Grammar Keynotes:
Norwegian
as a Second Language (bokmål)
Av Gø l i n Kauri n N i l s en o g K ari El i s ab et Fu en te s
1 ALFABET OG LYDER (ALPHABET AND SOUNDS) 2 ORDKLASSER (WORD CLASSES) 3 SETNINGER (SENTENCES)
1 ALFABET OG LYDER (ALPHABET AND SOUNDS) Upper and lower case letter A/a B/b C/c
Letter name
Phonetics (IPA) Examples
a be se
[a] [b] [s], [k] eller [ʃ]
D/d
de
[d]
E/e F/f
e eff
[e] eller [ə] [f]
G/g H/h I/i J/j K/k L/l M/m N/n O/o P/p
ge hå i je kå ell emm enn o pe
[g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m] [n] [u] eller [o] [p]
Q/q R/r S/s T/t U/u V/v W/w X/x Y/y Z/z Æ/æ
ku ærr ess te u ve dåbbelt-ve eks y sett æ
[kʉ] [r] [s] [t] [ʉ] eller [u] [v] [v] [s] [y] [s] eller [ts] [æ]
Ø/ø Å/å
ø å
[ø] [o]
The vowel is usually short in front of two different consonants: laks, jente, bank, stanse. ananas [ana’nas] bil [bi:l], bro [bru:], nebb [neb] Cecilie [se’silie], Carl [karl], cello [‘ʃəlu] danse [‘dansə], dra [dra:], bade [‘ba:de] eple [‘əplə], leve [‘le:və] fri [fri:], foran [‘foran], sofa [‘su:fa], huff [hʉf] gammel [‘gaməl], egg [əg] hånd [‘ho:n], aha [a’ha] is [i:s], ikke [‘ike], bli [bli:] ja [ja:], jente [‘jəntə] kan [kan], leke [‘le:kə], trikk [trik] lampe [‘lampə], stol [stu:l] mat [ma:t], gammel [‘gaməl] natt [nat], en [e:n] ost [ust], stor [stu:r], sove [‘so:ve] pære [‘pæ:rə], par [pa:r], appelsin [apel’si:n] IQ [‘i: ‘kʉ:] rik [ri:k], er [æ:r], ser [se:r] såpe [‘so:pe], eske [‘eskə], plass [plas] to [tu:], tretti [‘trəti], lett [lət] ute [‘ʉ:tə], tull [tʉl], bukse [‘buksə] varm [varm], sove [‘so:və] WC [‘ve: ‘se:] xylofon [sylu’fu:n] yrke [‘yrke], dyp [dy:p], lykke [lykə] Zoltan [‘soltan], pizza [‘pitsa] ære [‘æ:rə], være [‘væ:rə], Bergen [bærgən] øre [‘ø:rə], øl [øl], brød [brø:] åtte [‘ote], låse [‘lo:sə], råd [ro:d]
1.1 VOKALER (VOWELS) Norwegian has 9 vowels: A/a, E/e, I/i, O/o, U/u, Y/y, Æ/æ, Ø/ø, Å/å. The vowels can be long: lage [‘la:gə], evig [‘e:vi], slik [sli:k]. The vowels can be short: Anne [‘anə], lytte [‘lytə], åtte [‘otə]. Sometimes the meaning of the word is determined by the length of the vowel: gul [gʉ:l] – gull [gʉl], tak [ta:k] – takk [tak], pen [pe:n] – penn [pən]. 1.2 DIFTONGER (DIPHTHONGS) Norwegian has six diphthongs. Diphthongs are always long: • • • • • •
We can have single consonants and double consonants (geminates) in Norwegian. The vowel is always long in front of a single consonant, and always short in front of a double consonant: bak, bakke, søt, søtt.
AI [ai:]: mai, Thailand, hai AU [əʉ:]: Au!, Haugesund, sau EI [əi:]: hei, leilighet, stein ØY [øi:]: øy, tøy, fløyte OI, OY [oi:]: joik, soya UI [ʉi:]: hui (i hui og hast)
We use the diphthongs AI, AU, EI and ØY in many words, but we rarely use the diphthongs OI/OY and UI. 1.3 KONSONANTER (CONSONANTS) Norwegian has 20 consonants, but we rarely use these consonants: C/c, Q/q, W/w, X/x, Z/z.
Due to these pronunciation rules the conjugation or declension of words can sometimes change the length of the vowel: å løpe [o ‘lø:pe] – har løpt [ha:r ‘løpt], rød [rø:] – rødt [røt], slik [sli:k] – slikt [slikt]. 1.3.1 Stumme konsonanter (Silent consonants) Sometimes the consonants are silent, meaning we do not voice them: • • • •
g in gj-: gjenta [‘jənta], gjennom [jenum], igjen [i’jən] -g in -ig: hyggelig [‘hygəli], nydelig [‘ny:dəli] h in hv-: hva [va:], hvem [vem], hvor [vu:r] -t in the definite singular form of neuter nouns: huset [‘hʉ:sə], eplet [‘əplə]
1.3.2 Konsonantforbindelser (Consonant clusters) We usually write one sound with one letter. However, some sounds are written with multiple letters: • • • • • •
skj [ʃ]: skjørt [ʃørt], skjære [‘ʃæ:rə] sj [ʃ]: sjal [ʃa:l], sjette [‘ʃətə] sk- in front of i and y [ʃ]: ski [ʃi:], sky [ʃy:] -ng and n in front of k [ŋ]: sang [saŋ], bank [baŋk] kj [ç]: kjole [‘çu:lə], kjøtt [‘çøt] k- in front of i and y [ç]: kino [‘çi:nu], kylling [‘çyliŋ]
2 ORDKLASSER (WORD CLASSES) 2.1 SUBSTANTIV (NOUNS) Nouns are words that refer to persons, places, things, situations or states of being. All nouns have a gender in Norwegian, and the gender of the noun determines the article: en, ei or et. We decline nouns in singular and plural, indefinite form and definite form: Entall (Singular) ubestemt form (indefinite form) Hankjønn en gutt (Masculine) en kjole Hunkjønn ei dør (Feminine) ei jente Intetkjønn et bord (Neuter) et eple et vindu
Flertall (Plural) bestemt form (definite form) gutten kjolen døra jenta bordet eplet vinduet
ubestemt form (indefinite form) gutter kjoler dører jenter bord epler vindu/vinduer
bestemt form (definite form) guttene kjolene dørene jentene bordene eplene vinduene
We decline neuter nouns in three ways in the indefinite plural form: • Words with one syllable add no ending in the indefinite plural form: et hus → to hus, et skap → to skap, et gulv → to gulv • Words with multiple syllables ending with an unstressed -e, add -r in the indefinite plural form: et teppe → to tepper, et eple → to epler, et sete → to seter • In words ending with a consonant or a vowel other than -e, the ending is optional: et vindu → to vindu/vinduer, et problem → to problem/problemer Note: All feminine nouns can be declined as masculine nouns, but not vice versa: ei dør → en dør (døren, dører, dørene) ei jente → en jente (jenten, jenter, jentene) 2.1.1 Unntak (Exceptions) There are exceptions in the declension of some nouns in the plural form: • Masculine a) Contraction (words ending in -er and -el): en lærer – lærere – lærerne, en genser – gensere – genserne, en onkel – onkler – onklene, en hybel – hybler – hyblene