Kebabnorsk (), also known as Kebab Norwegian or Norwegian
multiethnolect
A multiethnolect is a language variety, typically formed in youth communities in working class, immigrant neighborhoods of urban areas, that contains influences from a variety of different languages. Unlike an ethnolect, which associates one lang ...
, is a
language variant of
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
that incorporates words and grammatical structures from languages spoken by non-Western
immigrants to
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
such as
Turkish,
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
,
,
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
,
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
,
Punjabi
Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan
* Punjabi language
* Punjabi people
* Punjabi dialects and languages
Punjabi may also refer to:
* Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...
,
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, na ...
, and
Chilean Spanish
Chilean Spanish ( es, español chileno) is any of several varieties of the Spanish language spoken in most of Chile. Chilean Spanish dialects have distinctive pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and slang usages that differ from those of Sta ...
. The multiethnolect differs from an
ethnolect
An ethnolect is generally defined as a language variety that mark speakers as members of ethnic groups who originally used another language or distinctive variety. According to another definition, an ethnolect is any speech variety (language, di ...
because it is spoken not by one particular
ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
, but by the many varying immigrant populations in Norway, drawing elements from each of their respective languages. The Norwegian multiethnolect emerged from immigrant youth communities, particularly those in eastern neighborhoods of
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
, and has spread to broader youth populations through permeation of mainstream
Norwegian media. The term
sociolect
In sociolinguistics, a sociolect is a form of language (non-standard dialect, restricted register) or a set of lexical items used by a socioeconomic class, profession, an age group, or other social group.
Sociolects involve both passive acquisiti ...
is also useful when discussing this variant, because sociological factors such as age, neighborhood, ethnic identity, and gender play important roles in classifying and understanding Norwegian multiethnolect.
The Norwegian multiethnolect was first identified in the 1990s, and in 1995 the Norwegian scholar Stine Aasheim wrote her M.A. thesis on the subject titled: "Kebab-norsk: fremmedspråklig påvirkning på ungdomsspråket i Oslo."
[Toril Opsahl, "'Egentlig alle kan bidra'", Meninger (Opinions), '']Aftenposten
( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 milli ...
'' 18 March 2010 (in Norwegian) Kebab-norsk is the original name used to identify to the variant, with "
kebab
Kebab (, ; ar, كباب, link=no, Latn, ar, kabāb, ; tr, kebap, link=no, ) or kabob (North American) is a type of cooked meat dish that originates from cuisines of the Middle East. Many variants of the category are popular around the wor ...
" referring to a popular Middle Eastern dish of the same name. This terminology is based on
stereotype
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for exampl ...
s of its users, and thus the name Norwegian multiethnolect is becoming increasingly more common.
The first dictionary of Norwegian multiethnolect was published in 2005 by Andreas Eilert Østby, ''Kebabnorsk ordbok''.
Since then, the variation has grown steadily more represented in the media, appearing first in literature, before making its way into music, film, and television. A number of large
European cities have emerging multiethnolects, often prevalent in
working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
neighborhoods with high populations of immigrants, for example
Kanak Sprak
Kiezdeutsch is a variety of German spoken primarily by youth in urban spaces in which a high percentage of the population is multilingual and has an immigration background. Since the 1990s, Kiezdeutsch has come into the public eye as a multiethnic ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
,
Perkerdansk in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
,
Multicultural London English
Multicultural London English (abbreviated MLE) is a sociolect of English that emerged in the late 20th century. It is spoken mainly by young, working-class people in multicultural parts of London.
As the label suggests, speakers of MLE come ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
Rinkeby Swedish
Rinkeby Swedish () is any of a number of varieties of Swedish spoken mainly in urban districts with a high proportion of immigrant residents which emerged as a linguistic phenomenon in the 1980s. Rinkeby in Stockholm is one such suburb, but the ...
in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...
, and
Straattaal in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...
.
Immigration to Norway
Post-World War II immigration
After the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
,
western European countries
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
that were a part of the
NATO Alliance and the anti-communist bloc began receiving a large influx
labor immigrants from
less industrialized countries. Norway was largely unaffected during this post-war rush, although belonging to this bloc, the vast majority of
laborers settling in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
.
Refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. s, often those escaping from countries in the
communist bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
such as
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
and
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
, but also
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
populations, comprised a noteworthy immigrant demographic in the 1950s and 1960s. However, due to lower relative attraction when compared with other Western European nations, very few settled in Norway. Those who did were offered housing and jobs, yet many reflected that their "foreignness" led to their exclusion from Norwegian society, especially
Jewish immigrants, who also dealt with
Anti-Semitic attitudes. Norway's foreign-born population continued to decline through the census of 1950, and Norway did not become a net immigration country until 1968. In the year 1970, only 1.3 percent of the Norwegian population was foreign citizens, of which 46.7 percent came from
Nordic countries. Only 5 percent of the immigrant population came from
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
,
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
.
Labor immigration of the 1970s
By the end of the 1960s, demands for labor were beginning to reach their saturation point in other Western nations and regulations around immigration began to increase. Norway began experiencing its first waves of immigration in the late 1960s and early 1970s when laborers came to meet the needs of Norway's still-growing industries. The largest group of immigrants were
laborers from Pakistan, followed by
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. They were known as ''fremmearbeider'', or foreign workers, and increasingly concerns grew around this demographic being exploited for
cheap labor due to a lack of understanding of Norwegian, and lack of education for their children. Due to concerns around Norway's ability to integrate new foreign populations, Norwegian authorities instituted a yearlong immigration stop on non-Nordic labor immigrants in July 1974. The conversation around immigration in Norway primarily became an issue of whether immigrants would be able to assimilate into
Norwegian culture
The culture of Norway is closely linked to the country's history and geography. The unique Norwegian farm culture, sustained to this day, has resulted not only from scarce resources and a harsh climate but also from ancient property laws. In t ...
, or if they would maintain their own. The job market had room to accommodate new immigrants in
blue-collar positions, but
immigration restrictions and
labor regulation steadily increased throughout the decade. Similar to the experience of earlier refugee populations, discrimination on the basis of
nationality
Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...
and
ethnicity continued to serve as the largest obstacle many immigrants would face.
Asylum seekers
The next significant wave of immigrants came in the mid-1970s through the 1990s with refugees and
asylum seeker
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...
s from all around Europe, Asia, and Africa. The number of asylum seekers increased significantly in this decade, such that it surpassed the allotted quotas for refugee populations and the
Norwegian government
The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power is ...
had little opportunity to plan for and anticipate these waves of immigrants. Following the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
, a significant number of Vietnamese asylum seekers found their way to Norway. Following the
coup d'état in Chile in 1973 and subsequent
Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
regime, a number of Chilean refugees made their way to Norway. Both of these demographics reported feeling loneliness and isolation from the greater Norwegian populace, largely due to linguistic differences. By 1987, Norway housed asylum seekers from 60 different countries, with the largest numbers coming from
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
Sri Lanka, and
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. As Norway joined the
Schengen area in the 1990s, immigration policy continued to become increasingly restrictive. The topic of
illegal immigration became hotly debated across Europe, yet many refugees managed to stay in Norway even without the necessary documentation on
humanitarian grounds.
Current immigration statistics
These waves of immigration marked the beginning of Norway, and more specifically Oslo, as an increasingly
multicultural
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
place with a great breadth of linguistic diversity. At the beginning of 2021, there were 800,000 immigrants in Norway. The largest share of immigrants in 2021 came from
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, followed by
Lithuania,
Sweden,
Syria, and
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
.
At the beginning of 2021, there were 197,900 Norwegians born to immigrant parents in Norway.
In Oslo specifically, the population of immigrants and Norwegian-born with immigrant parents accounts for 33.1 percent of the city's population. The countries most strongly represented in Oslo are
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, Poland, Somalia, and Sweden. The majority of these immigrants live in the neighborhoods of
Stovner, Alna, and
Søndre Nordstrand
Søndre Nordstrand (Southern Nordstrand) is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. It is the southernmost borough of Oslo, bordering Nordstrand. As of 2020 it has 39,066 inhabitants and the highest rate of immigrant population at 56%. It is the onl ...
, where roughly half of the population has an immigrant background. The ever-growing diversity of ethnic groups within Oslo has led to the proliferation of the Norwegian multiethnolect, a variant which reflects the many languages from which it draws vocabulary and grammar.
Neighborhoods of Oslo
The three neighborhoods of Oslo with the highest immigrant populations are
Stovner, Alna, and
Søndre Nordstrand
Søndre Nordstrand (Southern Nordstrand) is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. It is the southernmost borough of Oslo, bordering Nordstrand. As of 2020 it has 39,066 inhabitants and the highest rate of immigrant population at 56%. It is the onl ...
