Norwegian Dialects Explained / Norske Dialekter

A video for Norwegian language students, or anyone else who might be curious about Norwegian dialects. This information may save you a lot of time and help you avoid confusion. For a really great written explanation and history of the Norwegian language, check out this link.... www.ntnu.edu/web/now/intro/bac...
Lykke Til !!!!

[@PRKLGaming]

Sami is its own language, it has common ancestors with Finnish but it does not come from it.

[@Maoilios12]

I cringed when he said Sami was "based on Finnish." It's like saying French is based on Portuguese. Yes, they're related, but neither comes from the other.

[@snuseren]

Finnish is based on sami

[@moldveien1515]

@@ChantelStays no this is a misnomer like saying humans evolved from apes, finnish and sami has a common ancestor that they then deverged from. Its like how your niece and you has the same grandmother, but diffrent parents. Apes and humans have a common ancestor, but one did not evolve or come before the other, they both developed at the same time.

[@fliring1847]

"Dialect is usually an altered verison of bokmål or nynorsk" I'd say this is false as a native Norwegian. Nynorsk is a language made by Ivar Aasen who travelled all over Norway to COLLECT the dialects and make a language everyone can recognize and understand.

[@fliring1847]

In my area, Trøndelag, we have spoken like this for ages. If you go back in time to the Danish union trønders will not speak danish unless you are in Trondheim, because Trondheim was an important and major city in the favor of the danish. You can and will hear hints of old norse in trønder dialects and sociolects. Here's an example Window, in norse this would be "Vindauge" and in Trøndelag we have the habit of cutting the "e" on the end of words, making this "Vindaug". That's a fact!

[@wizardgaming669]

Can Norwegians understand Danish with no problems. I speak Danish and have no problem when I watch Skavlan on television.

[@Abyssiumatic]

Yes and no, depending on how clearly its spoken, some danish sounds just like a series of gutteral sounds to us hehe...

[@per-henrikhansen9090]

Someone must have told you something wrong about languages in Norway. There are 3 official languages: «Norsk, Nynorsk og Samisk. Bokmål og Nynorsk er skriftspråk». Dialects originate from all language groups. One can say that one speaks Norwegian with xx-dialect. «Bokmål» is a written languages of Norwegian.

[@sylendraws1249]

Per-Henrik Hansen How is Nynorsk a separate language from Norsk?

[@johannamogaard6068]

EG is pronounced "ég", not "egg"...

[@AuroraNora3]

+Johanna Mogaard "Bukkmål"

[@user-nx2pm9pz5z]

they're the same sound

[@Aslaugarsson]

“Ég” is more like Icelandic, and it’s pronounced “Jeh»

[@dan74695]

@@Aslaugarsson In Vallemål, "èg" is pronounced like "ieg".

[@Aslaugarsson]

@@dan74695 I actually didn’t know that

[@christianpedersonbehrends987]

Hi, you should know that Saami is not based on Finnish, but is a continuum of languages in the same language family as Finnish. 'Laplanders' is also considered derogatory, so you should just say the Sami instead! Or the indigenous people of the north!

[@IMVUXufi]

I don't know if anyone has pointed it out yet; But I would just like to say that dialects aren't based on Nynorsk, it's the other way around. :P In other words; Whilst Norway was searching for it's sense of identity after it became independent from Denmark, some guys went around collecting tidbits of dialects all over the country in order to combine it into a new language.

[@TeruDora]

Jeg syns dette er helt fantastisk :D Den skriftlige norsken din ser veldig bra ut, og det virker som at du kan veldig mye ^^ Jeg blir så glad når utlendinger ønsker å lære seg norsk skikkelig og ihvertfall den lokale dialekten! Jeg er fra Stavanger og hver gang jeg hører utlendinger snakker stavangersk eller norsk blir jeg kjempeglad ^^ Veldig fint at du opplyser folk om dialekter. Det er av og til vanskelig for oss nordmenn også :D

[@bardo0007]

In the Kristiansand area , we speak Sørlandsdialekt . It has a lot in common with the Danish language . So you will find out that Danes from Northern part of Denmark will understand the dialect from Kristiansand area easier than other Norwegian dialects.

[@villevirtanen00]

Interesting video :) Especially on the west coast the dialect changes when you cross a fjord, a municipality border or travel half an hour in any direction. Dialects in cities and towns are often different from the area surrounding it, like Bergen or Stavanger.

[@Thirduncle1]

Thanks for sharing your experience xolang. I think its helpful for other students to understand the challenges dialekt can create. I remember meeting a 16 year old kid from Pakistan who spoke perfect bokmål. He started talking to some local folks in town and they switched from dialekt to bokmål. That made a huge impression on me and I vowed there and then to learn bokmål. Congratulations on being able to read it. Thanks for the comment!

[@herreguda]

It's so interesting to hear a foreginer's take on Norwegian and the dialects. I am Norwegian and I'm moving to Germany, so I'm learning German, and it's interesting to hear what you have to say on learning Norwegian. I am subscribing, this is fun^^

[@Thirduncle1]

Hi Carl, Yes my farmor told me they say "ej" in Molde. I heard your dialekt on TV. Some of the players from MFK spoke after they won against RBK. It was pretty easy to understand! : )

[@Hallvor1976]

Hi. They say "I" in Molde. I have family living there, so I know. "Ej" is typical in Sunnmøre, a bit farther south, but many in the older generation, including my own father, says "e".

