Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Norwegian
Nativename	''norsk''
Pronunciation	[nɔʂk]
States	(4.8 million), (150,000)
Region	Kingdom of Norway, Kingdom of Denmark, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Speakers	|speakers 5 million Norwegians
Familycolor	Indo-European
Fam2	Germanic
Fam3	North Germanic
Fam4	West Scandinavian
Stand1	Nynorsk (official)
Stand2	Bokmål (official) / Riksmål (unofficial)
Script	Latin (Norwegian variant)
Nation	Norway Nordic Council
Agency	Norwegian Language Council (Bokmål and Nynorsk)Norwegian Academy (Riksmål)
Iso1	no – Norwegian nb – Bokmål nn – Nynorsk
Iso2	nor – Norwegian nob – Bokmål nno – Nynorsk
Iso3	nor
Lc1	nob |ld1Bokmål
Lc2	nno |ld2Nynorsk
Lingua	52-AAA-ba to -be & 52-AAA-cf to -cg
Notice	IPA }}

Norwegian (''norsk'') is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants ''(see Danish language)''.

These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language and Icelandic language, as well as some extinct languages, constitute the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages). Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form, because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them.

As established by law and governmental policy, there are two official forms of ''written'' Norwegian ''Bokmål'' (literally "book language") and ''Nynorsk'' (literally "new Norwegian"). The Norwegian Language Council is responsible for regulating the two forms, and recommends the terms "Norwegian Bokmål" and "Norwegian Nynorsk" in English. Two other written forms without official status also exist: ''Riksmål'' ("national language"), which is to a large extent the same language as Bokmål, but somewhat closer to the Danish language, is regulated by the Norwegian Academy, which translates it as "Standard Norwegian". ''Høgnorsk'' ("High Norwegian") is a more purist form of Nynorsk that rejects most spelling reforms from the 20th century, but is not widely used.

There is no officially sanctioned standard of spoken Norwegian, and most Norwegians speak their own dialect in all circumstances. The sociolect of the urban upper and middle class in East Norway can be regarded as a ''de facto'' spoken standard for Bokmål because it adopted many characteristics from Danish when Norway was under Danish rule. This so-called ''standard østnorsk'' ("Standard Eastern Norwegian") is the form generally taught to foreign students.

From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Danish was the standard written language of Norway. As a result, the development of modern written Norwegian has been subject to strong controversy related to nationalism, rural versus urban discourse, and Norway's literary history. Historically, Bokmål is a Norwegianised variety of Danish, while Nynorsk is a language form based on Norwegian dialects and puristic opposition to Danish. The now abandoned official policy to merge Bokmål and Nynorsk into one common language called ''Samnorsk'' through a series of spelling reforms has created a wide spectrum of varieties of both Bokmål and Nynorsk. The unofficial form known as ''Riksmål'' is considered more conservative than Bokmål, and the unofficial ''Høgnorsk'' more conservative than Nynorsk.

Norwegians are educated in both Bokmål and Nynorsk. A 2005 poll indicates that 86.3% use primarily Bokmål as their daily written language, 5.5% use both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and 7.5% use primarily Nynorsk. Thus 13% are frequently ''writing'' Nynorsk, though the majority ''speak'' dialects that resemble Nynorsk more closely than Bokmål. Broadly speaking, Nynorsk writing is widespread in Western Norway, though not in major urban areas, and also in the upper parts of mountain valleys in the southern and eastern parts of Norway. Examples are Setesdal, the western part of Telemark county (fylke) and several municipalities in Hallingdal, Valdres and Gudbrandsdalen. It is little used elsewhere, but 30–40 years ago it also had strongholds in many rural parts of Trøndelag (Mid-Norway) and the south part of Northern Norway (Nordland county). Today, not only is Nynorsk the official language of 4 of the 19 Norwegian counties (fylker), but also of many municipalities in 5 other counties. The Norwegian broadcasting corporation (NRK) broadcasts in both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and all governmental agencies are required to support both written languages. Bokmål is used in 92% of all written publications, Nynorsk in 8% (2000).

Norwegian is one of the working languages of the Nordic Council. Under the Nordic Language Convention, citizens of the Nordic countries who speak Norwegian have the opportunity to use their native language when interacting with official bodies in other Nordic countries without being liable to any interpretation or translation costs.

History

From Old Norse to Scandinavian languages

The languages now spoken in Scandinavia developed from the Old Norse language, which did not differ greatly between what are now Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish areas. In fact, Viking traders spread the language across Europe and into Russia, making Old Norse one of the most widespread languages for a time. According to tradition, King Harald Fairhair united Norway in 872. Around this time, a runic alphabet was used. According to writings found on stone tablets from this period of history, the language showed remarkably little deviation between different regions. Runes had been in limited use since at least the 3rd century. Around 1030, Christianity came to Norway, bringing with it the Latin alphabet. Norwegian manuscripts in the new alphabet began to appear about a century later. The Norwegian language began to deviate from its neighbors around this time as well.

Viking explorers had begun to settle Iceland in the 9th century, carrying with them the Old Norse language. Over time, Old Norse developed into "Western" and "Eastern" variants. Western Norse covered Norway and overseas settlements in Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Shetland Islands, while Eastern Norse developed in Denmark and south-central Sweden. The language of Iceland and Norway was practically the same up until the 14th century, when they started to deviate from each other.

