Trygve Knudsen (23 June 1897 – 18 January 1968) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...

Personal life

Knudsen was born in

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...

as the son of lawyer Knud Peder Knudsen (1863–1937) and Henriette von Lachmann Mørck (1867–1923). He married Grethe Tønnessen in 1925.

Career

Knudsen

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 in Tønsberg 1916, and enrolled in

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

at the University of Kristiania. He took the cand.philol. degree in 1923, and his thesis was issued as a book, titled ''P. A. Munch og samtidens norske målstræv''. Between 1925 and 1930 he worked as a University

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

, and later as a teacher in Aker and

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. From 1935 he worked as a teacher at

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian language, Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",

, until 1946, when he started lecturing at the University. He was appointed professor at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1954, and kept this position until he retired in 1967. Knudsen was co-editor of the dictionary ''

Norsk Riksmålsordbok ''Norsk Riksmålsordbok'' () is a Norwegian dictionary for the unofficial written language form Riksmål. The work was initiated by ''Riksmaalsvernet'' around 1920. Its first edition was completed in 1957, and was printed in four volumes. Two ext ...

'' from 1925, together with

Alf Sommerfelt Alf Sommerfelt (November 23, 1892October 12, 1965), was a Norwegian linguist and the first professor of linguistics in Norway, working at the University of Oslo from 1931 to 1962. Personal life Sommerfelt was born in Trondheim, Norway. He marri ...

, who had started the work in 1922. The first parts of the dictionary were published in 1930, and the dictionary work was completed in 1957. After publishing the dictionary, the editors started working on a supplementary volume. As Sommerfelt died in 1965, and Knudsen died in 1968, their work was completed by Harald Noreng, who also had been co-editor of volume four of the dictionary. The two supplementary volumes of ''Norsk Riksmålsordbok'' (labeled V and VI) were issued in 1995. Knudsen was co-editor of the magazine ''Maal og Minne'' from 1951. He wrote the book ''Gammelnorsk Homiliebok'' in 1952. He was chairman for the Norwegian Language Committee (''Norsk Språknemnd'') from 1956 to 1957. He wrote articles on city dialects in general, and more specifically on dialects in Oslo and Tønsberg. He was a radio speaker, especially on the subject "Norwegian language", and he held guest lectures at the universities of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

and

Göteborg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...

. He was also a literary critic. Knudsen received an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

at the

University of Stockholm Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, soci ...

in 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knudsen, Trygve Norwegian lexicographers Riksmål-language writers University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Norwegian literary critics People from Tønsberg 1897 births 1968 deaths 20th-century lexicographers Maal og Minne editors