[@Planeswalker0]

Hi. I come from Molde. We don't say "ej" we do actually like Halvor says, say: "I" but it is not pronounced like English "I" but as english "E"

[@dajdasdq]

Many times you said ''speak bokmål", "speaking bokmål", but it is wrong Once I said this to my Norwegian friend and he got mad at me and started explaning that you cannot speak it, it is only written language; people speak general Norwegian instead

[@EM-vr1zo]

Nikolay Shulgin Correct. People from Oslo often say they "speak bokmål" because they pronounce the words very close to how we write them in bokmål, but you could also say that for a certain version of Bergensk for example.

[@TerjeMathisen]

You can however speak "Riksmål" which is usually what is meant when someone claims that a person is speaking "Bokmål" My parents were members of "Riksmålsforbundet", the organization trying to promote this particular version of Norwegian.

[@dan74695]

What's "general Norwegian"?

[@Lollishboy]

There was one part I reacted to, and it was where you said that you have to talk Bokmål or Nynorsk in the school and then change back to dialect as soon as you get out of there. Where I live, that is not true. We always talked in our dialect when we were in school, even when reading out loud texts in either Bokmål or Nynorsk. I live in the same region as you, by the way. :) Just wanted to let you know.

[@Thirduncle1]

Lolish, I was talking about my (adult language course). Our teacher woudn't let us use dialect in class. My kids speak dialect in their (regular school). Sorry for the confusion. : )

[@Lollishboy]

Oh, okay! Hey, no problem at all ^^ I can somehow see why he/she made you do so by thinking back at your video. And I didn't think the video was bad at all! Cudos ;)

[@medborgarjournalisternags4777]

Thank you for a very comprehensive explanation of the different Norwegian dialects!🙏🏼 (Funny it took an American (?) immigrant 11 years ago to finally make it make sense...!) / Greetings from a Swedish Neighbour born in the Arctic North 👊🏼❤️🇸🇪❤️🇳🇴

[@christaverduren690]

I lived in Tonsberg, our dialect was so musical, and I loved the gasping yes. So many ways to say yes with the way you gasp.

[@knuthenriksommer4982]

Norway has 2(3) official languages: Norwegian and Sami ( and Kvænsk). Norwegian is one language with two written standards: Bokmål and Nynorsk. There is no spoken standard except for news-readers and program-presenters in NRK. Nynorsk is based on the dialects and not the opposite, so there are no nynorsk- or bokmål- dialects. The written standards are secondary to the spoken languages. Sami (in Norway), is 3 distinct and non-inter-intelligable languages: North-Sami, Lulesami and South-Sami. A fourth: Skolte-sami is now basically extinct in Norway but still excists in Finland and Russia. Sami languages are not "based on" Finnish, they are separate languages with common roots together with Finnish, Hungarian and Estonian. This common ancestry is separate from other european languages (mostly indo-european). Norwegian is closer related to Hindi and Urdu than to Sami or Finnish. Kvænsk is it's own language closely related to Finnish.

[@Thirduncle1]

It just started snowing yesterday. Very pretty to look at. Most of the time it's raining or overcast. It reminds me of England. The summer / spring / fall, can be very sunny at times, but it rains a lot. The last 3 winters have been colder than normal. Perfect for staying inside and writing music or learning Norwegian.

[@carlosluismartinezh]

When I studied high school in Oslo classes were taught in Bokmål , but in the Norwegian class everybody had to learn Nynosk as well.

[@Thirduncle1]

That's an excellent explanation of nynorsk! I am very interested right now in some of the (old norse) words ( or forms of them) that have survived the centuries and are still used in modern Norway. One example would be " Til fjells" . Is that correct? Takk for hjelpen! : )

[@FrerMartr]

A bit late here, but Bokmål is not from the 1300s. It is actually younger than Nynorsk, but they were made at about the same time. We didn’t really have a written language in the union with Denmark. Just Danish. And English is not spoken in Norway. No one speaks English amongst each other. We obviously speak English as a second language with foreigner though, like most of Northern and Central Europe.

[@fisken999999]

Actually we do learn about dialekts in norwegian schools. I'm actually learning about now! :P

[@mossyrock7467]

Do norwegians have a hard time underatansing each other's dialects or is it just fine?

[@Aslaugarsson]

@@mossyrock7467 We usually understand each other very good, but some of the words might be very different. My dialect resembles Nynorsk largely, so I don’t think people in Eastern Norway would understand me 100%

[@mossyrock7467]

@@Aslaugarsson thanks. I'm trying some norwegian on duolingo. Hopefully jeg skal snakke norsk :)

[@Aslaugarsson]

@@mossyrock7467 Yes, hopefully so :) You should perhaps pick Bokmål, only because other People understand you. In the Northwest of Norway the dialect becomes more Icelandic-like (Nynorsk) it’s Harder than Bokmål.

[@Balalaika74]

I live in Ostrobothnia, Finland where we speak Swedish. However the dialects we have are strongly influenced by the old nordic language, and today sounds maybe more like the north norwegian dialect. Don't know if your'e interested, but anyway, just thought i'd let you know.

[@Balalaika74]

We also use the i everywhere, for example Eitt and Ein. For Ett and En.

[@Thirduncle1]

Hi KD, Yes dialekt can be VERY frustrating. For the longest time my wife spoke English to me when we were alone and then switched to dialekt when we were with others (family, friends). At first it seemed pointless to learn bokmål because nobody spoke it. Then after i got better with speaking bokmål people started to speak it (pent) back to me. Dialect can be a kind of (survival test) : ) for us! I would try to find someone who will speak a little bokmål with you - so you can practice.

