Norwegian “Bokmål”: Present, Past and Future

Abstract

The article presents the Norwegian majority official standard language “Bokmål” – its history, its present status and especially its present development – both to readers who are acquainted with the subject and to readers who are not. Some controversial aspects of Bokmål are discussed, such as its different varieties, its delimitation, especially with respect to the private standard “Riksmål”, its origin and the question of to what extent there is a spoken Bokmål. In connection with the delimitation of Bokmål, the article introduces the distinction between “prescribed” and “factual” norms – and the norm concept itself – and argues for the necessity of distinguishing clearly between the prescribed and the factual Bokmål. The last part of the article is devoted to the present development of Bokmål, both as it is regulated and as it is practised. The latest official reforms which have been proposed are reviewed and discussed. The language policy of the main newspapers are reviewed, as is the use of Bokmål, in the press as well as in the literature.