# Norwegian language

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North Germanic language

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Norwegian norsk Pronunciation [ˈnɔʂːk] (East, Central and North) [ˈnɔʁsk] (West and South) Native to Norway Ethnicity Norwegians Native speakers 4.32 million (2012)[1] Language family Indo-European Germanic Northwest Germanic[2] North Germanic West Scandinavian Norwegian Early forms Old Norse Old West Norse Old Norwegian Middle Norwegian Standard forms written Bokmål (official) • written Riksmål (unofficial) written Nynorsk (official) • written Høgnorsk (unofficial) Writing system Latin (Norwegian alphabet) Norwegian Braille Official status Official language in Norway Nordic Council Regulated by Language Council of Norway (Bokmål and Nynorsk) Norwegian Academy (Riksmål) Ivar Aasen-sambandet (Høgnorsk) Language codes ISO 639-1 no ISO 639-2 nor ISO 639-3 nor – inclusive code Individual codes: nob – Bokmål nno – Nynorsk Glottolog norw1258 Linguasphere 52-AAA-ba to -be; 52-AAA-cf to -cg Areas where Norwegian is spoken, including North Dakota (where 0.4% of the population speaks Norwegian), western Wisconsin (<0.1% of the population), and Minnesota (0.1% of the population) (Data: U.S. Census 2000). This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

**Norwegian** ([endonym](/source/Endonym): *norsk* [\[ˈnɔʂːk\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Norwegian) [ⓘ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Norsk_(Language).ogg), *norsk språk* [\[ˈnɔʂːk sproːk\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Norwegian)) is a [North Germanic](/source/North_Germanic_languages) language from the [Indo-European language family](/source/Indo-European_languages) spoken mainly in [Norway](/source/Norway), where it is an official language. Along with [Swedish](/source/Swedish_language) and [Danish](/source/Danish_language), Norwegian forms a [dialect continuum](/source/Dialect_continuum) of more or less [mutually intelligible](/source/Mutually_intelligible) local and regional varieties; some [Norwegian](/source/Norwegian_dialects) and [Swedish dialects](/source/Swedish_dialects), in particular, are very close. These [Scandinavian](/source/Scandinavia) languages, together with [Faroese](/source/Faroese_language) and [Icelandic](/source/Icelandic_language) as well as some [extinct languages](/source/Extinct_language), constitute the North Germanic languages. Faroese and Icelandic are not mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them. While the two [Germanic languages](/source/Germanic_languages) with the greatest numbers of speakers, English and German, have close similarities with Norwegian, neither is mutually intelligible with it. Norwegian is a descendant of [Old Norse](/source/Old_Norse), the common language of the [Germanic peoples](/source/Germanic_peoples) living in Scandinavia during the [Viking Age](/source/Viking_Age).

Today there are two official forms of *written* Norwegian, *[Bokmål](/source/Bokm%C3%A5l)* (Riksmål) and *[Nynorsk](/source/Nynorsk)* (Landsmål), each with its own variants. *Bokmål* developed from the [Dano-Norwegian](/source/Dano-Norwegian) language that replaced [Middle Norwegian](/source/Middle_Norwegian) as the elite language after the union of [Denmark–Norway](/source/Denmark%E2%80%93Norway) in the 16th and 17th centuries and then evolved in Norway, while *Nynorsk* was developed based upon a collective of spoken Norwegian dialects. Norwegian is one of the two official languages in Norway, along with [Sámi](/source/S%C3%A1mi_languages), a group of [Finno-Ugric languages](/source/Finno-Ugric_languages) spoken by the Indigenous people of the same name. Norwegian is one of the working languages of the [Nordic Council](/source/Nordic_Council). Under the [Nordic Language Convention](/source/Nordic_Language_Convention), citizens of the [Nordic countries](/source/Nordic_countries) who speak Norwegian have the opportunity to use it when interacting with official bodies in other Nordic countries without being liable for any [interpretation](/source/Interpreting) or [translation](/source/Translation) costs.[3][4]

## History

### Origins

Main articles: [Proto-Norse](/source/Proto-Norse) and [Old Norse](/source/Old_Norse)

See also: [Elder Futhark](/source/Elder_Futhark)

Close-up of the "*idiberug/n*" inscription on the [Hole Runestone](/source/Hole_Runestone) dating beween **1 and 250 CE**. Believed to be the oldest writing in Norway and rest of [the Nordics](/source/The_Nordics) to date.

 The approximate extent of Old Norse and related languages in the early 10th century:
  [Old West Norse dialect](/source/Old_Norse#Old_West_Norse)

  [Old East Norse dialect](/source/Old_Norse#Old_East_Norse)

  [Old Gutnish dialect](/source/Old_Gutnish)

  [Old English](/source/Old_English)

  [Crimean Gothic](/source/Crimean_Gothic)

  Other [Germanic languages](/source/Germanic_languages) with which Old Norse still retained some mutual intelligibility

Like most of the languages in Europe, Norwegian derives from [Proto-Indo-European](/source/Proto-Indo-European). As early Indo-Europeans spread across Europe, they became isolated from each other and new languages developed. In northwest Europe, the [Germanic languages](/source/Germanic_languages) evolved, further branching off into the [North Germanic languages](/source/North_Germanic_languages), of which Norwegian is one.

[Proto-Norse](/source/Proto-Norse) is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of [Proto-Germanic](/source/Proto-Germanic_language) during the first centuries AD in what is today Southern Sweden. It is the earliest stage of a characteristically North Germanic language, and the language [attested](/source/Attested_language) in the [Elder Futhark](/source/Elder_Futhark) inscriptions, the oldest form of the [runic alphabets](/source/Runic_alphabets). A number of inscriptions are memorials to the dead, while others are magical in content. The oldest are carved on loose objects, while later ones are chiseled in [runestones](/source/Runestone).[5] They are the oldest written record of any Germanic language.

Proto-Germanic East Germanic languages West Germanic languages Proto-Norse → Old Norse Old West Norse Icelandic Faroese Norwegian Old East Norse Danish Swedish

Around 800 AD, the script was simplified to the [Younger Futhark](/source/Younger_Futhark), and inscriptions became more abundant. At the same time, the beginning of the [Viking Age](/source/Viking_Age) led to the spread of [Old Norse](/source/Old_Norse) to [Iceland](/source/Iceland), [Greenland](/source/Greenland), and the [Faroe Islands](/source/Faroe_Islands). Viking colonies also existed in parts of the [British Isles](/source/British_Isles), France ([Normandy](/source/Normandy)), North America, and [Kievan Rus](/source/Kievan_Rus). In all of these places except Iceland and the Faroes, Old Norse speakers went extinct or were absorbed into the local population.[5]

### The Latin alphabet

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Around 1030, Christianity came to [Scandinavia](/source/Scandinavia), bringing with it an influx of [Latin](/source/Latin) borrowings and the [Latin alphabet](/source/Latin_alphabet). These new words were related to [church](/source/Catholic_church) practices and ceremonies, although many other loanwords related to general culture also entered the language.

The Scandinavian languages at this time are not considered to be separate languages, although there were minor differences among what are customarily called Old Icelandic, [Old Norwegian](/source/Old_Norwegian), [Old Gutnish](/source/Old_Gutnish), Old Danish, and [Old Swedish](/source/Old_Swedish).

### 11th–15th century

Main articles: [Old West Norse](/source/Old_West_Norse), [Old Norwegian](/source/Old_Norwegian), and [Middle Norwegian](/source/Middle_Norwegian)

See also: [Younger Futhark](/source/Younger_Futhark) and [Medieval runes](/source/Medieval_runes)

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### Low German influence

The economic and political dominance of the [Hanseatic League](/source/Hanseatic_League) between 1250 and 1450 in the main Scandinavian cities brought large [Middle Low German](/source/Middle_Low_German)–speaking populations to Norway. The influence of their language on Scandinavian is comparable with that of French on English after the [Norman conquest](/source/Norman_conquest_of_England).[5]

### Decline of written Norwegian

In the late Middle Ages, dialects began to develop in Scandinavia because the population was rural and little travel occurred. When the [Reformation](/source/Protestant_Reformation) came from Germany, [Martin Luther](/source/Martin_Luther)'s [High German](/source/Upper_German) translation of the Bible was quickly translated into Swedish, Danish, and Icelandic. Norway entered a union with Denmark in 1397 and Danish, over time, replaced [Middle Norwegian](/source/Middle_Norwegian) as the language of the elite, the church, literature, and the law. When the union with Denmark ended in 1814, the [Dano-Norwegian](/source/Dano-Norwegian) [*koiné*](/source/Koin%C3%A9_language) had become the mother tongue of around 1% of the population.[6]

### Danish to Norwegian standardisation

Main article: [Norwegian language conflict](/source/Norwegian_language_conflict)

From the 1840s, some writers experimented with a Norwegianised form of written Danish. [Knud Knudsen](/source/Knud_Knudsen_(linguist)) proposed to change spelling and inflection in accordance with the Dano-Norwegian *koiné*, known as "cultivated everyday speech." A small adjustment in this direction was implemented in the first official reform of the Danish language in Norway in 1862 and more extensively after his death in two official reforms in 1907 and 1917.

