van

Borrowed from Dutch van (“of, from”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *fanē. Doublet of von.


um

(pre-1938 or dialectal) alternative form of om


te

(dialectal, Trøndelag dialect, Østlandet) Alternative form of til


de

used in set expressions (such as de jure); translates to "from" and "of"


or

Han kom or fjellet, skulde heim, […].

1956, Olav H. Hauge, Gjer ein annan mann ei beine:

He came from the mountain, was heading home […] .


i

From Old Norse í, from Proto-Germanic *in (“in, into”). Akin to English in.

No er me i Noreg.


for

Pass deg for snøskred!

Eg bur sør for byen.


om

From the earlier, Old Norse preposition um, from Proto-Germanic *umbi (“around, about”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (“by, around”), from earlier *h₂ntbʰi, instrumental case form to *h₂énts (“face”). Doublet of ambi- and amfi.
* As a conjunction, um superseded or blended with Old Norse ef and em, taking on their function as well. This is from Proto-Germanic *jabai (“when, if”), whence also English if and German ob.

inh

Bind eit reip om halsen på han!

Eg kjem om ti minutt.

in (when speaking of time) (after a period of time)

om våren

om kvelden

in (with words for seasons or times of the day)

Me snakka nettopp om deg.

Me køyrde til Bergen om Hardanger
We drove to Bergen via Hardanger


t

(text messaging, informal) Abbreviation of til (“to”).


mot

Han kom mot dei.

Har de noko som verkar mot tett nase?

Do you have anything that works for a stuffy nose?

Kven skal me spela mot?


ta

Aasen, in his 1850 dictionary, lists it as a variant of ut-av. As such, the origin of this word is not to dissimilar from that of på (“on”) from Old Norse upp á. Other variants include tå.


tu

(dialectal, Trøndelag dialect, Eastern Norway) Nonstandard form of ut or (“out from, out of”).


ti

From uti, similarly to tu (“out of”) and tå (“of”). Compare also Dalecarlian Swedish ti (“in”).

Itj glømm å rødd ette dæ! Itj lægg att nåkkå søppel ti skauen

Don’t forget to clean up after you! Don’t leave any rubbish in the forest

(dialectal, Trøndelag dialect, Eastern Norway) Alternative form of uti

Dæ æ en vanskele tærræng å fårrå ti

It is a difficult terrain for travelling in (it)

E blaidd litt ti boka hass hær om dan å fann mytty rart dær

I browsed some (pages) in his book the other day, and found a lot of strange (stuff) there

(dialectal, Trøndelag dialect, Eastern Norway) Alternative form of i


per

Borrowed from Latin per (related to native for).

per porsjon

per dag


av

From Old Norse af. Akin to English of and English off.

Det er laga av bly.

Huset vart måla av honom.

by (in construction of the passive voice)

Eg lånte ei bok av han.

Avhenging av.


under

From Old Norse undir, from Proto-Germanic *under. Akin to English under.


med

Kven vert med oss?

med båt / tog

fat med olje


å

aa

Etymologies 2-6, obsolete typography (pre-1917)

Han fall å bak

Ho låg å gruve.

used in certain fixed expressions regarding position

Det er midt å natta.


von

From German von. Doublet of van. The noun is derived from the preposition.


åt

No dreg me åt byen.

Dette er huset åt foreldra mine.


ovan

From Old Norse ofan, from Proto-Germanic *ubanē. Cognate with Faroese oman, Icelandic ofan, Swedish ovan, and Danish oven.


tå

Aasen, in his 1850 dictionary, lists it as a variant of ut av. As such, the origin of this word is not too dissimilar from that of på (“on”) from Old Norse upp á. See also tu (“out of”), ti (“in”) and poinni (“under”).

Æ skjønne itj bæra tå det som stend ti paperom

I don't understand a word of what is written in the papers

Æ drømme' mæ bort i dokkers røyk tå krutt, sjarm og ildvann.

2018, NDL (lyrics and music), “Morgan Cockaine”, in Demo:

I'm dreaming me away in your's smoke of gunpowder, charme and firewater

(dialectal, Trøndelag dialect, Eastern Norway) Nonstandard form of av.


på

Rebracketing of Old Norse upp á, compare English upon.

