bruksmål

Bruksmål is a term used in Norwegian linguistics to describe the language variety that people actually use in writing and everyday communication. It denotes the pragmatic, real-world form of a language as it appears in practice, rather than in prescriptive norms. Bruksmål can differ from formal standard forms and reflects how writers adapt their language to audience, genre, and medium. It is not a single fixed standard but a continuum of usage that evolves over time.

In Norway the two official written standards are Bokmål and Nynorsk. Bruksmål may align with one of these standards, borrow from both, or mix features from different sources, including dialect vocabulary and spelling patterns. This makes bruksmål inherently variable and context-dependent, varying from author to author and across texts such as journalism, fiction, education, and administration.

Linguists and educators study bruksmål to understand how language is actually used and to support effective communication. Describing texts in terms of bruksmål helps explain why writers adopt certain spellings, word choices, or syntactic constructions that may not align with a single normative standard. The concept highlights the gap between prescriptive norms and everyday usage and can inform language policy, teaching, and editorial practices.