tolkelige

Tolkelige is a Norwegian adjective used to describe signs, texts, or data that can be interpreted by humans or by agents within a reasonable set of cultural, linguistic, or contextual assumptions. Objects deemed tolkelige are understood to carry meaning or information that can be extracted without requiring highly specialized or opaque knowledge. The term often appears in discussions about communication, representation, and understanding, where clarity of interpretation is a point of comparison against ambiguous or undecipherable material.

Etymologically, tolkelige is formed from the verb tolke, meaning to interpret, with a productive adjectival ending. In practice, the word is used across disciplines without a single fixed definition, and its precise meaning can vary with context. It is common in everyday Norwegian to contrast tolkelige artifacts with those that are opaque, obscure, or highly context-dependent.

In linguistics and semiotics, tolkelige signs or texts are those whose intended meaning aligns with common interpretive frameworks, enabling readers or listeners to derive a stable interpretation. In information design, tolkelige visuals or interfaces are evaluated on how readily users can interpret intended messages. Critics note that what counts as tolkeligt can depend on background knowledge, cultural context, and purpose, so interpretability is not absolute but relative to a given audience and context.

See also: interpretation, tolking, semiotics, readability, explainability.