Cover not available

In:Handbook of Terminology: Volume 4. Terminology planning in Europe
Edited by Rossella Resi and Frieda Steurs
[Handbook of Terminology 4] 2025
► pp. 112–127

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

From ‘clarity and consistency’ to ‘domain loss’

The Norwegian case

 | University of Bergen
Published online: 26 September 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/hot.4.fro1
Abstract
The article describes terminology planning in Norway within the framework of the general language planning of the two written standards, Bokmål and Nynorsk. The historical development of terminology institutions is described from 1897 until 2024, along with the increased emphasis on status planning based on the concept of ‘domain loss’. The ideology and principles of neology and term formation are accounted for in the latter part of the article with particular attention to the adaptation of loanwords. The article concludes that current Norwegian terminology planning is included in a state-supported broader strategy for preventing domain loss and the strengthening of Norwegian as a complete language.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The Norwegian language situation
  • 3.The terminology planning institutions
    • 3.1Terminology within the general language institutions
    • 3.2The Norwegian Council for Technical Terminology (RTT)
    • 3.3Other terminological institutions
    • 3.4The concept of ‘domain loss’ and a shift towards language status planning
    • 3.5Recent initiatives: Termportalen and the Action Plan
  • 4.Principles of neology and term formation
    • 4.1The transition from German to English models
    • 4.2The issue of purism in Norwegian language planning
    • 4.3The selective purism in Nynorsk
    • 4.4Standardisation principles of terminology within the Norwegian Language Council
    • 4.5Neology, adaptation and morphological motivation
    • 4.6Domain-specific patterns of term formation
  • 5.Conclusions
  • References
References (33)
References
Act Relating to Language. 2021. [URL]
Action Plan 2023. Frå ord til handling. Handlingsplan for norsk fagspråk i akademia. [From words to action. Action Plan for Norwegian language in the Academia]. Oslo: Ministry of Education and Research. [URL]
Andersen, Øivin and Johan Myking. 2018a. “Norwegian LSPs.” In Humbley, Budin and Laurén (eds.). 234–254.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2018b. “Terminology Work for Specific Problem Areas and Issues: The Case of Oil Terminology.” In Humbley, Budin and Laurén (eds.). 535–547.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Christensen, Lise Lotte Weilgaard, and Hanne Erdman Thomsen, Bodil Nistrup Madsen, Anna-Lena Bucher, Claudia Dobrina, Håvard Hjulstad, Åsa Holmér, Johan Myking, Henrik Nilsson, Anita Nuopponen, Sirpa Suhonen, Ágústa Þorbergsdóttir, Anu Ylisalmi (2025). “The Nordic Terminology Community: Research and Practice”. In Humbley, John, and Kara Warburton (eds.) (forthcoming). Terminology throughout History: a Discipline in the Making. Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Declaration on Nordic Language Policy. 2024. Nordic Council of Ministers. [URL]
Flydal, Einar. 1983. Oljespråk [Oil Language]. Stavanger: Universitetsforlaget.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gjesdal, Anje Müller and Marita Kristiansen. 2019. “Climate at Risk. The Financial Turn in Corporate Climate Change Communication”. Cahiers de praxématique [Online], 73. [URL], accessed 22.11.2024.
Graedler, Anne-Line, and Stig Johansson. 1997. Anglisismeordboka: engelske lånord i norsk. [The dictionary of anglicisms. English loanwords in Norwegian]. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haugen, Einar. 1969. Riksspråk og folkemål. Norsk språkpolitikk i det 20. århundre. [Oslo:] Universitetsforlaget [orig. Language Conflict and Language Planning. The Case of Modern Norwegian. 1966. Harvard University Press].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Humbley, John, and Gerhard Budin, and Christer Laurén (eds.). 2018. Languages for Special Purposes. An International Handbook. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
