Lydutvikling i og normering av nokre stadnamn

Etymology has traditionally been an important part of place-name research, not least in Norway. From the outset of Norwegian onomastics, this was combined with standardisation issues and how place names should be spelled. In many cases, linguistic changes in the dialects have rendered the spoken form of many names opaque, making it harder to base the written form on their etymology. This article discusses the origin (etymology) and subsequent sound changes of a few place names and the implications when the names get an official written form according to the Norwegian place-name act (stadnamnlova) and other regulations. These names demon­strate the need for “traditional” onomastics despite new, complementary, scholarly trends and less focus on etymology in the official regulations.