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.
Written Danish language mostly found its modern form in the 17th century, based on the vernacular of the educated classes of Copenhagen.
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).
[3] Gradual changes in the spelling and grammatical rules in both forms were introduced several times in order to make these variants more similar.
Bokmål, in contemporary times, is primarily recognized as a written language, and in part refers its pronunciation in media, theatre, and so forth.
[5] Notably, a conservative form akin to historical Dano-Norwegian is observed in higher sociolects in Oslo and other Eastern Norwegian cities.
[citation needed] Over time, the spoken Dano-Norwegian standard, its successors, and Modern Norwegian dialects have mutually influenced each other, blurring the lines between them.