Nordmøre (Norðmø:re) lies on the northwest coast of Norway, north of
Romsdal (Raumsdalr) and southwest of Trondheim. Very technically, it
is supposed to be an East Norse dialect, as it is related to the
dialect-group Trøndsk/Trønersk , but it borders on the West-Norse
Romsdal-Sunnmøre region. Technically, it is, as the name suggests,
part of Møre (also Sunnmøre), but, unlike this southern neighbors,
Nordmøre belonged in ancient times to the Frostaþing, the same law
assembly (þing) as the 8 fylki of ancient Trondheim. Despite its
many ancient connections to Trondheim and its technical
classification as East Norse (disputed by many), Nordmøre has its
own language, though its inhabitants far, far fewer than those of
Trondheim. Currently, I have a speaker of Nordmørsk at my side, who
is from Averøy. Old folk say Haverøya (w/ artikle), so it is likely
< ON *hafrey. Here are some examples (roughly phonetic :=long)

vokalæ:n:
i inn (hann jikk inn i: hu:se(t) (t)silent ON hann gekk inn í húsit)
i: fi:n si:n di:n (ON fín sín þín)
these two are identical to ON i & í, as also in Icelandic

y ytre (ON ytri) Nordmør(e) - ON short rounded y
y: by: dy:r (ON bú bø:r, dýr) - the rounded, long ON y (ý)
(but southwest part of island y: = i:, as in Icelandic - unrounded)


u gull (ON gull, goll) as in ON and Ice. short u
u: u:t hu:s tu:r (ON út hús MIce túr ME tour) - long ON u (ú),
never as in Ice ú, which is a diphthong)

o orm, komma (ON ormr, koma) ON short o, as in Icelandic; but:
o ost, ord (ON ostr, orð) as in Dano-Nor. not=orm, Ice. ú but short
o: no:rdmære, hann fo:r (ON norðmø:re, hann fór) = Icelandic ú
this is the same diphthing as in Dano-Norwegian, not original ON
long o (ó) or the Ice/Sogn/Hordaland/etc. long o-diphthing (ó, o:)

ø høvding, båten søkk N bátrinn so,kk, ho,fðingi chieftain
ø: snø: (snow) nordmø:re long ON ø:

salt, hav (ON salt, haf) - as in Icelandic
båt hår (ON bátr hár) - as in Dano-Norw., all of Scand. and Ice.

æ æt ban (ON eitt barn)
æ: fæ:øyæ:n/fæ:reiæ:n - the Faroes (see øy/ei) but:
æ: å le:r (to learn ON læ:ra) - long æ:= e: usually, as short ON æ =
e in Icelandic, but here also the long one as well, but exceptions

ON o,(hooked-o, as in bo,rn) > o as in Sogn bodn children, etc.
ON long o, (hooked-o, as in ó,ss) > å:, the ON sound (u-mutation),
but = Ice

ON au is au : sau, dau (ON dauðr, sauðr), not as in Ice. au > øy
ON e,i > æ: sæ:n bæ:n æ:n ON sein bein ein (1)
ON e,y > æi (written øy) Fræi, æi (ON Freyr, ey), as Ice. ey > ei
ON e,y > e,y (written øy) - some areas still have the old diphthong
æi is very close to Icelandic ei, but slightly more toward ai, as is
often the case in West Norwegian dialects; the ey > ei change seems
to have been universal at one time, but now northeast Averøy often
has øy again (Kristiansund\influence, considered more 'modern' for
some reason, but the sound is actually older

Normørsk has a beautiful sound, striking a balance between typical
West Norse vowel-features and East Norse vowel-length distinction.
This dialect was on the dividing-line West/East, but it retained its
own character, including a different grammar than Trøndsk/Trøndersk,
and a different pronunciation. In the old days Nynorsk was the the
school-language on Nordmøre, but now it is Bokmål, as in Trondheim.
Old Nordmørsk, as its often refered to, is now only spoken by some
oldest living persons. It's dying fast, and I'm told that there are
noticable gaps in the old and new speech. I'll post some sentences
next.