Narvik, Northern Norway Writing in North Norway In addition, my partner and his Harstad family enjoy poking good-natured fun at the Narvik dialect for being nasal, even though the two places are less than a two-hour drive away from each other and technically included in the same dialect group of “ Sør-Troms, Vesterålen og Ofoten”. However, pronunciation can vary greatly between nordnorsk dialects throughout the region.įor example, the Finnmark dialect is so clear that it has been described as “spoken bokmål” ( though this is not entirely accurate), while the Mo i Rana dialect is a bit thicker and has features that remind me more of nynorsk (such as “kva” instead of “hva” and “korleis” instead of “hvordan”). One of the most famous examples of nordnorsk pronunciation is “fesk” instead of “fisk” (fish), which became popular throughout Norway due to an advert for Lofoten fish burgers. “Ikkje” instead of “ikke” (negative adverb) “Noka” / “no’an” instead of “noe” / “noen” (something / someone) Some of the pronunciation differences I’ve noticed my partner use compared to the Oslo dialect include: Nordnorsk pronunciationĭifferences in pronunciation are a key feature of dialects. Therefore, I should clarify that my experience of nordnorsk is mainly through the Harstad dialect, where my partner is from. While these nordnorsk dialects have a lot of similarities, they also have differences, such as the pronunciation of “jeg” (I). “Nordnorsk” (Northern Norwegian) is an umbrella term that encompasses all the different dialects spoken in the two northernmost counties of Nordland and Troms og Finnmark. There are two official written forms: bokmål and nynorsk, and countless spoken dialects. Technically, there is no one “official” Norwegian language. So much for immersing myself in the language. Still, as embarrassed as I am looking back on it, it couldn’t have been that bad as that volunteer is now my partner of five plus years and nordnorsk is now one of my favourite Norwegian dialects. I managed to stutter out an apologetic explanation that I was still learning Norwegian, to which the volunteer smiled and immediately switched to English. “Kordan går det?” which was closer to the Oslo dialect but my brain had already spiralled beyond help. Learn Norwegian Now: Norwegian Class 101 / The Mystery of Nils However, like most people who learn Norwegian, I had mainly been exposed to the Oslo dialect, which would phrase the question as “Hvordan går det?” (or potentially “Åssen går det?”), and I was woefully unprepared for the sheer variety of Norwegian dialects.Īfter a few seconds of me opening and closing my mouth like a fish blowing bubbles rather than producing actual human noises, the volunteer rephrased: Prior to moving to Oslo, I had already spent two years studying Norwegian at my home university and up to this point had been cautiously optimistic about my language ability. ![]() When I turned up for my shift, my fellow volunteer turned and greeted me with a friendly: I was studying at the University of Oslo as an exchange student and had volunteered at a student café to try and immerse myself in the language (and hopefully make some Norwegian friends by bribing them with coffee). My first encounter with the nordnorsk (north Norwegian) dialect was in 2015. When starting to learn Norwegian, you soon realise that Norway has a rich set of regional dialects.
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