CHAT Re: Old English

* BP Jonsson <bpj@...> [000331 13:10]:
> At 23:51 30.3.2000 +0200, taliesin the storyteller wrote:
>
> >And how do Norwegians pronounce it? We agree to disagree on that point
> >in fact, though the 'ski'-part is usually pronounced /S/... I've heard
> >/Se.en/, /Si.en/, /Se:n/, /Si:n/, /Si.in/... yup sums it up. It's said
> >to have many more though.
>
> Cheat!  You were not supposed to enter the contest! ;-)
Oh! Did I win anything? :)

> >Those versions are *rare*, *grmbl* that dictionary must have been made
> >by some darn tootin' city folks or sumthin', maybe even someone from...
> >Bergen! *sound of people running in in panic* *dramatic music*
>
> Where are *you* from, BTW?
Genetically I'm from (northern) Trøndelag, but due to my pa's job I got
to live for a while in several parts of Norway... Sørlandet and Vestlandet
excepted (the areas are a lot smaller than they sound like). My idiolect
therefore is all my own :)

> I must confess that I learnt to say /Si.en/ in Oslo...
I think the locals say something like /Se.@n/

> We 7/8 of Swedes who live outside the Greater Stockholm area just
> love to complain about them, and their speech in particular. I assume from
> your wording that the Norwegian capital is second in unpopularity only to
> Bergen.  Good thing we Gothenburgers are so popular everywhere! ;-)
Oh, the Bergen-thing is a pet-hate shared by all from Trøndelag, the
rivalry goes *way* back... all the way to the Vikings I think. But all
Norw.s agree people from Bergen are weird and special, even themselves.
The Bergen-area has always been affected by *city*-life, visiting ships
from foreign shores, while the rest of Norway has always been run by
peasants. We lost all the nobles to the Black Death (good riddance btw)
ya know.

As for unpopular capitals... no comment. But Stockholmare do speak funny...
not as "cute" as people from <evil>mysiga Göteborg.</evil>


t.