, each with an immigrant population of over 50 percent, but other neighborhoods with significant immigrant populations are
Bjerke,
Grorud
Grorud is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. The borough contains the Ammerud, Grorud, Kalbakken, Rødtvet, Nordtvet and Romsås areas. To the north of the borough is the forest of Lillomarka. The borough is the smallest in Oslo, with fewe ...
,
Gamle Oslo, and
Grünerløkka
Grünerløkka is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. Grünerløkka became part of the city of Oslo (then Christiania) in 1858. Grünerløkka was traditionally a working class district; however, since the late 20th century the area has increasi ...
, each at about 35 percent. The largest immigrant population in Oslo comes from
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, at roughly 22,000 people. Around 13,000–14,000 people come from
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, with similar numbers coming from
Sweden and
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
. Districts of Oslo hold different immigrant demographics, with the majority of immigrants coming from Somalia,Pakistan and
Sri Lanka living in the outer eastern districts, while immigrants coming from Poland and Sweden live in inner eastern districts. In Groruddalen and Søndre Nordstrand, Norwegian-born to immigrant parents makes up 16 percent of the population, which is greater than the 7 percent from all of Oslo and 2.5 percent from the total country.
From 2008 to 2014, the population of Oslo grew 14 percent. The
population growth in Oslo of non-immigrant populations is 4 percent, while the population growth of immigrant populations is 40 percent. In Grünerløkka, the population with an immigrant background has grown by over 50 percent in six years, while the immigrant populations in Bjerke and Gamle Oslo increased by 40 percent, closer to Oslo's average. The neighborhoods Groruddalen and Søndre Nordstrand amount to 27 percent of Oslo's total population, while they account for 38 percent of the immigrant population and 60 percent of the population of those Norwegian-born to immigrant parents.
A study of language use in
Grønland, a neighborhood in the Gamle Oslo district where the immigrant and Norwegian-born to immigrant population is roughly 35 percent of the population, showed that signage in the neighborhood appeared not just in Norwegian, but also in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
, a language popularly spoken in Pakistan and thus prevalent in neighborhoods with the most Pakistani immigrants,
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, na ...
,
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
, and
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
, among other languages. While a majority of signs were in Norwegian at 52.5 percent, signs intended only for immigrant viewers appeared oftentimes in neither Norwegian nor English. Things such as handwritten notes, posters, and parts of names of cafes and shops composed the 2.8 percent of signs in Urdu, and 1.1 percent of signs written in each Tamil, Kurdish, and Arabic.
Linguistic interference
Language transfer
Language transfer is the application of linguistic features from one language to another by a bilingual or multilingual speaker. Language transfer may occur across both languages in the acquisition of a Simultaneous bilingualism, simultaneous b ...
, or interference, is the insertion of qualities from one's
native language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
into a different language by
bilingual and
multilingual
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
language speakers. The concept of interference is central to the study of the Norwegian multiethnolect. It can be observed in any ethnolect, although the concept becomes more complicated with multiple languages interacting. In the case of the Norwegian multiethnolect, features from an immigrant's native language influence their speech patterns when speaking Norwegian. However, the speakers of Norwegian multiethnolect may have a wide variety of native languages. In the case of Norwegian-born people with immigrant parents, Norwegian may be their first language. Therefore, Norwegian multiethnolect draws its vocabulary and influence from a large variety of languages, and speakers of Norwegian multiethnolect might use language that derives from a language which the speaker themselves does not know. Speakers of Norwegian multiethnolect speak in a way that reflects a large variety of languages because of the linguistic diversity of the community at large, rather than the linguistic background of an individual.
This emphasizes the
sociolinguistic
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any or all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on language. It can overlap with the sociology of l ...
elements of the Norwegian multiethnolect: it is a
sociolect
In sociolinguistics, a sociolect is a form of language (non-standard dialect, restricted register) or a set of lexical items used by a socioeconomic class, profession, an age group, or other social group.
Sociolects involve both passive acquisiti ...
along with a multiethnolect, because while any given individual may not belong to all of the ethnic and linguistic communities which contribute to the multiethnolect, their social environment still includes all of these people. This diverges from the conventional definition of interference; rather than interference occurring on an individual level, it occurs at the level of an entire community, and thus affects all community members. Some research suggests that this kind of interference can be understood as a shift away from the original ethnic or multiethnic association of a vernacular. Instead of the vernacular being associated with the language it comes from, it's associated with the new geographic and social framework of where the multiethnolect is spoken. This means that Norwegian multiethnolect is more closely associated with the neighborhoods where it's spoken in Oslo and the immigrant youth demographics that speak it than with the language or ethnicity of origin.
