This is the next post in a series on the great Norwegian language struggle between ���ǰ쳾å�� and Nynorsk. Click here to read the background post and here to read the first part of Bryce's conversion guide… here is part two. Enjoy, share and comment 🙂

Consonant Alterations

You didn't think it would be as easy as throwing a few “j”'s around a bit and doubling some letters did you? Sorry peeps, but there's a bit more to it than that. Let's start with three changes which are pretty easy to understand: “kv” → “hv”, “mn” → “vn”, and “k(n)” → “g(n)”.

Now comes the tricky(-er) part – the magical letter g. Yeah, magical. ‘Cause not only does it transform instelf into vowels, it can even make itself disappear. The general transformations are “g” → “i” after a vowel like “e”; “g” → “y” after a vowel like “ø”; and “g” → “Oh my god, it's disappeared!” after the vowel combination “ei”.

Diphthongs and Common Vowel Alterations

Diphthongs are two vowels that come together beside each other in total harmony to make a new and peaceful tomorrow. English is full of diphthongs (house, coin, liar, liar, pants on fire), but none of these are as awesome as the Modern Norwegian diphthongs which go all the way back to the bloody Vikings! Rock and Roll!

Did you wake up this morning thinking you could excited about diphthongs? Me neither. But here are the three Viking vowel combinations, and their ���ǰ쳾å�� equivalents: “ei” → “e”, “øy” → “ø”, “au” → “ø”. Let's confuse ourselves with examples.

Maybe you noticed that most people write stein in ���ǰ쳾å��, and that sten is an optional, secondary spelling. You're right! ���ǰ쳾å�� is a bit inconsistent with how it chooses to represent these viking vowels, but you're just going to have to live with it 🙁

In addition to the diphthongs, the Modern Norwegian “u” often corresponds to ���ǰ쳾å�� “o”, and Modern Norwegian “o” can correspond to one of “a” , “å”, or “u”. I don't really know the rules for when you choose one or the other (there probably aren't any), but I think it's enough just to be aware that there are these possibilities.

Inflections

Unfortunately, Modern Norwegian and ���ǰ쳾å�� don't have the same inflections. Fortunately, they're pretty similar, and it's much much much much much much much easier going from Modern Norwegian to ���ǰ쳾å�� than it is the other way around. The basic rules are: “ar” → “er”, “ane” → “ene”, “are” → “ere”, “ast” → “est”. Pretty easy. Of course, nothing can be completely easy, so I'm going to explain two of the more common irregularities (the others you can just learn as you come across them).

In ���ǰ쳾å��, if I wanted to write “the houses” or “the ships” I would write “husene” and “skipene”. In Modern Norwegian, these words are written “husa” and “skipa”, so the “a” here corresponds to “ene” in ���ǰ쳾å��. However, not every “a” at the end of a word should be changed to “ene”, because Modern Norwegian always writes feminine words as feminine, so “jenta” and “boka” would be “the girl” and “the book” (which you will recognise from ���ǰ쳾å��”, and so should be left as they are.

Miscellaneous

Well, this is a long post, but we're nearing the end now. Good on you for sticking it out so far. This is the last section, and just covers some sundry items that I didn't cover elsewhere, so be prepared for an eclectic mix of jazz, verbs, and third items.

In Modern Norwegian there are these verbs which don't end in -r in the present tense. Instead, they either have a different form (like how ���ǰ쳾å�� å vite → vet), or the stem is used by itself. So, ���ǰ쳾å�� trenger, sitter, kommer (needs, sits, comes) are written treng, sit, kjem in Modern Norwegian.

A very common phrase in Modern Norwegian is “Me sjåast” – see you later. It's made up of “me”, which means “we”, “å sjå” which is “å se” in ���ǰ쳾å��, and “-ast” which is the passive. In ���ǰ쳾å��, this would be “vi sees”.

In Modern Norwegian, “han” (he) and “ho” (she) are used instead of “den” (it) when referring to an object. So if you see “Eg likte filmen. Eg likte han også.”, then “han” here refers to the film (since it's film-en, masculine), and not some dude.

