway’s Fight for Its Professional Language
At the Universities of Bergen and Oslo, two brand-new research centers have taken on an ambitious mission: to study, develop, and defend fackspråk — that is, Norwegian specialized or technical language. Backed by the Norwegian Research Council, these centers have an eight-year timeline and a very contemporary goal: to keep Norwegian alive and thriving in science, education, and the professions, even as English takes center stage globally.
This initiative is part of a government action plan launched in 2023, driven by worries shared across the Nordic region. Sweden, Denmark, and Norway have all seen English creep deeper into their classrooms, labs, and official reports. The danger isn’t that English is bad — it’s that important national languages could lose their footing in crucial areas like medicine, engineering, and technology.
Keeping Two Languages in Balance
Researchers at these new centers aren’t just counting words. They’re mapping out how Norwegian operates as a tool for science and learning, and figuring out where English’s influence is strongest. Their work touches everything from how university textbooks are written to how technical vocabulary develops in new industries.
A key part of the job is exploring what the Nordics call parallellspråklighet — “parallel language use.” The idea is deceptively simple: people should be able to use both English and their native language without one pushing the other out. In practice, that’s trickier than it sounds. Multilingualism can be a strength, but only if both languages stay active and relevant.
As one linguistic researcher put it, it’s not enough to “translate” ideas into Norwegian after the fact. The language itself needs to remain a living, breathing instrument for expressing complex thought — whether it’s about climate policy, artificial intelligence, or neuroscience.
More Than Semantics
Why does all this matter? Because at its core, the conversation isn’t about vocabulary lists — it’s about access and identity. When doctors, engineers, or policymakers can’t easily discuss their work in Norwegian, the language begins to wither in those spaces. And when that happens, ordinary citizens lose a bit of their ability to join those conversations.
This kind of “functional loss” — when a language becomes too stiff or awkward to use in certain fields — might sound subtle, but it has deep cultural consequences. Suddenly, the key terms for understanding how the world works only exist in another tongue. Norway’s new initiative is a preemptive strike against that silence.
A Nordic Effort
Norway’s not alone in its concerns. Sweden’s language council has been sounding alarms for years over “domain loss” in universities, where publishing pressure pushes scholars to write almost exclusively in English. In Denmark, entire debates have erupted about whether it’s even realistic to produce doctoral theses in Danish anymore.
So Norway’s eight-year investment isn’t just national pride. It’s infrastructure — cultural and linguistic. The hope is that by treating fackspråk as a vital part of modern Norwegian, the country can make sure its language continues to feel both precise and natural in every professional setting.
The Delicate Art of Adaptation
In a way, Norway’s approach captures a beautiful paradox: to preserve a language, you have to let it evolve. The challenge is not about resisting English altogether, but about ensuring Norwegian keeps its muscle — its ability to describe, question, and innovate on its own terms.
Maybe that’s the biggest lesson in this Nordic story. In a globalized world, language isn’t just a tool. It’s a home — one that needs regular care if it’s going to remain lived in.
Based on “Norge satsar på fackspråk,” originally published in Språktidningen (October 25, 2025) by Anders Svensson.
