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From: Craig
Date: 01/08/2005-04:22

I have a question for some of you who know all about norsk dialects:

I was able to obtain a copy of O.E.  Rølvaag's novel   
from a used book seller.  This is the novel which was incorporated as 
the first section of the English translation of the "Giants in the 
Earth"   I de Dager was first published in Oslo in 1926,  The book I 
have is a paperback version dated 1940.  A note on the forward page 
of says "trykt opp nesten uforandret fra første utgave."  It also 
says "Retskriningen av 1938 er nyttet."  So, I conclude that this 
book is printed in relatively modern Norwegian and that it has not 
been heavily edited.  I find that I can read much of  it quite easily 
with the help of a dictionary.

I expect that some of the text is in Nordlands dialect, but I expect 
that dialect would be confined mostly to dialogue sections.   

On thing that puzzles me very much is the use of the pronouns ho 
(=hun) and ham placed in front of virtually all of the names of 
female and male characters respectively.  Here is an example:

"Og så måtte ho Kjersti skynde seg hjem og stelle forkost til han 
Syvert."

A translation into colloquial English might be:

 

But what is the reason for the "ho" and the "han"?  I have never 
noticed this before.  What have I missed?  What is this, dialect, old 
fashioned norsk or what?

It is just a normal part of the dialect, to relate to the person in question,
and for some slight emphasis.

It is a kind of dialect, I think it is kind of old. But someone still use it, I
doent know why but that is youst the way someone talk, you can find it in many
Norwegian dialects. I doent use it but.....