The language phase traditionally dated to 1350–1525 is known as Middle Norwegian and is seen by many as a transitional period from Old Norwegian to Modern Norwegian. The reason for this is that although most languages are in a state of constant change, Norwegian phonology, morphology and syntax changed considerably during this time. The use of grammatical case, and a great portion of the conjugation of verbs was lost and replaced by a more fixed syntax, use of prepositions and a greater use of auxiliary based verb forms. During the late Old Norse period and this period there was also a considerable adoption of Middle Low German vocabulary. Similar development in grammar and phonology happened in Swedish and Danish, keeping the dialect continuum in continental Scandinavia intact, but with greater dialectal variation. This process did not, however, occur in the same way in Faroese and Icelandic. These languages remain conservative to this day, when it comes to grammar and vocabulary, so mutual intelligibility with continental Scandinavia was lost.

Danish and Swedish rule

In 1397, the Kalmar Union unified Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and from 1536 Norway was subordinated under the Kingdom of Denmark–Norway. Danish became the commonly written language among Norway's literate class. Spoken Danish was gradually adopted by the urban elite, first at formal occasions, and gradually a more relaxed variety was adopted in everyday speech. The everyday speech went through a koinéization process, involving grammatical simplification and Norwegianised pronunciation. When the union ended in 1814 the Dano-Norwegian koiné had become the mother tongue of a substantial part of the Norwegian elite, but the more Danish-sounding solemn variety was still used on formal occasions.

Norway was forced to enter a new personal union with Sweden, shortly after the end of the former one with Denmark. However, Norwegians began to push for true independence by embracing democracy and attempting to enforce the constitutional declaration of being a sovereign state. Part of this nationalist movement was directed towards the development of an independent Norwegian language. Three major paths were available: do nothing (Norwegian written language, i.e. Danish, was already different from Swedish), Norwegianise the Danish language, or build a new national language based on Modern Norwegian dialects. All three approaches were attempted.

Danish to Norwegian

From the 1840s, some writers experimented with a Norwegianised Danish by incorporating words that were descriptive of Norwegian scenery and folk life, and adopting a more Norwegian syntax. Knud Knudsen proposed to change spelling and inflection in accordance with the Dano-Norwegian koiné, known as "cultivated everyday speech." A small adjustment in this direction was implemented in the first official reform of Danish language in Norway in 1862 and more extensively after his death in two official reforms in 1907 and 1917.

Meanwhile, a nationalistic movement strove for the development of a new written Norwegian. Ivar Aasen, a self-taught linguist, began his work to create a new Norwegian language at the age of 22. He traveled around the country, comparing the dialects in different regions, and examined the development of Icelandic, which had largely escaped the influences Norwegian had come under. He called his work, which was published in several books from 1848 to 1873, Landsmål, meaning national language. The name "Landsmål" is sometimes interpreted as "rural language" or "country language," but this was clearly not Aasen's intended meaning.

The name of the Danish language in Norway was a topic of hot dispute through the 19th century. Its proponents claimed that it was a language common to Norway and Denmark, and no more Danish than Norwegian. The proponents of Landsmål thought that the Danish character of the language should not be concealed. In 1899, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson proposed the neutral name Riksmål, meaning national language like Landsmål, and this was officially adopted along with the 1907 spelling reform. The name "Riksmål" is sometimes interpreted as "state language," but this meaning is secondary at best, compare to Danish rigsmål from where the name was borrowed.

After the personal union with Sweden was dissolved in 1905, both languages were developed further and reached what is now considered their classic forms after a reform in 1917. Riksmål was in 1929 officially renamed ''Bokmål'' (literally "Book language"), and Landsmål to ''Nynorsk'' (literally "New Norwegian"). A proposition to substitute ''Dano-Norwegian'' for ''Bokmål'' lost in parliament by a single vote. The name ''Nynorsk'', the linguistic term for Modern Norwegian, was chosen for contrast to Danish and emphasis on the historical connection to Old Norwegian. Today this meaning is often lost, and it is commonly mistaken as a "new" Norwegian in contrast to the "real" Norwegian Bokmål.

Bokmål and Nynorsk were made closer by a reform in 1938. This was a result of a state policy to merge Nynorsk and Bokmål into one language, called "Samnorsk" (Common Norwegian). A 1946 poll showed that this policy was supported by 79% of Norwegians at the time. However, opponents of the official policy still managed to create a massive protest movement against Samnorsk in the 1950s, fighting in particular the use of "radical" forms in Bokmål text books in schools. In the reform in 1959, the 1938 reform was partially reversed in Bokmål, but Nynorsk was changed further towards Bokmål. Since then Bokmål has reverted even further toward traditional Riksmål, while Nynorsk still adheres to the 1959 standard. Therefore a small minority of Nynorsk enthusiasts uses a more conservative standard called Høgnorsk. The Samnorsk policy had little influence after 1960, and was officially abandoned in 2002.

Phonology

The sound system of Norwegian is similar to Swedish. There is considerable variation among the dialects, but the variant generally taught to foreign students is ''Standard Østnorsk''.

Consonants

+Consonant phonemes of Eastern Norwegian

!

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

Glottal">Dental consonant

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

Glottal

nasal consonant>Nasal

Plosive consonant>Plosive

Fricative consonant>Fricative

Approximant consonant>Approximant

Flap consonant>Flap

Trill consonant>Trill

The post-alveolar consonants only appear in East-Norwegian dialects as a result of Sandhi, combining -ɾ with d, l, n, s, and t.