Meanwhile, a nationalistic movement strove for the development of a new written Norwegian. [Ivar Aasen](/source/Ivar_Aasen), a botanist and self-taught linguist, began his work to create a new Norwegian language at the age of 22. He traveled around the country collecting words and examples of grammar from the dialects and comparing the dialects among the different regions. He examined the development of [Icelandic](/source/Icelandic_language), which had largely escaped the influences under which Norwegian had come. He called his work, which was published in several books from 1848 to 1873, [Landsmål](/source/Landsm%C3%A5l), meaning 'national language'. The name *Landsmål* is sometimes interpreted as 'rural language' or 'country language', but this was clearly not Aasen's intended meaning.

The name of the Danish language in Norway was a topic of hot dispute throughout the 19th century. Its proponents claimed that it was a language common to Norway and Denmark, and no more Danish than Norwegian. The proponents of Landsmål thought that the Danish character of the language should not be concealed. In 1899, [Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson](/source/Bj%C3%B8rnstjerne_Bj%C3%B8rnson) proposed the neutral name *[Riksmål](/source/Riksm%C3%A5l)*, meaning 'national language' like *Landsmål*, and this was officially adopted along with the 1907 spelling reform. The name *Riksmål* is sometimes interpreted as 'state language', but this meaning is secondary at best. (Compare to [Danish *rigsmål*](/source/Danish_language) from where the name was borrowed.)

After the personal union with Sweden was dissolved in 1905, both languages were developed further and reached what is now considered their classic forms after a reform in 1917. Riksmål was, in 1929, officially renamed *Bokmål* (literally 'book language'), and Landsmål to *Nynorsk* (literally 'new Norwegian'). A proposition to substitute Danish-Norwegian (*dansk-norsk*) for *Bokmål* lost in parliament by a single vote.[7] The name *Nynorsk*, the linguistic term for [modern Norwegian](/source/Modern_Norwegian), was chosen to contrast with Danish and emphasise the historical connection to Old Norwegian. Today, this meaning is often lost, and it is commonly mistaken as a "new" Norwegian in contrast to the "real" Norwegian Bokmål.

Bokmål and Nynorsk were made closer by a reform in 1938. This was a result of a state policy to merge Nynorsk and Bokmål into a single language, to be called *Samnorsk*. A 1946 poll showed that this policy was supported by 79% of Norwegians at the time. However, opponents of the official policy still managed to create a massive protest movement against *Samnorsk* in the 1950s, fighting in particular the use of "radical" forms in Bokmål text books in schools. In the reform in 1959, the 1938 reform was partially reversed in Bokmål, but Nynorsk was changed further towards Bokmål. Since then Bokmål has reverted even further toward traditional Riksmål, while Nynorsk still adheres to the 1959 standard. Therefore, a small minority of Nynorsk enthusiasts use a more conservative standard called [Høgnorsk](/source/H%C3%B8gnorsk). The Samnorsk policy had little influence after 1960, and was officially abandoned in 2002.[8]

## Phonology

Main article: [Norwegian phonology](/source/Norwegian_phonology)

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While the sound systems of Norwegian and Swedish are similar, considerable variation exists among the dialects.

### Consonants

Consonant phonemes of Urban East Norwegian Bilabial Labiodental Dental/ Alveolar Post- alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal m n (ɳ) ŋ Stop p b t d (ʈ ɖ) k ɡ Fricative f v s ʃ (ʂ) ç h Approximant l (ɭ) j Flap ɾ/r ɽ

The retroflex consonants only appear in East Norwegian dialects as a result of [sandhi](/source/Sandhi), combining /[ɾ](/source/Voiced_alveolar_tap_or_flap)/ with /[d](/source/Voiced_alveolar_plosive)/, /[l](/source/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_approximant)/, /[n](/source/Voiced_alveolar_nasal)/, /[s](/source/Voiceless_alveolar_fricative)/, and /[t](/source/Voiceless_alveolar_plosive)/.

The realization of the rhotic /[ɾ](/source/Voiced_alveolar_tap_or_flap)/ depends on the dialect. In Eastern, Central, and Northern Norwegian dialects, it is a flap [[ɾ](/source/Voiced_alveolar_tap_or_flap)], whereas in Western and Southern Norway, and for some speakers also in Eastern Norway, it is uvular [[ʁ](/source/Voiced_uvular_fricative)] or [[χ](/source/Voiceless_uvular_fricative)]. And in the dialects of North-Western Norway, it is realized as [[r](/source/Voiced_alveolar_trill)], much like the trilled ⟨rr⟩ of Spanish.

### Vowels

Vowel phonemes of Urban East Norwegian Orthography IPA Description Examples a /ɑ(ː)/ open back unrounded bak back ai /ɑɪ̯/ hai shark au, eu /æʉ̯/ haug, Europa hill, Europe e (short) /ɛ/, /æ/ open mid front unrounded sett, fersk seen, fresh e (long) /eː/, /æː/ close mid front unrounded kne, der knee, there e (unstressed) /ə/ mid central unrounded jente girl ei /æɪ̯/, /ɛɪ̯/ stein stone i (short) /ɪ/ close front unrounded trille to trundle i (long) /iː/ close front unrounded lik corpse o (short) /ɔ/, /ʊ/ close back rounded stokk, rom cane, room o (long) /uː/, /oː/ close back rounded mos, lov mash, law oi /ɔʏ̯/ hoie to shout ahoy u /ʉ(ː)/ close central rounded (close front endolabial) ule to howl y (short) /ʏ/ close front rounded (close front exolabial) hytte hut, cabin y (long) /yː/ close front rounded (close front exolabial) ny new æ (short) /æ/, /ɛ/ near open front unrounded, open mid front unrounded fælt, ætt bad, kin æ (long) /æː/, /eː/ near open front unrounded, close mid front unrounded fjær, væte feather, to wet ø (short) /œ/ open mid front rounded løsne to loosen ø (long) /øː/ close mid front rounded smøre to lubricate øy /œʏ̯/ gøy fun å (short) /ɔ/ open-mid back rounded slått a type of folk dance å (long) /oː/ close-mid back rounded båt boat

### Accent

Norwegian is a [pitch-accent language](/source/Pitch-accent_language) with two distinct pitch patterns, like Swedish. They are used to differentiate two-syllable words with otherwise identical pronunciation. For example, in many East Norwegian dialects, the word *bønder* ('farmers') is pronounced using the simpler tone 1, while *bønner* ('beans' or 'prayers') uses the more complex tone 2. Though spelling differences occasionally differentiate written words, in most cases the minimal pairs are written alike, since written Norwegian has no explicit accent marks. In most eastern low-tone dialects, accent 1 uses a low flat pitch in the first syllable, while accent 2 uses a high, sharply falling pitch in the first syllable and a low pitch in the beginning of the second syllable. In both accents, these pitch movements are followed by a rise of [intonational](/source/Intonation_(linguistics)) nature (phrase accent)—the size (and presence) of which signals emphasis or focus, and corresponds in function to the normal accent in languages that lack [lexical tone](/source/Tone_(linguistics)), such as English. That rise culminates in the final syllable of an accentual phrase, while the utterance-final fall common in most languages is either very small or absent.

There are significant variations in pitch accent between dialects. Thus, in most of western and northern Norway (the so-called high-pitch dialects) accent 1 is falling, while accent 2 is rising in the first syllable and falling in the second syllable or somewhere around the syllable boundary. The pitch accents (as well as the peculiar phrase accent in the low-tone dialects) give the Norwegian language a "singing" quality that makes it easy to distinguish from other languages. Accent 1 generally occurs in words that were monosyllabic in [Old Norse](/source/Old_Norse), and accent 2 in words that were polysyllabic.

## Written language

Norwegian keyboard with keys for Æ, Ø, and Å

Main article: [Norwegian orthography](/source/Norwegian_orthography)

### Alphabet

Main article: [Dano-Norwegian alphabet](/source/Dano-Norwegian_alphabet)

The Norwegian alphabet has 29 letters.[9]

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Æ Ø Å a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z æ ø å

The letters *c*, *q*, *w*, *x* and *z* are only used in [loanwords](/source/Loanword). As loanwords are assimilated into Norwegian, their spelling might change to reflect Norwegian pronunciation and the principles of Norwegian orthography, e.g. *[zebra](/source/Zebra)* in Norwegian is written *sebra*. Due to historical reasons, some otherwise Norwegian family names are also written using these letters.

Some letters may be modified by [diacritics](/source/Diacritic): *é*, *è*, *ê*, *ó*, *ò*, and *ô*.[10][11] In Nynorsk, *ì* and *ù* and *ỳ* are occasionally seen as well.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] The diacritics are not compulsory, but may in a few cases distinguish between different meanings of the word, e.g.: *for* ('for/to'), *fór* ('went'), *fòr* ('furrow') and *fôr* ('fodder').[11] Loanwords may be spelled with other diacritics, most notably *ï, ü[11]*, *á* and *à*.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

### Bokmål and Nynorsk

Main articles: [Bokmål](/source/Bokm%C3%A5l), [Nynorsk](/source/Nynorsk), and [Norwegian language conflict](/source/Norwegian_language_conflict)

Map of the official language forms of Norwegian municipalities: red is [Bokmål](/source/Bokm%C3%A5l), blue is [Nynorsk](/source/Nynorsk), and gray depicts neutral areas.

