Norm clusters in written Norwegian

Written Norwegian comes in two standards, Bokmål and Nynorsk, each allowing much variation in stem forms and inflections. Actual texts show intricate interdependencies among the alternative options. This chapter reports on the use of correspondence analysis and implicational analysis applied to a newspaper corpus in order to chart the patterns of variation. The aim is to test the utility of the method itself, and the study therefore concentrates on a small selection of phenomena. The long-term aim of a future extended project is to monitor actual usage in relation to the official standards, thereby identifying possible emerging subvarieties. This will be of value in the maintenance of the official written standards. The results indicate that the approach can yield valuable insights.