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Norwegian dialects

April 13, 2024

Not to be confused with Bokmål and Nynorsk, the two official written variations of the Norwegian language.

Norwegian dialects (dialekter) are commonly divided into four main groups, 'Northern Norwegian' (nordnorsk), 'Central Norwegian' (trøndersk), 'Western Norwegian' (vestlandsk), and 'Eastern Norwegian' (østnorsk). Sometimes 'Midland Norwegian' (midlandsmål) and/or 'South Norwegian' (sørlandsk) are considered fifth or sixth groups.[1]

The map shows the division of the Norwegian dialects within the main groups.[image reference needed]

The dialects are generally mutually intelligible, but differ significantly with regard to accent, grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. If not accustomed to a particular dialect, even a native Norwegian speaker may have difficulty understanding it. Dialects can be as local as farm clusters, but many linguists note an ongoing regionalization, diminishing, or even elimination of local variations.[1]

Normalized speech, following the written languages Bokmål and Nynorsk or the more conservative Riksmål and Høgnorsk, is not in common use, except in parts of Finnmark (where the original Sami population learned Norwegian as a second language), in much of Østlandet, certain social groups in major urban areas elsewhere (e.g. Trondheim), in national broadcasting, and in courts and official decrees.

Dialect groups edit

Dialect branches edit

Evolution edit

Owing to geography and climate, Norwegian communities were often isolated from each other until the early 20th century. As a result, local dialects had a tendency to be influenced by each other in singular ways while developing their own idiosyncrasies. The community of Oppdal, for example, has characteristics in common with coastal dialects to the west, the dialects of northern Gudbrandsdalen to the south, and other dialects in Sør-Trøndelag from the north. The linguist Einar Haugen documented the particulars of the Oppdal dialect, and the writer Inge Krokann used it as a literary device. Other transitional dialects include the dialects of Romsdal and Arendal.

On the other hand, newly industrialized communities near sources of hydroelectric power have developed dialects consistent with the region but in many ways unique. Studies in such places as Høyanger, Odda, Tyssedal, Rjukan, Notodden, Sauda, and others show that koineization has effected the formation of new dialects in these areas.

Similarly, in the early 20th century a dialect closely approximating standard Bokmål arose in and around railway stations. This was known as stasjonsspråk ("station language") and may have contributed to changes in dialect around these centers.

Social dynamics edit

See also: Norwegian language struggle

Until the 20th century, upward social mobility in a city like Oslo could in some cases require conforming speech to standard Riksmål. Studies show that even today, speakers of rural dialects may tend to change their usage in formal settings to approximate the formal written language. This has led to various countercultural movements ranging from the adoption of traditional forms of Oslo dialects among political radicals in Oslo, to movements preserving local dialects. There is widespread and growing acceptance that Norwegian linguistic diversity is worth preserving.

The trend today is a regionalisation of the dialects causing smaller dialectal traits to disappear and rural dialects to merge with their nearest larger dialectal variety.

There is no standard dialect for the Norwegian language as a whole, and all dialects are by now mutually intelligible. Hence, widely different dialects are used frequently and alongside each other, in almost every aspect of society. Criticism of a dialect may be considered criticism of someone's personal identity and place of upbringing, and is considered impolite. Not using one's proper dialect would be bordering on awkward in many situations, as it may signal a wish to take on an identity or a background which one does not have. Dialects are also an area from which to derive humour both in professional and household situations.

Distinctions edit

There are many ways to distinguish among Norwegian dialects. These criteria are drawn from the work Vårt Eget Språk/Talemålet (1987) by Egil Børre Johnsen. These criteria generally provide the analytical means for identifying most dialects, though most Norwegians rely on experience to tell them apart.

Grammars and syntax edit

Infinitive forms edit

One of the most important differences among dialects is which ending, if any, verbs have in the infinitive form. In Old Norwegian, most verbs had an infinitive ending (-a), and likewise in a modern Norwegian dialect, most of the verbs of the dialect either have or would have had an infinitive ending. There are five varieties of the infinitive ending in Norwegian dialects, constituting two groups:

One ending (western dialects)

  • Infinitive ending with -a, e.g., å vera, å bita, common in southwestern Norway, including the areas surrounding Bergen (although not in the city of Bergen itself) and Stavanger
  • Infinitive ending with -e, e.g., å være, å bite, common in Troms, Finnmark, areas of Sogn og Fjordane and Møre og Romsdal, Southern counties, and a few other areas.
  • Apocopic infinitive, where no vowel is added to the infinitive form, e.g., å vær, å bit, common in certain areas of Nordland

Two different endings (eastern dialects)

  • Split infinitive, in which some verbs end with -a while others end with -e; e.g. å væra versus å bite, common in Eastern Norway
  • Split infinitive, with apocope, e.g., å væra (værra/vårrå/varra) versus å bit, common in some areas in Sør-Trøndelag and Nord-Trøndelag

The split distribution of endings is related to the syllable length of the verb in Old Norse. "Short-syllable" (kortstava) verbs in Norse kept their endings. The "long-syllable" (langstava) verbs lost their (unstressed) endings or had them converted to -e.

Dative case edit

The original Germanic contextual difference between the dative and accusative cases, standardized in modern German and Icelandic, has degenerated in spoken Danish and Swedish, a tendency which spread to Bokmål too. Ivar Aasen treated the dative case in detail in his work, Norsk Grammatik (1848), and use of Norwegian dative as a living grammatical case can be found in a few of the earliest Landsmål texts. However, the dative case has never been part of official Landsmål/Nynorsk.

