Posts under "Pronunciation"

The Valdres Region of Norway

Posted by kari No Comments
Nov 9 2011

The other day I posted about Rakfisk Festival, which is a festival that takes place every year in celebration of fermented trout and char, as well as other local food production and handicrafts.  Fagernes, a small city in the region of Valdres, Norway is where the annual festival takes place.  Although I´ve driven through Valdres, I did not really know that much about the region–until now.  So, I thought I´d write a bit about the Valdres region of Norway and what it is known for, what one can do there, etc.

First, I´d like to begin by saying that the dialects people speak from this central region of the country are very different than the rest of the country. When I studied at the University of Oslo, I had a class with a girl named Karine who was from Valdres  and I could literally barely understand her.  My Norwegian is by no means perfect, but I am fluent and I can understand all other dialects I´ve heard.  This one was tough though.  I mean, it was almost like the different between spoken Norwegian and Danish-she used completely different words sometimes.  For example, here are some words where you can see a marked difference between a Valdres dialect and standard bokmål:

Examples of local words Squirrel - Norwegian: ekorn, Valdres: ikødn All right (as in an all right person) – Norwegian: grei, Valdres: snodig (which in Norwegian normally means strange/funny) Lonely - Norwegian: ensomt, Valdres: aule

Oppland County

Let´s move on to geography and demographics.  Valdres belongs to the fylke (county) of Oppland and is made up of 6 municipalities:

  • Sør-Aurdal (The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bagn)
  • Nord-Aurdal (The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Fagernes)
  • Vestre Slidre (The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Slidre)
  • Øystre Slidre (The administrative centre of the municipality is the village Heggenes)
  • Etnedal (The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bruflat)
  • Vang (The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vang i Valdres)
Valdres is situated between the valleys of Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal (dal means valley) approximately halfway between Oslo and Bergen.  The major European highway E16 runs through it and it also has an airport (in Fagernes).  This part of the country is stunning with all of the mountain ranges and valleys and small farms.
Historically, agriculture was a major industry in Valdres, but today tourism and trout fishing have surpassed agriculture as forms of livelihood.  There is plenty to do for tourists who visit Valdres.  Valdres is well known, as mentioned earlier, for trout fishing, as well as cycling, hiking, horse riding, rafting, golf, and of course skiing in the winter.
Let´s go to Valdres! 

Learning Norwegian Numbers

Posted by kari No Comments
Nov 1 2011

I have found several excellent videos to help you learn your numbers in Norwegian:)

You can find one of them YouTube Preview Imagethat will help you learn Norwegian Numbers.  Don’t be distracted by the woman’s sensual voice or the fact that she mentions her favorite number is 69.  Apparently she was not aware that the number 69 has a sexual connotation in the U.S…..In any case, the video is educational and I think very helpful.  You will probably notice a few things:

1) The number 7 is “sju” or “syv” depending on the dialect spoken

2) The “v” in “tolv” (12) is silent.

3) 6 is “seks” and is pronounced like “sex” but 16 is “seksten” and is not pronounced like “sex-ton” but rather “sigh-sten”  60 is back to the pronunciation like 6…”seksti” pronounced “sex-tee”

4) A similar progression occurs for the number 8 and it’s various forms (18, 80).  ”Åtte” is 8 and is pronounced “oat-uh.”  ”Atten” is 18 and is pronounced “ah-ten” (notice also there is no “halo” over the a like there is in the number 8).  ”Åtti” is 80 and is pronounced “oat-ee.”

Another video, which is far less controversial and was posted by a very sweet sounding young girl YouTube Preview Image.

I just discovered this website as well that has various games for you to play to help you learn the numbers.  They are pretty cool.  Check it out here!

I find the following information found on Wiki Books quite interesting myself.  You can learn a bit more about the history behind Norwegian numbers and where some of the spelling and pronunciations come from.  I hope you enjoy learning about Norwegian numbers!  It’s important to review them often to really learn them.

