(, also , ) is a conservative written Norwegian language form or spelling standard, meaning the National Language, closely related and now almost identical to the dominant form of BokmÃÂ¥l, known as .
Both BokmÃÂ¥l and RiksmÃÂ¥l 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 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 was adopted as the official name of the language, to differentiate it from (now Nynorsk); in 1929, the name of the official language was changed to BokmÃÂ¥l.
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 RiksmÃÂ¥l. The struggle between and 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 and closer together, to the extent that few differences remain. and BokmÃÂ¥l were clearly separate spelling standards until a major reform of BokmÃÂ¥l in 2005 that (re)introduced numerous forms as part of BokmÃÂ¥l; some subsequent reforms in the 21st century have eradicated most remaining, mostly small differences. National librarian Aslak Sira Myhre argued in 2017 that in practice has "taken over" BokmÃÂ¥l and peacefully "won" the language struggle.
After the dissolution of the union with Denmark in 1814, Norway had no national language standard of its own, the written language being Danish, while the spoken language consisted of numerous dialects â that to some extent were not mutually intelligible. The new union partner Sweden had a different language, Swedish, and there was a fear that if no measures were taken, its language would be imposed upon the Norwegians.
Hence, prominent Norwegians, such as Henrik Wergeland and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, advocated a standardized Norwegian language, to be based on the legacy of the Danish language as used in Norway by the upper class of Christiania (now Oslo) and other Eastern Norwegian cities. This was proposed by Knud Knudsen, a schoolteacher, who had witnessed how schoolchildren struggled with the Danish language they were taught, since it was very different from the spoken language they were used to. However, as late as in 1883 the Danish intellectual Georg Brandes stated that the language in Norway was Danish, and that the Norwegians did not have a language of their own.
Knud Knudsen presented his Norwegian language in several works from the 1850s until his death in 1895, while the term Riksmaal (aa was a contemporary way of writing ÃÂ¥) was first proposed by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson in 1899 as a name for the Norwegian variety of written Danish as well as spoken Dano-Norwegian. It was borrowed from Denmark where it denoted standard written and spoken Danish. The same year the RiksmÃÂ¥l movement became organised under his leadership in order to fight against the growing influence of Nynorsk, eventually leading to the foundation of the non-governmental organisation RiksmÃÂ¥lsforbundet in 1907. Bjørnson became its first leader, until his death in 1910.
RiksmÃÂ¥l became the chosen language for Norwegian pupils from the latter part of the 19th century, and Norwegian newspapers adapted to the language. However, many Norwegian authors, such as Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Knut Hamsun, did not adhere and continued using Dano-Norwegian. RiksmÃÂ¥l got an official writing norm in 1907, and in 1917 a new reform introduced some elements from Norwegian dialects and Nynorsk as optional alternatives to traditional Dano-Norwegian forms. This was part of an official policy to bring the two Norwegian languages more closely together, intending eventually to merge them into one. These changes met resistance from the RiksmÃÂ¥l movement, and RiksmÃÂ¥lsvernet (The Society for the Protection of RiksmÃÂ¥l) was founded in 1919. They have later been the purist protectors of the traditional riksmÃÂ¥l, in opposition to BokmÃÂ¥l and Nynorsk, and especially Samnorsk.
In the 1938 reform of BokmÃÂ¥l introduced more elements from dialects and Nynorsk, and more importantly, many traditional Dano-Norwegian forms were excluded. This so-called radical BokmÃÂ¥l or Samnorsk (Common Norwegian) met even stiffer resistance from the RiksmÃÂ¥l movement, culminating in the 1950s under the leadership of Arnulf ÃÂverland. RiksmÃÂ¥lsforbundet organised a parents' campaign against Samnorsk in 1951, and the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature was founded in 1953. Because of this resistance, the 1959 reform was relatively modest, and the radical reforms were partially reverted in 1981 and 2005.
Currently, RiksmÃÂ¥l denotes the moderate, chiefly pre-1938, unofficial variant of BokmÃÂ¥l, which is still in use and is regulated by the Norwegian Academy and promoted by RiksmÃÂ¥lsforbundet. RiksmÃÂ¥l has gone through some spelling reforms, but none as profound as the ones that shaped BokmÃÂ¥l. A RiksmÃÂ¥l dictionary was published in four volumes in the period 1937 to 1957 by RiksmÃÂ¥lsvernet, and two supplementary volumes were published in 1995 by the Norwegian Academy. After the latest BokmÃÂ¥l reforms in 2005, the difference between BokmÃÂ¥l and RiksmÃÂ¥l have diminished and they are now comparable to American and British English differences, but the Norwegian Academy still upholds its own standard.
The daily newspaper is notable for its historical use of RiksmÃÂ¥l. As of 2006, the newspaper developed a standard the newspaper referred to as "moderate BokmÃÂ¥l," removing itself from the name RiksmÃÂ¥l; however, linquist Helene Uri has denoted this "moderate BokmÃÂ¥l" as "in all practical respects the same as modern RiksmÃÂ¥l."