It is, however, present in some spoken dialects north of Oslo, Romsdal, and south and northeast of Trondheim. The grammatical phenomenon is highly threatened in the mentioned areas, while most speakers of conservative varieties have been highly influenced by the national standard languages, using only the traditional accusative word form in both cases. Often, though not always, the difference in meaning between the dative and accusative word forms can thus be lost, requiring the speaker to add more words to specify what was actually meant, to avoid potential loss of information.

Future tense edit

There are regional variations in the use of future tense, for example, "He is going to travel.":

Han kommer/kjem til å reise.
Han blir å reise.
Han blir reisan.
Han skal reise.

Syntax edit

Syntax can vary greatly between dialects, and the tense is important for the listener to get the meaning. For instance, a question can be formed without the traditional "asking-words" (how, where, what, who..)

For example, the sentence Hvor mye er klokken? (in Bokmål), Kor mykje er klokka? (in Nynorsk), literally: "How much is the clock?" i.e. "What time is it?" can be put in, among others, the following forms:

E klokka mykje? (Is the clock much?) (stress is on "the clock")
E a mytti, klokka? (Is it much, the clock?) (stress on "is")
Ka e klokka? (literally: "What is the clock?")
Ka klokka e? (literally: What the clock is?), or, using another word for clock, Ke ure' e?
Å er 'o? (literally: What is she?).

Pronunciation of vowels edit

Diphthongization of monophthongs edit

Old Norse had the diphthongs /au/, /ei/, and /øy/, but the Norwegian spoken in the area around Setesdal has shifted two of the traditional diphthongs and innovated four more from long vowels, and, in some cases, also short vowels.[2]

Old Norse Modern Norwegian
Setesdal[3]
[ei] [ai][2]
[øy] [oy][2]
[iː] [ei][2]
[yː] [uy]
[uː] [eu]
[oː] [ou][2]

West Norwegian dialects have also innovated new diphthongs. In Midtre[clarification needed] you can find the following:

Old Norse Modern Norwegian
Midtre
[aː] [au]
[oː] [ou]
[uː] [eʉ]

Monophthongization of diphthongs edit

The Old Norse diphthongs /au/, /ei/, and /øy/ have experienced monophthongization in certain dialects of modern Norwegian.

Old Norse Modern Norwegian
Urban East Some dialects
[ei] [æɪ] [e ~ eː]
[øy] [œʏ] [ø ~ øː]
[au] [æʉ] [ø ~ øː]

This shift originated in Old East Norse, which is reflected in the fact that Swedish and Danish overwhelmingly exhibit this change. Monophthongization in Norway ends on the coast west of Trondheim and extends southeast in a triangle into central Sweden. Some Norwegian dialects, east of Molde, for example, have lost only /ei/ and /øy/.

Leveling edit

(Jamning/Jevning in Norwegian) This is a phenomenon in which the root vowel and end vowel in a word approximate each other. For example, the old Norse viku has become våkkå or vukku in certain dialects. There are two varieties in Norwegian dialects – one in which the two vowels become identical, the other where they are only similar. Leveling exists only in inland areas in Southern Norway, and areas around Trondheim.

Vowel shift in strong verbs edit

In all but Oslo and coastal areas just south of the capital, the present tense of certain verbs take on a new vowel (umlaut), e.g., å fare becomes fer (in Oslo, it becomes farer).

Pronunciation of consonants edit

Eliminating /r/ in the plural indefinite form edit

In some areas, the /r/ is not pronounced in all or some words in their plural indefinite form. There are four categories:

  • The /r/ is retained – most of Eastern Norway, the South-Eastern coast, and across to areas north and east of Stavanger.
  • The /r/ disappears altogether – Southern tip of Norway, coastal areas north of Bergen, and inland almost to Trondheim.
  • The /r/ is retained in certain words but not in others – coastal areas around Trondheim, and most of Northern Norway
  • The /r/ is retained in certain words and in weak feminine nouns, but not in others – one coast area in Nordland.

Phonetic realization of /r/ edit

Most dialects realize /r/ as the alveolar tap [ɾ] or alveolar trill [r]. However, for the last 200 years the uvular approximant [ʁ] has been gaining ground in Western and Southern Norwegian dialects, with Kristiansand, Stavanger, and Bergen as centers. The uvular R has also been adopted in aspiring patricians in and around Oslo, to the point that it was for some time fashionable to "import" governesses from the Kristiansand area. In certain regions, such as Oslo, the flap has become realized as a retroflex flap (generally called "thick L") /ɽ/, which exists only in Norway, a few regions in Sweden, and in completely unrelated languages. The sound coexists with other retroflexions in Norwegian dialects. In some areas it also applies to words that end with "rd," for example with gard (farm) being pronounced /ɡɑːɽ/. The uvular R has gained less acceptance in eastern regions, and linguists speculate that dialects that use retroflexes have a "natural defense" against uvular R and thus will not adopt it. However, the dialect of Arendal retains the retroflexes, while featuring the uvular R in remaining positions, e.g. rart [ʁɑːʈ].[citation needed]

In large parts of Northern Norway, especially in the northern parts of Nordland county and southern parts of the former county of Troms, as well as several parts of the former county of Finnmark, another variant is still common: the voiced post-alveolar sibilant fricative /ʒ/. In front of voiceless consonants, the realisation of this R is unvoiced as well, to /ʃ/. Thus, where one in the southern and Trøndelag dialects will get /sp̬ar̥k/ or /sp̬aʀk/ or /sp̬aʁ̥k/, in areas realising voiced R as /ʒ/, one will get /spaʃːk/.

Palatalization edit

In areas north of an isogloss running between Oslo and Bergen, palatalization occurs for the n (IPA [nʲ]), l ([lʲ]), t ([tʲ]) and d ([dʲ]) sounds in varying degrees. Areas just south and southwest of Trondheim palatalize both the main and subordinate syllable in words (e.g., [kɑlʲːɑnʲ]), but other areas only palatalize the main syllable ([bɑlʲ]).