Numeral Literal Additional information
0 Null
1 Bokmål: én (masc.), éi (fem.), ett (neuter)
Nynorsk: éin (masc.), éi (fem), eitt (neuter)		 In Bokmål, masc. and fem. are sometimes merged into a common gender (én). The common gender is inherited from written Danish and is therefore not allowed in Nynorsk, which has always used three genders. Origin: Old Norse einn (masc.), ein (fem.), eitt (neuter)
2 To Earlier tvo in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tveir (masc.), tvær (fem.), tvau (neuter). Some dialects still uses tvei, tvæ and tvau.
3 Tre (tri) Earler tri in Nynorsk, still part of the official orthography, but not to be used by the authorities. Origin: Old Norse þrír (masc.), þrjár(fem.), þrjú (neuter).
4 Fire Earlier fjore in Nynorsk, before gradually being replaced by fire. Origin: Danish fire, Old Norse fjórír (masc.), fjórar (fem.), fjǫgur(neuter).
5 Fem Origin: Old Norse fimm.
6 Seks Origin: Old Norse sex.
7 Sju (syv) The spelling syv was banned from the official orthography in 1951, but re-introduced in 2005. Nynorsk has always used sju (originallysjau). Origin: Old Norse sjau, Danish syv
8 Åtte Earlier åtta in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse átta.
9 Ni Earlier nio in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse níu.
10 Ti Earlier tio in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tíu.
11 Elleve Origin: Old Norse ellifu.
12 Tolv Origin: Old Norse tólf.
13 Tretten Earlier trettan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse þrettán.
14 Fjorten Earlier fjortan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fjórtán.
15 Femten Earlier femtan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fimtán.
16 Seksten Earlier sekstan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sextán.
17 Sytten Earlier sjauttan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sjautján.
18 Atten Earlier atjan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse átján.
19 Nitten Earlier nitjan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse nítján.
20 Tjue Earlier tyve in Bokmål and tjugo in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tjogu, tuttugu, Danish tyve.
21 Tjueén Earlier én og tyve in Bokmål, ein og tjugo in Nynorsk (meaning “one and twenty”). As of 1951, tens are mentioned first (like in English “twenty one”). Old Norse used both tuttugu ok einn (“twenty and one”) and einn ok tuttugu (“one and twenty”).
22 Tjueto
23 Tjuetre
24 Tjuefire
25 Tjuefem
30 Tretti Earlier tredve in Bokmål. Origin: Old Norse þrír tigir (simplified and contracted to tretti), Danish tred(i)ve.
40 Førti Earlier førr in Bokmål, fyrti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fjórir tigir, fjórutigi (fyrti, førti), Danish fyrre (førr).
50 Femti Origin: Old Norse fimtigi.
60 Seksti Origin: Old Norse sex tigir.
70 Sytti Earlier sjautti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sjautigi.
80 Åtti Earlier åtteti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse áttatigi, áttatiu.
90 Nitti Origin: Old Norse níu tigir.
100 (Ett) Hundre Earlier hundrede in Bokmål, hundrad in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse hundrað.
101 (Ett) hundre og én/éin May be spelt in one word (hundreogén).
102 (Ett) hundre og to
103 (Ett) hundre og tre
104 (Ett) hundre og fire
105 (Ett) hundre og fem
125 (Ett) hundre og tjuefem
200 To hundre
300 Tre hundre
400 Fire hundre
500 Fem hundre
1 000 (Ett) tusen Earlier tusund in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse þusund
2 000 To tusen
3 000 Tre tusen
4 000 Fire tusen
5 000 Fem tusen
1 000 000 Én million Origin: derived from Latin mille (“thousand”).
2 000 000 To millioner
3 000 000 Tre millioner
4 000 000 Fire millioner
5 000 000 Fem millioner
7 473 259 Sjumillionerfirehundreogsyttitretusentohundreogfemtini
1 000 000 000 Én milliard Origin: derived from French

 

The Norwegian Word ´På´

Posted by kari 4 Comments
Sep 2 2011

Several days ago, I wrote a post about the many different ways to use the word ´til´in Norwegian.  At first glance, one might think it´s confusing and a bit ridiculous that a language would use one word in so many different ways.  However, the word ´to´in English has many different meanings or is used in many different ways as well.

Just when you thought you could rest easy and let ´til´sink in…I have seen several requests to see a post about the word ´på´in Norwegian and so I listen to my readers and meet the request:)  By the way, I really appreciate it when you let me know what you would like to learn about.  I do not anticipate ever completely run out of topics to write about, but it is certainly helpful to receive ideas now and then on those days that I am totally braindead and think that I cannot possibly think of something to write about that I haven´t addressed in previous posts.

Back to ´på´….First, I´d like you to copy and paste the following link into a new browser and click on the PLAY triangle to hear the word ´på´pronounced..

http://www.forvo.com/word/på/

With just one syllable, it is a very simple word to pronounce.  While it sounds very similar to Poe, as in the last name of Edgar Allen, if you listen a tad more closely and better yet, if you watch a native Norwegian speaker´s mouth when they pronounce this word, you will notice a sound absent in the English language.  If one says på quickly, it is almost impossible for the speaker to enunciate the extra sound that you will hear if the speaker pronounces it slowly.  If one says it slowly, it is almost as if one adds a lightning fast ´ø´on the end.  I´m sitting hear pronouncing the word out loud to myself while I attempt to determine how to explain the positions my mouth has to be in.

The American pronunciation of the last name Poe stresses the P.  The Norwegian pronunciation of the word på stresses the å.  You almost have to drop your chin a bit and get a bit manly if you are a girl to get the dynamics of the pronunciation down.