Pronouns in Modern Norwegian all different and confusing, so here's a chart of the more different and confusing ones.

What I've covered so far isn't going to be enough for you to actually write Modern Norwegian (if you want to do that, buy the book Norwegian Nynorsk by Peter Hallaråker), and it's not a complete overview of the differences, but it's enough to stop you from being so confused about things. If you ever come across a word in Modern Norwegian that you don't know, then the dictionaries at lexin.no (Nynorsk → ���ǰ쳾å��, Nynorsk → Engelsk) will give you a helping hand.

Okay, I think I'm going to lie down now.

The post Converting Nynorsk to ���ǰ쳾å�� – Part Two appeared first on 51�Թ���.

This is the second post in a series on the great Norwegian language struggle between ���ǰ쳾å�� and Nynorsk. Click here to read the background post! This post is written by Bryce, a student of Nynorsk…

Having read my last two articles on how to say please in Norwegian, and how to say thank you in Norwegian too, you may be wondering how someone who can only spell venlegst [vennligst] correctly in square brackets after having spelt the same word incorrectly could possibly have the CAJONES to lecture to YOU about how YOU should use Norwegian. How dare you talk about my cajones like that!  It's not spelt wrong; it's Modern Norwegian, also known as������Դǰ�����.

I know what you're thinking: hang on, how does he know what I'm thinking?  Was I right?  No?  Okay, how about: what is this Modern Norwegian?  How is it different from ���ǰ쳾å��, G-d's own language?  Why does it even exist?  Is this part of some conspiracy to make Norwegian even more difficult to learn?

To answer all these question thoroughly, I need to write several leather-bound volumes conveying detailed knowledge in the fields of language history, sociolinguistics, and comparative grammatics.   But since I don't have the patience to do that right now, I'm going to just split this infinitive and give you a quick run-down on how to cheat at reading Modern Norwegian by turning it into ���ǰ쳾å��.

I must warn you that this is probably going to be an extremely dry list of one-way correspondences, so in order to mitigate boredom, I've hidden six clues in the text which explain the location of a treasure (actually, I haven't, but that would be fun, wouldn't it?).  The aim here is to have a post which I can point to explaining a bit about Modern Norwegian to help those readers who can't read Modern Norwegian yet (that way, I don't have to keep on writing stoopid ���ǰ쳾å�� in stoopid brackets stoopid).

I'm going to divide up the differences between Modern Norwegian and ���ǰ쳾å�� into the following categories: geminates, palatals and breaking, consonant alterations, diphthongs and common vowel alterations, inflections, and finally miscellaneous.  Confused?  Yeah, well, linguistics is hard bro/sis.  I'll try to explain the terms as we go along, and there will be lots of examples, and so many tables your eyes will pop out of your head and onto your keyboard in sheer delight.

Geminates

This is where two consonants of the same kind come together (like the star sign gemini is two twins).  ���ǰ쳾å�� uses geminates a lot more than Modern Norwegian (the reasons for this are boring and historical), so if you come across a word you're not sure of, try doubling the middle or final consonants, and you might get something more recognisable.

Palatals and Breaking

Two exciting terms here (I'm sure you can handle it); palatal basically means “j”s all over the place, and breaking means pretty much the same thing.  The reason I've given them two different names here is very linguistically involved, and I wanted to show off my skills.  Impressed?  No?  Then we'll move on.

Modern Norwegian loves the j-sound loads more than ���ǰ쳾å��.  A lot of Modern Norwegian verbs have a “j” on the stem, and even some nouns, too.  The trick here then, is to remove the “j” and see if it's any closer to something in ���ǰ쳾å��.

Both Modern Norwegian and ���ǰ쳾å�� are guilty of breaking (technically, it's only ���ǰ쳾å��, but then we'd need to introduce another term, and it's enough already), and to make things more complicated, they both do two different kinds.  I'm going to show you the table first, and then once you've gathered all the pieces of your brain together again, I'll talk you through it.