Voicing of plosives edit

Voiceless stops (/p, t, k/) have become voiced ([b, d, ɡ]) intervocalically after long vowels (/ˈfløːdə/, /ˈkɑːɡə/ vs. /ˈfløːtə/, /ˈkɑːkə/) on the extreme southern coast of Norway, including Kristiansand, Mandal and Stavanger. The same phenomenon appears in Sør-Trøndelag[in which areas? The whole county?] and one area in Nordland.

Segmentation edit

The geminate /ll/ in southwestern Norway has become [dl], while just east in southcentral Norwegian the final [l] is lost, leaving [d]. The same sequence has been palatalized in Northern Norway, leaving the palatal lateral [ʎ].

Assimilation edit

The second consonant in the consonant clusters /nd/, /ld/, and /nɡ/ has assimilated to the first across most of Norway, leaving [n], [l], and [ŋ] respectively. Western Norway, though not in Bergen, retains the /ld/ cluster. In Northern Norway this same cluster is realized as the palatal lateral [ʎ].

Consonant shift in conjugation of masculine nouns edit

Although used less frequently, a subtle shift takes place in conjugating a masculine noun from indefinitive to definitive, e.g., from bekk to bekkjen ([becːen], [becçen], [beçːen] or [be:t͡ʃen]). This is found in rural dialects along the coast from Farsund to the border between Troms and Finnmark.

The kj - sj merger edit

Many people, especially in the younger generation, have lost the differentiation between the /ç/ (written ⟨kj⟩) and /ʂ/ (written ⟨sj⟩) sounds, realizing both as [ʂ]. This is by many considered to be a normal development in language change (although as most language changes, the older generation and more conservative language users often lament the degradation of the language). The functional load is relatively low, and as often happens, similar sounds with low functional loads merge.

Tonemes and intonation edit

Main article: Norwegian language § Accent

There are great differences between the intonation systems of different Norwegian dialects.

Vocabulary edit

First person pronoun, nominative plural edit

Three variations of the first person plural nominative pronoun exist in Norwegian dialects:

  • Vi, (pronounced /viː/), common in parts of Eastern Norway, most of Northern Norway, coastal areas close to Trondheim, and one sliver of Western Norway
  • Me, mø or mi, in Southern and most of Western Norway, areas inland of Trondheim, and a few smaller areas
  • Oss, common in areas of Sør-Trøndelag, Gudbrandsdalen, Nordmøre and parts of Sunnmøre.

First person pronoun, nominative singular edit

There is considerable variety in the way the first person singular nominative pronoun is pronounced in Norwegian dialects. They appear to fall into three groups, within which there are also variations:

  • E(g) and æ(i)(g), in which the hard 'g' may or may not be included. This is common in most of Southern and Western Norway, Trøndelag, and most of Northern Norway. In some areas of Western Norway, it is common to say ej.
  • I (pronounced /iː/), in a few areas in Western Norway (Romsdal/Molde) and Snåsa in Nord Trøndelag
  • Jé [je(ː)], jè [jɛ(ː)], or jei [jɛi(ː)], in areas around Oslo, and north along the Swedish border, almost to Trondheim, as well as one region in Troms

Personal pronouns edit

Regions I You He She It We You (pl.) They
Bokmål Jeg Du Han Hun Det Vi Dere De, dem
Nynorsk Eg Du Han Ho Det Vi, me De, dykk, dokker Dei
South Eastern Norway Jæ, jé, jè, jei Du, ru, u, dø Han, hæn, hænnom, hannem Hun, ho, hu, ha, a, henne, henner De Vi, ve, mø, oss, øss, æss, vårs Dere, dø, de, di, døkk, dår(e), dør(e) Dem, rem, 'rdem, em, døm, dom, di
Most of Western and Southern Norway Eg, e, æ, æg, æi, æig, jei, ej, i Du, dø, døø, døh Han, an, ha'an Hun, ho, hu, hau, hon, u De, da, d' Vi, me, mi, mø, åss Dere, då(k)ke, dåkkar, dåkk, de, derr, dåkki, dikko(n), deke, deko, De, dei, dæ, di, di'i
Trøndelag and most of Northern Norway Æ, æg, i, eig, jæ, e, eg Du, dæ, dø, u, dæ'æ Han, hanj, hin, hån Hun, hu, ho, a De, da, dæ, e, denj, ta Vi, åss, oss, åkke, me, mi Dåkk, dåkke, dåkker, dåkkæ, dere, ere, dykk, di Dei, dem, dæm, 'em, di, r'ej, dåm

Possessive pronouns edit

Regions My Your His Her Its Our Your (pl.) Their
Bokmål Min, mi, mitt Din, di, ditt Hans Hennes dens, dets Vår Deres Deres
Nynorsk Min, mi, mitt Din, di, ditt Hans Hennar Rarely used. When used: dess Vår Dykkar Deira
South Eastern Norway Min, mi, mitt, mø Din, di, ditt Hans, hannes, hanns, hass Hennes, henners, hun sin, hos, hinnes Dets, det sitt Vårs, vørs, vår, 'år, våres Deres, døres, Dems, demmes, demma, demses, dem sitt, dommes, doms, døms
Most of Western and Southern Norway Min, mi, mitt Din, di, ditt Hans, hannes, hannas, høns, hønnes, ans Hennes,hons, hos, høvs, haus, hennar, hen(n)as, nas nonexistent or dens, dets Vår, 'år, våres, våras, åkkas, åkka, aokan(s) Deres, dokkas, dokkar(s), dåkas, dekan, dekans Demmes, dies, dis, deisa, deis, daus, døvs, deira,

deira(n)s

Trøndelag and most of Northern Norway Min, mi, mitt, mæjn, mett Din, di, ditt, dij, dej'j Hans, hannjes, hanses, hannes, hanner, hånner Hennes, hennjes, hunnes, henna, hennar, huns Dets, det sitt, dess Vår, våkke, vår', våres, vårres Deres, dokkers, dokkes, 'eras Dems, demma, dæres, dæmmes, dæmmers, deira

