Learn the similarities between Norwegian and Swedish
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: Is Norwegian similar to Swedish? |
| Annette: And are they mutually intelligible? |
| Michael: At NorwegianClass101.com, we hear these questions often. In the following situation, Ben Lee, a college student, picks up the Norwegian bestseller Hodejegerne, but finds it surprisingly hard to read. He turns to his friend, who is shopping with him, and asks, |
| "Is this in Norwegian?" |
| Ben: Er dette på norsk? |
| Dialogue |
| Ben: Er dette på norsk? |
| Silje: Nei, det er på svensk. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben: Er dette på norsk? |
| Michael: "Is this in Norwegian?" |
| Silje: Nei, det er på svensk. |
| Michael: "No, it's in Swedish." |
Lesson focus |
| Anette: The book Hodejegerne, which usually translates into English as Headhunters, is a famous novel by Jo Nesbø. |
| Michael: It's not a surprise that Ben was confused when he accidentally picked up the Swedish copy of the novel. In fact, Norwegian and Swedish are closely related, as are Danish or |
| Anette: dansk; |
| Michael: and, to a lesser degree, Icelandic or |
| Anette: islandsk. |
| Michael: Norwegian belongs to the Northern Germanic language group, or |
| Anette: Nordgermansk språk, |
| Michael: along with Swedish, Danish, and Icelandic. These languages, which are also sometimes called "Nordic," form a subgroup of the Germanic language group, to which English, German, and Dutch also belong. While not as closely related to Norwegian as Swedish or Danish, they do share common grammar patterns and many common words. |
| Anette: The Germanic languages, in turn, are a branch of the Indo-European language family, which includes a diverse range of languages from Sanskrit to Spanish. |
| Norwegian originally comes from Old Norse, or Gammelnorsk, |
| Michael: which was spoken in Scandinavia during the 8th Century. During the 9th Century, Old Norse started to separate into Old West Norse |
| Anette: Gammel vestnorsk |
| Michael: in Norway and Iceland, and Old East Norse |
| Anette: Gammel østnorsk |
| Michael: in Sweden and Denmark. The Swedish spoken today developed from this Old East Norse with further influences from German. |
| Norwegian is now the official language, or |
| Anette: det offisielle språket, |
| Michael: of Norway. Norwegian is also spoken by Norwegian citizens living abroad. |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review what we heard in this lesson. I will say the target sentence in English, and then you should respond by saying the sentence out loud in Norwegian. Annette will then model the correct answer. Listen to her carefully, with the focus on pronunciation, and then repeat. |
| The first sentence is "Is this in Norwegian?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Annette: Er dette på norsk? |
| Michael: Did you get it right? Listen to Annette again, and repeat. |
| Annette: Er dette på norsk? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Annette: Er dette på norsk? |
| Michael: The second sentence is "No, it's in Swedish." |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Annette: Nei, det er på svensk. |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Annette: Nei, det er på svensk. |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Annette: Nei, det er på svensk. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: There's another question we sometimes hear at NorwegianClass101.com. |
| Anette: Does knowing Norwegian make it easier to learn other Northern Germanic languages? |
| Michael: To some extent, yes. Swedish is the easiest language for Norwegian speakers to understand. It's very closely related to Norwegian and sounds more like a dialect or |
| Anette: dialekt |
| Michael: of Norwegian than a different language. Danish is very similar to Norwegian, but the pronunciation or |
| Anette: uttale |
| Michael: is closer to German than Norwegian, which makes it difficult to understand. Most Norwegians can read Danish and understand most of what they read, but listening to the language is much more challenging. |
| Anette: Other languages related to Norwegian have many common words, but without practice or some knowledge of the language, it's almost impossible to understand them. Dutch and German, for example, are quite similar to Norwegian due to their common origin. |
| Michael: Many Norwegian words come from German and English, and so many common words can be found throughout these languages. This can make it easier to acquire a large vocabulary in German or Dutch if you already know Norwegian, but learning these languages still requires intensive study. |
| Speakers of English often find Norwegian an easier foreign language or |
| Anette: fremmedspråk |
| Michael: to learn because Norwegian vocabulary looks quite similar to English vocabulary. The two share many similar words. |
| However, while some of the words have the same meaning, others do not. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Annette: Ha det! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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