[Cheshire, Jenny (February 2015). "Emerging multiethnolects in Europe" (PDF). ''Queen Mary's Occasional Papers Advancing Linguistics''. 33.] Youth from neighborhoods and social groups that use Norwegian multiethnolect use it to strengthen a sense of belonging with their
in-group
In sociology and social psychology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an out-group is a social group with which an individual does not identify. People may for example ide ...
, rather than because of genuine interference from their native tongue.
Perception of Norwegian multiethnolect by standard Eastern Norwegian speakers
When Norwegian multiethnolect first emerged as a variant of Norwegian in the 1990s, it was associated with linguistic innovation, self-expression, and creativity. Many speakers of Norwegian multiethnolect proudly identified with "Kebabnorsk," but into the 2000s and early 2010s it became associated with "bad Norwegian".
As this became the overwhelming perception of Norwegian multiethnolect, more speakers came to distance themselves from the term.
Hip hop music has also long been associated with Norwegian multiethnolect, but even these artists in the 2000s began to prefer the terms ''gatenorsk'' (street Norwegian) and ''asfaltnorsk'' (asphalt Norwegian) to better represent their language.
The progression of self-identification with Norwegian multiethnolect has shifted in response to the changing perception of this variation by standard Eastern Norwegian speakers.
In recent times, media has tended towards positive and sympathetic representation of Norwegian multiethnolect, but
workplace discrimination
Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, ...
and other forms of discrimination have not lessened. Researchers at the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
have acknowledged Norwegian multiethnolect as a legitimate variant of Norwegian and demonstrated that its usage is the result of intentional linguistic expression, not of mistakes or an inability to speak "proper Norwegian." Bente Ailin Svendsen, a language professor at the University of Oslo, has been one of the most vocal advocates for the legitimacy of Norwegian multiethnolect and in 2020 she published an article to the Norwegian publication
Vårt Land in its support.
TV-series and media using Norwegian multiethnolect have also popularized the variant, especially among their target youth audiences. The actors of the shows ''17'' and ''18'' have expressed pride that their language is being used by young people around all of Norway.
While the early 2000s constituted a period of much more debate surrounding Norwegian multiethnolect, the current era of language usage is much more normalized because of the amount of popular language featuring it. Bente Ailin Svendsen from the University of Oslo believes that because the series ''17'' and ''18'' and books like ''Tante Ulrikkes vei'' are so enjoyable, Norwegian youth are adapting to Norwegian multiethnolect. She states: "The series are popular. Things that are popular are often taken into usage by youth."
Recent
racist backlash to Norwegian multiethnolect persists. In 2020, the consultant Hans Geelmuyden, founder of the
PR agency Geelmuyden Kiese, said that Norwegian multiethnolect does not have a place in his firm. He stated that he supports diverse hiring practices, as long as the applicants don't speak in Norwegian multiethnolect. This reflects the existing stigma against Norwegian multiethnolect in professional spaces. While some media came to his defense, insisting that he had the right to set standards for his hiring practices and that hard-working immigrants who learned "proper Norwegian" still had the chance to be hired, the majority of the public's reaction to Geelmuyden's discriminatory hiring was negative. An article from 2009 in the Norwegian newspaper
Dagsavisen
''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...
showcases similar concerns, with the article revealing the unspoken consensus among Norwegian multiethnolect speakers and hiring managers alike that using Norwegian multiethnolect in job interviews and other professional settings will decrease odds of being hired. While linguists and researchers readily confirm that Norwegian multiethnolect is a legitimate form of Norwegian, young speakers looking to enter the job market are aware of their systemic disadvantage.