Boka ligg på bordet

on (touching from above or touching, hanging from)

Eplet som heng på den greina

Skiltet på veggen

on, against, touching; hanging from or being attached to (a vertical surface)

på julaftan

på jobben

på den tida

på Island

på Hamar
in Hamar

in (islands and many towns that are not on the coast)

på nynorsk
in Nynorsk

på ettermiddagen


til

From Old Norse til, from Proto-Germanic *til (compare *tilą (“goal”)).

Dei er på veg til fylkesgrensa.

They are on their way to the county border.

Denne presangen er til deg.

Han er faren til guten.

Me køyrde til me kom fram.


hos

Developed from hus; cognate with Danish hos, Swedish hos. Partially displaced inherited hjå from Old Norse hjá.


a

From Old Norse af, from Proto-Germanic *ab, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó.

fre a Gud okka far aa Jesu Christo den herræ.

c. 1700, Sigurd Kolsrud, quoting Jacob Rasch, “Eldste nynorske bibeltekst: Jacob Rasch c. 1700”, in Syn og Segn, volume 56, published 1950, page 110:

peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.


uti

ti

dialectal form with slightly different sense

Han hoppa uti sjøen.

Han låg uti sjøen.


bak

From Old Norse bak, from Proto-Germanic *baką.

bak kulissane


inni

(rare) denotes movement into – into, inside, within

denotes static location; also an internal state – in, within, (on the) inside


utan

Eg er utan pengane mine.


etter

From Middle Norwegian ettir, from Old Norse eptir, from Proto-Germanic *aftiri, *after, from Proto-Indo-European *apotero (“further behind, further away”), comparative form of *apo- (“off, behind”). Akin to English after.

itte

attæ, ette, etter, etti, ettæ, ettår, ittòr, itte, ætte, ætter, ætti

Eg kjem på besøk etter middag.

Han dreg ei vogn etter seg.


oto

Rebracketing of ut and or. See also på, poinni and tå.

Vor Herre rei ivi Rønnings Hei, Foten oto Le'e skrei (quote after Jørgen Moe's notes, 1847)

1901, A. Chr. Bang, Norske Hexeformularer og magiske Opskrifter:

Our Lord was riding over the Rønningsheia, (and) the foot (of his horse or donkey) went out of the joint

(dialectal) alternative form of ut or (“from, out of”)


innan

From Old Norse innan, from Proto-Norse ᛁᚾᚨᚾᚨ (inana), from Proto-Germanic *innanē.

Du lyt levera papira innan fristen i morgon.

You must hand in the papers before the deadline tomorrow.


ved

From Old Norse við and viðr (compare the prefix veder-), from Proto-Germanic *wiþr- (“against”). Cognates include Danish ved, Swedish vid, and English with.

Huset ligg ved vegen.

Eg kryssa elva ved å symja.

by (involving/using the means of). Followed by a noun or by the infinitive with å


ovanpå

Skåla fekk ikkje plass i kjøleskåpet, så eg sette ho ovanpå så lenge

The bowl didn't fit in the fridge, so I put it on top of the fridge for the time being


bort

From Old Norse burt, burtu, brott, brottu.


mæ

"No, Unga, kunne de slutte mæ Lesnae ei Stund o høyre paa me."

1879, Hallvard Berg, Segner fraa Bygdom, Samlaget, page 93:

"Now, kids, you stop with the reading for a while and listen to me."


undan

Han er langt undan meg.

away from ((pre-1938) alternative form of unna)


gjennom

through (from one side of an opening to the other)

Dei kjøpte billettane gjennom reisebyrået.

They bought the tickets via the travel agency.


kreng

(dialectal, Trøndelag dialect) eye dialect spelling of kring.


pga.

på grunn av
på grunn av#Norwegian_Nynorsk

Abbreviation of på grunn av (“because of, due to”).


t.o.m.

Abbreviation of til og med (“up to and including”).


vha.

ved hjelp av
ved hjelp av#Norwegian_Nynorsk


hjå

Skal me vera hjå deg?


på grunn av

because of (on account of, by reason of, for the purpose of)


mellom

Finse ligg mellom Bergen og Oslo.
Finse lies between Bergen and Oslo.

