The dialect in Narvik

The dialects in Northern Norway share some characteristics that distinguish them from dialects in other parts of Norway.

People in Narvik use a variant of Northern Norwegian which is somewhat different from the dialects in other Northern Norwegian towns. As a lot of people moved to Narvik to work in the early 20th century, the spoken language was influenced by a variety of dialects. An extended use of standard forms is also characteristic of the dialect in Narvik.

Moreover, several Swedish words and expressions are used in Narvik, such as morsan (mum), farsan (dad) and brorsan (brother). Due to the railway connection to Sweden, the dialect in Narvik consists of several language peculiarities.

Since Narvik is an ice-free harbour, it has experienced a good deal of harbour traffic from the shipping of iron ore, over many years. Inspired by this international influence, the streets in the town centre have been named Gate 1, Gate 2 and Gate 3 (Gate = street).