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

hot
Norwegian Adjective

varm

hot

Having a high degree of heat or a high temperature.

few
Norwegian Adjective

few

Not many; only a small number.

still
Norwegian Adverb

fortsatt

still

Up to and including the present time; nevertheless.

brother
Norwegian Noun

bror

brother

A male sibling; a man who shares one or both parents with another.

Agents

Harald
Norwegian

Harald

Studying Norwegian history
Male
20
Oslo, Norway
Student
Energetic
skiing, reading, hiking
Ingrid
Norwegian

Ingrid

Catching cod in fjords
Female
38
Oslo, Norway
Librarian
Resilient
skiing, knitting, fishing
Liv
Norwegian

Liv

Teaching Norwegian online
Female
44
Oslo, Norway
Language teacher
Supportive
fishing, reading, hiking

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