Nicolai Andersen

Nicolai Andersen (born August 8, 1862 in Schweirup , † October 16, 1919 in Aabenraa ) was a Danish linguist , editor and folk poet.

Life

Nicolai Andersen was a son of the painter Hans Andersen (1817–1878) and his wife Anna Kjestine, née Jörgensen (1827–1865). He received lessons from a pastor and in 1883 passed the Abitur at the Johanneum in Haderslev . From 1883 to 1888 he studied mathematics and natural sciences and the University of Kiel and the University of Leipzig . He finished his studies without an exam.

From 1888 Andersen worked as editor of the German-language edition of Flensborg Avis , which appeared under the title "Flensborg Avis". During this time he wrote numerous poems in his native dialect, which he made both cozy and satirical. From 1892 to 1900 he worked as an insurance agent, then as a secretary, librarian and restaurateur for the Danish language association. The headquarters of the association was in the "Folkehjem" in Aabenraa. Together with Hans Peter Hanssen , he edited “Sø Aa” and made several statistical articles for it.

From 1915 until his death he was the editor of the newspaper "Hejmdal" in Aabenraa.

Importance as a linguist

Nicolai Andersen campaigned for the Danish language and was one of a group of researchers around Hans Peter Hanssen. He was particularly concerned with the distribution of accents and the tone of the dialect in the area of Sundewitt . He realized that there were parallels in the speech melody with the Danish and Norwegian languages. These research results were considered to be groundbreaking and brought him in contact with researchers from Denmark, who held his work in high regard. In addition to Adolph Ditlev Jørgensen , Andersen was considered to be the most important linguist from the North Schleswig region.

literature

• Harboe Kardel: Andersen, Nicolai . in: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon . Volume 1. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1970, pp. 38-39