The two legally recognized forms of *written* Norwegian are *[Bokmål](/source/Bokm%C3%A5l)* (literally 'book tongue') and *[Nynorsk](/source/Nynorsk)* ('new Norwegian'), which are regulated by the [Language Council of Norway](/source/Language_Council_of_Norway) (*Språkrådet*).[12] Two other written forms without official status also exist. One, called *[Riksmål](/source/Riksm%C3%A5l)* ('national language'), is today to a large extent the same language as Bokmål though somewhat closer to the Danish language. It is regulated by the unofficial [Norwegian Academy](/source/Norwegian_Academy), which translates the name as 'Standard Norwegian'. The other is *[Høgnorsk](/source/H%C3%B8gnorsk)* ('High Norwegian'), a more [purist](/source/Linguistic_purism) form of Nynorsk, which maintains the language in an original form as given by [Ivar Aasen](/source/Ivar_Aasen) and rejects most of the reforms from the 20th century; this form has limited use.

Nynorsk and Bokmål provide standards for how to write Norwegian, but not for how to speak the language. No standard of spoken Norwegian is officially sanctioned, and most [Norwegians speak their own dialects](/source/Norwegian_dialects) in all circumstances. Thus, unlike in many other countries, the use of any Norwegian dialect, whether it coincides with the written norms or not, is accepted as correct *spoken* Norwegian. However, in areas where [East Norwegian dialects](/source/Norwegian_dialects) are used, a tendency exists to accept a de facto spoken standard for this particular regional dialect, [Urban East Norwegian](/source/Urban_East_Norwegian) or Standard East Norwegian (Norwegian: *Standard østnorsk*), in which the vocabulary coincides with Bokmål.[13][14] Outside [Eastern Norway](/source/Eastern_Norway), this spoken variation is not used.

From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Danish was the standard written language of Norway. As a result, the development of modern written Norwegian has been subject to strong controversy related to [nationalism](/source/Nationalism), rural versus urban discourse, and Norway's literary history. Historically, Bokmål is a Norwegianised variety of Danish, while Nynorsk is a language form based on Norwegian dialects and puristic opposition to Danish. The now-abandoned official policy to merge Bokmål and Nynorsk into one common language called *Samnorsk* through a series of spelling reforms has created a wide spectrum of varieties of both Bokmål and Nynorsk. The unofficial form known as *Riksmål* is considered more [conservative](/source/Conservative_(language)) than Bokmål and is far closer to Danish while the unofficial *Høgnorsk* is more conservative than Nynorsk and is far closer to [Faroese](/source/Faroese_language), [Icelandic](/source/Icelandic_language) and [Old Norse](/source/Old_Norse).

Norwegians are educated in both Bokmål and Nynorsk. Each student gets assigned a native form based on which school they go to, whence the other form (known as *Sidemål*) will be a mandatory school subject from elementary school through high school.[15] For instance, a Norwegian whose main language form is Bokmål will study Nynorsk as a mandatory subject throughout both elementary and high school. A 2005 poll indicates that 86.3% use primarily Bokmål as their daily written language, 5.5% use both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and 7.5% use primarily Nynorsk.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Broadly speaking, Nynorsk writing is widespread in western Norway, though not in major urban areas, and also in the upper parts of mountain valleys in the southern and eastern parts of Norway. Examples are [Setesdal](/source/Setesdal), the western part of [Telemark](/source/Telemark) county (*fylke*) and several municipalities in [Hallingdal](/source/Hallingdal), [Valdres](/source/Valdres), and [Gudbrandsdalen](/source/Gudbrandsdalen). It is little used elsewhere, but 30–40 years ago,[*[as of?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Dates_and_numbers#Chronological_items)*] it also had strongholds in many rural parts of [Trøndelag](/source/Tr%C3%B8ndelag) (mid-Norway) and the southern part of northern Norway ([Nordland](/source/Nordland) county). Today, Nynorsk is the official language of not only four of the nineteen Norwegian counties but also various municipalities in five other counties. [NRK](/source/NRK), the Norwegian broadcasting corporation, broadcasts in both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and all governmental agencies are required to support both written languages. Bokmål is used in 92% of all written publications, and Nynorsk in 8% (2000).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

Like some other European countries, Norway has an official "advisory board"— [Språkrådet](/source/Norwegian_Language_Council) (Norwegian Language Council)— that determines, after approval from the Ministry of Culture, official spelling, grammar, and vocabulary for the Norwegian language. The board's work has been subject to considerable controversy throughout the years.

Both Nynorsk and Bokmål have a great variety of optional forms. The Bokmål that uses the forms that are close to Riksmål is called *moderate* or *conservative*, depending on one's viewpoint, while the Bokmål that uses the forms that are close to Nynorsk is called *radical*. Nynorsk has forms that are close to the original Landsmål and forms that are close to Bokmål.

### Riksmål

Main article: [Riksmål](/source/Riksm%C3%A5l)

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Opponents of the spelling reforms aimed at bringing Bokmål closer to Nynorsk have retained the name Riksmål and employ spelling and grammar that predate the Samnorsk movement. Riksmål and conservative versions of Bokmål have been the *de facto* standard written language of Norway for most of the 20th century, being used by large newspapers, encyclopedias, and a significant proportion of the population of the capital Oslo, surrounding areas, and other urban areas, as well as much of the literary tradition. Since the reforms of 1981 and 2003 (effective in 2005), the official Bokmål can be adapted to be almost identical with modern Riksmål. The differences between written Riksmål and Bokmål are comparable to [American and British English differences](/source/American_and_British_English_differences).

Riksmål is regulated by the [Norwegian Academy](/source/Norwegian_Academy), which determines acceptable spelling, grammar, and vocabulary.

### Høgnorsk

Main article: [Høgnorsk](/source/H%C3%B8gnorsk)

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There is also an unofficial form of Nynorsk, called *Høgnorsk*, discarding the post-1917 reforms, and thus close to Ivar Aasen's original Landsmål. It is supported by [Ivar Aasen-sambandet](/source/Ivar_Aasen-sambandet), but has found no widespread use.

### Current usage

In 2010, 86.5% of the pupils in the primary and lower secondary schools in Norway receive education in Bokmål, while 13.0% receive education in Nynorsk. From the eighth grade onwards, pupils are required to learn both. Out of the 431 municipalities in Norway, 161 have declared that they wish to communicate with the central authorities in Bokmål, 116 (representing 12% of the population) in Nynorsk, while 156 are neutral. Of 4,549 state publications in 2000, 8% were in Nynorsk, and 92% in Bokmål. The large national newspapers (*[Aftenposten](/source/Aftenposten), [Dagbladet](/source/Dagbladet)*, and [*VG*](/source/Verdens_Gang)) are published in Bokmål or Riksmål. Some major regional newspapers (including *[Bergens Tidende](/source/Bergens_Tidende)* and *[Stavanger Aftenblad](/source/Stavanger_Aftenblad)*), many political journals, and many local newspapers use both Bokmål and Nynorsk.

A newer trend is to write in dialect for informal use. When writing an SMS, Facebook update, or fridge note, many people, especially young ones, write approximations of the way they talk rather than using Bokmål or Nynorsk.[16][17]

## Dialects

Main article: [Norwegian dialects](/source/Norwegian_dialects)

The map shows the division of the Norwegian dialects within the main groups.

There is general agreement that a wide range of differences makes it difficult to estimate the number of different Norwegian dialects. Variations in grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and pronunciation cut across geographical boundaries and can create a distinct dialect at the level of farm clusters. Dialects are in some cases so dissimilar as to be unintelligible to unfamiliar listeners. Many linguists note a trend toward regionalization of dialects that diminishes the differences at such local levels;[18] there is, however, a renewed interest in preserving dialects.

## Grammar

### Nouns

See also: [Nynorsk § Nouns](/source/Nynorsk#Nouns)

Norwegian [nouns](/source/Noun) are [inflected](/source/Inflection) for [number](/source/Grammatical_number) (singular/plural) and for [definiteness](/source/Definiteness) (indefinite/definite). In a few dialects, definite nouns are also inflected for the [dative case](/source/Dative_case).

Norwegian nouns belong to three [noun classes](/source/Grammatical_gender) (genders): masculine, feminine and neuter. All feminine nouns can optionally be inflected using masculine noun class morphology in Bokmål due to its Danish heritage.[19] In comparison, the use of all three genders (including the feminine) is mandatory in Nynorsk.[20]

All Norwegian dialects have traditionally retained all the three grammatical genders from [Old Norse](/source/Old_Norse) to some extent.[21] The only exceptions are the [dialect of Bergen](/source/Bergen_dialect) and a few upper class sociolects at [the west end of Oslo](/source/East_End_and_West_End_of_Oslo) that have completely lost the feminine gender.[21][22]

According to [Marit Westergaard](/source/Marit_Westergaard), approximately 80% of nouns in Norwegian are masculine.[23]

Examples, nouns in Bokmål Singular Plural Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Masculine en båt båten båter båtene a boat the boat boats the boats Feminine ei/en vogn vogna/vognen vogner vognene a wagon the wagon wagons the wagons Neuter et hus huset hus husa/husene a house the house houses the houses

Norwegian and other Scandinavian languages use a [suffix](/source/Suffix) to indicate [definiteness](/source/Definiteness) of a noun, unlike English which has a separate article, *the*, to indicate the same.

