Home
Archaeology
Astronomy
Biology
Books
Business
Chemistry
Coins
Computers
Conservation
Cooking
Earth Science
Farming
Economics
Finance
Games
Geography
Health Science
History by Date
Hobbies
Law
Mathematics
Medicine
Military Technology
Movies
Music
People
Pharmacology
Philosophy
Physics
Psychology
Religion
Science History
Technology
Sports
Television
Video
Visual Art
Privacy
Contact Us



Russenorsk language

Russenorsk was a pidgin language combining elements of Russian and Norwegian. The presence of seamen, fishermen, and traders in close proximity with no common language necessitated the creation of some minimal form of communication. Like all pidgins, Russenorsk was not an complex system of communication. It had a rudimentary grammar and a restricted vocabulary mostly composed of words essential to Arctic fishing and trade (fish, weather, etc.) and did not particularly deal with "minutiae" irrelevant to the situation, e.g. existentialism, music, etc.

Some scholars do not classify Russenorsk as a pidgin. For example, Prof. Kortlandt[1] argues that Russenorsk was essentially a variant of Norwegian with Russian loan words.

The history of Russenorsk is limited to 18th and 19th centuries. It stopped being used after 1917.


Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.