Code switching
In Norway, the study of sociolects is difficult to separate from the much more documented conversation and research around ethnolects, particularly the Norwegian multiethnolect. Depending on what neighborhood an individual resides in, what ethnicity they are, what language their parents speak, whether they are an immigrant or Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, what generation they are a part of, and where they attend school or work are all important sociological factors that affect speech patterns of Norwegian multiethnolect users. Whether a speaker of Norwegian multiethnolect uses Norwegian multiethnolect or standard Eastern Norwegian depends on social context, thus making the term sociolect useful. In a study by Marte Bivand Erdal and Mette Strømsø, one participant shared: "Of course, I don't speak like this when I'm at work". This speaker was identified as a user of Norwegian multiethnolect who self-identifies as an ''utlendinger'' (foreigner) but still lives within the dominant Norwegian society and chooses to use standard Eastern Norwegian at work. This study and this example highlight the importance of social context when users of Norwegian multiethnolect determine how to speak. The study suggests that in the
workplace
A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of th ...
, ethnically Norwegian coworkers and customers may not be tolerant of the language of a Norwegian multiethnolect speaker and discriminate against them for being unprofessional. Within the geographic landscape of Oslo, Norwegian multiethnolect speakers use their language differently in different settings, a term which is known as
code-switching
In linguistics, code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. Code-switching is different from plurilingualis ...
.
Linguistic differences between Norwegian multiethnolect and standard Eastern Norwegian
Norwegian multiethnolect varies from standard Eastern Norwegian in ways that are
lexical
Lexical may refer to:
Linguistics
* Lexical corpus or lexis, a complete set of all words in a language
* Lexical item, a basic unit of lexicographical classification
* Lexicon, the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge
* Lex ...
,
syntactical, and
morphological. The most easily identifiable aspect of the Norwegian multiethnolect is the large vocabulary of words which are drawn from other languages. While many of these terms are standard to Norwegian multiethnolect, their spellings are not. A wide variety of spellings are common and accepted in Norwegian multiethnolect. Some common terms include:
In addition to lexical traits, there are a number of syntactical markers of Norwegian multiethnolect. For the most part, this consists of variations to standard sentence structure. For example, Norwegian multiethnolect often ignores
V2 word order
In syntax, verb-second (V2) word order is a sentence structure in which the finite verb of a sentence or a clause is placed in the clause's second position, so that the verb is preceded by a single word or group of words (a single constituent ...
, and will emit the standard Norwegian inversion after the first
clause in a sentence or
adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...
usage. Another example of changed sentence structure is that in Norwegian, the negative marker ''ikke'' typically follows the verb, yet in Norwegian multiethnolect ''ikke'' can appear before or after the verb in imbedded clauses. The frequent addition of adverbs leads to some changes in traditional word order. The frequent usage of the word ''sånn'' is a marker of Norwegian multiethnolect, and similar trends have been observed in both Swedish and German multiethnolects.
The preposition "på" is often overused in Norwegian multiethnolect as compared to standard Eastern Norwegian as well, as it is one of the most common prepositions and this particular trend is popular among many speakers of Norwegian as a second language, extending beyond the parameters of Norwegian multiethnolect.
Lastly, there are also morphological indicators of Norwegian multiethnolect. Similar to multiethnolects in other
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, E ...
, Norwegian multiethnolect demonstrates an over usage of the
masculine gender, rather than the
female or neuter genders that also exist in Norwegian. While the masculine gender is the most common gender for
noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, ...
s in the Norwegian language, in Norwegian multiethnolect the masculine gender is often applied to words that are otherwise neuter or female. Additionally, the plural definitive ending for nouns in standard Norwegian is typically "-ene." However, in Norwegian multiethnolect the ending "-a" for plural definitive nouns is very common. The "-a" ending is also common for
verb
A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descr ...
s in the past tense.
In popular culture
The first piece of
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
written using Norwegian multiethnolect was a
translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
of the Swedish novel ''Ett öga rött (One Red Eye)'' by
Jonas Hassen Khemiri, a novel about immigrants in
Sweden speaking a Swedish multiethnolect called
Rinkebysvenska
Rinkeby Swedish () is any of a number of varieties of Swedish spoken mainly in urban districts with a high proportion of immigrant residents which emerged as a linguistic phenomenon in the 1980s. Rinkeby in Stockholm is one such suburb, but the te ...