In general, almost all nouns in Bokmål follow these patterns[24] (like the words in the examples above):

Nouns in Bokmål Singular Plural Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Masculine en -en -er -ene Feminine ei/en -a/-en Neuter et -et -/-er -a/-ene

In contrast, almost all nouns in Nynorsk follow these patterns[20] (the noun gender system is more pronounced than in Bokmål):

Nouns in Nynorsk Singular Plural Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Masculine ein -en -ar -ane Feminine ei -a -er -ene Neuter eit -et – -a

Examples, nouns in Nynorsk Singular Plural Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Masculine ein båt båten båtar båtane a boat the boat boats the boats Feminine ei vogn vogna vogner vognene a wagon the wagon wagons the wagons Neuter eit hus huset hus husa a house the house houses the houses

There is in general no way to infer what grammatical gender a specific noun has, but there are some patterns of nouns where the gender can be inferred. For instance, all nouns ending in -*nad* will be masculine in both Bokmål and Nynorsk (for instance the noun *jobbsøknad*, which means 'job application'). Most nouns ending in -*ing* will be feminine, like the noun *forventning* ('expectation').

There are some common irregular nouns, many of which are irregular in both Bokmål and Nynorsk, like the following:

Irregular noun, fot (foot)[25] Singular Plural Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Bokmål en fot foten føtter føttene Nynorsk ein fot foten føter føtene English a foot the foot feet the feet

In Nynorsk, even though the irregular word *fot* is masculine, it is inflected like a feminine word in the plural. Another word with the same irregular inflection is *son – søner* ('son – sons').

In Nynorsk, nouns ending in -*ing* typically have masculine plural inflections, like the word *dronning* in the following table. But they are treated as feminine nouns in every other way.[20]

Nynorsk, some irregular nouns Gender Nouns ending with -ing English Feminine ei dronning dronninga dronningar dronningane queen Plurals with umlaut (these irregularities also exist in Bokmål) Feminine ei bok boka bøker bøkene book ei hand handa hender hendene hand ei stong stonga stenger stengene rod ei tå tåa tær tærne toe Plurals with no ending (these irregularities also exist in Bokmål) Masculine ein ting tingen ting tinga thing

#### Genitive of nouns

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In general, the [genitive case](/source/Genitive_case) has died out in modern Norwegian and there are only some remnants of it in certain expressions: *til fjells* ('to the mountains'), *til sjøs* ('to the sea'). To show ownership, there is an [enclitic](/source/Enclitic) -*s* similar to English -'*s*; *Sondres flotte bil* ('Sondre's nice car', *Sondre* being a personal name). There are also reflexive possessive pronouns, *sin*, *si*, *sitt*, *sine*; *Det er Sondre sitt* ('It is Sondre's'). In both Bokmål and modern Nynorsk, there is often a mix of both of these to mark possession, though it is more common in Nynorsk to use the reflexive pronouns; in Nynorsk use of the reflexive possessive pronouns is generally encouraged to avoid mixing the enclitic -*s* with the historical grammatical case remnants of the language. The reflexive pronouns agree in gender and number with the noun.

The enclitic -*s* in Norwegian evolved as a shorthand expression for the possessive pronouns *sin*, *si*, *sitt* and *sine*.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

Examples Norwegian (with pronoun) Norwegian (with enclitic 's) English Jenta sin bil Jentas bil The girl's car Mannen si kone Mannens kone The man's wife Gutten sitt leketøy Guttens leketøy The boy's toy Kona sine barn Konas barn The wife's children Det er statsministeren sitt Det er statsministerens It is the prime minister's

### Adjectives

See also: [Nynorsk § Adjectives](/source/Nynorsk#Adjectives)

Norwegian [adjectives](/source/Adjective), like those of Swedish and Danish, inflect for [definiteness](/source/Definiteness), [gender](/source/Grammatical_gender), [number](/source/Grammatical_number) and for [comparison](/source/Comparison_(grammar)) (affirmative/comparative/superlative). Inflection for definiteness follows two paradigms, called "weak" and "strong", a feature shared among the [Germanic languages](/source/Germanic_languages).

The following table summarizes the inflection of adjectives in Norwegian. The indefinite affirmative inflection can vary between adjectives, but in general the paradigm illustrated below is the most common.[26]

Inflection patterns for adjectives in Norwegian Affirmative Comparative Superlative Indefinite Definite Common Neuter Plural Indefinite Definite Bokmål - -t -e -ere -est -este Nynorsk -are -ast -aste

[Predicate adjectives](/source/Predicate_adjective) follow only the indefinite inflection table. Unlike [attributive adjectives](/source/Attributive_adjective), they are not inflected for definiteness.

Adjective forms, examples: grønn/grøn ('green'), pen ('pretty'), stjålet/stolen ('stolen') Affirmative Comparative Superlative Indefinite Definite Common Neuter Plural Indefinite Definite Bokmål grønn grønt grønne grønnere grønnest grønneste Nynorsk grøn grøne grønare grønast grønaste English green greener greenest Bokmål pen pent pene penere penest peneste Nynorsk penare penast penaste English pretty prettier prettiest Bokmål stjålet/stjålen stjålet stjålne Nynorsk stolen stole stolne – – English stolen – –

In most dialects, some verb participles used as adjectives have a separate form in both definite and plural uses,[27] and sometimes also in the masculine-feminine singular. In some Southwestern dialects, the definite adjective is also declined in gender and number with one form for feminine and plural, and one form for masculine and neuter.

#### [Attributive adjectives](/source/Attributive_adjective)

#### Definite inflection

In Norwegian, a definite noun has a suffixed definite article (cf. above) compared to English which in general uses the separate word *the* to indicate the same. However, when a definite noun is preceded by an adjective, the adjective also gets a definite inflection, shown in the inflection table above. There is also another definite marker, *den*, that has to agree in gender with the noun when the definite noun is accompanied by an adjective.[28] It comes before the adjective and has the following forms

Determinative den (Bokmål) Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural Den Den Det De

Examples of definite affirmative inflection of adjectives (Bokmål):

- *Den **stjålne** bilen* ('The ***stolen*** car')

- *Den **pene** jenta* ('The ***pretty*** girl')

- *Det **grønne** eplet* ('The ***green*** apple')

- *De **stjålne** bilene* ('The ***stolen*** cars')

If the adjective is dropped completely, the meaning of the preceding article before the noun changes, as shown in this example.

Examples (Bokmål):

- *Den bilen* ('That car')

- *Den jenta* ('That girl')

- *Det eplet* ('That apple')

- *De bilene* ('Those cars')

Examples of definite comparative and superlative inflection of adjectives (Bokmål):

- *Det **grønnere** eplet* ('The ***greener*** apple')

- *Det **grønneste** eplet* ('The ***greenest*** apple')

Definiteness is also signaled by using possessive pronouns or any uses of a noun in its genitive form in either Nynorsk or Bokmål: *mitt grønne hus* ('my green house'), *min grønne bil* ('my green car'), *mitt tilbaketrukne tannkjøtt* ('my receding gums'), *presidentens gamle hus* ('the president's old house').[29]

#### Indefinite inflection

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Examples (Bokmål):

- *En **grønn** bil* ('A ***green*** car')

- *Ei **pen** jente* ('A ***pretty*** girl')

- *Et **grønt** eple* ('A ***green*** apple')

- *Flere **grønne** biler* ('Many ***green*** cars')

Examples of comparative and superlative inflections in Bokmål: *en grønnere bil* ('a greener car'), *grønnest bil* ('greenest car').

#### [Predicative adjectives](/source/Adjective#Predicative_adjective)

There is also predicative agreement of adjectives in all dialects of Norwegian and in the written languages, unlike related languages like German and Dutch.[30] This feature of predicative agreement is shared among the Scandinavian languages. Predicative adjectives do not inflect for definiteness unlike the attributive adjectives.

This means that nouns will have to agree with the adjective when there is a [copula verb](/source/Copula_(linguistics)) involved, like in Bokmål: *være* ('to be'), *bli* ('become'), *ser ut* ('looks like'), *kjennes* ('feels like') etc.

Adjective agreement, examples Norwegian (bokmål) English Masculine Bilen var grønn The car was green Feminine Døra er grønn The door is green Neuter Flagget er grønt The flag is green Plural Blåbærene blir store The blueberries will be big

### Verbs

See also: [Nynorsk § Verb conjugation](/source/Nynorsk#Verb_conjugation)

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (June 2019)

Norwegian [verbs](/source/Verb) are not [conjugated](/source/Conjugation_(grammar)) for [person](/source/Grammatical_person) or [number](/source/Grammatical_number), unlike [English](/source/English_language) and most [European languages](/source/European_Languages), though a few [Norwegian dialects](/source/Norwegian_dialects) do conjugate for number. Norwegian verbs are conjugated according to mainly three [grammatical moods](/source/Grammatical_mood): [indicative](/source/Indicative_mood), [imperative](/source/Imperative_mood) and [subjunctive](/source/Subjunctive_mood), though the subjunctive mood has largely fallen out of use and is mainly found in a few common frozen expressions.[31] The imperative is formed by removing the last vowel of the infinitive verb form, just like in the other Scandinavian languages.

Indicative verbs are conjugated for [tense](/source/Grammatical_tense): [present](/source/Present_tense), [past](/source/Past_tense), and [future](/source/Future_tense). The present and past tense also have a [passive](/source/Passive_voice) form for the infinitive.

