Editing Norwegian dialects (section)

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{{distinguish|text=[[Bokmål]] and [[Nynorsk]], the two official '''written''' variations of the [[Norwegian language]]}}
{{refimprove|date=June 2015}}
[[File:Norske Målgreiner.png|thumb|The map shows the division of the Norwegian dialects within the main groups.{{imagefact|date=November 2022}}]]
'''Norwegian dialects''' ({{lang|no|dialekter/ar}}) are commonly divided into four main groups, 'Northern Norwegian' ({{Lang|no|nordnorsk}}), 'Central Norwegian' ({{lang|no|[[trøndersk]]}}), 'Western Norwegian' ({{lang|no|[[vestlandsk]]}}), and 'Eastern Norwegian' ({{Lang|no|østnorsk}}). Sometimes 'Midland Norwegian' ({{Lang|no|midlandsmål}}) and/or 'South Norwegian' ({{Lang|no|sørlandsk}}) are considered fifth or sixth groups.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=   https://snl.no/dialekter_i_Norge|title=dialekter i Norge|publisher = Store norske leksikon|author=     Martin Skjekkeland|access-date= February 1, 2017 }}</ref>

The dialects are generally [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]], but differ significantly with regard to [[Accent (dialect)|accent]], [[grammar]], [[syntax]], and [[vocabulary]]. If not accustomed to a particular dialect, even a native Norwegian speaker may have difficulty understanding it. Dialects can be as local as farm clusters, but many linguists note an ongoing regionalization, diminishing, or even elimination of local variations.<ref name=":0" />

Spoken Norwegian typically does not exactly follow the written languages ''[[Bokmål]]'' and ''[[Nynorsk]]'' or the more [[conservative (language)|conservative]] ''[[Riksmål]]'' and ''[[Høgnorsk]]'', except in parts of [[Finnmark]] (where the original [[Sami people|Sami]] population learned Norwegian as a second language). Rather, most people speak in their own local dialect. There is no "standard" spoken Norwegian.