Archive for 'Language'
Asbjørnson and Moe Posted by kari on Dec 21, 2010
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812-1885)and Jørgen Engebretesen Moe (1813-1882)-the names that have become synonymous with Norwegian folkeeveyntyr (folktales). The two had been friends since their early teen years and later went on to collect folkeeventyr and edit them into a compilation that would forever impact Norwegian culture. Asbjørnsen was a writer and scholar from Christiania (old…
Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish-mutually intelligible Posted by kari on Nov 30, 2010
Most people give me a very strange look when I tell them that I speak Norwegian. They give me an even stranger look when I say that one of my majors was Norwegian. After the look sets in for a few seconds, they typically ask, “why?” A simple, straight-forward and fair question, although I get…
Culinary vocabulary in Norwegian Posted by kari on Nov 16, 2010
I just started working part-time at a restaurant and wine bar called Fermentations. If you are in the vicinity of the metro area or southeastern MN, I highly recommend it. It is quite a liten restaurant (small restaurant) in kind of a dumpy area outside of where I live. It´s a gem in the…
Norwegian Tongue Twisters Posted by kari on Nov 9, 2010
Since I posted a question about Norwegian tongue twisters on facebook last week, I think I should do the topic justice and write a post. Some of you had some great ones to share with all of us! I love tongue twisters even if they are in languages I can´t understand. It´s just funny…
Norwegian first names-norske fornavn Posted by kari on Oct 26, 2010
Now that you have learned about norske etternavn, it only makes sense to learn about norske fornavn. There are many different origins of norske fornavn, such as biblical, historical, mythological, descriptive, or place-related. Nearly every navn has a meaning which can be understood in most cases by simply picking up an ordbok (dictionary) or a bibel…
Norwegian last names-norske etternavn Posted by kari on Oct 21, 2010
You may wonder why so many people with Scandinavian heritage have an etternavn (last name or surname) that ends in ‘son’ or ‘sen.’ There is a very simple answer and you will be much less perplexed to know the story behind the billion Johnsons of Olsons you know. Ok, maybe you don’t know that many…
Norwegian words and phrases I use daily Posted by kari on Oct 5, 2010
I started thinking about all the ord (words) and fraser (phrases) I use daglig (daily) and came up with a list that I think would be useful for those learning norsk. Some of them are hilsener (greetings), some are uttrykker (expressions). den e god — sounds good (literally ´that is good´). One says this often…