Norwegian Voice Over Agency

Everything you never needed to know about speaking Norwegian

Norwegian language standards
Norwegian has two standards. The first is called bokmal or book language and the other called Nynorsk or New Norwegian. Bokmai is a modernised version of Danish and that’s why most Norwegian’s are able to understand Danish.

The Alphabet
There are 29 letters in the Norwegian alphabet. There are 9 vowels and 20 consonants. Traditional Norweigan words don’t contain the letters C, Q, W, X and Z. You will only see them used when the word has been borrowed from another country.

Tunnelling through
If you like to hold your breathe as you are travelling through a tunnel you’ll need a good pair of lungs for this one. The Laerdal Tunnel is the longest road tunnel in Norway and it stretches for 15 miles connecting Laerdal with Aurland.

Far away administration
There’s an island in the South Pacific Ocean called Bouvet Island and it is the most remote island in the world. The island is 49 square metres and is uninhabited, but the Norwegians maintain an unmanned weather station there. It doesn’t ever get any vistors apart from the odd scientist on a research mission because you can only reach the island by boat.

It’s hell here
Believe it or not Norway has a village called Hell. It’s a popular tourist destination and people take photographs of themselves by the sign on the railway platform. If you want to visit it, it’s a short walk from Trondheim International Airport.

Sushi in Norway
Before the 1980s Japanese Sushi didn’t use Salmon in Sushi. Norway knew demand for fish was high in Japan and a delegation suggested that they use salmon exported from Norway to use in Sushi. The Japanese agreed and now Salmon Sushi is a popular dish while the exportation of seafood is one of Norway’s biggest industries.

Let’s see what you earn
Anyone working in Norway has to put up with their financial dealings being published. So in Norway you can find out how much someone earns, how much tax they pay and how much overall wealth they have. So no more keeping up with the Jones’ they know how much you’re worth!

There’s a volcano in Norway
Half way between Norway and Greenland there is a small island called Jan Mayen. It is home to Norway’s only volcano, but luckily nobody lives on the island. Some cruise ships stop by to let passengers take a looko but generally the island is only visited by research scientist checking for any eruptions.

A slice of cheese, please
Thor Bjorklund was a Norwegian inventor and he came up with the great idea of the cheese slicer. He marketed his invention back in 1925 and the device is still used in Kitchens in Norway and around the world.

Pick up a penguin
If you ask to speak to the Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian’s King’s guard, you might be in for a surprise. Because the colonel is actually a Scottish Penguin called Brigadier Nils Olav. There has been a penguin in the Norwegian army since the regiment adopted a penguin from Edinburgh Zoo in 1972.

A short history on the Norwegian language

Norwegian belongs to the West Scandinavian branch of the North Germanic family of languages. Along with other Scandinavian languages, it is descended from Old Norse, which was spoken by the Germanic people who lived in Scandinavia during the Viking era.

Norwegian derives from the West Norse dialect group, along with Icelandic and Faroese, while Danish and Swedish derive from East Norse. The western branch of Norse dialects started to break away from the eastern branch after the Kingdom of Norway was founded at the beginning of the 11th century.

Today, spoken Norwegian is essentially mutually intelligible with Danish and Swedish. These three languages are categorised as Mainland Scandinavian, while Icelandic and Faroese are classified as Insular Scandinavian.

Norwegian is unusual in having two distinct written forms – Bokmål (literally ‘book language’, also called Dano-Norwegian) and Nynorsk (‘new Norwegian’). Bokmål derives from Danish (which was the standard written language of Norway from the 16th to 19th centuries), while Nynorsk is based on Norwegian dialects. Although Nynorsk was an attempt at re-establishing their own national language, today 83% of Norwegians still use Bokmål.

Which countries have Norwegian as a national language?

Norwegian is the principal official language of Norway, spoken by around 95% of the population. In some northern districts of the country, North Sámi is also an official language (the Sámi people were the original inhabitants of northern Scandinavia).

How many people speak Norwegian as their first language?

It is estimated that almost five million people speak Norwegian as their first language, the majority living in Norway.

Did you know?

• As well as Bokmål and Nynorsk, there are two other written forms of Norwegian, although they don’t have official status. These are Riksmål (‘national language’ – very similar to Bokmål) and the lesser-used Høgnorsk (‘High Norwegian’ – a purer form of Nynorsk).
• Bokmål tends to be associated with the more urban side of Norwegian life – it is used in advertising, entertainment and technology. Nynorsk is more associated with traditional and regional/local culture.
• Local dialects are used more widely in Norway than other Scandinavian countries. There are various ways of grouping them, but they are usually classified as Eastern dialects (East Norwegian and Trøndsk) and Western dialects (Western and Northern).

The Norwegian economy

Norway has a prosperous mixed economy, with a large state sector and a flourishing private sector. The country has abundant natural resources, including petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests and minerals.

Key industries are controlled by the Norwegian government, notably petroleum, which accounts for around 20% of government revenue, as well as the country’s highest proportion of export revenue. Norway is the world’s seventh largest oil exporter and the third largest natural gas exporter.

Norway is not a member of the European Union, but maintains close links through membership of the European Free Trade Association. Norway is the EU’s fourth most important import partner.