Sognamål dialect

Sognamål (literally "Sogn language") is a Western Norwegian dialect which is spoken in the area of Sogn. One of the most prominent features of Sognamål is the pronunciation [aʊ] instead of [ɔː] in many words, i.e. exactly how the letter "á" is pronounced in modern Icelandic. The folk/black metal band Windir from Sogndal used the Sognamål dialect in their lyrics.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n
Plosive / Affricate	voiceless	p	t	c͡ç	k
	voiced	b	d	ɟ͡ʝ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s			h
	voiced	v
Rhotic			r

• /m, p, b/ are bilabial, whereas /f, v/ are labiodental.
• /p, b, t, d, k, ɡ/ are plosives, whereas /c͡ç, ɟ͡ʝ/ are affricates.
• /r/ varies between a tap [ɾ] and a trill [r].

Vowels

One of the most peculiar features of the Sognamål vowel system is that it features neither close back vowels, nor diphthongs that end in that area.

Monophthongs of Sognamål, from Haugen (2004:30)

Monophthong phonemes of Sognamål

	Front				Central		Back
	unrounded		rounded		unrounded		rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i	iː
Close-mid	eː						ʊ	ʊː
Open-mid		ɛ	ø	øː			ɔ	ɔː
Open					a	aː

• /eː/ is close-mid front [eː]. Its short counterpart is the open-mid front [ɛ].
• /ʊ, ʊː/ are close-mid slightly advanced back [o̟, o̟ː].
• The long /øː/ is open-mid near-front [œ̠ː], whereas the short /ø/ varies between open-mid near-front [œ̠] and near-close near-front [ʉ̞˖].
• /ɔ, ɔː/ are open-mid slightly advanced back [ɔ̟, ɔ̟ː].
• /a, aː/ are central [ä, äː].

Part 1 of Sognamål diphthongs, from Haugen (2004:31)

Part 2 of Sognamål diphthongs, from Haugen (2004:31)

Diphthong phonemes of Sognamål

Starting point	Ending point
	Front				Back
	unrounded		rounded		rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close			iʉ	iʉː
Close-mid	ei	eiː	eʉ	eʉː
Open-mid	ɔi	ɔiː	øy	øyː	oʊ	oʊː
Open	ai	aiː			aʊ	aʊː

• /iʉ, iʉː/ are phonetically [iʉ̟, iʉ̟ː].
• /ei, eiː/ are phonetically [ei, eiː].
• /eʉ, eʉː/ are phonetically [eʉ̟, eʉ̟ː].
• /øy, øyː/ are phonetically [œÿ, œÿː].
• /ɔi, ɔiː/ are phonetically [ɔ̟i, ɔ̟iː].
• /oʊ, oʊː/ are phonetically [ɔo, ɔoː].
• /ai, aiː/ are phonetically [äi, äiː].
• /aʊ, aʊː/ are phonetically [äo̟, äo̟ː].

Samples

Icelandic	Sognamål	Nynorsk	Bokmål	English
cf. ambátt [ambaott] (handmaid)	ambå	verktøy	verktøy	tools, equipment
cf. áklæði [aoklaidhi]	aokle	åkle	teppe	lap robe, a blanket
cf. betla (to beg)	betla	klaga	klage	to whine
	brennesot	halsbrann	halsbrann	heartburn
dós [dous]	daose	dåse	dåse	a small box
dilla [didla]	didla (hondn didla pao rompao)	vifta, dilla	vifte	oscillate or as in, the dog wags its tail
	dikkedarie			without further ado
	ein laot	ein låt	en låt	musical piece or song
fiðrildi	fivreld	sommarfugl, fivreld	sommerfugl	a butterfly
hjólbara	hjulebåra	trillebår	trillebår	wheelbarrow
cf. illur [idlur]	iddle	ill, vond	vond	As in it hurts, e.g. iddle fing; the finger hurts
	igraol	ein grådig person	en grådig person	a greedy person
í gær aftan [Í gjair aftan]	jaftes	i går kveld	i går kveld	yesterday evening
í gær [í gjair]	jaor	i går	i går	yesterday
cf. hérna [hjerdna]	jedna	kanskje	kanskje	perhaps
hvar?	kest?	kvar?	hvor?	where?
læmingi	lomhond	lemen, lomhund	lemen, lomhund	a lemming
	nossa seg	nossa seg, kosa seg	kose seg	have an enjoyable time
	rua	rue	kudritt	cow droppings
skemill [skemidl]	skammedl	skammel	skammel	a short bench
	skompa	skumpa	skumpe	as a shove/pushing
	spøt	spøt	strikketøy	knitting
	stikkedaose	fyrstikkøskje	fyrstikkeske	matchbox
íkorni [íkordni]	ikådn	ekorn	ekorn	(literally "tree bear"); squirrel
	trebolar			calluses
	treneve	treneve	fommel	about someone unable to work proper with his hands
þrútinn [thrútinn]	tråten	opphovna	opphovnet	swollen
	haorbådlajakedl
	lakabodl			a scrotum that has been left to stew in some kind of salty liquid, profanity
	mokkok			A cellar used to store fertilizer
viskustykki	bidnetvåga	tvoge, oppvaskklut	oppvaskklut	a small rag commonly used in the kitchen