[@pantherjungle]

Where i live in norway, you only have to travel 5 minutes by car, and people speak a different dialect. I can hear if someone is from the city, or from wich direction 5 minutes out of town they are from. viss du kjøre langt oppi daløn, så skjønn´ ikje mi eigang å dei sei forno, d´æ hæilt sprøtt ! Stakkars dei som ska lere sæ nårsk fra bonnøn a !

[@martinhovden5207]

Ja med ein gong du køyre til ein by blir dialekta endra til noko som ligna Oslo språk.

[@TheHakon98]

Æ du venndøl? Høres ud som det æ rætt nor for Kresjansand

[@jenniferlewer2265]

D e itj så vanskeli når du får greie på d

[@Thirduncle1]

Ok thanks SuperAndrewMac, I will try to find a good link for that information and add it to the description. I will also annotate the video this weekend. Thank you for this valuable information! : )

[@markh9875]

It seems strange to keep saying "DEE-alekt" in English, when it usually pronounced "DYE-alect" in English. That might be the Norwegian word - I assume it is - but it is odd in English.

[@markh9875]

Ha - he slipped and said "dialect" in normal English at least once. So he's obviously using the strange pronunciation on purpose. Odd. Dialect is a perfectly normal English word and it means exactly what is being talked about here.

[@Thirduncle1]

Mark H I Yes I used the norwegian pronunciation of dialect too much in this video. I was trying to concentrate on the content. One lady complained that I pronounced bokmål and nynorsk in english. : )

[@richardblackhound1246]

I think in any version of English it's pronounced 'die-alect' but I think he is pronouncing it the Norwegian way because that's how Norwegians would refer to what they speak.

[@gettyner]

The sentence structure is not all similar across dialects. My dialect differs from nynorsk/bokmål often when asking questions, when using spørjeord/"asking words". Not just the words, but also the placement of them. For instance: bokmål: Hvordan kommer du deg hjem? Nynorsk: Korleis kjem du deg heim? My dialekt: Koss du kjeme deg heim? The verb and subject switches place. I think it only is when using words like ka(hva), kass(hvilken), koss(hvordan), katid(når), ken(hvem). But not koffor(hvorfor). You can use the normal sentence structure, but this change is very much used. Just thought you would like to know. :)

[@Tubehauge]

there was no such thing as bokmål in the 1300's..

[@Thirduncle1]

Yes. That's what the annotation is for. Here's a link to more info about that period. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_language_conflict

[@norwaylife1]

The first Bokmål orthography was officially adopted in 1907 under the name Riksmål after being under development since 1879

[@opgopg8087]

Thirduncle1's Norwegian Language Channel I saw the annotation, but it's still directly misleading and totally wrong. Bokmål and the whole language conflict itself didn't occurr before well into the 19th century, and linking it to the earlier history will only make people confused. I must say that I'm impressed by your skills, but I especially reacted to that part because, as I just said, it's complitely misleading. It would be right to say that the influence from danish may have started then (even tough that didn't really start before into the 16th century when we lost our independence either), but to link it to bokmål is just plain wrong and is not an advantage for anyone. I would strongly advise you to edit this part. Other than that I must say that it's a very nice and well made video:)

[@larslarsen8010]

Opg. Min forståelse av historien er at bokmål ble "konstruert" av det Danske embedsverket under en Dansk konge for å bli det "offisielle" språket i landet. Det ble derav regnet for å være "fint" språk og ble brukt mest rundt Osloområdet. Det er jo en blanding av Norsk og Dansk. Visstnok derfor mange "Nynorsk" fanatikere er imot det. Nynorsk er jo også bare et oppkonstruert språk. !

[@Thirduncle1]

Thanks for explaining that area. I was on a road trip to Finnøy i Rogaland. Beautiful place. The mainland of Norway looks so cool from there. We almost took the ferry to Bergen, but we didn't have the penger! The only person I talked to was another utlending from Romania, who made us a pizza at a restaurant. Takk så mye for kommentaren! : )

[@Thirduncle1]

Thanks for sharing that. I just listened to some of it and it was fun to see how much I could understand. That's a good exercise! I must admit, I listen mostly to P3. I like the music! : )

[@maruree]

Great video! I have so many foreign friends who correct me when I talk about Norwegian dialects. 'Surely you mean accent', they all say. I think the dialects have a very special position in Norway. I'm from Moss myself, so sadly my dialect is almost indistinguishable (it's basically bokmål but we say 'ho' in stead of 'hun' and 'henne' and a lot of a-endings on female nouns). I wish I had a more special one. Good luck with yours!

[@TheLanguageWanderer]

I like this video a lot.it gives a great ovierview on Norwegian language and its dialects

[@Thirduncle1]

Very well explained, 9Sun9! Takk så mye!!! : )

[@nebelung1]

I did not know they changed the spelling of their words in Norway depending on which dialect is used. In Sweden we have a standard spelling of our words "rikssvenska" and it doesn't change with different Swedish dialects (the differences between different dialects are only noticeable if spoken).

[@AdaKitten]

Bokmål is the written language, dialekts are spoken. Eastern Norwegian (Oslo dialect) is still a dialect, even if it is spoken by a lot of people, it is still not the majority of Norway. I agree that most of Norway understand this dialect though, but to assume it is the same as spoken bokmål is in my view wrong. Nynorsk is closer to the old Norwegian once spoken in Norway (though Nynorsk means New Norwegian). If you want to speak closer to what the Vikings did, go to Sogndal (in Norway) or Iceland (which is even closer to Norse).

