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
Newbie
Turkey
Joined 5213 days ago
2 posts - 2 votes
Speaks: English

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
1 person has voted this message useful

mrhenrik
Triglot
Moderator
Norway
Joined 6078 days ago
482 posts - 658 votes

Speaks: Norwegian*, English, French
Personal Language Map

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?"
3 persons have voted this message useful

cypherpunks
Newbie
Sweden
Joined 5219 days ago
14 posts - 16 votes

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).

1 person has voted this message useful

tractor
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Norway
Joined 5452 days ago
1349 posts - 2292 votes

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.
1 person has voted this message useful

duplin
Newbie
Turkey
Joined 5213 days ago
2 posts - 2 votes
Speaks: English

Message 5 of 6

17 August 2010 at 6:04am | IP Logged

thank you. it is becoming more interesting to learn :)
1 person has voted this message useful

j0nas
Triglot
Groupie
Norway
Joined 5541 days ago
46 posts - 70 votes

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.

2 persons have voted this message useful

If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register

Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum

This page was generated in 0.2188 seconds.