Norwegian-English Dictionary: A Pronouncing and Translating Dictionary of Modern Norwegian (Bokmål and Nynorsk) with a Historical and Grammatical Introduction

Preface

The present work is intended primarilyas a tool for the learning of Norwegian by American students. For advanced students it will serve aJso as an introduction to a scientific description of the Norwegian language. These purposes have dictated the inclusion of some novel features suggested by the editor's experience as an American teacher of Norwegian. (a) It is the first dictionary in any language to include both forms of Norwegian, BokmriJ, (RikBmtiJ, Dano-Norwegian) and Nyf &01'8lc (Land8mdl, New Norwegian) in one alphabet, and the first NorwegianEnglish dictionary to include Nynor8lc.1 (b) It is the first Norwegian-English dictionary to give the pronunciation of the Norwegian words. (c) It is the first such dictionary to label areas of usage and to include quotations from Norwegian authors. Some useful features that are not as common in bilingual dictionaries as they might be are the inclusion of common abbreviations, of important place and proper names, and of cultural features. The grammatical information is fuller than in any previous work of its kind. NorwegianEnglish dictionaries prepared in Norway are oriented towards the Norwegian learner of English and are, therefore, very sparing in their information on Norwegian. It is hoped that the present dictionary will serve as a desk handbook for anyone interested PREFACE in reading modem Norwegian, and in learning to use it in speaking and writing . The orientation to American users will be apparent in the English glosses, which are in American English instead of the British English that has characterized most previous Norwegian-English dictionaries. However, theemphasis has been on a standard English such as is used by the best American writers and speakers, with slang specifically labeled as (pop.). Norwegians learning English are likely to find American English increasingly useful to them. More English synonyms have been included than strictly necessary, and they have been organized in such a way that the user should be able to decide which English word to use in a given context. The Norwegian user will also find that the information given on his native language is more copious than in anyone-volume dictionary available to him in Norway. Here he will find all the spellings of any word that have been in use since 1917, within the limits of space available, for both languages and the manifold varieties of each down through the Textbook Norm of 1959. The idea of preparing such a dictionary was first suggested to the Editor by his friend and then colleague, the late Dr. Sverre Kjeldstadli. The Editorhad already been concernedover l Note that the names of these languages are here everywhere eapltaUzed, following English usage for language names, but contrary to Norwegian usage. For the most part they wUllle abbreviated as Bm and Nn, respectively. 10 many years with the problems of teaching and analyzing Norwegian. His textbooks (Beginning Norwegian 1937, Reading Norwegian 1939, and Spoken Norwegian 1944, revised edition 1964) could do no more than start the learner on his path. Beyond this the learner was on his own, with the dictionary as his only crutch. The dictionaries were either out-dated, inaccurate, or limited in their vocabulary selection. The students' need could be met for a. time by the preparation of a number of page-by-page glossaries to current Norwegian books. But the only longterm solution was a dictionary which would be comprehensive enough to meet the students' need. The Editor had at his disposal a large body of materials in the form of more than two million vocabulary slips collected in the 1930's from the writings of certain classic Norwegian authors (published in part in 1942 as Norwegian Word Studie8, 2 volumes). But he hesitated to undertake a dictionary until he could envisage a possibility offinancing the project. In 1958 the National Defense Education Act began to make .funds available for the preparation of materials in "neglected languages," a category for which Norwegian qualified . An application for funds was honored by the Office of Education in the Department of Health, Education, andWelfarein Washington, D.C.,resulting in a. contract between that office and the Universityof Wisconsin. It was estimated that the basic work should be completed in two and a half years, which proved to be feasible. Space was provided at the University of Wisconsin from June 1961 to June 1964, with most of the work being done between September 1961 and September 1963. Duringthelatterperiodthe Editor worked full time on the dictionary (except for teaching one class), directing and coordinating the efforts...