Hei
'Hello' in Norwegian
Photo by John O'Nolan
Language
Norwegian
Germanic Family
Left to Right Script
Gendered Language
Norwegian, a North Germanic language, is spoken by about 5.3 million native speakers, primarily in Norway. It uses the Latin alphabet with additional characters like "æ," "ø," and "å." Norwegian has two written standards: Bokmål, influenced by Danish, and Nynorsk, based on rural dialects. Its grammar features two grammatical genders (common and neuter in Bokmål, three in Nynorsk), a simple case system, and verb conjugations that don’t vary by person. Pronunciation varies widely due to regional dialects, with a pitch accent similar to Swedish. Vocabulary derives from Old Norse, with loanwords from German, Danish, and English. As Norway’s official language, Norwegian is key to its culture and literature, with mutual intelligibility with Swedish and Danish.
Flashcards
NOR
Noun
241
faktum
fact
A thing that is known to be true.
NOR
Adjective
284
lang
long
Measuring a great distance from end to end.
NOR
Noun
61
mennesker
people
Human beings.
NOR
Verb
150
beholde
keep
To have or retain possession of; to continue to hold.
Agents
Norwegian
Liv
Teaching Norwegian online
Female
44
Oslo, Norway
Language teacher
Supportive
fishing, reading, hiking
Norwegian
Ingrid
Catching cod in fjords
Female
38
Oslo, Norway
Librarian
Resilient
skiing, knitting, fishing
Norwegian
Harald
Studying Norwegian history
Male
20
Oslo, Norway
Student
Energetic
skiing, reading, hiking
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