The word "not" edit

The Norwegian word for the English not exists in these main categories:

ikke [ikːə] – Oslo, Kristiansand, Bergen, Ålesund, most of Finnmark, Vestfold and lowland parts of Telemark, and some cities in Nordland.
ikkje [içːə/iːt͡ʃə] – most of Southern, Northern, Western Norway and high-land parts of Telemark.
ittj [itʲː] – Trøndelag
ikkj [içː] - parts of Salten District, Nordland
itte [iːtə] or ittje [itʲːə] – areas north of Oslo, along the Swedish border
inte [intə], ente [entə] or ette [etːə] – Mostly along the Swedish border south of Oslo in Østfold
kje/e'kje
isje/itsje

Examples of the sentence "I am not hungry," in Norwegian:

ikke: Jeg er ikke sulten. (Bokmål)
ikkje: Eg er ikkje svolten. (Nynorsk)
ikkje: I e ikkje sulten. (Romsdal)
ittj: Æ e ittj sopin. (Trøndelag)
ikkj: E e ikkj sulten. (Salten)
ke: Æ e ke sulten. (Narvik)
ente: Je er'nte sulten. (Hærland)

Interrogative words edit

Some common interrogative words take on forms such as:

Regions who what where which how why when
Bokmål hvem hva hvor hvilken, hvilket, hvilke hvordan, hvorledes, åssen hvorfor når
Nynorsk kven kva kor, kvar kva for ein/ei/eit korleis, korso kvifor, korfor når, kva tid
South Eastern Norway hvem, åkke, åkkjen, høkken, håkke hva, å da, å, hø da, hå, hæ hvor, hvorhen, å hen, å henner, hen, hørt, hærre hvilken, hvilke, åkken, åssen, hvem, hva slags, hø slags, hæsse, håssen. håleis, hådan hvordan, åssen, høssen, hæsse hvorfor, åffer, å for, høffer, hæffer ti, å ti, når, hærnér
Most of Western Norway kven, ken, kin, kem, kim kva, ka, ke, kæ, kå kor, kest, korhen/korhenne, hen kva, ka, kvaslags, kaslags, kasla, kallas, kalla, kass, kvafor, kafor, kaforein, keslags, kæslags, koffø en kordan, korsn, korleis, karleis, koss, koss(e)n korfor, koffor, kvifor, kafor, keffår, koffø når, ti, kati, korti, koti, kå ti
Trøndelag and most of Northern Norway kæm, kem, kånn, kenn ka, ke, kve, ker kor, korhæn/korhænne, ker, karre, kehænn kolles, koss, korsn, kossn, kasla, kass, kafor, kafør, kåfår, kersn, kess, kafla kolles, koss, kess, korsn, kossn, kordan, korran, kelles korfor, kafor, kafør, koffer, koffør, koffår, kåffår, keffer når, ner, nå, når ti, ka ti, katti, kåtti

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Martin Skjekkeland. "dialekter i Norge". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e "dialekter i Setesdal - Store norske leksikon". Retrieved 4 January 2015. Authors state that the Setesdal dialect is "perhaps the most distinctive and most difficult to understand" among all Norwegian dialects.
  3. ^ To hear them pronounced, go to "Talemålet i Valle og Hylestad". Retrieved 4 January 2015. The section Uttale av vokalane needs to be selected manually.

Sources edit

  • Jahr, Ernst Håkon (1990) Den Store dialektboka (Oslo: Novus) ISBN 8270991678
  • Kristoffersen, Gjert (2000) The Phonology of Norwegian (Oxford University Press) ISBN 978-0-19-823765-5
  • Vanvik, Arne (1979) Norsk fonetikk (Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo) ISBN 82-990584-0-6

Further reading edit

  • Vikør, Lars S. (2001) The Nordic languages. Their Status and Interrelations (Oslo: Novus Press) ISBN 82-7099-336-0
  • Johnsen, Egil Børre (1987) Vårt Eget Språk/Talemålet (H. Aschehoug & Co.) ISBN 82-03-17092-7

External links edit

  • Norwegian Language Council
  • Measuring the "distance" between the Norwegian dialects
  • , a Norwegian database of dialect samples.
  • [1], introduction to Northern Norwegian dialects written in English

