Andreas Aarskog Bjørkum (30 March 1932 – 1 April 2014) was a Norwegian

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 strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

who specialized in

dialectology Dialectology (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ''dialektos'', "talk, dialect"; and , ''-logy, -logia'') is the scientific study of dialects: subsets of languages. Though in the 19th century a branch of historical linguistics, dialectology is often now c ...

Early life and education

He was born in

Årdal Municipality Årdal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located at the end of the Årdalsfjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Årdalstangen is the administrative center of the municipality. The other main village is � ...

and grew up in Nattvik. He finished his secondary education in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

in 1953 and graduated from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

with the cand.philol. degree in 1962. He worked for the '' Norsk Ordbok'' project, then as a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...

at the Norwegian Dialect Archive (now a section at the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies,

). After a research fellowship from 1968 to 1972, he issued his doctoral thesis ''Generasjonsskilnad i indresognsmål'' in 1974.

Career

Bjørkum was a

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

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 Gudbrandsdalen (; ) is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer (town), Lillehammer and the lake ...

Oppdal Oppdal may refer to: Places *Oppdal Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Dovre region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Oppdal ( ...

, and

Suldal Suldal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the northeast corner of Rogaland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Ryfylke. Since 1965, the administrative centre of ...

. 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 Tarjei Vesaas (20 August 1897 – 15 March 1970) was a Norwegian poet and novelist. Vesaas is widely considered to be one of Norway's greatest writers of the twentieth century and perhaps its most important since World War II. Vesaas' work is c ...

(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. He is most commonly associated with two of his historic p ...

(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 The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

. A

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

was issued to his 70th birthday. He was a member of the professional committee of the

Norwegian Language Council The Language Council of Norway (, ) is the administrative body of the Norwegian state on language issues. It regulates the two written forms of the Norwegian language: Bokmål and Nynorsk. It was established in 2005 and replaced the Norwegian Lan ...

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 () 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 1871, and was esta ...

. 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