Comments on: Introducing Nordnorsk: The Norwegian Dialect of Arctic Norway

By: David Brown

David Brown — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 10:11:24 +0000

Like other languages my Norwegian was picked up “on the streets” just being with people. I started off working close to Sulitjelma in Fauske herad. (Later I had a work colleague from Bodo but couldn’t understand him!). Going to Bergen I had a big problem in a shop over Syve to Sjue and tyve to tjue (that is the pronunciation of seven and twenty). Later I spent many months skiing based on Finse and going up into Jotunheimen and southwards towards Rjuken. A right mix of dialects and incredible leaves!!!! The crazy thing was one night at Finse there was a Norwegian Dr Henry Higgins who was going round telling everyone where they came from; apparently I come from Bo in Lofoten and not England/Ireland!!!!!!!!!. The locals knew the truth of course.

By: David Everitt

David Everitt — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 01:24:42 +0000

Thoroughly enjoyed your article. I have been to my each of my maternal grandparents’ heimplass in Sørfold, Nordland on two occasions, and hearing the local dialect, it immediately rang familiar bells. It is how I would prefer to speak Norwegian, as a tribute to my heritage.

By: Lisa Griswold

Lisa Griswold — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 08:17:12 +0000

Love your article as I sit in my family’s stue in Fauske (Nordland) reading it on holiday. Sad to leave back to California, but looking forward to coming back. I’ve only known Nord-Norsk since a child, when in the south I struggle to understand anyone 🤦🏼‍♀️

By: Marilyn Nysted

Marilyn Nysted — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 01:18:32 +0000

Interesting. Both of my parents were born in Bardu, which is in previous Troms Fylke or the blended Troms Finnmark. While one would expect the Bardu Dialect to be Nord Norsk, it’s not. I believe the same is true for Målselv. Bardu was first colonized in 1791, by settlers from Tynset/Alvdal, Hedemark Fylke. The Bardu dialect is most similar to the Norsk spoken in that area. “Østlandet dialekten” is what it’s known as, I think. I understand the Bardu Dialect has evolved somewhat, however ….. . My paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother both were born and raised in Dyrøy/Dyrøya, respectively. My maternal grandfather was born in Bardu to Swedish/Kven parents. Interestingly, both of my parents spoke with the Bardu Dialect. I’m born and raised in Canada. The area I was born/raised in is what I call a “Mini Bardu”. English is my main mother tongue, however my parents spoke Norwegian, in our home, as did my aunties/uncles people in our area. I’ve also been to Bardu four times and Bardu people have been here to visit many times. When in Bardu, we were often told that we spoke such a “pure Norsk”. I remember how slowly and distinctly some of those old Bardu folks spoke. ….easy to understand. We’d call the dialect spoken by our friends/relatives from Dyrøy and Tromsø, etc. ….the “Sea Dialect” or “Sjødialekt” på Norsk. We, the kids found it humourous, as to us it was rather sing/songy.

By: Louis GENEST

Louis GENEST — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 06:34:44 +0000

I am a Canadian translator who was lucky enough to visit beautiful Norway two years ago, traveling by ferry and/or plane from Oslo through the fjords all the way to North Cape and Tromso. As our guide happened also to be a musician, we were treated with lovely music along the way and were welcomed into her siblings home. As perhaps you can guess, our two countries have much in common. I enjoyed very much this article and the lovely three songs. I thank you for your contribution who revived a keen desire to start to learn the language and helped me to stay in touch with your country’s indomitable soul.

By: Elizabeth Nelson

Elizabeth Nelson — Sun, 07 Mar 2021 22:14:28 +0000

I find this so very intriguing as I grew up with my grandmother whose parents were from Bodø and were married there shortly before coming to Minnesota in the USA in the late 1800s. Norwegian was her first language and was the language she and her siblings spoke at home. Also, she and my grandfather and their children spoke Norwegian at home. I only learned a few words and short phrases, especially since all the adults didn’t want us kids to know what they were talking about much of the time and so they would speak together in Norwegian so that the kids would be left out of the adult conversation. My grandma would often correspond with her cousins and other relatives in Nordland, mostly in Bodø and Bolga on the island where most of her relatives were from. Later on, in the 1970s, a young woman came to visit from Norway. She spoke Norwegian but my grandmother and her siblings and everyone else had a very difficult time understanding her and she had a very difficult time understanding them. My grandma and other family members could not understand why their way of speaking Norwegian was so different from the way the young woman from Norway spoke. They all had to resort to speaking in English to understand each other.
From what I remember, many of the words my grandmother spoke in Norwegian was much more like Danish even though her parents had come from Bodø and their families had lived in the Bodø area for many generations. I wish she was still living so that I could ask her if any of the words of NordNorsk were familiar to her. I have so often dreamed of visiting Bodø and the surrounding area and seeing where my great grandparents came from and where my Grandma’s cousins and aunts and uncles she wrote to lived.
Besides being born in Minnesota, I also spent much of my life in Alaska and my grandma always felt that Alaska was so very similar to where her family in Norway were from, at least in the part of Alaska where we lived.
I would love to learn more about the dialect of the area of Bodø.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 17:03:44 +0000

Hes. They do indeed exist! The two basic versions of written norwegian is : Bokmål (approx.75%) and Nynorsk (approx. 25%). But more than 50% of norwegians speak dialects. What you refer to as New Norwegian is probably the nynorsk version. This was introduced around 150 years ago by influential people from more remote districts who wished norwegian language to be based more on their dialects than the standardised norwegian language written by the official norway, bureacracy, since this language had received 400 years of influence from the previous danish rulers. So actually:the so called Nynorsk(new Norvegian) try to reactivate older and peripheral language forms! The difference is not very great. But as a majority of norwegians write in the Bokmål (book language) style, there has been a strong language fight going on for more than 120 years!
And the Nord-Norsk is not an official written language, only oral, dialect. They put in much rougher words in their language than they do in the rest of Norway, and it is considered quite appropriate to use curse words in normal talk, which gives their speech a more expressive and baroque flavour.

By: Ghillie

Ghillie — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 11:18:55 +0000

I paid a small fortune 60 years ago buying a set of Linguaphone records to learn Norwegian in preparation for the student exchange I was going on to Norway. Once there found everyone spoke fluent English or old Norsk. The language course I’d paid for was in New Norsk. Your article doesn’t mention these two differences in the Norwegian language.Do they actually exist?

By: Internet Troll Finder

Internet Troll Finder — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 09:47:12 +0000

In reply to Anne-Kathrine Henriksen. You "lost interest" enough to leave a comment? LOL. Internet trolling at its finest.

By: Carl Petter

Carl Petter — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 21:55:15 +0000

Hi. I loved this article! I am from Nord Norge my self. It is super rare to read a foreigners view on Nord Norge since it is all about Oslo and the rest of the cities in the south. I loved your point of view. Hæls’n bæssfar.