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What do the Language Collections contain?
The Language Collections provide access to Norwegian dictionaries, dialect archives, name research, Old Norse sources and specialist terminology. These are the collection areas:
Dictionaries
The Language Collections manage the source material for the Norwegian national dictionaries.
- Bokmålsordboka and Nynorskordboka – the standard dictionaries, owned by UiB and the Language Council of Norway
- Norsk Ordbok – a large documentation dictionary for Nynorsk and dialects; the Norsk Ordbok a–h (NO-AH) project runs 2019–2029
- The Norwegian Language Bank – a database linking base words to inflectional patterns; open licence since 2011
Contact: ordbok@uib.no
Dialectology
The Norwegian dialect synopsis and other material document Norwegian dialects and speech. The collection supports research on geographical variation and the historical development of Norwegian dialects.
- Norsk målføresynopsis (1946–1970) – 43 volumes with systematic information on dialect features from more than 1,300 Norwegian dialects. Intangible cultural heritage since December 2022.
- Norsk dialektatlas – 961 hand-drawn maps with isoglosses for Norwegian dialects (1950–1980), digitized and georeferenced
- The speech-archive register – digitized audio recordings from the Norwegian Dialect Archive
Old Norwegian and Old Norse
Collections relating to Old Norwegian and Old Norse, supporting research on medieval Norwegian and Nordic language. They include dictionary slips, charter transcriptions and material from the former Old Norwegian Dictionary project.
- Diplomatarium Norvegicum – search Norwegian charter material
- Medieval Nordic Text Archive (Menota) – digital editions of Old Norse texts
- Ordbog over det Gamle norske Sprog (Fritzner)
- Cleasby-Vigfusson: Icelandic-English Dictionary
- Zoëga: Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic
Name research
The Norwegian place-name archive and other material for research on Norwegian place and personal names (onomastics). The national place-name register contains about 700,000 names from three archives, plus 3,700 original collection maps.
- Stadnamnportalen – digitized place-name databases, open to all
- Stedsnavnarkivet (the place-name archive)
- Oppslagsarkivet (the reference archive)
- Kartarkivet (the map archive)
Termportalen (the Terminology Portal)
Termportalen is a national portal for specialist terminology that provides free access to Norwegian terminology across subject fields. Most term bases have terminology in Bokmål, Nynorsk and English. The portal also has a free editing tool for terminology registration.
Contact: termportalen@uib.no
Printing plates – ongoing digitization
The Language Collections hold 234 printing plates (printing blocks in copper, zinc and steel) showing manuscripts, charters, maps and plans. The main part relates to medieval sources:
- 100 plates from the Old Norwegian Homily Book (c. 1200–1225)
- 77 plates from the Oslo town law (c. 1300–1450)
- 51 charter plates (1225–1383)
- Various other plates (maps, graduals, ship plan)
A digitization project began in summer 2024 and is working on high-quality photographic reproduction, metadata documentation, making material available on Marcus and archiving in acid-free boxes. Later phases include corrosion treatment and reproduction of old prints.
Project leader: Juliane Tiemann (juliane.tiemann@uib.no)
History and academic leadership
The Language Collections originate from four former departmental collections at the University of Oslo: Norsk Ordbok, the Norwegian dialect archive, the Norwegian place-name archive and the Norwegian Lexicographic Institute. The collections also contain a number of private research archives, and receive archive material of scholarly relevance from private and public organizations.
The academic leader is Peder Gammeltoft (senior academic librarian and academic director).