The first two rows show that Modern Norwegian “ju” and “jo” sometimes correspond to ���ǰ쳾å�� “y”.  What's happened here is that the “broken” sounds “j-u” and “j-o” correspond to the unbroken “y” (think of broken and unbroken here as interrupted and uninterrupted, like the j-sound is interrupted by a u-sound, and the y-sound is an uninterrupted y-sound).  In the next two rows, the Modern Norwegian “e” has been broken into “je”.  So the tips for this chart is to turn ju,jo → y and try adding a “j” before the “e” to see if you can get a more ���ǰ쳾å��-ish word.

Phew!  Okay, take a break, go get yourself a cup of tea and relax for a bit (it's what I'm doing).  Now, onward, to part two!

The post Converting Nynorsk to ���ǰ쳾å�� – Part One appeared first on 51�Թ���.

Politeness differs all over the world. But in the vast majority of cultures, there is a way of conveying thanks. That's true in Norway. While the word for thanks is simple, there are ways of going further that are great to learn and fun to use.

In my last contribution, we looked at how to not say “please” in Norwegian. You may have gotten the impression (probably because I gave it to you) that Norwegians are rude queue-jumpers who constantly ask you to buy them beer without ever saying please.

Now that may or may not be always true, but there is one area of politeness where Norwegians exceed even the wildest dreams of bowler-hatted Brits: saying thank you.

Learn Norwegian Now: Norwegian Class 101 / The Mystery of Nils

Norwegians say ‘thank you' all the time. I can't decide whether it's a national pastime or some sort of endemic disease, but which-ever it is, I like it.

How to say thanks in Norwegian

In Norwegian, saying “thank you” is even easier than in English. You just say takk. That's it.

No need for the “you”, just say “thanks”: takk. However, make sure to pronounce the a short, and the k long.

It's an important distinction, because fint, takk means “fine, thanks”, but fint tak means “nice roof” (that was my best joke – hope you liked it). So, in English, the correct pronunciation is tack and not tark.

More ways to say thanks in Norwegian

Of course, you can embellish upon this to get even more specific types of thank-yous.  These include super-secret Norwegian thank-yous which you MUST say at the appropriate times if you want to maintain to be accepted in society. Let's take a look at some of these:

Some of these you may have heard before, and if you start noticing them, the sound waves will create a permanent tattoo in your inner ear, because they really are used that often.

Let's start from the bottom, and then jump around a bit in a confusing pattern.

The first time someone said the phrase “tusen takk” to me it was for handing them a spoon, something which may have been worthy of a single thank-you, but probably not a thousand.

I assumed this thanker was being patronising, giving me the sort of thanks reserved for saving a cat, or giving someone a bicycle for their birthday (one with gear and bullhorn-shaped handlebars), and was therefor being sarcastic.

However, “tusen takk” is actually used in a way that is much closer to “thanks a lot”, or “thanks very much”. So it looks like that thanker wasn't such a, uh, thanker after all.

When a simple thank you isn't enough!

A lot of these thank-yous are said at specific times or in specific circumstances, and are mandatory.

When you meet your Norwegian friend for the first time since spending time together, you are required to thank them for that time by saying “takk for sist”.  This literally means “thanks for last time” and shows that you appreciate the time you spent together.

Learn Norwegian Now: Norwegian Class 101 / The Mystery of Nils

If you're working for a Norwegian company, then at the end of the day, you'll probably hear a lot of people letting off a round of “takk for i dag” randomly around the office, indiscriminately assaulting co-workers with politeness.

It's a really nice way of saying “I'm going home, suckers” (actually, you're saying thanks for all the little things your co-workers did for you today).

Another commonly heard thank-you at work is “takk for innsatsen”, meaning “good work”. This is usually said at the end of a difficult or long day, or a special effort to get something done.

If you're invited to a friend's house for dinner, then you should use a napkin. What?  This is about thank-yous is it? Alright, you must say “takk for maten” (thanks for the food) once you've finished eating, to show that you appreciate the time and/or money put in to making/ordering the food.