[@t-mag3004]

I don't hate Nynorsk in any way. Even though i grew up in Austlandet where we're taught Bokmål, What i don't like about "modern" Nynorsk neccecarily is how similar it has become to Bokmål. Modern Nynorsk looks nothing like the original Landsmål as published by Ivar Aasen, Landsmål was so different from Riksmål that you would think they represented different languages. Today the closest you'll get to "learning" the original Landsmål is through Høgnorsk. I've read texts & dictionaries in Høgnorsk and i can tell you, that that's how Nynorsk should've been to this day in my opinion.

[@Aslaugarsson]

Excactly! My dialect is very close to more «pure» Nynorsk

[@atta-ur-rehmankhan4641]

Hi, i need to know how to make nouns from verbs in norwegian and vise versa. So any video regarding this will be highly appreciated. If you already have such presentation please share the link.

[@Thirduncle1]

Thanks for the detailed information! : )

[@Thirduncle1]

Very cool! I googled "sosiolekt" and there is A LOT of information out there about it. I strongly recommend that others who are interested in dialekt also look into "sosiolekt" as well. Tusen takk -Revestrek89! : )

[@Thirduncle1]

I always enjoy hearing the Bergen dialect .The Trondheim dialect is probably my favorite. I can't understand a word of it, but I like the way it sounds. : ) I think you're right. The geography of Norway must have played a major role in the diversity of speech. I've come to appreciate the different dialects here. The USA has been commercialized to the point where almost every town looks and sounds the same. The dialects here seem to protect communities from that. : )

[@alvildev]

The article "ei" is used only two hours north from Oslo. Along the greatest lake in Norway called, Mjøsa, they use "ei". :-)

[@viggoholmsen7203]

Watch "Runes dialektreise langs kysten med kart" on KZbin. Always fun. Of course he skips a lot of different dialects and nuances, but I think he got a lot of the characteristics spot on.

[@skiven8800]

Cool! I didn't know that you made a video about our dialects. I am from Trøndelag, but i moved around so much when I was little that I now speak 3 dialects. Mainly, I just think that "Nynorsk" is a a mix out of all the dialects in our country.

[@simonolthenorwegian]

mostly because it is

[@Annkaline]

"Nordnorsk" is such a wide word for differed dialects, in Finnmark we speak different from the people in Troms, we live rather close but in Finnmark we say "æ" for the english "I" while in Troms they mostly say "Eg" just to get one word out of many words that are different. So in Finnmark we have our own dialect in Troms they have their dialect, but usually is just mixed together and called "Nordnorsk". There are some things that are alike but a lot that is different. Also there are probably more different dialects in Oslo because so many people move there from everywhere in Norway also we have TV where you hear different dialects all the time...

[@silje8711]

Vi sier 'æ' i troms også... I hvert fall på kysten.

[@Annkaline]

ja æ har mærka d i d siste :)

[@ImuhMusician]

How is the weather where you live? I have been thinking about moving to your area. :)

[@nocturne6548]

Okej that makes sense. I've been learning Norwegian for 6 years, and I like to listen to Russemusikk to practice my listening skills. One of the songs I use is Drømmeland by Kevin Boine, and he uses the "Æ" a lot in that song. Now I know why.

[@NorwegianNationalist1]

You probably lose a lot of brain cells listening to russemusikk please stop doing it for your own health

[@tjenathomas]

I too would suggest (was told) that Nynorsk is modeled after vernacular dialects (but some more than others), the actual spoken Norwegian, rather than the other way around.

[@Thirduncle1]

Here's a quote from the link in the description. "In 1349 the Black Death wiped out almost one half of the Norwegian population. As there were only a few literate persons left, no one was present to preserve the written Norwegian language in years to come. In 1397 Norway entered a union with Denmark that lasted until 1814. Denmark came to be the dominating part, and Danish came to be the primary language among the Norwegian elite.". The 1300's marked the ending of (old norsk).

[@CarpetHater]

Oslodialekt is different from bokmål, however in Oslo (mostly the western or richer parts) speak "standard østnorsk" or "dannet dagligtale" which is almost like bokmål. However the oslodialekt is slightly different, and is used in eastern oslo

[@dep.deity3605]

goddag. jeg bor i usa og jeg vil gjerne gå til norge. Jeg elsker språk med dialekter. tusen takk!

[@Thirduncle1]

I had no idea about that! In the US there are regions for example *like the deep south", where some folks don't care too much for "Northerners". It depends on who you talk to. That's very interesting information. Thanks. : )

[@olufsen98]

I noticed you pronounced a lot of words (well not a lot but some) with a sudden end, like instead of saying Eg, it sounded more like Egg. I've also noticed a lot of other foreigners pronounce it the same way, I guess it's because in English and other languages you only have the fast and the very slow endings, but in Norwegian there's a thing in the middle :P I must say tho that besides from that little remark your Norwegian is really good!

[@Thirduncle1]

Kanskje en dag skal jeg fortelle en video på norsk. Jeg har en dårlig amerikansk aksent. Thank you for clarifying that more and more dialekt is used on TV and radio. Every now and then I see bokmål subtitles when someone speaks dialekt. It's very interesting. Takk for kommentaren!

