Cliff Jones Jr.

Core Vocabulary in Norwegian #

What are the most basic concepts that virtually all languages express? I’ve done my best to answer this question with a list of 200 core vocabulary items, and this is part one of the Norwegian (Bokmål) version. To learn how I settled on these particular concepts and see what other languages have been added so far, check out “Core Vocabulary Across Languages.”

Nouns #

  1. name = navn
  2. water = vann
  3. blood = blod
  4. fire = brann
  5. stone/rock = stein, sten
  6. dog = hund
  7. fish = fisk
  8. louse/flea = lus, loppe
  9. hand/arm = hånd, arm
  10. eye = øye
  11. ear = øre
  12. nose = nese
  13. tongue = tunge
  14. tooth = tann
  15. bone = bein, ben
  16. horn = horn
  17. tail = hale
  18. egg = egg
  19. leaf = blad
  20. night/evening = natt, kveld
  21. star = stjerne
  22. sun = sol
  23. moon = måne
  24. earth/soil = jord
  25. salt = salt
  26. mountain = fjell
  27. tree = tre
  28. rain = regn
  29. wind = vind
  30. bird = fugl
  31. flesh/meat = kjøtt
  32. liver = lever
  33. skin/hide = hud, skinn
  34. knee = kne
  35. breast/chest = bryst, brystkasse
  36. person = person
  37. man = mann
  38. woman = kvinne, dame, jente
  39. child = barn
  40. hair/fur = hår, pels
  41. mouth= munn
  42. neck = hals, nakke
  43. foot/leg = fot, bein, ben
  44. feather = fjær
  45. grease/fat = fett
  46. smoke = røyk
  47. ash/soot = aske, sot
  48. sand = sand
  49. wood = tre
  50. root = rot
  51. rope/cord = tau
  52. path/road = sti, vei
  53. year = år

Verbs #

  1. die = dø
  2. see/look/watch = se
  3. hear/listen = høre, lytte
  4. know = vite, kjenne
  5. drink = drikke
  6. give = gi
  7. come = komme
  8. stand = stå
  9. sit/set = sitte, sette
  10. lie/lay = ligge, legge
  11. fly = fly
  12. eat = spise
  13. bite = bite
  14. burn = brenne
  15. kill = drepe
  16. say/tell/speak/talk = si, fortelle, snakke
  17. laugh = le

Adjectives #

  1. new = ny/nytt/nye
  2. full = full/fullt/fulle
  3. good = god/godt/gode
  4. long = lang/langt/lange
  5. red = rød/rødt/røde
  6. black = svart/svarte, sort/sorte
  7. white = hvit/hvitt/hvite, kvit/kvitt/kvite
  8. green = grønn/grønt/grønne
  9. yellow = gul/gult/gule
  10. small/little = liten/lita/lite/lille/litt, små
  11. big/large = stor/stort/store
  12. wide/broad = bred/bredt/brede
  13. heavy = tung/tungt/tunge
  14. old = gammel/gammelt/gamle
  15. dry = tørr/tørt/tørre

Other #

  1. I/me = jeg/eg/meg
  2. you = du/deg, dere
  3. what/which = hva, hvilken
  4. who/whom = hvem
  5. one/a/an = en/ein/ei/et/eit
  6. two = to
  7. not/no = ikke, nei
  8. this/these = dette/denne, disse
  9. we/us = vi/oss
  10. all/everything/everyone = alle, alt