The pronounciation of the letter ''r'' varies according to dialect. In East-Norwegian dialects, it is a flap , whereas it in Western and Southern Norway, and for some speakers also in Eastern Norway is rendered more gutturally as or . The dialects of North-Western Norway use a post-alveolar trill in this position.

Vowels

! Orthography	help:IPA>IPA	! Description
a		Open back unrounded
ai
au
e (short)	,	open mid front unrounded
e (long)	,	close-mid front unrounded
e (weak)		schwa (mid central unrounded)
ei	,
i (short)		close front unrounded
i (long)		close front unrounded
o		close back rounded
oi
u	,	close central rounded (close front extra rounded)
y (short)		close front rounded (close front less rounded)
y (long)		close front rounded (close front less rounded)
æ	,	near open front unrounded
ø		close-mid front rounded
øy
å		open-mid back rounded

===Accent=== Norwegian is a pitch accent language with two distinct pitch patterns, just like Swedish. They are used to differentiate two-syllable words with otherwise identical pronunciation. For example, in many East Norwegian dialects, the word "" (farmers) is pronounced using tone 1, while "" (beans or prayers) uses tone 2. Though the differences in spelling occasionally allow the words to be distinguished in written language, in most cases the minimal pairs are written alike, since written Norwegian has no explicit accent marks. In most eastern low-tone dialects, accent 1 uses a low flat pitch in the first syllable, while accent 2 uses a high, sharply falling pitch in the first syllable and a low pitch in the beginning of the second syllable. In both accents, these pitch movements are followed by a rise of intonational nature (phrase accent), the size (and presence) of which signals emphasis/focus and which corresponds in function to the normal accent in languages that lack lexical tone, such as English. That rise culminates in the final syllable of an accentual phrase, while the utterance-final fall that is so common in most languages is either very small or absent.

There are significant variations in pitch accent between dialects. Thus, in most of western and northern Norway (the so-called high-pitch dialects) accent 1 is falling, while accent 2 is rising in the first syllable and falling in the second syllable or somewhere around the syllable boundary. The pitch accents (as well as the peculiar phrase accent in the low-tone dialects) give the Norwegian language a "singing" quality which makes it fairly easy to distinguish from other languages. Interestingly, accent 1 generally occurs in words that were monosyllabic in Old Norse, and accent 2 in words that were polysyllabic.

Written language

Alphabet

The Norwegian alphabet has 29 letters. B b

A

|

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Æ

Ø

Å

a

|

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

o

p

q

r

s

t

u

v

w

x

y

z

æ

ø

å

The letters ''c'', ''q'', ''w'', ''x'' and ''z'' are only used in loanwords. As loanwords are assimilated into Norwegian, their spelling might change to reflect Norwegian pronounciation and the principles of Norwegian orthography, e.g. ''zebra'' in Norwegian is written ''sebra'', and the proper Norwegian spelling for ''taxi'' is ''taksi''. Some also spell their otherwise Norwegian family names using these letters.

Some letters may be modified by diacritics: ''é'', ''è'', ''ê'', ''ó'', ''ò'', and ''ô''. In Nynorsk, ''ì'' and ''ù'' and ''ỳ'' are occasionally seen as well. The diacritics are not compulsory, but may in a few cases distinguish between different meanings of the word, e.g.: for (for/to), fór (went), fòr (furrow) and fôr (fodder). Loanwords may be spelled with other diacritics, most notably ''ü'', ''á'' and ''à''.

Bokmål and Nynorsk

Like some other European countries, Norway has an official "advisory board" Språkrådet (Norwegian Language Council) that determines, after approval from the Ministry of Culture, official spelling, grammar, and vocabulary for the Norwegian language. The board's work has been subject to considerable controversy throughout the years.

Both Nynorsk and Bokmål have a great variety of optional forms. The Bokmål that uses the forms that are close to Riksmål is called ''moderate'' or ''conservative'', depending on one's viewpoint, while the Bokmål that uses the forms that are close to Nynorsk is called ''radical''. Nynorsk has forms that are close to the original Landsmål and forms that are close to Bokmål.

Wikipedia has a separate version for each of the written varieties.

Riksmål

Opponents of the spelling reforms aimed at bringing Bokmål closer to Nynorsk have retained the name Riksmål and employ spelling and grammar that predate the Samnorsk movement. Riksmål and conservative versions of Bokmål have been the ''de facto'' standard written language of Norway for most of the 20th century, being used by large newspapers, encyclopedias, and a significant proportion of the population of the capital Oslo, surrounding areas, and other urban areas, as well as much of the literary tradition. Since the reforms of 1981 and 2003 (effective in 2005), the official Bokmål can be adapted to be almost identical with modern Riksmål. The differences between written Riksmål and Bokmål are comparable to American and British English differences.

Riksmål is regulated by the Norwegian Academy, which determines acceptable spelling, grammar, and vocabulary.

Høgnorsk

There is also an unofficial form of Nynorsk, called ''Høgnorsk'', discarding the post-1917 reforms, and thus close to Ivar Aasen's original Landsmål. It is supported by Ivar Aasen-sambandet, but has found no widespread use.

Current usage

In 2010 86.5% of the pupils in the primary and lower secondary schools in Norway receive education in Bokmål, while 13.0% receive education in Nynorsk. From the eighth grade onwards pupils are required to learn both. Out of the 431 municipalities in Norway, 161 have declared that they wish to communicate with the central authorities in Bokmål, 116 (representing 12% of the population) in Nynorsk, while 156 are neutral. Of 4,549 state publications in 2000 8% were in Nynorsk, and 92% in Bokmål. The large national newspapers (Aftenposten, Dagbladet and VG) are published in Bokmål or Riksmål. Some major regional newspapers (including Bergens Tidende and Stavanger Aftenblad), many political journals, and many local newspapers use both Bokmål and Nynorsk.

