Published 22 September 2022 at 13.01
Cultural news. Four out of ten Swedes want to stick with them and them. One in four instead wants to switch to writing judgments.
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The choice to write de and dem or dom is the year's hottest language debate.
It is also an issue that divides the Swedish people, shows a survey carried out by Novus on behalf of Språktidningen.< /p>
There are 39 percent who want to continue writing they and them. Slightly fewer – 26 percent – want to switch to the ruling, while 31 percent are neither positively nor negatively disposed to a reform.
– The issue of sentencing reform has been discussed for decades. What is new in this year's debate is that several tone-setting language profiles have switched to writing judgments. But the Swedes in general do not yet seem to be ready for a transition on a broad front, says Anders Svensson, editor-in-chief of Språktidningen.
A common argument for a shift to judgment is that it is good if the distance between speech and writing does not become too great. Today, a large majority of Swedes say they instead of they and them. That the distinction has disappeared in speech is in turn a likely explanation for the fact that the difference between they and them has become increasingly difficult to teach in school. In informal texts – such as in blogs, text messages and chats – they are already very widespread. However, they are used less often in formal texts such as in newspaper articles and official information.
– The debate is not about erasing they and them from the language. The advocates of a sentence reform want instead that sentence should be passable in all types of texts, says Anders Svensson.
The opponents of a reform often highlight that Swedish would become less nuanced without the distinction between they and them. A transition to them would also be a major intervention in the language that would make older texts feel dated.
– The reason why the debate has become so charged is that they and them have become a symbol of a well-groomed and correct Swedish. When teachers tell us that it is difficult to teach this at school, it is sometimes seen as a sign of a larger societal problem, says Anders Svensson.
Although it is often young people who are singled out for having difficulty with the and them a whopping 58 percent of Swedes aged 18 to 29 say no to a sentencing reform. In the age group 65 and over, only 26 percent say no.
– Many young people have recently learned this and that, and many have certainly done so with some effort. A sentencing reform could be interpreted as saying that the effort and knowledge had no value. Many older people, on the other hand, went to school during a time when the language would become more inclusive and less formal. Therefore, there are probably many in that group who had to learn to use written forms close to spoken language as if they were the future, says Anders Svensson.
Another clear difference is between workers and students. Only 9 percent of students are positive about a sentencing reform, while a whopping 31 percent of workers want to see a transition to dom.
This is how the Swedish people feel about a sentencing reform:
Very much or somewhat positive: 26 percent
Neither positive nor negative: 31 percent
Very or somewhat negative: 39 percent
Don't know: 5 percent
The survey was conducted by Novus through interviews with a nationally representative sample of the population aged 18 to 79 years. The survey was conducted May 25 to 31, 2022.