/h/, absent in Russian, became /g/: hal (half) → gal./x/, absent in Norwegian, became /k/: хорошо (khorosho, good) → korosho./mn/, absent in Norwegian, became /n/: много ли (mnogo li, how many?) → nogoli.Pronunciation was depended on the language background of the speaker. Russenorsk uses many of the phonemes common to both Norwegian and Russian, altering phonemes only used in one.
The last such Norwegian–Russian trade occurred in 1923. Furthermore, the Soviet Union limited international contact significantly, decreasing the need for the common language between Norwegians and Russians. In 1919, the border disappeared completely. In 1917, Finland's declaration of independence from Russia caused the Russian–Norwegian border to decrease significantly. This increase in Russian study caused the devaluation of Russenorsk in terms of social status. In 1850, Russenorsk became more limited to Norwegian fishermen, whereas Norwegian traders learnt Russian through exposure in Archangelsk and Russian trade centers, often formally studying the language to the extent that they could communicate in rudimentary Russian. Until 1850, Russenorsk was socially acceptable for all social classes. Also unlike equatorial pidgins, Russenorsk was formed from one social class. Furthermore, these languages are not from the same branch of Indo-European languages. Unlike equatorial pidgins, it was formed from only two languages, Norwegian and Russian. It is one of the most studied northern pidgins many linguists, for example, Olaf Broch, studied it. The earliest recorded instance of Russenorsk was in 1785. Traders came from the areas near Murmansk and the White Sea, most often to Vardø, Hammerfest, and Tromsø, occasionally further south to the Lofoten islands.
The trading went on throughout the sunny months of the year and was beneficial to both sides Norwegians had access to cheap fish in the summer, whilst Russians had surplus wheat. Norwegians mainly traded fish for flour and wheat from Russians. This barter was supported by the Norwegian government, and King Christian VII conferred city status to several settlements, such as Tromsø, to facilitate it. īarter existed between Russians and Norwegians for 150 years in Troms and Finnmark counties. Like all pidgins, Russenorsk had a rudimentary grammar and a restricted vocabulary, mostly composed of words essential to Arctic fishing and trade ( fish, weather, etc.) however, Russenorsk was used outside of fishing and trade context during the off-season as it was not uncommon for Russians to remain in Norway during the Winter. Russenorsk is important as a test case for theories concerning pidgin languages since it was used far away from most of the other documented pidgins of the world.Īs is common in the development of pidgins and trade languages, the interaction of fishermen and traders with no common language necessitated the creation of some minimal form of communication. It was used extensively in Northern Norway for about 150 years in the Pomor trade.
Russenorsk originated from Russian traders and Norwegian fishermen from Tromsø (northern Norway) and Kola (north-western Russia). Russenorsk ( Norwegian pronunciation: Russian: Руссено́рск, English: Russo-Norwegian) is an extinct dual-source "restricted pidgin" language formerly used in the Arctic, which combined elements of Russian and Norwegian.
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