EditA few sample compound words
ordbok (ord, word + bok, book) - dictionary
trollmann (troll/trolle, troll/do magic + mann, man) - wizard
ungdomsskole (ungdom, youth + skole, school) - about the same as Junior High in the US
likestilling (lik, equal, like + stilling, stand) - Social equality
sykepleier (syk, ill, sick + pleier, nurse) - nurse
Fortunately, there aren’t too many long compound words around, but very many words are compound words, and knowing which words they are is very important in order to avoid mistakes, mistakes that sometimes lead to comical results.
The word “terrassedør” for example, is a compound word meaning a door leading out to a terrace (a terrace door), formed by the words “terrasse” (terrace) and “dør” (door). However, the word “dør” is also the present tense of the verb “å dø” (to die). So if you put a space in this compound word and write “terrasse dør”, it means “terrace dies” instead. These kinds of results appear because very many Norwegian nouns are also some form of a verb, and therefore the meaning of the compound word is lost if you space compound words. Many learners of Norwegian who speak a language with no or few compound words make such mistakes when writing Norwegian, which is very understandable (it can be quite a nightmare). Interestingly, many Norwegians also compound mistakes, annoying some out of their wits while others settle with a smile or simply not caring.
1) The word “smultring” means “doughnut” and is built up by the word “smult” (lard) and “ring” (a ring/circle). However, this word is often written in plural: “smultringer” (doughnuts). You will notice that it is the last word that is inflicted into plural (“ringer” = “rings”), this rules goes for all compound words. But the word “ringer” is also the present tense of the verb “å ringe” (to call or to ring), so if you put a space here, it becomes “smult ringer” meaning “lard calls/rings”
2) “Tyverisikret”, this word means “theft proof” and is built up by the words “tyveri” (theft), and “sikret” (secured). The word “sikret” is actually the past tense of the verb “å sikre” (to secure), and this verb can also mean to guarantee something. If you put a space here, it becomes “tyveri sikret” and that means “theft guranteed”. I wouldn’t want to install an alarm system with that written on it!
3) Here is another: “stekt kyllinglever” (“fried chicken liver”). Insert a space between “kylling” (chicken) and “lever” (liver), and you get “stekt kylling lever” (fried chicken lives), since “lever” also is present tense of the verb “å leve” (to live/be alive)
4) This is the funniest example in my opinion: “Pultost” (soft cheese), insert a space and you will get “pult ost” (fucked cheese), since "pult" is, you guessed it, the perfect participle of "pule" (to fuck).
Such mistakes have actually annoyed quite a few people, and there even is an association for those fighing this phenomena, called "Astronomer mot orddeling" ("Astronomers against word-division"), the name stemming from the fact that the "organisation" was established by astronomers (but everyone is allowed to sign up, regardless of position, race, religion and so on)
Don’t worry though, the rule for when to write a word together is very simple. A compound word is always pronounced as one word, whilst if you separate them, each word is suddenly pronounced as two words. You can find the same thing in English, for example the word “cookbook” is pronounced differently from “cook book”, and the same difference is in Norwegian. I’m telling this now because many, including many native speakers, forget this rule and therefore divide compound words. So now you know:)
For learning
Norwegian | Category
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May 14, 2008 16:32 | Views
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