Nordic Languages Thread

[Fimbulvarg]

This might be a difficult question, but how hard would you say learning Icelandic would be for a Norwegian person?

[Fen Shen]

Well... how hard can it be? 
Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Solovei]

Well... how hard can it be? 
Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I think you mean "hversu erfitt getur það verið?"

[Fimbulvarg]

Well... how hard can it be? 
Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Well, good point, but difficulty is relative.

[Laufey]

This might be a difficult question, but how hard would you say learning Icelandic would be for a Norwegian person?

Well... on one hand it helps to know Norwegian, because - and I know this is a tired old joke and all - many of the words will look very familiar already except they end with -ur. Vocabulary-wise it'd be fine. There would possibly-maybe-likely be trouble with the grammar though... I mean my mother tongue is Finnish (15 cases) so you'd think four cases is a piece of cake in comparison? Lol nope, because there's also three genders and the case system does not always follow any understandable logic.

I guess the best answer I can give is that a person knowing any Scandinavian language has a massive advantage to learning Icelandic, but also that it only takes them so far because they'd go "how hard can it be?" and then crash their spirit into the nearest grammar (I know I did)(Icelandic grammar hurts).

[viola]

This might be a difficult question, but how hard would you say learning Icelandic would be for a Norwegian person?

I think it would also depend on your dialect of Norwegian. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I read that some dialects of Norwegian still use endings to differentiate between cases. If you already know one of those, it probably wouldn't be that bad. But if you haven't had a lot of practice with cases then that would probably be the hardest part.

Personally, I think it's definitely doable, especially with a Norwegian language background, but some of the grammar will probably come off at first as a bit confusing and chaotic. The best thing I can say is to stick to it and practise it a lot. Also Icelandic makes up for its complex grammar by being almost phonetic, so it's relatively easy to move from reading to speaking, compared to some languages (I'm looking at you Danish and English).

Well... on one hand it helps to know Norwegian, because - and I know this is a tired old joke and all - many of the words will look very familiar already except they end with -ur. Vocabulary-wise it'd be fine. There would possibly-maybe-likely be trouble with the grammar though... I mean my mother tongue is Finnish (15 cases) so you'd think four cases is a piece of cake in comparison? Lol nope, because there's also three genders and the case system does not always follow any understandable logic.

It's funny because for a long time I was under the impression that Finnish grammar was a lot more complicated, but I did some research and while Finnish has 15 different cases you only have to learn the singular and plural of each case. When you look at Icelandic, it not only takes into account definiteness, but also gender, number, and whether a noun is weak or strong, so you do actually end up with more endings to memorize. How are Finnish verbs compared to Icelandic verbs?

[Laufey]

It's funny because for a long time I was under the impression that Finnish grammar was a lot more complicated, but I did some research and while Finnish has 15 different cases you only have to learn the singular and plural of each case. When you look at Icelandic, it not only takes into account definiteness, but also gender, number, and whether a noun is weak or strong, so you do actually end up with more endings to memorize. How are Finnish verbs compared to Icelandic verbs?

Very much agreeing with the phonetics -part, except that Icelandic does have its quirks (my mother tongue being Finnish which is the ultimate phonetic language probably makes things stand out to me more than they should though). First of all there are things that are very difficult to pronounce or come with sounds that are neatly hidden into the spelling... example of a difficult sound would be the double-L, took me a whole year to learn if memory serves. An example of the second could be words beginning with hv- such as "hvalur" or "hver", because the pronunciation adds an invisible k- to the beginning: khvalur, khver. Then there's things like about 6 different ways of pronouncing the letter G, all depending on its position in the word and the letters immediately around it. Still, Icelandic definitely has nothing as odd as some of the things English does.

As for our case system, yup we don't have definite/indefinite forms for nouns and definitely not a single gendered thing in the grammar, getting the singular and plural of each case will be all you need. It only gets tricky when you realize one word can have several cases neatly stacked up, all giving you more information: "taloissanikaan" = "not even in my houses". Talo = house, -i- = plural, -ssa- = inside, -ni- = my, -kaan = even.

Finnish verbs have more forms than Icelandic ones but on the other hand they lack the strong/weak divide Icelandic verbs have, and Finnish ones also don't entirely change form with sound alterations. Finnish verbs don't govern cases either the way Icelandic ones do, which is my main gripe about the Icelandic ones. With Finnish you can trust the cases to always mean a certain thing, with Icelandic that's only where you start and then things get really interesting/painful when you realize that no, with this particular verb only this case comes to question. Let's not even go near the prepositions and how they add up to the declension rules...

[Fimbulvarg]

Well... on one hand it helps to know Norwegian, because - and I know this is a tired old joke and all - many of the words will look very familiar already except they end with -ur. Vocabulary-wise it'd be fine. There would possibly-maybe-likely be trouble with the grammar though... I mean my mother tongue is Finnish (15 cases) so you'd think four cases is a piece of cake in comparison? Lol nope, because there's also three genders and the case system does not always follow any understandable logic.

I guess the best answer I can give is that a person knowing any Scandinavian language has a massive advantage to learning Icelandic, but also that it only takes them so far because they'd go "how hard can it be?" and then crash their spirit into the nearest grammar (I know I did)(Icelandic grammar hurts).

Well, knowing Icelandic would be cool and all but 4 cases and 3 genders gives me some unwelcome flashbacks to German classes. I think I'll have to put it a bit further down on my bucket list

[Ana Nymus]

Oh dear lord, cases and genders *sits in the corner and cries*. Makes me grateful for English's kitten-grammar 

[viola]

Oh dear lord, cases and genders *sits in the corner and cries*. Makes me grateful for English's kitten-grammar 

No! Don't cry! It will all be ok! *sends warm cookies* Grammar is not as bad as trolls.

Well, knowing Icelandic would be cool and all but 4 cases and 3 genders gives me some unwelcome flashbacks to German classes. I think I'll have to put it a bit further down on my bucket list

Yes, Icelandic grammar is pretty similar to German grammar. German even has verbs and prepositions that govern cases as Laufey mentioned earlier. German would probably be slightly easier because it has less endings that are different.

One question, as a non-Norwegian curious about learning Norwegian, which dialect would be best to learn?

[Fimbulvarg]

One question, as a non-Norwegian curious about learning Norwegian, which dialect would be best to learn?

Norwegian has a massive number of dialects. You would be better of as a foreigner trying to learn the television "standard" (Eastern, but not Oslo dialect) when it comes to spoken Norwegian. It's the equivalent of Received Pronunciation but without the elitist associations. As for the two written standards it's probably best to learn Bokmål since 85% or so of Norwegians use that. The written standards are mainly different with regards to grammar, ortography and vocabulary, not so much syntax.

[viola]

Norwegian has a massive number of dialects. You would be better of as a foreigner trying to learn the television "standard" (Eastern, but not Oslo dialect) when it comes to spoken Norwegian. It's the equivalent of Received Pronunciation but without the elitist associations. As for the two written standards it's probably best to learn Bokmål since 85% or so of Norwegians use that. The written standards are mainly different with regards to grammar, ortography and vocabulary, not so much syntax.

Takk fyrir!

[Fenris]

Found a fun little thing titled "Children's Answers on Christianity Tests", and translated it due to demands from a bossy german.

Spoiler: Norwegian • show

Spoiler: English • show

Children's Answers on Christianity Tests

It is the priest who decides when one is buried. He sends some to a Retirement Home, and then he digs down all the spares. You can call God whatever you want. You can call him Christ, Festus or Lord-Jesus.

The wife of God is called Godmother. She is the mother of all his grandchildren; Moses, Jesus and Santa Claus.
(Thomas Andre, 7 years old)


God's real name is The General Practicing Ruler of Heaven and Earth. He decides everything, all the time. In the old days God was called 'reaper man'. God is relatively kind, but he doesn't like that thieves get to heaven without a reason.

Now there's an ozon hole in the sky, which means that God's floor is no longer sealed. This can be a problem. There's many people in heaven: all dead people are there, plus God, Jesus and the Bad Breath.

There's someone who has a holy llama. That is really a small camel. It is called Dalai-Llama. I think it's an angel.

If God had kept his promise to let all children come to him, we wouldn't need day care centers. The Bible consists for example of The Five Mousebooks and Marius' Gospel.

They write about many nice things there, and its about many funny people. For example they write about Pottimother, Pottifather and Pontius Leave Us.

You should listen to your mother nor matter what she says or what kind of voice she is using.
(Thomas Andre, 7 years)


When someone dies, they are put in the ground, and then the priest says: "Of earth you were made and there you shall be" And then he empties another bucket of dirt on you.

Elin, 4 years:
I don't want to be buried when I'm old, because I can't lie that long under the ground and breathe. And its gross to get that much dirt in your nose. Then its almost better to live in a retirement home.

Magne, 7 years:
If you die, then God turns you into dirt. Then you don't understand anything.


Mikkel, 7 years
In Africa they believe in Nilsen Mandela.

Hanne, 8 years:
God doesn't need to believe in anyone. He only needs to believe in himself.


Fredrik, 9 years:
A missionary is a man with a hat and a suitcase who reads the Bible through the door crack to people.

Ingrid Marie, 7 years:
One can be Saved or Wholly Saved, depending on how much you bother with it.


Hanne, 8 years:
When you got married in the old days, it was because the state said so and the priest thought it was for the best. Today you can get together with the one partner after another and the state doesn't even bother to do anything.


Turid, 7 years:
When you get married, you give each other a vow of silence. If you don't keep it, you get divorced, and then you have to share the lamps and the knives, and usually you can't agree who gets the children. The ones who can't agree, have to go to a stockbroker. He decides that one should have the children, and then the other gets a table extra.

[viola]

Found a fun little thing titled "Children's Answers on Christianity Tests", and translated it due to demands from a bossy german.

Spoiler: Norwegian • show

Spoiler: English • show

Children's Answers on Christianity Tests

It is the priest who decides when one is buried. He sends some to a Retirement Home, and then he digs down all the spares. You can call God whatever you want. You can call him Christ, Festus or Lord-Jesus.

The wife of God is called Godmother. She is the mother of all his grandchildren; Moses, Jesus and Santa Claus.
(Thomas Andre, 7 years old)


God's real name is The General Practicing Ruler of Heaven and Earth. He decides everything, all the time. In the old days God was called 'reaper man'. God is relatively kind, but he doesn't like that thieves get to heaven without a reason.

Now there's an ozon hole in the sky, which means that God's floor is no longer sealed. This can be a problem. There's many people in heaven: all dead people are there, plus God, Jesus and the Bad Breath.

There's someone who has a holy llama. That is really a small camel. It is called Dalai-Llama. I think it's an angel.

If God had kept his promise to let all children come to him, we wouldn't need day care centers. The Bible consists for example of The Five Mousebooks and Marius' Gospel.

They write about many nice things there, and its about many funny people. For example they write about Pottimother, Pottifather and Pontius Leave Us.

You should listen to your mother nor matter what she says or what kind of voice she is using.
(Thomas Andre, 7 years)


When someone dies, they are put in the ground, and then the priest says: "Of earth you were made and there you shall be" And then he empties another bucket of dirt on you.

Elin, 4 years:
I don't want to be buried when I'm old, because I can't lie that long under the ground and breathe. And its gross to get that much dirt in your nose. Then its almost better to live in a retirement home.

Magne, 7 years:
If you die, then God turns you into dirt. Then you don't understand anything.


Mikkel, 7 years
In Africa they believe in Nilsen Mandela.

Hanne, 8 years:
God doesn't need to believe in anyone. He only needs to believe in himself.


Fredrik, 9 years:
A missionary is a man with a hat and a suitcase who reads the Bible through the door crack to people.

Ingrid Marie, 7 years:
One can be Saved or Wholly Saved, depending on how much you bother with it.


Hanne, 8 years:
When you got married in the old days, it was because the state said so and the priest thought it was for the best. Today you can get together with the one partner after another and the state doesn't even bother to do anything.


Turid, 7 years:
When you get married, you give each other a vow of silence. If you don't keep it, you get divorced, and then you have to share the lamps and the knives, and usually you can't agree who gets the children. The ones who can't agree, have to go to a stockbroker. He decides that one should have the children, and then the other gets a table extra.

*rolls around on the floor gasping for breath* this is the most beautiful thing I have ever read!

[Fenris]

A fun little map of Norway with accurate (Norwegian) descriptions.