Learn the similarities between Danish and Norwegian
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: Is Danish similar to Norwegian? |
| Anna: And are they mutually intelligible? |
| Michael: At DanishClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Ben Lee, a college student, picks up the Norwegian book Tørst but finds it surprisingly hard to read. He turns to his friend, who is shopping with him, and asks, |
| "Is this in Danish?" |
| Ben: Er dette på dansk? |
| Dialogue |
| Ben: Er dette på dansk? |
| Nanna: Nej, det er på norsk. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben: Er dette på dansk? |
| Michael: "Is this in Danish?" |
| Nanna: Nej, det er på norsk. |
| Michael: "No, it's in Norwegian." |
Lesson focus |
| Anna: The book Tørst, which usually translates into English as "Thirst," is a famous novel by Jo Nesbø. |
| Michael: It's not a surprise that Ben was confused when he accidentally picked up the Norwegian copy of the novel. In fact, Danish and Norwegian are closely related, as are Danish or |
| Anna: dansk; |
| Michael: and, to a lesser degree, Icelandic or |
| Anna: islandsk. |
| Michael: Danish belongs to the Northern Germanic language group, or |
| Anna: Nordgermansk sproggruppe, |
| Michael: along with Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic. These languages, which are also sometimes called "Nordic," form a subgroup of the Germanic language group, to which English, German, and Dutch also belong. While not as closely related to Danish as Norwegian or Icelandic, they do share common grammar patterns and many common words. |
| Anna: The Germanic languages, in turn, are a branch of the Indo-European language family, which includes a diverse range of languages from Sanskrit to Spanish. |
| Danish originally comes from |
| Anna: Nordboere |
| Michael: or "Old Norse" language, |
| Michael: During the 9th Century, Old Norse started to separate into Old West Norse |
| Anna: Gammel vestnorsk |
| Michael: in Norway and Iceland, and Old East Norse |
| Anna: Gammel østnorsk |
| Michael: in Sweden and Denmark. |
| Danish is now the official language, or |
| Anna: det officielle sprog, |
| Michael: of Denmark. Danish is also spoken by Danish citizens living abroad, as well as in the border regions of the neighbouring countries—for example, the German region called Southern Schleswig, which once belonged to the Crown of Denmark. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how to say "Is this in Danish?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Anna: Er dette på dansk? |
| Anna: It's easy to confuse Danish with other Northern Germanic languages, especially if oneself is a beginning learner. |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how to say "No, it's in Norwegian?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Anna: Nej, det er på norsk. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: There's another question we sometimes hear at DanishClass101.com. |
| Anna: Does knowing Danish make it easier to learn other Northern Germanic languages? |
| Michael: To some extent, yes. Norwegian is the easiest language for Danish speakers to understand. It's very closely related to Danish and, as far as it's written, they are almost identical. |
| However, the problems may start if a Norwegian speaker and a Danish speaker try to talk to each other. Danish pronunciation or |
| Anna: udtale |
| Michael: is closer to German than Norwegian, which makes it difficult to understand. Most Danes can read Norwegian and understand most of what they read, but listening to the language is much more challenging. |
| Anna: Other languages related to Danish have many common words, but, without practice or some knowledge of the language, it's almost impossible to understand them. Dutch and German, for example, are quite similar to Danish due to their common origin. |
| Michael: Many Danish words come from German and English, and so many common words can be found throughout these languages. This can make it easier to acquire a large vocabulary in German or Dutch if you already know Danish, but learning these languages still requires intensive study. |
| Speakers of English often find Danish an easier foreign language or |
| Anna: fremmedsprog |
| Michael: to learn because Danish vocabulary looks quite similar to English vocabulary. The two share many similar words. |
| However, while some of the words have the same meaning, others do not. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Anna: Farvel! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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