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.