[@Thirduncle1]

Takk for den fine kommentaren! Vi sier også "ho" her hvor jeg bor. Vi sier "kå" istedenfor "hva". My friends think I talk a little like a bokmål machine, but they understand me very well. A lady from Russia who lives here told me the dialect comes automaticaly as time goes by. People are teaching me a little at a time and they smile when I remember to use it. : )

[@flaate]

You forgot we usually say in southern Møre og Romsdal (Sunnmøre), in bokmål it's "jeg" but we say "ej".

[@mybluebelly]

"pent" is usually regarded as something that LOOKS good. Not something that sounds good. You can use it for the weather but generally they use the word "pent" in the capital city and in these geographical well known bokmaal surrounding areas. I never use "pent" and i reside in Western Norway. I use "fint" instead. Basically means "fine" while "pent" is more like "pretty" thankyou for observing my 5 "cents"

[@Pakanahymni]

The Saami languages are not *based* on Finnish. Finnish is related to them like German is to Norwegian.

[@kbhmagjor]

+Pakanahymni I was thinking the same. Though I think it's actually even further removed. As far as I know it has an entirely different root, but there has been some cross-pollination of lexicon with Finnish.

[@Pakanahymni]

Magnus J Balto-Finnic and Saamic languages are close relatives, (possibly) diverging from a common ancestor some 2000-3000 years ago, which coincides pretty nicely with the hypothetical split of proto-Germanic, so I think it's an apt comparison based on what we know.

[@iaxivers7694]

Swedish.

[@milokip1523]

So to learn Norwegian, you must inevitably learn multiple languages? How to read Bokmål + how to speak a local dialect which is essentially another language? Also, you have to learn how to pronounce Bokmål words in order to comprehend and read it no? So if I "speak" Bokmål in Norway will I still be understood?

[@Revestrek89]

I'm by no means a linguist, but I've heard that the deal with Oslo is that it contains many "sosiolekt", as opposed to dialects. The Oslo-dialect itself fits into the "Østlandsk/Austlandsk"-category wheras the sosiolekts within are more tied to a social grouping and association rather than geography, even though where in the city you've grown up certainly plays a part in how you speak as well.

[@Thirduncle1]

My son is learning German too. He speaks German to me and it drives me crazy because I want him to speak in our norsk dialekt (so I can get better at it). I wish you the best of luck with your German. Check back and let me know how it goes there. Takk for kommentaren!

[@Thirduncle1]

Thanks! Nice catch!

[@KaiaZouai]

Woah, there is so much to take in.....I absolutely love anything Norwegian and I'm currently learning it. Getting the hang of it now :) But åh herregud, once i found out that there are so many dialects and that they might be very hard to understand and are completely different in various locations, I feel really scared now,considering that I might not understand the locals ;( I'm planning on moving to Norway when I'm older and would like to live in various parts like Trondheim,Bergen and Oslo to kind of be more familiar with the dialects. Is this a good idea? And is learning Bokmål kind of like a base to learning all the dialects of Norway? Besides the language, I would like to ask any local Norwegians out there on which parts of Norway i should consider living in/visit. I absolutely love the sceneries in Norway :) Any places in particular I should definitely visit? Hopefully someone will answer me :)

[@hedlu]

If you are going to live in/visit Oslo bokmål is the best. I think the Oslo dialekt is the same as bokmål (not sure because I live in Bergen). In Bergen we speak more nynorsk, but I have never heard a bergenser (bergenser: person from Bergen) used the ei article. I have never visited Trondheim so I don't know much about it. As for you visiting different parts of Norway. Personally I would recommend (for the scenery) north Norway, because of all the beautiful mountains and fjords. And the southern part too, like Arendal etc. Because the summers there are amazing, beautiful water, perfect temperature and so on. But if you want to hear bokmål you should probably visit Oslo. And if you don't understand something a Norwegian say to you, just ask in English or Norwegian. Hope this helped.

[@KaiaZouai]

Thank You so much for the advice and for responding! I really appreciate it and you just made my day! :)

[@opgopg8087]

Hi, I'm norwegian myself and I must say that it's very nice to hear a foreigner speak so kindly about our country. It's also nice to hear that you want to move here, we have a very beautiful country if I must say so myself ;) About the language part I would advise you to focus on your bokmål, and don't let the dialects scare you, we might not even understand all of them ourselves. The closest thing to a spoken version of bokmål is called "standard østnorsk", and that's the dialect they usually teach foreigners. No matter where you go you will always be able to make yourself understood by the locals if you speak this dialect. And as Hedda mentioned above, if you should have a problem understanding them, just ask! Norwegians are used to the problem of not making ourselves understood even when talking to our own countrymen, so making someone adapt their dialect so you can understand it usually won't be a problem. Hope this helped, and good luck to you!

[@KaiaZouai]

Thank You so much for the advice! I feel so relieved now :D

[@KaiaZouai]

Oooh sounds intriguing! Thank you for the suggestion :) and your english is great! :D

[@Thirduncle1]

Interesting question! As an American, you won't really need to worry about that too much. The most important thing for you will be learning bokmål (so you can read) and the local dialekt where you live. Its not really a question of choosing a random dialekt you like. The town where you live will influence the dialekt you speak. I don't have much information on specific stereotypes in Norway. As an "utlending" - foreigner, I don't feel qualified to judge Norwegians like that. : )

[@sturlamolden]

Bokmål is not from the 1300’s. It was constructed from the dialect in western Oslo in 1929.

[@alessandrolelli3212]

Interesting,the difference between these dialects are more based on the accent and intonation,or it',s about totally different phrases?

