A brief language history

Norwegian belongs to the North Germanic (Scandinavian) branch of the Indo-European language family, and is thus closely related to Danish and Swedish (in fact, they are basically mutually intelligible). Norwegian is quite closely related to German, Dutch and English (Germanic language family) as can be seen in many words:

Norwegian	German	English
Hus	Haus	House
Mann	Mann	Man
Ja	Ja	Yes
Du	Du	You
Seks	Sechs	Six

The Norwegian alphabet

The Norwegian alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet, with a few “special” letters:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

o

How to pronounce the letter in Norwegian

ah

be

se

de

eh

ef

ge

ho

i

je

ko

el

em

en

u

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Æ

Ø

p

q

r

s

t

u

v

w

x

y

z

æ

ø

How to pronounce the letter in Norwegian

pe

kü

er

es

te

ü

w

dobbel w

ex

ü

sett

ä

ö

• Differences between Norwegian and German

Basically, these are the biggest differences between Norwegian and German pronunciation:

Norwegian	How to speak it
O (o)	like the German ”u”
U (u)	like the German ”ü” (with rounded lips)
Y (y)	like the German ”ü” (but less rounded)
Æ (æ)	like the German ”ä”
Ø (ø)	like the German ”ö”
Å (å)	like the German ”o”

• These combinations can also be a bit tricky…

Norwegian	How to speak it
ki, kj	like the German ”ch” (as in "ich")
sj, skj	like the German ”sch” (as in "Schuh")
øy	like the German ”eu”
hv	like the German ”w”

Useful tools in learning Norwegian

• Dictionaries and Translation programmes

The Norwegian – English (unfortunately there’s no German version) dictionary Lexin not only gives you simple word translations, but offers different sentences and examples, along with the pronunciation. If you still don’t understand the word, the programme even shows you a picture!
To go directly to the Norwegian – English dictionary, click here: http://decentius.hit.uib.no/lexin.html?ui-lang=nbo&dict=nbo-eng-maxi&checked-languages=N&checked-languages=B

There’s also a very special and innovative pictorial dictionary. Choose among 33 different categories; from groceries to clothes, to nature and traffic issues. Simply click on a picture and you’ll receive the Norwegian name as well as an English translation, an explanation as well as full flections!
You’ll find a link to the pictorial dictionary below:
http://decentius.hit.uib.no/lexin.html?ui-lang=nbo&dict=nbo&checked-languages=N&checked-languages=B

• Pronunciation

On this website, you’ll find a great overview of the Norwegian sound system and pronunciation as compared to German. It’s worth a look!! http://www.trolljenta.net/sprache/aussprache

If you’re looking for a website that gives you an overview over pretty much everything: facts and figures, Norwegian history, geography and culture, the Norwegian way of life, information about the Vikings, and even a crash course in the Norwegian language, then have a look here: http://www.trolljenta.net/start

The German Wikipedia website is another place that offers a crash course in Norwegian. Here the focus in on grammar, rather than on pronunciation like it is on http://www.trolljenta.net/start) Click the following link to go to the Wikipedia website:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegische_Sprache#Geschlecht_.28Genus.29

• Exercises for those of you who already know some Norwegian

The book “På vei” is often used for teaching Norwegian to adults. On this website, you can do different exercises, but they require some background knowledge, as all instructions are given in Norwegian and there are no explanations. Nevertheless, it’s a website well worth checking out! http://www.pavei.cappelen.no/
Beware! You’ll need to have installed Flash 6 on your computer