Dialects

There is general agreement that a wide range of differences makes it difficult to estimate the number of different Norwegian dialects. Variations in grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and pronunciation cut across geographical boundaries and can create a distinct dialect at the level of farm clusters. Dialects are in some cases so dissimilar as to be unintelligible to unfamiliar listeners. Many linguists note a trend toward regionalization of dialects that diminishes the differences at such local levels; there is, however, a renewed interest in preserving distinct dialects.

Norwegian by country

Norwegian in the United States

U.S. communities with high percentages of people who use the Norwegian language

U.S. cities with high percentages of people who use the Norwegian language are: # Blair, Wisconsin 8.54% # Westby, Wisconsin 7.67% # Northwood, North Dakota 4.41% # Fertile, Minnesota 4.26% # Spring Grove, Minnesota 4.14% # Mayville, North Dakota 3.56% # Strum, Wisconsin 2.86% # Crosby, North Dakota 2.81% # Twin Valley, Minnesota 2.54% # Cooperstown, North Dakota 2.21%

U.S. counties with high percentages of people who use Norwegian language

U.S. counties with high percentages of people who use Norwegian language are: # Divide County, North Dakota 2.3% # Griggs County, North Dakota 2.0% # Nelson County, North Dakota 2.0% # Norman County, Minnesota 2.0% # Traill County, North Dakota 2.0% # Vernon County, Wisconsin 1.8% # Steele County, North Dakota 1.6% # Trempealeau County, Wisconsin 1.6% # Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota 1.5% # Pennington County, Minnesota 1.0%

Norwegian language by state

State<	!! Norwegian language !! Percent
style="background:silver">	55,311	0.0%
	8,060
	5,865
	5,460
	4,200
	3,520
	2,809
	2,709
	2,209
	1,829
	1,389
	1,150
	1,110
	1,105
	1,069
	1,055

Norwegian in Canada

Norwegian language by province

Province<	!! Norwegian language !! Percent
style="background:silver">	7,710	0.02%
	3,420
	1,360
	1,145
	895
	370
	175
	160
	95
	80
	10
	0
	0
	0

Examples

Below are a few sentences giving an indication of the differences between Bokmål and Nynorsk, compared to the conservative (nearer to Danish) form Riksmål, Danish, as well as Old Norse, Swedish, Faroese, Icelandic (the living language grammatically closest to Old Norse) and other modern Germanic languages:

{| class=wikitable ! width=100px rowspan=2 | Language ! colspan=5 | Phrase |- ! I come from Norway || What is his name? || This is a horse || The rainbow has many colors |- | Bokmål ||rowspan=3 | Jeg kommer fra Norge || rowspan=2 | Hva heter han? || rowspan=3 | Dette er en hest || Regnbuen har mange farger |- | Riksmål || rowspan=2 | Regnbuen har mange farver |- | Danish || Hvad hedder han? |- | Nynorsk || rowspan=2 | Eg kjem frå Noreg || rowspan=2 | Kva heiter han? || rowspan=2 | Dette er ein hest || Regnbogen har mange fargar/leterRegnbogen er mangleta |- | Høgnorsk || Regnbogen hev mange leterRegnbogen er manglìta |- | Old Norse || Ek kem frá Noregi || Hvat heitir hann? || Þetta er hross/Þessi er hestr || Regnboginn er marglitr |- | Icelandic || Ég kem frá Noregi || Hvað heitir hann? || Þetta er hross/Þessi er hestur || Regnboginn er marglitur |- | Faroese || Eg komi frá Noregi/Norra || Hvat eitur hann?/Hvat heitir hann? || Hetta er eitt ross/ein hestur || Ælabogin hevur nógvar litir/ Ælabogin er marglitur |- | Swedish || Jag kommer från Norge || Vad heter han? || Detta är en häst || Regnbågen har många färger |- | German || Ich komme aus Norwegen || Wie heißt er? || Dies ist ein Pferd/Ross || Der Regenbogen hat viele Farben |- | Dutch || Ik kom uit Noorwegen || Hoe heet hij? || Dit is een paard (ros) || De regenboog heeft veel kleuren |- | Afrikaans || Ek kom van Noorweë af || Hoe heet hy? || Dit is 'n perd || Die reënboog het baie kleure |- | West Frisian || Ik kom út Noarwegen || Hoe hjit er? || Dit is in hynder/happe || De reinbôge hat mannich kleuren |- |}

Morphology

Nouns

Norwegian nouns are inflected or declined in definiteness (indefinite/definite) and number (singular/plural). In some dialects, definite nouns are furthermore declined in case (nominative/dative).

As in most Indo-European languages (English being one of a few exceptions), nouns are classified by gender, which has consequences for the declension of agreeing adjectives and determiners. Norwegian has three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter, except the Bergen dialect which has only two genders: common and neuter. Riksmål and conservative Bokmål traditionally have two genders like Danish, but more modern language has three genders, especially in its spoken form.

+ Noun forms''båt'' (boat) in Bokmål
Singular		Plural
! Indefinite	! Definite	! Indefinite	! Definite
'' en båt''	''båten''	''båter''	''båtene''

The declension of regular nouns depends on gender. Some dialects and variants of Nynorsk furthermore have different declension of weak and strong feminines and neuters.