April 13, 2024
norwegian, dialects, confused, with, bokmål, nynorsk, official, written, variations, norwegian, language, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material. Not to be confused with Bokmal and Nynorsk the two official written variations of the Norwegian language This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Norwegian dialects news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Norwegian dialects dialekter are commonly divided into four main groups Northern Norwegian nordnorsk Central Norwegian trondersk Western Norwegian vestlandsk and Eastern Norwegian ostnorsk Sometimes Midland Norwegian midlandsmal and or South Norwegian sorlandsk are considered fifth or sixth groups 1 The map shows the division of the Norwegian dialects within the main groups image reference needed The dialects are generally mutually intelligible but differ significantly with regard to accent grammar syntax and vocabulary If not accustomed to a particular dialect even a native Norwegian speaker may have difficulty understanding it Dialects can be as local as farm clusters but many linguists note an ongoing regionalization diminishing or even elimination of local variations 1 Normalized speech following the written languages Bokmal and Nynorsk or the more conservative Riksmal and Hognorsk is not in common use except in parts of Finnmark where the original Sami population learned Norwegian as a second language in much of Ostlandet certain social groups in major urban areas elsewhere e g Trondheim in national broadcasting and in courts and official decrees Contents 1 Dialect groups 2 Dialect branches 3 Evolution 4 Social dynamics 5 Distinctions 5 1 Grammars and syntax 5 1 1 Infinitive forms 5 1 2 Dative case 5 1 3 Future tense 5 1 4 Syntax 5 2 Pronunciation of vowels 5 2 1 Diphthongization of monophthongs 5 2 2 Monophthongization of diphthongs 5 2 3 Leveling 5 2 4 Vowel shift in strong verbs 5 3 Pronunciation of consonants 5 3 1 Eliminating r in the plural indefinite form 5 3 2 Phonetic realization of r 5 3 3 Palatalization 5 3 4 Voicing of plosives 5 3 5 Segmentation 5 3 6 Assimilation 5 3 7 Consonant shift in conjugation of masculine nouns 5 3 8 The kj sj merger 5 4 Tonemes and intonation 5 5 Vocabulary 5 5 1 First person pronoun nominative plural 5 5 2 First person pronoun nominative singular 5 5 3 Personal pronouns 5 5 4 Possessive pronouns 5 5 5 The word not 5 5 6 Interrogative words 6 See also 7 References 8 Sources 9 Further reading 10 External linksDialect groups editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Norwegian dialects news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message West and South Norwegian South Norwegian Aust Agder most of Vest Agder and Fyresdal Nissedal Drangedal and Kragero in Telemark South West Norwegian inner parts of Sogn og Fjordane Hordaland except the city of Bergen Rogaland and western parts of Vest Agder Bergen Norwegian or Bergensk Bergen North West Norwegian Romsdal Sunnmore Nordfjord Sunnfjord and outer parts of Sogn North Norwegian Helgeland Norwegian Nordland county south of Saltfjellet except for Bindal Nordland Norwegian Nordland county north of Saltfjellet Troms Norwegian Troms county except for Bardu and Malselv Finnmark Norwegian Finnmark county except for Northern Kautokeino Northern Karasjok Tana and Nesseby East Norwegian Vikvaer Norwegian Vestfold Ostfold Bohuslan in Sweden and adjacent lowland parts of Telemark Buskerud and Akershus Middle East Norwegian Ringerike Modum Oslo and Romerike Oppland Norwegian southern Hedmark and south eastern Oppland Osterdal Norwegian northern Hedmark and Bardu in northern Norway Midland Norwegian Gudbrandsdal Norwegian northern Oppland Valdres and Hallingdal Norwegian south west Oppland and western Buskerud Western Telemark Norwegian Vinje Tokke and Kviteseid Eastern Telemark Norwegian Tinn Hjartdal Midt Telemark Notodden and upper Numedal Trondelag Norwegian Outer Trondelag Norwegian Nordmore outer Sor Trondelag and Fosen Inner Trondelag Norwegian inner Sor Trondelag Innherad Lierne and Snasa Trondheim Norwegian Trondheim Namdal Norwegian Namdalen and surrounding coastal areas South eastern Trondersk Roros Selbu Tydal Holtalen Oppdal Jamtlandic Jamtland in Sweden American NorwegianDialect branches editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed June 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message This list is incomplete you can help by adding missing items October 2018 National Norwegian Nordnorsk no Northern Norway Bodo dialect no Bodo Bronnoy dialect Bronnoy Helgeland dialect no Helgeland other dialects Trondersk Trondelag Trondheim dialect Trondheim Fosen dialect no Fosen Harjedal dialect sv Harjedalen Jamtland dialects Jamtland province Meldal dialect Meldal Tydal dialect no Tydal other dialects Vestlandsk Western and Southern Norway West Vestlandet Bergen dialect Bergen Haugesund dialect no Haugesund Jaersk dialect no Jaeren district Karmoy dialect no Karmoy Nordmore dialects no Nordmore Kristiansunds dialect no Sunndalsora dialect no Sunndalsora Romsdal dialect no Romsdal Sandnes dialect Sandnes Sogn dialect Sogn district Sunnmore dialect no Sunnmore Stavanger dialect Stavanger Strilar dialect no Midhordland district South Sorlandet Arendal dialect Arendal region Valle Setesdalsk dialect no Upper Setesdal Valle other dialects Ostlandsk no Eastern Norway Flatbygd dialects no Lowland districts Vikvaersk dialects Viken district Drammen dialect Drammen region Follo dialect Follo Vestfold dialects no Vestfold Tonsberg dialect Tonsberg and Faerder Andebu dialect no Andebu Revetal dialect no Re Ostfold dialects Ostfold Fredrikstad dialect Fredrikstad region Inner Ostfold dialect Inner Ostfold Bohuslan dialect sv Bohuslan province Grenland dialect no Grenland district Midtostland dialects no Mid east districts Urban East Norwegian Metropolitan area of Oslo no Oslo dialect Oslo Asker and Baerum dialect this is the dialect that is closest to the standard Norwegian language Asker and Baerum Romerike dialect Romerike Ringerike dialects no Ringerike district Honefoss dialect no Honefoss Adal dialect no Adal Moing dialects no Modum Oppland dialect no Opplandene district Hedmark dialects Hedmark Solung dialect no Solor Hadeland dialect no Hadeland district Osterdal dialect no Viken district Sarna Idre dialect Sarna and Idre Midland dialects no Midland districts Gudbrandsdal dialect Gudbrandsdalen