Riksmål

Riksmål (English: /ˈriːksmɔːl/, also US: /ˈrɪk-/, Urban East Norwegian: [ˈrɪ̀ksmoːɫ]) is an unofficial written Norwegian language form or spelling standard, meaning the National Language, closely related and now almost identical to the dominant form of Bokmål, known as Moderat Bokmål.

Both Bokmål and Riksmål evolved from the Danish written language as used in Norway during the countries' union and beyond, and from the pronunciation of Danish that became the native language of Norwegian elites by the 18th century. By the late 19th century, the main written language became known as Rigsmål in both Denmark and Norway; the written language in Norway remained identical to Danish until 1907, although it was generally known as "Norwegian" in Norway. From 1907, successive spelling reforms gradually introduced some orthographic differences between written Norwegian and Danish. The name Riksmål was adopted as the official name of the language, to differentiate it from Landsmål (now Nynorsk); in 1929, the name of the official language was changed to Bokmål.

From 1938, spelling reforms introduced by the Labour government met increasing resistance as they were seen as "radical", and language organisations independent of the state started publishing their own spelling standard known as Riksmål. The struggle between Bokmål and Riksmål eventually led to the Norwegian language struggle that was at its most intense in the 1950s and 1960s. As a result the "Language Peace Committee" was appointed by the government, and subsequent reforms have moved Bokmål and Riksmål closer together, to the extent that few differences remain. Riksmål and Bokmål were clearly separate spelling standards until a major reform of Bokmål in 2005 that (re)introduced numerous Riksmål forms as part of Bokmål; some subsequent reforms in the 21st century have eradicated most remaining, mostly small differences. National librarian Aslak Sira Myhre argued in 2017 that Riksmål in practice has "taken over" Bokmål and peacefully "won" the language struggle.