If, after eating your friends your cooking, and inspecting their cat-rescue equipment, you decide it's time to go, then when you've got your wellingtons, waterproof-trousers, and heavy winter jacket on, and are half way out the door, you should say in a sort of sing-song voice “takk for nå”!

Since, apart from the three-hour slide show of their trip to Agder, you had a good time, and want to thank your friend for this (if you're not interested in thanking your friends for anything, then leave after dessert – you've got what you came for).

If you manage to use “takk for laget”, then your Norwegian friends will think you've been reading this blog, since it's only used quite rarely (it's the most secret of the Norwegian secret thank-yous).

You say it if you've spent a good deal of the day together, and want to say something lovely.  Again, you're telling the person that you appreciate that they're giving up some of their precious, precious time to sit around with you and eat ice cream/go to an antiques fair.

Get your thanks in early

As with thank-yous in your own language, the most important thing in Norwegian is to be the one to say them first, because otherwise you'll look like you're just copying someone else, and will not get the full politeness-credit.

If you're not quick enough, then, in a one-on-one situation, you can reinstate your position in the politeness hierarchy by saying berre hyggeleg [bare hyggelig] – “don't mention it”.

This list is not exhaustive (although making it was exhausting), so keep your ears out for other exciting(?) things Norwegians say thanks for.

Speaking of saying thanks, this article did take up quite a bit of my time, and there is a comment section, you know…

The post A Thousand Thanks: How to Say Thank You in Norwegian appeared first on 51�Թ���.

How to say please in Norwegian

You could be forgiven for thinking Norwegians are rude: service levels are as low as the fjords are deep; there is no intuitive sense of where anyone is in a queue; and shoving is an acceptable substitute for saying “excuse me”. Worst of all, they don't even have a word for “please”.

Yeah, that's right my friend: no word for “please”. Go back and read that again (I'll wait). Unbelievable, right? And, it's almost completely true, too!

The thing is, English is a pretty weird language. We don't know how to spell sanely, we take words from other languages without even asking, and we have a word for “please”. Just to be clear, cross-linguistically, actually having a word for “please” is the weird thing to do.

Okay, so German has bitte, but French has s'il vous plait, and Gaelic mas e do thoil e. These are phrases, ladies and gents, and Norwegian (like most of the world's languages) works this way too (okay, so there are some single words which are sometimes translated as “please”, but not always, so cut me some slack).

Let's take a look at some of the ways to say “please” in Norwegian:

Man, too bad about that last one, there. Wait a minute! Isn't ver så god what you say when someone thanks you for something? Uh…yeah, it is. And it means “please”, as well (and maybe some other things I'll save for another bedtime story).

The thing is, Norwegian words don't always map one-to-one with English, and vice versa. Maybe it would help if you got to see some examples? Look down there! I've found some examples!

You got all that? Are you comfortable with using these phrases? Good, 'cause they're hardly ever used. Okay, you'll see venlegst on signs commanding you to do things (real polite, guys, telling me what to do; hrumph), and maybe once in a blue moon (that's a month where there are two full moons – check your calendars, guys) or in a very formal situation (like a wedding, or becoming a Mafia Don) you'll hear the others, but if you use these phrases like they're caster sugar on a Victoria sponge, then you're going to sound damn needy. I can't stress this enough. If one of your Norwegian friends tells you to say ver så snill, the correct response is “Pff, I ain't gonna beg, Kari”.

So if Norwegians don't say “please”, how come they still manage to live in a civilised society? Well, since there's no “please” expression, every way of saying a sentence goes up a politeness level compared to English, and Norwegian adds another one at the very bottom. Look at this chart, now with three columns!

Did you see what they did there? In Norwegian, turning a command into a “Can you” question is enough to make it polite enough for everyday use. So, the hypothetical Norwegian says “Can you …”, and the sentence is magically translated into the more polite “Could you …”. And what's more, the quite rude and expectant “Are you …” becomes the familiar, but by no means abrasive “Can you …”.

That's pretty sneaky, Norwegians – and it's just enough to be polite.

The post How To Say Please, Without Saying Please appeared first on 51�Թ���.