Question for Borknagar (or anyone well versed in uh?Norweigen?)

[Fjelltussa]

Originally posted by TravisW
Heheh---this is a fun thread.

Here's a bit of a funny story...
About 5 years ago, I was in Copenhagen. I stopped in a 7-11 there to buy a Coke, and behind me in line was a guy who sounded like he was from around the Sogn area in Norway. I paid the 16 kroner for my bottle of pop (OUCH!!!) and it was his turn in line. The Danish teller told him the price, to which the Norwegian replied "Kva?"
To which the Dane replied "Hva?"
The Dane repeated the price....
"Kva?"
Since I had just been through the same thing before, I just told him the price. Thus an American who couldn't understand Danish and has a really tough time with Western Norwegian dialects helped avert an international Cola incident.

I learned some Norwegian growing up, and then when I got older I actually studied it. Unfortunately, most of the people in North Dakota who speak Norwegian are getting old or dying, so I'm starting to forget a lot of it, and it's getting tougher for me to understand.

Hehe, it can be quite difficult to for danes and norwegians to understand each other. Especially with numbers, because the danish numbers are very different from norwegian. English numbers are more similar, because it's the same system. I think danish number are more similar to french, though I don't know for sure, since I don't understand danish numbers. But anyway, many times it's just way more easy to communicate in english than in our own languages. Reading danish though, is not very easy, 'cause it's not very different from reading norwegian (bokmål, not nynorsk; that is very different). It's just the accent...

@TravisW: But what about the "OUCH!!!" ?? Was it expensive, or so...? Hehehe.....

 

[Morgana]

I would say ouch too, it is expensive for me as well, compare to my country, but then again, airport often are really expensive.

 

[Salira]

Originally posted by Fjelltussa


You like my sig.? Cool, ain't it?

But dear one - shame on you!! You claim that Norway was a part of Denmark up to 1905!?!?! It was a part of Denmark from the 1380s/1390s and up until 1814! Then we were free for two or three months or so, and we were under Sweden from august or september in 1814 and up until 1905. (But then we had much more to say than under Denmark. We ruled our own country, while Sweden took care of the foreign policy.)

edit: typos.....

Well actuelly Denmark lost Norway to Sweden, in a war, couse the danish king thought he was strong enourgh to take Sweden down. But the swedish king was creedy, and wanted all of Denmark too, so he kept the war going and did get almost all of Denmark ( the people in Copenhagen raised agianst the swedish army), when the Netherlands (Denmarks friendship country) gathered England and France to help Denmark, the result was that Denmark lost Skåne, Halland and Bleking for good to Sweden (they tried to make these part swedish, but didnt succed in the start, that might explain the accent in Skåne), but Denmark where given Norway back, but then I dont really remember the ages...

But then to the whole Viking thing, I guess that depends how you look at a viking, take Sweden in The Viking Time, they where traders, trading with the easten countries, it was actuelly almost only Norway and Denmark that went plundering

In danish you have alot of accent to, if you go to the south, south of Denmark (the border of Germany), you will find that not only do they speak (sønderjysk) their dialekt, they also mix german words into it (like if it wasnt hard enourgh already to understand them .), Norweigen I think is the language that have devolped less than swedish and danish, and that is quite nice, I think it is couse they try to keep their history, and their nationality (which I think is a beautifull thing) danish is the language that changes the most, being very much infekted (heheh) by german and english (which explain why my german boyfriend actuelly understand quite abit danish).

 

[Fjelltussa]

Originally posted by Salira

Norweigen I think is the language that have devolped less than swedish and danish, and that is quite nice, I think it is couse they try to keep their history, and their nationality (which I think is a beautifull thing) danish is the language that changes the most, being very much infekted (heheh) by german and english (which explain why my german boyfriend actuelly understand quite abit danish).

I thought swedish was less changed than norwegian.... I read a text in swedish from about 1400-1500 or so, and it wasn't that hard to understand. But what is of norwegian formthat same time, is either in danish or in old norwegian, and old norwegian is not very easy for me to understand..... But there's very much difference between nynorsk and bokmål though. Nynorsk is much less changed than bokmål, though they are getting more and more like.

 

[TravisW]

Part of the differences come in with the fact that languages weren't really very standardized as far as their grammar, spelling, etc for a long time. I did a little research on my last name, and from the 14th Century to the 17th century, it changed significantly as far as pronunciation and spelling (from Vaudin to Wøyen) From the 17th century, it didn't change a whole lot to the 19th century---basically, it was a case of people trying to decide whether to use a W or a V. The odd duck of the whole thing was the Hadeland dialect in about 1840---they spelled it Vaaja. That, and if you compare the word to the common modern word for the same thing, which is Vadet, it seems that a lot of people for a lot of years used a lot of different words to describe a place where you cross a river.

Oh well, tangent over. Now you all know far more than you ever cared to know about my last name.

