Dano-Norwegian (Danish and ) was a koiné/mixed language that evolved among the urban elite in Norwegian cities during the later years of the union between the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway (1536/1537–1814). It is from this koiné that the unofficial written standard Riksmål and the official written standard Bokmål developed. Bokmål is now the most widely used written standard of contemporary Norwegian. History As a spoken language During the period when Norway was in a union with Denmark, Norwegian writing died out and Danish became the language of the literate class in Norway. At first, Danish was used primarily in writing; later it came to be spoken on formal or official occasions; and by the time Norway's ties with Denmark were severed in 1814, a Dano-Norwegian vernacular often called the "cultivated everyday speech" had become the mother tongue of parts of the urban elite. This new Dano-Norwegian koiné could be described as Danish with Norwegian pronunciation, some Norwegian vocabulary, and some minor grammatical differences from Danish. As a written language In the late middle ages and early modern age, the Scandinavian languages went through great changes, as they were influenced in particular by Low German. Written Danish language mostly found its modern form in the 17th century, based on the vernacular of the educated classes of Copenhagen. At the time, Copenhagen was the capital of Denmark–Norway, and Danish was used as an official written language in Norway at the time of the dissolution of the Dano-Norwegian union in 1814. In Norway it was generally referred to as Norwegian, particularly after the dissolution of the Dano-Norwegian union. During the 19th century, spoken Dano-Norwegian language gradually came to incorporate more of Norwegian vocabulary and grammar. At the start of the 20th century, written Dano-Norwegian was mostly identical with written Danish, with only minor differences, such as some additional Norwegian vocabulary in Dano-Norwegian. In 1907 and 1917, spelling and grammar reforms brought the written language closer to the spoken koiné (Dano-Norwegian). Based on the Danish model, the Dano-Norwegian language in Norway was referred to as Rigsmål, later spelled Riksmål, from the late 19th century, and this name was officially adopted in the early 20th century. In 1929, the name Riksmål was officially changed to Bokmål after a proposition to use the name dansk-norsk lost with a single vote in the Lagting (a chamber in the Norwegian parliament). In the mid-19th century, a new