Andreas Aarskog Bjørkum (30 March 1932 – 1 April 2014) was a Norwegian philologist who specialized in dialectology.

Early life and education

He was born in Årdal and grew up in Nattvik. He

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education at Eidsvoll in 1953 and graduated from the University of Oslo with the cand.philol. degree in 1962. He worked for the '' Norsk Ordbok'' project, then as a research assistant at the Norwegian Dialect Archive (now a section at the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo). After a research fellowship from 1968 to 1972, he issued his doctoral thesis ''Generasjonsskilnad i indresognsmål'' in 1974.

Career

Bjørkum was a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

at the University of Oslo from 1973, then professor from 1984 to his retirement in 2002. Dialects on which he has published major academic works include Inner Sogn, Gudbrandsdalen, Oppdal and Suldal. He wrote extensively on the dialect use in well-known Norwegian authorships, such as Olav H. Hauge in the book ''Målmeistaren frå Ulvik'' (1998). He followed with similar books about Tarjei Vesaas (2010), Sjur Bygd (2011) and

Johannes Heggland Johannes Heggland (29 June 1919 – 24 January 2008) was a Norwegian novelist, short story and children's literature writer, playwright, and elected official with the Centre Party (Norway), Centre Party. He is most commonly associated with ...

(2012). In 2004 he issued the local history ''Soga om Viki og Vikadalen. Garden, grendi, ætti''. In 1992 he became a fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. A Festschrift was issued to his 70th birthday. He was a member of the professional committee of the Norwegian Language Council from 1980 to 1992. He was active in Norsk Måldyrkingslag, Friends of Det Norske Teatret and

Noregs Ungdomslag Noregs Ungdomslag (NU, literally "Norway's youth society") is a Norwegian cultural society formed in 1896. It has around 17,000 members and 450 local chapters. Activities Among the society's activities are folk dance, theatre and the spreading of ...

, the latter as local leader in the Oslo district. He was known for penning his 230 articles in handwriting, not using a computer.

Personal life

Bjørkum was married to Ragna Myrstad from 1968 to her death in 1996. Their son Per Sæmund Bjørkum is a violinist in the

Oslo Philharmonic The Oslo Philharmonic (Oslo-Filharmonien) is a Norwegian symphony orchestra based in Oslo, Norway. The orchestra traces its roots to the Philharmonic Society founded in 1847 and the Christiania Musical Association co-founded by Edvard Grieg in 18 ...

. He resided in

Hosle Hosle is a district in the municipality of Bærum, Norway. Its population (as of 2007) is 5,713.Hvalstad Hvalstad is a village and a small part of the municipality of Asker. Hvalstad has slightly over 2,000 inhabitants, a number that has doubled since the 1970s. Hvalstad lies 20 kilometres from the centre of Oslo. Hvalstad Station is on the Drammen ...

. He died in April 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorkum, Andreas 1932 births 2014 deaths People from Årdal University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Norwegian philologists Dialectologists Nynorsk-language writers Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters