Ingressive Sounds (Sharp Inhale) in Northern Norway

[@jabrown]

I (a linguist) find this very interesting. Not the fact that it is ingressive in itself, but why, how, did that ingressive sound come to be used in that particular way? None of the sources I've read explain that.

[@ganimograph]

I heard my mother making this sound, sometimes. We are french, and I never heard of this particularity in Norway before... So now I am wondering if my mother was hiding a secret Norwegian identity o__o

[@Correctrix]

Perhaps part of universal grammar, since "yes" is said like this in so many languages.

[@Steff2929again]

A terse expression typical for the region. It is used to express acceptance and agreement while indicating that no further discussion is expected or necessary. It's an essential element in our way of speaking, probably reflecting our mentality. In this case It seems to follow the old Ostrobothnian/Wetrobothnian/Nordland dialect continuum. All the way from the north east coast of Finland into Norway. It seems to be a similar phenomenon wherever this sound is found. My guess is that it's an ancient way to express this particular state of mind. A type of sound that seems to get lost in more verbose cultures.

[@user-oo8wt3hr1t]

The sound originated from Viking men rowing longboat oars and speaking to eachother

[@i.i.iiii.i.i]

"older" women also do it in German, I have no idea why this sound only stuck with that generation but it's interesting. I also never really thought about it becaue it sounds exactly like "ja" ("yes") and I just assumed people do this because they wanted to say "ja" as quickly as possible even when they were in the process of inhaling...

[@LinariaFreeze]

I'm from southern Norway and make this sound all the time. I think it's common in most of the country :P

[@Jack-mm4cb]

People in Ireland do this a lot too, especially in casual conversation. It's certainly a linguistic trait that was copied from the norsemen.

[@david161994]

Yup, I'm irish and we do. I have never really paid attention to it until I found this video. Pretty cool connection

[@colin6673]

Yup probably because of the vikings ;)

[@robo8478]

People in minnesota and upper peninsula michigan sometimes inhale and nod while saying yes. I think its a northern germanic/scando inherited rhing

[@coelhoigor]

Very common with older women in south-central Chile as well as an ingressive "sí" (the s often becomes aspirated). My mother-in-law does it a lot.

[@jean-francoisdaignault9612]

Here in Québec I hear people, usually on the older side, use ingressive sounds to say yes as well. Usually sounds like an inhaled "wep" instead of the standard French "oui".

[@Celboutte]

I've lived in Harstad (68° North) for 16 years and I'm now in Bergen (60° North). It's a typical sound heard everywhere in Norway and, believe me, once you've noticed it, it's all you hear all the time! As for hearing it in Québec as well, you highly surprise me.... J'viens de Montréal pis j'ai jamais entendu ce son-là de ma vie dans le parler quotidien. J'viens pas d'Outremont mais d'un quartier ouvrier. Bon, j'aurais peut-être plus de chance dans un CHSLD mais pourquoi j'ai jamais entendu ça à la télé ou à la radio?! En tous cas, si certains Québécois plus âgés le font, c'est certainement pas de façon aussi évidente qu'ici, j'vous l'jure! Hehehe... :-D

[@solarprogeny6736]

We have it in France too. A sharply inhaled "ouais", oftentimes more than one at a time like "hwè hwè, hwè" to show you fully understand what someone told you

[@jean-francoisdaignault9612]

@@Celboutte je viens de recevoir un « j’aime » sur mon commentaire d’il y a six ans 😂 et de trouver le vôtre d’il y a quatre ans 😆 En effet c’est pas à Montréal que j’ai entendu ça mais plus « en région », surtout dans Les Laurentides. Et bon, j’ai 50 ans donc si je me souviens d’avoir entendu des personnes de 80 ans (disons) alors que j’en avais 20 (mettons) on parle de gens nés au début du 20e siècle… en tous cas 😂 je suis peut-être juste tombé sur des gens qui font wepwep plus souvent que la moyenne 😂 Salutations de Montréal, février 2024 ;)

[@jean-francoisdaignault9612]

@@solarprogeny6736 très intéressant! Ça date peut-être d’avant la colonisation de la Nouvelle-France? 😂 J’imagine un vieillard breton en 1533 qui dit whepwhepwhep à longueur de journée…

[@solarprogeny6736]

We have an inhaled "ouais" in French too ☺️ I can relate to this

[@Starchild91]

The ingressive sound is very common all over Norway, not just in the northern parts. I'm from the middle parts of Norway, and I also use it a lot - usually without realising. I didn't even realise this was a "weird" thing until my foreign boyfriend started pointing it out. Oops.

[@Taggez1]

This is very common is Sweden as well

[@adrivaliente]

@@Taggez1 This is very common in Finland as well

[@fatimahabib1431]

interesting, i was wondering if repeating these ingressive sounds make the person feel tired .usually i just do ingressive sounds while i am crying.

[@jordanmurphy4156]

We do it in Ireland also!

[@bruderspatzlemitso930]

It may be common in Northern Germany as well. I just found out about this type of sound tonight and now I'm thinking about how common it is here. It sounds so familiar to my ears still I can't imagine it being used here. Gotta listen to more people the following days to find out

[@Ainennke]

I'm Australian, but my father is Norwegian. He has an ingressive "yes" (and "ja"), but I've somehow inherited it and expanded upon it, and I speak on the inhale and exhale almost indiscriminately. It's not at all common here, my brother didn't pick it up, and even my dad finds it odd how extensively I do it. On the bright side, it was great for discouraging me from speaking with my mouth full as a kid, because doing so posed a very real risk of aspirating food.

[@FrozenMermaid666]

Is this like when saying já in Icelandic and inhaling instead of exhaling? I heard that it’s a technique that is used when speaking, which is, breathing in while still speaking, so that one doesn’t have to pause to breathe in normally during the conversation... I started doing that as well, since I started learning Norse and Gothic and Icelandic, so I can say many things without having to take a break to breathe in normally, and sometimes I also do this inhale while singing along with the Skáld songs Gleipnir and Tróll Kalla Mik!

[@scottharnish]

Quite common in Atlantic Canada as well.

[@herpsenderpsen]

interesting!

[@user-oo8wt3hr1t]

And Ireland, possibly how it got to Canada!

[@tronskifpv]

Thank you. I finally figured out where my mother got it from

[@saurora2869]

*hjah*

[@risraelsen]

Chris, I noticed the exact same thing with our relatives. In fact, I googled “pulmonic ingressive Norway” and clicked on your video without realizing that it was your account until halfway through

[@ChrisBallam]

Small world!

[@y0utuberculosis]

This is an east coast canada thing as well! Same use, too.

[@Noikar]

Sweden does this a lot as well.

[@TaiganTundra]

We do it too here in central Norway.

[@princekrazie]

QUICK! SOMEBODY GET AN OXYGEN TANK!

[@c_lantouris1012]

Someone explain why they do this?

[@Oddn7751]

It means yes, but is also added at the end of some sentences.

[@VickBright]

I often saw tourists here in Greece do that while they were talking and I thought they had asthma or something. So weird and lame...

[@markculshaw224]

Certain west Island garlic speakers also inhale as a yes!

[@daviddebroux4708]

... *Garlic* I'm very sorry.

[@Jebe_]

To my knowledge people do this all over Scandinavia.

[@immaggiethesenilegoldenret7918]

This is VERY common in the rural areas of Ireland; I’ve heard this many times, it’s not unique to Norwegians at all….

[@princekrazie]

UGG

[@DiaJasin]

O-o