[@sergiojunior8057]

Teacher... I have a doubt.. A serious doubt about the Norwegian language.. If I learn Bokmal Will I be able of speaking to everyone in Norway or just to a couple of people? I wanna know also if I will be able of understanding everything they tell me... or I need to study one by one of the dialects spoken in there ;/ Thanks...

[@Thirduncle1]

Sérgio Junior, Most people learn bokmål when they come to norway. You need to learn bokmål to read and write. You will learn whatever dialect they speak in the area where you live by listening to the people speak it. Don't worry, it's not that hard, but it takes time. I'm not a teacher (by the way). I have moved to norway and just wanted to share information with other people - (just to help). : )

[@sergiojunior8057]

Thirduncle1's Norwegian Language Channel Tusen takk!!! ^^ Veldig nyttig.

[@DanceUnitedy]

Mostly all norwegians have to write bokmål in school, im trøndersk myself. But i can speak and understand all the dialekts in Norway. They might seem quite different. you learn all the dialekt when you are growing up, its just something you learn naturally i think. But if u talk bokmål to a norwegian he/she will defenitly understand you :)

[@sergiojunior8057]

DanceUnitedy Thank you very much! ^^ Glad to know that.. =)

[@TyraElisabeth]

To a foreigner understanding all the dialects may be a great challenge, unless you live in Norway for a while. As the user above said you learn to understand all the dialects as you grow up, but the average person cannot speak them all fluently. Still, people in Norway will often have to ask their fellow Norwegians from another area what a word means, because even if you learn to figure out the words beneath the dialect you won't know all the dialect-words. And of course there's dialects even Norwegians can't figure out unless they speak them themselves... then you just use the common "smile-and-nod"-technique or, if you're not Norwegian or a Norwegian that CAN sound like a foreigner, make them speak English. Norwegians suck in English but they love to practise their Norwenglish accent.

[@fenotipobombay]

is it possible that norwegians founded cities in southern italy? there are some places there were the people look norwegian and speak a strange dialect that sounds like norwegian.

[@Frostliche]

That's interesting, never heard about that, but I know the Vikings were in contact with/settled in Sicily at some point.

[@silje8711]

that sounds awesome

[@fenotipobombay]

I've read that many scandinavian mercenaries went to fight in southern Italy around 1000 ad, some of them even founded cities. And finally a viking guy with a bunch of mercenaries, called rainulph drenkgot conquered all southern italy creating a norman kingdom. Maybe there's a link with that.

[@Thirduncle1]

Good to know! Someone told me there are 5 sub-dialects in Oslo. Er det sant? Jeg er bare nysgjerrig. : )

[@hasselnttper3730]

I'm from Helgeland, and I have no problems understanding most dialects, but there are some that change a lot of words, and those are the ones I have some problems with. So, for the foreigners who are interested, here's the thing: Most dialects change the way a word or sentence is pronounced, sort of like the different English accents, so when you're new to the language I can imagine this being a problem. But once you understand Bokmål fluently (fluently in the sense that you don't really have to stop and think/process what you've heard) you will be able to understand most dialects just fine (I think). Now, dialects also swap and change some words, which can often sound completely foreign, but if that happens, just stop and ask that person what the word means. And just to put into perspective; someone from Helgeland will not understand the local Trønder words unless they've heard them before. Example: Hungry in Norwegian and dialects Bokmål - Sulten Helgeland - Sulten, or pronounced "Sultn" - at least in my part of Helgeland, lol. Trøndersk - Sopin But people from Trøndelag also use the normal Norwegian bokmål word.

[@Thirduncle1]

Someone told me Tromsø was the same way. Because there are so many teachers and students living there. Anyway, thanks for the information. : )

[@stinejakobsen9798]

I am norwegian, and we don't have our own type of speaking called "pent". This is wrong. People speak the dialect of their area on radio/TV/in political debates. We understand each other either way! Maybe you have misunderstood something :)

[@mndkv2747]

I would be proud if I can learn the pent version of the language. In the end is the language used in books, represented the country. The dialects is language from your home place, I have dialects in my home place, and when I hear it it is sound unserious. My opinion.

[@rubbse]

Actually, most politicians and people on the radio do speak "pent" we even named a dialect "pentrøndersk" after them, very common in some areas in Trondheim as well. It's harder for me to say anything about other dialects in Norway as I might not hear the difference, but I assume most bigger cities have people that mix bokmål and their own dialect to be more easily understood.

[@2Zemog]

I disagree, personally. You might even do it too, without realizing. We all* clean up our dialects a little when communicating with someone from another region. *Exceptions may include eastern norwegians, as well as norwegians from cities, as city dialects are often closer to eastern Norwegian dialects [Penere].

[@knuthenriksommer4982]

News- and program-presenters in NRK have to speak NRKs own standardized spoken nynorsk or bokmål. The rest can use their own dialect. "Pent" does not excist, but people want to be understood, so they often go to something that is closer to the NRK-standard when talking to people with different dialects.

[@viggoholmsen7203]

When someone is alluding to speaking "pent" or "fint", what they usually mean is that the speaker enunciates clearly while avoiding local colloquialisms

[@sirjimbothefirst]

That makes it sound like almost a continuum of the same language rather than three separate ones.