. The translation was done by Andreas Eilert Østby, who also published the first Norwegian multiethnolect dictionary. In 2007, a
hip hop production of ''
Romeo and Juliet'' was staged in Norwegian multiethnolect in Oslo. In 2008, Norwegian multiethnolect was showcased in the film ''99% Ærlig (99% Honest)'', a movie about youth in East Oslo. In 2015,
Maria Navarro Skaranger published the novel ''Alle utlendinger har lukka gardiner (All the foreigners have closed their curtains)'', showcasing Norwegian multiethnolect and capturing the life of a young girl and her immigrant family in Oslo. It was later made into a film. In 2017 Zeshan Shakar published the novel ''Tante Ulrikkes vei (Tante Ulrikke's Road)'' using Norwegian multiethnolect in order to give a realistic picture of the upbringing of two young boys in an immigrant neighborhood in Oslo in the early 2000s. The fourth season of the popular Norwegian television show ''
Skam (Shame)'', which was released in 2017, focused on a teenaged Muslim girl as the main character and introduced several new characters that use Norwegian multiethnolect. In September 2018, the Norwegian TV show ''17'' premiered, following the life of a young immigrant boy in east Oslo as he copes with family, friends, and school. The series heavily uses Norwegian multiethnolect. The following seasons were titled ''18'', ''16'', and ''19'', respectively. Premiering in 2019, the TV series ''Førstgangstjenesten (First Time Service)'' portrays the mandatory military service period of several young Norwegians, including a Norwegian multiethnolect speaker from eastern Oslo. In 2020, Zeshan Shakar published a second novel using Norwegian multiethnolect titled ''Gul Bok (Yellow Book)'' about a young professional in Oslo who seeks to understand both his immigrant and professional identities.
Many rappers and Norwegian hip hop musicians use Norwegian multiethnolect, such as
Karpe
Karpe (known as Karpe Diem in the period 2000–2018) is a rap group from Oslo, Norway made up of audiovisual artists Magdi Omar Ytreeide Abdelmaguid (b. 1984) and Chirag Rashmikant Patel (b. 1984).
Biography
Magdi Omar Ytreeide Abdelmaguid ...
,
Hkeem, Isah, and
Unge Ferrari. Oftentimes their music discusses themes of feeling othered by Norwegian popular culture, celebrating their heritage and backgrounds, and facing discrimination due to having an immigrant background. In 2019, the hip hop duo Karpe released the album ''
Sas Plus/Sas Pussy
''Sas Plus/Sas Pussy'' (stylised as SAS PLUS / SAS PUSSY) is the second extended play (EP) by the Norwegian hip hop duo Karpe, composed of rappers Magdi Omar Ytreeide Abdelmaguid and Chirag Rashmikant Patel. It was released on February 22, 2019 ...
'' to critical acclaim, a 30-minute long song which used not only Norwegian multiethnolect, but also a wide variety of languages and soundscapes which reflect the lives and backgrounds of immigrants to Oslo. This song exemplifies the ways that the usage of Norwegian multiethnolect in music allows for more nuanced reflection on the subject matter of being raised in an immigrant family and neighborhood in Norway.
See also
*
Multiethnolect
A multiethnolect is a language variety, typically formed in youth communities in working class, immigrant neighborhoods of urban areas, that contains influences from a variety of different languages. Unlike an ethnolect, which associates one langu ...
*
Ethnolect
An ethnolect is generally defined as a language variety that mark speakers as members of ethnic groups who originally used another language or distinctive variety. According to another definition, an ethnolect is any speech variety (language, diale ...
*
Norwegian dialects
Norwegian dialects (''dialekter'') are commonly divided into four main groups, 'Northern Norwegian' (), 'Central Norwegian' ('' trøndersk''), 'Western Norwegian' (''vestlandsk''), and 'Eastern Norwegian' (). Sometimes 'Midland Norwegian' () and ...
*
Kiezdeutsch
Kiezdeutsch is a variety of German spoken primarily by youth in urban spaces in which a high percentage of the population is multilingual and has an immigration background. Since the 1990s, Kiezdeutsch has come into the public eye as a multiethnic ...
*
Rinkeby Swedish
Rinkeby Swedish () is any of a number of varieties of Swedish spoken mainly in urban districts with a high proportion of immigrant residents which emerged as a linguistic phenomenon in the 1980s. Rinkeby in Stockholm is one such suburb, but the ...
*
Perkerdansk
References
Further reading
* Andreas Eilert Østby. ''Kebabnorsk ordbok''. Oslo: Gyldendal, 2005.
External links
* Håkon Bolstad
Kebabnorsk ''Typisk norsk'',
NRK
NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...
12 May 2004, with a list of words and their origins.
Kebabnorsk on ''Typisk norsk'' YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
{{Norwegian language
Norwegian dialects