Vanlige feil (common mistakes)

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Vanlige feil (common mistakes)

Postby Astrum » 2016-07-06, 2:51

I thought I'd try to revive this subforum with a "common mistakes" thread. What mistakes one might make obviously depends on one's native language (due to what is known as "L1 interference" or "language transfer") – and I won't be able to cover all possibilities (neither am I natively fluent in all the languages in the world[!]), so I'll be focusing on common mistakes made by English and Norwegian speakers. I'll hopefully add more entries (depending on demand).

Let's get started, shall we? Today's topic is...

1. Capitalization of Words in Titles and Headings
The general rule is, unlike in English, that words are not capitalized in titles. Exceptions are made for the first word in a sentence and for proper nouns. A heading for this entry could thus be:

"Om stor forbokstav i overskrifter (av Astrum)"

But not:

"Om Stor Forbokstav I Overskrifter (Av Astrum)"

Nor:

"Om Stor Forbokstav i Overskrifter (av Astrum)"

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Re: Vanlige feil (common mistakes)

Postby Astrum » 2016-07-10, 12:48

2. Compounding
Norwegian compound lexemes are not written as separate words. There are a few exceptions (but they never involve splitting the compound entirely, i.e. with a space). One notable exception is that unusual combinations should be hyphenated. When a word contains three identical consonants in a row, either omit a consonant, or hyphenate the compound word.

There has been a trend (among native Norwegian speakers) toward splitting words, under the influence of English. This is never correct.

Examples:
lammelår (leg of mutton)
hangarskip (aircraft carrier)
togstasjon (railway station)
trafikk-kork or trafikkork (traffic congestion)


This can also result in very long words:
høyesterettsjustitiarius (chief justice of the Norwegian Supreme Court, [Høyesterett])

Not:
lamme lår (this actually means "paralyzed thighs"!)
hangar skip
tog stasjon
trafikk kork or trafikkkork
høyeste retts justitiarius


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