# Norwegian: Stalking



## 123xyz

Could someone enlighten me as to how one says 'to stalk' in Norwegian, both in the sense of an animal stalking its prey from a distance and in the sense of following/bothering/pestering/harrassing/spying on a person, especially through social networks?
Thank you.


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## cocuyo

In Norwegian, the verb "stalke" is used for "to stalk", and the stalker is called "stalker", in the context of social networks and human society.

Regarding animals, _"forfølge" _is the verb, and it is used also in human social contexts, although colloquially the loan-word is often used and might be considered more specific.


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## NorwegianNYC

cocuyo said:


> In Norwegian, the verb "stalke" is used for "to stalk", and the stalker is called "stalker", in the context of social networks and human society.
> 
> Regarding animals, _"forfølge" _is the verb, and it is used also in human social contexts, although colloquially the loan-word is often used and might be considered more specific.



I am not questioning what your saying, but I have been all over Norwegian dictionaries, newspapers and articles and never once have I found the word 'stalke' My guess is that this is English-based slang. It is definitely not a word you will come across in Norway.

However, there are many Norwegian equivalents: liste seg, snike, forfølge, jakte, skygge, forfølge


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## cocuyo

NorwegianNYC said:


> I am not questioning what your saying, but I have been all over Norwegian dictionaries, newspapers and articles and never once have I found the word 'stalke' My guess is that this is English-based slang. It is definitely not a word you will come across in Norway.
> 
> However, there are many Norwegian equivalents: liste seg, snike, forfølge, jakte, skygge, forfølge



There will surely be some time before you see it in a dictionary, but the word is used, and as such it is more specific than the rest; i.e. it is quite clear what one intends to say with it. Observe that it is used with Norwegian intonation and pronunciation. The closest standard Norwegian equivalent is forfølge. 

One example here: "Gal stalker truer med å drepe 19-åringen." http://www.tv2.no/underholdning/gkn/selena-gomez-maa-ha-livvakter-3677015.html


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## NorwegianNYC

Hi! I still doubt the validity of the VERB 'stalke' other than as slang, and I would be very cautious using it. Your latter example is better, but here used as a noun.


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## cocuyo

I suppose you didn't actually open the link and read the article? 

Here the verb example from the article: "46-åringen som stalker Gomez hevder at Gud vil at han skal drepe henne."


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## 123xyz

Thank you for the several suggestions, they have been helpful though I'll think I'll refrain from the usage of 'stalke'.


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## NorwegianNYC

Sorry - my mistake! I thought you were referring to the sentence you stated above! However, I am still doubtful as to the use of the word...


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## Sepia

cocuyo said:


> In Norwegian, the verb "stalke" is used for "to stalk", and the stalker is called "stalker", in the context of social networks and human society.
> 
> Regarding animals, _"forfølge" _is the verb, and it is used also in human social contexts, although colloquially the loan-word is often used and might be considered more specific.



Are you sure that is the same thing? In Danish "_forfølge" _would not be the same thing as "to stalk". "at pirsche/pürsche" would be the term in Danish. Yes, that is a German word, basically. There are lots of German elements in Scandinavian hunting culture.


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## cocuyo

Regarding "stalking", the entry in the Norwegian Wikipedia is rather clear: http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalking 

I'd suggest googling for "forfulgt av ulver" or other suitable animal to see the other meaning.

For "stalker" i have also seen _forfølger_ and _plageånd_, but neither term is specific to stalkers.


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## GraaEminense

I agree (regretfully) that when describing a stalker in the sense of someone following, bothering or spying none of the Norwegian terms carry the same connotations and at least in tabloid media the verb "å stalke" and the noun "en stalker" are sometimes used. The best Norwegian word would be "forfølge", but as mentioned it doesn't mean quite the same thing.


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## NorwegianNYC

GraaEminense said:


> I agree (regretfully) that when describing a stalker in the sense of someone following, bothering or spying none of the Norwegian terms carry the same connotations and at least in tabloid media the verb "å stalke" and the noun "en stalker" are sometimes used. The best Norwegian word would be "forfølge", but as mentioned it doesn't mean quite the same thing.



I acknowledge the documentation cocuyo has provided here, but I am in line with GraaEminense when it comes to a somewhat lukewarm appreciation of the word. It is a difficult word to use in Norwegian, and I am afraid it will pretty soon end up with three pronunciations: "ståker", "stålker" or "stalker" (the latter two with the L pronounced).


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## basslop

NorwegianNYC said:


> I acknowledge the documentation cocuyo has provided here, but I am in line with GraaEminense when it comes to a somewhat lukewarm appreciation of the word. It is a difficult word to use in Norwegian, and I am afraid it will pretty soon end up with three pronunciations: "ståker", "stålker" or "stalker" (the latter two with the L pronounced).



I have never heard the word used in Norwegian before, but from the examples it is obviously sneaking in. As you probably know, the problem with loaning words from among others English, keeping the spelling makes the connection to the pronunciation illogical for Norwegians or rather according to original pronunciation rules in Norwegian. "Ståke" would not be good as it already means bussle/fuss in English.


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## cocuyo

I doubt that it would be considered slang, as slang is much more mainstream. It is not a common word, and in Norway, the first encounter of it for anyone would probably be tabloids or news media. Hence the obvious pronunciation and conjugation would be as a regular Norwegian word. 

I would think it is a rather recent loan. I first came across it spoken probably in 2009, when talking about the murder of two children in Arboga (2008). When I search Norwegian news from the time, there is no hit on _stalke_, _stalket_ or _stalker_ (as a verb). But I remember a Norwegian person (psychologist) saying that Schürrer "stalket mannen henna". I cannot tell whether she had picked it up in Sweden or in Norway. To me it seems extremely illogical that Norwegians should adopt English pronunciation. 

Outside tabloid or broadcast media there are few hits on the usage of "stalke" as a verb in Norwegian, but the examples that are found indicate that it is not supposed to need an explanation. Typically, all hits on the verb are recent, most of them from 2011. Example:"jeg fortsetter å stalke henne som en gal beundrer" "Jeg har jo stalket deg" http://sjoslottet.blogspot.com/2011/08/flashback-de-fine-fra-bartebyen.html from august 2011.

In Swedish, the noun is rather common in media, but as a verb it is still uncommon although it is used. Mostly Swedish principles for pronunciation and conjugation are used, but there is no consensus. (discussion here: http://www.fokus.se/2008/11/»stalka«-eller-»staka«/)

My guess is that the word might probably be leaked from professional or academical lingo.


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