Oppland and Upper Folldal Hedmark Hallingdal Valdres dialects Hallingdal Valdres Hallingdal dialect no Valdris dialect Valdres district Telemark Numedal dialects Telemark and Numedal Bo dialect no other dialectsEvolution editOwing to geography and climate Norwegian communities were often isolated from each other until the early 20th century As a result local dialects had a tendency to be influenced by each other in singular ways while developing their own idiosyncrasies The community of Oppdal for example has characteristics in common with coastal dialects to the west the dialects of northern Gudbrandsdalen to the south and other dialects in Sor Trondelag from the north The linguist Einar Haugen documented the particulars of the Oppdal dialect and the writer Inge Krokann used it as a literary device Other transitional dialects include the dialects of Romsdal and Arendal On the other hand newly industrialized communities near sources of hydroelectric power have developed dialects consistent with the region but in many ways unique Studies in such places as Hoyanger Odda Tyssedal Rjukan Notodden Sauda and others show that koineization has effected the formation of new dialects in these areas Similarly in the early 20th century a dialect closely approximating standard Bokmal arose in and around railway stations This was known as stasjonssprak station language and may have contributed to changes in dialect around these centers Social dynamics editSee also Norwegian language struggle Until the 20th century upward social mobility in a city like Oslo could in some cases require conforming speech to standard Riksmal Studies show that even today speakers of rural dialects may tend to change their usage in formal settings to approximate the formal written language This has led to various countercultural movements ranging from the adoption of traditional forms of Oslo dialects among political radicals in Oslo to movements preserving local dialects There is widespread and growing acceptance that Norwegian linguistic diversity is worth preserving The trend today is a regionalisation of the dialects causing smaller dialectal traits to disappear and rural dialects to merge with their nearest larger dialectal variety There is no standard dialect for the Norwegian language as a whole and all dialects are by now mutually intelligible Hence widely different dialects are used frequently and alongside each other in almost every aspect of society Criticism of a dialect may be considered criticism of someone s personal identity and place of upbringing and is considered impolite Not using one s proper dialect would be bordering on awkward in many situations as it may signal a wish to take on an identity or a background which one does not have Dialects are also an area from which to derive humour both in professional and household situations Distinctions editThere are many ways to distinguish among Norwegian dialects These criteria are drawn from the work Vart Eget Sprak Talemalet 1987 by Egil Borre Johnsen These criteria generally provide the analytical means for identifying most dialects though most Norwegians rely on experience to tell them apart Grammars and syntax edit Infinitive forms edit One of the most important differences among dialects is which ending if any verbs have in the infinitive form In Old Norwegian most verbs had an infinitive ending a and likewise in a modern Norwegian dialect most of the verbs of the dialect either have or would have had an infinitive ending There are five varieties of the infinitive ending in Norwegian dialects constituting two groups One ending western dialects Infinitive ending with a e g a vera a bita common in southwestern Norway including the areas surrounding Bergen although not in the city of Bergen itself and Stavanger Infinitive ending with e e g a vaere a bite common in Troms Finnmark areas of Sogn og Fjordane and More og Romsdal Southern counties and a few other areas Apocopic infinitive where no vowel is added to the infinitive form e g a vaer a bit common in certain areas of NordlandTwo different endings eastern dialects Split infinitive in which some verbs end with a while others end with e e g a vaera versus a bite common in Eastern Norway Split infinitive with apocope e g a vaera vaerra varra varra versus a bit common in some areas in Sor Trondelag and Nord TrondelagThe split distribution of endings is related to the syllable length of the verb in Old Norse Short syllable kortstava verbs in Norse kept their endings The long syllable langstava verbs lost their unstressed endings or had them converted to e Dative case edit The original Germanic contextual difference between the dative and accusative cases standardized in modern German and Icelandic has degenerated in spoken Danish and Swedish a tendency which spread to Bokmal too Ivar Aasen treated the dative case in detail in his work Norsk Grammatik 1848 and use of Norwegian dative as a living grammatical case can be found in a few of the earliest Landsmal texts However the dative case has never been part of official Landsmal Nynorsk It is however present in some spoken dialects north of Oslo Romsdal and south and northeast of Trondheim The grammatical phenomenon is highly threatened in the mentioned areas while most speakers of conservative varieties have been highly influenced by the national standard languages using only the traditional accusative word form in both cases Often though not always the difference in meaning between the dative and accusative word forms can thus be lost requiring the speaker to add more words to specify what was actually meant to avoid potential loss of information Future tense edit There are regional variations in the use of future tense for example He is going to travel Han kommer kjem til a reise Han blir a reise Han blir reisan Han skal reise Syntax edit Syntax can vary greatly between dialects and the tense is important for the listener to get the meaning For instance a question can be formed without the traditional asking words how where what who For example the sentence Hvor mye er klokken in Bokmal Kor mykje er klokka in Nynorsk literally How much is the clock i e What time is it can be put in among others the following forms E klokka mykje Is the clock much stress is on the clock E a mytti klokka Is it much the clock stress on is Ka e klokka literally What is the clock Ka klokka e literally