sabato 11 ottobre 2008

Do you want to learn Norwegian?

Norwegian language survival kit
In the Norwegian alphabet we have 3 extra vowels, æ,ø,å, but don’t despair, we are sure you have the same sounds in your language.
Æ= ae, as in English bad
Ø= oe, as in English but, nut
Å=aa, as in English corn, London.
Norway is a long country with mountains and fjords dividing places. Therefore we have many dialects, and the one in the north is very different from the standard written Norwegian, both in vocabulary and intonation. Pay attention to these words in particular:

1.person singular pronoun: I-jeg-æ (English- standard-dialect)
2.person singular pronoun, object form(akkusativ): you-deg-dæ
3.person plural pronoun: you-dere-dåkker
Negation: not-ikke-ikkje
In the present tense of verbs we leave out the ending(-r).
I (do not) love you (singular)- Jeg elsker deg (ikke)- æ ælske dæ (ikkje)
I love you all (plural)- jeg elsker dere- æ ælske dåkker

Greetings/questions:

English Norsk Pronunciation (in dialect)
Hi = Hei
Hello = Hallo - ‘O’ as in German/Spanish/Italian ‘U’
Good morning = God morgen - Go mårn
Good day = God dag - Go dag
Good evening = God kveld
Good night = God natt
(when you go to sleep)

Goodbye = Ha det bra (or just Ha de) - Hade

See you later = (Vi) sees
What’s your name? = Hva heter du? - Ka hete du? - U’ as in English ‘food’
My name is… = Jeg heter… - Æ hete…
How old are you? = Hvor gammel er du? - Kor gammel e du?
I am… years old = Jeg er … år - Æ e …år
Where are you from? = Hvor kommer du fra? - Kor e du fra?
I am from… = Jeg er fra… -Æ e fra…
…Germany, Greece = Tyskland, Hellas,
Spain, Italy, Norway = Spania Italia, Norge

Thank you = Takk
Thank you very much =Tusen takk
Please = Vær så snill
Can I have (a)…? = Kan jeg få (en)…? - Kan æ få en…?
Where is…? = Hvor er…? -Kor e..?

Numbers/Tall:
English Norsk
1 én
2 to
3 tre
4 fire
5 fem
6 seks
7 sju
8 åtte
9 ni
10 ti
11 elleve
12 tolv
13 tretten
14 fjorten
15 femten

Slang/small talk/flirt:

I love you = jeg elsker deg (in dialect: æ ælske dæ)
You are sweet = du er søt (du e søt)
I hate you = jeg hater deg ( æ hate dæ)
I’m just joking/kidding = kødda
What’s up? = hva skjer? ( ka sjer)
Go away = gå vekk( or: stikk)
Cheers = skål
Beer, red/white wine = øl, rød/hvit vin
We are (just) friends =vi er (bare) venner (vi e bare vænna)
Yes, no, maybe = Ja, nei, kanskje

Food/mat:
fish = fisk
meat = kjøtt
pizza/pasta/hamburger = pizza/pasta/hamburger
beer/wine = øl/vin
cheese = ost
water /milk = vann/melk
bread = brød
cake/biscuits = kake/kjeks