Listen to the link again and then start listening for the word på when you are streaming the news, watching a Norwegian movie, or if you are in the presence of a Norwegian conversation.

To conclude, let´s look at the various definitions of and ways to use the word på.  

På can translate to the following meanings in English: to, upon, at, onto, after, towards, for, in, of, by, by means of, and with.

See på used in a variety of different ways:

Jeg skal på skole i dag.  I´m going to school today.

Hva holder du på med?  What are you doing?

gang på gang-time after time

langt på natt-late at night

De er på besøk til universitetet.  They are on a visit to the university.

Min kjæreste er kapteninen på skipet.  My boyfriend is the captain on the ship.

Har du tyggis på deg?  Do you have gum on you?

Det er fem på åtte på morgenen.  It is five to eight in the morning.

Hun syklet 20 kilometer på en time.  She bicycled 20 km in one hour.

Silje kjenner det på lukten.  Silje recognizes it by its smell.

There are also many words that begin with på as a prefix and many words that contain på as a suffix.  Let´s look at these in a different post.  I think you have enough to absorb with just plain på.

 

 

 

Norwegian words that are the same as English words!

Posted by kari 3 Comments
Mar 16 2011

There are more words than you may think that are exactly the same in Norwegian as they are in English.  They are of course pronounced differently, but are indeed written the same way and have the same meaning.  Even better than cognates, right?   :)

And some of these include:

problem (pro-bleh-em)

finger (fing-err) flip the “r”

glass (gloss) with a quick “o”

ski (shee)

atom-(ah-toom)

over (oh-verr) “ver” pronounced with a soft, flipped “r”

under (unn-err)-the “d” is essentially silent

data (dah-tah)

test-same:) the word “eksamen” is also used, like “exam” in English

person (pehr-shoon) “per” pronounced with a soft, flipped “r”

burger (bur-gehr)-same as above for the “r”

pasta (past-ah)

arrangement (arr-angh-sheh-mahnt)

festival (fest-ee-vahl)

for (fohr)with a quick, flipped “r”

bank (bahnk)

Finally an easy language lesson, right?!

Norwegian Tongue Twisters

Posted by kari 2 Comments
Nov 9 2010

Since I posted a question about Norwegian tongue twisters on facebook last week, I think I should do the topic justice and write a post.  Some of you had some great ones to share with all of us!  I love tongue twisters even if they are in languages I can´t understand.  It´s just funny to literally not be able to move your mouth in a natural way to look and sound normal when you say something.

One very popular tongue twister is this:

Du ska ikkje kalle Kalle for Kalle, selv om moren til Kalle kallar Kalle for Kalle, ska’kje du kalle Kalle for Kalle, for Kalle hetar egentlig Karl.

Translation:  You’re not supposed to call Kalle for Kalle, even though Kalle’s mother calls Kalle for Kalle, aren’t you supposed to call Kalle for Kalle, because Kalle’s real name is Karl.

Åtte kopper upoppet popkorn.

Translation:  8 cups of unpopped popcorn.

Byens beste baker Bjørn Brun, baker bare brune brendte berlinerboller.

Translation:  They city´s best baker Bjørn Brun only bakes brown burnt berlin rolls.

Fisker’n Finn fiska fersk fisk forige fredag.

Translation: The fisherman Finn fished fresh fish last Friday.

Det var en gang en sebra som ikke kunne se bra.
Så gikk han til en sebra som kunne se bra.
Så lærte den sebraen som kunne se bra,
den sebraen som ikke kunne se bra å se bra!

Translation: There once was a zebra that couldn´t see well.  So he went to a zebra that could see well.  Then the zebra that could see well taught the zebra that couldn´t see well to see well!

Kristine kjøper kjøttkaker hos kjøpmannen i Kjellstad.

Translation: Kristine buys meat cakes at the storekeeper in Kjellstad.

Lille snille Pernille griller piller på Nilles grill, mens lille Ville triller Pernilles snille krokodille som spiller trekkspill.

Translation: Little nice Pernille grills pills on Nille´s grill while little Ville rolls Pernille´s nice crocodile that plays the accordion.

Nye børster børster bedre enn gamle børster børster.

Translation: New brushes brush better than old brushes brush.

Fem flate flyndrer på et flatt fat.

Translation: Five fat fishes on a fat plate.

Leika dåkkå dåkkå mæ dåkkå dåkkå då?

Translation: Are you playing with dolls, are you?

Æ e i A.  Æ e i A æ å!

Translation: The school inspector asks, “which class are you in?” the answer is “I am in A” (Æ e i A) then he asks another boy “what class are you in then” he answers “I am in A I too” (Æ e i A æ å).

Do you think you can pronounce any of these??  Give it a shot!  It´s even more funny if you look in the mirror or videotape it.

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