One of my favorite tropes is post apocalyptic towns being named after dilapidated signs with missing letters, like Novac (no vacancy) and Eaden (dead end). There’s something inexplicable about it
Russenorsk (eller “Moja på tvoja”) is an extinct dual-source pidgin language formerly used in the Arctic, which combined elements of Russian and Norwegian, and which was created by Russian traders and Norwegian fishermen from northern Norway and the Russian Kola peninsula. It was used extensively in Northern Norway for about 150 years in the Pomor trade. 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.
Russenorsk had a rudimentary grammar and a restricted vocabulary, mostly composed of words essential to Arctic fishing and trade and did not particularly deal with unrelated issues.
Corpora of Russenorsk consist of lists of individual words and phrases as well as records of dialogues compiled by linguists such as Just Knut Qvigstad. The corpora include c. 400 words, of which about half are hapax legomena.
The origin of its vocabulary is generally held to be approximately 40% Russian and 50% Norwegian, with the remaining 10% from Dutch, Low German, French, English, Sami, and Swedish.
Kak sprek? Moje niet forsto. - What are you talking about? I don’t understand.
Eta grot dyr. Værsegod, på minder prodaj! - It is very expensive. Please lower the price!
Kak pris? Mangeli kosta? - What is the price? How much?
Davai paa moia malenka tabaska presentom. - Give me some free cigarettes.
Moja tvoja på vater kasstom. - I will throw you into the water.
