Saturday, March 4, 2023

Words For Not in Norwegian

The word not is ikke in Danish and inte in Swedish. In Norwegian, however, it can be translated in more than one way. The reason is that Norwegian has many dialects.

In the capital city of Oslo, located in the southeast, not is ikke. It is the word that is usually taught to learners of Norwegian. However, in Bergen, the second largest city in Norwegian, not is ikkje. The word ikkje is common in southwestern Norway.

The city of Trondheim is located in central Norway. In Trondheim, the word not is itj. Unlike ikke and ikkje, it does not end with a vowel sound.

In parts of southeastern Norway located close to the Swedish border, not is ente. It is very similar to the Swedish word inte. The form ente is less common than ikke, ikkje and itj.

Norwegian is a language of many dialects. Even basic words such as not have different forms. This is not the case in Danish and Swedish, two very similar languages.

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