Learning Norwegian Numbers Posted by kari on Nov 1, 2011 in Language
I have found several excellent videos to help you learn your numbers in Norwegian:)
You can find one of them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-iCrH5oWu4that will help you learn Norwegian Numbers. Don’t be distracted by the woman’s sensual voice or the fact that she mentions her favorite number is 69. Apparently she was not aware that the number 69 has a sexual connotation in the U.S…..In any case, the video is educational and I think very helpful. You will probably notice a few things:
1) The number 7 is “sju” or “syv” depending on the dialect spoken
2) The “v” in “tolv” (12) is silent.
3) 6 is “seks” and is pronounced like “sex” but 16 is “seksten” and is not pronounced like “sex-ton” but rather “sigh-sten” 60 is back to the pronunciation like 6…”seksti” pronounced “sex-tee”
4) A similar progression occurs for the number 8 and it’s various forms (18, 80). “Åtte” is 8 and is pronounced “oat-uh.” “Atten” is 18 and is pronounced “ah-ten” (notice also there is no “halo” over the a like there is in the number 8). “Åtti” is 80 and is pronounced “oat-ee.”
Another video, which is far less controversial and was posted by a very sweet sounding young girl .
I just discovered this website as well that has various games for you to play to help you learn the numbers. They are pretty cool. Check it out here!
I find the following information found on Wiki Books quite interesting myself. You can learn a bit more about the history behind Norwegian numbers and where some of the spelling and pronunciations come from. I hope you enjoy learning about Norwegian numbers! It’s important to review them often to really learn them.
Numeral | Literal | Additional information |
---|---|---|
0 | Null | |
1 | Bokmål: én (masc.), éi (fem.), ett (neuter) Nynorsk: éin (masc.), éi (fem), eitt (neuter) |
In Bokmål, masc. and fem. are sometimes merged into a common gender (én). The common gender is inherited from written Danish and is therefore not allowed in Nynorsk, which has always used three genders. Origin: Old Norse einn (masc.), ein (fem.), eitt (neuter) |
2 | To | Earlier tvo in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tveir (masc.), tvær (fem.), tvau (neuter). Some dialects still uses tvei, tvæ and tvau. |
3 | Tre (tri) | Earler tri in Nynorsk, still part of the official orthography, but not to be used by the authorities. Origin: Old Norse þrír (masc.), þrjár(fem.), þrjú (neuter). |
4 | Fire | Earlier fjore in Nynorsk, before gradually being replaced by fire. Origin: Danish fire, Old Norse fjórír (masc.), fjórar (fem.), fjǫgur(neuter). |
5 | Fem | Origin: Old Norse fimm. |
6 | Seks | Origin: Old Norse sex. |
7 | Sju (syv) | The spelling syv was banned from the official orthography in 1951, but re-introduced in 2005. Nynorsk has always used sju (originallysjau). Origin: Old Norse sjau, Danish syv |
8 | Åtte | Earlier åtta in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse átta. |
9 | Ni | Earlier nio in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse níu. |
10 | Ti | Earlier tio in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tíu. |
11 | Elleve | Origin: Old Norse ellifu. |
12 | Tolv | Origin: Old Norse tólf. |
13 | Tretten | Earlier trettan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse þrettán. |
14 | Fjorten | Earlier fjortan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fjórtán. |
15 | Femten | Earlier femtan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fimtán. |
16 | Seksten | Earlier sekstan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sextán. |
17 | Sytten | Earlier sjauttan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sjautján. |
18 | Atten | Earlier atjan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse átján. |
19 | Nitten | Earlier nitjan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse nítján. |
20 | Tjue | Earlier tyve in Bokmål and tjugo in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tjogu, tuttugu, Danish tyve. |
21 | Tjueén | Earlier én og tyve in Bokmål, ein og tjugo in Nynorsk (meaning “one and twenty”). As of 1951, tens are mentioned first (like in English “twenty one”). Old Norse used both tuttugu ok einn (“twenty and one”) and einn ok tuttugu (“one and twenty”). |
22 | Tjueto | |
23 | Tjuetre | |
24 | Tjuefire | |
25 | Tjuefem | |
30 | Tretti | Earlier tredve in Bokmål. Origin: Old Norse þrír tigir (simplified and contracted to tretti), Danish tred(i)ve. |
40 | Førti | Earlier førr in Bokmål, fyrti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fjórir tigir, fjórutigi (fyrti, førti), Danish fyrre (førr). |
50 | Femti | Origin: Old Norse fimtigi. |
60 | Seksti | Origin: Old Norse sex tigir. |
70 | Sytti | Earlier sjautti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sjautigi. |
80 | Åtti | Earlier åtteti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse áttatigi, áttatiu. |
90 | Nitti | Origin: Old Norse níu tigir. |
100 | (Ett) Hundre | Earlier hundrede in Bokmål, hundrad in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse hundrað. |
101 | (Ett) hundre og én/éin | May be spelt in one word (hundreogén). |
102 | (Ett) hundre og to | |
103 | (Ett) hundre og tre | |
104 | (Ett) hundre og fire | |
105 | (Ett) hundre og fem | |
125 | (Ett) hundre og tjuefem | |
200 | To hundre | |
300 | Tre hundre | |
400 | Fire hundre | |
500 | Fem hundre | |
1 000 | (Ett) tusen | Earlier tusund in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse þusund |
2 000 | To tusen | |
3 000 | Tre tusen | |
4 000 | Fire tusen | |
5 000 | Fem tusen | |
1 000 000 | Én million | Origin: derived from Latin mille (“thousand”). |
2 000 000 | To millioner | |
3 000 000 | Tre millioner | |
4 000 000 | Fire millioner | |
5 000 000 | Fem millioner | |
7 473 259 | Sjumillionerfirehundreogsyttitretusentohundreogfemtini | |
1 000 000 000 | Én milliard | Origin: derived from French |
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About the Author: kari
I attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, where I majored in Norwegian and History. During college, I spent almost a year living in Oslo, Norway, where I attended the University of Oslo and completed an internship at the United States Embassy. I have worked for Concordia Language Villages as a pre-K Norwegian teacher and have taught an adult Norwegian language class. Right now, I keep up by writing this Norwegian blog for Transparent Language. Please read and share your thoughts! I will be continuing this blog from my future residence in the Norwegian arctic!