Bitdal

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• Bitudal
• Bital (used e.g. in eye dialect spellings and old maps)

Etymology

From the river name Bitu, from Old Norse *Bíta (“a biting creek, a very cold creek”), related to bita (“to bite”). The other part is dal (“valley”). The modern pronunciation with /d/ in the first part is an assimilation with the following consonant, cf. the nearby Heddal < Old Norse Heitradalr. Meanwhile, the assimilation in the local dialect went the other way.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²bidːaːl/
• (Rauland) IPA^(key): /²bitaːl/

Proper noun

Bitdal m (definite Bitdalen)

1. A valley in Vinje, Telemark, Norway, in the former Rauland municipality. Most area of the valley is covered by an artificially enlarged lake.