[@Thirduncle1]

Er du trønder? Eller lengre nord fra? : )

[@anna-saraarnardotter2300]

Tack för den här fantastiska videon om norska dialekter, det var precis vad jag sökte efter! Jag är säker på att du förstår svenska som norska. ;-) Jag blev extra glad att se att du sa dialekter istället för accenter eftersom jag och min man (som är amerikan) inte har varit överens om skillnaderna, men nu vet jag att jag har rätt, i Europa i alla fall. :-) Jag hoppas du fick högsta betyg för videon.Til hamingju. :-D

[@anna-saraarnardotter2300]

Tack för ditt medhåll om accent och dialekt! 😁 Det andra om skillnaden mellan språk och dialekt var riktigt intressant, har inte tänkt på det tidigare. Utan någon kunskap om det skulle jag säga att ett språk är geografiskt avgränsat till ett land (av historiska/politiska skäl) och hur språket skrivs, medan dialekt är hur språket talas på olika geografiska områden inom landet. Å andra sidan så förstår väl de flesta de skandinaviska språken, så blir det då dialekter, klurigt...

[@adelaarrobin9173]

Ann AS Jag tycker också att den här videon är mycket bra. Sista tid sysslar jag att läsa norsk, och för all del nynorsk

[@Thirduncle1]

Beklager for at jeg glemte jærsk, men denne videoen er for å gi utlendinger en idee om norske dialekter i general. Takk for at du kommenterte.

[@Hellsconsort]

Seems like a lot of respect for local language heritage. Where I live in England our local accent has been diluted very much in quite a short period of time (50 - 60 years / 2 - 3 generations) first from the BBC now globalisation, student city etc. I know it's natural to change but the difference from hearing an old person and a young person speak in noticable.

[@ThSkBj]

I was aggressively bullied by random Oslo-folk once when visiting Oslo, just because they heard me speak bergensk. So it's not just the northerners that gets it.

[@Thirduncle1]

No. Not many. You can google "samisk" to find out more about it. It is however officially recognized by the norwegian government.

[@DeantheSword]

A dialect is so much more than just the way to say I. There's the different kinds of R's, the thick L, and so much more. I myself am Norwegian and I have a mixed dialect, I used to talk Stordamål, when I was younger but then I moved to the south coast and my dialect changed because no one spoke Stordamål to me. I know someone that lives in Lillesand, and there they say: Ska me te du? (Are we going to you?/Are we going home to you?) In bokmål this would be: Skal vi til deg?

[@Thirduncle1]

Dialektjungelen! Du bruker "korr" og "æ" og "kjæm". Er du fra Snåsa ? : )

[@AltrightBuddha]

This is true. But Bokmål didn't exist in the 14th century. But from that point on Denmark and the danish language led the way in the development of the language. In the 19th century, the written language was pretty much danish, even though it was called riksmål. Gradually, during the 20th century, bokmål was created through a series of reformations.

[@TheRedSphinx]

Norge är helt klart mer dialektuppdelat än vad Sverige är. Geografin har inbjudit till detta.

[@StarshipTrooper4231]

The Red Sphinx Jag skulle vilja påstå att vi har ännu fler. De norska är nog mer distinkta, men det finns många i Sverige. Även små lokala dialekter.

[@wug6175]

@@StarshipTrooper4231 har du vore på vestlandet? Der er det slik at du kommer til å finne minst éin dialekt per komune, og ofte så er det éin dialekt for kvar bygd (men ikkje alltid).

[@tamu7243]

Joedoes jupp. E vertfall sånn i Sunnhordland. Ikkje kjempe store forskjella, men tydelig nokk te å skilla de.

[@wug6175]

@@tamu7243 ja, de e de. Eg veit litt om de siden eg bor i kvinnherad.

[@lightyard3309]

nu ska ni taat lungt pojkan, väster om östirsjöön så har vi mejr dialektan än svenskan o norskan har sammalagt. ni har int naa aaning hu mytzi olik dialektan vi har hjer i traktan. varji 15 km så ere som ejn nyan språtzi.

[@wikarth]

You are completely wrong about the "pent" assumption. There is no such thing. Just perhaps an overweight of upper class Oslo people in some administrative branches, but never to the extent that it truly dominates any arena.

[@lordluke10]

How different is bokmål and the dialects from danish? Is it hard to learn if youre danish?

[@MrXXUknownXx]

I am danish and understand nearly everything of written Bokmål, but when it is spoken from the mouth in front of you, it is sometimes very hard to understand.

[@vatnidd]

MrXXUknownXx Also true vice versa ;)

[@iLolek10]

If you would go to south-west corner of Norway, you would find two towns Vigrestad and Warhaug. There people speak exact the same dialect like nord Jylland. Eg. Hanstholm or Thisted. There you just need to learn to caunt from 40 up to 100 on normal way and nobody would piont that you're not from there.

[@TheHakon98]

I am from Kristiansand and my dialect is like written danish pronounced with Norwegian intonation. For this reason I actually prefer to write in Danish rather than Bokmål. Written Danish is much more natural to me.

[@vivianbolkan5860]

If you’re struggling to understand the different dialects just ask them to speak eastern language (the dialect that is pretty much the same as bokmål)

[@mossyrock7467]

Do norwegians have a hard time understanding each other's dialects or is it just fine?

[@NorwegianNationalist1]

Just fine. We're pretty used to hearing other dialects so most of the time when a word is different we already know the meaning of it even tho we dont use it ourselves. Certain dialects can be hard to understand due to very unique prononciations, and if that is the case you just ask the person to speak a little slower

[@AltrightBuddha]

Also. In short, "New Norwegian" was created in the 19th century by Ivar Aasen because the written danish language was difficult for people on the country side to relate to. He thought norwegians should have a language closer to what people spoke. People in the cities naturally disagreed with him on that point because they were more familiar with the danish written language.

[@Henoik]

Fint at du trives i Norge :) Du er veldig flink til å forklare.