There are four [non-finite verb](/source/Non-finite_verb) forms: [infinitive](/source/Infinitive), [passive](/source/Passive_voice) infinitive, and the two [participles](/source/Participle): [perfective](/source/Perfective)/past participle and [imperfective](/source/Imperfective)/present participle.

The participles are [verbal adjectives](/source/Verbal_adjective). The imperfective participle is not declined, whereas the perfect participle is declined for [gender](/source/Grammatical_gender) (though not in Bokmål) and [number](/source/Grammatical_number) like strong, affirmative adjectives. The [definite](/source/Definiteness) form of the participle is identical to the plural form.

As with other Germanic languages, Norwegian verbs can be divided into two conjugation classes; [weak](/source/Germanic_weak_verb) verbs and [strong](/source/Germanic_strong_verb) verbs.

Verb forms in Nynorsk leva ('to live') and finna ('to find') Finite Non-finite Indicative Subjunctive Imperative Verbal nouns Verbal adjectives (Participles) Present Past Infinitive Imperfective Perfective Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural/Def Active lever levde leve lev leva levande levd levt levde finn fann finn finna (har) funne funnen funne Passive levest levdest levast finst fanst finnast (har) funnest

Verb forms in Bokmål å leve ('to live') and å finne ('to find') Finite Non-finite Indicative Subjunctive Imperative Verbal nouns Verbal adjectives (Participles) Present Past Infinitive Imperfective Perfective Singular Plural/Def Active lever levde/levet leve lev leve levende levd levde/levet finner fant finn finne (har) funnet funnet funne Passive leves levdes leves fins/finnes fantes finnes (har funnes)

#### Ergative verbs

See also: [Nynorsk § Ergative verbs](/source/Nynorsk#Ergative_verbs)

There are [ergative verbs](/source/Ergative_verb) in both Bokmål and Nynorsk,[32] where there are two different conjugation patterns depending on if the verb takes an object or not. In Bokmål, there are only two different conjugations for the [preterite tense](/source/Preterite_Tense) for the strong verbs, while Nynorsk has different conjugations for all tenses, like Swedish and a majority of Norwegian dialects. Some weak verbs are also ergative and are differentiated for all tenses in both Bokmål and Nynorsk, like *ligge/legge*, both of which meaning 'to lie down', but *ligge* does not take an object while *legge* requires an object. *Legge* corresponds to the English verb 'lay', while *ligge* corresponds to the English verb 'lie'. There are, however, many verbs that do not have a direct translation to English verbs.

Ergative verb knekke ('crack') Norwegian Bokmål English Nøtta knakk The nut cracked Jeg knekte nøtta I cracked the nut Jeg ligger I'm lying down Jeg legger det ned I'll lay it down

### Pronouns

See also: [Nynorsk § Pronouns](/source/Nynorsk#Pronouns)

Norwegian personal [pronouns](/source/Pronoun) are declined according to [case](/source/Grammatical_case): [nominative](/source/Nominative_case) and [accusative](/source/Accusative_case). Like English, pronouns in Bokmål and Nynorsk are the only class that has case declension. Some of the dialects that have preserved the [dative](/source/Dative_case) in nouns, also have a dative case instead of the accusative case in personal pronouns, while others have accusative in pronouns and dative in nouns, effectively giving these dialects three distinct cases.

In the most comprehensive Norwegian grammar, [Norsk referansegrammatikk](/source/Norsk_referansegrammatikk), the categorization of personal pronouns by [person](/source/Grammatical_person), [gender](/source/Grammatical_gender), and [number](/source/Grammatical_number) is not regarded as inflection. Pronouns are a [closed class](/source/Closed_class) in Norwegian.

Since December 2017, the gender-neutral pronoun *hen* is present in the Norwegian Academy's dictionary ([NAOB](/source/NAOB)).[33] In June 2022, the Language Council of Norway ([Språkrådet](/source/Language_Council_of_Norway))[34][35] started including *hen* in both Bokmål and Nynorsk Norwegian standards.

Pronouns in Bokmål Subject form Object form Possessive Singular Plural Male Female Neuter Singular 1st person jeg meg min mi mitt mine 2nd person du deg din di ditt dine 3rd person Male, animate han ham/han hans Female, animate hun henne hennes Neuter, animate hen hen hens Male/female, inanimate den dens Neuter, inanimate det dets Reflexive – seg sin si sitt sine Plural 1st person vi oss vår vårt våre 2nd person dere deres 3rd person Non-reflexive de dem deres Reflexive – seg sin si sitt sine

Pronouns in Nynorsk Subject form Object form Possessive Singular Plural Male Female Neuter Singular 1st person eg meg min mi mitt mine 2nd person du deg din di ditt dine 3rd person Male han han hans Female ho ho hennar Neuter, animate hen hen hens Neuter, inanimate det det (dess) Reflexive – seg sin si sitt sine Plural 1st person vi/me oss vår vårt våre 2nd person de/dokker dykk/dokker dykkar/dokkar 3rd person Non-reflexive dei deira Reflexive – seg sin si sitt sine

The words for 'mine', 'yours' etc. are dependent on the gender of the noun described. Like adjectives, they have to agree in gender with the noun.

Bokmål has two sets of third-person pronouns. *Han* and *hun* refer to male and female individuals respectively; *den* and *det* refer to impersonal or inanimate nouns, of masculine/feminine or neutral gender respectively. In contrast, Nynorsk and most dialects use the same set of pronouns *han* ('he'), *ho* ('she') and *det* ('it') for both personal and impersonal references, like in [German](/source/German_language), [Icelandic](/source/Icelandic_language) and [Old Norse](/source/Old_Norse). *Det* also has [expletive](/source/Expletive_pronoun) and [cataphoric](/source/Cataphora) uses like in the English examples ***it** rains* and ***it** was known by everyone **(that) he had travelled the world***.

Examples in Nynorsk and Bokmål of the use of the pronoun it Nynorsk Bokmål English Kor er boka mi? Ho er her Hvor er boka mi? Den er her Where is my book? It is here Kor er bilen min? Han er her Hvor er bilen min? Den er her Where is my car? It is here Kor er brevet mitt? Det er her Hvor er brevet mitt? Det er her Where is my letter? It is here

#### Ordering of possessive pronouns

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The ordering of possessive pronouns is somewhat freer than in Swedish or Danish. When there is no adjective, the most common word order is the one used in the examples in the table above, where the possessive comes after the noun, while the noun is in its definite form; *boka mi* ('my book'). If one wishes to emphasize the owner of the noun, the possessive pronoun will usually be placed first. In Bokmål, however, due to its Danish origins, one could choose to always write the possessive first: *min bil* ('my car'), but this may sound very formal. Some dialects that have been very influenced by Danish also do this; some speakers in [Bærum](/source/B%C3%A6rum) and the [west of Oslo](/source/Oslo_West) may always use this word order. When there is an adjective describing the noun, the possessive pronoun will always come first: *min egen bil* ('my own car').

Norwegian (Bokmål/Nynorsk) English Det er mi bok! It is my book! (owner emphasized) Kona mi er vakker My wife is beautiful

### Determiners

See also: [Nynorsk § Determiners](/source/Nynorsk#Determiners)

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The [closed class](/source/Closed_class) of Norwegian [determiners](/source/Determiner_(class)) are declined in [gender](/source/Grammatical_gender) and [number](/source/Grammatical_number) in agreement with their argument. Not all determiners are inflected.

Determiner forms egen (own) in Bokmål Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural egen/eigen egen/eiga eget/eige egne/eigne

Determiner forms eigen (own) in Nynorsk Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural eigen eiga eige eigne

### Numerals

Cardinal and ordinal number words in Bokmål and Nynorsk Cardinal numeral Ordinal numeral Bokmål Nynorsk Bokmål Nynorsk 0 null nulte 1 én (m.), éi (f.), ett (n.) éin (m.), éi (f.), eitt (n.) første første/ fyrste 2 to annen (m./def.), anna (f.), annet (n.), andre (pl.)/ andre (all genres/def./pl.)[36] annan (m.), anna (f./n.), andre (def./pl.) 3 tre tredje 4 fire fjerde 5 fem femte 6 seks sjette 7 sju/ syv sju sjuende/ syvende sjuande 8 åtte åttende åttande 9 ni niende niande 10 ti tiende tiande 11 elleve ellevte 12 tolv tolvte 13 tretten trettende trettande 14 fjorten fjortende fjortande 15 femten femtende femtande 16 seksten sekstende sekstande 17 sytten syttende syttande 18 atten attende attande 19 nitten nittende nittande 20 tjue tjuende tjuande 21 tjueen tjueein tjueførste tjueførste/ tjuefyrste 30 tretti trettiende trettiande 40 førti førtiende førtiande 50 femti femtiende femtiande 60 seksti sekstiende sekstiande 70 sytti syttiende syttiande 80 åtti åttiende åttiande 90 nitti nittiende nittiande 100 (ett) hundre (eitt) hundre (ett) hundrede (eitt) hundrede 1000 (ett) tusen (eitt) tusen (ett) tusende (eitt) tusende

### Particle classes

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Norwegian has five [closed classes](/source/Closed_class) without inflection, i.e. [lexical categories](/source/Lexical_category) with grammatical function and a finite number of members that may not be distinguished by morphological criteria. These are [interjections](/source/Interjection), [conjunctions](/source/Grammatical_conjunction), [subjunctions](/source/Grammatical_conjunction), [prepositions](/source/Preposition), and [adverbs](/source/Adverbs). The inclusion of adverbs here requires that traditional adverbs that are inflected in [comparison](/source/Comparison_(grammar)) be classified as adjectives, as is sometimes done.

