Aasen, Ivar Andreas (1813-1896)

Norwegian philologist, poet, and dramatist. Through a study of rural dialects, connecting them with Old Norwegian, he evolved a native country language, which he called Landsmål (now known as Nynorsk or New Norwegian) and which he intended should replace literary Dano-Norwegian.

Landsmål was recognized 1885 alongside Riksmål, or Bokmål, which is a development of Danish (at one time the official and literary language of Norway). Aasen published a grammar, Det norske folkesprogs grammatik/A Grammar of the Norwegian Folk Language (1948), and a dictionary, Ordbog over det norsk folkesprog/Dictionary of the Norwegian Folk Language (1850). He also wrote plays and poems in Landsmål.