Archive for 'Language'
Viking Influence on the English Language Posted by kari on Jun 19, 2011
Sure, there are more and more English words being incorporated into the Norwegian language all the time. Courtesy of American films, television, music, and of course the internet, modern Norwegians use words like cool, jeans, baby, drink, chips, and many more. Let´s not forget, however, the massive influence the Vikings had on the English…
Norwegian-American Dating Reality Show Posted by kari on May 29, 2011
There are 9 norske deltakere (participants) in an upcoming reality tv-show series that Nordisk Film TV will present about Norwegian Americans looking for kjærlighet (love). Single Norwegian Americans from the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area, San Fransisco, and Seattle areas were encouraged to send in a søknad (application) to be a deltaker in the show. Criteria for…
Norwegian Sign Language Posted by kari on May 28, 2011
I learned the sign language alphabet when I was in grade school, but since then I have not invested more time in it. I don´t actually know any deaf people, so I guess that´s my justification for not having learned it. However, I have worked several jobs for which knowing sign language would have come…
Ja Vi Elsker Dette Landet-Norwegian National Anthem Posted by kari on May 19, 2011
Gratulerer med dagen, Norge! Happy Birthday Norway! Tuesday was Norway´s 197th birthday-the first being May 17, 1814 when the Constitution was signed at Eidsvoll. Syttende Mai (pronounced ´soot (like ´foot´)-ene-my´is the largest celebration in Norway all year long. Families and friends gather to eat, drink, and show their patriotism for their country. Of…
Why are Norwegians so good at speaking English? Posted by kari on Apr 6, 2011
I saw an article in Aftenposten this morning titled ´Nordmenn er verdens mestere i engelsk´(Norwegians are world masters in English), which I thought was quite ironic since I just posted about Språkrådet, the Norwegian Language Council, the main goal of which is to preserve the Norwegian language and not let English take it over. Therefore…
Språkrådet-the Norwegian Language Council Posted by kari on Apr 5, 2011
Since late in the 19th century, Norwegian language politics have been present, but it wasn´t until 2005 that the official Norwegian Språkråd as it exists today was established. The goal of the Council is that Norwegian will be present in all sectors of society and will continue to do so forever. Furthermore, English will not…
Norwegian words that are the same as English words! Posted by kari on Mar 16, 2011
There are more words than you may think that are exactly the same in Norwegian as they are in English. They are of course pronounced differently, but are indeed written the same way and have the same meaning. Even better than cognates, right? 🙂 And some of these include: problem (pro-bleh-em) finger (fing-err) flip the…