Where does “Bokmål” come from?
Bokmål (English) comes from Norwegian Bokmål bokmål, from Norwegian Bokmål mål, from Dutch mal, from Old French mole, from Latin modulus, from Latin -ulus, from Proto-Italic -olos, from Proto-Italic -elos — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
Bokmål (English): One of the two major written standards of Norwegian, literally meaning “book language”
Definitions
- One of the two major written standards of Norwegian, literally meaning “book language”
Ancestry of “Bokmål”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norwegian Bokmål | bokmål | Bokmål (one of Norway's two official written standards of Norwegian) |
| 2 | Norwegian Bokmål | mål | language, dialect; aim, goal, purpose, target,... |
| 3 | Dutch | mal | mold, cast; foolish, crazy, lacking common sense |
| 4 | Old French | mole | — |
| 5 | Latin | modulus | a small measure or interval; a module; a water... |
| 6 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |