statistikkens

Statistikkens is a definite possessive form used in Norwegian Bokmål derived from the noun statistikk, meaning statistics or data analysis. In everyday and formal writing, statistikkens signals that something belongs to or concerns statistics, or that statistics as a field is being considered. It often appears in phrases such as statistikkens betydning (the significance of statistics) or statistikkens rolle (the role of statistics).

Morphology and usage. The form statistikkens is created by combining the base noun statistikk with the possessive suffix -ens, commonly used in Norwegian to express a possessive or associative relationship while keeping a definite sense. This construction typically occurs when the noun is the subject of a larger noun phrase, as in "statistikkens betydning" or "statistikkens utvikling." It is characteristic of Bokmål style and is frequently found in scholarly, governmental, and policy texts where precise attribution to statistics is important.

Etymology. Statistikk is a loanword shared across Scandinavian and Germanic languages, tracing back to international forms such as statistik/statistik, ultimately from Latin and Greek roots relating to data and state affairs. The possessive -ens ending mirrors similar possessive formations in related languages, allowing a concise way to reference something linked to statistics.

Cross-language notes. In other Scandinavian languages, related forms differ: Danish tends to use statistik for statistics and does not regularly employ statistikkens as a Danish possessive; Swedish uses statistikens for the definite possessive form. The Norwegian statistikkens thus represents a language-specific development of a broader international term for statistical knowledge.

See also: statistics, Danish grammar, Norwegian Bokmål grammar, Scandinavian loanwords.