+ Bokmål
! m.	en gutt(a boy)	gutten(the boy)	gutter(boys)	guttene(the boys)
! f.	ei/en dør(a door)	døra/døren(the door)	dører(doors)	dørene(the doors)
! n.	et hus(a house)	huset(the house)	hus(houses)	husene/husa(the houses)

As of June 5, 2005, all feminine nouns can be written as masculine nouns (bokmål only), giving the written language only two genders – common and neuter.

+ Nynorsk
! m.	ein gut(a boy)	guten(the boy)	gutar(boys)	gutane(the boys)
f.	ei sol(a sun)	sola/soli(the sun)	soler(suns)	solene(the suns)
ei kyrkje/kyrkja(a church)	kyrkja(the church)	kyrkjer/kyrkjor(churches)	kyrkjene/kyrkjone(the churches)
n.	eit hus(a house)	huset(the house)	hus(houses)	husa/husi(the houses)
eit hjarta/hjarte(a heart)	hjarta/hjartet(the heart)	hjarto/hjarte(hearts)	hjarto/hjarta(the hearts)

Adjectives

Norwegian adjectives have two inflectional paradigms. The weak inflection is applicable when the argument is definite, the strong inflection is used when the argument is indefinite. In both paradigms the adjective is declined in comparison (positive/comparative/superlative). Strong, positive adjectives are furthermore declined in gender and number in agreement with their argument. In some southwestern dialects, the weak positive is also declined in gender and number, with one form for feminine and plural, and one form for masculine and neuter.

In Norwegian, a definite noun has a suffixed article (cf. above). Noteworthy, however, when a definitive noun is preceded by an adjective (or a numeral), a definite article is placed in front of the adjective ''in addition'' to the suffixed article of the noun, double definiteness. (In Bokmål, though, the suffixed article may be dropped in these cases, due to its Danish origin.) Example in Nynorsk: ''huset'' - ''det grøne huset'' (the house - the green house).

+ Weak adjective forms''grønn'' (green) in Bokmål
Positive (linguistics)>Positive	! Comparative	! Superlative
''grønne''	''grønnere''	''grønneste''

+ Strong adjective forms(''grønn'' (green) in Bokmål)
! colspan="4"	Comparative	Superlative
! Masculine			! Feminine	! Neuter	! Plural
''grønn''	''grønn''	''grønt''	''grønne''	''grønnere''	''grønnest''

+ Weak adjective forms''grøn'' (green) in Nynorsk
Positive (linguistics)>Positive	! Comparative	! Superlative
''grøne''	''grønare''	''grønaste''

+ Strong adjective forms(''grøn'' (green) in Nynorsk)
! colspan="4"	Comparative	Superlative
! Masculine			! Feminine	! Neuter	! Plural
''grøn''	''grøn''	''grønt''	''grøne''	''grønare''	''grønast''

Verbs

Norwegian finite verbs are inflected or conjugated in mood: indicative/imperative/subjunctive. The subjunctive mood is constrained to a handful of verbs. The indicative verbs are conjugated in tense, present / past. In Bokmål and ''Standard Østnorsk'', the infinitive and present tense also has a passive form, whilst Nynorsk only has a passive infinitive (which is used less frequently than its Bokmål counterpart). In a few dialects, indicative verbs are also conjugated in number. Conjugation in person is lost in Norwegian.

There are four non-finite verb forms: infinitive, passive infinitive, and the two participles perfective/past participle and imperfective/present participle.

The participles are verbal adjectives. The imperfective participle has no further declension, but the perfective participle is declined in gender (not in Bokmål and ''Standard Østnorsk'') and number like strong, positive adjectives. The definite form of the participle is identical to the plural form.

As with other Germanic languages, Norwegian verbs can be either weak or strong.

+ Verb forms in Nynorsk''leva'' (to live)
! colspan="4"	! colspan="7"
! colspan="2"	! rowspan="3"	! rowspan="3"	Verbal nouns		Verbal adjectives (Participles)
! rowspan="2"	! rowspan="2"	Infinitive		Imperfective	Perfective
Active voice>Active	Passive voice>Passive	! Masculine	! Feminine		! Neuter	! Plural/Def
''lever''	''levde''	''leve''	''lev''	''leva''	''levast''	''levande''	''levd''	''levd''	''levt''	''levde''

+ Verb forms in Bokmål''leve'' (to live)
! colspan="5"	! colspan="5"
! colspan="3"	! rowspan="3"	! rowspan="3"	Verbal nouns		Verbal adjectives (Participles)
! colspan="2"	! rowspan="2"	Infinitive		Imperfective	Perfective
Active voice>Active	Passive voice>Passive	Active voice>Active	Passive voice>Passive		! Singular	! Plural/Def
''lever''	''leves''	''levde/ levet''	''leve''	''lev''	''leve''	''leves''	''levende''	''levd''	''levde/ levet''

Pronouns

Norwegian personal pronouns are declined in case, nominative / accusative. Some of the dialects that have preserved the dative in nouns, also have a dative case instead of the accusative case in personal pronouns, while others have accusative in pronouns and dative in nouns, effectively giving these dialects three distinct cases.

In the most comprehensive Norwegian grammar, Norsk referansegrammatikk, the categorization of personal pronouns by person, gender, and number is not regarded as inflection. As with nouns, adjectives must agree with the gender and number of pronoun arguments.

Other pronouns have no inflection.

The so called possessive, demonstrative and relative pronouns are no longer regarded to be pronouns.

Pronouns are a closed class.

+ Examples of pronouns in Bokmål
Nominative case>Nominative	Accusative case>Accusative	English language>English equivalent
''jeg''	''meg''	''I, me''
''du''	''deg''	''you'' (singular)
''han''	''ham/han''	''he, him''
''hun''	''henne''	''she, her''
''den''	''den''	''it'' (masculine/feminine)
''det''	''det''	''it'' (neuter)
''vi''	''oss''	''we, us''
''dere''	''dere''	''you'' (plural)
''de''	''dem''	''they, them''

+ Examples of pronouns in Nynorsk
Nominative case>Nominative	Accusative case>Accusative	English language>English equivalent
''eg''	''meg''	''I, me''
''du''	''deg''	''you'' (singular)
''han''	''han/honom''	''he, him'' or ''it'' (masculine)
''ho''	''ho/henne''	''she, her'' or ''it'' (feminine)
''det''	''det''	''it'' (neuter)
''me/vi''	''oss''	''we, us''
''de''	''dykk''	''you'' (plural)
''dei''	''dei''	''they, them''

Bokmål, like English, has two sets of 3rd person pronouns. ''Han'' and ''hun'' refer to male and female individuals respectively, ''den'' and ''det'' refer to impersonal or inanimate nouns, of masculine/feminine or neutral gender respectively. In contrast, Nynorsk and most dialects use the same set of pronouns (''han'' (m.), ''ho'' (f.) and ''det'' (n.)) for both personal and impersonal references. ''Det'' also has expletive and cataphoric uses like in the English examples ''it rains'' and ''it was known by everyone (that) he had travelled the world''.

Determiners

The closed class of Norwegian determiners are declined in gender and number in agreement with their argument. Not all determiners are inflected.

+ Determiner forms''egen'' (own) in Bokmål
! Masculine	! Feminine	! Neuter	! Plural
''egen''	''egen''	''eget''	''egne''

+ Determiner forms''eigen'' (own) in Nynorsk
! Masculine	! Feminine	! Neuter	! Plural
''eigen''	''eiga/eigi''	''eige/eigi''	''eigne''

Particle classes

Norwegian has five closed classes without inflection, i.e. lexical categories with grammatical function and a finite number of members that may not be distinguished by morphological criteria. These are interjections, conjunctions, subjunctions, prepositions, and adverbs. The inclusion of adverbs here requires that traditional adverbs that are inflected in comparison be classified as adjectives, as is sometimes done.

Compound words

In Norwegian compound words, the head, i.e. the part determining the compound's class, is the last part. Only the first part has primary stress. For instance, the compound ''tenketank'' (think tank) has primary stress on the first syllable and is a noun (some sort of tank).

Compound words are written together in Norwegian, which can cause words to become very long, for example ''sannsynlighetsmaksimeringsestimator'' (maximum likelihood estimator) and ''menneskerettighetsorganisasjoner'' (human rights organisations). Another example is the title ''høyesterettsjustitiarius'' (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, originally a combination of supreme court and the actual title, justiciar). Note also the translation ''En midtsommernattsdrøm'' (A Midsummer Night's Dream).

If they are not written together, each part will naturally be read with primary stress, and the meaning of the compound is lost. This is sometimes forgotten, occasionally with humorous results. Instead of writing, for example, ''lammekoteletter'' (lamb chops), people make the mistake of writing ''lamme koteletter'' (lame, or paralyzed, chops). The original message can even be reversed, as when ''røykfritt'' (no smoking, lit. "smoke free") becomes ''røyk fritt'' (smoke freely).

Other examples include:

''Terrasse dør'' ("Terrace dies") instead of ''Terrassedør'' ("Terrace door")

''Tunfisk biter'' ("Tuna bites", verb) instead of ''Tunfiskbiter'' ("Tuna bits", noun)

''Smult ringer'' ("Lard is calling", verb) instead of ''Smultringer'' ("Doughnuts")

''Tyveri sikret'' ("Theft guaranteed") instead of ''Tyverisikret'' ("Theft proof")

''Stekt kylling lever'' ("Fried chicken lives", verb) instead of ''Stekt kyllinglever'' ("Fried chicken liver", noun)

''Smør brød'' ("Butter bread", verb) instead of ''Smørbrød'' ("Sandwich")

''Klipp fisk'' ("Cut fish", verb) instead of ''Klippfisk'' ("Clipfish")

''På hytte taket'' ("On cottage roof") instead of ''På hyttetaket'' ("On the cottage roof")

''Altfor Norge'' ("Too much Norway") instead of ''Alt for Norge'' ("All for Norway", the royal motto of Norway)

''Forsiktig hetstradisjon'' ("Careful tradition of abuse") instead of ''Forsiktighetstradisjon'' ("Tradition of carefulness").

These misunderstandings occur because most nouns can be interpreted as verbs or other types of words. Similar misunderstandings can be achieved in English too. The following are examples of phrases that both in Norwegian and English mean one thing as a compound word, and something different when regarded as separate words:

''stavekontroll'' (spellchecker) or ''stave kontroll'' (spell checker)

''kokebok'' (cookbook) or ''koke bok'' (cook book)

''ekte håndlagde vafler'' (real handmade waffles) or ''ekte hånd lagde vafler'' (real hand made waffles)

Vocabulary

By far the largest part of the modern vocabulary of Norwegian dates back to Old Norse. The largest source of loanwords is Middle Low German, which had a huge influence on Norwegian vocabulary from the late Middle Ages onwards partially even influencing grammatical structures, such as genitive constructions. At present, the main source of new loanwords is English e.g. ''rapper'', ''e-mail'', ''catering'', ''juice'', ''bag'' (originally a loan word to English from Old Norse). However, Norwegian is considered to be less influenced by English than, for instance, Swedish, or particularly, Danish.

Some loanwords have their spelling changed to reflect Norwegian pronunciation rules, but in general Norwegianised spellings of these words tend to take a long time to sink in: e.g. ''sjåfør'' (from French ''chauffeur'') and ''revansj'' (from French ''revanche'') are now the common Norwegian spellings, but ''juice'' is more often used than the Norwegianised form ''jus'', ''catering'' more often than ''keitering'', ''service'' more often than ''sørvis'', etc.

See also

Differences between the Norwegian and Danish languages

Norse

Det Norske Akademi for Sprog og Litteratur

Noregs Mållag

Norsk Ordbok

Riksmålsforbundet

Russenorsk

List of Indo-European languages

Numbers in various languages

Norwegianism

References

Bibliography

Olav T. Beito, ''Nynorsk grammatikk. Lyd- og ordlære,'' Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1986, ISBN 82-521-2801-7

Jan Terje Faarlund, Svein Lie, Kjell Ivar Vannebo, ''Norsk referansegrammatikk,'' Universitetsforlaget, Oslo 1997, 2002 (3rd edition), ISBN 82-00-22569-0 (Bokmål and Nynorsk)

Rolf Theil Endresen, Hanne Gram Simonsen, Andreas Sveen, ''Innføring i lingvistikk'' (2002), ISBN 82-00-45273-5

Arne Torp, Lars S. Vikør (1993), ''Hovuddrag i norsk språkhistorie (3.utgåve)'', Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS 2003

External links

Norwegian Phrasebook at Wikitravel

Norwegian-English Dictionary (2)

Apertium Translation of words, text or websites (URL) between Norwegian Nynorsk and Norwegian Bokmål.

EasyTrans.org Easily translate words between English, Norwegian and Spanish.

Learn Norwegian! - rated list of online Norwegian courses.

Category:Languages of Norway Category:North Germanic languages Category:Scandinavia Category:Stress-timed languages

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Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	The Basics
background	group_or_band
origin	Melbourne, Australia
genre	Rock
years active	2002 – (present)
label	Independent, Albert Records
associated acts	Gotye, Down Hills Home, Dog With Wheels, Blood Red Bird
website	The Basics Official Website
current members	Wally De BackerTim HeathKris Schroeder
past members	Michael Hubbard
notable instruments	Lead guitar, drums, bass guitar. }}

The Basics ( ) are a three-piece band from Melbourne, Australia, formed by Wally De Backer and Kris Schroeder in 2002. Their style has been described as anything from 'indie-pop' to 'rock'n'roll' to 'pop-rock', though their records show them span a wide range of genres including reggae, ska, country, and electro-pop. They are "recognised as one of Australia's hardest-working bands".

With close to 1000 shows in their nine-year career, their live performances are well-known for their sense of humour and energy.

Formation

The Basics were formed after Kris met Wally at a party in Melbourne. The event was to see off the young aspiring producer, who was about to depart for Los Angeles, and together with a number of musician friends, the two jammed on some blues-rock standards. Later that night, they bonded over a mutual love of The Beatles, 70s & 80s cartoon theme songs and old Sierra adventure games.

Initially they played around Melbourne as an acoustic guitar/drums combo, starting at The Opposition in Frankston and the House of Fools in Footscray, where in late 2002 they met and later invited Michael Hubbard to join them on electric guitar. Though lacking any real experience with the instrument, Kris willingly purchased his first bass guitar and the trio was born. During this time the group start performing songs with more complicated three-part harmony.

During late 2002 and early 2003 The Basics recorded and released an album called ''Get Back'' through MGM Distribution. They began what was to become regular tours of the East and West coasts of Australia.

2004-2005: Current lineup

Tim Heath joined the group in June 2004, after Michael decided to pursue his solo career, which has included being one half of Down Hills Home. Tim was reportedly the only person to reply to an advertisement in Melbourne's Beat Magazine looking for a new guitarist. Tim apparently answered the advertisement - which said the applicant "must have a love of 50s and 60s rock'n'roll" - thinking that he would be meeting "a couple of old guys to play with on the weekends over some beers". They soon recorded ''For Girls Like You''.

The Basics in 2005 continued to tour and play small festivals, and after releasing ''For Girls Like You'' through MGM Distribution they departed for a national tour of Australia, which lasted for two months and took them to every Australian state and territory. Stuart Padbury, a young Melbourne sound engineer, joined them on much of this tour. On returning, the band began demoing songs for a new album.

2006-2009: Touring and soundtracks

In 2006, The Basics began recording what is to become known as ''Stand Out/Fit In''. This took several months and was not completed until the end of the year, despite intentions to have it released in June. Instead, they held a successful 'album preview' where each of the tracks was demonstrated in 'rough form' accompanied by a music video for each (produced by Melbourne photographic artist James Bryans). The band also talked about the origins of the songs. This event brought a lot of attention to the band for the idea's originality. They pre-released a radio single 'Just Hold On' from the album. The band were invited to play the hugely popular Homebake Festival in Sydney, where they received a great response ("one of the highlights" wrote ''The Daily Telegraph'').