 

[Fjelltussa]

So you originate from Hadeland? Btw, nice signature you have, hehehe.... But, umm.... Vadet.... That would be a verb.... Or do you mean like "_the_ place to cross the river"? Like
"vad(ested)_et_"...? I haven't heard just "vadet" before....

 

[TravisW]

Yes, that's what I meant---vadestad. Refer to my earlier post about forgetting half of the Norwegian I've ever known

I guess I have roots going back to Hadeland, Hardanger, Eksingedalen, Nesna, and a couple crazy Swedish roots going to somewhere west of Karlskoga.

 

[Fjelltussa]

Oh, you're lucky to have roots in Hardanger! That's a beautiful place! Especially in the spring!

 

[TravisW]

It's certainly a lot nicer to look at than anywhere in North Dakota.

 

[Fjelltussa]

Well, I have never been to North Dakota, but I'm sure there are many beautiful places there! Must have been since any norwegians cared to go there..... (kidding, of course...)

 

[TravisW]

I never really figured out what drew any Norwegians to North Dakota. I think it's probably the only land that was left in the USA, because really.......

Does that look anything like Norway? As an added benefit, we have hotter summers and colder winters than most of Norway (unless you go WAY up north)

Immigration is bizarre...

 

[Henrik Main]

Originally posted by Fjelltussa
Oh, you're lucky to have roots in Hardanger! That's a beautiful place! Especially in the spring!

I'm even luckier, cause I'm from Moss.... Hehe. Just kidding. I often find that Norwegians aren't very fond of Moss. Oh well.

Anyway - shit, I'm not very fond of nynorsk being pushed on us bokmål-speaking people. I mean, why is it necessary to learn a language that I never will use? Sigh.

@Fjelltussa: Where are you from? Don't tell me that you're from Sunnmøre? And talk like Einar Førde? *Crosses fingers*

 

[Henrik Main]

@Travis: It does look a little bit like the Norwegian countryside, yes. The Norwegian immigrants were mostly peasants, (and pheasants, lol) and they wanted to go to a place with rich soil, wild game, etc. And North Dakota was therefore a good place to settle. You have a very funny sig, by the way!

 

[Fjelltussa]

Originally posted by TravisW

Does that look anything like Norway? As an added benefit, we have hotter summers and colder winters than most of Norway (unless you go WAY up north)

If it looks like Norway? Hehe, I don't know if there are any place in Norway you can't see some mountains somewhere around... But apart from that... Maybe not too unlike the countryside in the eastern part of Norway, close to the swedish border. (Hedmark)

@henrikmain: Naira, du, ikkji noko sunnmøredialekt her i huse, nai! Nope, I'm from Ål. Don't know if you know where it is, but you probably know where (either) Geilo or/and Hemsedal is. Between there. I don't speak too much of a dialect, only I don't say hun/morgen/vet and such... I don't know too much about Moss, but I know that Ari Behn (right spelling?? ) is from there! Hehe, do you know him?? Nah, kidding, sorry... But don't they make beer in Moss? Hehe...

 

[Henrik Main]

I don't really know Ari, but I've seen him some times, wandering through the main streets of Moss in his "poseur" clothes.... Hehe. They did make beer in Moss, and I think (though I'm not 100% sure) that they still brew it here. I know where Geilo is, yes, I've been there a couple of times. Ål is a very small place, is it? Where do you get your CDs? I guess they don't have too much Borknagar and stuff in Ål.

 

[Fjelltussa]

Actually, I live at Gol now, 20 min from Ål. But I mostly go to Oslo to get my cds! Sound of Noise, you know... Everything's there (or if it's not, Rune will get it in a week) But yes, Ål is a very small place! And it seems even smaller than it is, because there are so many old ppl there, and the area is so big, so ppl live very scattered. And not counting the old ppl, most of the inhabitants are "rånere".... Who "råner" around in old cars, in tractors or on schooters in winter... Cool!! (erm...)

 

[Henrik Main]

Awww, rånere sucks. Driving around in their old cars, techno music pumping out of the stereo. They're tragic. I've never been to Sound of Noise, I usually buy my CDs from Tiger Safari Records. Have you been to TSR? It's very good!

 

[Fjelltussa]

Nope, haven't been there... Where is it? I've only heard about it...

 

[Henrik Main]

Errrr....... Where indeed is it? Good question. It's quite near Rockefeller. But I cannot remember the name of the street.... Oh well. I'll post it up here if I remember it.

And now for something completely different.... how old are you? I'm wondering, cause the school is starting now (not for me, it starts on Monday, hehe.), and I'm starting at Videregående. Have you started school/studying/etc., or what?

 

[TravisW]

Hmm...there's a replica of the Gol church in Minot, North Dakota. Interesting....my great-great grandma was from Krodsherrad, which I don't think is terribly far from there, is it? They're both in Buskerud anyway.