Learn about negation in Norwegian
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some Norwegian tongue twisters? |
| Inger: And are many Norwegian words hard to pronounce? |
| Michael: At NorwegianClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Sasha Lee is interested in tongue twisters. She asks her friend, Selma Hansen, to tell her one. "Can you tell me a tongue twister in Norwegian?" |
| Sasha: Kan du fortelle meg en norsk tungekrøller? |
| Dialogue |
| Sasha: Kan du fortelle meg en norsk tungekrøller? |
| Selma: Ibsens ripsbusker, og andre buskvekster. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Sasha: Kan du fortelle meg en norsk tungekrøller? |
| Michael: "Can you tell me a tongue twister in Norwegian?" |
| Selma: Ibsens ripsbusker, og andre buskvekster. |
| Michael: "Ibsens currant bushes and other shrubs." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: A tongue twister is a fun phrase that is designed to be difficult to say, especially when repeated quickly. Tongue twisters became popular in the 19th century. An English example that you are probably very familiar with is ‘She sells seashells on the seashore.’ It was published originally in 1850 as a diction exercise. Now, I am not sure how good you are at saying that, but, for most of us, it is still tricky even after a lifetime of hearing it! |
| So, how do they work in Norwegian? Tongue twisters, or |
| Inger: tungekrøllere |
| Michael: rely on rapid alternation between similar but distinct phonemes. They often use a combination of alliteration and rhyme. Alliteration is the repetition of identical consonants at the beginning of words, which are then repeated in sequence. Most people find this very difficult to do! How about Norwegian tongue twisters? Are you wondering how difficult they may be? Why don’t we try some? Let’s start with an easy one. |
| Inger: Åtte kopper upoppet popkorn. |
| Michael: How did it go? This one means "Eight cups of unpopped popcorn." To be honest, the Norwegian version is actually easier than its English translation. Let’s try it again: |
| Inger: [SLOWLY] Åtte kopper upoppet popkorn. |
| Michael: Let’s try a different one this time. |
| Inger: Fisker’n Finn fiska fersk fisk forrige fredag. |
| Michael: This one means "The fisherman Finn fished fresh fish last Friday." It’s getting a bit harder, would you agree? Before we move on to the next, let’s try to recite it again. |
| Inger: [SLOWLY] Fisker’n Finn fiska fersk fisk forrige fredag. |
| Michael: Now, onto our next tongue twister. |
| Inger: Kristine kjøper kjøttkaker hos kjøpmannen i Kjellstad. |
| Michael: It means "Kristine buys meat cakes at the storekeeper in Kjellstad." Let’s try that once again. |
| Inger: [SLOWLY] Kristine kjøper kjøttkaker hos kjøpmannen i Kjellstad. |
| Michael: If you’re wondering why tongue twisters are difficult regardless of the language, it’s because the sounds the words make require similar vocal tract movements. The fact that you need to say the words in a rapid sequence is also one reason. So far, we’ve only tried short tongue twisters. Why don’t we try longer ones? |
| Inger: Du ska ikkje kalle Kalle for Kalle, sjølv om mora til Kalle kallar Kalle for Kalle, ska’kje du kalle Kalle for Kalle, for Kalle heiter eigentleg Karl. |
| Michael: This is one of the more popular tongue twisters in Norwegian and a long one at that. It means “You’re not supposed to call Kalle for Kalle, even though Kalle’s mother calls Kalle for Kalle, aren’t you supposed to call Kalle for Kalle, because Kalle’s real name is Karl.” Here’s another lengthy one. |
| Inger: Klokka på Ringerike ringer ikke, derfor måtte Ringerike flytte til Romerike. Men Romerike rommet ikke Ringerike, derfor måtte Ringerike være der det var. |
| Michael: If the previous tongue twister was a challenge, this one will make your lips, tongue, jaws, and larynx perform a complex dance in a matter of seconds. What makes this especially difficult is that it requires you to create front-of-the-tongue consonant sounds in a rapid sequence. Want to try that again? |
| Inger: [SLOWLY] Klokka på Ringerike ringer ikke, derfor måtte Ringerike flytte til Romerike. Men Romerike rommet ikke Ringerike, derfor måtte Ringerike være der det var. |
| Michael: This tongue twister, by the way, means "The bell in Ringerike doesn't ring. So Ringerike had to move to Romerike. But there wasn't enough room in Romerike for Ringerike, and that's why Ringerike had to stay where it was." |
| Michael: In case you’re wondering, the tongue twister in the dialogue, |
| Inger: Ibsens ripsbusker, og andre buskvekster |
| Michael: "Ibsens currant bushes and other shrubs." is actually a reference to Norwegian playwright and theatre director Henrik Ibsen. It is said that he has a strong passion for gardening and cultivates redcurrants in particular—speaking of which, some versions of the tongue twister in question use "redcurrants" instead of simply "currants." The tongue twister may be a short one, but it gives you the opportunity to make your tongue dance between the sounds "b" and "s." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned a number of Norwegian tongue twisters and the origins of at least some of them. You also had some fun practice attempting to say them. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Not a lot of people may know this, but Norwegian ranks as one of the easier languages to learn, particularly for English speakers. One reason is that it’s also a Germanic language like English. That’s why some Norwegian words will look familiar to you if you speak English as your main language. Despite this, there are many Norwegian words, even the ordinary ones, that will give your tongue a hard time. One of them is |
| Inger: [NORMAL] kjøpe [SLOW] kjøpe |
| Michael: This is the Norwegian word for the verb "to buy." If you notice, the "kj" sound is what makes this a bit difficult to pronounce if you’re just starting to learn Norwegian. Most people would pronounce it as "sh" but it’s actually closer to a hiss. Another Norwegian word that may prove to be a challenge is |
| Inger: [NORMAL] unnskyld [SLOW] unnskyld |
| Michael: This is another everyday word that’s quite difficult to pronounce for non-Norwegian speakers. It means "sorry," and what makes it challenging is that the "u" sound at the beginning doesn’t have an equivalent in English. It’s like the long "e" in "see" but is spoken with the lips rounded as if you’re drinking from a straw. Our next difficult Norwegian word is |
| Inger: [NORMAL] maur [SLOW] maur |
| Michael: This four-letter word may seem undaunting the first time you see it. The word means "ant," but believe me when I tell you that it’s not as simple to pronounce as it is spelled. Most first-time speakers would read the diphthong "au" as "ow," but it’s actually a blend of the "ah" and "u" sounds. The key to getting these words right is to practice pronouncing them very slowly at first until they feel more natural. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Norwegian is agglutinative, which means that compound words can be made up as needed, at least in theory. That being said, there are some Norwegian words that are tongue twisters in themselves. One such word is |
| Inger: Minoritetsladningsbærerdiffusjonskoeffisientmålingsapparatur |
| Michael: which, when translated, means "Minority charge carrier diffusion coefficient measuring apparatus." |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Inger: Ha det! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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