[@ZorbaAlarga]

All over accurate and true - with the exception of a few errors. An important absence is that "sørlandsk" (southern norwegian), which is very close to danish, is not listed as one of the 6 main dialects (where Bergensk would be distinct from Vestlandsk).

[@Thirduncle1]

Sørlandsk is included later in the video. I think there may be more than one set of classifications. Keep in mind that this video is meant to give language students a general idea about dialects.

[@ZorbaAlarga]

Ok, i get that, so bergensk can be regarded as vestlandsk in a first impression. Sørlandsk, however, should really be included as its own, just like nordnorsk, østlandsk and vestlandsk, since its a equal part of the country geographically and since a lot of people live there and since it is completely distinct from everything else. Every time we list østlandsk, vestandsk and nordnorsk, we always include sørlandsk as an equal part.

[@ZorbaAlarga]

Btw, you have an impressive insight into norwegian. I first thought it was a norwegian who made these clips.

[@Thirduncle1]

Vilan Ring Takk! I'm just trying to help other "utlendinger" understand norwegian. I'll annotate Sørlandsk into the beginning of the video as soon as I can. : )

[@ZorbaAlarga]

Sounds fair :) (and im from the west, not south ;)

[@amandastrand1468]

Hej, bra vid! Tror du att det är lättare för någon från Sverige att lära sig Norsk? För jag är från Sverige och kan förstå ungefär 70-90% av det skrivna (förmodligen Bokmål)... Jag frågar för att jag funderar på att börja studera till läkare i Norge.../ Hi,nice vid! Do you think it's easier to learn Norsk if you're from Sweden? Because I'm from Sweden and I can understand about 70-90% of the written language (probably Bokmål)... I ask because I'm thinking about starting to study medecine to become a doctor...

[@Thirduncle1]

Hi Amanda, My brother in law is a medical student. He's norwegian, but attends medical school in Hungary. The most important language for a medical career is english. You will also have to memorize lots of latin for anatomy osv. Learning standard bokmål will help if you plan to practice in Norway. You may wind up being an intern in Oslo with other medical students from all over norway. Thats what my brother in law does during the summer. : )

[@amandastrand1468]

Thank you!

[@doku5412]

Lovely video. Hearing you telling your story learning the language brings me so much joy. I'll leave in some popular tounge-twisters from my town. Dykke dykken dykt når dykken dykke? (BM: Dykker dere dypt når dere dykker?) Do you dive deep (in the water) when you dive Æ e i a, æ. Æ e i a, æ å! (BM: Jeg er i a, jeg. Jeg er i a jeg også!) I am in A. I am in A too! (Children are divided up in classes in school when they're too many. Class A, B, C, and so forth)

[@ASstudios07]

Norsk sjøl, men flott me et sjikkeli synsponkt! FANTASTISK! Hadde betalt får at du sko våre leråren min

[@valento123]

Hi I got pimsleur norweigan does anyone know if the dialect they teach is the most useful one and if it works for most of norway?

[@EfferverscinElephant]

+new spice Bokmål. We are not idiots, and the dialects are not different languages. Go with the main language, My fiancee has been using babel to try and impress me and she is fairly good at pronunciation without my assistance. I don't know how in depth their program is, but it's free.Only after you learn Bokmâl if you for some odd reason have time to learn the difference's after learning Bokmål you got to much time on your hands and no matter what you learn your still have an accent. It's so twisted. I have to think on the nynorsk spelling's but write mostly Bokmål and speak Nynorsk. Trust me you gotta learn Bokmål.

[@519DJW]

Mainland Scandinavian dialects are more or less mutually intelligible. I find this interesting because those of many other languages spoken in relatively small geographical areas (e.g. German, Italian and Japanese) are often not. For instance, Alemannic, spoken in southwestern Germany and Switzerland is so different from dialects in other parts of the German-speaking world as to qualify as a completely different language. Can anyone shed some light on how the Scandinavian situation came to be?

[@christopherwood9009]

Does Helgelandsmå/Vefsnmål have much variation in their words?

[@weetikissa]

Hey there, I'm not a native speaker of the English language, but I use it on a daily basis. I just wanted to point out that the word "dialect" is pronounced "dye-alect" and not the same way as you do in Norwegian.

[@norachristiane6553]

You actually got a few things wrong :/ Bokmål and Nynorsk are the two written languages i Norway. All the dialects are the spoken part of the language. That's why you can't use the dialects in tests etc.

[@simonolthenorwegian]

Bergensk does NOT extend outside Bergen, what so ever. In the area surrounding Bergen there's another dialct that dominates. It's called strilamål. the borders of the "strilaland" stretches out over the area where one could row to Bergen in one day.

[@Thirduncle1]

Good example! Takk

[@jekyllhirsi1009]

Seems to be a bit the same like in the german part of Switzerland. But here high german speakers understand nothing. Can i understand dialects of Norwegian with only speaking Bokmål?

[@Xeper-I-Set]

You can't ''speak'' bokmål as bokmål is an exlusively written language

[@olufsen98]

The western part of norway is pretty much a cluster of dialekts. When someone from Bergen would say (btw this is not how to spell stuff, just pronouncing) Hei eg hetar ... ,someone from Stord (where im from, an island with about 20k people) which is only about half an hour with a ferry, would say Hei eg heite ... Bergen is pretty uniqe on the west coast tho, they use a lot more Bokmål than Nynorsk sometimes, compared to the other towns/cities, which are mostly Nynorsk.