Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.2023, Blaðsíða 178

What challenges does the digital age more specifically pose on the Icelandic
language? And to whom are they a challenge (not the participants, I guess)?
What opportunities and possibilities does social media more specifically offer
for Icelandic language users?

Vanessa Isenmann:
I think what can be challenging for the Icelandic language in the digital age
is the fact that Icelandic is not used in all domains of the digital world. It can
be challenging for users if they cannot access the same information in
Icelandic as they can get for example in English. Regarding social media and
especially communication in social media, on the other hand, I am not sure
that Icelandic is faced with any specific challenges. One of the main results
of my dissertation is that Icelandic is not at risk in digital communication as
it is still the main resource that users draw upon in their interactions. In fact,
I agree with you that social media offers great possibilities for Icelandic lan-
guage users because it offers new platforms to use and play with the lan-
guage, to explore new ways for interaction, for example through the combi-
nation of linguistic, visual and pictorial material.

The last point I want to make, is related to the relation between “modern” and
“old” Icelandic. On page 11 of the dissertation, Vanessa writes:
Iceland constitutes a special case for the study of digital practices for several
reasons. First of all, Icelandic has remained the language of Iceland since the
island’s settlement and is often described as a conservative language show-
ing no significant form differences between Old and Modern Icelandic
writing (Árnason, 2003a, p. 195f.; Leonard & Árnason, 2011, p. 91). (empha-
sis added, ACS)

I am really curious about the formulation “showing no significant form differ-
ences between Old and Modern Icelandic writing”, especially in a dissertation
where the use of Icelandic is studied in a digital context often associated with
rapid technological and linguistic change and where the Icelandic orthographic
standard and peer-generated norms of every-day (vernacular) writing appear to
live in a relatively peaceful co-existence. Based on this observation I ask the fol-
lowing question:
With the knowledge we have of contemporary digital writing practices from
your dissertation, would you still say that Icelandic writing hasn’t changed
significantly since the Sagas, both on the level of linguistic practice and ideol-
ogy?
Andreas Candefors Stæhr178