About two years ago, the town of Slinde in Sogndal municipality was renamed Slinda by the Mapping Authority – against the wishes of a large part of the local population. But when the Swedish Road Administration recently installed new bus signs, the “e” plus was back, and the “a” was gone again. So now the town is decorated with both Slinde signs and Slinda signs, side by side. – It’s a shambles, says local politician Svein Jarle Slinde. – When the state itself makes a mistake, they should do another round of names. The last vocal makes him shake his head in despair. Slinde has been one of the advocates for Slinde with an “e”, and has tried to get the Mapping Authority to process the matter again. – I think the name change is an overstatement. Svein Jarle Slinde could wish that the name tettstaden could keep its old spelling. Photo: Sondre Dalaker / news Small letters and big feelings The Slinde dispute joins a series of name disputes where the local population wants to stick to old names, but where the state has other ideas. For example, the Language Council wanted to change Østerbø and Norevik in Sogn to Austrevik and Nordvikane, and a “t” was replaced by “k” in Kjernfjelltjønna in Nordland. The question about Kjernfjelltjønna was raised in the Storting in 2019. The then Minister for Culture and Equality Trine Skei Grande replied that she understands that name questions arouse interest. But why do small letter changes cause such a big sensation? – The pronunciation is the actual name Naming researcher Vidar Haslum at the University of Agder says that many people have a close relationship with town names, often because they grew up there, are landowners or have the name as a family name. – It is not strange at all that people react to unfamiliar ways of writing. He says many name disputes are related to the fact that several town names were written down during the Danish era. As it was not so important to write the name in the same way as they were pronounced. Today, however, the pronunciation trumps the spelling. – As professionals, we would argue that the pronunciation is the proper name, and that a written form is an incomplete way of depicting speech, he says. He receives support from the regional names responsible in the mapping agency Erlend Trones. – The main rule for standardization under the Act on City Names is that it must be based on the inherited local pronunciation and that it must follow the current spelling principle. Both e’ar and a’ar The Swedish Road Administration is responsible for the bus stop signs, which have resurfaced in the name dispute in Indre Parish. Construction manager Steinar Håvik in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration says it is County Atlas that set the standard and that is the reason why the “e” crept in again. Head of strategy and organization at Skyss Camilla Selch, wrote in an e-mail that the Mapping Authority is responsible for name changes. – It is not always that we are notified of changes, and it may appear that it has happened in this case. These signs make many in the local population dissatisfied. Photo: Sondre Dalaker / news Until now, signs with both e-endings and a-endings adorn the town. Svein Jarle Slinde has not given up the naming battle completely yet. – I hope that they see the madness in this when even the state cannot follow what they have decided.
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