Inuit-Gesetzgeber forderte, das Podium im dänischen Parlament zu verlassen, nachdem er nur auf Grönländisch gesprochen hatte. Sie ist in Dänemark geboren und spricht perfekt Dänisch.
Is it possible to use Sami language exclusively in the Norwegian parliament similar to Greenlandic in the Danish parliament?
byu/Drahy inNorway
Von Drahy
6 Comments
Don’t quote me on it, but I don’t think so. Sami is not a language most Norwegians know, so if that were to happen, our elected officials wouldn’t understand a whole lot.
The procedure is that if a representative wants to speak in Sami, then there must also be an accompanying speech in Norwegian. The speaker has to say the same twice, first in Sami and then in Norwegian. This has not happened since 1994.
In general, the representative speaks his or her local Norwegian dialect and then the stenographers are instructed by the representative to either write it down in Norwegian Nynorsk or Norwegian Bokmål.
Can’t find a good source, but as far as I know the only working language used in Stortinget is Norwegian. Meaning any official proceedings, written or spoken, must happen in Norwegian.
We do have a Sami Parliament: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1mi_Parliament_of_Norway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1mi_Parliament_of_Norway) I am not sure what their policies are on languages spoken when they are in session, but all their documents get published in multiple languages (Norwegian and several forms of Sami).
There is also a map here of regions where Sami is legally equal to Norwegian, meaning you are entitled to communicate with public offices in Sami if you wish: [https://sametinget.no/sprak/forvaltningsomradet-for-samiske-sprak/](https://sametinget.no/sprak/forvaltningsomradet-for-samiske-sprak/)
Why should they. They have their own parliament.
I cannot speak for Norway, but in Sweden you are allowed to use either swedish or one of the national minority languages when speaking in parliament (one of them being sami).
I think that in both Norway and Sweden the general consensus is that the sami minority should be treated with dignity, not as colonial subjects, so using their native language in their own sovereign parliament sounds uncontroverisal. You just have to have the logistics of translation in place, otherwise it is no use for anyone.
Seems pretty meaningless to speak in a language 99% of your colleagues do not speak, except as a form of protest.