Norwegian sentence: Couldn’t find meaning (Skandinavisk & Nordisk) Language Learning Forum

Norwegian sentence: Couldn’t find meaning
Tags: Norwegian \| Translation
Language Learning Forum : Skandinavisk & Nordisk

duplin
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Turkey
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Message 1 of 6

16 August 2010 at 1:08am | IP Logged

I'm interested in Norwegian, but i'm in the very beginning. I've been checking some popular books for the language feeling and trying to translate some simple sentences. I've found this one:

"Ka svarte betyr Maria?"

I had a quick search, but I couldn't find the meaning of "ka". I thought maybe it can be a regional saying or abbreviation of something. Could somebody help me about the meaning of this sentence?

Edited by Fasulye on 16 August 2010 at 7:59am
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mrhenrik
Triglot
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Norway
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Speaks: Norwegian*, English, French
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Message 2 of 6

16 August 2010 at 2:47am | IP Logged

"Ka" is a northern way of saying "hva"(bokmål)/"kva"(nynorsk), meaning "what". ;)

The sentence means "What the hell does Maria mean?" in the sense of wanting to know what
"Maria" means, and not what the person Maria means to say.

Literally translated it means "What black means Maria?"
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cypherpunks
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Sweden
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Message 3 of 6

16 August 2010 at 10:13am | IP Logged

Do you mean like: "What does (the word/the name) Maria mean?" Also, does svarte refer to the devil? (I.e. is it religious like "fan" and "satan" in Swedish?)

Wikipedia wrote:

Maria
Origin: Roman, Arabic
Meaning:
Hebrew meaning: "Beloved/love". Roman meaning is uncertain, probably related to Mars or the sea or means "masculine" (see Marius).

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tractor
Tetraglot
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Norway
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Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan
Studies: French, German, Latin

Message 4 of 6

16 August 2010 at 8:06pm | IP Logged

cypherpunks wrote:

Do you mean like: "What does (the word/the name) Maria mean?"

Yes.

cypherpunks wrote:

Also, does svarte refer to the devil? (I.e. is it religious like "fan" and "satan" in
Swedish?)

Yes, it refers to the devil. "Fan" (usually written "faen") and "satan" is also used in Norwegian.
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duplin
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Message 5 of 6

17 August 2010 at 6:04am | IP Logged

thank you. it is becoming more interesting to learn :)
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j0nas
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Groupie
Norway
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Speaks: Norwegian*, English, German

Message 6 of 6

17 August 2010 at 11:10am | IP Logged

mrhenrik wrote:

"Ka" is a northern way of saying "hva"(bokmål)/"kva"(nynorsk), meaning
"what". ;)
"

Just wanted to add that 'ka' is a word found in many parts of the country.

In fact, I would not be very surprised if someone were to tell me that "ka" is the most
widespread spoken variety of the word "hva".

Next to "hva" and "ka", you also find "kva" (as used in nynorsk), "ke" and "å". And maybe
even a few more.

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