olenamann

Russenorsk

Etymology

From Russian олень (olenʹ, “deer”) +‎ Norwegian Nynorsk mann (“man”). The combining vowel -a- is of uncertain origin, since both Russian and Norwegian compound words use -e- instead (compare Russian оленевод (olenjevod, “reindeer herder”) or Norwegian Nynorsk dyrehage (“zoo”)).

Pronunciation

Maybe had a palatalization in both n-sounds: see pronunciation of олень (olenʹ) and burmann. Anyway, the Northern Norwegian palatalization is sometimes attested in cyrillic sources of Russenorsk, but they lack this word. The plural form ålenej (ɔlenej) is registered by Elias Lönnrot in Kola Peninsula Russian-Swedish pigdin, but the o-sound in olenamann may be like in the Russian (ɐ or ɔ depending on dialect), or have a Norwegian sound change (o -> u). The l-sound may also vary. Pronunciation examples may be following:

• IPA^(key): /ulenamɑɲː/, /ɐlʲɪnʲɐmənʲ/, /ɔlenəman/

Noun

olenamann

1. A mountain Sami person (a nomadic Sami).

Synonyms

• filman

References

• Ingvild Broch, Ernst H. Jahr (1984) Russenorsk: Et pidginspråk i Norge [Russenorsk: A pidgin language in Norway], 2 edition, Oslo: Novus Forlag, page 132