Norwegian dialects
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Norwegian dialects () are commonly divided into four main groups, 'Northern Norwegian' (), 'Central Norwegian' (), 'Western Norwegian' (), and 'Eastern Norwegian' (). Sometimes 'Midland Norwegian' () and/or 'South Norwegian' () are considered fifth or sixth groups. The dialects are generally mutually intelligible, but differ significantly with regard to accent,
grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...
,
syntax In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituenc ...
, and
vocabulary A vocabulary (also known as a lexicon) is a set of words, typically the set in a language or the set known to an individual. The word ''vocabulary'' originated from the Latin , meaning "a word, name". It forms an essential component of languag ...
. If not accustomed to a particular dialect, even a native Norwegian speaker may have difficulty understanding it. Dialects can be as local as farm clusters, but many linguists note an ongoing regionalization, diminishing, or even elimination of local variations. Spoken Norwegian typically does not exactly follow the written languages ''
Bokmål Bokmål () (, ; ) is one of the official written standards for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is by far the most used written form of Norwegian today, as it is adopted by 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. There is no cou ...
'' and ''
Nynorsk Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...
'' or the more
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
'' Riksmål'' and '' Høgnorsk'', except in parts of
Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...
(where the original
Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...
population learned Norwegian as a second language). Rather, most people speak in their own local dialect. There is no "standard" spoken Norwegian.


Dialect groups

* West and South Norwegian ** South Norwegian (most of
Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...
county plus Fyresdal, Nissedal, Drangedal, and Kragerø in Telemark county) ** South-West Norwegian (the inland parts of Sogn, most of Hordaland (except the city of
Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...
),
Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...
county, and western parts of
Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...
county) ** Bergen Norwegian or Bergensk (the city of
Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...
and immediate surroundings) ** North-West Norwegian (the districts of Romsdal, Sunnmøre, Nordfjord, Sunnfjord and outer parts of Sogn) * North Norwegian **
Helgeland Helgeland is the most southerly Districts of Norway, district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet moun ...
Norwegian (
Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...
county south of Saltfjellet, except for Bindal Municipality) ** Nordland Norwegian (Nordland county north of Saltfjellet) ** Troms Norwegian (
Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...
county, except for Bardu Municipality and Målselv Municipality) ** Finnmark Norwegian
Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...
county, except for northern
Kautokeino Kautokeino () may refer to: Places *Kautokeino Municipality (also known as: ), a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Kautokeino (village) , , or is the administrative centre of Kautokeino Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The vill ...
, northern
Karasjok Karasjok is a Norwegianized version of the Northern Sami name Kárášjohka. Either one may refer to the following places: * Karasjok Municipality or (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; ) (also: ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, ...
, Tana and Nesseby. * East Norwegian ** Vikvær Norwegian (
Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...
county,
Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...
county,
Bohuslän Bohuslän () is a Provinces of Sweden, Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the ...
in Sweden, adjacent lowland parts of Telemark county,
Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...
county, and
Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...
county) ** Middle East Norwegian ( Ringerike, Modum,
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
and
Romerike Romerike is a Districts of Norway, traditional district located north-east of Oslo, in what is today south-eastern Norway. It consists of the Akershus municipalities Lillestrøm, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Rælingen and Aurskog-Høland in the southern ...
) ** Oppland Norwegian (southern
Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...
and south-eastern Oppland) ** Østerdal Norwegian (northern
Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...
and Bardu Municipality in northern Norway) * Midland Norwegian ** Gudbrandsdal Norwegian (northern Oppland) ** Valdres and
Hallingdal Hallingdal () is a valley as well as a traditional district located in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol. Hallingdal is one of the ma ...
Norwegian (south-west Oppland and western
Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...
) ** Western Telemark Norwegian ( Vinje Municipality, Tokke Municipality and Kviteseid Municipality) ** Eastern Telemark Norwegian ( Tinn Municipality, Hjartdal Municipality, Midt-Telemark Municipality, Notodden Municipality and upper
Numedal Numedal () is a valley and a traditional district in Eastern Norway located within the county of Buskerud. It traditionally includes the municipalities Flesberg, Nore og Uvdal and Rollag. Administratively, it now also includes Kongsberg. ...
) * Trøndelag Norwegian ** Outer Trøndelag Norwegian ( Nordmøre, outer Sør-Trøndelag, and Fosen) ** Inner Trøndelag Norwegian (inner Sør-Trøndelag, Innherad, Lierne Municipality, and Snåsa Municipality) ** Trondheim Norwegian (
Trondheim Municipality Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populou ...
) ** Namdal Norwegian ( Namdalen and surrounding coastal areas) ** South-eastern Trøndersk ( Røros Municipality,
Selbu Municipality Selbu is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mebonden. Other villages in Selbu include Flora, Trøndelag, Flora, Fossan ...
, Tydal Municipality,
Holtålen Municipality Holtålen is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is located in the Ålen area o ...
, Oppdal Municipality) ** Jämtlandic (
Jämtland Jämtland () is a historical provinces of Sweden, province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland, Sweden, Lapland to the north and Trøndelag and Norw ...
in Sweden) * American Norwegian


Dialect branches

* National Norwegian ** (
Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...
) *** ( Bodø) *** Brønnøy dialect ( Brønnøy) *** (
Helgeland Helgeland is the most southerly Districts of Norway, district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet moun ...
) *** ''other dialects'' ** Trøndersk ( Trøndelag) *** Trondheim dialect (
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
) *** ( Fosen) *** ( Härjedalen) *** Jämtland dialects ( Jämtland province) *** Meldal dialect ( Meldal) *** ( Tydal) *** ''other dialects'' ** Vestlandsk ( Western and
Southern Norway Southern Norway (; lit. "The Southland") is the geographical List of regions of Norway, region (''landsdel'') along the Skagerrak coast of southern Norway. The region is an informal description since it does not have any governmental function ...
) *** West ''(Vestlandet)'' **** Bergen dialect (
Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...
) **** ( Haugesund) **** ( Jæren district) **** ( Karmøy) **** ( Nordmøre) ***** ***** ( Sunndalsøra) **** ( Romsdal) **** Sandnes dialect (
Sandnes Sandnes () is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest municipality in Norway, and together the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sand ...
) **** Sogn dialect ( Sogn district) **** ( Sunnmøre) **** Stavanger dialect (
Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...
) **** ( Midhordland district) *** South ''(Sørlandet)'' **** Arendal dialect ( Arendal region) **** (Upper Setesdal, Valle) *** ''other dialects'' ** ( Eastern Norway) *** (Lowland districts) ****Vikværsk dialects ( Viken district) ***** Drammen dialect ( Drammen region) ***** Follo dialect ( Follo) ***** (
Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...
) ****** Tønsberg dialect (
Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...
and Færder) ****** ( Andebu) ****** ( Re) ***** Østfold dialects (
Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...
) ****** Fredrikstad dialect ( Fredrikstad region) ****** Inner Østfold dialect ( Inner Østfold) ***** ( Bohuslän province) ***** ( Grenland district) **** (Mid-east districts) ***** Urban East Norwegian () ****** Oslo dialect (
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
) ******Asker and Bærum dialect ( Asker and
Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...
) ******Romerike dialect (
Romerike Romerike is a Districts of Norway, traditional district located north-east of Oslo, in what is today south-eastern Norway. It consists of the Akershus municipalities Lillestrøm, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Rælingen and Aurskog-Høland in the southern ...
) ***** ( Ringerike district) ****** ( Hønefoss) ****** ( Ådal) ****** ( Modum) **** ( Opplandene district) ***** Hedmark dialects (
Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...
) ****** ( Solør) **** ( Hadeland district) **** ( Viken district) ***** Särna-Idre dialect ( Särna and Idre) *** (Midland districts) **** Gudbrandsdal dialect ( Gudbrandsdalen, Oppland and Upper Folldal,
Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...
) **** Hallingdal-Valdres dialects (
Hallingdal Hallingdal () is a valley as well as a traditional district located in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol. Hallingdal is one of the ma ...
, Valdres) ***** ***** Valdris dialect ( Valdres district) **** Telemark-Numedal dialects ( Telemark and
Numedal Numedal () is a valley and a traditional district in Eastern Norway located within the county of Buskerud. It traditionally includes the municipalities Flesberg, Nore og Uvdal and Rollag. Administratively, it now also includes Kongsberg. ...
) ***** *** ''other dialects''


Evolution

Owing to geography and climate, Norwegian communities were often isolated from each other until the early 20th century. As a result, local dialects had a tendency to be influenced by each other in singular ways while developing their own idiosyncrasies. Oppdal Municipality, for example, has characteristics in common with coastal dialects to the west, the dialects of northern Gudbrandsdalen to the south, and other dialects in Sør-Trøndelag from the north. The linguist
Einar Haugen Einar Ingvald Haugen (; April 19, 1906 – June 20, 1994) was an American linguist and writer known for his influential work in American sociolinguistics and Norwegian-American studies, including Old Norse studies. Haugen was a professor at ...
documented the particulars of the Oppdal dialect, and the writer Inge Krokann used it as a literary device. Other transitional dialects include the dialects of Romsdal and Arendal. On the other hand, newly industrialized communities near sources of hydroelectric power have developed dialects consistent with the region but in many ways unique. Studies in such places as Høyanger,
Odda Odda () is a list of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Hordaland counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality i ...
, Tyssedal, Rjukan, Notodden, Sauda, and others show that koineization has effected the formation of new dialects in these areas. Similarly, in the early 20th century a dialect closely approximating standard Bokmål arose in and around railway stations. This was known as ("station language") and may have contributed to changes in dialect around these centers.


Social dynamics

Until the 20th century, upward social mobility in a city like Oslo could in some cases require conforming speech to standard Riksmål. Studies show that even today, speakers of rural dialects may tend to change their usage in formal settings to approximate the formal written language. This has led to various countercultural movements ranging from the adoption of traditional forms of Oslo dialects among political radicals in Oslo, to movements preserving local dialects. There is widespread and growing acceptance that Norwegian linguistic diversity is worth preserving. The trend today is a regionalisation of the dialects causing smaller dialectal traits to disappear and rural dialects to merge with their nearest larger dialectal variety. There is no standard dialect for the Norwegian language as a whole, and all dialects are by now mutually intelligible. Hence, widely different dialects are used frequently and alongside each other, in almost every aspect of society. Criticism of a dialect may be considered criticism of someone's personal identity and place of upbringing, and is considered impolite. Not using one's proper dialect would be bordering on awkward in many situations, as it may signal a wish to take on an identity or a background which one does not have. Dialects are also an area from which to derive humour both in professional and household situations.


Distinctions

There are many ways to distinguish among Norwegian dialects. These criteria are drawn from the work ''Vårt Eget Språk/Talemålet'' (1987) by Egil Børre Johnsen. These criteria generally provide the analytical means for identifying most dialects, though most Norwegians rely on experience to tell them apart.


Grammars and syntax


Infinitive forms

One of the most important differences among dialects is which ending, if any, verbs have in the infinitive form. In Old Norwegian, most verbs had an infinitive ending (-a), and likewise in a modern Norwegian dialect, most of the verbs of the dialect either have or would have had an infinitive ending. There are five varieties of the infinitive ending in Norwegian dialects, constituting two groups: One ending (western dialects) * Infinitive ending with -a, e.g., , , common in southwestern Norway, including the areas surrounding
Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...
(although not in the city of Bergen itself) and
Stavanger (city) Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the administrative center of R ...
* Infinitive ending with -e, e.g., , , common in
Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...
,
Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...
, areas of Sogn og Fjordane and Møre og Romsdal, southern counties, and a few other areas. * Apocopic infinitive, where no vowel is added to the infinitive form, e.g., , , common in certain areas of
Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...
Two different endings (eastern dialects) * Split infinitive, in which some verbs end with -a while others end with -e; e.g. versus , common in Eastern Norway * Split infinitive, with
apocope In phonology, apocope () is the omission (elision) or loss of a sound or sounds at the end of a word. While it most commonly refers to the loss of a final vowel, it can also describe the deletion of final consonants or even entire syllables. ...
, e.g., (//) versus , common in some areas in Sør-Trøndelag and
Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a counties of Norway, county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Sør-Trøndelag ("South Trøndelag") county as well as the county of Nordl ...
The split distribution of endings is related to the syllable length of the verb in Old Norse. "Short-syllable" () verbs in Norse kept their endings. The "long-syllable" () verbs lost their (unstressed) endings or had them converted to -e.


Dative case

The original Germanic contextual difference between the dative and accusative cases, standardized in
modern German New High German (NHG; ) is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language, starting in the 17th century. It is a loan translation of the German (). The most important characteristic of the period is the developme ...
and Icelandic, has degenerated in spoken Danish and Swedish, a tendency which spread to Bokmål too. Ivar Aasen treated the dative case in detail in his work, '' Norsk Grammatik'' (1848), and use of Norwegian dative as a living grammatical case can be found in a few of the earliest Landsmål texts. However, the dative case has never been part of official Landsmål/Nynorsk. It is, however, present in some spoken dialects north of Oslo, Romsdal, and south and northeast of Trondheim. The grammatical phenomenon is highly threatened in the mentioned areas, while most speakers of conservative varieties have been highly influenced by the national standard languages, using only the traditional accusative word form in both cases. Often, though not always, the difference in meaning between the dative and accusative word forms can thus be lost, requiring the speaker to add more words to specify what was actually meant, to avoid potential loss of information.


Future tense

There are regional variations in the use of future tense, for example, "He is going to travel.": : ''.'' : ''.'' : ''.'' : ''.''


Syntax

Syntax can vary greatly between dialects, and the tense is important for the listener to get the meaning. For instance, a question can be formed without the traditional "asking-words" (how, where, what, who..) For example, the sentence ''?'' (in Bokmål), ''?'' (in Nynorsk), literally: "How much is the clock?" i.e. "What time is it?" can be put in, among others, the following forms: : ''?'' (Is the clock much?) (stress is on "the clock") : ''?'' (Is it much, the clock?) (stress on "is") : ''?'' (literally: "What is the clock?") : ''?'' (literally: What the clock is?), or, using another word for clock, ''?'' : ''?'' (literally: What is she?).


Pronunciation of vowels


Diphthongization of monophthongs

Old Norse had the
diphthong A diphthong ( ), also known as a gliding vowel or a vowel glide, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of ...
s , , and , but the Norwegian spoken in the area around Setesdal has shifted two of the traditional diphthongs and innovated four more from long vowels, and, in some cases, also short vowels. Authors state that the Setesdal dialect is "perhaps the most distinctive and most difficult to understand" among all Norwegian dialects. West Norwegian dialects have also innovated new diphthongs. In Midtre you can find the following:


Monophthongization of diphthongs

The Old Norse diphthongs , , and have experienced
monophthongization Monophthongization is a sound change by which a diphthong becomes a monophthong, a type of vowel shift. It is also known as ungliding, as diphthongs are also known as gliding vowels. In languages that have undergone monophthongization, digrap ...
in certain dialects of modern Norwegian. This shift originated in Old East Norse, which is reflected in the fact that Swedish and Danish overwhelmingly exhibit this change. Monophthongization in Norway ends on the coast west of Trondheim and extends southeast in a triangle into central Sweden. Some Norwegian dialects, east of Molde, for example, have lost only and .


Leveling

(/ in Norwegian) This is a phenomenon in which the root vowel and end vowel in a word approximate each other. For example, the old Norse has become or in certain dialects. There are two varieties in Norwegian dialects – one in which the two vowels become identical, the other where they are only similar. Leveling exists only in inland areas in Southern Norway, and areas around Trondheim.


Vowel shift in strong verbs

In all but Oslo and coastal areas just south of the capital, the present tense of certain verbs take on a new vowel (umlaut), e.g., becomes (in Oslo, it becomes ).


Pronunciation of consonants


Eliminating in the plural indefinite form

In some areas, the is not pronounced in all or some words in their plural indefinite form. There are four categories: * The is retained – most of Eastern Norway, the South-Eastern coast, and across to areas north and east of Stavanger. * The disappears altogether – Southern tip of Norway, coastal areas north of Bergen, and inland almost to Trondheim. * The is retained in certain words but not in others – coastal areas around Trondheim, and most of Northern Norway * The is retained in certain words and in weak feminine nouns, but not in others – one coast area in Nordland.


Phonetic realization of

Most dialects realize as the
alveolar tap The voiced alveolar tap or flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents a dental consonant, dental, alveolar consonant, alveolar, or postalveolar consonant, p ...
or
alveolar trill The voiced alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental consonant, dental, alveolar consonant, alveolar, and postalveolar consonant, postalve ...
. However, for the last 200 years the uvular approximant has been gaining ground in Western and Southern Norwegian dialects, with
Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...
, Stavanger, and Bergen as centers. The uvular R has also been adopted in aspiring patricians in and around Oslo, to the point that it was for some time fashionable to "import" governesses from the Kristiansand area. In certain regions, such as Oslo, the flap has become realized as a
retroflex flap The voiced retroflex flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some Speech communication, spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a letter ''r'' with tail, and the equivalent X-SAMPA ...
(generally called "thick L") , which exists only in Norway, a few regions in Sweden, and in completely unrelated languages. The sound coexists with other retroflexions in Norwegian dialects. In some areas it also applies to words that end with "rd," for example with (farm) being pronounced . The uvular R has gained less acceptance in eastern regions, and linguists speculate that dialects that use retroflexes have a "natural defense" against uvular R and thus will not adopt it. However, the dialect of Arendal retains the retroflexes, while featuring the uvular R in remaining positions, e.g. . In large parts of Northern Norway, especially in the northern parts of
Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...
county and southern parts of
Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...
county, as well as several parts of
Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...
county, another variant is still common: the voiced post-alveolar sibilant fricative . In front of voiceless consonants, the realisation of this R is unvoiced as well, to . Thus, where one in the southern and Trøndelag dialects will get or or , in areas realising voiced R as , one will get .


Palatalization

In areas north of an isogloss running between Oslo and Bergen, palatalization occurs for the n (IPA ), l (), t () and d () sounds in varying degrees. Areas just south and southwest of Trondheim palatalize both the main and subordinate syllable in words (e.g., ), but other areas only palatalize the main syllable ().


Voicing of plosives

Voiceless stops () have become voiced () intervocalically after long vowels (, vs. , ) on the extreme southern coast of Norway, including Kristiansand, Mandal and Stavanger. The same phenomenon appears in Sør-Trøndelag and one area in Nordland.


Segmentation

The geminate in southwestern Norway has become , while just east in southcentral Norwegian the final is lost, leaving . The same sequence has been palatalized in Northern Norway, leaving the palatal lateral .


Assimilation

The second consonant in the consonant clusters , , and has assimilated to the first across most of Norway, leaving , , and respectively. Western Norway, though not in Bergen, retains the cluster. In Northern Norway this same cluster is realized as the palatal lateral .


Consonant shift in conjugation of masculine nouns

Although used less frequently, a subtle shift takes place in conjugating a masculine noun from indefinitive to definitive, e.g., from to (, eçːenor ). This is found in rural dialects along the coast from Farsund Municipality to the border between Troms and Finnmark.


The kj - sj merger

Many people, especially in the younger generation, have lost the differentiation between the (written ) and (written ) sounds, realizing both as . This is by many considered to be a normal development in language change (although as most language changes, the older generation and more conservative language users often lament the degradation of the language). The functional load is relatively low, and as often happens, similar sounds with low functional loads merge.


Tonemes and intonation

There are great differences between the intonation systems of different Norwegian dialects.


Vocabulary


First person pronoun, nominative plural

Three variations of the first person plural nominative pronoun exist in Norwegian dialects: * , (pronounced ), common in parts of Eastern Norway, most of Northern Norway, coastal areas close to
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
, and one sliver of Western Norway * , or , in Southern and most of Western Norway, areas inland of Trondheim, and a few smaller areas * , common in areas of Sør-Trøndelag, Gudbrandsdalen, Nordmøre and parts of Sunnmøre.


First person pronoun, nominative singular

There is considerable variety in the way the first person singular nominative pronoun is pronounced in Norwegian dialects. They appear to fall into three groups, within which there are also variations: * and , in which the hard 'g' may or may not be included. This is common in most of Southern and Western Norway, Trøndelag, and most of Northern Norway. In some areas of Western Norway, it is common to say . * (pronounced ), in a few areas in Western Norway ( Romsdal/ Molde) and Snåsa in Trøndelag * , jè , or jei , in areas around Oslo, and north along the Swedish border, almost to Trondheim, as well as one region in Troms


Personal pronouns


Possessive pronouns


The word "not"

The Norwegian word for the English ''not'' exists in these main categories: : – Oslo, Kristiansand, Bergen, Ålesund, most of Finnmark, Vestfold and lowland parts of Telemark, and some cities in Nordland. : – most of Southern, Northern, Western Norway and high-land parts of Telemark. : – Trøndelag : - parts of Salten District, Nordland : or ittje – areas north of Oslo, along the Swedish border : , ente or ette – Mostly along the Swedish border south of Oslo in Østfold : / : / Examples of the sentence "I am not hungry," in Norwegian: : : ''.'' (Bokmål) : : ''.'' (Nynorsk) : : ''.'' (Romsdal) : : ''.'' (Trøndelag) : : ''.'' (Salten) : : ''.'' (Narvik) : : ''.'' (Hærland)


Interrogative words

Some common interrogative words take on forms such as:


See also

* Standard East Norwegian * Kebabnorsk *
Bokmål Bokmål () (, ; ) is one of the official written standards for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is by far the most used written form of Norwegian today, as it is adopted by 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. There is no cou ...
and
Nynorsk Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...


References


Sources

*Jahr, Ernst Håkon (1990) ''Den Store dialektboka'' (Oslo: Novus) *Kristoffersen, Gjert (2000) ''The Phonology of Norwegian'' (Oxford University Press) *Vanvik, Arne (1979) ''Norsk fonetikk'' (Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo)


Further reading

*Vikør, Lars S. (2001) ''The Nordic languages. Their Status and Interrelations'' (Oslo: Novus Press) *Johnsen, Egil Børre (1987) ''Vårt Eget Språk/Talemålet'' (H. Aschehoug & Co.)


External links


Norwegian Language Council

Measuring the "distance" between the Norwegian dialects


a Norwegian database of dialect samples.

introduction to Northern Norwegian dialects written in English {{Language varieties Norwegian dialects, Norwegian language Norwegian