Norm och bruk i SAOL

Svenska Akademiens ordlista (”The Swedish Academy Glossary”) is the Swedish norm of spelling and inflection. It dates back to 1874 when there was a lively discussion going on in Sweden concerning spelling. The paper gives a few glimpses of the historic development up to the present 12th edition. The main issue is the balance between the prescriptive and descriptive policy, and it is argued that the two concepts are not in opposition. There is a broad descriptive basis and a smaller set of alternatives where one form for different reasons is suggested on the expence of another. Prescription in such alternative forms is discussed in vocabulary, ortho-graphy, inflection and word formation