Normering av stadnamn: lover, forskrifter og praksis – ein analyse av saker som har nådd Klagenemnda for stadnamnsaker i perioden 2012–2022

Abstract

The Norwegian Place Name Act (lov om stadnamn) has gone through no less than three major revisions since 2005. The purpose of this study is to examine which sections of the different law texts the Appeal Board for Place Names (Klagenemnda for stadnamnsaker) has empha­sized when they have made decisions about the spelling of Norwegian place names, and which trends can be identified through a study of the actual decisions made by the Appeal Board in the period 2012–2022. The study shows that the main rule in the Norwegian Place Name Act, that one should start from the inherited local pronunciation and follow the spelling principles and rules for Norwegian, has been decisive for a clear majority (67.5%) of the decisions made by the Appeal Board throughout the period. At the same time, the study shows that in around a quarter (23.9%) of the cases, the Appeal Board has made decisions about spellings that deviate from this general rule with reference to various exceptional provisions in laws and regulations. However, there is no statistical basis for claiming that the increasingly liberal legal and regulatory texts have led to an increase in the proportion of decisions on spell­ings that deviate from the main rule throughout the examined period.