bokmål (Norwegian Bokmål)

Where does "bokmål" come from?

The Norwegian word 'bokmål' is a compound formation combining 'bok' meaning 'book' and 'mål' meaning 'language'[1]. The element 'bok' descends from Old Norse 'bók', meaning 'beech' or 'book', which ultimately traces back to Proto-Germanic '*bōks' and Proto-Indo-European roots[2][5]. The second element, 'mål', comes from Old Norse 'mál' meaning 'language' or 'speech', rooted in Proto-Germanic '*maþlą' and earlier Indo-European terms for measuring or gathering[3][4]. Together, they form the designation for one of Norway's two official written language standards[1].

Open questions

The connection between Proto-Germanic '*bōks' and '*bōkō' meaning 'beech' is disputed, as beechbark writing is not historically likely. [5] [7]
The derivation of Proto-Germanic '*maþlą' from '*mōtaną' relies on a disputed phonetic loss of Proto-Indo-European 'd' before an instrumental suffix. [6]

Full etymology tree

bokmål (Norwegian Bokmål), 'Bokmål (one of Norway's two official written standards of Norwegian)'
- compound bok (Norwegian Bokmål), 'book'
  - inherited bók (Old Norse), 'beech (tree and wood)'
    - inherited *bōks (Proto-Germanic), 'letter, written message, inscriptions carved into a flat object pressed together, “book”'
      - derived *bōkō (Proto-Germanic), 'beech'
        inherited *bʰeh₂ǵos (Proto-Indo-European), 'oak'
- compound mål (Norwegian Bokmål), 'a voice (sound uttered by the mouth, especially by human beings in speech or song)'
  - inherited mál (Old Norse), 'language'
    - inherited *maþlą (Proto-Germanic), 'gathering'

Ancestors

bok (Norwegian Bokmål)
mål (Norwegian Bokmål)

Sources

Updated September 2026

More words starting with B

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris