Oversettelseseventyret

[revenseventyr]

Just an ordinary fox with an interest in translation.

Translations are from Norwegian (bokmål) to British English.

Adventures in balancing a desire for accuracy with a desire to ensure the appropriate vibe and mouthfeel is conveyed...

Translation is an art not a science!

- 🦊✌️

[revenseventyr]

The house and the hands / Huset og hendene

by Rolf Jacobsen translated by revenseventyr —

Two hands were like a house. They said: Move in here. No rain, no frost, no fear. I have lived in that house without rain, without frost, without fear until the time came to tear it down.

Now I am out on the road again. My cloak is thin. Looks like it's going to snow.

— Original Norwegian text can be read here.

[revenseventyr]

Old Christmas films could be the key to Christmas spirit

Journey to the Christmas Star has a remake, but it's still the original that's shown on Christmas Eve. (Photo: Norsk Filmdistribusjon)

Original article by Vilde Aardahl Aas can be read here in Norwegian (bokmål). Translation by revenseventyr.

Many Christmas films are outdated, but we watch them anyway.

For many, Christmas doesn't begin until they've seen the shoe fit Cinderella's foot or eight-year-old Kevin make plans to defend his house from burglars in Home Alone.

For others, it's not Christmas until they've heard Hugh Grant stammer forth that love actually is all around in Love Actually.

Not all famous and beloved Christmas films have endured, but what is it that turns a film into a Christmas film?

We've asked Mikal Olsen Lerøen what a Christmas film is. He's a lecturer at the University of Bergen, as well as an author and film critic.

Why do we continue to watch these films of varying quality year after year?

What makes a Christmas film?

For many the answer might be obvious. A Christmas film is a film about Christmas. But there are many films we watch at Christmas that don't fit into this category.

Lerøen splits Christmas films into three categories.

The first category is films about Christmas.

The second category is films that aren't about Christmas, but are set at Christmastime. One example is the Bruce Willis film Die Hard.

The last category is simply films that many people watch at Christmas. Three Nuts for Cinderella and The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix don't have anything to do with Christmas, but they've nevertheless become Christmas films.

We see an old-fashioned world we've left behind

A popular genre at Christmas is romantic comedies—often older British films like Bridget Jones' Diary, Love Actually and The Holiday.

'They're simple kinds of films. They're never very dramatic, but you get an hour and a half of good atmosphere,' says Lerøen.

In recent times these films have received a lot of criticism. Love Actually especially is the subject of discussion that turns up every Christmas. Lerøen highlights many of the same problems in Bridget Jones' Diary.

'If Bridget Jones' Diary had been made today, it would have experienced many challenges. Some classic romantic films that are big at Christmas have attitudes that aren't accepted any more.

'We can watch these films again, even if Bridget Jones says she weighs 63kg and is overweight. We know that doesn't work today. We still watch these films, even though they obviously have weaknesses.'

Many get in the Christmas mood from romantic comedies like Love Actually. (Photo: UIP.com)

Surprising favourites

There's also a share of films that don't necessarily have anything to do with Christmas. Some films we also watch at other times of year, but they're still special when Christmas arrives.

'I went on HBO and the category 'Christmas' came up and it included the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Harry Potter films. It's extremely strange,' says Lerøen.

It's difficult for some to see what wizards and hobbits have to do with Christmas, but for others it's obvious they belong to Christmas.

'There are traditions we've created as a community, often because TV channels have aired these films at Christmas. It could also be that many people watch them at Christmas because they have a good time and it's therefore become a tradition. Many people make their own Christmas traditions and stick to them.'

New traditions

Both Three Nuts for Cinderella and Journey to the Christmas Star have had remakes. But it's still the original versions that are aired on Christmas Eve.

'New versions of films such as Three Nuts for Cinderella and Journey to the Christmas Star don't work as triggers for a Christmas atmosphere. We haven't been watching them for 10-15 years and made traditions out of them. We have to invest time in those new films.

'If we begin to watch these new films with children when they're small, we'll make new traditions. Then we won't need the old films any more,' Lerøen explains.

Even though the new films might be better, we don't have the same feelings connected to them. Lerøen thinks that could change.

'If we have this conversation again in ten years, it could be that the younger generations think the new versions create more Christmas atmosphere than the old versions.'

The remake of Three Nuts for Cinderella could become a part of people's Christmas traditions, but it will take time, according to Lerøen. (Photo: Nordisk Film)

The hunt for Christmas cheer

There are many roads to a festive atmosphere, and for many watching Christmas films is the right way to go.

'The main purpose of these films is to create a sense of festivity around Christmas. It doesn't matter if we get it from going to a Kurt Nilsen Christmas concert or from going to church. It isn't about whether we take part in high or low culture. It's about what makes things feel like Christmas for us,' Lerøen explains.

According to Lerøen, there are also several things that make us stick to tradition with Christmas films, even the films that aren't particularly good.

'Some films are only good at Christmas and will get you in a particular mood. You're often tired after many hours of Christmas shopping and want to put your feet up and treat yourself,' says Lerøen.

[revenseventyr]

From 'Rainbow trout and boiled rice' / Fra 'Regnbueørret og kokt ris'

by Terje Dragseth translated by revenseventyr —

In the kitchen she peels an orange passes him half of it says, What are you doing? Cleaning a fish. What are you doing now? Looking at you. Why are you washing the serving bowl? Because the serving bowl should be free of yesterday’s crumbs. Why are you rinsing the fish? Because the fish is to be baked and served. Why? Because I love you. Bent over the sink he cleans the scales from two pieces of violet-pink rainbow trout there is ginger and lime in the shopping bag sugar and coriander in the kitchen cupboard he says, and washes his hands says, we limp half-blind half-mad through the pros and cons of existence and sets the oven to 180 degrees pours a little olive oil in a casserole dish and becomes so embarrassed by its half-sun when she stands turned away half in profile facing a luminous white moon it might snow she says, thoughtfully quiet and wets her lips and drinks a cold glass of water

— Original Norwegian text can be read here.

[revenseventyr]

November / November

by Inger Hagerup translated by revenseventyr —

November is an old woman who no longer hopes. When the sun, that great lover, left her, she pulled a grey dress over her lean shoulders, and her face grew harsh with loneliness. November is an old woman who regrets. Howling she tore the last flowers of autumn from her hair, then she bent her wizened knees for the psalm of the storm. November is an old woman no one wants to make room for. Autumn locked its door to her with an icy key, and now she knocks in vain with trembling fingers on the closed gate of winter.

— Original Norwegian text can be read here.

[revenseventyr]

From all birds / Fra alle fugler

by Gro Dahle translated by revenseventyr —

It is this heaviness in the air, this heaviness on my nape, it presses on my shoulders. It is these black swallows who fly through me right from the morning, brushing my heart with the tips of their wings. It is tiring to be human, it is difficult. There are all these words. All these knots you tie in my sentences. All these sentences that tangle themselves in skeins under my bed in the evening. All these skeins that lace their way into my head all the night through. That is why I envy the trees that can just let the birds fly this sprawling sky which can embrace everything without a single word.

— Original Norwegian text can be read here.

[revenseventyr]

The Luncheon on the Grass / Frokost i det grønne

by Astrid Hjertenæs Andersen translated by revenseventyr —

The man who drove his horses before the plough stood with wide-open nostrils. Haunted by present and proximity, he felt mould under the soles of his feet. Struck by the unforeseen he perceived the spicy fragrance of the ferns. It was that summer the day turned to day at the day’s every hour. Rejuvenated by the play of the birds, the ancient and greying fruit trees became surrounded by the sundial’s shadow and the unusual twists and turns of human thought. Although the women had decided to do the things they usually did there lay a heavy-light blue melody of change in the air. She who sat bound to the front steps in the sunshine outside the house reddened and felt suddenly naked with gooseberry-scissors in her hand. Her thoughts went astray without discernible reason or cause. (What do we know of the sign’s manifestation? Stanzas with the wind or the fields’ nightshade balm.) But she who stands linked to the well with the well-rope in her hands sees in her well-mirror a white-mildewed summer cloud chase past. Her grip loosens. The wooden bucket bumps into the depths. She throws back her head as she sings an unfettered chanson about her summer’s flaming rose-spray. The man in the vineyard lifts his head. He stands with a gold thread in his hand. In the middle of his life in his vineyard of blackening blackcurrants and red-ripe redcurrants. He swings the thread. He searches the grass. He listens to the air as if he wishes someone wished to call his name from afar. But there is no call. There is singing. In the hand that grips. In the grass. Underfoot. For it is that summer when nothing is comfort or regret and griping or sighing but the living presence of blue air green grass and invisible attractions. That day the meal was prepared. The bread and the salt. The fruit and the wine.

— Hjertenæs Andersen wrote this poem as a response to Edouard Manet's painting The Luncheon on the Grass. Original Norwegian text can be read here.

[revenseventyr]

Does your hand shake, Vladimir? / Skelv du på hånda, Vladimir?

by Odveig Klyve translated by revenseventyr —

Does your hand shake today, Vladimir, when you raise your cup to your mouth, when they report that thousands upon thousands are dead at your command on the nineteenth day of the war. Does your hand shake when they report that ninety children have been killed, and hundreds have been wounded by bullets and bombs. Does your hand shake when you see that thousands of your own are dead, those young soldiers who are almost children too. Does your hand shake when you hear that hospitals are being bombed, that old men and women are being killed as they flee, that some have bled to death while you drink your morning coffee. Does your hand shake, Vladimir Vladimirovich, when you raise your cup, as you flee from your humanity.

— Original Norwegian text can be read here.

[revenseventyr]

Best Together - Basic dog training skills

Extract from ‘Best Sammen’ by Maren Teien Rørvik and Jørgen Teien Rørvik. Translation by revenseventyr.

Ideally you should start teaching the basics early in your dog’s life, but this can also be done with a grown dog. It’s never too late to take a step back.

It’s important that teaching the basic skills is done in a positive way. Your dog should not be punished if they make a mistake, because that will only weaken the relationship between dog and owner. The dog should rather be rewarded when it does something right. Training should never happen by force—it’s unnecessary and very inappropriate. When it comes to teaching new skills, there are no rules or limits, because the dog must exclusively experience the situation as positive in order to ensure that they take initiative in the learning process.

Basic skills can be trained at any time and in any setting, and they are are fully in place until the dog can manage them in every type of environment: in the kitchen, on a walk, on the bus, at the dog club and in all kinds of weather. Training the same basic skills in many different environments is called generalisation, and it ensures the dog has understood the exercise independent of the environment they are in.

Every single one of the basic skills will be explained separately in this book. We want to share with you why we think every single one of these skills are important, and what they can be used for. You’ll get tips on how you can teach your dog step by step.

BASIC SKILL 1: LEARN THEIR NAME

A dog who knows their name knows when they should be attentive. Their name becomes part of the dog’s identity, and we use it to get the dog’s attention. If you have several dogs in a pack, it’s extra important that the dog knows its name so you can give an instruction to the specific dog it pertains to.

Training

Say the dog’s name when it’s already paying attention to you, and reward it. Repeat this many times. Then wait until the dog turns away and is a little inattentive before you say the dog’s name again and give it a reward when it returns its attention to you again. Continue to train like this systematically to get the dog’s attention when there are gradually more and more distractions.

You can also use the dog’s name every time you want the dog’s attention so you can give an order. If you’re getting the dog to sit, you can start with saying the dog’s name and then say ‘sit’. This increases the chance that the dog is attentive and ready to receive and obey the ‘sit’ command. A dog who knows their name will perceived as obedient, and you’ll avoid getting frustrated that the dog doesn’t listen when you give an order.

BASIC SKILL 2: SIT

A dog that is sitting is calm and has all four paws on the ground, and that increases the change of making contact with and getting control over the dog. ‘Sit’ can be used in most situations: for example when you’re putting the lead on or taking it off, to let cars, bikes or dogs go past without issues, to stop the dog, stop jumping or play biting, or before food is served. This means ‘sit’ is a great basic skill for getting control of the dog, totally without needing to scold or be strict.

Training – two variations

a) Luring: Show the dog a treat. Hold the treat over the dog’s head so it stretches its head up and lowers its back end. Say ‘good’ and give the dog the treat when it sits. Repeat this many times and gradually add the ‘sit’ command.

b) Voluntary behaviour: Ensure the dog knows you have a reward they want. Stand up, keep the dog’s attention and wait until the dog voluntarily – without command or sign – sits. Reward the dog when it sits. Repeat the exercise many times.

You can introduce the command/word ‘sit’ when the dog has already sat. Gradually you can say the command earlier and earlier and eventually remove any gestures.

Train in different environments, on different surfaces and with gradually more distractions present. You must expect to start training this as a new skill every time you’re in a new situation. Remember that it’s much more difficult for the dog to sit when it’s out on a walk and sees another dog than it is to sit on the living room floor at home. You must therefore approach such situations step by step, have low expectations for the dog and help it to succeed. Use extra good treats when you train in demanding environments, and move a little away from distractions if it gets too difficult for the dog. This pertains to training for all these basic skills.

BASIC SKILL 3: LURE RESIST

Lure resist is when the dog is presented with a temptation it doesn’t receive until it’s done the exercise correctly. The dog shouldn’t just follow the treat like it does when you lure it, but it must understand that in order to get the treat it must do the right thing first. This skill is important, because when the dog understands the concept, you have a dog that’s taught itself self-control and to think for itself, and it will be willing to perform a job to get a reward.

Training

Tempt the dog with a treat you’re holding in a closed fist. As long as the dog is licking or gnawing on your fist, keep it closed. When the dog stops fighting to get the treat, carefully open your hang. If the dog throws itself forward to get the treat, quickly close your fist again. Repeat until the dog stays calm and still for around a second when your hand is open. Then you say ‘good’ and give the dog the reward from your open hand. Gradually the dog will understand that it must wait for the reward, even if the treat is visible and available. Repeat and gradually increase the time the dog must resist taking the treat from your open hand. Every time the dog tries to take the treat without permission, completely close your fist without saying anything. The entire exercise is based on the dog itself choosing to do the right thing (self-control), and the dog shouldn’t be corrected even if it makes mistakes.

Please buy Maren and Jørgen's book in order to support them and read the rest of their training instructions for the 15 basic skills. 'Best Sammen' is a great resource for anyone who wants to learn the most effective techniques for training and raising their dog.

[revenseventyr]

Putti Plutti Pott and Santa's Beard / Putti Plutti Pott og julenissens skjegg

This Christmas, my gift to the English-speaking world is amateur English subtitles for 'Putti Plutti Pott og julenissens skjegg' aka 'Putti Plutti Pott and Santa's Beard'.

The background

The musical was written by Per Asplin, a musician and composer whom I believe did some work in Hollywood but is best known in Norway for being a member of The Monn Keys in addition to being the creator of Plottiputt (as PPP is known to his friends).

The original album came out in 1969 and they made a film version in 1970 starring Asplin himself. It is a delightful blend of whimsical, heartwarming, and at points just plain weird in a way only children's media ever truly achieves.

The premise

Putti Plutti Pott is Santa's grandson. One day Santa takes off his magic beard to wash it and hangs it on the stairs to dry. The beard has magic teleportation powers (naturally; how else could Santa visit every child in one night), and Putti Plutti Pott can't resist—he steals the beard and tries it on and is immediately whisked away to emerge from the chimney in Uncle Per's living room.

Uncle Per and an assortment of nieces and nephews befriend Plottiputt and travel back to Elfland with him in a quest to return the beard to Santa in time for Christmas.

Where to watch

You can find the film on Youtube here. Please note I'm just an enthusiastic amateur so don't expect professional quality. Where possible I've been relatively literal as I did the translation for friends who were more interested in getting a sense of what's 'actually' being said rather than fitting the words to music.

Some reasons you should watch Putti Plutti Pott and Santa's Beard

1. Per Asplin

He's so charismatic and fun! Who wouldn't want to hang out at Uncle Per's cabin and listen to him sing about Christmas fairy tales?

2. Santa (Father Christmas)/Julenissen

He has an entire song about wanting his beard back where he repeatedly calls it his 'hocus pocus beard'.

3. The minutes-long sequence where Plottiputt and another elf do interpretive dance at each other in the snow

This is beyond description.

4. The genuinely lovely songs

The music is great and I particularly love the opening number, a sweet and cosy song about the Christmas landscape that references various Norwegian fairy tales and nursery rhymes. You will probably also enjoy Spikke-Sage-Lime-Banke (Chop-Saw-Glue-Knock) and never get it out of your head again, along with Klappeland (Clappingland), a traditional Scandinavian Christmas song for children.

5. Glupe Gløgg

The man, the myth, the legend. Glupe Gløgg is sadly only seen briefly in the truncated film version, but he is a secret agent elf tasked with hunting down and returning Santa's beard. Because he is a spy he disguises himself by wearing sunglasses. Unfortunately no one else in Elfland wears sunglasses, so people always know it's him. I love him and he is doing his best.

This film has changed my life and I need more, more, more!

More, you say?

There's seasonal productions of the musical in Norway in a similar vein to British panto season, so if you're ever there during the Christmas period... this is the kind of thing you might be able to get tickets for.

You can also listen to the soundtrack on Spotify.

Finally, you can try getting hold of the songbook. The songbook is a prose version of the story with all the songs written down (including notation), and includes a lot more material—not least a scene in which a small girl threatens Glupe Gløgg with a knife.

"If you're mean then I'll throw you in the rubbish bin!"

(HE IS DOING HIS BEST.)

In conclusion

Vil du være med så heng på!

God jul og godt nyttår!

[revenseventyr]

From 'Beloved ditch-edge' / Fra 'Elskede grøftekant'

by Gro Dahle translated by revenseventyr —

Everything must end somewhere, somewhere the land plunges into the sea, and out there by the last little reef is the end of the world where the great salty ocean begins.

Or is it the opposite?

Is it that the world begins out there by the first little humpbacked reefs where a coast tears itself loose from the waves, the sea gives way, and the district rises from the water with blackberry thickets and climbing frames, with honeysuckle and sandpits, a stone church with a green spire.

Everything must begin somewhere, a breath, a heart, a history. Somewhere a sea pink nods in the wind, and the round pebbles roll through the centuries, and the wind blows in pollen clouds from Germany and the Netherlands flocks of thrushes and starlings from South Europe barn swallows from South Africa, Arctic terns from the South Pole, sand dust from the Sahara, Siberian cold from the east.

Here the gods rose from the sea with seaweed in their hair, assembled themselves into districts, built themselves houses, raised fences, set up car parks.

— Original Norwegian text can be read here.

[revenseventyr]

Taking back our family history: Grandfather's language was used to tell secrets

Original article by Mette Ballovara can be read here in Norwegian (bokmål). Click the link and scroll to the bottom to see a video of Simon and Helena speaking Ume Sámi together.

Translation by revenseventyr.

Simon and Helena have learnt a language very few speak. They refused to accept that the language of their forefathers would disappear.

'It's very near to my heart and my family. There are so many feelings connected to this language, it's not possible to describe,' says Simon Forsmark (33).

The language he's talking about is Ume Sámi. It's on Unesco's list of the world's most threatened languages.

He is one of ten people who recently completed a three-year education in Ume Sámi at Samernas Utbildningscentrum in Jåhkåmåhkke/Jokkmokk in Sweden.

'This is my way of taking back a part of the history of our family. Continuing to carry it forwards and rediscover my own history is important to me,' he says.

In Norway there's almost no one left who speaks the language any more, but the situation for Ume Sámi is a little better in Sweden.

Cut connections to Ume Sámi

Today Simon has no one in his immediate family who speaks Ume Sámi. This is in spite of the fact that his grandparents spoke the language.

He has recently found out why this is.

In 1925 in the Bergnäs area (Giertsjávrrie in Ume Sámi), which lies between Sorsele and Ammarnäs in Sweden, the elder generation decided to stop speaking Sámi to their children.

'It was shameful to be Sámi and they wanted their children to avoid any problems,' he explains.

Being used to tell secrets

Simon is proud that he is part of preserving his grandfather's language.

'In 1925 my grandfather was 14 years old. He absolutely spoke the language. And my Dad's older siblings heard some Ume Sámi expressions while they were growing up. They've told me about it, now they know I'm taking back our language. It's lovely,' says Simon.

After 1925, exceptions to the 'language ban' were only made in very special cases. Simon explains:

'From that year Ume Sámi was only spoken if someone was sharing a secret, or if there were problems,' he says.

Bringing the voices of our forefathers to life

There are few statistics on the speakers of Sámi languages. Some would say that the total number of Ume Sámi speakers is still in double digits.

Others have perhaps slightly more optimistic estimates.

A member of the Governing Council of the Sámi Parliament (Sametingsrådet), Mikkel Eskil Mikkelsen, is elated about the group who have completed the course in Sweden.

'That the number of people who speak Ume Sámi has increased by ten people is nothing less than formidable. It is an increase of tens of percent,' says Mikkelsen, who himself speaks Lule Sámi.

He is extremely impressed with Helena, Simon and their coursemates, who have now received certification of their knowledge of Ume Sámi.

'The language is the voice of our forefathers. And I want to say to everyone who speaks Sámi and to everyone who wants to learn it: it is an incredibly important element of the effort to continue the culture of which they are part,' says Mikkelsen.

Sámi languages in Norway

Northern Sámi, Lule Sámi and Southern Sámi are the most-used Sámi languages in Norway.

Ume Sámi, Pite Sámi and Eastern Sámi/Skolt Sámi are languages that are no longer considered to be in active use in Norway, but government websites state there is ongoing work to save them.

There are no up-to-date statistics on how many speakers of the different Sámi languages there are. In 2019 the Sámi Parliament (Sametinget) and the Norwegian Tax Administration established a voluntary register of Sámi language speakers in Norway.

Areas where Sámi languages are spoken cover parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The language borders don't follow the borders between countries.

In 1992, additional provisions about the use of Sámi in Norway were added to the Sámi Law of 12 June 1987. The law confirmed that Sámi and Norwegian are equal languages. Within a more precisely defined administrative area, Sámi is used equally alongside Norwegian in public contexts.

Feeling whole as a human being

Helena Isaksson (63), one of Simon's coursemates, also feels a responsibility to preserve the language.

'I would say that Simon and I are brave, that we are doing this on what I would call 'trembling legs'. Maybe we can inspire others. The most important step is of course to dare to use the language,' she says.

Helena doesn't try to hide that the course has been challenging at times.

'Some things happened to me as a person. I know I'm also doing this for my parents' sake. Both my parents are dead, but I managed to interview my mother. She told me it was shameful to be Sámi.'

The 63 year old is glad she defied her forefathers' choice to let their language disappear.

For her, it's now about feeling whole as a human being.

'When we know something has been taken from us, such as language, it is incredibly healing to take it back. I would say that this is vital for me. It strengthens my Sámi identity,' she says.

[revenseventyr]

Amateur English subtitles for the first episode of Pompel og Pilt, a 1969 Norwegian show for children starring two puppet repairmen as they search for repairs and deal with Gorgon Vaktmester (Caretaker Gorgon) and strange, moplike creatures...

Notorious for disturbing a generation of children.

[revenseventyr]

Poem after 22 July / Dikt etter 22 juli

by Lars Saabye Christensen translated by revenseventyr —

struck by flame and shadow I drop everything I'm holding

and see: things losing their weight the sky losing its colour the wind losing its sail thoughts losing their heft and words their meaning the night loses its morning the day loses its sun I see: grief is a hard material we are grief's workers we hammer it, bend and twist and shape it until we see: grief does not have retroactive power to commemorate the dead is to remember them as they lived in moments and years, in hours and seconds to honour the dead is to fulfil their lives even if nothing will ever be the same struck by flame and shadow we drop everything we're holding and lift a rose the rose is right so gather your flowers in a wide bouquet gather your lights to see through the dark gather your joy to bear all the weeping gather your hope to hold on to the dream gather your thoughts to endure all the doubt so gather your people gather our fellow humans gather us together

— Original Norwegian text can be read here.

[revenseventyr]

What is Kebab Norwegian?

Original article by Marianne Nordahl can be read here in Norwegian (bokmål).

Translation by revenseventyr.

We ask the youths who speak it.

We are in Tøyen in Oslo, speaking with friends Zahra, Zahra and Lubna. They use words like 'lø', 'tert' and 'sjmø'.

This is Norwegian. At least, a type of Norwegian.

"We're born and raised here in Tøyen, where everyone speaks kebabnorsk [Kebab Norwegian]," says Zahra Ayad (15).

"It's super fun to speak it," adds Lubna Mahnoor (14).

Youth language is changing quickly

But what is Kebab Norwegian? It's almost ten years since scientists carried out a study on this youth language.

Bente Ailin Svendsen, a language professor, is one of these scientists.

The scientists interviewed youths in Oslo about how they spoke.

"What we figured out already seems a little old-fashioned. You could definitely say that when I understand what they're talking about, it's not a youth dialect any more," she jokes.

Dialect or street language?

Kebab Norwegian can be called a dialect or a sociolect.

We use the term 'kebabnorsk' in this article. But not everyone thinks it's a good name.

Bente Ailin Svendsen calls it 'ny norsk' [New Norwegian], but thinks it's fine to say 'kebabnorsk'.

A study in the mid-2000s showed that many youths disliked the nickname 'kebabnorsk'.

But in 2013 Svendsen asked youths in the square at Holmlia in Oslo. All the youths she asked called it Kebab Norwegian. So do the youths forskning.no are speaking with now in Tøyen in 2018.

But it doesn't mean that they all like the term 'kebabnorsk'.

Changing around the words

This way of talking resembles ordinary Norwegian, but some say it sounds choppier. More staccato, as scientists would say.

And the words you use when you speak Kebab Norwegian come from many different languages.

You also change around the order of some of the words. For example:

Instead of saying "plutselig vinner du halvparten" [suddenly you win half], you say "plutselig du vinner halvparten", with the same word order as English.

Zahra Raad (14) does it when Lubna Mahnoor starts talking about what she did the day before:

"Wolla, I don't know what to say, bro, I didn't do anything," says Lubna.

"She was with us," explains Zahra Ayad, and says to her friend:

"Honestly, Lubna, you came."

"Yeah, true that, now I remember! I was there," says Lubna.

"When we arrived, she wasn't [note: word order 'hun var ikke' instead of 'var hun ikke'] there," says Zahra Raad.

"But when you arrived, I jetted," nods Lubna.

To 'jet' [jette] means to leave or run away, explain the girls.

Still saying 'schpa'

Youths who speak Kebab Norwegian also use ordinary Norwegian.

Bente Ailin Svendsen and the other linguists noticed it. The youths spoke ordinary Norwegian with them.

But when they spoke to each other, they used other words such as 'wolla', an Arabic word meaning to swear by Allah.

When the film Schpaaa came out in 1998, words such as 'kæbe' (girl, woman) and 'schpa/sjpa' (good, pretty, cool) were popular.

But in 2010, Bente Ailin Svendsen claimed in an interview with Aftenposten that these words were on the way out.

But the three girls in Tøyen happily say 'schpa', eight years later.

What about 'avor' (to run away, to leave)? They think that's far too old-fashioned. They use 'jette' instead.

New Kebab Norwegian

Ten years ago words like 'flus' (money), 'habibi' (friend, sweetie) and 'sjof' (to see) were normal.

The scientists don't completely know how Kebab Norwegian changed in the past few years. Bente Ailin Svendsen can only guess. She reckons some new words must have been introduced.

"There is a new generation of youths now," she says.

The new generation doesn't want to speak exactly like the previous one.

Zahra, Zahra and Lubna use older words like 'sjpa' and 'lø'. But the girls also use some new words. For example 'karni' (bullshit).

Linguistic style is about identity, explains Svendsen. Language shows that you belong. Or that you feel like something more than the traditional Norwegian.

"When youths switch to Kebab Norwegian, they're showing a global identity," says the linguist.

Polish in Kebab Norwegian?

At the same time the language feels like Norwegian for the girls in Tøyen.

"Do you know where the words come from, which language they come from?"

"Norway," answers Zahra Raad questioningly.

Zahra Ayad wonders what the question is really about.

Then Zahra Raad figures out that the word for money, 'flus', is taken from Arabic. It's a language she also speaks at home.

Kebab Norwegian words in the Norwegian Academic dictionary:

wolla: from Arabic, basic meaning is 'I swear (by Allah)' = I promise, I swear

lø: adjective, believed to be from the Arabic for 'no' = stupid, boring

sjpa/schpa: adjective, from Berber, basic meaning is 'good' = good, pretty, cool, see: tert

tert: adjective, from Urdu = good, pretty, cool, see: sjpa

sjmø/schmø: adjective, of uncertain origin = good, pretty, cool

avor: verb, from Berber, Persian, Kurdish = flee, run away, leave

In Kebab Norwegian there are many words from the most-spoken immigrant languages such as Arabic, Turkish and Urdu.

But it is not immigrants who speak Kebab Norwegian. It is their children.

It is mostly Poles who have immigrated to Norway in the past few years. And their children are beginning to become youths. Has Polish entered Kebab Norwegian?

"I want to believe it. It would be exciting to study," says Professor Svendsen.

Sofa comes from Arabic

Scientists have studied Kebab Norwegian on the east side of Oslo. But do youths speak Kebab Norwegian in other areas of the country?

Scientists don't know so much about that, but a study done by a student suggests that maybe some youths in Bergen speak in somewhat the same way.

Kebab Norwegian is a mix of languages. When people in the same environment speak several different languages, such special language mixes can be created.

It happens mostly in cities, but can also happen in other places where people use multiple languages.

Incidentally, did you know that Norwegian is already a blended language?

Around 30% of the words in the Norwegian language come from other languages," says Bente Ailin Svendsen.

"From German, Danish, English — and Arabic. 'Sofa' and 'madras' come from Arabic.

[revenseventyr]

Dialogue / Dialog

by Astrid Hjertenæs Andersen translated by revenseventyr — Beloved, it is so dark already— Autumn is dark, my dear. But where are the stars, beloved, and the lights, where are they? My dear, don't you see the stars and the lanterns, the lanterns shining with small blue lights? Beloved, I'm looking and I see stars and lanterns and lights, but they don't warm my soul. My soul freezes — and longs for all the light summer nights. All the light summer nights we didn't get to own together, all the kisses we should have kissed, all the words we should have said — But now — it's so dark already. Autumn is melancholy, my dear. Autumn is grief and regret. But don't let me see your tears. My tears — no. After all, it is dark already — beloved. — Original Norwegian text can be read here.

[revenseventyr]

How adults can learn Norwegian faster and more easily

Original article by Elin Nyberg can be read here in Norwegian (bokmål).

Translation by revenseventyr.

Take opportunities in daily life to practise the language, advises a language-learning expert.

This is how to try out the words, expressions and structures of the language in a meaningful and inspiring way.

The research of linguist Gølin Kaurin Nilsen at the University of Stavanger shows that this technique is especially important for adults whose native language is distant from Norwegian, or for those who don't know much grammar.

"Maybe especially for these groups it's important to have the opportunity to experience Norwegian instead of thinking of the language as a variety of grammatical structures to be memorised," she says.

The linguist thinks learning a language can be compared to learning to dance or ride a bike:

"You don't learn to ride a bike by reading about it. In the same way, you don't learn a language without trying it out and using the language," says Nilsen, emphasising that learning a new language in adulthood takes a long time for most people.

Customisation provides motivation

"But I think there's a lot to be gained from developing Norwegian language learning so that it becomes as motivating and meaningful as possible," she says.

Nilsen has researched when in the course of learning language usage starts becoming more advanced, what can be done to get there faster, and how Norwegian teaching can be adapted to different levels to make learning more motivating.

She has done this by analysing answers from 'Norskprøven', a national test for those who want to study or work in Norway. The test takes place twice a year.

Finding out when the language becomes advanced

Nilsen looked at the development of the use of nouns in 15 texts at every level (called A1, A2, B1, B2).

B2 is the level of Norwegian needed to be able to begin studying in Norway.

"No one has previously investigated exactly when on the learning ladder use of the language becomes more advanced. It's been presumed that it happens a lot at B1-level, with trial and error at the expense of correctness, and I have now proven it," explains the researcher. Based on this, she has developed a model for language learning.

Her language-learning model assumes that those who are going to learn the language hear and read a lot of it at the same time as using it, and that they consciously or unconsciously test out different patterns and structures in the language.

A new way to teach Norwegian as a second language?

The model will be particularly interesting for those who provide Norwegian courses for adult immigrants.

"The fact that I've identified this development, and what can affect it, means being able to strengthen and optimise the work of developing more advanced language—maybe especially for Norwegian courses," says Nilsen.

But learning Norwegian or another language that is distant from one's own is an exercise in patience regardless:

"We're talking about years, but the more you practise, the faster you'll learn the language. Take Norwegian courses and get help with learning new words and getting the language into your system. Use the language in practice—at work, in your free time, at the shops and other places," advises the linguist, who also has advice for those who speak Norwegian natively in meetings with those who are learning the language:

"Learning Norwegian in adulthood is a big task. It's important that everyone who has Norwegian as their mother tongue understands that and shows patience and helps out where they can," says Gølin Kaurin Nilsen.

References:

Gølin Kaurin Nilsen: Substantivfrasens kompleksitetsutvikling i innlærerspråk. En konstruksjonsgrammatisk analyse av skriftlig produksjon fra A1- til B2-nivå. Doktoravhandling. Universitetet i Stavanger, 2022.