ISO 704. 2022. Terminology Work — Principles and Methods. (Edition 4, 2022). International Organization for Standardization.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jónsson, Sigurður, Christer Laurén, Johan Myking, and Heribert Picht. 2013. Parallellspråk og domene. Nordisk språkplanlegging på 2000-tallet, med særlig vekt på forsknings- og utdanningssektoren. [Parallel language and domain. Nordic language planning in the years 2000, emphasising research and education]. Oslo: Novus.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Karam, Francis. 1974, “Toward a Definition of Language Planning”. In Fishman, Joshua (ed.) Advances in Language Planning. The Hague: Mouton. 103–126. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kristiansen, Marita. 2012. “Financial Jargon in a General Newspaper Corpus.” In Andersen, Gisle (ed.). Exploring Newspaper Language — Using the web to create and investigate a large corpus of modern Norwegian. (Studies in Corpus Linguistics 49) 257–283. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kristiansen, Tore and Helge Sandøy. 2010. “Introduction. The Linguistic Consequences of Globalization: The Nordic Laboratory”. International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 204 (2010). 1–7. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kristoffersen, Gjert et al. (eds.) 2005. Norsk i hundre! Norsk som nasjonalspråk i globaliseringens tidsalder. Et forslag til strategi [Norwegian in hundred. Norwegian as a national language in the age of globalisation. A strategy proposal]. Oslo: The Language Council of Norway.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Myking, Johan. 1991. “Terminologi som normeringsproblem. Ideologiar og prinsipp bak terminologiarbeidet i Noreg. [Terminology as a problem of linguistic standardisation. Ideologies and principles of Norwegian terminology work]”. In Sandøy, Helge et al. (eds.). Språkideologi og språkplanlegging i Noreg [Language ideology and planning in Norway]. Bergen: Nordisk institutt. 164–196.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (In press). “Demise or Staying Alive? ‘Domain Loss’ in Terminology.” In Thelen, Wermuth and Van Vaerenbergh (eds.) in press).
Myking, Johan, and Sylvi Dysvik and Håvard Hjulstad. 2018. “Fagspråksarbeid [LSP work].” In Sandøy, Helge, and Agnete Nesse (eds.): Norsk Språkhistorie 2 — Praksis [Norwegian Language History 2 — Practice] (= ch. 5). Oslo: Novus. 365–417.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oljeordliste [Oil glossary]. 1982. Oslo: RTT and the Norwegian Language Council.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roald, Jan. 1986. “Faglig sluttrapport.” In Terminol. Sluttrapport fra et terminologisk prosjekt [Final report from a terminology project]. Bergen: University of Bergen. (= Norske språkdata 11 [Norwegian language data 11]. 6–29.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sandøy, Helge. 2000. Lånte fjører eller bunad? Om importord i norsk [On import words in Norwegian, originally published 1997 for the Ministry of Culture and Norwegian Language Council] Oslo: Novus.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simonnæs, Ingrid, and Kristiansen, Marita. 2018. “Economic Language”. In Humbley, Budin and Laurén (eds.). 2018 151–185. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Språkrådet. The Language Council of Norway. [URL]
Termlex. Austrian Standards International (A.S.I.), Danish Standards (DS), the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS) and Standards Norway (SN). [URL]
Termportalen [The Terminology Gateway]. [URL]. University of Bergen.
Thelen, Marcel, Maria-Cornelia Wermuth and Leona Van Vaerenbergh (eds.) (in press). Domain Loss and Gain in Contemporary Terminology Studies. Amsterdam University Press.
Trudgill, Peter. 1997. “Norwegian as a Normal Language.” In Røyneland, Unn (ed.). Language contact and language conflict. Volda: Ivar Aasen Institute. 151–158.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
UHR Termbase. [URL]
Vikør, Lars S. 2001. The Nordic Languages. Their Status and Interrelations. Oslo: Novus.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2018 [1990]. “I staden for –heit. Ein studie i syntaktisk purisme.” [Replacing the suffix –heit. A study in syntactic purism.] In Vikør, Lars S. (ed.) Nynorske nedslag. Ei artikkelsamling [Nynorsk impacts. An anthology]. 185–198. Oslo: Novus. (Originally: Maal og Minne 1/2–1990. Oslo: Samlaget. 23–54).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Whitepaper 35. Mål og meining. Ein heilskapleg Norsk språkpolitikk [Language/goal and meaning]. Stortingsmelding 35 (2007–2008). Oslo: Ministry of Culture.
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue