Vestlandsk or Vestlandske dialekter (West Norwegian) is a collective term for the

dialects A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...

that are spoken on the coast of

western Norway Western Norway (; ) is the Regions of Norway, region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the Counties of Norway, counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative fu ...

in the area ranging from

Romsdal Romsdal is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal traditional comprises the areas that are part of Aukra Municipality, Molde Municipal ...

in the north to

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 ...

in the south. These dialects can furthermore be split into north-western dialects (''Nordvestlandske dialekter''), south-western dialects (''Sørvestlandske dialekter'') and southern dialects (''Sørlandske dialekter''). *Nordvestlandske dialekter (North-Western dialects) have e-infinitive, and extends from the middle of

Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; literally "Parish and the Fjords") was a Counties of Norway, county in western Norway, from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsda ...

. Of these, one can mention: ** Jølstramål – centering on

Jølster Jølster is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It was located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre was the vil ...

** Sunnmørsdialekt – collective term for dialects in

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...

** Romsdalsdialekt – dialect of

*Sørvestlandske dialekter (South-western dialects) have a-infinitive, and extends from the inner

, through

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

and

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 ...

and western part of

. Of these, one can mention: ** Bergensk, Haugesundsk, Stavangersk – these are city dialects (''bymål''). They have strong ''simplification'', which is characteristic for all urban dialects (''bydialekter''), but originate from the dialects of the area with which they have much in common. ** Jærsk – dialect in

Jæren Jæren is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Rogaland county, Norway. The other districts in Rogaland are Dalane, Ryfylke, and Haugalandet. Jæren is one of the 15 districts that comprise Western Norway. At about , Jæren is the large ...

** Strilamål – dialect of Strilelandet, an area around

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 ...

** Sunnhordlandsdialekt – dialect of

Sunnhordland Sunnhordland is a traditional district in the western region of Norway. The district consists of the southern coastal regions of the old Hordaland county (now part of Vestland county). It includes the areas that surround the mouth of the Harda ...

*Sørlandske dialekter (Southern dialects) have -voicing,

guttural R Guttural R is the phenomenon whereby a rhotic consonant (an "R-like" sound) is produced in the back of the vocal tract (usually with the uvula) rather than in the front portion thereof and thus as a guttural consonant. Speakers of languages ...

and a-endings, and is spoken in the eastern part of

and part of

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

References

Other 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) {{Norwegian language Norwegian language Norwegian dialects

See also

References

Other sources