#### Adverbs

[Adverbs](/source/Adverb) can be formed from [adjectives](/source/Adjective) in Norwegian. English usually creates adverbs from adjectives by the suffix *-ly*, like the adverb *beautifully* from the adjective *beautiful.* By comparison, [Scandinavian languages](/source/North_Germanic_languages) usually form adverbs from adjectives by the [grammatical neuter](/source/Neuter_(grammar)) singular form of the adjective. This is in general true for both Bokmål and Nynorsk.

Example ([Bokmål](/source/Bokm%C3%A5l)):

- *Han er **grusom*** ('He is **terrible**')

- *Det er **grusomt*** ('It is **terrible**')

- *Han er **grusomt** treig* ('He is **terribly** slow')

In the third sentence, *grusomt* is an adverb. In the first and second sentence *grusomt* and *grusom* are adjectives and must agree in grammatical gender with the noun.

Another example is the adjective *vakker* ('beautiful') which exists in both Nynorsk and Bokmål and has the neuter singular form *vakkert*.

Example ([Nynorsk](/source/Nynorsk)):

- *Ho er **vakker*** ('She is **beautiful**')

- *Det er **vakkert*** ('It is **beautiful**')

- *Ho syng **vakkert*** ('She sings **beautifully**')

### Compound words

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In Norwegian [compound words](/source/Compound_(linguistics)), the [head](/source/Head_(linguistics)), i.e. the part determining the compound's class, is the last part. If the compound word is constructed from many different nouns, the last noun in the compound noun will determine the gender of the compound noun. Only the first part has primary stress. For instance, the compound *tenketank* ('think tank') has primary stress on the first syllable and is a masculine noun since the noun *tank* is masculine.

Compound words are written together in Norwegian, which can cause words to become very long, for example *sannsynlighetsmaksimeringsestimator* ('[maximum likelihood](/source/Maximum_likelihood) [estimator](/source/Estimator)') and *menneskerettighetsorganisasjoner* ('human rights organizations'). Other examples are the title *høyesterettsjustitiarius* ('Chief Justice of the Supreme Court', originally a combination of *[supreme court](/source/Supreme_court)* and the actual title, *[justiciar](/source/Justiciar)*) and the translation *En midtsommernattsdrøm* for *A Midsummer Night's Dream*.

If they are not written together, each part is naturally read with primary stress, and the meaning of the compound is lost. Examples of this in English are the difference between a green house and a greenhouse or a black board and a blackboard.

This is sometimes forgotten, occasionally with humorous results. Instead of writing, for example, **lammekoteletter** ('lamb chops'), people make the mistake of writing *lamme koteletter* ('lame', or 'paralyzed', 'chops'). The original message can even be reversed, as when *røykfritt* (lit. 'smoke-free', meaning no smoking) becomes *røyk fritt* ('smoke freely').

Other examples include:

- *Terrasse dør* ('Terrace dies') instead of *Terrassedør* ('Terrace door')

- *Tunfisk biter* ('Tuna bites', verb) instead of *Tunfiskbiter* ('Tuna bits', noun)

- *Smult ringer* ('Lard calls', verb) instead of *Smultringer* ('Doughnuts')

- *Tyveri sikret* ('Theft guaranteed') instead of *Tyverisikret* ('Theft-proof')

- *Stekt kylling lever* ('Fried chicken lives', verb) instead of *Stekt kyllinglever* ('Fried chicken liver', noun)

- *Smør brød* ('Butter bread', verb) instead of *Smørbrød* ('Sandwich')

- *Klipp fisk* ('Cut fish', verb) instead of *Klippfisk* ('Clipfish')

- *På hytte taket* ('On cottage the roof') instead of *På hyttetaket* ('On the cottage roof')

- *Altfor Norge* ('Too Norway') instead of *Alt for Norge* ('Everything for Norway', the [royal motto of Norway](/source/Royal_mottos_of_Norwegian_monarchs))

These misunderstandings occur because most nouns can be interpreted as verbs or other types of words. Similar misunderstandings can be achieved in English too. The following are examples of phrases that both in Norwegian and English mean one thing as a compound word, and something different when regarded as separate words:

- *stavekontroll* ('spellchecker') or *stave kontroll* ('spell checker')

- *kokebok* ('cookbook') or *koke bok* ('cook book')

- *ekte håndlagde vafler* ('real handmade waffles') or *ekte hånd lagde vafler* ('real hand made waffles')

### Syntax

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#### Word order

Norwegian syntax is predominantly [SVO](/source/Subject%E2%80%93verb%E2%80%93object). The subject occupies the sentence-initial position, followed by the verb and then the object. Like many other Germanic languages, it follows the [V2 rule](/source/V2_word_order), which means that the finite verb is invariably the second element in a sentence. For example:

- Jeg **spiser** fisk *i dag* ('I **eat** fish *today*')

- Jeg **vil** drikke kaffe *i dag* ('I **want** to drink coffee *today*')

Exceptions to the [rule](/source/V2_word_order) are embedded clauses and question phrases.

#### Negation

Negation in Norwegian is expressed by the word *ikke*, which literally means 'not' and is placed after the finite verb. Exceptions are embedded clauses.

- *Hunden kom **ikke** tilbake med ballen.* ('The dog did **not** return with the ball.')

- *Det var hunden som **ikke** kom tilbake.* ('It was the dog that did **not** return.')

Contractions with the negation, as is accepted in for example English (*cannot*, *hadn't*, *didn't*) are limited to dialects and colloquial speech. In this case contractions apply to the negation and the verb. Otherwise *ikke* is applied in similar ways as the English *not* and general [negation](/source/Affirmation_and_negation).

#### Adverbs

Adverbs follow the verb they modify. Depending on the type of adverb, the order in which they appear in the phrase is pre-determined. Manner adverbs for example, precede temporal adverbs. Switching the order of these adverbs would not render the phrase ungrammatical, but would make it sound awkward. Compare this to the English phrase "John probably already ate dinner." Switching the adverbs' position (*already* and *probably*) to "John already probably ate dinner" is not incorrect, but sounds unnatural. For more information, see [Cartographic syntax](/source/Cartographic_syntax).

- *Hun sang **rørende** **vakkert**.* ('She sang touchingly beautiful.')

- *Hun sang **utrolig** **høyt**.* ('She sang unbelievably loud.')

The adverb may precede the verb when the focus of the sentence is shifted. If special attention should be directed on the temporal aspect of the sentence, the adverb can be fronted. Since the V2 rule requires the finite verb to syntactically occupy the second position in the clause, the verb consequently also moves in front of the subject.

- *I dag* **vil** jeg drikke kaffe. ('*Today*, I **want** to drink coffee.')

- *I dag* **spiser** jeg fisk. ('*Today*, I **eat** fish.')

Only one adverb may precede the verb, unless it belongs to a bigger constituent, in which case it does not modify the main verb in the phrase, but is part of the constituent.

- Hun spiste suppen ***raskt i går***. ('She ate the soup quickly yesterday.')

- ***I går*** spiste *hun* suppen raskt. ('Yesterday she ate the soup quickly.')

- Laget som spilte **best**, hadde forlatt plassen. ('The team that played the best had left the pitch.')

#### Adjectives

Attributive adjectives always precede the noun that they modify.

- *De **tre store tjukke tunge røde** bøkene stod i hylla.* ('The **three big fat heavy red** books stood on the shelf.')

- *Den **andre heldigvis lange tynne** nøkkelen passet.* ('The **other fortunately long thin** key fit'.)

## Example text

Norwegian pronunciation

Article 1 of the *[Universal Declaration of Human Rights](/source/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights)* in Norwegian:

- *Alle mennesker er født frie og med samme menneskeverd og menneskerettigheter. De er utstyrt med fornuft og samvittighet og bør handle mot hverandre i brorskapets ånd.*[37]

Article 1 of the *Universal Declaration of Human Rights* in English:

- *All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.*[38]

## See also

- [Norway portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Norway)
- [Languages portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Languages)

- [Det Norske Akademi for Sprog og Litteratur](/source/Det_Norske_Akademi_for_Sprog_og_Litteratur)

- [Comparison of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish](/source/Comparison_of_Danish%2C_Norwegian_and_Swedish)

- [Noregs Mållag](/source/Noregs_M%C3%A5llag)

- [Norsk Ordbok](/source/Norsk_Ordbok_(Nynorsk))

- [Riksmålsforbundet](/source/Riksm%C3%A5lsforbundet)

- [Russenorsk](/source/Russenorsk)

- [Tone (linguistics)](/source/Tone_(linguistics))

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** De Smedt, Koenraad; Lyse, Gunn Inger; Gjesdal, Anje Müller; Losnegaard, Gyri S. (2012). *The Norwegian Language in the Digital Age*. White Paper Series. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 45. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/978-3-642-31389-9](https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-3-642-31389-9). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-642-31388-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-642-31388-2). Norwegian is the common spoken and written language in Norway and is the native language of the vast majority of the Norwegian population (more than 90%) and has about 4,320,000 speakers at present.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (24 May 2022). ["Older Runic"](https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/olde1239). *[Glottolog](/source/Glottolog)*. [Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology](/source/Max_Planck_Institute_for_Evolutionary_Anthropology). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221113105941/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/olde1239) from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Konvention mellan Sverige, Danmark, Finland, Island och Norge om nordiska medborgares rätt att använda sitt eget språk i annat nordiskt land"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090220234459/http://www.norden.org/avtal/utbildning/sk/sprak.asp) [Convention between Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway on the right of Nordic citizens to use their own language in another Nordic country]. *[Nordic Council](/source/Nordic_Council)* (in Norwegian). 2 May 2007. Archived from [the original](http://www.norden.org/avtal/utbildning/sk/sprak.asp) on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2008.