What the clock is or using another word for clock Ke ure e A er o literally What is she Pronunciation of vowels edit Diphthongization of monophthongs edit Old Norse had the diphthongs au ei and oy but the Norwegian spoken in the area around Setesdal has shifted two of the traditional diphthongs and innovated four more from long vowels and in some cases also short vowels 2 Old Norse Modern NorwegianSetesdal 3 ei ai 2 oy oy 2 iː ei 2 yː uy uː eu oː ou 2 West Norwegian dialects have also innovated new diphthongs In Midtre clarification needed you can find the following Old Norse Modern NorwegianMidtre aː au oː ou uː eʉ Monophthongization of diphthongs edit The Old Norse diphthongs au ei and oy have experienced monophthongization in certain dialects of modern Norwegian Old Norse Modern NorwegianUrban East Some dialects ei aeɪ e eː oy œʏ o oː au aeʉ o oː This shift originated in Old East Norse which is reflected in the fact that Swedish and Danish overwhelmingly exhibit this change Monophthongization in Norway ends on the coast west of Trondheim and extends southeast in a triangle into central Sweden Some Norwegian dialects east of Molde for example have lost only ei and oy Leveling edit Jamning Jevning in Norwegian This is a phenomenon in which the root vowel and end vowel in a word approximate each other For example the old Norse viku has become vakka or vukku in certain dialects There are two varieties in Norwegian dialects one in which the two vowels become identical the other where they are only similar Leveling exists only in inland areas in Southern Norway and areas around Trondheim Vowel shift in strong verbs edit In all but Oslo and coastal areas just south of the capital the present tense of certain verbs take on a new vowel umlaut e g a fare becomes fer in Oslo it becomes farer Pronunciation of consonants edit Eliminating r in the plural indefinite form edit In some areas the r is not pronounced in all or some words in their plural indefinite form There are four categories The r is retained most of Eastern Norway the South Eastern coast and across to areas north and east of Stavanger The r disappears altogether Southern tip of Norway coastal areas north of Bergen and inland almost to Trondheim The r is retained in certain words but not in others coastal areas around Trondheim and most of Northern Norway The r is retained in certain words and in weak feminine nouns but not in others one coast area in Nordland Phonetic realization of r edit Most dialects realize r as the alveolar tap ɾ or alveolar trill r However for the last 200 years the uvular approximant ʁ has been gaining ground in Western and Southern Norwegian dialects with Kristiansand Stavanger and Bergen as centers The uvular R has also been adopted in aspiring patricians in and around Oslo to the point that it was for some time fashionable to import governesses from the Kristiansand area In certain regions such as Oslo the flap has become realized as a retroflex flap generally called thick L ɽ which exists only in Norway a few regions in Sweden and in completely unrelated languages The sound coexists with other retroflexions in Norwegian dialects In some areas it also applies to words that end with rd for example with gard farm being pronounced ɡɑːɽ The uvular R has gained less acceptance in eastern regions and linguists speculate that dialects that use retroflexes have a natural defense against uvular R and thus will not adopt it However the dialect of Arendal retains the retroflexes while featuring the uvular R in remaining positions e g rart ʁɑːʈ citation needed In large parts of Northern Norway especially in the northern parts of Nordland county and southern parts of the former county of Troms as well as several parts of the former county of Finnmark another variant is still common the voiced post alveolar sibilant fricative ʒ In front of voiceless consonants the realisation of this R is unvoiced as well to ʃ Thus where one in the southern and Trondelag dialects will get sp ar k or sp aʀk or sp aʁ k in areas realising voiced R as ʒ one will get spaʃːk Palatalization edit In areas north of an isogloss running between Oslo and Bergen palatalization occurs for the n IPA nʲ l lʲ t tʲ and d dʲ sounds in varying degrees Areas just south and southwest of Trondheim palatalize both the main and subordinate syllable in words e g kɑlʲːɑnʲ but other areas only palatalize the main syllable bɑlʲ Voicing of plosives edit Voiceless stops p t k have become voiced b d ɡ intervocalically after long vowels ˈfloːde ˈkɑːɡe vs ˈfloːte ˈkɑːke on the extreme southern coast of Norway including Kristiansand Mandal and Stavanger The same phenomenon appears in Sor Trondelag in which areas The whole county and one area in Nordland Segmentation edit The geminate ll in southwestern Norway has become dl while just east in southcentral Norwegian the final l is lost leaving d The same sequence has been palatalized in Northern Norway leaving the palatal lateral ʎ Assimilation edit The second consonant in the consonant clusters nd ld and nɡ has assimilated to the first across most of Norway leaving n l and ŋ respectively Western Norway though not in Bergen retains the ld cluster In Northern Norway this same cluster is realized as the palatal lateral ʎ Consonant shift in conjugation of masculine nouns edit Although used less frequently a subtle shift takes place in conjugating a masculine noun from indefinitive to definitive e g from bekk to bekkjen becːen beccen becːen or be t ʃen This is found in rural dialects along the coast from Farsund to the border between Troms and Finnmark The kj sj merger edit Many people especially in the younger generation have lost the differentiation between the c written kj and ʂ written sj sounds realizing both as ʂ This is by many considered to be a normal development in language change although as most language changes the older generation and more conservative language users often lament the degradation of the language The functional load is relatively low and as often happens similar sounds with low functional loads merge Tonemes and intonation edit Main article Norwegian language Accent There are great differences between the intonation systems of different Norwegian dialects Vocabulary edit This section may be confusing or unclear to readers In particular all of the dialectal words should be transcribed in IPA Please help clarify the section There