In 2007, the band departed on a tri-state residency which saw them play Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane every week for the month of April - a bold move which brought further attention to the band for its original idea. Riding on the wave of this tour, Schroeder, De Backer and Heath departed on their first overseas tour which saw them performing 26 shows around Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom. They also toured twice more up the East Coast, one of which was with popular Japanese band The Bawdies. Their song 'Rattle My Chain' was used in a series of commercials for Volvo Australia. The song 'Hey There!' featured in the British film ''The Bank Job'' - starring Jason Statham - and was used as the backing for a February 2007 short film directed by Tim Longhurst called The Rip. Their song 'Better' was featured in a surfing documentary about the invention of the shortboard in 1967.

In 2008, the band appeared on Australia's Channel 9 for Australia Day celebrations, performing two of their songs - 'Just Hold On' and 'Hey There!' - to an estimated audience of 2 million. Securing an Australian Government grant, they embarked on a two-month tour of Australia, specifically targeting "culturally underprivileged groups" in rural and regional schoolchildren and Indigenous communities. The programme had them holding masterclasses and performing alongside Indigenous groups in the remote Northern Territory and Queensland. Their initiative also had them raising money for the charity Lifeline, their contribution to which was recognised with a plaque at the end of the tour. Season two of ''Californication'' starring David Duchovny featured their cover of the classic 'Have Love, Will Travel', most famously covered by 'The Sonics'.

In 2009, The Basics for the first time enjoyed the support of Australian radio network Triple J, which had reportedly snubbed the band's previous material. The singles 'With This Ship' and 'Like A Brother' were added to the station's playlist, and momentum carried The Basics overseas for a second tour of the United Kingdom and Norway, and also a series of shows in Dublin, Ireland. They were joined by the longtime front-of-house engineer Stuart Padbury who had been mixing them since 2005. The band was often seen in the Grafton Street Mall in Dublin busking to promote their concerts there. Their second show in Oslo, Norway saw the band perform with Hot Tub, one of the members of the Norwegian boy band "Boyzvoice", in his first performance for several years. Season Eight of ''Scrubs'' featured the song 'Lookin' Over My Shoulder'.

Despite all this promise, the band's album ''Keep Your Friends Close'' - produced and part-recorded by Peter Cobbin at London's Abbey Road Studios - though enjoying many favourable reviews, failed to impress Richard Kingsmill, music director of Triple J. This effectively ended the band's apparent upward spiral and the resulting album launch tour was reportedly "trying".

2010: Hiatus and live album

In 2010, following the band's fourth stint at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, and the recording of a yet-unreleased live album, an indefinite hiatus was announced on the band's websites. This was in part due to the impending release of a new album produced by Wally for his Gotye project, and also to reported tensions within the band following the previous year's disappointments.

However, this hiatus was soon broken with a two-month residency at the Northcote Social Club in Melbourne, which saw an apparent return to form. The band's EP "Wait For You" enjoys airplay on Triple J. The Basics also played a one-off show at Sydney's Oxford Art Factory.

On 20 August 2010, The Basics released their fourth LP , available free online and exclusively from *[www.FreeBasicsAlbum.com]. The band had reportedly moved to expand their listenership through this free giveaway, though 300 "Deluxe" CD/Vinyl versions have been printed. was recorded at the Northcote Social Club on 6 February, "in front of a live studio audience", and like the previous record was mixed by Peter Cobbin at Abbey Road Studios. Technically a self-titled album, the phonetics spell out the accurate pronunciation of the band’s name. Kris Schroeder: "For years we’ve worked at bringing our live energy into the studio and thus far it’s been a bit hit-and-miss. Our trick this time was to pull a switcheroo and bring the studio to us instead; the result is the best and closest to us we’ve sounded yet."

Melbourne thespian and Dog With Wheels bassist David Bramble - friends with Heath from university days - has occasionally joined the band on tour, playing keys, often while sporting a large moustache. Other guests have included Jake Mason (saxophone), also of Cookin' on 3 Burners and The Bamboos, Gideon Brazil (saxophone, flute), Simon Imrei (guitar and vocals) and Monty MacKenzie (saxophone).

Covers have often made an appearance from various sources: to date, some of the bands covered have been Cream, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Police, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, New Kids on the Block, Richard Berry, Sonny Curtis and The Crickets, JJ Cale, Harry Nilsson, Bill Scott, Ryan Adams and The Coasters (via The Beatles for their cover of Three Cool Cats).

Members

Kris Schroeder: Bass, Vocals

Wally De Backer: Drums, Vocals

Tim Heath: Guitar, Vocals

Discography

Albums

Get Back (15 January 2004)

Stand Out/Fit In (5 May 2007)

Keep Your Friends Close (25 September 2009)

(20 August 2010)

EP

For Girls Like You (11 July 2005)

Lookin' Over My Shoulder (10 February 2007)

Like A Brother (5 June 2009)

Wait For You (21 May 2010)

Singles

Call It Rhythm & Blues (20 August 2004)

Just Hold On

With This Ship (22 February 2009)

Upcoming projects

The band are taking a two year hiatus, set to return to the stage together in early 2012. Wally De Backer will be launching a new album under his Gotye act in August 2011, Tim Heath will be touring and recording with Blood Red Bird, and Kris Schroeder is currently recording a solo album.

References

External links

Official Website

Myspace Website

Category:Victoria (Australia) musical groups