Alle likar å vera mellom vener.


yver

Kann du få meg yver elvi?


ifrå

Eg kjem ifrå...


frå

From Old Norse frá. Akin to English from.

Eg kjem frå Noreg.


paa

(non-standard since 1917) alternative spelling of på


rundt

Trøndelag dialect. Eye dialect spelling as rointj

Jorda går rundt sola.

Sjå deg rundt.


utanfor

Hæren stod utanfor byen.


framfor

Kven er det som står framfor bygget?

Who is standing in front of the building?


utanom

Kor mange er de utanom deg?


utanfrå

Landet kjempa mot påverknad utanfrå.


nærare

Comparative of nær (adjective and adverb), from Old Norse nær, which itself was a comparative adverb.

nærare jul


nærast

Superlative of nær (adjective and adverb), from Old Norse nær (“near”).

sitja nærast inngangen


nærmast

Superlative of nær (adjective and adverb), from Old Norse nær (“near”). Its superlative forms were næst (adverb) and næstr (adjective), but, into modern Norwegian (nest and neste), these came to hold their own separate meanings. There was another construction, however, forming a comparative with meirr (“more”) (nær meirr (“more near”)). The superlative forms came to be, either added by analogy, or from a separate construction with mest (“most”).

sitja nærmast inngangen


nærmare

Derives from the Old Norse construction nær meirr (“more near”). Comparative of nær (adjective and adverb).

nærare jul


attom

Equivalent to att (“back”) + om (“about”).


attanfor

Equivalent to attan (“from behind”) + for (“for”).


yvi

(Midlandsnormalen) alternative form of over (“over”)


eksklusiv

From Medieval Latin exclusivus, via English exclusive and German exklusiv.


inntil

inntil vidare


imellom

From Old Norse í millum, í milli (literally “in the middle”).


attmed

Kan eg få sitja attmed deg?


framom

Han gjekk framom meg.

Det gjeld framom alt å halda hovudet kaldt.

It is important beyond anything else to keep a cool head / it is first and foremost important to keep a cool head.


frampå

Han gjekk frampå golvet.

Han stod frampå golvet.


itte

(dialectal, nonstandard) alternative form of etter


kringom

Equivalent to kring (“around”) + om (“about”).


utfor

Han stod utfor døra.

Kva Fanden gjer det, um eg gjeng utfor Bryggja i Kveld? heldt han fram. No er De for melankolsk, meinte Laurits.

What the devil would it matter if I stepped off the quay tonight? he continued. You are being too melancholy, Laurits said.


borti

Eg kom borti brytaren med eit uhell


oppunder

oppunder fjellet: high up on the mountainside


inn i

inn (adverb) + i (preposition), both translating to in

Eg såg bjørnen gå inn i garasjen


heimanfor

on the homeward side, on the side that is closest to home


bortanfrå

(pre-2012) alternative form of bortanfrå


framaføre

(pre-2012) alternative form of framanføre


heimafor

(pre-2012) alternative form of heimanfor


framatil

(pre-2012) alternative form of framantil


framafrå

(pre-2012) alternative form of framanfrå


nordafrå

(pre-2012) alternative form of nordanfrå


sønnatil

(pre-2012) alternative form of sønnantil


austatil

(pre-2012) alternative form of austantil


nordatil

(pre-2012) alternative form of nordantil


bortafor

(pre-2012) alternative form of bortanfor


vestafrå

(pre-2012) alternative form of vestanfrå


imyljo

(dialectal, nonstandard) alternative form of imellom


ovanfrå

From Old Norse ofan frá. Equivalent to ovan + frå.


framanfor

From fram + -an- + for. Compare Norwegian Bokmål fremmenfor.


poinni

Probably a rebracketing of på and under. See also på, tu and tå, which probably share the same word genesis of rebracketing.

The dogs hid themselves under the table

Hoinnjan gjømt sæ poinni bole (normative spelling: hundane gøymde seg under bordet)

(dialectal, Trøndelag dialect) alternative form of under (“under, below”)


rointj

(dialectal, Trøndelag dialect) eye dialect spelling of rundt.