might be a discussion about this on the talk page January 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message First person pronoun nominative plural edit Three variations of the first person plural nominative pronoun exist in Norwegian dialects Vi pronounced viː common in parts of Eastern Norway most of Northern Norway coastal areas close to Trondheim and one sliver of Western Norway Me mo or mi in Southern and most of Western Norway areas inland of Trondheim and a few smaller areas Oss common in areas of Sor Trondelag Gudbrandsdalen Nordmore and parts of Sunnmore First person pronoun nominative singular edit There is considerable variety in the way the first person singular nominative pronoun is pronounced in Norwegian dialects They appear to fall into three groups within which there are also variations E g and ae i g in which the hard g may or may not be included This is common in most of Southern and Western Norway Trondelag and most of Northern Norway In some areas of Western Norway it is common to say ej I pronounced iː in a few areas in Western Norway Romsdal Molde and Snasa in Nord Trondelag Je je ː je jɛ ː or jei jɛi ː in areas around Oslo and north along the Swedish border almost to Trondheim as well as one region in TromsPersonal pronouns edit Regions I You He She It We You pl TheyBokmal Jeg Du Han Hun Det Vi Dere De demNynorsk Eg Du Han Ho Det Vi me De dykk dokker DeiSouth Eastern Norway Jae je je jei Du ru u do Han haen haennom hannem Hun ho hu ha a henne henner De Vi ve mo oss oss aess vars Dere do de di dokk dar e dor e Dem rem rdem em dom dom diMost of Western and Southern Norway Eg e ae aeg aei aeig jei ej i Du do doo doh Han an ha an Hun ho hu hau hon u De da d Vi me mi mo ass Dere da k ke dakkar dakk de derr dakki dikko n deke deko De dei dae di di iTrondelag and most of Northern Norway AE aeg i eig jae e eg Du dae do u dae ae Han hanj hin han Hun hu ho a De da dae e denj ta Vi ass oss akke me mi Dakk dakke dakker dakkae dere ere dykk di Dei dem daem em di r ej damPossessive pronouns edit Regions My Your His Her Its Our Your pl TheirBokmal Min mi mitt Din di ditt Hans Hennes dens dets Var Deres DeresNynorsk Min mi mitt Din di ditt Hans Hennar Rarely used When used dess Var Dykkar DeiraSouth Eastern Norway Min mi mitt mo Din di ditt Hans hannes hanns hass Hennes henners hun sin hos hinnes Dets det sitt Vars vors var ar vares Deres dores Dems demmes demma demses dem sitt dommes doms domsMost of Western and Southern Norway Min mi mitt Din di ditt Hans hannes hannas hons honnes ans Hennes hons hos hovs haus hennar hen n as nas nonexistent or dens dets Var ar vares varas akkas akka aokan s Deres dokkas dokkar s dakas dekan dekans Demmes dies dis deisa deis daus dovs deira deira n sTrondelag and most of Northern Norway Min mi mitt maejn mett Din di ditt dij dej j Hans hannjes hanses hannes hanner hanner Hennes hennjes hunnes henna hennar huns Dets det sitt dess Var vakke var vares varres Deres dokkers dokkes eras Dems demma daeres daemmes daemmers deiraThe word not edit The Norwegian word for the English not exists in these main categories ikke ikːe Oslo Kristiansand Bergen Alesund most of Finnmark Vestfold and lowland parts of Telemark and some cities in Nordland ikkje icːe iːt ʃe most of Southern Northern Western Norway and high land parts of Telemark ittj itʲː Trondelag ikkj icː parts of Salten District Nordland itte iːte or ittje itʲːe areas north of Oslo along the Swedish border inte inte ente ente or ette etːe Mostly along the Swedish border south of Oslo in Ostfold kje e kje isje itsjeExamples of the sentence I am not hungry in Norwegian ikke Jeg er ikke sulten Bokmal ikkje Eg er ikkje svolten Nynorsk ikkje I e ikkje sulten Romsdal ittj AE e ittj sopin Trondelag ikkj E e ikkj sulten Salten ke AE e ke sulten Narvik ente Je er nte sulten Haerland Interrogative words edit Some common interrogative words take on forms such as Regions who what where which how why whenBokmal hvem hva hvor hvilken hvilket hvilke hvordan hvorledes assen hvorfor narNynorsk kven kva kor kvar kva for ein ei eit korleis korso kvifor korfor nar kva tidSouth Eastern Norway hvem akke akkjen hokken hakke hva a da a ho da ha hae hvor hvorhen a hen a henner hen hort haerre hvilken hvilke akken assen hvem hva slags ho slags haesse hassen haleis hadan hvordan assen hossen haesse hvorfor affer a for hoffer haeffer ti a ti nar haernerMost of Western Norway kven ken kin kem kim kva ka ke kae ka kor kest korhen korhenne hen kva ka kvaslags kaslags kasla kallas kalla kass kvafor kafor kaforein keslags kaeslags koffo en kordan korsn korleis karleis koss koss e n korfor koffor kvifor kafor keffar koffo nar ti kati korti koti ka tiTrondelag and most of Northern Norway kaem kem kann kenn ka ke kve ker kor korhaen korhaenne ker karre kehaenn kolles koss korsn kossn kasla kass kafor kafor kafar kersn kess kafla kolles koss kess korsn kossn kordan korran kelles korfor kafor kafor koffer koffor koffar kaffar keffer nar ner na nar ti ka ti katti kattiSee also editStandard East Norwegian Kebabnorsk Bokmal and NynorskReferences edit a b Martin Skjekkeland dialekter i Norge Store norske leksikon Retrieved February 1 2017 a b c d e dialekter i Setesdal Store norske leksikon Retrieved 4 January 2015 Authors state that the Setesdal dialect is perhaps the most distinctive and most difficult to understand among all Norwegian dialects To hear them pronounced go to Talemalet i Valle og Hylestad Retrieved 4 January 2015 The section Uttale av vokalane needs to be selected manually Sources editJahr Ernst Hakon 1990 Den Store dialektboka Oslo Novus ISBN 8270991678 Kristoffersen Gjert 2000 The Phonology of Norwegian Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 823765 5 Vanvik Arne 1979 Norsk fonetikk Oslo Universitetet i Oslo ISBN 82 990584 0 6Further reading editVikor Lars S 2001 The Nordic languages Their Status and Interrelations Oslo Novus Press ISBN 82 7099 336 0 Johnsen Egil Borre 1987 Vart Eget Sprak Talemalet H Aschehoug amp Co ISBN 82 03 17092 7External links editNorwegian Language Council Measuring the distance between the Norwegian dialects En norsk dialektprovedatabase pa nettet a Norwegian database of dialect samples 1 introduction to Northern Norwegian dialects written in English Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Norwegian dialects amp oldid 1171375003, wikipedia, 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