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1. **[^](#cite_ref-now_6-0)** Husby, Olaf (October 2010). ["The Norwegian language"](https://www.ntnu.edu/now/intro/background-norwegian). *Norwegian on the Web*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190322153110/https://www.ntnu.edu/now/intro/background-norwegian) from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2016.

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1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Vannebo, Kjell Ivar (2001). ["Om begrepene språklig standard og språklig standardisering"](http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/sin/article/viewFile/17027/14789) [About the terms linguistic standard and linguistic standardization]. *Sprog I Norden* (in Norwegian): 119–128. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20151015180751/http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/sin/article/viewFile/17027/14789) from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Kristoffersen_14-0)** [Kristoffersen, Gjert](/source/Gjert_Kristoffersen) (2000). [*The Phonology of Norwegian*](https://archive.org/details/phonologynorwegi00kris_297). Oxford University Press. pp. [6](https://archive.org/details/phonologynorwegi00kris_297/page/n22)–11. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-823765-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-823765-5).

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1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Kornai, András (2013). ["Digital Language Death"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3805564). *PLOS ONE*. **8** (10) e77056. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2013PLoSO...877056K](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013PLoSO...877056K). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1371/journal.pone.0077056](https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0077056). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [3805564](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3805564). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [24167559](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24167559).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Dewey, Caitlin (2013). ["How the Internet is killing the world's languages"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/12/04/how-the-internet-is-killing-the-worlds-languages/). The Washington Post. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210131235733/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/12/04/how-the-internet-is-killing-the-worlds-languages/) from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Martin Skjekkeland. "dialekter i Norge". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 1 February 2017.

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1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Språkrådet2_20-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Språkrådet2_20-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Språkrådet2_20-2) ["Språkrådet"](http://elevrom.sprakradet.no/skolen/minigrammatikk/tema/hovudreglane_for_substantivboying). *elevrom.sprakradet.no*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180714193145/http://elevrom.sprakradet.no/skolen/minigrammatikk/tema/hovudreglane_for_substantivboying) from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_21-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_21-1) Skjekkeland, Martin (10 September 2018), ["dialekter i Bergen"](http://snl.no/dialekter_i_Bergen), *Store norske leksikon* (in Norwegian), [archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190515020059/https://snl.no/dialekter_i_Bergen) from the original on 15 May 2019, retrieved 17 June 2019

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Hanssen, Eskil; Kjærheim, Harald; Skjekkeland, Martin (13 September 2016), ["dialekter og språk i Oslo"](http://snl.no/dialekter_og_spr%C3%A5k_i_Oslo), *Store norske leksikon* (in Norwegian), [archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180715035836/https://snl.no/dialekter_og_spr%C3%A5k_i_Oslo) from the original on 15 July 2018, retrieved 14 July 2018

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Isaksen, Karoline Kvellestad (11 October 2019). ["Do we really need grammatical gender?"](https://partner.sciencenorway.no/cas-centre-for-advanced-study-gender-language/do-we-really-need-grammatical-gender/1576053). *[Forskning.no](/source/Forskning.no)*. The Centre for Advanced Study. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220925145858/https://partner.sciencenorway.no/cas-centre-for-advanced-study-gender-language/do-we-really-need-grammatical-gender/1576053) from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** ["Bøying"](https://web.archive.org/web/20241203233351/https://www.ressurssidene.no/web/PageND.aspx?id=99149). *www.ressurssidene.no* (in Norwegian Bokmål). Archived from [the original](https://www.ressurssidene.no/web/PageND.aspx?id=99149) on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** ["Bokmålsordboka | Nynorskordboka"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180714193521/https://ordbok.uib.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=fot&ant_bokmaal=5&ant_nynorsk=5&begge=+&ordbok=begge). *ordbok.uib.no*. Archived from [the original](https://ordbok.uib.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=fot&ant_bokmaal=5&ant_nynorsk=5&begge=+&ordbok=begge) on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** ["Språkrådet"](http://elevrom.sprakradet.no/skolen/minigrammatikk/tema/samsvarsboying_adjektiv). *elevrom.sprakradet.no*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180716004536/http://elevrom.sprakradet.no/skolen/minigrammatikk/tema/samsvarsboying_adjektiv) from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** Berulfsen, Bjarne (1977). *Norwegian grammar* (4th ed.). Oslo: Aschehoug. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-82-03-04312-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-82-03-04312-3). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [4033534](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/4033534).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** Fossen, Christian. ["1 Repetisjon"](https://www.ntnu.edu/now2/4/grammatikk/1). *www.ntnu.edu*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180714222053/https://www.ntnu.edu/now2/4/grammatikk/1) from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** ["Språkrådet"](http://elevrom.sprakradet.no/skolen/minigrammatikk/tema/samsvarsboying_adjektiv). *elevrom.sprakradet.no*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180716004536/http://elevrom.sprakradet.no/skolen/minigrammatikk/tema/samsvarsboying_adjektiv) from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** ["Predikativ"](https://ressurssidene.pedit.no/web/PageND.aspx?id=99235). *ressurssidene.pedit.no* (in Norwegian Bokmål). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230301002221/https://ressurssidene.pedit.no/web/PageND.aspx?id=99235) from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** ["modus – grammatikk"](http://snl.no/modus_-_grammatikk), *Store norske leksikon* (in Norwegian), 20 February 2018, [archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190526082650/https://snl.no/modus_-_grammatikk) from the original on 26 May 2019, retrieved 18 June 2019

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** ["Språkrådet"](http://elevrom.sprakradet.no/skolen/minigrammatikk/tema/parverb). *elevrom.sprakradet.no*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180714222108/http://elevrom.sprakradet.no/skolen/minigrammatikk/tema/parverb) from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** ["Det Norske Akademis ordbok"](https://naob.no/ordbok/hen_2). *naob.no*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221016111829/https://naob.no/ordbok/hen_2) from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:1_34-0)** ["Hen"](http://www.sprakradet.no/svardatabase/sporsmal-og-svar/hen/). *Språkrådet* (in Norwegian Bokmål). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220914194837/https://www.sprakradet.no/svardatabase/sporsmal-og-svar/hen/) from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** ["Ordbøkene.no – Bokmålsordboka og Nynorskordboka"](https://ordbokene.no/bm,nn/ordbokene.no). *ordbokene.no* (in Norwegian). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221008165000/https://ordbokene.no/bm,nn/ordbokene.no) from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** ["andre"](https://ordbokene.no/bm/107465). *ordbøkene.no* (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Retrieved 9 July 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-37)** ["Universal Declaration of Human Rights"](https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/norwegian-bokmal-norsk-bokmal). *www.ohchr.org*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250906091238/https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/norwegian-bokmal-norsk-bokmal) from the original on 6 September 2025. Retrieved 7 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** ["Universal Declaration of Human rights"](https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights). United Nations. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210316050452/https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights) from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2022.

## Bibliography

- [Olav T. Beito](/source/Olav_Beito), *Nynorsk grammatikk. Lyd- og ordlære*, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1986, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [82-521-2801-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/82-521-2801-7)

- Rolf Theil Endresen, Hanne Gram Simonsen, Andreas Sveen, *Innføring i lingvistikk* (2002), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [82-00-45273-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/82-00-45273-5)

- [Jan Terje Faarlund](/source/Jan_Terje_Faarlund), Svein Lie, Kjell Ivar Vannebo, *Norsk referansegrammatikk*, Universitetsforlaget, Oslo 1997, 2002 (3rd edition), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [82-00-22569-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/82-00-22569-0) (Bokmål and Nynorsk)

- Philip Holmes, Hans-Olav Enger, *Norwegian: A Comprehensive Grammar*, Routledge, Abingdon, 2018, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-415-83136-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-83136-9)

- The Norwegian Language Council (1994), *Language usage in Norway's civil service*, [in English](http://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/Om-oss/English-and-other-languages/English/language-usage-in-norways-civil-service/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171020080754/http://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/Om-oss/English-and-other-languages/English/language-usage-in-norways-civil-service/) 20 October 2017 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

- [Arne Torp](/source/Arne_Torp), [Lars S. Vikør](/source/Lars_Vik%C3%B8r) (1993), *Hovuddrag i norsk språkhistorie (3.utgåve)*, Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS 2003

- [Lars S. Vikør](/source/Lars_Vik%C3%B8r) (2015), *Norwegian: Bokmål vs. Nynorsk*, [on Språkrådet's website](http://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/Om-oss/English-and-other-languages/English/norwegian-bokmal-vs.-nynorsk/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201213085435/https://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/Om-oss/English-and-other-languages/English/norwegian-bokmal-vs.-nynorsk/) 13 December 2020 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

## External links

***[Bokmål edition](https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/)*** of [Wikipedia](/source/Wikipedia), the free encyclopedia

***[Nynorsk edition](https://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/)*** of [Wikipedia](/source/Wikipedia), the free encyclopedia

For a list of words relating to Norwegian language, see the [***Norwegian language*** category of words](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Norwegian_language) in [Wiktionary](/source/Wiktionary), the free dictionary.

Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for ***[Norwegian](https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Norwegian_phrasebook#Q9043)***.

[Wikisource](/source/Wikisource) has the text of the 1905 *[New International Encyclopedia](/source/New_International_Encyclopedia)* article  "**[Norwegian Language](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_New_International_Encyclop%C3%A6dia/Norwegian_Language)**".

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: ***[Norwegian](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Norwegian)***

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for ***[Norwegian Phrasebook](https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Norwegian_Phrasebook#Q9043)***.

- [Ordboka](http://ordbok.uib.no/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160909193823/http://ordbok.uib.no/) 9 September 2016 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) – Online dictionary search, both Bokmål and Nynorsk.

- [Fiske, Willard](/source/Willard_Fiske) (1879). ["Norway, Language and Literature of"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_American_Cyclop%C3%A6dia_(1879)/Norway,_Language_and_Literature_of). *[The American Cyclopædia](/source/The_American_Cyclop%C3%A6dia)*.

- [Norwegian as a Normal Language](https://web.archive.org/web/20170123002525/http://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/Om-oss/English-and-other-languages/English/Norwegian_as_a_Normal_Language), in English, at *Språkrådet*

- [Ordbøker og nettressurser](https://www.sprakradet.no/sprakhjelp/Skriverad/Ordlister/Ord-og-nett/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20181216210925/https://www.sprakradet.no/sprakhjelp/Skriverad/Ordlister/Ord-og-nett/) 16 December 2018 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) – a collection of dictionaries and online resources (in Norwegian) from *Språkrådet*

v t e Norwegian language Alphabet Orthography Æ Ø Å Scandinavian Braille Phonology Norwegian language conflict Varieties Written Official Bokmål Nynorsk Samnorsk (discontinued) Unofficial Høgnorsk Riksmål Spoken West and south Arendalsk Bergensk Sandnesmål Sognamål Stavangersk etc. East Bohusmål Gudbrandsdalsmål Hallingmål-Valdris Särna-Idremål [sv] Urban East Norwegian Vikværsk Oslo dialect etc. Trøndersk Herjedalsk [sv] Jemtlansk Medalsk Trondheimsk etc. North Brønnøymål etc. Non-dialectical Kebabnorsk Modern Norwegian Svorsk American Norwegian Extinct Old West Norse Old Norwegian Middle Norwegian Dano-Norwegian Russenorsk Other topics Comparison of Norwegian Bokmål and Standard Danish Exonyms Literature Profanity Sign language "Kjell" Norvegia Institutions Language Council of Norway Noregs Mållag Norwegian Academy Riksmål Society

v t e Languages of Norway Official languages Norwegian Bokmål Nynorsk Sámi Southern Lule Northern Minority languages Kven Romani Scandoromani Sign languages Norwegian Sign Language

v t e Germanic languages According to contemporary philology West Anglo-Frisian Anglic English dialects Old English Middle English Modern English Early Modern English Irish Middle English Fingallian Kildare Yola Scots Early Scots Middle Scots Shetland dialect Frisian Historical forms Old Frisian Middle Frisian East Frisian Ems Saterland Frisian Upgant Frisian Weser Wangerooge Frisian Wursten Frisian Harlingerland Frisian North Frisian Insular Eiderstedt Föhr–Amrum Föhr Amrum Heligolandic Sylt Mainland Bökingharde Mooring Halligen Goesharde Northern Central Southern Karrharde Strand Wiedingharde West Frisian Hindeloopen Schiermonnikoog Westlauwers–Terschellings Mainland West Frisian Clay Frisian Wood Frisian Westereendersk Terschelling Low German Historical forms Old Saxon Middle Low German West Low German Dutch Low Saxon Stellingwarfs Tweants Gronings Drèents Gelders-Overijssels Achterhooks Sallaans Urkers Veluws Northern Low Saxon East Frisian Low Saxon Gronings Hamburg Holsteinisch Oldenburgisch Bremian Schleswigsch Eastphalian Westphalian East Low German Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Brandenburgisch Central Pomeranian East Pomeranian Low Prussian Plautdietsch / Mennonite Low German Low Franconian Historical forms Frankish Old Dutch Middle Dutch Standard variants Dutch Afrikaans (Kaaps) West Low Franconian Central Dutch Hollandic West Flemish French Flemish Zeelandic East Flemish Brabantian Kleverlandish Surinamese Dutch Jersey Dutch Mohawk Dutch Stadsfries/Bildts/Amelands/Midslands East Low Franconian Limburgish Cover groups Bergish Meuse-Rhenish High German (German) Historical forms Old High German Middle High German New High German Early New High German Standard German German Standard German Austrian Standard German Swiss Standard German Non-standard variants and creoles Namibian German Namibian Black German Berlinerisch Unserdeutsch Barossa German Rotwelsch Lotegorisch Yenish Yiddish Eastern Western Scots Yiddish Klezmer-loshn Lachoudisch Central German West Central German Central Franconian Ripuarian Colognian Southeast Limburgish Moselle Franconian Luxembourgish Transylvanian Saxon Hunsrückisch Hunsrik Rhine Franconian Lorraine Franconian Palatine Volga German Pennsylvania Dutch Hessian Central Hessian Amana German East Central German Thuringian Upper Saxon Erzgebirgisch Lusatian Silesian German High Prussian Wymysorys Halcnovian Upper German Alemannic in the broad sense Low Alemannic Alsatian Coloniero High Alemannic Swiss German Highest Alemannic Walser German Swabian Bavarian Northern Bavarian Central Bavarian Viennese German Southern Bavarian South Tyrolean Cimbrian Mòcheno Hutterite German Gottscheerish South Franconian East Franconian Vogtlandian Langobardic North and East North Historical forms Proto-Norse Old Norse Old West Norse Old East Norse Old Gutnish West Norwegian Bergensk Kebabnorsk Sognamål Trøndersk Valdris Vestlandsk Vikværsk Bokmål (written) Nynorsk (written) Old Norwegian Middle Norwegian Faroese Icelandic Old Icelandic Middle Icelandic Greenlandic Norse Norn Shetland dialect East Swedish Swedish dialects Rinkebysvenska Danish Danish dialects Insular Danish Jutlandic South Jutlandic East Danish Bornholmsk Scanian (historically) Southern Schleswig Danish Gøtudanskt Perkerdansk Old Danish Middle Danish Dalecarlian Elfdalian Gutnish Mainland Gutnish Fårö Gutnish East Gothic Crimean Gothic Ostrogoth Visigoth Gepid ? Burgundian Vandalic Herulian ? Skirian ? Philology Language subgroups North East West Elbe (Irminonic) Weser-Rhine (Istvaeonic) North Sea (Ingvaeonic) Northwest Gotho-Nordic South Reconstructed Proto-Germanic Grammar Ancient Belgian language Diachronic features Grimm's law Verner's law Holtzmann's law Sievers's law Kluge's law Germanic substrate hypothesis West Germanic gemination High German consonant shift Germanic a-mutation Germanic umlaut Germanic spirant law Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law Great Vowel Shift Synchronic features Germanic verb Germanic strong verb Germanic weak verb Preterite-present verb Grammatischer Wechsel Indo-European ablaut Italics indicate extinct languages Languages between parentheses are varieties of the language on their left.

v t e Norwegian dictionaries Riksmål Det Norske Akademis ordbok Norsk Riksmålsordbok Norsk ordbok Riksmålsordlisten Bokmål Det Norske Akademis ordbok Bokmålsordboka Norsk ordbok Tanums store rettskrivningsordbok Nynorsk Nynorskordboka Norsk Ordbok

v t e Norway articles History Stone Age Bronze Age Petty kingdoms Viking Age Unification High Middle Ages Kingdom of Norway (872–1397) Hereditary Kingdom of Norway Kalmar Union Denmark–Norway Kingdom of Norway (1814) Sweden–Norway End of the union World War II Reichskommissariat Quisling regime Norwegian government-in-exile 1945–2000 21st century Geography Climate Districts Extreme points Islands Lakes Mammals Mountains Municipalities Cities Protected areas Rivers World Heritage Sites Politics Administrative divisions National budget Constitution Correctional Service Courts Elections Foreign relations Governments Incarceration LGBT rights Military Monarchy Parliament Police Political parties Prime Minister Membership of International organizations Economy Energy Fisheries Government Pension Fund Industry Mining Natural gas Krone (currency) National bank Nordic model Norwegian paradox Oil Renewable energy Stock Exchange Taxation Telecommunications Tourism Trade unions Transport Rail Whaling Society Climate change Crime Demographics Education Ethnic groups Health Immigration Incarceration Irreligion Languages language conflict Norwegians Pensions Poverty Religion Women Culture Architecture Art Bunad (clothing) Christmas (season) Cinema Cuisine Jante law Music Norwegian language Literature Media Prostitution Public holidays Sport Nationalism Romantic nationalism Symbols Anthem Coat of arms Flags national flag Mottos Name of Norway Outline Category Portal

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Norwegian language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_language) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_language?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.