bøyningsmønster

Bøyningsmønster, or inflection pattern, is a term used in linguistics to describe how a word changes form to encode grammatical information such as number, gender, definiteness, tense, mood, and aspect. In Norwegian languages, bøyningsmønstre apply to several word classes, including nouns, adjectives, pronouns and verbs, and they can vary between dialects and standard written forms (Bokmål and Nynorsk).

For nouns, bøyningsmønster concerns number (singular or plural) and definiteness. Many Norwegian nouns change form when made definite, or when used in plural, and different noun classes may exhibit different endings or determiner-based forms. A typical pattern in Bokmål is to use a definite suffix or a definite determiner to mark the definite form, while the indefinite singular form is used without a suffix. Example contrasts often cited involve the singular indefinite versus definite forms, and the corresponding plural forms. Dialectal and normal variation exists, especially between Bokmål and Nynorsk.

Adjectives inflect to agree with the noun they modify in gender and number, and in some contexts for definiteness. They may appear in attributive positions, directly preceding the noun, or in predicative positions after a linking verb. The definite form of adjectives usually signals agreement with a definite noun, and there are rules for when adjectives take distinct inflection in different gender-number combinations.

Verbs have inflectional patterns for tense, aspect and mood. Norwegian distinguishes present and past tense, as well as perfect and pluperfect constructions formed with auxiliary verbs. Verbs are traditionally grouped into weak (regular) and strong (irregular) classes, with past tense and past participle forms generated by distinct suffixes or stem changes.

Bøyningsmønstre also interact with dialectal variation and the two official standards, Bokmål and Nynorsk, which implement their own regularities and exceptions.