Vikværsk

Vikværsk, viksk or Wickish (Wickish: víkskt, víksk, víkske) is a Norwegian dialect spoken in the outer parts of Oslofjorden; Østfold and Vestfold. Some can be heard in the lower parts of Buskerud, Akershus and Telemark.

The name

Vik means wick or bay (Old Norse: vík), and -vær (Old Norse: veri) is a suffix meaning protector, which is a common Norwegian suffix for making demonyms. Ultimately, "Vikværsk" means the language of the inhabitants of the Wick.

Idiosyncrasy

The ending -a, which is used in some grammatical areas as simple past tense, definite form of feminine nouns and so, has changed into -æ/-ä in some parts where Vikværsk is spoken. The same goes for the plural endings -ær/-är and -æne/-äne in masculinum which is changed from middle Norwegian -ar and -ane.

Another well known phenomenon is the word ente (not), which is mostly heard in Østfold. This might be an example of the Swedish influence, since the Norwegian word for not is ikke/ikkje and the Swedish word is inte .

Monophthongs are common to the southeast of where the dialect is spoken, and is the only dialect in all of Norway where these has come naturally.

Pronunciation

Thick l exists throughout the whole eastern part of Norway, but should also be mentioned. It has evolved from Old Norse l and rð.

Orthography and alphabet

There is no set orthography for the dialect, so it is mostly written by using the standard Norwegian orthography. However, enthusiasts have experimented with different orthographies, and the most common one is used beneath.

Nouns

Vikværsk

	Indefinite singular	Definite singular	Indefinite plural	Definite plural
Masculine	én steger/stéga	steiern/stégan	steierar/stegerær/stégar/stégær	steierane/stegeræne/stégane/stégæne	ladder
Feminine	ei/é sie	sia/síæ	síer	siene	side, page
Neuter	ett hus	huse/huset	hus/huser	husa/husæ/husene	house

Bokmål

	Indefinite singular	Definite singular	Indefinite plural	Definite plural
Masculine	en stige	stigen	stiger	stigene	ladder
Feminine	ei/en side	sida/en	sider	sidene	side, page
Neuter	et hus	huset	hus	husa/husene	house

Nynorsk

	Indefinite singular	Definite singular	Indefinite plural	Definite plural
Masculine	ein stige	stigen	stigar	stigane	ladder
Feminine	ei side	sida	sider	sidene	side, page
Neuter	eit hus	huset	hus	husa	house

Verbs

The verbs can now and then be totally foreign for other Norwegians, and it is hard to find a pattern in conjugating them.

Vikværsk

	Infinitive	Simple present	Simple past	Simple future	Present perfect
to pet	á staka/stakæ/stake	staker	staka/stakæ	ska/ské staka/stakæ	har/her staka/stakæ
to sink	á sekke	sekker	sökk	ska/ské sekke	har/her sekki(t)/sökki(t)
to lie	á ljúge	ljúger	ljúggde/ljög/lög	ska/ské ljúge	har/her ljögi(t)/ljúgi(t)/ljüggd/lögi(t)
to be	o ver(r)a/ver(r)æ	er	var	ska/ské ver(r)a/vär(r)æ	har/her vör(r)i(t)/vart/vert

As you see, some irregular verbs have the "-a" ending in infinitive. In many cases, this is the only difference between standard Norwegian and Vikværsk irregular verbs.

Bokmål

	Infinitive	Simple present	Simple past	Simple future	Present perfect
to pole	å stake	staker	staket/staka	skal stake	har staket/staka
to sink	å synke	synker	sank	skal synke	har sunket
to lie	å lyge/ljuge	lyger/ljuger	løy/ljugde	skal lyge/ljuge	har løyet/ljugd
to be	å være	er	var	skal være	har vært